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 New Delhi, Feb 23 : Rakhi Sawant reveals she participated in Bigg Boss 14 even as she was going through a particularly painful phase in life. Although she was under stress, she fought back to entertain people, because her objective for participating in the show was to try and make a comeback in her career. "I fought back. My personal life was also painful. My mother was unwell and she has been undergoing chemotherapy. There was stress in my personal life and I still entertained people. I had so much pressure and responsibility," said Rakhi. She did not shy away from talking about her personal life on national television. She shared shocking revelations about her life, claiming that a man had forced himself on her when she was young, in return of money. She spoke of her marriage with someone called Ritesh, saying that her husband was already married and had a child when they got married. Does she regret revealing too much about her personal life in front of the country? "When you live in the house, there is a time when you break. I broke down because I was going through a lot of pain. My mother's pain, my love wasn't successful, my marriage was not successful either. Somewhere, I would break down looking at a couple. I broke completely," she said. Rakhi said that she did text her "mystery" husband Ritesh once she was out of the house. "I messaged my husband. I haven't spoken to him and I don't know what reaction he would have," she revealed. On Sunday night, Rakhi walked away with Rs 14 lakh from Bigg Boss 14 during the grand finale. The dancer claimed that the reason she went to the controversial show was to try and make a comeback, because her career was down in recent times, and that the show has given her a second chance. Rakhi was the first contestant to walk away with money on the grand finale night hosted by Salman Khan. She had entered the house in November lastyear as a challenger and had a journey of almost three months, which ended on Sunday night. "The journey was very beautiful. So many people want to go to Bigg Boss and getting an entry is such a big thing. I wanted to make a comeback and my career was down. Bigg Boss gave me a second (chance)... Everyone goes through ups and downs and I got that push from here. I am so happy that I will be able to do something now... There were so many ups and downs in the Bigg Boss 14 house," Rakhi told IANS. Is she hoping for a comeback in Bollywood considering she was one of the most popular contestants in the show this season? "Definitely. I would like to do a series. In fact I will do any work that comes my way. This is why I went to Bigg Boss -- so that I could make a comeback and earn a lot of money. (I want to) Get my mother operated and keep her well," Rakhi said. During her stay in the house, Rakhi was seen as a threat by the other contestants courtesy her bizarre antics. She had several altercations with other housemates such as Jasmin Bhasin, Rubina Dilaik and Abhinav Shukla among others. "I was very affected when my nose broke in the show. They broke my props's head and threw water on me. But I controlled my anger in the show because then you'd have to leave the show. They taunted me, they spoke about my married life and said I was doing 'nataunki' and (that I was) 'fake'. But I did not lose confidence." she said. Rakhi said that she sought support from Bigg Boss, show host Salman and contestants such as Devoleena Bhattacharjee. She says she will remain friends with Rubina, who won the 14th season, and her husband Abhinav Shukla. "I am very happy that Rubina won," she concluded. (Durga Chakravarty can be contacted at durga.c@ians.in) Latest updates on Bigg Boss Season 14 -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text (Natural News) Scientists are developing an advanced artificial intelligence system that uses an advanced neural network and radio signals to detect a persons emotions from a short distance. This is coming from a study conducted by scientists from the Queen Mary University of London and was published in the journal PLOS ONE. The researchers used radio waves to pick up subtle changes in a persons heart rhythm and breathing. These changes were then fed to a neural network tasked with identifying what the changes mean. The team used a neural network because it functions similarly to a human brain. In the latter, neurons create links with other cells in a pattern, as opposed to more conventional machine learning, which uses statistical methods on data sets. (Related: New AI tool that determines trustworthiness of people may not be trustworthy at all.) With [a neural network], weve shown we can accurately measure emotions in a subject-independent way, where we can look at a whole collection of signals from different individuals and learn from this data and use it to predict the emotion of people outside of our training database, said Achintha Avin Ihalage, a doctorate student at Queen Mary. As part of their experiment, the researchers asked participants to watch a video they selected because of its ability to elicit one of four basic emotions: pleasure, sadness, joy and anger. While the video was playing, the researchers broadcast harmless radio signals. The researchers said these were similar to signals transmitted by radar or Wi-Fi. The radio signals were aimed at the participants. The researchers then studied the signals that were bounced back because they would be substantially different from the original signals. According to Yang, the reflected signals would be modulated by an individuals tiny body movements including breathing patterns and heart rhythm. To support their findings the participants were also connected to an electrocardiogram to make sure that the radio signals they were picking up were accurate. The team then ran their findings through their deep neural network and found that the artificial intelligence system accurately classified the emotional states of the participants 71 percent of the time. This is better than previous experiments that used machine learning methods. New tech has multiple potential uses, but raises questions regarding privacy First author Ahsan Noor Khan, a Queen Mary doctorate student, argues that this study can be used in future smart home and building environments. Possible applications here include attempting to map out how a room filled with office workers are currently feeling. This type of approach would enable us to classify emotions of people on an individual basis while performing routine activities, said Khan. Moreover, we aim to improve the accuracy of emotion detection in a work environment using advanced deep learning technologies. Project lead Yang Hao, dean for research at Queen Marys Faculty of Science and Engineering, believes the experiment can be used in healthcare and emotional wellbeing applications, as well as in human to robot interactions. Hao added that being able to easily read a persons emotional state has become increasingly more important during the global Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Patrick Tucker, writing for Defense One, speculates that these systems could be used in military and defense situations. In an email, Hao said that more research needs to be done before this technology can be developed for such situations. One scenario Tucker suggested is one where authorities are interrogating a suspect. Here, the artificial intelligence system could be used to detect suspects heart rate and breathing rhythm and accurately predict whether the suspects emotions correspond to what he is telling his interrogators. Both Tucker and Hao agree that future studies also need to look into issues regarding the ethics of using such systems, and how to responsibly use them. In his article, Tucker concludes with this: The proliferation of new advances in AI, coupled with new sensors, will add to difficult discussions about privacy in the years ahead. There is no law in the United States against passive data collection of cardiac rhythms with antenna just as there is no law prohibiting the photographing of faces in public. There was no need for such regulation until now. Learn more about the technologies currently being developed by reading the latest articles at FutureSciencenews.com. Sources include: DefenseOne.com ScienceDaily.com UPI.com I really felt very strongly that the class needed to be together, he said. We didnt want to take a ceremony and do it two or three times (with different groups of students). This is one of those moments where they will look back and remember what they went through with this pandemic. Education officials in Massachusetts are working on a plan to go back to a more traditional school model, focusing on elementary students in particular. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley said he would take a phased approach to that process, working with medical experts. Elementary students would be brought back first, ideally learning in person five days a week this April, Riley said, with a plan for middle and possibly high school students later this school year. Riley on Tuesday told members of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education that in a week or two he planned to ask the board to authorize him to determine how best to go back to traditional schooling and break away from methods of remote and hybrid learning that have been relied on during the COVID-19 pandemic. Were starting to see case rates come down again, about half of our schools now have pooled testing available for students and staff, the vaccine rollout is in process, warmer weather is on the horizon, we continue to see in-person instruction being delivered safely across the commonwealth, Riley said. It continues to be vital that we get as many students back in person as possible, preferably before the end of the year. Riley noted that the administration of President Joe Biden has put a focus on getting schools reopened, particularly for students in K-8. He stated further that for in-person learning time, the goal would be five days a week, Riley said. We agree with President Biden, it is time to get our kids back to school more robustly. While many students have at least some form of in-person learning, other districts have remained in remote education. Worcester, for example, is among remote districts but is planning to start hybrid learning next month. At some point, as health metrics continue to improve, we will need to take the remote and hybrid learning models off the table and return to a traditional school format, Riley said. In March Ill be asking the board to amend these regulations to give me the authority to determine when the hybrid and remote learning models no longer account for learning hours. Families would still have the option to learn remotely through the end of this school year, Riley said. For districts that are still remote, there would be an option to move into a hybrid model before going to traditional education, Riley said. Board member Matt Hills told Riley he was thrilled to hear of the proposal. I hope you move fairly quickly, Hills said. Please get it done well before the end of this year so that were not even talking about this issue going into the next school year. Jasper Coughlin, a student member of the board from Billerica, said he was grateful to hear about the plan. I know how important that is, especially as a student, that we get back into school as soon as possible, Coughlin said, adding that it is important to not rush the process. Related Content: RTHK: Malaysian court halts Myanmar deportation A Malaysian court on Tuesday ordered a temporary halt to a controversial plan to deport 1,200 Myanmar detainees to their homeland weeks after a coup, following a last-ditch legal challenge. The migrants, including members of vulnerable minorities, had already been taken in buses and trucks to a military base on Malaysia's west coast to be loaded onto waiting Myanmar navy ships. The United States and the United Nations had criticised the plan, while rights groups said there were asylum seekers among those due to be repatriated. In their court challenge, rights groups Amnesty International and Asylum Access argued Malaysia would be in breach of its international duties by sending vulnerable people back to a country where they could be in danger. Amnesty said it was "especially alarmed" the deportation was set to take place when there had been an "escalation of human rights violations" following the Myanmar military's seizure of power at the start of February. The Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered a halt to the repatriation to allow a hearing to take place on Wednesday into the groups' bid to stop the deportations, their lawyer New Sin Yew told AFP. Amnesty International Malaysia's executive director, Katrina Jorene Maliamauv, welcomed the ruling but said the detainees remained in danger of being deported to a country where they face "life-threatening risks". "We urge the government to reconsider its plans to send this group of vulnerable people back to Myanmar," she said. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2021-02-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Lightfoots record and pattern of hypocrisy, not even halfway through her term as mayor, show us that there is nothing just dumb about bringing into the light her choices and actions as a public servant. The mayors remarks are an important reminder and call to action to Chicagoans that voting is not enough. We all have a collective duty to hold this mayor to her campaign commitments. LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 19, 2021) - After conducting a study to assess the need for cancer education materials in Appalachian Kentucky, members of the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center's Appalachian Career Training in Oncology (ACTION) program worked with faculty from the UK College of Education to create a three-part cancer education curriculum for middle and high school teachers in the region. Kentucky is home to the highest rates of cancer incidence and mortality in the country, and that problem is further concentrated in the Appalachian region of the state. Funded by a grant from the National Cancer Institute, ACTION is a two-year program designed to prepare undergraduate and high school students for cancer-focused careers and is open to students who hail from one of the 54 Appalachian Kentucky counties. The program also educates students on ways to make a difference in their own communities through outreach and engagement. Perhaps not surprisingly, nearly all of ACTION's participants know a friend or family member dealing with cancer. "It became pretty clear early on that the students were all personally touched by cancer, which was one of the reasons why they were in the program, but they didn't really know much about cancer," said Nathan Vanderford, director of the ACTION Program. "So that got us talking more to them and to their teachers about what's currently being taught in schools regarding the disease." The ACTION team conducted an online survey with science and health teachers in Appalachian Kentucky. Published in the Journal of Appalachian Health, results of the survey showed that participating teachers agreed that cancer education was important to their students' lives, but the amount of such education is inconsistent. The participating teachers also expressed a desire to increase cancer education in their classrooms. Many teacher responses touched on the fact that both they and their students see the devastating impact of cancer in their daily lives. Several responses noted the importance of teaching students about cancer from more of a public health angle, i.e., learning more about prevention and risk factors for cancer. "There's a huge opportunity here, and I think there's a thirst for the knowledge," Vanderford said. "In the survey, without any prompting, the teachers told us exactly what we know - that they and their students are bombarded by cancer all around them, and I think that makes them naturally more curious about the topic." In response, Vanderford decided to create a curriculum for teachers, reaching out to UK College of Education faculty for expertise on taking the cancer information he wanted teachers to have and developing it into lessons that would fit teachers' current curriculum requirements. "We know the teachers want to teach about cancer, but it isn't laid out in the curriculum or in the standards," said Sahar Alameh, an assistant professor of STEM education in the UK College of Education. "For example, they told us that they mention cancer when they talk about the ozone layer, or when they talk about mutation and mitosis, but it's not a lesson. My goal was to take Nathan's lessons and suggest modifications to them so they aligned with teaching standards." "I thought it was really important to work with faculty in the College of Education, because they prepare future teachers every day and they are experts in science education pedagogy," Vanderford said. "Teachers have to teach to these academic standards anyway, but if we can take this great information about a public health topic that is of utmost importance to your students and community and you can be touching on those standards, it's a win-win." This collaboration yielded a new three-part cancer education curriculum for middle and high school teachers in Appalachia to use in their classrooms. The curriculum includes information on cancer data and risk factors in the region, follows national and state science and health education standards, and is tailored to cultural aspects of Appalachian Kentucky. Including that Kentucky-specific information was key, Vanderford says. He wanted the cancer lessons to reflect the reality of what teachers and students experience daily, and that also included topics like fatalistic views on cancer and issues around health care access and engagement. "People tell me all the time that they have had friends and family with cancer and they see it everywhere, but they didn't know, for example, that our cancer rates are the highest in the country," Vanderford said. "The more relevant a topic is to a person, the more they're going to pay attention to it." With that in mind, Alameh says the curriculum is an example of problem-based learning, a teaching method where real-world issues are used to help drive the learning process in students. "The teachers tell you that whenever they talk about cancer, the kids - even elementary and middle school kids, not just the high school kids - want to share a story about someone they know who had cancer," she said. "When you situate learning in a meaningful situation, it definitely produces more engagement." Vanderford and Alameh both highlight the project as a unique, fruitful collaboration between different colleges. Other contributors to the project include ACTION program coordinator Chris Prichard, UK College of Education Associate Professor Melinda Ickes and graduate student Katherine Sharp, and UK College of Arts and Sciences undergraduate student Lauren Hudson. Hudson, a junior majoring in neuroscience, works with the ACTION Program and is first author on the study. Like the students in the program, the northern Kentucky native had firsthand experience of dealing with cancer, as her mother is a 17-year breast cancer survivor. She says she was always interested in oncology, but was unaware of the scope of the cancer problem in Kentucky until she became involved with ACTION. "When I started working on this and learning more about it, I thought, 'Why aren't we talking about this more in the areas of Kentucky where everyone needs to know about cancer?'" she said. "This is really exciting for me. In high school, if someone had presented this material to me, I would have loved it. I know there are students out there like me who were interested in medicine, but health disparities are not always covered in high school. I like to think there are students who are going to realize that pursuing a cancer career is what they want to do from learning this curriculum." The team has already begun disseminating the curriculum to teachers in the region and will continue to adapt the curriculum based on feedback from both teachers and students. Seeing their work making its way into Kentucky communities is exciting, says Vanderford, who notes that creating a tangible, useful product from scientific work is a rare and difficult process. With more than 40 publications under his belt, this project is especially significant for him. "It's a scientist's dream to actually create something that people will use and that will be helpful for people's knowledge and in this case, potentially impact public health in terms of lowering cancer risk," Vanderford. "For this reason, our work here is kind of phenomenal to me." ### Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R25CA221765. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Kurt Lahr has completed his new book The Vineyard: Sacred Ground: a gripping and potent page-turner that leaves the reader on the edge of their seat from the first chapter to the terrifying conclusion. Lahr writes, As far as the party life goes, Alex has lived it. Basking in the day-to-day bachelor/playboy life at his fathers expense while in Athens, Alex Pompados awakens to the cold fact that he must return to California to run his inherited Rosas Vineyard after his fathers death. With the consultation of his fathers trusted partner, they devise an idea of becoming 'one with the vine.' An ancient Indian burial ground reserved for warriors of the past, the notion that vineyard plots would be offered to the wealthy unclean clearly violated any previous treaty. As the vine progresses and demand for the nectar increases, the rage of the holy ones below translates into the very lives of those who indulge. With his ever-increasing nightmares, Alex realizes that it is only a matter of time until the warriors will have their revenge. But will those intense warnings be enough to wean Alex from his greed and put a stop to the horrors that await? Published by Page Publishing, Kurt Lahrs engrossing tale is a superb choice for avid supernatural and fantasy fiction readers. Readers who wish to experience this engaging work can purchase The Vineyard: Sacred Ground at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes Store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708. About Page Publishing: Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing understands that authors should be free to create, not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Pages accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. What if our faith compelled us to praise God for the breakthrough we havent seen yet? Sometimes God needs to do a work in us before he can move the mountain for us. Are there certain areas of your life where you cant seem to find breakthrough? I listened to the pastor and looked around the sanctuary. From the looks on peoples faces, it seemed as though the answer was a collective yes. This message prefaced an invitation to a fast the church would do together in the coming weeks. The pastor believed it would help bring the breakthrough so many of us needed. While fasting is a powerful, biblical practice that can help us move forward in areas where we remain stuck, other elements of our lives also play a crucial part. Several years ago, I heard this word breakthrough over and over at the start of the new year, and I asked myself why so many of us stay in a state of inertia, even when we attempt to break free from the things holding us back. After searching the Word, I saw a facet we tend to overlook: Breakthrough starts in the mind. If our thinking is not rooted in truth, we will never gain momentum by changing our physical habits. And while eliminating distractions can serve as a starting point for uncovering the lies we believe, our steps cannot stop there. So what is one powerful way we can transform our minds? If we dig into Scripture, we see Gods followers turning to one way over and over: praise. As a matter of fact, in Psalm 30, we see David worship God for something he didnt even see in his lifetime. David wrote this psalm to be sung at the temple dedication, but the temple wasnt completed until after David died. Even though the temple wasnt built yet, Davids faith allowed him to pen the words anyway. He believed his son, Solomon, would finish the task. And because of his belief, the words flowed out of him. What if we followed Davids example? What if our faith compelled us to praise God for the breakthrough we havent seen yet? For the answer to prayer, the promise fulfilled, and the healing we need? It would change us. Sometimes God needs to do a work in us before he can move the mountain for us. Here are three ways to praise God for the breakthrough you havent seen yet. 1. Remember Gods Character When we dont see change or the progress we want, we need to remember Gods unchanging attributes. We can pray aloud, and remind him of his faithfulness, mercy and compassion. We dont do this because God forgets, but because we do. As we proclaim the truths of who he is, our mental state often shifts because instead of focusing on the obstacle or difficulty, our focus is on the One who can help us through it. We see a beautiful example of this perspective shift in the story of Hannah, who was barren. During her time, a womans worth was tied to her ability to have children, and Hannah could have let her affliction turn her into a bitter person. But instead, she poured out her heart to the Lord. She not only laid the desires of her heart before him, but she praised him for who he was. My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance. (1 Samuel 2:1) Hannahs praise and remembrance of Gods character preceded her breakthrough. After this prayer in the temple, she conceived. But Hannah also realized that God was faithful whether her prayer was answered or not. 2. Remember Gods Deliverance in the Past It is always good to keep a record of prayers God has answered, whether its in the form of a journal, a jar of blessings, or some other method. Doing so helps our forgetful minds keep track of all of the ways God heard us. When we go through a hard season and we dont think God hears us, we can look back and see his deliverance. Scripture is filled with examples of people doing this, and in the Old Testament the common method of remembering was building an altar. Often, Gods people also gave him a new name to help them remember an aspect of his character they saw through his intervention. When Moses led the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land, the Amalekites were a constant, formidable threat. They battled against the Israelites, but the Lord delivered Israel. As Joshua fought with his army, Moses lifted his hands up toward heaven with the help of Aaron and Hurr. Whenever Moses hands were raised, Israels army was successful in their fighting. But after they won the battle, Moses didnt gather his people and move forward to the next destination. He stopped and worshipped. He made sure he and his people would have a way to remember this victory. Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. He said, Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation. (Exodus 17:15-16) 3. Declare Gods Promised Victory over the Future No matter what happens in the situation were facing, we can know one thing for certain: The ultimate battle has already been won. Jesus defeated our enemy, Satan, on the cross, and even though he has influence over the earth right now, his time is limited. One day he will be put in his place once and for all. When we worry about the future, we can take comfort in the fact that God is already there. He goes before us and behind us, and nothing comes as a surprise to him. We may be going through a tough season right now, but God will use it to do something beautiful in us and through us. It may take time and space to see it, but the transformation will happen if we maintain our faith. Why is our faith so important? Because it is the ultimate way we will achieve breakthrough. Not by changing circumstances, but by unwavering faith. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the worldour faith. (1 John 5:4 ESV) Praise and worship are a place the Spirit loves to inhabit, and a place the enemy hates. And as we lift our voices and songs declaring the breakthrough we havent seen yet, we create fertile ground for change to take place. But then, we must take a step. Because you see, faith means not only believing and declaring the truth, but acting on it. It means giving feet to the proclamations we made with our mouths. This is when we see real growth. We have the divine opportunity to see God do the impossible, because we made a move in the sphere of the possible. Is there a place in your life where youre stuck? Do you long to see God move, but are at a juncture where youre tempted to give up hope? Even if its difficult at first, praise him anyway. Do what you can in the earthly realm so that he can do what only he can in the heavenly one. Your worship will create a stream in the wilderness. It will put fresh fire in your bones for the road ahead. And at the right time, breakthrough will come. Photo Credit: Pexels/Duong Nhan Abby McDonald is a writer and speaker whose passion is to help women find the hope of Christ in the middle of lifes messes. She is the author of Shift: Changing Our Focus to See the Presence of God, and her work has been featured on Proverbs 31 Ministries, (in)Courage, For Every Mom, and more. Abby lives with her husband, three children, and mischievous lab pup in the mountains of western Maryland. You can download The Daughters Manifesto as her free gift to you and connect with her at abbymcdonald.org. Want more interaction with the women of iBelieve? Join our fans, writers, and editors at the iBelieve Facebook group, Together in Faith, for more videos, stories, testimonies, prayers and more. Visit here to join the community! . Fifteen members of a contingent of Ethiopian peacekeepers in South Sudan, originally from the Tigray region, refused to return to Ethiopia Monday, the UN said, citing their right to seek asylum if they fear for their lives Tigray has been the theater of fighting since early November 2020, when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced military operations against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), accusing them of attacking federal army camps. He declared victory after pro-government troops took regional capital Mekele in late November, though the TPLF vowed to fight on, and clashes have persisted in the region, hampering efforts to deliver sorely-needed humanitarian assistance. "This morning, 169 members of the Ethiopian contingent were due to rotate out of Juba and (be) replaced by fresh contingents, a part of a normal rotation," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric during his daily press conference. "We're trying to get the details, but I do understand about 15 members of the contingent chose not to board the flight at the Juba airport... They've asked to stay," he said, adding that "any person in need of international protection has the right to seek asylum." "They are receiving support from the South Sudanese Ministry of Refugee Affairs," Dujarric continued, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is "aware" of the situation and in contact with South Sudanese authorities. The UNHCR defends the principle of "non-refoulement," or allowing refugees or people seeking asylum not to return to their country of origin "if they feel their lives or freedom could be threatened," Dujarric said. Search Keywords: Short link: Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 23) Two health experts on Tuesday voiced out support for President Rodrigo Dutertes decision to reject the further easing of restrictions nationwide pending the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in the country. In an interview with CNN Philippines, infectious diseases expert Dr. Rontgene Solante said the Presidents move lets healthcare workers breathe a sigh of relief for now as it would give them more time to prepare for the future shift to the more lenient modified general community quarantine measure. As frontline healthcare workers, thats quite a relief for us because we still do have a lot of time to really prepare, Solante, who heads the Infectious Diseases Department of the San Lazaro Hospital, told The Source. Since the President more or less prioritized the safety of the public over that of the economy, then we will still continue to abide by that and prepare ourselves for the cases to come, he added. Meanwhile, health reform advocate Dr. Tony Leachon said he was extremely happy with Dutertes decision, noting the current COVID-19 data being reported in the country do not look good at the moment. Im extremely happy with the Presidents decision Because the numbers are not really good, and its coming from the DOH [Department of Health], Leachon said in the same program. Citing data from the health agency, Leachon noted the Philippines daily coronavirus case average has been hovering at around 2,000, adding that the case fatality and positivity rates have also been higher. The country recorded 2,288 new cases of infections on Monday the biggest single-day increase since November 8. And you dont have a vaccine at this point in time really that would protect the population, the former task force special adviser pointed out. So to me, its clear cut that the modified GCQ should not be implemented knowing that you dont have the vaccine plus the other variables plus, the threat of the entry of the B117 [variant] in our country. Duterte on Monday announced that the Philippines would not be placed under MGCQ unless there is a rollout of vaccines. Malacanang in a statement said the chief executive gives higher premium to public health and safety. The proposal to place the whole country under the most relaxed lockdown measure was first floated by the National Economic and Development Authority, as it cited the need to bounce back from economic losses. However, health experts have continuously warned against the risky move, saying this may only contribute to a further spike in virus cases. PM Modi to address BJP's election meeting in Coimbatore on Feb 25 India oi-Madhuri Adnal Coimbatore, Feb 23: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address an election meeting here on February 25 and at least 1.5 lakh people are expected to attend, BJP sources said on Tuesday. Modi will arrive here by flight at 3.30 PM and attend a function at the Codissia complex where he will dedicate various projects to the nation at 3.55 pm,BJP's district party president Nandakumar told reporters. He will address the public meeting organised by BJP at the adjacent grounds at 5 PM and leave for Chennai by flight at 6 PM, he said. You have ability to move things from patterns to patents: PM Modi IIT Kharagpur convention Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Chief Minister K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief minister O Panneerselvam will participate in the official function, Nandakumar said. Party workers and functionaries from 12 districts are expected to attend the meeting, in the presence of BJP national general scretary C T Ravi, Union minister of state for home G Kishan Reddy and State president L Murugan. Tight security cover has been thrown in and around the area from Monday and nearly 7,000 police personnel including those from nearby districts, will be deployed on the day, police sources said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, February 23, 2021, 18:49 [IST] (Natural News) Immunologist J. Bart Classen warns that the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for COVID-19 can potentially cause neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimers disease. In a paper published in the journal Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, Classen reported that mRNA-based vaccines like the two jabs can misfold proteins in the body that are linked to the development of neurodegenerative disorders. Long-term risks of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are the only jabs for COVID-19 approved for use in the United States. They are also the first vaccines made using mRNA technology to be approved for human use. Both jabs work by injecting genetic material called mRNA that codes for a critical fragment of the spike protein the molecule used by SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19 to infect human cells. Once this genetic material is inside the body, the muscle cells translate them to make the spike protein. The immune system then gets a preview of what the real virus looks like without supposedly causing disease. When a vaccinated individual gets infected, the immune system releases antibodies that can neutralize the real virus and protect the individual from COVID-19. But in his study, Classen found that mRNA-vaccines could favor the development of various diseases. After sampling the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and analyzing its RNA sequences, he identified several sequences that can misfold certain proteins in the body. When misfolded, these proteins can potentially cause Alzheimers, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative disorders, according to Classen. He also said that mRNA-based vaccines may cause several more adverse events, such as infections that are more serious than COVID-19. Because the vaccine places the spike protein on the surface of human cells, according to Classen, it may serve as a receptor for other foreign pathogens. If those who argue that COVID-19 is actually a bioweapon are correct, then a second potentially more dangerous virus may be released that binds spike protein found on the host cells of vaccine recipients, Classen wrote in his paper, referring to the possibility that the certain powerful personalities engineered the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, he continued, data about how long the spike protein will be present on human cells is not publicly available. (Related: Why is the CDC withholding critical covid-19 vaccine safety data from the public?.) Classen also raised the possibility that the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna jabs could contribute to diabetes. Past studies he co-authored suggest that vaccines can give rise to chronic conditions, such as Type 1 diabetes three to four years after vaccination. Classen concluded that these risks should have been taken into consideration before approving both jabs for use, especially as the vaccines were developed without extensive long-term safety testing. mRNA vaccines may be dangerous in the long term Many researchers have identified potential long-term risks to mRNA-based vaccines. According to an article published in May last year in the journal Medical Science Monitor, these risks include the possible development of autoimmunity (where the immune system attacks the bodys own tissues) and the toxic effects of the vaccines components including the RNA sequences. Though the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines already rolled out in many countries, their long-term side effects are not yet well-established. The adverse reactions that experts are aware of are short-term side effects. We know about short-term side effects, and the vast majority of side effects following vaccination occur within the first 30 to 40 days, said William Moss, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. While the people who participated in clinical vaccine trials have surpassed this timeline, its still too early to tell what the long-term side effects of the coronavirus vaccines are. Additional follow-up in the months and years to come is necessary for a fuller understanding of their risks. Learn more about the dangers of COVID-19 vaccines at Vaccines.news. Sources include: WakingTimes.com SciVisionPub.com [PDF] TheConversation.com MediaMatters.org NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov HuffPost.com Revanth urged her not to fall prey to KCRs machinations and asked her to think twice before taking the next political step. DC file photo Hyderabad: The TRS party fielded S. Vani Devi, educationist and daughter of former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, only to tarnish the image of the Pamulaparthi family, Congress MP A. Revanth Reddy said on Monday. Mr Reddy said that if Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao had any love or respect for the family of late P.V. Narasimha Rao, he should nominate her under either the Governors quota or send her to Rajya Sabha. He questioned why Chandrashekar Rao offered her an MLC seat in which she would certainly be defeated. Mr Rao had on Sunday announced former prime minister P.V. Narasimha Raos daughter Vani Devi was the official TRS candidate for the Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Mahabubnagar graduates MLC poll. Mr Reddy reminded that it was the Congress party which honoured Mr Narasimha Rao, from fielding him to elections in which he won, starting at the village-level to making him a Prime Minister. The Malkajgiri MP further said that Chandrashekar Rao was indulging in dirty politics by bringing Vani into the picture at the last minute. He urged her not to fall prey to KCRs machinations and asked her to think twice before taking the next political step. He even requested her to withdraw her nomination. I know what KCR wants to prove to society by offering an MLC seat to a great family, in which Ms Vani would most certainly be defeated, he added. Tuesday, February 23, 2021 Alexandra Paxinos has multiple areas of interest in tourism, marketing, and policy Her work with TheSouth Australian Tourism Commission elevates tourism and events in Australia and helps areas impacted by crises About Alexandra Paxinos Alexandra (Alexi) Paxinos is a marketing manager, Asia specialist, partnerships strategist, professional development advocate, and policy advisor. From the age of 9, Alexi has been the sole caregiver of her mother following an accident that left her paraplegic. At 10 years old, she performed for Pope John Paul II with the Australian Youth Choir in Italy and has since gone on to host the current Prime Minister of Singapore, and meet with the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, after being nominated as a Young Community Leader of South Australia by Carers SA. Alexis first promotion came at age 14 when she became Corporal in the Australian Air Force Cadets, before graduating high school at 16 and purchasing her first investment property at 19. Her first international influencer campaign won four international awards including the Silver Award for Best Influencer Strategy in the 2016 Marketing Magazine Hong Kong PR Awards; a position second only to Procter & Gamble, and 'Social Media Influencer of the Year' at the 2016 Mumbrella Awards Singapore. Her work has been published in globally distributed magazines, on bus-wraps in Hong Kong, across train stations and live-streams in China, and on live-feeds in South Korea. Alexi is the Senior Marketing Executive of The South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC), a state tourism organization focused on marketing South Australia to national and international audiences, and bringing new and exciting events, conferences, and festivals to South Australia. In February 2020, Alexi was promoted to Senior Marketing Executive, North Asia, and simultaneously Marketing Manager, Hong Kong at the South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC) her fourth promotion in four years at the organization. In July, Alexi was appointed to the Board of Directorsand in September, Chair of Events Committeefor Spence Club Inc, a networking not-for-profit aimed at developing and retaining female talent in South Australia. In August, Alexi was seconded, in addition to her two marketing roles, as Government Affairs Advisor where she leads policy initiatives and responses on behalf of the SATC. She was also promoted to Vice Chair of Young Australian Tourism Export Council of South Australia (YATEC SA), after becoming a general committee member in January. Alexi has managed this while crisis-managing SATC activities in Hong Kong due to the anti-extradition protests, South Australian bushfires, and global COVID-19 pandemic. Alexandra Paxinos won two Bronze Stevie Awards for Female Employee of the Year - Government or Non-Profit and Woman of the Year - Government or Non-Profit in The 2020 Stevie Awards for Women in Business. Interested in entering the 2021 Stevie Awards for women in Business? NORTH CHARLESTON Plans are moving forward to redevelop a dilapidated school building further damaged by a fire last year. The city's Finance Committee voted unanimously Feb. 18 to sell the old Chicora Elementary School to Metanoia. The North Charleston nonprofit, which had been leasing the school site at the corner of Chicora Avenue and Success Street from the city since 2017, has been working to refurbish the run-down structure. The goal is to make it a usable space that will include an early childhood education center, community theater, a city-operated art studio and a school. The initial vote to sell the property recognizes the need for Metanoia to own the building to obtain insurance claims funds for the project, said the Rev. Bill Stanfield, chief executive of Metanoia. "The city has done right by us," Stanfield said. "One of the things that has been determined in the (insurance claims) process is it will be very helpful for us to own the building." The Chicora school project is among the most notable shaping up on the city's south end as it will provide the community with a much-needed asset to the neighborhood. The final vote will be decided at the March 11 City Council meeting where the decision is expected to pass. The purchase agreement says Metanoia could buy the property with a lump sum payment of $205,000. It also contains a clause that would return the property to the city if the project hasn't begun within 36 months of the closing date. The school, which was shuttered in 2012, is in Chicora-Cherokee, a predominantly Black neighborhood being increasingly threatened with the prospect of gentrification. Neighborhood President Aj Davis recognizes the community is "under a microscope" as more development shapes up on the old Navy base and throughout the southern end. He said the Chicora-Cherokee neighborhood has been intimately involved in the planning of the project, which he called organic and beneficial. "I see it as a positive use of the property," Davis said. Working to revitalize the structure built in the 1930s has been no easy feat. A fire in February last year consumed the building's auditorium, adding additional financial challenges to project. Metanoia had enough financing to cover the project, but the fire increased costs. In addition to insurance claims, the nonprofit is hoping to fund the $27 million endeavor with state and federal tax credits. Stanfield hopes the claims process will wrap up in three months. The organization also plans to begin preliminary repairs to the structure soon. Metanoia aims to close on the financing next year and soon after begin construction. The nonprofit plans to open the redeveloped facility in 2023. It's been a very long journey," Stanfield said. "The journey is not over. We still have a lot of work to do. We see it as keeping our promises to the community." What would've been the facility's key tenant, Allegro Charter School of Music, pulled out of the plan due to the pandemic last year, delaying the renovation. Stanfield said Metanoia is in the process of "vetting a couple strong candidates." The organization that will take residence will be education-focused, he said. What is concrete is Metanoia will run an early learning center inside the facility. The center will serve children 6 weeks to 4 years old, putting them on a promising path toward academic success, Stanfield said. This is much needed in neighborhoods like Chicora-Cherokee, which often lack quality early childhood programs, Davis said. The result ends up being students who enter kindergarten unprepared, he said. Its something thats meeting an existing need for our neighborhood," Davis said. Councilman Michael Brown, who represents the district that covers the area, expressed similar support for the project. Mayor Keith Summey said hes glad to see some closure come to the process. He thinks the redeveloped facility will be a catalyst that will spark other kinds of investment, such as upkeep of existing homes and continued construction of new ones. The deal for the building also involves an urban farm just southwest of the school, all of which currently belong to the city. If the city sells the old school, the property will be subdivided, potentially allowing Fresh Future to buy from the city land it has been leasing since 2014. Summey said a decision has not been made yet on whether the city will sell the land to the farm. Fresh Future operates a small grocery store in an area federally designated as a food desert due to limited access to a nearby supermarket. A sailor who spent hours fighting the ferocious waves of the Pacific Ocean after falling overboard survived by clinging to an abandoned fishing buoy. Vidam Perevertilov fell off cargo ship Silver Supporter on February 16 without a life jacket during its regular journey between Tauranga and Pitcairn Island. After finishing his night-shift in the engine room, he felt hot and dizzy and went to the deck to take in some fresh air. But in his exhausted state, he slipped overboard in the pitch dark into the icy sea as his crew and ship - unaware he was missing - drifted off into the distance. Vidam Perevertilov (pictured) fell off cargo ship Silver Supporter on February 16 without a life jacket during its regular journey between Tauranga and Pitcairn Island Mr Perevertilov spent hours struggling to stay afloat until the sunlight offered a glimpse of hope - something black several kilometres away bobbing on the horizon. 'He started swimming towards it. It turned out to be an old fishing buoy. It was not anchored to anything or a boat, it was just a piece of sea rubbish,' his son Marat told Stuff from Lithuania. At 10am, the crew realised Mr Perevertilov was missing and the captain radioed in the emergency and swiftly turned the ship around. Using work logs, they were able to determine the ship's coordinates at 4am, when Mr Perevertilov was last seen, and send distress messages to JRCC Tahiti and other ships in that area. A rescue mission was launched, coordinated by several authorities, including a French navy aircraft based in Polynesia and the Meteo-France, a French-national meteorological service, who drafted probable drift patterns. As search teams ramped up their efforts, Perevertilov, dehydrated and blistering under the sun, held out hope someone would find him before nightfall. At day break, the sailor swam to an abandoned fishing bouy several kilometres away, which kept him afloat until rescue teams arrived Then, suddenly, the Silver Supporter appeared in the distance. 'The Silver Supporter was running search patterns and one of the passengers said he had heard a weak, human shout on the starboard side of the ship,' Marat said. Marat said the captain steered the ship back into its initial search path and a lookout noticed a hand sticking up out of the sea. The cargo ship pulled up alongside the sailor and threw him a lifebuoy, then lowered a ladder and a crewman pulled him on board. Marat, who was told the miraculous tale of survival from his father, said he looked 20 years older when they found him. 'I probably would have drowned straight away, but he always kept himself fit and healthy and thats why I think he could survive,' Marat said. Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Machine learning-based training of brain activity has led to exciting developments: reducing fears, changing preferences, and even increasing confidence. Unfortunately, data to better understand the mechanisms of brain self-regulation remain scarce. A group of researchers from Japan, the U.S. and Canada have joined forces to release the largest existing dataset of the sort. In recent years, researchers have discovered ways to remove specific fears from the brain, increase confidence, or even change preferences, by using a combination of artificial intelligence and brain scanning technology. This technique could lead to new treatments for patients with conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), phobias or anxiety disorders. But while this technique is extremely promising, in some individuals, it is not successful. Why are there such differences in outcome? Better understanding of how the brain self-regulates its own activity patterns would go a long way toward establishing the technique for clinical use. The researchers who spearheaded this technique have thus released a unique dataset that includes five different studies in a bid to accelerate the translation from basic science to application. The technique is called decoded neurofeedback, and is based on a method to read and identify specific information in the brainfor example, a fear memory. Senior author Dr. Mitsuo Kawato, director of the Computational Neuroscience Laboratories at the ATR Institute International in Japan, who pioneered the technique a decade ago, says, "In decoded neurofeedback experiments, brain scanning is used to monitor activity in the brain and identify complex patterns of activity that resemble a specific memory or mental state. When the pattern is detected, we give our experimental participants a small reward. The simple action of repeatedly providing a reward every time the pattern is detected modifies the original memory or mental state. Importantly, participants do not need to be aware of the patterns' content for this to work." Dr. Aurelio Cortese, senior researcher at ATR Institute International and lead author of the paper, explained the reasons for releasing the data: "The decoded neurofeedback approach could have major benefits for clinical populations over traditional treatments. Patients could avoid the stress associated with exposure therapies or side-effects resulting from established drugs. As such, it is crucial we accelerate the development of the decoded neurofeedback techniqueand this will only be possible if more scientists will be able to work on the actual data." Explore further Reconditioning the brain to overcome fear More information: Cortese A, Tanaka SC, Amano K, Koizumi A, Lau H, Sasaki Y, Shibata K, Taschereau-Dumouchel V, Watanabe T, Kawato M. The DecNef collection, fMRI data from closed-loop decoded neurofeedback experiments. Scientific Data. DOI: 10.1038/s41597-021-00845-7 Cortese A, Tanaka SC, Amano K, Koizumi A, Lau H, Sasaki Y, Shibata K, Taschereau-Dumouchel V, Watanabe T, Kawato M. The DecNef collection, fMRI data from closed-loop decoded neurofeedback experiments. Shibata K, Watanabe T, Kawato M, Sasaki Y (2016) Differential activation patterns in the same brain region led to opposite emotional states: PLoS Biol. 14(9): e1002546. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1002546. Amano K, Shibata K, Kawato M, Sasaki Y, Watanabe T (2016) Learning to associate orientation with color in early visual areas by associative decoded fMRI neurofeedback. Curr Biol. 26(14):1861-1866. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.05.014. Koizumi A, Amano K, Cortese A, Shibata K, Yoshida W, Seymour B, Kawato M, Lau H (2016) Fear reduction without fear through reinforcement of neural activity that bypasses conscious exposure. Nat Hum Behav. 1:0006. DOI: 10.1038/s41562-016-0006. Cortese A, Amano K, Koizumi A, Kawato M, Lau H (2016) Multivoxel neurofeedback selectively modulates confidence without changing perceptual performance. Nat Commun. 7:13669. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13669. Taschereau-Dumouchel V, Cortese A, Chiba T, Knotts JD, Kawato M, Lau H (2018) Towards an unconscious neural reinforcement intervention for common fears. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 115(13):3470-3475. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1721572115. Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Provided by ATR Brain Information Communication Research Laboratory Group How did you handle these allegations? I asked all my sources: Is there documentation of any inappropriate behavior? Did women file complaints either internally or with the city? In many of these cases, particularly with the clients, there wasnt any official documentation. Several homeless women told their caseworkers or told their friends about Mr. Riveras conduct but were scared of complaining officially because they needed shelter. For those cases, I did as much independent verification as I could, including calling the people they said they confided in at the time. But in other cases, there was a paper trail. One homeless woman named Marta Del Valle had complained to New York City officials that Victor Rivera had sexually harassed her when she was staying in a shelter in 2017. She had kept all her paperwork, which she provided to me. But the city handed her complaint back to Mr. Riveras organization to investigate, and she told me it was basically swept under the rug. What kind of public records requests did you file? I requested records from the State Division of Human Rights, which handles some employment cases, which showed that the Bronx Parent Housing Network had given thousands of dollars in settlements to employees who had complained about Mr. Riveras inappropriate behavior. I also reviewed a police report detailing how one woman told police in 2017 that Mr. Rivera had slapped her in the face and sexually assaulted her. How many public record requests did you have to put in? I filed dozens of freedom of information requests with various city and state agencies. The bulk of the records I requested were from the City Department of Social Services, the agency that oversees homeless shelters in New York. Those records showed that city officials had been aware of at least some of the financial entanglements that Mr. Rivera was involved with at the Bronx Parent Housing Network including allegations of nepotism and self-dealing since 2017. But they continued to give the organization money. How long did the requests take to come back? The city was not answering basic questions; it felt like they were stonewalling me. The city was very slow in responding to requests. After several months of not receiving even basic records, I showed up in person at the Department of Social Services office and said I wasnt leaving until I received the records I had requested. I camped out in the lobby for a couple of hours and asked one of The New York Times attorneys to call city officials on my behalf to also try to pry free these public records. That pressure campaign worked, and I received several key documents the next day. But Im still waiting on many other requests. Paradigm is a late-stage drug development company with the mission to develop and commercialise Pentosan Polysulfate Sodium for the treatment of pain associated with musculoskeletal disorders driven by injury and inflammation. The Australian Government R&D Tax Incentive encourages companies to engage in R&D benefiting Australia ( ) has received more than $3.38 million as a Research and Development (R&D) Tax Incentive refund for the 2020 financial year. The R&D Tax Incentive was accounted for as income in the company's FY20 accounts. This Australian Government incentive encourages companies to engage in R&D benefiting Australia, by providing a tax offset of up to 43.5% (refundable) for eligible R&D activities. Important for industry PAR chief executive officer Paul Rennie said: The Governments continued investment in research and innovation is critically important to maintaining a strong local industry. In addition to the important contribution to health outcomes, the industry also provides significant economic growth and employment opportunities in Australia. Ethics approval for phase-2 clinical trial Paradigm has recently received ethics approval for its phase 2 clinical trial to evaluate the treatment effects of Pentosan Polysulfate Sodium (PPS) against placebo on synovial fluid biomarkers in participants with knee osteoarthritis (OA) pain. The randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 study will investigate PPS or placebo treatment in a total of 60 patients with primary endpoint data expected to read out in the third quarter of 2021. PAR hopes to provide further evidence that certain biomarkers are more prevalent in the synovial fluid of symptomatic OA patients with radiographic evidence of joint damage, determine if biomarker concentrations change in the synovial fluid with PPS treatment, and to assess possible disease-modifying effects of PPS on patients with knee OA pain. FREDERICTON - New Brunswick's auditor general says NB Power needs to make reducing its $4.9-billion debt a priority, adding that credit rating agencies are taking notice of the utility's liabilities. The Point Lepreau nuclear power plant in Point Lepreau, N.B., is seen on Monday, July 9, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kevin Bissett FREDERICTON - New Brunswick's auditor general says NB Power needs to make reducing its $4.9-billion debt a priority, adding that credit rating agencies are taking notice of the utility's liabilities. Kim Adair-MacPherson tabled two volumes of her annual report Tuesday as she appeared before the legislature's public accounts committee. She said NB Power has the highest debt-to-equity ratio of all government-owned utilities in Canada. "NB Power was financed 94 per cent by debt in 2020," she said. Adair-MacPherson said she has "serious concern" about the utility's repeated failure to meet debt-reduction and income targets. "NB Power has planned major capital projects estimated to cost at least $4 billion, so potentially NB Power's debt could double in the coming years," she told the committee. Those projects include $2.7 billion to $3.7 billion to extend the life of the Mactaquac Dam, $84 million for the Belledune generating station and $93 million for the Coleson Cove generating station. Adair-MacPherson told a virtual news conference later in the day that credit rating agencies are taking notice of the utility's high debt load. "The rating agencies state NB Power as the province's largest contingent risk. Sustainability of NB Power will be a concern whether it's the ratepayer or the taxpayer who ends up footing the bill," she said. Adair-MacPherson said NB Power has reduced debt by an average of $20 million per year since renovations to the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant were completed in 2013. However, she said, the utility would have to reduce debt by $65 million per year to meet its 2027 target. Reducing debt to that extent is possible if management at the utility makes it a priority, she added. Responding to the auditor general Tuesday, NB Power said it takes very seriously its responsibility to operate its facilities "in a safe, reliable and economically sustainable manner." "NB Power remains committed to meeting its mandated debt-to-equity target by 2027," the utility wrote. The utility added that significant portions of its costs remain outside its control, such as fuel prices, electricity market prices and weather. Adair-MacPherson told the committee that NB Power's revenue over the last four years was $195 million less than what the province had expected it to be, adding that inaccurate forecasting by the utility has helped prevent it from reducing debt more quickly. Interim Liberal Leader Roger Melanson said Tuesday that when he was finance minister, NB Power's income forecast was never on target. "There needs to be more focus on financial management and management around the debt," Melanson said. People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin said someone needs to be held accountable for NB Power failing to meet its financial targets. Also in her report, the auditor general was critical of the provincial government for failing to address the demand for nursing homes. "In my view, the province is failing to address the nursing home capacity demand. The province is not ready for the increase in seniors requiring placement in a residential facility," she said. Adair-MacPherson said although some capacity has been added, there remains a long wait-list for nursing home placements, which she said is causing pressure on hospitals and increasing costs. "The senior population of New Brunswick aged 75 and older is expected to double over the next 20 years," she said in her report. "Failing to implement nursing home plans and obtain needed services for seniors will result in a crisis." She also took aim at the Health Department's electronic medical records system, which she said has been expensive and adopted by fewer than half the province's doctors. Adair-MacPherson said the government took a hands-off approach to the program's funding and implementation and did not exercise adequate oversight. As a result, she said, the province did not get the intended benefit after spending more than $26 million on the project. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 23, 2021. Joint Forces have fired back. The Command of Ukraine's Armed Forces has reported one killed in action (KIA) and two wounded in action (WIA) amid 11 violations of the ceasefire agreement by Russia-controlled armed groups in the Donbas warzone on Monday, February 22. "In the past day, February 22, as many as 11 ceasefire violations were recorded in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) zone," the press center of the Ukrainian JFO Command said on Facebook in an update as of 07:00 Kyiv time on February 23, 2021. In particular, Russia's armed formations fired grenade launchers of various types and automatic rifles at Ukrainian positions near the town of Avdiyivka. "A serviceman was killed as a result of the shelling, while another one sustained shrapnel wounds," reads the report. The Joint Forces' Command has expressed its sincere condolences to the families and friends of the fallen soldier. Also, Russian occupation troops employed proscribed 82mm mortars, grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, and rifles near the village of Vodiane. The enemy remotely planted POM-2 anti-personnel landmines in front of Ukrainian positions in the said direction. What is more, the enemy fired a hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher near the town of Maryinka, as well as rifles near the village of Pervomaiske. The enemy also used automatic grenade launchers, heavy machine guns, and rifles near the village of Pivdenne. "A member of the Joint Forces was wounded as a result of the shelling. The soldier was provided with medical assistance and evacuated to a hospital," the report says. Since Tuesday midnight, February 23, three ceasefire violations were recorded in the JFO zone. In particular, the Russian occupation troops fired 82mm mortars and anti-tank grenade launchers near the village of Zaitseve. "A soldier was killed in the shelling, while another one suffered shrapnel wounds," the JFO HQ said. Moreover, Russia's armed formations fired 120mm mortars near the town of Krasnohorivka, as well as anti-tank grenade launchers near Avdiyivka. The Joint Forces' units have returned fire. The violations were reported to OSCE representatives through the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) of the ceasefire in Donbas. The situation is under full control of the Ukrainian military. Donbas ceasefire: Background Participants in the Trilateral Contact Group (Ukraine, Russia, and the OSCE) on the peace settlement in Donbas on July 22 agreed on a full and comprehensive ceasefire along the contact line from 00:01 on Monday, July 27, 2020. On the very first day of the newly-agreed truce, Russia's hybrid military forces mounted three attacks on Ukrainian positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine. Ukraine has reported more such violations over the latest period. Reporting by UNIAN Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 The World Health Organization (WHO) and US-based risk management services provider ESIS Inc signed an agreement on behalf of the Covax for the administration of a no-fault compensation programme for 92 low- and middle-income countries, including India, that are eligible to get vaccines paid through the facility. The multilateral agency signed the agreement with the subsidiary of property and casualty insurance giant Chubb Ltd last week, a release by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance said. Covax is a facility aimed at equitable access to covid-19 vaccines globally and is jointly led by the WHO, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Under the facilitys Advance Market Commitment (AMC) programme, 92 countries will get the vaccine supported by Covaxs dedicated fund. A no-fault compensation allows vaccine beneficiaries to receive compensation in case of a rare, but serious, adverse events associated with vaccines without making the beneficiaries to prove that the vaccine was the cause of the serious injury. While some countries ask companies to pay the compensation through an insurance, others like the US use a dedicated fund which makes the disbursal. Covaxs no-fault compensation programme will be the first vaccine-injury compensation mechanism that would operate on an international scale, and will offer countries eligible under AMC the support to disburse compensation for rare but serious adverse events associated with Covax-distributed vaccines until 30 June next year. The no-fault compensation scheme not only gives #COVAX a clear advantage over bilateral deals for lower-income countries, giving them access to a legal mechanism and funds specifically for this issue, it gives us a model for future pandemics," Gavi chief executive officer Seth Berkley said on Twitter. The no-fault compensation is also likely to help India, which is scheduled to get funding for over 97 million doses of Covishield through the Covax facility. However, India itself neither has a compensation mechanism for serious vaccine injuries caused by the jabs, let alone a no-fault compensation mechanism. But if the vaccinee is part of clinical trial, then they are eligible for compensation from the sponsor, if they can prove that the vaccine was the cause. Health secretary Rajesh Bhushan has earlier said that people who have serious adverse effects following vaccination will have to approach courts in the absence of a compensation mechanism. Officials at Indian vaccine manufacturers, including Serum Institute of India, have also been seeking indemnity from the government for covid-19 vaccines. Indemnity is a form of insurance wherein the government pays the compensation in case of a side-effect following vaccination instead of the company. At present, Serum Institute of India is not providing compensation for vaccine injuries from Covishield, but Bharat Biotech International has to provide the compensation as Covaxin is given an authorisation under clinical trial" mode. A compensation mechanism for serious side-effects, especially a no-fault compensation, is important to instil confidence in vaccines, various experts have said. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Two men are facing criminal charges for allegedly threatening Michigan Democrats over the presidential election results. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced charges were filed against a 62-year-old Harrison man and 43-year-old Georgia man, neither of whom were arraigned as of Tuesday afternoon. Both cases allegedly involve threats motivated by President Joe Bidens victory in the November presidential election. It is unacceptable and illegal to intimidate or threaten public officials, Nessel said in a statement. To those who think they can do so by hiding behind a keyboard or phone, we will find you and we will prosecute you, to the fullest extent of the law. No elected official should have to choose between doing their job and staying safe. The Harrison man faces three misdemeanor charges for malicious use of a telecommunications service provider, punishable by six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. The man allegedly left threatening messages for U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, and made threatening statements in a phone conversation with a staff member of U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly. According to the Attorney Generals office, he left a Jan. 5 voicemail message for Stabenow warning that he joined a militia and there would be violence if the presidential election results were not changed. He allegedly identified himself as a Republican and reiterated the threats and other vulgar words in an email. The Harrison man allegedly threatened Slotkin in a phone call on April 30, 2020, and later spoke with a staff member from Slotkins office for more than an hour on Jan. 19. He claimed people will die and used violent references, during the second phone call, according to the Attorney Generals office. Slotkin said this is not the first time her office has been targeted by violent threats. In a statement, Slotkin said Americans should not normalize this kind of coercive behavior. I want to make clear that law enforcement will be involved in each and every threat we receive, Slotkin said in a statement. While I cant comment on the specifics of an ongoing case, there are two broad points that are clear: Myself and my colleagues in elected office, particularly women, are unfortunately no strangers to violent, threatening calls and comments and it has got to stop. The charges against Stabenow and the April 2020 call to Slotkin were filed in Livingston County District Court. The charge involving the second call to Slotkin was filed in Clare County District Court. A man from Douglas, Georgia is charged with one count of malicious use of service provided by a telecommunications service provider, punishable by a six-month misdemeanor and $1,000 fine. The charge against was filed in Wayne Countys 36th District Court in Detroit. According to the Attorney Generals office, the man allegedly left a threatening voicemail message for Michigan Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens. He allegedly accused activist judges of making rulings that caused Biden to win the election. READ MORE ON MLIVE: Police expected violence at U.S. Capitol but werent ready for coordinated attack. Michigan senator leads probe to learn why. Michigan man arrested for breaking into Capitol released on bond Constitutional sheriffs ask Michigan police to stand against Biden, COVID-19 orders Pharmacies, GPs and healthcare organisations will be banned from displaying advertisements identifying whether they are using the Pfizer or AstraZeneca product in the national COVID-19 vaccine rollout. The Therapeutic Goods Administration, the federal body that regulates medical drugs and devices, has released strict guidelines stopping organisations from developing their own ads for coronavirus vaccines. A used COVID-19 vaccine vial seen at the COVID-19 surge centre in Canberra on Tuesday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Businesses involved in the rollout are welcome to use government-approved materials to inform the public of vaccine availability but must be careful not to add the tradename and/or active ingredient of the specific vaccine or other information that might enable consumers to identify the particular vaccine or the manufacturer of the vaccine. Individuals receiving vaccines will be able to get information on the brand of vaccine they are receiving, but providers will not be able to promote that they are using a particular brand, or compare one product over another. Angry residents of north Queensland want the Parliament to abandon its usual scrutiny processes and fast-track proposed youth justice laws, crossbench MP Robbie Katter says. Draft laws that would keep teenagers accused of serious crimes behind bars while they await their day in court will be introduced to Queensland Parliament on Wednesday. Robbie Katter wants youth justice laws fast-tracked. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Under the proposed laws, courts would have the power to clamp GPS trackers on repeat teenage offenders as a bail condition and there would be a presumption against bail for youth offenders arrested for serious crimes such as armed robbery and rape. The state Labor government caved to weeks of community pressure and pledged to toughen up laws to crack down on repeat offenders after the tragic deaths of a Queensland couple and their unborn child last month. New York Dad-to-Be Killed While Building Device for Gender Reveal An expecting father died on Sunday after a device he was building for a party focused on revealing his childs gender exploded, authorities said. New York state police officers responded just before noon to a report of an explosion in the town of Liberty. An investigation showed that Christopher Pekny, 28, was building a device to be used at a child gender reveal party, police officials said in a statement. The device exploded, killing Pekny and injuring his brother. Michael Pekny, 27, was rushed to Garnet Medical Center in Middletown. The incident is being probed by the state police, including its Bomb Disposal Unit. The Pekny family owns the Robin Hood Diner in Livingston Manor, New York. We are deeply saddened and must inform you all of the loss of our dear an[d] beloved Christopher, the owners said in a Facebook post on Monday, adding that the establishment will be closed for the immediate future. The family thanked people for the overwhelming display of love and support that you all have shown. Mishaps are not uncommon when planning for or hosting gender reveal parties. A 26-year-old man in Michigan earlier this month died when a cannon exploded during a party. Embers fly off burning timber as flames push towards homes during the Creek fire in the Cascadel Woods area of unincorporated Madera County, Calif., on Sept. 7, 2020. The fire was ignited by a pyrotechnic device at a gender reveal party, authorities said. (Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images) The homeowner had purchased the cannon at an auction prior to the event and had fired the cannon several times prior, Michigan State Police said in a statement. The cannon did not contain any projectiles, but it is suspected that the gun powder loaded into the device caused the cannon to fracture. Last year, a wildfire in California was ignited when a couple used a pyrotechnic device at a gender reveal party. Jenna Karvunidis, who is credited by some for holding the first gender reveal party in 2008, said last year that people should not do them any longer. Stop it. Stop having these stupid parties. For the love of God, stop burning things down to tell everyone about your kids penis. No one cares but you, she wrote on Facebook after the wildfire started. Oh, and of course Im getting hate messages. Excuse me for having a cake for my family in 2008. Just because Im the gEnDeR rEvEaL iNVeNtoR doesnt mean I think people should burn down their communities, she added. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 05:46:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BRUSSELS, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission hopes to boost technological innovation in the European Union (EU) by improving synergies between civil, defense and space industries, senior EU officials said on Monday. Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Margrethe Vestager and European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton presented an action plan on synergies between civil, defense and space industries during a press conference. Supported by EU defense fund, the action plan is also expected to increase spin-offs and spin-ins, meaning that it will optimize the benefits the technologies from defense and space industries have on civilian innovations and vice versa. Eleven targeted actions were announced, among them three flagship projects focusing on drone technologies, space-based security connectivity and space traffic management. For the first time, EU funding presents opportunities to reinforce European innovation by exploring and exploiting the disruptive potential of technologies at the interface between defense, space and civil uses, such as cloud, processors, cyber, quantum and artificial intelligence, the commission said in a statement. "This action plan is a systematic and methodological approach to synergies in critical technologies across the three worlds. The idea is for innovations to systematically reach multiple uses by design. And to allow tapping into the huge innovation potential of researchers and start-ups," said Vestagher. The increased size of investments in technologies of civil, defense or space application can help Europe maintain its industrial base, respond to the geopolitical competition, and strengthen its technological sovereignty, according to the European Commission. Enditem SACRAMENTO Gov. Gavin Newsom signed several bills Tuesday providing billions of dollars in financial aid to low-income Californians and small businesses struggling through the coronavirus pandemic. But he signaled little progress on his push to reopen schools, weeks after promising that a deal was imminent. During a signing ceremony in downtown Sacramento, Newsom declined to discuss his negotiations with legislative leaders who stood a few feet away or even say whether all students would be able to return for in-person instruction before the end of this academic year. Were working together on that, he said. Im not saying were at the 1- or 2-yard line, but were certainly in the red zone in terms of working with the Legislature. The $7.6 billion package Newsom signed includes $600 stimulus payments for more than 5 million low-income California households. Taxpayers who claim the state earned income tax credit for the working poor generally, those with incomes of $30,000 a year or less will receive a $600 rebate about five weeks after filing their tax return. Noncitizens who pay taxes using an individual taxpayer identification number also will receive rebates if they made $75,000 or less last year, regardless of their filing status. The income threshold is higher because noncitizens have not been eligible for federal stimulus checks. The state will distribute extra $600 grants starting in April to Californians enrolled in its welfare and supplemental Social Security programs. The plan adds $2 billion to a state grant program to help small businesses and nonprofits adapt operations for the coronavirus. Organizations with annual revenue of $2.5 million or less can apply to the Governors Office of Business and Economic Development for grants of $5,000 to $25,000. Some $50 million is set aside for small cultural institutions. Other provisions will waive some fees for service industries that have been required to close down or limit their capacity during the pandemic. The measures sailed through the Legislature on Monday, but the reception was tepid for another proposal to give school districts money to bring back their youngest and most vulnerable students by April 15. During an Assembly Budget Committee hearing, lawmakers raised concerns about testing requirements, the slow timeline and stipulations that schools hire more staff to address learning loss. Assembly Member Phil Ting, a San Francisco Democrat who helped craft the plan, expressed frustration at school districts that he said had made little effort to resume in-person instruction. This year, local control has been a complete failure, Ting said. Weve seen the whole trust us motto from the districts fail. But Newsom on Tuesday waved off questions about whether he might try to reach a statewide deal with teachers unions or override local bargaining to get students back into classrooms, emphasizing that one size does not fit all. Alexei Koseff is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff AMSTERDAM (dpa-AFX) - Dutch consumer electronics giant Philips Electronics NV (PHGFF.PK, PHG) Tuesday announced that its Supervisory Board has appointed Feike Sijbesma as the new Chairman, effective upon the closing of 2021 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on May 6. Sijbesma has been a member and Vice-Chairman of Philips' Supervisory Board since 2020, and will succeed the current Chairman Jeroen van der Veer, who will retire. Van der Veer joined the Supervisory Board in 2009 and has served for three consecutive terms. Since 2011, he has been the Supervisory Board's Chairman. Further, the Board has appointed Paul Stoffels as its new Vice-Chairman, succeeding Christine Poon. He has been a member of Philips' Supervisory Board since 2018. The current Chairman van der Veer and Vice-Chairwoman Poon will retire from Philips' Supervisory Board after their third consecutive term, effective upon closing of the 2021 AGM. Philips will propose to the AGM the appointment of Chua Sock Koong and Indra Nooyi as new members of the Supervisory Board. The company also proposed reappointment of Marnix van Ginneken, currently Chief Legal Officer, as member of its Board of Management. Orit Gadiesh, Philips' Supervisory Board member since 2014, will step down. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Queenslands chief health officer said there was probably no community transmission circulating in Australia on Tuesday as more than 200 people received their first COVID jab in the state, allowing life to rapidly return to normal. Anzac Day dawn services and marches will return to Queensland on April 25 after commemorations were disrupted last year because of pandemic restrictions. Explaining why she had decided to recommended Anzac Day marches were safe to go ahead this year, Jeannette Young said Queensland had seven active cases, compared with more than 270 on April 25 last year. We do not have community transmission here in Queensland today, and we probably do not have community transmission anywhere in the country today, she said. The implementation of practical measures within the framework of Ukraine-NATO cooperation in the Enhanced Opportunities Partnership format will provide additional impetus in relations with the North Atlantic Alliance. As Ukrinform reports with reference to the press service of the Ministry of Defence, this was emphasized by Minister of Defence of Ukraine Andriy Taran during the QUINT format meeting, which was attended by ministers of defence of Canada, the United States, Lithuania, Poland and Great Britain. Minister of Defence of Ukraine informed the ministers of defence of partner countries on changes in the security situation in eastern Ukraine, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea regions, the current state of implementation of the defence reform, as well as outlined the main priorities of the Ministry of Defence and the development of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the statement reads. As noted, Taran briefed his colleagues on the key priorities of national interests in the field of security and defence on the path towards Euro-Atlantic integration, including the implementation of practical measures within the framework of Ukraine-NATO cooperation in the Enhanced Opportunities Partnership format which will provide additional impetus to relations with the North Atlantic Alliance. The meeting participants discussed new forms and methods of more efficient use of human, material and financial resources to ensure Ukraines European and Euro-Atlantic integration and strengthen the defence capabilities of our state. Minister Taran also thanked for the constant support of the partners and underscored the importance of expanding cooperation in multilateral and bilateral formats. The ministers of defence of the United Kingdom, Canada, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Poland and the United States assured the Ukrainian side of comprehensive support, including for the sovereignty and territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders and security, as well as the defence sector reform. The QUINT format meeting confirmed the commitment of the parties to further cooperation in such a format. The meeting was attended by Secretary of State for Defence of the United Kingdom Ben Wallace, Minister of National Defence of Canada Harjit Sajjan, Minister of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania Arvydas Anusauskas, Minister of National Defence of the Republic of Poland Mariusz Baszczak and U.S. Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin. The event was organized and held with the assistance of Great Britain. As reported, Ukraine and NATO will develop additional measures and practical steps this year to improve the interoperability of the armed forces under the Enhanced Opportunities Partnership. ol COVID-19 vaccine developed by UB startup approved for human trials UB researcher Jonathan Lovell (right) and Kevin Carter are among the co-founders of POP Biotechnologies. File photo, taken prior to the pandemic. Credit: Douglas Levere, University at Buffalo. BUFFALO, N.Y. A COVID-19 vaccine candidate, under development by UB spinoff company POP Biotechnologies and South Korean biotech company EuBiologics, is moving into human trials in South Korea. The candidate, called EuCorVac-19, is a liquid injection that can be stored and distributed at refrigerated temperatures, potentially making it easier to distribute and store than some current vaccines which must be frozen. It was approved in January by the South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to enter a combined phase 1 and 2 clinical trial after generating strong immune responses in animal models. The first phase will involve 50 healthy adults in Korea to evaluate the safety, tolerance and immune response to the vaccine. For the second phase, the number of participants will increase to 230 adults to further evaluate immune response and dosage. The goal is to begin a wide-scale phase 3 trial later this year. Commencing first-in-human trials is a monumental step forward for our technology. Achieving this critical milestone provides validation towards not only solving this unprecedented global crisis, but also provides invaluable support towards our platforms development, further enabling the creation of new vaccines with tremendous potential to alleviate suffering worldwide, says POP Biotechnologies President Jonathan Smyth. Smyth co-founded the company in 2015 with then-fellow UB student Kevin Carter and Jonathan Lovell, a faculty member whose lab developed the biotechnology that is the basis of the vaccine candidate. Both Smyth, JD from the UB School of Law, and Carter, PhD from the Department of Biomedical Engineering, are UB alumni. The companys development of a vaccine delivery platform called SNAP (Spontaneous Nanoliposome Antigen Particleization) is what caught the attention of EuBiologics, a publicly traded firm in South Korea. The platform consists of specialized liposomes, first developed in Lovells lab and licensed to POP Biotechnologies through UBs Technology Transfer office, that bind to and improve the effectiveness of vaccine antigens, which are molecules that prompt the body to produce antibodies that neutralize disease. Prior to the pandemic, POP BIOs primary focus for the platform was on cancer therapies and a vaccine against HIV research that has been supported by funds from UB Center for Advanced Technology in Big Data and Health Sciences (UB CAT). At the start of the pandemic, POP BIO swiftly transitioned SNAP to discover effective vaccine candidates for COVID-19. Because SNAP is a vaccine platform technology, it could be applicable to any vaccine-related indication, for both chronic and infectious diseases. In-human testing for the COVID-19 vaccine will de-risk the technology for other indications too, said Lovell, SUNY Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, a joint program of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. The move from nascent startup to a biotech company whose technology is now in human trials comes after years of hard work and innovation, as well as support from UBs entrepreneurship and technology transfer programs, from government agencies, and from investors. In 2015, POP BIO won the Henry A. Panasci Jr. Technology Entrepreneurship Competition, created by the UB School of Management and the UB Office of Business and Entrepreneur Partnerships. It then attracted the interest of America Online co-founder Steve Case, who along with local investor z80 Labs, invested $100,000 in POP BIO in 2015 through the Rise of the Rest business plan contest. Since 2017, the company has worked from UBs Incubator @ Baird, a research park for startup companies. It continues to work on the HIV vaccine with Scripps Research, a project that is supported by a $600,000 National Institutes of Health contract. The team was recently awarded additional funds through UB CAT to build on the SNAP vaccine platform and explore indicators in Alzheimers disease. A connection made by Business and Entrepreneur Partnerships resulted in an introduction to a key partner for POP Biotechnologies, according to Lovell. BEP provided an entrepreneur-in-residence, who took us to a business conference where we met EuBiologics, the South Korean company who is our partner in developing the COVID-19 vaccine. We would not be at this phase in the vaccine trial without EuBiologics showing an interest in our technology and leading the charge. Those of us who believe in equality argue women should not need to modify their behaviour, it must be men who are made to behave like decent humans. I do not think we can wait for men to stop raping women. It breaks my heart to write this. It should not be the role of women to be forced to live their lives differently but I cant think of another solution after a long week of reading stories about young women being sexually assaulted where alcohol has been part of the mix. The researchers tell me to be patient. I cant be. Women are wary of date rape drugs - but they should also be wary of alcohol. Credit:Michel O'Sullivan We know it is not all men. There are many decent men who always do the right thing, who would no more have sex with a comatose woman than plunge their body parts into boiling metal but, still, too many men who wield power and privilege use violence against women, and far too many men who dont and wont do anything about it. If the age of male power is to end, then women will have to take action. I write this in despair; and know and understand it looks like I am making women repair men. But I cant think of anything else that will work in the short term. I just cant. Let us all, including men, continue to work on changing behaviour but that wont protect women this Saturday night. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company BENGALURU, India, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Infosys (NYSE: INFY), a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, today announced that it has been recognized by Ethisphere Institute, the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, as one of the world's most ethical companies for 2021. Infosys was distinguished for its undiluted commitment towards integrity and making value-based decisions. Through this coveted recognition, Infosys has become one of only four honorees in the Software & Services Industry globally, and one of the only three honorees in India. In 2021, 135 honorees were recognized spanning 22 countries and 47 industries. This year, the process was streamlined, and question set expanded to gauge how companies are adapting and responding to the global health pandemic, environmental, social and governance factors, safety, equity, inclusion, and social justice. Infosys showcased a strong connection between ethical practices and solid performance in the global market. The recognition additionally spotlighted Infosys in the areas of ethics and compliance, diversity, governance, and social initiatives. Timothy Erblich, Chief Executive Officer of Ethisphere, said, "2020 ushered many hardships for the world putting us through one of the most difficult tests of all times. While addressing various tough challenges, we saw companies not just working towards earning the trust of stakeholders through resilience and a commitment to ethics, transparency, and integrity but advancing their corporate cultures for the greater good. We are delighted to acknowledge Infosys for its firm commitment to creating the highest value for the communities they serve while prioritizing social imperatives. We would like to congratulate everyone at Infosys for earning this designation." Salil Parekh, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Infosys, said, "We are extremely honored to receive this prestigious recognition from the Ethisphere Institute. Flawless execution with integrity and compliance is the cornerstone of our continued success, and we firmly believe that an integrity-based approach greatly influences business success. Infosys' core values are the foundation on which we have built our success over the years. This acknowledgement further encourages us to stay committed to operate with high ethical standards and transparency, especially in these unprecedented times." The complete list of 2021 World's Most Ethical Companies can be found at: https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/honorees Methodology & Scoring Grounded in Ethisphere's proprietary Ethics Quotient, the World's Most Ethical Companies assessment process includes more than 200 questions on culture, environmental and social practices, ethics and compliance activities, governance, diversity and initiatives to support a strong value chain. The process serves as an operating framework to capture and codify the leading practices of organizations across industries and around the globe. About Infosys Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. We enable clients in 46 countries to navigate their digital transformation. With nearly four decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer our clients through their digital journey. We do it by enabling the enterprise with an AI-powered core that helps prioritize the execution of change. We also empower the business with agile digital at scale to deliver unprecedented levels of performance and customer delight. Our always-on learning agenda drives their continuous improvement through building and transferring digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem. Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise navigate your next. Safe Harbor Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects, financial expectations and plans for navigating the COVID-19 impact on our employees, clients and stakeholders are forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding COVID-19 and the effects of government and other measures seeking to contain its spread, risks related to an economic downturn or recession in India, the United States and other countries around the world, changes in political, business, and economic conditions, fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry and the outcome of pending litigation and government investigation. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020. These filings are available at www.sec.gov . Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company unless it is required by law. SOURCE Infosys Traveling Texans no longer have to bring their own ShotGun Spiked Seltzer with them when heading west to the neighboring state. Now, Texans have the opportunity to share a ShotGun Ranch Water with their New Mexican friends on the slopes or at a local restaurant. The day is here and it's no surprise that industry veterans and ShotGun founders, Lori and Brad Foster, are "driving the truck" so-to-speak. The two were first to introduce craft spiked seltzer to the Texas market in 2019, and they have continued to drive innovation within the category. Truckloads of ShotGun have begun to arrive in New Mexico at Admiral Beverage and will be heading out to a local retailer near you such as Albertson's and Total Wine & More. Brad Foster, Co-Founder of ShotGun Spiked Seltzer, said "We are excited to expand our brand and to be working with well respected and career long colleagues at Admiral Beverage." The expansion of ShotGun beyond Texas lines marks a first for the fast-growing spiked seltzer company and a sign of what's to come. "We are so happy to represent ShotGun, the first Ranch Water in New Mexico, stated Admiral Beverage President, Greg Brown. "We are honored to be doing business with the Foster family." Consumers can find the all-natural, low carb, zero sugar spiked seltzers in 6 packs and 12 packs in a variety of flavors all of which are inspired by craft cocktails. Currently, ShotGun has four flavors: Ranch Water- agave/lime, Bramble- blackberry/lemon, Buck- strawberry/ginger, Sunset 77- mango/passion fruit. About ShotGun Spiked Seltzer (shotgunseltzer.com) Founded in Austin in 2019 by beverage veterans Brad and Lori Foster, ShotGun is the first independently owned and operated, craft Texas seltzer brand using only quality ingredients. Its assortment of flavors is inspired by genuine craft cocktails with a Texas twist. About Admiral Beverage (admiralbeverage.com) Admiral Beverage is a statewide beverage wholesaler that sells over 11 million cases of beverages in New Mexico annually. Contact: For more information: Lori Foster 513-544-8523 [email protected] SOURCE Shotgun Seltzer LLC Related Links https://shotgunseltzer.com/ As Luxembourg enters phase 2 of its national vaccination campaign, and more questions are being raised about who should get which vaccine, RTL Today seeks to clarify a common question: Can I choose between vaccines? In short, the answer is no. Even though there are differences between the Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca jabs, the Ministry of Health confirmed to RTL Today that "due to logistical reasons there is no possibility to choose between vaccines". It is up to the doctor at the vaccination centre, who meets with all patients prior to administering the jab, to prescribe the vaccine best suited for the patient based on their medical history. As may be the case with regular medication, patients can have a preference between producers. Should the doctor prescribe a vaccine the patient does not agree with, and the alternative is not available, the patient has the right to decline being vaccinated. European governments have reiterated that any vaccine is better than no vaccine. Further questions and answers can be found in the government's Q&A document. The ministry goes on to reiterate that all vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency, and thus made available in Luxembourg, are safe for use. There is thus no concern about major gaps in efficacy. Read also: 70,000 vaccinated individuals by April? Where Luxembourg's vaccination campaign is headed Pfizer/BioNTech v Moderna v AstraZeneca There are differences between vaccines. Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines contain parts of the genetic information of the virus (RNA or DNA), which provide the blueprint for viral proteins. After vaccination, the genetic information is taken up by human body cells and used as a template to produce the antigens themselves. We have a video on how that works here, and an excellent guest article by Dr Angela Marley (PhD) here. The AstraZeneca jab is a more common "vector vaccine" using a cold virus modified with spike protein to make it similar to Covid-19. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which could be the fourth vaccine to be administered within the EU, is similar to that of AstraZeneca. Citing a lack of data about efficacy in the elderly, Germany's vaccine commission said AstraZeneca was recommended only for people aged 18 to 64 years old. Officials in Italy, Austria and Bulgaria were also starting to signal some public resistance to the British vaccine, and France's Health Minister Oliver Veran got the jab live on television to drum up support. ADVERTISEMENT China has provided COVID-19 vaccine aid to Equatorial Guinea and Zimbabwe and will aid 19 more African countries as part of its commitment to making vaccines global public goods, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Monday. China will also support enterprises to export COVID-19 vaccines to African nations that urgently need them, Mr Wenbin said. The aid is a clear manifestation of the China-Africa traditional friendship, he said, adding that China will continue to provide support and assistance within its capacity and in accordance with the needs of Africa. Meanwhile, China welcomes and supports France and other European and American nations in providing vaccines to help Africa fight the pandemic, Mr Wang said at a press conference. He made the remarks when asked to comment on French President Emmanuel Macrons remarks at the Munich Security Conference. According to him, Europe and the United States should immediately provide enough COVID-19 vaccine doses to Africa, otherwise African countries may choose to purchase vaccines from China and Russia, with that the strength of the West will be a concept, and not a reality. (NAN) The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company String Theory at the Hunter, in partnership with Lee University and the Hunter Museum of American Art, will host the second No Strings Attached! on Tuesday, March 9, at 6:30 p.m., a virtual event allowing audience members to experience behind-the-scenes conversations and impromptu performances with The Neubauer Quartet. We are thrilled to offer audience members a chance to connect with guest artists and our String Theory family, said Dr. Gloria Chien, artistic director and pianist. The Neubauer Quartet consists of siblings Oliver and Clara Neubauer, violin; their mother Kerry McDermott, violin; and their father Paul Neubauer, viola. The Neubauer/McDermott Family Quartet has appeared at Parlance Chamber Concerts, Lake Champlain Music Festival, Art in Avila in Curacao, Bravo! Vail, If Music Be the Food NYC, and Music from Angel Fire. Recently, they performed virtual living room concerts for Jan Voglers Music Never Sleeps livestream and for Chamber Music Northwests virtual summer festival. They also opened Music@Menlos 2020 virtual summer festival Intermezzo with Claras arrangement of Elgars Salut DAmour. Ms. McDermott has appeared as a soloist with orchestras throughout the United States and abroad. In addition, she has been a prize winner in the Montreal International Competition and the International Tchaikovsky Competition, where she received a special award for Best Artistic Interpretation. Paul Neubauer's exceptional musicality and effortless playing led the New York Times to call him a master musician. He gave the U.S. Premiere of the newly discovered Impromptu for viola and piano by Shostakovich with pianist Wu Han. In addition, his recording of the Aaron Kernis Viola Concerto with the Royal Northern Sinfonia was released on Signum Records, and his recording of the complete viola and piano music by Ernest Bloch with pianist Margo Garrett was released on Delos. No Strings Attached! is free and open to the public, though registration is required. String Theory was founded in 2009 by Dr. Chien in order to expose new audiences to chamber music, invigorate the local classical music scene, and cultivate a future generation of music lovers. For more information about String Theory or to register for the March 9 virtual event, visit www.stringtheorymusic.org. Texas ranchers worked overtime to haul water and hay to cattle to keep them alive during a freak winter storm, but some cows succumbed to unusual icy temperatures that also killed chickens, idled meat plants and threatened crops. The deaths of baby cows in the top U.S. cattle state and struggles to care for surviving livestock are the latest challenges for ranchers who over the past year have dealt with COVID-19 cutting demand for meat at restaurants and shuttering slaughterhouses. In Texas, home to more than 13 million cattle, ranchers spent long, cold hours breaking up ice in water tanks and on frozen ponds so animals have something to drink. Icy conditions turned diesel fuel into a useless gel in tractors. Ranchers said they are used gasoline-powered pickup trucks to transport hay that cattle can eat and use for warm bedding. Animal Mortality Insurance Animal mortality insurance protects against the premature death, usually by non-natural causes such as extreme weather or accidental shooting, of insured animals. The cost may depend on the perceived risk, as well as the number, types and health conditions of animals covered. Coverage is typically limited to a set of causes for animals deaths that are specified in the insurance contract. The costs of replacing the animal and loss of use or revenue are usually covered. The policyholder has the duty to keep the insurance company notified if anything adverse occurs to the insured animal(s). Kaylin Isbell, a rancher in Florence, Texas, said a few cows and sheep had died after birth. Babies are particularly vulnerable to the shock of the cold when they leave their mothers warm wombs covered in fluid. Isbell said her mother-in-law took newly born sheep into a spare bedroom in her home to keep them warm. The cold will also kill oats Isbell planted for young cattle to graze on, she said. As a result, Isbell said she will need to sell the animals earlier than expected, reducing her profit margins. Ranchers nationwide were already facing higher feed costs as corn and soybean prices soared to multi-year highs. We just keep going, Isbell said. Thats all you can do. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller told Reuters that baby chicks were freezing to death because there was not enough natural gas to heat hatcheries. He said dairy operations dumped $8 million worth of milk down the drains daily because milk processing plants are without power. Grain mills across the state cannot manufacture animal feed without power either, Miller said. Weve got an animal welfare issue going on, he said. Major meat processors like Cargill Inc and Tyson Foods Inc. said they suspended operations at some plants. In Whitesboro, Texas, fifth-generation rancher Austin Miles said he is filling a red 300-gallon tank with water from a hose at his parents home two to three times a day and shuttling it to cattle to drink. The pond they would normally drink from froze, he said. This is extreme for us, Miles said. Our infrastructure was just not quite set up for these prolonged cold periods. The storm has killed at least 21 people across four states, and temperatures are forecast to remain 20 to 35 degrees below average across parts of the central and southern United States for days. Cattle could suffer from respiratory problems once the deep freeze gives way to warmer temperatures, said Missy Bonds, assistant general manager of her familys ranch in Saginaw, Texas. Mother Nature needs a Xanax, she said. (Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by David Gregorio) Topics Texas Six of Michigans largest business organizations have signed onto a letter asking Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to allow workers to return to office settings. While the latest state health order doesnt mention offices in its list of restrictions, emergency rules from the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration require office employees to work from home whenever their work can be done remotely. The Oct. 14 MIOSHA rules are in place through April 14. The Feb. 19 letter to Whitmer asks her to reconsider the mandate and allow employees to return safely to the office. These six organizations signed onto the letter: Grand Rapids Chamber Detroit Regional Chamber Small Business Association of Michigan Michigan Chamber of Commerce Michigan Manufacturers Association Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce From Grand Rapids to Lansing and Detroit, empty office buildings have a damaging impact not only on productivity, innovation, collaboration and mental health, but also has put an incredible strain on our communities, the letter says. Some downtown businesses rely on business from office workers including restaurants and shops. Many are suffering while most office workers are kept home. Cities charging local income tax are also suffering, since non-residents working from home dont have to pay as much tax since theyre technically working in a different city. Grand Rapids is projecting a $10 million to $20 million revenue hit this year because of it. Health officials say offices are less risky for COVID-19 spread than many currently-open places in Michigan, like movie theaters, casinos, schools, restaurants, bars, gyms and churches. Offices can mandate masks, clean thoroughly, do daily health checks and require social distancing to help prevent virus spread, the letter says. Michigan is averaging 845 new COVID-19 cases per day, down from its peak of around 7,300 per day in late November. New COVID-19 deaths per day is also at its lowest point in Michigan since early November. The governors office said in a statement that state leaders will continue to review the data and update state restrictions accordingly. While we always welcome feedback from stakeholders, the health and safety of Michigan residents is our top priority ... We are all anxious to return to life as normal, and thats why our administration is laser-focused on passing COVID-19 relief to ramp up vaccine distribution and testing, support small businesses, and get kids back in school, the statement from the governors office said. When will most employees return to in-person work? A survey from Business Leaders for Michigan shows most executives believe their staff will return to work in the third quarter of 2020. Still, most employers expect to have more than 10% of their workforce to stay working remotely. Michigans large employers are planning a return to in-person work, said Jeff Donofrio, president and CEO of the organization, in a news release. However, many are still evaluating remote work operations for some employees. Business Leaders for Michigan conducted the internal member survey in January. Here are some of the survey results, pertaining to when employees may return to workplaces. What percentage of your employees are working remotely? 75% to 100% of workers: 38% 50% to 74% of workers: 18% 25% to 49% of workers: 25% Less than 25% of workers: 16% None: 2% When do you expect employees will return to in-person work? Q1 of 2021: 5% Q2 of 2021: 21% Q3 of 2021: 57% Q4 of 2021: 11% After 2021: 4% RELATED STORIES Michigan businesses dont have 20/20 vision on bringing workers back to the office From bars to basketball, experts re-rank 32 activities by coronavirus risk level with latest science COVID-19 income tax losses could drive Grand Rapids into budget deficit without cuts See which businesses in your county got help from Michigans $55 million COVID-19 aid program Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. "We are proud to be able to support companies that require access to capital. This program is currently been offered to companies operating in United States, Canada and Europe" said Taimour Zaman, CEO, Line of Credit.ai Line of Credit.ai is an established, independent Equity firm and assists companies in Monetizing Stand-by Letters of Credit and Medium-Term Notes. Today, Line of Credit.ai announces the introduction of non-recourse loans. The Non-Recourse Loan amounts depend on the client's letters of credit, the clients issuing bank, and face value of the instrument that the client is using. Acceptable instruments to be used for collateral for these types of loans are: Standby Letters of Credit (SBLCs), Medium Term Notes (MTNs). Face value of instruments to monetize shall be from $25 million dollars. Delivery method and/or blocking must be by SWIFT MT-760 Messages; no other delivery methods are accepted for any reason. Some conditions apply, depending on the file, client needs and value of the instrument. More information can be found at: https://lineofcredit.ai/non-recourse-loan SOURCE Line of Credit.ai For further information: please visit lineofcredit.ai, Email: taimour@lineofcredit.ai, Tel: +1(416)6297924 Gati-KWE, an Allcargo Group company, today announced that it will launch Surface Centre (STC) in Delhi, in June this year, spread over 150,000 square feet area. To build the facility, Gati-KWE has taken up space at Allcargo Logistics 1.8 million sq. ft. logistics park at Farukh Nagar, the company said in its release today. Located on Western Peripheral Expressway in Delhi, the tech-enabled STC will offer superior transit time, accuracy in cargo delivery and high locational advantage of access to all major national highways. The company also has plans to come up with four more STCs in the near future. Apart from consolidating Gati-KWEs logistics operations on the outskirts to decongest the city, the STC adheres to the green belt requirement. The facility has been conceptualised to achieve economy of scale and provide unparalleled customer service. It will have the capacity to process cargo for short-haul deliveries in North India and long-haul movements across the country. We are setting up our largest STC in because the region has been witnessing robust economic growth. The advanced express logistics infrastructure at the facility with enhanced operational efficiency, productivity and throughput will emerge as a key enabler of economic growth in that region. The STC will have the capability to process and transport a massive volume of cargo thanks to the technology integration in the operations and time-defined short-haul and long-haul connectivity, the release quoted Bala Aghoramurthy, deputy managing director at Ltd as saying. Gati-KWEs STC in will benefit its customers by offering express trucking routes across the country to facilitate faster cargo movement and improved transit time. Gati-KWE is also working towards building competence for enabling short-haul movement from the Farukh Nagar STC to Delhi/NCR and the entire North India so that its customers from far south or north-east will be able to transport goods to North India in record time. The facility has been designed to process cargo loads of almost 100 trucks a day. The tech-enabled, automated and paperless process will see significant reduction in dwell time including the time taken for loading, unloading and moving cargo to the final destinations. The tech-powered and artificial intelligence-driven round-the-clock vehicle tracking system at the STC will offer real-time updates and forecasting to facilitate informed, real-time decisions for unloading and sorting of cargo. The technology backbone also uses deep analytics which guides trucks to take the best possible routes while entering the facility as well as leaving the premises for completing deliveries to the final destinations. The express logistics facility also offers a user-friendly online interface through which Gati-KWEs express logistics customers can raise queries and get regular updates on the movement of their consignments. The STC is equipped with multimodal transportation, catering to customers across industries. It is also equipped with all the essential amenities for truck drivers like washrooms, rest areas and cafeterias and residential facilities. In keeping with its thrust towards sustainable operations and concern for the environment, Gati-KWE has designed the STC, complying with the environmental norms. Numerous measures like rainwater harvesting, use of natural light to the extent possible, energy-saving processes, etc. enable conscious and careful use of resources. Press Release February 23, 2021 VILLAR CONTINUES PROGRAMS TO HELP FARMERS ON USING MODERN TECHNOLOGY DESPITE THE PANDEMIC BEING true to her commitment, the COVID-19 pandemic has not stopped Sen. Cynthia Villar in helping uplift the lives of Filipino farmers by providing them trainings on modern farm technology to boost their productivity, harvests and income. The senator, chairperson of the Senate committee on Agriculture and Food, has been continuing her projects and programs that benefited our farmers who belong to the "poorest among the poor." As a result, these training also gives benefit to the agriculture industry which has also been adversely affected by the health crisis, not only in the country, but the whole world. Through the Villar SIPAG (Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance), the senator has been providing free training sessions on agricultural-related courses to farmer-trainers and other stakeholders in this sector. Last February 17-19, the Villar SIPAG sponsored a training on agricultural crops productions at its Villar SIPAG Farm School in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan. The 25 participants came from the provinces of Pangasinan, Bataan, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac and Nueva Ecija. The three-day training program of trainers on agricrops production was conducted in coordination with the East West Seeds Foundation. The Villar SIPAG also gave the same Training of Trainers on Agricrops Production with EastWest Seeds Foundation last Feb. 10-12. The training held at Villar SIPAG Farm School in the boundary of Bacoor, Cavite and Las Pinas was attended by 25 participants from the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) area and the Bicol region. Villar had built farm schools that give free trainings on new farming technology to the participants, who were expected to train farmers when they returned to their respective towns after graduating from the Villar Farm School. "Our farm schools have a special role in our objective to make our farmers and fisherfolk competitive and profitable through training programs that will help them produce more and earn more with the help of modern technology," noted Villar. But with the pandemic, all participants in the training sessions were told to strictly adhere to the health protocols imposed by the Department of Health (DOH) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The wearing of face masks and face shields, handwashing and social distancing were observed at all times in the duration of the trainings. Also, fewer participants were accommodated and the young people, the elderly, and those with health issues are discouraged from participating in the program. The Villar SIPAG Farm Schools provide free training opportunities to farmers in cooperation with other agencies such as the Farm Business School with the ATI; Rice Seeds Production and Mechanization with PhilRice and PhilMech; Aquaculture Production with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources; Livestock Production with the Bureau of Animal Industry; and cacao production intercropping with coconut with the Philippine Coconut Authority. The growth of farm schools all over the country was attributed to two pieces of legislation that Villar principally authored: Republic Act 10816 or the Farm Tourism Development Act of 2016, which encourages the conversion of farms into tourist farms and learning sites; and Republic Act 11203 or the law that created the P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund which mandated a special role for farm schools as venues of extension services program. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. The Brandon School Division board of trustees made some tough decisions during Mondays preliminary budget presentation, since they had to come up with a way of addressing a $720,500 shortfall for the 2021-22 school year. Advertisement Advertise With Us The Brandon School Division board of trustees made some tough decisions during Mondays preliminary budget presentation, since they had to come up with a way of addressing a $720,500 shortfall for the 2021-22 school year. After considering three different scenarios, the board ultimately decided to remove three full-time equivalent positions from this upcoming budget and reduce another $445,100 worth of line items in areas such as divisional-based supplies, advertising and divisional-based salaries. Even though the budget wont be officially finalized until March 8, no BSD board member was thrilled about taking this approach, with chairperson Linda Ross even apologizing to the public at the tail end of the meeting. "None of us are happy about it, as you can tell, but we had difficult decisions to make and we had no options," she said. "I dont expect you to like what we did, but I hope that you will understand why we had to do it." During Mondays presentation, BSD secretary-treasurer Denis Labossiere outlined why the division is contending with a $720,500 shortfall in the first place, revealing that this deficit is largely due to the restrictions imposed on them by the provincial government. One of the biggest factors was Education Minister Cliff Cullens recent decision to freeze every school divisions ability to collect property taxes, which was made worse by the fact that BSD is already contending with a $21.62 tax decrease on homes assessed at $270,000. "Just for your information, had we been able to retain that $21.62 on the average residential property, that would have given us $600,000 that we would not have to cut from our budget," said Ross, addressing the public directly during Mondays meeting. Labossiere also pointed out that the provinces decision to cap the increase on their special requirement the amount required to be raised from municipalities during the divisions fiscal year at two per cent also didnt help, since this represents the boards final source of revenue to fund budgeted expenditures. Because of all this, the BSDs projected revenue for the 2021-22 budget, as of Monday, is $109,822,700, which wont be able to offset the overall operating expenditures of $110,543,200 barring some drastic measures. At the end of Labossieres presentation, trustee Jim Murray didnt mince words about his distaste for the provinces recent decisions, which he views as especially callous given that teachers and students are facing unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Its beyond troubling to me that this government is pushing ahead with its eyes on the bottom line, more interested in saving money than meeting the needs of our children," he said. On top of the severe measures the board took to address the shortfall, Murray also reluctantly withdrew his budget requests to hire eight new school counsellors and secure additional funding for the divisions nutrition programs, realizing that there is simply no money left for such things. "These eight school counsellors would have a major impact on our system at a time when its needed more than its ever been needed in the history of education in this country, and we cant do it because a guy in Winnipeg wants to balance a budget," he said. Equally forlorn was trustee Lisa Letain, who revealed during Mondays meeting that coming up with the 2021-22 budget is one of the "lowest experiences" shes had a member of the BSD board, "given that the government has put us in such a position where we cant support the things that we believe in." This meeting stands in stark contrast to the BSDs 2020-21 budget, which, at $107,691,800, made room for expenditures such as: two full-time speech-language pathologist positions, multiple vice-principal positions and extra learning resources for students with communication needs. However, moving into the 2021-22 school year and beyond, Ross believes that these resources could be in short supply, given the PC governments general philosophy toward funding public education. "This seems like an opportune moment to remind people that it is the intention of this government to eliminate local taxation for schools," she said on Monday. "So my question is: given that 40 per cent of our budget comes from the local taxpayer, where are we going to find that money?" BSDs public consultation on the 2021-22 budget will be streaming online this upcoming Monday at 7 p.m. Anyone looking to obtain more information about the BSDs ongoing 2021-22 budget process can visit their official website at bsd.ca/board/budgetfinance. kdarbyson@brandonsun.com Twitter: @KyleDarbyson The Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Gambo Aliyu, on Monday said the rates of HIV transmission and deaths have been on a steady decline since the establishment of the agency. NACA was established in February 2007 as the agency responsible for the multi-sectoral coordination of Nigerias HIV response. Mr Aliyu while speaking at the presentation of stewardship of the HIV response in Nigeria (2007-2021) said annual AIDS-related deaths declined from 68,600 in 2010 to 52,392 in 2019. He said the agency has made significant progress in capturing more people on HIV treatment since its establishment 14 years ago. He explained that as of 2007, the country had an HIV prevalence rate of 4.6 per cent with an estimated 2.9 million people living with HIV. He noted that 124,567 people were on treatment in only 25 treatment centres that existed as at the time. He however said following the Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) conducted in 2018, the number of those on treatment had grown to over 1.3 million people. The survey which was the countrys largest ever, cost about $100 million, involved 185 survey teams, and covered more than 200,000 people. Preliminary results indicated that there are 1.9 million people living with HIV (PLHIV) in the country a 40 per cent reduction from the countrys official national HIV prevalence estimates for 2017. HIV response Mr Aliyu said the federal government has increased ownership of the countrys HIV response and also placed more people on treatment to ensure viral load suppression among people living with HIV. There is increased ownership of the response as the federal government has continued to make good her promise of placing 50,000 persons on treatment annually, he said. He said despite achievements made, the HIV response is faced with challenges that threaten to erode the successes achieved. Mr Aliyu noted that the major challenge is the need for strategic and real-time data for decision making as well as providing financial resources to prosecute the fight against the virus. He said the support of all stakeholders is required to win the fight against the virus through shared responsibility, stronger partnerships, responsible implementation and shared accountability in the response. In his remarks, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha applauded the agency for sustaining the countrys HIV response even in the phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said NACA has achieved so much in its mission to the aspiration of government in the past 14 years. Mr Mustapha noted that when NACA was inaugurated as an agency, its challenges were the burden of HIV related stigma, deficiency of the disease knowledge by health workers, poor access to treatment and absence of vigorous prevention efforts. He said most of the challenges have been conquered. ADVERTISEMENT He reassured the agency of the governments commitment to continue to support HIV response in the country. Speaking at the event, UNAIDS Country Director, Erasmus Morah, said Nigeria was on the path to meeting the 90-90-90 target set by the UN. The aim is to diagnose 90 per cent of all HIV positive persons, provide Antiretroviral Therapy (ARTs) for 90 per cent of those diagnosed, and achieve viral load suppression for 90 per cent of those treated by 2020. At the dawn of the deadline, about 60 per cent of the people living with the virus in Nigeria are on treatment, data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows. While the 60 per cent already shows a deficit of about 30 percentage points going by the 2020 target, Nigeria is off-track in other focus areas such as 90 per cent of the population knowing their status at the end of the deadline. SEOUL (dpa-AFX) - South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co (HYMLF.OB, HYMTF.OB) said Tuesday that it has launched all-electric, midsize crossover utility vehicle 'IONIQ 5' in a virtual world premiere event. It is first model in the company's new IONIQ brand dedicated to battery electric vehicles. The company said that IONIQ 5 will be available in selected regions starting in the first half of 2021. According to the company, the vehicle delivers powerful performance and ultra-fast 400 V and 800 V multi-charging. It provides Vehicle-to-Load function which can turn the vehicle into a charger on wheels. IONIQ 5 is built upon Hyundai Motor Group's dedicated BEV architecture called Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP). Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry spoke on Tuesday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken where they exchanged views on regional issues and ongoing counterterrorism cooperation. A statement by the Egyptian ministry of foreign affairs said that discussions between Shoukry and Blinken reflected the convergence of the views of both countries in several regional and international files. The two officials discussed - during their call - the latest developments in Libya, Palestine as well as their counter terrorism efforts. The Egyptian foreign ministry added that Shoukry and Blinken had stressed on the historical partnership between Egypt and the United States which was based on mutual respect, common interest and developing relations whether political, economic or cultural. They also reiterated on the efforts of the two countries, in the field of human rights, in a way that would achieve their interests. The two top diplomats also agreed on continuing their coordination and consultation in the next period concerning all mutual-interest issues, according to the statement. A separate statement by the US Department of State said: The Secretary and the Foreign Minister highlighted the importance of the strong strategic partnership between the United States and Egypt, particularly in security and ongoing counterterrorism cooperation, and exchanged views on regional issues. The Secretary raised concerns over human rights, which he emphasised would be central to the US-Egypt bilateral relationship, and Egypts potential procurement of Su-35 fighter aircraft from Russia, the statement added. Our shared security interests must align with respect for democracy and human rights, including the importance of a strong civil society. Blinken tweeted on his official Twitter account about the telephone adding that he was looking forward to strengthening the Egyptian-American historic partnership. This is considered the first telephone call between the two officials since Antony Blinken was appointed as the secretary of state in late January. Short link: Coastal Bridge Advisors took home the 2021 PAM Award for Best Private Wealth Manager Under $5B-Client Service. This award is a testament to our commitment to make the financial services experience easier for our clients by better understanding the issues they face and identifying the solutions they require, underscoring our promise to Uncomplicate It for clients. For the fourth time in five years, Coastal Bridge Advisors has been recognized as a top firm by Private Asset Management (PAM), a leading industry organization focused on recognizing the top performers in the private wealth community. Coastal Bridge Advisors took home the 2021 PAM Award for Best Private Wealth Manager Under $5B-Client Service. Its truly an honor for PAM to once again recognize Coastal Bridge Advisors as an industry leader in the private wealth space, said Jeffrey Fuhrman, President of Coastal Bridge Advisors. This award is a testament to our commitment to make the financial services experience easier for our clients by better understanding the issues they face and identifying the solutions they require, underscoring our promise to Uncomplicate It for clients. Our team remains vigilant in its pursuit to deliver clear guidance and offer objective, innovative and customized solutions to help our clients achieve their long-term financial goals. Coastal Bridge Advisors, which has offices in Connecticut and California, won the Best Private Wealth Manager under $5B award in 2017 and 2018. The firm also secured the Best Multi-Family Office Over $2B in Client Assets award in 2020 and the Best Multi-Family Office Overall in 2014. About Coastal Bridge Advisors: Coastal Bridge Advisors is an independent Registered Investment Adviser founded in 2008 with the aim to provide better client service, personalized and sophisticated guidance, as well as coordinated advice delivery. Its goal is to Uncomplicate It for clients, which means explaining even the most complex concepts in a way that delivers the simple clarity clients deserve. The firm is focused on helping its clients more clearly plan for retirement, more simply transfer wealth to future generations and more effortlessly enjoy the lifestyle they want today. More information about the firm can be found at http://www.coastalbridgeadvisors.com. About the PAM Awards and Entry Process: The U.S. private asset management industrys PAM Awards provide a platform to showcase the achievements of top investment professionals, wealth advisors, legal firms, consultants and other key service providers operating within the sector. The 2021 Award for Best Private Wealth Manager Under $5B-Client Service was determined based on a category specific questionnaire, including several subject areas: competitive distinctions, business model, client numbers/assets, services and products offered, growth metrics, and development of service offerings. Each submission was evaluated by an independent panel of at least three judges from a broad range of industry expertise. The 2020 Award for Best Multi-Family Office Over $2B was determined based on PAM firms completing a category specific submission addressing the criteria highlighted by the Panel which included an in-depth questionnaire of approximately 40 questions across several subject areas, encapsulating: group structure and personnel; investment management process; pooled funds/unlisted securities; regulation and investor protection; and fees, charges and interest. The 2018 and 2017 Awards for Best Private Wealth Manager Under $5B were determined based on financial progress (performance track-record over the course of the last twelve months); growth (client numbers, internal hires and geographic expansion); client satisfaction (evidence of client satisfaction, including evidence of exceptional service and direct client statements); and product Innovation (details of new services and products launched over the prior year). The 2014 Award for Best Multi-Family Office Overall was determined based on commercial success and business growth; positive client feedback via submitted testimonials; description of new product, its genesis and how it was created; and demonstration of product Innovation. PAM does not release statistics on the number of firms competing. Please note that Coastal Bridge Advisors receipt of the award may not be representative of any one clients experience because the award reflects an average of all, or a sample of all, of the experiences of the firms clients and that Coastal Bridge Advisors receipt of the award is not indicative of the firms future performance. Coastal Bridge Advisors did not pay a fee to participate in the survey. Contact: Christine Smith at 203-742-5957 or csmith@coastalbridgeadvisors.com Elsevier, an information analytics company specializing in science and health, has donated original drawings and other materials of the famous Pernkopf Atlas of Anatomy from its holdings to the collections of the Medical University of Vienna (Josephinum). In addition, Elsevier is funding the digitization, indexing and cataloguing of the holdings with a sum of 30,000 euros. A paper on this topic appeared today in the journal Annals of Anatomy. Eduard Pernkopf (1888-1955) was head of the second anatomical institute in 1933 and became dean of the medical faculty in 1938 and rector of the University of Vienna in 1943. Partly responsible for his stellar career at the university from the so-called "Anschluss" of Austria to Nazi Germany in 1938 was his early commitment to National Socialism (Pernkopf joined the NSDAP in 1933 and the SA in 1934). Pernkopf achieved worldwide renown with his anatomical atlas, which is still regarded by many as a standard work. In 1998, a commission of experts at the University of Vienna responded to international demands for a historical reappraisal of the Pernkopf atlas and determined that executed victims of Nazi justice most likely served as models for the anatomical drawings. The anatomical institute in Vienna received the dead bodies of at least 1,377 executed persons in total, including many members of the resistance against the Nazi regime. With the acquisition of the then publisher of the Pernkopf Atlas, Urban & Fischer (orginally Urban & Schwarzenberg), in 2003, the original drawings and publication rights went to Elsevier. Based on Elsevier's ethical and business standards, printing and licensing of the atlas and its illustrations ceased. As part of the donation agreement between Elsevier and the Medical University of Vienna, signed in December 2019, the preserved drawings and copies of the Pernkopf Atlas will now return to their place of origin. The transfer to the Josephinum ensures professional archiving, conservation and digitization, as well as accessibility, especially for historical research. "Due to the history of its creation, we made the decision early on not to republish the atlas. Nevertheless, we recognize that the drawings are of importance to scholars, especially those working in the field of medical history and ethics. The Josephinum and MedUni Vienna are the most suitable partners for this, and we would like to support their important work in this way," said Nick Fowler, Chief Academic Officer at Elsevier. "We are aware of our responsibility to historically reappraise the past of the Medical University and make it transparently accessible to the public. The Josephinum and the professorship for the history of medicine recently filled by Herwig Czech are making an important contribution with their work on Pernkopf's role in National Socialism. With the acquisition of the original drawings from Elsevier, we would like to continue and deepen this work in the interest of the relatives and the public," added Markus Muller, Rector of the Medical University of Vienna. "For decades, the Pernkopf Atlas was considered an important anatomical work among physicians, scientists and students, some of which are still used today. For this very reason, as the custodians of the Pernkopf Collection, it is our responsibility to do educational work and to further reveal the shocking story of its creation together with historians and experts. We would like to thank Elsevier, whose donation significantly supports this work," said Christiane Druml, holder of the UNESCO Chair of Bioethics and Director of the Josephinum. The donation was made with the significant participation of Sabine Hildebrandt, M.D., Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Harvard, who provided advice based on her many years of expertise. ### The first batch of the Oxford/AstraZeneca (Covishield) coronavirus vaccine made by Serum Institute of India (SII) has arrived in Ukraine. A Turkish Airlines plane delivered the cargo to Boryspil International Airport, Suspilne reports. The first batch contains 500,000 doses of the vaccine. The plane with medicines on board took off from Mumbai on February 22 and arrived in Kyiv after a stopover in Istanbul. The Oxford/AstraZeneca (Covishield) vaccine was registered for emergency use in Ukraine on February 23. This vaccine was developed by the University of Oxford and the AstraZeneca company. In fact, this is the same "Oxford" vaccine that Serum Institute of India (SII) produces for the local Indian market. In the summer of 2020, AstraZeneca and SII signed a vaccine manufacturing agreement to "help low- and middle-income countries." The Covishield vaccine is administered intramuscularly in two doses (0.5 ml each) 28 days apart. Ukraine also received information from the COVAX Facility on the supply of 2.2 to 3.7 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines in the first and second quarters of 2021. ish Karachi, Feb 23 : Sindh High Court's election tribunal declared Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda eligible to contest Senate polls on Tuesday. The tribunal was hearing Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Qadir Khan Mandokhail's appeal against approval of Vawda's nomination papers for the March 3 Senate elections, the Express Tribune reported. In his petition, Mandokhail maintained that Vawda concealed the facts about his US citizenship. He observed that objection regarding this was also submitted before the returning officer, but he refused to listen to them. A petition seeking Vawda's disqualification is also being heard in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). However, no decision has been announced so far. Faisal Vawda's nomination papers were accepted by the ECP on February 18. However, they were subsequently challenged. On February 21, the SHC set up an election tribunal to hear petitions challenging the rejection and acceptance of nomination papers by the ECP for the Senate polls. Vawda's selection for Senate elections by the PTI is also currently under debate by fellow party members. Earlier, the ruling party faced criticism from party cadres over awarding of Senate tickets due to which it failed to finalise the list of candidates ahead of the last day for the submission of nomination papers with the ECP. The PTI's Sindh chapter voiced concerns over giving Federal Minister Faisal Vawda and construction contractor Saifullah Abro Senate tickets, whereas the K-P chapter expressed reservations against awarding tickets to Najiullah Khattak, a businessman, and Faisal Saleem, a party worker. The 100 sq m building on 230 sq m of land sold via expressions of interest for $930,000. Credit: An interstate service station operator has purchased a former fuel stop at 147-151 Devonshire Road for $3 million. CVAs Leo Mancino said the propertys current use could be upgraded or, alternatively, converted to residential units under its favourable NRZ1 Zoning. A small shop at 525 High Street packed a big punch. The 100 sq m building on 230 sq m of land sold via expressions of interest for $930,000. NSL Property Groups Guy Naselli said the vendor was a local family who owned it for 20 years. We got enquiries from owner occupiers, developers and investors looking to rework the asset, given its proximity to the busy Bell Street and bustling High Street retail, he said. Campbellfield An owner-occupier paid $2,075,000 for a brand new industrial property at 44 Metrolink Circuit. Colliers Internationals Mitch Purcell and Corey Vraca negotiated the deal at trend-setting building rate for the area of $1712 sq m. West Footscray An industrial office/warehouse, Unit 18 at 46 Graingers Road, has sold for $538,000 on a building rate of $3000 per sq m. There are genuine buyers out there with specific interest in tightly held areas, CVAs Leo Mancino said. For three years, the lobby of the Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C., was the hedonistic center of the MAGA-verse. The room glittered with chandeliers and the flashes of sabers slicing open Champagne bottles (prefaced by the ringing of a bell to draw eyeballs to the spectacle). Trumpworld luminaries like Corey Lewandowski and Sebastian Gorka schmoozed bar-side with established D.C. power brokers. Republican politicians on their way to backroom fundraisers stopped for selfies with star-struck customers swigging $9 Bud Lights. Proud Boys chatted up top presidential advisers. Advertisement Once, pictures from the hotel lobby showed Trump Cabinet members, foreign leaders, compliant GOP lawmakers, CEOs, lobbyists, Hill staffers, and the MAGA faithful. The day after his company announced a merger with Sprint that federal regulators are sure to review, T-Mobile's CEO John Legere was at the Trump Hotel DC. https://t.co/dyfGLgkklt pic.twitter.com/FJtbH4ZU7Y Zach Everson (@Z_Everson) May 1, 2018 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But for almost a year now, this playground has been largely vacant, barstools unoccupied like a swing swaying in the breeze. These days, the images from the hotel that youll encounter on social media reveal still lifes of unsold booze or masked staffers celebrating their birthdays: Trump Hotel, DC - Looks like they drained the swamp pic.twitter.com/dgDg3HxRbp Jane Mayer (@JaneMayerNYer) January 27, 2021 Advertisement The reckoning that Trumps D.C. hotel faces in Joe Bidens Washington isnt just the result of the previous administrations bungled response to a raging pandemic followed by an election loss and attempt to subvert democracy. And its not just because the broader hospitality industry is still struggling as Americans travel less during lockdown. After all, without any of those factors, Trump previously steered six hotels into bankruptcies. Advertisement The Trump Hotel D.C. also enjoys a business plan that befuddles industry experts, a $170 million mortgage thats coming due, the scrutiny of continuing investigations, and a new landlord whofor a changedoes not double as the hotels owner. While its unlikely the federal government will evict the Trump Organization, the ex-presidents company doesnt seem happy to hang around either. It tried to unload its lease in 2019 and couldnt find someone to meet its asking price. Advertisement So like a boot left abandoned in the gooey muck of swamp bottom, the Trump International Hotel is sticking around D.C. Its a fitting monument to the former president, his cult of personality, and the culture of graft that defined his Washington. The Trump Hotels self-inflicted financial problems began in 2012, when the General Services Administration accepted the Trump Organizations bid to lease D.C.s Old Post Office from the government and operate the 1899 Romanesque Revival building as a luxury hotel. Industry experts told the Washington Post at the time that for the Trump Organization to justify its $200 million investment and $3 million in annual rent payments, the hotels average room rates would need to be the highest in the city by about 50 percent. (Ivanka Trump, then an executive at the Trump Organization, said the calculations were wrong.) Advertisement Advertisement 2012 math though didnt factor in the owner being elected president two weeks after the hotels 2016 grand opening. Room rates that already had been slashed enjoyed a V-shaped recovery to among the highest in the city, embassies swooped in to rent the private events spaces (like Azerbaijan for its 2016 Hanukkah party), and the lobby bar became the favorite watering hole of both established and emerging swamp creatures. While the Trump Organization had projected its new Pennsylvania Avenue venture would lose $2.1 million in the first four months of 2017, confidential financial reports that the GSA mistakenly uploaded to its website later showed that instead the hotel had a $1.97 million profit in that period. To the chagrin of anyone who knew how to pronounce emolument, Trumps presidency seemed like an instant boon to his business. Advertisement Americas Living Room, as the hotels manager likes to bill the lobby, suddenly resembled the deck of the Titanicempty and underwater. But even with the hotel benefiting from presidential perkslike a Saudi Arabiabacked lobbyist booking 500 nights of rooms for U.S. veterans, T-Mobile execs dropping $195,000 after they announced merger plans that would need government approval, and the main opposition candidate for Nigerias presidency popping in just one month before his countrys election to prove he was in fact allowed to enter the United Statesthe business apparently did not stay profitable, at least not for long. According to Trumps tax records obtained by the New York Times, through 2018 the hotel lost $55.5 million. (Then again, the original source of the Trump Hotel D.C.s financial information, the Trump Organization, has a history of tweaking its accounting to suit its best interests.) Advertisement Advertisement In fall 2019, when the Trump Organization tried to unload its lease to a new operator, many offers came in at less than half of the $500 million the Trumps had hoped for, CNBC reported. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, which intermittently shuttered the hotels bar and restaurant business throughout 2020 and into 2021. Americas Living Room, as the hotels manager likes to bill the lobby, suddenly resembled the deck of the Titanicempty and underwater. On his government-mandated financial disclosures, Trump reported his share of the hotels revenue (before any losses) was $40 million in each of his first three years in office; in 2020 that figure plunged to $15.1 million. With Trumps election defeat, his D.C. hotel has entered a new era: one in which its no longer owned by the sitting U.S. president and its leaseholder is no longer also the landlord. Advertisement This matters for far more than symbolic reasons. For the duration of the Trump administration, GSA officials were such strong defenders of Trumps ownership of the hotel it seemed that they might be paid in Trump Card points. One contract officer ruled that the presidents ownership didnt violate the lease despite a clause barring elected officials from becoming party to it. GSAs long-standing plans to relocate the FBI headquarters, located across the street from the hotel, were scuppered, blocking that property from possibly being redeveloped as a rival hotel (House Democrats alleged, with evidence, that Trump meddled in that decision). And GSAs administrator refused to comply with a subpoena to release unredacted financial documents to a House panel with oversight of the lease. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While Trumps return to private life has meant the dismissal of two lawsuits alleging his ownership of the hotel violated the Constitutions clauses prohibiting the president from receiving income from other governments, the business still faces legal problems. No longer likely to be stifled by Trump apparatchiks at GSA, Democratic Reps. Peter DeFazio of Oregon and Dina Titus of Nevada, who chair the panels with oversight of GSAs leases, have said their investigations will continue. D.C. Attorney General Karl Racines lawsuit accusing Trumps hotel and inaugural committee of allegedly abusing nonprofit funds when the former charged the latter $1.03 million for four days of event space is working its way toward a trial. And Marylands Republican governor, Larry Hogan, has revived the push to move FBI headquarters away from downtown, possibly opening up the Trump Hotel D.C. to new competition after all. D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton did tell DCist, though, that its unlikely the government would force the Trump Organization to relinquish its leaseso if no ones buying at the price they want, the Trump Hotel may not be going anywhere. Advertisement Now, the hotel can count on neither tributes from governments and industry nor the protection of a self-interested landlord, while Trump has $170 million in loans on the property due by 2024. He personally guaranteed them and refinancing doesnt seem like an option. His longtime lender, Deutsche Bank, is among those businesses trying to dump Trump, having finally decided hes bad for business. Trumps options include selling assets to pay off the loan or finding another company willing to lend a serial defaulter $170 million, give or take, to support an ostensibly money-losing business. And yet: Trumps D.C. hotel is still poised to reap the benefits of some partisans who dont knowor refuse to acknowledgethat the Trumpworld celebrities have petered out, the Champagne sabers are sheathed, and the party is winding down. Like on March 4, the original inauguration date for U.S. presidents. Many followers of the QAnon hoax believe Trump will regain the presidency that day and finally vanquish the Deep State. The cheapest rooms at the Trump Hotel D.C. that night start at more than $1,300. Pennsylvania System of State Assessments and Keystone Exams will be administered this year but state officials say they are looking to allow schools to delay them to as late as September. In a draft letter to the U.S Department of Education that is open for public comment, state Acting Education Secretary Noe Ortega indicated the idea behind extending the testing window to the fall, when schools are expecting to offer in-person instruction five days a week, is that it will ensure a larger number of students will take the Pennsylvania System of School Assessments and Keystone Exams. That was a concern that superintendents raised about the state exams, given the large percentage of students who are choosing a virtual school option. Right now Cumberland Valley has about 30% of its students fully virtual education, said Cumberland Valley School District Superintendent David Christopher. I do not think those families are going to send their kids in for PSSAs for two weeks. I dont know why they would take that risk if they are not bringing their kids in for instruction and socialization. State Deputy Education Secretary Matt Stem said at a Tuesday House Education Committee hearing that extending the testing window will allow districts to administer the exams in the summer or in September but do so without forcing teachers and educators into buildings where they may still be in remote learning. Stem told the committee more guidance to schools about administration of the state exams, which are federally mandated, would be forthcoming in the days and weeks ahead. On Monday, the U.S. Department of Education issued guidance to states advising them that they did not intend to waive the testing mandate but suggested state education officials consider shortening the state exams, offering remote administration where feasible and/or extending the testing window. While the extension of the testing window is appreciated, the president of Pennsylvanias largest teachers union said the union is disappointed the federal department has chosen not to suspend the testing mandate for a second consecutive year due to COVID-19. Our students have already lost too much classroom instructional time, said Pennsylvania State Education Association President Rich Askey in a statement. While we clearly prefer a federal waiver of annual assessments just as the U.S. Department of Education offered last year, PSEA welcomes the Pennsylvania Department of Educations plan to provide school districts with needed time and flexibility to address the logistics of annual standardized testing during the pandemic. He said that will allow educators and students more time this spring to focus on teaching and learning instead of losing time to testing. Askey added, This important flexibility will ultimately require strategies at the local level to complete testing this summer or fall. It is our hope that this approach could offer safer conditions for the administration of assessments. Stem told the committee the department also is likely going to apply for waivers to the 95% test participation requirement and certain accountability measure that the federal department is allowing to be suspended. The committees discussion with the education department officials also touched on a host of other areas. Lessons learned Responding to a question posed by Rep. Craig Staats, R-Bucks County, about benefits that have emerged from the hybrid instructional model, Stem said, There are a number of students and weve already heard from our superintendents on an almost weekly basis as we meet with them that there are a number of students that are finding distance learning to be a preferred learning modality. Stem said as districts became more sophisticated throughout the pandemic in how to deliver education outside the classroom, it has led to a re-imagining of what learning looks like. So we look forward to supporting districts throughout the remainder of this year and into next year on how to continue to provide that level of flexibility and continuing to increase quality in those offerings, he said. Not working for all students Compared to a traditional year, department officials have learned the remote and online/in-person blended instructional models that schools implemented to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 seems to have had a disproportionate negative effect on certain segments of the student population. Through its work with a small subset of underperforming schools using national and international test data, Stem said results show poor and non-white students, students with special needs and English language learners, as well as K-3 pupils have shown to have large learning gaps. He said the department is engaging research partners to gather data to better inform the trends that have been happening with this and identify the impacts the pandemic has had on early childhood, the teacher pipeline, on teaching and learning and social-emotional health. Taking attendance Districts are required to affirm that they are collecting attendance data for those students learning in a remote setting, Stem said. Its not just counted by the hours a student is logged in but by their engagement and work they complete. Moreover, he said districts have reached out to the department for support in dealing with truancy, which provides further evidence that districts are paying attention to attendance. Closing learning gaps We know that districts are contemplating a myriad of ways that they can accelerate learning and address potential learning gaps that have emerged over the past year and theyre going to look at a lot of different ways, Stem said. That includes summer sessions, extending school days and extending school years. He said federal CARES funds that came out could help fund those activities. Sherri Smith, a department special assistant and former Lower Dauphin School District superintendent, said the assessments will also provide a tool in knowing where the gaps are. Based on those results, she said the department can assist districts in finding ways to address them by integrating the missing skills into their curriculum and instruction next year. Our hope is to roll that work out in April and May, which will provide them the opportunities to then look internally as to do they want to do that through summer programs and how they want to change and update their curriculum and instruction in the classroom next year for all students, Smith said. Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy. Lightfoot added her voice to that chorus on Tuesday. She said she understands its customary to change top prosecutors with a new administration and all U.S. attorneys know they serve at the pleasure of the president but Lausch shouldnt step aside until theres a confirmed candidate. Credit: Pohang University of Science & Technology (POSTECH) Diabetes is on the rise worldwide. It is a permanent condition that requires care over a life time. To help manage it, an artificial pancreas system, which automatically measures blood sugar levels to infuse the appropriate amount of insulin into the blood, has now become smarter thanks to AI learning. A research team, led by Professor Sung-Min Park and Ph.D. candidate Seunghyun Lee and M.S. candidate Jiwon Kim of POSTECH's Department of Convergence IT Engineering and Electrical Engineering, has newly developed a reinforcement learning (RL) based AI algorithm that calculates the amount of insulin needed for a diabetic patient and injects it automatically. These findings were published as a feature article in the latest issue of IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, an international journal on medical information science. Patients with type 1 diabetes must inject insulin daily. One must check the amount of carbohydrates in the food ingested each time, calculate the proper amount of insulin, then inject the correct dosage before each meal. Though artificial pancreas systems on the market help with this process, there is still the hassle of having to input the meal intake in advance each time. To eliminate this inconvenience, the research team added a pharmacological concept to reinforcement learning, widely known as the algorithm of AlphaGo. This method of AI algorithm achieved a mean glucose of 124.72 mg/dL and percentage time in the normal range of 89.56%. Even without inputting the meal intake, the policy showed performance comparable to that of conventional artificial pancreas. "The fully automated artificial pancreas is like autonomous driving for the medical industry," explained Professor Sung-Min Park. "The newly developed AI algorithm enables fully automated blood sugar control without the hassle of inputting meal or exercise information." He added, "We expect this algorithm to be extended to other drug-based treatments." Explore further FDA approves UVA-developed artificial pancreas More information: Seunghyun Lee et al, Toward a Fully Automated Artificial Pancreas System Using a Bioinspired Reinforcement Learning Design: In Silico Validation, IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics (2020). Seunghyun Lee et al, Toward a Fully Automated Artificial Pancreas System Using a Bioinspired Reinforcement Learning Design: In Silico Validation,(2020). DOI: 10.1109/JBHI.2020.3002022 Provided by Pohang University of Science & Technology (POSTECH) Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussexs split from the British royal family is permanent, one year after announcing their resignation. While many people assumed the Sussexes had no interest in returning to royal life, it seems like Queen Elizabeth II was hoping the couple would cancel Megxit. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Queen Elizabeth II | John Stillwell WPA Pool/Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II on Prince Harry and Meghan Markles royal exit Nearly one year after the Sussexes official royal exit from the British royal family, they have informed Queen Elizabeth and the royal family that they will not be returning. The couple who is expecting their second child in Spring 2021, has set up a new life for themselves in California, with their forthcoming Archewell brand, as well as major deals with Spotify and Netflix. The queen was not convinced that Megxit was going to work when the royal couple announced their resignation in 2020, but not it appears shes resigned to the idea that they will not be returning to the royal fold. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have confirmed to Her Majesty The Queen that they will not be returning as working members of The Royal Family, Buckingham Place said in a statement. While all are saddened by their decision, The Duke and Duchess remain much-loved members of the family. Meghan and Prince Harry have been officially stripped of their patronages, and Prince Harry has had to relinquish his honorary military titles. BREAKING: Meghan Markle and her husband Harry told the Queen they will not return as working members of the royal family. They will be stripped of honorary titles. They stepped back from royal duties last year after racist and sexist attacks on Markle by the British media. pic.twitter.com/Dcnac8m9bc AJ+ (@ajplus) February 19, 2021 RELATED: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Warned the Royal Family About Megxit Several Times, Source Claims Why did Meghan Markle and Prince Harry leave the British royal family? When Prince Harry and Meghan announced their resignation from royal life in 2020, fans were stunned. However, the couple had been dealing with constant attacks since the beginning of their relationship. Having seen what his late mother Princess Diana went through in the media, Prince Harry was unwilling to let his wife endure the same things. The decision that I have made for my wife and I to step back is not one I made lightly, Prince Harry said in a speech during a reception for his charity, Sentebale, in Jan 2020. It was so many months of talks after so many years of challenges. And I know I havent always got it right, but as far as this goes, there really was no other option. For her part, Meghan has not yet spoken at length about leaving royal life, but she has spoken about being voiceless and helpless. The Sussexes are set to tell their side of the story on March 7 in the special. Oprah with Meghan and Harry: A CBS Primetime Special. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are officially resigning from their royal duties. pic.twitter.com/Kp2tO4PzrV HuffPost (@HuffPost) February 19, 2021 Queen Elizabeth II had hoped Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would cancel Megxit The queen has always sympathized with the Sussexes, and initially, shed hoped they would settle in South Africa for a time. Her Majesty was aware of Meghan and Harrys wish to live an ordinary life, which had reminded her of the years she spent with Prince Philip in Malta, royal historian Robert Lacy wrote in his book, Battle of Brothers. She thought Johannesburg could be their Malta. Up until recently, it looks like Queen Elizabeth assumed the couple would cancel Megxit. The queen was hoping that theyd return, but there is not much she can do about it and accepts their decision, a royal insider told Us Weekly. After lengthy discussions with the palace, Harry and Meghan have quit being royals for good. It was their choice to leave. Thought Leaders Professor Peter Stockley Professor University of Leeds In this interview, News-Medical spoke to Professor Peter Stockley about his latest research that looked at what makes viruses infectious. What provoked your research into viruses? I started life as a chemistry student but realized that the chemistry of life was more of interest. Viruses straddle the line between a living and non-living life cycle and so are fascinating objects, especially in their ability to encode the repeated building of the non-living protective lifeboat we call a virus. Virus. Image Credit: [email protected]/Shutterstock.com Please can you give an overview into what viruses are and how they spread? Viruses are non-living parasites that use cellular hosts to replicate and create new viral particles. These often cause infected cells to burst open, releasing new viral copies. However, it is not in a viruss interest to kill its host, since that would reduce the number of future hosts it can infect. Such consequences seem to be accidental side-effects of the way hosts respond to infection. What is meant by the term virion? The virion is the lifeboat protecting the viral nucleic acid through escape from one cell and invasion of the next. Why, until now, has understanding the ways viruses assemble virions remained a mystery? In natural infections, only viral nucleic acid passengers get into the lifeboat of the virion. This packaging specificity has been hard to reproduce in laboratory studies. We have succeeded in replicating this effect allowing us to detect the mechanism by which it occurs, and therefore potentially target it with drugs to prevent or reduce the effects of infection. Please can you describe how you carried out your research into viruses and how they become infectious? We studied a group of viruses called enteroviruses that include the common cold virus, the human rhinovirus, and poliovirus. Using a specialized technique coupled to advanced bioinformatics analysis, with our colleagues at the University of York led by Prof Reidun Twarock, we were able to identify multiple regions across each viral genome that can bind its own cognate coat proteins, the basis of packaging specificity. This mechanism works to create molecular machinery that ensures new virions (the lifeboats) carry the correct genomic passengers which are then conveyed safely to new host cells. If the machine is not made properly, the virus will not be infectious. Enterovirus. Image Credit: Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock.com What did you discover? We showed that the conclusions from a large number of other papers, i.e. that there are no specific coat protein binding sites in these viral genomes, are wrong. Such sites do exist and appear to be evolutionarily conserved across many viruses in this family, implying that a drug to block the working of the machinery developed against one of them would work on all of them. What role did electron microscopy play in your research? Leeds has a biological electron microscopy unit equipped with the latest microscopes at a cost of ~15M. These allow unprecedented insights into the three-dimensional structures of biological materials including viruses. It is the three-dimensional structures of viruses that allow them to be infectious and self-replicate in host cells. Can you describe the importance of your research? How will your research help us to further our understanding of controlling viral diseases? The assembly machinery is now clear and is a novel antiviral drug target. How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted your research? This has slowed progress in the laboratory but it has allowed us to analyze RNA-mediated assembly in a completely different family of virions. There is preliminary evidence that COVID-19, and the wider coronaviral family, use similar molecular machinery to rhinovirus to assemble their infectious particles. SARS-CoV-2 Virus. Image Credit: GEMINI PRO STUDIO/Shutterstock.com Do you believe that with more research we could potentially develop drugs or anti-viral agents that could stop infections such as poliovirus? Yes, we can now see new features in the poliovirus lifecycle that can be targeted by drugs. What are your next steps in your research? We are pursuing various next steps to see if it is possible to block the formation of viruses in the picornaviral family by preventing the formation of the sequence-specific nucleic acid coat protein contacts that regulate their assembly. Since assembly is such a fundamental aspect of viral life cycles, it should be extremely difficult for the viruses to evolve away from the action of such drugs. Where can readers find more information? About Professor Peter Stockley Professor Stockley trained at Imperial College, London, the University of Cambridge, and then Harvard University before taking up his appointment in Leeds. He has pioneered studies on sequence-specific protein-nucleic acid molecules throughout his career. In collaboration with Professor Reidun Twarock of the University of York, he co-discovered how such interactions regulate the assembly of spherical viruses, many of which are major human and animal pathogens. Their work has exposed the molecular machinery that allows viral lifeboats to load and then unload their genetic passengers as they infect their hosts. Seeing how these processes work will allow us to design more potent anti-viral strategies. The Harris County Attorneys Office on Tuesday announced it has launched a civil investigation into last weeks power outages and asked Commissioners Court for authority to take legal action on the countys behalf. As part of the investigation, County Attorney Christian Menefee said his office would look into the circumstances leading up to the winter storm and ensuing mass power failures, including decision-making by the Public Utility Commission, the agency that regulates Texas electric and water utilities, and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the states power grid. Members of our community died in this disaster, and millions of Texans languished without power and water while suffering billions in property damage, Menefee said. Harris County residents deserve to know what happened, who made which decisions, and whether this could have been avoided or mitigated. Menefee has asked Harris County Commissioners Court for permission to file legal briefs or other appropriate litigation in cases involving the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, and other entities involved in last weeks power outages. Lawsuits and investigations already have begun to pile up in the wake of the winter storm that killed dozens of Texans and left millions without power or running water for days. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, as part of his offices own investigation into the power outages, last week requested communication records between ERCOT, the Public Utility Commission and electric companies, including CenterPoint Energy, the electricity provider for the Houston area. A family from Conroe sued ERCOT and Entergy Texas, an energy company, for $100 million Saturday, alleging the suspected hypothermia death of their 11-year-old son would not have happened if ERCOT and Entergy had prepared the energy grid for the storm or warned residents of the outages. Fears Nachawati, a Dallas law firm, filed a lawsuit last week against ERCOT and utility company American Electric Power over property damage and business interruptions caused by the power outages. For now, ERCOT has sovereign immunity that protects it from lawsuits due to its status as a government entity, even though it is a private nonprofit corporation. The Texas Supreme Court is expected to rule this year on a case that could strip ERCOTs legal protections, which are not extended to any other grid manager in the country. ERCOTs chair, vice chair and three other board members none of whom live in Texas announced their resignations Tuesday. Menefee acknowledged the other investigations and said he is willing to work with state agencies on their separate inquires. But, Harris County government must protect its residents, Menefee said. My offices investigation will focus on what went wrong with getting power to residents and facilities in this county, and the impact of those failures. jasper.scherer@chron.com New Delhi, Feb 23 : Bharatiya Kissan Union leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni has clarified his statement about farmers taking police personnel hostage. "The police are not the enemy of farmers but farmers need to resist the manner in which the central government is adopting policies of oppression. So, if, say, Delhi Police personnel visit Haryana to arrest one of the participants in the farmers agitation, the villagers will get together and surround them." Singh has appealed to the people of Haryana that they must gherao (surround) police personnel who visit the state to arrest any farmer activist. "They must resist their arrest and must not let the police personnel return to the Capital till the government drops its repressive policies. The farmers' agitation is running peacefully, so the government is relying on policies of oppression," Chaduni further said. Responding to IANS's question about the numbers of farmers at Delhi's borders thinning, Chaduni said: "Owing to a number of Mahapanchayats being organised at various places recently, the number of farmers at Delhi's borders has indeed reduced marginally but the movement has not been weakened. The movement will continue till our objective is achieved." [February 23, 2021] Morgan Stanley to Transition Wilson Sonsini's Capitalization Management Software to Shareworks Morgan Stanley today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, a premier provider of legal services to technology, life sciences, and growth enterprises worldwide. The agreement will enable privately-held companies currently using Wilson Sonsini's proprietary capitalization management software to migrate to Morgan Stanley's Shareworks by Morgan Stanley ("Shareworks") capitalization and stock plan platform. Shareworks offers equity plan management solutions that help private and public companies drive workforce performance by building a culture of ownership. Its software and services help companies attract and engage employees, simplify share plan management, provide disclosures and support tax and legal compliance. Shareworks is a leading provider of capitalization management software for startups that scales through each stage of their growth, up to and including an initial public offering. "Morgan Stanley intends to be the leader in capitalization management for private companies and early stage startups, helping them to manage the complexities of their equity and employee stock plans," said Jed Finn, Head of Corporate and Institutional Solutions, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. "This agreement, along with the acquisition of Solium and the Corporate Services business from E*TRADE, are a part of our long-term strategy to be the premier provider of financial solutions to workplace employees. We are confident that Wilson Sonsini's clients can also benefit from our broader Morgan Stanley services and offerings." "Wilson Sonsini has been a pioneer with innovative applications that simplify and accelerate complicated legal processes. Our capitalization software was among the first in the industry and the only one developed by a law firm," said David Wang, Wilson Sonsini's Chief Innovation Officer. "As we continue to evolve how we serve as trusted legal and strategic advisors to our clients through their entire lifecycle, we are excited about the opportunity to provide an even more efficient and technology-driven capitalization management experience for our clients with a state-of-the-art solution like Shareworks." Morgan Stanley has been building a comprehensive suite of digital and wealth management tools critical for the workplace. Morgan Stanley acquired Solium Capital Inc. in May 2019 and the company was rebranded Shareworks by Morgan Stanley. Shareworks is a leading global stock plan administration platform that provides software and administration services to corporate clients around the globe. Shareworks is a part of the Morgan Stanley at Work suite of financial solutions, which encompasses Equity Compensation (including E*TRADE Equity Edge Online), Retirement Solutions and Financial Wellness (including Gradifi by E*TRADE). Morgan Stanley at Work combines cutting-edge planning and risk management software, Morgan Stanley intellectual capital and financial education delivered through multiple channels to enable employees to build a holistic plan to achieve their financial goals. Shareworks by Morgan Stanley currently has offices in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia Pacific. The Morgan Stanley acquisition of E*TRADE in 2020 further expanded Morgan Stanley's leadership in workplace financial solutions with the Firm now serving over 4.9 million stock plan participants.1 This transaction with Wilson Sonsini is the latest example of Morgan Stanley's commitment to become a leader in providing financial solutions to companies and their employees. About Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a leading global financial services firm providing investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. With offices in more than 41 countries, the Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. For more information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com. About Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati For more than 50 years, Wilson Sonsini has offered a broad range of services and legal disciplines focused on serving the principal challenges faced by the management and boards of directors of business enterprises. The firm is nationally recognized as a leader in the fields of corporate governance and finance, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, securities litigation, employment law, intellectual property and antitrust, among many other areas of law. With deep roots in Silicon Valley, Wilson Sonsini has offices in Austin; Beijing; Boston; Brussels; Hong Kong; London; Los Angeles; New York; Palo Alto (News - Alert) ; San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle; Shanghai; Washington, D.C.; and Wilmington, DE. For more information, please visit www.wsgr.com. Morgan Stanley at Work and Shareworks by Morgan Stanley are service marks of Morgan Stanley or its affiliates. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is the trade name of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, a registered broker-dealer in the United States. 1 "Morgan Stanley at an Inflection Point: The Next Decade of Growth" Investor Presentation, January 2021. Disclosure Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC is not implying an affiliation, sponsorship, endorsement with/of the third party or that any monitoring is being done by Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC ("Morgan Stanley") of any information contained within the website. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information contained on the third party website or the use of or inability to use such site. Nor do we guarantee their accuracy or completeness. 2021 Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC. Member SIPC. CRC 3457525 2/2021 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005298/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] TOKYO Not long after Japan ramped up its fight against the coronavirus last spring, Nazuna Hashimoto started suffering panic attacks. The gym in Osaka where she worked as a personal trainer suspended operations, and her friends were staying home at the recommendation of the government. Afraid to be alone, she would call her boyfriend of just a few months and ask him to come over. Even then, she was sometimes unable to stop crying. Her depression, which had been diagnosed earlier in the year, spiraled. The world I was living in was already small, she said. But I felt it become smaller. By July, Ms. Hashimoto could see no way out, and she tried to kill herself. Her boyfriend found her, called an ambulance and saved her life. She is speaking out publicly about her experience now because she wants to remove the stigma associated with talking about mental health in Japan. While the pandemic has been difficult for many in Japan, the pressures have been compounded for women. As in many countries, more women have lost their jobs. In Tokyo, the countrys largest metropolis, about one in five women live alone, and the exhortations to stay home and avoid visiting family have exacerbated feelings of isolation. Other women have struggled with the deep disparities in the division of housework and child care during the work-from-home era, or suffered from a rise in domestic violence and sexual assault. A new law which authorizes the China Coast Guard (CCG) to use force in the South China Sea is drawing growing international criticism and some apparent pushback at sea from another claimant. Ship-tracking data show that twice this month, Malaysias navy and coast guard have sailed close to a CCG ship which lingered at the Luconia Shoals claimed by Malaysia since mid-January. It suggests that despite the persistent presence of the CCG, which is better equipped than most of the navies in Southeast Asia, South China Sea claimants are not ready to give way as China presses its claim to sovereignty over most of these disputed waters. Malaysian forces have maintained a consistent presence at the Luconia Shoals for years, according to Collin Koh, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. The Malaysians are certainly not lying down and get rolled over. Theyre at least trying to maintain a counter-presence against China in the disputed area, cognizant of their own capacity and capability shortfalls, Koh said. And of course, with the new Coast Guard Law promulgated by Beijing, we can expect the Malaysians to try to keep up what they can put up to challenge the CCG presence, Koh told Radio Free Asia, a sister entity of BenarNews. The U.S. State Department on Friday strongly criticized the law, adopted by China in January that grants the CCG more leeway in asserting Chinas claims a move that alarmed governments in Southeast Asian and beyond. The United States joins the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, and other countries in expressing concern with Chinas recently enacted Coast Guard law, which may escalate ongoing territorial and maritime disputes, department spokesman Ned Price said. Language in that law, including text allowing the coast guard to destroy other countries economic structures and to use force in defending Chinas maritime claims in disputed areas, strongly implies this law could be used to intimidate the PRCs maritime neighbors, he said, referring to the Peoples Republic of China. After Prices remarks, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Marine Maj. Gen. Edgard Arevalo told BenarNews that we will be, as we have always been, resolute in protecting our maritime domain regardless of what laws other countries may pass. The protection of our territory and the upholding of the interest our people is our primary interest, Arevalo said. Earlier in February, the commander of the AFP said that the Philippines is planning to deploy more assets in the South China Sea in response to Chinas new Coast Guard Law, BenarNews reported. For years, the CCG has asserted Chinas expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, where China is locked in a series of overlapping maritime and territorial disputes with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan. Indonesia does not regard itself as party to the South China Sea dispute, but Beijing claims historic rights to parts of that sea overlapping Indonesias exclusive economic zone. The law adopted in late January by the National Peoples Congress deepened concern that the CCG could intensify it behavior. The law explicitly states Chinas coastguard and other maritime law enforcement agencies may use small arms, such as rifles, or shipborne-weapons such as deck-mounted guns, when handling foreign ships infringing upon waters that China claims as its own. In the latest example of the CCG patrolling off the shores of other claimants, its ships have confronted Vietnamese ships at two locations in the South China Sea in recent days. On Saturday, the CCG 5304 sailed out from Chinas artificial island built on Subi Reef in the Spratly islands, arriving at a Vietnamese oil and gas block about 170 nautical miles off the coast of Vung Tau in Vietnam the following day, ship-tracking data show. The CCG 5304 appears to have approached within one nautical mile of the PTSC Bien Dong 1, a Vietnamese floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit likely signaling Chinese opposition to efforts to exploit resources in disputed areas of the South China Sea also claimed by China. And on Monday, two CCG ships confronted a Vietnam-flagged ship in waters between Quang Ngai in Vietnam and the Paracel Islands, which are occupied by China despite claims from Vietnam and Taiwan. The Vietnam-flagged ship identified as Benhai08629 on the MarineTraffic ship-tracker left port from Da Nang on Feb. 15, navigating to an area about 110 nautical miles off the coast of Quang Ngai. Ship-tracking data show the CCG 4203 and CCG 4201 approaching the Benhai 08629 on Monday, coming within a few nautical miles of the vessel. BenarNews could not confirm any additional information about the Benhai 08629, such who owns the vessel or what type of craft it is. The latest apparent confrontation between the CCG and Malaysia began last week at South Luconia Shoals, which are about 100 nautical miles from the coast of Malaysia, and nearly 1,000 nautical miles from the southern coast of the Chinese mainland. According to ship-tracking data, the KD Keris shown on the MarineTraffic ship-tracking platform as RMN WARSHIP 111 sailed out from Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia on Feb. 18, arriving at the South Luconia Shoals on the same day. As of Monday, the KD Keris was in the area. Two sources in the Malaysian military confirmed for BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated news service, that RMN WARSHIP 111 is indeed the KD Keris. Neither source was authorized to speak to reporters and so requested anonymity. Ship-tracking data showing the Malaysian naval ship KD Keris sailing from Kota Kinabalu to the South Luconia Shoals. [MarineTraffic] A CCG ship, the HJ5202, has been operating around the South Luconia Shoals since Jan. 17. Earlier in February, BenarNews reported that a Malaysian coastguard vessel sailed up to the South Luconia Shoals in an apparent challenge to the HJ5202. A source in the Malaysian military told BenarNews that the Luconia Shoals are part of Malaysias exclusive economic zone, and that the Luconia Shoals area is part of the patrol area of the KD Keris. Malaysian navy ships or Malaysian coast guard ships always being sent to Beting Patinggi Ali [Luconia Shoals] to monitor the activities in the area. Any ships local or international can pass through the area but cannot conduct any economic activity in the exclusive economic zone such as drilling or fishery activities without consent, the source said. Dizhwar Bukhari in Kuala Lumpur and Jason Gutierrez in Manila contributed to this report. IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Club Pilates , the largest Pilates brand, announced today it has signed a Master Franchise Agreement in Australia, which gives the Master Franchisee the right to license at least 50 studios to potential franchisees in the country over the next decade. The deal is in collaboration with two husband-wife duos, Brendan and Jessica James, along with Lawrence and Sandy Boyle, all of whom are based in Queensland. As a qualified Pilates instructor, Brendan will be the CEO of the Australian operation with Jessica handling marketing and branding, while Lawrence and Sandy will spearhead franchise sales. The Australian group brings an impressive combination of Pilates and franchising experience. Brendan was previously a Capital Markets executive with global trading company IMC Pacific, where he held senior roles in both Australia and the USA. Lawrence and Sandy have 30 years of experience in franchising, most recently as co-founders of their own 50 location franchise which they sold to retailer WHSmith. The team has three Pilates studios in Queensland currently, operating as Live Pilates, which will be immediately rebranded to Club Pilates to give the brand a strong start in Australia and set the stage for several more studios to come in 2021. "Australians love premium global brands, and to be able to offer them access to the world's largest Pilates brand, which has successful operating systems for both franchisees and members, provides us with an amazing opportunity and a sense of pride," said Brendan James, CEO of PilateX Pty Ltd., the Master Franchise Partner for Club Pilates in Australia. "We are passionate about Pilates and the incredible health benefits it produces. Our passion for Club Pilates will be translated into, what we believe, can be Australia's most successful and well-equipped network of Pilates studios." "We are delighted to add Australia to the growing list of countries where Club Pilates is making a positive impact," said John Kersh, Chief International Development Officer for Xponential Fitness. "Brendan and his partners have extensive experience in Pilates and a successful track record in franchising, both of which make them a compelling force as Club Pilates begins its expansion in Australia. We look forward to their rapid development of this exciting market." Since making its first international debut in Canada in 2018, Club Pilates has quickly grown in popularity and shows no signs of slowing down in its mission to bring the low-impact, mind-body benefits of Pilates to populations across the globe. Over the last couple of years, the brand has opened locations in Saudi Arabia, Japan, and South Korea, with more studios in development in Spain, Germany, Singapore, and the Dominican Republic. Club Pilates is backed by Xponential Fitness, a curator of leading boutique fitness brands including Pure Barre, CycleBar, StretchLab, Row House, YogaSix, AKT, and STRIDE. Xponential is no stranger to the Australian fitness scene as it recently debuted its first CycleBar studio on the continent in Perth last fall, part of a deal that includes at least 45 locations. Despite the pandemic, Club Pilates opened more than 60 new studios since 2020 and now has over 620 locations in North America. Due to its impressive domestic and international growth, Club Pilates has been ranked #1 on Franchise Times' Fast & Serious in both 2019 and 2020, landed at #104 on Entrepreneur Magazine's 2021 Franchise 500, marking its fifth consecutive year on the list, as well as appearing in Inc. Magazine's Inc. 5000 list three years running. For more information about owning a Club Pilates franchise, visit www.clubpilates.com/franchise. About Club Pilates: Founded in 2007, Club Pilates is the largest Pilates brand by number of studios, designed with the vision of making Pilates more accessible, approachable and welcoming to everyone. Based in Irvine, CA, Club Pilates has appeared in Entrepreneur Magazine's Franchise 500 list four years running, ranked #1 on Franchise Times' Fast & Serious two years in a row, as well as landed on Inc. Magazine's Inc. 5000 three years running. Club Pilates offers extensive training certification for its instructors as its 500-hour training program includes instruction on Pilates, barre, Triggerpoint, and TRX Suspension Trainers. To learn more about the Pilates franchise opportunity, visit https://www.clubpilates.com/franchise. Media contact: David Robertson Fishman Public Relations [email protected] 847-945-1300 SOURCE Club Pilates Related Links http://www.clubpilates.com PlanHub's new VP of Market Development, Chad Perry "Chad's ability to develop and execute high-impact growth strategies will help PlanHub achieve its vision of being the premier pre-construction marketplace..." says Cameron Darby, CGO at PlanHub. PlanHub (https://www.planhub.com), a leading pre-construction bidding marketplace for general contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers, is pleased to announce that Chad Perry has joined the company as the new Vice President of Market Development. In this role, Chad is responsible for leading the development and expansion of PlanHub's marketplace through increased participation by both subcontractors and general contractors. With over 15 years of expertise, Chad brings deep experience in growing a SaaS business and delivering world-class customer experiences. Before joining PlanHub, Chad served as the Vice President of Strategic Operations at DealerSocket, a leading global automotive technology platform. There, he led the strategic direction and execution of initiatives through multiple business units. Prior to his time as a VP, Chad led and oversaw the success of several product lines, nationwide teams, and the application of various processes as the Senior Director of Operations. Chad has his B.A. in Business Administrations and Marketing from Eastern Oregon University. "Chad's ability to develop and execute high-impact growth strategies will help PlanHub achieve its vision of being the premier pre-construction marketplace -- where every project should begin," says Cameron Darby, CGO at PlanHub. Chad's extensive background and business development skills will help Planhub strengthen its nationwide market presence and develop a top-tier customer experience for its users. PlanHub PlanHub is a top-rated cloud-based pre-construction bidding marketplace software designed around the user workflow. PlanHub users experience the following benefits: increased productivity, better deadline management, increased revenue, and better relationships with general contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers. Easily post projects or submit bids with anytime-anywhere collaboration for every commercial construction trade. To efficiently tackle your next project and stay connected, go to https://www.planhub.com He would have fallen in love with the lawyer who had assisted him in applying for asylum and obtaining a residence permit and then persecuted her for at least two years, forcing her to give up her mandate. Despite this, he would continue to text her, to stay for hours under the law firm until asking for money. The protagonist is a 27-year-old citizen of Burkina Faso, who ended up in prison for the crime of stalking. The man had already been the recipient of a provision prohibiting the approach, less than 500 meters, to the places frequented by the injured person but a few days later, having violated the restrictive measure and having presented himself again under the lawyer's office, he was taken to prison. The military, on the basis of the victim's complaint, ascertained that the 27-year-old had begun to "send her numerous messages with sexual and intimidating allusions on a daily basis, as well as usually appearing at the law firm, where he stayed for hours, causing her a persistent state of anxiety. and well-founded fear for their own safety and that of their study colleagues and family members ". (Unioneonline / vl) Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 23, 2021) - Golden Independence (CSE: IGLD) (OTCQB: GIDMF) (FSE: 6NN) (the "Company") is pleased to announce the next series of drill results from its recently completed 2020 resource expansion drill program at the Independence project, south of Battle Mountain, Nevada. Results from these three reverse circulation (RC) holes include: 0.845 g/t gold and 92 g/t silver over 130 feet (39.6 metres) including 1.436 g/t gold and 179.5 g/t silver over 65 feet (19.8 metres) including 3.318 g/t gold and 581.6 g/t silver over 15 feet (4.6 metres) and including 1.274 g/t gold and 50 g/t silver over 20 feet (7.6 metres) 0.521 g/t gold and 4.7 g/t silver over 165 feet (50.3 metres) including 0.697 g/t gold and 7.0 g/t silver over 65 feet (19.8 metres) 0.438 g/t gold and 8.7 g/t silver over 170 feet (51.8 metres) including 1.287 g/t gold and 20.8 g/t silver over 15 feet (4.6 metres) and 0.746 g/t gold and 23.9 g/t silver over 20 feet (6.1 metres) "These are three of four holes testing the oxide resource to depth which also include a nice surprise of a higher grade pocket with significant silver," commented Golden Independence President Tim Henneberry. "Long intervals of + 0.5 g/t gold with higher grade intervals and some high grade pockets continue to confirm and expand the historic oxide resource," he continued. "This third set of assay results further supports our belief that we will be able to significantly expand the historic oxide resource at the Independence project in the near term," remarked Golden Independence CEO Christos Doulis. "In addition to significant higher grade gold intercepts, recent drill results such as hole AGEI-28 demonstrate the Independence project's potential to host significant silver mineralization as well." Figure 1 To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/7273/75132_6fb5d9ea44ab18ad_001full.jpg http://goldenindependence.co/docs/GI-2020_DrillMap_AGEI_26-30.pdf Table 1. 2020 Reverse Circulation Drill Results Hole ft from ft to ft length m length g/t gold g/t silver AGEI-26 145 435 290 88.4 0.375 3.6 including 170 335 165 50.3 0.521 4.7 including 260 325 65 19.8 0.697 7.0 and 675 795 120 36.6 0.313 2.6 AGEI-28 430 560 130 39.6 0.845 92.0 including 450 515 65 19.8 1.436 179.5 including 450 465 15 4.6 3.318 581.6 including 490 515 25 7.6 1.274 50.0 AGEI-30 365 535 170 51.8 0.438 8.7 including 365 380 15 4.6 1.287 20.8 and 510 530 20 6.1 0.746 23.9 All assay results are drill widths not true widths, which is undetermined at this time. Figure 2 To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/7273/75132_6fb5d9ea44ab18ad_002full.jpg https://goldenindependence.co/docs/CrossSection_AGEI-26-30.pdf Quality assurance All samples were shipped to the ALS Minerals prep lab in Elko, Nevada with analyses completed at the ALS Minerals Lab in Reno, Nevada. Both facilities are ISO 9001:2015 and ISO/IEC 17025:2017 certified. All samples are analyzed utilizing ALS ME-ICP41 procedure, an aqua regia digestion with ICP-AES finish, with gold determined by the Au-AA23 procedure, a 30-gram fire assay with AAS finish. ALS Minerals is independent from Golden Independence. Golden Independence institutes a rigorous QA/QC program of duplicate samples, blanks and standards. Based on a review of the QA/QC data is not aware of any other factors that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the data referred to herein. R. Tim Henneberry, PGeo (British Columbia), President and Director of Golden Independence Mining Corp., is the qualified person who has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release on behalf of the company. About Golden Independence Mining Corp. Golden Independence Mining Corp. is an exploration company currently focused on exploring the advanced-stage Independence Gold Property located in the Battle Mountain-Cortez Trend, Nevada and the Champ precious metal property near Castlegar, British Columbia. The Independence Gold Property benefits from over US$25 million in past exploration, including over 200 holes drilled, and is located adjacent to Nevada Gold Mines' Phoenix-Fortitude mining operations in the Battle Mountain-Cortez trend of Nevada. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Christos Doulis, Chief Executive Officer Telephone: 1.647.924.1083 Email: christos@goldenindependence.co To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75132 ROCHESTER, Minn. - It's been almost a year now since face masks have become part of our every day attire and KIMT News 3 is learning they could stick around for yet another year. That's the latest from the nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci. In a recent interview with CNN, he said it's possible Americans will still need to wear face masks in 2022. His statements come as the U.S. passed 500,000 COVID-19 deaths. Chief Medical Officer of Olmsted Medical Center, Randy Hemann, said there are still some hurdles we need to get through before thinking about the year 2022. "As it has been throughout all this, it's been so hard to predict though exactly what the end goal is," he explained. "So we all want to get there quickly. It feels like it's been a long time because it's been a long time. I think we just have some of those variables in our way yet that we just don't know how they're gonna play out." He said they need to focus on bringing students back to school, getting most of the population vaccinated and the new variants coming out. One thing Hemann knows for certain though is wearing a mask helps reduce the spread of other respiratory illnesses as well. "You know it's been that unattended, highly successful effect on our flu and strep throat and other respiratory illnesses," he explained. "They're almost down to nothing or at least a very, very low incidents. That's certainly a lesson you don't want to lose going forward. So maybe there is a seasonal mask strategy that just makes sense related and yet unrelated to COVID." Dr. Fauci said while he can't predict when the country might return to what it was like before the pandemic, he does believe we'll be back to somewhat normal by the end of this year. President Biden is also pushing for more mask wearing since taking office. He has challenged Americans to wear a mask for the first 100 days of his presidency. The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company San Antonio nurse practitioner Andrea Neve tried everything she could think of to get her hands on the coronavirus vaccine. Day after day, week after week, she logged onto websites, made repeated phone calls and even tried getting in through the Veterans Administration since shes a veteran, but it was a no-go. She couldnt get an appointment despite her risk of direct contact with coronavirus patients. It never should have been this difficult. Not for someone eligible under the states 1A group front-line medical workers and those who work in health care settings who were supposed to have first dibs on the vaccine. The last month has been extremely frustrating, she said, as she ticked off the various efforts shes made attempting to secure a dose for herself a burden that sometimes drove her to tears. I know that Im not the only one. Shes not. More for you News FAQ: When and where Texans can get the COVID vaccine On ExpressNews.com: 1 in 5 coronavirus patients in Bexar County work in health care At least 2,532 health care workers are still in need of their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a survey sent out Feb. 6 by the Bexar County Medical Society. We have to assume its an underestimate, said Dr. Zeke Silva, a San Antonio radiologist with the South Texas Radiology Group who serves on the medical societys board. You have a significant number of health care workers who still dont have access to the vaccine. Its likely a problem statewide, but thats uncertain because the Texas Department of State Health Services isnt keeping track. Early on, the agency estimated that more than 1.2 million people qualified for the COVID-19 vaccine because they are essential workers in a health care setting, but it cant say how many have been vaccinated since the first shipments went out Dec. 14. We dont have a way to get at the number of people in a particular occupation who are vaccinated, said agency spokesman Chris Van Deusen, because occupation information isnt collected when a person is vaccination. And the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District said vaccine providers submit their data to the state, so local officials dont know how many health care workers still need a vaccine, either. Van Deusen didnt say why the state doesnt ask for that information. Jerry Lara, Staff / San Antonio Express-News Neve works for a small, independently owned urgent care facility that wasnt able to get vaccines for its employees. But she doesnt fault its owners. She thought she could get an appointment fairly quickly because shes in the 1A group. On ExpressNews.com: Burnout. Trauma. Disillusionment: The toll of COVID-19 on San Antonio hospital workers Neve logged onto the citys website for the Alamodome mass vaccination hub, but the 9,000 time slots had filled within six minutes. She dialed and redialed WellMeds hotline countless times to schedule an appointment to no avail. She checked numerous local websites Metro Health, H-E-B and CVS as soon as she woke up, just in case appointments became available. She downloaded University Healths mobile app hoping she would be alerted immediately when it receives vaccine and get the chance to register in time. She also checked the states vaccine website and considered driving to Houston or Dallas to get vaccinated. She wanted to volunteer to administer shots at an Austin site, but was told there was no guarantee that shed get a dose. A U.S. Army veteran, she tried to get vaccinated through the VA, but was told their doses are reserved for current federal employees and elderly veterans. Despite promises that vaccines would be prioritized for the workers on the front lines, its clear some fell through the cracks amid a confusing state rollout. As the state opened eligibility to the 1B group people 65 and older and any adults with a chronic medical condition the odds of health care workers finding a vaccine on their own diminished. Healthcare workers who work at facilities not affiliated with major hospital systems have had the most difficulty. Silva said he recognizes that older populations are more vulnerable to the virus, but front-line health care workers need to be protected to provide vital services to the community. It raises priority questions when youre in a circumstance where your demand is greater than your supply, the doctor said. After fielding calls from local medical practices, the society partnered with H-E-B to host a vaccine clinic Jan. 10. A local hospital gave doses to the grocery chain, which then vaccinated nearly 1,700 health care workers. Most of those workers received their second dose on Feb. 6. Were going to try to hold another one if we can, Silva said. On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat who serves the San Antonio area, attributed the vaccine delays for some health care workers to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and former President Donald Trump abdicating their responsibilities. For nearly a year, they have greatly overpromised and consistently underdelivered with resulting suffering for so many Texans. Instead of planning effectively for this moment, they exaggerated and deflected responsibility while Texans scrambled first for masks, then testing, and now vaccines, Doggett said. He said to ensure fair and efficient allocation of vaccines, we need precise tracking not chaotic processes. Neve said she was directly exposed to the virus three times, but thanks God she didnt get infected. Before getting test results in each case, she remembers feeling scared and frequently checking her temperature. She took Vitamin C and Zinc, just in case. Ill keep trying to get the vaccine every day. I have this fear that if I get COVID, Im going to die, she said. Update Finally, on Feb. 9, Neve and her husband called the WellMed hotline 2,000 times they counted and at 5:50 p.m. an operator answered. The next morning, she drove to the Alicia Trevino Lopez Senior Center on Culebra Road and received her first dose of the Moderna vaccine. After weeks and many, many phone calls and frantic searching online, Neve could finally relax. laura.garcia@express-news.net Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 23, 2021) - Conquest Resources Limited (TSXV: CQR) ("Conquest" or the "Company") has completed its VTEMmax survey consisting of 2319 line kilometers (km) covering the Belfast Copper Project, as well as portions of the Golden Rose property which had not been previously flown. An additional 180 line kilometers were added to the survey. Belfast Copper Project Numerous geophysical targets have been identified on the Belfast Copper Project. Ground gravity surveys are underway to follow up on selected EM anomalies encountered by the VTEM survey. The first of six targets, all of which are on strike and in the same geological corridor which hosted Teck Resources' high grade Copperfields Mine at Temagami, will be drill tested starting in the first week of March. Conquest's Chief Geophysicist, Kevin Stevens stated, "The VTEMmax system has proven effective for detecting discrete sulphide bodies in a variety of types of ore bearing systems. The 2319 line km survey on the Belfast Copper property covers parts of four townships and has revealed many individual geologic conductors. These conductors occur mostly in the top few hundred meters, but several features occur as deep as 600m. More importantly we are seeing strong responses and long strike lengths (500-800m) associated with some conductors that are suggestive of large, sub-vertically orientated sulphide bearing sources that we will prioritize to be investigated with the drill bit beginning in the next few weeks. The experience of having interpreted many VTEM surveys, coupled with geologic truth produced by follow-up drilling, suggests to me that a number of the VTEM responses obtained from the Belfast Copper survey, are of a quality consistent with similar responses used to target economic sulphide accumulations." Golden Rose Project Five exploration holes over a strike length of eight kilometers have been completed on Phase One of the Golden Rose drill campaign. Iron formation similar to the host rock of the former Golden Rose mine was encountered in all holes. Results from these holes will be released when they are received from the assay laboratory. Additional holes on Golden Rose will be drilled in the coming weeks to test newly discovered Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) targets identified by the VTEM survey. Qualified Person The technical content of this News Release has been reviewed and approved by Joerg Kleinboeck, P.Geo., a qualified person as defined in NI 43-101. ABOUT CONQUEST Conquest Resources Limited, incorporated in 1945, is a mineral exploration company that is exploring for gold on mineral properties in Ontario. Conquest holds a 100% interest in the Golden Rose Project, located in the Temagami Mining Camp at Emerald Lake, approximately 65 kilometres northeast of Sudbury, Ontario, which hosts the former Golden Rose Gold Mine and is underlain by highly prospective Abitibi greenstone geology along a strike length of seventeen (17) kilometres. In October 2020, Conquest completed the acquisition of Canadian Continental Exploration Corp. which holds an extensive package of mining claims which surround Conquest's Golden Rose Mine, and subsequently doubled its land holdings in the Temagami Mining Camp through the staking of 588 mining cells, encompassing approximately 93 sq km., centered on Belfast Township, on the edge of the Temagami Magnetic Anomaly. Conquest now controls over 220 sq km of underexplored territory, including the past producing Golden Rose Mine at Emerald Lake, in the Temagami Mining Camp. Conquest also holds a 100% interest in the Alexander Gold Property located immediately east of the Red Lake and Campbell mines in the heart of the Red Lake Gold Camp on the important "Mine Trend" regional structure. Conquest's property is almost entirely surrounded by Evolution Mining land holdings. In addition, Conquest owns a 100% interest in the Smith Lake Gold Property of six patented claims and 181 staked mining claims to the north, west and south of the former Renabie Gold Mine in Rennie Township in northern Ontario, operated by Corona and Barrick that had reported gold production of over 1,000,000 ounces between 1947 and 1991 (Northern Miner March 4, 1991). FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: general@ConquestResources.com www.ConquestResources.com John F. Kearney Chairman 416-362-6686 Tom Obradovich President & Chief Executive 416-985-7140 Forward-looking statements. This news release may include certain "forward-looking statements". All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the completion of the Acquisition and the Consolidation, the release of escrowed funds, future cash on hand, potential mineralization, resources and reserves, exploration results, and future plans and objectives of Conquest, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Conquest's expectations are exploration risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by Conquest with securities regulators. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as defined in the policies of TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75184 International Protests against coup in Myanmar continue YANGON, FEB 23 (AP) | Publish Date: 2/23/2021 12:48:27 PM IST Protesters against the militarys seizure of power in Myanmar were back on the streets of the countrys biggest city on Tuesday, a day after a call for a general strike shuttered shops and brought huge numbers out to demonstrate. Numbers were down from Mondays massive crowds, but around 1,000 people in Yangon had gathered by mid-morning at the citys Hledan Center, a major meeting point for protesters, with other groups assembling at other venues. In Mandalay, the countrys second-biggest city, a funeral was held for 37-year-old Thet Naing Win, one of two protesters shot dead by security forces on Saturday. He and a teenage boy were killed when police and soldiers opened fire on a crowd that had gathered to support dock workers whom the authorities were trying to force to work. They have been on strike, as have many civil servants and state enterprise workers, as part of a nationwide civil obedience movement against the Feb. 1 military takeover. The military says it took power because last Novembers election was marked by widespread voting irregularities, an assertion that was refuted by the state election commission, whose members have since been replaced by the ruling junta. Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy party won a landslide victory at the polls, which would have installed her government for a second five-year term in power. However, the army blocked Parliament from convening and detained Suu Kyi and President Win Myint and other top members of her government. The junta has said it will rule for a year under a state of emergency and then hold fresh elections. There was a flurry of diplomatic activity abroad on Monday, as international concern about the situation remained high. The United States and several Western governments have called for the junta to refrain from violence, release detainees and restore Suu Kyis government. On Monday, the U.S. said it was imposing sanctions against more junta members because of the killings of peaceful protesters by security forces. Lt. Gen. Moe Myint Tun and Gen. Maung Maung Kyaw add to other military leaders and entities facing U.S. sanctions, and Britain and Canada have taken similar action since the coup. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the U.S. condemns the attacks on protesters, and vowed to take further action if more violence occurs. We call on the military and police to cease all attacks on peaceful protesters, immediately release all those unjustly detained, stop attacks on and intimidation of journalists and activists, and restore the democratically elected government, Blinken said. European Union foreign ministers ordered a series of measures to be drawn up to target those responsible for the coup. They said the EU is ready to adopt restrictive measures targeting those directly responsible for the coup. They plan to keep all other options under review. Such sanctions usually involve a freeze on peoples assets and a ban on them traveling to Europe. The ministers are calling for an end to the state of emergency and the release of all political prisoners.. The ministers say any sanctions the EU imposes will not be aimed at ordinary people. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated his full support to the people of Myanmar on the opening day of a new U.N. Human Rights Council session. Coups have no place in our modern world, Guterres said in a pre-recorded video for the councils 46th regular session. At a Feb. 12 special session, the council adopted a resolution expressing deep concern over the juntas move. Internet access in Myanmar has been blocked nightly from 1 a.m. to 9 a.m. Social media postings Tuesday morning reported more nighttime raids by police in Yangon to try to arrest people linked with the protest movement. On Monday, the independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners reported that 684 people have been arrested in connection with activities since the coup, with 637 still being detained. (AP) Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Market Reports on India Provides the Trending Market Research Report India Touchscreen Display Market, By Application (Smartphone, TV & Monitors, Tablets, Laptops & Notebooks, Digital Signage, Others), By Technology (Resistive, Capacitive, Infrared, SAW, Others), By Type (LCD, LED, OLED, Others), By End User (Consumer Electronics, Retail, Healthcare, BFSI, Others), By Region, Competition, Forecast & Opportunities, FY 2026 under Consumer Goods Category. The report offers a collection of superior market research, market analysis, competitive intelligence and Market reports. India Touchscreen Display Market was valued USD 1966.76 Million in FY2020 and is anticipated to grow at double-digit CAGR of over 11% in the next five years. Growing demand for consumer electronics such as smartphone, television, and laptops, among others and increasing penetration of internet are expected to fuel to adoption of touchscreen display. Moreover, government of the country is focusing on the adoption of 5G technology and has signed MOU with Israel which will positively influence the demand of touchscreen display. Government push for the electronics manufacturing in the country and growing digitization are some of the other factors for the increased demand of touchscreen display. Touchscreen displays are easy to use and possess high degree of picture clarity, thereby registering significant growth in the market. Request a free sample copy of India Touchscreen Display Market Report http://www.marketreportsonindia.com/marketreports/sample/reports/2340208 India touchscreen display market is segmented based on application, technology, type, end user and region. Based on the type, the market is sub-segmented into LCD, LED, OLED, and others. Out of these, LCD touchscreen display accounted for majority share in FY2020. Following the trends, it is expected to show its dominance for the forecast years as well on account of its early adoption and lower price when compared with its counterparts. Major players operating in India touchscreen display market include 3M India Ltd., Samsung India Electronics, LG Electronics India Pvt. Ltd., Shard (Business) Systems India, Fujitsu India Private Limited, Xiaomi Technology India Private Limited, BBK Electronics, NEC India Pvt. Limited, Palas Software Pvt., Oasis Touch technologies, among others. The companies are focussing on extensive research and developments activities in order to stay competitive in the market. Launch of multi-touch display and new product launches exemplifies that. Other competitive strategies include formation of alliances and partnerships. Years considered for this report: Historical Years: FY2016 FY2019 Base Year: FY2020 Estimated Year: FY2021 Forecast Period: FY2022 FY2026 Objective of the Study: To analyze and estimate the market size of India touchscreen display market from FY2016 to FY2019. To estimate and forecast the market size of India touchscreen display market from FY2020 to FY2026 and growth rate until FY2026. To classify and forecast India touchscreen display market based on type, application, technology, end user, company and regional distribution. To identify dominant region or segment in the India touchscreen display market. To identify drivers and challenges for India touchscreen display market. To examine competitive developments such as expansions, new product launches, mergers & acquisitions, etc., in India touchscreen display market. To identify and analyze the profile of leading players operating in India touchscreen display market. To identify key sustainable strategies adopted by market players in India touchscreen display market. Our Research performed both primary as well as exhaustive secondary research for this study. Initially, Our Research sourced a list of manufacturers, suppliers across the country. Subsequently, Our Research conducted primary research surveys with the identified companies. While interviewing, the respondents were also enquired about their competitors. Through this technique, Our Research could include the manufacturers which could not be identified due to the limitations of secondary research. Our Research analyzed the manufacturers, distribution channels and presence of all major players across the country. Our Research calculated the market size of India touchscreen display market using a bottom-up approach, wherein data for various end-user segments was recorded and forecast for the future years. Our Research sourced these values from the industry experts and company representatives and externally validated through analyzing historical data of these product types and applications for getting an appropriate, overall market size. Various secondary sources such as company websites, news articles, press releases, company annual reports, investor presentations and financial reports were also studied by Our Research. Key Target Audience: Touchscreen display companies, electronic companies, and other stakeholders Distributers and suppliers of touchscreen display Organizations, forums and alliances related to touchscreen display Market research and consulting firms The study is useful in providing answers to several critical questions that are important for the industry stakeholders such as manufacturers, suppliers, end users, etc., besides allowing them in strategizing investments and capitalizing on market opportunities. Report Scope: In this report, India touchscreen display market has been segmented into following categories, in addition to the industry trends which have also been detailed below: India Touchscreen Display Market, By Application: o Smartphone o Television & Monitors o Tablets o Laptops & Notebooks o Digital Signage o Others India Touchscreen Display Market, By Technology: o Resistive o Capacitive o Infrared o SAW o Others India Touchscreen Display Market, By Type: o LCD o LED o OLED o Others India Touchscreen Display Market, By End User: o Consumer Electronics o Retail o Healthcare o BFSI o Others India Touchscreen Display Market, By Region: o South o West o East o North Competitive Landscape Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in India touchscreen display market. Available Customizations: With the given market data, Our Research offers customizations according to a companys specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report: Company Information Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players (up to five). Browse our full report with Table of Content : http://www.marketreportsonindia.com/marketreports/india-touchscreen-display-market-by-application-smartphone-tv-monitors-tablets-laptops-notebooks-digital-signa/2340208 About Market Reports on India: Market Reports on India is an excellent source to obtain top quality market research reports that helps you to understand the business in the Indian market. We cover various industries, identifying and understanding key macro and micro-economic trends, insights and futuristic growth opportunities. To help achieve all this and more, Market Reports on India is the answer to all your business needs. Contact us at: Market Reports on India Tel: +91 22 27810772 / 27810773 Email: info@marketreportsonindia.com Website: www.marketreportsonindia.com Follow us on: Twitter,Facebook, LinkedIn (Alliance News) - Airlines and travel firms are experiencing a surge in demand following Boris Johnson's road map for how coronavirus restrictions will be eased. The UK prime minister said on Monday that a government taskforce will produce a report by April 12 recommending how international trips can resume for people in England. Foreign holidays could be permitted from May 17. In the hours after the announcement, easyJet PLC said bookings by UK customers for the summer season were more than four times higher compared with the same period during the previous week. The Luton-based firm's holiday division saw an even larger rise, with demand up seven-fold. The most popular destinations for this summer are beach resorts including Malaga, Alicante and Palma in Spain, Faro in Portugal and the Greek island of Crete. August is the most booked month, followed by July and September. EasyJet Chief Executive Johan Lundgren said: "We have consistently seen that there is pent-up demand for travel and this surge in bookings shows that this signal from the government that it plans to reopen travel has been what UK consumers have been waiting for. "The prime minister's address has provided a much-needed boost in confidence for so many of our customers in the UK with demand for flights up 337% and holidays up 630% already compared to last week and beach destinations proving most popular for this summer." He added: "While the summer may be a little while off, we will be working around the clock to ensure we will be ready to ramp up our flights to reconnect friends and family or take them on a long-awaited holiday to remember." easyJet insists that customers can "book with confidence" as it has a flexible policy for allowing changes to itineraries. Online travel firm Thomas Cook said traffic to its website was up 60% during the three hours after Johnson's statement to the Commons. Chief Executive Alan French described the announcement as "good news for those of us desperate to get away on holiday". UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the effectiveness of vaccines against coronavirus strains will play a major part in the international travel review. "We do have to protect against these new variants, and that is a big challenge," he told Sky News. He added that "we can be much more relaxed about international travel" if vaccines work well against strains of the virus from South Africa and Brazil. "If the vaccine doesn't work against them, then that will be much, much more difficult," he said. By Neil Lancefield, PA Transport Correspondent source: PA Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. Tabares also asked whether hed handle the job differently from Madigan, to which Kodatt said: Well, I certainly learned a lot from the former speaker and Ald. Quinn. I would obviously continue to deliver these great services and be responsive as they are to the community. But also Im my own person. So I would deliver, you know, new ideas, new perspectives and just build on what I already know and how to deliver the services. But go down my own path. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 19:53:22|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KUNMING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Law-enforcement authorities from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand joined forces Tuesday for the 102nd Mekong River joint patrol. Three Chinese vessels departed from Jingha Port, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China's Yunnan Province for the patrol. Before the patrol, the four countries' law-enforcement authorities held a video conference to discuss the river's security situation. The Mekong River, known as the Lancang River in China, is a vital waterway for cross-border shipping. Enditem 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. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. President Joe Biden will host to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday for the first bilateral meeting of his presidency, but he will do it virtually. In pre-pandemic times, such a meeting would have been held with fanfare: Biden welcoming the Canadian prime minister with great pomp upon his arrival, an Oval Office talk between the two leaders, a joint news conference and perhaps a luncheon. But with both leaders stressing caution to their citizens, Biden and Trudeau are forgoing the typical protocol and holding their talks by video conference. U.S. presidents traditionally invite the Canadian prime minister for their first meeting with a world leader. White House officials said they are still trying to offer a touch of stagecraft for the meeting. The two leaders - Biden in the Roosevelt Room at the White House and Trudeau in the prime minister's office in Ottawa - will deliver brief remarks in front of the media at the start of their meeting. President Joe Biden will host to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday for the first bilateral meeting of his presidency U.S. presidents traditionally invite the Canadian prime minister for their first meeting with a world leader - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was the first leader to congratulate Joe Biden on becoming president and is seen above speaking to him on January 22 Then Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan will hold a 45-minute session with Trudeau, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau and Canada's ambassador to the United States, Kirsten Hillman, according to a senior Biden administration official who previewed the meeting. That meeting will be followed by an extended session that is expected to include Harris as well as several of Biden's Cabinet-level advisers and Trudeau's ministers. 'It is fitting testament that this is his first bilateral meeting,' White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. The agenda includes the two countries' COVID-19 responses, climate change, economic issues and more. Biden and Trudeau plan to deliver joint closing statements, with Biden appearing from the White House East Room, at the end of their meeting. The White House said the leaders also plan to issue a 'road map' outlining how the neighboring countries will work together to fight COVID-19, curb climate emissions and pursue other shared priorities. Announcements on 'next steps' will be made in multiple areas such as diplomacy, transportation or infrastructure, and battling Covid-19, a senior administration official said. It was unclear whether Trudeau would again raise with the Democratic president the idea of allowing Canada, which is struggling to vaccinate its population, to buy vaccines from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer's manufacturing facility in Michigan. Canada currently is getting vaccines shipped from a Pfizer plant in Belgium. Trudeau brought up the issue when the two leaders spoke by phone last month, Biden's first call to a foreign leader as president. But Biden's 'first priority' remains 'ensuring every American is vaccinated,' Psaki said. Biden and Trudeau will address several mutual priorities, including tackling climate change, revving up the North American economy, the Arctic, and threats to democracy in Myanmar and Venezuela. 'By being on the same line on several subjects, like climate change or economic revival, we can do more together,' Trudeau's office said, offering similar broad brush strokes. Joe Biden met with Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when he was vice president in December 2016 Issues on table for Biden and Trudeau: climate change, COVID pandemic and vaccine, Keystone XL pipeline, Biden's 'Buy American' policy, and China Another area of concern for Trudeau is the 'Buy American' executive order that Biden signed during his first week in office. It's designed to encourage the federal government to spend more of the roughly $600 billion earmarked for procurement to boost U.S. factories and hiring. Biden said that as part of the push he was creating a 'Made in America' office to evaluate contracts and make sure waivers are used only in 'very limited circumstances,' such as when there is an overwhelming national security, humanitarian or emergency need in the U.S. The issue is crucial to Canada since the U.S. accounts for about 75% of its exports. Asked if Canada may get a waiver from Bidens 'Buy American' order, Psaki said Monday that 'no changes are anticipated.' But in an exchange with reporters on Tuesday ahead of the Biden-Trudeau meeting, Psaki appeared to offer a little more wiggle room. 'Were still evaluating the application of that and how it will apply,' she said. 'I dont expect them to make any commitments during the meeting today.' Trudeau is also expected to again raise concerns to Biden about two Canadians imprisoned in China in apparent retaliation for Canada's arrest of a top Huawei executive, according to a senior Canadian official familiar with the prime ministers preparation for the call. Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig were detained in China following the arrest of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in Canada after the U.S. requested her extradition to face charges that the Chinese telecom company executive committed wire and bank fraud and violated U.S. sanctions on Iran. She denies the allegations. Biden is anticipating that Trudeau will raise the issue and plans to make clear that the White House will be as 'supportive as possible to help secure the release' of the two Canadian men, according to a senior Biden administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the meeting. China lashed out at Canada last week for joining the U.S. and 56 other countries in endorsing a declaration denouncing state-sponsored arbitrary detention of foreign citizens for political purposes. Biden also used the call last month to explain his decision to halt building of the Keystone XL pipeline. The long-disputed project was supported by Trudeau and projected to carry some 800,000 barrels of oil a day from the tar sands of Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast, passing through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma. Biden rescinded the permit by executive order on his first day in office, fulfilling a campaign commitment, and 'the decision will not be reconsidered,' the senior administration official said. Despite Trudeaus disappointment with Bidens decision to cancel the project, Canadian government officials said the call went well between the two leaders, who have known each other for years. Trudeau was the first world leader to congratulate Biden when the Democrat was declared the winner of the November U.S. election. Canadian officials expect Trudeau to have a far more productive relationship with Biden than he did with Donald Trump. The Republican president, in a fit of pique in 2018, took to Twitter following a meeting of the Group of Seven industrialized nations to malign the prime minister as 'dishonest and weak' after Trudeau voiced objections to Trump raising tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada, Mexico and the European Union. English schoolteacher Mary Tyler, who spent five years in Indian jails in the early 1970s on suspicion of being a Naxalite, recalled her experience in Anand Patwardhan-directed documentary Prisoners of Conscience (1978). As for the condition in the jail, they were very overcrowded, she said. Sanitation was extremely primitive; medical care was extremely poor, especially in the smaller jails; and there were lots of infectious and contagious diseases. Medical treatment was almost nil. Apart from that, there were severe water problems, clothing was not provided according to jail rules, visits were arbitrary... In general, one had a feeling that most of the prisoners there would not have a chance of being taken to court at all let alone trial. Tyler, who was interviewed for this film during the Emergency (1975-1977), later recollected her experiences at the Hazaribagh jail in a book, My Years in An Indian Prison (1977). Patwardhans documentary begins with the text: The persons interviewed in this film have one thing in common. They have all been political prisoners in independent India. He began making the film during the Emergency, when Indira Gandhis government used laws such as the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA), 1971, the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974, and the Defence of India Rules (DIR), 1915, quite liberally to imprison opposition leaders, political opponents within the Congress, suspected and real Naxalites and members of other armed groups, liberal journalists and many others. Patwardhan himself spent a day in jail, as he recollected in an interview: While making Prisoners of Conscience I was jailed for a day but I got out, yet at the back of my mind there is always some caution about what Im doing or what might happen. The film documents the end of the Emergency and the defeat of The existence of political prisoners did not begin with the Emergency nor did it end with it, says the voiceover. One of the interviewees for the film, Jayaprakash Narayan, says the expectations from the Janata Party government, which came to power in 1977, had not been fulfilled as long as there were political prisoners in India a thought that Patwardhan echoes in the interview: The film is an attempt to show that ever since independence, because the class structures in India have remained hierarchical, and because there is a very small ruling class made up of landlords and big business, the government no matter which party was in power had to use repressive means to stay in power. Patwardhan got a taste of it when he tried to release Prisoners of Conscience it was denied a clearance by the censor board despite the Janata Party being in power. Christophe Jaffrelot and Pratinav Anil in their recent book on the Emergency, Indias First Dictatorship, claim: In 1978 the Shah Commission disclosed 110,806 citizens had been arrested under the DIR and MISA during the twenty-one months of authoritarian rule, adding that political prisoners, as opposed to common criminals, accounted for at least half that figure. The Shah Commission, appointed by the Janata Party government, was headed by ex-chief justice of India J C Shah and was mandated to look into the excess of the Emergency. After was re-elected to power in 1980, most copies of the commissions report disappeared. Drawing upon a report in the Frontline, Jaffrelot and Anil argue that Prime Minister Narendra Modis government has used the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2019, in a similar manner to lock up its detractors. Some of those incarcerated under this Act are activists arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case (whose legitimacy has been challenged by recent revelations) and protestors against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, or the CAA. To circle back to schoolteacher Tylers experience in jail, there are continuities between 1975 and 2021. If anything, things have only got worse. According to a recent report of the National Crime Records Bureau, seven in 10 Indian prisoners are undertrials; one in three are Dalits or Adivasis. Only 14 countries in the world have more undertrials behind bars, proving the often-repeated observation that in India the process of seeking justice is in itself the punishment. Before Amnesty International shut down its office in India in September 2020, accusing the government of a witch-hunt, it had published a detailed report of how prisoners were tortured behind bars in India. In 2019, there were 478,600 people lodged in Indian jails, according to the NCRB report. Last Saturday, February 15, 22-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi was added to these statistics when a team of Delhi police picked her up from her home in Bengaluru. She has been accused of sedition and circulating a document now, infamous as the toolkit tweeted by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg in support of months-long protests by farmers in North India. There have been accusations that the Delhi police did not even get a transit remand, necessary for arresting a person in another city and bringing them to the national capital. Right to Information activist Saket Gokhale has filed an application seeking clarification on this and the Delhi Commission for Women has issued a notice on the police, even as police commissioner S N Shrivastava has denied that his force violated any norms in the case. While Ravi remains in custody, warrants have been issued against two other green activists Shantanu Muluk and Nikita Jacob from Maharashtra. Historian Ramachandra Guha, who has been a consistent critic of the Modi government, reflected on Ravis arrest in his column for NDTV last week. One of the five reasons he cited was: the Modi-[Home Minister Amit]Shah regime fears independent thinking in general; they particularly fear it when expressed by young people. Indians in their 20s and 30s, who are animated by ideals of religious pluralism, caste and gender justice, democratic transparency, and environmental sustainability that is, by ideals different from and often opposed to those of the Sangh Parivar have more energy and more time on this earth to fulfil their own hopes for our land. Therefore, they must be sent off to prison, through the abuse of state power and of the legal process if necessary. Incidentally, Guha himself was arrested in December 2019 while protesting against the CAA in Bengaluru. A scholar of international repute, Guhas arrest had sparked international censure with the Financial Times in London claiming that India was sliding into a second Emergency. One might argue that such comparisons are onerous, depending more on coincidences than on empirically proven facts. And, indeed, it would be a futile exercise to try to find an exact mapping between a historical event and contemporary developments. But denying the resonances between to borrow Jaffrelot and Anils term Indias first dictatorship and the undeniable erosion of democratic institutions in the country in our time would be an invitation for more such coincidences to occur. The writes novel Ritual was published last year. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form SAGINAW, MI - Joyce and Eugene Seals have lived impressive lives just considering their own accomplishments. Include the level of success their kids have reached and its nothing short of incredible. Seals and her husband, later one of the areas first Black doctors, graduated from Saginaw High School together and both attended the University of Michigan. Both educators who overcame adversity to achieve great things in their community, theyve instilled the value of education in their eight children, all of whom hold at least a bachelors degree and several of whom hold or are pursuing masters or doctorates. Education plays a key role in the familys success, a priority Seals dates back to her once-enslaved great grandfather. Joyce Seals grandmother was the first educator in the family, followed by her mother, a teacher in Saginaw and Buena Vista school districts for decades, she said. One of their eight children is Dr. Delicia Pruitt, who is now the medical director at the Saginaw County Health Department. Pruitt also ran a practice with her father. Seals in part attributes her kids drive for achievement to Eugenes success story, from having a vision of being a doctor at age four and deciding to quit his job and go to medical school at age 35. His story is really magnificent, Seals said. He had to work very hard... He faced a lot of impediments. Eugene found out he was missing critical courses when trying to apply for medical school after his undegraduate, something his advisors never mentioned, Seals said. After working for more than a decade and taking a leap of faith to go back, Eugene was accepted into medical school at Michigan State University and later graduated with his wife and eight children onstage with him, Seals said. Our kids have a pretty strong foundation of academic background, they see someone who had a vision, had a dream and was able to accomplish it, Seals said. Our daughter, she saw her dad go through medical school. Seals drive to help educate kids, whether hers or others, also set her on the path to becoming the mayor of Saginaw. Her involvement in programs to help shape local children snowballed into involvement in other efforts, which eventually led to some community members asking her to run for city council, she said. I tried to do the same thing I did with my kids, tried to talk to them, set up a plan for their future, let them know they could be somebody, Seals said. A lot of kids are told youre not gonna be everything... I created a message every morning they were with us to make sure they knew there is no obstacle they could not overcome. With Eugenes encouragement, Seals ran for council and won in 1993. She served for 10 years and ran again in 2007, when she was elected mayor by the council after winning. She was the citys second Black female mayor. More than a decade after serving as mayor, Seals is now a member of Saginaw Public Schools Board of Education, as well as the chair of Saginaw Promise, the chair of Saginaw County Prevention Coalition, and co-pastor at her church. With the many organizations shes involved in, she never feels like shes retired in the mornings, she said. I can never remember all the things I do until its time to do them, Seals said. Im just trying to do things to help people in this community. Theres so many people who need assistance and direction, and somebody needs to do it. As Joyce and Eugene made their marks in Saginaw, their children were on the path to do the same. In a family with four generations of educators, learning has always been a focus and a pathway to success, Seals said. We both have degrees in teaching, he can do the math and science, I can do the language arts, social studies, Seals said. If they needed help, they had some help. Most of them didnt need help, they were very motivated and always wanted to succeed. Seals drive to educate and see people be educated has continued as her grandchildren make their way through higher education and she looks to keep them on the same page. One grandson just got his law degree from MSU and passed the bar exam, becoming the first lawyer in the family, Seals said; another is in pharmacy school. Ive got several others in the pipeline, Seals said. Theres been a promotion of education. Some people were saying how are your kids doing so well? Were not different than anybody else, we just have some standards. 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: Saginaws First Ward was my lifeline and still is says 93-year-old board member One of Saginaws oldest Black female barbers, 72, reflects on a beautiful career Saginaw Art Museum features works by Black artists in Wonderfully Made exhibit Saginaw, Flint leaders among Whitmer appointees to increase COVID-19 vaccine awareness Saginaw woman asks community to send 105 cards for great aunts 105th birthday Saginaw man offering free job training, mentorship to empower Saginaw teens Saginaw Public Schools gets better deal on bonds than expected, saving millions, superintendent says Saginaw-areas top Week 2 basketball performances, with Player of the Week poll New CDC guidelines set a high bar for Michigan schools to resume in person Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 23 : The India-China rivalry has now pushed into the Russian Far East, where Modi administration is planning significant investments in the energy and other sectors. China is a top investor in the region, but the Russians wary of putting all their eggs in the Chinese basket are welcoming India's footprint in the area. During a recent visit to Moscow, India's Foreign Secretary, Harsh Shringla repeated India's deep interest in Russian Far East, a region which President Vladimir Putin wants to develop as a signature initiative. "We see that as a very high potential area, where we can develop new sectors and help companies looking to invest in new areas such as coking coal, timber, liquid natural gas," he said during an address to the Russian Diplomatic Academy. "There is huge potential there." The Far Eastern Federal District is the largest of Russia's federal districts, constituting a little over 40% of the country's territory. The region is also home to much of the nation's resource wealth, including oil, natural gas, gold, diamonds, coal, timber and fish. Yet with a population of just over 6 million people, the Far East is also Russia's least populated region, and its numbers have only been dwindling since the collapse of the Soviet Union. India's Far East story began in earnest two years ago. During a 2019 visit to the Far Eastern port city of Vladivostok, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that New Delhi would pitch in a $1 billion loan to foster the region's development. He also signed a memorandum to anchor a direct maritime corridor between Vladivostok and Chennai. Unlike the European sea route which takes 40 days, the new corridor will consume only 24 days. India's deepening interest follows major Chinese inroads in the region. Over the past several years, China has emerged as the Far East's primary foreign investor and trading partner. In 2019, the country accounted for over 70% percent of all direct foreign investment in the region and 28.2% of its foreign trade. To counter China's heft, India is keen to bring wealthy Japan to the Far East table. Last month, delegates from India, Japan and Russia concluded their first Track II negotiation to nail Far East projects. The trio has identified energy, coal mining, diamond processing, forestry, agro-industry, transportation and pharmaceuticals as areas for a trilateral partnership. "Everyone understands that relying on China as a monopolistic buyer is very dangerous," Artyom Lukin, a professor of international relations at Russia's Far Eastern Federal University was quoted as saying the Nikkei Asia. "It is here that the interests of Russia and India converge. There is a real opportunity for India to position itself as an alternative to China on a whole range of important export goods." (This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 19:21:08|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A staff member checks the temperature of a customer at a cinema in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Feb. 23, 2021. Cinemas with qualifications and standard epidemic prevention and control measures are allowed to reopen in Harbin on Tuesday. (Photo by Zhang Tao/Xinhua) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Lagos state judicial panel has summoned Mohammad Adamu, inspector-general of police (IGP), over a case involving one Adewale Adewuyi, ... The Lagos state judicial panel has summoned Mohammad Adamu, inspector-general of police (IGP), over a case involving one Adewale Adewuyi, a petitioner who is on a stretcher. Debo Adeleke, the petitioners lawyer, alleged that the police have refused to release 26 acres of farmland seized from the petitioner since 2013. Adeleke asked the panel to summon the IGP so that the police could be compelled to release the seized farmland. More to follow Kolkata, Feb 23 : Kolkata Police on Tuesday arrested Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rakesh Singh from Burdwan district in connection with the Pamela Goswami drugs case. A BJP state committee member, Singh was named by his party colleague and BJP Yuva Morcha leader Pamela Goswami, who was recently arrested by the Kolkata Police for illegal possession of cocaine. Singh was arrested by the city police's detective department from Galsi in East Burdwan district on Tuesday evening. Earlier in the day, the police had also carried out a raid at Singh's residence and detained his two sons - Suvam (26) and Saheb Singh (21). The police took the duo to the Kolkata Police headquarters in Lalbazar. The search drive was led by the anti-narcotics and anti-rowdy sections of the detective department of New Alipore police station, sources said. School district says email urging staff, students to lobby for pro-LGBT proposal 'not appropriate' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment An Ohio school district has acknowledged that an assistant principal's email directing teachers to encourage students to write letters to city council members in support of a local pro-LGBT non-discrimination proposal was "not appropriate." On Thursday, Hilliard City Schools issued a statement after Hilliard Davidson High School Assistant Principal Kristen Clausen sparked controversy for sending an email to school staff last Tuesday that drew the ire of some teachers and a Christian conservative organization. In the e-mail, Clausen announced that the school would be running an adjusted bell schedule to allow time to recognize Black History Month on the front end of our 3rd period classes. The administrator at the Columbus-area school of nearly 2,000 students ordered the staff to follow a specific agenda during that 22 minute allotted block of time. Clausen told teachers to tell students about an anti-discrimination bill crafted by two Hilliard City Council members along with a student at Hilliard Davidson High School. The city council members seek to expand existing anti-discrimination laws so that our city can protect people who are from communities related to sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, disability, marital status and pregnancy because our current law in Hilliard does not include community members related to those classes. Now, we need YOU. We need YOU to share with our elected officials in the form of a hard-copy letter why expanding the anti-discrimination legislation is necessary, the assistant principal wrote. If you have experienced discrimination because of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, disability, marital status and pregnancy, please share your experiences as well so we can help the people who serve us understand why we need legislation that protects all people. There is a box where you can turn in your letter in the main office. The email further instructed teachers to let students know that if they are interested in writing a letter to city council members in support of the proposal, they can do so and drop them off in the Main Office either in the designated box or to Mrs. Smith no later than next Wednesday, 2/24 as we will be in remote learning next Thursday and Friday. Leading the charge against Clausens e-mail was the social conservative activist organization Center for Christian Virtue, which warned on its website that the anti-discrimination ordinance promoted by the assistant principals email has controversial provisions. CCV President Aaron Baer argues that the ordinance would require homeless shelters and domestic violence shelters to allow men to bathe and bunk with women. He said it would also require businesses and schools to allow men in womens locker rooms or showers. Baer elaborated on his concerns with the legislation in an interview with The Christian Post. Baer contends that the ordinance would create situations where a private business owner could be forced to celebrate a religious ceremony that violates his conscience or her conscience or where a city employee could be fired merely for writing a Bible study that affirms a Christian perspective on marriage and sexuality. For Hilliard public schools to turn students into lobbyists is bad enough, he said in a statement. But to pressure students to lobby for something as dangerous and controversial as a Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity law is wholly unacceptable. The activist described Clausens e-mail as an unprecedented violation of the public trust. He explained that a number of teachers who received the email reached out to his organization because they were afraid of intimidation and bullying from the administration. Whether or not you agree with this bad sexual orientation and gender identity law, this is still a unprecedented request and an unethical request, Baer said. How we got this first and foremost was from the teachers. In response to the criticism, Hilliard City Schools issued a statement stating that the assistant principals e-mail violated school district policy. The Hilliard City Schools Board of Education and administration has been clear on their support of diversity and inclusion of all students and supports our students personal involvement in the political process as they choose, Director of Communications Stacie Raterman shared in a statement with local media. However, board policy sets clear expectations that literature promoting or opposing political figures, candidates or issues, not be distributed in the school setting. Raterman acknowledged that students were not required to write letters in support of a political issue but stated that any distribution of political literature to our students was not appropriate and should not have occurred. We have discussed this with all involved and set new guidelines to assure this type of situation does not occur, the statement added. While Baer is grateful for the school boards corrective action, he maintained that it was a fundamental failure and breach of trust that enabled a communication like the original email to go out. He added that it is a great responsibility public schools are entrusted with to sharpen young minds. [T]o abuse that power by forcing dangerous political agendas on students is wholly unacceptable, he asserted. However, he expressed gratitude for the strong community response to this disastrous email from the Hilliard Administration. Because so many citizens and families rose up, your voice was heard, and teachers and students were spared from an unacceptable bullying and intimidation campaign, he stated. Baer told CP that some of the teachers had not read the scripts yet. Our organization is a pro-life organization. We lobbied hard for the Heartbeat Bill. If a public school would have pressured students to lobby for the Heartbeat Bill, I would have said thats wrong. That is not what taxpayer dollars should be used for, he said. If theyre a private school, thats a whole other ballgame, Baer added. But for a public school to do this and use taxpayer dollars is wrong. In addition to pushing for students to write letters advocating for the anti-discrimination legislations passage, Clausen ordered teachers to show a three-minute video promoting the effort. We are at the crossroads of a great change in our country, in our state and our community, the narrator, a student at Hilliard Davidson High School, said as a picture of the Womens March San Francisco appeared on the screen. Before us, there is a choice that every single member of our community has to make. Do we choose justice for all or justice for the few? Do we choose to look away from discrimination or do we choose to stand up and proudly carry the banner of anti-discrimination? the student asked. As the narrator spoke, additional pictures of people engaged in social justice activism appeared on screen, followed by video footage of demonstrations in Hilliard. The narrator was later introduced as the student Clausen touted in her letter to school staff members earlier this week. The Hilliard City Council will propose an anti-discrimination law. This law will benefit all people who live in the city of Hilliard. They need us, the students of Hilliard City Schools, to help persuade other council members to pass this law, the student said in the video. He urged students to write and address a letter to the Hilliard City Council documenting your experiences with discrimination in this town. He stressed: If you dont have any, write one anyways. Share why you believe that this bill will be great for our community. Baer told CP that the Hilliard City Schools has a history of pushing a political agenda in the classroom, especially related to LGBT issues. Last year, Ohio passed a bill we backed called the Student Religious Liberty Act, that was in response to students, he recalled. One of the stories that we had was students in this district being discriminated against because of their religious beliefs. Councilmember Omar Tarazi also pushed back against the attempt to use students to lobby for the proposed policy, which has not yet been introduced as a bill. "However, if City Council members coordinated with the school administration to order a student letter-writing campaign, with taxpayer resources, in support of their 19-page draft law that nobody has read yet, then that would be completely irresponsible and unacceptable," he told ThisWeek Community News. "It is particularly unfortunate because it was done under the manipulative pretense of extending legal protections for groups in Hilliard for the first time when they already have protections in Hilliard under federal and state law and by (our) charter." (Natural News) For the third time in less than five months, the U.S. Congress has summoned the CEOs of social media companies to appear before them, with the explicit intent to pressure and coerce them to censor more content from their platforms. On March 25, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will interrogate Twitters Jack Dorsey, Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg and Googles Sundar Pichai at a hearing which the Committee announced will focus on misinformation and disinformation plaguing online platforms. (Article by Glenn Greenwald republished from Greenwald.Substack.com) The Committees Chair, Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), and the two Chairs of the Subcommittees holding the hearings, Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), said in a joint statement that the impetus was falsehoods about the COVID-19 vaccine and debunked claims of election fraud. They argued that these online platforms have allowed misinformation to spread, intensifying national crises with real-life, grim consequences for public health and safety, adding: This hearing will continue the Committees work of holding online platforms accountable for the growing rise of misinformation and disinformation. House Democrats have made no secret of their ultimate goal with this hearing: to exert control over the content on these online platforms. Industry self-regulation has failed, they said, and therefore we must begin the work of changing incentives driving social media companies to allow and even promote misinformation and disinformation. In other words, they intend to use state power to influence and coerce these companies to change which content they do and do not allow to be published. Ive written and spoken at length over the past several years about the dangers of vesting the power in the state, or in tech monopolies, to determine what is true and false, or what constitutes permissible opinion and what does not. I will not repeat those points here. Instead, the key point raised by these last threats from House Democrats is an often-overlooked one: while the First Amendment does not apply to voluntary choices made by a private company about what speech to allow or prohibit, it does bar the U.S. Government from coercing or threatening such companies to censor. In other words, Congress violates the First Amendment when it attempts to require private companies to impose viewpoint-based speech restrictions which the government itself would be constitutionally barred from imposing. It may not be easy to draw where the precise line is to know exactly when Congress has crossed from merely expressing concerns into unconstitutional regulation of speech through its influence over private companies but there is no question that the First Amendment does not permit indirect censorship through regulatory and legal threats. Ben Wizner, Director of the ACLUs Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, told me that while a constitutional analysis depends on a variety of factors including the types of threats issued and how much coercion is amassed, it is well-established that the First Amendment governs attempts by Congress to pressure private companies to censor: For the same reasons that the Constitution prohibits the government from dictating what information we can see and read (outside narrow limits), it also prohibits the government from using its immense authority to coerce private actors into censoring on its behalf. In a January Wall Street Journal op-ed, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Yale Law Schools constitutional scholar Jed Rubenfeld warned that Congress is rapidly approaching this constitutional boundary if it has not already transgressed it. Using a combination of statutory inducements and regulatory threats, the duo wrote, Congress has co-opted Silicon Valley to do through the back door what government cannot directly accomplish under the Constitution. That article compiled just a small sample of case law making clear that efforts to coerce private actors to censor speech implicate core First Amendment free speech guarantees. In Norwood v. Harrison (1973), for instance, the Court declared it axiomatic a basic legal principle that Congress may not induce, encourage or promote private persons to accomplish what it is constitutionally forbidden to accomplish. They noted: For more than half a century courts have held that governmental threats can turn private conduct into state action. In 2018, the ACLU successfully defended the National Rifle Association (NRA) in suing Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York State on the ground that attempts of state officials to coerce private companies to cease doing business with the NRA using implicit threats driven by Cuomos contempt for the NRAs political views amounted to a violation of the First Amendment. Because, argued the ACLU, the communications of Cuomos aides to banks and insurance firms could reasonably be interpreted as a threat of retaliatory enforcement against firms that do not sever ties with gun promotion groups, that conduct ran afoul of the well-established principle that the government may violate the First Amendment through action that falls short of a direct prohibition against speech, including by retaliation or threats of retaliation against speakers. In sum, argued the civil liberties group in reasoning accepted by the court: Courts have never required plaintiffs to demonstrate that the government directly attempted to suppress their protected expression in order to establish First Amendment retaliation, and they have often upheld First Amendment retaliation claims involving adverse economic action designed to chill speech indirectly. In explaining its rationale for defending the NRA, the ACLU described how easily these same state powers could be abused by a Republican governor against liberal activist groups for instance, by threatening banks to cease providing services to Planned Parenthood or LGBT advocacy groups. When the judge rejected Cuomos motion to dismiss the NRAs lawsuit, Reuters explained the key lesson in its headline: Perhaps the ruling most relevant to current controversies occurred in the 1963 Supreme Court case Bantam Books v. Sullivan. In the name of combatting the obscene, indecent and impure, the Rhode Island legislature instituted a commission to notify bookstores when they determined a book or magazine to be objectionable, and requested their cooperation by removing it and refusing to sell it any longer. Four book publishers and distributors sued, seeking a declaration that this practice was a violation of the First Amendment even though they were never technically forced to censor. Instead, they ceased selling the flagged books voluntarily due to fear of the threats implicit in the advisory notices received from the state. In a statement that House Democrats and their defenders would certainly invoke to justify what they are doing with Silicon Valley, Rhode Island officials insisted that they were not unconstitutionally censoring because their scheme does not regulate or suppress obscenity, but simply exhorts booksellers and advises them of their legal rights. In rejecting that disingenuous claim, the Supreme Court conceded that it is true that [plaintiffs] books have not been seized or banned by the State, and that no one has been prosecuted for their possession or sale. Nonetheless, the Court emphasized that Rhode Islands legislature just like these House Democrats summoning tech executives had been explicitly clear that their goal was the suppression of speech they disliked: the Commission deliberately set about to achieve the suppression of publications deemed objectionable, and succeeded in its aim. And the Court emphasized that the barely disguised goal of the state was to intimidate these private book publishers and distributors into censoring by issuing implicit threats of punishment for non-compliance: It is true, as noted by the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, that [the book distributor] was free to ignore the Commissions notices, in the sense that his refusal to cooperate would have violated no law. But it was found as a fact and the finding, being amply supported by the record, binds us that [the book distributors] compliance with the Commissions directives was not voluntary. People do not lightly disregard public officers thinly veiled threats to institute criminal proceedings against them if they do not come around, and [the distributors] reaction, according to uncontroverted testimony, was no exception to this general rule. The Commissions notices, phrased virtually as orders, reasonably understood to be such by the distributor, invariably followed up by police visitations, in fact stopped the circulation of the listed publications ex proprio vigore [by its own force]. It would be naive to credit the States assertion that these blacklists are in the nature of mere legal advice when they plainly serve as instruments of regulation. In sum, concluded the Bantam Books Court: their operation was in fact a scheme of state censorship effectuated by extra-legal sanctions; they acted as an agency not to advise but to suppress. Little effort is required to see that Democrats, now in control of the Congress and the White House, are engaged in a scheme of speech control virtually indistinguishable from those long held unconstitutional by decades of First Amendment jurisprudence. That Democrats are seeking to use their control of state power to coerce and intimidate private tech companies to censor and indeed have already succeeded in doing so is hardly subject to reasonable debate. They are saying explicitly that this is what they are doing. Because big tech has failed to acknowledge the role theyve played in fomenting and elevating blatantly false information to its online audiences, said the Committee Chairs again summoning the social media companies, we must begin the work of changing incentives driving social media companies to allow and even promote misinformation and disinformation. The Washington Post, in reporting on this latest hearing, said the Committee intends to take fresh aim at the tech giants for failing to crack down on dangerous political falsehoods and disinformation about the coronavirus. And lurking behind these calls for more speech policing are pending processes that could result in serious punishment for these companies, including possible antitrust actions and the rescission of Section 230 immunity from liability. This dynamic has become so common that Democrats now openly pressure Silicon Valley companies to censor content they dislike. In the immediate aftermath of the January 6 Capitol riot, when it was falsely claimed that Parler was the key online venue for the riots planning Facebook, Googles YouTube and Facebooks Instagram were all more significant two of the most prominent Democratic House members, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), used their large social media platforms to insist that Silicon Valley monopolies remove Parler from their app stores and hosting services: Within twenty-four hours, all three Silicon Valley companies complied with these requests, and took the extraordinary step of effectively removing Parler at the time the most-downloaded app on the Apple Store from the internet. We will likely never know what precise role those tweets and other pressure from liberal politicians and journalists played in their decisions, but what is clear is that Democrats are more than willing to use their power and platforms to issue instructions to Silicon Valley about what they should and should not permit to be heard. Leading liberal activists and some powerful Democratic politicians, such as then-presidential-candidate Kamala Harris, had long demanded former President Donald Trumps removal from social media. After the Democrats won the White House indeed, the day after Democrats secured control of both houses of Congress with two wins in the Georgia Senate run-offs Twitter, Facebook and other online platforms banned Trump, citing the Capitol riot as the pretext. While Democrats cheered, numerous leaders around the world, including many with no affection for Trump, warned of how dangerous this move was. Long-time close aide of the Clintons, Jennifer Palmieri, posted a viral tweet candidly acknowledging and clearly celebrating why this censorship occurred. With Democrats now in control of the Congressional committees and Executive Branch agencies that regulate Silicon Valley, these companies concluded it was in their best interest to censor the internet in accordance with the commands and wishes of the party that now wields power in Washington: It has not escaped my attention that the day social media companies decided there actually IS more they could do to police Trumps destructive behavior was the same day they learned Democrats would chair all the congressional committees that oversee them. Jennifer Palmieri (@jmpalmieri) January 7, 2021 The last time CEOs of social media platforms were summoned to testify before Congress, Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) explicitly told them that what Democrats want is more censorship more removal of content which they believe constitutes disinformation and hate speech. He did not even bother to hide his demands: The issue is not that the companies before us today are taking too many posts down; the issue is that they are leaving too many dangerous posts up: When it comes to censorship of politically adverse content, sometimes explicit censorship demands are unnecessary. Where a climate of censorship prevails, companies anticipate what those in power want them to do by anticipatorily self-censoring to avoid official retaliation. Speech is chilled without direct censorship orders being required. That is clearly what happened after Democrats spent four years petulantly insisting that they lost the 2016 election not because they chose a deeply disliked nominee or because their neoliberal ideology wrought so much misery and destruction, but instead, they said, because Facebook and Twitter allowed the unfettered circulation of incriminating documents hacked by Russia. Anticipating that Democrats were highly likely to win in 2020, the two tech companies decided in the weeks before the election in what I regard as the single most menacing act of censorship of the last decade to suppress or outright ban reporting by The New York Post on documents from Hunter Bidens laptop that raised serious questions about the ethics of the Democratic front-runner for president. That is a classic case of self-censorship to please state officials who wield power over you. All of this raises the vital question of where power really resides when it comes to controlling online speech. In January, the far-right commentator Curtis Yarvin, whose analysis is highly influential among a certain sector of Silicon Valley, wrote a provocative essay under the headline Big tech has no power at all. In essence, he wrote, Facebook as a platform is extremely powerful, but other institutions particularly the corporate/oligarchical press and the government have seized that power from Zuckerberg, and re-purposed it for their own interests, such that Facebook becomes their servant rather than the master: However, if Zuck is subject to some kind of oligarchic power, he is in exactly the same position as his own moderators. He exercises power, but it is not his power, because it is not his will. The power does not flow from him; it flows through him. This is why we can say honestly and seriously that he has no power. It is not his, but someone elses. Why doth Zuck ban shitlords? Is the creator of Facemash passionately committed to social justice? Well, maybe. He may have no power, but he is still a bigshot. Bigshots often do get religion in later lifeespecially when everyone around them is getting it. Butdoes he have a choice? If he has no choicehe has no power. For reasons not fully relevant here, I dont agree entirely with that paradigm. Tech monopolies have enormous amounts of power, sometimes greater than nation-states themselves. We just saw that in Google and Facebooks battles with the entire country of Australia. And they frequently go to war with state efforts to regulate them. But it is unquestionably true that these social media companies which set out largely for reasons of self-interest and secondarily due to a free-internet ideology to offer a content-neutral platform have had the censorship obligation foisted upon them by a combination of corporate media outlets and powerful politicians. One might think of tech companies, the corporate media, the U.S. security state, and Democrats more as a union a merger of power rather than separate and warring factions. But whatever framework you prefer, it is clear that the power of social media companies to control the internet is in the hands of government and its corporate media allies at least as much as it is in the hands of the tech executives who nominally manage these platforms. And it is precisely that reality that presents serious First Amendment threats. As the above-discussed Supreme Court jurisprudence demonstrates, this form of indirect and implicit state censorship is not new. Back in 2010, the war hawk Joe Lieberman abused his position as Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee to suggest that financial services and internet hosting companies such as Visa, MasterCard, Paypal, Amazon and Bank of America, should terminate their relationship with WikiLeaks on the ground that the group, which was staunchly opposed to Liebermans imperialism and militarism, posed a national security threat. Lieberman hinted that they may face legal liability if they continued to process payments for WikiLeaks. Unsurprisingly, these companies quickly obeyed Liebermans decree, preventing the group from collecting donations. When I reported on these events for Salon, I noted: That Joe Lieberman is abusing his position as Homeland Security Chairman to thuggishly dictate to private companies which websites they should and should not host and, more important, what you can and cannot read on the Internet is one of the most pernicious acts by a U.S. Senator in quite some time. Josh Marshall wrote yesterday: When Id heard that Amazon had agreed to host Wikileaks I was frankly surprised given all the fish a big corporation like Amazon has to fry with the federal government. Thats true of all large corporations that own media outlets every one and that is one big reason why theyre so servile to U.S. Government interests and easily manipulated by those in political power. Thats precisely the dynamic Lieberman was exploiting with his menacing little phone call to Amazon (in essence: Hi, this is the Senates Homeland Security Committee calling; youre going to be taking down that WikiLeaks site right away, right?). Amazon, of course, did what they were told. (Along with Daniel Ellsberg, Laura Poitras and others, I co-founded the Freedom of the Press Foundation in part to collect donations on behalf of WikiLeaks to ensure that the government could never again shut down press groups that it disliked through such pressure campaigns and implicit threats, precisely because it was so clear that this indirect means of attacking press freedom was dangerous and unconstitutional). What made Liebermans implicit threats in the name of national security so despotic was that they were clearly intended to punish and silence a group working against his political agenda. And that is precisely true of the motives of these House Democrats in demanding greater censorship in the name of combating misinformation and hate speech: their demands almost always, if not always, mean silencing those who are opposed to their ideology and political agenda. As but one example: one is perfectly free to opine online, as many Democrats do, that the 2000, 2004 and 2016 presidential elections (won by Republicans) were the by-products of electoral fraud, but making that same claim about the 2020 election (won by a Democrat) will result in immediate banning. The power to control the flow of information and the boundaries of permissible speech is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime. It is a power as intoxicating as it is menacing. When it comes to the internet, our primary means of communicating with one another, that power nominally rests in the hands of private corporations in Silicon Valley. But increasingly, the Democratic-controlled government and their allies in the corporate media are realizing that they can indirectly and through coercion seize and wield that power for themselves. The First Amendment is implicated by these coercive actions as much as if Congress enacted laws explicitly mandating censorship of their political opponents. Read more at: Greenwald.Substack.com and Censorship.news. Libya has embarked on a new interim phase, its fifth since the Libyan crisis broke out. As an influential stakeholder in this question, Cairo hopes this one will be the last and that the country will be able to transition to sustainable stability after a decade of conflict. This was probably the central message of the first official meeting between President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and the new Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah, who visited Cairo last week: his first trip outside Libya since taking office. During Dbeibahs visit, Egypt reaffirmed prioritising the successful completion of the roadmap for the current interim phase, which calls for a plebiscite on a new constitution and legislative and presidential elections by the end of the year. Egypt also reiterated its readiness to offer its full support to the National Unity Government as it lays the foundations for those processes, overseeing the implementation of other important requirements of the phase. Cairo continues to host key activities to this end, such as meetings of the Libyan committee overseeing the constitutional track and meetings between various political leaders and representatives of different components of civil society and political forces. As such efforts indicate, Cairo seeks to implement the principles it established in the Cairo Declaration and advocated in every activity it sponsored or was involved in since then. It hopes to usher in the end of the cycle of interim phases and enable political processes to prevail over armed conflict. Strategic partnership is the term that best sums up Cairos outlook on the current interim phase. It is an outlook grounded in the principles of bilateral relations between neighbours and bolstered by the instrumental part that Egypt played in the political process that led to the creation of the new Libyan executive authority. The new leaders in this authority appreciate the value of the Egyptian role in the effort to resolve the crisis. It was by facilitating the necessary agreements that the current phase was made possible. Both Egyptian and Libyan leaders share the impression that this phase will also be characterised by the best bilateral relations so far between Cairo and a government based in western Libya. Concrete signs of this can already be seen in the reopening of the Egyptian Embassy in Tripoli and the Egyptian Consulate in Benghazi as well as the resumption of air traffic between the two countries. Cairo and the new Libyan government also share a number of concerns. Above all, they agree on the need to prevent a backslide into war. Cairo has stressed the need to remove the instruments of civil warfare from Libya, thereby eliminating opportunities for military escalation. Steps to this end include halting all forms of outside military involvement in Libya, dismantling the militias, promoting the unification of the Libyan army and military establishment and equipping said army to perform its inherent functions in the defence against threats and dangers to the country. Cairo has reiterated this belief frequently, on the numerous occasions it hosted the 5+5 Joint Military Committee, when it also emphasised the need to base the unification and restructuring process on a set of objective standards and controls and to forego the criteria of personified power centres that had prevailed for so long. Another point of agreement was on the need for solidarity in confronting the security threats and the fight against terrorism. Egypt has been the country most harmed by the regional fallout of the security breakdown in Libya. In addition to the inundation of smuggled arms which ended up in the hands of terrorist groups in Sinai, Egypt suffered directly from the concentration of jihadist groups in the vicinity of the Libyan border. At one point, an Islamic State franchise had taken up base in Derna and the Al-Qaeda affiliate, Al-Morabitoun, later followed suit. Egypt was instrumental in the defeat of both organisations. Because of the continuous threat of infiltration from that direction, Egypt has had to upgrade security along its lengthy border with Libya. It was an extremely costly process that entailed major redeployments, installation of expensive hardware, and intensive training in order to build and equip a deterrent force capable of intercepting cross-border threats or threats emanating from the Libyan interior, if necessary. It also appears that there is another form of support Egypt will provide Libya, namely help in rebuilding the infrastructure that was damaged during the recent battle for Tripoli. Evidence of this is to be seen in Egyptian-Libyan interactions in the period leading up to the current phase and in the fact that the new National Unity Government intends to make reconstruction and development one of its highest priorities. It sees promise in the Egyptian development model. Egypts proven experience in infrastructure development, in particular, will be useful for Libya, which needs to act quickly to provide much needed facilities and services from roadworks to energy and other utilities, even as it prepares to draw up a comprehensive reconstruction plan. *A version of this article appears in print in the 25 February, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Short link: Texas man charged $16,752 for electric bill as Gov. Abbott seeks solutions after snow storm Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Sunday that he is working with members of the state legislature to address skyrocketing energy bills that have hit customers like a tsunami in the wake of a wild winter storm that left millions of residents without power last week. Like 63-year-old Army veteran Scott Willoughby, who got hit with a $16,752 electric bill, many Texas residents are now contractually obligated to pay high charges due in part to the states uniquely unregulated energy market. Customers in Texas are allowed to choose their electricity providers among about 220 retailers in a market-driven system. Willoughby, who lives on Social Security payments in a Dallas suburb, told The New York Times that his $16,752 electric bill that his energy provider charged to his credit card has wiped out his savings and left him broken. But theres nothing he can do about it. My savings is gone, he said. Theres nothing I can do about it, but its broken me. Willoughby, whose energy provider is a company called Griddy, has since launched a GoFundMe campaign to help him cover his bill. For 7 days of the Texas freeze, I got a utility bill of $16,752.68 and my brother's is over $9,000. We are both retired veterans on fixed incomes and this has wiped us out, Willoughby detailed in his online campaign. Mine went on my credit card and once paid, will almost wipe out my savings and my brothers came straight out of his bank account causing an overdraft. Any and all help is appreciated. Blessings on all! As of Tuesday morning, Willoughbys campaign raised well over $12,000. On Saturday, after public outcry and a meeting convened with state lawmakers to discuss the situation, Gov. Abbott stated that the state has a responsibility to protect residents from exorbitant energy costs. We have a responsibility to protect Texans from spikes in their energy bills that are a result of the severe winter weather and power outages," Abbott said. "Todays meeting was productive, and I applaud Republican and Democrat members of the Legislature for putting aside partisan politics to work together on this challenge. We are moving quickly to alleviate this problem and will continue to work collaboratively throughout this week on solutions to help Texas families and ensure they do not get stuck with skyrocketing energy bills. On Sunday, Abbott announced that the states Public Utility Commission had issued a moratorium on customer disconnections for non-payment and would temporarily restrict providers from issuing invoices. This pause will ensure that the state has time to address these bills and develop a solution for Texans, a statement from the governors office said. In its announcement Sunday, the PUC said the moratorium orders were only applicable to customers of investor-owned utilities across the state that fall under the PUCs jurisdiction, which are: Oncor, American Electric Power, CenterPoint and Texas-New Mexico Power. The PUC order does not apply to municipally-owned utilities or electric cooperatives that are not within the PUCs jurisdiction. Our absolute top priority as a commission and a state is protecting electricity customers from the devastating effects of a storm that already affected their delivery of power, PUC Chairman DeAnn Walker said in a statement. The order and directives are intended to be temporary, likely through the end of this week, to address the potential financial impacts that are especially challenging during this extremely difficult time. Griddy, which charged Willoughby $16,752.68 for seven days, appeared to blame the PUC for the high energy costs in the states energy market because it has complete authority over the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. On Monday evening the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) cited its complete authority over ERCOT to direct that ERCOT set pricing at $9/kWh until the grid could manage the outage situation after being ravaged by the freezing winter storm, Griddy said in a statement Thursday. Under ERCOT's market rules, such a pricing scenario is only enforced when available generation is about to run out (they usually leave a cushion of around 1,000 MW). This is the energy market that Griddy was designed for one that allows consumers the ability to plan their usage based on the highs and lows of wholesale energy and shift their usage to the cheapest time periods. The power company added that as of Thursday, 99% of homes had their power restored, and available generation was well above the 1,000 MW cushion. Yet, the PUCT left the directive in place and continued to force prices to $9/kWh, approximately 300x higher than the normal wholesale price, the Griddy statement explained. For a home that uses 2,000 kWh per month, prices at $9/kWh work out to over $640 per day in energy charges. By comparison, that same household would typically pay $2 per day. Some providers not covered by the PUC orders, like CPS Energy, said they are looking at solutions like payment plans that would allow customers to pay for their unexpected bills over multiple years. CPS Energy is the nations largest municipally-owned energy utility providing both natural gas and electric service. The utility provider serves more than 840,750 electric customers and 352,585 natural gas customers in and around San Antonio. Paula Gold-Williams, president and CEO of CPS Energy, said during a press conference Monday that because of how the energy market is set up in Texas, the company had to pay a high price for the energy they provided during the storm. We, like every other operator, every other community, bought fuel, particularly natural gas for the needs. We did not buy the natural gas that was needed to fuel the natural gas system. If we didnt buy it, we wouldnt have had enough fuel to operate the plants, she said. And we wouldnt have been able to provide any energy at all. We saw immediately that the price of natural gas in particular, which also sets the price of power in the market, shot up. She explained that the increases the company saw were initially 6,000% to 7,000%. Then they kept climbing to as high as 16,000%. That is something that the whole state and industry is currently reconciling with, she said. Gold-Williams noted that she foresaw a tsunami in terms of customer affordability and said the company would try to do everything it could to help reduce costs for San Antonio customers, including possibly spreading the charges over multiple years in a payment plan. The utility provider had shared a similar statement on Twitter early Monday about the charges that has since disappeared from its account but is now being circulated widely on the social network. We understand that it would be unacceptable to have customers bear the costs on their monthly bill, so we are working diligently to spread those costs to 10 years or longer to make it more affordable, CPS Energy said. The company has also suspended autopay for customers as they work to resolve the situation. Megachurch raises $2M to provide counseling to those battling depression during COVID-19 Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment An Arizona megachurch has raised nearly $2 million since November to help people receive counseling services as they cope with the stresses of an election season and pandemic. Through the Press On campaign, Christs Church of the Valley (CCV) used Pushpay as the primary mechanism to raise funds to cover the cost of counseling for those struggling with mental health. Tyler Kurbat, director of marketing and communications for the 12-campus church, said the idea for the Press On campaign was sparked during a sermon planning meeting at the end of 2019 to discuss an upcoming series called Lets Talk About It. The emphasis of the series was mental health during the election year. And at the time, they had no idea a pandemic was also on the horizon. It hit me that we had the opportunity to lean into mental health, Kurbat said. If you reframe the way you look at depression, right in the middle is the rallying cry and an invitation into hope. If you deemphasize just a couple of letters, press on pulls through And thus, the Press On campaign was born. In an average year, its probably one in five people (who deal with mental health)," Kurbat said. "But this year its one in two, which means that if its not you, its probably someone you love. We have the opportunity to lean into that and provide some support." Scientists are tracking an increase in depression and anxiety since the beginning of the pandemic. In December 2020, over 42% of people reported anxiety or depression symptoms in a U.S. Census Bureau survey. According to Nature.com, this was an increase of over 11% from the previous year. Mental health [problems are] skyrocketing, Kurbat said. At the same time, financial uncertainty, financial stresses are also climbing. We had the opportunity as a church to jump in and fill that gap. The church-wide Press On effort began in November as the holiday season was beginning. According to CCV's Life Training Pastor Rachael Schmidt, over 4,000 people have responded through the Press On campaign and over $1.98 million has been raised. Schmidt, who oversees pastoral care and spearheads the project, said CCV covers 80% of the cost of 10 counseling sessions and covers half the cost of the next 10 sessions. Schmidt vets each of the counselors before referring an individual to ensure they align with biblical values. People have reached out to CCV regarding Press On from across the nation and around the world. Many evangelistic opportunities have also resulted from the initiative and people have given their lives to Christ. The fruit from these stories has blown me away, Schmidt said. Mental health is not always a topic discussed in the church. However, CCV brought it to the forefront and has invested in helping remove barriers and streamline access to counseling. This conversation is just getting started, Kurbat said. With technology at our hands like Pushpay and with social media , we can really begin to create some programs and experiences where these things are scalable. Schmidt said the church has been openhanded with resources and has helped other churches develop the same model in their communities. It was amazing how God sort of set the table for us, led our leadership to know that this is a topic that is important , Kurbat said. The opportunity was to remind our congregation and also non-believers that youre seen, youre not alone, and that theres help because really theres a tremendous opportunity to destigmatize these topics and provide some actual hope. A study published by the Society for Human Resource Management last year found that 35% of U.S. workers battled depressive symptoms amid the coronavirus pandemic. However, few sought professional help. A recent survey conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 63% of 18 to 24-year-olds reported symptoms of anxiety or depression. Meanwhile, 25% reported increased substance use and another 25% say they considered suicide. Mental Health America reports a 93% increase in people participating in anxiety screenings in 2020 compared to 2019 and a 62% increase in depression screenings. GFH Financial Group (GFH) has acquired a mission-critical distribution facility in Chicago, Illinois, which has been leased since November 2015 to blue chip tenant, Michelin North America, an international tire brand. The transaction, valued at over c.$135 million, marks the continued expansion of GFHs global portfolio of income generating real estate assets including prime distribution centres; well positioned logistics assets and last mile delivery facilities in the US and Europe. The transaction was undertaken in partnership with Silver Creek Commercial Development, a US based asset manager with a track record of over $2 billion in logistics transactions. The facility is distinguished by its strategic location in the geographic centre of the United States. It is situated at the intersection of I-55 (Chicago to Louisiana) and I-80 (New York to Northern California) offering seamless access to major interstate highways. The facility is one of only two bulk logistics centres used by Michelin in the US, handling 35% of the companys imported inventory and therefore sitting at the heart of its US operations. Its close proximity the BNSF Logistics Park Chicago, a transport hub linking manufacturers with rail, road and ocean links, and the UP Joliet Intermodal Facility. Respectively, these transport centres handle approximately six million TEUs annually, ranking third in the US by activity, lagging only behind the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in terms of total US container volumes. Razi Al Merbati, CEO of GFH Capital, said: With this transaction, we continue to further our efforts to diversify and expand our portfolio of international, blue chip real estate assets. This includes new acquisitions of prime properties in strategic geographies for us including the US. This is especially true in the distribution and logistics segment today, where demand is strong for well-located facilities close to major urban centres and populations that require faster and more seamless access to goods. With this deal, we move further towards solidifying our position as a leading real estate investor in the US and look to transact on the strong pipeline of other unique opportunities we have in place. Salem Patel, Head of Asset Management, at GFH, added: Were extremely pleased to announce another strategic global acquisition in the logistics sector. The Chicago-based facility is uniquely positioned in the centre of the country and boasts seamless access to a variety of transport links giving tenants easy access to their customers located across major US states and commercial centres. This investment is supported by its long-term lease to Michelin N.A, a highly reputable tenant and global tire industry giant, who has helped establish and maintain the facility as a state-of-the-art distribution centre. We are continuing to look at further investments in the sector globally and to maximise the value of this and our growing portfolio of logistics centres for the benefit of the Group, our shareholders, investors and partners. TradeArabia News Service TechnipFMC (NYSE: FTI) (PARIS: FTI) (ISIN:GB00BDSFG982) is pleased to announce that its subsidiary, FMC Wellhead Equipment Sdn. Bhd. (TechnipFMC) has been awarded a substantial(1)contract by PETRONAS Carigali Sdn. Bhd. (PETRONAS Carigali), a subsidiary of PETRONAS for the provision of front-end engineering design, and integrated engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning of subsea production system, umbilicals, risers and flowlines (iEPCI) for the Limbayong Deepwater Development Project. PETRONAS is a global energy and solutions partner and ranked amongst the largest corporations in Fortune Global 500. This contract covers the development of 10 deepwater wells and their tieback to the Limbayong Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) unit in Malaysia. TechnipFMC will design, manufacture, deliver and install subsea equipment including subsea trees, manifolds, umbilicals, flexible risers, flowlines, jumpers and other associated subsea hardware for the project. The project will be executed from TechnipFMC's Kuala Lumpur office and will leverage its local manufacturing plants in Malaysia. Jonathan Landes, President Subsea at TechnipFMC commented: "We are delighted and honored to have been selected by PETRONAS Carigali to develop this deepwater field. We are committed to PETRONAS Carigali and to the Malaysian oil and gas industry. This iEPCI contract combines our integrated subsea solution with our Subsea 2.0 products, demonstrating the added value of our unique and complete integrated offering." (1)For TechnipFMC, a "substantial" contract ranges between $250 million and $500 million. Important Information for Investors and Securityholders Forward-Looking Statement This release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The words "believe", "estimated" and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, which are generally not historical in nature. Such forward-looking statements involve significant risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from our historical experience and our present expectations or projections. For information regarding known material factors that could cause actual results to differ from projected results, please see our risk factors set forth in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, which include our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any of our forward-looking statements after the date they are made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by law. About TechnipFMC TechnipFMC is a leading technology provider to the traditional and new energies industries; delivering fully integrated projects, products, and services. With our proprietary technologies and comprehensive solutions, we are transforming our clients' project economics, helping them unlock new possibilities to develop energy resources while reducing carbon intensity and supporting their energy transition ambitions. Organized in two business segments Subsea and Surface Technologies we will continue to advance the industry with our pioneering integrated ecosystems (such as iEPCI, iFEED and iComplete), technology leadership and digital innovation. Each of our approximately 20,000 employees is driven by a commitment to our clients' success, and a culture of strong execution, purposeful innovation, and challenging industry conventions. TechnipFMC uses its website as a channel of distribution of material company information. To learn more about how we are driving change in the industry, go to www.TechnipFMC.com and follow us on Twitter @TechnipFMC. Category: UK regulatory View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210222005689/en/ Contacts: Investor relations Matt Seinsheimer Vice President Investor Relations Tel: +1 281 260 3665 Email: Matt Seinsheimer James Davis Senior Manager Investor Relations Tel: +1 281 260 3665 Email: James Davis Media relations Nicola Cameron Vice President Corporate Communications Tel: +44 1383 742297 Email: Nicola Cameron Brooke Robertson Public Relations Director Tel: +1 281 591 4108 Email: Brooke Robertson Flash The U.S. Department of State on Monday reaffirmed the willingness to engage with Tehran over the nuclear issue, downplaying new threats by the Iranian leadership to boost uranium enrichment. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a daily press briefing that the United States is willing to engage the Iranians in the context of the P5+1, namely the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia, as well as Germany. Tehran has yet to make a formal response to talks with P5+1, said Price. "We certainly hope the Iranians will be willing to be there." Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said earlier in the day that his country could increase its uranium enrichment up to 60 percent. "We are not going to respond in specific terms to hypotheticals, to posturing," Price said in response to Khamenei's comments. "What we are going to do is to reaffirm the proposition that is on the table," he added. "The United States is willing to meet with the Iranians to hash out these difficult complex questions." Price also commended recent efforts made by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to engage Iran on verification issues, while expressing concerns over Iran's ending implementation of Additional Protocol, which allows snap IAEA inspections. The UN nuclear watchdog reached a temporary understanding with Iran over the weekend on the verification of the latter's nuclear program. According to the IAEA, Tehran would cease implementing the Additional Protocol but would continue to allow "necessary monitoring and verification" for up to three months. "There is less access, let's face it. But still we were able to retain the necessary degree of monitoring and verification work," IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told reporters after his visit to Tehran. Grossi said this temporary agreement would allow other political discussions at other levels to take place. Last week, the United States signaled its readiness to engage with Tehran over the nuclear issue, combining several goodwill gestures toward Iran. The United States had eased travel restrictions on Iranian diplomats assigned to the UN and rescinded the so-called "snapback" UN sanctions against Iran unilaterally declared by the previous administration. The Joe Biden administration repeatedly said that if Iran returns to full compliance with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the United States would do the same. But Iran insisted its compliance would only take place once U.S. sanctions were removed. In response to the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal in 2018 and the reimposition of sanctions, Iran has suspended implementing parts of its obligations under the deal. ADVERTISEMENT The governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, has ordered the reopening of Sasha market after Yoruba and Hausa residents and traders in the community embraced peace. Mr Makinde made the announcement on Tuesday, during a meeting with the leaders of the two warring ethnic groups at the House of Chiefs, Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, Oyo State. Considering the economic situation and the peculiarities we have with us, I have heard what you said, and we will immediately reopen the Sasha market. They will bring (a) bulldozer to the market today. When my brother governors visited Seriki Sasha palace, while we were walking around, I realised that both the people I saw at the Serikis place and those I met at Baales place were not happy because they have been deprived of doing their job. If you look at Oyo State, even when the COVID-19 was at its peak, I decided not to shut our market places because I know and also explained to the leadership of the country at the national level that, in our state, we have people that the proceeds from what they get today will determine if they will eat tomorrow or not. PREMIUM TIMES reported how a the disagreement between a cart pusher and a stall owner at the Sasha market on Thursday, February 11, led to violence after a cobbler, Sakirudeen Adeola, who had his shed nearby, intervened on the side of the woman. Mr Adeola was attacked by the cart pusher and he died. It later led to riot as lives were lost and properties were destroyed. To forestall lawlessness, Mr Makinde ordered the closure of the market the next day and imposed a curfew in the community. This newspaper also reported how the violence also produced remarkable stories of heroism and humanity, with some people of Yoruba descent shielding their Hausa neighbours from attacks and vice-versa. Burma Committee of Ousted Myanmar Lawmakers Appoints International Envoys An anti-regime protester holds a placard supporting the CRPH, formed by ousted elected lawmakers, in Yangon on Monday. / The Irrawaddy A committee formed by elected members of Myanmars ousted Parliament that seeks recognition as the countrys legitimate legislature has nominated two members to serve as its representatives to the UN and for international relations. The Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) was set up by 15 lawmakers on Feb. 5, four days after the Myanmar military overthrew the democratically elected civilian government on Feb. 1the day the new Parliament was set to openand arrested President U Win Myint, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders, claiming electoral irregularities. The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw is Myanmars Union Parliament. Lawmakers were also temporariy detained following the coup. The CRPH issued two statements on Monday announcing the nominations of Dr. Sasa, a doctor and philanthropist, as its special envoy to the UN, and U Htin Lin Aung as its representative for international relations. The committee also announced that it had opened an International Relations Office in the US state of Maryland on Feb. 22, in order to communicate with the UN, international governments and international organizations, and to conduct bilateral relations. U Htin Lin Aung, a former political prisoner who took part in student movements in the 1990s, is currently living in Maryland after leaving Myanmar in 2008, a year after the Saffron Revolution, a mass protest movement that was violently quelled by the government. Dr. Sasa, whose Health and Hope Foundation has been working to promote development in Chin State and training villagers to become community health workers, has become well-known in the region for his humanitarian work over the past decade. A fresh face in politics, his involvement in election campaigning in Chin State in November made him known to the wider public across Myanmar. The CRPH has urged the international community to reject the coup makers regime and to direct official communications involving Myanmar to the committee. Millions of Myanmar citizens are participating in daily demonstrations rejecting the coup and the military regime, calling for the restoration of the elected government and the release of the detained leaders, and urging the international community to help Myanmar restore democracy. U Aung Myo Min, a veteran human rights advocate, said, The CRPHs move is aimed at getting its message out to the international community as much as possible, just as the now defunct Committee Representing the Peoples Parliament did back in the late 1990s. Some high public expectations about Dr. Sasas role arose following the announcement, with some supporters of the CRPH urging it to defy the regime by declaring Dr. Sasa a replacement for U Myint Thu, Myanmars permanent representative to the UN, who defended the coup leaders at a UN Human Rights Council meeting this month. The mandate of both men is limited to representing the committee, but their roles includes lobbying activities and representing the elected parliamentarians, the human rights advocate said. Dr. Sasa could lobby members of the international community at the UN, but it would be hard for him to get a seat at formal meetings, because the CRPH is currently just a legislative committee, he added. You may also like these stories: Nearly 200 Anti-Military Regime Protesters Detained in Myanmar Capital The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joined US union, The NewsGuild-CWA in welcoming the growing unionizing as the best way to defend jobs and guarantee media workers' labor rights. Journalists at several US media have launched their union drives in the last few weeks. Employees at the progressive digital news site Daily Kos announced the creation of the Daily Kos Guild on February 8, saying the organizations management had agreed to voluntarily recognize their union. The same happened in California, where employees of The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, voted to unionize on February 17. In parallel, several new groups have announced union campaigns in recent weeks. On February 5, more than 80% of editorial workers at the New York Daily News, requested voluntary union recognition from their parent company, Tribune Publishing. Theyll be part of The NewsGuild of New York. Two days later, journalists at three Gannett media group-owned New Jersey publications the Bergen Record, the Daily Record and the NJ Herald announced that they are forming The Record Guild as part of the New York local. With nearly 90% of eligible staffers signed on, the Record Guild is seeking voluntary recognition from management. Staff of the ACLU of Missouri announced on February 17 that they are unionizing with the Guild, joining the growing movement of nonprofit workers fighting for sustainable, equitable workplaces. IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: We welcome such a big wave of unionizing campaigns in US digital and local media. In times of crisis, unionizing, solidarity and collective bargaining can make a real difference when guaranteeing media workers' labor rights and protecting jobs and working conditions". Boris Johnson opened up the shutters but it was just a crack, a chink, a cigarette paper-slim slit. May as well have kept them slammed shut for all the good it did. Four more months. Another four months of pettifogging rules and restrictions. Our emergence from this year of hell will not so much be a dash but a maddening crab-like crawl to freedom. The Prime Minister announced these disappointing plans to the nation at a later than usual Downing Street press conference. Boldness, brazenness, boosterism. Those qualities for which we long associated Boris were all notably absent. Softly, softly was the order of the day. Even the way he entered the briefing room was slow and wearyingly sluggish. Plod, plod, plod. The Prime Minister announced these disappointing plans to the nation at a later than usual Downing Street press conference Thank you for joining us, the PM growled. His voice was deep and gravelly, in need of a restorative lozenge. Sounded like hed been shouting at someone. Matt Hancock, possibly. Or perhaps Dilyn the Dog had just chewed his way through another historical Number 10 artefact. We heard how Boriss four-stage plan would be strung out and staggered between now and the end of June. Little bit here, little bit there. He spoke to us the way a cautious teacher might address a bunch of first-year chemistry students. Goggles on, everyone, safety first. What had happened? The Boris of old would have had us all straight into the laboratory and blowing things up with the Bunsen burners pronto. His face was etched with caution throughout, yanking his cheeks all the time as if to stay steady on, careful now, go lightly. It was though the man was dogged with doubt. Frit. I blame those doom-monger scientists whove clearly got him on the run. Speaking of whom, Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance were yesterdays support act. Whittys head was so shiny it might have passed through a bowling ball polisher. He had his usual death charts to hand designed to keep us all suitably terrified, but was mainly irritated a journalist from the Guardian had incorrectly claimed he was against schools returning. You could see Whitty wasnt comfortable at being cross. Suspect hes is the sort of person who really has to gear himself up to complain when the waiter delivers the wrong order. Boris had already announced his plans to the Commons earlier the afternoon. We started late as the PM had been dilly-dallying. One minute he was behind the Speakers chair giving members the thumbs up, the next hed vanished. With over a hundred questions tabled for him to answer, its possible hed made a precautionary dash to the bathroom. Coomon Prime Minister, lets gerron wi it! hollered Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle impatiently. At dispatch box, the PM looked strangely happy to be back at work after recess. Probably relieved to get away from that wretched dog of his. The hair, however, remains a disaster zone. Lordy, what a mess! Small wonder there were such guffaws when Boris announced hairdressers (Im glad to say) would be allowed to begin wielding their scissors at the end of April. He informed the House his plan was cautious but at the same irreversible. He wanted it to be a one way route to freedom. He acknowledged a number of his colleagues were bound to feel he could go faster. From the opposite corner of the chamber there came a long, reedy croak of here, here. The culprit: mutton-chopped lockdown sceptic Sir Desmond Swayne, a wide grin appearing through his raffish, silken mouth covering . His face was etched with caution throughout, yanking his cheeks all the time as if to stay steady on, careful now, go lightly. It was though the man was dogged with doubt. Frit. I blame those doom-monger scientists whove clearly got him on the run (pictured Sir Patrick Vallance) Chris Whitty (pictured) and Sir Patrick Vallance were yesterdays support act. Whittys head was so shiny it might have passed through a bowling ball polisher Opposite Boris perched Sir Keir Starmer, a study in tightly coiled frustration. The opposition leader has been in limbo since the success of the vaccine roll-out, and it showed. His legs were crossed, arms folded. His eyes flitted from side-to-side awkwardly. Reminded me of someone riding a night bus in a dinner jacket. He broadly supported the PMs roadmap, though my mind drifted for much of the time he was on his feet. Like those tranquilliser darts used to capture wild animals, Sir Keirs speeches have the potency to anaesthetise. Boris thanked Starmer for his support, though added bitter experience taught him it would most likely be withdrawn by next week. He then teased Sir Keir over his difficult friends in the teaching unions and his support for the EU, who were making such a Horlicks of their vaccine roll-out. Suddenly, an icy chill descended as the Speaker called Theresa May. She wanted the Governments global travel task force report, due at the end of April, brought forward to help out the aviation industry. Boris denied the request but hailed his predecessor for being such a doughty campaigner. Delightful. Imagine if Mrs T had patronised Ted Heath in such fashion? Poor Teds ruddy cheeks would have exploded. There were frustrated voices from the Governments benches over the PMs caution but they were disappointingly tepid. Strongest words came from Mark Harper (Con, Forest of Dean) who wanted all restrictions removed by the end of April once the over-50s had been jabbed. Such a fastidious looking chap, Harper. Barely a crease on him. Even his mask appears to have been given a once-over with an iron. The PM told Harper that a significant minority would still not have received the vaccine by then. Oh, Boris you drip! Four more months of this hair-tearing, infuriating business it is then. Long-hauler is the term used to describe a person who has survived COVID-19, but has symptoms - sometimes debilitating symptoms - many months later. A report by NPR says that scientists are scrambling to explain what is going on and figure out how to help. But scientists arent the only ones scrambling. NPR reports that disability advocates are scrambling as well and trying to determine whether long-haulers will qualify for disability benefits. The Social Security Administration (SSA) is being called upon by disability advocates and lawmakers to study the issue, update their policies and offer guidance for applicants, NPR said. NPR cited Dr. Steven Martin, a physician and professor of family medicine and community health at UMass Medical School, who said: If we end up with a million people with ongoing symptoms that are debilitating, that is a tremendous burden for each of those individuals, but also for our health care system and our society. NPR also cited U.S. Rep John Larson, a Democrat from Connecticut who said: We know whats coming. So, we have to make sure that were on top of this. NPR noted that Larson had joined with another member of Congress to write a letter asking the SSA to work with scientists to understand what support long-haulers might need. The case of long-hauler Jodee Pineau-Chaisson. NPR relates the experience of Jodee Pineau-Chaisson. Early on, when COVID-19 first arrived in the U.S., Pineau-Chaisson was working as the director of social services for a nursing home in western Massachusetts. NPR cited Pineau-Chaisson who recalls that in early May, she was asked to go onto the COVID-19 units to do FaceTime calls so they could say goodbye to their family members. She said, I was very scared, but, she felt like she owed it to her residents, NPR relayed. At 55 years old and with no preexisting conditions, Pineau-Chaisson, donned a white jumpsuit, put on an N95 mask and entered the units to help. Three days later, she had COVID-19, NPR said. Almost 10 months later, NPR said Pineau-Chaisson is still dealing with a series of devastating ailments memory problems, body pain, heart palpitations, depression and chronic fatigue. She was hospitalized twice and took 12 weeks off work under the Family and Medical Leave Act, after which she said, she was still dealing with complete exhaustion and extreme memory loss. Because she wasnt well enough to return to work, Pineau-Chaisson said the nursing home fired her. What is Social Security Disability Insurance? Pineau-Chaisson decided to get a neurological evaluation and send in her application for Social Security Disability Insurance, NPR said. SSDI is the federal disability fund that most workers contribute to through a payroll tax, NPR explained. If workers ever become too disabled to stay on the job, they can apply to SSDI for monthly checks. But criteria for the program are strict, and most applicants are denied, the report explained. Its unclear whether COVID-19 survivors, the newest group to approach the federal government for disability coverage will be considered eligible, NPR said. NPR cited Linda Landry, an attorney at the Disability Law Center in Massachusetts, who said: I do think its still an open question. Its still a little iffy about whether [long-haulers] will be able to qualify. This should afford them accommodations for things like housing and accessing government services. However, the question of whether long-haulers will be eligible for federal disability benefits is still being debated. NPR noted that Landry says there are three things, in general, that you need to qualify for benefits: First, a medical diagnosis. Second, evidence that the condition affects your ability to work. And third, the disability has to last for a while. Landry said that the requirement is that you have to have had or are likely to have a condition that affects your ability to work for 12 consecutive months, NPR cited. NPR cited Kathleen Romig, a senior policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities who formerly worked at the SSA, and who said: Its really important that the Social Security Administration get ahead of this and start studying it now. The SSA told NPR in a statement that the current disability policy rules should be sufficient for evaluating COVID-related applicants, though the agency did not rule out taking additional action in the future. Researchers are still learning about the disease and we will continue to look at our policies as research evolves. " Read more about this subject via NPR. READ MORE: Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. In a press release published on Tuesday afternoon, the General Federation of Municipal Workers (FGFC) calls for an end of the current "mud-slinging" and demands that a solution must be found without resorting to polemic. In the context of the discussions surrounding security concerns at Luxembourg City's railway station as well as in the Bonnevoie neighbourhood, the FGFC demands a meeting with Minister of Internal Security Henri Kox, representatives of the Ministry of Home Affairs, leaders of the police and police trade union, as well as members of the capital's municipal executive in order to discuss an expansion of municipal workers' competences. But I think Ive improvised in almost every project Ive done. I always figure, if they dont like it, they can just cut it. And Im always shocked when a lot of the stuff I do ends up in the final cut. There was one time on The Wire when I decided I was going to say (his signature swear word) for a really long time longer than I had ever done it just for the crew, to make them laugh. I think it was the last episode, and I hit it really, really long. And it ended up in the episode! Ill never forget, I was sitting at home in New York watching the show and they used the take where it just went on and on and on and I thought, oh my God, what have I done? (Laughs) 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 According to Supreme Decree No. 001-2021-MIMP , published in the official gazette El Peruano , one of the goals is to articulate social-health actions with diverse public entities in favor of this social group. Yanapay is a Quechua word meaning "help." Seated, students Roman Cole and Steven Merdian (left to right), talk with Tim Marlo, finance clinical associate professor and Saluki Student Investment Fund adviser, about research investments and strategies for SSIF. (Photo by Yenitza Melgoza) SIUs Saluki Student Investment Fund outperforms professionals, even during pandemic by Christi Mathis CARBONDALE, Ill. A group of Southern Illinois University Carbondale students have accomplished an amazing feat over a 15-year period. The Saluki Student Investment Fund (SSIF) has outperformed the majority of professionally managed investment funds as its student members manage real money for a real client. Even in a recession driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, the SSIFs record remains intact. Perhaps that is one reason the job placement rate for SSIF students within a few months after graduation is approaching 100%. Thats no surprise to Aaron Goeckner, a 2018 SIU finance graduate and former SSIF member who is now a chartered financial analyst with Semper Augustus Investments Group LLC in St. Louis. Working in a business that increasingly values real world experience and skillsets, I believe the SSIF provides a great foundation for students from every background to succeed on a myriad of career paths, Goeckner said. Among the sea of student investment funds at a multitude of institutions, the SSIF has set itself apart with its emphasis on students making each decision and being responsible for providing intensive due diligence to back it up. My experience with the SSIF was integral in getting me to where I am today in my career. Making millions grow The SSIF was established in 2000 with the gift of $25,000 in seed money from SIU alumni Omar and Carol Winter and shortly thereafter the SIU Foundation provided $200,000 in funds for the students to manage. The foundations directive to the SSIF was that the group fully invest in mid-cap U.S. equities with the S&P 400 MidCap Index as a benchmark and that no more than 5% of the funds be invested in any one company. The students grew the original investment, and the foundation soon entrusted additional donor funds to their care. The student organization is housed in the College of Business and Analytics, but youll find a wide assortment of majors from throughout the university among the 45 or so members. The students divide into teams and get to work, studying and researching investments within specific sectors such as information technology, financial services and health care. They devote countless hours to their work. The goal is to invest in companies that have the best chance of outperforming the S&P 400. We are on the lookout for the next Apple or Amazon that company that starts smaller and shoots up to become a rock star, said Tim Marlo, finance clinical associate professor and SSIF adviser. SSIFs success is clearly visible by its ranking in the top 10% - 20% of mid-cap managers based on long-term performance, according to Marlo. As the students have increased the revenues in the fund, the SIU Foundation has been able to support even more programs, scholarships, projects and other important functions. SSIF currently manages a portfolio of nearly $3 million in foundation assets. The Saluki Student Investment Fund is exactly the kind of initiative that we want to promote, said Matt Kupec, CEO of the SIU Foundation. Its a perfect example of the hands-on approach to teaching featured at SIU. The investment fund is another way were enhancing the student experience and showcasing some of the universitys best and brightest. Students make the call The SSIF gives students experience in financial research, portfolio management and the professionalism required to manage someone elses money. The students make the real life decisions themselves, Marlo said. The students are excellent researchers, and the SSIF gives them a chance to put their classroom lessons to work in a professional environment. They learn to collaborate, to analyze and make decisions and find support for their ideas. They also have a unique competitive edge in their ability to seek out and spot opportunities in the market for companies favored by their generation, Marlo said. Many paid professionals arent doing what we do here. Its quite a feat. We are in the top ranks of paid professionals, and its been like this for several years now. Short-term success can be attributed to luck, but long-term success is an indication of skill. Our Salukis have proven their skill and ability. Our annual average, over the past 10 years, is a little over 12.5%. With compounding, that means that for the last 10 years, were up over 200%. Transformative involvement Participation in SSIF is such a life-changing experience, its not unusual for the membership to fill quickly, said Roman Cole, a senior accounting and finance major from Springfield, Missouri, who serves as portfolio manager for SSIF. Looking back on my life, there are a lot of things that I would change, but SSIF isnt on that list, he said. Its been a wild ride, full of ups and downs, tears and laughter and frustration and way too many sleepless nights in the trading room, but its also been one of the most rewarding things Ive ever done. It may have taken hundreds of hours of work and more stress than I care to remember, but the payoffs have been lifelong friendships, massive personal growth and my dream internship and subsequent job offer at Walmart, the best company on Earth. Marlo said the SIU Foundation is very careful with donors money, as is the SSIF, and the students take their responsibility very seriously as they evaluate the performance of midsize companies and collaborate to choose investments in such brands as Five Below and Dunkin. Because of the SIU Foundation investment mandate to focus on mid-cap companies, the SSIF holds companies that are less researched and yet show promise in their financial statements, he said. Being involved with SSIF taught me so many valuable skills I couldnt have learned in the classroom, said Steve Merdian, a senior finance major from Chillicothe, Illinois, who serves as the information technology sector leader for SSIF. Experience equals jobs In addition to the unique hands-on experience SSIF provides, the group takes field trips to their holdings locations. For example, the most recent visit was to one of their industrial sectors stocks, Oshkosh, which recently acquired the defense contract for the replacement of the Humvee, located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. They along with other professional analysts met with company executives and learned up close and personal how businesses operate. Because of the pandemic, the SSIF teams are adapting a hybrid approach to their research and work, meeting in small groups or virtually, but still logging countless hours to succeed. Marlo said employers and students alike have repeatedly told him that the experience and expertise acquired through SSIF give SIU students a huge resume builder and advantage when it comes to obtaining internships and jobs. For instance, just within the last few years, hundreds of students applied for prestigious internships such as the Walmart one for which Cole was selected, Marlo said. Merdian was able to obtain an internship with NISA Investment Advisors and has already accepted a position with the companys St. Louis office after graduation. SSIF has always been a main point of discussion during any interview I had, Merdian said, and I know I would not have gotten the position I accepted without my experience in SSIF. More than a week after bitter cold and ice triggered emissions events at Texas plants and refineries, fence-line communities will be monitored closely in the next several days as the amount of pollutants is expected to increase. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality deployed a mobile monitoring van to the Beaumont area Monday in a response that mirrored the aftermath of Hurricane Laura last August, with plans to track air quality data around parts of Jefferson County until Tuesday. At least three of the permanent air monitors used to record data in the Beaumont region were knocked offline by the storm, but the agency said all stations had been restored to service by Sunday. So far, the agency hasnt reported any actionable levels of compounds the van will be monitoring for, such as 1-3 butadiene, benzene or sulphur dioxide, but it is collecting a bevy of data that will give the public a view of what is being detected in their neighborhoods. Its basically the same response as it was with hurricanes. We are prioritizing the fence-line communities and making sure emissions arent impacting air quality, Cory Chism, deputy director of monitoring with TCEQ, told the Enterprise. With the van, were just able to cover so much more territory than when we had to send out people with handheld monitors, which takes a lot more people and more time. Publicly available graphics showing the vans path through the Charlton-Pollard neighborhood near the ExxonMobil refinery in Beaumont have already been posted by the agency, with more expected to be published in the coming days. Since Feb. 11, at least 24 events related to the storm have been reported in Southeast Texas, with hundreds of thousands of pounds of pollutants released, and reports from companies beginning the start-up phase extends the timeline for more into next month. Motiva Enterprises was one of the lastest to report further emissions from the storm at its Port Arthur facility, this time documenting expected emissions from a more than three-week start-up process. Representatives from Motiva could not be reached for comment. Engineers with the company told TCEQ that almost 250,000 pounds of emissions would be released from the facility until March 11 as it restarted various equipment. This adds to previous events from its refinery and chemical plant the previous week. With a horizon dotted by flares, residents have been dealing with stronger than usual odors they believe are coming from facilities including Motiva. Port Arthur resident Wade Price, who lives parallel to the Motiva fence line across Texas 73, said that he first noticed something was different Tuesday, when he opened his door to a powerful smell right outside his house. Im really into car restoration, so I visit a lot of junk yards, and I thought it smelled just like the old gas left in a broken-down car, he said. Seeing flares and experiencing the odors that come from living near industry has become old hat at this point, Price said, but the last week has been particularly intense, with most facilities around Port Arthur and Mid-County igniting their flares. Southeast Texas isnt the only industry hotbed that will be monitored in the response. TCEQ crews were also deployed to Corpus Christi on Monday, and the third van in the agencys fleet was expected to head to Houston by Wednesday. The added monitoring could help add context to what is shaping up to be a mammoth release of emissions as companies throughout the state that suffered equipment outages during the storm now add more events to the list with the start-up of plants. Related: Refiners, chemical producers suffer more weather setbacks Statewide, advocacy group Environment Texas puts the emission total at about 3.5 million pounds so far, mostly focused in the Houston and Jefferson County areas. That total puts the emissions from the winter storm between Houstons 2019 ITC Deer Park fire, which released 15 million pounds, and the TPC Group explosion in Port Neches, which released about 665,000 pounds. Catherine Fraser, clean air associate with Environment Texas, said comparisons are still being finalized between this round of emissions and events including Hurricane Harvey, but there are already some stark contrasts. Just looking at some individual entities and facilities, some have already released as much as they did in all of 2019, she said. jacob.dick@beaumontenterprise.com twitter.com/jd_journalism 404 She's been sunning it up in Miami with her boyfriend since late December, after spending Christmas in Barbados. And Kimberley Garner proved she was born to be a full-time beach babe as she shared new swimwear snaps to Instagram on Tuesday. The former Made In Chelsea star, 30, showcased her incredible physique in a daring side-plunge one-piece in a series of sultry snaps. Stunning: Kimberley Garner proved she was born to be a full-time beach babe as she shared new flawless swimwear pics to Instagram on Tuesday The swimwear designer opted to wrap her hair up in a towel for the at-home photoshoot. This influencer technique has previously been utilised by her fellow bikini-clad bombshells Emily Ratajkowski and Kendall Jenner. Kimberley's new swimsuit featured a high-rise leg detail, side cutouts and a criss-cross open back, which perfectly highlighted the former reality star's curves. She looked every inch the classic pin-up model as she posed across her sofa in the swimwear design that was inspired by retro costumes from 1971. Keeping it casual: The swimwear designer, 30, opted to wrap her hair up in a towel for the at-home photoshoot The perfect model: Kimberley's new swimsuit featured a high-rise leg detail, side cutouts and a criss-cross open back, which perfectly highlighted the former reality star's curves Kimberley kept accessorising simple with one lone bangle to emphasise the dramatic effect of the side-plunging one piece. The Instagram sensation accentuated her natural beauty with a brown smokey eye shadow and perfectly lined lips. She recently celebrated her 30th birthday in Miami when she hit the town alongside her fellow designer Julien Macdonald, 49. But it hasn't all been carefree partying as Kimberley recently took to Instagram to defend herself from backlash over her international travel. Model behaviour: The former Made In Chelsea star looked every inch the classic pin-up model as she posed across her sofa in the swimwear that was inspired by retro costumes from 1971 Glammed-up: The influencer accentuated her natural beauty with a brown smoky eye shadow and perfectly lined lips She wrote: 'I run a business, I'm not an influencer,' as she explained her reasons for being in the US during the height of the pandemic. The swimwear designer 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 was 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.' ADVERTISEMENT The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Tuesday, ordered the Inspector General of Police, Muhammadu Adamu, to appear before it, as regards a petition which was filed before the panel. Doris Okuwobi, a retired judge heading the panel, gave this order following the prayer of Debo Adewale, the counsel to the petitioner, that the IGP be summoned. The petitioner, Adewale Adewuyi, was carried into the venue of the panel by three men. Addressing the panel on the petition of his client, Mr Adewale said the Nigerian Police have refused to release a 26-acre of farmland seized from his client. The police seized the petitioners farmland since 2013, without any need for it or (erecting) a structure on it. The case had gone up for CMC, where parties resolved that the Police should release the said farmland, Mr Adewale told the panel. The Citizens Mediation Centre (CMC) is an alternative dispute resolution mechanism of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice. Following the resolutions made at CMC, a report on same was tendered to the court, with the upholding the outcome of CMC. Mr Adewale said despite these attempts, the police have refused to release the acres of land to his client, who had fallen into penury and unable to feed himself. The lawyer urged the panel to write to the police authorities to comply with the CMC resolutions. He also prayed the panel to summon the Inspector-General of Police to appear in the matter. Mrs Okuwobi gave an order that the IGP be summoned, she adjourned the matter to March 30, 2021. THE mother of missing woman Esra Uyrun fought back against Covid-19 after saying her only dying regret would be that she never found out what happened to her daughter. This day 10 years ago Esra was last seen leaving her home in Collinstown Grove in Clondalkin, Dublin around 7.15am. The mother-of-ones car was later found in Bray, Co. Wicklow, but CCTV couldnt determine who was driving the vehicle. This year is the first time her sister Berna has not been able to travel over to Ireland from London for the anniversary of the Esras disappearance. Esra had moved to Ireland from the UK after he husband Ozgur got a job here. Berna told the Sunday World she was absolutely devastated at not being able to come over due to travel restriction. Expand Close Berna and her daughter Ayda make an appeal / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Berna and her daughter Ayda make an appeal I was crying all day yesterday. I was just bursting into tears on and off all day. She said friends she has made in Ireland since the disappearance have volunteered to put up posters in Clondalkin and Bray this year in her place. She said her mother who was devastated by Esras disappearance and had health problems was struck down with Covid 19 around seven weeks ago. Berna said her family have been left distraught without answers after all this time. Its the not knowing that constantly wriggles in my brain. My mum will be watching telly, bless her, and all of a sudden tears will be streaming down her face. Ill ask her if shes okay and shell say: Yeah Im okay. I hope my babys okay. She so frail now on top of everything. She got Covid about six or seven weeks ago. She took very ill with the virus and her doctor wanted her to go to hospital but Berna said she refused. My mum said: If Im going to die, Im going to die in my own bed. Im not going into hospital. All my mums friends were on the phone every day asking how she was because nobody thought shed pull through it. Even we had doubts shed pull through it. She was so poorly. My brother kept saying should we take her to hospital but she said: No, if Im going to die, Im going to die here. But if I die I will die without knowing what happened to my baby. That would be my only regret going without knowing what happened. Shes a fighter and she has such a pain threshold. Berna said her mothers condition finally started to improve in the last couple of weeks. Shes a fighter. She was not the only member of the family to suffer ill health in recent years. Esras brother had a heart attack a number of years ago while Berna previously had a mini-stroke and also had a terrifying incident where she was hospitalised late last year. Read More I had a really funny turn three or four months ago when I thought I was dying. I couldnt breathe. My blood pressure went so high my monitor would not read the blood pressure anymore. The ambulance came and ended up giving me spray under the tongue, aspirin and then they ended up having to give me morphine just to get my blood pressure down. I think stress does everything to you. Its literally a killer. She fears bottling up the pain of Esras disappearance has led to health issues. I think I suppress my feelings for so long that every so often I have a little mental breakdown and just cant stop myself from crying. You bottle up and bottle up and eventually it just blows. I suppose thats what happened with my blood pressure. It was the bottling up of everything and eventually it takes its toll. Gardai initially wrote off Esras disappearance as a suicide but Berna said if that was the case she feels her body would have washed up by now. Expand Close Esra Uyrun disappeared seven years ago / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Esra Uyrun disappeared seven years ago A new investigation team have been looking at the case with a fresh pair of eyes recently. Last year gardai carried out a search of an area in Bray after a man came forward to say he remembered hearing a woman calling for help there around the time Esra disappeared. He said he thought he remembered a woman in Bray calling for help and he went over but said he didnt see the woman because she was in a bushed area. He said he asked if he should get help and she said no it was okay. The garda did interview him and searched the area he pointed out. They sent a drone over it a dozen people squared the area off so they could have a look but nothing came of it. At least I know if someone comes forwards with anything they do look into it which is a positive. Gardai also interviewed Esras next door neighbour last November who said she saw her leave her house shortly after 7am on the morning she vanished. Esras husband Ozgur also previously told gardai she left the house around 7.15am that morning. He has since returned to the UK with their son. Read More Berna said there are still questions over what happened between that time and when she was first seen on CCTV at a nearby roundabout. There is two much time lapse. Its a four minute drive that took 15 minutes to get to. Berna said she has no prejudged conclusions on what happened to Esra. Someone asked the question could she have been kept somewhere or being trafficked and I said everything is a possibility. You dont want to think down that line because that means she is suffering but of course its possible because you hear about these women who have been locked up or trafficked. But you just dont know. We dont have the answers. We want the answers of what happened and anything is a possibility. She said she has even turned to mediums in her desperate quest for answers. I try and look at anything and keep an open mind. Im sure there are gifted people out there. One woman in the UK told her she believes Esra was murdered. She said there was a white van, three males, her mouth was closed, she was hit on the head but she died very quickly. I had mixed feelings. I was thinking do I believe her or should I believe her and I think theres still that deep hope inside me that thinks thats not true. But is it a possibility, it is a possibility. She said she will continue her search for answers and particularly wants the driver of Skoda who had to swerve to avoid a collision with Esras silver Renault Twingo in Bray on the day she vanished. CCTV does not reveal who is driving Esras car. Im just begging there has to be somebody out there who knows what happened to Esra. It has been such a long time I dont even know what to say anymore. We keep mentioning the Skoda driver with the near collision because maybe one day he will see one of the papers and say thats me. I say it every year but maybe this year, maybe this year. In addition, Mr. Sagasti indicated that there is collaboration from the Lima 2019 Legacy, which has been working with the private sector and has helped to consolidate the importation from Chile. Presidente @FSagasti : Agradezco compartir las instalaciones de Southern Peru para concretar la colaboracion entre el gobierno peruano y Southern. #AccionesEnLasRegiones pic.twitter.com/3B17jppLyF Presidente @FSagasti : La donacion realizada por Southern Peru, que consiste en 20 toneladas diarias de oxigeno liquido, que equivalen a 15 080 balones de oxigeno, nos permitira atender a 1050 camas de hospitalizacion o 500 camas UCI. #AccionesEnLasRegiones pic.twitter.com/gtfvD8JI1q Presidente @FSagasti: Estas 20 toneladas diarias de oxigeno se distribuiran en 14 hospitales, 9 en las regiones del sur y el centro del Peru, y 5 en la region Lima. A esta donacion se suman dos plantas modulares moviles de oxigeno gaseoso.#AccionesEnLasRegiones pic.twitter.com/ctz1fTtGoy Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Palestinian politics got even more complicated this week, with Fatah Central Committee member and former Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser al-Qudwa insisting on his opposition to the official Fatah electoral strategy while linking his political future to that of imprisoned leader Marwan Barghouti. The latest attempt by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to convince Qudwa not to run on a separate list has failed to pave the way for a possible challenge in the upcoming May 22 elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). Qudwa, who spent many years at the United Nations representing Palestine and had a run as a UN peace envoy to Syria, appears set to lead an alternative Palestinian nationalist list to the upcoming elections in direct defiance of and some say threats from Abbas not to run outside the official list. Speaking at a virtual conference organized by Bir Zeit University Feb. 19 on US President Joe Biden's foreign policy, Qudwa said elections require much more preparation and deeper dialogue with other national forces, business leaders, civil society and other active forces in Palestinian society. He dismissed any cooperation with Mohammed Dahlan. While Qudwa has linked his political future with the imprisoned Barghouti, he appears to have opposed his reluctance to participate in the legislative elections. We are fully with Marwan, but he needs to take a position in this political dialogue (meaning the legislative elections), and he cant escape responsibility by saying leave me for the presidential run. Qudwa continued, "If he wants to run for president, we are with him. But he needs to be part of this process. Hamadeh Faraneh, a member of the Palestine National Council, reacted in a commentary in the Jordanian daily Addustour Feb. 22, saying that Qudwa and Barghouti cant operate without a political cover from Fatah, Hamas or both or even Dahlan, even if he plans to run on a separate list. Qudwas insistence on hitching his future with Barghoutis is logical considering the fact that Barghouti, in jail now for 19 years, polls higher than any other Palestinian. Last September, in a poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Research, Barghouti received 61% of the vote versus only 32% for Ismail Haniyeh, while the Hamas leader has polled defeating Abbas by three points. In a subsequent December poll, Barghouti again polled beating the Hamas leader by nine percentage points. Hamas is unlikely to challenge either in the presidential race due to take place July 30. Barghouti was reportedly offered to head the Fatah list for the legislative council and to choose 10 of the Fatah candidates. Fatah Central Committee member Hussein Sheikh visited Barghouti on Feb. 11 in jail to make him this offer, but he was unsuccessful in convincing him to give up running for president. According to Palestinian Basic Law, the speaker of the PLC will become acting president for 60 days once the president resigns or is unable to continue his duties. Barghouti feels that if he is elected as Palestinian president, this would help accelerate his release. He is held in an Israeli jail on multiple life sentences, convicted of having a role in ordering fatal attacks against Israelis during the second Palestinian intifada. Another jailed Palestinian leader, Ahmad Saadat, plans to head the list of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and if elected he will resign to run for president as well. Saadat was convicted of having ordered the assassination of far-right-wing Israeli Minister Rehavam Zeeve, which occurred following Israels assassination of then-leader of the PFLP Abu Ali Mustafa in October 2001. Qudwa, a nephew of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, runs the Yasser Arafat Foundation and is seen as a well-respected potential leader because of his vast international experience. He resigned from the Fatah Central Committee in May 2018, only to return later after his colleagues in the committee convinced him to withdraw his resignation. Unlike Saadat and Barghouti, he has never served in an Israeli jail and needs the connection of Barghouti to strengthen his local credentials. The possible elections of Qudwa in a separate list for the upcoming legislative or presidential run is still a long shot. But in the internal Palestinian struggle for the post-Abbas leadership of Palestinians, Qudwa could be the dark horse that can come from behind, hitching on the coattails of an imprisoned and popular Palestinian leader who will not be able to actually assume power until he is released from jail. Kylie Jenner was spotted playing up her sensational figure while stepping out in Los Angeles on Monday. The 23-year-old lip kit mogul emphasized her hourglass frame in a tightly fitted bright orange cocktail dress during a trip to the gas station. Her outing marked Kylie's first public sighting since her half-sister Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from Kanye West last Friday. When you got it: Kylie Jenner was spotted playing up her sensational figure off social media as well while out in Los Angeles on Monday Kylie balanced on a sky-high pair of nude stilettos while emerging from her cherry red Lamborghini to fill up her tank before setting off. She made sure to take the precaution of wearing a mask while surfacing from lockdown amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The sizzling superstar added a splash of dazzle to her look with jewelry including elaborate hoop earrings and several bracelets. Kylie decided to pick up some refreshments while she was stopping - she was seen at the mini mart with a bag of corn nuts. Legging it: The 23-year-old lip kit mogul emphasized her hourglass frame in a tightly fitted bright orange cocktail dress during a trip to the gas station Looking fab: She made sure to take the precaution of wearing a mask while surfacing from lockdown amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic Glitz: The sizzling superstar added a splash of dazzle to her look with jewelry including elaborate hoop earrings and several bracelets Kim and Kanye, who married in Florence in 2014 and have four children, had been the subject of breakup rumors for over a month. Last month Kylie enjoyed a vacation to Turks And Caicos in the Caribbean with all of her sisters as well as her daughter Stormi. Kylie shares Stormi - who turned three just after returning from holiday - with her rapper ex-boyfriend Travis Scott. Nibbles: Kylie decided to pick up some refreshments while she was stopping - she was seen at the mini mart with a bag of corn nuts Family matters: Kylie shares Stormi - who turned three just after returning from holiday - with her rapper ex-boyfriend Travis Scott Use it or lose it: She is fond of showing off her curves on Instagram Bringing the look together: She wore a bubblegum pink shade of nail polish and carried a white leather clutch for her latest outing Although she and Travis broke up in 2019 they have remained friendly co-parents and have even celebrated holidays together with their daughter. Kylie fired up her Instagram page this Tuesday to post a sizzling album of herself flaunting her washboard abs in a revealing look. She went bra-less under an almost translucently thin peekaboo crop top and slipped into a high-waisted matching skirt. The cosmetics tycoon wore a collar-style necklace and accentuated her screen siren features with makeup for the photo-shoot which she captioned: 'less is more.' Making it happen: Kylie fired up her Instagram page this Tuesday to post a sizzling Instagram album of herself flaunting her washboard abs in a revealing look What a look: She went bra-less under an almost translucently thin peekaboo crop top and slipped into a high-waisted matching skirt The Member of Parliament for the Ejisu Constituency in the Ashanti Region, Dr. John Ampontuah Kumah, has applauded the Bank of Ghana for instituting measures to formalize crowdfunding in Ghana. According to the Member of Parliament, the policy direction by the Bank of Ghana on how individuals and organizations can establish and use crowdfunding platforms is a step in the right direction and one of the best steps any nation can take to increase access to funding for entrepreneurs and businesses. On Tuesday, February 2, 2021, I presented a paper on the floor of the house numerating how the state can tap into the potentials of the youth for national development. One of the points I highlighted was the need for measures to be taken to institutionalize crowdfunding in Ghana. I am therefore impressed with the swiftness exhibited by the Bank of Ghana in outlining a roadmap that ensures that we can now rely on the power of the internet to crowd pool funding for businesses, he said. The benefits we can derive from crowdfunding are numerous and I am happy that we are at that point where people can depend on an alternative way to fund their businesses without accumulating debt. I will like to encourage young entrepreneurs to take advantage of this in their quest to raise capital, the Member of Parliament for Ejisu added. In a statement released by the Bank of Ghana on February, 18 2021, they announced various crowd funding products that can be accessed by Ghanaians as they take steps to modernize Ghanas banking industry. The statement signed by Sandra Thompson, Secretary of the Bank of Ghana indicated that the models of crowdfunding permitted are donation-based and reward-based crowdfunding. Ghanaians can now start accessing the crowdfunding products provided by regulated entities. 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 An Oakland teacher has blasted 'rich white parents' who worry that distance learning is affecting their children's mental health, telling them to 'take a seat' and that their worries are feeding kids' 'sense of entitlement.' Bethany Meyer, a special education teacher at Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) and secretary of the local teachers' union, the Oakland Education Association (OEA), told California parents eager to get their children back to school that they were causing their children anxiety. 'All the rich white parents suddenly concerned about mental health can take a seat,' she wrote on Twitter on February 17. 'Most of them are causing their kids' anxiety by pressuring them ... and feeding into their sense of entitlement. Sorry/not sorry.' Her tweet comes amid the ongoing storm around schools reopening as parents and lawmakers are pushing for schools to reopen, while teachers and teachers' unions are putting up roadblocks, claiming concern about the risks of contracting COVID-19 by returning to the classroom. It also comes just a week after another Bay Area school district saw all of its members resign after they were caught on a hot microphone during a meeting saying parents wanted schools to re-open just for teachers to 'babysit' their kids so parents could go back to 'smoking pot.' An Oakland teacher has blasted 'rich white parents' complaining that distance learning amid the pandemic has impacted their children's mental health and accused them of 'causing their kids' anxiety by pressuring them to complete asynchronous work'. Bethany Meyer's tweet, pictured Meyer (pictured), a special education teacher at Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) and secretary of teachers' union the Oakland Education Association (OEA), told California parents eager to get their children back to school to 'take a seat' in a social media post last week In Oakland, Meyer's tweet sparked an outcry, with some parents accusing the teacher, who is white, of trying to speak for black parents and assuming it is only 'rich white parents' who are concerned about getting their children back in school. Autumn McDonald, a black mother of a kindergartner and third grader in the district, said she wants her children to return to the classroom because at-home learning has caused 'stress for us and stress for them' as she and her husband try to juggle their work and their kids' education. 'I do personally want my kids back in school,' McDonald told SFGate. 'I need my kids to be back in school. My husband and I are working parents. The level to which our kids not being in school has caused stress for us and stress for them is beyond the pale,' she said. Another parent slammed Meyer for bringing 'the angle of race and social class' into the matter rather than 'focusing on... getting our kids back in school.' Nikki Cowger, who has a third grader in special education and a fourth grader in the district, said union allies had attacked her online and accused her of not considering 'the needs of brown/black families who 'predominantly want to stay home''. Cowger's race wasn't clear. Meanwhile, a group of Oakland parents said the teachers' union should stop treating parents of color as all the same. 'I hope @OaklandEA has learned their lesson to stop speaking for parents of color, particularly black parents," the OUSD Parents for Transparency & Safe Reopening tweeted. 'They are not a monolith (no group of parents is), and their interests aren't necessarily aligned with those of the union,' they tweeted Tuesday. Parents agreed: 'Many Latino parents can't stay home with their kids to help with distance learning. They need schools to open!' The OUSD is one of the largest districts in the Bay Area spanning 86 schools and 50,000 students. Its student population is 42 percent Hispanic, 23 percent black, 9 percent Asian and 17 percent white, according to recent figures compiled by kidsdata.org, a program of the Lucile Packard Foundation. One parent said Meyer's comments felt like being 'punched in the gut' while she and other families are at 'breaking point'. 'When I saw her tweet I felt like I was punched in the gut,' Eileen Carney, who has a kindergartner and fourth grader in the Oakland Unified School District, told SFGate. 'This has been such a difficult time for my family. This hurts me on a deep and personal level frankly. We're all at a breaking point right now and I think we need to be unified. These strange bullying tactics seem misplaced and frankly offensive.' While Meyer hit out at the 'rich' parents, the teacher earned a total compensation package of $93,942.38 in 2019, according to a public salary database. Her tweet comes amid the ongoing storm around schools reopening as parents and lawmakers are pushing for schools to reopen, while teachers and teachers' unions are concerned about the risks of contracting COVID-19 by returning to the classroom This is markedly higher than the median income for an entire household in Oakland of $73,692 that year, according to US Census statistics. Meyer has since apologized and deleted the tweet and her Twitter account is now set to private. The OEA, the union, issued a statement urging for 'respect and empathy' in the community and acknowledging the 'the very real stresses felt by students, parents and teachers during this time'. 'I also want to acknowledge the very real stresses felt by students, parents and teachers during this time. OEA has consistently fought to increase mental health support for our students, and will continue to do so,' Keith Brown, the union president told SFGate. 'As we move forward, I am feeling hopeful that lower community spread, multi-tiered safety measures and vaccinations will continue to bring us closer to a safe return to in-person instruction. 'In order to get there together, everyone in our OUSD community will need to treat each other with respect and empathy as we move forward.' The school district also issued a statement saying Meyer's comments had left families feeling 'disrespected'. 'We saw one Tweet from a staff member that left many families feeling disrespected and insulted,' it said. OUSD Parents for Transparency & Safe Reopening, a group of OUSD parents who are calling for the reopening of the district's elementary schools, tweeted that the teachers' union should stop treating parents of color as a 'monolith' 'It has been shared numerous times by upset families. The staff member has since apologized for the Tweet...' The district added that 'personal insults or attacks... do not help in this situation or any other, and only serve to inflame tensions.' OUSD was originally planning to reopen schools for in-person learning on January 25 - 10 months after they shuttered in March. However with COVID-19 cases reaching record high levels in January, the plan was put on hold. At the time OUSD spokesperson John Sasaki said: 'Based on what was going on in the community and, really across the nation, we could not afford to open on the 25th. We really want to get or students back into as normal an education model as soon as possible.' The district said the aim was to reopen in the next few months with Sasaki now saying schools will open 'in one form or another this spring.' California Governor Gavin Newsom is pushing for the state's schools to reopen and announced Friday that the state will now put aside 10 percent of shots to inoculate teachers and school staff. Newsom doubled down on his stance in an interview with ABC News Sunday where he called for schools to reopen 'right away' and said teachers should be a priority in the vaccine rollout. 'At the end of the day, we can do this now as we administer more doses. Yes, prioritizing our teachers, more vaccines in people's arms,' he said. Governor Newsom said he believes it is 'optimal' but not essential for teachers to be vaccinated before they can return to in-person learning Millions of schoolchildren nationwide haven't set foot in a classroom since last March and research has shown that grades and mental health is suffering, particularly among already vulnerable children. An October article by the American Psychological Association cited concerns about 'how kids will cope psychologically with the ongoing loss of access to the friends, teachers, and routines associated with going to a physical campus'. Howard University professor and psychologist Celeste Malone warned that children of color and less well-off backgrounds are at the greatest risk of facing mental health challenges by missing out on classroom learning. 'Communities of color typically have reduced access to mental health providers, but these kids need support more than ever right now,' she said. 'They are more likely to have parents who are essential workers and experiences of grief and loss because of COVID, plus they are seeing persistent police brutality and unrest.' Meanwhile, there is no official death toll for teachers during the pandemic but the American Federation of Teachers, one of the biggest unions, said it knows of around 530 school staffers who died from COVID-19 last year. The California Teachers Association has said it wants all school staff to be vaccinated before reopening schools - something that lawmakers and the nation's top doctors say is not practical. California's Newsom has said believes it is 'optimal' but not essential for teachers to be vaccinated before they can return to in-person learning. This matches the guidance of the CDC which said last month the US does not need to wait for teachers to be vaccinated before schools can reopen, saying there is little evidence of the virus spreading in schools. Last week, Dr Anthony Fauci also waded in to say it is 'non-workable' to wait until all teachers are vaccinated to get children back to school. President Biden has pledged to have most schools open within his first 100 days in office. Meanwhile, California recorded another 4,665 cases Monday and 233 deaths. Alameda County, where Oakland is based, is still in the most severe purple tier of reopening meaning the virus is 'widespread'. It has a positivity rate of 3.6 percent. In California, COVID-19 cases have now topped 3.4 million and more than 49,000 have died. Over the past day, Russian-occupation forces in Donbas violated the ceasefire 11 times, one Ukrainian serviceman was killed, two servicemen were wounded, the press center of the Joint Force Operation (JFO) headquarters said. "Over the past day, on February 22, in the area of the Joint Force Operation, some 11 violations of the ceasefire were recorded. In the area of responsibility of the Skhid (East) task force, near the settlement of Avdiyivka, the Russian armed formations opened fire towards Ukrainian positions from various grenade launchers systems and small arms. As a result of enemy shelling, one soldier was killed, another soldier was wounded by shrapnel," the JFO headquarters said in a statement on Facebook on Tuesday morning. In the area of responsibility of the Pivnich (North) task force, Russian-occupation forces fired aimed fire at Ukrainian positions from automatic heavy grenade launchers, large-caliber machine guns and small arms near Pivdenne. "As a result of the shelling, one serviceman from the Joint Forces was wounded. The soldier was promptly provided with medical assistance and taken to a hospital," the JFO headquarters said. The OSCE representatives were notified of the facts of ceasefire violation through the Ukrainian side in the JCCC. "Since the beginning of this day, on February 23, three violations of the ceasefire regime have been recorded. Thus, in the area of responsibility of the Pivnich task force, not far from the settlement of Zaitseve, Russian-occupation forces fired at Ukrainian positions from 82-caliber mortars and heavy anti-tank grenade launchers. As a result of the shelling, one soldier was killed, another soldier was wounded by shrapnel," the JFO headquarters said. STORY LINK Pound to South African Rand Exchange Rate Struggles to Hold Gains as Rand Volatile Pound Sterling (GBP) Exchange Rates See Little Shift on Mixed UK Jobs Report because of pandemic related restrictions, a number of those out of work at present are not actively seeking employment and therefore not classified as unemployment under the LFS definition. It wasnt explored in detail in the MPR but Governor Bailey recently commented that the BoE thought that the true level of UK unemployment was closer to 6.5%. South African Rand (ZAR) Exchange Rate Recovery Attempts Limited by US Yields The ZAR has been one of the most sensitive EM FX recently to rising US yields, A sharp move higher in US yields, especially real yields could increase downside risks for EM FX more broadly if not backed up by stronger fundamentals GBP/ZAR Exchange Rate Forecast: Coronavirus and South African National Budget in Focus Like this piece? Please share with your friends and colleagues: Despite continued strong demand for the Pound, the British Pound to South African Rand (GBP/ZAR) exchange rate is struggling to hold its advance attempts. This is because the risky emerging market correlated South African Rand continues to benefit from global risk demand, though its appeal has been dented slightly by market anticipation for upcoming South African budget news.Last week saw a sharp rebound in GBP/ZAR from the pairs worst levels in over a month.After opening last week at the level of 20.14, GBP/ZAR briefly touched on a low of 20.05. This was the worst level for GBP/ZAR in over a month, since the beginning of January.GBP/ZAR quickly surged back from those lows though as the South African Rand was hit by uncertainty over global commodity trade. GBP/ZAR ultimately gained almost half a Rand, and closed the week well higher, in the region of 20.57.This week, GBP/ZAR briefly attempted to continue its surging recovery, briefly touching on a high of 20.89. This was the best level for GBP/ZAR all month, since the end of January.Since then though, GBP/ZAR has recoiled slightly. At the time of writing GBP/ZAR is still attempting to advance but only trends slightly higher in the region 20.66.The Pound continues to benefit from speculation that Britains economy will be one of the first major economies to fully recover from the coronavirus pandemic. This continues to be the primary cause of the Pounds recent bullishness across the board.UK vaccination schemes are progressing smoothly and despite a slower than hoped roadmap for easing restrictions, analysts predict that Britains economy could recover to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2021.Todays UK job market report did little to knock this confidence in Britains recovery outlook.Unemployment worsened as expected, and more jobs were lost than feared, but the latest wage growth data beat forecasts.Some analysts also warn that Britains real unemployment outlook could be worse than the data shows. According to Cathal Kennedy, European Economist at RBC Capital Markets:The South African Rand is a currency often correlated to risk and emerging market sentiment. As a result, it has become more appealing amid global coronavirus recovery hopes in recent months.However, over the past week or so volatility in US Treasury yields has led to broad volatility in the South African Rand as well.This is because the South African Rand is sensitive to US yield movements. Higher US yields are making investors a little more hesitant to take risks, but this is weighing on the Rand more than other risk-correlated currencies.According to Lee Hardman, Analyst at MUFG:On top of volatility in US yields, investors are also hesitant to buy the South African Rand too much this week ahead of South African national budget announcement.Investors may continue to find the Pound more appealing in the coming sessions, as there is unlikely to be much shift in the British currencys strong outlook.The UK governments restriction easing roadmap has not been a shock to markets and investors will likely remain optimistic about Britains potential to recover from the pandemic before the end of the year.As a result, the Pound is only likely to be influenced by potential developments in the coronavirus situation, as well as strength in rival currencies.The South African Rand could drive movement more in the coming sessions, particularly if tomorrows South African national budget announcement surprises investors.If the budget contains more support to help South Africas economy weather the pandemic it could boost support for the South African Rand.On the other hand, a disappointing budget or poor South African trade balance on Friday could lead to bigger losses in the South African Rand and make it easier for the British Pound to South African Rand (GBP/ZAR) exchange. International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements. TAGS: Pound Rand Forecasts 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 Western Australia (WA) state Premier Mark McGowan launched the Labor Partys campaign for the March 13 state election on Sunday, with another pitch for the continued backing of the mining conglomerates and other big business interests that dominate the states economy. Within the ruling class, however, fears are rising that the election could result in the Liberal Partythe party of Prime Minister Scott Morrisonbeing reduced to a tiny rump. That is largely because McGowans government has cynically exploited popular concern over the COVID-19 pandemic by taking a seemingly hard line on border closures and lockdowns. Western Australian Labor Party Premier Mark McGowan (Source: Wikimedia) As in recent elections in Queensland and New Zealand, Labor is seeking electoral favour by posturing as taking a stand for public safety. A Newspoll published in the Australian newspaper last week showed Labor on 59 percent of votes, with the Liberals on just 23 percent. If that pattern were reflected in the election result, the Liberals could be reduced to just two seats in the 59-seat lower house of state parliament, and lose their official opposition status to the rural-based National Party. The potential electoral landslide underscores the fragility of Morrisons federal Liberal-National Coalition government, as it ramps up its drive to fully reopen the economydespite the danger of further coronavirus outbreaksand push jobless workers into lower-paid and insecure employment. State Liberal leader Zak Kirkup has all but conceded defeat, saying the Liberals face a difficult election and warning against Labor gaining a majority in both houses of state parliament. Kirkup, 33, was installed as party leader in December, despite being in just his first term in parliament, in a desperate bid to prevent such an outcome. Labor gained office at the last WA election, in March 2017, after a record statewide electoral swing against the previous Liberal Party government. That Liberal defeat helped intensify the crisis of Morrisons predecessor, Malcolm Turnbull. It was his first electoral test since narrowly surviving the July 2016 federal election, clinging to a one-seat majority. Eighteen months on, Turnbull became another victim of the factional turmoil wracking the Coalition, and was replaced by Morrison. In Sundays campaign launch speech, McGowan nakedly appealed to Liberal and National Party supporters on the basis that Labor would provide the best conditions for business. If youre thinking about voting for me and WA Labor this election, for the very first time, you should feel confident in that decision, McGowan said. I will lead a sensible, responsible, experienced government. McGowan, a former naval officer, attacked the Liberals from the right, saying they would bankrupt the state, referring to their refusal to have their election commitments independently costed. The Labor leader promised to create 125,000 new local jobs if re-elected for a second term. This is a fraud. Ahead of the 2017 state election, Labor promised to fix WAs unemployment crisis by creating 50,000 jobs. That pledge was recycled in February 2019, when Labor vowed to create 150,000 jobs within five years, but the plan was shelved indefinitely after the COVID-19 crisis erupted. In reality, the thrust of all Labors jobs plans is to boost the corporate elite, while peddling parochial and nationalist propaganda about keeping WA strong. Via the latest plan, $15 million would be funnelled into helping local manufacturers produce components for rail wagons, used by the iron ore industry. Another $120 million would be poured into the film industry, including building a film studio and screen production facility. McGowans government has become notorious for handouts to the wealthiest layers of society. In response to the pandemic, it produced a $3.5 billion business stimulus package, on top of the more than $400 billion in corporate subsidies and loans provided nationally by the Morrison government. Labors package included a $20,000 building bonus that provided subsidies for dozens of new homes in some of WAs wealthiest suburbs. Then there was a deal to sell the East Perth Power Station riverfront development site, in WAs capital, to two of the states billionaires, media tycoon Kerry Stokes and iron ore magnate Andrew Forrest, followed by election-eve environmental approvals for a major gas project, part-owned by the Stokes-backed Beach Energy group. Forrests agricultural company Harvest Road Group received a $700,000 government grant toward a new aquaculture facility, and the hydrogen arm of his Fortescue Metals Group received $2 million for a renewable hydrogen mobility project. In addition, according to the Australian, $200 million in royalty relief was given to mining company Mineral Resources when it took over the Koolyanobbing iron ore mine. Mineral Resources, whose founder Chris Ellison is one of WAs richest men, has generated more than $1 billion in earnings from the mine. So close are Labors ties to the tycoons that comparisons are being made in the media to the 1983-88 WA state Labor government of Brian Burke, whose mutually beneficial relations with wealthy businessmenwhose enterprises later collapsed disastrouslyled to the WA Inc royal commission into improper government dealings. Some commentators have drawn attention to Labors identification with big business. In the Australian, senior reporter Paul Garvey wrote: This years WA election campaign is a topsy-turvy world where up is down and right is left. Garvey noted: We have a Labor Party that casts itself as the party of fiscal conservatives It is Labor, rather than the Liberals, that will enjoy the proceeds of a lavish fundraising dinner at the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club in Perths Golden Triangle, supported by billionaire property developer Nigel Satterley. Garvey added that while Kirkup, the Liberal leader, feigned sympathy for Perths homeless, the Labor government exercised special powers to force the removal of a tent city in Fremantle. Rather than topsy-turvy, these developments demonstrate once more that Labor is a party of big business, no less than the Liberals and Nationals. Thus far, McGowans government has benefited from record iron ore prices and exports from the states north, primarily to China. More than $10 billion of mining royalties are expected to flow into government coffers this financial year, an unprecedented windfall. But that rich stream could be affected by the Biden administrations escalation of the conflict with China, in which the Australian ruling elite is playing a leading role. Most workers have seen nothing of the bonanza. Unemployment in working class areas around Perth is at some of the highest levels nationally. By the latest available local statistics, the jobless rate in Kwinana, an industrial suburb south of Perth, was 11.3 percent in last years June quarter, and only slightly lower in surrounding regions. That social crisis will deepen as the British oil and gas company BP closes its refinery in Kwinana by the middle of the year, destroying at least 590 jobs. No less false are Labors claims to have protected the population from COVID-19. The government has benefited from Western Australias geographical isolation and has repeatedly instituted border closures to insulate it from outbreaks in other parts of the country. But the same inadequate and business-driven response to the pandemic, that has led to major eruptions of the virus elsewhere in Australia, has been on display. Earlier this month, a hotel quarantine failure led to a five-day lockdown of Perth and nearby regions. A security guard at the hotel had contracted the virus because neither the government nor his contract employer required mask-wearing or other basic safety procedures. Throughout the pandemic, Labor has also exempted fly-in-fly-out mining workers from quarantine requirements, for the benefit of the mining companies. And last April, the government stood down a school principal for informing parents that her school was not prepared for the mass influx of students required by the governments scheduled resumption of classes during the pandemic. The San Francisco school board is meeting now to vote on a health and safety plan for reopening schools for in-person instruction. Even if the board approves the health and safety plan, the district still needs to reach an agreement over the number of days and hours of in-person instruction and vote on that before moving forward. Then, schools would be allowed to reopen in Californias second-most-restrictive red tier after the staff is vaccinated, or in the orange tier without vaccinations. Chronicle education reporter Jill Tucker is listening in and covering the meeting live. Here are the latest updates: 10:30 p.m. Board approves agreement with labor unions: The board voted unanimously to approve an agreement with labor unions over health and safety requirements for a return to in-person learning. It's the first step of several in getting students back into schools, but it will likely be several weeks if not months before classrooms reopen. 8:05 p.m. School board member calls for district to focus on middle and high schools: Board member Matt Alexander said he was shocked that current bargaining with the teachers union to reopen classrooms doesn't include middle and high schools, despite clear updates on district proposals focusing on elementary school. He urged district leadership to start addressing reopening for the older students. We have to commit to five full days a week in the fall, said Alexander. 7:50 p.m. Board members weigh in on reopening: School board members raised a range of questions about reopening plans and when staff will be able to start providing information on upper grades going back, while acknowledging there are still a lot of issues for the youngest students who will go back first. I'm feeling really overwhelmed in a way. These are really tough times, touch challenges, board Vice President Alison Collins said. We all want to go back to regular in-person learning. What were faced with is trying to make a move and theres no easy answers. With every choice we make there are going to be some positives and some negatives. As elected leaders we have to own that. 6:40 p.m. Feedback on district's reopening plan: Several teachers speaking during public comment criticized a district proposal to bring students back to in-person learning, but not necessarily with their current teacher. Educators said this would disrupt the relationships with students. "I'm urging the board to trust and value educators," said teacher Betty Estrada. 5:55 p.m. Update on assessments for students with special needs: The district opened up 10 classrooms at John OConnell High School to assess students for special education services once the city enters the less restrictive red tier, according to the district reopening update. The site will be staffed with volunteer teachers, therapists and psychologists. Currently, assessments have been done virtually when possible. An estimated 800 students havent been able to be assessed because of the school closure, according to the Community Advisory Committee for Special Education 5:40 p.m. Family survey on returning to schools: In a school survey of the 11,645 families in the first groups scheduled to return, including early elementary and the most at-risk students, 57% of those who responded said they want to return to in-person learning, district officials said. But the response rate varies depending on the schools, ranging from 17% to 86%. By ethnicity, the update showed 80% of white families would return, compared to 41% of Filipino American and 35% of Asian American. 5:20 p.m. Reopening discussion starts: Two hours into the board meeting, Superintendent Vince Matthews begins the update on school reopening. Factors currently having an impact on the timeline for reopening: spread of virus; vaccine availability; whether the city is in the red or orange tier. District has also gotten 17 proposals from providers to conduct the COVID-19 testing for students and staff. City-funded testing has resumed at the district's central office. 4:31 p.m. Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander presentation: The districts newly formed Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Parent Advisory Council presented before the board for the first time Tuesday, providing background on the 500 Pacific Islander students and issues they face. Currently, the council said, 70% of the Samoan students live in public housing and 20% receive special education services disproportionately high percentages compared to the district overall. The group requested more Pacific Islander educators and social workers in the district, as well as a Samoan dual-language immersion program. It also recommended renaming a school after Tupufia Valentino, a long-time leader in the Pacific Islander community. 4:10 p.m. Speakers react to the delay on renaming schools: Several speakers are addressing the boards decision over the weekend to suspend the process to rename 44 school sites. There is about an equal number of supporters and opponents of the delay. One teacher thanked the board, saying there is too much on his plate during the pandemic to deal with picking a new name. Other speakers criticized the delay, saying it was a brave decision and students dont want to walk into schools named after racists and oppressors and murderers. 3:55 p.m. Public comment includes a goodbye: A parent speaking during general public comment informed the board that his family is leaving the district due to frustration over reopening. The district has lost about 1,000 students this year, although its unclear how many will return when schools reopen. Dad Jonathan Alloy said his children wouldnt be back. We have to do whats best for our kids, he said. Goodbye. 3:15 p.m. Reopening update moved up on the agenda: After recent complaints among parents, board President Gabriela Lopez said she will move up the reopening update toward the top of the agenda. During the previous two meetings, the board didnt take up the reopening topic until seven hours in. 3:10 p.m. Fireworks before SF school board meeting: The San Francisco school board meeting Tuesday was preceded by dueling teachers union and district commentary over ongoing negotiations to reopen. While the United Educators of San Francisco officials said they hoped to have an agreement days ago, it appears the bargaining has bogged down, with labor leaders calling for a moderator. The school board will hear an update on reopening later in the meeting. Related Reading For weeks, the pressure has been building on San Francisco school officials to reopen classrooms, with national media berating them and parents and politicians threatening a shake-up of the school board over what they say is dysfunctional and tone-deaf leadership. On Sunday, San Franciscos school board president signaled that working to reopen schools will be the boards only focus, and it is pausing controversial efforts to rename 44 district schools. In an opinion piece published in The Chronicle, Gabriela Lopez acknowledged mistakes in the process that have resulted in a potential lawsuit and possible recall efforts targeting several board members, including Lopez. Read more on what Lopez wrote here. Last Tuesday, the board held a seven-hour closed special meeting that presumably addressed the legal challenge and renaming issue. Chronicle columnist Heather Knight has argued that San Franciscos school board is wasting time on ridiculous debates as students remain home. San Francisco has lowest COVID case rate of major U.S. cities. Its schools are among last to reopen. Meanwhile, parents have witnessed the academic, emotional and mental impact of shuttered schools the lack of social interaction and in-person academic support apparent in their childrens behavior, attitude and grades. And in recent months, research and data have confirmed what families have felt: School closures have had a devastating effect on many children. Dozens of San Francisco educators and supporters gathered for a vigil on reopening plans on Saturday evening after five straight days of union negotiations over returning to classrooms. Executive president of Save the Children Romania, Gabriela Alexandrescu, speaking at a debate on Tuesday, cautioned about Romania's high teen pregnancy rate, according to AGERPRES. "We express our concern over the persistent high number of pregnancies in girls under 15 and under 19. Of the total number of births in 2019, almost 750 were in mothers under 15 and almost 18,000 in mothers aged between 15 and 19. We are first in Europe by the number of under-15 pregnancies," Alexandrescu declared. According to her, Romania registers 40 percent of EU pregnancies in girls under 15, and 23 percent of pregnancies in girls under 19. There are no underage moms in the Netherlands, Denmark and Finland, Gabriela Alexandrescu added. She detailed that the areas with the most adolescent mothers under 19 are the counties of Bihor, Suceava, Iasi, Vaslui, Bacau, Mures, Brasov, Prahova, Dambovita, Dolj, Calarasi, Constanta and Bucharest, while Mures, Dolj, Brasov, Iasi, Bacau have most mothers under 15. On the other hand, she pointed out, Romania stays at the top of the EU in terms of infant mortality, the main cause being premature birth that is related to the mother's too young or too advanced age. "Four in 10 teenage girls who become mothers gave birth prematurely and many of them had no contact with public social assistance services or are not registered with a family doctor," Gabriela Alexandrescu said. She pointed out that Save the Children is involved in equipping neonatology and pediatrics hospital departments, having offered 830 equipment items to 100 medical units for 100,000 children, but that the organization's efforts also target education, support, and community services. "We are concerned about how we can get the information through to mothers. By the end of March we will reach 100,000 mothers, through 74 maternity hospitals. Through our campaign and program we are covering the need for the medical education mothers should receive. (...) We thought of developing a pilot information program via video system in maternity hospitals and we started with such facilities in university centers," Alexandrescu said. In the last 3 years Save the Children has also developed health education programs in schools - complete with a sex education module - which included 83,000 children. Govt should deploy all resources in saving lives than in building PM Modi's new house: Priyanka Gandhi Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi to address Kisan Panchayat in Mathura today India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P Lucknow, Feb 23: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is set to address a Kisan Panchayat in Palikheda in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura district, which is considered to be a stronghold of the Jat community in the state. It can be seen that the meeting to be held on Tuesday was rescheduled due to the demise of captain Satish Sharma on February 19. The Tuesday meeting is in continuation of a series of Kisan Panchayat that the party is organising in 27 districts of Western Uttar Pradesh against the farm laws, even as the agitation of farmers continued at Delhi borders 90th day. We aim to eliminate Tuberculosis from the country by 2025: PM Modi While addressing the 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' in Muzaffarnagar district on February 20, the Congress General Secretary had lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She said, "In our old stories, kings and queens became arrogant after they won power. After becoming Prime Minister twice, the PM is also showing arrogance." "The Central government should respect the farmers. Why is Modiji not talking to the farmers who elected him as Prime Minister? Dialogue should be initiated with the farmers and their problems must be solved," she further said. Gujarat civic polls: BJP makes big gains | Celebrations begin | Oneindia News During the Muzaffarnagar Panchayat, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said Prime Minister Modi had promised that there will be a settlement of pending dues on sugarcane. She also asked the farmers assembled there about the payment of dues of sugarcane. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, February 23, 2021, 11:29 [IST] The unprecedented economic disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic has decimated industries of all stripes, but many small businesses actually increased their advertising budgets in 2020, according to a recent survey released by business news site The Manifest. Despite facing the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, the Manifests 2021 Small Business Survey found that more companies staffing fewer than 500 employees increased their advertising investments in 2020 compared to those that decreased ad spending. While more than a third (38 percent) of small businesses increased their ad spending during the coronavirus outbreak last year, less than a quarter (22 percent) of small businesses reported decreasing their ad budgets during that time period. The COVID-19 pandemic also resulted in a spike in online content consumption, with adults now spending more than 16 hours per day on digital platforms. So, perhaps its no surprise that social media sites remain the preferred advertising channel for small businesses. Preferred advertising channels for businesses with fewer than 500 employees. According to the survey, nearly half of small businesses (45 percent) said they now plan to increase their investment in social media advertising in 2021. Small businesses particularly plan to boost their ad spending on Facebook (66 percent), YouTube (42 percent), and Instagram (41 percent), according to the survey. Short-form video platforms Snapchat and TikTok followed, at 15 percent and 12 percent, respectively. An additional 35 percent of small businesses said they plan to increase their advertising investment on digital video platforms this year. On the other hand, of the 28 percent of small businesses that say they invest in print advertising, almost all of them (24 percent) said they plan to reduce their print ad spending in 2021. According to the survey, the majority of small businesses (55 percent) spent less than $50,000 on advertising last year and only 11 percent spent more than one million dollars. More than half of small businesses (55 percent) already advertise via social media, and almost half of them (47 percent) currently allocate up to 30 percent of their total ad spend to social media advertising, according to the survey. The Manifests 2021 Small Business Survey polled 500 U.S.-based small business owners and managers in December. The Manifest is the sister site of D.C.-based research and consulting firm Clutch. The bites that require hospitalization and surgical repair are the most serious injuries, such as toddlers bitten in the face and neck, where many critical structures can be damaged, including eyes and ears, and there can be devastating cosmetic damage done as well. But hand injuries can also have a very lasting impact and need expert repair. For dog bite prevention, Dr. Dixon said, the No. 1 strategy remains supervision. Children should learn to leave dogs alone when they are eating, when they are sleeping with a favorite toy, when they are caring for their puppies. They should not reach out to unfamiliar dogs. And dog owners should keep their dogs healthy and should socialize and train them from an early age. Its important we take responsibility for our animals, said Ms. Goff, who has a dog named Daisy that she brings with her to the office. Most dogs dont bite to attack, they bite because theyre scared or provoked. Ms. Goff also emphasized that from the point of view of liability, anyone who owns a dog should have insurance coverage. In her state, Connecticut, a strict liability state, I dont have to prove anybody was at fault, she said, and the dog owner is responsible for the damages. If you can afford the dog, you can afford the insurance, she said. She said that its important as well that dog bites be reported because of the need to track dogs who bite multiple times, but reassured those who were worried that a dog might be destroyed that, at least in Connecticut, unless there is a catastrophic or fatal injury, our forgiveness about animals extends quite heavily. When dogs do show aggressive behavior, Dr. Dixon said, owners should seek expert help from a veterinarian or a behavioral expert in canine aggression ideally before something bad happens. Dr. Judy Schaechter, a professor of pediatrics and public health at the University of Miami, said that given the increase in puppy buying during the Covid epidemic, Were now a year into this; puppies may be big, strong dogs at this point. And with many parents juggling work from home with their childrens school issues, it can be difficult for them to supervise all the children (and pets) all the time. Scott Morrison will need more than a tight footy jersey with his self-approved nickname emblazoned across the back to persuade his colleagues hes got his marketing just right this time. Putting aside the vexing matter of who believes he or almost all of the 60 staff in his office knew nothing for two years about an alleged sexual assault that happened just down the whispering corridor; hes now reminded that his judgement about saving an oddball backbencher created a smash-up waiting to happen. Scott Morrison furiously lobbied the NSW Liberal Partys state executive to endorse Craig Kellys preselection for his seat of Hughes in southern Sydney. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen In late 2018, the bellicose Craig Kelly threatened to quit the party if moderate forces were not prevented from going after his preselection. Political blackmail worked. The NRL will probe the Gold Coast Titans for a possible salary cap breach after star recruit David Fifita's arrest late last year. The former Brisbane star was questioned and released without charge in December after a bizarre trespassing incident on the Gold Coast that was said to be a mix-up. After a night of drinking, Fifita was reportedly invited to a woman's residence in Clear Island Waters, but lost his phone upon exiting the Uber. He then reportedly walked into another room of the home, with a different woman inside, and a man called the police. The NRL will probe the Gold Coast Titans for a possible salary cap breach after star recruit David Fifita's arrest late last year It was assumed the matter had been dealt with ahead of Fifita's first appearance in Titans colours this Saturday in a trial game against the Warriors. But on Tuesday the NRL confirmed they were looking deeper into the incident after NewsCorp reported revelations of a payment being made to the family involved in the incident. It's understood the probe will centre on whether Fifita or the Titans provided the compensation and whether there are any salary cap implications around the circumstances of that payment. 'The NRL integrity unit is seeking further information from the Gold Coast Titans concerning an incident involving David Fifita,' an NRL spokesman told AAP. 'On the information provided, the salary cap position of the club will not be materially affect' The talented backrower arrived on the Gold Coast on a three-year deal worth more than $1 million a season to boost the club's hopes after finishing no better than eighth since 2010. Fifita (left, with friend Payne Haas) was reportedly invited to a woman's residence in Clear Island Waters, but walked into the wrong room after losing his phone In a statement on Tuesday the Titans confirmed their cooperation with the NRL's investigation and expressed confidence they remained salary cap compliant. It isn't the first incident of this nature Fifita, who turns 21 later this week, has been involved in. He spent three days in a Bali jail in 2019 following a run-in with a bouncer and was forced to negotiate a 'peace agreement' before he was released and able to fly home. A lengthy NRL integrity unit investigation then took place, but no further action was taken. Sorry! This content is not available in your region ABCLive footage of Dave Grohl and the late Chris Cornell is included in a newly released short film celebrating the 150th anniversary of London's historic Royal Albert Hall. The 90-second video, narrated by Rolling Stones legend Mick Jagger, anticipates the impending re-opening of the venue, which currently is closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The clip, titled "Your Room Will Be Ready," features Jagger reciting an excerpt of the 1964 W.H. Auden poem "For Friends Only." It's accompanied by footage of an empty Royal Albert Hall, intercut with a montage of various events held at the venue over the years, including concerts by legendary stars like Grohl and Cornell. Among the other various music legends glimpsed in the promo: Led Zeppelin, Oasis, Bob Dylan, Queen's Freddie Mercury, The Beatles, Diana Ross, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Cream, George Michael and Iggy Pop, as well as the Stones themselves. "Empty and silent most of the year/This room awaits from you what you alone, as visitor, can bring," Jagger reads. "Distance and duties divide us, but absence will not seem an evil/if it make our re-meeting a real occasion/Come when you can: Your room will be ready." As the film ends, a message appears on the screen that says, "We've missed you." You can watch it now streaming on YouTube. A number of events that were to have taken place at the Albert Hall in 2021 have been canceled or postponed, but dozens of shows remain confirmed. Visit RoyalAlbertHall.com for a full list of concerts. By Matt Friedlander Copyright 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. The Nagol is Back! VTOs guide to this years Nagol, plus where to stay and play in south, central and north Pentecost. South Korean automaker Motor Co launched its Ioniq 5 midsize crossover on Tuesday, the first in a planned family of electric vehicles (EV) that it hopes will propel it into the third rank of global EV makers by 2025. The company says the model is based on a new electric vehicle-only platform that uses its own battery module technology and requires fewer components than Hyundai's existing electric cars, enabling faster production at lower cost. The launch of Ioniq 5 is the linchpin of Hyundai's long-term goal to capture 10 per cent of global EV sales by 2025, up from a combined market share of 7.2 per cent for and Kia together during the January-September period in 2020, according to industry tracker SNE Research. Motor and its sister company Kia Corp together aim to sell 1 million EVs in 2025. "We expect this year's (global) EV demand will increase more than 30 per cent versus last year," President Chang Jae-hoon told a news conference. The Ioniq 5 will have a maximum driving range of about 480 kms (298 miles), up nearly 20 per cent from the Kona EV, which previously had the longest range among Hyundai's EV lineup. It will offer two battery pack options - 58-kilowatt-hour (kWh) or 72.6 kWh - and will be available in selected regions starting in the first half of 2021, Hyundai said in a statement. The South Korean automaker did not disclose the price of the Ioniq 5, but Europe President Michael Cole said in Europe it would start at about 42,000 euros ($51,100) before government incentives. Hyundai is targeting sales of 100,000 units globally next year, with about 30 per cent-40 per cent in Europe, 30 per cent in North America and 20 per cent in South Korea. "Hyundai will be able to increase its presence in the global EV market as it adds a new EV, considering that the company showed solid performance with its major EV Kona Electric," said Kevin Yoo, an analyst at eBEST Investment & Securities. ARCHIVED - Covid restrictions relaxed in Spain after infection rates fell again over the weekend Greater freedom to travel and socialize but the threat of a fourth wave remains The latest coronavirus update published on Monday afternoon by Ministry of Health provides further evidence that the third wave of the pandemic is subsiding in Spain, with the figure of 20,849 confirmed cases over the weekend representing a decrease of around a third in comparison with the weekend before and bringing the 14-day accumulated incidence rate down to 252 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. It is perhaps understandable after the surge in case numbers, hospital patients and fatalities after Christmas and the New Year that most of the attention in the press is focussing at present on this good news, and indeed further encouragement is provided by the number of Covid patients in hospital falling to 15,208, accounting for 12.1 per cent of all occupied beds. This is a significantly smaller proportion than the peak figures of a few weeks ago, and at the same time the situation is also improving in intensive care units, where 33 per cent of beds are occupied by coronavirus patients and in no region is the proportion above 50 per cent. In addition, the incidence rate is now below the extreme risk threshold of 250 in 11 of the countrys 17 regions, the only exceptions being Madrid, Catalunya, the Basque Country, Castilla y Leon, Andalucia, Aragon and Asturias. On the other hand, though, over half of Spains population live in these 7 regions, and a further 535 fatalities over the weekend (taking the official pandemic death toll up to 67,636) offer a reminder that the situation is still a long way from normal. Despite this, most of the regional governments are beginning to relax the restrictions which are credited with achieving the drop in infection over the last three weeks, re-opening outdoor terraces at bars and restaurants and allowing more freedom to socialize and to travel. Neither are warnings that this could lead to a fourth wave of infection diluted to any significant extent by the progress in the vaccination campaign: although over 3 million doses of the Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZenecca vaccines have been administered in Spain they have reached only just under 1.9 million people, representing a mere 4 per cent of the population. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A Capitol Police officer stands with members of the National Guard behind a crowd control fence surrounding Capitol Hill a day after a group broke into the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Jan. 7, 2021. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images) Ex-Capitol Police Chief: Intel Indicated Antifa, Proud Boys, Other Groups Would Join on Jan. 6 Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund said that a pre-Jan. 6 intelligence assessment suggested that Antifa, Proud Boys, and extremist groups would partake in the Jan. 6 event in Washington. The assessment indicated that members of the Proud Boys, white supremacist groups, Antifa, and other extremist groups were expected to participate in the January 6th event and that they may be inclined to become violent, Sund said in a written statement (pdf) to the Senate. Sund, however, didnt state he had intelligence Antifa were or would be responsible for the Capitol riots. It added that an intelligence assessment indicated that the January 6th protests/rallies were expected to be similar to the previous Million MAGA March rallies in November and December 2020, which drew tens of thousands of participants. Sund noted that that the Intelligence and Inter-Agency Coordination Division Daily Intelligence Report that he cited also assessed the chance of civil disobedience during the Jan. 6 event as remote to improbable. Accused Capitol rioter John Sullivan, a self-styled Antifa activist, was arrested and charged in connection with the breach. Sullivan previously told The Epoch Times that hes apolitical but has told other news outlets that he is Antifa or anti-fascist. Antifa is a far-left, anarcho-communist network that has engaged in violence across the country in recent years. Sullivan has also been linked to the Black Lives Matter movement, though hes been disavowed by the leader of Black Lives Matter Utah. Sund and other officials attempted to blame various federal agenciesand each otherfor their failure to defend the building as demonstrators overwhelmed security barriers, broke windows and doors, and sent lawmakers fleeing from the House and Senate chambers. But Sund told senators on Tuesday that the incident wasnt his agencys fault. No single civilian law enforcement agencyand certainly not the USCPis trained and equipped to repel, without significant military or other law enforcement assistance, an insurrection of thousands of armed, violent, and coordinated individuals focused on breaching a building at all costs, he testified. And he argued that the incident was coordinated, adding that some rioters had climbing gear. Im able to provide you a quick overview of why I think it was a coordinated attack. One, people came specifically with equipment. Youre bringing in climbing gear to a demonstration. Youre bringing in explosives. Youre bringing in chemical spray youre coming prepared, Sund told the senators. The fact that the group that attacked our west front [did so] approximately 20 minutes before [former President Trumps rally] ended, which means that they were planning on our agency not being at what they call full strength,' Sund added. He noted that alleged pipe bombs found near the Republican and Democratic party headquarters in the District of Columbia were likely used to distract officers from being deployed at the Capitol building. Acting D.C. Metropolitan Police Department chief Robert Contee III told the Senate panel that rioters were using radio communication and hand signals. A second hearing, expected next week, will examine the response of the Defense Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI. The panels may also hold closed-door interviews. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the top Republican on the Senate Rules Committee, said they might want to ask for phone records to clear up some of the discrepancies between officials. The Associated Press and Zack Stieber contributed to this report. [February 23, 2021] CentralReach Set to Disrupt Behavioral Health Software Market with Acquisition of avail, Creating the Most Robust Platform to Serve the Needs of Neurodiverse Individuals from Early Childhood to Adult Employment & Transition Services Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Feb. 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CentralReach, the leading provider of electronic medical record (EMR), practice management, and clinical solutions that enable Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and related behavioral health practices to deliver quality autism care for superior outcomes, today announced the acquisition of Irish-based Avail Support Limited, an award-winning provider of evidence-based digital content management and data collection solutions serving the education, employment support services, and adult transition services markets. The acquisition will bolster CentralReachs already market-leading, end-to-end solution, making it the most robust platform to serve the needs of neurodiverse individuals of any age, in any setting. What is avail? Avail Supports online and interactive platform, avail, provides tailored training and ongoing support for neurodiverse individuals with Autism, developmental disabilities, learning difficulties, brain injuries, mental health diagnoses, and cognitive disabilities to learn the skills needed to live more independent lives. Using Applied Behavior Analysis methodologies and evidence-based interventions, the platform provides a personalized learning plan based on the needs of the individual, learning through repetition, built-in assessments and individual reports, remote prompting, and additional skills when prior skills are mastered. The solution can be used both independently and as a supplement to professionally-delivered clinical care and can be deployed in multiple settings: in schools to accelerate learning outcomes, for employers looking to better support and expand neurodiversity programs, and for behavioral health providers to expand capacity to serve more clients. "I'm thrilled to welcome Avail Support and its founder, Lisa Marie, to the team," said CentralReach CEO Chris Sullens. "In an era where the delivery of individual care is more capacity constrained than ever before as waitlists for behavioral health services grow, students wait for individual teacher attention, and employer training and support doesnt account for neurodiversity, avail enables neurodiverse individuals to increase their independence by taking more direct control of their learning and skill acquisition. The combination of CentralReach and avail stands to disrupt the behavioral health software market and how the future of care is delivered." Schools using the avail platform have reported that the platform reduces the need for 1-on-1 special education assistance, improving learning outcomes and successes. The avail platform acts as a personal teaching assistant for students with varied learning needs, providing them with discreet, personalized content at the touch of a button. Teachers can easily create Individual Education Plans (IEP) goals utilizing avail multimedia prompts. Schools using avail have reported that using the platform reduces the need for one-to-one assistance while enhancing learning both in the classroom and in the community. "In an era in which high-quality web-based personalized learning solutions are urgently needed and hard to come by, avail stands out for its acessibility and rich content in promoting student independence," commented Dr. Anthony Giordano, Superintendent Mansfield Township School District, New Jersey. Employers, like TJ Maxx, are increasing Neurodiversity Programs thanks to avail. With unemployment rates for people with a disability upwards of 85%, CentralReach and Avail Support are on a mission to get more neurodiverse talent back in the market by enabling employers to expand neurodiversity programs at a faster rate. Through the platform, employers can easily develop onboarding programs that better define employment duties and skills, provide digital training content tailored for the individual employee to review tasks and instructions on an ongoing basis, and track progress directly within the app to ensure the employee has the resources they need to succeed. Employees can access the app directly on a tablet, computer, phone giving them the confidence, ownership of learning, and support to work independently in real-time and in a discreet, self-directed way. Behavioral health providers can help more clients on their waitlists. With behavioral health services often in high demand, individuals are often placed on waitlists until clinicians are available. With waitlists as long as 6 months in some cases, the avail platform enables behavioral health providers to increase the capacity of the clients they serve with a solution perfect for those on waitlists, waiting for access to care. "This was the obvious next step for avail," commented Avail Supports Founder and CEO, Lisa Marie Clinton. "The avail platform was born out of a need to revolutionize how we support neurodiverse individuals, to equip them with the tools to self-manage their day and have ownership. With CentralReach as the leader in the space with nearly 100,000 users serving over 200,000 neurodiverse clients, we know that, as one company, we could help neurodiverse individuals realize their full potential and live more independent lives, faster. Im thrilled to join Chris and the larger CentralReach family. Our work has just begun!" With early investment and support from Enterprise Ireland, a Government agency responsible for the development and growth of Irish enterprises in world markets, Avail Support created an award-winning product, validated the market need and gained early market momentum. Niall McEvoy, HPSU ICT Accelerate Department Manager at Enterprise Ireland said, "This is very positive news for Avail Support founder Lisa Marie Clinton and her team. Since its early days Avail Support has been assisted by first, the Local Enterprise Office in Monaghan and then through Enterprise Ireland. As a High Potential Start-up company, Enterprise Ireland was proud to back Avail Supports innovation and vision, knowing its capacity to make a huge difference in the lives of thousands of neurodiverse people with Autism, learning difficulties, and brain injuries. This acquisition will see the use of Avail Supports platform expand, particularly in the US. We welcome the fact that the Avail Support team will continue to be based in Ireland following the acquisition." CentralReach will continue to offer avail as a standalone solution to the education, employer, and adult transition services markets and as an integrated solution with its market-leading EMR for ABA and behavioral health provider organizations to supplement in-person services with digital at-home curricula and support. CentralReach will expand the current Avail Support team to support its growth across America. If interested in learning more about the avail platform or scheduling a demo, contact the team at https://availsupport.com/contact. About CentralReach CentralReach is a leading provider of EMR, practice management and clinical solutions that enable applied behavior analysis (ABA) and related behavioral health practices to deliver quality autism care for superior outcomes. The company is revolutionizing the ABA space with cutting-edge solutions including precision teaching, clinical data collection, scheduling, billing, learning management, fully digital evidence-based programming, and more. Trusted by more than 100,000 practitioners, CentralReach is committed to ongoing product improvement, market-leading industry expertise, world-class client satisfaction, and support of the ABA community to propel industry practitioners into a new era of excellence. For more information, please visit centralreach.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and, Twitter @CentralReach. About Avail Support Avail Support is a multi-award-winning global healthtech company. Since launching in 2017 it has established a global customer base, delivering evidence-based programmes to individuals with cognitive related disabilities. Today, avail's expanding library of evidence-based programmes and content creation address a broad spectrum of disabilities such as Autism, Down Syndrome, Learning Difficulties, Brian Injury and has the potential to support those with Dementia. Over 15 years of academic research and clinically led randomised controlled trials (RCT) demonstrate avails programmes are extremely effective and provide positive outcomes on a par with face-to-face support. For more information, contact https://availsupport.com/contact. CentralReach PR CentralReach 800-939-5414 pr@centralreach.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The volume has gone up and the battle is going to the courts and the political hustings with a battle pledged to be fought in Belfast, London and Brussels. The Democratic Unionist Party deployed its best rhetoric against that Border in the Irish Sea yesterday with a special committee hearing in the London parliament. It was a good day out for the DUP who have long looked disorientated by the whole Brexit project. But against Londons reluctance to declare war on the EU, and Brussels implacable stance on the hard-won Brexit deal, it is hard to see longer-term DUP gains on this one. [February 23, 2021] Kumu Networks Awarded Department of Defense Contract to Prototype 5G Full-Duplex IAB Kumu Networks today announced it has been selected to lead a Department of Defense's Dynamic Spectrum (News - Alert) Sharing 5G Network Enhancements Prototype program. Under the framework of this program, Kumu Networks will prototype a 5G Full-Duplex Integrated Access Backhaul (IAB) and test it at scale in Hill Air Force Base in Utah. The cutting edge 5G testing and experimentation program allows Kumu Networks to accelerate its development of the much-needed capacity and coverage extension solution, while targeting dual-use in both the commercial and defense environments. The DoD Dynamic Spectrum Sharing prototypes are intended to ensure the greatest effective and efficient use of the Department of Defense's spectrum for training, readiness, and lethality. Kumu Networks' Self-Interference Cancellation uniquely and optimally enable IAB solutions to reuse the access spectrum for the backhaul, doubling spectral efficiency. With the introduction of features based on 3GPP Rel. 17 that facilitates multi-hop IABs, full-duplex solutions would be far superior to other forms of IABs since they could maintain high user throughput across many more hops. This is critical to both commercial telecom operators who must densify 5G footprint as well as tactical military networks that completely rely on wireless connectivity. "The key challenge for 5G covrage is to counter the negative effects of high frequency signal propagation. This requires creative solutions, both at the radio and network layers. Unlike other IAB schemes, Kumu Networks' solution does not compromise on performance or scalability, allowing for perfect frequency reuse." said Kumu Networks CEO David Cutrer. "The DOD faces a unique set of deployment and operational challenges and we are excited to contribute to their efforts to innovate and ensure that the US military communications capabilities are at the forefront of technology." The DoD frequencies are adjacent to the CBRS band where 5G private networks are likely to flourish, and to the widely used standard 3GPP n77 and n78 bands. This allows for efficient use of funds for developing products that can be immediately rolled out to the commercial market, in addition to the defense market. The DoD frequencies are also in close proximity to the recently auctioned C-Band frequencies in the USA that yielded over $80B for only 280MHz, highlighting the importance of highly efficient spectrum utilization. For additional information and pricing, please contact Kumu Networks at www.kumunetworks.com or email info@kumunetworks.com. About Kumu Networks Kumu Networks is a leading provider of radio self-interference cancellation and filtering technology for IoT, wireless infrastructure, and electronic defense. Kumu Networks' patented self-interference cancelling technology not only allows radios to use a single frequency channel to simultaneously transmit and receive, but can also provide flexible and dynamic filtering capabilities to avoid interference between co-located radios. Kumu Networks' filtering and cancellation solutions, in the forms of RFICs and modules, are in use and testing with leading electronics, defense and aerospace manufacturers. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005023/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte offers flowers and lights candles at the site of a bomb blast in Jolo, Aug. 30, 2020. Government forces have arrested nine Filipinas in the south whom authorities allege were being trained as suicide bombers for the Philippine branch of Islamic State, and who are widows or daughters of militants including the local IS leader. The suspects were arrested in raids last week on known militant hideouts in Sulu, an island province in the far southern Philippines, police announced on Tuesday. Sulu is the home of Abu Sayyaf, a militant group aligned with IS blamed for some of the countrys worst terrorist attacks, including kidnappings and bombings, over the past two decades. Those arrested potential suicide bombers appeared to be locals who were either daughters or widows of slain ISIS-inspired Abu Sayyaf leader Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, sub-leaders or members, Maj. Gen. William Gonzales, commander of the militarys Joint Task Force-Sulu (JTFS), told reporters here, using another acronym for the Islamic State extremist group. The raids were carried out on Friday by JTFS members and local police who seized homemade bombs and bomb-making components, Gonzales said. Sawadjaan, the acknowledged Philippine IS leader, has been identified as a senior Abu Sayyaf commander. There are reports that he was killed in a clash in Jolo last year, but his body has not been recovered and the military has not confirmed the reports. Gonzales said police waited until Tuesday to make the announcement because the would-be suicide bombers confessed days after their arrest, while being interrogated by military and police intelligence units. This is how desperate the remaining terrorists are, willing to sacrifice their families just to get back at government forces, Gonzales said. Abu Sayyaf connections Three of the suspects who were arrested in the raids were identified by police as daughters of Sawadjaan: Isara Jalmaani Abduhajan, 36, Jedah Abduhajan Amin, 28, and Elena Tasum Sawadjaan-Abun, 40. Elena, the widow of Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Walid Abun, was arrested with Firdauzia Said, whose late husband was an Abu Sayyaf militant, authorities said. The others arrested included a wife of Mundi Sawadjaan, a senior IS commander and Abu Sayyaf bomb expert who plotted attacks last year in Jolo. Mundi Sawadjaan is a nephew of the elder Sawadjaan. Philippine authorities have blamed Mundi for planning two suicide bombings that killed 15 people last year in Jolo, the capital of Sulu. The bombings were carried out by widows of Abu Sayyaf militants, officials said at the time. Our combined forces recovered improvised explosive device-components such as switches, batteries, pipes, concrete nails, blasting cap, suspected ammonium nitrate fuel oil and detonating cord, said Col. Giovanni Franza, with the Jolo police, who led Fridays raids. According to a report by the Philippine news site Rappler, the nine suspects will face charges for illegal possession of firearms. Meanwhile, the military continues to detain Rezky Fantasya Rullie (alias Cici and Nini Isarani), a young Indonesian who was arrested in October 2020. Authorities believe she was being groomed to be a suicide bomber. She is the widow of Andi Baso who was killed in a clash with troops in Jolo, they said. Rullies Indonesian parents blew themselves up in a twin-bombing at a Jolo church two years ago, according to Philippine authorities. That attack killed 21 people along with the bombers. Unlike his predecessor Donald Trump, who often sought to minimize the disease, Biden has made the pandemic his top priority US President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, US Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, hold a moment of silence and candelight ceremony in honor of those who lost their lives to Coronavirus on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, February 22, 2021. President Joe Biden called the milestone of more than 500,000 US deaths from Covid-19 "heartbreaking" and urged the country to unite against the pandemic. (SAUL LOEB / AFP) Washington: President Joe Biden ordered flags lowered to half mast Monday after the United States crossed the "heartbreaking" milestone of 500,000 Covid-19 deaths, while Britain eyed lifting lockdowns in the latest sign of global gains against the pandemic. "I know what it's like," an emotional Biden said in a national television address, referring to his own long history of family tragedies. "I ask all Americans to remember, remember those we lost and those they left behind," Biden said. "I also ask us to act, to remain vigilant, to say socially distant, to mask up, to get vaccinated." Biden, accompanied by his wife Jill and Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff, then stood outside the White House to mark a moment's silence in front of 500 candles representing the toll -- the highest reported of any country. Earlier, flags were lowered over the White House and at federal buildings nationwide as well as at embassies around the world. "As a nation we cannot and must not let this go on," Biden said, urging unity. "We have to fight this together as one people, as the United States of America. Signs of progress Unlike his predecessor Donald Trump, who often sought to minimize the disease, Biden has made the pandemic his top priority, simultaneously pushing an aggressive vaccine rollout and making frequent, public shows of empathy. It is a strategy that could make or break the Biden presidency, already juggling high-stakes economic challenges and the tense political aftermath of the Trump era. Biden has warned that the US toll could still go "well over" 600,000. But signs are also emerging that progress is being made both in the United States and around the world, with infections dropping sharply and vaccine deliveries rising steadily. In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlined a "gradual and cautious" approach to lifting curbs in England that could see life there return almost to normal by the end of June. The first step will be the return of children to schools from March 8. There was also good news from a University of Edinburgh study finding that Pfizer and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccinations have led to a "substantial reduction" in Covid-19 admissions to hospitals in Scotland. Despite the dramatic losses in the United States, the trend there is also sharply downward. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control, said US deaths are at their lowest since December, with a 39 percent drop in the latest seven-day average of new daily cases. Globally, the toll is nearing 2.5 million. India struggles Meanwhile India, the world's second worst-hit nation in terms of infections, passed a bleak threshold on Monday by registering its 11 millionth case following a renewed rise in transmission. Fresh restrictions on gatherings came into force in the western state of Maharashtra, home to financial capital Mumbai, which has logged almost 52,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic. The vast nation's inoculation drive is creeping slowly, and India's Serum Institute -- the world's biggest vaccine maker -- has urged other countries to be "patient," saying it has been told to prioritize the home market. In the capital New Delhi, vegetable vendor Radhekrishna Negi spoke for many around the world, telling AFP: "I am fed up of corona." Australia delivers first shots According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 61 million people have received at least one shot of vaccine in the United States, with some 18 million getting the full two doses. In Australia, top officials Sunday were among a small group receiving the first doses, a day before the program starts in earnest. Prime Minister Scott Morrison got the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at a medical center in Sydney, in what the government said was a bid to boost public confidence after some anti-vaccine protests. And in Gaza on Sunday, some 20,000 Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine doses arrived from the United Arab Emirates. The shots came via the Rafah crossing with Egypt, meaning they did not pass through Israel, which has maintained a tight blockade on Gaza since 2007. Britain's government has vowed to offer a first dose to every adult by the end of July. More than 17 million people have now received at least a first vaccine dose -- one third of the adult UK population. Meanwhile hundreds of thousands of German pupils returned to schools and kindergartens for the first time in two months on Monday. In Hong Kong, leader Carrie Lam received a shot of the Chinese Sinovac drug after the financial hub last week fast-tracked its approval. And Air New Zealand said it will trial a digital travel pass to give airlines and border authorities access to passenger health information, including their Covid-19 vaccination status. But the World Health Organization criticized wealthy countries for hogging Covid vaccines, preventing availability for poorer nations. Countries like the United States have contributed money for procurement to supply poor countries, but the WHO said funds are useless if no vaccines are available. "Even if you have the money, if you cannot use the money to buy vaccines, having the money doesn't mean anything," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus 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. 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). An anti-inflammatory drug can help reduce the risk of death in people hospitalized with Covid-19, a new clinical trial indicates, reviving hopesand debateabout a medicine that many physicians had abandoned after earlier clinical-trial failures. A UK study of more than 4,000 hospitalized patients showed that people who received the rheumatoid arthritis drug tocilizumab plus steroids had a 20% lower risk of death after 28 days compared with patients who received steroids and standard care only, according to preliminary results posted online this month. The results havent been published yet in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, but US scientists are paying attention to them because of the reputation of the University of Oxford researchers who conducted the study. In June, the same Oxford researchers were the first to prove that the cheap and widely available steroid dexamethasone significantly reduced Covid-19 deaths, a finding that led to the drug becoming a standard treatment for most hospitalized patients. Researchers say Oxfords study may have succeeded where others failed because it included a much larger number of patients, whose average age was about 63, and included only patients with high inflammation measured in lab tests and low blood-oxygen. The data could lead to the drugs becoming more widely used, especially if they are included as suggested or recommended treatments in guidelines crafted by influential organizations such as the US National Institutes of Health. On Monday, the Infectious Diseases Society of America updated its guidelines to suggest the use of tocilizumab in addition to steroids in severe or critically ill patients There have been a lot of studies before this one that suggested a possible benefit and others that seemed not quite as compelling," said Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health. I think what we were waiting for was a really large scale, well-designed studyand I think we may now have that." Some doctors say the results show tocilizumab provides only a modest improvement over steroids alone, and that the potential side effects, such as fungal infections, are uncertain. Among patients who received steroids alone, the death rate was 33%, compared with 27% of those who also received tocilizumab. Still, the drug could provide another option for patients who may not get better on standard therapies, doctors say. Tocilizumab is sold under the brand name Actemra by Genentech, a unit of Roche Holding AG, for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, as well as a severe inflammatory condition, sometimes called cytokine storm," that can result as a side effect of certain cancer treatments. Doctors say some of the sickest Covid-19 patients suffer from an immune reaction similar to cytokine storm that can damage the lungs and lead to respiratory failure. In the spring, doctors in the US and Europe began using tocilizumab in certain hospitalized Covid-19 patients after a report by Chinese doctors indicating that the drug had helped drive dramatic turnarounds in patients infected by the virus. In early May, nearly 16% of hospitalized patients were being treated with tocilizumab, according to an analysis of hospital admissions by electronic health records provider Epic Systems Corp. and its health research network, done at the request of The Wall Street Journal. But when formal clinical trials were done, the results were disappointing and failed to show a definitive reduction in deaths. Use of the drug plummeted, with just 1% of Covid-19 hospital admissions receiving tocilizumab in the final week of 2020, according to the Epic data. After the first five or six trials [failed to reduce deaths], hardly anyone used any toci," said Adarsh Bhimraj, an infectious disease specialist at Cleveland Clinic. And nobody ever thought it was going to make a comeback." That changed after results from the new UK study, known as the Recovery trial, were posted early this month in a preprint" article, an early version of a scientific paper before it has gone through peer review to be published in a journal. Researchers have made increasing use of preprint databases to disseminate information quickly to clinicians. Dr. Bhimraj said the effectiveness of tocilizumab doesnt appear overwhelming, but that it adds another tool for treating the sickest patients, particularly those who dont appear to be getting better with dexamethasone alone. We dont have anything for those patients and this is at least one thing that is available which might have a modest benefit," Dr. Bhimraj said. One factor that may limit use of tocilizumab is its cost, particularly for low-income countries. Dexamethasone is a cheap generic drug that most doctors are familiar with. The list price of tocilizumab is $2,300 per dose, according to Genentech. Tocilizumab is currently at a price that is unaffordable for most people throughout the world and that needs to change," said Peter Horby, joint chief investigator for the Recovery trial and professor of emerging infectious diseases at Oxfords Nuffield Department of Medicine. 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. ALBANY, N.Y., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobility aid devices are developed to benefit the disabled and elderly community who has trouble getting about. In home care environments, these devices are also useful for transferring patients who have trouble moving around. Due to the various technological developments, these devices are increasing in popularity across the globe. A powered wheelchair, for instance, offers a number of features, such as wafer boards, sip and puff drive control, touchpad control, finger control, and traditional joystick that make it easier to use the device. Such innovations are expected to foster development of the global mobility aid devices market in the years to come. The global mobility aid devices market is likely to be driven by a rise in the geriatric population across the globe. Rise in the geriatric population coupled with increase in age-related mobility issues are expected to fuel growth of the market over analysis timeline, from 2018 to 2026. It is also likely that the need for mobility devices at the time of physical illness and injury is likely to augur well for the global mobility aid devices market in the near future. Request for Analysis of COVID-19 Impact on Mobility Aid Devices Market https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/covid19.php The global mobility aid devices market is anticipated to clock a growth rate of ~5.5% CAGR over the forecast tenure, from 2018 to 2026. In the next few years, the number of people aged 65 or more is projected to grow rapidly. Assistive technologies mitigate problems in carrying out day-to-day operations. Increased life expectancy has contributed to an augmented demand for technology for assistive mobility. Rising demand for these devices from the geriatric population is anticipated to benefit the market in the near future. Request Brochure of Mobility Aid Devices Market Report - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/brochure.php Key Findings of Mobility Aid Devices Market Study Innovations in the Mobility Aid Devices to Boost Demand in the Market Augmented investment in research and development by major players in the industry results in technologically superior devices to support the disabled and elderly population. In addition to that, it is predicted that favorable reimbursements policies, improved buying power, and economic growth are expected to drive widespread adoption of these high-value products worldwide. These factors are likely to boost growth of the global mobility aid devices market in the forthcoming years. These devices have demonstrated ability to improve the quality of life, which is why innovative technologies in mobility aid devices are getting popular among the disabled population. Development of self-driving wheelchair is expected to assist individuals with limited mobility and is projected to be an opportunity for businesses to generate revenue. Purchase the Mobility Aid Devices Market Report - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/checkout.php North America to Present High Growth Opportunities for the Market Players Given the high spending potential, availability of advanced mobility aid devices, and awareness of various powered wheelchairs, the North America region is anticipated to dominate the overall mobility aid devices market. The region presents lucrative prospects for such technologically advanced device manufacturers. In addition, the willingness of patients to spend on cutting-edge medical devices is likely to improve the North American market, which is likely to benefit the regional market in the future. Request for Custom Research - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/custom-research.php Mobility Aid Devices Market: Key Driving Factors In the forthcoming years, economic growth as well as increasing usage of technologically advanced products such as highly advanced powered wheelchairs for day-to-day activities is anticipated to support growth of the global mobility aid devices market. In various assisted living facilities, such as old-age homes, senior citizens and patients affected with some or the other kind of illnesses, such as rheumatoid arthritis, injury of spine, and rheumatoid arthritis can benefit from these devices. Mobility Aid Devices Market: Key Market Participants Some of the major manufacturers found in the global mobility aid devices market are MEYRA Group, GF Health Products, Inc., Pride Mobility Products Corporation, Medical Depot, Inc., Investor AB (Patricia Industries-Permobil), and Sunrise Medical (US) LLC. Explore Transparency Market Research's award-winning coverage of the global Healthcare Industry: Wheelchairs Market: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/wheelchairs-market.html Assisted Living Technologies Market: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/assisted-living-technologies-market.html About Us Transparency Market Research is a next-generation market intelligence provider, offering fact-based solutions to business leaders, consultants, and strategy professionals. Our reports are single-point solutions for businesses to grow, evolve, and mature. Our real-time data collection methods along with ability to track more than one million high growth niche products are aligned with your aims. The detailed and proprietary statistical models used by our analysts offer insights for making right decision in the shortest span of time. For organizations that require specific but comprehensive information we offer customized solutions through adhoc reports. These requests are delivered with the perfect combination of right sense of fact-oriented problem solving methodologies and leveraging existing data repositories. TMR believes that unison of solutions for clients-specific problems with right methodology of research is the key to help enterprises reach right decision." Browse More Upcoming Reports by Transparency Market Research: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/upcoming.htm Contact Mr. Rohit Bhisey Transparency Market Research State Tower, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany NY - 12207 United States USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Email: [email protected] Press Release Source: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/mobility-aid-devices-market.htm Website: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ SOURCE Transparency Market Research KABUL, Afghanistan Afghanistan, whose citizens have largely brushed aside the coronavirus pandemic as exaggerated or an outright hoax, is now preparing to distribute its first batch of vaccines. A half-million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, produced by an Indian manufacturer, were delivered to the capital, Kabul, by India on Feb. 7. But the arrival was greeted with indifference by many Afghans, who have rebuffed government warnings that the virus is a deadly public health threat. The cheap and easy-to-store AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is being delivered as part of the Covax program, a worldwide initiative to buy and distribute vaccines to poor countries for free or at a reduced cost. On Feb. 15, the World Health Organization authorized use of the vaccine, which requires two doses per person, clearing the path for Afghanistan to begin its inoculation campaign. Global trials have found that the vaccine offered complete protection against severe disease and death. But its efficacy against the virus variant first seen in South Africa is in question, after the vaccine failed in a small trial to prevent study participants from getting mild or moderate Covid cases. There was a further holiday warning for Mallorca this afternoon with an announcement that British holiday giant Jet2 had added 74 new flights to Greece for 2021 including to Zante, Rhodes, Crete and Kefalonia. Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays said: There continues to be enormous pent-up demand from British holidaymakers, who want nothing more than to get away to the sunshine and enjoy their well-deserved holidays. "As always, we listen to what customers want and react accordingly, so that we can provide them with the holiday choices that they want. Extending the summer season to Greece means we are doing exactly that; giving customers more opportunity to get away and enjoy a much-needed holiday. "As a result of the assurance that customers get from our award-winning flights and ATOL protected package holidays, we will be continuing to respond to the demand so that when travel restarts, we can take customers from our rainy islands to their favourite holiday hotspots. TUI UK announced this week that Crete had overtaken Mallorca as their most popular destination. The Greek government are in talks with the British government regarding holidays for this summer. Even with more than 1.5 million Americans receiving a COVID vaccine each day, officials estimate it will take many more months before enough people are protected from the deadly virus. Until then, and potentially beyond, experts agree that opening up schools, restaurants and other public places as safely as possible will rely on widespread testing for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. As of June 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had granted emergency use authorization for more than 85 different viral DNA test kits -- or assays -- each with widely varying degrees of sensitivity and unknown rates of accuracy. However, with no existing gold standard test for the novel coronavirus, there's little data on which to judge these various tests' usefulness to municipalities' efforts to safely re-open for business. A team of researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has developed a mathematical means of assessing tests' false-negative rate. The team's methodology, which allows an apples-to-apples comparison of the various assays' clinical sensitivity, is published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. For getting back to business as usual, we all agree we've got to massively ramp up testing to figure out who's negative and who's infectious -- but that's only going to work optimally if you can catch all the positive cases. We found that clinical sensitivities vary widely, which has clear implications for patient care, epidemiology and the social and economic management of the ongoing pandemic." James E. Kirby, MD, Co-Corresponding Author, Director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratories at BIDMC "These results are especially important as we transition from testing mostly symptomatic individuals to more regular screening across the community," said co-corresponding author Ramy Arnaout, MD, DPhil, Associate Director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratories at BIDMC. "How many people will be missed--the false negative rate--depends on which test is used. With our model, we are better informed to ask how likely these people are to be infectious." COVID test results are usually reported as simply positive or negative. However, positive individuals can harbor radically different amounts of virus, or viral load, depending on how long they've been infected or how severe their symptoms are. In fact, viral load can vary as much as a hundred million-fold among individuals, said Kirby. Using data from more than 27,000 tests for COVID-19 performed at Beth Israel Lahey Health hospital sites from March 26 to May 2, 2020, Kirby, Arnaout, and colleagues first demonstrated that viral loads can be dependably reported. "This helps distinguish potential superspreaders, at one extreme, from convalescent people, with almost no virus, and therefore low likelihood of spreading the infection," Arnaout said. Next, the researchers estimated the clinical sensitivity and the false-negative rate first for the in-house test -- which was among the first to be implemented nationwide and considered among the best in class. Analyzing repeat test results for the nearly 5,000 patients who tested positive allowed the researchers to determine that the in-house test provided a false negative in about 10 percent of cases, giving the assay a clinical sensitivity of about 90 percent. To estimate the accuracy of other assays, the team based their calculations on each tests' limit of detection, or LoD, defined as the smallest amount of viral DNA detectable that a test will catch 95 percent or more of the time. Arnaout, Kirby, and colleagues demonstrated that the limit of detection can be used as a proxy to estimate a given assay's clinical sensitivity. By the team's calculations, an assay with a limit of detection of 1,000 copies viral DNA per mL is expected to detect just 75 percent of patients with COVID-19, providing one out of every four people with a false-negative. The team also showed that one test available today misses as many as one in three infected individuals, while another may miss up to 60 percent of positive cases. While not every COVID positive patient missed by sensitive PCR and antigen detection tests will be infectious to others, some will, the researchers note. "These misses will undermine public health efforts and put patients and their contacts at risk," said Arnaout. "This must give us pause, and we really need to benchmark each new test even in our rush to increase testing capacity to understand how well they support our testing goals." 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 Dr. Leonard Miller Boston Top Doc 2021 Leonard Miller, MD, FACS, FRCS, founder of the Boston Center for Facial Rejuvenation, has been honored with the prestigious Top Doctor distinction by Boston Magazine for 2021. Dr. Miller earned this honor for his skill and dedication in the field of plastic surgery. Each year, Boston Magazine selects the best of the best in different medical specialties to be featured as Top Doctors. These physicians are selected by their peers and represent the pinnacle of medical excellence in the Boston area, a region known for its top-notch providers. - Dr. Miller is honored to be listed among his distinguished peers in Plastic Surgery and other specialties. For over 25 years, Dr. Miller has been serving patients in New England with a variety of cosmetic needs. He is board-certified and sought out by patients from all over the country for his skill, experience, and artistry. Over the years, he has been a pioneer in aesthetic medicine, bringing new techniques to the United States and creating his own unique treatment style. Dr. Miller was the first surgeon to introduce microneedling in the US, an extremely popular skin rejuvenation technique offering great results with little to no downtime. Dr. Miller continues to innovate, even as he runs popular aesthetic practices in both Boston and Brookline, participating in clinical trials and working to develop new products and technologies. Dr. Miller is the clinical founder of the ThermiAesthetics Skin Rejuvenation System, which works to reduce the need for invasive surgery to remove stubborn fat and tighten the skin. He is dedicated to research and education, helping fellow surgeons hone their techniques as a faculty member at Harvard Medical School. As the founder of the Boston Center for Facial Rejuvenation, Dr. Miller insists on the highest standard of care for patients. He performs complex procedures, offering patients incredible results with both surgical and non-surgical techniques. He has full privileges at several acclaimed Boston-area hospitals, including Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital. Every patient of his can look forward to a customized treatment plan and natural-looking results. At the Boston Center for Facial Rejuvenation, Dr. Miller and his colleagues provide unparalleled safety and results for patients. They offer a welcoming and comfortable environment, peace of mind, and a wide variety of effective procedures from which to choose. Some options include natural facelift procedures, eyelid surgery, laser resurfacing, microneedling, dermal fillers, and Botox. Dr. Miller works with two other renowned and specialty-trained physicians to offer even more procedures for the face and body ranging from breast surgery to skin treatments. The Human Rights Commission hasrecommended that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs pay Rs 1 lakh each to two victims in a case of "custodial torture" by personnel, officials said on Tuesday. Earlier, the NHRC did not accept the plea taken by the in reply to its show cause notice, that since the matter is sub judice, hence, departmental action "cannot be taken against the police personnel concerned". "The NHRC, in a case of custodial torture by police in Delhi, hasrecommended that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs pay Rs 1 lakh each to the two victims," the rights panel said in a statement. It has also called for the report of departmental action taken against the "six erring police officials", who are facing a trial before the court of an additional sessions judge at Rohini. "They include one inspector - SHO,ASI, HC, HV, and two constables," the statement said. Terming the Delhi Police's plea as "fallacious", the Commission observed that "it is unsatisfactory and does not inspire confidence". The Commission was convinced that from the material on record, prima facie it is established that the complainant and his nephew were given "third degree torture". They were assaulted by the police personnel, as named in the FIR, and are now facing trial before the court, the statement said. Hence, in these circumstances, the Commission recommended payment of Rs 1 lakh to the two victims of police torture, as per the Section 18 (a) (i) of Protection of Human Rights Act, it added. The Commission had earlier held that since the police officials "failed to act" as responsible public servants, therefore, departmental proceedings against them should also be initiated, and they should be punished accordingly, the statement said. The "State is vicariously liable" for the action of public servant, police officials and hence the victims are entitled for compensation it said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kolkata, Feb 23 : The officials of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday interrogated Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MP and Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee's wife Rujira at their south Kolkata residence for over one hour. After quizzing Rujira, the federal investigation agency investigators left. According to sources, the team of CBI investigators were constantly in touch with their higher officials at Kolkata's CBI office at Nizam Palace. They briefed the entire interrogation details to the office over phone from Rujira Banerjee's place, Shantiniketan, located at south Kolkata's Harish Mukherjee Road. However, the CBI officials did not divulge anything about the course of interrogation. It was learnt from the sources that the Central agency sleuths asked about Rujira's suspicious banking transactions through a bank in Bangkok. They also asked about Rujira's nationality and passport related information. Sources said that the CBI officials will meet at Nizam Palace in the afternoon to discuss about the answers given by Abhishek's wife and accordingly decided the next course of their investigation. The CBI team remained tight-lipped after emerging out of Rujira's residence which is named Shantiniketan. The interrogation continued for about one hour and fifteen minutes. Earlier in the day, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee made an unscheduled visit to Abhishek's residence at Harish Mukherjee Road in south Kolkata, while on her way to the state secretariat Nabanno. She spent about 10-minutes with family and was seen emerging from the building accompanied by Abhishek's daughter, her grand niece. Soon after Banerjee left the place, the federal investigation agency officials reached Abhishek's residence to question Rujira Banerjee who was served with a CBI notice on Sunday. The CBI had also summoned Rujira's sister Maneka Gambhir for interrogation. A CBI team, along with lady officials, had reached Maneka's high-rise residential complex at Panchashyar on Monday, at around 12 noon. The team, led by Umesh Kumar, had to wait at the main entrance for some time till they got the permission to go up. Maneka stays at Upohar Luxury Complex (Tower-3) near Kolkata's EM Bypass. The interrogation of Maneka also went on for about three hours yesterday, sources said. Bharti Airtel and Qualcomm Technologies Inc. announced their collaboration for accelerating 5G in India. Recently, Airtel became India's first telco to demonstrate 5G over a LIVE commercial network in the city of Hyderabad. Through Airtel's network vendors and device partners, Airtel will utilize the Qualcomm SG RAN Platforms to roll-out virtualized and Open RAN-based 5G networks. Airtel, as a board member of the O-RAN Alliance, is committed to driving the success of O-RAN and is working with Qualcomm Technologies to explore and implement the O-RAN approach for India. The flexible and scalable architecture of O-RAN will create new opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses to become viable players in the deployment of 5G networks. In addition, Airtel and Qualcomm Technologies will collaborate to enable a wide array of use cases, including 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) that is designed to deliver broadband connectivity at Gigabit speeds to homes and businesses. This collaboration also aims to allow a faster rollout of broadband services in a cost effective and expeditious manner across India for "last mile" connectivity challenges that are becoming increasingly important in today's remote, mobile-first society. Airtel 5G solutions including FWA services will be able to deliver multi-gigabit internet speeds wirelessly to customers and open up a wide range of innovations. For customers, the ultra-fast and low latency of SG will unlock a digital world of limitless possibilities - gigabit size file downloads in seconds and 4K video streaming on the go across smartphones and computing devices, lmmersive Technologies such as Virtual Reality and SMART Homes with connected things. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Move strengthens commitment to doing what's right for Canadians and supporting customers' changing needs TORONTO, Feb. 23, 2021 /CNW/ - Following the recent acquisition of Primus Telecommunications by Distributel Communications Limited, comes more good news from this award-winning independent service provider: Primus is permanently removing data overage charges on all of their capped internet plans. Earlier this year, Distributel brought together the strength of two prominent Canadian telecom companies through their acquisition of Primus to build an even stronger brand. The acquisition not only brings customers greater access to residential and business services, but it also continues the great traditions that Distributel has established - ones that offer fairness and greater value to Canadians from coast to coast. Primus temporarily removed data overage charges in March 2020, but today they join Distributel as the only large ISP to make this decision permanent, thereby eliminating all internet overage fees. "We are so proud to be able to do this for our customers," said Distributel CEO, Matt Stein. "Our customers' satisfaction is a top priority for us. As Canadians continue to live through the Covid-19 pandemic, more than ever before, the importance of having affordable access to unlimited internet is a necessity, and we'll be here to support their changing needs," said Stein. This decision will help Canadians who are working from home, learning from home or staying connected from home without ever worrying about the costs associated with their internet plan. This change is effective immediately across all capped plans, and no further customer action is required. "We play an important role in Canadians' lives and keeping them connected to what matters most. If we've learned anything, it's that by listening to our customers, we'll always remain responsive to their changing needs," said Stein. About Distributel Established in 1988, Distributel is a national, award-winning, independent communications provider offering a wide range of consumer, business and wholesale communications services. In 2020, the company proudly achieved certification as a Great Place to Work, earning recognition for its progressive, collaborative workplace. 100% Canadian-owned, with offices across the country and a national network, Distributel is focused on providing choice and value to Canadians. With the recent acquisition of Primus Telecommunications, the company is even better positioned to offer solutions to consumers and businesses of all sizes. Distributel offers high speed internet, TV, mobile and home phone products through its consumer brands. It delivers business solutions through the Primus and ThinkTel brands as a provider of advanced voice and data offerings for the SMB and Enterprise markets throughout Canada. The company also forges new partnerships and brings innovative services to the wholesale market. For more information, visit www.distributel.ca. SOURCE Distributel Communications Limited For further information: Rosa Montes, Manager, Communications, Distributel, T: 437-317-3856, E: [email protected] Related Links www.distributel.ca President Joe Biden's stimulus bill could be delayed due to outrage over $1,400 checks for undocumented immigrants' households. The Republican Study Committee wrote a three-page guide detailing the fight against the enormous $1.9 trillion package. Stimulus bill could be delayed Included in this list are reports that $1,400 stimulus checks are going to mixed-status families of undocumented immigrants. The memo pointed conservatives to what they believe are "all the left-wing items Democrats are hoping the public won't find about." Other arguments include allowing Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) checks to be received by Planned Parenthood, primarily intended for small businesses. Another is that almost $600 million will be provided for extra emergency paid parental leave for federal employees and U.S. Postal Service workers. Representative Jim Banks made the point that taxpayers need to know what is in the huge aid package. Banks told Fox News that the RSC leads conservatives inside and outside the Beltway to this so-called 'relief package.' "The more we learn about it, the worse it sounds," he added. On Monday, the House Budget Committee approved Biden's stimulus bill with a vote of 19-16. According to The Sun, the House of Representatives expected to pass the bill later this week. Read also: Before Assuming the $15 Minimum Wage Hike, Here's Everything to Understand With the Debate Biden: Another $1,400 stimulus checks will be coming On Friday, the stimulus package was rolled out and delivered to the House, which included a broader law that will bring more funding for vaccination and an estimated $400 per week in federal unemployment benefits. On Twitter, President Joe Biden said that the next round of stimulus checks should be counted on top of the smaller $600 sent out at the start of the year. "We committed to you, Democrat and Republican, a $2,000 stimulus check. Another $1,400 will be coming," the President added. Once the stimulus bill passes the House of Representatives, Senate Democrats are set on immediately moving the bill to vote without going to various Senate committees that would sign off first. Read also: Is President Biden Set to Repeat the Obama Administration's Failures? Biden to sign the stimulus bill before March 14 On Friday, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told members that the Senate is on track to send a $1.9 trillion stimulus package to the President's table before March 14, the Unemployment Insurance benefits' expiration date. Schumer claimed that leaders would meet the deadline. Biden will sign the bill just before March 14 if Democrats are willing to sign the bill quickly in both Congress houses, ensuring Americans will get the check before the end of March. On March 14, if relief checks pass through Congress and a stimulus plan is signed into law two days later, CNET noted that the first direct deposit checks are scheduled to begin during the week of March 22. Read also: High-Profile Economists Fear Biden's Stimulus Package Could Cause a Harmful Inflation Spike @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (CNN) Microsoft is joining forces with publishers in Europe to call for an Australia-style system that would force tech platforms such as Google and Facebook to pay news organizations for content. The company said Monday that it would team up with media industry groups like the European Publishers Council to lobby for such a policy, which lawmakers around the world are now considering. The move comes after Facebook stopped people from finding news on its platform in Australia last week rather than pay publishers for their content, a decision that produced a global backlash and generated negative headlines for the social media company. "We welcome Microsoft's recognition of the value that our content brings to the core businesses of search engines and social networks," Christian Van Thillo, the European Publishers Council's chairman, said in a statement. Australia's government is pushing legislation that would allow certain media outlets to bargain with tech companies so they could be paid for distribution of the news they produce. Both parties would enter arbitration if they can't reach an agreement. The European Union and the United States face growing pressure to adopt similar measures. Canada's government has said it plans to introduce legislation in the coming months. Facebook has forcefully opposed the Australian legislation. Last week, it took the extraordinary step of banning users in the country from finding or sharing news on its service in protest of the policy. Google, meanwhile, went from threatening to pull its search engine to cutting deals with some of the country's largest media organizations, including Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Microsoft, which owns the search engine Bing, is taking a different approach. It voiced its support for the legislation and has committed to keeping its services in Australia if it takes effect, seeing a chance to steal market share from rival Google. "It was an opportunity to combine good business with a good cause," President Brad Smith said in a blog post earlier this month. The company has said it would back similar measures in other countries, including in the European Union, where policymakers are debating new laws that would rein in the power of Big Tech companies. Margrethe Vestager, the EU commissioner leading the charge on tech regulation, is holding a consultation on the legislation with members of European Parliament this week. New copyright laws in Europe require search engines and social media platforms to share revenue with publishers if their content is displayed. But European publishers and Microsoft want leaders to enact "additional regulatory measures" to ensure publishers have clout in negotiations. Some French publishers have signed up with Google, but without an arbitration mechanism, they fear the press "might not have the economic strength to negotiate fair and balanced agreements with these gatekeeper tech companies, who might otherwise threaten to walk away from negotiations or exit markets entirely," according to Monday's press release. "Access to fresh, broad and deep press coverage is critical to the success of our democracies," Microsoft vice president Casper Klynge said in a statement. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Microsoft wades into Facebook news fight by siding with European publishers." Criminal and family violence cases waiting to be finalised by the Magistrates Court have doubled in number while matters to go before the state administrative tribunal are up more than 100 per cent after coronavirus wreaked havoc on Victorias courts. About 200,000 cases are pending in the states courts, partly due to the impact of the pandemic on the legal system. Lawyers are calling for urgent funding from the Andrews government to deal with the delays. The number of pending cases before the high-volume Magistrates Court has doubled for criminal matters and increased by 45 per cent for family violence cases to 145,464, figures from the Department of Justice and Community Safety show. And more than 20,000 cases are pending before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal a 139 per cent increase on its normal volume of upcoming hearings. Babin explained why a "drunk soldier or officer" could be more dangerous than Putin. In the occupied Crimea, there are two potential locations for storing nuclear weapons, and this could pose a major threat due to possible leaks. That's according to a former envoy of the Ukrainian President for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Borys Babin, who spoke with the Obozrevatel outlet. "Now no one can claim for sure that they are there at all. But if they were there, it would most likely be the Feodosia-13 facility in Krasnokamenka or military units based in Sevastopol," he said. Babin added that there are also spare storage facilities in case the relevant charges are supplied for the aviation based in Saki. "But this is already something from the Soviet repertoire, where almost every military unit would store some nuclear arms," the ex-official added. He also pointed to the main problem related to Russian weaponry negligence on the part of the military which carries great threats. Read alsoCrimea invaders militarize children Ukrainian military (Photo)"Some drunk soldier or officer is actually much more dangerous than the supreme commander of the Russian army," Babin said. "We shouldn't forget that besides the warheads, missile, aviation charges, and charges for the Kalibr missiles, there is also a problem with rocket fuel. Its leak is no less dangerous than radiation," the diplomat stressed. In this context, Babin recalled that the Black Sea is actually enclosed, so "a serious leak of rocket fuel or something of this kind threatens the entire water area." Occupied Crimea: Other reports Reporting by UNIAN Breanna DeGroot, M.S., and Matt Ajemian, Ph.D., FAU Harbor Branch, pictured with a whitespotted eagle ray. Credit: Mike McCallister, FAU Harbor Branch Its muscular body shape and large pectoral fins are perfect for long-distance travel, yet movement patterns of the whitespotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari) remain a mystery. Researchers from Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in collaboration with Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium, the University of Florida and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, are the first to conduct a multiyear study examining large-scale movements of whitespotted eagle rays in United States waters. Between 2016 and 2018, scientists fitted 54 rays with acoustic transmitters and tracked them using collaborative acoustic telemetry networks. The rays were tagged along both the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coasts of Florida, which differ in environmental characteristics. Scientists compared rays' movement patterns between the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and gathered data on migratory routes, seasonality and habitat use. Their findings suggest that potential sub-population structuring may be occurring within Florida more than previously thought and have significant conservation and adaptive management implications for this protected species. Results of the study, published in the journal Marine Biology, reveal striking differences in travel patterns on the Atlantic coast compared to the Gulf coast. The majority of Gulf coast whitespotted eagle rays preferred to "spread their wings," exhibiting migratory and transient behaviors, while most Atlantic coast tagged rays were "homebodies" and remained a resident within the Indian River Lagoon. Atlantic coast rays spent greater than five times the amount of time inshore, regardless of maturity or sex, than Gulf coast rays. "Although tagged at similar latitudes, whitespotted eagle rays exhibited coastline-specific movements. The rays on the Gulf coast conduct repetitive annual migration patterns, heading south from Sarasota starting in fall and returning to the area in early spring," said Breanna DeGroot, M.S., first author and research coordinator, FAU Harbor Branch. DeGroot worked on the study with co-author Matt Ajemian, Ph.D., principal investigator, an assistant research professor at FAU Harbor Branch and head of the Fisheries Ecology and Conservation (FEC) Lab, who supervised the study. A whitespotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari). Credit: Kim Bassos-Hull "This behavior is likely driven by a combination of environmental factors, but most notably temperature. In addition, the expansive, shallow shelf on the Gulf coast may provide additional habitat, enabling rays to move over larger distances along nearshore migratory corridors and lessen their reliance on inshore estuaries," said Ajemian. On both coastlines, water temperatures during times when rays were present were significantly warmer (at least 27.8 degrees Celsius) compared to temperatures when rays were absent (below 24.9 degrees Celsius), suggesting it may be a major abiotic factor influencing migration patterns. Ontogenetic shifts in habitat use were evident along the Atlantic coast in the Indian River Lagoon, but not along the Gulf coast. Immature rays spent significantly more time (about 91.5 percent) inside the Indian River Lagoon compared to mature counterparts (about 60.2 percent). "Most of the rays we tagged on Florida's Atlantic coast resided in the same area where they were originally tagged, which increases their susceptibility to local stressors like persistent environmental impacts in the Indian River Lagoon," said DeGroot. "Moreover, immature rays spent a significantly larger proportion of time inside the confines of the lagoon. This is especially disconcerting because we found no evidence of neonate or young-of-the-year rays leaving the lagoon throughout the entire three-year study." The consistent presence of rays in the Indian River Lagoon throughout the study suggests that it serves as parturition grounds and nursery habitat for rays. As males and females were equally resident to the Sebastian portion of the Indian River Lagoon, this area is likely an important feeding ground, nursery habitat, mating location, pupping ground, or serves a combination of these roles. "This information about year-round or seasonal residency and longer distance migrations would not be possible without the collaborative data sharing of the acoustic telemetry networks such as iTAG and the FACT Network," said Kim Bassos-Hull, M.Sc., co-author and senior biologist with Mote Marine Lab's Sharks & Rays Conservation Research Program. An Atlantic coast eagle ray in Florida's Indian River Lagoon. Atlantic coast rays spent greater than five times the amount of time inshore, regardless of maturity or sex, than Gulf coast rays. The rays on the Gulf coast conduct repetitive annual migration patterns, heading south from Sarasota starting in fall and returning to the area in early spring. Credit: Cameron Luck According to Ajemian, there is a need for a better understanding of how extreme weather events such as hurricanes and fluctuations in environmental factors such as red tide and harmful algal blooms may impact ecologically important large-bodied mesopredators like the whitespotted eagle ray, because the frequency of these events is predicted to increase yet the potential alterations on the ecosystem remain unknown. "This is a critical issue that requires increased tracking infrastructure and new analytical approaches," said Susan Lowerre-Barbieri, Ph.D., co-author, University of Florida and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, who led an iTAG workshop on this topic. Study co-authors are Krystan A. Wilkinson, Ph.D., Mote Marine Lab's Sharks & Rays Conservation Research Program and the Chicago Zoological Society's Sarasota Dolphin Research Program; and Gregg R. Poulakis, Ph.D., Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "I'm looking forward to adding more pieces to the eagle ray puzzle in the coming years as these animals get detected for years to come along both coasts of the state and beyond," said Poulakis. Explore further Biotelemetry provides unique glimpse into whitespotted eagle rays' behavior More information: Breanna C. DeGroot et al, Variable migration patterns of whitespotted eagle rays Aetobatus narinari along Florida's coastlines, Marine Biology (2021). Journal information: Marine Biology Breanna C. DeGroot et al, Variable migration patterns of whitespotted eagle rays Aetobatus narinari along Florida's coastlines,(2021). DOI: 10.1007/s00227-021-03821-2 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. City of Melbourne will return 100 per cent of its workers to offices as soon as public guidelines permit, in a bid to kickstart the citys ailing economy and encourage other workplaces to follow suit. Melbourne lord mayor Sally Capp said just 31 per cent of city workers had returned to their desks in January and, anecdotally, the city estimated that number had fallen again in February. People are slowly returning to Melbournes CBD, but not as quickly as the citys council would like. Credit:Justin McManus The number of Melburnians working from city offices was about half the rate of other capital cities, she told the councils monthly meeting on Tuesday night. As we know, pre-COVID about 50 per cent of our daily population comprised city workers, Cr Capp said. Higher bills after an arctic blast are on the way for EVERYBODY. In the Sunflower State . . . Kansas Customers Left To Pay The Price After Winter Storm Sends Natural Gas Prices Soaring And for everyone else . . . Standard Life Aberdeen is clearly focusing on asset management while Phoenix is happy to grab a brand with a heritage dating back around 200 years Standard Life Aberdeen PLC (LON:SLA) has confirmed it is to sell the Standard Life brand to Phoenix Group Holdings PLC (LON:PHNX). The sale is part of an initiative to simplify the strategic partnership with Phoenix, in which Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) holds a stake of around 14% after it sold its UK and European life assurance business (SLAL) to Phoenix in 2018. While Phoenix will buy the Standard Life brand, SLA will acquire certain investment and platform-related products from Phoenix. From Phoenixs point of view, the changes are designed to allow it to control its own distribution, marketing and brands, and focus on using Standard Life Aberdeens asset management services in support of its growth strategy. For its part, SLA, which currently manages around 147.4bn of Phoenix Group assets, will see that asset management partnership extended to at least 2031. The upfront payment by Standard Life Aberdeen for the purchase of the Wrap SIPP (self-invested personal pension), onshore bond and TIP (trustee investment plan) businesses will be 62.5mln, which will be offset in part by expected payments from Phoenix Group to Standard Life Aberdeen relating to the profits of the business before completion of the legal transfer. READ Standard Life Aberdeen ready to ditch 200-year heritage with name sale The transfer of the Standard Life brand to Phoenix will lead to a change of employer for some SLA staff; Standard Life Aberdeen has agreed to pay 32mln to offset the cost of the change-over. Meanwhile, Standard Life Aberdeen said it would receive a net cash inflow of 34mln in February 2021 as a result of settling all outstanding differences between the two groups concerning legacy matters. Other existing services and platform arrangements between the groups will gradually be terminated to simplify the strategic partnership, Standard Life Aberdeen said. "The most successful partnerships in business tend to be formed on clear and simple terms. What we are announcing today is an agreement that simplifies the relationships between Standard Life Aberdeen and our strategic partner Phoenix Group in a way that will allow us to work together constructively as partners for at least the next ten years. Both businesses will be able to play to their respective strengths in the partnership, said Stephen Bird, the chief executive of Standard Life Aberdeen. "The "Standard Life" brand has an important heritage. In the UK, it has strong recognition as a life insurance and workplace pensions brand. This is closely aligned with Phoenix's strategy and customer base. This is much less the case with the business we are building at Standard Life Aberdeen which is focused on global asset management, our market-leading platforms offerings to UK financial advisers and their customers, and our UK savings and wealth businesses, Bird said. Andy Briggs, Birds counterpart at Phoenix Group, said the simplification of the Standard Life brand, sales and marketing will be a key enabler of Phoenix's growth strategy, which in turn should lead to greater asset flows to Aberdeen Standard Investments. I am delighted that Phoenix now owns all of the Life and Pensions business of Standard Life, including the brand and all distribution and marketing, and we are committed to investing in this business. This will enable Phoenix to accelerate the delivery of a broader set of product and service propositions to meet the financial needs of our customers as they journey to and through retirement. This is therefore a key enabler of our Open business growth strategy and will support the delivery of incremental new business long-term cash generation, Briggs said. Airlines and travel firms are experiencing a surge in demand following Boris Johnsons road map for how coronavirus restrictions will be eased. The Prime Minister said on Monday that a Government taskforce will produce a report by April 12 recommending how international trips can resume for people in England. Foreign holidays could be permitted from May 17. In the hours after the announcement, easyJet said bookings by UK customers for the summer season were more than four times higher compared with the same period during the previous week. The Luton-based firms holiday division saw an even larger rise, with demand up seven-fold. The most popular destinations for this summer are beach resorts including Malaga, Alicante and Palma in Spain, Faro in Portugal and the Greek island of Crete. August is the most booked month, followed by July and September. EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said: We have consistently seen that there is pent-up demand for travel and this surge in bookings shows that this signal from the Government that it plans to reopen travel has been what UK consumers have been waiting for. The Prime Ministers address has provided a much-needed boost in confidence for so many of our customers in the UK, with demand for flights up 337% and holidays up 630% already compared to last week and beach destinations proving most popular for this summer. The travel industry is anticipating a spike in demand once coronavirus restrictions ease (Brian Lawless/PA) He added: While the summer may be a little while off, we will be working around the clock to ensure we will be ready to ramp up our flights to reconnect friends and family or take them on a long-awaited holiday to remember. EasyJet insists that customers can book with confidence as it has a flexible policy for allowing changes to itineraries. Tui, the UKs largest tour operator, recorded a six-fold increase in bookings, making Monday its busiest day in more than a month. The hotspots of Greece, Spain and Turkey from July onwards are the most in-demand locations. Managing director Andrew Flintham said the Government can work with the travel industry to develop a risk-based framework that will give holidaymakers the opportunity to travel abroad this summer. He added that there is huge demand to travel and people can look forward to a well-deserved break away after what has been a very difficult year for many. Airline Jet2.com and its package holiday arm Jet2holidays said total bookings were seven times higher following the announcement, with strong demand for Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. Online travel firm Thomas Cook said traffic to its website was up 75% on Monday as people rushed to book holidays for this summer and 2022. Chief executive Alan French described the announcement as good news for those of us desperate to get away on holiday. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the effectiveness of vaccines against coronavirus strains will play a major part in the international travel review. We do have to protect against these new variants, and that is a big challenge, he told Sky News. He added that we can be much more relaxed about international travel if vaccines work well against strains of the virus from South Africa and Brazil. If the vaccine doesnt work against them, then that will be much, much more difficult, he said. A megachurch in Arizona raised nearly $2 million since November last year to pay for counseling services for those who are battling mental health problems amid the ongoing pandemic and other recent stress factors. According to The Christian Post, the Christ's Church of the Valley (CCV) in Arizona started its "Press On" campaign in November, at the start of the holiday season. The church used Pushpay as its primary source to raise funds to pay for the cost of counseling services for those coping with the stresses of the pandemic and other factors, like the election season. On the PressOn Campaign page of CCV's website, it writes: "100% of all donations generated in this campaign will benefit people in the Valley who are ready to step into Biblical counseling from chosen, vetted partners." More than 4,000 people contributed to the campaign and raised $1.98 million, Christian Headlines reported. Tyler Kurbat, director of marketing and communications for the 12-campus church, said that the idea for the Press On Campaign was first discussed during a meeting at the end of 2019 to discuss the upcoming series called "Let's Talk About It," which emphasizes on mental health during election season. At that time, COVID-19 was not part of the discussion as it wasn't rampant yet. "It hit me that we had the opportunity to lean into mental health...," Kurbat said. "If you reframe the way you look at depression, right in the middle is the rallying cry and an invitation into hope. If you deemphasize just a couple of letters, 'press on' pulls through" "It was amazing how God sort of set the table for us, led our leadership to know that this is a topic that is important ...," Kurbat added. "The opportunity was to remind our congregation and also non-believers that you're seen, you're not alone, and that there's help because really there's a tremendous opportunity to destigmatize these topics and provide some actual hope." And thus, the Press On campaign was made. Kurbat also said that in an average year, one in five people struggle with mental health problems, but due to the stress from 2020, more people could use the help they are offering. "This year it's one in two, which means that if it's not you, it's probably someone you love. We have the opportunity to lean into that and provide some support." Kurbat claimed. Scientists have been tracking an increase in mental health issues since the pandemic started and according to a U.S. Census Bureau survey, more than 42 percent of people in the December poll said they had been feeling anxious and depressed. It was an increase of over 11 percent compared to the previous year, Nature said. "Mental health [problems are] skyrocketing," Kurbat said. "At the same time, financial uncertainty, financial stresses are also climbing. We had the opportunity as a church to jump in and fill that gap." With the gathered funds from the campaign, the church will be able to cover 80 percent of the cost of 10 counseling sessions, and half the cost of the following 10 sessions. Rachel Schmidt, CCV's Life Training pastor who oversees pastoral care, says she will help recommend people to counselors with biblical values. Earn your Associate of Applied Business in Business IT (BIT) degree online from the University of Cincinnati. This program can be completed fully online, with curriculum customized to fit your schedule, interests and how quickly you want to complete your degree. Application deadline July 1, 2021. Learn More A strategic partnership with Microsoft was announced Tuesday by General Motors and Cruise aimed at speeding up the commercialization of shared self-driving vehicles. In addition, Microsoft will be joining GM, Honda and some institutional investors in adding US$2 billion to Cruise's coffers, bringing the value of the shared self-driving vehicle company to $30 billion. "The companies in this sector are going to need a long runway before they generate enough revenues to be self-sustaining so another $2 billion in the bank for Cruise is the single most important aspect of this," Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst for e-mobility at Guidehouse Insights, a market intelligence company in Detroit, told TechNewsWorld. "GM and its investors are trying to scare off competitors," maintained Roger C. Lanctot, director for automotive connected mobility at Strategy Analytics, a global research, advisory and analytics firm. "This is an intimidation game," he told TechNewsWorld. "There are dozens of robotaxi wannabes, but there are also shuttle bus operators -- like Beep -- throughout the world building revenue-generating businesses around autonomous vehicles operating within narrowly defined, geo-fenced or fixed routes." "The $2 billion investments buys Cruise more time but it will not magically create a functioning, revenue-generating service," he said. Mutually Beneficial Pact Mike Ramsey, a vice president and analyst for automotive and smart mobility at Gartner found it interesting that Microsoft is making a long-tern commitment to a company that's potentially a customer for its wares. "Microsoft provides services -- like a giant cloud computing offering -- that is used to develop these self-driving vehicles," he told TechNewsWorld. However, both companies may benefit from the new partnership. "For Cruise, it may mean greater access to talent and resources from Microsoft; and for Microsoft, it helps to create expertise in high-performance computing related to autonomy, where one of their biggest competitors -- Google -- already has an in-house AV company in the form of Waymo," he said. Abuelsamid explained that all the companies in this sector are going to have to use cloud providers, whether it be Azure, AWS, Google Cloud or Baidu in China. "They need the cloud platforms during the R&D phase to handle all the data they're collecting from their test vehicles, to do simulation, to do AI training and all the other things they have to do," he said. "Longer term," he continued, "if they do start to commercialize, they're going to need cloud platforms to do fleet dispatch and other things. It doesn't make sense for these companies to build their own clouds." "Once you commercialize it and decide to go to multiple cities and multiple countries, scaling that platform is really hard," he added. "It's something that companies like Microsoft, Google and Amazon know how to do." Question of Utility Lanctot acknowledged that cloud resources are required to develop and launch an autonomous vehicle-based robotaxi operation, but added that it's not immediately clear that Azure has any extraordinary advantages over competing alternatives such as Google or AWS. "While I'd be inclined to suggest that Microsoft has more to gain in desperately needed credibility in the automotive space than GM -- the $2 billion investment has clearly juiced GM's stock." "So Microsoft gains automotive cred and GM gets a stock boost," he continued, "but it doesn't really move the needle on advancing autonomous vehicles or the actual creation of a robotaxi service." "Microsoft has some useful cloud-based tools to support automotive vehicle development and operation, but the hurdles standing in the path of AV robotaxis do not reside in the cloud," he added. "They are right here on terra firma." He added that robotaxis do not offer any clear benefits to consumers. "If the goal is to deliver a robotaxi -- this is a replacement of an existing and perfectly adequate and affordable solution," he said. " It is not demand driven -- unless they want to make it free." "Given the $250M quarterly burn rate, I don't see how they will ever be able to offer robotaxis at a competitive price -- at least not in this decade," he added. Need for Trust Cruise CEO Dan Ammann noted in a statement that his company's mission to bring safer, better, and more affordable transportation to everyone wasn't just a tech race but also a trust race. "Microsoft," he said, "as the gold standard in the trustworthy democratization of technology, will be a force multiplier for us as we commercialize our fleet of self-driving, all-electric, shared vehicles." Cruise self-driving test vehicle on the streets of San Francisco Abuelsamid explained that before anybody is going to want to ride self-driving vehicles, they have to trust that they're safe. "These vehicles are all connected," he said. "They have to be connected in order to dispatch them and provide software, map and traffic updates." "Any device that's connected has attack surfaces for bad actors," he continued. "If you're going to be successful in this business, people have to trust not only the core technology in the vehicle, but that the system is secure and bad actors can't take control of these vehicles and do anything nefarious with them." "Microsoft is generally considered a trustworthy company, a good partner for this sort of thing," he added. Lanctot, though, doesn't believe trust is an issue. "Existing shuttle operators have demonstrated that consumer acceptance of driverless operation is really no big deal," he said. "A bigger deal is the level of tolerance within cities and regulators for driverless vehicles clogging up already heavily trafficked city streets seeking passengers," he explained. "It's a business model issue." Bad News for Tesla GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra praised Microsoft in a statement, noting the high tech company will help drive the auto industry to a future with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion. "Microsoft will help us accelerate the commercialization of Cruise's all-electric, self-driving vehicles and help GM realize even more benefits from cloud computing as we launch 30 new electric vehicles globally by 2025 and create new businesses and services to drive growth," she said. GM won't be alone in flooding the market with EVs, which isn't good news for the market leader, Tesla. "Tesla been the dominate player the last several years, but it's been in market that's fairly sparse, without a lot of offerings," explained Abuelsamid. "In the next 12 to 24 months, there's going to be a lot of new EVs coming to market from almost every automaker," he said. "Tesla's going to continue to grow," he continued, "but their market share of EVs is almost certainly going to decline." "Their market share in Europe declined significantly in 2020 because of the introduction of a number of new models from Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz and Audi," he added. "That's going to continue to be the case going forward. They'll probably grow sales, but they're going to have a smaller slice of a growing pie." John P. Mello Jr. has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, IT issues, privacy, e-commerce, social media, artificial intelligence, big data and consumer electronics. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including the Boston Business Journal, the Boston Phoenix, Megapixel.Net and Government Security News. Email John. DT World (the UAE) will offer the Ukrainian side a roadmap for reforming, modernizing Ukrainian customs, simplifying, accelerating and improving its work, according to a Tuesday posting on the website of the Office of the President of Ukraine. The relevant proposal was made by DT World Chief Operating Officer Mahmood Al Bastaki during a meeting in the President's Office dedicated to the reform of the Ukrainian customs. In turn, Deputy Head of the President's Office Yulia Svyrydenko suggested focusing on the development of a roadmap in order to submit it to the senior leaders. Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said that the key problem in Ukraine is not IT development, where the country has huge potential, but the reengineering of processes. The COO of DT World suggested organizing an appropriate team that will study the Ukrainian system, processes, carry out a comprehensive review and then propose a roadmap for future work. "The issue of legislation, reengineering of processes and the creation of an appropriate electronic system is very important, since this will not happen without an assessment of the risk mechanism," Al Bastaki said. According to him, DT World has experience working with customs services in more than 100 countries, offers solutions that contribute to the reform and modernization of customs services, improve the protection of state borders against illegal movement of goods thanks to an automatic risk assessment system for all transactions, and increase income, speed up the customs clearance process for traders. "The result of the implementation of the approaches and solutions that we propose will increase the volume of trade and the growth of national GDP. Ukraine can significantly improve its level of the World Bank's Logistics Performance Index (LPI), which investors are pursuing," he said. According to Al Bastaki, the company is ready to offer Ukraine its developments and help in introducing new approaches, which will not require capital investments from the state. DT World is owned by one of the largest port operators in the world DP World, specializing in trade facilitation solutions and services. The meeting was attended by Minister of Finance Serhiy Marchenko, Head of the State Customs Service Pavlo Riabikin, and advisor to the head of the President's Office Tymofiy Mylovanov. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 17:37:06|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close COPENHAGEN, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- A Danish professor on a World Health Organization team on the COVID-19 origin-tracing mission in Wuhan has criticized Western media outlets for distorting information about cooperation with Chinese authorities, local news reported Monday. "There was a lot of data ready when we arrived," Thea Kolsen Fischer, professor of virus epidemics and infections at the University of Copenhagen, said in an interview published by the Danish newspaper Politiken. A misguiding report published by The New York Times on Feb. 12 accused Chinese scientists of refusing to share important data about the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, citing independent investigators for the WHO. "We had mutual respect for each other's views and competencies," Fischer said, praising the cooperation between the WHO team and the Chinese experts on data and hypotheses during their month-long research. The expert commended both the WHO team and the Chinese experts for managing to stay free of any major political interests. "I can't stress enough how rewarding a process the trip has been. It went beyond all expectations in many ways. When we have had discussions in the expert team, it has only been based on data and documentation," she said. The international team arrived in Wuhan on Jan. 14 and formed a joint body with Chinese experts for the Chinese part of the global study on the novel coronavirus origins. At a press conference on Feb. 9, the joint study team said that a laboratory incident is "extremely unlikely" as the cause of COVID-19. It said introduction through an intermediary host species is "the most likely" passway. Direct transmission or introduction through cold-chain food is also likely. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 22:33:32|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The National Museum of China on Tuesday announced that it would exhibit the lunar samples brought back by China's Chang'e-5 probe. The samples arrived at the museum on Monday and the exhibition is under preparation, according to the museum. They are preserved in a delicate container made of artificial crystal. Designed in the shape of a Zun, a traditional Chinese bronze ware, the container is 38.44 cm high and 22.89 cm wide. The size refers to the average distance between the Earth and the moon of 384,400 km and the 22.89-day-long lunar probe task, respectively. The return capsule of the Chang'e-5 probe landed on Dec. 17, retrieving about 1,731 grams of lunar samples. Enditem Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The millions of people who struggled to keep warm in Texas, with blackouts crippling life inside a dominant energy hub, have laid bare the desperate state of U.S. electricity grids. To fix nationwide vulnerabilities, President Joe Biden will have to completely reimagine the American way of producing and transmitting electricity. Biden wants to overhaul the nation's grids so they derive all electricity from carbon-free sources by 2035a major step toward zeroing out net emissions of greenhouse gases by mid-century. Realizing that goal will require building billions of dollars worth of new transmission lines, a challenge that might prove just as difficult as getting his climate agenda through Congress. The existing network just isn't sufficient to achieve the scale of wind and solar power that Biden needs, says Jesse Jenkins, an assistant professor at Princeton University. Getting to a fully green grid "would require a new nation-building mode like we haven't seen since probably the post-war period, when we built the highways and did rural electrification." He estimates that the U.S. needs to expand its transmission grid by as much as 60% for wind and solar to make up half of U.S. electricity capacity by 2030. Switching to renewables and electrifying vehicles will require rethinking many of the assumptions that underpin the existing grid system. For much of its industrial life, the U.S. relied on power plants in or near the communities they served. If more power was needed, monopolistic utilities were ready to add it by burning more coal or natural gas. A clean grid will probably be more decentralized, powered in part by smaller renewables facilities including rooftop solar as well as batteries. It will also have to be smarter and more flexible. While Texas built new transmission lines that support renewable energy, its continued reliance on fossil fuels failed the state this month. The cold snap triggered shutdowns at some plants fired by coal and gas that weren't designed to withstand such extreme temperatures. Some wind turbines also stopped spinning. The state's grid is largely isolated from the rest of the U.S., in part for political reasons, and operators unable to call on neighbors for help were forced to implement blackouts. Biden's push for more resilient grids equipped to handle clean energy could help in extreme weather, though choosing to rely heavily on the intermittent power produced by solar and wind farms would bring its own complications. Some of the most robust solar and wind resources are trapped in corners of the desert or the Plains, or located offshore, far from the cities. To connect those projects to the grids, the country will need new transmission linescomplicated projects that have proven to be bureaucratic nightmares and far more tedious to develop than clean-power plants. There's already a large backlog of proposed wind and solar projects waiting to be hooked up to grids. More than 230 gigawatts of wind capacity was seeking transmission interconnection at the end of 2018, according to the Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy. Solar panels and wind turbines only generate electricity when the sun shines and the wind blows. Excess power can be stored in batteries. While batteries are becoming cheaper as demand grows, they're still expensive and haven't been tested on a large scale on the grid. "The grid wasn't built for 100% renewable energy," says Michael Skelly, a senior adviser at Lazard Ltd. who spent much of the last decade running a company focused on developing long-distance power lines. The work is painstaking, and builders have come to expect federal, regional or local snags, especially for projects that cross state lines. "It's not a secret that this is difficult," Skelly says, though he thinks the task may be easier today. "The world is even more partisan, but on the other hand there's a greater understanding of the need to do it." Upgrading transmission architecture is a task facing many economies that have set net-zero goals. Germany's green-power "autobahn"four high-voltage power lines connecting wind and solar projects in the north with industrial centers in the southhas been beset by severe delays and climbing costs, with a plan late last year estimating it will cost 95 billion euros ($115 billion). China last year completed a 22.6 billion yuan ($3.5 billion) ultra-high voltage line that will carry only clean energy. Europe has developed some of the best transmission infrastructure in the world, successfully connecting grids in different countries to provide energy security and boost renewable power use. Spare wind power from Denmark can feed into Sweden and excess nuclear power from Belgium can go to the U.K. "When you're thinking about renewables, there is an inherent benefit for the grid to be linked across a very wide geographic area," says Andreas Gandolfo, head of European power transition at clean energy research group BloombergNEF. Grid improvements needed in the U.S. to accommodate a cleaner future could cost as much as $90 billion by 2030, according to a 2019 study commissioned by WIRES, a trade group that advocates for more construction of high-voltage transmission. The full price tag by 2050 could reach $690 billion. A recent study by the University of California, Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy, meanwhile, found that reaching 90% carbon-free electricity by 2035 could be feasible and economic by significantly increasing solar, wind and batteries. Before the Texas electricity fiasco, a heat wave across California last year caused a spike in energy demand as residents cranked up air conditioners, which contributed to rolling blackouts. Both events showed the fragility of U.S. grids in the face of climate change and extreme weather, and ignited debate over the reliability of wind and solar compared to fossil fuels. In some ways the paradigm has shifted beyond that. Many utilities have committed to reaching net-zero by 2050 with renewable energy now mainstream and as consensus grows globally that more has to be done to slow global warming. But by 2023, many of the easy-to-build renewables projects near existing transmission lines could be completed. "From there, it's off the beaten path," says Michael Weinstein, an equity analyst at Credit Suisse Group AG. One way the White House could speed progress on the grid overhaul is by promoting "better agency coordination" between the Energy Department and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, says Jon Wellinghoff, a former FERC head. The Energy Department "has significant authority" over transmission and establishing national corridors, which it could delegate to the FERCan agency that has expertise with infrastructure, pipelines and liquefied natural gas facilities. The FERC's current head Richard Glick said this month that it might be more economical to look at projects more holisticallyfor example, building a hub-and-spoke model to gather offshore wind to central points, then dispersing it from therethan building many lines from individual projects. The agency is also seeking to create more incentives for transmission builders to encourage them to embrace new technology and upgrade existing lines. It will be very hard to boost renewable capacity without a major infrastructure push, says Mike Garland, chief executive officer of Pattern Energy. His company is one of the biggest American clean energy developers, and just began building the 150-mile Western Spirit Transmission line in New Mexico to carry wind power. "We'll need transmission to get to levels of decarbonization that they want to achieve," he says. Today, transmission is "in a state of hibernation, or just coming out of hibernation." Explore further Up to 90% of electricity from solar and wind the cheapest option by 2030 2021 Bloomberg L.P. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC Workers on the construction site of a second reactor in Bushehr nuclear power plant, Iran, on Nov. 10, 2019. (Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images) Iran Stops Snap Nuclear Inspections An Iranian government newspaper warned on Tuesday that overly radical actions in the nuclear wrangling with the West may lead to the countrys isolation after Tehran ended snap inspections by United Nations inspectors. A state-run Iranian newspaper is urging caution in the nuclear dispute with the West. Warning that radical actions could lead to the countrys isolation. The message comes after Tehran ended snap inspections by the UN on its nuclear activities. At midnight on Monday (February 22) Iran ended the agreement that allowed the International Atomic Energy Agency to carry out short-notice inspections. But they will still allow necessary monitoring by UN inspectors for up to three months. Hardline Iranian lawmakers protested that decisionsaying it broke the law. A law passed in parliament states inspections should end from Tuesday (February 23) if sanctions on the country were not liftedan apparent effort to pressure the United States. The state-run daily is critical of the protests. The paper says Iran must tread carefully as tough action might help build a consensus against Iran. On Monday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran might enrich uranium up to 60 percent purity if the country needed it. While also repeating a denial of any Iranian intent to seek nuclear weapons. A U.S. State Department spokesman said Khameneis comments sounds like a threat. Washington says it is ready to talk to Iran about both nations returning to the 2015 nuclear deal ended by former President Donald Trump. By Emily Wither VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 23, 2021 / Mawson Gold Limited ("Mawson" or the "Company") (TSX:MAW)(FSE:MXR)(OTC PINK:MWSNF) is pleased to announce commencement of two key planning processes for the 100% owned Rajapalot Project in Finland. Highlights: Two key planning processes, the Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") and land use planning have been initiated for the Rajapalot gold-cobalt project in Finland; The purpose of the EIA procedure is to generate information on the environmental impacts of a project, facilitate the consideration of environmental issues in planning and decision-making processes, and give the public and other stakeholders opportunities to participate in and affect these processes. The initiation of EIA and land use planning: Is demonstrative of the long term, strong local stakeholder support for one of Finland's strategic gold-cobalt projects; and Further de-risks the project, as resource-expansion drilling is ongoing with 4 rigs actively drilling 24/7 through the Finnish winter. Mr. Hudson, CEO, states: "The commencement of the EIA and land use planning mechanisms is reflective of the local and regional support that the project receives, for which Mawson is very thankful. The decisions made by the local authorities are a clear indication that we have succeeded in crucial stakeholder engagement and that the project is welcomed in the area. As the project transitions from exploration to advanced studies, Mawson will continue to work in the same transparent and open way to retain the social acceptance of the local people in order to de-risk this strategic gold-cobalt project for the future benefit of all stakeholders." As previously reported on 21 December 2020, Mawson requested the Lapland Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment ("ELY") to arrange a preliminary consultation in accordance with the EIA Procedures Act, which defines projects whose environmental impact must always be assessed. This triggered the commencement of the preparation stage of the EIA for the Rajapalot gold-cobalt project. In Finland, the potential impacts of a project are assessed at the report stage of the EIA process which follows the EIA preparation stage. Mawson considers stakeholder engagement and collaboration to be a critical part of the potential development of the Rajapalot project, and social aspects will be a key part of the EIA preparation process. The EIA is a project planning tool, and its results must be taken into account when granting permits for projects. In combination with the EIA, the two municipal areas where the Rajapalot gold-cobalt project is located, the City of Rovaniemi and Municipality of Ylitornio, at the request of Mawson, have formally decided to start the sub-area Local Master land use planning processes. Both municipalities have made decisions to propose to the Regional Council of Lapland ("Lapin Liitto") to start the phased provincial land use plan for the Rajapalot gold-cobalt project (Figure 1). A similar process in Finland has been undertaken for other pre-development stage mining projects including the Suhanko ("Arctic Platinum") project of CD Capital Natural Resources Fund III L.P., the Sokli project of The Finnish Minerals Group, and the Sakatti project of Anglo American. Land use planning in Finland is defined by the Land Use and Building Act. The regional land use plans set out the principles of land use and the community structure. The phased provincial land use plan is a long-term plan and a guideline for the municipalities when drawing up and amending local master plans and local detailed plans. Mawson will be responsible for the costs of the EIA and land use planning, as well as the studies to be prepared for them and any measures that require compensation. Qualified Person Mr. Michael Hudson (FAusMM), Chairman and CEO for the Company, is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure or Mineral Projects and has prepared or reviewed the preparation of the scientific and technical information in this press release. About Mawson Gold Limited Mawson Gold Limited (TSX:MAW)(FSE:MXR)(OTC PINK:MWSNF) is an exploration and development company. Mawson has distinguished itself as a leading Nordic Arctic exploration company with a focus on the flagship Rajapalot gold project in Finland. Mawson also owns or is joint venturing into three high-grade, historic epizonal goldfields covering 470 square kilometres in Victoria, Australia and is well placed to add to its already significant gold-cobalt resource in Finland. On behalf of the Board, "Michael Hudson" Michael Hudson, Chairman & CEO Further Information: www.mawsongold.com 1305 - 1090 West Georgia St. Vancouver, BC, V6E 3V7 Mariana Bermudez, Corporate Secretary +1 (604) 685 9316 info@mawsongold.com Forward-Looking Statement This news release contains forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). All statements herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Although Mawson believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate, and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Mawson cautions investors that any forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, timing, completion and receipt of the Company's EIA and the Local Master land use plan, capital and other costs varying significantly from estimates, changes in world metal markets, changes in equity markets, the potential impact of epidemics, pandemics or other public health crises, including the current coronavirus pandemic known as COVID-19 on the Company's business, planned drill programs and results varying from expectations, delays in obtaining results, equipment failure, unexpected geological conditions, local community relations, dealings with non-governmental organizations, delays in operations due to permit grants, environmental and safety risks, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in Mawson's most recent Annual Information Form filed on www.sedar.com. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Mawson disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Figure 1: The land use planning system in Finland is hierarchical; higher level plans steer lower plans. Finland's land use planning system, as defined in the Land Use and Building Act, and gives municipalities a high degree of autonomy in local land use planning. Municipalities produce local detailed plans to guide construction and other land use changes in areas where land is used intensively or in sensitive areas. These detailed plans are guided by local master plans, which may be produced by individual municipalities, or by groups of municipalities in the form of a joint master plan. Municipal planning is guided by national land use guidelines issued by the national government, and by regional land use plans. SOURCE: Mawson Gold Limited View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/631176/Mawson-Commences-EIA-and-Land-Use-Planning-for-the-Rajapalot-Gold-Cobalt-Project-in-Finland Published on 2021/02/22 | Source Actor Jun Sung-hwan-I is starring in "Dear.M". "Dear.M" which premieres on the 26th of February, is a romance drama searching for M, the writer of a community article that turns Seo-yeon University upside down. It is known for connecting the worldview of the digital drama "Love Playlist". Jun Sung-hwan-I stars in "Dear.M" as Tak Moo-yeong, a sophomore in business administration. He is an outsider whose name no one really knows. Jun Sung-hwan-I has stood out in the Netflix original series "Kingdom", the film "Swing Kids" and the drama "The Best Chicken". "Dear.M" premieres on the 26th at 11:10PM. SPRINGFIELD City Councilor Justin Hurst said Monday he wants an audit to confirm or dispel his belief that the city has a done a poor job awarding public contracts to local companies and those owned by minorities, women and veterans. His audit request drew an immediate rebuttal from Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, who said he was proud of his administrations record on contract procurement. Hurst, chairman of the councils audit committee, asked for an audit covering the last five years. His request was filed with Yung No, the citys director of internal audit. Although I hope I am wrong, I have no doubt that this audit will reveal that the City of Springfield issues less than 1% of its city contracts to Black and Latino business yet Blacks and Latinos make up over half of the population in the city, Hurst said in a letter to No dated Monday. I also believe that you will find that the city is nowhere near where it needs to be when it comes to procurement contracts going to women owned business. And lastly, I think you will discover that a large percentage of city contracts are going to businesses outside of the City of Springfield. Hurst is seeking the audit on public contracts for purchases, supplies and services awarded by the city during the past five years. I beg to differ, Sarno said in an emailed response. I am proud to say my administration is the most diverse and reflective of our citys population in its history. Same goes for our city contracts, which must meet all legal procurement guidelines and requirements. While the city must always strive for improvement, I and my administration are committed to creating more and more opportunities for our women, Veterans, Black and Latino (ownded) businesses, Sarno said. The specifics on contracts were not immediately available. The Republican intends to file a public records request. Hurst said he wants to know what was spent on the procurement contracts each year and the percentage of those contracts going to Springfield businesses. In addition, Hurst is seeking that information regarding businesses owned by women, Blacks and Latinos in each of the past five years. In his letter, Hurst asks No to find out what procurement goals the city has set with contracting with local businesses as well as those owned by minorities and the other groups and if the city attained those goals each year. Hurst and other councilors have raised similar concerns in recent years, but without a call for an audit. Hurst is seeking a similar audit on all new COVID-related contracts the city has awarded since the pandemic began about a year ago. The councils audit committee has a remote meeting scheduled at 4 p.m. Wednesday with No to discuss the office goals for the coming fiscal year, and an update on its activities for the second half of 2020. Hurst said his call for an audit follows a federal civil rights complaint filed by three Black and Latino organizations against the city of Boston. The complaint, as reported by the Boston Globe, alleged that Bostons public contracting system engages in a pattern of discrimination against Black and Latino-owned businesses, Hurst said. Related Content: An activist of the ruling Trinamool Congress was killed and two others were injured when bike-borne assailants attacked them with bombs and bullets in Paschim Medinipur district of poll-bound on Tuesday night, police said. Shoubhik Dolui and two other TMC workers were sitting on a culvert in Abhirampur village under Narayangarh police station area at around 9 pm when three men came on a motorcycle and hurled a bomb towards them. The attackers also fired at 24-year-old Dolui before fleeing from the spot, a police officer said. When the three were taken to a hospital in Kharagpur, Dolui was declared dead on arrival while the two others were shifted to Medinipur Medical College and Hospital in a serious condition, he said. Local TMC leaders charged the BJP with being involved in the attack. The saffron party's district president Samit Das, however, claimed that it was the result of the TMC's infighting. Tension prevailed in the area where a large contingent of police was sent. Assembly election is due in the state in April-May. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BOSTON The states highest court on Tuesday rejected a bid for a new trial by David Chalue, one of the three defendants convicted for a 2011 Berkshire County triple murder where three Pittsfield men were abducted, killed and dismembered, and then buried in the woods in Becket. The Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a review of the 2013 trial found no grounds to overturn Chalues three convictions for first-degree murder or to reduce his three sentences for life in prison without parole. We affirm the convictions and conclude that the defendant is not entitled to relief, notes the decision that was penned by Justice David A. Lowy, and endorsed by Chief Justices Kimberly Budd, and justices Frank M. Gaziano, Elspeth B. Cypher, and Scott L. Kafker. Chalue, a former Springfield resident, was convicted, along with Caius Veiovis and Adam Lee Hall of Peru, for first-degree murder in the killing of Pittsfield residents David Glasser, 44, Edward Frampton, 58, and Robert Chadwell, 47. The bodies of Glasser, Frampton and Chadwell were found buried in a trench in Becket 10 days after they went missing in August 2011. They had been shot and stabbed multiple times, and then dismembered and buried in plastic bags. Glasser had been scheduled to testify in two criminal cases against Hall, who had been identified as a sergeant at arms with the local chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle club. The prosecution argued that Hall enlisted Veiovis and Chalue to help abduct and murder Glasser to prevent his testimony. Frampton, Glassers roommate, and Chadwell were also taken and killed because they witnessed the abduction of Glasser. Hall, Veiovis and Chalue were each tried separately, and because of the publicity generated by details of the killings, the trials were each relocated from Pittsfield to Hampden Superior Court in Springfield. The SJC has previously rejected separate bids by Hall and Veiovis to have their murder convictions overturned. Chalue was represented for the appeal by attorney Andrew S. Crouch of Cambridge, while former Berkshire District Attorney David F. Capeless represented the prosecution as a special assistant district attorney for the Berkshire DAs office. We thank former District Attorney Capeless for his tireless work on these appeals and his commitment to ensuring the court upholds the convictions, said Andre McKeever, spokesman for current Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington. In appealing the conviction, Chalue pointed to several errors from the original trial that he said influenced the outcome. Among them were the judge offered improper instructions to the jury, and allowed the entering of various categories of unduly prejudicial character evidence, and rejected the prosecutions argument that statements Hall made should be considered hearsay. Finally, the appeal charged that the prosecution made numerous improper statements in his opening and closing remarks. In rejecting the appeal and affirming the verdict, the SJC ruling notes We conclude that the verdicts of murder in the first degree are consistent with justice, and we decline our authority to order a new trial or direct the entry of verdicts of a lesser degree of guilt. Related Content: Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Lackawanna County Register of Wills Frances Kovaleski will seek a third four-year term in the job. Kovaleski, 72, a Democrat and Scranton resident, said she will run on a record of modernizing the office to improve online access to its documents, including marriage licenses and estates. My goal is to provide Lackawanna County taxpayers with exemplary service and efficiency that I have been providing for decades, she said in a statement announcing her candidacy. My office sees our taxpayers at some of the most difficult times in their lives. We navigate them through the legal process and do so with respect and compassion. I have dedicated decades to Lackawanna Countys taxpayers and it would be my honor to continue to do so. The office also handles matters related to adoptions and guardianships as well as processing about $15 million a year in inheritance tax revenues, according to Kovaleskis reelection campaign announcement. Kovaleski worked in the office for 18 years for the previous register of wills, Linda Munley, before winning election for the first time in 2013. Voters reelected her without opposition in 2017. Kovaleski serves as president of the Pennsylvania Register of Wills/Clerk of Orphans Court Association, elected to that post by her peers in other counties. She also serves as chairwoman of the board of Goodwill Industries of Northeastern Pennsylvania. She is a founding member of the Society of Irish Women, a past president of St. Josephs Center Auxiliary and a member and past executive board member of the Lackawanna County Federation of Democratic Women. A mother of three sons and grandmother to nine grandsons, Kovaleski has been married to her husband, Ken, for 50 years. The register of wills salary this year is $73,574, with $2,000 of that because the job includes serving as clerk of orphans court. The base salary is set to rise 4% in 2022 and 2023. Kovaleski is the first person to formally announce a candidacy for the job. Lackawanna County Republican Party Chairman Lance Stange Jr. said the party is actively recruiting candidates for register of wills and all other offices in the county. He encouraged interested people to visit www.lackawannagop.com/run and complete a candidate survey or call the party at 570-346-7729. A couple who met while they were stranded on board a cruise ship when the Covid-19 pandemic struck reveal how they are now expecting their first child together less than a year later. Bethany Suthers, 28, from Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire, met bar worker Max Vakulich, 29, from Belarus, while working as a performer on board the Marella Discovery 2 in March last year. Just two weeks into Bethany's seven month contract, passengers were made to disembark in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and fly straight home as the risk of Covid-19 spreading on board became clear. The crew remained on board because the situation was expected to blow over 'in a couple of weeks'. When it emerged this was not the case, the ship sailed to Cuba in the hope of letting the crew disembark but was turned away and spent months 'floating aimlessly' around the Caribbean before docking in Southampton in April. Over those two months stranded on board the ship Bethany and Max fell in love and shortly after they disembarked, she booked a flight to Belarus to be with him. While she was there, she discovered she was pregnant. In August, Max moved to the UK to be with Bethany and proposed in September. The couple's first child is due this month. Bethany Suthers, 28, from Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire, met Max Vakulich, 29, on the ship they were both working on at the height of the first lockdown back in March 2020 and now Bethany is days away from expecting their first child The pair admit it was love at first sight and spent the next two months on board the ship, which wasn't allowed to dock, getting to know each other (pictured on the cruise ship deck) Bethany and Max had only been on board for two weeks when passengers were forced to disembark, leaving just the crew behind (pictured together on board) Bethany said: 'This wasn't how I expected my 2020 to go but everyone's 2020 has been unexpected. 'I had a seven month cruise contract and now I'm getting married and expecting a baby so I have a totally different life now. 'If it wasn't for Covid, this might never have happened for me. I've asked Max before if he would have approached me if the passengers had been on board but he just doesn't know. 'If it wasn't for us being stranded we wouldn't have been able to spend all that time getting to know each other.' Max said it was 'love at first sight' when he saw Bethany and finally worked up the courage to speak to hear. He said: 'Bethany stood around the table with her friends and drinking Prosecco when I first saw her. The crew were told to stay behind because company bosses only expected the situation to blow over 'in a couple of weeks'. However it soon became clear it would take months to pass and the ship (pictured) floated around in the Caribbean Sea On the cruise ship, Bethany said the pair spent 'almost all of our time together, watching films, playing puzzles, talking and doing jigsaws' (pictured on the ship) Max first saw Bethany when she was drinking prosecco with her friends. He said: 'She had a green silk dress, high-heeled shoes, perfect long dark hair and a smile with snow-white teeth' Bethany said: 'I've asked Max before if he would have approached me if the passengers had been on board but he just doesn't know' (Max is pictured by the pool on the cruise ship) 'She had a green silk dress, high-heeled shoes, perfect long dark hair and a smile with snow-white teeth. 'She was laughing and behaved so lightly and gracefully, it was love at first sight. I'd never wanted a serious relationship until I saw her.' Bethany added: 'We were in lockdown on the ship and just floating aimlessly in the Caribbean sea with an announcement every now and then because the captain didn't even know what was going on. 'We spent almost all of our time together, watching films, playing puzzles, talking and doing jigsaws.' After the ship docked, Bethany and Max Facetimed each other a lot, but in May she decided to fly out to Belarus to see Max Bethany said the pair 'both wanted a life together' and were really happy when they found out she was expecting The pair quickly started the process to get bar worker Max a visa and he flew over to the UK in August, proposing to Bethany one month later When the ship finally docked in Southampton at the end of April, Bethany realised they faced a long-distance relationship. 'We didn't know if we'd ever be able to see each other again but we knew we wanted to,' she said. 'We just FaceTimed a lot then in May I decided to fly out to Belarus to see him. 'Two of my flights got cancelled but the third flight went ahead and I spent four weeks there then just before I flew back we found out that I was expecting and we were both really happy. 'We both wanted a life together, as cheesy as it sounds, we just knew.' The couple started the process of securing Max a UK visa and he arrived in August. He proposed a month later. Bethany's baby is due in February 2021 and the couple hope to marry in the summer. After realising they'd be separated when the ship finally docked, Bethany booked the first flight to Max's home in Belarus where the couple were delighted to discover that they were expecting a baby girl (pictured) Sorry! This content is not available in your region Governor Greg Abbott issued multiple waivers over the weekend to aid Texans response to the winter weather that gripped the state. The following are a few of the notable changes: Plumber apprentices who have met all other qualifications can temporarily perform plumbing repairs without direct supervision by a licensed plumber as long as the qualified individual is under general supervision of a master plumber. Abbott and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission waived regulations related to the intake and transfer of Texans in assisted living, nursing and other long-term care facilities. These waivers provide flexibility for long-term care facilities regarding capacity limits, intake and discharge paperwork and related processes and to reduce limitations on the transfer of Medicaid beds between facilities. Home and community-based services four-person residences are also allowed to temporarily increase capacity. The governor issued waivers to suspend certain regulations regarding food preparation and delivery. Under these waivers, unlicensed kitchens can prepare meals to donate to Texans as long as they follow Department of State Health Service food safety guidance. Waivers have also been issued to temporarily cover any overtime payments for Texas meat inspectors. The waivers will cover overtime costs through the rest of the week. These waivers will ensure meat inspectors are compensated for their time without burdening meat-processing and slaughterhouse establishments with extensive overtime costs throughout the next week, said Abbott in the news release. Another waiver enables trucks from the alcohol industry to deliver non-alcoholic grocery supplies to grocery stores. These waivers will provide more trucks, drivers, and logistical support to retailers who are working to replenish their stock in the aftermath of the winter storm, Abbott said. Abbott and the Texas Division of Emergency Management encourage Texans to self-report any damages experienced during the winter storm in an effort to help emergency management officials gauge the situation across the state. The data will also help FEMA highlight the need for federal disaster assistance for individuals. The survey, which is voluntary, is available in both English and in Spanish. Those interested can fill it out at www.TDEM.texas.gov/warm. Filling out the survey does not guarantee disaster relief assistance. Lifetime channel pulled the plug on D. James Kennedy Ministries' programs, canceling them due to what it deemed as "controversial" topics. The Christian Headlines reported that Lifetime rejected D. James Kennedy Ministries' abortion programming along with other so-called "controversial" subjects. In a YouTube video, D. James Kennedy Ministries president Frank Wright said Lifetime has become part of the "cancel culture" and has been very restrictive of their shows that they decided to cancel their partnership with them after years of airing their "Truth That Transforms" programming. They are now looking for a new cable television platform with nationwide reach as that of Lifetime. "If you watch #TruthsThatTransform on @Lifetime TV, you know that our program did not air the past two Sundays. Lifetime refused to air them. Dr. Frank Wright, President and CEO of D. James Kennedy Ministries has more," D. James Kennedy Ministries said on Twitter. The tweet included the above mentioned YouTube video, which is entitled, "Lifetime Rejects Truths That Transform." "It's very disappointing, John, and it's very significant and it has great a deal of import as it relates to not just this media ministry but the future of free speech, the future of free exercise of religion in America, even the future of constitutional governments, you might argue," Wright told Director of Creatives John Rabe who was interviewing him. "We were just recently notified that Lifetime, our cable channel [who] has given us nationwide coverage for the last three years, is refusing to air programs that we have produced--the same kind of program that we have produced over the last three years--refusing to air them and giving us the directive that we can no longer deal with any controversial subjects: abortion--they complained about our abortion special, they wouldn't air our special on George Soros, they even refused the special on the life of George Washington--the spiritual life of George Washington," he revealed. Wright also said that that major cable networks have taken efforts to totally remove religious programming in the past weeks. He said they could have removed any controversial content to remain on air but dismissed the idea since "it would be pointless to continue to even try to air some kind of a milquetoast program in which you can say...nothing of significance". He instead invited fellow Christians to pray and support the ministry. "And so after discussing with the folks at Lifetime, we've decided we can't continue in this relationship. So we are now off of Lifetime effective immediately," he added. Rabe, on the other hand, said that what Lifetime has done is becoming the norm against those who hold conservative or traditional biblical views. "This is unfortunately happening around the Christian world, around the conservative world, where more and more people who hold traditional biblical views as we do are being de-platformed. They are losing their megaphones, are being sort of exiled from the public square--mostly by corporations and private companies," Rabe highlighted. D. James Kennedy Ministries is set with the mission "to equip and encourage the members of the body of Christ, connecting their passions and abilities with God's calling on their lives." Pune: A case has been registered against former Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Dhananjay Mahadik and two others on Monday for violation of COVID-19 norms at a wedding function held in Pune on February 21. A police officer said, "A case has been registered against former BJP MP Dhananjay Mahadik and two others for violating COVID-19 norms in a marriage function of Mahadik`s son. A case has been registered under section 188, 269, 271 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with relevant sections of the Disaster Management Act." According to the complaint registered with the police, around 1,000 to 1,200 people attended the wedding ceremony and violated COVID-19 and social distancing norms. The wedding ceremony was attended by popular leaders like Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Chief Sharad Pawar, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra legislative council Pravin Darekar, Shivsena leader Sanjay Raut and also Pune city mayor Murlidhar Mohol. In wake of a spike in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday informed that the coming eight days will decide whether there will be a lockdown in the state. "Toni", an automated cocktail maker made by "Makr Shakr", pours a completed Negroni cocktail during a press event at the Barbican Centre on August 07, 2019 in London, England. (Leon Neal/Getty Images) Automation to Wipe 1.5 Million Australian Jobs by 2030: Report Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation will reshape Australias workforce and push out 1.5 million workers, or 11 percent of the labour market, by 2030, according to a new report from business and technology consultants Forrester Research. Analysing 391 occupations, Forrester found that over the next nine years, jobs involving highly structured administrative tasks, such as those in finance and accounting, were most at risk of disappearing. In particular, as automation becomes more advanced and more integrated into the workforce, Forrester estimates Australia could see 1.7 million new jobs by 2030 that have to deal with the integration of AI. Sam Higgins, principal analyst at Forrester, warned that all leaders in business and policymaking needed to work in collaboration to address the impacts of automation on the labour market. Now is the time for Australia to plan for the very different workforce that will exist in 2030, Higgins wrote. Higgins said leaders needed to start planning immediately to minimise the amount of future digital outcasts in the Australian job market. Some of the biggest challenges that firms face in embracing automation technologies relate to culture and change management, Higgins said. Or else over one million Australians may be left behind in the next digital divide. Collaborative dual-arm robot YuMi holds a smartphone and a torch at the Swiss automation group ABB booth at the Hannover Messe industrial trade fair in Hanover, Germany, on April 13, 2015. (TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP via Getty Images) In the report, Forrester suggests several key points which will help Australia deal with the transition, including helping workers and students gain a diverse set of skills and knowledge in technological areas with a particular focus on digital and technical skills in the areas of big data, automation, robotics engineering. iPal Smart AI for robots for childrens education are displayed at the AvatarMind booth at CES 2019 consumer electronics show at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on January 8, 2019. (ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images) The Shadow Minister for Industry and Innovation Ed Husic told the Australian Financial Review he believed the report should serve as a wake-up call. We need to think deeply and plan carefully about how to manage this issue in the years ahead, Husic said. It will take serious combined effort between government, education sector, business, and unions to see that we get the benefits of technology strengthening the way our firms work while at the same time ensuring average workers arent shunted out of jobs. New Delhi, Feb 23 : Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has created 1.3 times more shareholder wealth than any other company in India over the last 25 years. As per a presentation on the proposed reorganization of O2C business of RIL, the company said it has created 1.3 more wealth. Reorganization of O2C Business facilitates participation by strategic investors and marquee sector focused investors and long-dated loan with repayment flexibility an efficient mechanism to upstream cash to RIL from any strategic investment in O2C. For the shareholders, there will be four high growth engines driving value creation-O2C - Growth from high value downstream chemicals and materials, Digital - Connectivity and scaling up of digital platforms, Retail - Consumer-led growth leveraging technology & omni-channel presence and New Material & New Energy - Clean, Green & Affordable energy. The creation of pure-play O2C platform will attract high quality strategic partners and capital and independent, self-funded O2C Company focused on pursuing new growth opportunities, efficient upstreaming of cash to RIL from O2C and no earnings dilution or any restriction on cash flows. There is a potential for re-rating reflecting value of each growth business. RIL said it is beneficial to all stakeholders as O2C reorganization creates an independent, global scale growth engine for RIL, with strong cash flow generation potential. There is no impact on RIL's consolidated financials, investment grade international, and domestic AAA credit ratings. RIL will further accelerate its New Energy & New Materials business towards its vision of clean and green energy development. There is a potential for re-rating and sustainable value creation, O2C subsidiary facilitates participation by strategic and financial investors for value discovery and unlocking and consent process to be completed by Q1FY22, NCLT approval expected by Q2FY22. On the rationale for the reorganization of O2C business, the company said RIL's unprecedented growth in the last decade has been driven by significant growth in O2C Business and rapid scale-up of new consumer businesses - Digital and Retail. Strong underlying performance of each business has resulted in a strong and diversified growth and earnings profile. RIL has initiated the process of carving-out O2C Business into an independent subsidiary. Each business will pursue its own independent growth opportunities and create value. As per the rationale, independent growth company enables focused pursuit of opportunities across O2C value chain. Enhanced efficiencies through self-sustaining capital structure and dedicated management team. It facilitates value creation through strategic partnerships and attract dedicated pools of investor capital. RIL said the reorganization will be beneficial to all stakeholders of RIL, management control of O2C continues with RIL, existing O2C operating team moves with transfer of business, no dilution of earnings or any restriction on cash flows. RIL is expected to retain its investment grade international (BBB+/ Baa2), and domestic AAA credit ratings. Strategic re-organization will create long term value, it said. All Refining, Marketing & Petchem Assets Will be Transferred to O2C. It will be India's largest and most preferred provider of mobility, including EV charging and low-carbon solutions. RIL and BP have formed a 51:49 JV, that includes retail service station network and aviation stations. The approval process has commenced and is expected to be completed by Q2 FY22. Reliance is very well positioned with high level of cash to pursue growth. Post the reorganisation, RIL standalone entity will have all existing segments other than O2C business. Reliance has a vision to be net carbon zero by 2035 and opportunity to accelerate New Energy and New Materials businesses based on RIL's vision of clean and green development. It will build an optimal mix of reliable, clean and affordable energy and storage using solar, wind and batteries, accelerate transition to a hydrogen economy and develop portfolio of advanced and specialty materials. The EU is considering imposing sanctions on businesses owned by the Myanmar military in support of anti-coup protesters who swarmed streets across the country yesterday in what may be the largest turnout since the February 1 military coup after two demonstrators were shot dead over the weekend. Yesterday hundreds of thousands of protesters marched throughout Yangon, while similar numbers were also seen demonstrating in Mandalay, the location of the weekends shooting. Earlier in the day, video footage posted by local media also showed large demonstrations in the capital of Naypyidaw and the southwestern city of Pathein. About 50 protesters were arrested by police in the Pyinmana township of Naypyidaw yesterday, local media Eleven reported. EU foreign ministers yesterday said that the bloc is considering imposing sanctions that could involve targeting businesses owned by the army, but ruled out any curtailing of its trade preferences for the country. Three weeks after the junta seized power, EU governments want to show support for the protests seeking the reversal of the coup and the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. We are not prepared to stand by and watch, German foreign minister Heiko Maas said in Brussels, adding that sanctions could follow if diplomacy failed. EU foreign ministers released a statement saying they were ready to adopt restrictive measures including travel bans and asset freezes, and that the bloc was reviewing development cooperation and Myanmars tariff-free access to the EU. However, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that special trade preferences giving Myanmar tariff-free access to the EUs 450 million consumers would not be withdrawn, to avoid hurting the poorest workers in textiles. Read More I am against the possibility of cancelling (trade preferences), he said, referring to the EU agreement that allows Myanmar to sell goods except weapons tariff-free to the EU. We are not going to do that. It would be very damaging to the people, thousands of jobs would be lost, mainly jobs held by women in the textile sector. And it would not harm the military, Mr Borrell said. An EU diplomat said that beyond targeting individuals and asset freezes in European banks, sanctions against conglomerates owned by the military was a possible way forward. The Americans have done this already, the diplomat said. The EU should now think of doing something of the same magnitude to show that this type of parasitic activity is no longer tolerable. Myanmar has seen nationwide demonstrations since the military seized control of the country, with protesters ignoring a ban on public gatherings. A 20-year-old student who was shot in Naypidaw was the first fatality last week. Two men were killed and more than 20 people injured on Saturday as authorities fired shots to disperse demonstrators in Mandalay. Singapore on Saturday called the use of lethal force against unarmed civilians inexcusable, while Germany condemned the violence and said the military should pave the way for a return to the democratic process. The United Nations country team in Myanmar expressed profound concern over the violence, saying in a statement it must stop and the fundamental right to peaceful assembly must be respected. Myanmars Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday authorities were exercising utmost restraint through minimum use of force against unlawful demonstrations, incitements of unrest and violence. The ministry views that some statements and remarks made by some embassies in Yangon and foreign countries are tantamount to flagrant interference in internal affairs of Myanmar, it said. The youth-led Civil Disobedience Movement has peacefully mobilised supporters in major cities with three main demands: the release of civilian leaders including Aung San Suu Kyi, recognition of the 2020 election results that showed her party won and a withdrawal of the military from politics. ( Bloomberg) The late FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who infamously targeted Black activist Marcus Garvey in 1919, also created the project COINTELPRO in the 1960s. Among other abuses, it led to harassment of Martin Luther King Jr. and the assassination of Illinois Black Panther leaders Fred Hampton and Mark Clark in 1969. That atrocity, depicted in the new movie Judas and the Black Messiah, led to hefty legal settlements for the two victims families and a sullying of the FBIs reputation that still harms its image in Black communities. The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV. Razak Kojo Opoku, the founder of the Concerned Voters Movement, has chided the President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe over some statements he made regarding the ongoing conversations about same-sex relations. Franklin Cudjoe in a statement issued on Sunday, February 21, 2021 stated that the doors of IMANI Africa are opened to funding from Lesbian, Gay, Bisexuals, Transgender and Queer Individuals (LGBTQI) groups. He conceded that much as the principles of IMANI Africa on issues like this are in sync with the dictates of the Christian faith, he would not condemn or speak against LGBTQI activism in the country. I now understand why some are asking for IMANIs stance on LGBTQI issues. I have read a bit now. Let me state emphatically, that IMANI has never received any support from any LGBTQI groups. If they give us money unconditionally, we will receive and use it to pursue our mission of holding public officers accountable, he said in a statement on Sunday, February 21. He added: IMANI holds conservative, Christian, almost Catholic thoughts on such issues, but at the same time recognize our limitations to recommend how other humans should live their lives. In a sharp response, Razak Kojo Opoku who is the head of the Public Relations unit of the National Lottery Authority, NLA; stated that Franklin Cudjoes indecision on the matter is borne by the fact that IMANI Africa enjoys some funding from LGBTQI groups. According to him, by accepting donations from such organizations, IMANI Africa has been compromised and therefore cannot be trusted to act in the interest of majority of Ghanaians who are opposed to the LGBTQI and their operations. Franklin Cudjoe respectfully needs to ponder and think deep before he makes some of these reckless statements. Franklin Cudjoe should understand that, unconditional funding from LGBTQI shall definitely compromise him, weaken his resistance against LGBTQI and make it extremely difficult to speak against, criticize, resist and condemn the act. No one is judging the practitioners of LGBTQI, we are only condemning the acts and letting the LGBTQI community understand that it is ILLEGAL under the laws of Ghana. Franklin Cudjoe's/IMANI's loud silence against LGBTQI clearly indicates that perhaps IMANI is in full support of LGBTQI. If not, Franklin Cudjoe/IMANI should be bold enough to publicly disown LGBTQI Community, he should use the same energy he uses to advocate for good governance to denounce the LGBTQI campaign he posted his Facebook wall. While calling for law enforcement agencies to deal with activities of the group as it is an affront to the laws of the country, Razak Kojo Opoku also disclosed that some religious leaders have gone quiet on the issue due to fears of being refused visas. Most Bishops/Pastors and Religious Leaders are AFRAID to use their platforms to condemn LGBTQI simply because of the fear of being Refused Visas and lack of offertory from the Western world, he said. Source: Ghanaweb Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. It was probably inevitable, but companies are urging federal regulators to intervene or even block Nvidias planned $40 billion purchase of Arm Holdings. Google, Microsoft, and Qualcomm are among a number of companies concerned about whether they will continue to have equal access to Arm technology after the acquisition closes, according to both Bloomberg and CNBC. And CNBC goes so far as to ask regulators around the world to scuttle the deal altogether. Earlier this month, UK-based AI chip start-up Graphcore asked the UKs Competition and Markets Authority to block the acquisition. Graphcore isnt even an Arm licensee, just an Nvidia competitor in the AI-processor space. Before that, a group called Save Armled by Hermann Hauser, founder of Acron Computers, which created Armpopped up almost immediately after the deal was announced last year, urging British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to stop the deal. The US Federal Trade Commission has opened an investigation into the acquisition and has asked SoftBank, Nvidia, and Arm to provide more information and also is asked for input from other companies that might have relevant information. Qualcomm, Microsoft, Google opposed The three known U.S. opponents of the deal all have vested but differing interests in Arm. For Qualcomm, its about IP as one of the largest Arm licensees in the world. For Microsoft and Google, it gets complicated. You have to look for the shared interest that all the large clients of Arm might have, said Shane Rau, research vice president for IDC. Microsoft reportedly has custom Arm silicon for Azure, but its more than that, he said. You can consider Microsoft across whole-client, future Arm processors for Surface Pro and Azure processors for the data center. Google doesnt have data-center silicon but they do have an interest on the Android side, making sure the client-side ecosystem is allowed to proliferate so there are more clients in the hands of humans that generate data that go thru Google data centers, he said. What this all comes down to is mistrust vs reality. Nvidia argued it would not spend $40 billion on Arm only to kill the goose that laid the golden egg by playing favorites and thus harming its customer relations. Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang recently told the Financial Times, I can unequivocally state that Nvidia will maintain Arm`s open-licensing model. We have no intention to throttle or deny Arms supply to any customer. Nvidias opponents, however, dont seem to believe it and are assuming the worst from a company with no history of ever screwing a partner. It risks closing down or limiting other companies access to leading-edge CPU-processor designs which are so important across the technology world, from data centers, to mobile, to cars, and in embedded devices of every kind, said Graphcore CEO Nigel Toon on CNBC last December. Jon Peddie, president of graphics market research firm Jon Peddie Research, isnt buying it. Nvidia would be nuts to do such a thing, and I dont think Nvidia is nuts, he said. Qualcomm ships Arm-based chips in the billions, Nvidia ships Arm product in the thousands, he said. What possible benefit could Nvidia get from withholding tech from its largest customer? That said, this isnt false concern about Nvidias intentions, either. I know its genuine. Ive spoken with people at those companies. They are sincerely and genuinely concerned about this. They feel they are losing control of their destiny, he said. Nvidia could allay such concerns by givig visibility into its R&D work so clients can keep up with developments and issue warnings if they see potential negative effects. Huang didnt get this far without some serious negotiating skills, which he used back in 2019 to get Chinas approval for Nvidia to buy Mellanox for $6.9 billion. He understood their concerns, and what they were worried about, and was able to address them, said Peddie. Last Thursday, Facebook instituted a ban on the posting and sharing of all news articles by its users in Australia. Overnight, millions of people have been cut off from their primary source of accessing and discussing news and political developments. A range of organisations and publishers, including the Socialist Equality Party and the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS), have been hit by the indefinite blockade. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies remotely during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on antitrust on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, July 29, 2020, in Washington. [Credit: Mandel Ngan Pool via AP] Facebooks actions are the latest shot in a war between the social media companies and major news conglomerates, over control of massive online advertising revenue streams. The immediate trigger for the ban was the passage through the Australian parliaments House of Representatives of a new media code. Supported by the Liberal-National Coalition government, Labor and the Greens, the code would compel Facebook and Google to hand hundreds of millions of dollars to the largest media conglomerates, for no clear reason. In other words, the code is a cash grab, aimed at boosting the profits of media corporations, under conditions in which declining paper sales have hit their advertising revenue and their position as information gatekeepers has been undermined by the expansion of the internet. The WSWS has insisted on the need for workers and defenders of civil liberties to take an independent position, which opposes both the indiscriminate and anti-democratic measure of Facebook and the attempts to entrench the corporate news publications. The dispute has underscored the need for a socialist perspective, aimed at transforming the social media companies and the news conglomerates into public utilities controlled by working people. The WSWS has spoken to a number of workers and young people on the issues raised by the ban, and the stance that must be taken in response to it. Jack Jack, a student from Warrnambool, a regional town in Victorias southwest, said that The indefinite ban of all news content on Facebook has direct implications for the millions of people in Australia who access news via the platform. The rights of freedom of information online and democratic values are outright assaulted by the ban. The action of Facebook, however, was not an arbitrary one but a direct response to the Australian governments latest news media bargaining code that would necessitate social media companies sharing ad revenue with the dominant Australian news conglomerates. We must recognise that this is the latest episode in the conflict between Australian media conglomerates and the social media monopolies. It is members of the capitalist class exchanging blows. This clash is not in the interests of the working class majority but the bottom line of these two sections of big business. The so-called outrage by the media conglomerates and the Australian federal government is not over the attack on the rights of ordinary people. George, who has been in the media industry for many years, stated: As a worker living in Australia, I am disgusted, but not surprised by Facebooks banning me indefinitely from accessing all news media in the world. In effect, I am being held hostage by the social media giant in its dispute with the Australian financial elite: a fight in which I have nothing to gain. Both sides are seeking to undermine the freedom of information online. There is nothing progressive about the governments shakedown of Google and Facebook. Carried out at the behest of the major Australian corporate media organisations, it seeks to boost their profits and restore their dominance at the expense of independent voices including the WSWS. Their true attitude to freedom of the press is shown by their silence over the treatment of fellow journalist Julian Assange. For its part, Facebook, like every other corporation, is motivated solely by the drive to accumulate profit on behalf of its shareholders. The news ban underscores the dangers of the control of information and its dissemination being in the hands of massive corporations that are accountable only to their ultra-wealthy shareholders, both on Facebooks side and the side of the media conglomerates. These events prove once again that technology can only help society move forward if it is in the hands of the working class. Brenton Brenton, a psychology student in Melbourne, explained: We dont seek to defend the interests of the corporate media establishment, but the interests of the workers. Our right to access, share and freely discuss historic and contemporary developments has been attacked and curtailed by this measure which has the effect of preventing ordinary people from being exposed to a breadth of information from which they can make up their own minds! There can be no democracy without a highly informed and conscious working class! Rick, a retired teacher, stated: The internet means information can be free to anyone who needs or wants it. Instead, under Capitalism, online news is artificially rationed, sold at a premium to those who can afford it, or distributed in return for the collection of intrusive personal information used by corporations to target obnoxious advertising and governments for surveillance and propaganda. The creation and distribution of news is controlled by a few corporations, ruthless in promoting their class interests. The stark alternatives are a socialist system that would support democratic and free creation and distribution of information, or the increasingly authoritarian control that we have now. Eileen, a worker in Western Australia, responded: We always knew, even before social media appeared, that all the other corporate-owned media outlets were propaganda mouthpieces, but we hoped that the internet would shatter corporate control of ideas and information. However, while capitalistic decision-making is in control of technology, there is no way that social media can escape their control. We no longer have a voice, in our print media, in commercial television channels and now via the internet. Weve already seen this sweeping censorship and control appearing on the political scene in Australia. Our politicians arent concerned with defending free speech or democracy, only about supporting their mates in the corporate media. This is a wake-up call. Facebook is Australias most widely-used social networking platform and has banned Australian users from accessing or sharing any news content, and deleted all news outlet content, thereby restricting our ability to share alternative comment on society. All that seems to be left, if we want to defend our right to communicate freely, is to do it ourselves. There are no unsolvable issues in Armenia's Syunik province, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan told 1in.am. "This does not mean that there are no problems. But I think that there are certain guarantees for the security of Syunik province. It is clear that the atmosphere has changed, in connection with which there are certain tensions. But I am sure that over time they will weaken. Moreover, we are planning to implement large-scale socio-economic programs in Syunik. And in general, our goal is to form the most favorable atmosphere around Armenia and Artsakh," he said. "As for the opening of communications, I think that a constructive and mutually beneficial solution to this issue is one of the factors that can lead our region to a long and stable peace, and, in addition, to certain economic benefits, change the economic potential of our region and Armenia. This does not mean that there are no calls. But this is a matter of strategic choice. Communications are vessels that connect us with the region and the region with us. We must form this agenda, understand what threats and challenges may arise from these atmospheric changes, and develop methods to manage them." When asked which regional countries are interested in opening communications, Pashinyan said: "All without exception. Russia, Georgia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Armenia. It's another matter that everyone's interest has both commonalities and differences." DNY59/iStockBy AARON KATERSKY, ABC News (NEW YORK) -- The families of three U.S. service members killed and 13 others who were severely wounded at Naval Air Station Pensacola have sued Saudi Arabia over its role in the Dec. 6, 2019 attack. Saudi Air Force 2nd Lt. Mohammed Saeed Al-Shamrani was a flight student enrolled in the Security Cooperation Education and Training Program and while wearing his Saudi Air Force uniform, he fired hundreds of rounds of ammunition killing three Navy service members; severely wounding four sailors, a Navy civil servant, seven sheriff's deputies and a Department of Defense police officer. Al-Shamrani was killed by law enforcement during the attack. According to the lawsuit, Saudi Arabia knew of Al-Shamrani's radicalization and anti-American sentiments, which were publicly associated with a Twitter account bearing his name. In May, Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray said Al-Shamrani had communicated directly with al-Qaida operatives in an attack that they described as "a brutal culmination of years of planning and preparation," based on newly revealed evidence obtained from the shooter's iPhones. Al-Shamrani made efforts to destroy his phones, even shooting a bullet through one of them, Barr said. "The phones contained information previously unknown to us that definitively establishes Al-Shamrani's significant ties to al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), not only before the attack, but before he even arrived in the United States. We now have a clearer understanding of Al-Shamrani's associations and activities in the years, months and days leading up to his attack," he said. From that evidence, investigators came to believe Al-Shamrani had been preparing for years after being radicalized in 2015 and joined the Royal Saudi Air Force in order to carry out a "special operation." Al-Shamrani continued to communicate with AQAP right up until the attack, they said. After the attack, Mohamed bin Salman told President Donald Trump that Saudi Arabia would be "taking care of (the victims') families and loved ones." To date, Saudi Arabia has refused to honor its word or engage with those who were injured and the families of the service members who were killed, the families said. "I will never forget how Cameron was transformed once he graduated just weeks before the attack -- so proud of his uniform and ready to serve," said Shane Walters, the father of Cameron Walters who was killed in the attack. "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia let this happen. While the prior White House administration refused to even call me, this one must do its part to stop coddling the Saudi regime and hold them accountable." Cameron was a 21-year-old airman apprentice. His father had also served in the Navy. "Nothing is going to bring back Mohammed, who was full of life and cared deeply about his family and country. But I have to do something to remember him and holding the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia accountable is part of that," said Evelyn Brady, who's 19-year-old son Mohammed Sameh Haitham was killed in the attack. He was also an airman apprentice and he followed in his mother's footsteps after she had served 20 years in the Navy. "We were robbed of such a precious gift, snuffed out in a moment from hatred and bitterness. Our family lost a lot, and our country lost a lot," said Benjamin Watson. Watson's son, Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson, was shot five times but he was able to warn others about the shooter and identify his location before being shot again, this time fatally. The 23-year-old was a 2019 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a commissioned officer stationed at Pensacola. Copyright 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. BOSTON, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- AbFero Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately-held clinical stage pharmaceutical company dedicated to treating diseases of iron overload, today announced the initiation of a Phase 1 study of its lead iron chelator, SP-420, in myelodysplastic (MDS) and myelofibrosis patients (MF) with transfusional iron overload (TIO). "The opening of this trial in MDS and MF marks another critical step forward on the development path for SP-420," said AbFero CEO Thomas X. Neenan. "Following the recently awarded Parkinson's research grants from EUREKA Eurostars and Cure Parkinson's, this trial is an additional building block in our strategy of developing safe chelators for both hematological indications and diseases of aging where iron is implicated." "Transfusional Iron overload, from chronic red blood cell transfusion, remains a serious problem for the many patients with chronic leukemia and chronic bone marrow disorders," explained Dr. Ruben Mesa, executive director of the Mays Cancer Center at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio. "The Mays Cancer Center is grateful for the first opportunity to offer the innovative approach to iron chelation from SP-420 from AbFero to patients with MDS and MF," he said. The study, to be conducted by Dr. Elizabeth Bowhay-Carnes, Director of the Adult Non-Malignant Hematology Program at the health science center, also called UT Health San Antonio, will examine the safety of SP-420 in this important population of patients with TIO and will provide the basis for further expansion into longer efficacy studies. The trial is expected to provide key safety data in 2021. About AbFero AbFero Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a privately-held clinical stage pharmaceutical company dedicated to treating diseases of iron overload. AbFero's technology is based upon the discoveries of a pioneer in the field of iron chelator medicinal chemistry, Professor Raymond Bergeron, University of Florida. Our therapeutic platform addresses transfusional iron overload (TIO) and iron accumulation associated with diseases of aging such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and Parkinson's disease. AbFero has completed three clinical trials with the company's lead iron chelator, SP-420. AbFero Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is based in Boston, Massachusetts, and our subsidiary, AbFero, Ltd., is located in Harwell, UK. For more information, visit: https://www.abferopharmaceuticals.com. Investor & Media Contact: Mih-Ho Cha [email protected] SOURCE AbFero Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Related Links https://www.abfero.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. FAIRFIELD Local officials were pleased to hear teachers will now be among the next recipients for the COVID vaccine. Pre-K-Grade 12 school staff and teachers and professional child care providers will be eligible to receive the vaccine in March at clinics reserved for these professions. We are pleased that the state has recognized the importance of providing vaccines to all teachers and school support staff, said Andrea Clark, a spokeswoman for the Fairfield school district. She said the towns health department will hold a vaccination clinic on Monday for staff and support members of the Fairfield public and private schools. Eligible teachers and staff were already enrolled through the district and can now schedule their appointments through the Vaccine Administration Management System, Clark said. Essential workers and people with co-morbidities had been considered as part of the next group, but on Monday Gov. Ned Lamont announced those two categories presented a lot of challenges and questions about who would qualify. Instead, the state expanded vaccine eligibility to the schools and child care, as well as those 55 to 64 years old beginning March 1. Lamont said 96 percent of the COVID-related deaths occurred in those over the age of 50. Age is a key determinant in terms of risk of fatalities, complications, hospitalizations all of the things were desperately trying to avoid, he said. The new plan expands to those 45 and older on March 22, those at least 35 on April 12 and those at least 16 on May 3. It was welcome news, First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick said Monday. The Fairfield Health Department had administered 8,679 vaccines to those eligible as of Friday and has an additional 4,900 appointments scheduled over the next four weeks, Kupchick said in her weekly update. The Fairfield Health Department's vaccine clinic continues to fill up their appointments, she wrote. They can only schedule as many appointments as vaccines are provided by the state. Please keep in mind Fairfield residents are able to book appointments at clinics throughout the state. On Monday, she said she hopes the expanded eligibility also comes with more vaccines, so the town can meet the demand. She reminded residents to contact the towns COVID call center with any questions or if they need help using VAMS. Hopefully, well get through this, Selectman Thomas Flynn said. Its been a long slog. While the last age breakdown includes older high school students, Clark said it was too soon to say what this could mean for end-of-the-year events, such as graduation and prom. While beginning the vaccination process for teachers and staff is encouraging, we continue to monitor the health data and it is premature to start speculating about end-of-year events, Clark said. She also didnt say how the vaccine could factor into the larger reopening, but said there will be a special meeting at 7:30 p.m. Thursday to discuss those plans and timelines. Selectwoman Nancy Lefkowitz said having teachers and school staff next is good for the larger community. Its going to be welcome news for teachers and for parents of students in town, she said. kkoerting@newstimes.com New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a provisional attachment order under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002, attaching properties worth Rs 1,20,02,102 pertaining to M/s Jharkhand Ispat Private Limited in a Coal Block case. The ED initiated an investigation on the basis of FIR registered by CBI and the charge sheet has also been filed by CBI against the said Private Limited and its Directors. Subsequently, a Special Court convicted JIPL and its directors along with imposing a fine on them in the CBI case. After the investigation, the total 'proceeds of crime' worth Rs 25 crore was identified and two PAOs worth Rs 19.73 crores and Rs 3.93 crore have been issued in September 2016 and January 2019 respectively and were duly confirmed by the PMLA Adjudicating Authority. Further, the Prosecution Complaint and supplementary complaint have also been filed before the PMLA SpecialCourt on July 17, 2018, and on July 21, 2020, respectively. Further investigation under PMLA revealed movable properties worth Rs 1,20,02,102 as proceeds of crime and accordingly, properties worth Rs 1,20,02,102 have been attached. Total attachment in the case is now Rs 24.86 crore Live TV The United States reached 500,000 deaths linked to COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, on Monday. U.S. President Joe Biden spoke about the global health crisis late Monday. He led a moment of silence and a candle-lighting ceremony to remember those who died at the White House. First lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband joined him. Dr. Anthony Fauci is the top expert on infectious diseases in the U.S. He told CNN television news on Sunday: Its nothing like we have ever been through in the last 102 years, since the 1918 influenza pandemic. Johns Hopkins University in the U.S. state of Maryland records information about the crisis from around the world, including the number of deaths, on its website. It says nearly 2.5 million have died worldwide. The U.S. passed 400,000 deaths just over one month ago. The first recorded coronavirus deaths in the U.S. came in February 2020. Four months later, 100,000 people had died. Experts believe the total number of deaths could be higher because of testing problems earlier in the health crisis. They believe people who died from COVID-19 may not have been counted. Johns Hopkins estimates that there have been more than 110 million cases of COVID-19 worldwide. The U.S. number is more than 28 million, followed by India, which has about 11 million. The United States is currently vaccinating millions of people. President Biden promised to vaccinate 100 million people in his first 100 days in office. It is likely the number will be higher than that. Currently, about 1.7 million people are being vaccinated each day. Even with the vaccine, a mathematical model from the University of Washington predicts that there will be close to 600,000 deaths in the United States by June 1. Im Dan Friedell. The Associated Press and VOA wrote this story. Dan Friedell adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. What do you think about the sad milestone? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story moment of silence - n. a short period of silent thought as a way to remember a tragic event or time Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. New Delhi, Feb 23 : For the upcoming Tamil Nadu assembly polls, the BJP is working on converting itself into a party of the masses in the state. The BJP is fighting the Tamil Nadu polls in alliance with the AIADMK. Bharatiya Janata Party national general secretary and in-charge of the party's Tamil Nadu unit, CT Ravi told IANS that the BJP will become a party of the masses. He said there are only two ways to become a mass party: first service and secondly andolan (agitation) and the party is working on both. "We have identified local issues and it will be addressed by local leadership and secondly we are working to provide better service to the people. The BJP is reaching out to the electorate by addressing issues concerning them with a long and short term approach," he said. Talking about the party's expansion plans in the state, Ravi said that for the 69,000 booths in the state, the BJP has constituted over 60,000 booth committees and among these over 45,000 booth committees are active. "People from all walks of life are joining BJP. In future we will have BJP MLAs and MPs from Tamil Nadu from a party of zero MP and MLA from the state. Coming out in support of the Prime Minister despite trends run by DMK and other political rivals," he said. On seat sharing with the AIADMK, Ravi said that it (seat sharing) will be decided by the central leadership in consultation with alliance partners. "We have identified 60, 'A' category seats but our focus is to ensure 100 per cent strike rate on seats the BJP is going to contest in the assembly polls," he said. Ravi said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's developmental agenda also helped the party in expanding its footprint in Tamil Nadu. "Modi government has given development projects worth over Rs 6.10 lakh crore to the state directly benefiting 1.60 crore people of the state. With his developmental agenda, Prime Minister Modi has connected New Delhi to Tamil Nadu and it is a connection of hearts. He (Modi) turned a relationship of enmity into a relationship of love. Initiatives of the Modi government helped the organisation (BJP) to make inroads among Tamil people," he added. Ravi stated that Modi talked about many things related to Tamil heritage, culture, literature. "Modiji has showcased Mahabalipuram on the world stage while Congress had showcased Mughal structures," he added. A George Floyd-themed dance proposal is stirring controversy in Nevada and elsewhere. A female student at Foothill High School in Henderson, Nevada, asked her date to the Sadies Hawkins dance with a sign that read: "If you went to SADIES w/me it would take my BREATH away!" The poster also included Floyd's name and a drawing of him, per Las Vegas-Review Journal's Aleksandra Appleton. Photo courtesy of DailyMail BLACK LIVES MATTER: George Floyd honored with street mural in front of Jack Yates High School The photograph has sparked outrage across social media, with people finding the invitation racist and noting Floyd's death was not something to joke about. Foothill High School officials and members of the local school district have announced an investigation into the incident. A joint statement posted to the school's website reads "Foothill and CCSD will not tolerate racially insensitive behaviors that contradict an inclusive community and impact the school culture of our students." A similar incident occurred earlier this month when members of the Los Angeles police department were alleged to have circulated a Valentine's Day image of Floyd with the caption "You take my breath away" among their ranks, per the Daily Mail's Harriet Alexander. LAPD has launched an internal investigation into the matter, with Chief Michael Moore stating that "people will feel my wrath" if it's confirmed his officers were circulating the image. 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 CANAAN Questions had been raised about the suitability of the New Canaan Animal Shelter raised before it became the temporary home for five puppies seized from a home owned by Catherine Cassie Palmer, on Butler Lane, after she was arrested on three counts of animal cruelty. The Police Commission discussed alternatives and the viability of the shelter, which is located in an old incinerator building at 139 Lakeview Ave. On Feb. 17, First Selectman Kevin Moynihan asked the department to give it consideration. The 800-square-foot animal shelter at the Transfer Station compound dates to the 1950s and was repurposed in 2008, according to the 2017 Building Evaluation Report. It is adequate. It is really a decision that the town and the towns people want to make, to replace it or find another alternative, Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm told the commission. It can be better, and I believe that is what the public wants, Halm told Hearst Connecticut Media. Selectman Nick Williams has called the shelter a dump in a dump, back in October 2019. I know it is a challenge to find the right spot given that everybody loves animals in town including myself. I think we want to do the right thing with them, said Police Chief Leon Krolikowski. The chief said he was exploring the option of asking local veterinarians if they could help. Krolilowski gave a summary of activity in the shelter over a three-year span. An average of 47 animals a year were brought to the facility between 2017 and 2019. During that span, 98% of the animals stayed in the facility for 24 hours or less, the chief said. This winter, the shelter had more use than usual when 12 puppies were seized after Palmer, who is a Greenwich resident, surrendered to New Canaan Police in November 2020. Police said she was running an illegal pet store. The dogs included two adult dogs, five near-newborns and five older puppies from different litters. The five older puppies were kept at the shelter until Feb. 10, after the courts granted permission that they were to be released to new homes. Who knew a neglect case could actually exist in New Canaan? Halm asked. They were cared for well at the shelter, Selectman Kathleen Corbet told Hearst. Those dogs were treated with tremendous care and compassion by our New Canaan Police Animal Control and many wonderful volunteers, Corbet said. The dogs were cared for by animal control and volunteers, including members of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), taking shifts from early morning to late evening, Halm said. Local vet Krolikowki said he spoke with a local veterinarian to see whether the town could board animals in his facility if needed, but did not think it was appropriate to share details. He did, however, say that the veterinarian proposed a very reasonable per diem. I dont have a final number. I cant discuss that until I get something in writing. But that could be an option if the shelter isnt working for us, the chief said Other communities have different ways that they impound animals. Darien I believe uses an animal hospital and other communities have their own shelter that might be more up to date than our is. Since 98 percent of the time the animals are at the facility 24 hours or less, do you think this shelter is inadequate for the little time of use this shelter does get? Chairman of the Police Commission Paul Foley asked. Krolikowski said the use of the shelter is adequate, although it is not used for long periods of time or consistently. He said there is room for improvement. I would suggest we continue down that path to get a local vet to shelter and what that would cost, Foley said. I am not in favor of going out and spending a lot of money on something that I dont think is much of a problem we are trying to solve. We certainly want a safe environment for any animal that is there. Problems with shelter Halm raised concerns over the suitability of the shelter. One safety issue is that when dogs do come in and are unclaimed for 24 hours, they have to be hand walked outside. It is a safety risk for me and the dog, she told Hearst. If the dog were to get rambunctious in an unsecured place, the dog could get loose, she added. The animal control officer said she would prefer a safe, secure exercise yard. During the meeting, Halm shared that Director of Public Works Tiger Mann told her there is the potential for a roof issue at any time. Mann said the roof isnt going to wind up on the floor, but instead it will just need to be replaced. The DPW director said he had gotten an $87,000 estimate to replace the roof, and would be able to address the problem quickly if needed. Foley requested Mann provide numbers on the roof. The building has envelope issues, Mann said. A building envelope separates the interior from outside elements. He also said the windows may need to be sealed better. The repurposed incinerator doesnt have the installation, so it can get quite cold in the winter time, the chief of police said. But the good news is the heating that was added is working quite well and adequate for this purpose right at this moment, Krolikowski said.There certainly were some improvements recently over the last couple of months, with heating being added by the town and some other improvements that make it more functional and adequate. Not everyone considers the present shelter a concern. When the topic was discussed in 2019, then-Selectman Kit Devereaux toured the facility and said it was adequate. A year later, Corbet toured the facility. While there is always opportunity for improvement, the current facility provided sufficient shelter for the emergency needs of the rescued puppies and adult dogs, Corbet told Hearst. As the town bodies consider the future plans of all of our facilities I support a well-planned proposal of animal control options. Corbet, who said her family has had dogs, a rabbit and leopard geckos, also said, If any of our pets were somehow in need of emergency care, we would be grateful for the temporary shelter under the Animal Control officers oversight and volunteer care. Other alternatives The white house in Kiwanis Park has been discussed as an new animal shelter. It was suggested that park may be able to accommodate a dog run. As far as Kiwanis (Park), I did visit it, Halm said. It may be in a flood zone, which she said would be inappropriate. She is waiting for more information. Moynihan said Stamford Mayor David Martin is considering building a new animal control center and wanted to know if Darien First Selectman Jayme Stevenson and he wanted to share it. Moynihan did not like the location under consideration. I dont think the police officers would want to drive to south Stamford by their transfer station or our residents to go down there to pick up their dogs, Moynihan said. If he put it in Springdale it might be worth talking about, the first selectman added. Lee Universitys Symphonic Band will present its spring concert on Tuesday, March 2, at 7:30 p.m. in the Conn Center, under the direction of Dr. Mark Bailey, professor of music. The program will feature classic music from the concert band repertoire such as Sousa, Curnow, and Reed, as well as worship selections that feature all of the Symphonic Bands musicians. The Symphonic Band is excited to perform our spring worship concert that we have worked on since returning to campus in January, said Dr. Bailey. Because of the need to rehearse and perform utilizing CDC guidelines, it has been a challenging semester. We have been committed to keeping the members of the ensemble safe, while still producing music that represents excellence in musicianship as well as sincere and heartfelt worship that the ensemble has come to be known for. Officials said the Lee Symphonic Band has developed a reputation as an outstanding performance ensemble that combines superior musicianship with a true sensitivity to the use of music as a vehicle to minister the gospel of Jesus Christ. The ensemble has given numerous students in the past 30 years the opportunity to utilize their talents in playing musical instruments to the glory of God. According to Dr. Bailey, several former members are now leading ministers of worship in churches across the United States and are also successful high school and/or middle school band directors, as well as professional musicians. The 2021 Symphonic Band is made up of 44 musicians divided into winds, percussion, rhythm, and a vocal ensemble. Several of these students are former all-state and/or all-regional band participants in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, and Tennessee. Most of the students in this ensemble have received academic scholarship awards for excellence in the classroom and excellence in performance on their various instruments. Dr. Bailey has conducted Symphonic Band for the past 30 years. He also teaches undergraduate and graduate course work in music education, music theory, and conducting. "We hope everyone will be able to listen to these student musicians as they use their musical expertise to honor and glorify God and sense the presence of the Holy Spirit, as the intent of the ensemble is to magnify Christ both in our talents, attitudes, lifestyles, and musical performance, said Dr. Bailey. The concert is free and open to the public, though due to limited seating, tickets will be required. It will also be livestreamed on Lees website for those unable to attend in person and can be viewed at https://livestream.com/leeu. Tickets can be reserved at //showclix.com/event/symphonic-band-spring-concert. For more information, call 614-8240 or email music@leeuniversity.edu. Hes the storytelling powerhouse whose addictive TV hits have included Ally McBeal, Mr Mercedes and Big Little Lies. David E Kelley is regarded as the most prolific writer/producer in small screen history. But even by his own standards Big Sky might be one of his most twisty and surprising series yet. Kelleys latest set to be a weapon in Disneys plan to expand its Disney+ digital platform with the addition of Star. Starring Katheryn Winnick, Big Sky centres around three private detectives searching for two sisters who are missing, feared abducted, in remote Montana. But as they unearth evidence, they discover theyre not the only girls who have disappeared in the area. The show will debut on Star, the new entertainment brand coming to Disney+ from Tuesday, February 23. For Katheryn Winnicks detective Jenny Hoyt, its even more complicated - she discovers her colleague and friend (Kylie Bunbury) is secretly dating her estranged husband (Ryan Philippe). The Canadian actress came to Big Sky from Vikings, History Channels international hit filmed in Co Wicklow, after living and working here for almost seven years. I came off Vikings and Michael Hirst has been such a god to me in in a lot of ways, because he's been my creator for seven years and wrote every episode on Vikings. So it's really tough to sign on to another series and and put your character in someone else's hands. But it's David E Kelly. He has such a history of writing these crazy characters that are dark and twisted and vulnerable at the same time and strong women." Winnick says the first case is about finding the missing girls, but as the series progresses, other cases arise. "And that's what makes the show really interesting - it feels like a little movie within each series of episodes. Kelley created the series after becoming a fan of the series of books by CJ Box, according to Winnick. He has a great taste in material and that's what Big Sky is based on. I think as we're finding our way, you will see more of the grittiness and the rawness, you'll see that evolve as the series goes on. The series began filming in Canada in August as first-wave lockdown restrictions eased and the TV industry found safe ways of getting back to work in a world starved of new storytelling. We shoot this in Vancouver and we've shot straight through. It was on the air after post production within three weeks - so its a very, very tight schedule. And COVID is challenging, I'm not gonna lie to you, it is extremely challenging to shoot under these conditions. Katheryn Winnick as Lagertha in Vikings, filmed in Ireland. Not only do you have masks and face shields, but the connection that you feel sometimes, that you need as an actor to connect with your fellow actors or crew members or people that put on makeup or eyelashes on you, it adds an extra barrier that makes it challenging to get through." After starting production back in August, Winnick is proud to say they've got this far without a positive Covid case on set. At the sound of this interviewers East Cork tones, Winnick interjects: I miss that accent! After all, she spent seven years in Ireland filming Vikings on location in Wicklow, where she played the feisty warrior Lagertha. Not only was it one of the best filming experiences of her life, she said, it afforded her the opportunity to direct an episode of the show. She will also get to do some directorial work on Big Sky. It felt like family there and getting a role like Lagertha, evolving with her and making her with Michael Hirst was such a blessing. Most people in their entire lives as an actor don't ever get a chance to even have a crack at something like that. I would have never been able to be in the position I was in as a director without the help of the Irish crew. They worked tirelessly, they helped me out on their days off, they put in extra hours all to help me succeed as a director. No one works harder and no one is more efficient and nobody makes you smile as much as the Ireland crew. I miss Ireland. I actually miss the rain. I cant believe I actually am saying that. Star power: Other highlights on the new Disney+ brand Star launches on Disney+ on Tuesday, February 23, with hundreds of established films and TV series as well as four original shows. The Star brand is geared towards a more mature audience than some of the other Disney+ material. From February 23rd, the monthly subscription rate for all of Disney+ brands including Star, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic will increase to 8.99 per month or 89.90 a year. If you subscribe before that date, the current subscription rate of 6.99 per month applies. Pricing for existing subscribers will not increase until the first bill after 22/08/21. As well as detective series Big Sky, Star Originals available from launch include: Love, Victor From the makers of breakout hit Love, Simon and inspired by that film, this series centres on high-school student Victor as he navigates lifes growing pains including challenges at home and adjusting to a new city. When he starts to feel overwhelmed, he reaches out to Simon to help him navigate teenage lifes ups and downs. Solar Opposites This eight-part animated series focuses on a group of four aliens who are forced to escape their own planet and crash land into their new home in suburban America. Two of them hate the place, while two love humans and planet Earths fun stuff. Helstrom A ten-part live-action series, Helstrom tells the story of the son and daughter of a mysterious and powerful serial killer and their complicated relationship. Star will also feature dozens of TV series including Atlanta, Ugly Betty, How I Met Your Mother and Sons of Anarchy. Feature films available from launch date will include Yorgos Lanthimos darkly funny The Favourite, which won Olivia Colman an Oscar, and Wes Andersons Grand Budapest Hotel. Over the next few years, Disney plans to release at least 50 new originals directly to the platform, including Marvel and Star Wars series and live-action and animation series from both Disney and Pixar. H.T.T., 55, a teacher at Tran Nguyen Han High School in northern Hai Phong City was fined VND10 million ($434) for her false medical declaration that impeded the effort to prevent COVID-19, said leaders of the Le Chan District Peoples Committee under the city. It was revealed that she had traveled to Hai Duong Province, a COVID-19 epicenter in northern Vietnam, which she did not disclose in her compulsory medical declaration. After the revelation, Nguyen Van Tung, chairman of the Hai Phong Peoples Committee and head of the municipal Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, ordered the leader of Le Chan District to levy the highest administration penalty on T. The Hai Phong leader also required the citys Department of Education and Training to reprimand T. for her action. Even if she tests negative for COVID-19, T. will also be investigated and prosecuted by police officers. Based on the extent of her violation, the Le Chan District Peoples Committee decided to fine T. VND10 million for failure to comply with epidemic prevention measures as prescribed by relevant authorities. The teacher was ordered to quarantine at an official facility while paying the costs associated. Leaders of the Hai Phong Department of Education and Training told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that they are waiting for T.'s test result and will form a disciplinary committee to determine punishment for the teacher after she comes out of quarantine. Authorities of An Duong District in Hai Phong had levied a VND10 million fine on P.T.S., a local woman, for her false medical report. S. is a staff member of Yazaki Haiphong Vietnam Ltd., said the management board of Hai Phong Economic Zone. A contact tracing effort of local authorities revealed that S. had traveled to Hai Duong with her husband and children on February 12 to visit her parents, yet returned to work on February 17 and 18 without submitting a health declaration or informing her employer about her time in an outbreak site. Hai Duong Province has recorded over 620 local COVID-19 infections since January 27, with five major clusters in Chi Linh City, Cam Giang District, Kinh Mon Town, Nam Sach District, and Hai Duong City. A 15-day social distancing period began in the province on February 16. As of Tuesday morning, Vietnam has documented 2,395 COVID-19 cases, with 1,717 having recovered and 35 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Former Unisys Federal leader picks emerging small business as his next chapter Venkatapathi PV Puvvada has found his landing spot 11 months after not joining his Unisys Federal compatriots when that business was acquired by Science Applications International Corp. in March 2020. Puvvada will join small business NetImpact Strategies Inc. as their new CEO. Founder and now-former CEO Kavita Kalatur remains chairman. When I spoke with Puvvada and Kalutar about the news on Monday my questions focused on why NetImpact for Puvvada, but just as importantly why Kalutar was looking for a different leader for the company she founded in 2009 and has grown to more than $50 million in annual revenue. Puvvada had plenty of other choices after many years at Unisys Federal that culminated in its $1.2 billion acquisition by SAIC. Hes known across the industry, winning four Federal 100 awards from our sibling publication FCW as well being active in industry organizations such as the Professional Services Council and the Industry Advisory Council. I had a lot of conversations and a lot of choices but there were two things that were guide posts for me, Puvvada said. He wanted an entrepreneurial setting and a company willing to take risks that can disrupt the market. At NetImpact, Puvvada says he found a company with deep skills around digital transformation. It has a mastering of the technologies -- artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotic process automation. But more importantly, it focuses on the cultural and human impact that those technologies can have. A lot of companies do digital transformation from a technology perspective but NetImpact has really focused around mission, strategy consulting, Puvvada said. The ability to put together technology offerings with the domain expertise in terms of mission outcomes makes it more meaningful for the customer than just technology cost savings. Kalutar sees her company reaching a crossroads of sorts as it moves out of the small business category and into the full-and-open world of the middle tier. They have started competing there and as theyve looked for more opportunities, she began building the infrastructure needed in human resources and bid and proposal. In 2020, the company hired Chad Sheridan as chief innovation officer. He set up our innovation group and is building those forward-learning partnerships and building out the capabilities that will give us differentiation, she said. Bringing Puvvada on board is another big step in building the companys infrastructure and capabilities, she said. As we were getting to the threshold of the middle market, we started looking at what else do we need to do to keep this momentum going, Kalutar said. We needed a leader who sees our vision and can help us accelerate it and bring it to market faster than we could through experimentation. Who better than PV? Stepping back from the CEO role did not require adjusting her ego, however. She's also always pushed the philosophy that the best idea wins. I think every founder-run company has to grapple with that but first, this company doesnt have my name on it. It was always envisioned to be about bringing impact and doing it the best way possible, Kalatar said. It can be my idea, somebody elses idea. Weve worked very hard to build that culture, she added. That approach has created a culture of collaboration, including how it works with customers. Kavita has done a very good job of build this comradery and the quality of the people that has attracted is just amazing, Puvvada said. As chair, Kalatar will focus on strategy and direction as well as the go-to-market approach, while Puvvada will focus on operations. But both described their working relationship as a collaboration because that is the way Kalatar has always run the company. Given his reputation and track record, Puvvada had choices and larger companies beckoned. But NetImpact had the culture, people and leadership that matched what he was looking for. It isnt about the size of the company as much as its about the quality and the potential that it brings, and the vision, he said. Its a perfect trifecta. NEW DELHI : India added 3,239 megawatt (MW) solar capacity in 2020, down 56 per cent from the previous year, according to a report. The adding of 3,239 MW of solar capacity was the lowest addition in five-years-time, Mercom India Research said in its report on Tuesday. "India added 3.2 GW or 3,239 MW of solar capacity in 2020, a 56 per cent decline year-over-year (YoY) compared to 7,346 MW installed in 2019," it said adding the country's total solar installed capacity was at 39 GW gigawatt (GW) as of December 2020. The large-scale solar projects accounted for 78 per cent of installations with 2,520 MW, registering a 60 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) decline. The addition of the remaining 719 MW rooftop installations was also down 22 per cent compared to the installation in 2019. Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat were the top three states for large-scale solar capacity additions, representing around 51 per cent of 2020 installations. "India's solar installations in 2020 were the lowest in five years. While other top solar markets in the world have experienced positive growth, India, which had one of the most stringent lockdowns in response to the pandemic, took a while to get back up and running. However, we expect the industry to experience significant positive growth in 2021," said Raj Prabhu, Chief Executive Officer of Mercom Capital Group. According to the report, besides COVID-19, another significant bottleneck in the market has been the difficulty facing government agencies to get distribution companies (DISCOMs) to sign power sale agreements (PSA). This has left about 17-18 GW of projects without a PSA. Other short-term challenges included the rise in module prices, increased shipping and freight charges in the range of 500 per cent-800 per cent, and a surge in raw material costs. "As a result, the average large-scale solar project costs increased slightly by 2 per cent quarter-over-quarter (q-o-q) in Q4 (October-November) 2020. However, project costs were 2.5 per cent lower compared to the same quarter in 2019," according to the report. On its outlook for 2021, the report said it expects the industry to experience positive growth in 2021. Mercom India Research is forecasting over 10 GW of solar installations in 2021. The rooftop solar market is experiencing a turnaround, with installations improving significantly over the second half of the year. Fourth-quarter was the strongest for rooftop installations, and the report predicts momentum to continue into Q1 (January-March) 2021. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. A New Jersey correctional police sergeant who was supposed to video record the forced removal of inmates from their cells at New Jerseys womens prison faces criminal accusations that he helped cover up a coordinated beatdown. Sgt. Matthew D. Faschan is the fourth officer at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility to face criminal charges in a widening probe into the Jan. 11 incident, during which prisoners say they were maced, punched and kicked while handcuffed. Faschan, 33, of Hackettstown, faces two counts of official misconduct and one count of records tampering, according to state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal. Faschan could not be reached at listed numbers. His attorney did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. The incident at the center of the probe was the removal of multiple inmates from a special wing of the prison known as the Restorative Housing Unit, or RHU. Such removals require oversight, including a video recording. Charging documents allege that Faschan purposely did not record key portions of the extractions, including the removal of an inmate who immediately complied but nonetheless was punched multiple times. A criminal complaint alleges Faschan later submitted an official report that stated he recorded the woman inflicting injuries upon herself. No such video exists, the attorney generals office said Tuesday. Two other sergeants Amir E. Bethea and Anthony J. Valvano as well as an officer, Luis A. Garcia, have already been charged for their alleged roles in the beatdown. State prosecutors say their investigation was hindered by officers and other prison officials who engaged in a coverup. Despite officers filing false reports and failing to properly videotape all of the cell extractions that took place, as required by Department of Corrections policies, we will not be deterred from identifying all of those responsible for these assaults, said Thomas Eicher, the head of the state Office of Public Integrity and Accountability, which is leading the probe. The prison, located in Hunterdon County, has a record of physical and sexual abuse and exploitation of inmates by prison staff and currently faces a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice over widespread civil rights violations. The January incident has led to demands for the ouster of state Corrections Commissioner Marcus Hicks, including a bipartisan vote in the state Senate calling for his removal last week. Gov. Phil Murphy has said he was sickened by the allegations and commissioned an independent investigation into the January extractions but has said little about potential reforms. Adrian Ellison, the president of the prison systems internal investigators union, FOP 174, previously told NJ Advance Media that the Special Investigations Division used to be in charge of recording cell extractions. That would put people in the frame of mind that you had some independent oversight, he said. And the video was not just to protect inmates, but to protect the officer, too. If the inmate did something wrong, it would be documented. That power was taken away from internal investigators for budgetary reasons, Ellison said. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. NJ Advance Media staff writer Blake Nelson contributed to this report. S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Joe Atmonavage may be reached at jatmonavage@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips. Blog Archive May 2021 (77) April 2021 (77) March 2021 (82) February 2021 (68) January 2021 (64) December 2020 (67) November 2020 (66) October 2020 (66) September 2020 (67) August 2020 (74) July 2020 (83) June 2020 (92) May 2020 (86) April 2020 (104) March 2020 (105) February 2020 (74) January 2020 (75) December 2019 (75) November 2019 (70) October 2019 (89) September 2019 (69) August 2019 (81) July 2019 (77) June 2019 (73) May 2019 (110) April 2019 (110) March 2019 (102) February 2019 (85) January 2019 (123) December 2018 (116) November 2018 (112) October 2018 (121) September 2018 (107) August 2018 (150) July 2018 (163) June 2018 (190) May 2018 (145) April 2018 (112) March 2018 (124) February 2018 (113) January 2018 (164) December 2017 (150) November 2017 (144) October 2017 (169) September 2017 (171) August 2017 (135) July 2017 (131) June 2017 (147) May 2017 (160) April 2017 (138) March 2017 (156) February 2017 (143) January 2017 (203) December 2016 (208) November 2016 (185) October 2016 (173) September 2016 (194) August 2016 (232) July 2016 (225) June 2016 (238) May 2016 (231) April 2016 (215) March 2016 (246) February 2016 (226) January 2016 (252) December 2015 (230) November 2015 (250) October 2015 (234) September 2015 (222) August 2015 (253) July 2015 (275) June 2015 (279) May 2015 (223) April 2015 (226) March 2015 (243) February 2015 (258) January 2015 (281) December 2014 (292) November 2014 (296) October 2014 (413) September 2014 (472) August 2014 (506) July 2014 (483) June 2014 (488) May 2014 (512) April 2014 (497) March 2014 (531) February 2014 (482) January 2014 (535) December 2013 (482) November 2013 (441) October 2013 (416) September 2013 (491) August 2013 (521) July 2013 (491) June 2013 (470) May 2013 (457) April 2013 (426) March 2013 (420) February 2013 (414) January 2013 (489) December 2012 (433) November 2012 (504) October 2012 (469) September 2012 (430) August 2012 (427) July 2012 (360) June 2012 (336) May 2012 (362) April 2012 (322) March 2012 (263) February 2012 (224) January 2012 (291) December 2011 (295) November 2011 (325) October 2011 (330) September 2011 (319) August 2011 (333) July 2011 (318) June 2011 (387) May 2011 (373) April 2011 (389) March 2011 (375) February 2011 (335) January 2011 (400) December 2010 (445) November 2010 (395) October 2010 (312) September 2010 (262) August 2010 (277) July 2010 (323) June 2010 (386) May 2010 (360) April 2010 (333) March 2010 (351) February 2010 (336) January 2010 (384) December 2009 (353) November 2009 (300) October 2009 (308) September 2009 (350) August 2009 (298) July 2009 (255) June 2009 (203) May 2009 (193) April 2009 (186) March 2009 (197) February 2009 (173) January 2009 (148) December 2008 (181) November 2008 (197) October 2008 (236) September 2008 (304) August 2008 (314) July 2008 (273) June 2008 (27) May 2008 (1) April 2008 (6) October 2007 (1) May 2007 (1) April 2007 (6) March 2007 (2) February 2007 (1) October 2006 (1) September 2006 (1) August 2006 (4) July 2006 (4) June 2006 (1) July 2005 (1) May 2005 (2) March 2005 (1) June 2004 (2) May 2004 (1) April 2004 (4) March 2004 (2) February 2004 (2) July 2003 (2) June 2003 (5) New Delhi, Feb 23 : The JEE mains examination have commenced from Tuesday. This is the first time that JEE examinations are being conducted under the country's new education policy. Under the new education policy, this time round, students are also appearing for the JEE mains examinations in Telugu, Tamil, Punjabi, Urdu, Odia, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Assamese and Gujarati languages, besides English and Hindi. For the first time, students have got an opportunity to appear for exams in 13 Indian languages. These examinations are being conducted only in computer-based test CBDT mode. The National Testing Agency (NTA) has set up 852 examination centres across the country. During the examination held in September, 660 examination centres had been set up. 6,61,761 lakh candidates are appearing for this coveted computer-based entrance exam. Online examination for BE and B.Tech will be conducted in two shifts from February 24th to 26th. According to the National Testing Agency, the examination centre is also being fully sanitised between the two shifts. In the examination centres, face masks and sanitiser have been provided for students. The body temperature of students will also be checked with thermal guns before going to the examination centre. According to Vineet Joshi, Director General, National Testing Agency, all state governments and the police have appealed for a safe transport facility for students keeping in view the examination. The guidelines of the Union Health Ministry to prevent Coronavirus infections are being strictly followed. Students have been called to the examination centres two hours before the exam. The distance between two computers and between students will be maintained during the examination. The NTA has also conducted mock drills at the examination centres on Monday before the examination. "In view of the Corona epidemic, the eligibility criteria for obtaining 75 percentage points in class XII for admission to IITs this year has been done away with," said Sadhana Parashar, senior examination director of the National Examination Agency, which is conducting the JEE examinations. (Natural News) Beginning in the 1980s, Americas food supply started to undergo some serious changes. A few large agribusiness companies began gobbling up the little guys, which we were told would make food cheaper and more abundant. The reality 40 years later is that more Americans are food insecure than ever before. According to 2019 data from the Department of Agriculture (USDA), more than 35 million people living in the United States did not have reliable access to affordable, nutritious food that year. This figure skyrocketed even higher once the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) hit. Because only a handful of large companies control the foods we all eat, price fixing has become a problem. Corporate leaders in collusion with one another jack up prices behind closed doors, and only a select few of them ever get caught and the problem is only getting worse the more the food industry consolidates. Consolidation has placed key decisions about our nations food system in the hands of a few large companies, giving them outsized influence to lobby policymakers, direct food and industry research and influence media coverage, write Philip H. Howard and Mary Hendrickson for The Defender. These corporations also have enormous power to make decisions about what food is produced how, where and by whom, and who gets to eat it. Weve tracked this trend across the globe. Some of the largest among them are retailer Walmart, food processor Nestle, and seed and chemical giant Bayer. Did coronavirus put the final nail in the coffin of Americas food supply, or is there still hope? This seed-to-table model of corporate control ensures that the oligarchs make all the decisions about who eats and how much they eat. It also gives a select few the ability to pull the levers and decide who does not eat. Many subsidiary firms often are controlled by one parent corporation and engage in contract packing, in which a single processing plant produces identical foods that are then sold under dozens of different brands including labels that compete directly against each other, Howard and Hendrickson further explain. With consolidation, large supermarket chains have closed many urban and rural stores. This process has left numerous communities with limited food selections and high prices especially neighborhoods with many low-income, Black or Latino households. According to Feeding America, as many as 50 million Americans, including 17 million children, are victims of this consolidated control over food. During the first half of 2020 when the Chinese virus really started to make headlines, demand at food banks grew by more than 48 percent. At the same time, supply chain disruptions caused farmers to dump milk down the drain, leave produce rotting in fields, and euthanize livestock that could not be processed at slaughterhouses all because of restrictions that were imposed as a result of the WuFlu. We estimate that between March and May of 2020, farmers disposed of somewhere between 300,000 and 800,000 hogs and 2 million chickens more than 30,000 tons of meat, reports The Defender. The reason why the amount of food waste was so dramatic has everything to do with consolidation. Because only a few companies control the process, the shutdown of one major slaughterhouse, packing plant, or field has a much greater impact than if these food production resources were diversified into more hands. In our view, a resilient food system that feeds everyone can be achieved only through a more equitable distribution of power, the report adds. This in turn will require action in areas ranging from contract law and antitrust policy to workers rights and economic development. Farmers, workers, elected officials and communities will have to work together to fashion alternatives and change policies. To keep up with the latest news about the funneling of all control over food into the hands of a wealthy few, visit Tyranny.news. Sources for this article include: ChildrensHealthDefense.org NaturalNews.com Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov delivered a speech at the High-Level Segment of the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council, according to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. I would like to congratulate Ambassador Nazhat Shameem Khan on her appointment as the President of the Human Rights Council and wish her every success in her upcoming endeavors, Bayramov said. Our session takes place in a time when the COVID-19 continues to pose a major challenge to humanity, the Azerbaijani foreign minister added. Azerbaijan immediately responded to the pandemic and implemented effective containment measures to halt the spread of COVID-19 by adopting human rights-based approach to ensuing socio-economic problems. Azerbaijan did not confine its efforts to domestic achievements, Bayramov said. The Government of Azerbaijan has donated $5 million to the World Health Organization in support of global efforts and additional $5 million in its capacity as the Chair of NAM to support the most affected NAM countries. Azerbaijan has also provided urgent humanitarian aid to more than 30 affected countries on a bilateral basis. The special session of the UN General Assembly on COVID-19 convened upon the initiative of the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan, in his capacity as the incumbent Chair of NAM, on December 3-4, 2020 reaffirmed the importance of coordinated global response based on unity, multilateral cooperation, solidarity and respect for human rights, Bayramov said. The international community needs to act now in solidarity, not only to respond to the ongoing health crisis, but also to build a just and sustainable future, Bayramov said. The president of Azerbaijan, in this regard, expressed his serious concern over unequal and unfair distribution of vaccines against COVID-19 between developing and developed countries. Using this opportunity we call on all states, international organizations, international donor community, vaccine producers and other stakeholders to ensure affordable, unhindered, timely and equitable access by all countries to the vaccines against COVID-19. Strengthening democracy and protection of human rights are among top priorities of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the minister added. The ongoing reforms carried out in the country encompass wide range of activities, including the recent initiation of dialogue with political parties, support to the development of media, creating better conditions for people with disabilities, empowerment of women and youth, widening the scope of transparent and efficient public service delivery. In order to support the important work of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Azerbaijan regularly makes and will continue to make financial contributions to the OHCHR. We recognize the important role of the special procedure mandate holders of the Human Rights Council in promoting human rights through cooperation and dialogue with Member States. Therefore we have extended standing invitation to all mandate holders, he said. The 2021 has been proclaimed as the International Year of Peace and Trust by the relevant UNGA resolution, the minister said. This year will also be remarkable for Azerbaijan since it enters into post-conflict recovery and rehabilitation phase following the liberation of its territories from almost 30 years lasting occupation. Having exploited the political settlement process, as well as Azerbaijans commitment to this process for almost 30 years, Armenia took consistent steps to consolidate the results of occupation of territories of Azerbaijan aiming at their annexation, Bayramov said. This included, among others, settling people in the occupied lands, destruction, pillage and looting of historical and cultural heritage, illegal exploitation of natural resources, misappropriation of private and public property in the seized lands. Series of grave crimes have been committed by Armenia against the civilian population of Azerbaijan, as well as its cultural heritage and infrastructure throughout the years of occupation. The minister then reminded about the recent aggression by Armenia starting from 27 September 2020 against Azerbaijan. For this purpose Armenia deliberately attacked the densely populated civilian settlements of Azerbaijan located far from the conflict zone, as a result of which 101 civilians were killed more than 400 were seriously injured, Bayramov said. There have also been undeniable facts depicting a number of human rights violations by Armenian servicemen against Azerbaijani captives, including acts of humiliation and ill-treatment, such as physical assault, verbal abuse, executions through beheadings, and ill-treatment of dead bodies. Azerbaijan is determined to take all measures stemming from its rights under relevant bilateral and multilateral mechanisms to bring the perpetrators of those crimes to justice, the minister said. Armenia in an open attempt to cover-up its above-mentioned wrongdoings, brazenly accuses Azerbaijan of the same with a view to diverting the attention of the international community, and to that end carries out a massive campaign of fake news, Bayramov said. UN human rights mechanisms, including the OHCHR, treaty bodies and mandate holders have also been subjected by Armenia to its fake propaganda. According to him, Baku believes that the international community led by the UN will be able to play an important role in supporting the implementation of the Trilateral Statement, which aims to restore good-neighborly relations in the region. The protection covers a class of bovine adrenal medulla (BAM) peptides linked to certain lipids that OKYOs scientists think may have therapeutic potential OKYO Pharma Limited ( ) has been issued with a US patent for a potential new type of non-opioid analgesic being developed to treat symptoms of neuropathic pain, ocular pain, ocular inflammation and/or dry eye disease. The protection covers a class of bovine adrenal medulla (BAM) peptides linked to certain lipids that OKYOs scientists think may have therapeutic potential. Chief executive, Dr Gary Jacob, said his team believe the lipid anchor component of the molecule is the secret sauce of the formulation. He added that the plan was to file an investigational new drug application with the US Food & Drug Administration for a BAM candidate as we move through 2021. "The publication of this patent on our BAM-lipidated analogues provides key IP protection crucial for bringing forward a candidate from this class into the clinic," Jacob told investors. "It is important to recognize that the novel element of these drug candidates is the lipid anchor component of the molecule which we believe is the 'secret sauce' in seeing a pharmacologic benefit in the environment of the eye where tearing and other physiologic phenomena normally work against the effectiveness of drugs due to washout. With the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 surpassing the 500,000 mark this week, Gov. Ned Lamont on Monday announced that flags would fly at half-staff across the state. The directive, which covers national as well as state flags, lasts through Friday, according to the announcement. Accordingly, since no flag should fly higher than the U.S. flag, all other flags, including state, municipal, corporate, or otherwise, should also be lowered during this same duration of time, a release from the state reads. President Joe Biden issued a proclamation Monday ordering U.S. flags to be at half-staff across the country and other locations in recognition of the more than half a million American deaths since the start of the pandemic. The state wrote in the announcement that Lamonts directive was in accordance with Bidens. This is an incredibly tragic period in history as this global pandemic has taken the lives of so many mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends, and loved ones, Lamont said in a release. My heart is with everyone who has lost somebody they love. I urge every resident of Connecticut to take some time and say a prayer for the lives weve lost, and for those who are currently battling this disease. According to state data, Connecticut has had 7,562 COVID-related deaths and a cumulative 275,334 confirmed and probable cases. My family, like countless families across the state and across the country, have felt the pain and anguish that comes with the devastating loss of a loved one, friend, neighbor, or co-worker. I send my deepest sympathies to all who have lost someone to this virus, said Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz in the release. Let us honor their memories by recommitting ourselves to protecting the health and safety of one another. Please help us save lives by wearing a mask, staying safe while staying at home, and getting vaccinated when eligible. A collaborative team consisting of Purdue biomedical engineers and clinicians from IU has tissue-engineered component tissue replacements that support reconstruction of the larynx. (Stock image) WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. New technology from Purdue University and Indiana University School of Medicine innovators may one day help patients who suffer devastating vocal injuries from surgery on the larynx. A collaborative team consisting of Purdue biomedical engineers and clinicians from IU has tissue-engineered component tissue replacements that support reconstruction of the larynx. The teams work is published in The Laryngoscope. The larynx is a very complex human organ consisting of outer cartilage for structural support, inner muscle that contracts to permit voicing, swallowing, and breathing, and inner vibratory lining. Currently, thousands of patients each year with laryngeal cancer or trauma require a procedure called total laryngectomy in which the entire larynx is removed, and patients are left without a human voice and breathing through a hole in their neck called a stoma. There are very few options for laryngeal reconstruction and no options for restoration of laryngeal appearance, structure and function, said Stacey Halum, a fellowship-trained laryngologist specializing in head and neck surgery. While surgeons occasionally use local or free tissue transfers to repair laryngeal defects, these local or regional tissues just plug holes or close the defects without really restoring function because the transferred tissues are not dynamic they do not move or contract. They also tend to lose bulk and scar over time. Halum, along with Sherry Harbin, a professor in Purdues Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, led the innovation team. The innovators used a patented collagen polymer developed by Harbins lab to fabricate the three regenerative replacement tissues for the laryngeal reconstruction procedure. Our approach is unique in that we are using customized engineered tissue replacements, with the muscle component fabricated using the patients own muscle progenitor cells, Harbin said. We believe these engineering approaches will provide patients with better options for reconstruction so that total laryngectomies become something of the past. Harbin and Halum believe the technology has widespread applications for custom fabrication of engineered tissue replacements for tissue restoration in other parts of the body. Harbin founded GeniPhys, a Purdue startup focused on the commercialization of the collagen polymer technology. Halum is an associate professor in the IU School of Medicine Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery who has an adjunct appointment in Purdues Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and sees patients at the IU Health Voice Center in Carmel, Indiana. The project is funded by the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. The innovators worked with the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization to patent the technology. The researchers are looking for partners to continue developing and commercializing their technology. For more information on licensing and other opportunities, contact Sherry Harbin at harbins@purdue.edu. About Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization The Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university's academic activities through commercializing, licensing and protecting Purdue intellectual property. The office is located in the Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration in Discovery Park District, adjacent to the Purdue campus. In fiscal year 2020, the office reported 148 deals finalized with 225 technologies signed, 408 disclosures received and 180 issued U.S. patents. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2019 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Place from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. In 2020, IPWatchdog Institute ranked Purdue third nationally in startup creation and in the top 20 for patents. The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Contact otcip@prf.org for more information. About Purdue University Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to todays toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 5 Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at purdue.edu. Writer: Chris Adam, cladam@prf.org Source: Sherry Harbin, harbins@purdue.edu 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. Following an uptick in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans throughout the Bay Area, the California Legislature on Monday approved $1.4 million in funding to go toward tracking cases in an effort to ultimately stop them. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic nearly a year ago, an uptick in racist and xenophobic attacks against Asian Americans have been reported throughout the Bay Area and the nation, indicating an alarming trend. Just within the last two months, several violent cases have been reported in the region, including an unprovoked attack earlier this month in San Francisco that resulted in the death of 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee, a Thai American man. The new funding was secured by Assemblymember Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, who also serves as chair of the Assembly Budget Committee. The funding is part of Assembly Bill 85, a fiscal measure intended to provide more resources as part of the state's COVID-19 response. "The rise in hate incidents against Asian Americans during the pandemic is alarming. But we can't solve a problem without knowing how big it is. New state funding allows the data gathering to continue, and the research will ultimately lead us to solutions that will make all communities safer," Ting said in a statement. "The history of the Asian American Pacific Islander community in the U.S. has been punctuated by times of racism and hate including the Chinese Exclusion Act, the unjust incarceration of Japanese Americas in World War II, the murder of Vincent Chin, hate crimes against Sikhs after 9/11, and most recently, attacks and murder of API seniors incited by racist rhetoric about the COVID pandemic," said Dr. Richard Pan, chair of the California Asian and Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus. Last year, an initiative launched by the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council, Chinese for Affirmative Action and the Asian American Studies Department at San Francisco State University began tracking cases involving hate, violence, harassment, discrimination and bullying toward Asian Americans. The initiative, called Stop AAPI Hate, logged more than 2,800 incidents nationwide in 2020. About 1,200 of the incidents occurred in California, according to the data. The measure still needs to be signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Copyright 2021 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Australias second most senior defence officer has personally urged the top member of Myanmars military to respect democracy and release an Australian professor from detention. In the first conversation between senior officials of either nation since the military coup earlier this month, Vice Chief of the Australian Defence Force, David Johnston, and Deputy Commander-in Chief of the Myanmar military, Soe Win, spoke over the phone on Monday. Myanmars coup leader Aung Hlaing, left, with Vice Senior General Soe Win. Credit:AP The move shows that Australia is prepared to maintain top levels of dialogue with the Mynmar junta despite the military coup, particularly through its own military. Myanmars military declared a year-long state of emergency on February 1 after it detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup that has ended a fraught 10-year journey to democracy. OTTAWA - The parliamentary budget office says it could cost the federal government up to $15 billion to compensate First Nations families and children impacted by the child welfare system, as well as denials or delays of essential services. A woman and child walk down a street in the northern Ontario First Nations reserve in Attawapiskat, Ont., on Monday, April 16, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette OTTAWA - The parliamentary budget office says it could cost the federal government up to $15 billion to compensate First Nations families and children impacted by the child welfare system, as well as denials or delays of essential services. The figure updates the budget office's initial estimate to include thousands more children, parents and grandparents who would qualify for the $40,000 payments under recent developments in the case. Jordan's Principle requires governments to cover the cost of services for First Nations children, and work out any disputes over jurisdiction afterwards. The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has ordered the government to compensate children and families who had been denied service, or faced delays. The updated report adds roughly 100,000 more First Nations children, along with their parents and grandparents, whose compensation would alone be about $10 billion. The new estimate of about $15 billion includes the 13,000 children originally expected to be eligible for compensation, mostly related to delayed approval of claims, as well as those taken into care unnecessarily, and their families. NDP MP Charlie Angus said the high cost of compensating First Nations children and families is a result of the government's refusal to negotiate a solution with them after the human rights tribunal found Canada guilty of systemic discriminations against Indigenous children in 2016. Angus said the new report shows that the cost would have been between $2.2 billion and $4.5 billion if the government began negotiating in good faith. "The real cost has been paid in the lives of Indigenous children on reserves across this country," Angus said Tuesday. The tribunal ordered the government in September 2019 to pay $40,000 to every First Nations child who since 2006 was inappropriately removed from their home, and pay the same amount to their parents or caregiver. The same amount, which is the maximum the tribunal can award, was also ordered for children who faced denials or delays of basic services like medical care. At the time, the Assembly of First Nations estimated that 54,000 children and their parents could receive compensation, for a bill of at least $2 billion. Budget officer Yves Giroux's report pegs those figures far higher, but warns estimates are uncertain because of data limitations. In November, a tribunal ruling expanded the scope of its order to allow First Nations to decide whether a particular child is entitled to federally funded services, not just the federal government under the Indian Act. Ottawa announced before Christmas it would seek a judicial review of the decision. Angus said the government has used numerous arguments against the tribunal's rulings that ensure justice for Indigenous children. "They've used jurisdiction. They've attacked the Human Rights Tribunal. They said that the costs would be outrageously high," he said. "The Human Rights Tribunal ruling is a watershed moment in Canadian history, and there's no going back from that." A spokeswoman for Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller said the department is committed to "move quickly" to compensate First Nations children and families harmed by the underfunding of child and family services in the past. "We are also firmly committed to undertaking the work necessary to reform Child and Family Services in Canada to ensure that the best interest of the child prevails and that this new system is one that respects First Nations right to self-determination," Vanessa Adams said in a statement Tuesday evening. Adams said the department is working with First Nations partners, provinces, and territories to reform to guarantee full implementation of Jordans Principle. The recent developments flow back to a 2016 ruling from the tribunal that found the federal government at fault for not providing funding on-reserve for child welfare services equal to provincial payments for those living in urban and rural settings. The government subsequently broadened its definition of Jordan's Principle, named for Jordan River Anderson, a boy from Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba. He spent five years in hospital while the Manitoba and federal governments argued over which level of government needed to pay for his care in a special home. The PBO report notes that more than 594,000 claims under Jordan's Principle were approved between July 2016 and April 2020. Crunching the numbers, the budget office said that amounts to one claim per person for each of the approximately 375,000 First Nations children living on- and off-reserve, as well as those who became adults over that almost four-year period. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 23, 2021. This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship. Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabei said Tehran plans to increase the local production of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine to 40 million doses per year. It will be possible after the joint pharmaceutical company of Iran and Russia starts working. Recently, Iran and Russia have reached an agreement to establish joint production of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine. Rabei said the operation of the enterprise is expected to start within a month. At the same time, the Gamaleya Center, which developed Sputnik V, will participate in the joint venture. "It is expected that the production capacity will exceed 40 million doses of the vaccine," RIA Novosti cited him as saying. by Shafique Khokhar At the ceremony commemorating the centennial of the Nankana massacre, Pakistans Anti-Narcotics minister claims that Pakistan respects and protects non-Muslims whilst India commits atrocities against them. Activists and clergymen are dismissive of such claims. Rev Bashir cites a long list of abuses, from sexual assault to false accusations of blasphemy. Lahore (AsiaNews) Pakistan's Anti-Narcotics Minister Ijaz Shah spoke recently at the centennial of the Saka Nankana or Nankana massacre. His controversial speech sparked outrage. At the ceremony held last Sunday in Nankana Sahib, Lahore (Punjab), the politician said that all minorities in the country are respected and protected, while in India they are the subject of atrocities. This elicited an immediate response from some prominent individuals, including some Christians, who cited many examples of violations, evidence that minorities are protected only on paper. The minister spoke at an event marking the centenary of the Nankana massacre, an anniversary that brought many Sikh pilgrims from across Pakistan and also abroad. The anniversary commemorates the killing of more than 260 Sikhs, some as young as seven, at the hands of the last Udasi Custodian, Mahant Narayan Das, and his mercenaries when the area was still part of British India. The three-day observance coincided with the birthday of Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism, which was celebrated in the presence of politicians, religious leaders, minority representatives, activists and worshippers gathered in Nankana Sahib. Addressing those present, the Anti-Narcotics Minister said that good treatment of minorities is one of the obligations of the Islamic religion and the white colour in our national flag represents minorities. Guru Nanak, he added, taught the lesson of peace and love to people. Mr Shah also noted that the Baba Guru Nanak University was under construction, and that it would bring an educational revolution in the area, paid entirely by the Pakistani government. The minister's celebratory words raised concern, even outrage, in many representatives of religious minorities who say that it is false to say that religious minorities enjoy full respect in Pakistan. For Rev Javed Bashir, a pastor with the Voice of Christ Pentecostal Church in Karachi, Ijaz Shah's words are contrary to reality because not only Christians, but all minorities face a difficult situation that is getting worse day to day. Let us pray for the leaders and authorities of our country, that they may bring true peace and prosperity to our nation, the Christian leader said. We are concerned about the future of our young people and it remains essential to educate children. Citing a recent report by International Christian Concern, Rev Bashir noted that non-Muslims are at critical moment, subjected to many abuses and acts of violence. The report, he points out, documents at least 38 episodes of persecution that include discrimination, sexual assaults, kidnappings, forced conversions, forced marriages, spurious accusations of blasphemy, and even murder. Do you exercise? For a long time, I followed this advice was it something I read somewhere? that said walk where you would have ridden a bicycle and ride a bike where you would have driven a car. I rode my bike all over Manhattan, even in winter. At one point, when the art world wasnt paying much attention to me, I added swimming and started to take that very seriously, swimming four days a week and doing somewhere between a 45- and 50-minute mile. Id go up to this place in the 40s with an Olympic-size pool. Anything smaller is hard for me because I spend too much time turning. And, well, Im still coasting on all of that. What are you reading? I dont read as much as I would like to I kind of read when my computer is backing up. But I have a library that never has fewer than about 3,000 volumes. I have to prune it from time to time, because I dont have space for any more. Since Ive been in New York, Ive completely turned the library over around three times. Ive just done a really wonderful retooling that should take me to the end of whatever is left. Right now, Im reading How Long til Black Future Month? (2018) by N. K. Jemisin. Shes the biggest thing in science fiction at the moment, and shes Black. Also, her father was one of the male artists in my piece Rivers, First Draft (1982) and helped build the props. Whats your favorite artwork (by someone else)? The first one that comes to mind is Adrian Pipers Food for the Spirit (1971). Though for a while I taught on the Futurists, Dadaists and Surrealists, and I think that, together, that is still my favorite art movement. Not very many people would ever have thought it would sort of be the only one to make it out of the 20th century alive. But I knew that what it had to offer was permanent because it was complete. For a while I taught a different course on the poetry of Baudelaire and Rimbaud. One was an expressionist Surrealist and the other was an impressionist Dadaist, but those arent just names of schools of art-making. They are tendencies of the human mind, and you cant stay on either side forever. Now we have an art world in which the two tendencies are equally validated. And I have a practice, I think, that has room for both. This interview has been edited and condensed. A number of rocket attacks hit a military base hosting NATO forces in Iraq, a few days after the alliance said it would send more 3,500 boots to the country in view of increasing the fight against the Islamic state group (ISIS). Three foreign contracted personnel, reports Saturday said, were injured when three rockets struck the Balad Air Base in the Salahaddin province, north of the capital Baghdad. The Iraqi government did not comment on the incident. The attacks came a few days after the NATO defense ministers agreed to send more 3,500 troops to the existing 400 NATO forces in Iraq. The additional soldiers will help ramp up the fight against ISIS which recently claimed responsibility for a number of attacks. Iraq is still reeling with attacks from the terror group which was defeated in 2017 after it seized large swaths of the territory in 2014. Below Deck charter guest Delores Flora may have unseated Timothy Sykes for being the worst charter guest for Captain Lee Rosbach. Andy Bohn, Alexis Bellino, Captain Lee Rosbach, Kate Chastain, Courtney Skippon |Karolina Wojtasik/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank Indeed Rosbach has had some doozies on his boat. From the group of guests he booted for bringing illegal drugs on their vacation to a slew of extremely inebriated guests like Brandy Bock Tott from last season. Rosbach and his crew have been through the wringer just about every season. Captain Lee may now just have a worst guest collection Sykes will always be at the top of Rosbachs worst list when he whined about the WiFi but then cut the crews tip in front of Rosbach because of the food. It was when Timothy Sykes took back some of the tip, 5K after he had already handed it to me and said he was taking some back because his 19yr old girlfriend didnt like her dinner after he ordered it for her, Rosbach replied to a fans question in 2018 about the worst charter guest. Of course, this remark was pre-Brandy Bock Tott and Delores Flora. Bock Tott was in the group of charter guests during season 7. She had to be transported off of the beach during a picnic because she was too drunk. Rosbach also called a physician because he was concerned about her. The doctor basically told Bock Tott to lay off the booze. Some people I either cant or wont tolerate, Rosbach told Decider last year. If I really dont like you, Ill make sure you have a great time on your charter but I still dont like you. Like, lets use Brandy for an example. RELATED: Captain Lee and Kate Chastain from Below Deck Say This Charter Guest Was Worst Behaved I dont know what she was on but it was something, he added. There was no way you could spin that to say that that was a good look for her or anyone else. I thought it was rather pathetic. This season Flora is another drunk guest Rosbach had to deal with, but Flora was instead defiant. She jumped into the ocean after dark when Rosbach warned against it. He kicked her off the boat the next day. These Below Deck guests get worst honorable mentions Rosbachs first group of Below Deck guests unceremoniously departed when stew Kat Held found illegal drugs in their cabin. While they irritated Rosbach and the crew, they certainly werent the worst. Other memorable guests include the group of Florida State University alums during season 7. The primary sexually harassed stew Simone Mashile until chief stew Kate Chastain moved Mashile off service. He not only creeped on Mashile, but they also left a meh tip. RELATED: This Below Deck Charter Guest Was Captain Lees Second Most Irritating Another guest from the same season accompanied the Charleston, South Carolina crew. The guest pouted about the room arrangements, which meant one of the women in their party had to sleep on a couch. When Rosbach found out, he gave the woman his quarters, but he was steamed at the guest who dug in her heels about the room arrangement. A memorably worst guest, mainly for the crew, was Krystal Murphy from season 6. Murphy was on a girls trip but screamed at her friends and then passed out on the aft deck. When the crew tried to wake her she screamed at them too. Chief stew Kate Chastain was ready to wake her up by spraying her with a hose. These guests certainly arent the only worst guests on Below Deck. But they are definitely stand-outs. UPDATE: Dillon Smith was sentenced to nine years jail on March 23, 2021. A young woman who was ambushed and sexually assaulted as she walked to her car after finishing work at a Northbridge nightclub suffered every womans worst nightmare, a Perth court has heard. Dillon Smith, 27, approached the woman, aged in her 20s, about 4.20am on January 25 last year and repeatedly punched her in the face after she refused to give him money. Dillon Smith was due to be sentenced in the District Court on Tuesday. Credit:Emma Young The woman was dragged into a car park on Aberdeen Street and subjected to a degrading and violent sexual assault by Smith before three men nearby heard her screams and confronted the offender. DENVER (AP) All Rebecca Hayes wanted were some bagels from Rosenbergs. But when got into her 2007 Prius on recently, the usual silence of an electric vehicle was replaced by what sounded like a Harley-Davidson. I came out in the morning. and pressed the `on button and it just roared, Hayes said. It scared the crap out of me. The Denver resident realized almost immediately that her catalytic converter had been stolen. The emissions-control device was torn out from underneath her car, and police say such thefts are surging in the Denver area and across the nation. Denver has seen a 1,600% year-over-year increase in catalytic-converter thefts during the pandemic. In 2019, residents reported 15 thefts of catalytic converters, according to data from the Denver Police Department. In 2020, 257 were reported stolen. And just in January of this year, another 108 catalytic converters were reported stolen nearly half of last years total. The parts can be sold for a few hundred dollars apiece, but can cost vehicle owners more than $1,000 to replace, police said. A similar surge happened during the 2008 recession, said Denver Urban Autocare service adviser Zach Bazylak. Now just as then, he said, people need money and thievery is their practice of choice. Catalytic converters are made with three valuable metals: platinum, palladium and rhodium. When people steal the parts, they often sell them for scrap, Bazylak said. Lakewood police Cmdr. Mike Greenwell, head of Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authoritys Metropolitan Auto Theft Task Force, said the price for precious metals is sky high, adding that all metals are expensive right now, even aluminum. Greenwell said he did not have figures on how many catalytic converters have been stolen metro-wide, and noted its hard to pinpoint the true number of such thefts because people dont always report them. They know there isnt much the police can do about it and they just need their vehicle fixed, Greenwell said. Police, though, still do encourage people to report thefts of the parts, which help reduce emissions that come out of a cars exhaust. Catalytic converters are on every vehicle thats purchased, Bazylak said. In Colorado, in order to register a vehicle, you have good catalytic converters that allow you to pass emissions. In 2018, Colorado adopted California-style emission vehicle standards to help reduce greenhouse gas output by more than 26% by 2025, according to an executive order by previous Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. Catalytic converters help with this effort by converting over 90% of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides from the engine into less harmful carbon dioxide, nitrogen and water vapor. Bazylak said thieves often steal from cars with working catalytic converters, but sell the piece as junk, as the parts cannot typically be placed back onto another car unless its be someone certified to do so. The brand new ones are more expensive because they have to meet certain requirements, whereas the used ones have been on cars for a long time, Bazylak said. Usually when theyre sold as a junk part, thats just it, theyre junk. While the price for selling a catalytic converter is no more than $300 depending on size, the repair costs are significantly higher. A typical replacement is around $1,500, but it can range anywhere from $1,000 to $2,500 or more depending on the car. With 45 minutes of work, if I can get $300 thats pretty good pay, Greenwell said. Its because of that high replacement price that Hayes believes her 14-year-old car, which has 154,000 miles on it, to be totaled. It was really humbling I would say for that to happen and just realize how quickly something can completely change your life, Hayes said. I just parked on the same street Ive been parking on for three years. It only takes thieves about five to 10 minutes to steal a catalytic converter if they have the right tools and enough space to get underneath the vehicle. And if the owner does not have comprehensive coverage on their car, insurance will not cover repairs. Additionally, it may not be just that piece missing. Thieves could potentially do more damage. However, its up to the individual if they choose to file a claim or not, said Carole Walker, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Association, which does not track the number of catalytic converter claims. Hayes said it seems like a free-for-all on catalytic converters. I keep telling people, its because we have it so easy as Prius owners because theyre objectively fantastic cars and have very little mechanical issues, so this is just karma, she said. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Its muscular body shape and large pectoral fins are perfect for long-distance travel, yet movement patterns of the whitespotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari) remain a mystery. Researchers from Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in collaboration with Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium, the University of Florida and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, are the first to conduct a multiyear study examining large-scale movements of whitespotted eagle rays in United States waters. Between 2016 and 2018, scientists fitted 54 rays with acoustic transmitters and tracked them using collaborative acoustic telemetry networks. The rays were tagged along both the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coasts of Florida, which differ in environmental characteristics. Scientists compared rays' movement patterns between the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and gathered data on migratory routes, seasonality and habitat use. Their findings suggest that potential sub-population structuring may be occurring within Florida more than previously thought and have significant conservation and adaptive management implications for this protected species. Results of the study, published in the journal Marine Biology, reveal striking differences in travel patterns on the Atlantic coast compared to the Gulf coast. The majority of Gulf coast whitespotted eagle rays preferred to "spread their wings," exhibiting migratory and transient behaviors, while most Atlantic coast tagged rays were "homebodies" and remained a resident within the Indian River Lagoon. Atlantic coast rays spent greater than five times the amount of time inshore, regardless of maturity or sex, than Gulf coast rays. "Although tagged at similar latitudes, whitespotted eagle rays exhibited coastline-specific movements. The rays on the Gulf coast conduct repetitive annual migration patterns, heading south from Sarasota starting in fall and returning to the area in early spring," said Breanna DeGroot, M.S., first author and research coordinator, FAU Harbor Branch. DeGroot worked on the study with co-author Matt Ajemian, Ph.D., principal investigator, an assistant research professor at FAU Harbor Branch and head of the Fisheries Ecology and Conservation (FEC) Lab, who supervised the study. "This behavior is likely driven by a combination of environmental factors, but most notably temperature. In addition, the expansive, shallow shelf on the Gulf coast may provide additional habitat, enabling rays to move over larger distances along nearshore migratory corridors and lessen their reliance on inshore estuaries," said Ajemian. On both coastlines, water temperatures during times when rays were present were significantly warmer (at least 27.8 degrees Celsius) compared to temperatures when rays were absent (below 24.9 degrees Celsius), suggesting it may be a major abiotic factor influencing migration patterns. Ontogenetic shifts in habitat use were evident along the Atlantic coast in the Indian River Lagoon, but not along the Gulf coast. Immature rays spent significantly more time (about 91.5 percent) inside the Indian River Lagoon compared to mature counterparts (about 60.2 percent). "Most of the rays we tagged on Florida's Atlantic coast resided in the same area where they were originally tagged, which increases their susceptibility to local stressors like persistent environmental impacts in the Indian River Lagoon," said DeGroot. "Moreover, immature rays spent a significantly larger proportion of time inside the confines of the lagoon. This is especially disconcerting because we found no evidence of neonate or young-of-the-year rays leaving the lagoon throughout the entire three-year study." The consistent presence of rays in the Indian River Lagoon throughout the study suggests that it serves as parturition grounds and nursery habitat for rays. As males and females were equally resident to the Sebastian portion of the Indian River Lagoon, this area is likely an important feeding ground, nursery habitat, mating location, pupping ground, or serves a combination of these roles. "This information about year-round or seasonal residency and longer distance migrations would not be possible without the collaborative data sharing of the acoustic telemetry networks such as iTAG and the FACT Network," said Kim Bassos-Hull, M.Sc., co-author and senior biologist with Mote Marine Lab's Sharks & Rays Conservation Research Program. According to Ajemian, there is a need for a better understanding of how extreme weather events such as hurricanes and fluctuations in environmental factors such as red tide and harmful algal blooms may impact ecologically important large-bodied mesopredators like the whitespotted eagle ray, because the frequency of these events is predicted to increase yet the potential alterations on the ecosystem remain unknown. "This is a critical issue that requires increased tracking infrastructure and new analytical approaches," said Susan Lowerre-Barbieri, Ph.D., co-author, University of Florida and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, who led an iTAG workshop on this topic. Study co-authors are Krystan A. Wilkinson, Ph.D., Mote Marine Lab's Sharks & Rays Conservation Research Program and the Chicago Zoological Society's Sarasota Dolphin Research Program; and Gregg R. Poulakis, Ph.D., Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "I'm looking forward to adding more pieces to the eagle ray puzzle in the coming years as these animals get detected for years to come along both coasts of the state and beyond," said Poulakis. ### Rays were tagged using handling permits: Gulf coast, FWC SAL-16-1140-SRP; Atlantic coast, FWC SAL-16-1785-SRP. This work was funded by the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, Vero Beach Rotary Club, Indian River Graduate Research Fellowship (2017, 2018), "3-min Thesis Award," Specialty License Plate (Save Our Seas) fund administered by the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Foundation, Mote Scientific Foundation, Georgia Aquarium, and the NOAA-NMFS Species Recovery Grants to States (Section 6 Program). - FAU - About Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute: Founded in 1971, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University is a research community of marine scientists, engineers, educators and other professionals focused on Ocean Science for a Better World. The institute drives innovation in ocean engineering, at-sea operations, drug discovery and biotechnology from the oceans, coastal ecology and conservation, marine mammal research and conservation, aquaculture, ocean observing systems and marine education. For more information, visit http://www. fau. edu/ hboi . About Florida Atlantic University: AstraZeneca expects to deliver less than half the Covid-19 vaccines it was contracted to supply the European Union in the second quarter. The expected shortfall, which has not previously been reported, comes after a big reduction in supplies in the first quarter and could hit the EU's ability to meet its target of vaccinating 70pc of adults by the summer. An EU official, who is directly involved in talks with the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker, said the company had told the bloc during internal meetings that it "would deliver less than 90 million doses in the second quarter". Read More AstraZeneca's contract with the EU, which was leaked last week, showed the company had committed to delivering 180 million doses to the 27-nation bloc in the second quarter. "Because we are working incredibly hard to increase the productivity of our EU supply chain, and doing everything possible to make use of our global supply chain, we are hopeful that we will be able to bring our deliveries closer in line with the advance purchase agreement," a spokesman for AstraZeneca said, declining to comment on specific figures. A spokesman for the European Commission, which coordinates talks with vaccine manufacturers, said it could not comment on the discussions as they were confidential. He said the EU should have more than enough shots to hit its vaccination targets if the expected and agreed deliveries from other suppliers are met, regardless of the situation with AstraZeneca. The EU official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, confirmed AstraZeneca planned to deliver about 40 million doses in the first quarter, again less than half the 90 million shots it was supposed to supply. AstraZeneca warned the EU in January that it would fall short of its first-quarter commitments due to production issues. It was also due to deliver 30 million doses in the last quarter of 2020 but did not supply any shots last year as its vaccine had yet to be approved by the EU. All told, AstraZeneca's total supply to the EU could be about 130 million doses by the end of June, well below the 300 million it committed to deliver to the bloc by then. The EU has also faced delays in deliveries of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech as well as Moderna's shot. So far they are the only vaccines approved for use by the EU's drug regulator. AstraZeneca's vaccine was authorised in late January and some EU member states such as Hungary are also using Covid-19 shots developed in China and Russia. While drugmakers developed Covid-19 vaccines at breakneck speed, many have struggled with manufacturing delays due to complex production processes, limited facilities and bottlenecks in the supply of vaccine ingredients. According to a German health ministry document dated February 22, AstraZeneca is forecast to make up all of the shortfalls in deliveries by the end of September. The document seen by Reuters shows Germany expects to receive 34 million doses in the third quarter, taking its total to 56 million shots, which is in line with its full share of the 300 million doses AstraZeneca is due to supply to the EU. The German health ministry was not immediately available for a comment. If AstraZeneca does ramp up its output in the third quarter, that could help the EU meet its vaccination target, though the EU official said the bloc's negotiators were wary because the company had not clarified where the extra doses would come from. "Closing the gap in supplies in the third quarter might be unrealistic," the official said, adding that figures on deliveries had been changed by the company many times. The EU contracts stipulates that AstraZeneca will commit to its "best reasonable efforts" to deliver by a set timetable. "We are continuously revising our delivery schedule and informing the European Commission on a weekly basis of our plans to bring more vaccines to Europe," the AstraZeneca spokesman said. Under the EU contract leaked last week, AstraZeneca committed to producing vaccines for the bloc at two plants in the United Kingdom, one in Belgium and one in the Netherlands. However, the company is not currently exporting vaccines made in the United Kingdom, in line with its separate contract with the British government, EU officials said. AstraZeneca also has vaccine plants in other sites around the world and it has told the EU it could provide more doses from its global supply chain, including from India and the United States, an EU official told Reuters last week. Earlier this month, AstraZeneca said it expected to make more than 200 million doses per month globally by April, double February's level, as it works to expand global capacity and productivity. A state appeals court has refused to void the 2- to 5-year prison sentence of a central Pennsylvania woman convicted of torturing her 11-year-old stepdaughter so severely the child was left in mortal fear of her. In an opinion by President Judge Emeritus Correale F. Stevens, the Superior Court panel rejected Jodie Hudson-Greenlys claim that she didnt receive a fair trial because a Lancaster County judge allowed the child to testify by closed-circuit TV because the child was terrified of being in the same courtroom with her. Hudson Greenly, 45, and her husband, Kenneth Greenly III, were convicted in 2019 on charges of child endangerment, conspiracy and simple assault. Susquehanna Regional Police said the Marietta couple had put the girl through a weekend straight out of Hell in the spring of 2018. Jodie Hudson-Greenly Investigators said the two beat the child with a belt, bruising her entire back, buttocks and thighs. The forced her to stand for long periods with her back to the wall and her knees bent at a 90-degree angle. They placed a pot beneath her while she was in that position in case she needed to urinate. The pair also took the child outside and poured water over her head and refused to feed her or let her sleep, police said. Hudson-Greenly sole issue on appeal to the state courts concerned the county judges decision to allow the child to testify outside the courtroom. Hudson-Greenly, who sought a new trial, argued that violated her right to confront her accuser. No, it didnt, Stevens concluded. He noted that state law that allows such remote testimony to spare child victims added trauma in especially brutal cases. County Judge Margaret C. Miller made the correct call in this case, Stevens found. He cited Millers observation that the child, who had been adopted by another family, trembled at the mere prospect of having to see Hudson-Greenly in the courtroom. Furthermore, the child stated that the prospect of seeing (the Greenlys) face-to-face scares her and makes her nervous because she is afraid they will do something to her again, Miller wrote. That evidence clearly supports a finding that (Hudson-Greenlys) presence would have caused serious emotional distress and impaired the victims ability to communicate in the courtroom, Stevens concluded. He also found that Hudson-Greenly provided nothing to back her claim that she was prejudiced by the allowance of the closed-circuit testimony. Hudson-Greenlys husband also is serving a 2- to 4-year jail term. The forestry sector is vulnerable to Brexit fallout as Britain traditionally takes in excess of 40pc of Irish saw-mill output The full impact on Brexit for the Irish food sector will become apparent in the medium term rather than over the next six to 12 months, the Teagasc Outlook 2021 report has cautioned. While transport and other logistical issues have caused serious disruption to EU-UK trade since January, the Teagasc analysis states that competition is likely to become the focus of attention for Irish exporters once Britain begins to sign trade deals with Third Country suppliers. Over the medium term the preferential market access enjoyed by Irish and EU exports to the UK is likely to be reduced as the UK concludes preferential trade agreements with other Third Countries in particular those which are large exporters of temperate agricultural commodities, the report states. Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. New Delhi: The Ford is all set to launch its new EcoSport 2017 anytime soon. The company will launch it in late September or early October at the time of festive season, confirmed a companys dealer. It will cost around Rs 1 lakh more than the previous variant. However, the deliveries of the new Ford car will start in November only. The price of the outgoing EcoSport is ranged between Rs 7.10 lakh to Rs 10.38 lakh (ex-showroom price). As mentioned above the new EcoSport will cost Rs 1 lakh higher than the outgoing model, hence the new variant will cost between Rs 8 lakh to Rs 11 lakh (ex-showroom price). Its competitors in the Compact-SUV segment will be Mahindra TUV300, Honda WR-V and Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza. Talking about its specifications, it will be powered by 1.5 litre petrol and 1.0 litre EcoBoost petrol engine. In the diesel variant, it will be powered by 1.5 litre engine. Besides this, there will be a 5-speed manual gearbox for standard variant. However, for some variants, there will be an automatic transmission. ALSO READ | Nissan to launch Next-Gen Micra in India in 2019: Report This time, Ford has paid more attention to its looks (interior and exterior both). There will be a redesigned bumper and projector headlamps with LED DRL's. However, tailgate-mounted spare wheel will remain same as the outgoing EcoSport. Ford is aware of the ongoing competition in the Indian market. Thats the reason, the company always comes with different schemes, plans and discounts. Earlier, in the month of May, it gave discounts of up to Rs 30,000 on its compact SUV EcoSport, sedan Aspire and Figo hatchback, to pass on the advantages of new tax rates aheaf of the implementation of Goods and Services Tax in July. The company gave a discount on EcoSport in the range of Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000, which led the price fall between Rs 7.18 lakh and Rs 10.76 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). "We are happy to pass on (to customers) the expected benefits of GST ahead of its actual implementation," Ford India VP Sales Vinay Raina said in May. ALSO READ: Jeep Compass hits Indian roads at Rs 14.95 Lakhs, top model priced Rs 20.65 Lakh Republicans are within a mere six seats of winning control of the House of Representatives, well within striking distance heading into the 2022 mid-term election. It is a disquieting sign of the depths to which discourse in national government has sunk that Democrats will seek to increase their majority by convincing voters that controversial Georgia Congresswoman Marjory Taylor Greene represents her partys governing philosophy. Republicans will use a similar tactic to warn that equally controversial New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a glimpse into the countrys future under Democratic rule. Greenes comments and actions range from the truly offensive (racist tropes, violent rhetoric and promoting QAnon conspiracy theories) to otherworldly lunacy (laser beams from outer space igniting California wildfires). Ocasio-Cortez and her like-minded colleagues were scolded publicly and held responsible for the loss of more than a dozen House seats through their out of mainstream demands defund the police, abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, close prisons, among other things while appearing to side with violent protesters in city after city. House Democrats, in a rare interference in the internal affairs of the opposition party, voted to remove Greene from her assignments on the Education and Labor Committee and Budget Committee. There is no real significance to revoking her committee membership, nor will her absence have any impact on policy issues before either committee. A minority member of an opposition-controlled committee exerts minimal impact on policy. Her loss of membership was designed solely for political influence and partisan advantage, despite being supported by 11 Republicans, by focusing on her incendiary comments as indicative of her partys beliefs. The Democrats loss of 15 House seats in 2020 was seized upon by Republicans as proof their party had been co-opted by far left socialists like Ocasio-Cortez ,whose governing principles are anathema to most Americans. Even a few outspoken Democrats shared that view. House Speaker Nancy Pelosis campaign strategy campaign exclusively as the anti-Trump was badly flawed and her pre-election insistence that Democrats would gain seats embarrassed the party and exaggerated Republican characterizations as a band of wild-eyed socialists. Pelosi, though, denied reality, pronounced the election and her partys losses as a victory and claimed President Biden had received a mandate from the American people. While House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was pressured to unilaterally remove Greene from her committee assignments, he chose to permit the Republican caucus to decide, based on his belief that permitting Democrats to dictate Republican committee assignments constituted a surrender of party prerogatives. Greenes apology for her actions some of which occurred prior to her election to Congress and disavowal of the more egregious conspiracy theories she once espoused came across as more obligatory than genuine. Ocasio-Cortez has established a pattern of conduct centered on an obsession with weighing in largely on social media on every issue every day. She relishes Twitter combat with anyone from House colleagues to Senators to corporate and business leaders. The prominence of Greene and Ocasio-Cortez will provide their respective parties with a weapon utilized with great effect by former President Trump in his relations with the media single out the most outrageous and obnoxious personality and identify him or her as representative of the whole. Republicans believe voters will dismiss Greene as an aberration, an individual of narrow-minded, loathsome views who embraced logic-defying notions of events. They hope that the vision for the country as espoused by Ocasio-Cortez will be seen as a dangerous first step toward democracys downfall. Historically, the party of the incumbent president loses House seats in the first mid-term election a lesson that provides optimism for one side and concern for the other. For Republicans, the striking distance for control of Congress is tantalizingly narrow and for Democrats, its ripe for expansion. That a freshman congresswoman and a two-termer may hold the balance of power in their hands is extraordinary. Carl Golden is a senior contributing analyst with the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University in New Jersey. He can be reached at cgolden1937@gmail. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden participate in a moment of silence at sundown in the South Portico of the White House in Washington, D,C., on Feb. 22, 2021. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) White House Holds Moment of Silence as COVID-19 Deaths Surpass 500,000 President Joe Biden on Monday evening participated in a moment of silence at the White House to honor the 500,000 American lives lost to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. The United States surpassed half a million CCP virus-related deaths on Monday, according to government data collated by Johns Hopkins Universityin a grim milestone that marks almost a year since the outbreak first reached the United States. Today we mark a truly heartbreaking milestone: 500,071 dead, Biden said in an address to the nation. Thats more Americans whove died in one year in this pandemic than in World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War combined. Thats more lives lost to this virus than any other nation on Earth. Joined by First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, the president in his address encouraged Americans to remember the lives of those lost during the pandemic. But as we acknowledge the scale of this mass death in America, we remember each person and the life they lived, he said. We often hear people described as ordinary Americans. Theres no such thing, theres nothing ordinary about them. The people we lost were extraordinary. We ask you to join us to remember, so we can heal; to find purpose in the work ahead; to show that there is light in the darkness, Biden said, before a moment of silence was held at the White House at 6:11 p.m. EST. The flag of the United States at the White House was also flown at half-staff and will remain until sunset on Feb. 26. All U.S. flags on federal properties and military facilities have also been ordered to be flown at half-staff until then. As a nation, we cant accept such a cruel fate. While weve been fighting this pandemic for so long, we have to resist becoming numb to sorrow, Biden said. This nation will smile again. This nation will know sunny days again. This nation will know joy again. And as we do, we will remember each person weve lost, the lives they lived, the loved ones they left behind. We will get through this, I promise you. But my heart aches for youthose of you who are going through it right now, he added. May God bless you all, particularly those who have lost someone. God bless you. The milestone comes as Beijing faces criticism from the White House for not providing the United States with enough data on the virus inside China in 2019 and throughout 2020. We do not believe China has made available sufficient original data into how this pandemic began to spread both in China and then eventually around the world, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told Face the Nation on Feb. 21. CCP officials in early December 2019 knew that the virus had appeared in Wuhan, but sat on the information for six weeks. Party officials arrested those who tried to warn of the danger, accusing them of spreading rumors, and employed the regimes rigorous censorship system to prevent negative media coverage and to delete any mentions of it from social media. Former White House deputy national security adviser Matthew Pottinger under the Trump administration also said on Feb. 21 that the CCP had turned to its military, rather than its health authority, in an attempt to coverup and contain the outbreak. As a result, the United States was unable to obtain any useful data from the CCP during the early stages of the pandemic, he told Face the Nation. The Epoch Times refers to the virus by the name of the party responsible for the policies that saw the deadly virus released on world: the Chinese Communist Party. The legalization of marijuana in New Jersey prompted much rejoicing from locals and people everywhere Monday, plus some envy from our neighbors. (Its) time to celebrate, tweeted North Bergen comedian Joey Diaz after Gov. Phil Murphy signed the three bills that made marijuana legal in the state after New Jerseyans voted in favor of a marijuana ballot question, following years of failed legislative efforts. Im about to smoke a number with Governor Murphy, Diaz said, sharing a photo of some marijuana (he was prepared). Thank you NJ!!!! Its time to celebrate......Im about to smoke a number with Governor Murphy...........Thank you NJ!!!! pic.twitter.com/4WqbHg201s Joey CoCo Diaz (@madflavor) February 22, 2021 Locals heralded the news by turning to some of New Jerseys greatest pop culture contributions. Others, like Diaz, talked about what they planned to do to celebrate. @QuispyBacon marked the moment with a GIF of Montclairs own Stephen Colbert smoking a baguette in the Colbert Report era. It's a very happy #MoaMonday here in NJ as weed is now legal hope everyone is having a good day today pic.twitter.com/TRWtLdqkgK Paul A (@QuispyBacon) February 22, 2021 WEED IS LEGAL IN NEW JERSEY AS OF TODAY!!!!!!!, @wolllard tweeted. Whos trying to celebrate lets go smoke a blunt in front of a police station. WEED IS LEGAL IN NEW JERSEY AS OF TODAY!!!!!!! who's trying to celebrate let's go smoke a blunt in front of a police station Crandis Picklebody (@wolllard) February 22, 2021 Weed is now legal in New Jersey? said Seattles @ninjashoes, sharing a photo of iconic Jersey stoners Jay and Silent Bob. I thought it was always legal there. There was, however, a disappointing dearth of Jay and Silent Bob-themed responses same with Harold and Kumar, the Hoboken roommates who took their weed-fueled quest for White Castle up and down Jersey in 2004. Later, Clerks director Kevin Smith remedied that by delivering a message from the guys themselves. Jay & Silent Bob have asked me to make a statement on their behalf on this historic day, he tweeted. You took away our f---in livelihood! Excuse them. Eventually, theyll be thankful to you and the voters of New Jersey for both legalization and decriminalization. I thank you all too! Weed is now legal in New Jersey? I thought it was always legal there. pic.twitter.com/CzYZ8cQnvU End of Days Radio (@ninjashoes) February 22, 2021 Later, Smith said the cinematic duo would be presiding over their own New Jersey weed store in Clerks III. @4Evashook opted to go with How High star Redman, another homegrown favorite. Weed is legal in New Jersey!!! he tweeted with a congratulatory Redman GIF, lifted from a Cameo session. We did it!!! Weed is legal in New Jersey!!! We did it!!! pic.twitter.com/6c9DCKbO8b 4EverShook (@4Evashook) February 22, 2021 For the record, on Sunday, the eve of legalization, Newarks Redman himself tweeted, WHO ALL SMOKN TONIGHT ?? with a GIF of himself taking a puff alongside Method Man. (Redman knows things.) WHO ALL SMOKN TONIGHT ?? pic.twitter.com/YHsqGmYTkX Redman (@therealredman) February 21, 2021 Comedy Central went with South Oranges Zach Braff seamlessly blending into some aggressively patterned wallpaper. TFW legal weed comes to New Jersey. TFW legal weed comes to New Jersey. pic.twitter.com/VhxnQmgytP comedycentral (@ComedyCentral) February 22, 2021 Weed is legal in NJ as it always should of been, @daynaarneyyy tweeted. Now can I get my money back from Burlington twp police department thanks. Weed is legal in.NJ as it always should of been now can I get my money back from Burlington twp police department thanks 2 daynz (@daynaarneyyy) February 22, 2021 So New Jersey legalizes weed and were all just supposed to finish the workday as if nothing happened??? tweeted Louis Di Paolo, communications director at New Jersey Policy Perspective. So New Jersey legalizes weed and we're all just supposed to finish the workday as if nothing happened??? pic.twitter.com/mPmZC7ysZ5 WEED IS LEGAL IN NEW JERSEY!!! (@L_DiPaolo) February 22, 2021 Put a dispensary on every exit, suggested Jersey City comedian Alex Grubard. The New Jersey governor signed the weed bills. Its done. Put a dispensary on every exit. Almost Grubard (@Alexgrubard) February 22, 2021 The comedian even had an answer to Gov. Murphys green-check checklist about legalizing cannabis for adults and decriminalizing marijuana possession. On Grubards list: Tye Dye everything in my sock drawer. Eat 2 burritos in a row. Get really quiet in the middle of a conversation. Tye Dye everything in my sock drawer. Eat 2 burritos in a row. Get really quiet in the middle of a conversation. https://t.co/NJaqX9EBcz Almost Grubard (@Alexgrubard) February 22, 2021 Then there was the matter of New York were they jealous, or just planning their next trip down the Parkway or across the Hudson? @Parker__Black shared a GIF of a gridlocked highway. The NJ turnpike now that New Yorkers know weed is legal in Jersey, he tweeted. How is New Jersey legalizing weed before New York? @FrankWhyte tweeted. Thats embarrassing. The NJ turnpike now that New Yorkers know weed is legal in Jersey pic.twitter.com/11NT60RC8C The 1st Brokage (@Parker__Black) February 22, 2021 How is New Jersey legalizing weed before New York? Thats embarrassing https://t.co/VQ2mbgenx6 Frankie Fiorello (@FrankWhyte) February 22, 2021 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. A glance at some of the day's highlights from the Proactive Newswire ( ) said it is seeing an improvement in the pace of negotiations with the National Health Service over the use of its Bleepa product. ( ) (OTCQB:WRHLF) said its subsidiary cannabidiol (CBD) brand Love Hemp Limited has submitted its novel food dossier to the UKs Food Standards Agency (FSA). OKYO Pharma Limited ( ) has been issued a patent for a potential new class of non-opioid analgesics being developed to treat symptoms of neuropathic pain, ocular pain, ocular inflammation and/or dry eye disease. ( ) said it has signed an agreement with the University of Glasgow (UOG) to support its privacy risk and compliance (PRC) project by creating a new software product aimed at privacy governance. The AIM-listed firm said it will help to design, market test and build the software, which will ultimately be owned by a newly formed separate UOG spin-off business. ( ) said a 500 tonne sample of pozzolan that was shipped to a large cement and ready-mix company is due to be ground by the end of March and then used in a number of commercial concrete pours. Meanwhile, at the Bakers Gold Project in Australia, Sunrise is moving ahead with plans to drill, with a rig booked for a drill start at the end of March. ( )(USOTC:SMCDY) is beginning a trenching and auger exploration program to investigate the possible presence of extensions of mineralisation up to 1,000 metres to the west of the presently established resource at the Redmoor project in Cornwall. Multiple prospective targets for tin and copper have been identified as a result of a review of historic exploration data to the west of the Redmoor deposit. British Lithium Ltd (PRIVATE:BLL) has embarked on its fourth and largest round of drilling to date. The aim is to define the extent of the lithium carbonate resource already identified in previous exploration work last year. ( ) has announced details of the initial 2021 work programme for the Juri joint venture, including drilling of several targets within the Paterson Range East and Black Hills licences. ( ) has started target testing for its maiden drill programme at the Kalengwa exploration project area in Zambia. The 800m programme at Kalengwa will test the first two priority exploration targets for copper, based on a review of extensive historic exploration datasets ( ) has highlighted that the Merlin-1 exploration well, in the Peregrine project area in Alaska, is due to spud in early March. The well is targeting a prospect thats estimated to host some 645mln barrels of oil. i3 Energy PLC (LON:I3E, ) told investors that production remains predictably stable, averaging 9,150 barrels oil equivalent per day in the period from November 2020 to January 2021. Mosman Oil & Gas Ltd ( ) reported total production of 34,569 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) for the six months to end-December. Of this, 9,871 net boe was attributable to the AIM-listed company. ( )( ) announced that it is expected to qualify for London Stock Exchange's Green Economy Mark at admission. s ( ) chief executive, Doug Doerfler, is presenting to two virtual events next month. On March 1, from 1.20 pm ET, he will address the online audience of Cowen's 41st Annual Health Care Conference. Then it is on the H.C. Wainwright & Co Global Life Sciences Conference on March 9-10. finnCap Group PLC ( ) said it has appointed Oberon Capital, part of the Oberon Investments Group Plc, as joint broker with immediate effect. New Delhi, Feb 23 : The Congress lost its second government in a year after the Puducherry regime fell, following the collapse of the Madhya Pradesh government last year. Both Congress governments fell because of resignation of MLAs which reduced the strength of the party. The Congress has blamed the Union government for misusing agencies and pulling down its elected governments in states. Puducherry Congress in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao told IANS, "The actions of the BJP-ruled central government using agencies such as CBI, I-T department, ED, have threatened, blackmailed and coerced our MLAs." The party alleged that crores of rupees were used in horse trading and to topple its government. "They know that the government worked for the people, despite the obstacles, despite the non-cooperation of the Centre." Gundu Rao said, "the elected government has been destabilised, because of the 'Mafia politics' of BJP, what they have done in different states in India, what they have done in Maharashtra, what they have done in Karnataka, in Rajasthan, in Madhya Pradesh, in northeastern states, what they are doing in West Bengal". He alleged that the BJP has no respect for democracy. Puducherry Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy had resigned on Monday after his Congress-led government collapsed just before facing the floor test in the Assembly. "What is happening in Puducherry now is political prostitution. But the truth will prevail," Narayanasamy had said. He alleged that former Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi and the Centre colluded with the opposition to destabilise his government. After his hard-hitting speech, slamming the Centre for colluding with the opposition to topple his government and arguments over voting rights of three nominated MLAs, the Chief Minister and his MLAs walked out of the House. Congress leader and former General Secretary B.K. Hariprasad had said that "BJP is pulling down governments where they don't get a majority through elections." Antarvedi : , Feb 23 (IANS) Almost six months after a decades-old chariot at the Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Antarvedi in Andhra Pradesh's East Godavari district was gutted in a fire, its government-commissioned replacement and its process has evoked mixed reactions among local devotees. Following the loss, the state government immediately took up the task of building a new chariot at a cost of Rs 1 crore, equipping it with modern features such as hydraulic brakes. "The new chariot's design is really good, compared to the old one. This is more agile and better equipped," devotee Malladi Veera Venkata Satyanarayana (23), who works at a sweet shop in Malkipuram village, told IANS. Satyanarayana, who checked out the new chariot, noted its features, such as its ability to turn in narrow lanes. "The chariot can be elevated by 3 feet. If a wall or some object blocks the chariot, it can be elevated to take sharp turns. I think that the new one is a little taller than the older chariot," he observed. However, in a bittersweet mood, he highlighted that old is gold as the chariot destroyed in the fire was built by the temple's founder Kopanati Krishnama Varma and had its own importance. "The old chariot was made of pure teak wood which is also the case with the new chariot, but I still feel that the old dark-coloured one was better," he said. Tharadi Siva, a 29-year-old electrician, is glad that the 'radham' (chariot) has been arranged in time for the presiding deity's "kalyanostavam" (celestial wedding). "The new chariot is good with all the features. Our feeling is that the government has arranged the new chariot in time for the 'kalyanostavam' without any delay," he said. Admitting to pain at losing the old chariot, he lamented that it cannot be brought back but also said that the new one could be understood as the deity's wish for a new divine vehicle. "Within our hearts, we are content that the deity wishes to go in procession in the new chariot. We are lowly human beings, the Lord knows what he wants, beyond that we cannot do much," he observed. During the auspicious hours (muhurtam) on Monday night, Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy's idol was taken out for the 'kalyanostavam', when the devotees stay awake the whole night and go for a holy dip in the Bay of Bengal before visiting the deity again. As per tradition, in the following day's afternoon, the deity is taken in procession in the chariot till the Gurralakka Temple, believed to be the temple of the deity's elder sister. However, all devotees are not happy at the current state of affairs. Representatives of the Agnikula Kshatriya, the community closely associated with the temple and its founding, allege that "some forces are working overtime" to separate them from the temple's affairs. "We do not have many hopes on the new chariot as the old chariot built by Kopanati Krishnama Varma got burnt and we are being kept away from the temple's affairs by the government," said Chilakalapudi Ravi Kiran, president of Konaseema Agnikula Kshatriya union of the community. Kiran said Varma, a respected man from the community, built the temple as well as the old chariot but now community members from the current generation are being sidelined. He stressed that people who built the temple, its chariot, donated ornaments to the deity and contributed to maintenance and rituals are the rightful people to manage the temple's affairs. Kiran said Varma's family from Vodalarevu donated 1,800 acres of land and priceless jewels to the temple but his descendants are being ignored. "Now this family is not visible to the government or the Endowments Minister. Government is acting in a way to erase the roots of this temple which bear the insignia of Varma and the Agnikula Kshatriya community," he alleged. He accused the government of not involving his community members in efforts to build the new chariot initially, forcing them to fight for their rightful role. "They did not consult us or the temple founder's family members in the tendering but gave away the contract to build the chariot to Brahmaji, from Odisha and based in Hyderabad, despite having many carpenters within our community," Kiran said. Enraged by these developments, he said representatives of the community reached out to the ruling YSRCP's Rajya Sabha member Mopidevi Venkataramana, a person from the same community, to involve them in the chariot rebuilding, which resulted in a small role. "We are not completely satisfied. When the founder family belongs to Kopanati Krishnama Varma, from where did Raja Kalidindi Kumara Satyanarayana Simha Gajapati Raja Bahadur come from? Is he born to the former or his heir? Will they belittle us because our community members do not have assets and material wealth," Kiran asked. Raja Bahadur happens to come from the local Kshatriya community which is more affluent and influential than the Agnikula Kshatriya community. "None of the plaques at the temple identify anybody other than Krishnama Varma, then from where did Raja Bahadur come from to be the representative of the founder family? All of the plaques testify Krishnama Varma built the temple. Why is the government not allowing the heirs of the temple builders to represent the temple?" he demanded. According to Kiran, Kopanati Krishnama Varma's great grandson Kopanati Srinivasa Rao should represent the founder family but not Kalidindi Kumara Rama Goapala Raja, son of Raja Bahadur and current temple chairman, who is wrongfully representing the family. He questioned if the government is getting swayed by the cash-rich Kshatriya community, alleging if they were coming handy during the polls. "Why is the government only using us as a vote bank?" he said. On Monday, as a tribute to the temple founder, his community members took out a motorcycle rally and laid gigantic garlands before the deity as well as Krishnama Varma's portrait. Though his community members are not affluent, Kiran noted that they all could have chipped in to raise the Rs 1 crore needed for the chariot but they did not get the opportunity. (Sharon Thambala can be contacted at thambalasharon@gmail.com) Niklas Astedt Gunning For $2M in GGPoker Super MILLION$ Earnings February 23, 2021 Matthew Pitt The GGPoker Super MILLION$ final table is always a star-studded affair but this latest one, the 37th edition, is right up there with the toughest final table assembled in this event. Super MILLION$ Final Table Chip Counts Place Player Country Chips 1 David Yan New Zealand 5,344,087 2 Yuri Dzivielvski Brazil 3,015,357 3 Niklas Astedt Canada 2,625,266 4 Wiktor Malinowski Macao 2,281,656 5 Timothy Nuter Canada 2,218,861 6 Ferrariman Austria 2,206,012 7 Sam Greenwood Canada 1,981,850 8 Mikita Badziakouski Costa Rica 1,411,901 9 Syntropy Hungary 1,315,010 New Zealands David Yan is in superb form right now, and it is unsurprising to find his name at the top of the chip counts. Yan sits down at the Super MILLION$ final table armed with 5,344,087 chips and enjoys a 2.2 million chip advantage over the rest of the star-studded field. Seventeen of Yans fellow GGPoker players will be cheering on the Kiwi as he attempts to go one better than his runner-up finish on January 24. Yan sold 33.3% of himself at 1.15 markup to 17 investors via the free in-built staking software. Brazilian Yuri Dzivielevski is Yan closest rival when it comes to chips; Dzivielevski sits down with 3,015,357 chips. This is the third time we have seen Dzivielevski at a Super MILLION$ final table, although hes not been in the limelight since September 13 when he finished fifth for $185,350, his best result in this tournament. Watch This Star-Studded Final Table Unfold Who will win this week's Super MILLION$? Find out right here Head to GGPoker's YouTube channel GGPoker Turns Online Poker into a Business with Innovative Staking Feature Astedt On Course For $2 Million in Super MILLION$ Earnings Niklas Astedt hopes this is the Super MILLION$ where he finally gets the monkey off his back and manages to walk away as the victor. The talented Swede has played all but one of the 37 Super MILLION$ tournament to date, has cashed in 16 of those and this is his 10th final table. Astedt has finished second twice in this event, the latest runner-up finish coming on January 3 where he banked $346,104. Finishing fourth today would see Astedts Super MILLION$ earning surpass the $2 million mark, which is nothing short of incredible. High stakes cash game specialist Wiktor Malinowski has reached his first Super MILLION$ final table, although this is his third consecutive in the money finish. Malinowski has cashed six times in this event but has always fallen short of the final table until now. He returns to the fray with 2,281,656 chips and has a realistic chance of becoming the tournaments champion. The last time we saw Canadas Timothy Nuter at a Super MILLION$ final table was back on November 1, 2020. Nuters time under the spotlight was short-lived as he fell in eighth-place and had to make do with a $54,358 payout. The Canadian sits down this evening with 2,218,861 chips, enough for the middle of the pack. Surely hell go deeper than eighth place this time around. Ferrariman Hopes to Turn $1,000 Satellite Into Enough for a Ferrari! Sixth-place Ferrariman of Austria won their Super MILLION$ seat via a $1,000 satellite, so is guaranteed to enjoy a substantial ROI regardless of their finishing position. This is only their second appearance in this mammoth-sized event and their first cash. They may be in sixth-place at the restart, but they have 2,206,012 chips in their arsenal. The chip counts are extremely tight this week, which means anything can happen. Sam Greenwood occupies seventh place right now, courtesy of his 1,981,850 chips. Greenwood is a phenomenal poker tournament player, but its fair to say the Super MILLIONS has been his nemesis tournament. Four cashes from 27 appearances have resulted in $102,240 in winnings. Today marks Greenwoods first final table appearance in this event. Lets hope he makes it count. partypoker-sponsored pro Mikita Badziakouski is another player making his first final appearance in this event. His record in the biggest tournaments speaks for itself, but we know that anything but finishing in first-place isnt good enough for the man from Belarus. Bringing up the rear is Hungarys Syntropy, who only recently joined the site. They have only two previous cashes at GGPoker, both min-cashes in a $210 and $525 bounty events. Syntropy won their Super MILLION$ seat via a $1,000 satellite and are guaranteed at least $56,610 for their efforts. Imagine if the Hungarian went all the way and took down the tournament for $452,885. Battle Against ElkY and Fedor Holz in GGPoker's New Flip & Gos Super MILLION$ Final Table Payouts Place Prize 1 $452,885 2 $349,222 3 $269,287 4 $207,649 5 $160,119 6 $123,468 7 $95,207 8 $73,415 9 $56,610 Win Your Way Into The Next $10,300 Super MILLION$ Tournament Satellites for the next edition of the Super MILLION$ are running at GGPoker right now. Head there and see if you can follow in the footsteps of some of the greatest players in the world and become a GGPoker champion. Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney addresses UN Security Council meeting on Climate Press release The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney T.D., today spoke at a UN Security Council meeting chaired by the United Kingdom on addressing climate related risks to international peace and security. Speaking at an online meeting of the Council, the Minister highlighted how the impacts of climate change can undermine international peace and security and the importance of Security Council engagement on the matter to achieve a more peaceful world. It is clear that climate change is already causing upheaval, affecting peace and security and the stability of societies. [] Irelands core message today is that the inclusion of climate in Security Council discussions and actions will strengthen conflict prevention and support peacebuilding efforts. Minister Coveney outlined the importance of the climate and security agenda to Irelands tenure on the Security Council, noting that as co-chair of the Informal Expert Group on Climate and Security with Niger, Ireland hopes to shape discussions on climate and security at the UN. The Minister explained that Ireland will take a pragmatic approach, working to strengthen climate considerations within peacekeeping operations and ensuring that analysis of the impact on young people, women and girls is included in discussions and decisions. Minister Coveney emphasised the importance of global co-operation on the issue. The worlds response to the climate emergency can also be a cause for hope. The vast majority of UN member States wish to work together to ensure that we address one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced. We can and must work in a way that addresses the threats to global peace and security from climate change, enhancing global cooperation as we do so. ENDS Press Office 23 February Notes to Editors: The meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is one of the signature events of the United Kingdoms Presidency of the Council in the month of February. President Macron of France and US Special Envoy on Climate, John Kerry, also participated along with Heads of Government, Foreign Ministers and Climate Envoys. Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, and Ms. Nisreen Elsaim, youth civil society representative and Chair of the UN Youth Advisory Group, briefed the Council. Sir David Attenborough also delivered opening remarks. The meeting is available to view on UN Web TV: http://webtv.un.org/ Previous Item | Next Item Syracuse, N.Y. -- Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon cannot drive. He cannot email. The 40-year-old cannot even shovel his driveway. McMahon, who has been a constant, calm voice of pandemic response in Central New York for nearly a year, began seeing double when he woke up Feb. 6. A night in the hospital, a battery of tests and several follow-up visits with specialists have ruled out the scariest possibilities, including a stroke or brain tumor. The leading candidate at this point: pandemic stress. Im coming to the conclusion more that it is pandemic-related, McMahon said. When we see what this pandemic has done to the public and the community the human side of things Its tough to tune out. To turn it off. To be honest with you, I cant turn it off. Nearly a year into Covid-19, the county executives front-row seat to others loss, fear and frustration caught up with him, he said. McMahon revealed to Syracuse.com that, even while he jokes, the situation is serious. The nerve in his left eye is damaged and so far, teams of doctors have not been able to nail down a cause. Theres no treatment plan at this point. For an instant he thought about keeping the crisis private, he said. But how could he? People would see him close his eyes in meetings. They would see him squint and stumble, he said. They would hear hes not driving himself. Of course, they would wonder. They would come to their own conclusions. McMahon has been a voice of reason, a delivery system for communal despair when deaths skyrocketed and for hope when the vaccine came online. He had pledged to be transparent about the pandemic response. He had to be transparent about the fallout in his life, too, he said. Weve been a big family in this and families share this type of information, McMahon said. Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon gives the latest statistics locally on the coronavirus infection rates, and vaccinations Feb. 22, 2021. Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com At his briefings, still, he reminds people he is still struggling. I see two Ann Rooneys, he pointed out at a recent briefing, referring to a top aide. He made a joke and moved on. Looking back, McMahon sees where it all started to get bad, he said. For him, the vaccine rollout has been as stressful as the initial shutdown at the beginning of the pandemic, he said. McMahon has no control over the supply and little control over the distribution. And he knows thousands more people want the vaccine than can get it. They call him and leave messages. Every time new slots open, his office is flooded with calls from people who did not make it in. There are thousands of them. People who are desperate for shots. Some are angry, some are worried. Some are just frustrated. McMahon is powerless to help them. As rewarding as the vaccination process has been, its been the most stressful. You have so many people that want it and theres no way to get it to everybody. And that triggers a reaction from the public or extreme frustration and despair, McMahon said. We feel that. Were the face of this. Near the beginning of the vaccine rollout, McMahon started to have back spasms. He couldnt sleep. Usually he sleeps five hours; it became far less, he said. When he was home at night, he was often working the phones with state and federal authorities, trying to get better vaccine access. He didnt feel well when he went to work Feb. 5. It was one of the last times he drove. The sun glinted off the snow and he squinted as he drove down South Salina Street. His vision was funny after that, he said. He thought he just couldnt shake the glare. He told himself he was just run down. He figured hed go to bed and his eyes would be normal when he woke up. He didnt tell anyone how he felt. But when he woke up, he didnt just see that uneasy glare. He saw double. He knew his brother, Tommy, had migraines. Maybe this was that, McMahon thought. He gave him a call. The brothers waited a bit to see if it would turn into a headache, or if his vision cleared up. Neither happened. McMahon told his wife, Caitlin, when she returned from Saturday morning errands. She took him to see his sister-in-law, who is a nurse practitioner. She took his blood pressure, which clocked in at 160 over 120. McMahon had never seen his blood pressure anywhere near that high. Hes never had any serious health problems, he said. McMahon called his doctor, who told him to go Crouse Hospital, immediately. The doctor worried he could be having a stroke. Once there, McMahon lived his own version of the story he has heard so many times. He was alone in the hospital. He was sick. And he was terrified. He had CT scans, an MRI and a spinal tap. Im deathly scared of needles. And I was a pincushion for a weekend, McMahon said, laughing. The tests revealed that there is nerve damage in his left eye, which is making it hard, and sometimes impossible, to move his eye. But there was no indication of what caused it, which is why doctors are eyeing stress as the reason. McMahon has glasses that help bring everything into focus, but they give him a headache if he wears them for long. Sometimes he reads with just one eye. His phone is easier to see than other screens, so hes been able to do some things on that. But mostly, he has to depend on others to do the things he cannot. Justin Sayles, his communications director, has become his driver. McMahon used to answer most of the emails that came to the county executive inbox because he liked to do it. Now, his staff is doing that, too. He had planned to be polishing up his State of the County address by now, but that has to be put off. His vision has gotten a little better. He went for a walk on his street and did OK, he said. But he cannot manage the woods he used to walk to find some peace. The ground is too uneven for the way he sees now. McMahon has been forced to work at a slower pace. If he tries to read too much, he has to lie down until the headache passes. He has found more time to play with Andrew, who is 4. And more time to sit on the couch and binge a show or two with his older kids, Maddie and Jack. But the thing that makes him calm, that reminds him this is all worth it, are the vaccination clinics at the Oncenter. If he has a few minutes on those days, he has someone walk over with him. Then he watches. He reminds himself this is what it is about. Streams of people who have lived in fear and isolation for months line up like theyre waiting for a concert. Nurses who spent months chasing down the paths of Covid-19 infections, instead, dispense a solution. Both of them are smiling, McMahon said. For now, he sees that in double. Marnie Eisenstadt writes about people, public affairs and the Syracuse City School District. Contact her anytime email | Twitter| cell 315-470-2246. Strictly Come Dancing star Motsi Mabuse looked stunning as she showcased her legs in a patterned pink dress on Monday. The judge, 39, displayed her svelte pins as she posed up a storm in an Instagram snap shared with her 461,000 Instagram followers. She looked breathtaking as she struck the ethereal pose and held the corners of her dress out by her side. Elegant: Motsi Mabuse looks stunning as she showcased her legs in a patterned pink dress in an Instagram post on Monday The silk fabric, which was printed with love hearts, split across the front revealing a complementary navy bodysuit underneath. Her waist was cinched with a striped navy and pink belt as she cast her gaze to the ground and lifted one leg up. Motsi's dark locks cascaded across her shoulders in loose waves and she highlighted her beauty with a lick of makeup. Stunning: The Strictly Come Dancing judge, 39, looked as beautiful as ever in her recent post where she said that 'happiness is an expense' (pictured in December 2020) 'Monday motivation': The star shared some wisdom with her followers and added the hashtags 'authenticity' and 'love and light' She captioned the snap: '#mondaymotivation .. As you get comfortable revealing who you are, you help others stop fearing and concealing the magical feelings of who they are. 'Although honesty is said to be the best policy, when it comes to ourselves it is often the hardest. 'Happiness is an expense, it's neither a floating balloon filled with water nor a bucket full of air. It's the breadth of being you in your own breathe.#authenticity #loveandlight'. Last month, Motsi's younger sister Oti Mabuse, 30, revealed that the pandemic meant she didn't see sister for almost a year before their Strictly reunion. Sisters: Oti Mabuse has revealed the tough separation she has faced from her family, including older sister Motsi, during the global coronavirus pandemic The professional explained that before the 2020 series of the BBC dance competition began last Autumn, she hadn't seen Motsi since the final of the 2019 series due to travel restrictions. Oti lives in the UK with her husband Marius Iepure while Motsi is based in Germany with her husband Evgenij Voznyuk and their young daughter. After Motsi flew home following the 2019 Strictly finale, the coronavirus outbreak in early 2020 meant the two sisters were separated until the 2020 series. Speaking on Lorraine, Oti said: 'Actually the last time I had seen my sister was the Strictly final in 2019 and because of the travel bans I couldn't go over to see her on her birthday. 'We usually celebrate together so because of Strictly that was the only family member that I could actually see.' Oti capped off 2020 with her second Strictly Come Dancing win in a row, picking up the Glitterball trophy with her celeb partner, comedian Bill Bailey. Ryan Jarvi 517-599-2746 Attorney General February 23, 2021 LANSING Two men are facing criminal charges for reportedly making threats against public officials in the events leading up to and following the November general election, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced today. Daniel Thompson, 62, formerly of Gregory and now living in Harrison, is charged with three counts of malicious use of service provided by a telecommunications service provider, a six-month misdemeanor and/or a $1,000 fine. The Attorney Generals office alleges that Thompson left threatening messages for U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow on Jan. 5 from Livingston County and made vulgar and threatening remarks in a phone conversation with a member of U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkins office on Jan. 19 from Clare County. A third charge alleges Thompson made another threatening call to Rep. Slotkin from Livingston County on April 30, 2020. The voicemail message for Sen. Stabenow left by Thompson, who identified himself as a Republican, contained vulgar language and threatened violence meant to intimidate the public officials. Thompson stated he was angry about the results of the November election, that he joined a Michigan militia and that there would be violence if the election results were not changed. In an email to Stabenows office, he reiterated the threatening remarks and used vulgar language. Thompson also spoke with a staff member from Congresswoman Slotkins office for more than an hour in which he claimed people will die and used violent references, while also noting events that took place at the Capitol building. The charges against Thompson involving the incident with Sen. Stabenow and an April 2020 call to Rep. Slotkin were filed in Livingston County District Court. The charge involving the second call to Rep. Slotkin was filed in Clare County District Court. Clinton Stewart, 43, of Douglas, Georgia, is charged with one count of malicious use of service provided by a telecommunications service provider, a six-month misdemeanor and/or a $1,000 fine. The Attorney Generals office alleges that on Sept. 18 Stewart left a threatening voicemail message for Michigan Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens in which he accused activist judges of making rulings that favored then presidential candidate Joe Biden to win the election through mail-in ballots. The message was discovered by an employee of Judge Stephens office on Oct. 2, shortly after Stephens ruled in favor of plaintiffs in Michigan Alliance for Retired Americans v Secretary of State. In that ruling, which was ultimately overturned by the Michigan Court of Appeals, Stephens granted plaintiffs request for declaratory and injunctive relief with respect to the receipt deadline for absentee ballots and ballot-handing restrictions that limit who can lawfully possess another voters absentee ballot. The charge against Stewart was filed in Wayne Countys 36th District Court in Detroit. It is unacceptable and illegal to intimidate or threaten public officials, Nessel said. To those who think they can do so by hiding behind a keyboard or phone, we will find you and we will prosecute you, to the fullest extent of the law. No elected official should have to choose between doing their job and staying safe. Arraignments of both defendants remain pending and no additional court dates have been scheduled. ### Their husbands are starring in the latest installment of the Thor franchise. And while actors Chris Hemsworth, 37, and Matt Damon, 50, are away filming scenes in Sydney, best friends Elsa Pataky and Luciana Barroso are making the most of their time together. On Monday, the two enjoyed a girls' day out together in the Hunter Valley with friends. Elsa, 44, shared a video of the women having a 'hat party', where they crafted their own bohemian headwear. 'So much fun doing our own hats together!' the mother-of-three captioned her first post. In her second, the two enjoyed cocktails while chatting and showcasing their craftsmanship skills. The group of eight women then took a selfie as they posed with their gorgeous creations. Cute! Their husbands are starring in the latest installment of the Thor franchise, and while actors Chris Hemsworth and Matt Damon are away filming scenes in Sydney, Elsa Pataky, second from right, and Luciana Barroso, far right, are making the most of their girl time together Mad hatters! On Monday, the two best friends enjoyed a girls' day out together in the Hunter Valley with friends. The group enjoyed a hat making session Girls' day out! In a series of videos to her Instagram Stories, Elsa flaunted the women taking part in a 'hat party', where they crafted their own head pieces 'So much fun doing our own hats together!' Elsa's hat party was hosted by hat designer, Laura Hall, whose label Phylli is popular among the stars In an additional post to Elsa's account, the Spanish actress flaunted her new darker tresses as she posed with her arms around friends. 'Happy to be back together! I missed you!! Who is the new brunette??/ que alegria otra vez juntas. Os he echado de menos! Quien es la nueva morena del grupo??' she captioned the picture. Elsa was joined by two friends and Luciana, 45, to her right, who dazzled in an off-the-shoulder blue and white top. Proud of their work! The group of eight women took a selfie as they posed with their gorgeous creations The mother-of-four wore minimal makeup and her brunette locks to the side in a soft braid. Elsa and Luciana's husbands, Chris and Matt, have been working hard on the set of Thor: Love and Thunder in Sydney. They regularly fly back to Byron Bay via private jet when they are not filming scenes. What started as a solemn debate on a motion in the Senate on Tuesday, soon turned into a chaotic session when Smart Adeyemi (APC, Kogi West) said people of Abia State are governed by drunkards. The lawmaker also called the state governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, a champagne drinking man. He was contributing to a motion on the urgent need for the restoration and revalidation of the Safe School Initiative in Nigeria when he digressed. The motion was sponsored by Stephen Odey (Cross River North). In his motion, Mr Odey noted that the Safe School Initiative launched in 2014 to promote the security and safety of schools, pupils, student, teachers, and facilities has not been effective. He cited the increase in cases of insecurity in the country, with the target at schools in diverse locations as a major factor. The lawmaker referred to the kidnap of the Chibok and Dapchi School Girls in Borno and Yobe States respectively, the Kankara School Boys in Katsina State and, recently, the kidnap of students of Government Science College, Kagara in Rafilga Local Government Area of Niger State, which he said had exposed the unimaginable decadence and dilapidation in the schools in Nigeria drawing inference from the footages from the school environments. A few lawmakers had made their contributions when Mr Adeyemi stood up to make his. Verbal barbs He went on to praise his state governor, Yahaya Bello, for taking serious measures to tackle insecurity. He said while some governors are doing their best, Kogi State is lucky to have a governor who has taken the issue of security as a serious priority. Some governors are committed to the protection of their people, in my state the governor awarded contracts for the renovations of schools and provides security services to them. In some states of Nigeria today, where we have highly intelligent people, highly educated people, very enterprising people. Like Abia, they are governed by drunkards. The governor of Abia is a champagne drinking man. Abia people are impoverished more than ever before. Abia people are unfortunate, he said. He did not elaborate on why he chose to take on the state in his tirade. He was quickly stopped by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, who turned off his (Adeyemi) microphone amidst murmuring in the chamber. The Senate President cautioned Mr Adeyemi against the use of insulting language. The Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe, also cautioned his colleague and demanded that an apology be made to the Abia State governor. Debate At the end of the debate, the Senate urged the federal government to collaborate with the various state governments, in order to restore, revive and revalidate the Safe School Initiative in Nigeria and design and implement a workable arrangement to deploy well-armed security teams around all schools in Nigeria. They called on President Muhammadu Buhari to make the necessary directives in this regard. The lawmakers urged the Federal Ministry of Education to urgently design a blueprint on the implementation of this programme. ADVERTISEMENT Google announced the second Google News Initiative (GNI) Innovation Challenge in Africa, the Middle East and Turkey with an open call for projects that increase reader engagement and explore new business models for media. The first GNI Innovation Challenge saw 21 projects in 13 countries receive funding last year. Awardees were from Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Turkey and the UAE.In South Africa, Daily Maverick developed a relevancy engine for small and medium publishers to help them aggregate better reader insights to increase relevancy and increase subscriptions. Ringier Africa Digital Publishing in Nigeria was awarded funding to increase personalisation across its platform using a blend of prediction, recommendation and local information pages to increase user engagement. Kenyan awardee Africa Uncensored is aggregating news from members of the public to produce at scale.Applications open today and run until 12 April 2021. Established publishers, online-only players, news startups, publisher consortia and local industry associations are eligible to apply. Interested organisations can apply here The selected projects will be funded up to $150,000, and up to 70% of the total project cost, says Ludovic Blecher, head of innovation, GNI. Funding is not available for editorial projects, but should instead be focused on reader engagement and exploring new business models. Google does not take any equity or IP in any projects or submissions. We are looking forward to seeing new ideas, projects and big bets come out of the Middle East, Turkey and Africa, a region rich with talent, potential and opportunity!Applications must be made via the website and are open until Monday, 12 April at 23:59 GMT. There will be an online town hall on 3 March at 13.00 GMT with a live presentation on how to apply, with an opportunity to ask questions to the GNI team. A defiant Nine Entertainment Co chief executive Hugh Marks has criticised industry rivals for slashing jobs and pay during the coronavirus pandemic and for failing to diversify their businesses after signing off on a stronger than expected half-year profit. Nines share price surged 9.7 per cent to close at $2.93 on Wednesday after the diversified media company reported a half-year profit of $181.9 million, up 79 per cent on last year, and issued upbeat earnings forecasts for the full-year. Mr Marks, who is set to leave the media company in coming weeks, attributed the strong result to a $100 million cost-cutting program announced last February that he said is now almost complete, two years ahead of schedule. The results are the last for outgoing chief executive Hugh Marks. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen When we went into COVID what a lot of other businesses did is they paused pay or cut back peoples hours, Mr Marks told this masthead. We just said we are going to keep paying everyone and were going to keep everyone employed, but we will make the structural changes that we would have made over the next two or three years now. Once you do that, those structural changes when the market recovers are all ready for the upside. Nine owns The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age as well as television network Channel Nine, radio stations such as 2GB and 3AW and streaming service Stan. It also has a majority stake in real estate listings website Domain. WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As school leaders across the country work to reopen safely for in-person instruction, the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI), with support from The Rockefeller Foundation, announce the launch of a bi-monthly Innovation Series focused on Covid-19 testing in school settings. The new series will feature leaders across the education, public health, and healthcare fields who will share best practices, science-based resources, and engagement strategies for successful implementation of testing in support of returning to in-person instruction. It starts this Friday, February 26 at 1:30 pm ET with a session focused on Testing for America's newly released K-12 Testing Playbook, a step-by-step guide informed by the latest real-world evidence. Participation in the series is free and open to both the public and media. Science-based testing programs can reduce risk by 50% when combined with masking and distancing and can increase confidence among teachers and parents that it is safe to return to schools. Yet schools face a myriad of logistical, regulatory and financial hurdles in implementing effective testing programs. "We know children do better when they attend school in person, but the solution is not that simple. It is complex, multi-faceted, and requires a school-centric approach without putting all of the burden and expectations on schools alone," said Jessica Little, Director of the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI). "Reopening schools is a national priority but will require a concerted focus on expanding testing capacity and providing schools resources and support to ensure the safety of our children, youth, teachers, staff, and administrators." "Testing provides a critically important layer of protection alongside masking, distancing, improved ventilation, and good hygiene. "Layered together, these measures create a stronger, more resilient protection to reduce risk of Covid-19 and prevent the virus from spreading in schools and the wider community," said Andrew Sweet, Managing Director of Covid-19 Response and Recovery at The Rockefeller Foundation. Register here to join the series and receive updates on the upcoming presentations, including: Friday, February 26 Based on Testing for America's K-12 Testing Playbook, supported by The Rockefeller Foundation, this webinar features technical experts from Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy and Arizona State University College of Health Solutions along with education leaders from Chiefs for Change, a network of school superintendents and state education leaders, who have successfully adopted testing programs. Based on Testing for America's K-12 Testing Playbook, supported by The Rockefeller Foundation, this webinar features technical experts from Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy and College of Health Solutions along with education leaders from Chiefs for Change, a network of school superintendents and state education leaders, who have successfully adopted testing programs. Tuesday, March 2 NRHI member Common Ground Health will bring together leaders in public health, healthcare, education, government, and nonprofits to support reopening of schools with a focus on equity for all students. The cross-sector planning group convened by Common Ground Health is informing the use of testing and other measures to keep kids safely in schools. NRHI member Common Ground Health will bring together leaders in public health, healthcare, education, government, and nonprofits to support reopening of schools with a focus on equity for all students. The cross-sector planning group convened by Common Ground Health is informing the use of testing and other measures to keep kids safely in schools. Tuesday, March 16 Dr. Phil Levy at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI , will highlight his experience working with multiple school districts in Southeast Michigan as they seek to develop an efficient and effective plan for an in-person return. Key to understanding how to do this is a cohesive COVID-19 testing plan and, as part of his presentation, Dr. Levy will discuss how statistical modeling can be used to estimate the appropriate number of tests to perform and the optimal testing cadence. This event series is co-sponsored by the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement and The Rockefeller Foundation. The views expressed by the speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsors. About NRHI The Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI) is a national organization representing nearly 70% of the United States with its Regional Health Improvement Collaboratives (RHICs) and State partner membership. These multi-stakeholder organizations are working in their regions and collaborating across regions to transform the healthcare delivery system and achieve the Triple Aim: improving the patient experience of care, including quality and satisfaction; improving the health of populations; and reducing the per-capita cost of health care. To learn more, visit nrhi.org. About The Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation advances new frontiers of science, data, and innovation to solve global challenges related to health, food, power, and economic mobility. As a science-driven philanthropy focused on building collaborative relationships with partners and grantees, The Rockefeller Foundation seeks to inspire and foster large-scale human impact that promotes the well-being of humanity throughout the world by identifying and accelerating breakthrough solutions, ideas, and conversations. For more information, sign up for our newsletter at rockefellerfoundation.org and follow us on Twitter @RockefellerFdn. SOURCE The Rockefeller Foundation Related Links http://www.rockfound.org Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 18:18:52|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CAIRO, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- A fishing boat capsized in a lake near Egypt's Mediterranean city of Alexandria, killing at least eight people, including three children and two women, the state-run Ahram newspaper reported Tuesday. Six others were injured and three remain missing, all of whom are from one family, said the report. Alexandria's governor, Mohamed el-Sharif, said three people were rescued and taken to hospital, adding that rescue workers were still searching for the missing in Lake Mariut, located west of Alexandria. Most of the boats on the lake work without licenses, and the capsized one was small and overcrowded, said the governor. Enditem El Chapo Wife FILE - In this Feb. 12, 2019 file photo, Emma Coronel Aispuro, center, wife of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, leaves federal court in New York. The wife of Mexican drug kingpin and escape artist Joaquin El Chapo Guzman has been arrested on international drug trafficking charges at an airport in Virginia. The Justice Department says 31-year-old Emma Coronel Aispuro, who is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Mexico, was arrested at Dulles International Airport on Monday and is expected to appear in federal court in Washington on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) WASHINGTON (AP) The wife of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin El Chapo Guzman was arrested Monday at an airport in Virginia on international drug trafficking charges, the Justice Department said, spelling out in detail how she helped plot her husbands daring escape from a Mexico prison. Emma Coronel Aispuro, 31, who is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Mexico, was arrested at Dulles International Airport and is expected to appear in federal court in Washington on Tuesday. She is charged in a single-count criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana in the U.S. The Justice Department also accuses her of helping her husband escape from a Mexican prison in 2015 and participating in the planning of a second prison escape before Guzman was extradited to the U.S. in January 2017. Coronel Aispuro remained in custody, and it was not immediately clear if she had an attorney who could comment on the allegations. As Mexicos most powerful drug lord, Guzman escaped through an entry under the shower in his cell to a milelong (1.6-kilometer-long) lighted tunnel with a motorcycle on rails. The planning for the escape was extensive, prosecutors say, with his wife playing a key role. Court papers charge that Coronel Aispuro worked with Guzmans sons and a witness, who is now cooperating with the U.S. government, to organize the construction of the underground tunnel that Guzman used to escape from the Altiplano prison in Mexico to prevent him from being extradited to the U.S. The plot included purchasing a piece of land near the prison, firearms and an armored truck and smuggling him a GPS watch so they could pinpoint his exact whereabouts so as to construct the tunnel with an entry point accessible to him, the court papers say. Guzman was sentenced to life behind bars in 2019. His Sinaloa cartel was responsible for smuggling mountains of cocaine and other drugs into the United States during his 25-year reign, prosecutors said in recent court papers. They also said his army of sicarios, or hit men, was under orders to kidnap, torture and kill anyone who got in his way. Coronel Aispuro, a former teen beauty queen, regularly attended Guzmans trial, even when testimony cast her in a harsh light. The two, separated in age by more than 30 years, have been together since at least 2007 and share twin daughters, who were born in 2011. Her father, Ines Coronel Barreras, was arrested in 2013 with one of his sons and several other men in a warehouse with hundreds of pounds of marijuana across the border from Douglas, Arizona. Months earlier, the U.S. Treasury had announced financial sanctions against Coronel Barreras for his alleged drug trafficking. After Guzman was rearrested following his escape, Coronel Aispuro lobbied the Mexican government to improve her husbands prison conditions. And after he was convicted in 2019, she moved to launch a clothing line in his name. ___ Associated Press writer Christopher Sherman in Mexico City contributed to this report. Bharat Forge rose 1.80% to Rs 598.80 after the company announced an agreement with Paramount Group for production of armoured vehicles in India. In a stock exchange filing made after market hours on Monday, the engineering & technology conglomerate and Paramount Group, a global aerospace and technology company, announced a cooperation that will see them join the technologies, capabilities and expertise of both groups in order to manufacture armoured vehicles in India. An agreement to this effect was signed by both companies during the International Defence Expo (IDEX 2021) held in Abu Dhabi. Paramount Group makes a broad range of highly advanced armoured and mine protected vehicles that are in operation around the world. These vehicles have been designed and developed to meet the ever-changing demands of the global battlefield. The Kalyani M4 is a multi-role platform, designed to meet the specific requirements of armed forces for quick mobility in rough terrain and in areas affected by mine and IED threats. Bharat Forge intends that the 'Kalyani M4' will see service with the Indian Armed Forces in the very near future. It successfully completed a series of extreme vehicle trials in some of the toughest environments in India. Amit Kalyani, deputy managing director, Bharat Forge said, "This collaboration brings together the manufacturing and technology excellence of two leading companies, which have matching synergies and complementary capabilities. The Kalyani M4 is a fantastic new generation vehicle, and we want to position it as the 'future of protection' in all markets world-wide." Ivor Ichikowitz, Chairman of Paramount Group stated: "All of our technologies have been developed with portable production in mind. The Kalyani M4 is based on one of our flagship armoured vehicles designed specifically for in-country production in India with our partners the Kalyani Group." Bharat Forge is a technology driven global provider critical components and solutions to various industrial sectors including automotive, railways, power, construction & mining, defence, aerospace, marine and oil & gas. Bharat Forge reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 210.44 crore in Q3 FY21 as against net profit of Rs 40.43 crore in Q3 FY20. Revenue from operations fell 6% YoY to Rs 1723.11 crore during the quarter. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) On February 18, NYUs School of Professional Studies and the Office of Alumni Affairs hosted author Brit Bennett as part of its Media Talk series. The virtual event found Bennett, author of bestselling books The Mothers and last years The Vanishing Half, in conversation with two members of her team at Riverhead Books: Sarah McGrath, senior v-p and editor-in-chief, and Ashley Sutton, director of marketing. The trio discussed how The Vanishing Half, which received a starred review from PW and was named one of the New York Times' best books of 2020, blazed a track to the bestseller list in June 2020and what made Bennett's sophomore book a hit during such a tumultuous year. The panelists' general consensus was that the art of making a bestselling book, while a collaborative effort, is still centered around the author, and the Riverhead team highlighted Bennett's sophistication as a writer who infuses layered exploration into her work. Early dedication, in some cases predating the existence of the book itself, proved to be a major accelerant to The Vanishing Halfs success. I think the campaign for The Vanishing Half began from the moment I acquired The Mothers, McGrath said, noting that, when working with her authors, she takes the long view rather than thinking book-to-book. According to Sutton, The Vanishing Halfs success was the result of more than six months of seeding the idea that the book was something to watch for. The key to it was really pulling all of the levers from start to finish, she said, including making a concerted effort to reach out to bookstagrammers and other media partners to keep the book in the forefront. Spurred on by her belief that the world needs to know this book and Im gonna make sure they do, Sutton and her small team at Riverhead dedicated themselves to promoting it in the midst of the pandemic and the nationwide protests that broke out last summer after the death of George Floyd. That included, she said, shipping out "FOMO packages" featuring the book as early as January 2020, six months before the book's June 2 publication. When the world shut down just after their first tour stop, Sutton said, Riverhead pivoted quickly to virtual events. If there was any question as to where the credit for the books success lies, McGrath and Sutton did their best to answer it, continually citing Bennett as the driving force. McGrath recalled that, when she signed Bennett, she not only found herself hooked by The Mothers, but realized that Bennett was only getting started. This person can do anything, she recalled thinking to herself at the time. This is someone whos going to be extraordinary. Bennett, for her part, said that McGrath was instrumental in developing the chronology of the book and untying some knots in the narrative. But the books' magic, the latter insisted, is all due to Bennett's crafting of stories that are compelling, visceral, and layeredalmost effortlessly so. Shes doing so much on so many different layers all at once, McGrath said, but the sign of the success of what shes doing is that, as a reader, youre not aware of it. Bennett said the book was inspired in part by the experience of having two sisters who are very different from her, despite being raised by the same people under the same circumstances. It is a novel, she added, that is very much about identityhow I become me and how you become you, and what things we choose and what things are chosen for us. In addition to personal identity, the book also unpacks racial and gender identity, exploring the concept of "passing" in a number of different ways. (Bennett said the book's explorations of passing was informed by a book she read about faking a death, and how passing is a type of death-faking.) While writing the book, Bennett was fascinated, she said, by what it means for the performance to become reality, which she feels sometimes while writing. You kind of get in this mode where the border between you and the character evaporates a little bit, sometimes in ways that are uncomfortable to me, and sometimes in ways in which I feel less in control than I would want to feel. Still, she continued, she leaned into the feeling rather than shying away from it. I wanted to explore the deliberate forms of performance and those forms of performance that take over once youve committed deeply to a role. One of Meghan McCain's comments suggests that Dr. Fauci is not effective enough as a virus expert. She indicated that someone else should get his position. Famous columnist Meghan McCain said that Anthony Fauci's comment was too much for her. Having her doubts about the virus expert's competence, she said he should be replaced instead by another scientist. She remarks that he does not understand science enough despite his qualifications. McCain versus Fauci Last Monday on "The View," a segment on the show covered the coronavirus pandemic subject. A clip from last weekend's CNN's Dana Bash had the virus expert as a guest. She asked if older adults should visit unvaccinated grandchildren. He said no recommendation in response to the question, reported the Blaze. Next, he mentioned that an explanation would be given later about the issue. His reason was that he was not answering until he talked to the coronavirus task force. This question was crucial for many families that are faced with this dilemma. According to the host, the non-response to the question was the last straw for her because of his alleged inconsistency and unclear messages. She added that many have diligently followed all the rules regarding the pandemic for the most part. Criticizing heavily that there is no answer with more people inoculated after vaccination, she was not pleased. She added that in Israel where people are encouraged to get vaccinated for a return to everyday living, the lockdowns had taken a toll on many individuals and families. This is why Meghan McCain suggests that Dr. Fauci can't handle the pandemic and problems with it. Also read: Coronavirus Facts Not Acceptable If It Fails to Match Anyone's Worldview, Dr. Fauci Says She stated that there might be disparities in how science is done in Israel and the USA. Citing reports, the Israeli government has gone through half of the total population and fairing well. She airs doubts if the US efforts are going well enough. "Is the science in Israel different than the science here in the United States of America? Because Israel has over half of their country vaccinated already and seem to be doing pretty well," she asked. Vaccination does not change anything. McCain said nothing would change when the COVID vaccine would allow normalcy, but that's not the case. One factor she mentioned that even inoculated, why even wear a mask. It denigrated the whole point of taking the vaccine to avoid getting sick. She added Trump was the cause of the failed rollout, not the new administration. She aimed at the Biden administration that wants all Americans to get inoculated for immunity, which is also essential. If even taking the COVID-19 vaccine still needs the precautions, it will take a few years before everyone gets the shot. It's very inconsistent for the Biden administration to tell everyone to be jabbed in the arm. .@MeghanMcCain says theres terribly inconsistent messaging for day-to-day life after being vaccinated. The idea that I can get vaccinated and I wont be able to see friends and nothing in life changes... I for one would like something to look forward to. pic.twitter.com/mPIKHNcjwb The View (@TheView) February 22, 2021 She stated that she was not listening to Fauci, who failed to answer the question and more. The host advised that more information is needed. She was citing reasons why the virus expert is not enough for the position and lacking. Meghan McCain suggests that another more competent scientist should replace Dr. Fauci for a better response. Related article: Biden Says U.S. Will Get Better by Christmas Time, Earlier than Expected @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. New Delhi: Bollywood actor Arjun Kapoor, who was recently shooting for Bhoot Police in Rajasthan sneaked out some time to meet one of his diehard fans. Devipal Singh Rajput has been rooting for Arjun since his debut Ishaqzaade and the actor has kept in touch with him all these years. Arjun Kapoor who is shooting in Rajasthan decided to catch-up with his fans and therefore arranged for a plan where Devipal met and spent time with him in Jaisalmer. They say friends are like family but in an actor's life fans are like family too. I had the chance to finally meet a huge fan of mine since Ishaqzaade and spend quality time with him & his friend during my shoot. Im glad he came all the way to see me and grateful that he filled me with love and positivity that will last me a lifetime like fuel to keep working for my fans, said Arjun. The actor commands are huge fan following on social media with a cumulative follower strength of about 28 million. The US has said it is looking forward to an "overarching" memorandum of understanding to enhance health partnership with India and asserted that the cooperation between the two countries on COVID-19 builds on decades of successful collaboration in health and biomedical research. The US on Monday crossed the grim milestone of 500,000 COVID-19 deaths. With 28,184,218 cases and 500,172 deaths due to the disease so far, as recorded by Johns Hopkins University, America is the worst-affected nation. "We look forward to an overarching MoU to enhance health cooperation between our two countries (US and India). We are working together on developing diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines to combat the disease (COVID-19) and to recognise the importance of manufacturing critical drugs during this time and making them accessible globally," State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at his daily news conference on Monday. The total number of cases in India stands at 1,10,05,850 -- the second in the world after the US. The death toll is 1,56,385 -- fourth globally. India's pharmaceutical sector is strong and well-established and has long played a central role in manufacturing life saving vaccines for global use. We are pleased that the US pharmaceutical industry has been coordinating with Indian companies since the beginning of this pandemic, Price said, responding to a question on India donating and supplying domestically manufactured COVID-19 vaccines to several countries across the globe. Known as the 'pharmacy of the world', India produces 60 per cent of vaccines globally. India has sent consignments of domestically manufactured vaccines to several countries, including Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Seychelles, Myanmar, Mauritius, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, South Africa, Brazil and Morocco. When it comes to the broad issue of coordination between the United States and India on COVID-19, I would say that cooperation between our two countries builds on decades of successful partnership in health and biomedical research, Price said. The US is partnering with India to strengthen the global response to COVID-19 -- ranging from addressing infectious disease outbreaks, strengthening health systems to securing global supply chains, he said. India and the US recently welcomed an initiative to collaborate on infectious disease, including COVID-19 and other emerging threats, through the International Centre of Excellence and Research, Price said. In a recent op-ed in Newsweek magazine, India's Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, wrote that in recent years, India has emerged as the "pharmacy of the world", with great capabilities in bulk production of generic drugs and vaccines, in addition to its experience immunising a large population. India recently stepped up to provide vaccines to neighbouring countries and other partners, including in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia, he said. The US has resources and scientific capabilities that make it a natural, complementary partner in supporting a number of other countries seeking to fight the pandemic, Sandhu wrote. Furthermore, from the provision of active pharmaceutical ingredients to generic medicines that have lowered drug prices and created jobs and investments, India has demonstrated its reliability as a supply chain partner, especially as de-risking from single country supplies has become a priority, he said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) People visit the Zunyi Meeting Site in Southwest China's Guizhou province in July. YOU YOUHAI/FOR CHINA DAILY Over the past year, the number of visitors to scenic spots has declined as a result of regulations designed to reduce the risk of transmission of the novel coronavirus. The Zunyi Meeting Site in Southwest China's Guizhou province is no exception. Famous for its significance in the history of the Communist Party of China, the site saw 2.61 million visits last yearhalf the number in 2019. Despite that, Wang Zhili, deputy curator of the site's museum, said last year was his "busiest ever". Since June, the museum's infrastructure has been improved and some new facilities have been built. "The museum will be a crucial part of the Long March National Cultural Park, the first of its kind in China. By the end of this year, the site will have a fantastic new look," he said. Blueprint In 2019, the government issued a blueprint for the construction of national cultural parks related to the Great Wall, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Long March (1934-35). According to the document, issued by the general offices of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, construction will be completed in 2023 with related cultural resources enjoying better protection, along with improved inheritance procedures and utilization. Fifteen provinces are involved in the program, including Guizhou, Jiangxi and Fujian (both in East China), and Shaanxi and Gansu in the Northwest. Zunyi, in the north of Guizhou, will be an essential area in the construction of the province's section of the Long March park. In 1935, the city, 170 kilometers north of Guiyang, the provincial capital, was the site of a pivotal meeting during the Long March. In January 1935, an expanded meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee was held in Zunyi. It focused on rectifying errors in military and organizational affairs and established a new leadership of the Central Committee, as represented by Mao Zedong. Apart from a few days last week, Wexford man Padraig Grant has been living life beyond lockdown in New Zealand. Padraig left New Zealand last March just prior to the first Irish lockdown. 'That was nine months when I hadn't seen my son so I was going no matter what in January. Flying through airports is boring as hell but I flew through Dubai with Emirates. Everybody entering the airport has to take an antigen test unless it's for a connecting flight. There was absolutely nobody flying. It was a brand new Boeing 777 and I would say there were 30 people on it. The planes into Auckland were absolutely empty and the airport was completely empty; except for military personnel.' The talented photographer arrived in Auckland on January 5 to 14 days' quarantine in a government run hotel. 'It's surreal really because everything is so normal. I got here and spent two weeks in a hotel in central Auckland in a quarantine facility which is owned by the New Zealand military. It was boring beyond belief. Thankfully Netflix is very good and I love crosswords and making my bed in the morning.' Maintaining a routine was vitally important for Padraig in getting through those long days. Expand Close Padraig states how New Zealands approach to Covid was very different / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Padraig states how New Zealands approach to Covid was very different 'It's a bit like a prison regime. You're waiting for a knock on the door for someone to leave your breakfast in a brown bag with your breakfast in it. You never see anybody because by the time you get to the door they're gone; now matter how quickly you run. You'd miss having the convivial chats which are a part of life.' Mercifully Padraig would speak several times a day with his son Olly and family in Wexford, including his partner Emily Redmond and daughter Lottie. 'The wi-fi was very good. It was a luxurious prison and absolutely necessary and understandable because there were no cases in the country. I just followed the doctors' advice and listen to the scientists. I try to shut out the hysteria and nonsense. I have been in epidemics and I've seen what happens when things get out of control in a population. I would definitely err on the side of caution but caution is not a huge burden on anybody. You just have to keep your distance from people, keep washing your hands and wearing a mask. It's not the hardest thing you have to do.' On his third day he had a nasal swab and once more on his 11th day at the hotel. 'In between them was like an absolute eternity. As soon as the second one was done it was fantastic. There was absolutely no way I wanted to leave my room until the 14th day as the only risky place in the entire country was the quarantine hotels because that is where potentially you can come into contact with the virus.' As some cases have been detected in quarantine hotels in the country, Padraig said his room was a safe haven. Among the realisations he came to during the 14 days watching the events at Capitol Hill unfold and Netflix, was that he was absolutely powerless to do anything. 'You just had to write off those 14 days. I had set up my camera and had it perched on the window but the view was terrible. It was really boring viewing day by day. I would not recommend it to anybody.' Padraig, who spends on average four months a year in New Zealand, was welcomed with a big hug by his landlords when he arrived at his rental accommodation in Auckland. 'It was actually quite shocking. It caught me totally off guard. The first thing they did was hug me. It's been nine months since anyone (outside my bubble) did that! We definitely have put ourselves in a position where we have to think about every single thing we do physically when greeting and meeting people.' The first thing he did was go to the cinema with his son Olly. 'I had been really looking forward to that.' He said some people commented on his accent, one Kiwi going so far as to ask how he managed to get into the country. 'I told the girl in the supermarket that I am a permanent resident. My business is closed. When I left I thought I'd be back open in April.' That initial shock was the first of many over the coming days as Padraig adjusted to life beyond lockdown. 'You have to wear a mask on public transport in Auckland, being a major population centre, and everyone uses an app where you scan a barcode every time you go into a premises in case there is an outbreak. Apart from that there are no restrictions. It's sunny, bright and warm. You can go to the pub, the cinema, the Super Rugby Season has started and the stadium has been sold out. 'I am a homebody when I'm in New Zealand. I like hanging out in my own space. I have an office here and I took a whole stack of film with me so I am busy working away on two book projects. I have a darkroom set up and I am printing.' Describing Auckland as an expensive city to live in, Padraig said he really misses his family. 'I have a little girl (Lottie) who is five and I miss her terribly but we do our face time twice a day. She teaches me new Irish words. Her mom is doing a great job homeschooling. It's just incredible to think so many people are working their jobs from home and homeschooling kids.' Padraig said the Irish government's approach was very different to that of the New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Arden. 'Retrospect and hindsight gives great clarity but in the moment a decision was made in New Zealand that was not only were they going to flatten the curve; they were going to get ahead of it and stay ahead of it. They are blessed with a great leader who really thought out a strategy very quickly whereas in Ireland we didn't take that approach. We have a Living With Covid-19 policy and we haven't done badly compared to other countries and we're doing way better in comparison to the USA and the UK and so many other places.' He said the difference between New Zealand and Ireland is that they don't have a divided jurisdiction. 'That really does complicate things. Here there doesn't seem to be much joined up thinking between north and south.' He covered the cholera epidemic in The Congo and said that opened his eyes to the importance of getting vaccinated. 'I literally saw 60,000 people die in front of me in a two week period; all because they didn't have access to water and cholera shots - so get vaccinated. Cancel out the nonsense and get that jab.' The vaccination programme in New Zealand is only expected to be rolled out from June. 'Because they are doing so well they are quite behind in delivery dates. This is an insidious virus. You can't see it, smell it or taste it. It just takes that one rub of the nose after shaking hands with someone and you got it. In Ireland we had a massive surge in cases around Christmas time and it's directly related to opening up in December. Two weeks ago here someone tested negative twice in a quarantine facility and ten days later they were out and came down with symptoms and were Covid positive. There was huge panic to trace everyone the person was in touch with. They got on top of it but that was just one case. It's like the All Blacks. They're after a 100 per cent win record.' Padraig doesn't know if he will be able to return to Wexford in April, as planned. 'The goalposts keep shifting as to when I can return to be with my family there. I will have to self isolate for 14 days. My legitimate reason is returning home to my family. This is going to continue until next winter.' Deputy Prime Minister Dan Barna informs that he had a meeting with the Japanese Ambassador to Romania, Hiroshi Ueda, in the context of Japan's National Holiday, marked on February 23, the birthday of Emperor Naruhito, according to AGERPRES. "Today, on Japan's Day, I had a meeting with Mr. Hiroshi Ueda, the Japanese Ambassador to Romania. I took this opportunity to express Romania's gratitude for Japan's decision to introduce our country in the tests for the anti-COVID-19 Avigan drug. As a result of this decision, many Romanians managed to get through the critical stages of the disease and were able to return to a normal life. 2021 marks 100 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries and this partnership will become strategic in all its aspects: political, economic, cultural and scientific," Barna wrote on Facebook. He stressed the importance of Japanese investments, expressing the hope that they will be kept at least at the same level in the next period. "Japan is the largest Asian investor in Romania. The Japanese presence can be seen in the activity of tens of Japanese companies or in the evolution of one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects under construction at the moment: the Bridge over the Danube under construction in Braila. I told Ambassador Ueda I hope that Japanese investments will continue at least at the same level in the next period," Barna mentioned. In June last year, the Japanese Government donated a batch of 12,200 tablets of Avigan (Favipiravir), an experimental drug developed by a Japanese company and used to treat the conditions caused by the novel coronavirus. Laura Dern projects vitality and familiarity we feel as if we know her and like her but also a wild unpredictability, the Vulture critic Bilge Ebiri has written. Anything seems possible when shes onscreen. This was 2019, as newly minted meme queen Dern campaigned for an Oscar so foreordained that her promotional obligations could double as a victory lap, an opportunity for commentators to show appreciation for an actor everyone, paradoxically, agreed was criminally underrated. Its true enough that Derns star persona is less fixed than that of other actors of her stature shes not an acteur like Meryl Streep, a plucky upstart like Reese Witherspoon, a jaguar like Michelle Pfeiffer or an MMA girlboss like Charlize Theron. In reckoning with a career that has often zigged where Hollywood GPS would indicate a zag, many stans fix on her first starring role: 1985s sensitive and daring Smooth Talk, as 15-year-old Connie, who discovers the ecstasies and terrors of adult sexuality. Now, following a restoration that was the revelation of last falls New York Film Festival (and a virtual-cinema run that continues up to this writing), Smooth Talk enters the Criterion Collection on February 23. Its a fitting, overdue canonization for a film directed by Joyce Chopra with remarkable perceptiveness, and featuring a fully formed star turn from Dern, a multilayered performance that offers some clues as to the kind of performer she would become and remains, to this day. Smooth Talk opens with Connie on the beach with her friends, waking up from a nap. Everything that follows is a teenage dream. Hitching a ride back to town, Connie throws out a thumb and juts out a hip, playing at being a sex kitten and almost immediately catches a lift from a sleaze in a pickup truck. Its the movie in miniature: Connie is exhilarated to discover that she can attract male attention for real, then frozen by its consequences. At home, at a farmhouse beyond the suburbs which her mother (Mary Kay Place) is constantly repainting, Connie is out of place: vain and careless, in puppy love with her own beauty, swanning around in a short pink robe or painting her toenails with an almost religious concentration. Coming home one night, she looks through the window at her parents and older sister playing cards, like a prowler intruding on their contentment. Connie and her mom fight constantly; Dern struggles guiltily to make eye contact with Place during a ropes-end harangue, one of many, about her trashy daydreams. Connie and her friends go shopping, accessorizing and applying makeup only once the parent who dropped them off is gone. Shot in Sonoma County, California, Smooth Talks mall-madness scenes are more naturalistic, the styles a little dustier, than in the 80s teen films made in the southern half of the state. Chopra draws out hilariously tender behavioral details from the fragile teen egos posing in the food-court panopticon, most of all from Dern, with her big-joke ogling of guys with nice buns, performative brazen gagging at gross guys, and nervous lip-biting that cute guys mistake for flirting. Across the highway from the mall is the roadhouse, where older kids hang out, kids old enough to have their own wheels, and at which Connie debuts in a terrifyingly aspirational backless halter top. Compared to the mall, the roadhouse is out of time, with its chrome and neon and parking lot full of hotrods. Its a little like Twin Peaks Bang Bang Bar: as in so much of David Lynchs work, theres a sense here of teenage life fuzzily arrested in the roadside-Americana 60s. Images in Smooth Talk have a luminous potency: a blue J.C. Penney sign glowing retrofuturistically above an empty parking lot, or the city spread out below the Lovers Lane where a boy takes Connie to park. Derns face registers Connies excitement at the world widening out before her, and her barely articulated disappointment when it narrows back down to a sloppy smooch. At the roadhouse, Chopra shifts her point of view away from Connie for one of the only times in the film. As a nervous Connie heads to the jukebox for something to do, a little musical courage, Chopra cutting to a shot from the parking lot. Behind the windows of the roadhouse, Connie dances across the frame, shaking the fear out of her long limbs, tossing her hair, before, jarringly, an older guy a real older guy, played by Treat Williams comes into the frame, watching her. Its possible to see Connie as he sees her, as a girl putting on a show for an unknown male audience. Smooth Talk is based on Joyce Carol Oatess 1966 short story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Dedicated to Bob Dylan, and originally titled Death and the Maiden, Oatess story is a parable about heedless teenage hedonism and the hard edges of sex and violence at the end of the open road. Oates was inspired by a Life magazine story about the Pied Piper of Tucson, a 23-year-old dropout who hung out with the kids on Speedway Boulevard, dying his hair and wearing makeup in a kind of teenage drag, throwing beer parties and eventually committing multiple murders with willing adolescent accomplices. Oates who in later years would misremember some details about the Life story focuses on a normal shallow teenager living a normal shallow teenage life, until one day when her family is out and an older stranger drives up to her house and asks her to take a ride with him. (When we read Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? in ninth-grade English, my teacher assigned it alongside Emily Dickinson: Because I could not stop for Death/He kindly stopped for me/The Carriage held but just Ourselves/And Immortality. Around this time, I also discovered Halloween, by the Dream Syndicate: He says, Lets go for a ride, and he/says it all the time/You know youve got a lot to live for/and youre gonna be mine. Deftly scripted by Chopras husband Tom Cole, Smooth Talk elaborates on the bones of Oatess story for its first hour before its final sequence, a remarkable 30-minute dialogue the entire third act of the film between Dern and Williams, as the man with the convertible, Arnold Friend. (And thats what I want to be to you: A. Friend.) Williams plays it corny at first, drawing out Connies mean-girl brashness and making her feel complicit when things turn sinister. Like a vampire, he wont come inside unless hes asked, but theres a only a screen door between them. Oatess story is a feverish transcription of the Life story, with details lifted in a half-remembered hormonal rush. Connie observes that beneath his greasers jeans, Arnold Friend stumbles in his boots: One of them sticks out at a crazy angle, they must have been stuffed with something so that he would seem taller. In fact the Pied Piper of Tucson did do this, with rags and crushed cans, but theres no reason this needs to be in the story, and so Arnolds wobble hangs there inexplicably, like a glitch in the simulation. The teenage uncanny, a nostalgia so familiar it seems false, a facsimile, is pure David Lynch, who must surely! have seen Smooth Talk before casting Dern the following year in his own sunny-sinister coming-of-age story, Blue Velvet. The way Chopra adjusts her camera angles during the final scene, so that the staircase in Connies front hall begins to loom over her, is frightening its a gradual vertigo of realization, of a secret second layer in the domestic space. Again, one detects a forebear for Lynch, this time presaging the recurrent low-angle shots of the staircase in the Palmer house in Twin Peaks, another story of dark menace behind a familiar facade, and of a teenage girls double life of innocence and experience. Duality is everything to Lynch, whose narratives are frequently split in half by a traumatic event as in Lost Highway, or Mulholland Dr. And so too, sometimes, are the characters Dern plays for him: the poor, brittle, emptied-out Diane in Twin Peaks: The Return, the woman in trouble splintered across the ominous Hollywood labyrinth of Inland Empire. Interviewing Dern in 1990, Gary Indiana commented on the paradox of her healthy-looking, sunny beauty and the almost supernatural energy channeled through it her supreme gift for edgy, multi-textured roles. She has charted the territory where innocence and dark reality meet and mutate into unpredictable forms of life, he wrote. Derns characters are never simple. They contain lurking contradictions, mixed feelings, the jumble of motives and impulses present in every person. One way to square this circle is to simply say that Laura Dern the person is kinda New Age-y. (As an emancipated teenager starting out in Hollywood, she was roommates with Marianne Williamson.) But Dern has been an ideal actress for Lynch, one perfectly at home in his flickering-light borderlands. Dern throughout her career, beginning in Smooth Talk, has a distinctive way of crying. She looks up when she cries, and makes this very particular gaping-mouth grimace; you can feel the heaviness of the sob in her throat, and her chin thrusts forward and her eyes turn skyward, imploringly. The upturned gaze makes her look beatific, as if experiencing a moment of spiritual anguish. Its the cry-face she makes in Blue Velvet; in Lynchs Wild at Heart, when she plays another lusty kid in an open car. And Arnold Friend, for his part, is the precursor to Wild at Hearts Bobby Peru, who likewise threatens a tremor of consent out of Derns Lula without laying a hand on her. And the scared, secret way Dern whispers to Williams through the screen door Youre not saying this made me think of Bettys second audition in Mulholland Dr., that sultry, murmured I hate us both. Smooth Talks structural asymmetry within an ostensibly solid genre foundation foretells Lynchs own double-jointed narratives, just as the vibrations of its happy ending recall Blue Velvets. Once you start looking for Lynch in Smooth Talk, you see him everywhere or, really, in everything Dern does. The post Laura Derns Rise to Lynchian Musedom Began With 1985s Smooth Talk appeared first on InsideHook. IF you have absolutely no urgent or emergency need to be outdoors today, then remain at home. Should you take a chance and decide to tempt fate, then it may most likely result in you being stopped and questioned by police officers and members of the Defence Force, or even find yourself charged and taken before a court. [February 23, 2021] La Fondation Dassault Systemes Supports the Launch of InnoTechLab in Cameroon to Transform Local Innovation and Education La Fondation Dassault Systemes, a foundation dedicated to transforming the future of education and research with the learning and discovery capabilities of 3D technology and virtual universes, today announced it supported the nonprofit Digital Transformation Alliance on the creation and launch of InnoTechLab, the first high-tech innovation center for technology, industrialization and education in Cameroon. The aim of InnoTechLab is to instill an inclusive and sustainable transformation of African society based on an industrial, technological and digital revolution. This can be achieved by fostering greater access to, understanding of, and experimentation with 3D digital technologies among young students, teachers, researchers, and their ecosystem. La Fondation Dassault Systemes (News - Alert) supported DTA in defining and implementing the project. In addition to a grant, this support includes skilled volunteers from Dassault Systemes who are sharing their expertise in 3D digital technologies with teachers who will train a new generation of African engineers to meet local industrial workforce needs. "The commitment of La Fondation Dassault Systemes goes beyond grants. We are activly involved in transforming education and industry in Africa," said Thibault de Tersant, President, La Fondation Dassault Systemes. "Volunteers from the Dassault Systemes community are eager to share their passion for 3D virtual universe technology as part of a collective effort to shape a new era of innovation, education and entrepreneurship." Investors and innovators are focused on connected health, urban planning, mobility, and smart farming because of their potential to usher in an industrial revolution in Africa. However, to make this revolution a reality, the continent lacks access to 3D technologies for experimentation, as well as educators trained in these technologies that can prepare Africa's future workforce with the skills it will need. Through four hubs, InnoTechLab will focus on training, development, incubation and acceleration of digital know-how and engineering to build problem-solving skills and jobs, develop new technologies and applications, and create a collective intelligence value chain and center of excellence in areas aligned with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Since its launch in October 2020, InnoTechLab has held seminars on innovative learning tools for 60 teachers from the African Institute of Informatics (News - Alert) and the Protestant University of Central Africa, and hosted the digital farming challenge during the "Digital Transformation Experience & Exhibition (DITREX) - Africa" event. In 2021, InnoTechLab plans to begin student training programs, extend its capacity, capabilities and partnerships with industrial and academic organizations, and incubate the two winning groups from the challenge. "One of the key objectives of the DTA is to help accelerate the introduction of key cutting edge technologies in Africa that will give us opportunities to implement developing concepts more quickly," said Prof. Sama Mbang, founder, Digital Transformation Alliance. "InnoTechLab will enable us to adapt technologies to a local context, define and launch educational and training programs, and support local authorities on industrialization and training strategies in health, urbanization, energy and smart agriculture." ### About La Fondation Dassault Systemes La Fondation Dassault Systemes provides grants, training and expertise about 3D virtual universe technologies to help schools, universities, research centers, museums and associations in Europe, the U.S. and India to push the limits of knowledge. Its mission is to inspire young people with a passion for engineering, science and digital technology to create a better and more collaborative society. As part of this mission, it actively contributes to inventing new ways of sharing know-how and transforming learning practices that make it possible to detect new talents and help them achieve their dreams. For more information: lafondation3ds.org View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210222005696/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Were prepping for and putting in our nature play scale, Kuechmann Kove playscape, thats a little nature-based kind of playground that were going to be doing hopefully in the spring when the snow melts, said Judi Thode, president of Ancient Oaks Foundation. Weve got it all planned out, but we need to get rid of the buckthorn along the edge there. 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. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... PHOENIX A Phoenix-area man accused of kidnapping his baby son in a custodial dispute that led to the death of the childs mother has died from injuries suffered in a suicide attempt, authorities said Monday. The Maricopa County Medical Examiners Office said 30-year-old Eric Maes died last Friday. The county Attorneys Office had said Maes was medically incapacitated after a suicide attempt in jail on Feb. 13. Maes family requested prosecutors dismiss first-degree murder and kidnapping charges against him so they would have the ability to make a medical decision on his behalf. That was approved by a county Superior Court judge. Maes was arrested after allegedly kidnapping 10-month-old Abel Maes on Feb. 9 in Peoria and drove off in the van belonging to the childs mother, Brittanie Martie. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ According to arrest documents, Maes told police he intentionally struck Martie after she jumped out of the moving vehicle The 30-year-old Martie died at a hospital. The baby was found safe on the doorstep of a residence the next morning and Maes was arrested later that day in Phoenix. We are not entering the wars of Matovic Independent journalists will continue doing their job. There are limits of good taste and morals. Once a politician crosses that Rubicon, they lose any scruples. Since Igor Matovic published his Facebook post on the anniversary of the murders of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova, many have pondered how to react to such a serious loss of judgement that led to an attack against journalists. We are pondering comparisons to Robert Fico and Viktor Orban, the two politicians who have attacked critical journalists in the long run, peddling the interpretation that good journalists are the ones who engage in government propaganda. All the others are opposition, mercenaries, or enemies. Matovic says he wants journalists to unveil corruption, while accusing many across the board of corrupt behaviour, saying they write per somebody's orders. He blames journalists for the stream of hate that they allegedly showered him with, because he does not understand that criticising the government is not a question of sympathies and hate. The prime minister cannot live with the fact that the media does not just accept his interpretations, does not support his manias, and does not attack the people he points his finger at during his press conferences. It is clear today: Igor Matovic does not understand that his post to mark the anniversary of the murder was not a contribution to the discussion about the quality of journalism in Slovakia. Although he does not understand and apparently is not going to understand it, independent journalists will continue doing their job. They are not entering into wars with prime ministers and politicians. Not even when Matovic stages his own little wars. Sme 23. Feb 2021 at 10:12 | Beata Balogova IFA and Bord na Mona (BNM) held the first meeting of their new collaborative working group on the semi-state companys bog rewetting project last week. Describing the engagement as positive, IFA deputy president Brian Rushe told BNM to prioritise communication with farmers whose lands surround the 82 bogs identified for rehabilitation under the Peatland Climate Action Scheme the four-year project is due to start in April. BNM gave a presentation with insights on its planning process, hydrological assessments, and the management of previous rehabilitation projects. Nonetheless, independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice, who also had a meeting with BNM, is urging farm organisations and BNM to develop a written agreement on rehabilitation works. Mr Rushe said: The scale of the project is ambitious, and the timeline for implementation short, particularly in light of Covid-19. "This limits opportunities for farmers and communities to engage with the process fully. It was beneficial to receive detailed information about the scheme but many questions remained unanswered. Farmers have significant concerns and BNM must address them. BNM will also respond to farmer questions from IFAs recent bog rewetting meeting; the group will meet again in March. Read More Meanwhile, Fitzmaurice said: Im glad to hear BNM assurances that concerns are being taken on board. BNM is committed to maintaining their land bank and boundary drains, and will continue to monitor the bogs after the rehabilitation works have been completed. "However, a written agreement would bring a sense of clarity for both sides. While a problem may not arise immediately, what is to say it could not come to the fore in 10/15/20 years time. Imagine a world with no supermarkets. No taxis. No klaxons. No duty-free. No lines. No overzealous tourists guarding their sunloungers with towels. Just private jets and superyachts. For some, this world already exists. Its now set to get even more lavish, with some people with well-endowed wallets apparently now looking to bypass the whole buying a private island thing and instead just building one from scratch. Enter The Blue Estate Group: a luxury real estate development company that says it aims to build a floating island half the size of Monaco between the Bahamas and Miami. The concept is due to launch in 2025. Though The Blue Estate Group initially feared the pandemic could stifle demand for their product, Erik Schmidt, Chief Communications Officer, recently told CNN Travel it had actually stimulated it. At first we were worried whether the current pandemic might have a negative impact on the project But luckily it played out differently. Some districts are almost completely sold out and the sales team is doing its best to keep up with the requests and questions. The group is offering the public the chance to reserve (with the idea being to eventually buy) a range of properties from US $19,800 Ring Levels studio apartments to 1 billion USD Signature Estates. Schmidt confirmed to CNN Travel that one application for one of these groundbreaking architectural concepts has already been submitted. The island will be located 25-minutes by plane from Bahamas capital Nassau and just under 90 minutes from Miami. The islands dimensions will be 4,921 feet by 3,280 feet (1,500 meters by 1,000 meters), and it will be able to house 15,000 permanent residents. According to Crunchbase, The Blue Estate Group has raised 28.4 million USD in funding, employs 51-100 people, was founded in 2016 and is a private entity. It will have its own cutting edge health clinic and an international school (catering from toddlers to diploma graduates). Judging from the response to this upcoming floating luxury real estate development launching close to the Bahamas in 2025, interest in relocating to a safe haven in the middle of the sea is still high, CNN Travel reports. The Blue Estate Group has been inundated with requests after unveiling plans for the man-made Blue Estate Island. The sheer size of The Blue Estate is reported to make the making the island incredible stable. The Blue Estate is designed to protect all residents from adverse weather conditions and the islands massive walls will dwarf even the largest ocean waves. Automated hurricane shutters can be extended, to additionally shield-off the community in case of high winds. Despite being engineered to withstand even the worst conditions, the Blue Estate can also be moved out of the way, in case of any incoming storms, Forbes suggests. In The Blue Estates FAQ page, more potential concerns are answered, including seasickness (The Blue Estate floating structure is as stable and motionless as if youd be living on land. This is possible due to the enormous mass and expansive size, which wont be disturbed by even the biggest seas) and sinking. The Blue Estate is engineered and build from ultra resistant composite concrete modules. The flotation base exterior shell is several meters in thickness and could not be severely damaged even by collision with a very large ship. Additionally the structure is segmented in several thousand separate compartments. In terms of why you might want to move there, in a video entitled Why relocate or invest, The Blue Group records actors outlining some of the reasons one might consider taking the plunge. I was literally drowning in paperwork. The Blue Estates minimal reporting and tax regulations will finally let me focus on my core business again, one says. As a single parent, I dont want to compromise on my child or my career, says another. The Blue Estates incentives for child care and the excellent business opportunities really convinced me. Weve been living and working aboard our boat for some years now, but always quite missed the comfort and amenities [of a house on firm ground]. For us The Blue Estate combines a modern business environment with all the amenities of a 5-star vacation spot. Some internet users still have major questions about the project, though but their concerns are well-founded. Little information is readily available online about The Blue Estates team, founders or owners (or indeed where the group is based). Hopeful Reddit users who claim to have tried to buy property on the island concept have written such comments as I want to believe this is legit based on the concept but there is no contact number or background on the company investors etc Worst case you can claim a chargeback but based on the subpar website etc prob not legit or someone getting feelers out for a project. Another wrote: Booked for a unit in Coral Towers 1 BR Apartment 699sqft (65sqm) Unit sales price: $ 123,500 USD but im so unsure whether to proceed or not with paying the booking fee. The Sarah (sales rep) seem to be a BOT which is really worrying. I asked for their office address and contact number, heres the response: The staff is mostly working remotely, but well open dedicated offices should the pandemic restrictions ease off. Unfortunately we do not offer telephone support and are required to keep all communication in writing, to ensure complete verifiability of all agreements made. If anyone has any information on these guys, kindly post. In response to these comments, another Reddit user, who claims to be a naval engineer, wrote: Ive been working for them the past 5 years, what is the problem? In response to this, one suspicious Reddit commenter asked: Who are the promoters, investors, Venture Capitalists etc. who are backing this project. Who are the management ans their track records? Why arent an office and contact number to call? I think they need to be more transparent on who these guys really are. The so-called naval engineers response? Youve got the answer regarding the offices already. The rest I dont know or cant disclose, all employees had to sign NDAs. But Ive notified the Blue Estate Group of the existence of this thread, so maybe an official rep will register and join. The next Fyre Festival or a Brave (Real) New World? You decide. Read Next Grows gold reserves at Costerfield by 25%; maintains long mine life at Bjorkdal TORONTO, Feb. 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mandalay Resources Corporation ("Mandalay" or the "Company") (TSX: MND, OTCQB: MNDJF) is pleased to announce updated Mineral Resources and Reserves estimates for its Costerfield gold-antimony mine in Victoria, Australia and its Bjorkdal gold mine in Skelleftea, Sweden as at December 31, 2020. All dollar amounts in this press release are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. Highlights: Costerfield Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves for contained gold and antimony increased by 25% and 22%, respectively, net of depletion for 2020 production; Extended mine life by one year to 2024, net of depletion for 2020 production; Development on Youle has lifted confidence and almost doubled the Proven Reserves; Successful depth extension drilling on Youle grows Resources; and Due to significant production of high-grade ore from Youle in 2020, Mineral Reserves now include a significant stockpile of ore. Bjorkdal Asset maintains long mine life until 2029; and Underground Mineral Reserves for contained gold increased, net of depletion for production in 2020. Dominic Duffy, President and CEO of Mandalay, commented, "Mandalay's exploration efforts in 2020 yielded successful outcomes at both Costerfield and Bjorkdal. At Costerfield, we not only extended our mine life by increasing Mineral Reserves for gold and antimony, we nearly doubled our Proven Reserves in the high-grade Youle lode, which was the driving force behind the Company's operational turnaround and significant cash generation in 2020." Mr. Duffy continued, "As at December 31, 2020, Mandalay's total Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves totaled 799,000 ounces of gold and 21,900 tonnes of antimony, compared to 752,000 ounces of gold and 17,800 tonnes of antimony at year-end 2019. These Mineral Reserves were added at an exploration cost of $23.24 per gold equivalent ounce; further evidence to the cost effectiveness and sustainability of our exploration programs." Mr. Duffy added, "2020 has seen significant growth at Costerfield as we continue to develop our understanding of, and building Resources and Reserves at, the Youle deposit. A major effort in regional exploration has seen multiple targets tested proximal to the Costerfield underground infrastructure, leading to the success of the Browns prospect in which two drilling programs are underway." Mr. Duffy added, "Costerfield exploration activities in 2020, coupled with 4,798 metres of on-vein development along Youle has provided a level of detail and confidence sufficient to convert and lift the Proven Reserves by 102,000 ounces of high-grade ore, on top of depletion replacement. Drilling deeper in Youle has identified two additional high-grade gold domains which largely accounted for the increase to Probable Resources of 34,000 tonnes net of the large conversion to Proven Reserves. Further drilling after the data cutoff date on November 30, 2020, has shown additional high-grade depth extensions that outline a focus for further Resources and Reserves growth at Costerfield." Mr. Duffy continued, "At Bjorkdal, due to the current long mine life of the operation, the exploration focus was not on Mineral Reserves addition, but on identifying areas that could potentially add higher-grade mine feed. This program is proving to be successful with the identification of high-grade intercepts within the Lake Zone deeps and Aurora deeps programs. During 2020, there was an increase in underground Mineral Reserves of 6,000 ounces of gold through the extensions of the Aurora and Lake Zone areas, however, this was offset by a reduction in open pit Resources of 8,000 ounces of gold. This was the result of pit optimization works around the updated Mineral Resources model." Mr. Duffy concluded, "Moving into 2021, at Costerfield, we will be drilling a number of Youle analogue targets through the main Costerfield corridor alongside Mineral Reserves growth drilling at Youle and Browns. While at Bjorkdal, a significant exploration campaign is underway with the emphasis on building gold grade and optionality in mining areas. The four major areas of focus will be: identifying higher-grade areas within the Lake Zone and Aurora deeps areas, testing of high-grade veining extensions to the east, growth of Resources within skarnified lenses and delineation and growth of Aurora." Table 1: Mineral Reserves as of December 31, 2020, and December 31, 2019 2020 2019 Reserve Category BjorkdalContained Au (koz) Costerfield Contained Au (koz) Costerfield Contained Sb (kt) Bjorkdal Contained Au (koz) Costerfield Contained Au (koz) Costerfield Contained Sb (kt) Proven - 110 12.8 - 35 5.4 Probable 544 145 9.0 548 169 12.4 Proven + Probable 544 255 21.8 548 204 17.8 Notes: Reserves are contained at Bjorkdal, Costerfield properties only. See tables 4 and 6 for details of Proven and Probable Reserve tonnages and grades at Costerfield and Bjorkdal, including cut-off grades and Qualified Persons. Table 2: Mineral Resources, Inclusive of Mineral Reserves, as of December 31, 2020, and December 31 2019 2020 2019 Resource Category BjorkdalContained Au (koz) Costerfield Contained Au (koz) Costerfield Contained Sb (kt) BjorkdalContained Au (koz) Costerfield Contained Au (koz) Costerfield Contained Sb (kt) Measured - 164 20.6 - 87 12.7 Indicated 1,087 218 18.8 1,077 256 24.0 Measured + Indicated 1,087 381 39.4 1,077 344 36.7 Inferred 318 89 6.0 302 117 9.0 Notes: See tables 3 and 5 for details of tonnages and grades at Costerfield and Bjorkdal. Totals may appear different from the sum of their components due to rounding. Details of the Mineral Resources and Reserves estimates at each property are related below. Estimates were prepared or verified by the following independent third parties: SLR Consulting Ltd. ("SLR") at Bjorkdal; and Mining Plus Pty Ltd. ("MP") at Costerfield. The year-end 2020 estimates of Mineral Resources and Reserves for the Costerfield and Bjorkdal will be fully documented in independent Technical Reports prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101and the Mandalay website www.mandalayresources.comwithin 45 days of this press release. Costerfield Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve Summary Over the course of 2020 at Costerfield, Mandalay drilled a total of 28.3 kilometres ("km") of exploration diamond core at a cost of $4.3 million. The breakdown of this significant drilling campaign is as follows: 12.8 km to test extensions of the Youle ore body; 5.1 km to test other near-mine targets; 8.4 km to test regional targets beyond current mine operations; and 2.0 km drilled in a single wedged deep hole to a downhole depth of 1,497 m to test mineralization below the Augusta and Cuffley zone of the Costerfield system. In addition to drilling, 4,798 m of on-vein development was completed within the Youle ore body with minor on-vein development of 149 m also completed at the Brunswick orebody. Rock chip samples used in mine grade control were also included in the geological database and used in the Mineral Resources estimation process to improve Mineral Resources classification in areas accessed by development. Drill core was logged and sampled by Costerfield geologists, who also performed mine sampling. All samples were submitted to Onsite Laboratory Services in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia for sample preparation and assay. Site geological and metallurgical personnel have implemented a QA/QC process that includes the regular submission of site specific and externally sourced standard reference materials, duplicates and blanks with drill and face samples submitted for assay. Site specific standard reference materials were both produced and certified by Geostats Pty Ltd., an Australian consultancy who specialize in laboratory quality control systems. The acQuire Geoscientific Information Management ("GIM") system was used to store and validate all geological data used for the Mineral Resource estimation. A two-dimensional ("2D") accumulation estimation method was used for all models. This method is considered most applicable for narrow veins of Costerfield. The Datamine Studio RM platform supports 2D accumulation estimation and was used to complete the Mineral Resource Estimation. Validated drilling and mine sampling data were imported into Datamine and composited to true vein width. Gold accumulation, antimony accumulation (accumulation = vein true width x vein grade) and true vein width were estimated into a 2D block model for each lode using ordinary kriging interpolation. Inverse distance interpolation was used where the density of data was considered to be at a spatial density insufficient for ordinary kriging. Estimated gold and antimony vein grades were back-calculated from the block estimated accumulated data and true vein width. Where vein true widths are less than 1.2 m, vein grades were diluted to a minimum mining width of 1.2 m using dilution grades of zero g/t gold and zero percent antimony for host lithologies. Where vein true widths are greater than or equal to 1.2 m grades were not diluted. Mineral Resources were estimated at a cut-off grade of 3.0 g/t gold equivalent ("AuEq") which was determined using Costerfield's 2020 production costs, and using a gold price of $1,700/oz, and an antimony price of $8,000/t. Cut-off grade is expressed as AuEq to allow for the inclusion and expression of the secondary metal (Sb) in terms of the primary metal (Au). AuEq is calculated using the formula AuEq= Au + (Sb x 1.50) where Sb is expressed as a percentage, and Au is in grams per tonne based on 1.2 m diluted grades. Table 3: Mineral Resources at Costerfield, Inclusive of Mineral Reserves as of December 31, 2020, and December 31, 2019 2020 Resource Category Tonnes (kt) Au Grade (g/t) Sb Grade (%) Cont. Au (koz) Cont. Sb (kt) Measured Underground 344 14.1 5.7 156 19.6 Measured Stockpile 16 14.8 6.1 8 1.0 Indicated 798 8.5 2.4 218 18.8 Measured + Indicated 1,158 10.2 3.4 381 39.3 Inferred 473 5.8 1.3 89 6.0 2019 Resource Category Tonnes (kt) Au Grade (g/t) Sb Grade (%) Cont. Au (koz) Cont. Sb (kt) Measured 283 9.6 4.5 87 12.7 Indicated 830 9.6 2.9 256 24.0 Measured + Indicated 1,113 9.6 3.3 344 36.7 Inferred 533 6.8 1.7 117 9.0 Notes: Mineral Resources estimated as of December 31, 2020 with depletion through to this date. Mineral Resources stated according to CIM guidelines and include Mineral Reserves. Tonnes are rounded to the nearest thousand; contained gold (oz) is rounded to the nearest thousand; contained antimony (t) is rounded to nearest hundred. Totals may appear different from the sum of their components due to rounding. A 3.0 g/t AuEq cut-off grade over a minimum mining width of 1.2 m is applied where AuEq is calculated at a gold price of $1,700/oz, and an antimony price of $8,000/t. The (AuEq) is calculated using the formula: AuEq = Au g/t + 1.50 * Sb % Geological modelling, sample compositing and Mineral Resource Estimation for updated models was performed by Joshua Greene, MAusIMM, a full-time employee of Mandalay Resources. The Mineral Resource Estimate was independently reviewed and verified by Dr Andrew Fowler MAusIMM CP (Geo), a full time employee of Mining Plus. Dr Fowler fulfils the requirements to be a "Qualified Person" for the purposes of NI 43-101, and is the Qualified Person under NI 43-101 for the Mineral Resource. The Measured and Indicated categories of Mineral Resources were used to update the mine plan using predominantly a long-hole stoping mining method with cemented rock fill. A cut-off grade of 4.0 g/t AuEq was determined from Costerfield's 2020 production costs, and minimum stoping width of 1.5 m were used, with planned and unplanned dilution at zero grade for both Au and Sb. AuEq grade for Mineral Reserves is calculated using commodity prices of $1,500/oz for Au, and $7,000/t Sb). AuEq is calculated using the formula AuEq= Au + (Sb x 1.03) where Sb is in % and Au is in grams per tonne. Financial viability of Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves was demonstrated at metal prices of $1,500/oz Au and $7,000/t Sb. Table 4: Mineral Reserves at Costerfield as of December 31, 2020, and December 31, 2019 2020 Reserves Category Tonnes (kt) Au Grade (g/t) Sb Grade (%) Cont. Au (koz) Cont. Sb (kt) Proven Underground 206 15.3 5.7 102 11.8 Proven Stockpile 16 14.8 6.1 8 1.0 Probable 394 11.5 2.3 145 9.0 Proven + Probable 616 12.8 3.5 255 21.7 2019 Reserves Category Tonnes (kt) Au Grade (g/t) Sb Grade (%) Cont. Au (koz) Cont. Sb (kt) Proven 114 9.5 4.8 35 5.4 Probable 360 14.6 3.4 169 12.4 Proven + Probable 474 13.4 3.8 204 17.8 Notes: Mineral Reserve estimated as of December 31, 2020 and depleted for production through to December 31, 2020. Tonnes are rounded to the nearest thousand; contained gold (oz) is rounded to the nearest thousand; contained antimony (t) rounded to nearest hundred. Totals may appear different from the sum of their components due to rounding. Lodes have been diluted to a minimum mining width of 1.5 m for stoping and 1.8 m for ore development. A 4.0 g/t AuEq cut-off grade is applied. Commodity prices applied are gold price of USD1,500/oz, antimony price of USD7,000/t and exchange rate USD:AUD of 0.70. The (AuEq) is calculated using the formula: AuEq = Au g/t + 1.03 * Sb %. The Mineral Reserve is a subset, a Measured and Indicated only Schedule, of a Life of Mine Plan that includes mining of Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources. The Mineral Reserve Estimate was prepared by Dylan Goldhahn, AAusIMM under the direction of Daniel Fitzpatrick, MAusIMM, who are both full time employees of Mandalay Resources. The Mineral Reserve estimate was independently verified by Aaron Spong MAusIMM CP (Min) who is a full time employee of Mining Plus. Mr Spong fulfils the requirements to be a "Qualified Person" for the purposes of NI 43-101, and is the Qualified Person under NI 43-101 for the Mineral Reserve. The net increase of 51,000 ounces of gold in Proven and Probable Reserves for 2020 relative to 2019 consists of the addition of 107,000 ounces of gold added by Resource conversion and additional of resources to Youle as well as mining re-evaluation and a total of 56,000 ounces of gold depleted from the 2019 Reserves through mining production in 2020. The 3,900 tonnes of antimony net increase in Proven and Probable Reserves consists of 10,300 tonnes of antimony added by Resource conversion and additional of resources to Youle as well as mining re-evaluation and 6,400 tonnes of antimony depleted from the 2019 Reserves through mining production in 2020. The Mineral Reserves at Youle were added at an exploration cost of $16.53 per gold equivalent ounce. Bjorkdal Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve Summary Since the data cut-off date of September 30, 2020 for the year-end 2020, Bjorkdal completed 68 drill holes totaling approximately 19,088 m in length. The data cut-off date at Norrberget remains the same, September 30, 2017. In addition, underground operations completed 5,917 m of on-vein development, which was mapped and sampled in detail according to the grade control protocols. Other than the normal-course updating of the mineralization wireframes to account for new drilling and sampling information, the workflow and estimation parameters used to prepare the year-end 2020 Bjorkdal long-term block model were largely unchanged. One of the changes included the addition of a clipping surface to act as a spatial boundary for gold grades. This surface is currently viewed as a fault surface and was created to account for the improved understanding of its impact on the gold distribution in the veins. A second change included the use of reporting panels as constraints for preparing the Mineral Resource statement for the Aurora Zone vein. The goal of this new approach is to arrive at a more accurate statement of the tonnage and grade for Aurora that considers the spatial continuity of the above-cut-off grade material as well as the below-cut-off grade material that is present as internal dilution. Table 5: Mineral Resources at Bjorkdal, Inclusive of Mineral Reserves, as of December 31, 2020, and December 31, 2019 2020 Category Tonnage (kt) Au Grade (g/t) Contained Au (koz) Indicated Resources Underground 11,482 2.32 858 Open Pit 2,383 2.10 161 Norrberget Open Pit 144 3.29 15 Stockpile 2,551 0.64 53 Total Indicated 16,560 2.04 1,087 Inferred Resources Underground 2,322 2.06 154 Open Pit 3,515 1.44 163 Norrberget Open Pit 3 4.03 0.5 Total Inferred 5,840 1.69 318 2019 Category Tonnage (kt) Au Grade (g/t) Contained Au (koz) Indicated Resources Underground 9,656 2.58 799 Open Pit 3,114 2.08 208 Norrberget Open Pit 144 3.29 15 Stockpile 2,644 0.64 54 Total Indicated 15,558 2.15 1,077 Inferred Resources Underground 2,143 2.36 163 Open Pit 3,338 1.30 139 Norrberget Open Pit 3 4.03 0.5 Total Inferred 5,483 1.71 302 Notes: Bjorkdal Mineral Resources are estimated using drill hole and sample data as of September 30, 2020 and depleted for production through December 31st, 2020. Norrberget Mineral Resources are based on a data cut-off date of September 30th, 2017. CIM definitions (2014) were followed for Mineral Resources. Mineral Resources are inclusive of Mineral Reserves. Mineral Resources are estimated using an average gold price of $1,700/oz. and an exchange rate of 9.0 SEK/US$. Bulk density is 2.74 t/m3 for veins and host rock. Bulk density is 2.92 t/m3 for skarn ore bodies. High gold assays were capped to 30 g/t Au for the open pit mine. High gold assays for the underground mine were capped at 60 g/t Au for the first search pass and 40 g/t Au for subsequent passes. High gold assays at Norrberget were capped at 24 g/t Au. Interpolation was by inverse distance cubed utilizing diamond drill, reverse circulation, and chip channel samples. Bjorkdal open pit Mineral Resources are estimated at a cut-off grade of 0.28 g/t Au and constrained by a resource pit shell. Norrberget open pit Mineral Resources are estimated at a cut-off grade of 0.35 g/t Au and constrained by a resource pit shell. Underground Mineral Resources are estimated at a block cut-off grade of 0.77 g/t Au for all veins except the Aurora vein. The Mineral Resources for the Aurora vein were constrained by reporting panels. A nominal two meter minimum mining width was used to interpret veins. Reported Mineral Resources are depleted for previously mined underground development and stopes. Stockpile Mineral Resources are estimated at a cut-off grade of 0.32 g/t Au and are based upon surveyed volumes supplemented by production data. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Numbers may not sum due to rounding. The Independent Qualified Person for the Bjorkdal and Norrberget Mineral Resource estimate is Reno Pressacco, P.Geo., Principal Geologist with SLR, who is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Other than the normal-course updating of the underground long term wireframes, and the re-optimization of the open pits to account for the updated long-term resource model, the workflow and modifying factors used to prepare the year-end 2020 Bjorkdal Mineral Reserves were largely unchanged from those used during the previous year. The reporting cut-off grades for the Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves statement were slightly modified to reflect the higher gold prices used to prepare the estimate. Updated operational costs and input parameters based upon 2020 actual figures, and the 2021 budget, were used in the Mineral Reserves estimation process. Financial viability of Probable Mineral Reserves was demonstrated at a $1,500/oz Au price. Table 6: Mineral Reserves at Bjorkdal, as of December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019 2020 Category Tonnage (kt) Au Grade (g/t) Contained Au (koz) Probable Underground 5,623 2.05 371 Open Pit 3,157 1.05 106 Norrberget Open Pit 162 2.8 15 Stockpile 2,551 0.64 53 Total Probable 11,493 1.47 544 2019 Category Tonnage (kt) Au Grade (g/t) Contained Au (koz) Probable Underground 5,410 2.1 365 Open Pit 2,875 1.23 114 Norrberget Open Pit 162 2.8 15 Stockpile 2,644 0.64 54 Total Probable 11,090 1.54 548 Notes: Bjorkdal Mineral Reserves are estimated using drill hole and sample data as of September 30, 2020 and depleted for production through December 31st, 2020. Norrberget Mineral Reserves are based on a data cut-off date of September 30th, 2017. CIM definitions (2014) were followed for Mineral Reserves. Open Pit Mineral Reserves are based on mine designs carried out on an updated resource model, applying a block dilution of 100% at 0.0 g/t Au for blocks above 1.0 g/t and 100% at in-situ grade for blocks below 1.0 g/t, but above a cut-off grade of 0.32 g/t Au. The application of these block dilution factors is based on historical reconciliation data. A marginal cut-off grade of 0.32 g/t Au was applied to estimate open pit Mineral Reserves. Underground Mineral Reserves are based on mine designs carried out on an updated resource model. Minimum mining widths of 3.85 m for stopes (after dilution) and 4.35 m for development (after dilution) were used. Stope dilution was applied by adding 0.5 m on each side of stopes as well as an additional 10% over break dilution. Further dilution, ranging from 5% to 50%, was added on a stope-by-stope basis depending on their proximity to other stopes. An overall dilution factor of 25% was added to development designs. Mining extraction was assessed at 95% for contained ounces within stopes and 100% for development. A cut-off grade of 0.87 g/t Au was applied to material mined within stopes. An incremental cut-off grade of 0.32 g/t Au was used for development material. Stockpile Mineral Reserves are estimated at a cut-off grade of 0.32 g/t Au and are based upon surveyed volumes supplemented by production data. Mineral Reserves are estimated using an average long-term gold price of US$1,500/oz, and an exchange rate of 9.0 SEK/US$. Tonnes and contained gold are rounded to the nearest thousand. Totals may not sum due to rounding. The Independent Qualified Person for the Bjorkdal Mineral Reserve estimate is Rick Taylor, MAusIMM (CP), Principal Mining Engineer with SLR, who is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. The net decrease of 4,000 ounces of gold in Probable Reserves for 2021 relative to 2020 included mining depletion of 52,800 ounces of gold during 2020. Therefore, a total of 48,800 ounces of gold were added to reserves for the 2020 exploration expenditures of $2.2 million. The exploration cost of adding those Mineral Reserves was $44.88 per ounce of gold. Qualified Persons: All Qualified Persons listed below have read and approved the contents of this news release as it pertains to the Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimates disclosed in this news release. For Costerfield: The Mineral Resource Estimate was carried out under the supervision of Andrew Fowler, MAusIMM CP(Geo), an employee of Mining Plus and independent of Mandalay Resources Corporation. He is a Qualified Person for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101. The Mineral Reserve Estimate was carried out under the supervision of Aaron Spong, MAusIMM CP (Min), an employee of Mining Plus and independent of Mandalay Resources Corporation. He is a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101. For Bjorkdal: The Mineral Resource Estimates for Bjorkdal and Norrberget were carried out under the supervision of Reno Pressacco, P.Geo., Principal Geologist, and an employee of SLR and independent of Mandalay Resources Corporation. He is a Qualified Person for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101. The Mineral Reserve Estimate was carried out under the supervision of Rick Taylor, MAusIMM CP (Min), Principal Mining Engineer, and an employee of SLR and independent of Mandalay Resources Corporation. He is a Qualified Person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101. For Further Information: Dominic Duffy President and Chief Executive Officer Edison Nguyen Manager, Analytics and Investor Relations Contact: 647.260.1566 About Mandalay Resources Corporation: Mandalay Resources is a Canadian-based natural resource company with producing assets in Australia and Sweden, and care and maintenance and development projects in Chile. The Company is focused on growing production at its gold and antimony operation in Australia, and gold production from its operation in Sweden to continue being a significant cash flow generating Company. Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements depending on, among other things, changes in commodity prices and general market and economic conditions. The factors identified above are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect Mandalay. A description of additional risks that could result in actual results and developments differing from those contemplated by forward-looking statements in this news release can be found under the heading "Risk Factors" in Mandalay's annual information form dated March 31, 2020, a copy of which is available under Mandalay's profile at www.sedar.com. In addition, there can be no assurance that any inferred resources that are discovered as a result of additional drilling will ever be upgraded to proven or probable reserves. Although Mandalay has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. City of Melbourne will return 100 per cent of its workers to offices as soon as public guidelines permit, in a bid to kickstart the citys ailing economy and encourage other workplaces to follow suit. Melbourne lord mayor Sally Capp said just 31 per cent of city workers had returned to their desks in January and, anecdotally, the city estimated that number had fallen again in February. People are slowly returning to Melbournes CBD, but not as quickly as the citys council would like. Credit:Justin McManus The number of Melburnians working from city offices was about half the rate of other capital cities, she told the councils monthly meeting on Tuesday night. As we know, pre-COVID about 50 per cent of our daily population comprised city workers, Cr Capp said. In October 2018, workers in the Uzbek city of Ohangaron, 65 kilometers southeast of Tashkent, could be seen carrying out road repairs and sprucing up the citys main thoroughfare. They gave building facades a fresh coat of paint and arranged Potemkin storefronts for shops with little inside beyond construction materials strewn on the floor. It was clear someone important was coming to town. The buzz in the city was that Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev was the mystery VIP -- and that he might have Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was set to arrive in Uzbekistan for an official visit, in tow. "No one will ever officially tell us that. But there were rumors that Mirziyoev was coming on [October] 18, a local official told RFE/RLs Uzbek Service at the time. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, added that Serbian workers were building a new residence for the president in the mountainous resort area of [the] Ohangaron [district]. There is a presumption that [Mirziyoev] will go there. But I think you have to get there by helicopter. Plus, there are also rumors that he will come to Ohangaron with Putin, the official said. The officials claim about the resort development was accurate: A compound was indeed being built in the highlands around 30 kilometers away in an idyllic gorge in what is known as Shovvozsoy, along the banks of a mountain river of the same name. More than two years have now passed since the complex was finished, and the Uzbek government has yet to make any details about it public. But an investigation by RFE/RLs Uzbek Service has uncovered substantial and credible evidence that the exclusive and secretive resort, including a newly constructed reservoir, were built for Mirziyoevs use -- and at a price tag that multiple sources familiar with the development estimated at several hundred million dollars. The resort, which the public is prevented from approaching by roadblocks and security personnel, is not included in a government decree on management of the Uzbek presidents official residences issued in March 2019. But several sources said that the complex features a mansion for Mirziyoevs use. One businessman who said he saw the interior described it as ostentatiously decorated and furnished with expensive Italian imports. The mountain hideaway also features helicopter pads and, like several other official residences of the Uzbek president, it is covered by one of the countrys six official no-fly zones. An employee of the Uzbek Civil Aviation Agency said these zones cover mostly presidential residences. Highlighting the secrecy surrounding the resort, reporters were unable to find or obtain a single ground-level photograph of the complex. Several builders who worked on the site said their mobile phones were confiscated before they could enter the territory. Construction of the compound began in February 2017, less than two months after Mirziyoev assumed the presidency, according to sources, satellite imagery, and one corporate document mentioning the development. Presenting a contrast to the rule of his predecessor, the late authoritarian President Islam Karimov, Mirziyoev has pledged greater transparency and prudent use of taxpayers money since assuming the presidency in December 2016. We need to implement an effective decision-making system based on transparency in public administration, Mirziyoev told lawmakers in his annual address in December 2017, adding that transparency and accountability are important conditions for the effective formation of the state apparatus. But there is virtually no available information about the amount of public funds poured into the Shovvozsoy resort, which is located on a protected biosphere reserve controlled by the state railway company. Families living in the area were uprooted and their homes razed to make room for the resort, and villagers downstream complained of water interruptions due to the reservoir built next to the complex. All of the sources who agreed to speak to reporters for this investigation did so on condition of anonymity, citing fears of retribution from officials or their employers for discussing the secretive mountain facility. The secrecy and alleged luxury of the compound echo the Black Sea estate linked to Putin that featured in opposition politician Aleksei Navalnys recent expose -- and has helped drive protests in support of the jailed politician. That property, located near the southern Russian resort town of Gelendzhik, has earned the moniker Putins Palace. Locals call the secretive Uzbek compound Mirziyoevs dacha. Hunters Paradise The mountain resort is located along the Shovvozsoy River, above the villages of Jartosh and Sarisuyun in the Ohangaron district of Uzbekistans Tashkent region. These villages and their surroundings, where mountain rivers flow, were protected during both the Soviet era and the rule of Karimov. Locals say Soviet leaders Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev came to hunt in the area, commonly referred to as the Shovvozsoy forestland. The place had long been popular with hunting enthusiasts because of its abundance of wild boars, deer, and pheasants, a former shepherd in the area told RFE/RLs Uzbek Service. Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev at Tashkent airport, Uzbekistan, on March 22, 1982. One Uzbek government official said Mirziyoev knew how beautiful and exclusive Shovvozsoy was from his time as prime minister from 2003 to 2016. In 2010, Mirziyoev signed a decree that included the construction of a road of state significance to the Shovvozsoy forest. By April 2013, local hikers were already discussing the alleged acquisition of the area by the state railway company, Uzbekistan Railways, and a roadblock preventing anyone from entering the companys game reserve. As early as August 2014, satellite imagery shows a lodge-like structure with a red roof surrounded by landscaping on the site that would later become the Shovvozsoy resort. One government official who said he visited the lodge told RFE/RL that the head of Uzbekistan Railways at the time, Achilboy Ramatov, took over the land and built a luxury hunting lodge. Ramatov, who became Uzbekistans first deputy prime minister in 2016, is known as a close associate of Mirziyoevs and a prominent construction magnate. "They used to inform Ramatov when the number of wild boars increased in the forest and he would come to hunt, the official said. It was one of Ramatov's secluded places to entertain and party with his high-ranking guests, including Mirziyoev. President Shavkat Mirziyoev (right) and Achilboy Ramatov inspecting a new metro line in October 2019. Ramatov did not respond to a request for comment. But his hunting in the area was corroborated by a woman in her 90s who complained to Mirziyoev and the Uzbek parliament in June 2017 that Ramatov and two associates were hunting wild animals at any time and causing great damage to the natural world. Who gave them such a right? she wrote. Working Day And Night Plans to build the secretive Shovvozsoy resort were under way as early as February 2017 -- less than a month after Mirziyoev delivered a speech to parliament stressing wise use of public funds -- according to an annual report of Boshtransloyiha, an Uzbekistan Railways subsidiary and the governments main institute for transportation research and design. On February 7, 2017, Boshtransloyiha agreed to conduct topographical work for another Uzbekistan Railways subsidiary, according to Boshtransloyiha corporate records. The agreement was related to construction of a recreation area on the territory of the Shovvozsoy forestland -- one of just a handful of publicly available mentions of the resort. Within months of the agreement, helicopter pads and other construction and landscaping work were already visible by satellite. The following year, five months before Putins official visit, Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov formally decreed the creation of the Ugam-Chatkal State Biosphere Reserve, 43,000 hectares of protected land that included the site where the Shovvozsoy compound was being built. The decree placed management of the new reserve in the hands of the Ramatov-led national railways. The decree formally appointed Ramatov as one of two managers of the reserve which includes an 11,000-hectare conservation area known as Boshqizilsoy that is part of the UNESCO-protected Western Tien-Shan. Precisely why the state railways would be entrusted with caring for such a large territory of protected land remains unclear. The decision raised questions from UNESCOs World Heritage Committee, which asked the Uzbek government to clarify the role of the company in the protection of Boshqizilsoy and possible impacts on the conservation of the Outstanding Universal Value of the Western Tien-Shan. Uzbekistan responded in part by saying that no construction is planned on the territory of the buffer zone around the [Boshqizilsoy] site and that there were no plans for other activities that could affect the universal outstanding value of the property. Aripov established a range of permissible activities on the reserve with another decree in December 2018 stating that no development is allowed on the Boshqizilsoy section, while limited commercial activity is allowed in the one-kilometer-wide buffer zone surrounding it and in the so-called transition zone that makes up the rest of the biosphere reserve. The Shovvozsoy resort is located in the transition zone, where some recreation-related development is permitted. Aripovs December 2018 decree states that activities undertaken in the transition zone should not harm the biosphere reserves natural features and ecosystems. By the time Aripov issued that decree, however, the Shovvozsoy resort and reservoir had already been largely built. Requests for comment sent to the offices of Aripov and Mirziyoev went unanswered, as did an inquiry to Uzbekistan Railways. According to the builders directly involved in the resorts construction, the main part of the site was completed in 2018 at breakneck speed. Everybody worked day and night to finish most of the dacha before Putin arrived in Uzbekistan. Very high-level people hastened the whole process, one worker said, mentioning by name Aripov and the Kremlin-loyal billionaire tycoon Alisher Usmanov, a native of Uzbekistan who did not respond to a request for comment. A second source, a local official, also mentioned Usmanov, saying that everybody in Ohangaron believes that Putin, Mirziyoev, and Alisher Usmanov flew in and out [of the Shovvozsoy resort] by helicopter. The Kremlin did not respond to a request for comment. Neither its site, nor Mirziyoevs official website, mentions any visit of the two leaders to the Shovvozsoy forestland during the Russian presidents official visit in October 2018. Murky Financing And Italian Luxury Precisely how much public money was poured into Mirziyoevs mountain compound remains unclear. Reporters were only able to find a handful of publicly available financial records identifying the project by name, and those documents accounted for only around $544,000. Uzbekistan Railways has never publicly disclosed the amount of money that was spent on the Shovvozsoy compound, and reporters found only one instance in which the state-owned company mentioned its existence. In July 2018, as the reservoir at the site was being filled, the company announced a tender for the delivery of materials for construction of a recreation facility on the territory of the Shovvozsoy forestland. A search of the companys website yielded no other mention of the project, and its annual reports and business plans for 2017-19 do not mention it either. During that period, the company spent $1.5 billion on construction and repair work, $1.1 billion of which was spent on new construction, according to the annual reports. It received $374.7 million in international loans during the same period, the reports state. The annual reports for this period also list a total of $301.8 million in other expenses. It is unclear if the financing of the Shovvozsoy resort is included in these figures. Uzbekistan Railways did not respond to a request for comment. Reporters were able to identify a total of six companies, all state-owned entities, involved in contracts referencing development of the Shovvozsoy compound in 2017-18: Uzbekistan Railways and its subsidiary, Toshtemiryolloyiha; Qishloqenergoloyiha, which designs facilities for electricity and the electrification of rural areas; Boshtransloyiha, the governments institute for transportation research and design; Tashkent Regional Electric Networks; and HydroProject, which is controlled by state-owned UzbekHydroEnergo. The Publicly Available Contracts Qishloqenergoloyihas 2018 annual report states that it signed seven contracts totalling 1.4 billion Uzbek soms ($178,000 at the time) with Tashkent Regional Electric Networks Enterprise for the provision of power to a residential complex and helipad in the Shovvozsoy forest. According to Boshtransloyihas 2018 annual report, its design and survey work at the resort continued until November 2018. The report lists a total of eight contracts for the project with Uzbekistan Railways and its subsidiary, Toshtemiryolloyiha, totalling 2.5 billion Uzbek soms ($361,200 at the time). Four of these are listed as supplemental contracts, though reporters could find no information about the main contract they were related to. Boshtransloyiha records also show that the company signed an August 2017 contract worth 29.3 million Uzbek soms ($7,000 at the time) with the state-owned company HydroProject for a calculation of the slope stability at the Shovvozsoy site. One Tashkent official aware of the project said it likely cost at least several hundred million dollars to build the resort. A foreman who worked on the site, meanwhile, believes construction of the compound and reservoir cost at least $1 billion. Those estimates include the construction of the reservoir, roads, landscaping, and the large buildings on the property, including the mansion allegedly built for Mirizyoevs use. We saw for ourselves how expensive and plentiful the materials were, from digging mountain roads to designing the landscape. Starting from a huge amount of exclusive marble and ending with ornamental plants that were brought from abroad. And we havent seen another expensive part of the compound -- its luxurious interior, the construction source said. One Uzbek entrepreneur who said he saw the interior of what sources identified as Mirziyoevs residence at the resort said it was replete with golden detailing and custom-made furniture directly from Italy. According to trade data, Italian furniture exports to Uzbekistan soared in 2018 -- the year that workers said the Shovvozsoy resort was largely completed -- compared to the previous year. Its impossible to tell from this data how much -- if any -- of the Italian furniture was imported for the Shovvozsoy resort. The data does not indicate the names of the Italian companies that exported the furniture or the recipients in Uzbekistan. Aleksei Navalnys bombshell expose of Putins Palace on Russias Black Sea coast also alleged that the property was furnished with luxury Italian furniture. One of the Italian furniture companies mentioned in his investigation, Pozzoli, confirmed that it has exported its products to Uzbekistan but declined to give further details. According to a state employee who said he visited the site during the final stage of construction, a "little Austria" was built there, with facilities that allegedly include ski slopes, swimming pools, saunas, a gym, a cinema, vineyards, an amphitheater, and vast ornamental landscaping. Reporters were unable to corroborate these details, though satellite imagery showed substantial landscaping work at the site. Satellite imagery also corroborates the timeline given by several builders who worked on the site and said construction there began even before the design and planning documents were finalized. A new, much wider road had to be built in order to accommodate all the heavy traffic, and many detonations were carried out in the mountains to open the road, a builder who worked directly on the site told RFE/RLs Uzbek Service. Another source involved in the construction said German architects were brought in, as were companies from Russia, the Balkans, and other countries. He said that communications infrastructure, as well as electrical and ventilation work, was primarily done by Enter Engineering, a Singapore-incorporated firm owned by Uzbek businessman Bakhtiyor Fozilov, who received a state award from Mirziyoev in 2019 for selfless service. (One individuals online resume states that he worked on the Shovvozsoy resort for Enter Engineering.) He said that concrete and steel structures were provided by Binokor Temir-Beton Servis, an Uzbek subsidiary of Orient Group, whose shareholders include Oybek Umarov, the brother of Mirziyoevs son-in-law. Other subsidiaries of Orient Group were involved in the construction of the resort as well, he said. More than 2,000 workers were employed during the early stage of construction, when heavy and dirty work was done. Most of the workers were hired from [Uzbekistans] Qashqadaryo [region] and they lived in temporary containers built on the construction site, the construction worker said, adding that they worked from dawn to dusk. One Russian company states on its website that it worked on the construction of a recreation facility on the Shovvozsoy forest territory. The company, BrigEnergo, is based in the Russian city of Ufa and has done other work in Uzbekistan. It says that its other customers include Enter Engineering, the company cited by the construction worker as a contractor on the project. Inquiries to Enter Engineering, Orient Group, and BrigEnergo about the Shovvozsoy resort went unanswered. A Birds-Eye View Historical satellite images show the progression of the project and its scope. As early as July 22, 2017, two blue helicopter pads were visible in front of what sources described as Ramatovs lodge. (Other satellite imagery indicates preparations for the helicopter pads were under way as of January 1 of that year.) Two people who worked on the site said that Mirziyoev was a frequent visitor during construction. Within a year, a significant portion of the project appeared to have been completed, including the largest building on the site. Several people who worked on the construction site said the Mirziyoev family residence at the Shovvozsoy facility is located next to the main building. The facility also includes smaller residences for Mirziyoevs security detail and private guests, several sources said. Down the road toward Tashkent are buildings that construction workers say house National Guard soldiers as well as a soccer field put in sometime after August 2017. Since this zone is special and secret, its guarded 24/7. [One] can see even from the satellite that the [checkpoint] is standing in front of the National Guard buildings. That is the final checkpoint before you enter the premises of the dacha. Not even a bird can fly over that fence, a builder directly involved in the construction said. No one is allowed to enter this zone with phones. Thats how they managed to keep the construction secret, he added. Dont Oppose The President Within six months after the reservoir next to the Shovvozsoy resort was filled, Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov issued his decree regulating the biosphere reserve on which the compound is located. The decree, in part, established protection of the reserve by security personnel. It also allows them to carry weapons while on duty, check documents of those on the territory of the reserve, and conduct inspections of people and vehicles. Since 2018, the road to the top has been closed to ordinary people. Security around the dacha is so strong that it is impossible to approach it from dozens of kilometers. Our pastures were fenced with barbed wire. If our cattle manage to pass the barbed wire somewhere, they impose a huge fine on us. Armed guards are everywhere, a local shepherd told RFE/RLs Uzbek Service. Some licensed local hunters told RFE/RL that they had received an official response to their complaints that the Shovvozsoy forestland area had been taken over for use by the state. One of the hunters said that those who protested were warned "not to go against big politics, not to oppose the president." Protesters against the military's seizure of power in were back on the streets of the country's biggest city on Tuesday, a day after a call for a general strike shuttered shops and brought huge numbers out to demonstrate. Numbers were down from Monday's massive crowds, but around 1,000 people in Yangon had gathered by mid-morning at the city's Hledan Center, a major meeting point for protesters, with other groups assembling at other venues. In Mandalay, the country's second-biggest city, a funeral was held for 37-year-old Thet Naing Win, one of two protesters shot dead by security forces on Saturday. He and a teenage boy were killed when police and soldiers opened fire on a crowd that had gathered to support dock workers whom the authorities were trying to force to work. They have been on strike, as have many civil servants and state enterprise workers, as part of a nationwide civil obedience movement against the Feb. 1 military takeover. The military says it took power because last November's election was marked by widespread voting irregularities, an assertion that was refuted by the state election commission, whose members have since been replaced by the ruling junta. Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won a landslide victory at the polls, which would have installed her government for a second five-year term in power. However, the army blocked Parliament from convening and detained Suu Kyi and President Win Myint and other top members of her government. The junta has said it will rule for a year under a state of emergency and then hold fresh elections. There was a flurry of diplomatic activity abroad on Monday, as concern about the situation remained high. The United States and several Western governments have called for the junta to refrain from violence, release detainees and restore Suu Kyi's government. On Monday, the U.S. said it was imposing sanctions against more junta members because of the killings of peaceful protesters by security forces. Lt. Gen. Moe Myint Tun and Gen. Maung Maung Kyaw add to other military leaders and entities facing U.S. sanctions, and Britain and Canada have taken similar action since the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the U.S. condemns the attacks on protesters, and vowed to take further action if more violence occurs. We call on the military and police to cease all attacks on peaceful protesters, immediately release all those unjustly detained, stop attacks on and intimidation of journalists and activists, and restore the democratically elected government, Blinken said. European Union foreign ministers ordered a series of measures to be drawn up to target those responsible for the They said the EU is ready to adopt restrictive measures targeting those directly responsible for the They plan to keep all other options under review. Such sanctions usually involve a freeze on people's assets and a ban on them traveling to Europe. The ministers are calling for an end to the state of emergency and the release of all political prisoners.. The ministers say any sanctions the EU imposes will not be aimed at ordinary people. U.N. Secretary-General Antnio Guterres reiterated his full support to the people of on the opening day of a new U.N. Human Rights Council session. Coups have no place in our modern world, Guterres said in a pre-recorded video for the council's 46th regular session. At a Feb. 12 special session, the council adopted a resolution expressing deep concern over the junta's move. Internet access in has been blocked nightly from 1 a.m. to 9 a.m. Social media postings Tuesday morning reported more nighttime raids by police in Yangon to try to arrest people linked with the protest movement. On Monday, the independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners reported that 684 people have been arrested in connection with activities since the coup, with 637 still being detained. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In their first joint annual "Fund Formation Trends Survey" Sudrania Fund Services and LaunchPad Creative found an overwhelming trend of new fund launches dominated by private equity and credit strategies, prompted by strong investor demand and asset flows. The survey was conducted by specialist research firm Alternatives Watch via email from mid-December 2020 through January 2021 and included 90 global law firms specializing in alternative investments. One-on-one conversations were held with 20 firms, based mostly in the U.S. and Cayman Islands, about expectations for new fund launches among clients. Lawyers specializing in alternative investment strategies revealed that the most likely arenas for new fund launches over the next 12 to 18 months will be private equity (26%) and credit strategies (26%), followed by long/short equity hedge funds (21%), (11%) for real estate and ESG and (5%) for crypto related funds. Nilesh Sudrania, Founder and CEO of Sudrania Fund Services, said, We have observed growing interest in the digital assets realm and private equity space, and as noted in the survey, law firms are increasingly working with digital asset fund launches. Going into 2021, we are excited to work with fund managers eyeing a variety of new fund investment strategies, including Special Purpose Vehicle (SPVs), digital asset funds, and hedge funds through our cloud-based Seamless Solutions platform, he added. "Our experience over the past twelve months supports the survey findings," said Kristin Steele, Founder of LaunchPad Creative, LLC. "We partnered with fund managers that employed various fund structures and investment strategies, including a large number of private equity, real estate, and venture capital funds, to craft their unique stories into compelling pitchdecks. We look forward to building on this momentum through 2021, offering our expertise to established and emerging managers as they bring new ideas and strategies to market." The popularity of private equity and credit funds lines up with the fund raising we tracked at Alternatives Watch last year, commented Susan Barreto, Editor of Alternatives Watch. Of the more than $323 billion we tracked in alternative investment capital fundraising in 2020, roughly $190 billion was raised by private equity and nearly $80 billion in private debt strategies. As investors clamor for yield in a low interest environment the appetite for alternative investment funds remains strong. Other key findings included: Law firms experience in dealing with crypto strategies is growing. The majority (66%) of lawyers in our survey reported working within the digital asset space currently. The most popular fund structure among investment firms in 2021 will be the limited partnership, with (39%) of lawyers saying will be the most often used when launching a new offering this year. Separately managed accounts were the most popular structure among (26%) of law firms, while only (16%) expected co-investments to be the prevalent offering this year. Four out of 10 lawyers surveyed said that investor location was the biggest determining factor among managers deciding on a type of fund vehicle. A close second is regulatory regime, which (20%) selected as a top consideration in selecting an optimal fund offering structure. Click here to view the full survey results: https://www.alternativeswatch.com/2021-fund-formation-survey/. About Sudrania Fund Services Sudrania Fund Services is a global fund administrator based in Chicago, Illinois that leverages its proprietary Seamless platform, an award-winning, full-scale cloud-based, fund administration application which integrates portfolio, fund accounting and investor reporting, in order to provide best-in-class and cost-efficient solutions to both the traditional and alternative investment fund management community. Seamless Solutions can process high-frequency trading volumes to deliver daily NAV for hedge funds, cryptocurrency funds, SPVs, mutual funds, private equity funds, impact funds, commodity pools and mortgage funds. Sudranias operations and technology are SOC 1, SOC 2, and SOC 3 audited, and it currently has over 325 staff across its seven offices globally. Visit https://sudrania.com/ for more. About LaunchPad Creative LaunchPad Creative partners with financial services firms on tailored integrated marketing, brand design and social media initiatives, launching them into their next phase of exponential growth. We pride ourselves on delivering strategic innovation, creative design and content, crisp execution and marketing campaign analytics to help our clients realize ROI from their marketing strategies. Our unique advantage is that we are solely focused on helping financial services firms develop and execute their marketing strategies. With over twenty years in the industry, we understand the marketplace and speak the lingo. Learn more about LaunchPad Creative on our website and follow us on LinkedIn. Visit http://launchpadcreativellc.hubspotpagebuilder.com/get-to-know-lpc for more. About Alternatives Watch Alternatives Watch, a research and daily news platform dedicated to the rapidly growing world of alternative investments geared toward sophisticated investors. We cover investor mandate activity as well as manager news across private markets including hedge funds, private equity, private credit, infrastructure and real estate. With thousands of investment strategies to choose from with billions of dollars up for grabs, AW provides the most accurate and timely snapshot of this disruptive and entrepreneurial segment of asset management. Visit https://www.alternativeswatch.com/ for more. For Media: Craig Allen, Managing Principal Allen & Associates Communications P: +1 475 419 4468 craig.allen@aacomms.net After the engine failure, the FAA ordered an inspection and United Airlines suspended production of 24 Boeing 777s. United Airlines said on Sunday that it will temporarily cancel service of 24 Boeing 777 aircraft after an emergency landing of the engines of 24 Boeing 777 aircraft last weekend. The Director of the Federal Aviation Administration said on Sunday that the agency will order inspections of certain Boeing 777 aircraft powered by the same Platts and Whitney engines, PW4000. After the right engine of the United Aircraft 328 malfunctioned, it made an emergency landing at Denver International Airport shortly after takeoff on Saturday afternoon. No one on board was injured, but there was no debris nearby, including debris that appeared to be a large hood. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are investigating the incident. "After yesterday incident, we reviewed all available safety data. Based on the initial information, we concluded that the inspection interval for the unique hollow fan blades of this engine should be increased and used only for Boeing 777 aircraft." FAA Administrator Steve Dixon said in a statement. There are currently 28 such aircraft in the United Airlines fleet. After the decline in demand due to the Covid -19 pandemic, airlines have parked or eliminated dozens of aircraft. Affected by United Airlines suspends production of 24 Boeing 777s, the nj310 bearing market is changing rapidly. These changes are indicators of market decline. Bearings are an important part of modern machinery and equipment, and its downstream is widely used in industrial automation, high-end equipment, robotics, automobile manufacturing and other fields. In recent years, due to the decline in demand from downstream industries such as automobiles and machine tools, as well as the adjustment of industrial structure, the phase of transformation and upgrading, the phasing out of backward production capacity has changed the relationship between supply and demand. The number of bearing industries has declined. If you are looking for nj310 bearing or get more information about nj310 bearing, please send an email to sales@ericbearing.com Due to changes in consumer demand, import and export conditions, and various investigations on the development of nj310 bearing, the cost of nj310 bearing is constantly changing. Taking into account the current market macroeconomic parameters, value chain analysis, channel partners, demand and supply, the cost of nj310 bearing will also be affected to a certain extent. It is estimated that the cost of nj310 bearing will increase slightly from next year. The price of nj310 bearing continues to be affected by factors such as market decline momentum, various opportunities and challenges. However, during the forecast period from 2022 to 2027, the global nj310 bearing sales market is expected to continue to be above average. The growth rate will continue to increase. It is expected that In the second half of this year, the price of nj310 bearing will increase to a certain extent. The market trend of nj310 bearing? The cost of raw materials is still the biggest concern for manufacturers. Raw materials account for approximately 60-62% of bearing manufacturers revenue. The price of raw materials for automotive bearings fluctuates continuously according to market economic conditions. Such fluctuations in raw material prices are becoming a real challenge for companies to maintain competitiveness and ensure sustainable profits. As high-grade steel and alloy steel are the main raw materials used to manufacture nj310 bearing, bearing prices are highly correlated with global steel price trends. Therefore, fluctuations in the price of raw materials have brought challenges for bearing manufacturers to compare prices and quality to manufacture automotive bearings. In addition, the bearings require regular maintenance to avoid failures and extend their service life, which further increases maintenance costs. Therefore, factors such as raw material price fluctuations and regular maintenance costs are expected to hinder the growth of the automotive bearing market. The global nj310 bearing market is constantly changing. It is amazingly important research that explores the competitive landscape, segmentation, geographic expansion, and revenue, production and consumption growth of the global nj310 bearing target market. In addition, the nj310 bearing provides a series of different market segments and applications that can promote market development during the forecast period. In-depth information is based on historical milestones and current trends. In addition, the nj310 bearing market also covers development policies and plans, manufacturing processes and cost structures, marketing strategies, and then analyzes top nj310 bearing producers, distributors, marketing channels of nj310 bearing, potential buyers and nj310 bearing history of development. The market demand of nj310 bearing? The global bearing market value in 2020 is 123.34 billion U.S. dollars and is expected to reach 153.62 billion U.S. dollars by 2027, and the compound annual growth rate will also increase steadily. A bearing is a mechanical element that supports relative movement and helps reduce friction caused between moving parts. Bearings are widely used in various industries such as automobiles, wind turbines, construction machinery, mining machinery, agricultural equipment, and machine tools. It is used in automobiles to ensure smooth driving of automobiles, electric vehicles (EV) and other types of vehicles (such as light commercial vehicles and heavy vehicles such as trucks). Due to the increasing utilization of bearing nj310 bearing in various end-use industries, rolling mills and electric vehicles, the global nj310 bearing market has become more and more important. The development of technology has improved the overall efficiency of bearing products in the automotive field and extended the product shelf life. About Eric Bearing Limited Since the establishment of ERIC BEARING LIMITED in 2011, Eric Bearing Co., Ltd. has established partnerships with some distributors who have authorized world-renowned manufacturers, such as Swedish SKF bearings, German FAG and INA bearings, and Japanese NSK bearings. Japan NTN bearings, Japan IKO bearings, Japan KOYO bearings, Japan NACHI bearings and American TIMKEN bearings, etc. Compared with other competitors, our price is very competitive, 30% lower than the customer\'s local market. We have set up multiple branch warehouses in Hong Kong Free Port, Shanghai Port and Guangzhou Port. ERIC BEARING LIMITED-your professional brand bearing expert. More than 8 years of export experience can help you find the ideal purchasing solution. Various brands of bearings have abundant stocks, if you are interested, please feel free to contact us. Looking for the nj310 bearing or get more information about nj310 bearing, please send an email to sales@ericbearing.com Chandigarh: Amid growing concern over the rising Covid trend in the state, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday ordered restriction on indoor gathering to 100 and outdoor to 200 persons from March 1, along with strict enforcement of mask/social distancing etc, with testing to be ramped to 30000 a day. Chairing a high-level virtual meeting to review the situation, the Chief Minister also authorised the DCs to impose night curfew in hot spots in their districts if needed, with micro containment strategy to be adopted. He directed the Police force to ensure strict enforcement of wearing of masks, along with notification of Covid monitors by all restaurants, marriage palaces, with the the Department of Excise and Taxation to be the nodal agency for the same. Captain Amarinder Singh The Chief Minister said a decision on reducing occupancy in cinema halls will be taken after March 1. Private offices and restaurants shall be encouraged to display last tests done for all employees, he added. While directing increased testing, Captain Amarinder ordered mandatory testing of 15 contacts per positive, with monitoring to be done by CPTOs and review to be undertaken by the Health Department. The Chief Minister also took stock of the Vaccination status, underlining the need to carry out an IEC campaign to promote 100% coverage of healthcare and frontline workers. He directed the Health Department to plan for an strategise the roll-out of vaccine for the elderly population and those with comorbidities. Expressing concern over the 3.23 CFR, Captain Amarinder took note of the mortality audit findings that many of the deaths are happening within 2 -14 days of hospitalisation. He underscored the need for continued supervision of protocols for managing patients with comorbidities, especially in private facilities. Coronavirus Citing cases of some deaths at home, he further directed the Health Department to ensure proper monitoring of home isolation cases, especially those with comorbidities. The Fateh Kits comprising self-monitoring instructions should positively reach all persons in home isolation the same day that they are tested positive, he directed. The Chief Minister asked the Health and Medical Education departments to ensure that all positions for which special hiring has been allowed are filled at the earliest. Apprising the Chief Minister of measures taken by the Punjab Police to enforce adherence to safety protocols, DGP Dinkar Gupta said instructions have been issued to field officers to strictly impose restrictions. Earlier, in a brief presentation, Health Secretary Hussan Lal informed the meeting that the districts of Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, SAS Nagar and SBS Nagar had shown a spike in positivity in recent days, triggering concerns over a possible fresh wave in the state. On the vaccination front, he disclosed that there had so far been 61 cases of minor adverse events following immunisation, while 6 severe and 14 serious cases had been reported. All had since recovered, he added. Captain Amarinder Singh Dr KK Talwar, who is heading the state governments expert group on Covid, said a detailed analysis was being done on the recent spike in positivity rate, which suggested an increase in cases among young people. At the current rate, the positivity could go up to 4% in two weeks, translating into 800 cases per day, he said, stressing the need for urgent preventive steps. Chief Secretary Vinni Mahajan ruled out re-closure of government schools and said the department is taking all steps to ensure the safety of students. Education Secretary Krishan Kumar said teachers have been designated nodal officers in schools to instruct students on the proper use of masks etc and ensure adherence to Covid appropriate behaviour. These steps have come as significant number of cases had been reported from the recently reopened schools, especially in Ludhiana, with positivity rate of 3.1% and Bathinda (2.9%). So far, no new mutated variant of the Coronavirus had been witnessed in Punjab but new samples had been sent for testing and the results were expected next week, said Dr Talwar. Dr Raj Bahadur also briefed the meeting on the prevailing situation and the steps being taken to check the spread of Covid. Kuwait hosted officials from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on Monday in their first such meeting since the Gulf states ended their yearslong rift with Doha, the Emirati state news agency reported. Saudi Arabia and its allies Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt severed ties with gas-rich Qatar in June 2017, accusing their neighbor of funding terrorism and growing too close to Iran and Turkey. Doha denies supporting terrorist groups but admits to backing Islamist movements including Egypts outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. Qatar, a tiny peninsula in the Persian Gulf, refused to comply with the Quartets 13 conditions for lifting the blockade, which included cutting ties with Tehran and shutting down the Qatari-funded Al Jazeera TV network. After more than three years of Qatars diplomatic and economic isolation, the Saud-led bloc reached a solidarity and stability pact with Doha during the annual summit of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, which was held in the Saudi desert city of Al-Ula in January. According to the Emirati state news agency WAM, the Emirati and Qatari delegations in Kuwait on Monday discussed joint mechanisms and procedures for implementing the Al-Ula statement. They emphasized the importance of preserving Gulf kinship and developing joint Gulf action in the interest of GCC countries and their citizens, and of achieving stability and prosperity in the region, WAM said, without specifying who from each country was in attendance. The agency said the two delegations praised Riyadh for hosting the January summit and thanked Kuwait for its mediation efforts. Since restoring ties, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways has announced the resumption of flights to Doha, and Qatar Airways is now flying to Abu Dhabi and Dubai. In early January, the UAE opened its air, sea and land ports to Qatar. West Springfield, Westfield, Agawam and Southwick hope to hear back this week from the state on their plan to offer COVID-19 vaccines with a cooperative multi-municipality clinic at The Big E grounds in West Springfield. In a letter dated Monday, West Springfield Mayor William C. Reichelt told state Health & Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders that Hampden County Sheriff Nicholas Cocchi and his department are cooperating and the organizers are seeking partnerships with other communities. Weve got to get something on this side of the river, Agawam Mayor William P. Sapelli said. Especially since this is going to open up very soon to educators which we cant wait for that to happen - and to the rest of the population under age 75. The Big E was discussed as a state-run site but the state went with the Eastfield Mall in Springfield instead. While these four communities are pooling their resources to host the event, the clinics would be available to any Massachusetts resident, with a special emphasis on the Hilltowns west of Westfield and Southwick. Obviously, Holyoke can come down, Easthampton, Northampton, Sapelli said. Who doesnt know where the Big E is? Reichelt quoted his citys slogan: Its the crossroads of New England. Last week, Westfield Mayor Donald Humason revealed that the state will no longer supply vaccine doses to town and city health departments, instead funneling those doses to larger state-organized clinics like the one at the Eastfield Mall. That dashed Westfields hopes of establishing a clinic at the Westfield Senior Center on Noble Street and also meant that Agawam, West Springfield and other communities including Northampton and Amherst wont be able to continue offering local clinics once theyve given their final rounds of second doses. Not having the vaccine available in each town our city is a hardship, Reichelt said, especially for older people or those with transportation issues. West Springfield offered the shots at its senior center on Park Street. They really appreciated going to a place where they knew everybody, Reichelt. Sapelli said Agawam has been able to vaccinate hundreds of eligible recipients each Wednesday using Bethany Assembly of God church on Main Street for a site. He read off thank-you letters from folks grateful they didnt have to travel. In his letter to Sudders, Reichelt also points out that the Eastfield Mall site is the only mass vaccination site in the area and its hard to access by people who dont live in Springfield. But the state is looking for high-volume locations. So it requires that regional clinics be able to administer at least 750 doses a day five days a week. There is no guarantee that a Big E clinic would get that many shots, but it has to be scaled up to that amount of volume. The plan is to use the Big Es transportation building, the large visitors center located just inside Gate 1 and to the rear of the Avenue of the States buildings. It wouldnt be a drive-thru, Sapelli said, despite the site being used earlier in the pandemic as a drive-thru testing site for first responders. But there will be areas set up in the large transportation building for registration, administering the vaccine and for observing folks afterward. Reichelt and Sapelli both said they dont know how much the clinics would cost. That depends on how many doses they get. All the municipalities have pledged to pool their staff. And there will be staff from the Sheriffs Office: We have offered up staff to help with the proposed regional vaccination site at The Big E, should it come to fruition, said Cocchi spokesman Robert Rizzuto. Related Content: A row over Lebanese lawmakers jumping the queue for COVID-19 vaccinations erupted on Tuesday with the World Bank threatening to pull its funding for the inoculation drive and human rights campaigners accusing authorities of mismanagement. The spat broke out after a correspondent from the Thomson Reuters Foundation tweeted confirmation from parliament's secretary general that lawmakers aged over 75 would get their shots in the legislature in Beirut on Tuesday. That led the World Bank's middle east regional head, Saroj Kumar Jha, to respond: "This is not in line with the national plan agreed with @WorldBank and we would record it breach of terms and conditions agreed with us for fair and equitable vaccination." He added that the lender "may suspend financing for vaccines and support for COVID19 response across Lebanon!!" if the violation was confirmed. Last month, the bank agreed to provide Lebanon with a $34 million loan to fund vaccinations for roughly a third of the country's six million people, amid a surge in new COVID-19 cases that it said was exacerbating a deep economic crisis. Lebanon kicked off vaccinations on Feb. 14, giving first priority to healthcare workers and the over-75s who registered on an online platform. But in the first week of the roll-out, 40% of vaccination sites breached those regulations, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which is monitoring the vaccine campaign along with the World Bank. That raised fears of favouritism in a country that regularly ranks among the most corrupt in the world, and rights groups warned that Tuesday's incident would further damage public confidence in the vaccination programme and state institutions. "Even before the COVID-19 pandemic and the COVID crisis, Lebanese public confidence in government institutions has been exceedingly low," said Lama Fakih, a Beirut-based crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch. "This has only declined given the mismanagement of this crisis," she said. 'GRAVE INFRACTION' A total of 16 MPs (members of parliament) and five parliamentary staff received their vaccines on Tuesday, said Secretary-General Adnan Daher. He initially said there had been no violation of the programme's regulations, but later conceded that some of the group were in fact under 75 and therefore not in the top priority group. The head of the country's COVID-19 vaccination committee, Abdel-Rahman Bizri, said earlier he would quit over the incident but later vowed to stay on to keep the inoculation programme from unravelling. He told a news conference the MPs' queue-jumping was "a grave infraction that cannot be repeated". The lawmakers' vaccinations also fueled concerns that vulnerable groups - such as thousands of migrant workers and a million refugees - might be left out. "While (authorities) say they will cover everyone in Lebanon, plans in place will not make that happen," Fakih said, noting that a government mandate to bring ID for vaccination could result in the exclusion of undocumented people. Syrian refugees in Lebanon died from COVID-19 at a rate more than four times the national average, some 4.5% compared to around 1% nationally, according to U.N. data obtained exclusively by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. With nine out of 10 refugees living in extreme poverty, a spokeswoman for the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) in Lebanon said fear of movement restrictions and other socio-economic considerations were likely to blame. Lebanon has had one of the region's highest infection rates, and ordinary people took to social media to express their anger and frustration over the pace of the vaccination programme and Tuesday's events in parliament. "My 92-year-old grandpa, who uses an oxygen machine, till date didn't receive an sms and they're getting theirs! Messed up!" Twitter user Jessica Kassab wrote. Short link: CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- HubSpot (NYSE: HUBS), the customer relationship management (CRM) platform for scaling companies, today announced that Kate Bueker, the Company's Chief Financial Officer, and Chuck MacGlashing, the Company's Head of IR and Corporate Treasury, are scheduled to present virtually at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference on Tuesday, March 2, 2021 at 10:15 a.m. ET. All interested parties can access the webcast live on the Company's investor relations website at ir.hubspot.com . The Company will also host virtual 1-on-1 investor meetings on the same day. About HubSpot HubSpot (NYSE: HUBS) is a leading customer relationship management (CRM) platform that provides software and support to help companies grow better. The platform includes marketing, sales, service, and website management products that start free and scale to meet our customers' needs at any stage of growth. Today, more than 100,000 customers across more than 120 countries use HubSpot's powerful and easy-to-use tools and integrations to attract, engage, and delight customers. Named Glassdoor's #4 Best Place to Work in 2021, HubSpot has been recognized for its award-winning culture by Great Place to Work, Comparably, Fortune, Entrepreneur, Inc., and more. HubSpot was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company's thousands of employees work across the globe in HubSpot offices and remotely. Learn more at www.hubspot.com . SOURCE HubSpot Related Links http://hubspot.com New Delhi: Days after Facebook removed pages of various news outlets from its platform, the standoff between the social media giant and the Australian government seems heading to a consensus. Federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg on Tuesday (February 23) said that Facebook will restore the news pages after the government offered amendments to the proposed law which aims to make tech companies pay for the media content they host on their platforms. Australia has introduced legislation challenging Facebook and Google's dominance in the news content market. In response to the move, Facebook last week blocked the accounts of news pages and several state governments and emergency departments on the social media platform. A concession deal was struck after a series of talks between Frydenberg and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over the weekend, Reuters reported. According to the report, Australia will offer four amendments, which include a change to the mandatory arbitration mechanism used when the tech giants cannot reach a deal with publishers over fair payment for displaying news content. "We are satisfied that the Australian government has agreed to a number of changes and guarantees that address our core concerns about allowing commercial deals that recognize the value our platform provides to publishers relative to the value we receive from them," Facebook said in a statement posted online. The amendments include a two-month mediation period before the government-appointed arbitrator intervenes, giving the parties more time to reach a private deal. It also inserts a rule that an internet company's contribution to the "sustainability of the Australian news industry" via existing deals be taken into account. "These amendments will provide further clarity to digital platforms and news media businesses about the way the code is intended to operate and strengthen the framework for ensuring news media businesses are fairly remunerated," Frydenberg said. (With inputs from Reuters) Live TV Defence Minister Linda Reynolds has given conflicting accounts to the Senate of meetings with police about former staffer Brittany Higgins allegations a colleague raped her in the ministers office. Ms Higgins is expected to give a formal statement to police on Wednesday to reactivate an investigation. She has alleged the man raped her in Senator Reynolds office after security guards let the pair into the building late on Friday, March 22, 2019. Defence Minister Linda Reynolds has given conflicting accounts of meetings with police relating to her former staffers allegations of sexual assault by a colleague. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Two other women have since come forward with allegations of sexual assault, and one woman alleges sexual harassment, by the same man. The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have established the identity of the alleged rapist but have chosen not to name him on legal grounds. https://www.aish.com/jw/me/SNLs-Unfunny-Anti-Israel-Joke.html The show falsely accused Israel of only vaccinating Jews; the reality is far different. A recent joke on the popular show Saturday Night Live (SNL) has tapped into anti-Jewish stereotypes, and echoes statements that are increasingly being made in the news. The slur is that Israel, the worlds leader in vaccinating its population, is somehow only offering medical care to Jews. Israel is reporting that theyve vaccinated half of their population, deadpanned Michael Che, and Im gonna guess its the Jewish half. The studio audience chuckles and Che moves on. It was only a brief joke, but in that moment countless viewers around the world absorbed the canard that Israel is denying lifesaving aid to its non-Jewish citizens. Worse still is the snide tone of Ches joke, as if its apparently obvious that Israelis are racist and only care about themselves, even to the point of putting others in danger. In the past several weeks, Israel has become the worlds leader in administering vaccines. By the time that Che made his joke, over 4.3 million Israelis out of a population of approximately 9 million had received their first of two vaccine doses, and nearly 3 million had received their second. Its a huge achievement, and its most certainly not limited to Jewish residents of Israel. Yet Israel has found itself battling unfair allegations that its limiting access to vaccines to Jews only. Accusing Israel In January, Amnesty International said that Israels rollout of vaccines to Israeli citizens highlights the countrys institutionalized discrimination against Palestinians. In a January 26 speech to the United Nations, Palestinian Authority (PA) Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki accused Israel of not provid(ing) any vaccine to the Palestinian people under occupation to this day, denying its obligation to do so. Left unnoted in the speech was the fact that the Palestinian Authority had not asked Israel to help supply vaccines in PA-administered areas. In fact, the reality of Israels and of the PAs vaccine programs is much more complex than many seem to realize. Israels Covid-19 vaccination program began on December 19, 2020, and is already one of the worlds most extensive, delivering vaccines to a larger share of its population than virtually any other country. Early on in the race to develop a Covid-19 vaccine, Israel struck a deal with Pfizer-BioNTech. Paying what NPR calls a premium for the drugs, Israel secured an early supply of the companys vaccine doses, and struck a unique deal: vaccines for data. As Americas National Public Radio (NPR) notes: The nation of some 9 million promised Pfizer a swift vaccine rollout, along with data from Israel's centralized trove of medical statistics to study whether herd immunity is achieved after reaching a certain percentage of vaccination coverage in Israel, according to their agreement. "We said to Pfizer ... that the moment they give us the vaccine, we'll be able to vaccinate at the speed they've never heard of," explained Yuli Edelstein, Israel's Minister of Health, to NPR. Israel's small size and technologically advanced public health system offer an attractive model for Pfizer to demonstrate the impact of the vaccine on an entire population. Pfizer has not signed a similar agreement with any other country, company spokesperson Jerica Pitts says. Vaccinating Jews and Arabs Israels vaccine campaign has seen immunization sites set up in Jewish and Arab neighborhoods. Vaccine hesitancy has been greater among Israeli Arabs than Jews, and Israeli health officials have stepped up efforts to encourage Arab Israelis to receive the shots. Coincidentally, the millionth Israeli to be vaccinated was 66-year-old Arab-Israeli citizen Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab, at a vaccination center in the Arab Israeli town of Umm al-Fahm. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on hand to celebrate the moment. He later visited other Arab towns to encourage Israeli Arabs to come be vaccinated. Later on, some people criticized Netanyahu for posing with al-Wahhab when it emerged that al-Wahhab had previously spent 14 years in jail for what the Times of Israel called robbery and weapons charges. But the fact that the millionth Israeli to receive a Covid-19 vaccine happened to be an Arab-Israeli and an ex-con showed Israels determination to distribute vaccines to all, without fear or favor. In addition to offering vaccines to all its citizens, Israel has also offered vaccines to Arab residents of Jerusalem. As residents of Israels capital, these people are eligible for Israeli citizenship, though some have declined to become Israeli citizens. West Bank and Gaza The Times of Israel notes that Critics of Israels vaccination policy point to the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that an occupying power is required to provide vaccines to the inhabitants of the territories under its control. However, when it comes to the West Bank which is ruled by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and to Gaza which is ruled by Hamas its local Palestinian politicians who long ago agreed to supervise health policy within these areas. The 1995 Oslo Accords stipulate that the Palestinian Authority is responsible for Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza, while both sides are to work together to combat epidemics, the Times of Israel reports. Saturday Night Live isnt the only outlet to misunderstand Israels complicated relationship with the Palestinian Authority. After erroneously blaming Israel for not including Arabs living in PA-governed regions in its vaccine program, the BBC issued this clarification: Although there is a wider dispute over the issue, the (Oslo) Accords which Israel signed with the Palestine Liberation Organization give the Palestinian Authority oversight of public health under the principles of self-determination. Palestinian Authoritys Vaccine Rollout The Palestinian Authority has negotiated its own vaccination deals. According to the New York Times, The Palestinians received 10,000 doses of Russias Sputnik V vaccine on Thursday (January 28, 2021). They expect to receive 37,440 Pfizer doses in February and hundreds of thousands of AstraZeneca doses in either late February or early March through the global-sharing initiative Covax An additional two million doses of AstraZeneca are slated to arrive throughout March, Palestinian officials said. Some of the PAs earliest vaccine doses were donated by Israel, which according to the New York Times had given thousands of doses to the PA by early February. The newspaper quoted Ghassan Khatib, a political scientist at Birzeit University, who argued that Palestinians in PA-controlled areas were loath to use Israeli-provided vaccines because they were loath to sound self-contradictory, seeking to obtain them independently while simultaneously ceding responsibility to Israel. Even Al Jazeera, a news outlet thats not often a fan of the Jewish state, recently reported that although Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has struggled to secure vaccines for his people. So far, he has received 2,000 doses from Israel to inoculate medial workers in the West Bank, and 10,000 doses from Russia. In recent days, according to The Times of Israel, Israel has transferred several thousand doses to Ramallah (the seat of power for the PA) for the Palestinian Authority to vaccinate medical staff, and on Friday (February 19, 2021), the PA announced that Israel had agreed to vaccinate 100,000 Palestinians who are employed in Israel. At the same time, there have been holdups of Russian-donated vaccines to Gaza: Israel maintains a blockade in order to prevent weapons being smuggled into Gaza and falling into the hands of Hamas, the terror group that rules Gaza. This has slowed down the movement of the vaccines into Gaza. Tapping into anti-Jewish Stereotypes In the aftermath of the SNL joke, some Jews have called on the show to apologize. Saturday Night Lives joke isnt just untrue its dangerous, a modern twist on a classic anti-Semitic trope that has inspired the mass murder of countless Jews throughout the centuries, reads a petition circulated by the American Jewish Committee. Israels Consul General in New York, Israel Nitzan, tweeted about SNL: Spreading anti-Semitic Lies & misinformation is already a problem. Fanning the flames just to get a laugh is not only wrong, its irresponsible. Israel has made the vaccine available for its entire population equitably, regardless of gender, race or religion. Saturday Night Live should apologize immediately for its unfunny, untrue, and damaging joke. [February 23, 2021] Global Survey of 100 Brands Finds Virtual Events Will Outlast the Pandemic SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- AnyRoad , the leader in Experience Relationship Management (ERM), today unveiled The State of Virtual Events 2021, a global benchmark report on the key trends shaping the future of experiential marketing. As brands around the world continue to use online experiences to engage with consumers, the research exposes common challenges, opportunities, and best practices that will extend far beyond the pandemic. The State of Virtual Events 2021 is based on responses from over 100 companies managing approximately 20,000 annual virtual events, including Anheuser-Busch, Nestle, HP, Conde Nast, Pernod Ricard, Volkswagen, and LinkedIn. Most respondents (51%) revealed that they were new to virtual experiences in 2020, and with the future of in-person events still unclear, 58% of respondents expect their virtual budgets to increase over the next year. The vast majority (85.3%) say that online experiences are here to stay even after the pandemic subsides. Additional key findings include: For many brands, the shift to virtual events has meant a quick pivot with a steep learning curve . Over half of those surveyed described it as either moderately challenging (46.6%) or very challenging (6.3%) to run effective virtual events that deliver a consistent return-on-investment. That's why careful planning and execution are critical for success. . Over half of those surveyed described it as either moderately challenging (46.6%) or very challenging (6.3%) to run effective virtual events that deliver a consistent return-on-investment. That's why careful planning and execution are critical for success. Zoom is by far the most popular technology for hosting virtual experiences, at least for now. Zoom is the platform of choice for 48% of respondents, followed distantly by Microsoft Teams (12%) and Facebook Live (9.4%). However, with little prospect of live-events returning anytime soon, many platforms are gearing up to serve the overwhelming demand for delivering online event experiences, and technology preferences will undoubtedly shift over tie. Zoom is the platform of choice for 48% of respondents, followed distantly by Microsoft Teams (12%) and Facebook Live (9.4%). However, with little prospect of live-events returning anytime soon, many platforms are gearing up to serve the overwhelming demand for delivering online event experiences, and technology preferences will undoubtedly shift over tie. Satisfaction with online experiences is high, but there is room for improvement. One in three respondents (33.9%) rated their virtual events as very successful, which shows that experiential marketing can demonstrate great potential when executed effectively. However, it's still a new motion for many marketers, and the majority of respondents (58.2%) described their online experiences as only somewhat successful. One in three respondents (33.9%) rated their virtual events as very successful, which shows that experiential marketing can demonstrate great potential when executed effectively. However, it's still a new motion for many marketers, and the majority of respondents (58.2%) described their online experiences as only somewhat successful. Rising above the noise to run an engaging and well-attended virtual event is not easy, especially with audience fatigue setting in. Compelling content is the key to unlocking this attention challenge, but 27% of respondents found it difficult to create content that's both interesting and engaging to the audience. Compelling content is the key to unlocking this attention challenge, but 27% of respondents found it difficult to create content that's both interesting and engaging to the audience. One of the biggest challenges with online experiences involves demonstrating impact. 46% of respondents felt that they did not have sufficient measurement tools to show the full impact of their virtual events. Respondents also struggled to identify suitable KPIs to measure the effectiveness of their online experiences. Jonathan Yaffe , CEO and co-founder of AnyRoad. "While we look forward to once again gathering in groups and real human interaction, whether it's at large-scale events, in-person classes, or brewery tours, our research shows that online experiences will remain an important aspect of customer engagement for brands of all sizes. The future is hybrid, and while 2020 may have thrown us all for a loop, we now have incredible lessons learned to shape experience strategy for years to come." To compile The State of Virtual Events 2021, AnyRoad analyzed individual web responses from 191 participants working at companies ranging from one to 1,000+ employees within the technology, food and beverage, and consulting industries. A majority of respondents (63.4%) were based in the U.S., with the remaining from various locations around the world. More details about the survey methodology and a full analysis of the findings can be found in this downloadable report . About AnyRoad AnyRoad is the leading Experience Relationship Management (ERM) platform enabling global brands to properly measure, scale, and implement their offline and online experiential marketing campaigns. AnyRoad empowers companies to create brand loyalty, change consumer behavior, and better understand their brand associations by providing them with data intelligence sourced from experience-based marketing. Companies like Budweiser, Honda, Michaels, and Tabasco all count on AnyRoad to measure the impact of their experiential marketing. AnyRoad's software integrates into CRM, loyalty, ERP, and POS systems to complete the loop, building the model of exactly how these experiences build loyalty, increase brand perception, and increase revenue. For more information, visit www.anyroad.com . View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-survey-of-100-brands-finds-virtual-events-will-outlast-the-pandemic-301233622.html SOURCE AnyRoad [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Beginning February 24, 2021 and extending for a period of 14-days, PPP loan applications will only be processed for eligible small businesses with fewer than 20 employees. This directive out of the Biden-Harris Administration in conjunction with the U.S. Small Business Administration makes several other provisions for small businesses including: Revising the loan calculation formula to facilitate more PPP loans at higher amounts for businesses without any employees Removing other standard SBA eligibility restrictions that further reduced the pool of eligible borrowers SBA Funding has facilitated over twenty thousand PPP loans for businesses with fewer than 20 employees during the second draw of the Program. "We know how difficult it can be for the smallest of small business owners to stop doing the work to keep their businesses afloat during these times to gather the documents they need to apply," said Steve Rabinovici, SBA Funding's Chairman. He added, "We implore sole proprietors and independent contractors to gather their documents, ask us questions if you have them and apply we're here to help." Tax documents that reflect eligible 1099 income like IRS Form 1040 and Schedule C that shows a profit and loss from business income are the typical forms required. The U.S. Small Business administration is expected to issue guidelines on how the new directive will change the way loans are calculated, but these documents are required to determine PPP loan amounts. For more information and to apply for a PPP loan, please visit: https://go.sbafunding.com/smallbusinesses. Interested business owners can submit their questions to [email protected]. Small businesses have the opportunity to apply for additional, long-term SBA financing through SBA Funding. If you would like more information about this topic, please call Rebecca Harris at (203) 339-2643 or email [email protected]. SBA Funding is a division of Business Funding Group. SBA Funding, together with its affiliate, SBA Loan Group, is one of the largest packagers of SBA loans to small business owners in the country. We are a team of entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. Our SBA expertise and client first approach ensures that our clients maximize their loan amounts and close quickly. SOURCE SBA Funding Related Links https://sbafunding.com CRISPR gene editing has transformed research, but it is not perfect, and can sometimes target unintended genes; to watch CRISPR enzymes respond to different genes, Leipzig University researchers developed a new method using DNA origami and were able to me ROCKVILLE, MD - The remarkable genetic scissors called CRISPR/Cas9, the discovery that won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, sometimes cut in places that they are not designed to target. Though CRISPR has completely changed the pace of basic research by allowing scientists to quickly edit genetic sequences, it works so fast that it is hard for scientists to see what sometimes goes wrong and figure out how to improve it. Julene Madariaga Marcos, a Humboldt postdoctoral fellow, and colleagues in the lab of Professor Ralf Seidel at Leipzig University in Germany, found a way to analyze the ultra-fast movements of CRISPR enzymes, which will help researchers understand how they recognize their target sequences in hopes of improving the specificity. Madariaga Marcos will present the research on Tuesday, February 23 at the 65th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society. To use CRISPR enzymes to edit gene sequences, scientists can tailor them to target a specific sequence within the three billion DNA base pairs in the human genome. During target recognition CRISPR enzymes untwist the DNA strands to find a sequence that is complementary to CRISPR's attached RNA sequence. But sometimes the RNA matches to DNA sequences that are not quite complementary. To troubleshoot this unintended match, scientists need to be able to observe how CRISPR is acting along individual DNA base pairs, but the process is fast and difficult to observe. To measure CRISPR's actions on an ultra-fast timescale, Madariaga Marcos and colleagues turned to DNA origami, which uses special DNA sequences to form complex three-dimensional nanostructures instead of a simple double helix. DNA origami has applications in drug delivery, nanoelectronics, and even art. Using DNA origami, they built rotor arms out of DNA so that they could watch with a high-speed camera on a microscope the untwisting of the DNA by CRISPR enzymes, causing the rotor arm to spin like helicopter blades. With this system, they were able to measure the different responds to matches and mismatches within the DNA sequence. "We are able to directly measure the energy landscape of CRISPR/Cascade when it interacts with DNA for the first time," said Madariaga Marcos. This technique will help scientists better understand CRISPR enzymes, and how they ultimately land on their match. That way, they can figure out how to optimize CRISPR so it makes fewer off-target matches. In the future, Madariaga Marcos is interested in "developing more tools and methods for studying these gene editing processes in new ways and at a more detailed level." ### A Massachusetts man accused of punching a gay man last year and yelling homophobic slurs at him outside his home in an alleged hate crime was ordered to be held in prison without bail earlier this month, according to prosecutors announced Tuesday. Michael Cates was arrested in July 2020 and indicted by a Bristol Superior Court jury in November over accusations he walked onto a couples property in Taunton last summer and violently assaulted one of the men, according to a statement from Bristol District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn IIIs office. He was indicted on a civil rights violation and charges of assault and battery to intimidate with injury and aggravated assault and battery. He was also charged with assaulting a fellow inmate at the Bristol County House of Corrections in August while he was incarcerated for the alleged hate crime, the statement said. In a dangerousness hearing held in the superior court Feb. 9, Judge Thomas Perrino ruled the 34-year-old Brockton man is a danger to the public and ordered him to be held without bail for up to 180 days while the state works to bring the case to trial, according to the statement. I am pleased with the courts decision to hold the defendant without bail, because he is a danger to the community. Based on the defendants record and the senseless and violent nature of the allegations, he should remain in jail while the case is pending., Quinn said in the statement. On June 29, a Taunton police officer interviewed a man who said he and his husband were outside their home when Cates drove by in an SUV. Authorities say he proceeded to stop and exit the car to angrily walk onto the couples property. The suspect then, according to the victim, yelled a homosexual slur and punched the victim twice in the face, causing him to lose two teeth, the district attorneys office said. The suspect then retreated back to his vehicle and drove off. The suspect and the victim did not know each other, according to the prosecutors office. An independent witness and the victims husband both saw the attack unfold, Quinns office noted. The home had a gay pride flag flying and a rainbow sticker on its mailbox, the district attorneys office said. An initial investigation eventually led to Cates becoming the chief suspect. After numerous interviews and reviews of surveillance footage, police charged the man July 23 in connection with the attack and summonsed him to Taunton District Court to be arraigned in August, according to authorities. Cates was found dangerous during a district court hearing and has been held without bail ever since. The November indictments, however, transferred the case up to the superior court level, officials noted. Related Content: Brockton man, accused of punching man in the face and using homophobic slur, arraigned on hate crime charges Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Carder, Gail Gail B. Carder, age 67, passed away peacefully on Sunday, February 21, 2021 at 5:45 pm. Mrs. Carder was born in Detroit, Michigan on July 10, 1953 to the late Howard and Lorraine Tackett. She attended Thurston High School where she graduated class of 1971. After she moved to Kentucky, she became a member of Milburn Chapel Cumberland Presbyterian Church and attended college to pursue a career as a Certified Scrub Technologist (CST).She was employed by Western Baptist Hospital until 1984 when she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. She enjoyed watching TV, her favorites included The Property Brothers, Law & Order SVU and Everybody Loves Raymond. But Gails greatest love was being Nana to her five grandchildren. She will be remembered for her feistypersonality, her strength in the face of adversity and that she never met a stranger. She had a beautiful heart, charming smile, and quite frankly, was a hoot and a half. Everyone she met was made better just by knowing her. Gail is survived by her two daughters, Laura Thompson (Marshall) of Paducah and Lindsey Flood (Chris) of Paducah; three stepchildren, Terri Cathey of Paducah, Tim Carder (Angie) of Boaz and Cindy Cruse (Steven) of Boaz; one brother, Ralph Tackett of Mayfield; five grandchildren, Emma Thompson (5), Eleanor Thompson (2), Madelyn Flood (11), Lydia Flood (9), and Scarlett Flood (7 months); and her special care giver, Shelly Tucker. She was preceded in death by her husband, Jerry Carder, whom she was married to for thirty wonderful years and her loving parents, Howard and Lorraine Tackett. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 pm on Thursday, February 25, 2021 at Milner & Orr Funeral Home of Paducah with Rev. Jim Sloan officiating. Burial will follow at BurkleyCemetery. Visitation will be held from 12:00 pm until the 2:00 pm service time on Thursday, February 25, 2021 at Milner & Orr Funeral Home of Paducah. Expressions of sympathy may take the form of donation to: National Multiple Sclerosis Society,https://www.nationalmssociety.org/. We appreciate your help in maintaining state mandated Covid-19 restrictions. This includes wearing a mask and maintaining the minimum 6 feet of distancing within our facility at all times. During this difficult time, you may show your support by joining the "Hugs from Home" program, where your message will be attached to a balloon in the chapel to remind the family of your love and support. Please go to www.milnerandorr.com to share a hug, send a message or light a candle. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. The wife of Mexican drug kingpin and escape artist Joaquin El Chapo Guzman has been arrested at an airport in Virginia on international drug trafficking charges, the US Justice Department said. Emma Coronel Aispuro, 31, who is a dual citizen of the US and Mexico, was arrested at Dulles International Airport and is expected to appear in federal court in Washington on Tuesday. She is accused of helping her husband escape from a Mexican prison in 2015 and was also engaged in planning yet another prison escape before Guzman was extradited to the US in January 2017, the Justice Department said. Guzman was sentenced to life behind bars in 2019. His Sinaloa cartel was responsible for smuggling mountains of cocaine and other drugs into the United States during his 25-year reign, prosecutors said in recent court papers. They also said his army was under orders to kidnap, torture and murder anyone who got in his way. His wife is also accused of participating in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana in the US. Matt Hancock clashed with Piers Morgan today after the Good Morning Britain host slammed his 'woeful handling of the pandemic.' The pair came to blows on GMB after the Health Secretary insisted his team should be 'thanked' for their hard work. As the furious debate heated up this morning, Piers accused Hancock of telling a 'barefaced lie'. He added: 'We have nearly 1,000 health workers who have died on the front line. I don't know why I should be thanking you. You should be apologising.' The under-fire Minister tried to make light of the situation by joking cricketer Ben Stokes should have stayed on the show for longer before Piers promptly clapped back: 'Trust me I wanted to run [his interview] another ten minutes and bounce you off, but here we are.' When asked if had anything he wanted to say to Mr Hancock, Stokes simply laughed and walked off camera. The under-fire Minister tried to make light of the situation by joking cricketer Ben Stokes should have stayed on the show for longer. When asked if had anything he wanted to say to Mr Hancock, Stokes (pictured) simply laughed and walked off camera Tensions rose after GMB host Piers said the Health Secretary sounded 'exasperated' after he'd 'just been caught breaking the law.' Row erupts as Pfizer slaps down Matt Hancock's claim that supply issues are to blame for slowest ever vaccination day Pfizer today insisted their coronavirus vaccine deliveries are on track, hitting back at Matt Hancock after he warned supply issues would slow down the roll-out this week. The Health Secretary claimed a delay in the supply schedule will result in fewer jabs being dished out. But he also said there would be some 'bumper weeks in March' to make up for the lag. Both Pfizer and AstraZeneca manufacturers of the jabs currently deployed in the UK say there is no issue with deliveries. Pfizer sources today told MailOnline there were 'no supply challenges' and deliveries were arriving as planned. AstraZeneca yesterday admitted there were 'fluctuations' in supply at plants but that it was still 'on track' with orders. Official figures showed Britain only administered 150,000 vaccines on Sunday, in the worst daily performance since the NHS roll-out began to gather speed last month. The number of first doses dished out has dropped by 40 per cent week-on-week. With a rapid inoculation drive crucial to Britain's hopes of lockdown being eased in the next few months, critics say there is 'no excuse' for the rollout slowing down. Think-tank bosses believe it is unlikely supply is solely behind the downturn because there would be reports of centres across the country running out of stock which hasn't been the case. Boris Johnson put a successful vaccine roll-out at the heart of his lockdown-easing plan, which he unveiled yesterday. So long as the operation continues successfully, all restrictions could be dropped in England by June 21. Any hiccups could threaten that target. Britain is racing to give as many first doses to over-50s as possible before the end of March, when millions of second jabs must be rolled out which will inevitably slow the operation. The PM has pledged to jab all 32million in the top nine groups by April 15 and every adult by the end of July. Advertisement Tensions rose after GMB host Piers said the Health Secretary sounded 'exasperated' after he'd 'just been caught breaking the law.' Mr Hancock replied: 'I think we should be on this programme thanking my team. They work so hard.' Piers replied: 'Let's just analyse that. You and your team have presided over a woeful handling of this pandemic that has led to us having the worst death toll in Europe; 130,000 people dead. 'So I'm sorry if my first thought when you come on..is not to thank you and your team for your brilliant handling of the pandemic. 'Because I don't think 130,000 deaths shows you have handled it well. I am sorry I am not thanking you and applauding you.' The Health Secretary faced criticism after claiming that there was 'never' a national shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) 'because of his team.' When Mr Hancock said Piers was cutting him off and said 'what's the point of coming on', Piers hit back: 'Don't be so patronising, Health Secretary. We gave you a chance to answer. 'But when you give a completely disingenuous answer we are going to call you out on it'. When the Health Secretary directly asked Piers to thank his Whitehall team, Piers added: 'I am really struck by the fact you feel incensed that we are not thanking you enough for your handling of the pandemic.' Mr Hancock replied: 'I am asking you to thank people who spent 18 hours a day, seven days a week to make sure we got the PPE that we needed and saved lives as a result.' Piers said: 'You didn't save lives, we have got 130,000 deaths, the worst death toll in Europe. 'We have nearly 1,000 health workers have died on the front line. I don't know why I should be thanking you. You should be apologising. 'And your refusal to hold your hands up and say, I am really sorry we have got the worst death record in Europe. 'Why don't you say that? Rather than demanding thanks. Say 'I am sorry that we failed you. I will try and do better'. That is more honest, isn't it?' Mr Hancock also defended a decision to hand 30million Covid contracts to a former neighbour and pub landlord now under investigation by the medical watchdog - after discreetly removing a picture of his old boozer from the wall of his study. The Health Secretary said it would be 'ridiculous' to block friends of ministers from public contracts as he was quizzed about the probe into Alex Bourne. Mr Bourne crossed paths with the Health Secretary while running the Cock Inn in Thurlow, West Suffolk, began producing millions of NHS Covid test vials during the pandemic. The under-fire Minister tried to make light of the situation by joking cricketer Ben Stokes should have stayed on the show for longer before Piers promptly clapped back Piers asked if Ben Stokes if he had anything he wanted to say to Mr Hancock, and he simply laughed and walked off camera His company, Hinpack, which was originally a packaging manufacturer, won around 30million in work to supply a distributor contracted by the NHS with two million test tubes a week, as well as around 500,000 plastic funnels for test samples. However the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) confirmed at the weekend it has launched a probe into Mr Bourne's company - which had no previous experience of making medical supplies prior to the pandemic. A picture of the pub in question was visible on the wall of Mr Hancock's study when he conducted media interviews on Sunday. But in appearances today including Good Morning Britain, it had been replaced. The Health Secretary faced criticism after claiming that there was 'never' a national shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) 'because of his team.' Asked about the deals won by Mr Bourne on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning Mr Hancock said he 'didn't have anything to do with that contract', despite claims by the ex-landlord that it came about after exchanging a personal WhatsApp message with the Health Secretary. 'This has all been looked into in great detail, it's only because of the transparency that I support that we can ask questions about these contracts,' Mr Hancock added. 'The implication of your question about the specific one that you raised is that people should be barred from taking contracts if they know anybody involved. That would be ridiculous. 'What's more is that it is easy to ask these questions, but what is hard is to deliver PPE in the teeth of a pandemic and that is what my team did.' On Feb. 18, as millions of Texans battled a deep freeze, a U.S. spacecraft endured temperatures hotter than lava and speeds 16 times faster than sound as it entered the Martian atmosphere 300 million miles away. People tuned in from around the world to see if NASAs Perseverance rover would gently touch down in Mars Jezero crater or become its own crater after a seven-month journey from Earth. The Rube Goldbergish landing involved parachutes, rockets, a sky crane and seven minutes of terror as controllers waited to see if the craft survived. It echoed a Transformers movie and captured imaginations. Perseverance, or Percy, landed successfully and started its mission to unlock the red planets secrets about possible past life. Its mission marks another step closer to humans setting foot there. And dont forget that Percy has a drone helicopter called Ingenuity thats the first human-made aircraft in another world. As Perseverance starts its slow-rolling tour of Mars, its not a stretch to say that the path to space goes through Texas and San Antonio. While not as flashy as Houstons Johnson Space Center, Dallas aerospace behemoths, Boca Chicas cool Starship spaceport or Austins shiny startups, San Antonians have quietly paved the way to the heavens behind the scenes for decades. From Air Force medical studies to Southwest Research Institute spacecraft to university research and contractors doing NASAs grunt work, San Antonians continue to contribute to space exploration. Related: Accelerator: What happened to TechBlocs chief talent and recruitment officer? While SwRI scientists arent directly involved with Perseverance, they did help with the rovers big brother, Curiosity, which landed on Mars in 2012. Curiosity is still creeping around at a turtles pace collecting info about Mars. And as space exploration becomes cheaper and more accessible, the opportunities grow. Consider SpaceX rocking and rolling with Starship in South Texas and its McGregor test facility. Blue Origin launches its New Shepard spacecraft outside Van Horn. In Austin, Firefly, a rocket-builder startup, recently landed a $93 million NASA contract to haul a payload to the moon. In Houston, space-construction firm Axiom Space became a unicorn when it raised $130 million to build the first commercial space station. So where does San Antonio fit into the commercial space boom? One green shoot is Exploration Architecture, or XArc, which is working with U.S. Transportation Command to determine facility requirements for suborbital flight around the world. The concept is to use a spacecraft like SpaceXs Starship to move people and cargo anywhere in the world in minutes. XArc is helping determine the ground logistics and regulatory requirements. Besides a web of tech and aerospace outfits, a hungry workforce and a rekindling of excitement about space, another sign of San Antonios growing space profile is the University of Texas at San Antonio. Related: SpaceX Starship chasers converge in South Texas In 2018, the university hired Chris Combs as the Dee Howard-endowed assistant professor in the mechanical engineering department. He holds a doctorate in aerospace engineering from UT-Austin, and his task was to start an aerospace-engineering program. The citys military ties and proximity to other Texas space hubs is one of the reasons he came here. In terms of an aerospace-engineering degree or certification at a university level, that hasnt really existed here, Combs said. So were trying to fill that gap because we realized how much interest there is. In the fall 2019, UTSA began offering an aerospace-engineering certificate for undergrad engineering students. Combs hopes to help develop a full suite of bachelors, masters and Ph.D. degrees in aerospace over the next several years. One of his research interests is hypersonics, the study of the effects of speeds exceeding 4,000 mph. These mind-boggling forces create many issues for aircraft, including extreme heating and changes in air chemistry. Spacecraft re-entering Earths atmosphere experience hypersonic speeds and immense heat. The problem multiplies when entering the Martian atmosphere, which is 200 times less dense than Earths. Hence the outlandish landings. Related: NASA contractors stake out San Antonios place in space Combs hopes to contribute to the study of hypersonics at UTSA, and the university is putting the final touches on a multimillion-dollar wind tunnel that can generate speeds up to seven times that of sound. Theres other hypersonic wind tunnels out there, but one thing thats really cool about ours is that we dont have to just test with air, Combs said. We can put any kind of gas mix we want in our facility and operate with it. So we could even do a Martian atmosphere. Though scientists have studied hypersonics for decades, theres renewed interest in the subject as aerospace firms eye the potential for high-speed travel. Also, the Defense Department is working to counter hypersonic missile threats from Russia and China. In August, the Air Force gave Atlanta-based Hermeus corporation a contract to look at the feasibility of developing a hypersonic Air Force One. When the military gets involved, things happen very fast in a lot of respects compared to maybe a NASA basic research timeline, Combs said. Theres been a ton of hypersonic interest coming from the DoD, and thats where a good chunk of our funding has come from, although we are doing a lot of research for NASA. Combs also sees the new UTSA lab helping commercial space firms. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio company working with military, SpaceX to move cargo anywhere in world in an hour or less Theyve been able to get by with kind of legacy tech ... that mostly NASA developed, he said. If theyre going to continue to push the envelope the way they want to, they might have to develop some of their own stuff a little bit more, which is going to take some research. He said that San Antonios central location could help the city, too, and thats where facilities such as Port San Antonio gain critical importance. At hypersonic speed about Mach 7, you can get from San Antonio to anywhere in the lower 48 states in about 15 minutes, he said. Of course, many of these real-world applications are hard to grasp in this moment. But Combs wind tunnel is very real, and he hopes to open it in the next month. Now, we just need a unicorn firm like Axiom Space to plant its flag in San Antonio. Brandon Lingle writes for the Express-News through Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. ReportforAmerica.org. brandon.lingle@express-news.net Shipmaker Austal announced Monday that it had accepted the resignation of Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle following U.S. and Australian investigations into historical matters in the Littoral Combat Ship program. Employees at Austal USAs Mobile shipyard were notified by text Monday afternoon that President Craig Perciavalle had resigned. A company spokesman confirmed the contents of the text, which also said that Austal USA Chief Financial Officer Rusty Murdaugh had been named interim president and would continue to serve as CFO, a post he has held four years. Austal USA is one of the Mobiles biggest employers, with a workforce of around 4,000 people. It currently builds two aluminum vessels for the U.S. Navy, the Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship and the multipurpose Expeditionary Fast Transport. Law enforcement agents raided Austal USA offices in January 2019, though little information was released at the time or since. Austal USA said it was working with the U.S. Navy on an open investigation. In the same time frame, Austal Ltd. Announced that it was the subject of an investigation by Australian authorities, related to actions affecting the stock market in 2016. An Australian news outlet, the West Australian, reported more specifically that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission was interested in market announcements made by Austal leading up to its warning of a $122 million annual loss in June 2016. Mondays announcement from Austal Ltd. Addresses separate but related investigations being conducted by regulatory authorities in the United States and Australia, plus an additional investigation conducted by external lawyers in the U.S. hired by Austal and Austal USA. Austal Ltd. said regulators focused on certain financial reporting adjustments the company made in 2016 that were related to the LCS program as well as on the procurement of certain ship components for use in connection with U.S. Government contracts and charging and allocation of labour hours. Austal said it had come to the conclusion that the 2016 financial announcements pertaining to the Australian Stock Exchange were correctly handled. However, it said it had found a series of problematic issues: Prior to mid-2016, inaccuracies in Austal USAs internally generated cost estimates underestimated the full costs to construct the LCS vessels, which delayed Austal Ltd.s understanding of the magnitude of those costs and the need to change those estimates. The company identified isolated instances of misallocation of labour hours between vessels in the early stages of the LCS program but said overall hours reported were substantially correct. Some valves installed on six ships, LCS-10 through LCS 20, did not meet all relevant military specifications. The Navy has since agreed to accept the valves so that they dont have to be replaced, Austal said. The company said it has resolved the U.S. Navys contractual claims and is in discussions with U.S. regulatory authorities regarding these issues. Austals statement did not specifically assign responsibility to Perciavalle. It said it was engaging with the relevant U.S. regulatory authorities regarding these investigations and could not predict what action they might take. However, the Company is confident that the proactive steps it has already implemented to strengthen its internal reporting and compliance practices will be taken into account in determining whether there are any potential consequences arising from matters identified by the investigation, as well as ensuring such circumstances do not happen again. Austal said its relationship with the U.S. Defense Department remains strong, and cited a joint investment of $100 million that will help the company expand into steel vessels. This story has been substantially updated with information from an Austal Ltd. corporate statement. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Irish Water is to begin fully taking over water services from town and city councils and will become a stand-alone body in 2023, the Government has decided. The current system of Service Level Agreements, which see local authorities paid to deliver many water services on behalf of Irish Water, will be phased out by the end of next year. Arrangements are to be made for the transfer of staff before then through a process to be devised under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission by this summer. Irish Water, currently a part of the Ervia gas and telecoms group, will separate from it to become an independent entity during 2023. The changes are set out in a policy paper brought to Cabinet by Housing Minister Darragh OBrien and approved during Tuesdays meeting. Unions and management at local authority level and Irish Water were to be briefed on the contents on Tuesday evening. Mr OBrien said the changes would ensure that Irish Waters future was secured as a national, publicly-owned and regulated water services utility. But while Irish Water has built up a staff of around 800, there are a further 3,000 in public sector jobs in the 31 councils to be assimilated, and many have concerns about making the move. The minister said their views would be heard. We acknowledge workers loyalty to their local authority and to their status as public service workers as well as their commitment to local service delivery, he said. The Government is determined to ensure that the views and concerns of key stakeholders must be considered and addressed within the transformation process. Irish Water is under pressure from the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities to cut its running costs and the streamlining of operations under one management system would help towards that goal. Difficulties have also arisen in day-to-day operations because of demarcation between Irish Water and local authority staff. A probe into the failures at the Leixlip water treatment plant which led to 600,000 people being put on a series of boil water notices in 2019 heard that Irish Water management could not even visit the plant without consent from Fingal County Council which held the service level agreement to operate it. New Delhi, Feb 23 : With Bangladesh banning painkiller ketoprofen used widely to treat the cattle, it became the first country to ban any of the drugs now known to be toxic to vultures since the previous veterinary diclofenac ban more than 10 years ago. Ornithologists said this is a landmark initiative to save the small remaining population of Asia's globally threatened vultures -- an example for others like India, Pakistan, Nepal and Cambodia to follow. Chris Bowden of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, who has been coordinating the programme in South Asia, told IANS: "Bangladesh is showing important leadership by banning ketoprofen across the country. This will go down as a major milestone in Asian vulture conservation." According to Saving Asia's Vultures From Extinction (SAVE), ketoprofen has become the main anti-inflammatory drug used by vets in Bangladesh, so this represents a significant change, and the companies concerned are already stepping up production and improving their formulations of the safe alternative drug, meloxicam. Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) including diclofenac and ketoprofen are the primary threats to the vultures of South Asia, including Bangladesh. These drugs were responsible for the catastrophic 99.9 per cent declines of white-rumped vultures in the region. When these NSAIDs are administered to cattle, and if the cow or buffalo dies within a few days and is consumed by vultures, it causes gout, kidney failure and death in the following days. Ketoprofen was first demonstrated to be toxic to vultures in trials carried out in South Africa over 10 years ago. The first localised bans came in Bangladesh's two gazetted Vulture Safe Zones in 2017, covering around one-third of the country. However, making this ban fully effective has been a challenge. Despite the bans and major awareness campaigns, the 2018 undercover pharmacy surveys conducted showed that 62 per cent of veterinary drug suppliers still offer ketoprofen, and that's only a 10 per cent reduction from earlier, said SAVE. It has been difficult to control the drug supply into these areas while it remained legally available elsewhere in the country. Hence, the countrywide banning of ketoprofen is such an important step. Rhys Green of Cambridge University, and Chair of SAVE said, "The governments of India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh were commendably quick to ban veterinary use of the vulture-toxic drug diclofenac over 10 years ago. "Unfortunately though, they have been slow to ban any other drugs, despite evidence of their toxicity to vultures. Even aceclofenac, a pro-drug of diclofenac, is quickly converted to vulture-toxic diclofenac by the cow's metabolism, has not been banned yet." He added: "Ketoprofen was shown to be toxic to vultures in 2009. Bangladesh has led the way, first by banning veterinary use of the drug in its two Vulture Safe Zones some years ago, and now by banning it throughout the country." The vulture, a nature's scavenger, cleans the environment of animal carcasses. Villagers rely on them to dispose of cattle carcasses. The reason, say biologists, for bringing the vultures to the brink of extinction in South Asia mainly to the extensive use of diclofenac in treating cattle. Population of three of the nine Indian species of vultures -- the white-rumped, the long-billed and the slender-billed -- have crashed by 90 per cent in the mid-1990s. The birds are now listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN, the highest threat category ahead of extinction. The Indian government banned diclofenac veterinary use in 2006, and although this was a crucial step, it has not been fully effective, and there are also now other vulture-toxic drugs in use, warned scientists. Last December Oman became the first country in the Arabian Peninsula to ban the veterinary use of diclofenac for the conservation of endangered species like vultures and other birds of prey. (Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in) Facebook has removed a ban that prevented Australians from reading or sharing news stories on the social media service. The action came after Facebook reached a deal with the Australian government to resolve a dispute over proposed legislation. The legislation seeks to make big technology companies pay news organizations for use of their content. The dispute led Facebook last week to block Australians from reading or sharing news stories. But the dispute was settled after talks between Australias Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook has refriended Australia, and Australian news will be restored, Frydenberg told reporters in Canberra after the agreement was reached. Frydenberg added that Australia had been a proxy battle for the world as other nations seek negotiations with technology companies on a range of issues involving news and content. The Australian legislation was designed to limit the negotiating power of Facebook and Google in talks with Australian news providers. For example, it aims to prevent technology companies from making take-it-or-leave-it payment offers to news businesses for their content. Frydenberg and Facebook confirmed that the two sides agreed to several amendments to the proposed legislation. One change would give technology companies one months warning before they are officially covered under the law. That would give those involved more time to reach agreements before they are forced to enter enforceable arbitration agreements. Facebook said it was pleased with the amendments, which need to be added to the legislation currently before the parliament. William Easton heads Facebooks Australian and New Zealand area offices. He said the company is satisfied that the changes and guarantees under the deal meet its main concerns about the law. As a result of these changes, we can now work to further our investment in public interest journalism, he said. Facebook's vice president for news partnerships, Campbell Brown, said the deal also permits the company to choose which publishers it will support, including small and local ones. Some experts see the deal as a major victory in international efforts to make Facebook and Google pay for the news stories they use. And, governments around the world have closely watched the case. But other experts see it differently. Facebook has scored a big win, said independent British technology expert Richard Windsor, adding the compromises reached almost guarantee that it will be business as usual from here on. Google had threatened to remove its search abilities from Australia because of the proposed legislation. But the search engine decided not to do so after reaching compromises with several companies. Google says it currently has deals with more than 50 Australian titles and more than 500 publishers worldwide. Im Bryan Lynn. The Associated Press and Reuters reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. ________________________________________________ Words in This Story content n. the information presented in different forms or media or on the internet restore v. to make something exist again proxy n. a person or organization acting in behalf of another arbitration n. the process of solving an argument between two parties by helping them agree to an acceptable solution title n. the name of a book, film, newspaper, etc. The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLPs Social Justice Action Academy will host a Black History Month Fireside Chat featuring Chaka M. Patterson, Adtalem Global Education Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary as keynote speaker. The virtual discussion will be held Feb. 25 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. ET. Attendees can register here. Patterson will discuss his experiences as a leader in law and business and his thoughts on belonging, managing up, and showing up as a professional. He will also address how corporations can be catalysts for change when leaders personally and actively support diversity, equity, and inclusion. Providing introductory and closing remarks will be David Weinstein, managing shareholder of the firms Tampa office and chair of the firms Environmental & Toxic Torts Litigation Practice, and Dale Wainwright, co-chair of the firms Appellate Practice and chair of the Texas Appellate Practice. Nikki Lewis Simon, Litigation Practice shareholder and Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer, will moderate. Conversations like this one, that highlight the indelible connection between business and diversity, equity, and inclusion through the lens of personal experiences, are necessary and timely, particularly as we celebrate Black History Month, Simon said. The Social Justice Action Academy, a key element of Greenberg Traurigs Social, Racial, and Economic Justice Action Plan, aims to educate on matters of race, justice, and equity; facilitate and encourage conversations about these topics; and drive forward meaningful change consistent with the goals of the action plan. About Greenberg Traurigs Diversity Initiative: From its inception, Greenberg Traurig has been committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Greenberg Traurig is a uniquely empowering and diverse firm built on a foundation of fairness, equality, and authenticity. Through its Social, Racial, and Economic Justice Action Plan, the firm has committed $5 million over five years to help combat systemic racism and support impoverished communities. In addition, the firms efforts have been recognized through its Mansfield Rule 3.0 Certification, administered by The Diversity Lab, and by local, national, and global publications and organizations including Chambers and Partners. Web: DRIVES Twitter: @GT_Drives About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT) has approximately 2200 attorneys in 40 locations in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. GT has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, diversity, and innovation, and is consistently among the largest firms in the U.S. on the Law360 400 and among the Top 20 on the Am Law Global 100. The firm is net carbon neutral with respect to its office energy usage and Mansfield Rule 3.0 Certified. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com A court in North Macedonia has found five ethnic Albanians guilty of terrorism in the retrial of a nine-year-old quintuple murder case that sent shock waves across the country and prompted speculation of political meddling. Agim Ismailovic, Afrim Ismailovic, and Alil Demiri were sentenced to life in prison for the killing of five young ethnic Macedonians in April 2012, while two other defendants, Fejzi Aziri and Haki Aziri, were sentenced to 15 and nine years in prison, respectively, after they were found guilty of aiding the others in committing the murders. They had all originally been sentenced to life in the first trial in June 2014. Only Agim Ismailovic was present in court, as the others -- believed to be hiding in Kosovo -- were tried in absentia. Delivering the verdict, presiding Judge Ognen Stavrev said that they were guilty of the crime of "terrorism." "This was not a regular criminal act, this was a monstrous, sadistic killing, taking lives of children who had just stepped into maturity," Stavrev told the court as he read the verdict. A sixth defendant, Samir Ljuta, was acquitted after the prosecution withdrew all charges earlier this year, citing a lack of evidence. The five young Macedonians were killed with automatic rifles and a handgun near a lake on the outskirts of Skopje during Orthodox Easter celebrations in 2012. Lawyers for the defendants, who pleaded not guilty at the retrial, said they would appeal the ruling. Prosecutor Fatime Fetai said that the sentences were "adequate," but the defense reiterated claims made during the trial that the case was fabricated and that the evidence was planted by the police. "We were not surprised by Samir Ljuta's acquittal, but we are surprised that the rest [of the defendants] were not acquitted as well," lawyer Naser Raufi told the court. The bodies of Filip Slavkovski, Aleksandar Nakjevski, Cvetanco Acevski, and Kire Trickovski -- all aged between 18 and 20 -- were discovered near Smilkovci Lake in 2012. The young men appeared to had been lined up and shot execution-style. The body of Borce Stevkovski, a 45-year-old fisherman, was found nearby. The case sparked violent protests in the capital of North Macedonia, a country whose population is 25 percent ethnic Albanian. It also triggered speculation that the accused had been framed by the Balkan country's government, led at the time by Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski. A first trial found the defendants guilty in June 2014 and sentenced to life in prison -- the longest possible sentence for terrorism. But the convictions triggered protests by ethnic Albanians, and violent clashes ensued between riot police and demonstrators in Skopje. In 2015, Social Democratic opposition leader Zoran Zaev, who is now prime minister, hinted that some of a trove of secretly wiretapped conversations that his party was releasing could possibly back claims that those convicted had been framed for political reasons. In 2018, the prosecution asked the Supreme Court for the life sentences to be annulled, citing new circumstances and questionable evidence in the case. But the retrial, which started in May 2018, failed to come up with enough proof and change the course of the case, despite fresh testimony by several high officials, including Zaev. With reporting by Balkan Insight She sweeps into the restaurant dressed elegantly in black slacks and a sleeveless, pale pink blouse, a white ribbon tied demurely at the neck. Her bag is Prada. If there are bodyguards, they have waited discreetly outside. As wife of Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, the notorious leader of the Sinaloa cartel, Emma Coronel Aispuro seems anxious not to cause a scene as she moves into a private room in the crowded restaurant, a popular seafood place on the sweltering banks of the Tamazula River. She smiles softly and speaks quietly. I dont have any experience at this kind of thing, she says. Si desea leer esta nota en espanol, haga clic aqui. Advertisement The 26-year-old former beauty queen has never spoken publicly about her eight years of marriage to a man who has headed one of the worlds most violent criminal organizations, responsible for much of the marijuana, heroin, methamphetamines and murder produced in Mexico. Now, she says, she wants to get out an urgent message: Her husbands life, she says, is in danger. She fears he may not survive his current stint in El Altiplano, the prison where he has been in solitary confinement since Jan. 8. Thats when Mexican authorities grabbed him in a shootout in the Pacific town of Los Mochis, almost six months after his second breakout from the maximum security lockup. Get all Times exclusive reports. Subscribe today for unlimited digital access >> They want to make him pay for his escape. They say that they are not punishing him. Of course they are. They are there with him, watching him in his cell, Coronel says. They are right there, all day long, calling attendance. They dont let him sleep. He has no privacy, not even to go to the restroom. Guzmans fabled escapes most recently, via a nearly mile-long tunnel dug under a shower in his cell have been a source of embarrassment for Mexican authorities, and they appear determined to avoid a third. Since his latest confinement, his wife has been allowed to see him only once, for 15 minutes. She says her husband is slowly being tortured and is suffering from dangerously elevated blood pressure. I am afraid for his life, she says. Emma Coronel Aispuro, wife of Joaquin El Chapo Guzman. (Anabel Hernandez / IRP UC Berkeley) Guzman, 58, is facing at least half a dozen federal indictments in the United States. He is accused of leading an organization that trafficked at least 1.8 million pounds of cocaine between 2003 and 2014 to the U.S. and many other countries around the world. Federal prosecutors say his hit men carried out hundreds of killings, assaults, kidnappings and acts of torture during that period. Advertisement This is not the Guzman that Coronel professes to know. She describes her husband as a loving family man, even if he was imprisoned or on the run for the entire eight years of their marriage. She claims to know little of the details of his professional pursuits. He is like any other man of course he is not violent, not rude, says Coronel, who insists she has never seen her husband act violently or take drugs. I have never heard him say a bad word. I have never seen him get excited or be upset at anyone. Her husband, she says, calls her his queen. Though El Chapo has become one of the most recognized figures in the world, his wife has largely remained in the shadows. Her name emerged in September 2007, when Mexicos Proceso magazine published a cover story about how the teenager on her 18th birthday had wed the drug lord after winning a local beauty contest. Four years later, the Los Angeles Times reported that Coronel who was born in San Francisco and has U.S. citizenship had given birth to twin girls in Lancaster, outside Los Angeles. Advertisement NEWSLETTER: Get the days top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj >> Coronel is the third wife of the drug lord, who is 32 years her senior. Her daughters are among 19 children he is said to have fathered. She dismisses, though, the oft-repeated reports of Guzmans brutality toward women. He would be incapable of touching a woman with bad intentions, of trying to make her do something she didnt want to do, Coronel says, speaking calmly, almost in a monotone, as she described a life that started in the rural hills of Durango and somehow became a twisted fairy tale of romance, intrigue and fear fear for a husband almost constantly on the run, for her family, for the international legal drama that lies ahead as he faces criminal charges in the United States. It has been a life, she says, lived always in the eye of the hurricane. Advertisement Yet she says she has accepted that she is powerless to change it. What if? doesnt exist, she said. If her husband is extradited to the United States to stand trial probably foreclosing once and for all any possibility of another escape she will be present. I will follow to wherever he is, she says. I am in love with him. He is the father of my children. :: Like many stories of love, theirs began at a dance, this one in the hamlet of La Angostura, one of many scattered ranchos in the town of Canelas, Durango, in the midst of Mexicos Golden Triangle, a heavily fortified land of poppies and marijuana dominated by the powerful Sinaloa cartel. Advertisement He was dancing with another girl. I was dancing with my boyfriend at that time I had a boyfriend and we crossed paths right in the center of the dance floor. He flirtatiously smiled at me. After a while a person told me, The man asks if you want to dance with him. And I said, OK. Because in the ranchos, even though you have a boyfriend, you can dance with every person who asks you to dance. So I said, Of course! The encounter was brief, she says, and she did not see Guzman again until several months later. Love at first sight it wasnt, she insists. See more of our top stories on Facebook >> Coronel was born July 2, 1989, in San Francisco, where her mother, Blanca Estela Aispuro, was visiting relatives. Her mother was a homemaker and her father was a farmer, planting beans and corn, she says. When she was 11, her parents again sent her to California, but after a year she says she returned home, having missed her family and her country life. Advertisement Months after that first encounter with Guzman, she decided to enter a beauty contest at the annual Coffee and Guava Fair in Canelas. She says proudly that she won many votes in her own right, and not, as the Mexican press has reported, because El Chapo had sprinkled cash to fix the result. At the time, Guzman was in his customary role as a fugitive. In January 2001, he had busted out from a maximum security prison in Puente Grande, Jalisco. Still, the wanted man played the role of suitor. He made frequent visits to the Coronel home, sometimes during local fiestas or dances, though Coronel said that he did not give her lavish gifts. I would say what won me over was his way of talking, how he treated me, the way we began to get along first as friends and from that came everything else, Coronel says, blushing at the memory. He tends to win over people by his manner of being, of acting, the way he treats people in general. A picture of Ines Coronel Barreras, father-in-law of drug trafficker Joaquin Guzman and father of Emma Coronel. The photo was displayed during a news conference after his arrest in 2013. (Alfredo Estrella / AFP/Getty Images) Advertisement A priest in Canelas married the couple at her family home on July 2, 2007, her 18th birthday. She wore a white dress, appearing as a princess, very beautiful! There were few guests, just relatives and friends, none of the grooms family. Her parents never tried to stop the wedding, she says. For years, there have been reports that the wedding was not only a union of a powerful, 50-year-old man and a teenager who had fallen in love with him, but of two influential factions in Sinaloas complex drug-producing hierarchy. Ignacio Nacho Coronel Villarreal, a high-ranking member of the Sinaloa cartel shot to death by authorities in 2010, has frequently been identified as Emma Coronels uncle (this has never been officially stated by the Mexican government, and Coronel insists it is not the case). In 2013, the U.S. Treasury Department identified Emma Coronels father, Ines Coronel Barreras, as a major drug trafficker and one of Guzmans two top lieutenants under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, enabling the U.S. to begin blocking his assets. Coronel Barreras, 48, and his son, Ines Omar Coronel Aispuro, were arrested on drug trafficking charges in 2013, based on allegations that Coronel Barreras popularly known as the Father-in-Law in the cartel coordinated drug shipments from Mexico through Arizona for the Sinaloa cartel. His daughter says both her father and her brother are innocent of the charges, which she believes were an attempt by the government to seize control of her familys assets. Her youngest brother, Edgar, was arrested in August on charges of having helped Guzman in his prison escape the previous month. Advertisement Coronel says her life has been one of watching and waiting. Once married, she moved to Culiacan, Guzmans base of operations, finished high school and entered the university to study journalism. She saw her fugitive husband only sporadically sometimes it was every weekend, sometimes shed wait months before being summoned. While Forbes magazine had named her husband as one of the worlds richest men, Coronel said she never lived a life of opulence and her husband was dismissive of the list, telling his wife at one point: One has to ask the magazine: Where is all this money? Do they know? Because I dont know where it is. Likewise, Coronel says she never saw her husband with drugs or weapons. I went when he was already in an established location and he was very calm, Coronel recalls. Advertisement She began to view the unusual family dynamic a bit differently in August 2011, after her twin girls were born in a hospital in Lancaster. When one has children, the way we think and see life changes, she says. For me it was then when I started thinking about the situation, that everything was kind of complicated. She began wondering if her daughters, now 4 years old, would spend their lives paying the price for all that has happened. It makes me deeply sad to think that in these moments they cant see their father, that when theyre older they can be judged, that someone might single them out for things they have no idea about. As for her husband, she says she has never seen him fearful or agitated, not even in moments of great stress. Advertisement He doesnt show at any moment he is worried about something, she says, describing him as very intelligent, though he lacks formal education. What did trouble him, she said, was his growing status as a narco-legend and his inability to control his own story. Guzman had long wanted to collaborate on a film about his life, in part to counter what he viewed as untruths and sensationalism. To put exactly how things are and everything that has happened until now, told by him, she explains. The Mexican actress Kate del Castillo, known for her role as a female drug kingpin in a popular telenovela, was exploring such a film project after Guzman, an admirer, reached out to her. It was Del Castillo who teamed up with Sean Penn, the Hollywood actor and director, on a clandestine visit to Guzman last year while the drug trafficker was still on the run. Penn wrote a colorful story for Rolling Stone about the encounter. Advertisement What drew Coronels wrath and that of her husband, she believes is a video posted with the article in which Guzman, sitting in front of a fence in a country setting, acknowledges he has worked in the drug trade since he was 15 drawn to it because of the poverty in the rural mountains. Coronel said that publishing the video, whose rights were granted not by Penn but by Del Castillos company, was a betrayal. Her husband, she said, believed that the footage would be used only as background information for a text article. Del Castillos lawyer, Los Angeles attorney Harland Braun, said the drug lord clearly understood that the actress was there to talk about a movie a project he said she is still pursuing. Hes admitting [in the video] to being a drug trafficker. And the point that hes in the drug business, that embarrasses him? The whole point of the movie is that hes in the drug business. What shes saying doesnt make any sense. Then there was the affectionate exchange of messages between her husband and Del Castillo, leaked to the Mexican publication Milenio after his latest arrest. You are so beautiful, my friend, in every way, Guzman told the actress in one of them. I will take care of you more than I do my own eyes. Advertisement Coronel said she did not find the exchanges troubling. I think it was the first time they met. How could it be a personal relationship? she said. At no time did I feel jealous of Kate. Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, one of the worlds most powerful drug kingpins, gained folklore status during his decade-plus on the lam, evading authorities thanks to his skill at building secret tunnels from his assorted mountain hideouts, urban safe h :: The end of their early life together began in February 2014, when she was suddenly whisked to her husband at the Miramar Tower in the port of Mazatlan, Sinaloa. Advertisement It was early on the morning of Feb. 22 when the authorities moved in. At 6 in the morning we heard some noises as if they were knocking down the door, Coronel recalls. Men with guns entered the room and demanded, Where is El Chapo? Her husband emerged from the bathroom and told them, Calm down, Im here. Coronel said she heard what she believed were U.S. drug enforcement agents at the scene. It was not until a month later that she and her daughters were able to visit Guzman at El Altiplano. Ironically, she saw him more frequently during that period than during any other. Then, on July 11, 2015, she heard the news that he had escaped again, this time via an elaborate tunnel. Between July 2015 and January 2016, she says, she had only two encounters with her husband, now back to his familiar fugitive role. He just wanted to have a nice time with his daughters, Coronel says. To be in peace. Advertisement Then, on Jan. 8, she followed reports that her husband had been captured in Los Mochis, while he was reportedly escaping in a stolen car, and Coronel again found herself driving toward El Altiplano prison. She waited three days before she was allowed 15 minutes with her husband. This time, it was clear, prison guards were taking no chances. He was completely shackled, handcuffed, the guards stayed there with us all the time, some centimeters away, recalls Coronel, who said she was in tears when she saw her husbands state. They were armed and hooded. They had helmets with cameras and they were always recording. As she left the prison, she recalls, her husband had a few encouraging words. Dont worry, he told his wife. Everything will be all right. Advertisement --------------- ABOUT THIS REPORT This story is published as a collaboration with the Investigative Reporting Program of the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley, where Anabel Hernandez is a fellow. The interview is also being broadcast by Telemundo. ---------------- Advertisement Times staff writer Patrick J. McDonnell in Mexico City contributed to this report. Hoy: Lea esta historia en espanol ALSO A new force in drug trafficking reaches Tijuana Advertisement Uber driver arrested after 7-hour Kalamazoo shooting rampage leaves 6 dead At 15 cents a gallon, its the cheapest gas in the world -- yet Venezuela worries The following article is a written adaptation of an episode of Thrilling Tales of Modern Capitalism, Slates new podcast about companies in the news and how they got there. Dreamforce is an annual 200,000-person conference for users of a product called Salesforce, a piece of software that helps companies organize their sales data. Its kind of like a music festival but for customer relationship management nerds, says Nikhil Sonnad, a journalist who attended the event in San Francisco a couple of years back. You have thousands of people walking by with their Salesforce backpacks and their Salesforce shirts and their Salesforce hats and their lanyards. Advertisement The most recent Dreamforce was held virtually because of COVID, but in past years its been a real rager. Dreamforce also includes some other slightly incongruous elements. Metallica performed at the 2018 event. Theres this monk station where you can go hang out with these monks and theyll give you advice or you just meditate there, Sonnad recalls. The monks are in this special monk zone. Advertisement Advertisement Hundreds of thousands of attendees, heavy metal bands, monks, all coming together to pay tribute to Salesforce. But what is Salesforce? Even after hed attended the conference, Sonnad wasnt totally sure: I just became overwhelmed by the jargon that was just constantly being thrown at me. And I couldnt really understand, and I couldnt really get people to explain it to me in nonjargon terms. Advertisement Salesforce likely touches your life in all sorts of ways you dont even realize. This is in fact a big part of the appeal of Dreamforce for its attendees: Its a gathering where you can revel in this thing thats totally bewildering to everyone else. They all have this vision for what Salesforce is and can be, and they have this shared idea that its the coolest thing in the world, but nobody they talk to understands why thats the case, Sonnad says. And so they all get together and they just have this grand moment of collective celebration of this thing. Salesforce is B2B software. Its for companies, not consumers. Its software for customer relationship management. And if youre like me, your eyes sort of glaze over when you hear the phrase customer relationship management. But Salesforce is absolutely massive. Its a crucial part of the infrastructure of American business. It likely touches your life in all sorts of ways you dont even realize. Its also getting bigger, making tons of acquisitions. Salesforce recently spent almost $28 billion to buy Slack, the workplace chat app. Advertisement Advertisement At the helm of Salesforce is a man named Marc Benioff. He owns Time magazine. Hes been throwing his weight around politically for a while now, going to Davos, supporting various liberal causes. Some think he might eventually run for mayor of San Francisco, but hes still strangely under the radar in some ways. A lot of people whove heard of Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bezos have never heard of Marc Benioff. Benioff is about 6-foot-5, a bear of a man with slicked-back hair. He wears a lot of Hawaiian shirts and peppers his speech with Hawaiian words and phraseshes owned an estate there for a couple of decades now, and Hawaii is where he came up with the idea to launch Salesforce. Like many a tech billionaire, Benioff hasnt been satisfied with merely creating a successful company and getting wildly rich from it. Advertisement Benioff is a singular, fascinating person. He loves the stage. He loves being around powerful people, says Aaron Tilley, a tech reporter at the Wall Street Journal. I dont think theres any doubt he is a man with a big ego, and he needs to be seen. Advertisement Before a company issues an initial public offering, theres whats called a quiet period, a time when executives arent supposed to say anything substantive about the company. While Salesforce was in the quiet period before its IPO in 2004, Benioff gave an extensive interview to the New York Times during which, among other things, he repeatedly ridiculed a competitor. The Securities and Exchange Commission ended up delaying the IPO. Benioff couldnt even keep quiet during the quiet period. Advertisement When moral duty and corporate success collide, Marc Benioff hasnt always chosen the nobler path. Since then, hes bought Time magazine and slapped his companys name on the tallest skyscraper in San Francisco. He never misses a chance to schmooze at Davos. Hes the central figure of every Dreamforce conferencethe garrulous MC, spouting quasi-spiritual platitudes and encouraging people to meditate with the in-house monks. He can seem ridiculous. But Benioff came up as a sales guy at Oracle, and he remains a sales guy at heart. And what hes selling, customer relationship management software, is sort of inherently dull. So Benioff spices up his brand with all sorts of tangential mishegoss. Sonnad says theres a marketing strategy at work here to differentiate Salesforce from its competitors: The main attempt is to kind of sex up this really unsexy thing. Business-to-business enterprise software is basically more focused on things like security and fault tolerance and not losing data, and so if youre able to even a little bit make it feel like its fun to use or interesting, its going to take you far. Advertisement Advertisement Benioff has also tried to brand Salesforce as a vehicle for good in the world. Hes really compelled by this idea that doing business well and succeeding at business is a good for society, Sonnad says. He believes it pretty strongly, and it informs a lot of what they do. So hes just taken by this idea that you can sort of infuse business with these humanistic practices and make it a space for human development. Benioffs motto is that business is the greatest platform for change. Hes an advocate for so-called inclusive stakeholder capitalism. And from its inception, Salesforce has preached what it calls the 1-1-1 model, pledging to put 1 percent of its revenue, 1 percent of its product, and 1 percent of its employees time toward the good of the community. Benioff is a San Francisco native, and hes been deeply involved in city politics, vocally supporting causes like the effort to fight homelessness and calling out other Bay Area tech CEOs for not doing enough. Advertisement This all seems admirable, but when moral duty and corporate success collide, Benioff hasnt always chosen the nobler path. In 2018, it came out that U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency responsible for separating immigrant children from their families, was using Salesforce to manage border activities and modernize its recruiting process. Salesforce came under pressure from inside and outside the company to cancel the contract with CBP. Advertisement Advertisement Benioff tried to defuse the situation by donating $250,000 to RAICES, a nonprofit that provides services to refugees and immigrant families. The group turned down the money, and then Benioff made things much worse. According to a report in the Guardian, Benioff contacted the head of RAICES to discuss the growing opposition to his firms contractand then backed out of a call at the last minute, saying he was busy with vacation activities, the emails showed. I am sorry Im actually scuba diving right now, Benioff wrote. Advertisement That scuba diving email was not a terrific look, and Salesforce never canceled the CBP contract. Benioff also made a big deal about treating employees right during the COVID pandemic, according to Aaron Tilley: Early on in the pandemic, he had this 90-days no layoff pledge. And, you know, 90 days had passed and he had a great quarter. He called this a victory for stakeholder capitalism. And then the day after [Salesforce reported record sales], he announces a thousand employees are being laid off. Salesforce has described that move as a reallocation of resources. It says that some of the laid-off workersSalesforce wouldnt tell us how manygot rehired in new roles. Advertisement But its worth askingespecially since Salesforce seems intent on growing ever bigger and becoming the single source of truth for its customershow much of Marc Benioffs spiritual, do-gooder shtick is genuine, and how much of it is just a clever way to inject some deeper meaning into a product that mostly exists to help companies leverage analytics to improve the throughput of their sales pipeline. Perhaps the 1-1-1 model and the monks and the Hawaiian shirts are all just customer relations management. Listen to the full episode using the player below, or subscribe to Thrilling Tales of Modern Capitalism on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. New Delhi: The government on Thursday slammed the Opposition for alleging that the foreign policy was faulty and vehemently rejected the charge that India was standing isolated at the world stage. A combative External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj asserted in the Rajya Sabha that the countrys foreign policy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi was so strong that India was setting the world agenda. Replying to a discussion on Indias foreign policy and engagement with strategic partners, she answered point-by-point the questions raised and concerns voiced by the Opposition parties, mainly targeting the Congress. She said the concerns voiced by the Congress regarding Chinese involvement in construction of Gwadar port in Pakistan and Hambantota in Sri Lanka were born during the previous UPA rule and the present government was settling these. She also rejected the Opposition contention that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not taking her into consideration with regard to the foreign policy. You say that India stands alone. This is far from the truth... All countries are with India... What I am saying is with evidence, she told the opposition. Suggested read | India should show willingness for peace through deeds: China Listen to full speech by Sushma Swaraj in Rajya Sabha here: Swaraj said it was due to the success of the new foreign policy that both the US and Russia are with India and so are Israel and Palestine as also Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Germany, France, European Union, United Kingdom are also friends and so is the UAE, she added. Indias foreign policy is so good now that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is setting the global agenda on the world stage, she said and cited the example of how he played a crucial role at the Paris Climate Summit and at G-20 or other world fora. The opinion formed by the Opposition in the House that all our neighbours have turned against us is far away from the truth, Swaraj asserted. It is not a fact that all our neighbouring countries are against us. Whenever there is a crisis in any neighbouring country, they look up to India and we are the first to respond to them, she said. Swaraj hit out at the opposition saying that the concerns raised now over Chinese transgressions, Gwadar and Hambantota are all born during the time when Congress was in power. In a series of posers to the Congress, she said, Hambantotas first phase was started in 2008. Whose governnent was there at that time? The first phase got completed in 2011. Whose government was then? Gwadar happened during whose government? Today, you are expressing concern. Why did you not express concerns in 2011 or 2013? You are the ones who gave birth to all these concerns. These concerns were born during your time. We only secured Hambantota. We addressed concern that arose during your time, she said. Asserting that India under the Modi government has been helpful and reaching out to its neighbours, she gave examples. When water crisis hit Maldives, India sent a plane carrying water within 90 minutes after she got the first call at 7 in the morning, Swaraj said. She said when there was an earthquake in Nepal, India was the first responder, besides helping in Sri Lanka floods. She said India committed one billion US dollars for the DONER conference, even though they were looking at China. Blasting the Congress for saying that Indias relations with its neighbours had deteriorated, she said that for 17 years, no Indian PM had visited Nepal which included the UPA tenure. Suggested read | Dialogue between India and Pakistan a pre-requisite for peace: Outgoing Pak envoy Basit Tauntingly, she said, When no Indian Prime Minister goes to Nepal, then the relations are good? But when Indian Prime Minister goes twice, then relations are bad? On the blockade with Nepal about two years back, she said such a situation had been seen even during Rajiv Gandhis tenure. She if Bangladesh and Bhutan had best ties with anyone, it was India. The External Affairs Minister lauded former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru for his foreign policy initiatives, but said while Nehru built and enhanced his personal image, Prime Minister Modi is enhancing the entire countrys image through his initiatives. Rejecting the opposition charge that PMO is running the Foreign policy and she was not made to accompany the prime minister, she asked former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as to how many times he had taken on foreign tours along with him his foreign ministers S M Krishna or Salman Khurshid. Swaraj said the Prime Minister always conuslt her on all foreign policy issues and charged that it was PMO driven in the previous government. Earlier, Satish Chandra Mishra (BSP) said India should not stop dialogue and it should continue to make efforts to maintain good relations with neighbours. He also said that the government should not do politics over foreign policy and the focus should be to ensure safety of the people in the country. On India-China relations, Mishra said the government should inform the neighbouring country that if border tension heightens, then it could take steps on bilateral economic policies that may impact its business. He also sought higher budget allocation to army and better facilities to soldiers. Vandana Chavan (NCP) said the relations with neighbouring nations has reached very low. The strengthening of Pakistan-China relations has become a concern. These are trying times for us. ...message should not go that markets are open, so are our borders to China, she said, adding that the government should overlook Chinese parts getting into the defence making. Expressing concern about deteriorating relations with many of the neighbouring states, Kanimozhi (DMK) sought to know about status of rahabilitation of Sri Lankan Tamils and renegotiating fishing rights at Katchatheevu island, administered by Sri Lanka. Rajiv Shukla (Cong) said to improve relations with Pakistan, India should work both with democratically elected head of that country as well as with army. You need to understand their system and work accordingly. Shukla also warned the government not to be crazy about media and use it to score points as this will not benefit always. Instead of maximum publicity and minimum thought, go for maximum thought and minimum publicity, he said. Sapan Das Gupta (Nom) and Vijaysai Reddy (YSRCP) also participated in the debate. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Sorry! This content is not available in your region Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Cloudy skies with a few showers this afternoon. High 52F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 42F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A report released by the Conference Board on Tuesday showed consumer confidence in the U.S. has improved more than expected in the month of February. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index rose to 91.3 in February from a downwardly revised 88.9 in January. Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to inch up to 90.0 from the 89.3 originally reported for the previous month. The bigger than expected increase by the headline index came as the present situation index climbed to 92.0 in February from 85.5 in January. Noting the increase came after three months of consecutive declines, Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board, said, 'This course reversal suggests economic growth has not slowed further.' The rebound by the present situation index came as the percentage of consumers claiming business conditions are 'good' rose to 16.5 percent from 15.8 percent, while those claiming conditions are 'bad' fell to 39.9 percent from 42.4 percent. Consumers' assessment of the labor market also improved, with those saying jobs are 'plentiful' climbing to 21.9 percent from 20.0 percent and those claiming jobs are 'hard to get' dropping to 21.2 percent from 22.5 percent. On the other hand, the Conference Board said the expectations index edged down to 90.8 in February from 91.2 in January. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months fell to 31.0 percent from 34.1 percent, although those expecting conditions to worsen also declined to 17.7 percent from 19.0 percent. Consumers' outlook regarding the job market was also somewhat mixed, with those expecting more jobs in the months ahead decreasing to 26.1 percent from 30.4 percent and those anticipating fewer jobs also slipping to 20.6 percent from 22.1 percent. 'While the Expectations Index fell marginally in February, consumers remain cautiously optimistic, on the whole, about the outlook for the coming months,' Franco said. She added, 'Notably, vacation intentions-particularly, plans to travel outside the U.S. and via air-saw an uptick this month, and are poised to improve further as vaccination efforts expand.' On Friday, the University of Michigan is scheduled to release its revised reading on consumer sentiment in the month of February. The consumer sentiment index for February is currently expected to be upwardly revised to 76.4 from the preliminary reading of 76.2, which was down from 79.0 in January. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Adani Enterprises Ltd has partnered EdgeConneX, a leading data center operator to develop 1 gigawatts (GW) of data centre capacity over the next decade. The equal joint venture (JV) named AdaniConneX will focus on building a network of hyperscale data centres in India, starting with Chennai, Navi Mumbai, Noida, Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad, the companies said in a joint statement on Tuesday. Development and construction at the sites have already begun." Adani Groups diversification to data centres, powered by renewable energy, comes in the backdrop of Indias digital economy expected to touch $1 trillion by 2025. A data centre provides the necessary secured architecture wherein computing and networking equipment is concentrated for collecting, storing, processing, distributing or allowing access to large amounts of data. Other large corporates are also seeking to tap this opportunity. Mint on Tuesday reported on Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltds plans to invest around $950 million for building a large data centre in Uttar Pradesh. Reliance Jio plans to set up a renewable energy park to power the data centre. These plans also come in the backdrop of the Reserve Bank of Indias norms on data localization necessitating the need for setting up large data centres to store and protect information. Data localization refers to storing data on any device physically present within the borders of a country where the data is generated. In addition to full scale data centres, AdaniConneX will also develop a portfolio of Edge data centres strategically located throughout India that will support the need for more proximate capacity. These Edge sites are designed and planned to easily scale with demand and become full scale data centre campuses. Importantly, this pan-Indian platform of hyperscale and hyperlocal data centres will largely be powered by renewable energy," according to the statement. Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) has formed an equal JV with French energy giant Total. With 3.24GW operational capacity, the JV has one of the largest green energy portfolios in India. India currently has one of the worlds largest data subscriber population and to address the need for a reliable infrastructure to support Cloud, Content, Network, IoT, 5G, AI and enterprise requirements, data centres are a fundamental infrastructure need of a nation," said Gautam Adani, chairman, Adani Group in the statement. The government also plans to implement a data centre policy to encourage firms to build data centre parks across the country. This involves giving infrastructure status to the data centre sector, on par with sectors such as railways, roadways and power to enable the industry to avail benefits such as long-term credit from lenders at easier terms. Also, the Centre and state governments plan to provide fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to data centre projects. Given that India is running the worlds largest clean energy programme, the government wants to leverage cost effective solar and wind power to supply electricity to these data centres by encouraging electricity storage applications. India has around 375MW of installed power capacity for data centres, which is expected to grow threefold by 2025. Also, there is a $4.9 billion investment opportunity by 2025 for setting by data centre infrastructure, according to the government. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. India now needs to get into cutting edge technology to boost exports which will benefit sectors like telecom, automobiles, battery storage devices and solar energy, CEO said on Tuesday. Kant, speaking at the launch event for CII's report 'Foreign Trade & Investment in India: Unlocking Key Opportunities through Strategic Reforms', further said the country is at the cusp of a transformation. "India now needs to get into cutting edge technology in order to boost its exports. "... sectors such as telecom, automobiles, battery storage devices, and solar energy, among others, would benefit from technology exports," industry body CII said in a statement quoting Kant. Kant also pointed out that reforms that have been implemented post the pandemic would go a long way in facilitating this process. "Thanks to the reforms process in India, key indicators such as GDP, FDI and trade have risen sharply," he said, adding that India has became a favoured destination for global investment. Kant said the report now highlights the measures that the government needs to take in order to make India more competitive in the global market. Participating in the event,UK's Deputy Trade Commissioner, South Asia, Rhiannon Harries said trade and investment sits at the heart of the UK-India relationship. The UK and Indian governments are already working closely on an enhanced trade partnership, which will help deepen trade ties, remove market access barriers and act as a roadmap for a potential future free trade agreement,Harries added. The CII report presents a detailed analysis of the policies that affect India's openness with respect to international trade, including tariff and non-tariff barriers, and FDI, the statement said. Against the background of the policy changes, the study analyses the trends and patterns of imports and exports and FDI inflows as also identifies on-ground issues being faced by companies in India. It also highlighted the need to participate in preferential trade arrangements with key partners, alongside leveraging existing ones, for realising greater export and FDI and increasing India's integration into the regional and global value chains. The report recommended key policy measures including developing a mechanism to review the effectiveness of single-window systems more regularly and effectively by the chief secretary of the respective states, digitisation and integration of land records, introduction of single online portal with integrated information, notification of fixed term employment by all states, among others. To establish India as a global trade and investment hub, the CII report calls for exploring free trade agreements (FTAs) with key partners such as the UK, US and the EU. It also suggests setting up a single point of contact for large overseas investors, designing specific policies for Champion Sectors, and introducing differential slab-based incentives as per FDI size. (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.) 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: With China expressing its support for India to host this year's BRICS summit, observers don't rule out the chances of Chinese President Xi Jinping's travel to India. China's announcement backing India to host the BRICS summit came as the armies of the two countries began disengagement of troops locked in over an eight-month-long standoff in eastern Ladakh. China on Monday said that it will work with New Delhi to strengthen the cooperation among the five-member grouping of emerging economies. Notably, India has assumed the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Chairmanship for 2021 and is set to hold this year's summit. Earlier on February 19, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar launched India's BRICS 2021 website at the BRICS Secretariat at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan in New Delhi. Asked about India assuming the BRICS Chairmanship this year, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing that Beijing backs New Delhi in hosting the summit. "The BRICS, consisting of emerging markets and developing countries, is a cooperation mechanism with global influence," Wang is quoted by PTI as saying. He added, "In recent years, with growing cohesion, stronger practical cooperation, and rising influence, BRICS has become a constructive force for stability in international affairs." Live TV "China attaches high importance to the BRICS cooperation mechanism. It stays committed to consolidating BRICS strategic partnership and the positive momentum in BRICS solidarity and cooperation," he said, adding "We support India in hosting this year's BRICS meetings and stand ready to work together with it and other members to strengthen communication and cooperation in various fields, advance the three-pillar-driven cooperation in economic, political and cultural sectors, and expand 'BRICS Plus' cooperation to realise solid, sound and sustained progress in BRICS cooperation and to contribute to the international community's efforts to defeat COVID-19, resume economic growth and improve global governance." Wang, however, did not specify whether Chinese President Xi Jinping would attend the summit expected to be held later this year. Xi has attended all the annual summits of the five-member bloc in the past, including the one last year hosted via video link by Russia in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi took part. PM Modi traveled to the Chinese city of Xiamen in 2017 for the BRICS summit after India and China resolved the 73-day standoff at Doklam. China's announcement backing India to host the BRICS summit came as the armies of the two countries began disengagement of troops locked in over an eight-month-long standoff in eastern Ladakh. Both countries have reached a mutual agreement for disengagement of troops from the most contentious area of North and South Pangong Lake. Military commanders of both armies held the 10th round of talks on the Chinese side of the Moldo/Chushul border meeting point on February 20. A joint statement was later issued saying that the two sides positively appraised the smooth completion of disengagement of frontline troops in the Pangong Lake area. The statement said it was a significant step forward that provided a good basis for the resolution of other remaining issues along the LAC in the Western Sector. (With Agency Inputs) About 42,000 years ago, Earth was beset with oddness. Its magnetic field collapsed. Ice sheets surged across North America, Australasia and the Andes. Wind belts shifted across the Pacific and Antarctic oceans. Prolonged drought hit Australia; that continents biggest mammals went extinct. Humans took to caves to make ochre-color art. Neanderthals died off for good. Through it all, one giant kauri tree stood tall until, after nearly two millenniums, it died and fell in a swamp, where the chemical records embedded in its flesh were immaculately preserved. That tree, unearthed a few years ago near Ngawha Springs in northern New Zealand, finally allowed researchers to fit a tight timeline to what before had seemed like an intriguing but only vaguely correlated series of events. What if, the researchers posited, the crash of the magnetic field spawned the climatic changes of that era? And to think that the Ngawha kauri tree had borne witness to the whole thing. It must have seemed like the end of days, said Chris S.M. Turney, a geoscientist at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, and part of a large team that described the findings in a study published Thursday in Science. And this tree lived through all that. Which is incredible, really. By comparing tree-ring age data and radioactive carbon concentrations from that kauri tree and three others of similar vintage to recent dating information derived from two stalagmites in the Hulu caves in China, Turney and his 32 co-authors were able to pinpoint when the tree lived and died. That gave them what they call a calibration curve, allowing them to convert radiocarbon dating from that period into calendar years. Scientists across disciplines said the kauri data were a dazzling addition to the radiocarbon canon and were long awaited. For a radiocarbon person, the kauri records are just amazing, said Luke C. Skinner, a paleoclimatologist at the University of Cambridge, who was not involved in the study. He said the fossil kauri trees were the main way for scientists to get at radiocarbon information from so long ago. The tree lived through a lengthy disintegration of the magnetic field, a period known as the Laschamp excursion, when the magnetic poles attempted unsuccessfully to switch places. As a result, Turney and his co-authors were able to use the new data to describe more precisely when that excursion happened and trace what else was going on, including the bizarre climate and extinctions. It was suddenly, gosh, these things actually are happening simultaneously around the world, all at the same time, Turney said. It was just an extraordinary revelation. That discovery unlocked a multipronged thought experiment. Earths magnetic field, which is constantly being generated deep within the planets molten outer core, protects against dangerous galactic and solar rays. Were all those peculiar climatic, biological and archaeological phenomena 42,000 years ago linked to the wasted magnetic field? Had its collapse altered the course of life on Earth? And what about other disturbances of the magnetic field, including that time 780,000 years ago when the magnetic poles actually did switch places? Scientists have been trying to find answers to these questions since the fact of magnetic pole reversals was established several decades ago. Consequently, this latest endeavor has drawn immense scrutiny. Its pretty brave, said Catherine G. Constable, a geophysicist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, who was not involved in the study. Using cutting-edge global climate model simulations that allowed for chemistry interactions, Turney and his colleagues used the timeline generated by the kauri tree to try to find out what the climate was like during the excursion. The data revealed modest but significant changes in atmospheric chemistry and climate, according to the paper. Among them: a slightly depleted ozone layer; slightly increased ultraviolet radiation, particularly near the equator; a jump in tissue-damaging ionizing radiation; and auroras as close to the equator as the 40th parallels of latitude, which would run through the middle of the continental United States in the Northern Hemisphere and through the bottom tip of Australia in the south. Adding a period of low sun activity, known as grand solar minima, into the mix produced more dramatic effects. A peculiar, centurylong series of deposits of beryllium-10 isotopes has been identified in ice cores from Greenland, dating from the Laschamp excursion 42,000 years ago. Such isotopes are created when cosmic rays batter the upper atmosphere; in the geological record they indicate times when Earth experienced a diminished magnetic field and, sometimes, solar changes. In the more extreme computer scenario, with solar effects factored in, ultraviolet radiation rose by 10-15% from the norm and ozone declined by about the same amount. Those effects cascaded through the climate system, Turney said: It was basically like a perfect storm, he said. The simulations suggest that the weakened magnetic field caused some of the climatic changes of 42,000 years ago, and that those changes may have had wider effects: prompting the extinction of many large mammals in Australia, hastening the end of the Neanderthals, and perhaps giving rise to cave art as humans hid for long periods to avoid skin-damaging ultraviolet rays, the authors proposed. In fact, the effects were so striking that the researchers have given a new name to the years leading up to the middle of the Laschamp excursion. They call it the Adams Transitional Geomagnetic Event. The Adams Event appears to represent a major climatic, environmental and archaeological boundary that has previously gone unrecognized, the team writes, concluding, Overall, these findings raise important questions about the evolutionary impacts of geomagnetic reversals and excursions throughout the deeper geologic record. The new name is an homage to British humorist Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and the book and radio series Last Chance to See, about extinction. It is also a nod to Douglas famous line that the answer to life, the universe and everything is 42 which Turney said reminded him of the timing of the magnetic episode 42,000 years ago. It just seems uncanny, he said, laughing. How did he know? The interpretation is destined to create controversy. Some scientists who read the paper expressed admiration for the breathtaking linkages across disciplines. One of the strengths of the paper, just from the perspective of its scholarly work, not necessarily the analytical science that it does, is just the degree to which it stitches together all of these disparate sources of information to make its case, said Jason E. Smerdon, a climate scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University in New York, who was not involved in the study. He called it a tour de force. Likewise, James E.T. Channell, an emeritus professor of geophysics at the University of Florida, who was not involved in the study but was a peer reviewer, said that scholars had been stymied for half a century by the question of whether a waning magnetic field affects life. The paper opens up new avenues of research. If we knew enough about the timing of excursions, then perhaps we could re-look at the problem, he said. But other scientists said the sweeping analysis left them wondering whether there were other explanations for some of the phenomena during the Laschamp excursion. Its opening a can of worms rather than resolving a set of questions, Skinner said. Like several others interviewed, he worried whether the Adams Event nomenclature would lead to confusion in the scientific literature, and whether it was necessary. But he praised the paper for stimulating discussion. Im certainly more excited about this topic today than I was yesterday, he said. US President will host his first-ever virtual bilateral summit with Canadian Prime Minister on Tuesday during which they will jointly unveil a new initiative, a roadmap for partnership between the two neighbours. The US and are close allies, sharing the world's longest land border and trading hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods and services annually. Today President Biden will jointly unveil a new initiative with our Canadian partners and friends: The US- Partnership Roadmap, the White House said on Monday. According to the White House, the roadmap is a blueprint for the whole-of-government relationship, based on their shared values and commitment to work in partnership on areas of mutual concern, such as the recovery from COVID-19 and global health security, efforts to combat climate change and shared priorities in defence and security. Through the Roadmap, we will also advance our shared vision of prosperity, diversity, equity, and justice for all our citizens, the White House said ahead of the summit. During the meeting, Biden will outline the Roadmap, which will prioritise combating COVID-19, accelerating climate ambitions, advancing diversity and inclusion, bolstering security and defence and building global alliances. Biden and Trudeau will affirm their shared commitment to addressing global challenges through the Roadmap through multilateral institutions, including the United Nations, G7 and G20, the WTO, NATO and the Five Eyes community. Finally, the leaders will agree to work towards reviving the North American Leaders' Summit as a recommitment of solidarity among the United States, and Mexico, the White House said. According to a senior administration official, the two leaders are trying to recreate the substance, depth and breadth of the bilateral relationship in virtual space. The virtual meeting would include a one-on-one meeting between the two leaders, followed by an expanded one with Cabinet members and senior officials from the two sides joining them. The biggest deliverable from the meeting is going to be essentially not a joint statement that's going to reside on a website, but rather a roadmap to reinvigorate US-Canada collaboration. It is essentially tasking our Cabinet and ministers on everything from COVID-19, to the economy and economic cooperation to an ambitious partnership on climate, cooperation with Canada to build global alliances, said the official. US-Canada relations suffered under Donald Trump, as the former president withdrew the country from several accords, forced renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement and slapped tariffs on Canadian aluminium and steel. (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.) 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. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday it welcomes the agreement reached by Iran and the Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Sunday to continue "essential verification" for up to three months. "We hope that this step will help improve the general political situation regarding Iran and its nuclear program," the ministry's spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a statement, Xinhua news agency reported. "Thanks to the thoughtful and prudent stance of the Iranian side and the competent actions of the IAEA leadership, much-needed space is created for active diplomatic efforts" to fully revive the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), she said. The IAEA and Iran have made a "tangible" contribution to the formation of conditions for the start of "a substantive conversation" between the current participants in the Iran nuclear deal and the US, she added. "We call on all JCPOA partners, as well as the United States, to act without delay," Zakharova said. --IANS int/pgh (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 business, based in North Yorkshire in northern England, said the development of its plant at Bedale will double its manufacturing capacity and allow it to move into other product The Cork mum-of-two whose stalker nightmare came to end when her would-be assailant was captured as he prepared to break into her home has spoken of her terror and relief at his capture. Una Ring was subjected to a terrifying ordeal at the hands of Australian native, salesman James Steele (52). He was caught with a crowbar, duct tape, rope and an 11-inch sex toy strapped to his body on the night of July 27 last year. He had also hidden his identity by wearing a hat, a snood and had blue plastic gloves on his hands. He was jailed for five years on February 4, after pleading guilty to charges of harassment, attempted burglary with intent to rape, possession of articles with intent to cause a crime and two counts of criminal damage. Expand Close James Steele of Reavilleen, Roscarberry, County Cork, was sentenced to seven years with the last two years suspended today at Cork Circuit Criminal Court / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp James Steele of Reavilleen, Roscarberry, County Cork, was sentenced to seven years with the last two years suspended today at Cork Circuit Criminal Court Read More James Steele, of Reavilleen Rosscarbery, Co Cork later told detectives the only explanation he could offer for his actions was that he had become totally obsessed with Ms Ring, a former work colleague. The court heard that Steele, a salesman and a father of two, had asked out Ms Ring,in February 2020. Despite being firmly rebuffed, he began sending the woman a stream of text messages - even when she asked him to stop. Sometime later, she discovered that a game of Xs and Os had been daubed overnight on the outside window of her house - and the sinister message 'I Win' had been added. Expand Close Steele daubed Ms Rings house with graffiti. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Steele daubed Ms Rings house with graffiti. Days later, she left her home to discover that letters in black envelopes had been placed on her car windscreen. One letter was found to contain a grim threat - that the individual would break into her home via the back door and rape not just her but her daughter. The terrified woman contacted Gardai and they mounted a special surveillance operation around her home in a quiet estate. Speaking to Ryan Tubridy on RTE Radio this morning, Una told how that letter was a game changer. The letter again said, hello neighbour, and it said I had two choices, one that I could leave my door open and well have sex by consent or two, I will break in and rape you and your daughter. Expand Close Steele sent Ms Ring disgusting letters demanding sex / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Steele sent Ms Ring disgusting letters demanding sex The guards were up and detectives had been in and out it but now it wasnt just the guards coming in and taking a statement. Now it was up to a new level. "They had put an operation in place where they would sit two doors down outside the house in an unmarked car from 12pm until 5am. They had a meeting and were (deciding) whether they were going to go and charge him after receiving the letter and hope that he confessed or hang on and wait to see he would show up. Thankfully, they made the choice to wait and see if he would show up. I think we all knew he was going to show up, she added, and four nights later he did and thankfully he was arrested on my property. Earlier this month, Sergeant John Sharkey told a court hearing that Gardai spotted an individual arriving at the housing estate in the early hours of July 27. Garda James Heffernan identified Steele.. Later, when searched, Steele was found to have a roll of duct tape, a length of orange rope, a medium sized metal crowbar and a sex toy. The 27cm sex toy, which was wrapped in a condom, was strapped to his body. Subsequent Garda searches found that Steele had also conducted an Internet search in respect of chloroform. Una described how she was terror of that night and her relief as he was finally caught. The weather was so bad that night that maybe he thought that there would be nobody out in this. Maybe he thought it would be a safer night for him to get in unnoticed because it was windy. "And with the rain it brought a bit of noise (to cover him) if he wanted to break in. I woke at 2am and I just could not go back to sleep. I was fully dressed because I really did think that this will be the night. "And at a quarter to four I heard muffled voices outside and I went into the spare room and looked out. A few minutes before his arrest and there was a squad car and a paddy wagon (waiting for him outside). I was relived and I was ecstatic, she said. But I hadnt seen the CCTV footage and I didnt know he had a crow bar and that took the wind out of my sails a bit. "I never thought that he was going to do what he had threatened to do, never in a million years. I just thought OK theyre after arresting him, all this messing is over now I can get back to normal life. "But it was my daughter who looked back at the CCTV footage who said, mam, he had a crowbar and that floored me to be honest. "And then we heard what else he had on him. "He had rope and duct tape and he had a prosthetic penis strapped to himself and a condom attached to that. Una told how, during her ordeal, she was going to get a tattoo with her name, address and date of birth so that if he abducted and killed her and if her body was found quickly it would speed up the process of identification. Una expressed surprise at the attention the case generated. I knew it would make the local news, I really didn't think it was going to be as big as it was. Read More "But I'm glad I did it because there are so many people out there and it's only afterwards you hear of stories (like mine). And I want people to know really that that. help is there. The guards were absolutely brilliant. I really cant praise them enough. They saved my life really. She also advised people who found themselves in similar circumstances to get a notebook and jot things down, so if you get a chance to report it you will have a little bit of history there. There is no point in walking in and saying, Im reporting this but I have nothing to back it up. You need to give the guards something to work with. Speaking after the case Una said she was happy with the sentence but had been hoping for a maximum 14 year prison term. She warned she would never forgive Steele for the trauma he had put her and her family through. "Obviously I would have preferred a higher sentence - there is nothing high enough for what I went through," she said. "I am happy with it. I knew he was not going to get the full 14 years. "I knew it was not going to be what I wanted." "But Judge (O'Donnabhain) was very fair in everything he said so I am happy enough." Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Libya and chief of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Jan Kubis, has reaffirmed "the strong determination of UNSMIL to back the efforts aiming to reunify Libya, its authorities and institutions and to restore its full sovereignty, in view of its security, sustainable stability and prosperity" Safety guidelines Quorum verification Opening by the Chief Executive Officer Approval of the agenda Appointment of the Chairman presiding over the Shareholders' Meeting Appointment of the commission responsible for scrutinizing elections and polling Appointment of the commission responsible for reviewing and approving the minute of the meeting Presentation and approval of amendments to the Bylaws Presentation and consideration of Board of Directors' report on its performance, progress and compliance with the Corporate Governance Code Presentation and consideration of the 2020 Performance Management Report by the Board of Directors and the Chief Executive Officer of Ecopetrol S.A Presentation and consideration of individual and consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2020 Review of the External Auditor Report Approval of the Board of Directors' report on its performance, progress and compliance with the Corporate Governance Code Approval of the 2020 Performance Management Report by the Board of Directors and the Chief Executive Officer of Ecopetrol S.A. Approval of individual and consolidated audited financial statements Presentation and approval of proposal for dividend distribution Election of the Board of Directors Election of the External Auditor and assignment of his remuneration Interventions and miscellaneous The Meeting will be transmitted live via streaming on Ecopetrol's web site www.ecopetrol.com.co/asamblea2021 and on public television on the Institutional Channel, beginning at 9 a.m. on Friday, March 26, 2021. This meeting will be recorded, and therefore consent thereof will be requested prior to the Meeting. Quorum will be veried through the internal systems of Ecopetrol S.A.. which will allow to verify the assistance of all proxies prior to and throughout the meeting. Ecopetrol S.A.'s administrators and employees may not vote on the financial statements. In order to guarantee shareholders' rights, Ecopetrol has provided a mechanism whereby shareholders may be represented by a proxy, which will be available from 1:00 p.m. on March 10 to 1:00 p.m. on March 25, 2021 (the day prior to the Shareholders' Meeting). Through this mechanism, shareholders may represent their interest through any of the attorneys provided thereto by the Company, once their identication and condition as shareholders has been verified. Said proxies are independent lawyers from a nationally recognized firm. The proxy mechanism bears no cost for the shareholders. In order to implement the proxy mechanism, i) shareholders of legal age will complete an electronic form which will be available on the Company's website, www.ecopetrol.com.co/asamblea2021 under the link "Proxy and Voting Intentions" which contains a power-of-attorney form and voting preference for each item on the agenda which are subject to vote; ii) proxies of shares that are currently subject to inheritance proceedings ,as well as underage shareholders, legal entities and/or persons with disabilities that require legal guardians, must submit the corresponding power-of-attorney forms, voting preferences and supporting documents to the following e-mail: [email protected]. In order to guarantee the active participation of the shareholders, the Company will provide the following channels for the submission of proposals to be included in the Agenda: i) shareholders of legal age will complete an electronic form which will be available on the Company's website, www.ecopetrol.com.co/asamblea2021 under the link "Proposals"; ii) proxies of shares that are currently subject to inheritance proceedings, as well as underage shareholders, legal entities and/or persons with disabilities that require legal guardians, must submit their proposals to the following e-mail: [email protected]. The aforementioned channels will be available from 1:00 p.m. on March 4 to 1.00 p.m. on March 9, 2021. This same mechanism will be used for interjections by shareholder represented though the proxy system, and will be included in the last item of the agenda: i) shareholders of legal age will complete an electronic form which will be available on the Company's website, www.ecopetrol.com.co/asamblea2021 under the link "Interventions"; ii) proxies of shares that are currently subject to inheritance proceedings, as well as underage shareholders, legal entities and/or persons with disabilities that require legal guardians, must submit their interjections to the following e-mail: [email protected]. The aforementioned channels will be available from 1:00 p.m. on March 10 to 1.00 p.m. on March 20, 2021. All interjections received after this deadline will be responded to by means of a right of petition. Should you require additional information regarding the aforementioned instructions, please visit the Company's website at www.ecopetrol.com.co/asamblea2021. As of March 4, 2021, the shareholders may exercise the right to inspect the books and documents referred to in Articles 446 and 447 of the Colombian Commercial Code. i) This information supporting the items on the Agenda, subject to vote, may be consulted on www.ecopetrol.com.co/asamblea2021 under the link "Supporting Documentation"; ii) in order to access information outside the public domain, the Company will provide a mixed virtual and in-person system described on the Company's website at www.ecopetrol.com.co/asamblea2021 under the link "Right of Inspection". The shareholder must submit their request to the following e-mail, [email protected], attaching all information accrediting their condition as shareholder and specifying the information they wish to inspect in order to receive the corresponding supporting documentation for the exercise of their right to inspection. For further information, please contact the Investor Relations Office at +(571) 307 70 75 in Bogota, 01 8000 113434 in the rest of the country, or email us at [email protected]. FELIPE BAYON PARDO Chief Executive Officer SOURCE Ecopetrol S.A. Related Links http://www.ecopetrol.com.co Come and invest into Indias energy sector. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis words, pronounced at the inauguration of a new gas pipeline on February 17th, sent a clear message: the countrys energy landscape is undergoing fundamental transformations and will seek to attract foreign investors. After the Covid-19 crisis ravaged the country and caused massive disruptions in local industries, India is slowly getting back on its feet. With the promise of double-digit economic growth in 2021, India is set to become the worlds largest energy consumer - particularly for fossil fuels - along with China - in the coming years. Indian energy demand is expected to grow by some 3% per annum until 2030, the Minister of Oil and Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said at the 11th IEF-IEA-OPEC Symposium on energy outlooks. To power this dynamic growth, Modi outlined the objective of a gas-fired economy, under which the share of gas in the energy mix would jump from 6% today to 25% by 2030. This ambitious target was revised from the 15% goal announced earlier in 2020. Modi thus hopes to embark on the sustainability road by betting big on natural gas as a base-load fuel, while developing renewable energy at the same time. As announced in 2019, a total budget of $60 billion will be dedicated to modernizing the gas infrastructure of India, which currently occupies the worlds third spot in terms of GHG emissions. But beyond industries and transport, the sector of fertilizers is also a key driver for this natural gas demand in India. In fact, methane is used as a feedstock for the fabrication of fertilizers and other chemicals, and new plants will be installed for that purpose in the coming years. LNG on the rise Indias steady decline in domestic gas production created the need to import LNG. In 2019, India was ranked fourth in the world in terms of volumes of LNG imported, with 20 million metric tons. Until now, the country has been taking advantage of low spot prices on the Asian LNG hub, concluding deals at levels below $10 per MbBtu before this winter surge in prices. Although Qatar is Indias historic supplier, the United States and the United Arab Emirates are also becoming increasingly important partners. Related: How Hard Did The Texas Freeze Hit U.S. Shale Production? Amounting to around half of the gas basket in India, LNG constitutes a major part of this gas-revolution. The Ministry of Oil and Gas recently released a new plan aiming at enhancing the countrys regasification capacity, and notably promoting LNG for the transport sector (specifically for long-haul trucks). This regasification capacity is expected to increase from 41 million cbm per annum to 57 million cbm, according to Minister Pradhans statement during the 11th IEF-IEA-OPEC symposium. The challenge of grid extension Today, however, India lacks pipelines that could transport gas from LNG terminals to the final consumption points, and access to natural gas is unequal in the Eastern and Western parts of the country. Most of the existing LNG terminals are located in the West, accounting for around 75% of Indias import capacity, and leaving the Eastern region marginalized from gas. This is why the Urja Ganga pipeline project aims at solving that issue and connecting the Eastern region to the national gas grid. The major challenge is now making energy accessible throughout all the Indian territory, and particularly in rural areas. This is precisely the aim of the One Nation, one grid program, launched in 2019, and planning to extend the gas network from 17 000 km to 35 000 km. Furthermore, PM Modi announced on February 17th his intent to include natural gas into the Goods and Services Tax regime, which will make gas prices harmonized across the country and facilitate investment. As 53% of natural gas consumed in the country is currently imported, several pipeline projects are already planned, slowly paving the way for Indias energy independence. On February 18th, Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the Ennore-Ramanathapuram pipeline. He earlier inaugurated the Kochi-Mangaluru gas pipeline, on January 5th, by video-conference. A shy investment in clean gases In parallel, a nation-wide program dedicated to biofuels has also been announced earlier in 2020. The option of hydrogen is not actively explored, although a report by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) predicted a drop in costs of 50% for hydrogen production by 2030, which will be likely to boost demand. However, subsequent investment will be required in CCS infrastructure, which is far from being developed in India. All this being said, scenarios for future natural gas demand are far from being certain. While the International Renewables Energy Agency believes that natural gas will peak around 2025, the Gas Exporting Countries Forum expects the gas share to increase to 28% in the world energy mix by 2050, mainly driven by the Asia-Pacific market. One thing appears clear: for India, natural gas is the most pragmatic solution to balance the grid amid ambitious targets in renewable generation, and at the same time seizing momentum in the growth of the blue fuel. By Tatiana Serova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. (Photo/Ministry of Foreign Affairs) BEIJING, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- China has provided COVID-19 vaccine aid to Equatorial Guinea and Zimbabwe and will aid 19 more African countries as part of its commitment to make vaccines global public goods, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Monday. China will also support enterprises to export COVID-19 vaccines to African nations that urgently need, recognize and have authorized the emergency use of Chinese vaccines, Wang said. The aid is a clear manifestation of the China-Africa traditional friendship, he said, adding that China will continue to provide support and assistance within its capacity and in accordance with the needs of Africa. Meanwhile, China welcomes and supports France and other European and American nations in providing vaccines to help Africa fight the pandemic, Wand told a press briefing. He made the remarks when asked to comment on French President Emmanuel Macron's remarks at the Munich Security Conference that Europe and the United States should immediately provide enough COVID-19 vaccine doses to Africa, otherwise African countries may choose to purchase vaccines from China and Russia, with that "the strength of the West will be a concept, and not a reality." Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Hope is fading for the imminent release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Her husband Richard said the lack of official preparation for her return to the UK from Iran after her sentence ends indicated that nothing would happen. The British-Iranian mother was arrested in 2016 in Iran and wrongly accused of spying. She was sentenced to five years in prison and separated from her husband and child. Her family are still counting the days until her sentence ends on March 7 when she should be free to go. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her daughter Gabriella, has been detained in Iran since 2016 when she was arrested at the airport on suspicion of spying Her husband Richard Ratcliffe, pictured, has campaigned tirelessly for his wife's release, lobbying the British government to prioritise her case and have her returned to the UK Iran is threatening to hit Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 42, with more spying charges after her sentence ends, which would keep her a prisoner But Mr Ratcliffe has not heard anything from the Foreign Office about getting her passport ready or arranging her flight to the UK. Its not impossible that a rabbit is pulled out of a hat, but at this point I think no news is bad news, he said. If they were due to release her, I think we wouldve heard more before. It doesnt give me great hope. He said his wife is getting more and more twitchy and anxious as her release date approaches. Iran is threatening to hit Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 42, with more spying charges after her sentence ends, which would keep her a prisoner. For years, the worst-case scenario was that she would serve the full sentence, Mr Ratcliffe said. Now were staring at something much worse. He says Iran is holding her hostage over a 400million debt, dating back to the Iranian revolution, which it claims Britain owes. The charity worker was released from prison in March because of the coronavirus crisis and is under house arrest at her parents home in the capital Tehran. The couples six-year-old daughter Gabriella, who returned to Britain from Iran in 2019 to live with her father in London, is anxious to be reunited with her mother. Mr Ratcliffe is due to meet Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab this week to ask what the Governments Plan B is. Last week Mr Raab vowed to leave no stone unturned in ending the ordeal of Britons jailed in Iran. Mr Ratcliffe, pictured with his wife and daughter, is due to meet with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab shortly to discuss the case Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 18:34:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BERLIN, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- German stocks saw small gains at the start of trading Tuesday, with the benchmark DAX index growing by 34.94 points, or 0.25 percent, opening at 13,984.98 points. The biggest winner among Germany's 30 largest listed companies at the start of trading was plastic specialist Covestro, increasing by 2.36 percent, followed by Deutsche Bank with 1.99 percent and aircraft engine manufacturer MTU Aero Engines with 1.33 percent. On Tuesday, Covestro announced a "strong end to an exceptional year in 2020" although full year sales fell by 13.7 percent to 10.7 billion euros (13 billion U.S. dollars). EBITDA declined by 8.2 percent to 1.5 billion euros as expected as the company implemented "extensive cost-saving measures." Shares of HeidelbergCement fell by 1.95 percent. The German building materials company was the biggest loser at the start of trading Tuesday after announcing that full year revenues declined by 6.6 percent to 17.6 billion euros due to the decline in sales volumes. On Tuesday, dialysis specialist Fresenius announced that full year 2020 sales grew by 2 percent to 36.3 billion euros while EBIT slightly declined by 2 percent to 4.6 billion euros. Despite upcoming challenges due to the pandemic, Fresenius expects a "healthy business development" in 2021. The yield on German ten-year bonds went up 0.033 percentage points to minus 0.314 percent and the euro was trading almost unchanged at 1.2161 dollars, increasing by 0.01 percent on Tuesday morning. Enditem PARLAMENTUL REPUBLICII MOLDOVA 2010 The Moldovan Parliaments website design was supported by the Democracy Support Programme in Moldova" an initiative financed by the European Union and implemented by the Council of Europe Naas and Kildare town have the highest Covid-19 infection rates in the county, according to the most recent statistics. The Naas Local Electoral Area (LEA) had 151 infections and a rate per 100,000 population of 385.9 in the two week period up to February 15. Kildare town had 102 cases and a rate per 100,000 people of 396.9 for the same period. The infection rates in Naas and Kildare town are considerably higher than the national average rate per 100,000 people across Ireland of 269.3 for the fortnight under review. Elsewhere in the county, there were 95 confirmed cases in Newbridge or a rate per 100,000 of 267.7. Maynooth had 78 cases or a rate per population of 262.4 while Clane had 65 confirmed cases and a rate per 100,000 people of 228.6. Celbridge had 37 cases and a rate per 100,000 people of 171.1 while Leixlip had 36 cases and a rate per 100,000 of 227. Athy had 50 confirmed cases and a rate per 100,000 people of 188.4. Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health said in a briefing that while the level of disease in communities remains very high, progress is still being made to reduce infections. Speaking on Sunday, he added: We have reported less than 1,000 cases each day this week and our 7 day average has fallen from 1,022 two weeks ago, to 862 last week, to 792. The number of people in hospital has fallen from over 1,200 two weeks ago, to 744. Do not underestimate the power of your actions as we seek to protect the gains we have made and further reduce transmission. This week, please continue to work from home unless essential and do not visit other households unless for essential reasons or as part of a support bubble. EDWARDSVILLE St. Johns Community Care was awarded a grant for $1,500 from the Edwardsville Community Foundation. The Edwardsville Community Foundation, ECF, was established in 1997 by a group of local business and community leaders. They founded the ECF to create an organization where people could donate money that would directly impact the quality of life in the local communities. The money will be used for operating costs for the Adult Day Program in Edwardsville. With this contribution, St. Johns Community Care will be able to continue to help older people maintain their independence and assist the family caregivers with respite, support and resource information. St. Johns Adult Day Program offers opportunities to socialize in a safe, supportive setting. St. Johns Adult Day Program is a one-of-a-kind, very unique, classy place. My 86-year-old mom has been attending for almost a year and its the best anti-depressant for her. I have seen a number of adult day centers and none compare. Ive noticed such a sense of dignity and respect for every client said St. Johns Community Centers Cheryl Mines. The ECF operates as a charitable trust that receives, manages and distributes tax-deductible charitable contributions for the benefit of the residents living in the local communities as defined by the Edwardsville School District 7. Since its inception in 1997, The ECF has distributed more than $5.9 million to charitable causes. The Adult Day Program offered at St. Johns in Edwardsville is re-opening on March 1 and will operate Monday through Friday. Many participants are eligible for services paid through a government program. For more information, please call 618-656-7090 or visit www.stjohnscc.org. St. Johns Community Care is an outreach ministry of St. John UCC (Collinsville). Another 225 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in Northern Ireland in the past 24 hours (Zac Goodwin/PA) Five new deaths linked to coronavirus have been reported in Northern Ireland in the last 24 hours, the Department of Health has announced. This brings the total deaths in Northern Ireland to 2,041 as of 10am on Tuesday. It comes as the Department of Health confirmed the South African variant of the disease has been detected in Northern Ireland. A further 225 positive cases of the virus have been reported, meaning there have been 111,391 positive cases confirmed in Northern Ireland since the start of the pandemic. This includes 1,929 positive cases in the last seven days which shows a decrease of 178 compared to the previous week. In Northern Ireland hospitals there are now 340 Covid-19 patients, including 134 patients in intensive care. A total of 78 patients are on ventilators, including 39 with Covid-19. Hospital occupancy is currently at 99% and there 46 active outbreaks of the virus in Northern Ireland care homes. The Department of Health confirmed three cases of the South African variant of the virus has been detected. A detailed health protection risk assessment and contact tracing response has been deployed. The risk of transmission is judged to be low at this time, health officials said. The Department of Health is working closely with the Public Health Agency and the Regional Virology Laboratory in relation to the investigation and assessment of these case. Health Minister Robin Swann stated: I have previously been clear that identification of a confirmed case or cases of this variant in Northern Ireland was inevitable at some point. This development does not mean that this variant is going to become the most prevalent, or the dominant strain in Northern Ireland. However, it does underline once again the very real need for continuing caution in relation to Covid-19. The best way to stop variants developing or spreading is to keep pushing down infection rates and transmission of the virus in our community. All variants of the SARS-COV-2 virus spread in the same way and we all have an important role to play in stopping the spread of this virus, by following the tried and tested public health advice. That means staying at home, cutting down your contacts if you have to go out, avoiding busy indoor settings with poor ventilation, washing your hands carefully and often, and wearing a face covering. All travellers returning to Northern Ireland must self isolate for 10 days from the date of their return. [February 23, 2021] Overbond and Rapid Addition Form Strategic Alliance to Bring Interoperability and Market Connectivity to Bond Trading Automation Overbond's fixed income artificial intelligence (AI) now offers protocol and system agnostic integration with venues and e-trading systems used by sell-side and buy-side trading desks thanks to a strategic alliance with electronic trading innovator, Rapid Addition. The collaboration will help fixed income traders around the globe to harness the power of Overbond AI and automate up to 50% of RFQs. Rapid Addition's expertise in FIX protocol, counterparty and market-place connectivity via its open API enterprise software platform will allow global fixed income trading desks to seamlessly integrate AI-driven bond pricing and liquidity scoring analytics into their workflow, regardless of which internal OMS, e-trading system, direct venue connectivity, cloud or on-premise solution they currently use. These API connections allow for internal system integration, pre- and post-trade external data vendor ingestion, and liquidity venue connectivity - ultimately creating a streamlined system capable of automating RFQ flow using Overbond's AI engine. With the internal system connectivity facilitated through Rapid Addition's Open API, sell-side bond trading desks can make Overbond's AI models their own by accessing recorded transaction history to train the model according to the trading style of the desk. By maximizing the precision of these models with cross-venue coverage, desks can optimize P&L performance. "Great tools are most powerful when they are easy to deploy, easy to use and a seamless part of your workflow. Overbond has a powerful suite of AI modeling and visualization tools for trading automation, and with Rapid Addition's ability to provide interoperability and market connectivity we can now provide sell-side traders with a system that is not just capable of automating RFQ flow in any currency they make markets in, but is fully integrated from front to back," said Vuk Magdelinic, CEO of Overbond. Overbond's COBI-Pricing LIVE is a customizable AI pricing engine designed to assist traders in automating pricing and trading workflows for global investment-grade bonds. It can generate pries and liquidity scores for more than 100,000 fixed income instruments and build curves for more than 10,000 issuers in various real-time liquidity scenarios. COBI-Pricing LIVE has an industry-leading refresh rate of less than three seconds - giving sell-side trading desks the ability to fully automate 30% of their RFQs and execute an additional 20% with trader supervision. According to Rapid Addition CEO, Mike Powell, "We continue to see increased electronification across capital markets, partly driven by changes to regulation and market structure, but also driven by the deployment of new technologies. We are excited by the potential of combining Overbond's expertise in AI and Machine Learning with the latest iteration of Rapid Addition's market leading electronic trading middleware, RA Platform 3.0. At a time when firms are looking to improve ROI and competitive differentiation, this new generation of flexible, open technology will help empower the next phase of their business growth." About Overbond Overbond is a developer of process-redefining, AI-driven data and analytics and trade automation solutions for the global fixed income markets. Overbond performs market surveillance, data aggregation and normalization, and deep AI quantitative observation on more than 100,000 corporate bonds and fixed income ETFs. Applying proprietary artificial intelligence to pricing, curve visualization, market liquidity, issuance propensity, new issuance spreads, default risk and automated reporting, Overbond enables trade automation and enhances trade performance and portfolio returns. Clients of Toronto-based Overbond include global investment banks, broker dealers, institutional investors, corporations and governments across the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit www.overbond.com. About Rapid Addition Rapid Addition's platform and modular development framework provide the foundational technology needed to build flexible, high performance and resilient electronic trading solutions. Rapid Addition was an early pioneer in the development of electronic messaging technology and is recognised as a market leader in financial messaging protocols and FPGA. Helping customers with a broad range of use cases across the trading life cycle, Rapid Addition serves sell-side firms, asset managers, exchanges and liquidity platforms around the globe. Additional information can be found at www.rapidaddition.com | Twitter (News - Alert) : @rapidaddition | LinkedIn (News - Alert) : www.linkedin.com/company/rapid-addition-limited View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005691/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 18:28:48|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BLANTYRE, Malawi, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Malawian government has decided to reopen all schools in the country after a five-week break due to the rise of COVID-19 cases in the country. However, the development has been obstructed as teachers go on strike, demanding COVID-19 risk allowance, among many other demands. On Monday, many students had returned to school in large numbers with high hopes of resuming classes only to find classes with no teachers in various schools in Blantyre, Malawi's second largest city. The teachers on strike are demanding protective gear and risk allowances for teaching amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Teachers Union of Malawi (TUM) President, Willy Malimba, told local media that the sit-in is meant to push the government to address their concerns which were presented way back. "We are starting the strike on Monday and we will call it off once the government brings to the table something tangible," said Malimba. Reports from across the country Monday morning indicated that, in most schools, children were either sent back or left unattended by the protesting teachers. "We are taking a risk to be in class with children who have reported without any medical certificate indicating that they are COVID-19 free: we cannot start teaching without protective gear," a teacher in the commercial city of Blantyre was quoted by local media Monday. The spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, Chikondi Chimala, told the local media that the teachers' concerns "were submitted to the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 for consideration". Students Excited about Going Back to School In an interview, Margret Nkusan'gombe, a form three student at St Kizito Community Day Secondary School in Blantyre said that she is very excited that schools have reopened. According to her, unplanned holidays disturb the school calendar and this has a great impact on her class progress. "I would like to ask the government to promote and enforce COVID-19 measures in all schools. This aids safety of both students and teachers in general. As a way of protecting myself, I have carried with me a facemask and a hand sanitizer for safety, but the government can do even more to ensure that everyone in schools is safe," she said. Similarly, Kondwani Gustino, a standard 6 student at St Kizito Boys Secondary in Blantyre said that he is very ready for school despite the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the county. According to him, he is very optimistic that he is safe because he has a facemask and his school provides hand washing materials constantly. While critics are questioning the government's decision to reopen schools against the current situation, some parents have welcomed the idea citing that education is very important to their children. Linda Chimtengo, a mother of four school-going children said that it's good news that schools have reopened. "But it's my plea to the education authorities to take further steps in ensuring that every student is safe," she said. Education authorities in Blantyre have disclosed that schools are well-prepared to accommodate students in a safer environment from COVID-19. "We are very prepared for the reopening of schools after a five-week break, we have made sure that all handwashing materials are available in all schools, for the learners and teachers, masks are also available and all rooms including classes and toilets have been properly disinfected," said Anita Kaliwo, District Education Manager for Blantyre urban. "We have also seriously looked at the issue of social distancing to make sure that students are not overcrowding in other rooms. In other schools which are highly enrolled we have introduced shifts to make sure classes are not overcrowding," she said. Enditem Despite deaths and hospitalizations linked to many new psychoactive substances (NPS), an international wastewater study led by the University of South Australia shows just how prevalent 'party pills' and 'bath salts' are in different parts of the world. In a new paper published in Water Research, the world's most comprehensive wastewater analysis of NPS shows the pattern of designer drug use in the 2019/2020 New Year in 14 sites across Australia, New Zealand, China, The Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Norway and the United States. UniSA analytical chemist Dr Richard Bade says samples were collected over the New Year in each country and shipped to South Australia for analysis. More than 200 synthetic drugs across all countries were monitored and 16 substances found. Of the eight countries studied, only Norway showed no traces of NPS." Dr Richard Bade, UniSA Analytical Chemist New psychoactive substances (NPS) are a range of drugs that have been designed to mimic established illicit drugs, such as cannabis, cocaine, MDMA and LSD. "The Netherlands recorded the highest usage, followed by Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Spain, Italy and China had the lowest incidence of designer drug use in cities participating in the study." N-ethylpentylone, which is known to cause fatalities, was seen in Australia, New Zealand and the US. It has previously been detected in forensic samples and at music festivals in Australia and New Zealand. Another designer drug called mephedrone (often referred to as drone, M-CAT, White Magic and meow meow), was found only in Australia and New Zealand, with the latter country recording a 20-fold spike in usage on New Year's Eve. "It is a very powerful drug that produces effects similar to those of cocaine and MDMA and is popular among ecstasy and simulant users in Australia and NZ," Dr Bade says. The Netherlands recorded traces of six of 10 quantifiable drugs. Seven additional recreational drugs were also identified in the samples after screening. Of these, ketamine (a human and veterinary anesthetic) and its metabolite, norketamine, were found in every country. A newer drug on the market - eutylone - was seen in Australia, New Zealand, the US and The Netherlands. Warnings were issued in 2020 that this designer drug was being incorrectly marketed as MDMA in New Zealand due to its visual similarity to the latter. High doses of it have been linked to intense and particularly dangerous side effects. Traces of mitragynine, a drug involved in almost half of NPS-related deaths in 2019, were found only in the United States. Another synthetic opioid, acetyl fentanyl, was also restricted to US wastewater samples. It is also linked to high fatalities in that country. Of all the drugs, methcathinone was detected in seven countries, followed by N- ethylpentylone and 3-MMC (in three countries each). "What makes the NPS so dangerous is that they were originally sold as legal alternatives to conventional illicit drugs such as ecstasy and cannabis, suggesting they were safe when, in fact, there was very little information about their toxicity," Dr Bade says. "Governments soon intervened after hospitalizations and fatalities were linked to these class of drugs with some countries enforcing blanket bans. However, despite these bans, NPS are still synthesized, transported and consumed across the world, often with fatal consequences." Dr Bade says he hopes that wastewater samples will help complement hospital, legal and forensic data, along with global surveys, to identify which designer drugs are the most dangerous in the community. NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- An estimated 17% of the world, or 1.3 billion people, use tobacco, creating a global tobacco market that approached one trillion dollars in 2020. Given all of the health risks associated with smoking, a significant portion of those tobacco users are looking for other smoking options, alternative that offer a smooth and satisfying tobacco-free and nicotine-free experience that tastes as well as or better than traditional tobacco products. For many, eliminating nicotine is a priority. Addressing this problem head on and carving out a new market niche, TAAT(TM) Lifestyle & Wellness Ltd. (CSE: TAAT) (OTCQB: TOBAF) ( Profile ) recently launched TAAT, a nicotine-free and tobacco-free cigarette, available in three flavors: Original, Smooth and Menthol. The retail launch included a comprehensive unveil in Ohio, and an e-commerce site went live last week. The company is reshaping the smoking experience by offering a smokable alternative. TAAT is looking to grab significant shelf space alongside the big tobacco oligopoly of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM), Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) and British American Tobacco Industries p.l.c. ADR (NYSE: BTI) as well as Chinese vaping giant RLX Technology Inc. (NYSE: RLX). TAAT looking to capture a sizeable share of the $100 -plus billion U.S. tobacco market. The Beyond Tobacco(TM) base material undergoes patented 14-step refining process to taste, smell and smoke like tobacco. TAAT CEO Setti Coscarella , CRO Tim Corkum bring decades of tobacco industry experience after serving in leadership roles at Marlboro maker Philip Morris. TAAT has recently been named to CSE25(TM) as one of the biggest CSE Composite Index companies by market capitalization. Click here to view the custom infographic of the TAAT editorial. Bringing a Substitution Model to Smoking Health and wellness has become a top priority in today's world, creating a global climate of consumers clamoring for choices that offer the same experiences they've come to enjoy but with different ingredients. This is on full display with the surging popularity of alternative food and beverages that create the same feeling that one is accustomed with only a change in ingredients. Today, burgers and seafood look, smell and taste like hamburger and crabmeat, respectively, while being made from plants. Zero percent alcohol wine and beer that cut out traditional ingredients such as gluten are so refined that they can fool even the most discerning palates of alcohol connoisseurs. That same sentiment is carrying over to the world of tobacco, where enthusiastic adult smokers are eagerly looking for different options. Many want tobacco-free and nicotine-free alternatives; however, they also seem to prefer the sensation and experience of a combustible product. Same Format, Different Ingredients Model TAAT Lifestyle & Wellness Ltd. (CSE: TAAT) (OTCQB: TOBAF) has brought the "same format, different ingredients" model to the smoking market like no one before. With senior leadership coming directly from big tobacco, the life sciences company has developed its products to closely replicate a conventional tobacco cigarette while changing the composition so it doesn't include tobacco. Based on consumer response, TAAT hits its target dead center. Early market testing revealed no significant experiential differences between TAAT and tobacco cigarettes. That response speaks volumes as TAAT looks to capture a sizeable share of the $100-plus billion U.S. tobacco market. Furthermore, the company is using an attractive pricing structure to offer a substantial consumer savings compared to top-selling tobacco cigarettes. As TAAT embarks on a nationwide launch after commencing sales in Ohio late in December 2020, management has engaged a leading consumer packaged goods sales agency to accelerate brick-and-mortar retail sales while online sales are generated through a brand-new online portal. Meticulously Crafted, Perfectly Priced The Beyond Tobacco(TM) base material of TAAT undergoes a 14-step process to taste, smell and smoke just like tobacco, which includes a patent-pending refinement process. In doing so, TAAT touches the all-important five sensory elements of a smoking tobacco cigarette. This includes nearly identical packaging and smoke volume (visual), crackling sound upon lighting (auditory), a tobacco-like scent while burning (smell), and "hand-to-mouth" motor habits (touch). Ashes can even be "flicked" in a similar manner to tobacco ashes. TAAT completes the sensory experience by using its patent-pending Beyond Tobacco base material to create a tobacco-like taste without using nicotine or tobacco. The formulation provides a competitive edge over other types of tobacco alternatives currently available. Primarily, it appeals to current smokers aged 21 years and older who are looking to keep the experiences they enjoy while leaving the nicotine behind. Even better, smokers aged 21+ who switch to TAAT are not replacing one nicotine product with another, as is often the case with alternatives such as vaping. In addition, while the packaging and smoking experience may be nearly the same as a tobacco cigarette, the price point for TAAT's product offering is far different. A pack of TAAT is priced at $3.99 in Ohio, approximately a 43% savings from a pack of Marlboro, which costs about $7.00 per pack. Marketing Blitz and Expansion While meticulous and methodical in its development, TAAT is starting to hit the gas in expansion. Subsequent to its December launch in Ohio, TAAT initiated a 60-day, digital, out-of-home (DooH) advertising campaign composed of video ads streaming on thousands of video screens on gasoline pumps across a network of chain and independent gas stations in Ohio; the videos promoting TAAT products target smokers aged 21 and older. The "out-of-home" video ads are running concurrently with other promotional initiatives targeting legal-aged smokers, including a digital marketing campaign for the TryTAAT landing page. In just two months of being sold at retail, the brand is gaining traction as evidenced by 60% of retailers that have carried TAAT for three or more weeks placing at least one reorder, with many reorders increasing in volume. The Menthol variety was the first to be sold out and reordered during its first weeks of availability in Ohio. The TryTAAT campaign is also being warmly received, considering that one-third of all visitors to the page had submitted requests for a sample pack of TAAT, representing an exceptionally high conversion rate by industry standards. This month, TAAT engaged CROSSMARK Inc., a Texas-based omnichannel sales agency with more than 25,000 employees serving all of North America. TAAT will leverage CROSSMARK's existing relationships with more than 100,000 convenience retailers directly serviced by the firm to potentially expand availability of TAAT products in Ohio and elsewhere in the United States. The new relationship dovetails perfectly with TAAT's launch of its new ecommerce website this month, which sold more than CAD $50,000 of product in its first 48 hours. Tobacco Industry Acumen TAAT has assembled a world-class management team with diverse experience deeply rooted in the tobacco industry. CEO Setti Coscarella not only spent years working in private equity and banking, he was also a lead strategist for Reduced-Risk Products (RRP) in Canada for international cigarette behemoth Philip Morris International where he developed deep expertise in commercializing smoking alternatives. TAAT chief revenue officer Tim Corkum also has a long history in tobacco, working various senior roles involving sales, supply chain management and commercialization during his 21 years at Philip Morris across Canada and in the Caribbean. Under this leadership, TAAT has raised capital and organized for expansion by doubling production capacity and filing trademarks in 54 countries. In October, TAAT received $5 million in a private placement from a group of investors led by Debbie Chang, co-founder of Horizons Ventures (in her personal capacity), a Hong Kong-based venture capital firm. As management evaluates domestic and international commercialization, the company optimized its Las Vegas, Nevada, processing facility with automated workflows and adding new machinery to efficiently increase production Beyond Tobacco base material by 100%. These efforts and leadership have not gone unrecognized. TAAT share price has appreciated substantially, including a big jump in September that led to TAAT being added to two Canadian stock indices in December 2020 including the CSE Composite Index as well as its CSE25(TM) index, an exclusive subset featuring the 25 largest companies in the index by market capitalization. Market Opportunity With hundreds of millions of people around the world smoking cigarettes and many aspiring to leave nicotine behind, a huge opportunity exists for savvy companies ready to seize the moment. Even with the negative effects of vaping being fleshed out as the market matures, Grand View Research still sees 23.8% growth in the space from 2020 to 2027, ultimately reaching a projected $67.3 billion. Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM), maker of Marlboro, Virginia Slims and some of the world's most popular cigarette brands, made the decision in 2016 to transform its business , moving away from combustible products to smoke-free ways to deliver nicotine. The company set a goal of getting 40 million of its customers to quit smoking by 2025, of which it touted making substantial progress in a 2019 report showing a reduction in cigarette shipments and a rise in shipments of its smoke-free products. PM parent company Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) has a 10-year vision to lead the transition of adult smokers to a noncombustible future. The company is the owner of highly popular smokeless tobacco brands such as Copenhagen and Skoal, in addition to a large stake in Juul Labs, a top-selling e-cigarette brand in the United States. Altria is also a large shareholder in Cronos, which it believes it can help position in the legal cannabis market as part of encouraging consumers to move beyond smoking to potentially reduced harm alternatives. British American Tobacco Industries p.l.c. ADR (NYSE: BTI), which makes Camel and Newport cigarettes and Grizzly smokeless tobacco, has also focused some R&D and marketing on less-risky products to give its customers more options, including its Vuse (vapor), glo (tobacco heating) and Velo (nicotine pouch) products. In the company's 2018 Harm Reduction Focus Report , BAT lays out its commitment to support consumer use of what are labeled PRRPs, o potentially reduced-risk products. RLX Technology Inc. (NYSE: RLX) made a big splash with its initial public offering in January, bumping up its IPO price from $8 per share to $12 per share before opening at $22.34 as investors jumped headlong into the Chinese vaping company. Ultimately, the company jumped 86% in its U.S. stock market debut, giving the Chinese vaping firm a market capitalization of nearly $35 billion. While RLX Technology sells products in 13 countries, its bread and butter is China, where it controls 62% of the market with only a 1.2% penetration rate. With smokers aged 21 and above looking for alternatives that provide the pleasure of smoking without the nicotine or tobacco, the tobacco industry is clearly showing an interest in widening its reach and providing choices to its consumers. For more information about TAAT Lifestyle & Wellness Ltd., please visit www.TAATGlobal.com . About NetworkNewsWire NetworkNewsWire ("NNW") is a financial news and content distribution company, one of 50+ brands within the InvestorBrandNetwork ("IBN"), that provides: (1) access to a network of wire solutions via NetworkWire to reach all target markets, industries and demographics in the most effective manner possible; (2) article and editorial syndication to 5,000+ news outlets; (3) enhanced press release solutions to ensure maximum impact; (4) social media distribution via IBN millions of social media followers; and (5) a full array of corporate communications solutions. As a multifaceted organization with an extensive team of contributing journalists and writers, NNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that desire to reach a wide audience comprising investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. By cutting through the overload of information in today's market, NNW brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. NNW is where news, content and information converge. To receive SMS text alerts from NetworkNewsWire, text "STOCKS" to 77948 (U.S. Mobile Phones Only) For more information, please visit: https://www.NetworkNewsWire.com Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the NetworkNewsWire website applicable to all content provided by NNW, wherever published or re-published: http://NNW.fm/Disclaimer NetworkNewsWire is part of the InvestorBrandNetwork DISCLAIMER: NetworkNewsWire (NNW) is the source of the Article and content set forth above. References to any issuer other than the profiled issuer are intended solely to identify industry participants and do not constitute an endorsement of any issuer and do not constitute a comparison to the profiled issuer. FN Media Group (FNM) is a third-party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. FNM is NOT affiliated with NNW or any company mentioned herein. The commentary, views and opinions expressed in this release by NNW are solely those of NNW and are not shared by and do not reflect in any manner the views or opinions of FNM. Readers of this Article and content agree that they cannot and will not seek to hold liable NNW and FNM for any investment decisions by their readers or subscribers. NNW and FNM and their respective affiliated companies are a news dissemination and financial marketing solutions provider and are NOT registered broker-dealers/analysts/investment advisers, hold no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security. The Article and content related to the profiled company represent the personal and subjective views of the Author, and are subject to change at any time without notice. The information provided in the Article and the content has been obtained from sources which the Author believes to be reliable. However, the Author has not independently verified or otherwise investigated all such information. None of the Author, NNW, FNM, or any of their respective affiliates, guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any such information. This Article and content are not, and should not be regarded as investment advice or as a recommendation regarding any particular security or course of action; readers are strongly urged to speak with their own investment advisor and review all of the profiled issuer's filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission before making any investment decisions and should understand the risks associated with an investment in the profiled issuer's securities, including, but not limited to, the complete loss of your investment. NNW & FNM HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE. This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "may", "future", "plan" or "planned", "will" or "should", "expected," "anticipates", "draft", "eventually" or "projected". You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company's annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and NNW and FNM undertake no obligation to update such statements. Corporate Communications Contact: NetworkNewsWire (NNW) New York, New York www.NetworkNewsWire.com 212.418.1217 Office [email protected] Media Contact: FN Media Group, LLC [email protected] +1-(954)345-0611 SOURCE NetworkNewsWire The thing that became really clear was how directly those stores led to new e-commerce customers, LaVitola said. When we open in a neighborhood, the bulk of those sales are around retail. People come in for coffee or a bottle of wine at night. Then we are able to build that relationship and they start ordering delivery. The energy cooperation between the US and India supports sustainable development, harnesses sources to meet 21st century power needs, protects national security and promotes regional and international stability, a senior official has said. The US and India collaborate on natural gas, renewable energy, nuclear energy, clean coal technologies, smart grids, and unconventional and clean energy sources research for the benefit of our people now and in the future, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Monday at his daily news conference. Also Read | India Inc gears up to go back to office "When it comes to energy cooperation more broadly, I would say that the US, India energy partnership supports sustainable energy development, it harnesses energy sources to meet 21st century power needs, it protects national security and promotes regional and international stability," he said. Responding to a question on energy co-operation between India and the US, Price said the strategic energy partnership is strong and will continue growing even as the administration prioritises climate change issues. Of course, we have worked closely with India on the challenges of climate change. It was December 2015 when the Paris Agreement was consummated that the US and India worked especially closely to usher in the Paris Climate Agreement just as we did with China at that time. So, we will continue to work closely with India on the challenges of climate change," he said. India's Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, has recently described the energy sector as one of the "five baskets" of the India-US collaboration. The five baskets are cooperation in healthcare and pharma and Covid-19 management, including affordable medicines and vaccines; the digital space, including information and communication technology, innovation and start-ups; the energy sector, including LNG, renewables and solar that will allow to combat climate change; the education and knowledge partnership; and cooperation in strategic and defence areas, including in the Indo-Pacific. In a recent op-ed in Newsweek magazine, Sandhu said India remains committed to the goals of the Paris climate accord and welcomes the return of the US to this important agreement. Here again India has demonstrated leadership, creating the International Solar Alliance, while being on track to surpass our voluntary commitments under the Paris Accord. Our solar energy production will reach 450GW by 2030, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30-35 per cent by that year (from 2005 levels)," he wrote. India and the US already work together in renewable energy under the Strategic Energy Partnership, Sandhu said. We can build on these gains and accelerate a green transformation through effective technology transfers, financing and an equity-based approach that will increase access to renewable energy for a wider population, which in turn will create global low-carbon pathways, green jobs and achieve shared climate goals. "Such an approach will also ensure that India's growth trajectory, critical to the economic empowerment of millions, will be sustained and sustainable," Sandhu wrote. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. The road to Gaeseong in North Korea remains closed in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, in this April 2013 photo. Korea Times file By Do Je-hae Some experts call for companies from China, Russia and other countries to do business in North Korea's Gaeseong Industrial Complex, to prevent the symbol of inter-Korean economic cooperation from being shut down whenever inter-Korean relations go sour. It has been five years since the industrial complex in the North Korean border city was closed abruptly Feb. 10, 2016, during the Park Geun-hye administration, to protest North Korea's nuclear tests. The complex remains closed, despite calls from the businesses that took part in the project to reopen it. The Ministry of Unification has said this week that Seoul will continue to seek the reopening of the complex within the framework of international sanctions against North Korea. Pro-engagement experts have stressed that globalizing inter-Korean economic cooperation could be effective by making the two Koreas accountable not only to each other, but also toward a host of other countries with which they have normal diplomatic relations and trade commitments or security cooperation. During an online international forum hosted Feb. 18 by the Gaeseong Industrial District Foundation, former Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun proposed the "globalization" of the complex through investments from other countries such as China and Southeast Asia, as a way to ensure its sustainability regardless of the political situation surrounding the two Koreas. North and South Korea are seeking bilateral cooperation with China and Russia, and both countries have stated a clear interest in promoting economic cooperation with Seoul and Pyongyang. Therefore, some analysts are eyeing the prospect that their overlapping security and economic interests could be harnessed to facilitate a multilateral format for engaging North Korea economically, and thereby promoting regional peace and prosperity. "Opening Gaeseong to foreign participation would be the way to restore it, to revive the dream of the complex as a really productive zone. It is conceivable that Chinese enterprises might be interested at some stage. It's also possible that Russian and other foreign interests might look into the idea," said Donald Kirk, a columnist on Korean Peninsula Affairs. "Opening Gaeseong to foreign investment presents possibilities that need to be explored from the economic, diplomatic and military viewpoints, though we may not know the answers for some time." Heads of businesses that operated in Gaeseong Industrial Complex hold a rally in front of Cheong Wa Dae, Feb. 9, to call for reopening of the complex. Yonhap A major cross border conference, jointly hosted by Dundalk and Newry Chambers of Commerce, will focus on sustaining and building cross border trade post Brexit. With over 200 people already registered to attend, the online conference will include contributions from An Taoiseach, Micheal Martin and Finance Minister for the Northern Ireland Assembly, Conor Murphy. President of the Dundalk Chamber, Sean Farrell believes the conference was a vital chance to discuss the challenges, opportunities and support available to businesses in the area. Dundalk Newry is an important economic region, he stated. In this post Brexit period, it is vital that we work to ensure that businesses in this border region have the support to help them grow. Welcoming the opportunity to again work with the Dundalk Chamber, President of Newry Chamber, Emma Mullen-Marmion felt there was a need to reinforce messages around cross border cooperation and trade. Despite Brexit, the relationship between our two chambers remains strong and we are committed to ensuring the gains of the last 20 years and the development of the All-Ireland economy are not lost. Other confirmed speakers include Oliver Mangan, Chief Economist at AIB, who will provide an overview of the Irish Economy post Brexit and COVID-19. The Chief Executive of Newry, Mourne and Down Council, Marie Ward and the Chief Executive of Louth County Council, Joan Martin, will deliver a joint presentation on the theme of Newry-Dundalk, A Prospectus for Growth. Speaking at the launch, Cathaoirleach of Louth County Council, Councillor Dolores Minogue said I am delighted to support this conference, which builds on the continuing North-South cooperation in the region. I look forward to jointly opening the event on the 10th of March and to welcoming local businesses looking to develop trade opportunities NorthSouth and EastWest. The free event will take place virtually over Zoom from 9am to 1pm, with registration for the conference available at https://ndevents.co.uk/post-brexit-conference/. Metro Line 5, phase 2, has a total length of about 14.5km, from Bay Hien intersection to the new Can Giuoc bus station In a letter sent to the Management Authority for Urban Railways of Ho Chi Minh City (MAUR) and Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee, Soun-young Chung, general manager of Kexim Bank's Global Business Cooperation Division said that the bank will soon finance the pre-feasibility study. The project will transform from official development assistance (ODA) to the public-private partnership (PPP) model. The study is implemented on three specific aspects: engineering, financing, and legality. Members of the research team and participating investors have extensive experience in the construction and operation of urban railway lines, including Metro Line 9 of Seoul, Korea, built under the PPP model. On January 19, the MAUR worked with a group of investors and consulting companies from Korea. The group consists of Kexim Bank, Hyundai Engineering Co., Ltd., Lotte Corporation, Samil PwC (finance consultant), Dohwa Engineering (engineering consultant), Sejong Corporation, and Shearman & Sterling (legal advisory), among others. It is anticipated that the pre-feasibility study will be summited by the end of 2020. The pre-feasibility study of phase 2 of Metro Line 5 was previously funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). However, due to objective reasons, the ODA form cannot be implemented and is being replaced by the PPP format. At present, KOICA is funding an urban planning research technical assistance project based on transit-oriented development (TOD) on this section. Metro Line 5 has a total length of 23.4km separated into two phases. Phase 1, from Bay Hien intersection to Saigon Bridge, has a total length of about 8.89km and a total investment value of about $1.66 billion. Phase 2, from Bay Hien intersection to the new Can Giuoc bus station, has a total length of about 14.5km. Funding for this project comes from the Spanish government, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Investment Bank (EIB), and German Reconstruction Bank (KfW). Ho Chi Minh City is planning to construct eight metro lines with a total length of about 220km, with the total investment of nearly $25 billion. Currently, Metro Line 1 (Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien) and Line 2 (Ben Thanh-Tham Luong) have been invested in the form of ODA. In addition to phase 2 of Metro Line 5, which is calling for investment, Ho Chi Minh City is also calling for investment in four other metro lines, including Line 2 (phase 2), 3A, 4, and 5 (phase 1). ATLIS Motor Vehicles, Inc. and Clemson University have partnered to advance development of electric-vehicle batteries that charge faster, last longer and can be scaled to fit a variety of vehicle classes. ATLIS, a startup company based in Arizona, is developing battery cells and packs to power the Atlis XP Platform and XT pickup truck. The associated battery research is being jointly executed at the Clemson Nanomaterials Institute (CNI). XP Platform To further advance the technology, ATLIS and Clemson executed a three-year master research agreement led by CNI founder and director Apparao Rao, an expert in nanomaterials, and the R. A. Bowen professor of physics. Raos research is focused on understanding and exploiting the properties of nanomaterials for energy harvesting and energy storage. XT pickup At CNI, Professor Rao along with his research associates and students will assist ATLIS with further development of their battery technology. The ATLIS battery will utilize custom coatings to strike a balance between energy and power. These coatings, coupled with a special mechanical construction, will lead to optimized energy capacity and reduced charging time. I was presented the opportunity to partner with ATLIS through one of my former students who is now an engineer at ATLIS. Through this collaborative effort, I have not only been able to utilize my proficiency in nanomaterials to assist in further developing this superior cell technology, but I have also had the opportunity to provide an atmosphere where my students and postdoctoral researchers can experience firsthand the steps taken by industry to develop a product and bring it to market. This partnership highlights that CNI is a hub where academia-industrial partnerships are fostered by bringing faculty researchers together with industry partners to create new technologies. Professor Rao ATLIS is developing an all-electric XT pickup truck with the goal of outperforming gasoline and diesel-powered pickup trucks with a 500-mile range battery that recharges in less than 15 minutes. The ATLIS battery-cell technology features a minimum number of components, thus reducing assembly cost and complexity, while providing an ultra-fast charging structure. ATLIS aims to utilize formulations developed by the joint research team to improve the overall function and structure of the battery with the intent to adapt the findings for use in future vehicle offerings. The CNI is located at the Clemson University Advanced Materials Research Laboratory in Anderson County. The Institute specializes in studying the fundamental properties and applications of a broad range of nanomaterials and is developing cutting-edge multidisciplinary research that can widen the frontiers of nanoscience and significantly impact industrial technologies. Currently, CNI has seven active agreements with industrial partners, and nearly 10 faculty members, 25 students and postdocs use the facility for various collaborative projects. A little while back, one of WiMotos most notable exploits honored our pages with its graceful presence. The project in question was a cafe racer-style undertaking based on a 1992 Honda CBR600 F2, and its flawless aesthetic proved that Wido Veldkamps crew isnt playing around.Today, well be diving in for a thorough analysis of yet another bespoke creation born under this workshops roof. At its core, the bike you see here is a Honda NTV650, which might not necessarily be your first pick when searching for a donor. Its chunky bodywork, oversized saddle, and beefy frame werent exactly what youd call visually appealing until WiMoto showed up to fix the mess, that is.Within its frame, the NTV650 houses a 647cc liquid-cooled V-twin powerplant that feeds its oomph to a shaft final drive by means of a five-speed gearbox. At optimal revs, the four-stroke engine will gladly deliver up to 53 horses, along with 39 pound-feet (53 Nm) of twisting force.WiMoto began by applying a stealthy layer of satin black to the bikes frame, swingarm, and lower fork legs. At the front, the team went about installing a vintage half-fairing resembling that of a Ducati 900SS, while the NTVs subframe was tweaked to accommodate an aluminum seat pan and one handsome tail unit.Next, the experts proceeded to craft a rugged exhaust system in-house, but Ill have to admit that Im not a huge fan of that boxy muffler. The forged hoops were treated to a gorgeous coat of white paintwork before being enveloped in high-performance Maxxis tires on both ends. In terms of handling upgrades, the creatures front and rear suspension setups have been subjected to a comprehensive overhaul by the pros over at HK-Suspension.Each and every stock lighting component was discarded in favor of aftermarket LED alternatives, while the NTVs body panels received a metallic green finish that looks the part. To wrap it all up, a custom tan leather saddle was laid on top of the alloy seat pan.Finally, WiMoto nicknamed their creation The Green Goblin . Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Haiti - Politic : High-level meeting on the production and delivery of the CIN Monday as part of the forthcoming organization of the referendum and general elections, President Jovenel Moise chaired in the premises of the National Identification Office (ONI), a high-level meeting with the actors involved in the process of production and delivery of National Identification Cards (CIN). During this meeting it was decided to strengthen the "task force" on the registration of citizens in order to enable the populations of the 146 communes spread across the 42 districts and 10 geographical departments of the country, not yet registered, as soon as possible to be able to obtain their birth certificate followed by their national identification card. As part of this process, the Ministry of the Interior and Territorial Collectivities plans to meet the 572 presidents of the municipal section boards of directors (CASEC) in order to involve them more in the process of registering the populations living particularly in the most remote areas of the country in accordance with the instructions of the President of the Republic. At the end of this meeting, the Head of State declared "I have just had a high-level meeting with the actors involved in the process of production and delivery of CINs, as part of the forthcoming organization of the referendum and general elections. I remind the Nation that I will not be a candidate in these elections [...] My Administration is working tirelessly to organize the referendum and to renew, this year, the political staff through credible elections. [...] ONI is hard at work across the country to enable the Haitian population of voting age to acquire the National Identification Card. The Government guarantees that the process will be completed on time." Various officials of State institutions took part in this meeting, in particular : the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Rockefeller Vincent, the Minister of the Interior and Territorial Communities Audain Fils Bernadel, the Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister in charge of Citizenship Guy Andre Francois Junior, the Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister in charge of electoral questions and relations with political parties, Mathias Pierre, the new Secretary of State for Communication, Frantz Exantus https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-33073-icihaiti-politics-installation-of-the-new-secretary-of-state-for-communication.html as well as the Director of the National Identification Office Jude Jacques Elibert. HL/ HaitiLibre (CNN) Huge crowds brought Myanmar's towns and cities to a standstill Monday in a mass strike against the coup, despite a warning from the military junta that protesters will "suffer loss of life" if demonstrations confront security forces. Activists had called for a historic strike following the most violent weekend since protests against the February 1 coup began, in which police opened fire on protesters in the second largest city, Mandalay, on Saturday, leaving at least two dead. Images from photographers in the country and on social media Monday showed tens of thousands of people packing the streets in Yangon, Mandalay, and Naypyidaw, as well as in towns and cities across the country, including in southeastern Dawei, in Shan state's Taunggyi, in Ayeyarwady's Pathein, Kachin state's Myitkyina, and in one of the country's poorest regions, Chin state. In an ominous statement Sunday evening, the military junta said it could use lethal force against protesters. "It is found that protesters have raised their incitement towards riot and anarchy mob on the day of 22 February. Protesters are now inciting the people, especially emotional teenagers and youths, to a confrontation path where they will suffer the loss of life," the State Administration Council -- the name for the military junta now controlling the country -- declared Sunday evening on state broadcaster MRTV. Video from social media Sunday night and Monday morning showed barbed wire blocking roads to some foreign embassies in the largest city, Yangon, the focus point for many recent protests. Footage also showed what appeared to be police and military vehicles rolling through the streets. Protesters called for all offices and shops to be closed on Monday, with activists urging all citizens to join the protest, known as the "Five Twos" -- or the 22222 strike -- in reference to Monday's date. "22.2.2021 will be a big historic day. Keep watching us and pray for us, friends," leading protest activist group, the Civil Disobedience Movement said in a tweet Sunday. Weekend protests For more than two weeks, thousands of people in villages, towns and cities across Myanmar have come out to peacefully protest or take part in a non-violent civil disobedience movement against the military takeover, demanding that the generals hand back power and calling for the release of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratically-elected officials. The junta has attempted to stop protests by imposing bans on gatherings of more than five people and curfews in certain areas and cutting the internet at night. They have also deployed troops to major cities, including members of elite counter-insurgency divisions documented to be engaged in human rights abuses and violent campaigns against ethnic minorities. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners Burma (AAPPB) said at least 640 people have been detained in relation to the coup. But that has not stopped the protesters, who gathered in large numbers following the fatal shootings in Mandalay. In the capital, Naypyidaw, Sunday large crowds gathered to attend the funeral of a young woman, who died on Friday after being shot in the head during an anti-coup protest. Mya Thweh Thweh Khine, who was shot just before her 20th birthday, was the first known casualty of pro-democracy protests. Video of her funeral procession showed a hearse with her picture in front and a convoy of vehicles driving out of a hospital. As the procession drove through the streets, people on motorbikes and bystanders were seen raising the three-finger salute from the Hunger Games movies, which has been adopted by protesters. Myanmar's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Sunday that authorities were "exercising utmost restraint through minimum use of force" when dealing with the protests. It also said that statements and remarks made by some foreign countries are "tantamount to flagrant interference in internal affairs of Myanmar." In a Facebook post, the ministry called on diplomats to "respect the laws and regulations of the receiving state" and reiterated that a "free and fair general election" will take place. A state of emergency is in effect in Myanmar for one year but the junta have not given a timeframe by which it will hold elections. International condemnation of military action Several countries have condemned the military takeover and violence against protesters. The European Union's foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said Monday that the bloc would introduce sanctions against military officials responsible for the coup. "Today we have decided the set of targeted measures with ministers in response to these events," Borrell said. "Then we took the political agreement to apply sanctions targeting the military responsible for the coup and their economic interests." The United States, United Kingdom and Canada have previously imposed punitive measures on certain generals, with the US announcing further sanctions Monday against two officials over Myanmar "security forces' killing of peaceful protestors." Singapore, the biggest foreign investor in Myanmar last year, warned Saturday that there will be "serious adverse consequences" for the country if the situation there continues to escalate. In Mandalay on Sunday, stringers for CNN confirmed that live rounds and tear gas were used to disperse people at an anti-coup protest in the city. Volunteer emergency workers cited by Reuters and AFP news agencies said that at least two people died when police opened fire on protesters. The news agencies reported that between 20 and 30 people were injured in the crackdown. In video seen by CNN, a large crowd of people could be seen running from police and taking cover behind whatever shelter they could find. In another video, a person could be seen being stretchered away by medics. The condition of the patient was not immediately clear. The military junta defended the actions of security forces in the state broadcast Sunday, saying they used "prescribed crowd dispersal methods" and blamed "some notorious ex-criminals and their gangs" who "used sticks, knives, stones, catapults, and other weapon-like materials to attack the security force members." UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, said in a tweet that he was "horrified at more loss of life" as the military "escalates its brutality in Myanmar." "From water cannons to rubber bullets to tear gas and now hardened troops firing point blank at peaceful protesters. This madness must end, now!" he said. Following the shooting, Facebook deleted a page run by the Myanmar military, the company said. "In line with our global policies, we've removed the Tatmadaw True News Information Team Page from Facebook for repeated violations of our Community Standards prohibiting incitement of violence and coordinating harm," a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Huge demonstrations across Myanmar despite military's warning that protesters could 'suffer loss of life'." Psaki is a Cardinal who graduated in the Class of 1996 from Greenwich High School. In Old Greenwich on July 2, 2003, a group of teens including Katie Brandstetter, 18, Elly Truesdell, 18, Kristen Psaki, 18, and Laura Bernstein, 17, look up at the fire works at Binney Park. Psaki was born in Stamford, the oldest of three daughters of James R. Psaki, a retired real estate developer, and Eileen Dolan Medvey, a psychotherapist. According to her father, she attended the Early Learning Center, a Stamford Montessori school now known as the Childrens School, then Sacred Heart Greenwich and Greenwich Country Day School, whose alumni include former President George H.W. Bush and Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin. Psaki attended Greenwich High, earning her diploma in 1996 as an all-state swimmer. After graduating, Psaki went to the College of William & Mary in Virginia, where she majored in English and sociology, swam the backstroke competitively for two years and showed her penchant for leadership by becoming president of the schools Chi Omega sorority. Psaki returned to Cardinal Stadium in June 2009 to give the commencement address at Greenwich High School. On a personal level, she and her husband, Gregory Mecher, have two young children. Manage it all from the Cloud? You can with Aruba Central Posted by Publisher Networking Register today for European Electronique?s unmissable webinar on the benefits to transform your education multi-site networks through a single pane of glass. Ready to improve your network the simple, smart, and secure way? Join European Electronique on Thursday 25th February at 1PM GMT to watch as our experts share how our new cloud network solutions can help your education facility thrive with: ? Simplified Network Operations to quickly provision education sites, identify and resolve issues and manage recurring activities. ? Dynamic Performance Optimization and Intelligent Management to keep the network running at peak performance automatically ? when combining remote and onsite learning. ? Automated Troubleshooting for easy execution, reporting, and sharing See for yourself with a live demo of Aruba Central, our innovative cloud-managed networking solution. Register today! Manage it all from the Cloud, you can with Aruba Central | European Electronique (livestorm.co) UK crime drama The Pembrokeshire Murders, based on a true story, will screen on Seven next week. This stars Luke Evans as a Welsh detective looking into unsolved murders in the 1980s. It drew solid ratings in the UK when it screened in January. This is a 3 part series which opens with a double episode. Newly returned to Pembrokeshire, Detective Superintendent Steve Wilkins looks into a brutal double murder which was never solved. Known locally as the Coastal Path murders, he is shocked to discover links to two other notorious unsolved crimes. The prime suspect, a local man named John William Cooper, was imprisoned for a number of burglaries and robberies in 1998. If Steve is right, and Cooper is not just a murderer but a serial killer, the team must find the crucial evidence they need to charge him before he is granted parole. 8:30pm Wednesday March 3 on Seven. Related By Damali Mukhaye The government has constituted an ad hoc team headed by Prime Minister Dr.Ruhakana Rugunda to fast track talks with development partners and resolve outstanding concerns about the Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) within two weeks. President Museveni ordered formation of the committee, which comprises Uganda government officials and representatives of countries contributing to the DGF basket, during his meeting with European Union (EU) diplomats on February 18 at state house Entebbe. A highly-placed source tells KFM that during the meeting, Museveni blamed officials of the Ministry of Finance for allegedly signing an agreement with DGF without involving cabinet and seeking approval from the Attorney General, the chief government legal advisor. The Head of Communications at the Office of the Prime Minister, Julius Mucunguzi, confirms the development, saying issues to be discussed include the nature, scope and operations of DGF. President Museveni last month ordered that operations of DGF be immediately suspended, creating uncertainty and panic over the future of about 74 Civil Society Organizations that are being funded by the facility. Last month marked a considerable milestone in my career as a seafarer. After over 10 years at sea, I finally achieved my Master 1 Certificate. This ticket allows me to be the captain of any vessel anywhere in the world. I wanted to take this article as an opportunity to give a very brief recap on my career at sea, a career that I have loved and one that I look forward to continuing for many years to come. Straight out of School In 2008 I finished my schooling on the Gold Coast and at the start of 2009 I headed to Tasmania as an 18 year old. Before working on ships, it is necessary to first carry out basic safety training and familiarization. For this I did a three month pre sea course at the Australian Maritime College in Launceston. After completing pre sea training, I headed off to sea with my first ship being a 290 meter long container ship called the Glasgow Express. It was a German and Philippine crewed ship operating between Australia and Asia. I was only onboard for a couple of months and by the time I finished, I was convinced that the seamans life was not for me. On top of being caught in a typhoon near Taiwan in which I was seasick for five days straight, I was made to work endless hours with little sleep. Being the only native English speaker onboard also meant that the other crew members would only talk to me in order to give me tasks or discuss work related matters. Returning from my first swing at sea, I was disheveled at the idea that I was going to have to find a new career to pursue as shipping seemed not to be for me. But a career at sea was the path for me Not knowing what exactly what I was to do next, I decided to undertake some short-term mission work. After some looking around, I found out that OM (operation mobilization) were sending teams to Taiwan to help rebuild after the Typhoon. This seemed like an open door as I had, myself, experienced the devastating storm. I sent in my application to join the teams heading to Taiwan, in reply I was contacted by a lady from Operation Mobilization named Ruth Crow. Ruth convinced me that instead of going to Taiwan to help with rebuilding, I should rather join the GBA (Good Books for All) operated ship, the MV Duolos. So, a week later I headed off to Malaysia and worked for three months onboard the ship. I sailed on the iconic ships last ever operational voyage, before she was decommissioned in 2009. The time I spent onboard the Duolos was fantastic and a blessing to me. I had the realization that going to sea was not all that my first experience had suggested. After my time on the Duolos, I went home seeking to continue with a career on ships. I secured a contract to carry out the remainder of my cadetship with CSL (Canadian Shipping Line). I spent a year straight at sea working on a number of different self-discharging bulk carries. It was hard dirty work but it was a time that seasoned me well for a future in the industry and I enjoyed it. My time with CSL In 2011, CSL put me through a diploma in nautical. Clara and I spent our first year of marriage in Tasmania whilst I studied the course. The company paid for my study and continued to pay my wage. It was a stress free and enjoyable first year of marriage and we made the most of our time together and my year off from sea. In 2012 I came out of college with my second mates ticket, a license that allowed me to work as a watch keeper on any vessel in the world. I went back to sea with CSL and worked on the MV CSL Brisbane as a second mate. The CSL Brisbane was a 180 meter long self-discharging bulk carrier operating in Australia and Asia. We had our first child that same year and I came to find that my eight week on and eight week off work schedule was well suited to family life. In 2014 we again moved back to Tasmania to complete my final year of study for my nautical science degree. We had our second child Jane during the first week of my course. I delivered Jane on the floor of the hallway in our rental property after failing to head down to the hospital soon enough. In 2015, I finished my studies at the AMC and received my Chief Mates ticket. I then work for CSL for a couple more years before taking a voluntary redundancy in 2017. Into missions and onto passenger ships It was then in 2018 that I first worked with YWAM. In previous articles I detailed a lot of my time and experiences working with YWAM on their medical ship the YWAM PNG. The ship provides free medical aid to the remote areas of PNG. I spent a lot of time working on the YWAM PNG during 2018 and 2019. It was during my time on this ship that I came across the company that I currently work for. One day we were anchored off a remote village in the Morobe province when a vessel called the Coral Adventurer came in to share the anchorage. Myself, and a few others, went over to have a look at the ship. It was a brand new expedition cruise ship and it was kitted out with all the bells and whistles. After completing my commitment with YWAM and returning home from PNG, I contacted Coral Expeditions, the company that operate the Coral Adventurer. They agreed to take me onboard and I have been working on their vessels since early last year. On the 18th of January this year I sat my final assessment to complete my Masters ticket. This has been a goal of mine for many years and I am very proud of the achievement. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 controversial Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law in Indonesia that notoriously criminalise freedom of expression may finally be revised, writes Jim Nolan. Prita Mulyasari (R) cries outside a court after her defamation trial under the ITE law is thrown out of court. Credit: AFP Photo In a surprise announcement, Indonesian President Joko (Jokowi) Wododo this month called upon Indonesias military and police leadership to improve supervision to ensure that the implementation of the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law can be in compliance with the principle of accountability and provide the public sense of justice. This announcement has been cautiously welcomed by Indonesian non-governmental organisations and press freedom groups which have campaigned against the law since its introduction in 2008. The ITE law contrary to the then governments 2008 justification migrated the more odious aspects of Indonesias criminal defamation laws to all electronic communications. At the time of its introduction the change to the law was put forward by the government of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as a simple technical tweak to permit the regulation of the new phenomenon e-commerce. It was claimed that in an age of digital communications and free trade, all modern countries needed such a law. At the time NGOs and press freedom groups were quick to point out that the proposed law, far from merely regulating e-commerce, introduced an extended range of vague and imprecise offences with draconian penalties. For example, whereas the old criminal defamation law did not allow for arrest and detention upon prosecution, the new law did. All manner of insults including blasphemy were caught by the law. And as proved to be the case, any electronic communication can be caught by the law including personal emails and blogs. So imprecise were the offences established by the change and the inchoate legal standards which it imposed that local wags started to refer to the laws pasal karet or rubber articles . The critics predictions were quickly vindicated when the first charges were laid under the new law against a suburban mother Prita Mulyasari south of Jakarta for relatively anodyne criticisms on her blog of the service provided to her by a local hospital. Without warning she was arrested and imprisoned. The arrest coincided with the 2008 national election campaign and all candidates were quick to condemn the action. She was promptly released after the public outcry. The case eventually fizzled out but not before Mulyasari was first convicted of defamation and then many years later, acquitted. Despite the public outcry, the law remained on the books. The absurdity of the law and its rubbery application was again highlighted with the 2014 prosecution of a law student who had blogged about the rudeness of citizens in Jogjakarta writing that Jogja is poor, stupid and uncultured. She was jailed for two months and fined. To add insult to injury, in 2016 the law was changed to enable the government to block access to electronic documents suspected of disseminating information related to defamation among other things. Recently the law has been used against both West Papuan activists who have engaged in nonviolent dissent and against environmental journalists covering the devastation of forests. The ITE law has not been used widely against journalists as the Indonesian Press Council has endeavoured, not entirely successfully, to keep its use against the press at bay. Because of its notoriously imprecise rubbery scope and inconsistent application, it has had a chilling effect on the free media which cannot be underestimated, permitting selective prosecution of journalists. Amnesty International reports that throughout 2020, there were around 119 cases of alleged violations of the right to freedom of expression using the ITE Law, with 141 suspects, including 18 activists and four journalists. The Director of Amnesty International Indonesia Usman Hamid has been a prominent critic of the ITE Law. He has stressed that the government must also realise that the protection of freedom of opinion and expression will not end with its revision. There are articles in other laws that are also often used to ensnare freedom of expression, he said. He points to the treason article in the Criminal Code used to ensnare peaceful activists in Papua, adding that the police must also use a human rights perspective in enforcing the law so as not to violate freedom of opinion and expression. In Indonesian national law, the right to freedom of expression and opinion as safeguarded by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights has been guaranteed in the Indonesian Constitution , as well as in the law on human rights . Its implementation in practice remains a problem. The Civil Society Coalition, a coalition of over 20 groups including the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and LBH Pers issued a statement calling on President Jokowi and the Indonesian Parliament (DPR RI) to: 1. Implement the commitment to revise the ITE Law. 2. To repeal all rubber articles which are often used as a means of criminalising freedom of expression. 3.To revise the provisions of the criminal procedure law in the ITE Law to ensure a fair trial and synchronisation with future changes to the Criminal Procedure Code, including to strengthen judicial scrutiny. 4. To review the executive government's wide authority to terminate electronic access as stipulated in the ITE Law. 5. To thoroughly evaluate the implementation of the ITE Law by law enforcement officials, including encouraging officials to have an understanding and perspective of human rights and professionalism in handling every ITE Law case. In 2020, media freedom in South East Asia continued in a state of depressing retreat . In recent weeks new cyber laws in Myanmar and Cambodia directed at civil society and the relentless prosecution of Rappler in the Philippines, have served to amplify this trend. In this regional context, Jokowis initiative offers a slight glimmer of hope for progressive reform and must be welcomed. But expectations should not be excited. As always, the devil will be in the detail. Will the law be reformed, and when? Those foreign journalists who the President said would be welcomed to travel to West Papua back in May 2015 and are still waiting would counsel patience. Jim Nolan is the International Federation of Journalists pro-bono legal counsel for the Asia-Pacific and a regular legal observer on legal cases in the region. If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, we may receive an affiliate commission. Rebel Wilson brought her continuously chic off-duty style for a pit stop this weekend, spotted pumping gas into her car with flair. More from Footwear News The Pitch Perfect star filled up her tank in Los Angeles on Sunday, stepping out in a take on the growing monochrome trend; her bright blue look teamed a unique oversize hoodie with a matching T-shirt and coordinating ribbed joggers. Her outfit also included her signature reflective shades with an unexpected choice of footwear to tout. Instead of wearing sneakers or casual sandals, the Australian actress zipped up a pair of glowing white booties. The square-toe design highlighted smooth leather uppers contrasted by a sturdy black outsole and a unique heel. Set atop a layer of chunky white pearls, the sleek style bears resemblance to designs from one of Wilsons favorite brands: Nicholas Kirkwood. The Casati ankle boots from the label retail for $995 and can be found at Farfetch.com. When she isnt in pearl-trimmed boots from the British designer, Wilson also can be found in the brands Beya loafers. Giving a pointed-toe take on a classic silhouette, the shoe comes topped with pebbled leather uppers and exposed stitching, all topped with a dipped vamp. The style also includes a subtle architecturally shaped block heel. You can shop the design for $495 now at Saks Fifth Avenue. As for Wilson, when she isnt at star-studded events, the actress spent her quarantine working on her fitness and showing off her physique and training routines on social media for her millions of followers to see. Her go-to workout sneakers come from Nike of course as well as Adidas in a mix of shades and silhouettes. When it comes to apparel both on and off the gym floor, The Hustle star favors designs from everyone from Gymshark to Emilio Pucci, Givenchy and more high fashion labels. Story continues Make your outfit glow in these all-white boots inspired by Rebel Wilsons style. white boots, black outsole, aeyde Buy Now: Aeyde Rear-Zip Boots, $289 (was $445). white boots, black outsole, everlane Buy Now: Everlane Modern Utility Chelsea Boots, $178. white boots, black outsole, sam edelman Buy Now: Sam Edelman Nina Boots, $150. Click through the gallery to find more of Rebel Wilsons boldest looks over the years. Launch Gallery: Rebel Wilson's Street Style Evolution Over the Years Sign up for FN's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Seoul: South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co launched its Ioniq 5 midsize crossover on Tuesday, the first in a planned family of electric vehicles (EV) that it hopes will propel it into the third rank of global EV makers by 2025. The company says the model is based on a new electric vehicle-only platform that uses its own battery module technology and requires fewer components than Hyundai's existing electric cars, enabling faster production at lower cost. The launch of Ioniq 5 is the linchpin of Hyundai's long-term goal to capture 10% of global EV sales by 2025, up from a combined market share of 7.2% for Hyundai and Kia together during the January-September period in 2020, according to industry tracker SNE Research. Hyundai Motor and its sister company Kia Corp together aim to sell 1 million EVs in 2025. "We expect this year's (global) EV demand will increase more than 30% versus last year," Hyundai Motor President Chang Jae-hoon told a news conference. The Ioniq 5 will have a maximum driving range of about 480 kms (298 miles), up nearly 20% from the Kona EV, which previously had the longest range among Hyundai's EV lineup. It will offer two battery pack options - 58-kilowatt-hour (kWh) or 72.6 kWh - and will be available in selected regions starting in the first half of 2021, Hyundai said in a statement. The South Korean automaker did not disclose the price of the Ioniq 5, but Hyundai Motor Europe President Michael Cole said in Europe it would start at about 42,000 euros ($51,100) before government incentives. Hyundai is targeting sales of 100,000 units globally next year, with about 30%-40% in Europe, 30% in North America and 20% in South Korea. "Hyundai will be able to increase its presence in the global EV market as it adds a new EV, considering that the company showed solid performance with its major EV Kona Electric," said Kevin Yoo, an analyst at eBEST Investment & Securities. ($1 = 0.8219 euros) 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. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Congressional Republicans are butting heads over the number of members from each party that will make up the proposed 9/11-style commission tasked with investigating the January 6 insurrection. Politico reported Monday that Republicans are demanding an equal number of seats on the commission, despite being in the minority in both chambers. Pelosi has floated Democrats getting to pick seven members, while Republicans would choose four. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is butting heads with Republicans over the partisan make-up of a proposed 9/11-style commission that will probe the January 6 insurrection, pushing for more Democratic members While the 9/11 Commission had five Republicans and five Democrats, Politico reported that Pelosi said there should be seven Democrats and four Republicans probing the insurrection (pictured) that took place on January 6 Pelosi proposed that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (left) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (right) would each get to pick two members, while she and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer would each pick two as well Democrats would get an edge because Democratic President Joe Biden (pictured) would pick three members of the committee, including the chair, who would have subpoena power as part of the investigation Under the Democratic proposal, reported by Politico, Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell would each choose two members of the commission. Democratic President Joe Biden would pick three additional members, including the commission's chair, who would have subpoena power. The panel would conclude its work by the end of 2021 and dissolve 60 days later. A senior Democratic aide told Politico that negotiations are ongoing and nothing is final. Pelosi's spokesman Drew Hammill pushed back on the assertion that Pelosi is trying to create a 'partisan' commission. 'Nobody wants this to be partisan, that's why the effort here is to follow what was done with the 9/11 Commission,' Hammill told Newsmax. 'And that means that the commission leaders are appointed by the four top Congressional leaders and the president.' The 9/11 Commission reviewed the intelligence failures that led to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. The commission was made up of five Democrats and five Republicans, with the chair, former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean, appointed by then President George W. Bush and the vice chair, former Rep. Lee Hamilton, appointed by Democratic leaders in Congress. Former members of the 9/11 Commission, including Kean and Hamilton, said the fully bipartisan set-up gave it credibility and allowed it to be steered in a non-partisan way. Republicans are also pressuring Democrats not to articulate specific avenues of inquiry, which might also give the 1/6 commission a partisan tilt. The commission is coming together as the Senate held its first hearing on the January 6 insurrection Tuesday. Members of the Senate Homeland Security Committee and the Committee on Rules and Administration had the former Capitol Police chief, the former Senate and House sergeants at arms and the acting head of D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department testify. Additionally, Capitol Police Captain Carneysha Mendoza talked of her harrowing experience fighting off protesters in the Capitol Rotunda. 'I received chemical burns to my face that still have not healed to this day,' she said, testifying that some of the rioters had brought 'military-grade' CS gas, which they used inside the Capitol on police. On Monday, Biden's pick for attorney general, Judge Merrick Garland, said he would make prosecuting those responsible for the insurrection a top priority. So far, prosecutors have charged more than 200 people for being involved in the assualt. Dramatic video has emerged purportedly showing the moment a UN convoy was attacked by gunmen who killed an Italian ambassador and two others. The kidnap bid occurred on Monday in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and saw the deaths of ambassador Luca Attanasio, 43, Italian military policeman Vittorio Iacovacci, 30, and their Congolese driver, who has not been identified. Footage captures scenes of chaos as gunfire rings out and people shout near a truck on a road. On Tuesday, Rwandan Hutu rebels denied accusations they were behind the ambush - believed to be a botched kidnapping - of the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) convoy, and instead blamed the armies of the DRC and Rwanda. Meanwhile, Attanasio's and Iacovacci's coffins were repatriated today, with pictures showing them being loaded onto a military plane to be returned to Italy. Pictured: Still from a video purportedly showing the moments a UN convoy came under attack in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Right: One man wearing camouflage gear clothes is seen running up the road towards where the truck is stopped, as other people move in the opposite direction Monday's attack occurred north of the North Kivu capital of Goma on National Highway 2 - a road that runs through thickly forested, mountainous terrain next to the porous border with Rwanda. The video that has been released shows vehicles stopped on a dirt road flanked by forest, including what appears to be a toppled motorbike and a truck. At first, there is little activity in the footage, with people behind the camera talking. But half-way through, the video cuts to a scene of chaos, with gunshots heard over the sound of people shouting. One man wearing camouflage gear is seen running up the road towards where the truck is stopped, as other people move in the opposite direction. Some people are seen apparently watching, cheering and even dancing on the side of the road as gun shots are heard, before the camera points to the sky. The vehicles are not shown again in the video, and it is unclear which vehicle Attanasio and his party were in during the incident. Attanasio, pictured holding a phone to take a selfie, was married and had been stationed in the Democratic Republic of Congo for three years Italian ambassador Luca Attanasio (left) and Italian military policeman Vittorio Iacovacci (right) were both killed in what is believed to have been an attempted kidnapping DRC President Felix Tshisekedi's office said Attanasio had arrived in Goma on Friday morning aboard a MONUSCO plane. He left on Monday morning in a two-vehicle WFP convoy heading for Kiwanja, in the Rutshuru area, accompanied by his bodyguard and WFP workers, it said. The convoy was ambushed three kilometres (1.8 miles) from their destination by six assailants, armed with five AK-47 assault rifles and a machete. 'They proceeded by firing warning shots before forcing the people in the vehicles to get out and follow them into the depths of the (Virunga) park, which they did by shooting dead one of the drivers to create panic,' the president's office said. Park rangers and army troops nearby heard the noise and pursued the attackers. 'Five hundred metres (from the site of the ambush), the kidnappers fired point blank at the bodyguard, who died on the spot, and at the ambassador, hitting him in the abdomen,' the presidency said. Attanasio was rushed to hospital in critical condition, but died of his injuries. Several other members of the convoy were also injured. After the Italian government expressed shock and outrage at the attack, newspapers in Rome on Tuesday raised questions about security preparations for the trip. Pictured: A coffin is loaded onto an Italian Air Force plane at Goma airport during the repatriation of the bodies of Italian Ambassador and an Italian Carabinieri police officer in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, 23 February 2021 Attanasio and Iacovacci's coffins were repatriated today, with pictures showing them being loaded onto a military plane to be returned to Italy Speaking to Italian news agency Ansa, Salvatore Attanasio - the ambassador's father - said that his son was a person who would always help others with his projects. 'In thirty seconds the memories of a lifetime have passed, the world has collapsed on us. These are unfair things, which must not happen. For us, life is over,' he told the agency, recalling the moment he learned of his son's death. But now, he said, the family's focus was on Attanasio's three daughters, and ensuring that they had a bright future despite their father's death. Pictured: Salvatore Attanasio, the father of the slain Italian Ambassador Luca Attanasio, during an interview in Rome, Italy, 23 February 2021 The DRC interior ministry, in a statement on Monday, said the security services and provincial authorities had not been given advance warning of the trip. '(They) were unable to provide special security for the convoy or come to its aid because of a lack of information about their presence in this part of the country, despite its reputation for instability,' it said. But the WFP, in a statement, said the attack 'occurred on a road that had previously been cleared for travel without security escorts'. A UN humanitarian official in the DRC, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that this meant the convoy had to be a minimum of two vehicles. The DRC's interior ministry on Monday blamed the killings on 'members of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR)' - a Rwandan Hutu rebel group that has plagued the region for more than a quarter of a century. United Nations peacekeepers remove bodies from an area near to where a U.N. convoy was attacked and the Italian ambassador to Congo killed, in Nyiragongo, North Kivu province, Congo Monday, Feb. 22, 2021 UN peacekeepers and Congolese armed forces stand near an ambulance transporting a victim from the site where Italian Ambassador Luca Attanasio was fatally attacked when the convoy he was traveling in came under attack on February 22, 2021 But the FDLR rejected the allegation, blaming the Rwandan army and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) for the attack in a statement received by AFP Tuesday. It said the ambassador's convoy was attacked near the Rwandan border, 'not far from a position of the FARDC'. 'The responsibility for this despicable killing is to be found in the ranks of these two armies and their sponsors who have forged an unnatural alliance to perpetuate the pillaging of eastern DRC,' it said. The FDLR called on Kinshasa and UN peacekeeping force MONUSCO to 'shed light' on the killings 'instead of resorting to hasty accusations'. The DRC and Rwanda authorities have not reported the presence of any regular Rwandan troops in the DRC. But an expert at the Kivu Security Tracker (KST), a US monitor, told AFP the Hutu rebel group has a known presence in the region. 'The FDLR are near the place where the attack took place. It's in the realm of possibility that the Rwandan rebels are responsible for this attack,' the expert said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Pictured: A Carabinieri officer looks at the Italian flag that flies at half mast next to EU and Presidential Standard of Italy flags, outside the Presidential Quirinale Palace, following the death of the Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo Scores of militias roam the DRC's four eastern provinces, many of them a legacy of wars in the 1990s that sucked in countries around central-southern Africa and claimed millions of lives. Some of the FDLR's founders were involved in the 1994 Rwandan genocide during which the Hutu majority slaughtered 800,000 people, mainly Tutsis but also Hutu moderates. The group is opposed to the current Rwandan government, but has not launched any large-scale attacks in Rwanda since 2001. Attanasio was awarded a peace prize in October 2020 in a ceremony held in a church in southern Italy. The Nassiriya International Prize for Peace is named in memory of the 19 Italians, including 12 Carabinieri paramilitary officers, five soldiers and two Italian civilians, who were killed in the bombing of the Italian military base in southern Iraq in 2003. Nine others were also killed. Attanasio was cited for 'his commitment aimed at safeguarding peace between peoples' and for 'having contributed to the realization of important humanitarian projects, distinguishing himself for altruism, dedication and the spirit of service for people in difficulty,' said La Repubblica daily in its account of the ceremony. La Repubblica quoted Attanasio as saying, 'All that which we take for granted in Italy isn't in Congo, where, unfortunately, there are so many problems to resolve.' Attanasio described the role of the ambassador there is 'above all to be close to the Italians but also to contribute to achieving peace.' Some 1,000 Italians live in Congo. In Rome, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said he would soon brief Parliament on the attack and cautioned against premature reconstructions of what transpired. A moment of silence was planned in Parliament on Tuesday. Rome prosecutors have opened an investigation, which is done whenever an Italian citizen is killed overseas. Flags at Italian government buildings flew at half-staff as tributes poured in for the two men. In a front-page obituary in leading Corriere della Sera, the foreign ministry secretary general, Elisabetta Belloni, said Attanasio firmly believed that through multilateral diplomacy, he could help make the world a better place. Luca Attanasio (left), the Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has been killed during an attack on a UN convoy Attanasio died of his wounds at the UN's Level III Indian Field Hospital. An Italian police officer was also killed in the attack A vast country the size of continental western Europe, the DRC is grappling with numerous conflicts, especially in its remote, mineral-rich east. Scores of militias roam the four eastern provinces. Many are a legacy of wars in the 1990s that sucked in countries around central-southern Africa and claimed millions of lives. Monday's attack occurred north of Goma - a region that includes the UNESCO-listed Virunga National Park, which has also been troubled by violence. The UN's refugee agency, the UNHCR, said last week that more than 2,000 civilians were killed in North and South Kivu and Ituri last year. The attacks by brutal armed groups have also displaced millions in what the UN calls one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. There are 5.2 million people displaced in the DRC, according to the United Nations Children's Agency, which said in a report on Friday that this represents more displaced than in any other country except Syria. In the past year alone, 50 per cent of people have been displaced, it said. Monday's attack occurred north of Goma - a region that includes the UNESCO-listed Virunga National Park, which has also been troubled by violence The resource-rich nation suffered one of the most brutal colonial reigns ever known before undergoing decades of corrupt dictatorship. Back-to-back civil wars later drew in a number of neighbouring countries. And many rebel groups have come and gone during the UN mission's years of operation, at times invading the eastern regional capital, Goma, where the ambassador was killed. In January 2019, Congo experienced its first peaceful democratic transfer of power since independence in 1960 following the election of President Felix Tshisekedi. He succeeded strongman Joseph Kabila in a disputed election marked by allegations of large-scale fraud and suspicions of a backroom deal by Mr Kabila to install Mr Tshisekedi over an opposition candidate who, according to leaked electoral data, was the real winner. The attack occurred in the same area where two Britons were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in 2018, though they were released days later. The UN peacekeeping mission has been working to draw down its 15,000-troop presence and transfer its security work to Congolese authorities. [February 23, 2021] Transaction Data Systems Releases Alternative to Prescription Savings Cards With New In-App Drug Pricing Solution for Rx30 and WinRx Transaction Data Systems (TDS), the leader in pharmacy software solutions and services, today announced the release of RxCashAssist, an in-application drug pricing solution. Seamlessly integrated in the pharmacy management system, RxCashAssist provides an instant cash price comparison to lower patient medication cost and maximize patient medication adherence. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005679/en/ "Traditional discount cards lack transparency. Hidden fees and decreased margins greatly impact the revenue of our client base," states TDS President, Kevin Lathrop. "Our pharmacists are committed to providing affordable care, and TDS is committed to developing new solutions to help maintain margins without burden to patients that are facing increasing financial responsibility." Patient responsibility and out of-pocket prescription costs increased by $8 billion from 2015 to 2019, according to a recent report on medicine spending and affordability in the United States. Increased costs have led to a rise in manufacturers' rebates and various discount card programs compounding the complexity of prescription pricing and pharmacy profitability. RxCashAssist from TDS provides a complete cash price analysis wthin existing pharmacy workflow, alerting users to discount opportunities. Offers are presented to the pharmacist when an available cash price is better than the patient's current discount price. Traditional discount cards often result in the community pharmacy taking a loss and occasionally cost the patient more. RxCashAssist solves this issue by seamlessly providing pharmacists clear, affordable cash pricing for patients in need of assistance. "I appreciate how TDS combined patient affordability and the pharmacy bottom line, making their solution a win-win," states Travis Stoner from Summerton Drugs. "Remaining profitable in today's current state is a challenge and I for one am grateful to have a responsive pharmacy system that cares for our success." "Increasing uninsured and underinsured patients, coupled with rising drug costs, are barriers to patient medication adherence and pharmacy performance," states TDS General Manager/SVP of Pharmacy Solutions, Russell Murrow. "When patients cannot afford their medications, they are less likely to take them as prescribed. Through RxCashAssist our community pharmacies gain the pricing transparency they need to offer discounted pricing and positively impact patient outcomes." Learn more about RxCashAssist from Transaction Data Systems visit www.tdsclinical.com/rxcashassist. ABOUT TRANSACTION DATA SYSTEMS For over 40 years, TDS has been dedicated to the success of the pharmacy market and pharmacy supply chain. TDS, with its portfolio of products and services including Rx30, Computer-Rx, KloudScript, Pharm Assess, and Enhanced Medication Services provides innovative technology solutions and pharmacy management systems to the pharmacy industry. Proudly supporting one of the largest install bases of pharmacies in the industry with systems in all 50 states and the Virgin Islands, TDS is the leading provider of pharmacy focused-patent centric solutions. For more information about TDS, please visit transactiondatasystems.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005679/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A former Fire Brigade Union (FBU) leader was victim of an 'appalling witch-hunt' that saw him sacked from his role months after he was told to 'be aware' his boss would 'come' for him over his support for Brexit, a tribunal has heard. Paul Embery was accused of undermining the union during a speech alongside Nigel Farage at a Leave Means Leave rally in central London in March 2019. He is now suing FBU for unfair dismissal and direct discrimination after he was kicked off the National Executive. He argues he was sacked for his 'pro-Brexit views' and was victim of a 'blatant dig for dirt'. The FBU denied the allegations and said Mr Embery was not an employee paid by the union. His 7,025 yearly car and home office allowance did not amount to a salary, it said. The former London regional secretary of the FBU, which he remains a member of, was removed from his post after what he claims the union saw as a 'treacherous' speech at a protest in March 2019. In his witness statement, Mr Embery, who is representing himself at the tribunal held in Norwich, said reasons for his dismissal were 'contrived, unprecedented and perverse'. Paul Embery (pictured) was accused of undermining the union during a speech alongside Nigel Farage at a Leave Means Leave rally in central London in March 2019 'I have always considered that the FBU's justification for my dismissal was spurious, dishonest, and a cover for the true reason, namely my support for Britain's secession from the EU and my increasing public profile in that national debate,' he added. He said his relationship with the FBU General Secretary Matt Wrack deteriorated in 2018, adding that they argued during a union meeting in January 2019. Soon after, assistant general secretary Andy Dark messaged Mr Embery to tell him Mr Wrack 'is looking for things to be angry about He will come again, and soon Think you should have the heads up.' 'I interpreted all of this as a very clear warning that I was under the microscope and may soon be targeted,' Mr Embery said at the tribunal hearing. Two months later, hours before his speech at the Leave Means Leave rally, FBU's Ian Murray told him that to speak alongside Mr Farage would be a breach of union rules. Some 13 days later Mr Embery was told he was under investigation and six allegations were held against him. Four complaints were upheld, with one resulting in a two-year ban on standing for office in the union. The FBU denies allegations the decision to remove him from office was unfair and discriminatory. It stated Mr Embery was not an employee of the FBU, and therefore could not be sacked for unfair dismissal. Hours before his speech at the Leave Means Leave rally (pictured), FBU's Ian Murray told him that to speak alongside Mr Farage would be a breach of union rules It said all salaries were paid by his brigade and a 7,025 yearly car and home office allowance did not amount to a salary. It argued Mr Embery - who joined the fire brigade in 1997, started at the union in 2008 and was elected as the FBUs executive council member for London in May 2017 - was removed from his post for being 'openly' critical of his own union, not for his political position. Oliver Segal QC, representing the FBU, said Mr Embery's argument he was discriminated against because of his pro-Brexit views was 'absurd'. He said Mr Embery told his audience at the Leave Means Leave rally 'my message to the leaders of my movement is if you want to stay relevant then it's about time you put yourself on the side of the people over the establishment and big business, and you better do that damn quickly'. This implied, Mr Segal claimed, that the FBU was on the side of big business. Mr Embery's relationship with FBU General Secretary Matt Wrack (pictured) deteriorated 'Given the history of the debate internally and the public statements of the FBU, to impliedly include those senior figures as amongst those "on the side of the establishment and big business" as opposed to "of the people", was - in the context of the political philosophy shared by them and Mr Embery - as bad as it gets without alleging criminal or corrupt activity,' he said. 'The claimant's suggestion that any implied criticism of the FBU's leadership is not the same as criticism of the FBU is sophistry.' Mr Embery is a proponent of 'Blue Labour' and author of the book 'Despised: Why the Modern Left Loathes the Working Class'. During the tribunal hearing, Mr Segal asked Mr Embery if Mr Farage was racist and brought up an example from 2014. In an interview for LBC Radio, Mr Farage was asked what the difference was between having a group of Romanian men and German children as neighbours. 'You know what the difference is,' Mr Farage replied. In a statement following the interview he said: 'Any normal and fair-minded person would have a perfect right to be concerned if a group of Romanian people suddenly moved in next door.' Responding, Mr Embery said: 'I'm always reluctant to throw the word racist at political opponents. I think it's sometimes overused. I think the word fascist is overused. 'Undoubtedly there are a few things Farage has said and done and things that he believes in that I would profoundly disagree with. 'If you're taking part at a rally, I can't say I've ever heard someone in their speech disassociating themselves with other people who are sharing the same platform. They probably wouldn't have turned up in the first place.' The case continues. This article is part of the On Tech newsletter. You can sign up here to receive it weekdays. Americans should feel angry about companies harvesting every morsel of our data to sell us sneakers or rate our creditworthiness. But a data protection law that few of us know about should also give us hope. Im talking about the Biometric Information Privacy Act of Illinois, or BIPA. Its one of the toughest privacy laws in the United States. And it passed in 2008, when most of us didnt have smartphones and couldnt have imagined Alexa in our kitchens. It applies only to Illinois residents and limits no more than what companies do with data from our bodies, like face scans and fingerprints. But its principles and legacy show that effective laws can wrest a measure of control from information-hogging companies. BIPA may also show that states can be Americas best laboratory for tackling the downsides of digital life. The announcement from Whakatane Board Mills Swiss owner, SIG, about the proposed closure of its BOP facility is being labelled a significant blow to the local economy. General manager Juha Verajankorva says the plant has lost its biggest customer and is no longer economic. We have begun consultation with staff on a proposal to wind up the business and close the mill, he says. The mill has 210 employees and has produced paper and packaging products, latterly mostly for export, for more than 80 years. Under the proposal, all staff at the mill would be made redundant, the plant decommissioned, and the site remediated. Verajankorva says the business has been in a challenging position for a number of years, and had been exploring options to remain viable, including seeking a new owner, but no other option had emerged. This is a hard proposal to put forward, given how much a part of the Bay of Plenty community this company has become. Should closure proceed, we will do everything we can to support our people and all our stakeholders. Verajankorva says it will take a number of weeks to consider feedback from staff and all its information before coming to a decision. John Galbraith, chair of economic development agency Toi EDA, is confident that with the right support and leadership, the Board Mill can be repositioned and looks forward to working alongside the Mill team and government to explore all possible alternatives. The Prime Minister recently acknowledged the leadership role that the Mill plays in this world leading packaging type. Toi EDA is requesting assistance from central government to find solutions that will allow for the continued operations of the facility, says Galbraith. The recent strategic review of the Norske Skogg Mill in Kawerau shows that the entire wood fibre processing sector is facing continued challenges and a proactive and coordinated approach to supporting this sector needs to be undertaken. Today New Zealands forests are being exported in their log form to China and other markets, rather than having the value added to them locally. This remains a risk as China have declared their intent of becoming self-sufficient in lumber within 20 years. In many cases, the wood processing sectors receive significant subsidies from their governments which makes competitive production in New Zealand a significant challenge. This is despite New Zealands competitive advantage of having one of the worlds largest sustainable plantation forests and renewable energy. Toi EDA encourages cross-sector collaboration with government to invest in technologies to produce highly relevant products, such as compostable coffee cups. Today cardboard coffee cups have plastic coatings that prevent them from being recycled and therefore the majority end up in landfill. The Whakatane Board Mill is an important part of the wood processing value chain in the Eastern Bay, where many of the Mills and wood processors provide raw materials and share overheads. Removing the Whakatane Board Mill from the matrix will likely reduce the efficiency of the other Mills in the region, which is a significant concern, and create further head winds. Galbraith encourages the government to invest in the region to ensure that the maximum value of the wood processing sector is retained in New Zealand, while retaining the high value jobs locally. -Additional reporting by Stuff.co.nz ALBANY Its been just about a year since lawmakers banned reusable plastic bags, but the battle continues. State officials have issued warnings to a handful of stores and other businesses that continue to dispense the bags after the ban belatedly took effect. And Gov. Andrew Cuomos budget proposal includes language that would allow some use of plastic materials such as polypropylene in woven heavy duty bags that can be reused. Environmentalists say that would be a backward step. But state officials say the language is needed to clear up the initial confusion surrounding the ban last year. According to records from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, they have issued 42 warnings but no fines since the ban took effect to establishments that have continued to give out the bags. Thats according to a response to a Freedom of Information Law request from Beyond Plastics, an organization working to remove plastic from the waste stream. The response also notes that DEC did not actually begin enforcing the ban until Oct. 19, 2020 due to a lawsuit against the legislation. More for you News DEC's plastic bag ban was so confusing that state must... If further complaints are received regarding parties that have already been issued warnings and these violations are witnessed by agency staff, DEC will take further appropriate enforcement action, including the issuance of Notices of Violation with potential payable penalties, reads the FOIL response. Multiple violators of the ban can be fined up to $500. More warnings may be on the way. Beyond Plastics founder and President Judith Enck, a former EPA administrator, said that volunteers with her group have documented well over 100 stores that arent complying with the ban. Most are in the New York City area and have been reported to the DEC. Still unsettled is the precise definition of what a banned bag is, according to language in the governors proposed budget. The proposal would allow woven bags that include substances like polypropylene and polyethylene-terephthalate. Those bags would have to be re-usable and have re-usable characteristics such as handles. Still banned are the thin film non-cloth bags, which were the main target of the original ban, however. Despite that, the proposed exemption rankled environmentalists like Enck. Weakening the law to allow for thicker plastic bags, even under the guise that some of them may be reused, is a step backwards and should be rejected by state legislators, she said. The change appears to stem from a now-settled lawsuit against the initial ban by PolyPak Industries, a Long Island bag maker. While the state eventually prevailed in upholding the ban, the Acting State Supreme Court in Albany Justice Gerald Connolly criticized DEC for the confusion surrounding the new law, ordering court costs to go to PolyPak. The budget proposal serves to clarify certain exempt bags and what constitutes a reusable bag, including examples of the types of fabric in reusable bags and examples of commonly used reusable bags that contain some plastic content, including polyester, woven polypropylene, and nylon bags, among other examples, according to DEC. The court ruling made it clear that film bags, regardless of their thickness or weight, fell under the ban. Nothing about police accountability is going to be easy not even the easy things. Syracuses new Right to Know law, aimed at protecting peoples privacy and constitutional rights when interacting with the police, went into effect in December. Anyone who is stopped or questioned by police, but not arrested afterward, is entitled to receive a business card with the officers name on it. Its a simple transaction that allows someone to make a specific complaint about police conduct and shields an officer from a false complaint. It also could build some trust between police and the people they serve. The law says the card should include the officers name, rank, shield number and command. Seems pretty straightforward to us. Not so to the Syracuse Police Benevolent Association, which objected to putting an officers full name on the card. Police Chief Kenton Buckner gave in. Giving only last names satisfied the expectation of the law, the Police Department said. It clearly didnt but that decision threw a wrench into the proceedings. The cards had to be reprinted, at a cost of $8,385 and yet another delay, staff writer Chris Libonati recently reported. The unions worry that people would use the cards to track down police officers just doesnt hold water. Officers names are available in any number of public databases, and they often write their first initials on police reports. The cost and the foot-dragging rankle us, but not as much as the message the PBA and the Police Department are sending to the public: Were not going on this police accountability journey willingly. Thats the wrong message to send at any time, but especially now, in the aftermath of George Floyds murder and our national reckoning with police violence and racism. The last name only demand is likely to be pointless, if expensive and time-consuming. Common Councilor Ronnie White Jr. plans to offer an amendment to the law mandating first and last names on the cards. The council should pass it. The Police Department and union should stop their foot-dragging and implement the Right to Know law in letter and spirit. The public and its representatives in local government will have to keep up the pressure on police to be more transparent and accountable for their actions. 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 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 Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Aviation executive Ian Woodley is understood to be engaged in talks to buy Aer Lingus Regional operator Stobart Air. Mr Woodley was previously involved in regional carrier BMI. He was an investor in the consortium that acquired the operator from Aer Lingus owner IAG in 2012 and served as chairman until 2014. The Irish Independent understands that Andy Jolly, the managing director of Dublin-based Stobart Air, is also involved in the acquisition talks alongside Mr Woodley. A UK-based boutique private equity house is thought to be lined up to provide financing for a deal. Mr Jolly was chief operating officer at Loganair between 2007 and 2011. He served in the same role at Stobart Air from 2015 before being appointed its managing director in 2019. Stobart Airs owner, Esken, has pledged to have sold Dublin-based Stobart Air by the end of this week. Esken recently told the Irish Independent that its timetable for a divestment has not changed. The group declined to comment yesterday in relation to talks with Mr Woodley. Mr Woodley could not be reached for comment. Esken, which recently changed its name from Stobart Group, has been vying to offload Stobart Air since last year. Its had talks with potential suitors including UK-based aircraft leasing firm Falko, which also owns Dublin-based carrier CityJet. Esken, whose out-going CEO is Warwick Brady, has been keen to sell Stobart Air due to significant liabilities it has attached to the carrier. Read More Stobart Air lost out late last year as Conor McCarthys fledgling Emerald Airlines was named preferred bidder by Aer Lingus to operate the Aer Lingus Regional service from the end of 2022, when the current Stobart Air contract expires. That almost certainly made the Stobart Air sales process more challenging. Like other airlines, Stobart Air has been hit hard by the pandemic and continued operating two taxpayer funded public service obligation routes here during the crisis. However, it has also established a base at Belfast City Airport, flying routes to Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham, East Midlands, Leeds Bradford and Exeter. The carrier has based five aircraft at the airport. Its likely that if Stobart Air is sold, those intra-UK operations will become its key future focus. Stobart Air has a fleet of 15 ATR turboprop aircraft and before the pandemic hit was operating about two dozen routes. Esken raised 100m (115.7m) from investors in June last year to shore up its balance sheet. Some of the funds were earmarked to help Stobart Air. Last November, Esken said that Stobart Air and a related aircraft leasing firm, Propius, had burned through almost 15m (17.3m) in cash since they were reacquired by Eksen the previous April. The trading outlook for Stobart Air has deteriorated significantly since the capital raise due to the continued quarantine arrangements in Ireland, with limited flights operating, noted Esken in November. Connecticut State Police / Contributed Photo BRIDGEPORT A city man was charged Thursday after state police say they served a search warrant at his Lenox Avenue residence. The Connecticut State Police Narcotics Task Force Southwest office, aided by the State Police Gang Unit and Bridgeport police, executed a search-and-seizure warrant early Thursday at a residence in the 300 block of Lenox Avenue. Namaste said the new agreement with HEXO points to the continued validation of CannMart.com as a platform for Canadian medical cannabis Namaste says working with established players such as HEXO expands the companys product range within the medical cannabis market, while allowing its partners to focus on producing and marketing their cannabis products ( ) ( ) (FRA:M5BQ) announced that cannabis products from well-known licensed producer HEXO Corp (TSE:HEXO) will be available to Canadian medical customers on Namaste subsidiary CannMart.com beginning in March on an ongoing basis, or until such time as the agreement is terminated by either party. Namaste said the new agreement with HEXO points to the continued validation of CannMart.com as a platform for Canadian medical cannabis. Working with established players such as HEXO expands our product range within the medical cannabis market, while allowing our partners to focus on their business of producing and marketing their cannabis products, Namaste Technologies CEO Meni Morim said in a statement. He added: It is important that we continue to offer our medical customers increased access to a wider range of medical cannabis products for home delivery across Canada. We recently announced the addition of Auxly and The Green Organic Dutchman (TGOD) to CannMart.coms offering and the addition of HEXO products illustrates continued validation of our platform as a growing distribution channel for cannabis in Canada. Namaste Technologies is a cannabis-focused, e-commerce technology company with a goal of becoming the one-stop-shop for everything a cannabis user needs. The Toronto-based company, which has been described as the Amazon of cannabis, operates the largest global cannabis e-commerce platform with over 30 websites in more than 20 countries under a variety of brands. In addition to its product offerings of vaporizers, glassware, accessories, and CBD products, the company's CannMart Inc, is a key part of its operations that sells online medical and recreational cannabis. Contact Sean at sean@proactiveinvestors.com Figure Samsung Electronics' new image sensor, ISOCELL GN2 / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics By Baek Byung-yeul Samsung Electronics has begun mass-producing a new image sensor for smartphones, the ISOCELL GN2, which offers a more accurate auto-focusing feature, as part of efforts to bolster its presence in the fast-growing market. An image sensor converts an optical image into an electronic signal, and Samsung said the ISOCELL GN2 has a new 50-megapixel sensor component with 1.4-micrometer-sized pixels. "ISOCELL image sensors and their technologies have seen vast improvements to deliver the quality and performance one would expect from top-tier professional-grade cameras," Chang Duck-hyun, executive vice president of Samsung's sensor division, said Tuesday. What distinguishes the new product from its predecessor, the ISOCELL GN1, is its Dual Pixel Pro technology that offers ultra-fast auto-focusing. By employing two photodiodes within every pixel of the image sensor, Dual Pixel Pro makes use of one hundred million phase-detecting agents for ultra-fast auto-focusing, the company said. "Our new ISOCELL GN2 features Dual Pixel Pro, an innovative all-direction auto-focusing system that boosts its ability to capture moments as they unfold. Adding on Smart ISO Pro and a variety of advanced pixel technologies, pictures from GN2 are more true-to-life than ever," the executive said. The ISOCELL GN2 also enables users to take much clearer shots as it features an increased dynamic range with a staggered HDR feature, which uses rolling shutters over the same pixel arrays to capture multiple frames in short, middle, and long exposures. "By maximizing the dynamic range, staggered-HDR ensures rich detail and vivid color in highlights and dark shadows within the scene, making it an ideal system for shooting high-contrast scenes," the company said. Samsung's staggered HDR feature is also able to reduce energy consumption by up to 24 percent of that used by the ISOCELL GN1, contributing to the improved energy efficiency of the overall system. The ISOCELL GN2 also enables the shooting of full-HD videos at 480 frames-per-second or 4K at 120 fps, allowing users to record super-slow motion videos. The global image sensor market has grown steadily on the back of soaring demand from not only IT devices but also automobiles. Industry analysts estimate Samsung's global share in 2020 was nearly 20 percent. Samsung hopes to grab the biggest slice of the global non-memory chip market by 2030 and analysts said the company will continue to beef up its competency in image sensors, which are one of the core areas for system semiconductors. New York (UN) 23 February 2021 (SPS)- Frente POLISARIOs Representative to the UN, Dr. Sidi Mohamed Omar, addressed a letter to the President of the UN Security Council, UK Ambassador, Mrs. Barbara Woodward, informing her of the interception by Saharawi authorities of Moroccan-produced Cannabis in Dougj sector in the Saharawi liberated territories and their destruction in the presence of the Public Prosecutors office. I would like to report that a unit from the Sahrawi Army intercepted and seized 200 kilograms of Moroccan-produced cannabis in the region of Galb Thliem in the Dougj sector of the Liberated Territories of Western Sahara. The drugs, which were being transported across the Moroccan illegal military wall, were destroyed on 18 February in the presence of a representative of the Sahrawi Public Prosecutors Office, the letter indicates. The operation, the Saharawi diplomat adds, is part of the anti-drug-trafficking operations carried out by the Sahrawi Army throughout the Sahrawi Liberated Territories where large quantities of Moroccan-produced Cannabis and other drugs were intercepted and destroyed. On several occasions, UN Military Observers (UNMOs) of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) were invited to witness the destruction of the seized drugs, Sidi Mohamed said. He recalled that in conformity with our obligations as an AU Member State and thanks to the growing cooperation with our neighbours, we have actively contributed to curbing the illicit flow of drugs, especially Moroccan-produced drugs, into and across our region. The Representative of the Frente POLISARIO recalls that, since 13 November 2020, the entire Territory of Western Sahara has become a zone of open war because of Moroccos serious breach of the 1991 ceasefire and its act of aggression on the Liberated Territories of Western Sahara. He further deplored that the United Nations inaction in the face of the Moroccan aggression has undermined the organisations credibility and the effectiveness and operation of its mission on the ground and has encouraged the Moroccan occupying state to persist in its destabilising actions in the region. He also recalled that it is well known that Morocco remains the worlds largest producer and exporter of cannabis, as confirmed by many international reports including the 2020 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report of the US Department of State and the World Drug Report 2020 of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (SPS) 090/500/60 (SPS) Beyond barbecues and ceremonies: Recognizing Memorial Day For many, Memorial Day weekend is about gathering with family and grilling or attending a parade. Some find a more personal way to honor the holiday. Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook. Jody Normandeau writes from Dummerston. The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of the Brattleboro Reformer. 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. SPRINGFIELD House Ways and Means Chairman Richard E. Neal welcomed the U.S. Supreme Courts decision on Monday not to shield former President Donald Trumps tax returns from a New York grand jury. The Springfield Democrat is in his own federal lawsuit against now-private citizen Trump in whats been a two-year effort to make Trumps returns public. Trump famously refused to disclose his taxes, breaking a tradition that stretches back through every administration since Richard Nixon. Neal sued in 2019 to force the IRS to disclose Trumps taxes. Neals case is now before Trump-appointed federal Judge Trevor McFadden in Washington. On Monday, in a separate case, the Supreme Court cleared the way for a New York grand jury to get Trumps returns. The New York case wouldnt result in the records being public. This morning, the Supreme Court once again affirmed that no one is above the law. The necessity for the case I am pursuing is clear and I remain fully confident that we will prevail, Neal said He added, Our work continues, with the law on our side. In his primary campaign, Neal critics alleged he was slow-walking the Trump case and letting the president off the hook. But Neal, who was reluctant to discuss the case for fear of jeopardizing the argument that its not a political ploy, calls for patience. People were saying that somehow a federal judge was going to make a demand because a member of congress said so? Neal told reporters gathered Monday in the lobby of the federal courthouse where his district office is located. Its going to take a long time to play out. Neal has said the issue isnt dead even though Trump is out of the White House. Neal has said hes upholding a principle of oversight that goes back to the Magna Carta. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has sought Trumps tax records since 2019 as part of an investigation. Vance has disclosed little about what prompted him to request the records, according to the Associated Press. But in a court filing last year, however, prosecutors said they were justified in demanding the records because of public reports of possibly extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Trump Organization. Part of Vance probe involves payments to two women porn actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal to keep them quiet during the 2016 presidential campaign about alleged extramarital affairs with Trump, the AP reported. Trump has denied the affairs. Last month, a federal judge ruled that the IRS must give Trump 72-hours notice before releasing his taxes to Neal and the Democrats. Trump faces the possibility that now that the IRS is part of the Biden Administration, it will stop fighting Neals lawsuit and just release the documents. Related content: School districts across America are voting to include Black Lives Matter in their primary and secondary school curricula. Because whether BLM is taught at all should largely be dependent on how it is taught, it's important to get a handle on the factual and ideological premises behind it. In a February letter to his staff, Allen Bourff, the superintendent at Indiana's Hamilton Southeastern School, created a firestorm by instructing that BLM should be taught as a political issue, not as a social issue. Some BLM-supporters strongly objected. Indiana's Racial Equity Community Network released a statement: "The Black Lives Matter movement is not an extremist political group, as many white residents asserted in recent complaints to the school board and administration. The BLM movement isn't about politics; it's about humanity." The BLM website directly contradicts that assertion, aligning with Dr. Bourff's take: "Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise." Regardless of its counterfactual assertion that black lives are "systematically and intentionally targeted for demise," BLM describes itself as an ideological and political movement. Why should it be treated otherwise? Some argue that BLM: the organization is different from BLM: the movement. This is a distinction without a difference. Are we, as reasonable, logical adults, to understand and define BLM as something different from how BLM defines itself? If there is a BLM lesson plan, who defines what BLM is, and from which source would he acquire information pertaining to the BLM movement? Another difficulty in presenting BLM to students at the primary and secondary level is the idea of "systemic racism" that underpins BLM's reason for being. Although BLM does not define systemic racism on its website, we can look to other organizations to fill in the blanks. According to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African-American History and Culture, if you subscribe to traits such as individualism, empiricism, objective-linear thinking, and punctuality, you are part of the White Supremacy power structure. But aren't these the traits for which we send our children to school? Another question is, who will teach BLM? Instructing children about the arguments surrounding a political and ideological movement requires a logical, reasonable, rational, dispassionate approach. It is reasonable to ask if primary and secondary teachers are educated and trained to address political and ideological material objectively, without fear or favor. It takes tremendous self-discipline to present the material surrounding this issue in the manner it requires. One could argue that secondary-level teachers daily present material on Marxism, capitalism, mercantilism, feudalism, and other ideologies, but these curricula have developed over decades, and a consensus has been formed on their definition and presentation. BLM, on the other hand, was founded in 2013 by Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi, and Patrice Cullors, the last of whom describes herself as a "trained Marxist." Moreover, teaching BLM is different from teaching Marxist theory. Instead of the Marxist proletariat, BLM substitutes race and sexual/gender identity as oppressed classes. Culturally and institutionally, for the most part, we've reached a consensus about traditional Marxist theory, but this modern iteration hasn't been sufficiently critically analyzed to introduce into our schools. Most troublingly, when it comes to teaching BLM to schoolchildren, we would be asking them to accept and internalize BLM's foundational lies namely, that America is a structurally racist society that targets black men for murder. BLM's "Herstory" page says the "murders" of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown were the driving force behind BLM's existence. While both men were killed by non-blacks, neither was murdered. In Martin's case, a jury acquitted the shooter, George Zimmerman, of murder. The evidence showed that Martin brutally attacked Zimmerman and tried to beat him to death before Zimmerman shot Martin. Michael Brown was shot and killed by a Ferguson, Missouri police officer after Brown assaulted the patrolman and tried to steal his weapon. Even Eric Holder's Justice Department, which never met a racial conflict it could not exploit, passed on indicting the officer. Yet BLM describes both deaths as racially motivated murders. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was once confronted about a lie she told in justification of a policy position. She responded that it is more important to be morally correct than to be factually correct. Is it morally correct for us to teach our children BLM's ideology without examining its foundational lies? The most troubling aspect of this conflict is that we cannot openly discuss the issue without accusations of racism. Such accusations stifle and smother rational discourse and debate. To reach a consensus, we must approach this and similar issues assuming the people with which we disagree are acting in good faith. This discussion is happening now in school districts across the country, and we must insist that our local school boards and administrators stand up to the accusations of racism and do the right thing. Chris Boland can be reached at cboland7@outlook.com. [February 23, 2021] BIBA Launches BRIM 2021, a New Virtual Global Insurance & Risk Management Conference for Barbados BIBA, the Association for Global Business in Barbados, is excited to announce its first virtual Barbados Risk & Insurance Management (BRIM) global conference in Barbados between March 24 and 25, 2021. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005908/en/ BIBA President Derrick Cummins, noted that Barbados is one of the top tier domiciles for captive insurance companies in the world and such a conference was long overdue. According to Cummins, who is also the CEO of Amicorp Bank & Trust Ltd, as businesses and individuals grapple with the fallout from the COVID-19 global pandemic, the insurance industry worldwide is experiencing a high demand for coverage. However, on the flip side, he said insurers were facing high capital adequacy requirements, "creating the type of hard market that leaves clients little room for negotiating on premiums, and insurers little appetite for writing new policies." Despite this, Ricardo Knight, Biba's Marketing and Communications Committee chair and Senior Vice-President of Marsh Captive Solutions, said captive insurance business registrations continued to expand in Barbados. "We are one of the Top Ten jurisdictions in the world. I don't think we can really speak to many industries in the world, where Barbados is in the Top Ten of an industry, which is growing during one of the harshest pandemics that the world has ever seen," Knight stressed. Statistics from the Barbados Financial Services Commission show that Barbados has 279 captive insurance companies, the bulk of which are Canadian and American entities. 16 new captives were formed in 2020. Cummins added that: "We have designed this conference as a must-attend event for risk, insurance, finance, investment, legal and any profssionals aligned with the insurance sector, especially the captive industry." Among the many topics up for discussion at the conference are: Risk Management Post-Pandemic Emerging Markets - New Opportunities Investment opportunities in a low yield environment New Initiatives in Captives - Covering Cyber Risk and Pandemic Risk Risk Management & Climate Change Managing Investment Portfolios for Captives Regulation in a Post-COVID World Disaster Risk Financing and Sustainable Development - A Look at Parametric Insurance at the Sovereign and Micro Levels IFRS 17 - It's time for a Straight Line to the Finish Some of the scheduled speakers at BRIM 2021 are: Michael Serricchio, Managing Director of Marsh Captive Solutions in the Americas Daryl Senick, Partner and National Insurance Leader with BDO Canada Elizabeth Emanuel, Technical Assistance Manager for the CCRIF SPC (formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility) Professor Avinash Persaud, Chairman of the regulator for the industry, the FSC Ben Arrindell, special advisor to Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley on international business matters and Deputy Chairman of Cidel Bank & Trust The staging of this conference is being made possible by Diamond Sponsors: RBC Dominion Securities Global and the USA Risk Group; our Platinum Sponsor: London & Capital; our Gold Sponsor: Strategic Risk Solutions; and our Bronze Sponsors: Invest Barbados, Sagicor Life Inc, and Summit Asset Management. Announcing their commitment to long-term sponsorship of the event, Jean Crawford, Senior Vice-President of USA Risk Group and Elliott Barrow, Vice-President, Portfolio Manager of RBC Dominion Securities Global, said they were pleased to be diamond sponsors of BRIM 2021. "We are excited to be involved in this and be a diamond sponsor. This is long overdue, and Biba has our full support and commitment for 2021 and beyond," said Crawford. Barrow, who described the captive insurance industry as a significant part of RBC Dominion Securities Global portfolio, remarked: "It is an industry we are very excited to be a part of, and we will commit to be diamond sponsors. This is an important development for our industry and for Barbados." Contact BIBA Secretariat for more details on how to register at biba@biba.bb or (246) 537 - 2422 or visit www.brim.biba.bb About Biba Biba is a non-profit private sector organization comprising companies engaged in global business from within and through Barbados, and companies which are otherwise strategically associated with this sector. It provides a network for meetings and exchange. Biba serves as a voice for the development of global business in Barbados and has over 140 member firms at this time. Biba has repositioned itself as the Association for Global Business to align with the vision of Barbados being a global business hub. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005908/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Beyond barbecues and ceremonies: Recognizing Memorial Day For many, Memorial Day weekend is about gathering with family and grilling or attending a parade. Some find a more personal way to honor the holiday. Kerrville, TX (78028) Today More clouds than sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 82F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy overnight with thunderstorms likely. Low near 65F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Its nearly two months since turbulence erupted around China Huarong Asset Management Co.At the end of March, its 4% perpetual dollar bond was trading at 102 cents on the dollar as investors figured the January execution of former chairman Lai Xiaomin for bribery put a line under past wayward behavior. But the failure of the company to release 2020 results by a March 31 deadline, and a subsequent report by mainland media Caixin that the firm will restructure, sparked weeks of turmoil. The same bond is now at 57 cents.The heart of the matter is whether the central government will rescue a state-owned company thats integral to the smooth running of the financial system. While there are signs Beijing wants to ensure China Huarong can repay its debts on time, uncertainty prevails.Heres a look at the key events for China Huarong:May 28The company has wired funds to repay $978 million of notes maturing within the following week, according to Bloomberg News, the biggest bond payment since the 2020 results delay.May 27Liang Qiang, who currently heads another bad-debt manager, is on track to become president of China Huarong, reports Bloomberg News.May 24China Huarong dollar bonds climb after the managing editor of Caixin Media wrote in an opinion piece that the asset manager is nowhere near defaulting on its more than $20 billion of offshore notes.May 21Some of China Huarongs thinly traded onshore bonds slump after having held up better than the companys dollar-denominated notes, signaling broadening concern about the firms financial health.May 18China Huarong has transferred funds to repay a $300 million note maturing May 20, Bloomberg News reports, the first dollar bond to come due since the delayed 2020 results. Prices for the firms dollar bonds slump earlier in the day after the New York Times reports China is planning an overhaul that would inflict significant losses on both domestic and foreign China Huarong bondholders.May 17The company has reached funding agreements with state-owned banks to ensure it can repay debt through at least the end of August, by which time China Huarong aims to have completed its 2020 financial statements, according to a Bloomberg News report. That as at least two of its onshore bonds see big price declines in recent days, worrying some investors.May 13The firm says its prepared to make future bond payments and has seen no change in the level of government support, seeking to ease investor concerns after a local media report that regulators balked at China Hurarongs restructuring plan.May 6The company says it transferred funds to pay five offshore bond coupons due the following day, its latest move to meet debt obligations amid persistent doubts about its financial health.April 30China Huarong breaks its silence, with an executive telling media it is prepared to make its bond payments and state backing remains intact. The official also says the weeks rating downgrades have no factual basis and are too pessimistic.April 29Moodys Investor Service downgrades China Huarong by one notch to Baa1, adding the firm remains on watch for further downgrade. The cut reflects the companys weakened funding ability due to market volatility and increased uncertainty over its future, according to the statement.April 27China Huarong units repay bonds maturing that day. The S$600 million ($450 million) bond was repaid with funds provided by Chinas biggest state-owned bank, according to a Bloomberg News report.April 26Fitch Ratings downgrades China Huarong by three notches to BBB while dropping the companys perpetual bonds into junk territory. The lack of transparency over government support for the firm may hamper its ability to refinance debt in offshore markets, Fitch said.April 25China Huarong says it wont meet an April 30 deadline to file its 2020 report with Hong Kongs stock exchange because auditors needed more time to finalize a transaction the company first flagged on April 1. Securities and asset-management units said in the days before that they wouldnt release 2020 results by months end.April 22The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission asks lenders to extend China Huarongs upcoming loans by at least six months, according to REDD, citing two bankers from large Chinese commercial lenders.April 21China is considering a plan that would see its central bank assume more than 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) of China Huarong assets to help clean up the firms balance sheet, according to a Bloomberg News report. Peer China Cinda Asset Management Co. was said to be planning the sale of perpetual bonds in the second quarter.April 20China Huarongs key offshore financing unit says it returned to profitability in the first quarter and laid a solid foundation for transformation. Reorg Research reports that regulators are considering options including a debt restructuring of the unit, China Huarong International Holdings Ltd.April 19Huarong Securities Co. says it wired funds to repay a 2.5 billion yuan local note.April 16The CBIRC says China Huarongs operations are normal and that the firm has ample liquidity. These are the first official comments about the companys troubles. Reuters reports Chinese banks have been asked not to withhold loans to Huarong.April 13Fitch and Moodys both put the company on watch for downgrade. The finance ministry, which owns a majority of Huarong, is considering the transfer of its stake to a unit of the countrys sovereign wealth fund, Bloomberg News reports. Chinese officials signal they want failing local government financing vehicles to restructure or go bust if debts cant be repaid.April 9China Huarong says it has been making debt payments on time and its operations are normal. Bloomberg News reports the company intends to keep Huarong International as part of a potential overhaul that would avoid the need of a debt restructuring or government recapitalization. S&P Global Ratings puts China Huarongs credit ratings on watch for possible downgrade.April 8China Huarong is preparing to offload non-core and loss-making units as part of a broad plan to revive profitability that would avoid the need for a debt restructuring or government recapitalization, Bloomberg News reports.April 6Selling gains steam in China Huarongs dollar bonds, following a holiday in China. Huarong Securities says there has been no major change to its operations, in response to a price plunge for its 3 billion yuan local bond.April 1China Huarong announces a delay in releasing 2020 results, saying its auditor is unable to finalize a transaction. Stock trading is suspended and spreads jump on the firms dollar bonds while China Huarong tells investors its business is running as usual. Caixin reports the company submitted restructuring and other major reform plans to government officials and shareholders.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. We are very proud we were able to secure these opportunities for associate degree nurses, who are too often shut out of acute-care hospital settings although they prove themselves to be fully competent as they must pass the same board exam as nurses with bachelors degrees, said Donna Dubois, an Ingalls nurse. This important commitment will go a long way toward providing opportunities for nurses who are graduating from the surrounding community colleges. AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SparkCognition, the world's leading industrial artificial intelligence (AI) company, is pleased to announce it has entered into an agreement to acquire AIM2 from hedge fund management company Brevan Howard and global investment bank Nomura. SparkCognition has also executed contracts with both Brevan Howard and Nomura, which will allow SparkCognition to further expand its AI capabilities into the financial services vertical and meet the needs of its customers around the world. AIM2 was launched in 2015 and became a joint venture between Brevan Howard and Nomura in 2019, and is a financial technology company that is transforming market making and quantitative investment strategy with cutting-edge artificial intelligence products. As a result of this agreement, SparkCognition will begin providing AIM2's products and technology including ORCA/AI Trader, Alpha Cycles, and Alpha Waves. This will allow SparkCognition extended opportunities in financial services providing a comprehensive portfolio of AI offerings complementing their Darwin, DeepNLP, and DeepArmor products. "We are excited to have finalized this acquisition moving the AIM2 team and products under the SparkCognition umbrella," noted SparkCognition CEO Amir Husain. "Building on the accomplishments of Brevan Howard and Nomura and continuing to work with them allows us to accelerate the momentum of our AI capabilities in financial services and position SparkCognition at the heart of this industry." Brevan Howard is licensing AIM2's cutting-edge Alpha Cycle and Alpha Wave products along with SparkCognition's industry leading DeepNLP and Darwin products. "SparkCognition's unique skillset and talent coupled with AIM2's financial products and expertise will make the combined company a force to be reckoned with," said Alan Howard, co-founder of Brevan Howard. Nomura is accelerating the global deployment of AIM2's ORCA/AI Trader across its flow businesses. This will assist in augmenting banks' trading ecosystem for broad asset classes such as: Fixed Income, swaps, credit and FX. "Nomura is looking forward to working with AIM2 and SparkCognition in bringing advanced AI capabilities to our market making and trading capabilities over the coming years," said Wholesale Chief Digital Officer for Nomura Jez Mohideen. AIM2 is headquartered in Austin, Texas with a global profile, including New York and London. For more information on SparkCognition, visit www.SparkCognition.com . About SparkCognition SparkCognition catalyzes sustainable growth for their clients throughout the world with proven artificial intelligence (AI) systems, award-winning machine learning technology, and a multinational team of AI thought-leaders. Clients are trusted with advancing lives, infrastructure, sustainability, and financial systems across the globe. They partner with SparkCognition to understand their industry's most pressing challenges, analyze complex data, empower decision-making, and transform human and industrial productivity. With leading-edge artificial intelligence productsDarwin, DeepArmor, SparkPredict, and DeepNLP SparkCognition's clients can adapt to a rapidly changing digital landscape and accelerate their business strategies. To learn more about how SparkCognition's AI applications can unlock the power in your data, visit www.sparkcognition.com . About Brevan Howard Founded in 2002, Brevan Howard is one of the world's leading global macro absolute return managers. Brevan Howard manages assets for institutional investors around the globe including sovereign wealth funds, corporate and public pension plans, foundations and endowments. The group has over 200 employees with offices in London, New York, Geneva, Jersey, Hong Kong, Washington and Singapore. About Nomura Nomura is a global financial services group with an integrated network spanning over 30 countries. By connecting markets East & West, Nomura services the needs of individuals, institutions, corporates and governments through its four business divisions: Retail, Asset Management, Wholesale (Global Markets and Investment Banking), and Merchant Banking. Founded in 1925, the firm is built on a tradition of disciplined entrepreneurship, serving clients with creative solutions and considered thought leadership. For further information about Nomura, visit www.nomura.com. SparkCognition Contact Info Michelle Saab VP, Marketing Communications [email protected] 512-956-5491 SOURCE SparkCognition Related Links www.sparkcognition.com UPL announced that a serious fire broke out in a plant in shutdown condition in the early hours of this morning at the company's Jhagadia unit in Gujarat. The company's r emergency response team and local fire brigade have already brought the fire under control. While no fatality is reported, 21 people received treatment at the local hospital and 13 are already discharged with minor treatment. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Newly proposed U.S. legislation targets Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez as allegations of ties to drug trafficking grow. As the administration of President Joe Biden seeks to return the issues of corruption and human rights to relations with Honduras and other Central American countries, a group of Democratic senators says the U.S. governments relationship with Honduras must change. On Tuesday, Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon introduced a bill that would seek to isolate Hernandez, who in recent years has leaned heavily on his support within the U.S. government when facing domestic opposition and multiplying allegations of connections to drug traffickers by U.S. prosecutors. The United States cannot remain silent in the face of deeply alarming corruption and human rights abuses being committed at the highest levels of the Honduran government, Merkley said in a statement. A failure to hold Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, national officials, and members of the police and military accountable for these crimes will fuel widespread poverty and violence and force more families to flee their communities in search of safety. Merkleys bill, Honduras Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Act of 2021, calls on Biden to impose sanctions on Hernandez and determine whether he is a specially designated narcotics trafficker. The legislation also has the backing of Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Richard Durbin of Illinois and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts among others. Such a designation would be a tremendous reversal of fortunes for a president who frequently cites Honduras active participation in the U.S. war on drugs whenever U.S. prosecutors in New York suggest his political rise was funded in part by drug traffickers. He has not been charged. The bill also seeks to prohibit the export of defense items such as tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets that Honduran security forces have deployed in recent years against protesters. The U.S. government would actively oppose loans to Honduras security forces from multilateral development banks. It calls on the Honduran government to talk to the United Nations about establishing an anti-corruption mission in the style of one that had success in Guatemala. Under Hernandez, a mission backed by the Organization of American States was not renewed after it began to implicate a number of federal lawmakers in corruption scandals. Earlier this month, Hernandez again denied any connection to drug trafficking after U.S. prosecutors filed documents in an upcoming drug traffickers trial suggesting the president was under investigation. Hernandezs brother Juan Antonio Tony Hernandez was convicted in New York of a drug conspiracy in 2019. On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with his Honduran counterpart about cooperation between the two countries governments. Under the administration of President Donald Trump, immigration overshadowed everything else in the relationship. Biden has spoken about development support for so-called Northern Triangle countries to address the root causes of migration, but Blinken also included corruption and lack of respect for human rights as causes of migration, according to a State Department summary of the call. Tom Vilsack, President Joe Bidens nominee to head the Department of Agriculture, delivers remarks at the Queen Theater in Wilmington, Del., on Dec. 11, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Senate Confirms Tom Vilsack as Agriculture Secretary On Feb. 23, the U.S. Senate confirmed Tom Vilsack as secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). He has said hes committed to advancing President Joe Bidens climate agenda within the agricultural sector. He has also said he will prioritize nutrition equity and equity for farmers of color, echoing another of Bidens top priorities, racial equity. Vilsack will be responsible for getting food out to needy families as prescribed in the COVID-19 aid packages, and helping farmers through the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic. Vilsack, 69, headed the USDA under Obama from 1999 to 2007. He then served as the CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council. A former governor of Iowa, he unsuccessfully ran for the presidency in 2008 and later endorsed Hillary Clinton. The Senate approved the nomination by a 92-7 vote. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) broke the party line and voted against Vilsack. On Climate Agriculture is probably the first and best way to begin getting some wings in this climate area, Vilsack said on Feb. 2, when he testified before the Senate Agriculture Committee on his nomination for secretary of agriculture. The Biden administration has billed climate change as one of its immediate priorities, along with the pandemic, the economy, and racial equity. Vilsack continued, If it is voluntary, market-based, incentive-based, I think you will see farmers, ranchers, and producers cooperate extensively. He has proposed programs related to carbon sequestration and storage, methane capture and reuse, and biofuels. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan) and Sen. John Boozman (R-Arkansas) of the agriculture committee urged Vilsack at the hearing to view farmers as a solution, not a problem, in advancing the climate agenda. Our drumbeat is whatever is done, it needs to be voluntary, producer-led, bipartisan, and it really starts with producers, Stabenow said. We know from [a] hearing we did last year in this committee that farmers are already doing things that are making a difference. They are capturing carbon and lessening the carbon pollution. Boozman said, Its important that USDA and this committee keep producers at the forefront of any discussion on climate change. Heavy-handed, one-size-fits-all regulations simply will not work. Former President Donald Trump had much support among farmers, in part for rolling back Obama-era environmental regulations that affected them. Notably, he contested the Waters of the United States rule and replaced it with the Navigable Waters Protection Rule. Ahead of that change, Trump spoke on the matter at an American Farm Bureau Federation convention, on Jan. 19, 2020. I am proud to announce that I am taking yet another step to protect the water rights of American farmers and ranchers, Trump said, adding that the change would allow states to manage their water resources based on their own needs and based on what their farmers and ranchers want. You love your land. Youre going to take care of your land. You dont need bureaucrats in Washington telling everyone what to do with your land, he said. The agriculture economy is currently propped up by record-high subsidies provided by the Trump administration to mitigate the losses from years-long price drops, trade wars, and the pandemic. Vilsack he would build the economy through new markets, including biofuel at home and trade opportunities abroad. Nutrition Equity Vilsack said he would advance nutrition equity by helping people of color cope with obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. Its one of four major areas he would focus on while tackling the pandemic; the other three are climate change, food security, and trade. The USDA has an estimated 2021 budget of $151 billion and nearly 100,000 employees. Well over half of its budget goes to fund national food programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program). He also said hell make sure farmers of color have equal access to USDA support. Vilsack, 69, was an orphan in Pittsburgh, adopted in 1951. He practiced law in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and served as the citys mayor when the farm sector was recovering from its second worst agricultural depression, caused by the farm credit crisis of the 1980s. He served on the Iowa State Senate before becoming governor. So far, the Senate has confirmed nine of Bidens 15 cabinet nominations. At least five of his cabinet picks are Obama administration veterans. COURTENAY, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 22, 2021 / At the invitation of Canada's House of Commons Committee on Natural Resources, Eagle Graphite's (TSXV:EGA) CEO, Jamie Deith , gave testimony earlier today on the subject of critical minerals supply chains. The text of the 5-minute opening statement follows: Thank you - I deeply appreciate your inviting me to share some thoughts. When I accidentally bought a graphite mine 15 years ago, I had no idea just how lucky I was to have stumbled on our project. Here was a graphite quarry that was already built and permitted, and had already produced graphite. The project was and is an environmental dream, with no acid contamination to worry about, and not even any tailings because there is a market for all the material that isn't graphite. It has hydroelectric power for processing, and is amenable to all-electric operations once haul vehicle technology advances far enough. The graphite itself is indispensable for a number of clean energy technologies - it is the carbon that reduces carbon footprint. The project enjoys overwhelming community support, including support expressed by all political parties, provincial and federal. It is staffed by loyal and talented people who became experts by actually making graphite - producing some of the highest quality graphite in the world, and doing so on an unbelievably low budget. Before long we successfully qualified as a supplier to some key customers, and all we had to do was scale up production capacity to meet their orders. On reflection, we had stumbled into no ordinary project, but one whose features are globally unique. Compared to all my peers who had unintentionally purchased their own graphite mines, I was clearly the most fortunate of the bunch. However, I also had no clue just how much pain we were in for trying to further develop the project. Natural graphite is the poster child for minerals dominated by China, and in the face of a near monopoly wielded by one of most powerful governments in the world, no combination of attributes could convince prospective sources of capital to invest in the required expansion. Supply chains around the world seemed mostly content with heavy reliance on a single nation. In the extreme case of natural graphite for lithium-ion batteries, fully 100% of the intermediate stage processing was, and still is taking place in China. This positioning is intentional. China has been investing in electric vehicles since at least 2009, and openly seeks global dominance in the sector. Meanwhile, project financing circles generally approached green energy as an afterthought, and viewed traditional fossil fuel projects as safer long term bets. However, as noted by one of your earlier witnesses, viewpoints have recently shifted rapidly and decisively. With GM and Ford the latest to fully commit to EVs, the green energy debate is seemingly over, at least where transportation is concerned. The question is not if, but when, the last fossil fuel car will roll off the line. At the same time, there is a renewed sense of urgency for secure, localized and diversified supply chains - across all industries, but especially those critical to defense and otherwise foundational to the economy. It has finally dawned on us and our allies collectively that some parts of the economy need a reliable underpinning of steady supply. Now that this tipping point has arrived, Canada has a choice of roles. One can choose to be base level raw materials supplier. These minerals are poised for exponential demand growth, and projects like my own seem likely to be slammed with more customers than we can handle. In our case this would mean selling our natural graphite for about 1 dollar per kg, based on current markets. If my hunch is correct, our economic friends and adversaries alike will soon gladly take all we have to offer for that 1 dollar. Standing today, this is the limit of Canada's capabilities. Canada's other alternative is for us to invest heavily and with urgency in downstream manufacturing, nurturing a viable ecosystem of 2nd- and 3rd-stage processing capacity where currently there is a vacuum. For graphite this means processing that $1 output into advanced products like battery anodes, valued at over $5 per kg. Most of us would prefer the latter role, but achieving this requires significantly increased commitment from all of us; half measures will not buy us half an ecosystem. There are many good ideas as to the form these commitments might take, and there simply isn't enough time to list them now. In any event, whatever we do must be bold, and so compelling that end users and investors alike will find the effort credible enough that they will queue up to buy in. This is how we go from where we are now to a thriving ecosystem. And if we achieve this, it won't just be a happy accident. Thank you! I look forward to your questions. The full meeting, including questions and answers, can be viewed online at: https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/43-2/RNNR/meeting-13/notice About Eagle Graphite Eagle Graphite owns the only natural flake graphite facility in western North America that is constructed and permitted. The Black Crystal quarry and plant are located 35 kilometres west of the city of Nelson in British Columbia, Canada, 70 kilometres north of the state of Washington, USA. The Company's shares are listed on the TSXV under the symbol "EGA". Cautionary Statements Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Such information is based on assumptions, estimates, opinions and analysis made by management in light of its experience, current conditions and its expectations of future developments as well as other factors which it believes to be reasonable and relevant. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking information and accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on such information. Although the Company believes, in light of the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate, that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. In evaluating forward-looking information, readers should carefully consider the various factors which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward looking information. The statements in this release are made as of the date of this release. The Company undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of the Company or its securities, its financial or operating results, as applicable. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. For More Information Eagle Graphite Incorporated Jamie Deith, President & CEO (604) 909-4237 jdeith@eaglegraphite.com SOURCE: Eagle Graphite Incorporated View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/631211/Eagle-Graphite-Releases-Opening-Statement-to-House-of-Commons-Meeting-on-Critical-Minerals Alaska Airlines will pay more than $3 million to the family of a 74-year-old woman who died in 2017 after falling down an escalator in a motorized scooter at Portland International Airport. Jurors in a civil trial on the familys wrongful death suit found that Alaska Airlines violated the Air Carrier Access Act, which prohibits discrimination against disabled travelers and requires airlines to provide assistance with boarding, deplaning and making connections. The airlines negligence caused the injuries and death of Bernice Kekona, the Feb. 22 verdict found. Kekona was traveling from Maui back to her home near Spokane on June 7, 2017, when a gate-to-gate assistance worker left her alone in a concourse of the Portland airport instead of helping her get to her connecting flight, according to the lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court in Seattle. Her family had requested a gate-to-gate escort service, the suit said. Employees for Huntleigh USA Corp, a subcontractor that provides the escort service for Alaska Airlines, said they were never told about the request for Kekona, according to the trial brief. The suit said Kekona was a vulnerable adult who could become confused in unfamiliar places. Her family requested the escort because she was elderly, diabetic, wore glasses, had trouble hearing, had an amputated leg, had partial paralysis on one side of her body [and] spoke in broken English. While trying to navigate to the flight from Portland to Spokane, she tumbled down an escalator while strapped to a motorized scooter weighing several hundred pounds, the suit said. She survived the initial fall but her wounds eventually became infected, the suit said. Doctors had to amputate the lower part of her other leg and she died the day after the operation in September 2017, according to the suit. Im just glad that we got justice for my mom, said Darlene Bloyed, Kekonas daughter. Im just feeling so grateful that we can finally close her life because its been going on for almost four years and its been a long four years. The case was filed in December 2017 and originally went to federal court because the Air Carrier Access Act is a federal law. It was sent to the King County court after it was determined that violations of the law were handled at the state level. The trial was scheduled for January 2020, but a lack of jurors and the spread of the coronavirus caused a delay until the two-week trial was held over Zoom this month. In a 2017 written statement, Alaska Airlines said Kekona declined help from a gate-to-gate escort worker. An Alaska manager found that the worker who didnt know Kekona was transferring flights asked if she needed help going down to baggage service, to which she said no, according to the trial brief. Another Alaska employee wrote in Kekonas passenger records that her family had asked for assistance, the trial brief said. But instead, the brief said, she was abandoned in the airport with her scooter. Alaska Airlines failed to take responsibility for the last three-and-a-half years for this failure and tried to blame Ms. Kekona and her family, said Brooke Cunningham from Randall/Danskin in Spokane, who represented Kekonas family with Luvera Law Firm based in Seattle. The jury decision gave justice and determined Alaska Airlines was responsible based on the evidence, and the family can finally get some closure on this, Cunningham told The Oregonian/OregonLive. The airline must pay $3,189,672.78 in addition to the familys attorney fees and taxable costs, the judgment said. -- Jaimie Ding jding@oregonian.com; 503-221-4395; @j_dingdingding New Delhi, Feb 23 : Construction of 56,368 houses has been approved under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U), whi are proposed to be built under the various verticals of the PMAY-U Mission. The proposal to construct new houses was approved at the 53rd Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee meeting which was attended by 11 states/UTs. Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary at the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), said, "Let's get into the mode of implementation and execution." In a statement, the MoHUA said that the secretary has urged the states/UTs to ensure 100 per cent completion and delivery of PMAY-U houses to all its eligible beneficiaries within the stipulated time period. "The participating states/UTs were also directed to use the online mechanism for proper implementation and monitoring of the mission," it said. The ministry said that the progress of Light House Projects (LHPs) and Demonstration Housing Projects (DHPs) was also reviewed by the secretary. The foundation stones for the LHPs were laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 1 this year. "The houses under LHPs are being constructed in Lucknow, Ranchi, Rajkot, Agartala, Chennai and Indore. To promote these LHP sites as live laboratories for transfer of technology to the field, the ministry has initiated an online enrolment drive for technograhis to encourage large scale citizen participation and create technical awareness, on-site learning, find ideas for solutions, experimentation and encouraging innovation," it said. The statement further stated that the secretary spoke about how the mission is promoting women's empowerment by allotting houses in the name of women beneficiaries or joint ownership. "He categorically asked the states/UTs to comply with the advisory issued by the ministry at every level, primarily ensuring that the woman beneficiary's name is mentioned on the nameplate of their PMAY-U house," said the ministry. The ministry pointed out that with the vision of 'Housing for All', the emphasis has been to accelerate construction, completion and delivery of houses across the country and the MoHUA is committed to provide pucca houses to all eligible beneficiaries of urban India by 2022 when the nation celebrates its 75th year of Independence. "As of now, more than 73 lakh houses have been grounded and nearly 43 lakh have been completed," the statement said. Fashion clients of an e-commerce firm are enjoying a quadrupling of sales from the Republic as Northern Ireland retailers benefit from the post-Brexit landscape, it's been claimed. Philip Macartney, chief commercial officer of IRP Commerce, urged retailers here to exploit the "crack in the armour" of big retail businesses like John Lewis which have put their deliveries to the island of Ireland on hold due to post-Brexit demands. He also urged the political parties in NI to promote the opportunities posed by the NI Protocol. It has effectively created an Irish Sea border, with checks and paperwork for goods coming from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. Mr Macartney said: "We absolutely do need to see more from our politicians talking about the opportunity. At IRP we're hardwired to see opportunity and our retailers tend to gravitate towards that. Across the board we went to see more from our political leadership. "We have a massive opportunity to be a conduit for trade between the Republic and the UK and Europe." IRP provides the online platform for retailers to sell online. Mr Macartney said that since Brexit, clothing retailers DV8, which has branches all over Ireland, and Jonzara in Lisburn, had reported soaring sales from the Republic. He said trading was now "through the roof" for fashion retailers in Northern Ireland selling into the Republic. Jonzara's average order from the Republic was now 95, while customers of DV8 in the Republic were spending 60. Expand Close Sales from the Republic for Jonzara and DV8 have seen impressive growth. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sales from the Republic for Jonzara and DV8 have seen impressive growth. Like in Northern Ireland, non-essential retail in the Republic has been shut since the latest lockdown began at Christmas. And since Brexit, many online retailers in Great Britain have either withdrawn temporarily from supplying customers in the Republic - while department store Debenhams, which is facing liquidation, stopped serving the market completely. Packages which are sent from Great Britain to the Republic are also subject to Vat and Customs & Excise fees. Consumer parcels to Northern Ireland from Great Britain up to the value of 135 will be free from customs processes until the start of April when a grace period runs out. Mr Macartney said customers weren't just buying the leisurewear which has grown in popularity during lockdowns while people work from home and have almost no options for socialising. "People in the south might now be buying occasionwear as they are either wanting to look good for Zoom calls, or because people are thinking that because the end of lockdown is in sight, it's time to update the wardrobe." Sales from the Republic for Jonzara and DV8 had risen between three and four-fold over the last six weeks, he said. "As much as I want to put that down to IRP, there are cultural issues there arising from Brexit. "Some of the larger companies have either gone bust or stepped back and it really has opened up the opportunity for cross-border trade. "It's a huge, huge opportunity. We have great e-commerce infrastructure here and we are very well-set up because of good transportation links. "When I see these figures for Jonzara and DV8, I think those are just the green shoots of what we could grow here. "It's about ambitious retailers seeing the opportunity and going for it." And he said that business now had a responsibility to "guide that conversation" to encourage politicians to promote the protocol. "It has now levelled the playing field for the smaller retailers to get online. "There is now a crack in the armour for the really big retailers, and smaller traders should be saying, 'this is my opportunity to trade'. "There is an almost infinite global market for SMEs," he added. "I think we've really hit a sweet spot and it will be easier for SMEs with the big boys out of the picture." He added: "Ultimately our IRP Insights show that our Irish customers, such as DV8 and Jonzara have an excellent opportunity to sell to their domestic market and outperform significantly in terms of online growth. "Our team and technology and the IRP ecosystem as a whole, have delivered in very challenging circumstances and proved yet again that our profit focused approach is the best road to success for Irish retailers in online selling." Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Classes in the Wilkes County Schools will start on Aug. 23 and end on May 25 in 2021-22 as a result of a calendar approved by the Wilkes Board of Education on Feb. 1. Indias leather industry, which is dominated by small and medium enterprises (SMEs), with 12,000-14,000 units and about Rs 67,000 crore in revenues, appears set to turn the corner after taking a hit over the past 18 months due to muted global demand, made worse by the pandemic. As per Directorate General of Foreign Trade data, the year-on-year decline in export value was a mere 5 per cent in the second quarter of FY2021, compared with 55 per cent in the first. This was significant because exports, with some 51 per cent share in total revenue, are the mainstay of the industry. plummeted in the first quarter, following lockdowns and restrictions in importing nations. About 70 per cent of the orders were either cancelled or put on hold by major destinations such as the US, Germany, Italy, France and Spain, which together account for a share of over 55 per cent in Indias exports. However, as economies opened up, exports have recorded continuous improvement. Newer destinations such as Malaysia, Russia and Turkey also contributed to the recovery. Demand for casual leather products such as jackets, belts and garments surged, while that for more formal items (shoes and briefcases) remained flat, as people continued to work from home. However, domestic demand is expected to see continued disruption in the retail segment, especially footwear (about 77 per cent share in domestic revenue), as most white-collar workers still work from home. However, gradual recovery in income sentiment, coupled with the hike in import duty on leather footwear from 25 per cent to 35 per cent in the 2020 Budget, is expected to have a marginally positive impact on domestic sales, especially in the next fiscal year. House Democrats introduced H.R. 1 in 2019 at the start of the 116th Congress. Mitch McConnell, then the majority leader of the Senate, denounced the bill as a naked attempt to change the rules of American politics to benefit one party and told reporters it was dead on arrival. This is a terrible proposal, he said that March, it will not get any floor time in the Senate. McConnell no longer controls the floor, but with a de facto supermajority requirement in the Senate, the For the People Act is still dead on arrival. That is, unless Democrats kill the legislative filibuster and restore majority rule to the chamber. Right now, Senators Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia are the most vocal Democratic opponents of ending the filibuster. I want to restore the 60-vote threshold for all elements of the Senates work, Sinema said earlier this month, seemingly mistaking McConnells Obama-era innovation for an age-old tradition. Manchin has also been emphatic about keeping the supermajority requirement, telling Politico that he will not vote in this Congress to change the filibuster. Manchin, who has been winning elections in West Virginia for the last 20 years, is safe in his seat for as long as he wants it. Sinema, on the other hand, is much more vulnerable. Not the least because Arizonas Republican state Legislature, to say nothing of its Republican Party, is all-in on stop the steal and Donald Trumps war on mail-in voting. Arizona Republicans have already introduced bills to limit voter registration drives, require notarized signatures for mailed ballots and forbid voters from actually mailing-in completed ballots. Arizona Republicans are not alone. To date, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at N.Y.U.s law school, Republicans in 33 states have introduced more than 165 bills to restrict voting, part of the national conservative backlash to the results of the 2020 presidential election. A bill in Georgia would put new restrictions on absentee and in-person early voting; four different bills in Pennsylvania would eliminate no-excuse absentee voting less than two years after Republican lawmakers voted it into law. Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 2 Republican in the House, captured the mood of the party when, on Sunday, he refused to say that the election wasnt stolen from Trump. Once the electors are counted, yes, hes the legitimate president, Scalise said in an interview with Jonathan Karl of ABC News, speaking of Joe Biden. But if youre going to ignore the fact that there were states that did not follow their own state legislatively set laws. Thats the issue at heart, that millions of people still are not happy with and dont want to see happen again. This is euphemism. There was no issue with the election. State legislatures passed laws, courts interpreted them, and officials put them into action. This was true in states Trump won, like Texas and North Carolina, as much as it was in states he lost. It almost goes without saying that the real issue, the reason Republicans are actually unhappy, is that Biden is president and Democrats control Congress. Devoted to Trump, and committed to his fictions about the election, Republicans are doing everything they can to keep voters from holding them and their leaders accountable. They will restrict the vote. They will continue to gerrymander themselves into near-permanent majorities. A Republican in Arizona has even proposed a legislative veto over the popular vote in presidential elections, under the dubious theory that state legislatures have unconditional, unlimited and unrestricted power to allocate electoral votes. Manitoba has taken the exceptional move of restricting numerous diagnostic tests in hospitals to clear up capacity for COVID-19 tests. Manitoba has taken the exceptional move of restricting numerous diagnostic tests in hospitals to clear up capacity for COVID-19 tests. "This is really starting to impact the standard of care that is typically provided across Canada," said Dr. Larissa Matukas, head of microbiology at St. Michaels Hospital in Toronto. "It should be a wake-up call to our country and the province." Shared Health has curtailed entire categories of diagnostic tests since October, requiring hospital doctors and infectious-disease specialists to get authorization to test patients for antibiotic resistance or sexually transmitted infections. Shared Health has curtailed entire categories of diagnostic tests since October, requiring hospital doctors and infectious-disease specialists to get authorization to test patients for antibiotic resistance or sexually transmitted infections. Other provinces have resisted suspensions entirely, while some have curtailed certain tests for much shorter time periods. Health Minister Heather Stefansons office declined a Free Press request for an interview Monday. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press files) That's because all Manitoba hospital labs are instead focused on testing their patients and staff for COVID-19 for as long as needed, Shared Health said Monday. Other provinces have resisted suspensions entirely, while some have curtailed certain tests for much shorter time periods. Health Minister Heather Stefansons office declined a Free Press request for an interview Monday. Since October, Manitoba's regular testing protocol no longer includes bacteria that cause urinary tract infections or communicable diseases such as gonorrhea. "You will basically favour the spread of drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and this is a big public-health issue," said Matukas, who reviewed the Manitoba policy. "And there is no other way to detect that resistance, other than through cultures right now. Manitoba the exception The Free Press surveyed health officials in all 10 provinces, asking whether they had curtailed hospital testing since the coronavirus pandemic started in March. None reported a four-month suspension of testing, as has been the case in Manitoba. click to read more The Free Press surveyed health officials in all 10 provinces, asking whether they had curtailed hospital testing since the coronavirus pandemic started in March. None reported a four-month suspension of testing, as has been the case in Manitoba. Saskatchewan tightened its criteria in the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, prioritizing the most urgent or serious types of testing. Around that time, Nova Scotia temporarily suspended swab tests for sexually transmitted infections in lower-priority patients, because of a shortage in personnel and testing swabs; some of that shortfall was made up with urine tests. For eight weeks starting in late November, Nova Scotia again restricted some STI tests, and is still not doing certain fungal or bacterial tests unless theyre deemed high-priority. Alberta, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador all said they have not had to reduce hospital testing, while Ontario has reportedly avoided such a situation. Quebec, British Columbia and Prince Edward Island did not provide a response in time for publication. Dylan Robertson Close "They tried to choose things that will have the least impact on individual patient diagnoses, but when I look at it, there are actually some that will have public-health implications," she said. Women with an inflamed bladder often get a urine test to determine whether it should be treated as a bacterial infection, but that's now only available in certain cases. "They're eliminating some of the core features of a diagnostic lab," Matukas said. She was particularly concerned about two forms of drug-resistant superbugs, MRSA and CPOs; doctors can test patients when they enter the hospital, but now need approval to test for patients already admitted to hospital wards. "It has been shown that if you stop screening, that it will lead to more infections and potentially worse outcomes for patients. Some of these are not inconsequential," Matukas said. Ontario crafted a contingency plan in case COVID-19 overwhelms labs, which would include some of the tests Manitoba has restricted, she said. "I am not aware of any diagnostic lab in Ontario that has actually had to go there yet," she said. "It's very unfortunate that Manitoba actually had to go ahead and implement those plans." Ontario had centralized lab services over the years, leaving little buffer room to surge up in a public-health crisis, she said. Still, that province managed to lean on its smaller labs, and at one point sent lower-priority asymptomatic COVID-19 test samples to private California labs. Oct. 2, Manitoba "temporarily suspended" tests in a dozen categories, unless Shared Health issued an exemption. The agency widened that criteria much further on Oct. 19, as Manitoba started registering some of the fastest growth in coronavirus cases in the country. Shared Health said microbiologists decide whether to allow tests that health-care workers request, and that the suspension "represents less than one per cent of the testing offered in these labs," wrote a spokesperson, who would not be named. "This measure will be lifted when the demand for COVID testing of staff and patients lessen. Due to the unpredictable nature of the pandemic, we will not speculate on when that might be." The spokesperson said the temporary change was made in consultation with senior health-care providers. "Should a health-care provider determine one of these tests is necessary for their patient, it will be completed upon request." Shared Health also said it could not provide data on how many exemptions have been sought, and how many tests occurred in a month before the policy took effect. "Lab staff are busy working on pandemic-related tasks and are unable at this time to respond to your request for precise data on this matter," the spokesperson wrote to the Free Press. "Anecdotally, its believed there have been less than 100 requests for these types of lab tests to be performed since the memo was issued." Manitoba suspended the various tests in order to reserve hospital capacity for COVID-19 testing of hospital patients and staff. The province says while it has the capacity to conduct 3,000 tests per day, there has been far less demand for testing as of late. It met that threshold during November when case numbers spiked, but has lately averaged out at fewer than 2,000 per day. NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara argued the province could have anticipated the second wave and spent to ramp up COVID-19 testing, instead of limiting patient testing for four months. "Its wholly unacceptable its been going this long and its incredibly disappointing and, quite frankly, embarrassing," said Asagwara, noting that Manitoba was already seeing a rise in some sexually transmitted infections before COVID-19. "All of this could be mitigated with proper planning." Stefansons office insisted the decision was the best way to ensure quality care during the public-health emergency. "Limiting access to a small number of simple lab tests frees up resources to respond to COVID-19 while not compromising the care of patients, who can be diagnosed using other clinical indicators," wrote spokesman Brant Batters. But Asagwara argued the policy amounts to interfering in the decision of health-care workers about whats best for their patients, particularly the most marginalized ones. "There is no way to spin this in a way that makes sense," said the MLA for Union Station. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca Photo: The Canadian Press A woman and child walk down a street in Attawapiskat, Ont. The parliamentary budget office says it could cost the federal government up to $15 billion to compensate First Nations families and children impacted by the child welfare system, as well as denials or delays of essential services. The figure updates the budget office's initial estimate to include thousands more children, parents and grandparents who would qualify for the $40,000 payments under recent developments in the case. Jordan's Principle requires governments to cover the cost of services for First Nations children, and work out any disputes over jurisdiction afterwards. The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has ordered the government to compensate children and families who had been denied service, or faced delays. The updated report adds roughly 100,000 more First Nations children, along with their parents and grandparents, whose compensation would alone be about $10 billion. The new estimate of about $15 billion includes the 13,000 children originally expected to be eligible for compensation, mostly related to delayed approval of claims, as well as those taken into care unnecessarily, and their families. The tribunal ordered the government in September 2019 to pay $40,000 to every First Nations child who since 2006 was inappropriately removed from their home, and pay the same amount to their parents or caregiver. The same amount, which is the maximum the tribunal can award, was also ordered for children who faced denials or delays of basic services like medical care. At the time, the Assembly of First Nations estimated that 54,000 children and their parents could receive compensation, for a bill of at least $2 billion. Budget officer Yves Giroux's report pegs those figures far higher, but warns of estimates are uncertain because of data limitations. In November, a tribunal ruling expanded the scope of its order to allow First Nations to decide whether a particular child is entitled to federally funded services, not just the federal government under the Indian Act. Ottawa announced before Christmas it would seek a judicial review of the decision. The recent developments flow back to a 2016 ruling from the tribunal that found the federal government at fault for not providing funding on-reserve for child welfare services equal to provincial payments for those living in urban and rural settings. The government subsequently broadened its definition of Jordan's Principle, named for Jordan River Anderson, a boy Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba. He spent five years of life in hospital while the Manitoba and federal government argued over which level of government needed to pay for his care in a special home. The PBO report notes that more than 594,000 claims under Jordan's Principle were approved between July 2016 and April 2020. Crunching the numbers, the budget office said that amounts to one claim per person for each of the approximately 375,000 First Nations children living on- and off-reserve, as well as those who became adults over that almost four-year period. Texans who were left without power and were unable to work when the deadly Storm Uri hit the state last week are now being told by their employers they have to take any days missed as vacation or otherwise forfeit their pay. Internal emails and messages observed by the Daily Beast indicate that dozens of employers in Texas have told those who were unable to get to work or unable to work remotely because of power loss that they must considered the lost days as vacation. Those with no vacation days left to use up or those unwilling to forfeit holiday, however, will be forced to go without pay. Among the employers in question are several large entities, including Bell Textron Inc., United Ag & Turf, BAE Systems, and even the City of Dallas. One employee at United Ag & Turf blasted the company for adding 'insult to injury' as families struggle to recover from the crisis. It comes as some residents in the state are also grappling with sky-high electricity bills in the region of thousands of dollars, as a result of surges in wholesale energy pricing as millions lost power. Hundreds of Texans who were left without power and were unable to work when the deadly Storm Uri hit the state last week are now being told they have to take any days missed as vacation or otherwise forego pay Among the employers in question are several large entities, including Bell Textron Inc. formerly known as Bell Helicopter Speaking on the grounds of anonymity, a Bell Textron employee told the Beast: 'We are required to use vacation on the days of the storm when I had no heat or WiFi, or I can forfeit the money and not get paid. 'Im disappointed and nervous about the next year,' they said. 'Even though Im salaried, Im entry-level, and any knock to my income will put me on the streetand thats terrifying.' Bell Textron has not yet returned a DailyMail.com request for comment, however emails sent by management that have been obtained by the Beast lay out the company's policy clearly. 'Employees who are unable to fully dedicate their time and attention to company business due to current conditions should use available PTO, vacation, or holiday flex time if they wish to be paid for today,' an email sent to employees by Bell executives last week reads. 'Otherwise, employees who do not have any remaining PTO, vacation, or holiday flex time or do not wish to use their unused PTO, vacation, or holiday flex time will not be paid for today.' According to the Bell employee, most of the companies facilities were closed for the entire week during Storm Uri, and at one stage workers were also unable to access a VPN that grants them access to company systems remotely. This meant that many employees at Bell weren't able to work from home, even if they had electricity. Similar messages were also sent to employees by management at United Ag & Turf - a John Deere equipment dealer - and BAE Systems - a British security and aerospace company. United Ag & Turf employees were informed they must take responsibility for maintaining a time-off balance should such a freak occurrence of weather happen again in the near future Treacherous conditions and icy roads meant thousands of Texas were unable to get to work in Storm Uri's wake Millions were also left without power, leaving many more unable to even work from home (pictured: Vehicles drive down East 7th Street as power outages continue to darken most of East Austin, Texas on Wednesday, February 17) One BAE employee said they decided to speak out about the company's policy because they believe it 'wasn't right' and 'people needed to know' about it. In a statement, BAE said: 'As a government contractor, there are regulations we must follow for labor charged by our employees. The events of last week are unusual and we are working with employees on how to properly handle any time they were unable to work. 'In addition, we activated our Immediate Response Program to support our colleagues and provide financial assistance to affected employees and their families.' Meanwhile, United Ag & Turf employees were told to save days off in case similar freak weather happens again in future. 'To be prepared for circumstances like this in the future, each employee is expected to manage their PTO and encouraged to always carry a balance for unexpected situations like health issues and bad weather. This type of assistance will not be offered in the future,' a message from executive management of United Ag & Turf read, according to the Beast. An employee of the tractor dealer said they're 'angry' at the company's stance. They told the Beast: 'They could have said nothing and been fine. They could have paid people for the canceled days and looked like heroes. They instead opted to add insult to injury.' Employees of BAE Systems - a British security and aerospace company - were also informed they would either have to take time off or forgo pay Government employees are also among some of those affected, with a similar letter sent to the library department of the City of Dallas. In the message, employees were informed they too will be required to use personal leave to compensate for any lost work. 'Its really disheartening that HR (who have worked entirely from home for the past year, by the way) get to just decide whether people get paid or not,' a city employee told the Beast. City communications representative Catherine Cuellar confirmed the nature of the email, adding that those without paid time available can either 'make up time within the pay period' or apply for emergency administrative paid leave. Cuellar appeared to hit back at claims that the city's HR department 'just decided' to potentially cut pay for certain employees, adding 'we have processes and layers of accountability for taxpayer dollars.' 'So it becomes a question at the federal government level whether or not paying that worker emergency administrative pay was a necessary expense during the weather event,' she continued. 'That has been the citys policy for emergency weather-related pay for a decade.' According to Austin-based employment lawyer Austin Kaplan, the developments comes as a consequence of a lack of labor protections in Texas. He said employers in the state are not required to pay any vacation time at all, and there are 'no safety nets'. Such a lack of protections means employers are permitted to decide how to handle the fallout from Storm Uri completely at their own discretion. Government employees are also among some of those affected, with a similar letter sent to the library department of the City of Dallas (Dallas Public Library shown above) Other workers in the state have taken to social media to share their experiences with their employers during Storm Uri, while others have voiced there shock at the revelations reported by the Daily Beast, asking, 'How the hell is this legal?' 'Im waiting to hear what is going to happen with us,' wrote a user named Liza D, who didn't specify her place of employment. 'I was told to work on Friday. Like I didnt spend this week freezing, sleep deprived, hungry and alternating sleeping in our car for heat, while taking care of my child with health issues.' Another user, who said they worked for Whole Foods, claimed they'd received a text from their manager telling them to 'Please submit PTO for the days missed'. That user has not yet returned a DailyMail.com request for further comment. Whole Foods has also been contacted about the claim but is yet to respond. 'I'm one of those lucky folks for whom my employer is providing full pay for last week,' wrote user Loren S. 'My employer is also making available small "loans" at 0% interest available to those impacted. 'Prioritizing people is always the right decision, but dear God it's a rarity out there,' he continued. Another issue facing Texans is the prospect of being handed sky-high electricity bills, after plummeting temperatures left millions without power. The surge in pricing is hitting people who have chosen to pay wholesale prices for their power, which is typically cheaper than paying fixed rates during good weather, but can spike when theres high demand for electricity. Many of those who have reported receiving large bills are customers of electricity provider Griddy, which only operates in Texas. Among them is Susan Hosford of Denison, Texas. On a typical February day, she pays Griddy less than $2.50 for power. But the one-day cost spiked to hundreds of dollars after the storm. In all, she was automatically charged $1,346.17 for the first two weeks of February, which was more than she had in her checking account, causing her bank to charge her overdraft fees and affect other bills. 'This whole thing has been a nightmare,' she said. Griddy said it has 29,000 members. Its unclear how many other Texans also pay wholesale prices from other companies. 'We wont get the full picture on the financial devastation for maybe 30 to 90 days,' said Ed Hirs, an energy fellow at the University of Houston. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Sunday that he is working with members of the legislature to address skyrocketing energy bills and [find ways that the state can help reduce this burden.' But he didnt give specifics on what that may be. For the time being, the state has stopped companies from cutting off power for not paying. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Sunday that he is working with members of the legislature to address skyrocketing energy bills and [find ways that the state can help reduce this burden' Dozens of victims perished in Texas during the storm after freezing to death after losing power Shortages of food and clean drinking water also affected millions as grocery stores run out of supplies and pipes froze across the state With the snow and ice now clearing in Texas after days of unusually cold temperatures, bodies are being found of people who likely froze to death as they struggled to stay warm. Of the around 70 deaths attributed to the snow, ice and frigid temperatures nationwide, more than a dozen were people who perished in homes that had lost their heat, and most of those were in Texas. President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in the state where 14 million were without water at one point with towns cut off from the electricity grid for seven days. The move - announced on Saturday - makes federal funding available to individuals across the state, including assistance for temporary housing, home repairs and low-cost loans for losses on uninsured property. The victims of the crisis include 11-year-old Cristian Pavon, who perished of hypothermia in his family's mobile home in Conroe, near Houston, a day after he was pictured enjoying the snow - the first he had ever seen in his life. Among the other dead are a man who reportedly froze to death in his recliner chair with his 'nearly dead' wife by his side; three children who perished in a fire as they huddled in a fireplace for warmth; and a mother and daughter died who from carbon monoxide poisoning as they bundled in their car in a garage. Two older men were also found dead in their homes in the small West Texas town of Buffalo Gap in Taylor County. Today's COVID-19 update Cayuga County had 12 new COVID-19 cases admitted on Monday, according to the local health department. There are 142 active cases in mandatory isolation. Five people are hospitalized with COVID-19 at Auburn Community Hospital. No new deaths were reported on Monday. While the world grapples with the Covid-19 pandemic many new lessons are being learned every day by nations all over the globe. For example, Brazil and the US have learned that having a leader who does not believe that the virus is a serious threat to life certainly doesnt augur well for the population. A TV reporter was grabbed, jostled and 'gnawed' by a moaning 'zombie' from the notorious Extinction Rebellion climate change protest group on Tuesday. The 'attack' happened to Sunrise Queensland correspondent Bianca Stone during a live cross as she was covering the group's attention-grabbing protest outside Parliament House, for which the protesters dressed up as zombies. No blood was drawn during the incident, which amounted to a noisy stunt to gain attention for the climate change activists' agenda. A 'zombie' climate change protester 'gnawed' at the arm of Sunrise TV's Queensland correspondent Bianca Stone during a live cross on Tuesday Ms Stone demonstrated admirable patience as the heavily-made up protester pawed her and loudly groaned non-stop throughout the cross. 'What these guys are trying to show is that they're the zombies of the future coming back to warn the politicians about this climate change crisis,' Ms Stone said, over constant zombie moans. 'They're calling for urgent action on climate change. This is the Extinction Rebellion group. We've seen so much of them in the past they are saying that more action will be taken here there is another march planned for March.' 'This will be a peaceful protest except for this zombie that is gnawing my arm right now.' 'You don't want to interview the zombie Bianca?' asked Sunrise host Natalie Barr. 'Can we get a quote?' Mark Beretta, chimed in, also from the studio. 'I did my job,' said the zombie, who obviously hadn't rehearsed a speaking part. Bianca Stone, a mother of two, said a teenager made an unwanted advance on her as she walked to a live cross location in the Brisbane CBD last year The Extinction Rebellion protester who 'gnawed' at reporter Bianca Stone's arm during a live cross to Brisbane on Sunrise 'Climate change, whatever,' she added bizarrely. 'Thanks, we'll move on shall we? That was so weird,' Ms Barr said. Extinction Rebellion claimed in a statement that its Brisbane protesters 'chased politicians around gates to block and disrupt their personal and car entry to the building and swamping them with climate zombies as they went past.' 'Just after 8:35am people breached the gates of Parliament House briefly before they were ushered out by police and security.' 'The spectacle of zombies lurching around the streets in gruesome blood soaked costumes, depicting an apocalyptic scene of destruction and devastation sent a strong message to politicians.' 'The activists are portraying a future of immense human suffering if we continue to sleepwalk to catastrophe,' the statement continued. Extinction Rebellion protesters outside Queensland's Parliament House on Tuesday, where they claimed to have 'chased politicians and disrupted their entry' before 'breaching the gates and being ushered out by police and security' 'If we don't act now there will be fires and floods, food and water shortages, mass displacement of people across the world, global health crises and irreversible loss of biodiversity'. The group's 'Zombies of the Climate Apocalypse' is a relatively low-key stunt compared to some of the activists' previous attempts to grab coverage. They included stopping peak hour traffic, dumping manure outside corporate offices, and interrupting Armistice Day. On one occasion Extinction Rebellion protesters dressed in nothing but pants, black face masks and vibrant body paint, the crew allegedly fastened their palms to the building windows to make a stand against a new $3.6billion coal seam gas field in Narrabri, northern New South Wales. They were arrested and had to be unglued with solvent by police. Climate change activist group Extinction Rebellion ran a 'Zombies of the Climate Apocalypse' protest in Brisbane on Tuesday Two Extinction Rebellion protesters at the group's 'Zombies of the Climate Apocalypse' in Brisbane on Tuesday It's not the first time Ms Stone has been harassed in performing her job at Sunrise, either. In February 2020 she was harassed and 'inappropriately touched' by a 13-year-old boy on her way to work. Ms Stone, a mother of two, said the teenager made the unwanted advance on her as she walked to a live cross location in the Brisbane CBD at 4am. 'I was approached, harassed and inappropriately touched by a teen. Tonight the offender was caught. He's 14 and apologetic,' Ms Stone later tweeted. New Delhi: Climate activist Disha Ravi, who was arrested in connection with the toolkit case, was released from Tihar jail on Tuesday night after a city court granted her bail. "Disha was released after jail authorities completed all formalities regarding her release," an official said. Ravi was arrested in connection with allegedly being involved in sharing a "toolkit" on social media related to the farmers'' protest. READ | Disha Ravi granted bail by Delhi Court in toolkit case Earlier in the day, a city court granted bail to 22-year-old Ravi, terming the evidence produced by police as 'scanty and sketchy'. Ravi had been arrested by the Delhi Police's Cyber Cell from Bengaluru on February 13. The Cyber Cell had lodged an FIR against "pro-Khalistan" creators of the "toolkit" for waging a "social, cultural and economic war against the Government of India". The court said there is nothing on record to establish any direct link between Ravi and pro-Khalistan activists of 'Poetic Justice Foundation' (PJF) and also there is not even an iota of evidence brought connecting the perpetrators of the violence on January 26 with the PJF or her. Further, it observed that there is nothing on record to suggest that the activist subscribed to any secessionist idea and there is absolutely no link established on record between her and banned outfit Sikhs for Justice. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana, who granted relief to Ravi on a personal bond of Rs one lakh and two sureties of like amount, noted that the accused had absolutely no criminal antecedents. "Considering the scanty and sketchy evidence available on record, I do not find any palpable reasons to breach the general rule of ' Bail' against a 22 years old young lady, with absolutely blemish-free criminal antecedents and having firm roots in the society, and send her to jail," the judge said. The judge said that perusal of the said 'Toolkit' reveals that any call for any kind of violence is conspicuously absent. "In my considered opinion, Citizens are conscience keepers of government in any democratic Nation. They cannot be put behind bars simply because they choose to disagree with the State policies. The offence of sedition cannot be invoked to minister to the wounded vanity of the governments," the court said. The court said the difference of opinion, disagreement, divergence, dissent, or for that matter, even disapprobation, is recognised as legitimate tools to infuse objectivity in state policies. "An aware and assertive citizenry, in contradistinction with an indifferent or docile citizenry, is indisputably a sign of a healthy and vibrant democracy," the court said. "The right to dissent is firmly enshrined under Article 19 of the Constitution. In my considered opinion, freedom of speech and expression includes the right to seek a global audience. There are no geographical barriers to communication. A citizen has the fundamental rights to use the best means of imparting and receiving communication, as long as the same is permissible under the four corners of law and as such have access to an audience abroad," the court said. It said that the creation of a WhatsApp group or being editor of an innocuous Toolkit is not an offence. "Further, since the link with the said toolkit or PJF has not been found to be objectionable, mere deletion of the WhatsApp chat to destroy the evidence linking her with the toolkit and PJF also becomes meaningless," the court said. While observing that there is nothing on record to suggest that the applicant accused subscribed to any secessionist idea, the court said "further, the prosecution has, except for pointing out that applicant/accused forwarded the toolkit to climate activist Greta Thunberg, failed to point out as to how the applicant/accused gave global audience to the 'secessionist elements'." The court said that it was conscious of the fact that it is very difficult to collect evidence for the offence of conspiracy. "I'm also conscious of the fact that the investigation is at a nascent stage and police is in the process of collecting more evidence, however, the investigating agency made a conscious choice to arrest the applicant accused upon the strength of material so far collected and now they cannot be permitted to further restrict the liberty of a citizen on the basis of propitious anticipations," the court said. It said conspiracy cannot be proved merely on the basis of inferences that have to be backed by evidence. The court directed that Ravi shall continue to cooperate with the ongoing investigations and shall join the investigation as and when summoned by the Investigating officer and not leave the country without the permission of the court. The court noted that more than hundreds of persons involved in the violence have been arrested and interrogated by the Delhi Police but no evidence connecting the accused with the actual perpetrators of the violence has been brought forth on record by the prosecution to date. Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Cloudy skies with a few showers this afternoon. High 52F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 42F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Kootenay Silver Inc. (TSXV: KTN) (the "Company" or "Kootenay") with joint venture partner Aztec Minerals Corp. have begun the 2021 exploration program (the "Program") on the Cervantes Porphyry Gold-Copper Property in Sonora, Mexico. This is following the recent approval of the Program by the overseeing Management Committee comprised of representatives from Aztec Minerals Corp. (65%) and Kootenay Silver Inc. (35%). As Operator of the Cervantes Joint Venture, Aztec has mobilized a field crew to conduct a +500 soil sample program aimed at extending previous soil grids and covering targets with limited historic exploration. The soil sample grid will cover 518 hectares (5.18 square kilometers) with 100 by 100 meter spaced samples to extend coverage over the Estrella and California North targets to the western, northern, and eastern limits of the property. The existing soil sample database of over 1,100 samples covers the California, Purisima East, Purisima West, Jasper, and Jacobo targets. Detailed lithologic, alteration, structural mapping and rock chip sampling will proceed along with the soil sampling program. Previous core drilling by Aztec Minerals completed in 2018 at Cervantes is highlighted by a near surface intercept within the California Zone, returning a 160 meter interval grading 0.77 gpt gold, 0.13% copper and 3.4 gpt silver. View: Cervantes Proposed Phase 1 Sampling and Mapping Plan Cervantes is a highly prospective porphyry gold-copper property located in southeastern Sonora state, Mexico. The project is situated 160 km east of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico within the prolific Laramide porphyry copper belt; approximately 265 km southeast of the Cananea porphyry copper-molybdenum mine (Grupo Mexico). Cervantes also lies along an east-west trending gold belt 60 km west of the Mulatos epithermal gold mine (Alamos Gold), 45 km west of the La India mine (Agnico Eagle), and 40 km northwest of Santana gold deposit (Minera Alamos). View: Cervantes Project Location Map All sampling will be conducted with strict QA/QC controls, standards and blanks. Samples will be delivered directly to Bureau Veritas Minerals in Hermosillo for analysis. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Qualified Persons The Kootenay technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 (Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects) and reviewed and approved on behalf of Kootenay by James McDonald, P.Geo, President, CEO & Director for Kootenay, a Qualified Person. About Kootenay Silver Inc. Kootenay Silver Inc. is an exploration company actively engaged in the discovery and development of mineral projects in the Sierra Madre Region of Mexico and in British Columbia, Canada. Supported by one of the largest junior portfolios of silver assets in Mexico, Kootenay continues to provide its shareholders with significant leverage to silver prices. The Company remains focused on the expansion of its current silver resources, new discoveries and the near-term economic development of its priority silver projects located in the states of Sonora, Sinaloa and Chihuahua, Mexico, respectively. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: The information in this news release has been prepared as at February 22, 2021. Certain statements in this news release, referred to herein as "forward-looking statements", constitute "forward-looking statements" under the provisions of Canadian provincial securities laws. These statements can be identified by the use of words such as "expected", "may", "will" or similar terms. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of factors and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Kootenay as of the date of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, known and unknown, could cause actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Except as otherwise required by law, Kootenay expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any such statements to reflect any change in Kootenay's expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. Cautionary Note to US Investors: This news release may contain information about adjacent properties on which we have no right to explore or mine. We advise U.S. investors that the SEC's mining guidelines strictly prohibit information of this type in documents filed with the SEC. U.S. investors are cautioned that mineral deposits on adjacent properties are not indicative of mineral deposits on our properties. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. This press release uses the terms "Measured", "Indicated", and "Inferred" resources. United States investors are advised that while such terms are recognized and required by Canadian regulations, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission does not recognize them. "Inferred Mineral Resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an Inferred Mineral Resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of Inferred Mineral Resources may not form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies. United States investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of Measured or Indicated Mineral Resources will ever be converted into Mineral Reserves. United States investors are also cautioned not to assume that all or any part of a Mineral Resource is economically or legally mineable. SOURCE Kootenay Silver Inc. Related Links https://kootenaysilver.com/ A former base of the Taliban is now a site of another brutal incident after four women aid workers were gunned down in a volatile area of Pakistan based on the local police and their employer. Women Aid Workers Fatally Shot According to NBC News, the chief executive of the college, Fayaz Khan, shared that the team was hired by Bravo College of Technology in Peshawar in order to help local women in gaining vocational skills such as sewing in North Waziristan. Khan also added in a phone interview that their role was tremendous for the local community and it is not the way to give back to someone or to people who worked hard for the poor. The police chief, Shafiullah Gandapur shared that the women were shot in an apparently targeted attack as they passed through a deserted village close to the town of Mirali in the North Waziristan tribal district. Moreover, the North Waziristan runs along the border of Pakistan with Afghanistan and also served as a base for the Pakistani Taliban and other militants, which includes Al Qaeda, until 2014, when the army stated that it cleared the region on insurgents, CBS News reported. However, no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. The incident which involves the death of the aid workers came in the middle of an uptick in attacks claimed by the Pakistani Taliban in the deeply conservative area in recent months and amid concern that the insurgents may be on a regroup. Gandapur also stated in a phone interview that the North Waziristan tribal district has suffered badly from militancy for a long time. He also added that the security situation has improved but still we face a lot of problems. Despite having a similar ideology, the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is separate from the Afghan Taliban. The group which was formed in 2007 targets to topple the government of Pakistan and to establish a government that is in line with their strict interpretation of Islam. Read also: United Airlines Flight Makes an Emergency Landing in Denver After Engine Caught Fire Despite its operations in numerous areas across the country, the Taliban as of the moment does not control any particular area. In the past, in areas under their control, the Pakistani group banned education for girls, and women were not allowed to work. Even nonprofit organizations were also banned from their operations in the area. In addition, advocates of girls' education have also been targeted in the past. In 2012 members of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for shooting and badly wounding Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai. Yousafzai had enraged the Taliban by its promotions on education among girls. Even to this day, just like the four women, women aid workers who are working for charities are at risk in conservative tribal areas in Pakistan where many men and militants reject their efforts in empowering women in local society and paint them as stooges of the West. The police chief, Gandapur also stated that female social workers came there from towns and the nonprofit had not informed them before sending these females to the volatile area. He also added that they had to inform them in their visits as they will be providing the security and to avoid any unwanted incident, The Week reported. Related article: Landmine Explodes on Election Commission Vehicle on Day of Niger Vote @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Chinese Mission Spokesperson Liu Yuyin has refuted the erroneous remarks related to China by the Foreign Secretary of the UK during the 46th Human Rights Council. He noted that China has always maintained that parties should conduct constructive dialogue and cooperation on human rights on the basis of equality and mutual respect adding that human rights should not be used to serve political ends, still less a tool to smear other countries and contain their development. "The Human Rights Council has no place for lies and deception. To our regret, the UK, Germany, Demark and Finland and a handful of other countries abused the platform of the high-level segment at the Human Rights Council today to spread false information, smear China and interfere in China's internal affairs. China firmly opposes and categorically rejects their remarks," he added. The Chinese Mission Spokesperson also noted that," Xinjiang and Tibet, inhabited largely by ethnic minorities, are fine examples of human rights progress in China. China pursues an ethnic policy featuring equality, unity, ethnic regional autonomy and common prosperity. People of all ethnic groups are equal members of the big family of the Chinese nation, closely united like pomegranate seeds. Today, Xinjiang enjoys social stability, economic growth, ethnic unity, religious harmony, cultural advancement, and improvement of peoples livelihood. People of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang enjoy extensive rights and freedoms in accordance with the law. The so-called forced labor and forced sterilization accusations against Xinjiang are outright slanders and lies of the century fabricated by Western politicians. China welcomes people from around the world to visit Xinjiang, and see with their own eyes prosperity and happy life of the people in Xinjiang. We are staunchly opposed to any so-called investigation under the presumption of guilt." He also said that since the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region came into force, Hong Kong has embarked on a transition from chaos to peace. Hong Kong citizens no longer feel threatened by turmoil and violence, and can better exercise their legitimate rights and freedoms in a safer environment. "Hong Kong is a society under the rule of law and no one stands above the law. We firmly support the law enforcement agency in Hong Kong in strictly executing the law. It should also be stressed that the Sino-UK Joint Declaration has never given any external force the right to interfere in Hong Kong affairs," he said. He said the United Kingdom adopts double standards and is indulged in intervening in other countries' affairs, while turning a blind eye to systemic human rights violations at home. "The right to life and health of its people is ignored during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than four million people have been infected and over 120,000 lost their precious lives. A third of the families with children under 5 years old are living in poverty and millions of children are starving. The UK troops slaughtered innocent civilians and perpetuated torture in Afghanistan and Iraq, but the perpetrators, shielded by the UK government, remain at large. Racial discrimination, xenophobia and hate speech are rampant in the UK, and the rights of refugees and migrants are seriously violated." he added. "China urges the UK and other countries to look into their own human rights problems, stop politicizing human rights, halt using misinformation and lies to stigmatize other countries, and make a real effort for the sound development of global human rights cause, instead of manipulating human rights issues to advance their own political agenda," Chinese Mission Spokesperson concluded. National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament(MP) for Builsa South Constituency in the Upper East Region, Dr Clement Abas Apaak has made a clarion call on all Ghanaians to rise up to fight the agenda of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Intersex (LGBTQI) group in the country. According to him, the fight against the activities of homosexuality in the country cannot be left for the Lord to do as the President has always dedicated every battle against the country to the Lord. Speaking on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show, Dr Clement Apaak maintained that the fight against homosexuality should rather be the collective effort of Ghanaians, irrespective of their political, cultural and religious backgrounds. We need to rise up against the agenda of homosexuality. With this battle, we are not going to wait for the Lord. This is a battle that we must fight as a people. We know that homosexuality is not good because our laws and religions do not support homosexuality, he fumed. He charged every Ghanaian to condemn the activities of homosexuality in the country as it is alarming to note that the people behind the operations of the LGBTQI have been able to come into the country to establish an office in Accra and intend to set up 25 more offices in 25 zones created by the leaders of the LGBTQI. If we sit down and allow this calamity to gain a foundation in the country, only God knows what is going to happen to our society. If it is about money, then they should take their money and leave us alone, he charged. He, however, wondered why the same European countries that are championing the agenda of homosexuality in the country are refusing to acknowledge and allow African countries to preach polygamy in their countries. Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video (Natural News) The ever-shifting Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdown rules in Los Angeles County have all but completely devastated the local economy, especially small business owners whose livelihoods continue to be targeted by area health officials. Breweries and wineries throughout the southland have it especially tough as authorities are purposefully roving their premises on the busiest days and threatening them with closure. In most cases, these authorities do not even understand the rules and are persecuting these businesses unjustly. Bravery Brewing Company, for instance, was invaded by Los Angeles County inspector Jatinder Chhabra on Super Bowl Sunday. This business was doing nothing wrong and was in full compliance with local mandates, but Chhabra decided to make up her own rules to try to enforce. Chhabra attempted to claim that Bravery needed to have a food truck present, or some other nutriment dispensary, in order to operate. The business responded by explaining it was only doing take-out, which does not require that food be served. Bravery Brewing Company doesnt have any televisions, so Sunday, Feb. 7 was set up like previous Super Bowl Sundays, with limited hours, reported The Federalist. This year, knowing people would be setting up their own parties, Bravery opened for just four hours for customers to grab beer to take home with them before kick-off. Because of that, they didnt pay the few-hundred-dollar minimums food trucks ask to come by something theyve been required to do when serving people on-premises because, apparently, COVID. Other countries are standing up to Chinese virus tyranny why isnt America? Even so, Chhabra demanded that Bravery obey her unlawful commands, which included immediately shutting down the business. Chhabra brashly interfered with other customers trying to purchase beer, owner Bart Avery said, and made it arrogantly clear that she could give a s*** less about shutting us down. It took about 20 minutes for Avery to put Chhabra in her place by informing her about what the current rules actually are, and during that time Bravery lost a lot of business because it was prohibited from selling products to customers. Chhabras supervisor was called at Averys request, and this individual confirmed that Avery was right and Chhabra was wrong. Still, Chhabra made Averys life miserable that day by demanding that he make copies of 11 different forms, all while customers had to wait to make a purchase. While the employee filled out the forms, The Federalist further reported, [Chhabra] can be seen rifling through the racks, exploring the bar tools, and even dancing on camera. Another nearby business, Thief & Barrel, has had to deal with similar tyranny. Located in a colder, windier part of Los Angeles County where it is difficult to serve customers in government-sanctioned tents, T&B was paid a visit by Chhabra on Valentines Day. She kept trying to quote information from the protocols, of which we kept explaining that we were not required to serve food, managing partner Barbara Moran told The Federalist. She was not rude, but was most definitely misinformed. She kept reminding us that shes only the messenger. We shared with her that we felt attacked, stalked, baited. We shared that the previous two inspectors who came out together a couple months back were also misinformed. We spent over 45 minutes trying to educate them. Like what Bravery experienced, T&B was met with rudeness, arrogance, and the usual misinformation. Agents of the county threatened to revoke the businesss alcohol license, and after realizing they were wrong arrogantly walked out saying, Well, the good news is we dont have to write you a citation today. Pure arrogance, Moran noted. More of the latest news about Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) tyranny in the United States can be found at Pandemic.news. Sources for this article include: TheFederalist.com NaturalNews.com Posted Monday, February 22, 2021 4:38 pm A Chehalis man is being held on a $40,000 bail for allegedly raping a 15-year-old in late 2018. The victim reported the incident in January 2019 and alleged that Romero Filemon Zaragoza forcibly raped them, despite them repeatedly telling him to stop, physically attempting to escape, and stating that he was hurting them. Lewis County Superior Court issued a warrant for Filemon Zaragozas arrest in September 2019. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail on Feb. 18, 2021, and charged with second- and third-degree rape of a child, along with possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine. Judge J. Andrew Toynbee approved a no-contact provision to Filemon Zaragozas release conditions should be post bail to prohibit contact with any minors, with the exception of his two biological children. Defense attorney Rachael Tiller stated the childrens mother, who was present with their children in the courtroom, was a stay-at-home mom and could supervise the children at all times. Toynbee also approved a protection order for the victim. Filemon Zaragoza is scheduled for an arraignment hearing on March 4. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 10:11:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations on Monday called on all parties in Somalia to find a proper solution to their political deadlock. "China is concerned over the recent violent incidents in Mogadishu. We call on all parties in Somalia to exercise restraint, maintain dialogue, show flexibility and find a proper solution to the political deadlock as soon as possible," Dai Bing told the Security Council videoconference on Somalia. The envoy expressed the hope that elections can be held sooner to restore political stability in Somalia and to "create a favorable environment" for focusing efforts on national construction. "China welcomes the efforts of the Somali government to meet the completion point requirements to achieve debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries, and expects the international community to provide a more lenient environment for the development of Somalia," said the envoy. "We need to help Somalia cope with humanitarian and development challenges," Dai said, adding that the compound effect of COVID-19, floods, and locust infestation have exacerbated the humanitarian situation in Somalia. As for the security situation in Somalia, Dai said that China supports the parties in strengthening communication on the renewal of African Union Mission in Somalia to find a solution acceptable to all. "China will continue to work with the international community to make contributions within its capacity to peace and reconstruction in Somalia," Dai said, adding that China has always been engaged in helping Somalia achieve peace and development. "We have recently donated multiple batches of supplies to Somalia to support the country in strengthening its judicial capacity building," the envoy added. The envoy pledged that China will also provide COVID-19 vaccine assistance to Somalia upon request. Enditem In Wonderland, Alice drank a potion to shrink herself. In nature, some animal species shrink to escape the attention of human hunters, a process that takes from decades to millennia. To begin to understand the genetics of shrinking, scientists working at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama successfully extracted DNA from marine shells. Their new technique will not only shed light on how animals from lizards to lemurs shrink, it will reveal many other stories hidden in shells. "Humans are unique as predators," said Alexis Sullivan, doctoral student at Penn State University who did the field research as a short-term fellow at STRI. "Most other animals go for smaller, younger, older or injured prey that are easy to catch, but humans often take the largest individual to feed many mouths or to display as a trophy." This preference for the biggest means the smaller individuals tend to survive and reproduce, which over time leads to the evolution of smaller individuals in the population. Sullivan's father was a hunter, and she remembers being intrigued as a child when he would choose to spare the lives of the largest bucks to keep this from happening in the local deer population. When she joined George Perry's lab at Penn State, they wrote a paper that reviewed 'the deep history of human entanglement' with animals and plants, and how these organisms have physically changed because of human behaviors. Sullivan hoped to write her dissertation about lemurs, which have become almost 10% smaller in only 1,000 years, presumably as a result of human hunting. But because lemurs are primates, endangered, and live in Madagascar, the logistics, not to mention the cost, of sampling modern and ancient lemur DNA were daunting. At the same time, Sullivan and Perry were fascinated by a study by a staff scientist at STRI, Aaron O'Dea, and colleagues, who showed that marine snails called fighting conch, commonly eaten as ceviche or fritters by Caribbean coastal residents, have steadily become smaller in areas where they were harvested for food. Modern shells contained 66% less meat than shells from ancient "pristine" reefs. The logistics of working at the Smithsonian's Bocas del Toro Research Station were straightforward, but no one had ever extracted DNA from tropical shells before--modern or ancient. "Most of the ancient DNA that had been sequenced was from animals or plants in permafrost which helps preserve the DNA," Sullivan said. "We had no idea whether DNA would survive in a tropical environment for thousands of years." The first step she took was to create a reference sequence from fresh conch tissue. She then moved to the shell itself. Since conch shells have much more calcium carbonate than bone, Sullivan had to modify a standard approach typically used to extract DNA from human skeletal material. This crucial step was recommended by Stephanie Marciniak, a specialist in ancient DNA and post-doctoral fellow in Perry's lab. After refining the approach, Sullivan then moved to thousand-year-old shells from a trash midden at the Sitio Drago archeological site in Bocas del Toro. This site had been studied by STRI Research Associate and UCLA Professor Tom Wake. "Those shells had probably been cooked by their pre-Columbian harvesters making Alexis' successful extraction and sequencing of DNA even more incredible," Wake said. Finally, Sullivan turned to the same species of conch preserved in a mid-Holocene coral reef, again in Bocas del Toro. As they expected, the DNA was poorly preserved, but Sullivan demonstrated that even shells more than 7,000 years old faithfully preserved DNA. "I was amazed," O'Dea said. "After 7,000 years in temperatures over 20 degrees Celsius, these conch shells still preserved minute fragments of the original animals' DNA. This work opens the door to exploring the genetic changes in the conch associated with size changes over millennia, and it's all down to Alexis' skill and perseverance." As the team learns more about the biology and genetics of the conch, they will be in a much better position to understand if human harvesting or something else explains why fighting conchs are smaller in areas where they are frequently harvested. "We are especially grateful to the Cayo Agua community in Bocas del Toro who offered conch shells for our tests," Sullivan said. She hopes to return to Panama soon to share her results with them. ### 37 arrested for child sex crimes, human trafficking during Operation Broken Hearts in Arizona Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment In a multi-agency undercover mission called Operation Broken Hearts, police in Arizona announced the arrest of 37 people accused of child sex crimes and large-scale human trafficking. Throughout the operational period, officers and undercover detectives placed ads on websites and apps which are commonly sought out by suspects seeking illegal sex acts with children. These suspects solicited and/or brokered deals for various sex acts and were subsequently arrested,Phoenix Police Department said in a statement Friday. The Phoenix Police Department partnered with the police departments of Mesa, Tempe and Chandler, as well as Homeland Security Investigations and the Attorney Generals Office for Operation Broken Hearts. Those arrested as part of the sting operation, in which the suspects solicited sex acts with undercover officers, are between the ages of 21 and 66. Most are from the Phoenix area, according to KIRO 7. The operation was part of a nationwide effort to eliminate human and sex trafficking as dozens of children were rescued in the last year. In December, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitts office announced that 17 illicit massage parlors two in Columbia, six in Kansas City, three in Lees Summit/Blue Springs, five in St. Louis and one in Branson were evicted or shut down in the Show-Me State. This month, Schmitts office announced the rescue of eight victims of human trafficking, including a two-year-old and an infant, through a joint operation with several law enforcement agencies that include the FBI and the U.S. Marshals. The unprecedented success of the joint operation should send clear a message to traffickers: you are not welcome in Missouri, and you cant hide any longer, Schmitt said in a statement. Human trafficking is a global scourge that affects millions every year, including right here in Missouri, he added. Last October, Schmitt announced the launch of the Hope Initiative to check human trafficking by targeting illicit massage businesses. In January, a human trafficking investigation led by the FBI, called Operation Lost Angels, recovered 33 missing children, eight of whom had been sexually exploited, in California. For the operation, which began Jan. 11, the FBI worked with more than two dozen law enforcement and non-governmental partners to identify, locate, and recover missing children, particularly those who have been or were suspected of being sexually exploited and/or trafficked. Of the underage victims recovered, eight were being sexually exploited at the time of recovery, the agency said in a statement at the time. Two were recovered multiple times during the operation while on the 'track, a common term used to describe a known location for commercial sex trafficking, the statement explained. It is not uncommon for victims who are rescued to return to commercial sex trafficking either voluntarily or by force, fraud, or coercion. In the 2020 report on U.S. Government efforts to combat trafficking in persons, the State Department warned about the increasing number of people vulnerable to exploitation by traffickers due to the instability, isolation, and lack of access to critical services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The effects of COVID-19, as with other catastrophic events, are disproportionately impacting communities suffering from systemic or generational inequality the same communities traffickers often prey upon, the report said. The FBI also revealed recently that its caseload for trafficking-related crimes, for both sex and labor, had increased significantly in the past several years. In 2020, the agency started 664 human trafficking investigations across the country, arresting 473 people. Last August, the U.S. Marshals announced the rescue of 39 missing children in an operation in Georgia. At least 25 missing children were rescued last year through an operation in Ohio. Last October, the Department of Justice disclosed the rescue of 27 missing children in Virginia. Egypts exports to African countries, estimated to be worth $4.7 billion, are projected to double over the coming four years in the event that all the African Continental Free Trade Agreements (AfCFTA) stages are fully rolled out, according to the Minister Plenipotentiary and Alternate Chief Negotiator to AFCFTA, Fadel Yacoub. Yacoub made his comments during a discussion panel held on Monday virtually and organised by the Afro Media Initiative. Yacoub added that Egypt was among the first African countries to outline all its obligations to the agreement to the African Union Secretary. Egypt was also one of the first to ratify the agreement in April 2019, becoming one of the 36 African countries, out of 55, to do so. However, Yacoub said that the AfCFTA faces a number of challenges, especially that total African trade represents only three percent of global trade, while trade within Africa only accounts for eight percent of total African trade with external markets. He also added that the World Bank estimated the total revenues that the continent is expected to gain from applying the agreement to reach $450 billion, while Africas exports are expected to grow to $560 billion annually. Moreover, the AfCFTA is expected to raise the income level in Africa by 10 percent, up to 20 percent, and to increase the income of about 68 billion inhabitants who live on incomes below $5 per day, said Yacoub. On the other hand, Minister of Trade and Industry at the AU Hussain Hassan said that the agreement unifies African countries GDP, which is worth $3.4 trillion, in one market, which makes this the biggest trade agreement to be reached globally since the founding of the World Trade Organisation. He added that the next step of the agreement is to establish a unified customs union for African countries, followed by the establishment of a unified African market, the issuance of a unified currency for the continent, and the establishment of an African Central Bank. Hassan noted that one of the major challenges that the agreement faces is the lack of appropriate road nets, revealing that Africa needs around $80 billion per year to be injected in infrastructure investments. Short link: Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Libyan Coast Guard has rescued some 94 illegal migrants, who were travelling in an inflatable boat off the Libyan coast, the Interior Ministry of the Government of National Accord (GNA) announced on Monday Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 09:05:32|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Mutlaq bin Majed Al-Qahtani, special envoy of Qatar's foreign minister for counterterrorism and mediation of conflict resolution, has held talks with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Chief of Army Staff Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, focusing on the Afghan peace process. The Foreign Ministry of Pakistan said on Monday that Qureshi reiterated during the meeting with the special envoy that Pakistan strongly believes in a negotiated settlement as there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan. Emphasizing that peace and stability in Afghanistan are in Pakistan's interest, Qureshi underscored the need to remain vigilant of the role of spoilers seeking to undermine the peace process, according to a foreign ministry statement. Qureshi appreciated Qatar's positive and constructive efforts as the host of the U.S.-Taliban talks that culminated in the peace agreement and the subsequent intra-Afghan negotiations. He highlighted that both Pakistan and Qatar have facilitated the Afghan peace process, according to the statement. The Qatari special envoy also called on Bajwa at the General Headquarters of the Pakistan army in Rawalpindi, an army statement said. During the meeting, matters of mutual interest, regional security situation, cooperation in various fields and facilitation of the reconciliation process in Afghanistan were discussed in detail, according to the statement. Enditem Flight hours expected to ramp up as Top Aces grows its business. MONTREAL, Feb. 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Top Aces is pleased to announce that it recently achieved another industry-leading milestone with 90,000 hours of accident-free flying in support of advanced adversary training for its clients. Since 2005, Top Aces has delivered innovative training services to the world's leading air forces, earning its reputation for best-in-class standards of safety, airworthiness and operational excellence. "In our business, a typical sortie is about an hour long. 90,000 hours represents a lot of safe and successful missions flown on behalf of our customers' training. We're very proud of this accomplishment and it's a testament to 15-years of excellence by the Top Aces team," said Paul Bouchard, CEO of Top Aces. Top Aces' employs some of the most experienced and qualified fighter pilots and aviation experts in the world. "We have an expression at Top Aces: Experience Matters. When preparing the next generation of combat leaders, Top Aces delivers the safest and most professional airborne training solutions to ensure our customers' current and future operational readiness," added Bouchard. This wasn't the only notable achievement by Top Aces in recent weeks. On January 28th, 2021, the Company welcomed its first F-16 fighters in Mesa, Arizona, making it the first commercial company in the world to offer the supersonic F-16. With this latest addition to their fleet, Top Aces expects to ramp up its flight hours while providing unmatched adversary training to the U.S. Air Force later this year. About Top Aces Top Aces provides advanced and innovative airborne training to the world's leading air forces. Founded in 2000 by a small group of highly accomplished former fighter pilots, Top Aces has the largest worldwide footprint of privately held operational fighter aircraft that provide advanced adversary, air-defense, and Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) training services around the globe. The mission-critical training offered by Top Aces enhances the operational readiness of combat forces by providing realistic real-world experience while prolonging its customers' fleet life and generating cost savings. The company is changing the face of air combat training with its unparalleled safety record, outstanding team and an industry-leading 90,000+ hours of operational training flown in support of its customers worldwide. Top Aces has the experience that matters. For further information please visit www.topaces.com. Media contact: Erin Black Communications Manager, Top Aces (514) 867-0886 media@topaces.com Photos accompanying this announcement are available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/64d69969-076a-47e5-a1f8-fd5c9def0ca4 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/04bf8fd5-22f4-4ce4-84c4-5207b120ef2a https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/053640f5-5ecb-4512-8016-28c179b89147 A video accompanying this announcement is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3769733d-8dda-4307-b7ce-d72318c1d21d Red-eared sliders also know as red-eared turtles are native to the United States and Mexico, but due to their size, looks, and low maintenance, they are widely kept as pets. And over the years they have been shipped across the world as pets, something that has had disastrous consequences. Today, the red-eared slider is regarded as the most invasive species of turtles in the world. BCCL Like in most parts of the world the red-eared sliders have reached India too and have started showing their true colours. According to researchers, the red-eared sliders have entered the waterbodies in India after they were abandoned by their owners. This, they say can have a devastating impact on the aquatic life there. As an invasive species, the red-eared sliders don't have any natural predators, and since they are omnivores they pose a threat to both native aquatic animals and plants. BCCL Recently one such red-eared slider was found from a waterbody in Kerala when a schoolboy hooked it on his fishing rod. Sandeep Das, a researcher at the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI) identified the turtle from a Facebook photo, and since then it has been handed over to Nodal Centre for Biological Invasions (NCBI) at KFRI TV Sajeev, Senior Principal Scientist and Research Coordinator, KFRI has warned people against keeping red-eared sliders as pets. "The red-eared slider doesn't belong here and it should not be found in stores selling pets. It should not get into other water bodies as well. For the sake of our native species people who find these turtles in the open should immediately inform us," he said. BCCL The turtle is not the invasive species that are threatening native species in Kerala. Recently pictures of a river in Kerala had gone viral, showing it covered with a pink flower. The river in Kozhikodes Avala Pandi near Perambra turned pink with millions of Forked Fanwort flowers. Forked Fanwort (Cabomba furcata) known locally as mullan payal is not a native species found in the waters of Kerala. Deepesh John It is native to South America and is mostly used as an aquarium plant. It is believed that the Forked Fanwort could have entered the Avala Pandi river by accident or a careless mistake by some locals who dumped the aquarium plant in the waterbody. In 2018 after the devastating floods in Kerala, there were several cases of non-native predatory fish like Arapaima which is native to the Amazon River in Brazil being found in local rivers. It is believed that the vicious predator that was being cultivated illegally escaped to the open waters during the floods. (Alliance News) - The highest level of coronavirus restrictions will continue in Ireland until April 5 at least, the Taoiseach has confirmed. Micheal Martin made the announcement in a live address to the nation from Government buildings, outlining the revised Living With Covid plan. It was signed off by the Cabinet earlier. The plan includes the phased reopening of schools and childcare, with some pupils set to return to the classroom on March 1. Junior and senior infants, as well as first and second class in primary schools, will be among the first back to school. Leaving Certificate students are also to return to the classroom next week. The reopening of childcare starts from March 8 as well as the resumption of some non-Covid related health services. The Taoiseach said the situation will be reviewed on April 5. Martin said Ireland is "driving down the levels of infection", but said the emergence of the UK variant had made the situation very different to what it was several months ago. The B117 variant now accounts for 90% of new infections in Ireland. "The truth is that it has changed the dynamic significantly and we need to be very careful as we take the next steps forward," he said. Depending on the state of the pandemic at the April 5 review date, there is potential for relaxations around outdoor gatherings, some sporting activities, the gradual reopening of construction and the limit on non-essential journeys. Martin said it is "critically important" that people do not let their guard down. "When we open things, we want them to stay open, that is why I cannot overemphasise the importance of continued observance of Level 5 restrictions, he said. "We want to reopen society as soon and as safely as possible, so if we can maintain downward pressure on the disease and keep our numbers low, we will then move into the next phase," he added. Turning to the vaccination programme, the Taoiseach said more than 350,000 doses have been administered and a "major ramping up" will commence. This will include small local GP surgeries and pharmacists, and community and regional vaccination centres. "We are implementing a programme of vaccination on a scale that is unprecedented in the country's history. By the end of March, we will have administered 1.25 million doses, then depending on vaccines arriving as scheduled, we would administer on average more than one million doses per month during April, May and June," Martin said. He said they aim to have administered first doses to 40% of people over the age of 18 by the end of April, 64% by the end of May and up to 82% of adults by the end of June. A further 45 deaths of patients who tested positive for coronavirus in Ireland were announced on Tuesday, along with a further 575 confirmed cases of the virus. source: PA Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. DURHAM, N.C., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation has announced the election of four new members to its Board of Directors including; Caryl Hart, PhD, Dawn Wright, PhD, Keith Tuffley, and Stephen H. Lockhart, MD, PhD. The new Board of Directors' appointments took place between February last year and January this year. Caryl Hart - Caryl is Commissioner, California Coastal Commission appointed by Speaker Anthony Rendon in 2019, and currently serves as Interim General Manager of the Sonoma County Agricultural and Open Space District. Caryl is an attorney with more than 25 years of advocacy, parks acquisition and management, scholarship and administrative experience. She served for 13 years as a member of the California State Parks Commission, including seven years as Chair. In 2014, Dr. Hart was appointed by then-Governor Jerry Brown to serve on the Parks Forward Commission to assist in forming a sustainable path forward for the California State Park System. From 2010 to 2017, she served as Director of Sonoma County Regional Parks. Dr. Dawn Wright - Dawn is Chief Scientist of the Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri), a world-leading geographic information system (GIS) software and data science company. Her board service has included the Science Advisory Boards of NOAA and the EPA, the National Academy of Sciences Ocean Studies Board, and the Science Advisory Boards of Conservation International, COMPASS Science Communication, and the Ocean Discovery XPRIZE. Dawn is also a Professor of Geography and Oceanography at Oregon State University , and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Geological Society of America, the American Association of Geographers, and the California Academy of Sciences, as well as Stanford's Leopold Leadership Program. Keith Tuffley - Keith is Global Co-Head of the newly launched Sustainability & Corporate Transitions group at Citi, leading Citi's ESG engagement with its corporate clients. Keith was CEO of The B Team, an NGO composed of over 28 CEOs of global companies, leading entrepreneurs, and civil society leaders, to drive a better way of doing business co-founded by Sir Richard Branson and Jochen Zeitz . He was an active participant in the Paris Climate Agreement process and the development of the latest UN Sustainable Development Goals. Keith was Head of Investment Banking and Partner of Goldman Sachs in Australia , and Head of the Industrials group across Europe . Keith is the Founder of Switzerland -based impact investing company, NEUW Ventures; Chairman of Global Footprint Network; Governor of WWF-Australia; and Global Ambassador of Wilderness Foundation Global. Dr. Stephen H. Lockhart - Stephen is a board-certified anesthesiologist, and Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Sutter Health in Northern California (retired). A Rhodes Scholar, with a Master's degree in Economics from Oxford University , and M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Cornell , Dr. Lockhart served on the Board of Directors (including six years as Chair) of NatureBridge. An avid climber and backpacker, he has a long-standing passion for providing environmental science education and introducing our National Parks to an increasingly diverse population. Dr. Lockhart serves on the Boards of ECRI (a healthcare safety nonprofit), the National Parks Conservation Association, REI, and the David & Lucile Packard Foundation. Stephen also served on the National Parks Second Century Commission with E.O. Wilson . David J. Prend, current Board Chair remarked, "E.O. Wilson's life's work continues to inspire conservation leaders, philanthropists and scientists alike. These new board members bring diverse perspectives and expand on an already highly-regarded group dedicated to ensuring the Foundation carries out it's important mission of safeguarding the planet's biodiversity through science." The foundation also announced the appointment of two new executive staff, including Vice President of Development, Amy Tidovsky, and Vice President, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Joel R. Johnson. Amy Tidovsky - Amy was appointed to lead fundraising in support of the foundation's mission, strategies and projects. Previously, Amy spent more than 20 years with The Nature Conservancy, working on global philanthropy in major and principal gifts fundraising. Most recently, Amy served as North America Regional Director of Development for the Conservancy securing philanthropic support for a US-Indonesia debt-for-nature swap, a MacArthur Climate Challenge to promote climate and energy policy in the US. Joel R. Johnson - Joel was appointed to lead brand marketing, communications, and editorial to raise the visibility of the Foundation and its major program, The Half-Earth Project . Most recently, Joel was a founding partner in ad agency Admirable Devil, and Chief Marketing Officer of Trout Unlimited, the largest coldwater conservation organization in the US. Joel has held senior strategy and management roles at GMMB, Porter Novelli , Sapient Nitro, and DDB ( Chicago , London ), where he developed campaigns for the world's most valuable brands including Gillette, the NBA, and Pepsi. "These new appointments heed the urgency of the moment to advance the ambitious goal of Half-Earth and identify and conserve the places that will best protect the most biodiversity globally," said Dr. Paula J. Ehrlich, President & CEO and Half-Earth Project Lead. About the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation The E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation's mission is to foster a knowing stewardship of our world through biodiversity research and education initiatives that promote and inform worldwide preservation of our biological heritage. The Half-Earth Project is a foundation initiative that is working to conserve half the Earth's lands and seas to reverse the extinction crisis and safeguard the bulk of biodiversity for future generations. Visit www.eowilsonfoundation.org to learn more. Contact: Joel R. Johnson, [email protected] SOURCE E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation Related Links http://www.eowilsonfoundation.org Oman-based Bank Nizwa said it has reached an agreement with Shifa Hospital to finance the construction of its new healthcare facility in the sultanate. Shifa Hospital is designed, owned and will be operated solely by Omani pioneers with core focus in surgical specialties. Bank Nizwa said the deal comes in line with its efforts to contribute to the development of healthcare sector in the sultanate. To be build on more than 10,000-sq-m area, Shifa hospital will start operating with a 100-bed multispecialty facilitu in the first phase. It will contain nine state-of-the-art care facilities mainly focusing on surgical specialties. The financing agreement was signed by Khalid Al Kayed, CEO, Bank Nizwa and Dr. Salim Al Ghannami, CEO, Shifa Hospital at the Banks head office in the presence of Dr Samiya Al Ghannami one of the founders of the hospital and R Narasimhan, GM of Wholesale Banking at Bank Nizwa and other management team members. Al Kayed said: 'Bank Nizwa has been leading the way in Islamic banking in the sultanate and we believe in investing in projects that go beyond just promising financial returns. We want to ensure they also benefit the communities." "Quality healthcare is an integral building block of a thriving economy. By supporting ventures that have the same goal as Omans Vision 2040, we want to do our part to enhance the healthcare system in the country," he added. Dr Al Ghannami said the construction of the new private hospital will support the national socio-economic sector and uplift the healthcare system which resonates with our believes and principles. The objective of this venture is to meet the people's needs for medical services under one roof. Qualified national workforce will manage the hospital, he added. Sorry! This content is not available in your region South Africa: SA records 792 new COVID-19 cases South Africas COVID-19 daily infections continue to drop, with 792 new cases logged on Monday. Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, expressed his condolences to the families of the 97 people who lost their lives to Coronavirus in the last 24 hours. Of the latest fatalities, 30 are from Free State, 22 from the Western Cape and 15 from Gauteng. The Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal each recorded eight fatalities, and seven each in the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga. This pushes the death toll to 49 150, while the cumulative number of cases has peaked to 1 504 588 since the outbreak. According to the Minister, the country is now home to 41 872 active cases. KwaZulu-Natal currently has 14 662 infected patients, followed by the Free State with 7 008 and 6 988 in the Western Cape. In addition, there are 4 016 active cases in Gauteng, 3 483 in the North West, 2 793 in the Northern Cape, 1 272 in Mpumalanga, 1 106 in Limpopo and 544 in the Eastern Cape. Our recoveries now stand at 1 413 566, representing a recovery rate of 93.9%, said Mkhize. The information is based on the 8 907 857 tests conducted, 15 342 of which were recorded since the last report. The Minister said the number of healthcare workers vaccinated under the Sisonke Programme has risen to 23 059 as of 22 February 2021. Globally, the World Health Organisation is reporting 111 102 016 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 2 462 911 deaths. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-02-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Cambodian government announced Monday that foreign nationals will be expelled from the country if they left assigned quarantine centers or did not cooperate with authorities, who are currently attempting to control a new cluster in Phnom Penh. On Saturday, the government announced that it had detected a new community transmission cluster in Phnom Penh, which had registered about 100 cases in the last four days. The Health Ministry on Monday reported 23 new cases, raising serious concerns over the spread of this new cluster. While the origins of the cluster are unknown, the government said four foreign nationals had left Phnom Penhs Sokha Hotel during their quarantine, after bribing a security guard. Two of the four have tested positive for the disease. Foreigners will be expelled from the Kingdom of Cambodia and will never be allowed to return, read a letter issued by a COVID-19 inter-ministry commission and signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen on February 22. Additionally, local businesses will be closed if owners failed to cooperate with authorities searching for potential COVID-19 patients. The letter said the measure was needed to strengthen the authorities ability to stem community transmissions. The Cambodia China Times, an online news outlet, reported on Sunday that the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh had confirmed that some Chinese nationals had fled their quarantine hotel and some were in hiding after they had tested positive for COVID-19. Or Vandine, secretary of state at the Health Ministry, said in a Tuesday press conference that the authorities will implement the new regulations to punish foreigners harshly. But she wouldnt say if the four foreign nationals who had left their quarantine hotel in Phnom Penh would be expelled or not. We are working on that. I can let you know the result later, she said. But we dont forgive anyone who is against public health measures, she said. Vandine was concerned about the new cluster and called it a hard time of contagion. All foreign overseas travelers entering the country are expected to quarantine at assigned hotels or state-run quarantine centers for Cambodian citizens. Travelers are required to pay, around $2,000, for COVID-19 tests and accommodation. In June, the Ministry of Economy and Finance listed every small expense involved, including a $3 charge for security guards at quarantine facilities, $5 to transport passengers to a designated area to await their test results. The heavier charges include $100 per COVID-19 test, with a minimum of four tests, and $30 a day for a hotel room and an additional $30 a day for food during a passengers stay at a designated quarantine center. Li Ailan, the head of the World Health Organization in Cambodia, urged Cambodia to improve its quarantine facilities and strengthen surveillance mechanisms to prevent such outbreaks. Non-compliance of such measures is the problem that introduces the virus, she said in a press conference held jointly with the Health Ministry on Tuesday. I think our response to the February 20 event was very quick. However, in terms of early detection, we have to think about how we can have early detection, she added. Last week, the Cambodian government issued a directive that legally allows authorities to fine an individual who evades or prematurely leave mandatory 14-day COVID-19 quarantine. A person who evades quarantine will be fined from one to five million riels, around $250 to $1,250. Anyone who does not cooperate with authorities to take three tests needed during quarantine can be fined from $250 to $1,250 as well. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A number of regions have been named, set to receive the jabs immediately. The plane carrying 500,000 doses landed at Boryspil International Airport. Ukraine has received the first batch of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, which supplies medicines to nearly 140 countries. The batch of 500,000 doses has arrived at Boryspil International Airport on Tuesday, February 23. Ukrainian Deputy Health Minister, Chief Medical Officer Viktor Liashko earlier named Ukrainian regions that would receive the vaccines immediately on the day of their arrival in Ukraine. These are the city of Kyiv, as well as Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Poltava, and Vinnytsia regions. Read alsoCOVID-19: Almost 4,200 new active cases reported as of Feb 23The vaccine will be distributed to all other regions the next day. Coronavirus vaccine in Ukraine: Background On February 22, Ukraine's Health Ministry certified Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine (Covishield) for emergency medical use. The vaccine was developed by Oxford University and the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca. The Oxford/AstraZeneca emergency vaccine has been approved by the World Health Organization and authorized by the United Kingdom, the European Union, and India. Reporting by UNIAN NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- FORCE Family Office is honored to have Dr. Robert Langer, MIT Institute Professor, the most cited engineer in history, and a founding investor in Moderna, lead our discussion on "The Future of Regenerative Medicine" with EpiBione CEO, Nina Tandon, PhD, MBA. The event will take place March 16 at 12:00 PM ET. He has been called the Edison of our age. Dr. Robert Langer has been granted over 1,400 patents, been cited in more than 331,000 scholarly publications, and written more than 1,500 articles. He's also a founding father of Moderna, one company that is bringing COVID-19 under control. "We are so honored to have Dr. Langer lead this discussion for EpiBone," said Steven Saltzstein, CEO of FORCE Family Office. "It's rare to be able to hear from and ask questions of such a distinguished and accomplished leader in the sciences. In addition, EpiBone is breaking new ground in science and medicine. It is no surprise that Dr. Langer is involved." Just 15 years ago, Dr. Nina Tandon was a bio-engineering student in Dr. Langer's lab, where she began her work on electrical signaling in the context of tissue engineering. After receiving her Masters at MIT and two PhDs from Columbia, she founded EpiBone, a company that is growing bone tissue in a bio-reactor for use in reconstructive surgery. Once implanted, the bone continues to grow, integrating itself into the body. It is as natural as the original bone around it. Beginning with facial reconstruction surgery, EpiBone's technology will ultimately be used for joint repair as well as any other bone repair and replacement. The technology is so promising, it has received backing from Henry Kravis, The Tata Family Office, and Dr. Langer. Please join FORCE Family Office March 16, as Doctors Langer and Tandon discuss recent advancements in regenerative medicine and the promise EpiBone's work has for the future. Register using this link https://forcewealth.com/portfolio-items/epibone-03-16 ABOUT FORCE FAMILY OFFICE FORCE is the largest network of investment-seeking Family Offices in the United States. They introduce members of their network to leaders of public companies and privately held businesses. In addition, their elite peer-to-peer community brings people together facilitating co-investment opportunities, information sharing, philanthropy, and networking. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT Harvey Briggs Director of Communications FORCE Family Office [email protected] 608.361.8092 SOURCE FORCE Family Office Adani Enterprises, the flagship company of the Adani group, on Monday said it had entered into a 50:50 joint venture (JV) with EdgeConnex, a leading global operator, to develop and operate data centres across India. The idea behind the JV, AdaniConneX, was to leverage the two partners complementary expertise and capabilities, it said. In addition to full-scale data centres, AdaniConneX will also develop a portfolio of Edge data centres strategically located across the country to address the need for more proximate capacity. These Edge sites were designed and planned to easily scale with demand and become full-scale campuses, it said. Importantly, this pan-Indian platform of hyperscale. and hyperlocal data centres would largely be powered by renewable energy, the company added. In Adani, we have the ideal partner in India, said Randy Brouckman, chief executive of EdgeConneX. They possess the necessary capabilities and unique expertise in India required to build out critical digital infrastructure that can best support our customers across the entire country. We look forward to investing in the digital economy of India and meeting our customers needs throughout the region in collaboration with Adani. The partnership will leverage Adanis expertise in full-stack energy management, renewable power and real estate development, as well as its experience in building and managing large infrastructure projects throughout India. One of the best manifestations of Prime Minister (Narendra Modi)s vision is the speed with which the entire Indian population has come online and the subsequent continued exponential growth in data consumption, said Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group. India currently has one of worlds largest data subscriber populations and to address the need for a reliable infrastructure to support cloud, content, network, (IoT), 5G, (AI) and enterprise requirements, data centres are a fundamental infrastructure need of the nation. The Adani group brings to the table a unique combination of green power, real estate expertise, access to undersea cable landing stations, and several nodes across the country to serve as edge locations. In addition to EdgeConneXs domain expertise and cutting-edge in the business, we have been very impressed with the agility they bring to the joint venture, Adani said. The AdaniConneX JV will focus on building a network of hyperscale data centres in India, starting with the Chennai, Navi Mumbai, Noida, Vizag and Hyderabad markets. Development and construction at these sites have already begun. The Senate on Tuesday confirmed two of President Bidens cabinet nominees, giving approval for Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a veteran diplomat, to become the United States ambassador to the United Nations and Tom Vilsack to become agriculture secretary. Ms. Thomas-Greenfields confirmation, by a vote of 78 to 20, comes as Mr. Bidens administration seeks to become a more active force in the United Nations after American retreat during the Trump administration. Her new position is the latest chapter in a rise that started in her birthplace of Louisiana, where she attended segregated schools and experienced a childhood, in the early 1950s, punctuated by racial tension. The Senate voted 92 to 7 to confirm Mr. Vilsack, 70, a former governor of Iowa who served as the agriculture secretary under former President Barack Obama for eight years and will now return to that position in Mr. Bidens administration. As Americas top representative to the United Nations, Ms. Thomas-Greenfield, 68, has said she will set about restoring alliances and re-engaging in multilateral efforts to address global problems like the coronavirus pandemic. The deposits of non-government resident customers were 0.3 percent up this January from the previous month, to RON 422.103 billion; compared to January 2020, the advance is 15.8 percent (12.4 percent in real terms), the National Bank of Romania (BNR) informs in a release on Tuesday, according to AGERPRES. RON-denominated deposits of residents, accounting for 65.1 percent of the total deposits of non-government customers, increased 0.2 percent from December 2020 to RON 274.918 billion and 15.5 percent (12.1 percent in real terms) YoY. RON-denominated household deposits inched up 1.2 percent to RON 153.294 billion from December 2020, and were 16.5 percent (13.1 percent in real terms) higher on a YoY basis. RON-denominated deposits of other sectors (non-financial corporations and non-monetary financial institutions) dropped 1.1 percent to RON 121.624 billion compared to December 2020, and were 14.2 percent (10.9 percent in real terms) higher from the year-ago level. Forex-denominated deposits of residents expressed in RON (at 34.9 percent of the total deposits of non-government customers) edged up 0.5 percent from the previous month to RON 147.184 billion (when expressed in EUR, forex deposits moved up 0.4 percent to EUR 30.194 billion). Compared to January 2020, the amount was 16.4 percent higher expressed in RON and 14.1 percent up when expressed in EUR. Forex deposits of households advanced month on month 1.3 percent when expressed in domestic currency to RON 106.657 billion (when expressed in EUR, the advance was 1.2 percent). The increase from the year-ago level was 16.2 percent when expressed in RON (13.9 percent when expressed in EUR). Forex-denominated deposits of other sectors went down 1.5 percent from the previous month to RON 40.527 billion when expressed in RON (when expressed in EUR, the decrease was 1.6 percent). YoY, the amount was 17 percent up when expressed in RON, and 14.7 percent higher when expressed in EUR. This article is part of the Free Speech Project, a collaboration between Future Tense and the Tech, Law, & Security Program at American University Washington College of Law that examines the ways technology is influencing how we think about speech. On Thursday morning Melbourne time, Australians woke to the eerie realisation that a big tech company had followed through on its big threat. Only we didnt learn it from any official news sources on our Facebook newsfeed. We Aussies were suddenly blocked from posting and seeing news content on Facebook. If we tried to post a link to a news story, a pop-up informed us that, This post cant be shared. It went on: In response to Australian government legislation, Facebook restricts the posting of news links and all posts from news Pages in Australia. Globally, the posting and sharing of news links from Australian publications is restricted. Advertisement What was more: Every Australian news outlet Facebook page had been wiped of posts. Even international publications pages were cleared for us; while you could still see posts on Slates Facebook page, when I looked at it, I saw none. No posts yet, it read. What was worse: It soon became apparent that many other important pages had been cleared tooincluding state health departments, just days before Australia was to begin its vaccine rollout. Advertisement Advertisement The shocking but entirely foreseeable move came, as the pop-up said, in response to government legislation, which had passed the parliaments lower house with bipartisan support on Wednesday night. The News Media Bargaining Codewhich would force designated digital platforms to pay new publishers for links they display, redistributing some of the advertising revenue they have eaten intohad been a matter of contention for many months: Facebook threatened to pull news in September, and in January Google threatened to pull its whole search engine if the code went ahead as it was. Australian treasurer Josh Frydenberg was in regular talks with CEOs Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai and expressed confidence that an agreement would be reached. He seemed to be right: Google started striking multimillion-dollar deals with publishers in the weeks leading up to the bills passage. But someone took their eye off Facebook. Advertisement After Facebook pulled the news plug, Australian politicians attacked the company for doing exactly what it said it was going to do, with the prime minister arguing that the company had unfriended the nation, and demanded the health, weather, and emergency pages be restoredsomething Facebook quickly did. Others (including me) slammed the government for screwing up the negotiations by making extreme demands and then failing to reach an agreement, in turn screwing over the publishers it was purportedly trying to help (not to mention a range of charities, unions, community groups, and sporting organizations). Advertisement Just under a week later, the ban has been reversed, with an 11th-hour compromise seeing the government agree to fundamentally weaken the code. The change means the government may not apply the code to a company if it can demonstrate it has made a significant contribution to the Australian news industry through commercial arrangements, and it must give a platform a months notice before subjecting it to the code. In other words, Facebook just has to strike some deals, and the government will leave it alone. News isnt back yet, but Facebooks Australian managing director Will Easton says it will be restored in the coming days, while global VP for partnerships Campbell Brown indicated the company could pull news from Australia again if the government were to apply the code to it. Frydenberg wants to pretend this is a win for the government in a proxy battle for the world, but its the Australian government that has backed down. Facebook was right: News needs it more than it needs news. Advertisement But does Facebook need news at all? A few weeks ago, in writing about the Australia vs. Big Tech showdown, I joked that a news-free news feed might be a blessingafter all, the newsfeed can be a cesspit of pointless clickbait, inflammatory headlines and inane comments. I wasnt quite serious: I, like Frydenberg, didnt think this would actually happen. But what was it like experiencing a Facebook without news? Advertisement Scrolling through Facebook on Thursday morning, the newsfeed was still dominated by the news, only it wasnt through links. It was friends statuses and group posts, discussing and digesting and debating the weird reality we found ourselves intrue blue Facebook reacts. Thisll go down as one of the most prolific policy fucks of history, one wrote of the government. Facebook would absolutely prefer to ruin its own product than pay a tiny amount of tax. What a bunch of shitbags, wrote another. Others, behind on the backstory, were crowdsourcing where they should be directing their anger, torn between the tech behemoth and the conservative government. Many were noting what other pages were missing, in a state of panic, mostly over the charities and social services, which were soon restored. But I was genuinely struck by how many posts I saw from my social networkthe people I am supposedly on Facebook to see. Advertisement In the days that followed, posts about the news ban diminished, but the presence of my Facebook friends did not. A girl I met in Mexico shouted out her partners 30th; a couple celebrated buying their first home; my cousins in England posed with their kids. I saw profile pictures and memes, thank-yous and babies. It was extremely strange, and extremely wholesome, a reminder that good things were happening in the world, too. Advertisement I also saw a lot more satire, with beloved satirical news pages that were initially struck down soon restored. The Chaser, among the first to be returned, was like a kid in a candy store, mocking the Murdoch mastheads, along with the public broadcaster on which it used to air, over the fact it could post while they could not. But it also used its spotlight to spotlight some genuine news (Seeing as were the only news site left we figured we might as well start unveiling corruption on a mass scale, it wrote), sharing a comprehensive list of the governments corruption (which soon crashed its website). It probably helps that I already liked and followed a lot of satire, but theres no doubt I was shown interesting and informative content. But I do wonder what was left on other peoples temporarily news-free feeds. Advertisement As a journalist, I was devastated by the news ban, fearful as to what it meant for my already decimated industry, and angry at the government for going so hard, reportedly at the behest of big fish like Rupert Murdoch, and hurting the little fish who rely on Facebook in the process. As a citizen, Im chilled by the display of raw power from Facebook, and concerned about misinformation on the platform should it happen again. Advertisement Advertisement But if Im being honest, as a user, things felt fine. Better than fine; the newsfeed was lighter, calmer, happier. It felt akin to what Facebook used to be, a social network rather than a news aggregator, and it was about as nice as youd expect. I didnt learn anything newsworthy as I scrolled; I learnt things that were newsfeed-worthy. I wasnt living in ignorance, because I get my news elsewhere, and I really hope Australians learn to as well after this. We shouldnt be relying on Facebook for news. Advertisement Ive complained before about Australian being a testing ground for social media features, because were not really an important market. Were still not; Facebook was able to make an example of us here, a warning to other countries considering codes of their own, because we represent such a small segment of its market. But if this ban had stayed in place and proved popular, could it also have been the model for a new direction for Facebook? Dont celebrate too soon, Zuckerberg. Im not sure I or other users would spend quite as much time on Facebook without newsan amount that had already dropped considerably. But it would be quality over quantity. You know what they say: No news is good news. Actually, one of my friends said that, last Thursday. I know, because I saw it on my newsfeed. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. Highlights Sony will soon release a firmware update for Sony a7S Mark III. The update will bring S-Cinetone colour profile on Sony a7S Mark III. S-Cinetone look was first witnessed on Sony FX9 Cinema Line camera. Sony a7S Mark III was launched in India for Rs 3,34,990 in October. The camera aims at filmmakers with 4K video recording capabilities. The a7S Mark III is equally worthwhile for photographers. It equips a 12.1-megapixel 35mm full-frame CMOS sensor. The camera is powered by a BIONZ XR image processor. In the recent news, Sony is now adding the S-Cinetone look to a7S Mark III through a version 2.00 firmware update. S-Cinetone is the company's default look for its film style cameras. This look was first witnessed on Sony FX9 Cinema Line camera. In fact, Sony included S-Cinetone and Creative Look in the recently launched Sony Alpha 1 mirrorless camera as well. As reported by Sony Alpha Rumors, the company "sent out a newsletter saying that a new firmware update would be launched very soon to add S-Cinetone on your A7sIII." The newsletter was sent out too early by Sony Nordic, Northern Europe. For the unversed, S-Cinetone is a combination of a gamma curve called "original" and a matrix called "S-Cinetone". S-Cinetone produces a film-like look that is customised for video productions. If users want then they can mix different gamma curves with the S-Cinetone matrix for different colours to go well with the mood of the scene you are shooting. Sony thoroughly explains its S-Cinetone colour profile here. It states, "The base curve of S-Cinetone is BT.709, but it adopted some essences of film-tone. It has high contrast tone in the low luminance levels and low contrast tone in the high luminance levels. The black level is lower than s709 and STD5 (R709)." The email does not reveal as when the company will release the new version 2.00 firmware update. In other news, Sony will launch a new Cinema Line camera, which may be called FX3, today on February 23. The FX3 will probably be the most compact camera of the company's Cinema Line series. In a span of less than two minutes, a gunman who killed two people in a rampage at a gun store near New Orleans on Saturday fired all 32 rounds in his possession before store employees fatally shot him in the parking lot, the authorities said on Monday. The gunman, Joshua Williams, had gone to the Jefferson Gun Outlet in Metairie, La., to buy ammunition, but when store employees told him he could not bring a loaded gun in the store, he refused to comply and soon began shooting, Sheriff Joseph P. Lopinto III of Jefferson Parish said at a news conference. An intense exchange of gunfire erupted between Mr. Williams and seven store employees, two of whom were hospitalized for gunshot wounds and later released, the authorities said. When the shooting ended, investigators recovered nearly 100 shell casings and 10 guns, three of which belonged to Mr. Williams, according to the sheriff, who on Monday released portions of security camera footage of the attack. I believe, without a doubt, he was looking to shoot more people until he ran out of bullets, Sheriff Lopinto said. I dont know what was going through Joshua Williamss mind. ADVERTISEMENT Heavy explosions and sporadic shootings echoed Tuesday evening in Maiduguri as Nigerian soldiers repelled an attack by suspected Boko Haram insurgents. A PREMIUM TIMES reporter heard explosions from artillery shooting and assault rifles echoing over the Borno State capital city. The thunderous sounds of heavy firearms started at about 5:45 p.m. and continued intermittently for about an hour. Residents of Gwange Layin Bori said a rocket-propelled warhead that landed on their neighbourhood had inflicted damages on the residents. Rocket-propelled grenades also landed in Adam Kolo and Kaleri suburbs of Maiduguri where residents are reporting casualties and injuries. PREMIUM TIMES has not been able to independently verify these claims, even as residents were seen rushing home as the dusk set in. A competent military source confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that there was an attempted infiltration into Maiduguri by Boko Haram elements. The source, who pleaded anonymity as he was not permitted to speak to the media, said the attack came from the Kaleri, London Chiki axis. They fired about five mortar rounds indiscriminately which landed around Gwange and injured an unspecified number of people. However, troops of Sector 1 quickly mobilised and reinforced the location, forcing the criminals to withdraw. As I am talking to you now, our troops are in pursuit now. Details later A CBI team examined Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee's wife Rujira on Tuesday in connection with the coal pilferage case, officials said. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited the residence of her nephew Abhishek in south Kolkata's Harish Mukherjee Road minutes before the CBI team landed there. The CBI reached Abhishek's residence just before noon and the examination went on for around an hour, sources said. The team left around 1.15 pm amid a heavy police presence. The CBI's visit to Abhishek's residence comes after Rujira told the central agency that she will be available for examination between 11 am and 3 pm on February 23, replying to a notice that the sleuths had hand-delivered her on Sunday. The agency sought the examination of Rujira Banerjee to ascertain the details of her bank transactions, suspecting a connection to the proceeds of the illegal coal excavation money, sources said. On Monday, the CBI examined Rujira's sister Menaka Gambhir in connection with the same case. Two woman officers of the CBI visited Gambhir's residence off EM Bypass and had examined her for nearly three hours. The developments come months ahead of the assembly elections in the state with Trinamool Congress alleging it to be a political vendetta. The CBI on November 28 last year carried out a massive search operation in a number of locations across four states -- West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh -- after registering a case against one Anup Majhi alias Lala. It is alleged that Lala, the alleged kingpin of the scam, is involved in illegal mining and theft of coal from leasehold mines of ECL in Kunustoria and Kajora areas, sources said. Also read: Active Covid-19 cases cross 1.5-lakh mark after spike in Maha, Gujarat, 3 other states National Communications Officer and a member of the legal team of former President John Mahama has asked members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) not to 'give up'. Speaking after a Supreme Court ruling which dismissed Mr Mahama's application for a review of the Supreme Court's decision to reopen his case, Sammy Gyamfi said, we want to tell them that we understand and appreciate your frustrations. We understand and appreciate that and we are telling you dont give up. We are not doing this for nothing. We know what we are doing and we are dong this because of the love we have for Ghana, particularly that of the Petitioner . . . His comment comes on the back of calls from some members of the party to withdraw the 2020 election petition since the Supreme Court has thrown out several of their applications. However, Sammy Gyamfi said in as much as their 'frustrations' are understandable, there is the need to be patient. Those who are crestfallen, those who are discouraged and sometimes call us, worried and disturbed saying, Why dont you withdraw this matter?, You shouldnt even go to court . . . Let us all be patient with the legal team as we go through the process. We are not abusing the court processes like some are suggesting and we have not defied the orders of the court, he noted. Listen to him in the video below A nine-member panel of Supreme Court (SC) Judges has unanimously dismissed a review application filed by the petitioner in the 2020 election petition, John Mahama.Mr Mahama filed an application for review of the Supreme Courts ruling that prevented him from reopening his case.According to the motion, the SC made fundamental errors of law, including the ruling being per incuriam of constitutional provisions, statutes, and previous decisions of the Supreme Court.I am advised by counsel and verily believe the court made fundamental errors of law including the ruling being per incuriam of constitutional provisions, statutes and previous decisions of the Supreme Court...Among these errors, I am advised by counsel and verily believe is an error whereby the courts subordinates a provision in the Evidence Act to a rule in subsidiary legislation by the Rules of Court Committee, portions of the application read.However, a ruling read by Chief Justice Anin Yeboah, Monday said the application was not based on law and that review discretion is not a try on and neither should it be asked on emotional grounds."We dismiss the instant application as being wholly without merit," he said. 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 Nevada-focused precious metals explorer with a 125-square kilometre exploration portfolio across four projects New shallow-oxide, silver-gold discovery at Selena Experienced executive team fully aligned with shareholders through 17% share ownership Drilling services contract with Envirotech Drilling that ensures dollars are spent at the drill bit to maximize discovery potential What does: Ridgeline Minerals Corp ( ) (OTCQB:RDGMF) is a new gold-silver explorer with four early-stage assets in the prolific Carlin and Battle Mountain-Eureka Trends of Nevada. Unlike many junior explorers of a similar size, the firm holds a 100% interest in four core land positions: the highly prospective Carlin-East, Bell Creek, Swift and Selena projects, which are all equally strong prospects. Together, Ridgelines portfolio represents an opportunity to make a new discovery in proven districts where big names like Nevada Gold Mines (a joint venture between Barrick Gold and Newmont) and Kinross Gold are among its neighbours. Carlin East is comprised of 422 contiguous federal lode claims and fee lands totaling 39 square kilometres of mineral rights straddling Eureka and Elko counties. West of Carlin East is Bell Creek, a Carlin-type gold exploration project comprised of 1,300 acres of private mineral rights directly adjacent to Nevada Gold Mines Ren-Banshee deposits and on-trend of the multi-million-ounce Goldstrike and Rodeo-Meikle deposits. Swift is an early-stage gold project that has not been explored in decades but shows significant potential to host a high-grade Carlin-Type deposit within the same Lower Plate carbonate package responsible for the world-class gold endowment of the Cortez District. It is Selena, however, that has up until now been Ridgelines primary focus for drilling. Assays received to date suggest the project is host to an oxidized, silver-enriched, Carlin-Type gold system with a silver-to-gold ratio typically exceeding 100 to 1. Although early days, these silver grades are roughly three times higher than the largest operating open-pit silver mine in Nevada. The company boasts a unique drilling services contract provided by Ridgelines co-founder Steve Neilsen, owner of Envirotech Drilling LLC. The synergies give Ridgeline a competitive advantage over its peers and ensures exploration dollars are going into the ground early to maximize the odds of discovery. As a company with a market value of around C$24 million, Ridgeline is a well-funded junior with C$3.4 million in cash as of the beginning of February. Led by CEO Chad Peters and a team of experts with previous success in Nevada under their belts, the junior company is hoping its prime location will help create excitement at the drill bit for shareholders. How is it doing: Ridgeline has started off 2021 on the right foot thanks to successful 2020 drill programs at Selena and Swift. In December 2020, the company reported a shallow oxide, silver-gold discovery at Selena, highlighted by 36.6 meters (m) grading 67.08 grams per ton (g/t) silver (Ag) and 0.26 g/t gold (Au). The discovery came after a 22-hole program totaling 3,223m. Wide-spaced drilling defined an oxide, silver-gold footprint that outcrops at surface and extends for over one kilometer (km) down-dip and along strike. Soon after the discovery, Ridgeline added another 87 lode claims for an additional 1,780 acres, bringing the total project area to 8,203 acres of prospective ground in Nevada. The new claims are directly on-trend of the silver-gold discovery. In January, Ridgeline reaffirmed the discoverys potential for scale, with further results expanding the discovery footprint and confirming grade continuity across wide-spaced drilling. A few weeks later, Ridgeline revealed that recently acquired historical data extended the strike length at Selena by around 1.3km to the north of the discovery. Highlights from the historical data reveal multiple drill holes that returned shallow intercepts of silver and gold at grades between 17 g/t and 30 g/t silver equivalent. In addition, high-grade rock chips adjacent to and along strike of the earlier discovery include individual samples of up to 725 g/t silver and 12.4 g/t gold at surface, indicating high-priority exploration targets for a 2021 drill program. While the news flow was coming out of Selena, work continued at the Swift project as well. A Phase I drill program comprised of three diamond drill core holes totaling 2,413m was focused on the untested Fallen City target, with the primary objective of targeting the intersection of the down-dip projection of a kilometer-scale Carlin-Type pathfinder gold soils anomaly. The results supported Ridgelines thesis that Swift has the potential to host a Carlin-type gold discovery similar to major operations in the state. Highlights from the three holes assayed include up to 0.6 g/t gold, 860 g/t silver and 392 parts per million (ppm) arsenic, which confirmed Ridgelines re-interpreted geological model of the Wenban formation. Ridgeline has also been buoyed by high-grade exploration results from Barricks North Leeville Discovery, located approximately 3.5km southwest of Carlin-East. Two of Barricks four priority resource expansion targets in Nevada are on-trend of Ridgelines Carlin-East (North Leeville) and Bell Creek (Ren) properties, with North Leeville exhibiting multi-million-ounce growth potential, according to Ridgeline. Inflection points: More results from Selena drill program expected in April 2021 Drill test Carlin-East target Maiden drill programs at the Mill Creek and Goat Anticline targets at Swift What the boss says: Commenting on the expansion of the silver-gold discovery at Selena, Ridgeline CEO Chad Peters told shareholders: "What has emerged from our 2020 drill program is a new silver-gold discovery that continues to show potential for scale. Peters added: "Our latest drill results further expand the discovery footprint, while also confirming grade continuity across wide-spaced drilling. Our strategy in 2021 is to conduct additional step-out drilling down-dip and along strike of known mineralization with the objective of defining the overall footprint of this exciting new discovery." Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas A round of on-campus mass COVID-19 testing is to take place over the coming days at the University of Limerick (UL) to help manage a fresh outbreak of the virus among the student population. The testing will be carried out by HSE Mid-West Community Healthcare and the National Ambulance Service in partnership with the Department of Public Health Mid West. Dr Ronan Ryder, Director of the Student Health Centre at UL, said the service referred fewer than five patients for testing this day two weeks ago, but that this rose to 50 yesterday, Monday. A spokesman for the Department of Public Health Mid West said it has recorded more than 200 cases associated with the current student outbreak in Limerick since early January, the majority of cases were recorded in the past two to three weeks. Dr Ryder said he felt that the vast majority of the student population have done exceptionally well to protect themselves since Christmas, however, he added, when case numbers start to rise, it does take some time to bring them back under control. So, I am encouraging all students in the Castletroy area to avail of testing, and to avoid household visits and socialising so that we can manage this disease in our community, he added. If you are a student in the area, and you are concerned about symptoms or you are a close contact, your first port of call should be the Student Health Centre or your own GP, and the test is free for everybody, Dr Ryder said. Students attending the university are advised that even if phone lines are busy, every student will be accommodated, and that the service will be open every Saturday and Sunday over the next two weeks to facilitate the increased level of demand. This (mass testing) measure is in response to an increase in COVID-19 cases among students in the Castletroy area of Limerick city, associated with household outbreaks in off-campus student accommodation, said a spokesman for Public Health Mid West. They spokesman encouraged all students to avail of the mass testing in order to protect yourself, your household and your community. Meanwhile, students who availed of a previous round of mass testing at UL earlier this month should also register for a test, as infection since being tested is still possible they said. The test is free and you do not need to present with symptoms to avail of it. We have seen evidence of multiple household clusters arising out of continued social mixing. Since the B117 variant has become the dominant strain in Ireland, single cases are escalating quickly to whole households being infected and then quickly spreading to others, they said. Dr Marie Casey, a Specialist in Public Health Medicine, said the department had noticed a series of behavioural patterns that are contributing factors to the increase in cases in the area. She said students have a unique risk profile as they live in large households, travel to and from their family homes, and may have a part-time job. Because many will present no symptoms, the level of risk multiplies when they breach their social bubble or socialise with others outside their household. There are continued small and larger social gatherings, many of which are being discovered during follow-up calls with cases and their close contacts. Our contact tracers are seeing new positive cases identifying an excessive number of close contacts outside their households. This is problematic as, largely speaking, your only close contacts should be your own household, said Dr Casey. We are also noticing that some people are building wider social bubbles, whereby some people within the same household are exposed to separate social settings, such as visiting partners or classmates. While we are managing an outbreak among the student population, we are seeing similar patterns of inter-household and family outbreaks in housing estates and communities across Limerick and in the Mid-West, which is due to increased levels of social mixing, Dr Casey said. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Karnataka Leader of the Opposition, Siddaramaiah on Monday said he does not "need to learn 'Ram Bhakti' from those who murdered true devotee of Lord Ram, Mahatma Gandhi". Launching 'Jana-Dhwani' (People's Voice), a 108-km party padayatra (walkathon) by the Congress party in Udupi to oppose the steep hike in petrol and diesel prices, Siddaramaiah said that he is also a 'Ram Bhakt' but unlike BJP's 'Ram Bhakts'. "My Ram Bhakti is inspired by none other than the father of our nation Mahatma Gandhi's Ram Bhakti. His Ram Bhakti included everyone while BJP's Ram Bhakti is exclusionary, which is dangerous to the unity of the country," he said while lashing out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The former Karnataka Chief Minister said the BJP leaders term him as an "anti-Ram" but he would like to draw their attention that his name itself includes "Rama" in it. "So, in many ways, Rama is part of me," he said, responding to his critics. Launching tirade against the BJP and the Sangh Parivar, Siddaramaiah said the Sangh Parivar needs to answer why RSS founders (Keshav Baliram) Hedgewar and (Madhavrao Sadashivrao) Golwalkar never participated in the freedom struggle of the country. "Then also they were not patriots and even today also they aren't patriots. They killed the father of our Nation. How can we expect any patriotism from such people (Sangh Parivar)," he questioned. He further alleged that the Sangh Parivar has destroyed communal harmony of entire coastal region by infusing its poisonous ideology. "Worshiping Rama or deities is in our culture and several have been named after these Gods. I am also one of them," he said. He asserted that he was not against Lord Rama, but the manner in which the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the BJP has launched fundraising campaign in the country. "Rama should not be used as a mere political tool, so whatever fund is raised in his name should be utilised for him and him alone and not for any other purposes," he explained. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company An Oregon man who had been arrested in California earlier this month was shot and killed by a sheriffs deputy after fighting with the officer last week, officials said. The man, identified as Chad Curtis Loynachan, a 29-year-old Tigard resident, was arrested Feb. 5 on suspicion of drug possession, being a felon in possession of a loaded gun and possession of an improvised explosive device, according to the Siskiyou County Sheriffs Office. On Friday, Loynachan was taken from the county jail in Yreka to Fairchild Medical Center for treatment, the sheriffs office said. After he was cleared, the inmate physically attacked the Correctional Deputy and attempted to disarm the deputy, the sheriffs office said in a statement. During the fight, the inmate was shot by the deputy. Loynachan underwent several hours of surgery, but ultimately died from his injuries. The deputy received moderate injuries in the altercation and was treated and released soon after, officials said. The sheriffs office did not say how many times Loynachan was shot or the name of the deputy that shot him, though they did say that more information would be available after the conclusion of several comprehensive investigations. -- Kale Williams; kwilliams@oregonian.com; 503-294-4048; @sfkale JACKSON, MI Charles Montgomery believed an involved community is a powerful community, and he spent his life helping Jacksonians believe that, too. For decades, Montgomery did everything he could to promote change. He started neighborhood block clubs. He called for equality between Black and white residents. He promoted the lives of World War II and Korean War veterans like him. He always wanted to get more registered voters. And he wrote. His daughter Jeneice Carter remembers him writing all the time, articulating his positions on neighborhood beautification projects and elevating the minority community in Jackson. He wrote so much that even years after his death in 2001, Carter is still skimming through his stacks of papers and newspaper clippings. He was just that kind of a person, he wanted to help. That was his main focus, Carter said. Not just Black people just to help people. We had no qualms on color, even though color was a big issue back then. One of the things that he always wanted (for) all of us to be better and have better. He did a lot of things in order to achieve that. Montgomery is one of many notable Black Jacksonians being highlighted in a Black History Month social media campaign from the city of Jackson and Ella Sharp Museum. Artifacts being revealed as part of Black History Month celebration in Jackson Coming together is beginning, staying together is progress and working together is success, Montgomery told a Jackson Citizen Patriot reporter in the 1960s. Charles Montgomery deeply cared about the Jackson community and local veterans. He served in Korea and was a leader in... Posted by The City of Jackson, Michigan on Tuesday, February 16, 2021 Montgomery was born in 1918 in Waco, Texas. He served in the U.S. Air Force in Italy during World War II and in the Korean War, achieving the rank of sergeant, Carter said. Montgomery and his wife, Doris, his high school sweetheart, came to Jackson in 1956 when he became supervisor in the psychiatric clinic at Southern Michigan Prison, a job he filled until his retirement in 1984. Carter and her two siblings, Mary Ann and Charles Jr., grew up on Plymouth Street on the citys east side. She wasnt aware of the depth of her fathers activism for many years, she said, but did remember how much he would promote civic engagement. With the organizations he was involved in, whatever it was, it was always about providing information for the community to register to vote, Carter said. Constantly. Buttons were made, T-shirts were made, rallies were made, just so the information would be available for everyone not a specific group, color, creed, religion everyone to have the opportunity to vote. He was very big on that. Montgomerys mobilization efforts were often centered around neighborhood improvement. He led the United Civic Association of Jackson in the late 1950s and formed the Association of Neighborhood Block Clubs in the 1960s and the Southside Self-Help Neighborhood Improvement Association in the 1980s. The goals of these groups were to champion Black voices in civic involvement and promote community and civic activism for everyone. Community work, however, required everyones input, he said, so in 1987 he helped residents turn a defunct Victorian home on Maple Avenue into a community youth center. If we are to succeed in our objective we must have faith in ourselves and confidence in our ability to do that which is before us. Through group thinking at the block level, we can take a positive approach to help make us an important and powerful part to play in this neighborhood improvement project, he wrote in an association of neighborhood block clubs newsletter during that time. We have the potentiality of contributing much in a way which will ensure the best and most purposeful meaning of a good neighbor, law abiding citizens and an asset to the beautification of our city, The Montgomery family moved to the Essex Heights neighborhood on Jacksons southwest side in the late 1960s as one of the first Black residents on Woodfield Drive, Carter said. The neighbors had the audacity to have a meeting to see if we were fit, capable to live here, Carter said. That just really sparked my hairs right on my head. It was like, how dare they try to tell us we could not live here. My dad was able to break a lot of the stereotype out in this area. Today, I am amazed because Ive been over there to see the house and I see how many minorities are living there now. Beyond neighborhood improvement, Montgomery was a union delegate for state employees and recorded the stories of African American veterans, including those who served in World War II with the Tuskegee Airmen a group in which he also received training to make sure they werent forgotten. Montgomery also was commander of the Jackson County American Legion and earned a lifetime membership title from Sauk Trail Post No. 246 in 1997. A main lesson Carter learned from her father was about the power of change an individual has. I am somebody, she said. What I do and what I say has a reflection on not just me, but my family and the totality of my home. Especially being a daughter of someone thats been such an advocate on this, I try I cant follow in his footsteps exactly because he was more of an outspoken person than me but I will do what I have to do. " MORE JACKSON NEWS: Jackson music producer who was fatally shot had tough outside, soft inside, sister says Call to reduce Cascade Falls operating hours met with hesitancy from Jackson County officials Letter from the Editor: We asked students, parents and teachers, Are you OK? They said no TechnipFMC (NYSE:FTI) (PARIS:FTI) has received a letter of award (LOA) by Energean Israel Limited for the development of the Karish North field, located offshore Israel. TechnipFMC will design, manufacture, deliver and install subsea equipment including the subsea production system, rigid flowlines and umbilicals as a tieback to the 'Energean Power' FPSO as well as the second gas export riser. Jonathan Landes, President Subsea at TechnipFMC, commented: "We are delighted to partner again with Energean. This LOA demonstrates the value of our in-depth field knowledge and previous experience with Energean through the Karish main development, awarded to TechnipFMC in 2018. Early client engagement, leveraging our iFEED capability, as well as our ability to offer a full suite of services and global experience, form part of our unique fully integrated EPCI (iEPCI) offering. We look forward to further expanding our partnership with Energean through the development of Karish North." Important Information for Investors and Securityholders Forward-Looking Statement This release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The words "believe", "estimated" and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, which are generally not historical in nature. Such forward-looking statements involve significant risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from our historical experience and our present expectations or projections. For information regarding known material factors that could cause actual results to differ from projected results, please see our risk factors set forth in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, which include our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any of our forward-looking statements after the date they are made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by law. About TechnipFMC TechnipFMC is a leading technology provider to the traditional and new energies industries; delivering fully integrated projects, products, and services. With our proprietary technologies and comprehensive solutions, we are transforming our clients' project economics, helping them unlock new possibilities to develop energy resources while reducing carbon intensity and supporting their energy transition ambitions. Organized in two business segments Subsea and Surface Technologies we will continue to advance the industry with our pioneering integrated ecosystems (such as iEPCI, iFEED and iComplete), technology leadership and digital innovation. Each of our approximately 20,000 employees is driven by a commitment to our clients' success, and a culture of strong execution, purposeful innovation, and challenging industry conventions. TechnipFMC uses its website as a channel of distribution of material company information. To learn more about how we are driving change in the industry, go to www.TechnipFMC.com and follow us on Twitter @TechnipFMC. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223006133/en/ Contacts: Investor relations Matt Seinsheimer Vice President Investor Relations +1 281 260 3665 Matt Seinsheimer James Davis Senior Manager Investor Relations +1 281 260 3665 James Davis Media relations Nicola Cameron Vice President Corporate Communications +44 1383 742297 Nicola Cameron Brooke Robertson Public Relations Director +1 281 591 4108 Brooke Robertson Shauna Niequist apologizes for her silence following father Bill Hybels' downfall Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Shauna Niequist has apologized for failing to speak out after her father, Bill Hybels, the founding pastor of Willow Creek Community Church, was accused of decades of sexual misconduct. In a lengthy Instagram post Monday, Niequist, a popular author and ministry leader, addressed the allegations along with a simple image that features the phrase An apology. I apologize for my silence & for all that it communicated. Im so sorry. I continue to grieve alongside every person whos grieving, she wrote. Niequist, whose husband, Aaron Niequist, formerly served as a worship leader at Willow Creek, said that the season in which her father retired from his position at the church after he was accused of sexual misconduct shook her to the core, causing her to shut down. Wise people encouraged me to take some time to grieve & listen & recover. They were right--silence was necessary for me initially, but I extended that silence too long, she admitted. I now understand that my silence communicated to many that I defend my fathers actions and his ongoing silence. I dont. I grieve both of those things. I now understand that my silence allowed many people to assume that I dont care about the people he hurt. Thats not true, & thats something I regret so deeply. Im so sorry. Niequists social media post comes after she and her husband have been criticized for not speaking out against her fathers actions. In 2018, The Chicago Tribune published an investigative piece documenting allegations of sexual misconduct against Hybels, presenting various allegations, including suggestive comments, extended hugs, an unwanted kiss and invitations to some women to hotel rooms. Hybels, who served as head of Willow Creek for over four decades and oversaw the church as it grew into a multi-site megachurch, denied the accusations. However, weeks after the story emerged, Hybels resigned from his role at the church. The following February, the Independent Advisory Group released an investigation report concluding that the allegations against Hybels were credible and criticized his leadership style. Several publishers, including Tyndale House and InterVarsity Press, pulled Hybels books after evidence of his inappropriate behavior toward women emerged. Women, some of them church employees, said Hybels had invited them to hotel rooms or made suggestive comments about their appearances. One woman alleged the pastor kissed her against her wishes. According to another account, Hybels allegedly engaged in oral sex with his former assistant. In her statement Monday, Niequist said she remains in relationship with my dad. I love him, & I always will. I cant apologize for his choices, but I do apologize for mine, she explained. I cant make amends for his actions, but today Im taking the first step in making amends to the people Ive wounded by my silence. The bestselling author admitted that in this area of her life, she has been living according to my fear, not my values. I carry so much regret, & I apologize. I know it might not make sense that someone who writes for a living, literally, could find herself so unable to say what needed to be said. But thats the truth. I was wounded, & I waited too long, she wrote. Hybels is among a slew of high-profile Christian leaders who have lost their ministry positions in recent years due to revelations of sexual abuse and other sinful behaviors. In an interview with The Christian Post, megachurch pastor and bestselling author Michael Youssef of The Church of The Apostles in Atlanta stressed that such cases reinforce that accountability must be a significant pillar of ministry. Accountability is a word that's almost a dirty word among some of the celebrity preachers, and that's got to come back, he said. Whether a church has 10 members, 100 members or 10,000 members, he must have accountability. This is a word that is lost in todays churches and must be returned to our vocabulary. We have put these people on a pedestal, Youssef stressed. Weekly, I tell my congregation, If you're here because of me, go somewhere else. If you want to worship Jesus, then, welcome. We are about Jesus. We're not about the preacher. We're not about celebrities because that is deadly as far as the Gospel of Jesus Christ is concerned. Youssef warned that pastors should never get to the point where they can say, I trust my own judgment. Because you cannot, Youssef said. Scripture tells us the heart is deceitful above all. So what do you do? You build a wall around those areas that are going to cause your downfall. New Delhi, Feb 23 : South Korean major LG Electronics has denied a media report that said the company may scrap a plan to develop a smartphone with a rollable display. Yonhap news agency reported, citing industry sources, that LG reportedly told its parts suppliers, including Chinese display maker BOE, to put the rollable smartphone development project on hold. According to The Verge, the company said the LG Rollable has not been put on hold. "I can firmly deny that any such decision on future mobile products has been finalised," an LG spokesperson was quoted as saying in the report late on Monday. LG last month announced that its mobile business unit is open to "all possibilities" for its future operations amid rumours that the company may sell the struggling mobile business. Then the company said the development of the rollable smartphone is still in progress, but it has not revealed its future plans in detail. LG's mobile business has been in the red since the second quarter of 2015. Its accumulated operating loss reached nearly 5 trillion won ($4.5 billion) last year. Analysts said LG will either shut down or sell its mobile business, or at least scale it back. LG, has, however denied reports that it was planning to exit the smartphone business. At its event for the all-digital Consumer Electronics Show 2021, LG teased its rollable smartphone with a short video clip. Named 'LG Rollable', the device was highlighted by a resizable screen with a side-rolling display. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... WASHINGTON Health secretary nominee Xavier Becerra told senators Tuesday that confronting the coronavirus pandemic will be his first priority if confirmed, but he also pledged to expand health insurance, rein in prescription drug costs and reduce racial and ethnic disparities in medical care. To meet this moment, we need strong federal leadership, Becerra said at the first of two hearings on his nomination. I understand the enormous challenges before us and our solemn responsibility to faithfully steward this agency that touches almost every aspect of our lives. Becerra now serves as Californias attorney general and previously represented the Los Angeles area for more than 20 years in the U.S. House. A liberal politician-lawyer, he faces opposition from many GOP senators, who question his support for abortion rights and government-run health insurance, along with his lack of a clinical background. However, in the past 25 years, only one medical doctor has led the Department of Health and Human Services in a permanent capacity. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Appearing before the Senate health committee, Becerra seconded President Joe Bidens goals of 100 million vaccine shots in his first 100 days, increased coronavirus testing, ramped-up DNA mapping of the virus to track worrisome mutations and reopening schools and businesses. On health insurance, he pledged to work to expand the Obama-era Affordable Care Act, though in the past hes supported a government-run system like Sen. Bernie Sanders Medicare for All idea. He said he would act to lower drug prices, particularly the cost of insulin. Its a goal that has bipartisan backing. Republican Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana noted that Becerra seems to have no drug industry support, adding, I think I know why. Although leading Republicans are portraying Becerra as unfit, Democrats seem unfazed about his prospects, accusing the GOP of playing politics despite the urgency of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Becerra has fought against pharmaceutical companies, opioid manufacturers, tobacco companies and polluters, and for more affordable quality health care for every patient, said health committee chair Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. I have no doubt that, as secretary, he will put special interests on notice, patients and public health first, and put science, data and experts back in the drivers seat. Following Tuesdays appearance before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Becerra will be questioned Wednesday by the Finance Committee, which will vote on sending his nomination to the Senate floor. If confirmed, hed be the first Latino to head HHS, a $1.4 trillion agency with a broad portfolio that includes health insurance programs, drug safety and approvals, advanced medical research and the welfare of children. Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, the ranking Republican on the health committee, left no doubt that Becerra faces tough scrutiny. Im not sold yet, Burr said at Tuesdays hearing, looking straight at the nominee. Im not sure that you have the necessary experience or skills to do this job at this moment. Burr questioned whether Becerra respects the role of private companies in the health care system, particularly innovative pharmaceutical firms. But other Republican senators sidestepped ideological confrontation and asked questions that centered on home state concerns. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., made a reference to when Becerra is confirmed, not if. And Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she would encourage him to visit her state early. Becerra sought to soften his image as an enemy of drug companies. We need the pharmaceutical industry in America to always feel like weve got their back to innovate, he told Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. COVID is a perfect example of how we can come up with a vaccine, but we have to make sure that were getting our dollars worth. And he also credited the Trump administration for its shepherding of two highly effective coronavirus vaccines. There are a lot of people to thank, but without the work that the previous administration did, we would certainly not be here, he told Braun. Although Becerra, 63, is politically liberal, his style is low-key and oriented toward problem solving. Still, Republican opposition has grown louder ahead of his nomination hearings. On Monday, Sens. John Kennedy of Louisiana and Tom Cotton of Arkansas released a letter in which they asked Biden to withdraw the nomination, calling Becerra unfit for any position of public trust. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has called him famously partisan. Opponents of abortion rights had signaled from the beginning that they would fight the nomination, and the political group Heritage Action for America launched a cable and digital ad campaign against Becerra. Democrats are shrugging it off. Republicans are just flailing around, Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden of Oregon said Monday. In many ways, Becerra was Californias early face of opposition to the Trump administration. He was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown to replace Kamala Harris as state attorney general in early 2017. Over four years, he filed 124 lawsuits, challenging the Trump administration on immigration, environmental and health care policies. His litigiousness and vocal resistance to Trumps policies could allow Republicans to paint him as an overly partisan figure. California took pride in viewing itself as the resistance to Trump, and Becerra embodied that ethos. Lack of medical experience doesnt disqualify a nominee for HHS secretary, though it can be a plus. Recent Senate-confirmed secretaries have included one doctor but also a pharmaceutical executive, a White House budget director and three governors. ___ Associated Press writer Kathleen Ronayne contributed to this report from Sacramento, Calif. Heart-stopping footage has revealed the moment a dog owner saved her pet from drowning under a sheet of frozen ice. Jennie Tatum's two dogs were playing in her family's backyard in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, when one of them, Sid, slipped and broke through the ice in their pool. Luckily Mrs Tatum saw Sid slip through the ice and jumped into the water after him. Jennie Tatum's two dogs were playing in the backyard of her home in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, when one of them, Sid (pictured) slipped and broke through the ice in the pool Mrs Tatum, with her husband Mike, said after the rescue a veterinarian told them that Sid would have died if he had been in the pool a few seconds longer Home security footage revealed a frantic Mrs Tatum desperately breaking the ice as she wades across the pool trying to find Sid underneath. She can't locate him at first so hops out of the pool and runs round its perimeter to try and get eyes on the trapped dog. Eventually she spots him and jumps straight back into the pool and breaks more ice before she is able to reach Sid and lift him out of the water. Mrs Tatum and her husband Mike then drove Sid to the animal hospital where the vet told them that Sid, who was trapped under the ice for more than minute, would have died if he had been in the pool a few seconds longer. Luckily Mrs Tatum saw Sid slip through the ice and jumped into the water after him Home security footage revealed a frantic Mrs Tatum desperately breaking the layer of ice while trying to find Sid underneath Mrs Tatum told Fox News that the couple's pool pump had broken a week before winter storms hit and if it had been working the water wouldn't have frozen over. Mr Tatum uploaded the video to Facebook alongside the caption: 'We almost lost our ''little'' Sid Thursday morning. If it wasnt for Jennies quick reaction, he would not be here. 'I was at work, but the whole incident was recorded. He was trapped under the ice in the water a little over a minute. It was awful. Jennie is truly my amazing and so heroic!! 'Im so thankful they are ok. Sid is traumatized and will not step a foot in the backyard. He will only go out front.' Terry Vine/Getty Images En espanol | Sometimes, its easier to just ask. Thats why AARP has a dedicated, toll-free family caregiving line for people taking care of a loved one. Our agents cant provide specific advice to callers, but they can suggest resources on a variety of topics, including: Agents are available to take calls Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET at 1-877-333-5885. The support line is also available in Spanish, at 1-888-971-2013. They can also provide referrals to the governments Eldercare Locator, state and federal agencies serving caregivers and older Americans, and the Alzheimers Association. AARP also has an online caregiving community where caregivers can join, for free, to talk with other caregivers and get answers from experts in the community. Facebook users can visit the AARP Family Caregivers Discussion Group to connect, share stories and get answers to caregiving questions. You dont have to be an AARP member to call the support line or join the online communities. Were here to help. Editor's note: This article, originally created in 2018, has been updated with 2019 information. DUBLIN, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Digital Sovereignty - Can Europe's Digital Industry Keep Pace With the Rest of the World?" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This report explores the emerging issue of digital sovereignty which, more and more, is being viewed as critical, especially in Europe. It begins by analysing perceptions of sovereignty in the various Member States, and in other regions around the world that have historically been more proactive in this area, such as Russia and Asian countries (China, Japan, South Korea). The report then provides a benchmark of six key enabling ICT (micro-electronics, quantum computing, cloud, cybersecurity, connectivity, artificial intelligence), associated public R&D funding and industry rankings in the different regions. It identifies the areas where Europe has an opportunity to reposition itself and secure market leadership. Finally, it delivers a complete snapshot of the regulatory framework being adopted in Europe to develop digital sovereignty. Key Topics Covered: 1. Executive Summary 2. Methodology 2.1. Scope: Focus on the enlarged ICT sector 2.2. Benchmark of public funding programmes 2.3. Definition: What is technological sovereignty? 3. National and European strategies 3.1. European visions of sovereignty 3.1.1. Europe 3.1.2. France 3.1.3. Germany 3.1.4. The United Kingdom 3.1.5. Italy 3.1.6. Spain 3.1.7. Sweden 3.1.8. Poland 3.2. Other countries' visions of sovereignty 3.2.1. The United States 3.2.2. China 3.2.3. Japan 3.2.4. South Korea 3.2.5. Russia 4. Public initiatives: Funding schemes for different technologies 4.1. Synthesis 4.2. Quantum computing 4.3. Electronics 4.4. Cybersecurity 4.5. Network services 4.6. Cloud services 4.7. Artificial Intelligence 5. Private initiative 5.1. Industrial leadership 5.1.1. Leading digital industry players 5.1.2. Synthesis 5.2. R&D intensity 5.2.1. Overall R&D spending 5.2.2. Focus on private R&D 5.3.3. Start-up funding 6. Regulation and public policies 6.1. European Regulatory Framework 6.1.1. Digital Markets Act (DMA) 6.1.2. The Digital Services Act (DSA) 6.1.3. A common European market for data 6.1.4. The Data Governance Act (DGA) 6.1.5. Focus on EU cybersecurity initiative 6.1.6. NIS Directive 6.2. Other key actions 6.2.1. Data regulation 6.2.2. Taxation 6.2.3. Online platforms competition regulation List of tables and figures National and European strategies The digital sovereignty issue Key Enabling Technologies as defined by the EC in 2018 Public initiatives Total public funding on all ICT technologies in EU, Germany , France , Italy , , Total public funding on AI, quantum computing and cybersecurity in EU, Germany , France , Total public funding on 5G and other digital technologies in EU, Germany , France , Italy , , Total global public funding of AI, quantum computing and cybersecurity Total global public funding of ICT technologies Total global public funding of ICT and digital technologies Quantum computing initiatives Electronics initiatives Cybersecurity initiatives Network services initiatives Cloud services initiatives Artificial Intelligence initiatives Private initiative World's top digital market players in 2019 by revenue World's leading companies in micro-nano electronics in 2019 Europe's top digital market players in 2019 (by revenue earned in Europe ) ) Breakdown of the different digital markets in Europe by suppliers' country of origin by suppliers' country of origin Comparison of R&D spending in China , the US and Europe , the US and Europe R&D in the digital sector in 2018 Regional distribution of the World's Unicorns in 2020 Distribution of European Unicorns in 2020 Comparison of R&D spending in China , the US and Europe Regulation and public policies Illustration of the "Double Irish" and "Dutch Sandwich" schemes Comparison or corporate tax rates in Europe Companies Mentioned Airbnb Alibaba Alipay Alphabet Amazon Apple Baidu China Telecom Cisco Criteo Dassault Systemes Deutsche Bank Deutsche Telekom Didi Chuxing Ericsson Facebook Fujitsu Google Huawei IBM iQiyi KDDI KT LG UPlus Mail.ru McAfee Microsoft MTS Netflix Nokia NortonLifeLock NTT DoCoMo Oracle Orange Rakuten Salesforce Samsung SAP SFR Siemens SK Telecom Softbank Telefonica Tencent Tesla Thales TikTok Uber Vodafone WeChat Xiaomi Yandex ZTE For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/e85k0l Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Chief Minister is set to hold a meeting on Tuesday with Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner and officials, to review the COVID-19 situation in the state. This meeting comes amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the state which has alarmed government officials. 5,210 more patients tested positive for COVID-19 in Maharashtra, State Health Minister Rajesh Tope informed on Monday evening. "Today, newly 5,210 patients have been tested as positive in the state. Also newly 5,035 patients have been cured today. Totally 1999982 patients are cured and discharged from the hospitals. Total Active patients are 53,113," Tope tweeted. The patient recovery rate in is 94.96 per cent, State Health Minister added. Owing to the spike in COVID-19 cases in the state, on Sunday had said that the coming eight days will decide whether there will be a lockdown in the state. In a video address, Thackeray had said, "Do you want lockdown? The next eight days will decide. has reported around 7,000 COVID cases today. If the COVID-19 situation deteriorates, then we have to impose lockdown. Those who want a lockdown can roam around without mask while those who do not want it must wear a mask and follow all the rules. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) On May 25, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed while in police custody in Minneapolis, a tragedy that would spark global civil rights marches for months to come. As protests for justice and equality swept the United States and the rest of the world, the Lehigh Valley joined in. Peaceful protests sprung up in Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton and surrounding towns and boroughs. Cries of no justice, no peace rang throughout downtowns around the area as the Lehigh Valleys Black community and its allies made visible the frustration and anger theyve been feeling for generations due to oppression and aggression at the hands of law enforcement. And then, barely over one month later on July 11, video footage surfaced on social media of Allentown police officers restraining a Black man, Edward Borrero Jr., in front of St. Lukes Hospital Networks Sacred Heart campus, with one of the cops holding a knee on Borreros head, an act that drew comparisons to former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin holding his knee on Floyds neck for nearly eight minutes. BREAKING:@AllentownPolice were filmed Saturday evening applying the same force to a resident that the cops used to murder #GeorgeFloyd. This happened here in #Allentown outside a hospital. We demand answers. We demand change. We're Done Dying.#DefundThePolice pic.twitter.com/AbuyvkMNdT Black Lives Matter to Lehigh Valley (@BLMlehighvalley) July 12, 2020 Soon thereafter, another protest broke out in downtown Allentown, as community members outraged at the video marched to the Allentown Police Department and engaged with Allentown Police Chief Glenn Granitz Jr. and Mayor Ray OConnell. This all culminated in Borrero himself charged, and the involved officers facing no consequence. Allentown resident Justan Parker Fields, the founder of Black Lives Matter Lehigh Valley and a current candidate for Allentown City Council, had just gotten to his sisters home in the Scranton-Wilkes Barre area for a self-care weekend with his partner when his phone began blowing up with calls and texts asking if hed seen the video. Just a few of weeks prior, Parker Fields and other community leaders met with Granitz, Moore and Allentown City Council members in order to get the Allentown Police Department Use of Force policy released, which it was on June 18. They sat there and listened to us for two hours Parker Fields said. We had a conversation, back and forth, and at the end of the day, they still ended up not adhering to their own policy. It was really disappointing. February is the first Black History Month being observed since last years protests. Its been just over eighth months since the first summer protests in the Lehigh Valley, and seven months since outrage over the Borrero incident. Thereve been incremental steps taken around the Lehigh Valley, including in Bethlehem and Allentowns city council chambers, but some say theyre long overdue. Esther M. Lee, president of the Bethlehem NAACP chapter, has had plenty of experience in the fight for civil rights. She was the first Black woman elected to the Bethlehem School Board in 1971, and hasnt stopped fighting since then. If anybodys followed me through the years, you know I contend that Bethlehem is a racist community, she said. She was the only Black member of the school board in 71, and 50 years later, theres still only one: Winston Alozie, the CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Bethlehem. I dont know whats more clear, she said. The residents elect the officials, so it means our community has a problem. Lee approached Bethlehem Mayor Bob Donchez in July about starting an advisory board, and that board now meets once a month, frequently with the Bethlehem Police Department to discuss policing issues, such as training, as well as food insecurity, health, education and homelessness, Lee said. If I didnt think it would be of some worth, I wouldnt even be doing it, she said. However, Im not remissed to think that its going to be a solution. Its a board without teeth. Lee is critical of the governing bodies that this responsibility falls to The people who are in the position to enact change, dont, she said. Legislative bodies have concluded that theyre worthless. Theyre selectively listening, Parker Fields said. They listen to what they want to hear. If theres no commitment to change, we could talk until were blue in the face and they can listen until their ears bleed, its not going to change anything. Parker Fields is taking it upon himself to fix that. Hes a candidate for Allentown City Council in the upcoming May election, his decision to run largely galvanized by the events of the past year. At the first protest he organized with his partner, Kevin, he expected 10 people to show up. There were 100. They continued to grow, prompting Parker Fields to start Black Lives Matter Lehigh Valley. He works closely with community leaders and other groups, like Lehigh Valley Stands Up and Make the Road Action PA, on initiatives like voter registration. But even though those groups punch well above their weight to bring attention to issues, they still dont have a seat at the table. I can protest and march as much as I want, but Im tired of asking for change, he said. I need to be in a position where I can affect power through legislation. The city council makeup that we have right now is not really representative of the community that it serves. The community that it serves, namely the minority community, knows what its worth and what it deserves. On Nov. 7, when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election, Black, Latinx and Asian voters descended into downtown Allentown at Seventh and Hamilton streets to celebrate the work they did in registering voters and making sure all ballots were counted. Black Lives Matter to the Lehigh Valley, Lehigh Valley Stands Up, Democratic Socialists of the Lehigh Valley and a number of other groups celebrated together and issued rallying cries that reminded them of how powerful they can be when they work together to hold elected officials accountable. While there is hope, theres also a healthy dose of cynicism. Ive always had hope, lest I wouldnt be here, Lee said. But, I dont see us moving forward until theres some resolute change. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Connor Lagore may be reached at clagore@njadvancemedia.com. Runway: Aerial shot of Dublin Airport where the DAA wants to operate more flights on a new runway due to become operational next year. Photo: Jason Alden/Bloomberg Fingal County Council has sought further detail on Dublin airports new 320m runway. The local authority is seeking additional information from airport operator DAA on its planning application. The runway is due to become operational next year and DAA is seeking amendments to the original 2007 planning permission that will be allow the 3.1km runway be used between 6am and midnight with a noise quota system used to dictate the number of night-time flights at the airport. At the end of a 70-page report into the planning application, Fingal County Council has asked DAA to examine the noise impacts of the easing of restrictions over a 10- to 15-year period and to allow consideration for potentially the worst affected locations and to include properties closest to the airport. The Council has also asked the DAA to provide information on the number of people who will be highly annoyed or highly sleep disturbed by ground and air noise. In tandem with the Council move, the Aircraft Noise Competent Authority (ANCA), established by Fingal County Council has determined that the easing of restrictions will result in a noise problem. The ANCA has stated that the application proposes a situation where some people will experience elevated levels of night time noise exposure for the first time which may be considered harmful to human health. Read More The draft regulatory decision triggers a 14 week public consultation and all feedback provided will be considered by ANCA prior to the making of a final decision. The planning application has attracted 205 submissions, including from State agencies with Tourism Ireland, the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) and Enterprise Ireland all joining calls from the business and aviation sectors to have the runway restrictions eased. The submissions also include support from 20 airline carriers serving Dublin Airport who want the restrictions to be lifted. IDA Ireland, IBEC, Dublin Chamber and the Irish Exporters Association have also urged DAA to to win amendments so as to boost operational limits. Global logistics firms at the airport, DHL, Fed Express and UPS have told the Council that the planning application by DAA doesnt go far enough. However, a large number of residents in north Dublin are opposed to the plan and they have been backed by a range of politicians, including Minister for Children, Roderic OGorman TD (Green), Clare Daly MEP and Ciaran Cuffe MEP (Green). Mr Cuffe has told Fingal County Council that this is a time of climate and biodiversity emergency. Now is a time to reduce rather than increase the number of flights through Dublin airport, he said. Surrounding communities have a right to the peaceful enjoyment of their homes, particularly at night-time. On the Council request for additional information, a DAA spokesman said: A request for further information is a normal part of the planning process and we will be engaging with the planning authorities in relation to this." 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 diverse and talented group of actors have been tapped for an intriguing new Amazon film soon to go into production. Deadline reports that Jenny Slate, Charlie Day, Gina Rodriguez, Manny Jacinto and Scott Eastwood have all been cast in the upcoming romantic comedy I Want You Back. The film will follow a pair of freshly dumped thirty-somethings who team up to sabotage their respective exes new relationships in order to get them back. Leading lady: Jenny Slate has been cast in Amazon Prime's upcoming romantic comedy I Want You Back; seen here in January 2020 Slate, known for her turns in Obvious Child and Venom, will star alongside It's Always Sunny In Philadelphias Day as the wronged couple. Rodriguez is most famous for her starring turn in Jane the Virgin, while Jacinto became a star thanks to his role on The Good Place. Son to Clint Eastwood, Scott has enjoyed roles in Pacific Rim: Uprising as well as 2016s Suicide Squad. Joining as the other woman, perhaps: Gina Rodriguez will also star in the film, about a pair of freshly dumped thirty-somethings who team up to sabotage their exes new relationships; Gina seen here in March 2019 Rounding out the cast: Charlie Day will star opposite Jenny, with supporting help from The Good Place's Manny Jacinto I Want You Back is being written by This Is Us showrunners Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger. Joining the exciting ensemble is veteran actress Jamie Gertz of The Lost Boys fame. 'Its a dream to be able to bring Isaac and Elizabeths brilliantly authentic vision to the world! It will surely capture the hearts of our Prime Video customers,' Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios, said in a statement. Famous Hollywood progeny: Clint Eastwood's son Scott will also star; seen here in 2019 'We couldnt be more excited to see this amazing ensemble come aboard this fun and witty story that audiences will fall in love with.' 'We are beyond thrilled to be in business with Jen and her team at Amazon Studios to make a fresh romantic comedy full of heart,' said writers Aptaker and Berger. 'Alongside our partners at The Safran Company, we have assembled a phenomenally talented cast of comedy all-stars and have the wonderful Jason Orley at the helm to tell this story of passion, heartbreak, and the lengths people will go to in the name of true love.' EgyptAir decided on Monday that it would ground four of its Boeing 777 planes after a United Airlines plane of the same model suffered from engine troubles shortly after taking off in Colorado. On Saturday, a Boeing 777-200 heading from Denver to Hawaii in the United States had an uncontained right engine failure that led to debris scattering over Broomfield, Colorado. The plane with 241 people on board, however, managed to turn back and safely land at Denver International Airport. The Egyptian airline said its decision will be applied on the four Boeing 777-200 it operates, which are equipped with the same troubled Pratt & Whitney 4000-112 engines, until a technical inspection protocol is issued and applied for these engines. The decision was based on recommendations of the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the American manufacturer Boeing. EgyptAir said it would not ground the six Boeing 777-300 it operates, as they are equipped with a different engine type. As Boeing has recommended suspending its 69 planes in service equipped with this engine type, several airlines worldwide have taken the decision to ground dozens of aircrafts following the incident. The FAA and US National Transportation Safety Board have ordered a probe into the incident. Short link: Getting vaccinated for the coronavirus in Hampshire County may become easier in the weeks to come. The communities of Amherst and Northampton are slated to to lead a regional COVID-19 vaccination collaboration that is expected to administer 5,000-plus doses of the vaccine every week, officials announced Tuesday. As part of the regional effort, vaccination sites will be set up in both communities: one at the Bangs Community Center at 70 Boltwood Walk in Amherst and another at the Northampton Senior Center at 67 Conz St., according to a press release from Northampton Mayor David Narkewiczs office. Both sites will operate five days a week and are open to all Massachusetts residents who are eligible to receive their vaccines, according to the mayors office. Given enough doses of the vaccine are received, the sites should be operational by March 1. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is expected to ship about 5,000 vaccines per week to the region. Im incredibly proud that Northampton has met the requirements necessary to be selected as a regional collaborative for vaccine distribution. We are proud to have a strong partner in the town of Amherst to accomplish our mission as fast as possible, Narkewicz said in his statement. It is a testament to our outstanding Health Department, Fire/Rescue Department and Senior Center for their dedicated teamwork. I want to publicly commend Health Director Merridith OLeary for her leadership throughout the pandemic on behalf of the people of Northampton, he added. Last Thursday, nearly a million Bay State residents became eligible to receive the receive the vaccine as part of the second wave of Phase 2 of the commonwealths COVID-19 vaccine rollout. The priority group includes people 65 years and older, individuals with at least two comorbidities that put them at high risk of the virus and residents and/or staff of low income and affordable senior housing. As of Tuesday afternoon, 1,500,077 doses of the vaccine had been administered in Massachusetts, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The announcement about the new vaccination effort in Hampshire County comes as Massachusetts continues to deal with a clunky and widely criticized vaccine rollout, though, and as the state has begun to de-prioritize local boards of health in the administration of vaccines, a move public health officials in Northampton have looked to circumvent. Due to a limited vaccine supply from the federal government, Gov. Charlie Bakers administration has prioritized vaccine shipments to high-throughput vaccination location, like state-run large-scale vaccination sites, regional collaboratives and retail pharmacy sites. The Northampton Health Department, with support from the Amherst Health Department, submitted an application to the state summarizing its regional vaccination site plans. In support of the commonwealths prioritization of high-throughput sites in the rollout, both Pioneer Valley communities were selected as a regional collaborative, Narkewiczs office noted. Im proud that Northampton has been chosen to fulfill this critical role for the people of Hampshire County. We take our responsibility very seriously as we work to get everyone vaccinated and get all our lives back to normal, Northampton Health Director Merridith OLeary said in the statement from the mayors office. Northampton will hold clinics five days a week, Tuesday through Saturday, with a minimum number of 840 vaccines distributed per day, according to Narkewiczs office. Amherst is expected to serve as a satellite clinic under the auspice of Northamptons Regional Vaccine Site and will also operate four to five clinics per week, offering 250 vaccines per day depending on the availability with exact days will be determined, the mayors office said. Together, Northampton and Amherst are expected to be able to distribute a minimum of 5,200 doses each week, as long as the sites receive the vaccine, Narkewiczs office noted. We are confident that this joint effort will result in more people getting vaccinated, faster, Amherst Town Manager Paul Bockelman said in a statement. We have a longstanding relationship with Northampton in regional coordination on many fronts that ensures our residents receive excellent services. I credit the leadership of the Northampton and Amherst Health Departments for making a compelling case to the State for designation as a regional site. Related Content: 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. Despite the reconciliation process set in motion last month at the Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Riyadh, there are signs that economic competition between the six GCC member states is heating up as the double shock of the COVID-19 crisis and the volatility of oil prices weigh on Gulf economies, causing high sovereign debt levels. Saudi Arabia announced that after 2023, it will cease contracting with international companies with regional headquarters located outside of the kingdom. The ultimatum comes a month after it invited multinationals to relocate their headquarters from the United Arab Emirates to Riyadh, promising benefits such as zero corporate taxes for 50 years. Despite recent image-building efforts and being the Middle Easts largest economy, Saudi Arabia is home to less than 5% of the regions headquarters, the majority of which are located in the UAE, where social policies are relatively liberal. There is only one Dubai, Emirati political analyst Abdulkhaleq Abdulla told Al-Monitor, noting attempts to emulate it by several cities across the region have been unsuccessful. The conservative kingdom has also struggled to attract the foreign investments required to achieve Vision 2030, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans ambitious reform plan. In 2019, it received a third of the foreign direct investment the UAE attracted. Saudi officials have denied working to undermine Dubai's dominance as the regions business hub, and Saudi commentator Ali Shihabi told Al-Monitor, People are overdramatising this issue. The kingdom wants companies benefiting from multi-billion-dollar government contracts to make more of a commitment to the country, Shihabi argued. Falling short of expectations The competition within the GCC for investment might seem at odds with the spirit of cooperation and unity enshrined in its 1981 charter. The region is still healing from wounds caused by an embargo imposed in 2017 on Qatar by its Gulf neighbors. The role of the GCC as a venue to coordinate economic policies across the Gulf countries has to some extent been falling short of expectations, said Jamil Sawda, co-founder of the Geneva-based consultancy Certum Global Policy Advisors. Fiscal policy response to COVID-19's economic fallout has shown a lack of coordination, Sawda told Al-Monitor, adding that Riyadhs unilateral decision to triple its value-added tax rate in July 2020 has increased fragmentation within the GCC bloc. GCC member states previously agreed to introduce a VAT system at a unified rate of 5% by 2018. Still, Qatar and Kuwait have yet to announce a date for its implementation, while Oman repeatedly delayed the tax and is now expected to introduce it in April 2021. Previous plans to establish a single GCC currency comparable to the European Unions euro appear to have been indefinitely shelved. And although a repeatedly delayed GCC railway project stretching across the Arabian Peninsula is now expected to be partially completed in 2023, Qatar, part of the original proposal, is no longer mentioned. In the race to attract foreign investors, the UAE doubled down on liberalization policies, allowing unmarried couples to live together and permitting foreigners to avoid Islamic Shariah courts on familial issues. In January, the country opened a path to citizenship for select foreigners, a rare move for the Gulf, to attract talent to the Emirati economy. More evidence that in the post-pandemic Gulf, its every man for himself, tweeted Kristin Smith Diwan, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. 'Nothing's gonna move forward there' Despite disappointing economic integration expectations, the GCC remains a venue for regional initiatives such as the GCC Common Market, which consolidates the region-wide market by allowing free movement of people and goods since 2008. Although intra-GCC non-oil trade remains low at around 10% of total non-oil trade, it has been growing. Further opportunities for regional cooperation arose after the UAE and Bahrain normalized relations with Israel following several decades of unofficial ties. The regional story is even more intact, more so than it has been for arguably ever, Joe Hepworth, Middle East director for the economic development advisory firm OCO Global, told Al-Monitor. Analysts wonder whether the economic mandate of the GCC could shift toward a regional powerhouse coordinating economic policies pursued independently by the six Gulf states to diversify from oil and gas exports. Those who think the GCC is dead because of so many ups and downs are completely wrong, said Abdulla, noting the GCC is the Arab worlds longest lasting economic integration experiment. As trade blocs gain importance globally, the Emirati academic said the UAE and Saudi economies could complement each other beautifully. In the era of intra-Gulf economic rivalries, specialization might offer promising opportunities. Abu Dhabis free zone twofour54 wants to grow the UAE into a global gaming hub, while Bahrain has positioned itself as the Middle Easts leading financial technology hub by establishing the Bahrain Fintech Bay in 2018. Yet Bahrain remains above all a hub for companies eying the Saudi market a Bahraini official recently labelled the island nation the destination of choice for international companies seeking a regional base with access to Saudi Arabia and would be the obvious loser of Riyadh compelling companies to relocalize headquarters, Hepworth believes. A source close to Gulf policy-making circles told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that Saudi Arabia and the UAE have the upper hand over the GCC Secretariat and often overlook the economic interests of smaller GCC member states. Nothing's gonna move forward there unless you have the buy-in of the two Gulf heavyweights. Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. G7 countries said on Tuesday they ' firmly condemn' violence committed by Myanmar's security forces against protesters and urged them to ' exercise utmost restraint and respect human rights and international law' . The bloc of wealthy nations comprising Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the United States as well as the European Union's High Representative reiterated their opposition to the February 1 coup and the increasingly heavy-handed response to demonstrations against it. ' Use of live ammunition against unarmed people is unacceptable. Anyone responding to peaceful protests with violence must be held to account,' G7 foreign ministers said in a statement. 'We condemn the intimidation and oppression of those opposing the coup. We raise our concern at the crackdown on freedom of expression, including through the internet blackout and draconian changes to the law that repress free speech.' The G7 called for an end to the ' systematic targeting' of protesters, doctors, civil society and journalists and for the military junta to revoke its declared state of emergency. It also urged Myanmar's military to allow full humanitarian access to support the most vulnerable. ' We remain united in condemning the coup in Myanmar. We call again for the immediate and unconditional release of those detained arbitrarily, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint and continue to stand with the people of Myanmar in their quest for democracy and freedom,' the statement said. Myanmar's military leaders are facing renewed pressure at home and abroad after gradually ratcheting up their use of force against a massive and largely peaceful civil disobedience campaign against their coup. As the US, EU and UK tighten sanctions, demonstrations against the junta's rule have continued to grow alongside a violent response in return. Three anti-coup protesters have been killed in the demonstrations so far, while a man patrolling his Yangon neighbourhood against night arrests was also shot dead at the weekend. Short link: New Delhi, Feb 23 : India on Tuesday said that the human rights agenda faces severe challenges mostly due to Pakistan's cross-border terrorism. Speaking at the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said that the human rights agenda continues to face severe challenges, most of all from terrorism. "The perennial concerns remain equally strong, be it global inequities or armed conflicts. Multilateral institutions and mechanisms need to be reformed to be able to deal with these effectively," he said. Terrorism continues to be one of the gravest threats to humankind, the minister said, adding that it is a crime against humanity and violates the most fundamental human right - namely 'the Right to Life'. "As a long-standing victim, India has been in the forefront of the global action against terrorism. This is possible only when there is a clear realisation, including in bodies dealing with human rights, that terrorism can never be justified, nor its perpetrators be ever equated with its victims," the minister argued. India, he pointed out, had presented at the UNSC last month an eight-point action plan to deal with the scourge of terrorism. He said India will continue to work together with the members of the UN Security Council and other states to ensure the implementation of the Indian government's action plan. The minister asserted that India has always played an active role in global promotion and protection of human rights. "Our strong commitment to the welfare of entire humanity, inspired by our civilisational ethos of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam' or 'the World is one family' has provided the very foundation on which our constitutional and legal framework of human rights has been built," he said. Jaishankar argued that India's approach is based on its own experience as an inclusive and pluralistic society and a vibrant democracy. India's constitution has enshrined basic human rights as fundamental rights, guaranteeing civil and political rights, stipulating provisions for progressive realisation of economic, social and cultural rights. These continue to evolve through legislations by the Parliament, progressive interpretation of laws by the judiciary and active participation of civil society and citizens. He said India believes that equal emphasis should be placed on both promotion and protection of human rights. Both are best pursued through dialogue, consultation and cooperation among states as well as technical assistance and capacity building. India, he said, also believes that achievement of sustainable development goals will contribute to realisation and enjoyment of basic human rights. As a member of the UNHRC, India remains committed to work together with fellow members of the council to achieve consensus. "India believes that violation of and gaps in implementation of human rights should be addressed in a fair and just manner, with objectivity, non-selectivity, transparency and with due respect to the principles of non-interference in internal affairs and national sovereignty," he said. As the UN Human Rights Council completes 15 years since its establishment, it is time to assess its achievements, reflect on its failures and deliberate on the ways to strengthen and reform it so as to enable it to achieve the objectives for which it has been set up, Jaishankar said. India, as always, is ready to contribute in this endeavour, he added. New York, Feb 23 : Despite President Joe Biden's opposition to fossil fuels, the US will continue to supply petroleum products to India while supporting sustainable energy development, according to State Department Spokesperson Ned Price. "Our broad energy cooperation with India under the Strategic Energy Partnership is strong and will continue growing even as the administration prioritises climate change issues," he said on Monday in response to a question whether the Biden administration would continue the exports. With his commitment to fighting climate change, Biden has been reviewing foreign arrangements involving fossil fuels and in a major step cancelled the controversial Keystone pipeline project, to bring oil from Canada to the US. The US has become one of the biggest suppliers of crude oil, sending about 84 million barrels, and about 115,000 million cubic feet of natural gas during 2020 till November, according to US government data. Price said, "When it comes to energy cooperation more broadly, I would say that the US-India energy partnership supports sustainable energy development. It harnesses energy sources to meet 21st century power needs." The cooperation, he added, "protects national security and promotes regional and international stability". Price recalled that India and the US had worked closely on the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2015, when Biden was the vice president, and said, "We will continue to work closely with India on the challenge of climate change." "We collaborate on natural gas, renewable energy, nuclear energy, clean coal, technology, smart grids, and unconventional and clean energy sources research for the benefit of our people now and in the future," he added. Biden has made fighting climate change a centrepiece of his foreign and domestic policies. The US was "integrating climate objectives across all of our diplomacy," he said earlier this month in his first major foreign policy address earlier this month. India-US cooperation in the energy field grew starting in 2017 under former President Donald Trump who was keen to increase oil and gas exports to India and to wean it away from dependence on Iran on which he imposed an embargo and withdrew an initial exemption granted to India for importing from that country. US-India energy cooperation took hold under the administration of former President Barack Obama with an emphasis on clean energy, but under Trump, who stepped away from fighting climate change, it turned to exporting to fossil fuel from the US. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter at @arulouis) BERRY CREEK, Calif. - Time is running out for Bear Fire survivors as the Butte County Board of Supervisors is set to create a deadline for debris removal. Survivors might have until the beginning of April to hire a private contractor to clear fire debris and clean up their properties. Several structures in Berry Creek have been destroyed in the Bear Fire. Courtesy: Nancy Hamilton Several structures in Berry Creek have been destroyed in the Bear Fire. Courtesy: Nancy Hamilton Bear Fire survivors can no longer apply to have their property removed by the government since the deadline passed on Feb. 15, 2021. If homeowners do not clear up their property by April 1, 2021, the county will clear it and charge them for doing it. CLICK HERE, to read the alternative debris removal program. Jellyfish Expands Global Footprint with Data and Analytics Capabilities Enhanced with New Offerings in E-Commerce, Content Creation, Creative and Localization Jellyfish, the digital marketing partner to the world's leading brands (i.e., Samsung, Uber, Nestle, Deckers, Spotify, and eBay), announced today the acquisition of 5 companies-each a known leader in the digital space. Jellyfish's rapid expansion comes against a backdrop of consolidation and challenges in the traditional agency sector as the company's capabilities lie in helping brands during their digital transformation journey. Jellyfish's expansion follows previous acquisitions with a significant investment from Fimalac Group in 2019. The company represents a new kind of digital business, where agency services are combined with consultancy, training, and cutting-edge technologies to deliver the best possible outcomes for clients. Launched in 2005, it has also become one of a select few globally managed Google Marketing Platform Partners, growing at an average of 45% per annum consistently over the last eight years. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005716/en/ Rob Pierre, Chief Executive Officer, Jellyfish (Photo: Business Wire) Current eMarketer forecasts indicate that total media ad spend is expected to hit more than 600 billion in 2021 thus, to remain competitive, and to increase media effectiveness, companies must cut through a saturated digital landscape and provide seamless, relevant communications across all channels and touchpoints. The acceleration of digital transformation in response to the global pandemic has created a greater need for brands to partner with companies that can help them navigate and meet the challenges of driving growth and sustainability. "Our mission is to ensure that our clients have all the resources needed to fully embrace digital transformation and reach results that transcend every expectation. Coming off a year of unprecedented disruption and transformation in digital marketing, Jellyfish continues to grow worldwide, entering new markets of Australia and Mexico and increasing our presence in France, Brazil, and the US-adding new capability and talent around the globe, with a focus on content creation and localization, e-commerce, creative, and data optimization," says Rob Pierre CEO of Jellyfish. "These acquisitions are key in driving prominence and growth in the marketplace and we believe nothing is impossible or beyond the reach of our clients," Pierre adds. "These acquisitions bring powerful enhancements to our portfolio of services by expanding our depth of expertise, geographical reach, and our offerings across several continents and regions," says Chris Lee, COO, Jellyfish. Expanded expertise, technologies: Seelk Software and consultancy for Amazon Marketplace Splash Creative technology and services with global localization Quill Global Performance Content for e-commerce Webedia Brand Services Gamification, content, data, technology services and enterprise data strategies Expanded global footprint: Data Runs Deep Australia Consulting, implementation, and training for data solutions For additional information on each Jellyfish acquisition company, click here. Other recent acquisitions that expanded our global footprint: Reamp Brazil Programmatic marketing, marketing automation, and digital campaign performance (acquired in H2 2020) San Pancho Mexico Colombia Full-funnel digital marketing capabilities and analytics expertise (acquired in H2 2020) About Jellyfish Jellyfish, part of the Fimalac Group, is a global partner in digital marketing and transformation to some of the world's leading brands including Samsung, Uber, Nestle, Orange, Spotify eBay. Jellyfish represents a new kind of digital business, where agency services are combined with consultancy, training, and cutting-edge technologies to deliver the best possible outcomes for clients. Employing over 2000 people across 40 offices globally, and with further expansion on the horizon, Jellyfish aims to be the first-choice global partner for any brand's digital requirements. Launched in 2005, Jellyfish has also grown to become one of a select few globally managed Google Marketing Partners. Growing at an average of 45% per annum consistently over the last eight years, Jellyfish is proud to be at the forefront of the global digital economy. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005716/en/ Contacts: For Press Inquiries Please Contact Julia Angelen Joy, Media Frenzy Global julia@mediafrenzyglobal.com 208.996.9844 Ulster Bank, Ballyconnell. The town will now be without a bank with the nearest option for locals being either in Cavan town or across the border into Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim. Photo: Lorraine Teevan ULSTER Bank executives are set to receive a grilling when they appear before the Oireachats Finance Committee this afternoon. It comes after the bombshell confirmation from the British-owned bank last week that it is shutting down in this country. The Financial Services Union has accused the bank of failing customers and putting profit head of staff well-being. Read More In a damning statement given to the Finance Committee, the union accused the bank of deplorable behaviour in the months leading up to its decision to exit the Irish banking market. Ahead of a meeting this afternoon, the union said the banks actions should be addressed at the highest level of Government and by the Central Bank. They said the banks owners Nat West deliberately decided not to engage with staff or their representative groups when they were carrying out a strategic review of their operations in Ireland. They deliberately decided that the mental well-being of their staff was to play second fiddle to the secrecy of the Bank. They deemed that workers and their families were irrelevant, the union said. Both staff and customers can give testimony to the true culture of Ulster Bank/NatWest, one that puts pursuit of profit above all else and that believes stakeholders are not to be engaged with at any cost, it added. The bank and its UK parent NatWest had previously refused to appear before the committee, claiming commercial sensitivities precluded it from discussing the closure until it was confirmed on Friday. TDs and senators are set to hear Ulster Bank boss Jane Howard defend her banks refusal to appear before the committee up to now. In her opening statement, Ms Howard will insist that there will be no immediate changes for staff and no new compulsory departures this year. We do not intend to close any branches this year on the back of this announcement. Customers are also unaffected in the short term. She is set to say the bank is closing because it has been unable to generate sustainable returns over the long-term for its shareholders. Ms Howards statement says Ulster Bank is now entering into an extensive consultation process with the FSU and other employee representative bodies. We have also scheduled a series of listening sessions with all staff and in smaller groups so that all colleagues have ample opportunity to ask questions and look for answers to their queries. She is to insist Ulster Bank and NatWest will work hard to minimise the impact on colleagues and customers. The committee wrote to Ulster Bank last week urging it not to make any final decisions on its future or the future of its mortgage loan book before first speaking with members of the Oireachtas. Committee members had threatened to recommend the urgent introduction of legislation to require that any sale of Ulster Bank assets is to another pillar bank or banks rather than vulture funds if there was no meaningful engagement with it. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 22:02:09|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Refugee Agency, on Tuesday said "several thousand" Ethiopians have sought safety in Sudan's Blue Nile state over the last month fleeing escalating violence in Ethiopia's Benishangul-Gumuz region. Tensions have been high in Ethiopia's western Benishangul-Gumuz region's Metekel Zone since 2019 with several reports of inter-communal attacks in parts of the region. As the situation escalated rapidly in the past three months, the Ethiopian government had declared a state of emergency in the area since last month. The UN Refugee Agency on Tuesday said it is working closely with Sudanese authorities and partners to assess the situation and respond to the humanitarian needs of the newly arrived, "many of whom have arrived in hard-to-reach locations along the border." According to figures from the UNHCR, out of the 7,000 people estimated to have arrived in Sudan's Blue Nile State, nearly 3,000 have been registered. "This number is expected to increase as the verification exercise continues in all the locations where refugees are being hosted," the agency said. In the past weeks, UNHCR and partners have already provided humanitarian assistance to nearly 1,000 refugees in Yabatcher, on the Sudan-Ethiopia border, it was noted. Refugees have received food, access to health, water and sanitation facilities, and aid supplies. The UNHCR also stressed that the majority of these asylum-seekers are living among the Sudanese host community who continue to welcome people seeking safety. The UN Refugee Agency and its partners "will continue to ramp up the response to support the government in its response," the agency reiterated. The displacement of Ethiopians in Sudan's Blue Nile State is not directly related to conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, which has pushed more than 61,000 to seek safety in Sudan in recent months. Enditem The Health Ministry is working with the private sector to formulate a plan allowing some private pharmaceutical companies to import coronavirus vaccines to boost government efforts. The Ministry says discussions are ongoing with the Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) to issue the companies a conditional market authorisation in a bid to bridge the access gap and increase the number of doses in Kenya. Covid-19 vaccine advisory taskforce Chairman Willis Akhwale said the government will monitor the prices and regulate the entire process. For the public, it will be free. We are working with the private sector to standardise the cost. Say, they only charge Sh200 to administer the vaccine, Dr Akhwale said during a virtual meeting hosted by the Kenya Medical Association (KMA). However, Dr Simon Kigondu, secretary-general of the Kenya Medical Association, noted that price control is not an issue because Covid-19 vaccines have not been commercialised like other vaccines. What is important is the ability of the government to make it available to the majority of Kenyans who need it but cannot afford it. It is also their ability to monitor efficacy, said Dr Kigondu. Put another way, suppose a private entity starts selling the vaccine at a high price and the vaccine is then declared ineffective, he added. Dr Akhwale also mentioned that final touches are in place to receive the first four million Covid-19 doses before the end of the month. The vaccines will be stored at the Ministrys central depot in Kitengela with a storage capacity of up to 20 million vials. The shots will then be distributed to the eight regional storage centres across the country. The head of the taskforce said upon arrival of the vaccines, the vaccination exercise will start in two weeks. 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. Ask Lucia DeClerck how she has lived to be 105, and she is quick with an answer. Prayer. Prayer. Prayer, she offers. One step at a time. No junk food. But surviving the coronavirus, she said, also may have had something to do with another staple: the nine gin-soaked golden raisins she has eaten each morning for most of her life. Fill a jar, she explained. Nine raisins a day after it sits for nine days. Her children and grandchildren recall the ritual as just one of Ms. DeClercks endearing lifelong habits, like drinking aloe juice straight from the container and brushing her teeth with baking soda. (That worked, too: She did not have a cavity until she was 99, relatives said.) We would just think, Grandma, what are you doing? Youre crazy, said her 53-year-old granddaughter, Shawn Laws ONeil, of Los Angeles. Now the laugh is on us. She has beaten everything thats come her way. Citizens and security forces have clashed in Iran's southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan Province, a day after the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) opened fire on cross-border fuel traders, killing as many as 10 of them. Five people are reported to have been injured in the violence on February 23 in the city of Saravan. There was no immediate official confirmation of the clashes. The IRGC had attempted to stop cross-border fuel trading by digging holes along the border crossing, but reportedly encountered protests by men who carry fuel over the border to make a living. The IRGC then opened fire on the protesters, killing and injuring several of them, according to reports that RFE/RL could not independently verify. Reports suggest that on February 23 some of the families of those killed stormed the governor's office in Saravan and clashed with police. The European-based Campaign of Baluch Activists said several protesters had been injured and that police used tear gas to disperse them. At least one police vehicle was reportedly set on fire by the protesters. Sistan-Baluchistan, one of Iran's poorest provinces, is a volatile area near Iran's borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan where drug smugglers and militant groups operate. Seeking more catch, Egyptian fishermen frequently stuck in neighboring waters by Marwa Yahya February 23,2021 | Source: Xinhua Incidents of detaining Egyptian fishermen by some Arab and African countries around the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea are common recently which require the government's intervention for their release. "It was a horrible experience to stay in detention for almost two months," said Adel Omran, a 48-year old fisherman who was a crew member of a boat that was seized at the border with Yemen in 2020. "I planned to stay for three days in the water to catch more quantities but one of our two boats was broken near the prohibited areas," Omran told Xinhua, adding that fishing is about patience and seizing opportunities. "Our fish have been thrown into the sea, and we have been investigated one by one for long hours," he said. Such incidents raised questions about the reasons behind fishermen's entering the banned international water in a country that is surrounded by the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea and rich with other water resources like the Nile River and several lakes. "Some Egyptian fishermen agreed with their peers in the neighboring countries to work together and share the profits in violation of these countries' rules," said Khalid Husseiny, former chairman of General Authority for Fish Resources Development. Poaching and lack of fish in some seasons in the two seas lead the fishermen in Egypt to seek illegal means for money, Husseiny said, adding that the fishermen also might lose their way back and enter the water borders of other countries. Eritrea has detained nearly 120 fishermen and seized their ships at the beginning of February. Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry called for a quick release of the detainees during a phone call on Feb. 3 with his Eritrean counterpart Osman Saleh. This comes two weeks after Saudi Arabia freed 35 fishermen who entered its territorial water and fished illegally. In December 2020, Tunisia seized three Egyptian boats carrying dozens of fishermen near its borders. Egypt's ministry of emigration has often warned against the practice and called on the fishermen to refrain from breaching the territorial rules in respect for other countries' sovereignty and avoid being arrested. Bakry Abouel-Hassan, head of the Fishermen Syndicate in Suez Province, said Egyptian piscators have the right for fishing in the international water, but sometimes they are dragged into the territorial water of the neighboring countries due to bad weather. He explained that the output of the waters in Egypt has become very poor because of pollution which is a result of ships wastes and ballast water discharges in the Suez Canal and Gulf to maintain the balance of containers without supervision though the maritime law in Egypt obligates the ships to discharge its trash in certain tanks. In addition, some tourist villages and factories get rid of its rubbish in the sea, which extremely harms the fish output, he said. "Egypt pays much attention now to enhance the fishing technologies to stop the practices of over-fishing, and has worked on cleaning and expanding the lakes," Abouel-Hassan said. Describing it as was "a dream for fishermen," he praised Egypt's plan to establish a 100-ship fishing fleet equipped with modern technologies. He expected Egypt in the coming two years will achieve self-sufficiency of fish as the country has opened large fisheries projects and developed the lakes. In 2020, Egypt produced 2 million tons of fish, with a value of about 3 billion U.S. dollars, of which 80 percent was produced through fish-farming, according to official statistics. Egypt's current production of fish, in general, secures 85 percent of its needs, the statistics added. Fish-farming in Egypt has been growing over the past few years. One of the most prominent project was inaugurated in 2017 near Ghalioun Lake in the Delta Kafr Al-Sheikh province, with an estimated annual production capacity of 5 million kg of fish and shrimps. On Jan. 27, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated the Al-Fayrouz fish-farming project located east of Port Said province. It is planned to include 5,908 tanks with an annual production of 13,000 tons. 2000-2021 XINHUANET.com All rights reserved. Theme(s): Fishing Craft, Gear and Fishing Methods. South Africa s unemployment rate climbed to a record in the fourth quarter as more people started to look for jobs in an economy that was ravaged by lockdown restrictions to curb the impact of the coronavirus . The jobless rate rose to 32.5% from 30.8% in the previous three months, Statistics South Africa said Tuesday in a report released in the capital, Pretoria. Thats the highest number on record. The median estimate of five economists in a Bloomberg survey was 31.5%. Unemployment according to the expanded definition, which includes people who were available for work but not looking for a job, fell to 42.6% from 43.1% in the previous quarter. Key Insights The unemployment rate in Africas most-industrialized economy has remained above 20% for at least two decades, largely due to structural barriers, including an education system that doesnt provide adequate skills. Restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19 probably caused the economy to contract the most since the Great Depression, with the lockdown forcing some businesses to cut wages, reduce staff or shut permanently. The market is not creating sufficient jobs to absorb enough people of working age into employment, Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke told reporters. The persistently high unemployment rate poses a challenge for Finance Minister Tito Mboweni as he prepares to deliver his budget speech on Wednesday. While joblessness has added to social tensions that dent the countrys status as an investment destination and erode business confidence, it could also hinder efforts to stabilize South Africas rapidly deteriorating public finances. The Treasury will have to fork out more cash to finance a three-month extension of a special coronavirus jobless relief grant. Restrictions reintroduced at the end of December and warnings of increased business rescues earlier this year may weigh on new hirings in the first quarter. Jobs were among President Cyril Ramaphosas top four priorities in his state-of-the-nation address this month and at the center of a post-virus reconstruction and recovery plan he presented last year. The government has allocated 13 billion rand ($885 million) to create job opportunities. Other Highlights The number of people employed rose 333,000 to 15 million. The number of unemployed climbed 701,000 to 7.2 million. The employment numbers have come in worse than the recovery in gross domestic product, Sisamkele Kobus, fixed income analyst at Ninety One, sais in an email. The data shows that the extension of the Covid-19 grant was the right thing to do, despite the current fiscal limitations, Kobus said. Community and social services, which include the government, added 170,000 positions. The finance industry lost 123,000 jobs and mining shed 35,000. Construction gained 86,000, trade 55,000 and transport 65,000 jobs. Private household employed 76,000 more people. 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. UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine Osnat Lubrani and Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmyla Denisova discussed strategic priorities for joint work in 2021. The Letter of Intent signed by the UN in Ukraine and the ombudsperson will bring ongoing cooperation of both offices to a new strategic level. During the discussion, Osnat Lubrani and Liudmyla Denisova found a wide range of issues for joint cooperation, considering that human rights is the basis for work of all UN organizations in Ukraine. Denisova stressed that her views on cooperation fully coincide with the UNs international priorities and most of them are reflected in the strategic areas of activity of Ombudspersons office for the ongoing year, as well as in the plan of measures for their implementation. One of the priority areas of cooperation between UN and Ombudspersons Office Denisova named coordination of advocacy for the transfer of persons, that were imprisoned before the start of armed conflict in eastern Ukraine and the transfer of 220 criminal cases against 230 persons and proceedings remaining in courts and law enforcement agencies in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The separate working meeting with the UN will be scheduled to discuss this issue in details. Lubrani and Denisova also highlighted a need to address a number of Roma issues in Ukraine and agreed to conduct joint visits to Roma settlements and communities throughout Ukraine. In this regard, the special report "The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Roma Community in Ukraine" recently presented by Denisova will further involve experts from UN agencies in Ukraine to work on the implementation of the recommendations provided in the report. Lubrani also added that UN Office has a full capacity to cooperate with Denisova on countering of hate speech which remains a highly acute problem in Ukraine. Denisova praised the good results of cooperation with UN Agencies in Ukraine, in particular, she commended joint work with UNDP on COVID-19 report that will be published in early March. At the end, Denisova stressed the need to enhance bilateral cooperation in the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, improve the institutional capacity of the national preventive mechanism and raise awareness of Ukrainian society about human and civil rights and freedoms. In 2021, UN in Ukraine together with the ombudsperson will also conduct a joint study on the integration of migrants in the country and present a special report on the rights of migrants in Ukraine. Photo credit: UN in Ukraine Too early to speculate on whether President Xi would attend BRICS summit in India China backs BRICS meet in India India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Feb 23: China on Monday backed the BRICS summit to be hosted by India this year. Beijing added that it is willing to work with India and other member states to strengthen cooperation in various fields. Chinese President Xi Jinping may visit India for the BRICS summit | Oneindia News The Chinese foreign ministry said that Beijing attaches great importance to the Brics cooperation mechanism and has always been committed to deepening the Brics strategic partnership and consolidating the positive momentum of Brics solidarity and cooperation. The foreign ministry also said that China supports India's hosting of this year's Brics conference, and is willing to work with India and other Brics countries to continue to strengthen communication and cooperation in various fields, consolidate the "three-wheel drive" cooperation framework of economics, politics, and humanities. The comments were made by foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin to a question whether the border standoff would affect the BRICS summit. In 2021, India had assumed chairmanship of the BRICS. On February 21, External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar launched the BRICS 2021 website. The backing of summit by China comes in the backdrop of the troop disengagement in the Pangong area following multiple rounds of talks by the military commanders of both sides. NEW DELHI : The International Air Transport Association ( IATA ) is in talks with leading Indian airlines to sign them up for its digital health pass, a top official at the global aviation body said. IATAs Travel Pass, aimed to help revive international air travel squeezed by pandemic curbs, will manage and verify the secure flow of necessary testing or vaccine information among governments, airlines, laboratories and travellers. Several leading global airlines like Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Etihad and Air New Zealand have already signed up for IATAs Travel Pass. IATA is in discussions with all major Indian airlines for Travel Pass. We hope they sign up," IATAs Asia-Pacific regional vice president Conrad Clifford told reporters. Two single largest barriers to travel (currently) are quarantine and lack of knowledge of regulations. Airlines want to get information out to customers. So, this is a logical extension of capabilities we provide to airlines," he added. Indias largest domestic airline IndiGo is currently engaged with IATA for the Travel Pass, a spokesperson of the airline said. We would look forward to seamless movement of our customers across borders during and post the pandemic. IndiGo is engaged with IATA to evaluate the IATA Travel Pass initiative, for seamless movement of our customers across international borders," the spokesperson added. A spokesperson of Vistara, a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata Sons, said such partnerships fall in the regulatory domain and are best addressed by the government. Spokespersons of other major Indian airlines like Air India, SpiceJet and GoAir didnt offer comments. Meanwhile, IATA hopes its Travel Pass will be a key enabler for restarting international travel. So far, international travel remains restricted in several countries, including India, to curb the spread of the covid-19 pandemic, though certain flights for repatriation and those under bubble agreements with select countries are allowed to operate. India currently has such agreements with more than 24 countries. We are hoping that the IATA Travel Pass will give confidence to the government to open up its borders," added IATAs regional director, airports and external relations, Vinoop Goel. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. China regained its position as Indias top trade partner in 2020, as New Delhis reliance on imported machines outweighed its efforts to curb commerce with Beijing after a bloody border conflict. Two-way trade between the longstanding economic and strategic rivals stood at $77.7 billion last year, according to provisional data from Indias commerce ministry. Although that was lower than the previous years $85.5 billion total, it was enough to make China the largest commercial partner displacing the U.S. -- bilateral trade with whom came in at $75.9 billion amid muted demand for goods in the middle of a pandemic. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi banned hundreds of Chinese apps, slowed approvals for investments from the neighbor and called for self-reliance after a deadly clash along their disputed Himalayan border, India continues to rely heavily on Chinese-made heavy machinery, telecom equipment and home appliances. As a result, the bilateral trade gap with China was at almost $40 billion in 2020, making it Indias largest. Total imports from China at $58.7 billion were more than Indias combined purchases from the U.S. and the U.A.E, which are its second- and third-largest trade partners, respectively. Heavy machinery imports accounted for 51% of Indias purchases from its neighbor. That said, India did manage to lower imports from its Asian neighbor amid demand disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The South Asian nation also managed to increase its exports to China by about 11% from a year ago to $19 billion last year, which makes any further worsening of ties with Beijing a threat to New Delhis export revenue. The tense relations are already weighing on Indias ambitions to bolster its manufacturing capabilities. New Delhi has been slow to issue visas to Chinese engineers needed to help Taiwanese companies set up factories under a so-called production-linked incentive program, or PLI, to promote local manufacturing. Still a very long way to go" is how Amitendu Palit, an economist specializing in international trade and investment at the National University of Singapore, described New Delhis efforts to wean itself away from Beijing. The PLI schemes will take at least four-five years to create fresh capacities in specific sectors. Till then reliance on China would continue." 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. First published in The Sydney Morning Herald on February 25, 1991 A LAST CALL HOME, THEN OFF TO WAR RUQI (on the Saudi border), Sunday: The Americans have gone to war happy, assured. As a squadron of Abrahams tanks rumbled north across the desert this morning, white grins lit up black faces as the crews stood high in the turrets, which they turned on us. Front page of Sydney Morning Herald on February 25, 1991. Credit:Sydney Morning Herald They gave the V-for-Victory sign, cheered and raised and lowered their barrels in salute before taking up hull-down positions in shallow trenches. A UN special rapporteur has accused Iran of misleading denials and inadequate investigations after the accidental downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet after takeoff from Tehran's international airport in January 2020. Agnes Callamard, a special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, said in a 45-page letter on the findings of a six-month inquiry on February 23 that "Iran committed multiple human rights violations in shooting down Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 and in the aftermath of the deadly attack." "The inconsistencies in the official explanations seem designed to create a maximum of confusion and a minimum of clarity," Callamard said in the text, which was reportedly delivered to Iranian officials two months ago. "They seem contrived to mislead and bewilder." After days of official denials following the crash, Iran admitted that its forces had inadvertently shot down the Kyiv-bound plane, killing all 176 people on board, after firing two missiles amid heightened tensions with the United States. But Iran's civilian aviation authority in its final report from July 2020 cited "human error," saying a broken radar system created communication problems with a military unit. The Iranian government claims it has nothing to hide, yet it has failed to carry out a full and transparent investigation in line with its international obligations. As a result, many questions are left unresolved," the UN rapporteur said. The majority of the victims were Iranians and Canadians, but Afghans, Britons, Swedes, and Ukrainians were also among the dead. Ukraine said last month in connection with the first anniversary of the tragedy that all five of those governments would "hold Iran to account to deliver justice and make sure Iran makes full reparations to the families of the victims and affected countries." Iran announced in December 2020 that the government had allocated $150,000 for the families of each of the victims -- an offer rejected by the Ukrainian and Canadian governments, as well as some of the families of the victims, who see it as an attempt to close the case and escape accountability. Human Rights Watch (HRW) marked the anniversary of the crash by accusing Iranian authorities of harassing and intimidating the victims families instead of conducting a transparent and credible investigation. Flight 752 was downed the same night that Iran launched a ballistic-missile attack that targeted U.S. soldiers in Iraq. Tehran's air defenses were on high alert in case of retaliation. Iran's missile attack was in response to a U.S. drone strike that killed the powerful commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Major General Qasem Soleimani, in Baghdad five days earlier. With reporting by dpa 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 The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet, publisher, painter and pivotal figure to the Beats and about every other counterculture literary movement in San Francisco, has died at 101. Ferlinghetti died Monday evening in his second-floor walk-up apartment in North Beach, where he lived for 40 years under rent control. Cause of death was a degenerative lung condition, said Nancy Peters, co-owner and retired executive director of City Lights Booksellers and Publishers. It was my good fortune to have worked closely with him for more than 50 years, Peters told The Chronicle on Tuesday. Weve lost a great poet and visionary. Lawrence was a legend in his time and a great San Franciscan. In his memory, City Lights on Columbus Avenue in North Beach was closed until 2 p.m. Tuesday, then open until its usual 8 p.m. closing time. Supervisor Aaron Peskin concluded Tuesdays regular meeting of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors with a memorial sermon for Ferlinghetti. He left behind dozens of books of verse, most prominently A Coney Island of the Mind, which was published in 1958 and has never gone out of print, with a million copies released in a dozen languages. His final book, a novel titled Little Boy, was published a week before the authors 100th birthday. Ferlinghetti was a veteran both of D-Day, in World War II, and of the left-wing intelligentsia that arose after the war. But his greatest contribution to the world of letters was as co-founder of City Lights, a paperback bookstore in North Beach and propeller of the San Francisco Renaissance in poetry. Im there in spirit all the time, Ferlinghetti said of the world-renowned bookstore, in a 2018 interview with The Chronicle. As for how often he was at the shop late in life, in reality, the ever-lighthearted bookseller replied, As a poet, I dont deal in reality. Life Picture Collection / Getty Images Ferlinghetti arrived in San Francisco in 1951 and asked a stranger to point him in the direction of the bohemian quarter in the city. He moved in and was struggling to make it as a painter when he chanced upon an opportunity that was to change his life and the life of North Beach. I was coming up from my painting studio and I drove up Columbus Avenue, he said in a 2012 interview. It was a route I wouldnt normally take, and I saw a guy putting up a sign where City Lights is now. The man with the idea was Peter Martin, a student at San Francisco State. I said, What are you doing? and he said, Im starting a paperback bookstore, but I dont have any money. Ive got $500. I said, I have $500. The whole thing took about five minutes, Ferlinghetti noted. We shook hands, and the store opened in June 1953 as City Lights Pocket Bookshop. Two years later, City Lights became a publishing house. The first release under its Pocket Poets Series imprint was his own Pictures of the Gone World. It was followed by Howl, the incendiary work by Allen Ginsberg, introduced at the famed Six Gallery reading on Fillmore Street in October 1955. Ferlinghetti himself did not read at Six Gallery, but the next day he sent Ginsberg a telegram offering to publish Ginsbergs graphic poem. Howl & Other Poems was released by City Lights in 1956, and Ferlinghetti stood by it during an obscenity trial that gained North Beach national exposure as the home of the Beats. When the trial began, I was young and stupid and thought a few months in jail would be OK. Id have a lot of time to read, Ferlinghetti told The Chronicle in 2012. Ferlinghetti never got that reading time, but he did get the publicity. Judge Clayton W. Horn ruled that the poem couldnt be deemed obscene because it had redeeming social significance. The case was covered by a photo spread in Life magazine. City Lights, on a triangular lot at Columbus Avenue and Broadway, was the first independent bookstore in the country to deal exclusively in the inexpensive paperback form. Although it eventually came to deal in hardcover books as well, it still focuses on paperbacks in its poetry room, which is up a creaky set of stairs that predates current building codes. Anyone interested in bohemian San Francisco came to City Lights to look for Ferlinghetti, who was invariably dressed in a button-down professorial manner, compared with the Beats and musicians who hung out there. The front sidewalk under the awning and the alley alongside were the locations of two of the most famous group photos in San Francisco lore, both taken in 1965. One is Larry Keenans The Last Gathering of Beats, Poets, and Artists, the entire bohemian tribe, including Richard Brautigan in a stovepipe cowboy hat. The other is of ultra-cool Bob Dylan with Robbie Robertson, McClure and Ginsberg. The storefront is known for its row of clerestory windows showcasing radical political messages, all hand-painted by Ferlinghetti on butcher paper. His particular brand of highly reasoned, highly intelligent but witty political activism ... he has carried that in his life and in his poetry effectively but lightly through his whole career career up until now, poet Gary Snyder said in the 2009 documentary film Ferlinghetti, directed by Christopher Felver. Lawrence Monsanto Ferlinghetti was born March 24, 1919, in Yonkers, N.Y. His father, Carlo Ferling, had shortened the family name when emigrating from Italy, but Lawrence later returned to the original. His father died before he was born, and because his mother, Clemence, had a nervous breakdown, he was sent to live with his aunt in France. When the aunt could not handle him, he was put in an orphanage. (Only later did Ferlinghetti learn that he had four older brothers.) It was right out of Dickens, Ferlinghetti said in recalling that he reached out to his beloved aunt by mailing her a letter when he was 12. That was when I first discovered I could really write, he said in the documentary. His aunt never responded to the letter and he never saw her or heard from her again. He was then raised by a family in Bronxville, N.Y., with a great library, and went through Bronxville public schools, where he made Eagle Scout the same year he got caught stealing pencils. From the library shelves, he pulled down Thomas Wolfes Look Homeward, Angel, which inspired him to both become a writer and do it at Wolfes alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Now Playing: Video: Yalonda M James He earned his bachelors degree in journalism at the university and served in the U.S. Navy as a ship commander in World War II. He was in the armada at the D-Day invasion in Normandy, serving as skipper on a submarine chaser. He later sailed to Japan and saw Nagasaki after the blast, and it made me into a lifelong pacifist, he said. No doubt about it. On the G.I. Bill, he earned his masters at Columbia University in 1947, with a thesis on critic John Ruskin and painter J.M.W. Turner. From there he went overseas for the second time to earn his doctorate at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1950, where he studied comparative literature and delivered his thesis (in French) on The City as Symbol in Modern Poetry. While on a ship headed to France, Ferlinghetti met his future wife, Selden Kirby-Smith, who went by Kirby. She was the granddaughter of a Confederate general and had earned her masters degree from Columbia. In the early 1950s, Ferlinghetti wrote many reviews of poetry books in The Chronicle, using the name Ferling; his first byline in the paper was on July 22, 1951. He reclaimed his original family name in 1954. Hulton Archive / Getty Images As the first poet laureate of San Francisco a position he held from 1998 to 2000 he called for the city to replace the ugly Central Freeway, damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, with a boulevard. The freeway is now long gone. The norm is that when people get older, they get more politically conservative, Ferlinghetti said, but its been the opposite for me. This was reflected in the bookstore and in the work he chose to publish. City Lights isnt stuck in the past. It isnt just a 50s or 60s institution, author Dave Eggers said in the 2009 documentary. Its always looking for the next voice. Its as alive as anything. In 1994, an alley in North Beach was renamed Via Ferlinghetti in his honor. At the dedication ceremony, Ferlinghetti mentioned that the dead-end alley was once used by bootleggers and undertakers, and that a poet could hang with that crowd. I was 30 before I saw San Francisco for the first time, and Ive spent most of the last 40 years walking up and down the streets of little old wooden North Beach, he told the audience at the dedication. One of his last poems, Trumps Trojan Horse, was published in the Nation magazine in 2017. It began: Homer didnt live long enough/ To tell of Trumps White House/ Which is his Trojan horse/ From which all the Presidents men/ Burst out to destroy democracy. Though he no longer went into City Lights regularly, Ferlinghetti remained its co-owner with Peters, and his political and cultural viewpoints still set the agenda for City Lights, said Stacey Lewis, publicity director for City Lights. Ferlinghetti will be buried in the family plot in the Druid section of the Bolinas Cemetery, beside his late ex-wife, Selden Kirby-Smith. Survivors include a daughter, Julie Ferlinghetti Sasser of Thompsons Station, Tenn.; a son Lorenzo Ferlinghetti of Bolinas; and three grandchildren. No memorial will be scheduled until after the coronavirus pandemic has passed. For now, were asking folks to remember the huge 100th birthday celebration, which was a fantastic tribute to his life and work, said City Lights publisher Elaine Katzenberger. Former Chronicle book editor John McMurtrie contributed to this report. Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @samwhitingsf Two bills considered centerpieces of Oregons police reform agenda in the Legislature -- one to allow public access to police discipline records and the other to restrict arbitrators from overturning police discipline -- got their first hearings Monday. House Bill 3145 would direct Oregons Department of Public Safety Standards and Training to create a public database that captures complaints against officers, the allegations brought and whether any discipline was issued and what it was. It also would include resignations or firings of officers. House Bill 2930 would allow police agencies to adopt discipline guides for officers without negotiating with a police union. It also would restrict arbitrators from overturning police discipline if evidence exists that would permit a reasonable person to conclude that the officer engaged in misconduct. Rachel Moran, an associate professor and founder of the Criminal and Juvenile Defense Clinic at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, said Oregon is in the minority of states, one of 21 that largely prevent the public from accessing police misconduct or discipline records. In the last two years, New York and California adopted laws dramatically expanding public access to police misconduct cases in their states. We have for many decades across this country largely trusted law enforcement agencies to police their own officers and it hasnt worked, she said. For the most part, disciplinary records contain information about on-the-job misconduct by public employees or public officials, and theres not a good legal reason to call that information private. Richard Rivera, a former West New York police officer and whistleblower who co-founded the National Coalition of Latino Officers, went undercover for the FBI in the mid-1990s and helped expose officers in his agency taking kickbacks to protect illegal gambling operations, prostitution and other illegal activities. He was then fired after his departments internal affairs accused him of rules violations. He sued claiming retaliation and was reinstated long enough to retire and received a $650,000 settlement. As someone who was the subject of eight separate internal affairs investigations, 48 different charges, that were all trumped up, I would have loved a transparent process so that people could actually see what that was all about, he told the House Subcommittee on Equitable Policing. State Sen. Chris Gorsek, D-Troutdale, who was a Portland police officer for seven years, said a database of police discipline cases will help reestablish public trust in police and allow officers to reveal when allegations made against them are determined to be unfounded. Attorney Juan Chavez, project director of the Oregon Justice Resource Centers Civil Rights Project, called such a database long overdue for a profession as powerful as law enforcement. The centers Innocence Project, which works to help wrongfully convicted defendants prove their innocence, requested the bill. Often, criminal defendants cant find out the discipline history of an officer who may have arrested or investigated them until they bring a civil case against police, he said. Chavez highlighted the wrongful arrest of Portland resident Michael Fesser by West Linn police in 2017. It wasnt until Fesser sued West Linn and won a $600,000 settlement in a retaliation case that the city released a previously confidential report that accused former West Linn Police Chief Terry Timeus of making racist, sexist, anti-Semitic and homophobic statements and sleeping with an informant when he worked as a Lake Oswego police officer. The report wasnt shared with West Linn officials until three years after the city hired him as chief without a background check. Continuing to ignore and hide officer misconduct will only continue to allow the state to be complicit in sustaining structures that we all know are harmful, Chavez said. Chavez is among a number of lawyers suing the Portland police on behalf of protesters who allege Portland police officers used excessive force against them during last years social justice protests. But the Oregon Association Chiefs of Police and the Oregon State Sheriffs Association oppose such a database, citing the cost of providing the discipline records and potential liability to police or sheriffs agencies for any defamatory material shared. Yamhill County Sheriff Tim Svenson, who is president of the sheriffs association and spoke on behalf of both groups, said agencies would have to hire more staff and legal resources to sift through thousands of pages of reports to redact any information that shouldnt be included. Publicly identifying officers by name who have been disciplined could harm them and their families, exposing them to greater risks, Swenson told the committee. Michael Selvaggio, lobbyist for the Oregon Coalition of Police and Sheriffs, said unfounded complaints against police shouldnt be made public. The bill would allow anyone without attribution to write an allegation into an officers public record and harm efforts to recruit officers in Oregon, he said. Public records exemptions exist not only for public safety officers but for teachers, firefighters and even elected officials, he added. Rob Bovett, legal counsel and legislative director of the Association of Oregon Counties, called the bill on a public database too broad and suggested it might be amended to require that only finalized discipline be made public. I just see liability and lawsuits written all over this, he said. Laurie Roberts, a state policy advocate for the national Innocence Project, urged lawmakers to consider the extraordinary cost being borne by cities and states because of unchecked police misconduct. Under the arbitration bill, sponsored by state Rep. Janelle Bynum, D-Clackamas, an arbitrator couldnt overturn a police agencys discipline of an officer if it meets uniform standards adopted by a new 11-member Commission on Statewide Law Enforcement Standards of Conduct and Discipline. The states attorney general and director of the state Department of Public Safety Standards and Training would lead the commission and appoint nine other members. Bynum has argued that there should be a statewide minimum standard for discipline of officers in Oregon and not a patchwork of disciplinary actions around the state. Police union and other union leaders oppose the bill as written. Teamsters Local Union 223, which represents law enforcement officers and other public sector workers including public works employees and technical personnel, said the bill would create a different discipline standard compared to other represented workers in Oregon. We respectfully request the formation of a work group to review the likely ramifications of the bill and to explore making improvements to the language of the bill. The work group could study the effects of the bill on the ability of police officers to do their necessary work and to ensure that the final bill ensures fair treatment for officers under the grievance and arbitration process that is consistent with other public workers, the union said in prepared testimony. Selvaggio, the police coalition lobbyist, argued that the bill would give more unchecked power and discipline authority to questionable chiefs, such as Timeus in West Linn. Timeus was found to have directed a West Linn detective to pursue an unsupported arrest of Fesser for a personal friend. The chiefs friend was Fessers then boss, Eric Benson, owner of A&B Towing in Portland. Fesser said his arrest was in retaliation for his complaints about a racially hostile work environment. Dan Thenell, legal counsel for the Oregon Fraternal Order of Police, said the reasonable person standard for upholding discipline based on an agencys record alone will be skewed in favor of the police manager. Police reform, he said, must start with the states police certification agency stepping up to investigate alleged misconduct itself or mandating investigations be done. The sad reality is that many officers who are targeted for discipline and termination are those officers who were reporting misconduct, Thenell said. The sad reality is that sometimes they are targeted, and cases are built to get them out of the department. Arbitration protects those types of officers. The House Judiciary must approve the bills before heading to the House floor for a vote. -- Maxine Bernstein Email mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212 Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian [February 22, 2021] OneWorld Smart Solutions Holdings Corp. Announces a $5 million USD Investment into iSIGN Media Solutions Inc. TORONTO, Feb. 22, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OneWorld Smart Solutions Holdings Corp. (ONEWORLD), a company involved in the fields of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for COVID-19 as well as in the health and medical fields globally, is pleased to announce an agreement has been signed with iSIGN Media Solutions Inc. (iSIGN or Company), a Canadian public company (TSX-V: ISD) (OTC: ISDSF), a leading provider of interactive mobile proximity marketing and public security alert solutions for an investment of $5 million USD. iSIGNs technology and hardware fits into our existing business model, as well as with other technologies that we are looking to acquire and/or develop, stated Dallas Pokornik, ONEWORLDs Communications Director. We are always looking for new and exciting technologies that have a fit within our operations and we believe iSIGNs mobile messaging and data capture technology is a strong fit. ONEWORLD has recently enjoyed global and North American sales success in the PPE and related accessories field, through its related company, OneWorld Health Solutions Corp., especially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has recently moved its operations to Toronto, Canada and its management were re-introduced to ISIGN due to iSIGNs efforts to use its Safety Alert Messaging (SAM) technology to provide messaging in the medical, health and senior care fields. ONEWORLDs management first became aware of iSIGN in its original early start-up stage, when they were employed at IBMs Global Software Solutions team and initiated a partnership with IBM as a Software Solutions Provider for Mobile Messaging and data capture. Twelve years later ONEWORLD has again found the right SAAS solution at the right time to scale iSIGN technology and sales in its planned introduction of the worlds first Artifical Intelligence (AI) based solution and network supported by IBMs WATSON computing cloud. The product to be introduced will be a small tabletop device able to monitor the Health and Medical Metrics of patients in hospitals, at home and in Senior Care facilities 24/7 with leading edge sensors wirelessly in concert with iSIGNs solutions. ONEWORLD is scaling far beyond PPE equipment and is planning an entrance into the medical and health care fields globally with a safe, cost effective and lifesaving product to be available within the next six months from iSIGN. ONEWORLD has the financial resources to commit to this new iSIGN investment as well as to the hiring of staff and new management to allow for the scaling of sales and expansion into global markets with new and improved technologies. The closing of this agreement is subject to review and acceptance by the TSX-V Exchange. About OneWorld Smart Solutions Holding Corp. OneWorld, a Canadian company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada is a privately owned holding company that through its related company, OneWorld Health Solutions Corp., operates as a sales agent connecting buyers and sellers in the fields of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for COVID-19 as well as in the health and medical fields globally. About iSIGN Media iSIGN, a Canadian company based in Toronto (Richmond Hill), Ontario is a data-focused, software-as-a-service (SaaS) company that is a pioneering leader in the areas of location-based security alert messaging and proximity marketing utilizing Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity in complete privacy. Creators of the Smart suite of products, a patented interactive proximity marketing technology, iSIGN enables the delivery of messages to mobile devices in proximity, with real-time reporting and analytics on a variety of metrics. 2019 winner of Richmond Hills Innovator of the Year award. Partners include IBM, Keyser Retail Solutions, Baylor University, Verizon Wireless, TELUS and Mtrex Network Solutions. www.isignmedia.com Forward-Looking Statements This news release may include certain forward-looking statements that are based upon current expectations, and involve risks and uncertainties associated with OneWorld Smart Solutions Holding Corp.s business and the environment in which it operates. Any statements contained in this release that are not statements of historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking, including those identified by the expressions anticipate, believe, plan, estimate, expect, intend and similar expressions to the extent they relate to the Company or its management. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts but reflect One World Smart Solutions Holding Corp.s current expectations regarding future results or events. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations. OneWorld Smart Solutions Holding Corp. assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. Company contacts: OneWorld Smart Solutions Holdings Corp. Dallas Pokornik, Communications Director dallas@oneworldhealthcorp.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. By Xu Yang and Zhao Hongnan SHENYANG, Feb.22 -- This year marks the 90th anniversary of the September 18th Incident. The Beidaying (Northern Grand Barracks) site in northeast Chinas Liaoning Province, one of the sites where the incident broke out, is undergoing repairs. It will be transformed into an exhibition hall to the public before September 18, 2021. The Beidaying site in Shenyang, Northeast Chinas Liaoning Province, was once full of barracks initially built since 1907. It is an ironclad proof of the War of Aggression against China launched by Japan and a memory coordinate marking the starting point of Chinese peoples 14-year war of resistance. The site will always alert the Chinese people as a witness to Chinese suffering during the historical period. On the night of September 18, 1931, the Japanese Kwantung Army blew up a section of the railway near Liutiao Lake in the northern suburb of Shenyang City by itself. It falsely accused the Chinese army of doing so. Then the Japanese army brazenly attacked the Kuomintangs Northeastern Army, who were stationed in the barracks in Beidaying, marking the beginning of the September 18th Incident, shocking both China and the other countries around the world. According to Wang Jianxue, a professor at the Party School of the Liaoning Provincial CPC Committee, Wang Tiehan, commanding officer of the Northeastern Army stationed in Beidaying, issued an order to resist despite the strict order of non-resistance from the then central government, killing and wounding 24 enemies. In 2011, volunteers dedicated to relic protection in Shenyang City discovered the ruins of three barracks. In order to better imprint this historical period in peoples memory, the construction of the Exhibition Hall of Beidaying Site was officially launched in 2018, with the restoration of the original appearance of the barracks and the collection of cultural relics being carried out simultaneously. As of now, there have been more than 1,400 items of cultural relics of important historical significance and research value collected in Shenyang City. Helmand, February 23: A total of eight terrorists have been confirmed dead as fighting planes struck a Taliban hideout in Nahr-e-Saraj district of the southern Helmand province on Monday, said an army statement released here on Tuesday. Acting on a tip-off, the fighting planes targeted a hideout of Taliban terrorists in Nahr-e-Saraj district late Monday, killing eight insurgents on the spot, the statement said. Afghanistan: 13 Taliban Fighters Killed in Airstrike in Nangarhar Province. Without providing more details, the statement added that the security forces with the support of the air force would continue to target the armed insurgents elsewhere in the country. Taliban terrorists who are active in parts of the province have yet to make comments. The property was a four-bedroom semi-detached house and available to rent for 550 per month An advertisement for a property in Co Tyrone has been reported to police after it said "foreign nationals need not apply". The advert, which was posted on Gumtree yesterday, was later removed and reposted again without the racist wording. However, that too was later removed. The property was a four-bedroom semi-detached house and available to rent for 550 per month. It said the house would have been available on March 12, by its owner, whose contact details were removed from Gumtree. The post read: "Four-bed semi situated in Moygashel on the outskirts of Dungannon. Two single bedrooms, two double bedrooms. Separate basement. Unfurnished. Does include gas oven, fridge freezer, table and chairs. "Would ideally suit a local family who knows the area. Foreign nationals need not apply. Viewings from March 10." Expand Close The advert for a property which has been reported to the PSNI / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The advert for a property which has been reported to the PSNI SDLP councillor Malachy Quinn said he was "disgusted" at the advertisement and reported it to the PSNI immediately. "This is the 21st century, this type of discrimination has no place within our society and for someone to think they have the right to place such criteria is outrageous," Mr Quinn said. "This is the type of language that Irish people used to endure in America when they were discriminated against along with other minorities, and now for it to happen in our own country is unacceptable. "During the pandemic our health service, which includes many foreign nationals, have gone beyond the call of duty to help heal our sick and look after our most vulnerable. "Without their hard work and dedication, the NHS would collapse, as would many of the local businesses in the Dungannon and south Tyrone areas. "We always need to stand against discrimination, no matter what form it takes." Geraldine McGahey, Chief Commissioner of the Equality Commission, said she found the wording of the advert to be "shocking": "The law as regards racial discrimination in selling or letting houses or any other premises is quite clear. Under the Race Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 it is unlawful to discriminate on racial grounds in selling or letting any premises through an advertisement or through an estate agent. "Anyone who has been subject to such discrimination may take an action in the County Court and the Commission can advise anyone who believes they have been subject to such discrimination. It is also unlawful to publish an advertisement indicating an intention to discriminate on racial grounds. Police in Dungannon said it had been reported that "the original wording of the post has since been modified". The Petitioner in the ongoing 2020 election petition, former President John Mahama "is worried that the court in deciding these applications are not applying statutes that have been passed by our parliament". Seven Judges and sometimes nine for review cases have thrown out over 6 applications of the petitioner with the recent one being a review application on the Supreme Court's decision not to allow the reopening of his case. Sammy Gyamfi, a member of the Petitioner's legal team speaking after the Court's ruling on Monday bemoaned the fact that John Mahama is being denied a fair hearing. "The petitioner is worried that the court in deciding these applications are not applying statutes that have been passed by our parliament; statutes that the court has been applying in other cases and we think that the petitioner is being denied a fair hearing and it is important that these issues be pursued to their logical conclusion," he intimated. Watch video below A nine-member panel of Supreme Court (SC) Judges has unanimously dismissed a review application filed by the petitioner in the 2020 election petition, John Mahama.Mr Mahama filed an application for review of the Supreme Courts ruling that prevented him from reopening his case.According to the motion, the SC made fundamental errors of law, including the ruling being per incuriam of constitutional provisions, statutes, and previous decisions of the Supreme Court.I am advised by counsel and verily believe the court made fundamental errors of law including the ruling being per incuriam of constitutional provisions, statutes and previous decisions of the Supreme Court...Among these errors, I am advised by counsel and verily believe is an error whereby the courts subordinates a provision in the Evidence Act to a rule in subsidiary legislation by the Rules of Court Committee, portions of the application read.However, a ruling read by Chief Justice Anin Yeboah, Monday said the application was not based on law and that review discretion is not a try on and neither should it be asked on emotional grounds."We dismiss the instant application as being wholly without merit," he said. 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 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 Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 San Diego, CA (February 23, 2021) Insurance Journals Academy of Insurance today announced the release of Professional Lines Insurance: An Oral History: The People and Companies that Built a Niche, by Larry Goanos, a book about the real-world workings of the professional lines insurance market. There are many people whose livelihoods depend upon insurance and not just people in this industry. Most people are oblivious to the fact that commercial insurance is at work behind the scenes to grease the wheels of commerce. Professional lines insurance coverages are essential to investment advisors, public officials, bankers, stockbrokers, corporate directors, officers, consultants and scores of others who need the protection of insurance to do their work and advance the goals of society, writes Larry Goanos. In Professional Lines Insurance: An Oral History, Larry Goanos and about 400 of his peers, friends, and rivals share their personal and professional stories, giving the reader a feel for the ups and downs of the lives lived in the professional lines arena, even if they have never worked in the industry. To me, professional lines insurance is very much a people-driven, relationship business, Larry writes. While conducting my research, I found many signs of the basic goodness and integrity of the people in this industry. Along with plenty of hard facts, this book includes my personal views on our industry and my take on some of the more significant people, companies, and events in professional lines. In this book, you will meet the people who made this niche what it is today, including Maurice Greenberg, who wrote the books introduction. Read the stories of these professionals as they lived and worked through the days and months following September 11, 2001. Learn the history of the companies that determined professional lines insurance was an underserved market segment, how they decided to cover it, and how successful each has been so far. Larry writes in a conversational style that will welcome you into his world, says Patrick Wraight, the Director of Insurance Journals Academy of Insurance. Hell introduce you to the people and companies that built this niche in the US, Great Britain, and Bermuda. By the time youre finished, youll feel like you know these people and companies, almost like youre family. Professional Lines Insurance: An Oral History can be purchased online in paperback or eBook through the Academy of Insurance or Amazon. Larrys previous book, D&O 101 Understanding Directors & Officers Liability Insurance, also published by the Academy of Insurance, is currently #3 in Amazons General Insurance bestselling book category. About the Author Larry Goanos has worked in professional lines insurance since 1989. He is the founder of Andros Risk Services, LLC, an independent commercial insurance consulting firm that provides a variety of services to insurance carriers, insurance brokers and policyholders. Larry is a graduate of Villanova University and Boston College Law School. About the Academy of Insurance Insurance Journals Academy of Insurance (www.IJAcademy.com) is an online learning center for P/C insurance professionals, which cultivates and provides the best insurance-related instruction-based content, including hundreds of on-demand and live courses, as well as multiple books. Academy of Insurance is a product of Wells Media Group, which serves the property/casualty insurance industry. Sister sites include: the P/C insurance industrys leading website & magazine, InsuranceJournal.com; Carrier Management website and magazine for insurance company leaders; a website, ClaimsJournal.com, for P/C claims professionals; an online database of available P/C markets, MyNewMarkets.com; and a media site featuring insurance industry videos and podcasts, InsuranceJournal.TV Please direct all media inquiries to Julie Tinney, CMO, Wells Media Group, Inc. via email at jtinney@wellsmedia.com or via telephone at 619-584-1100, x148. Topics Trends Market Professional Liability India on Tuesday has allowed Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's aircraft to use Indian airspace to travel to Sri Lanka, said sources. The Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has permitted Khan's flight to Sri Lanka for a state visit, in a concession to India's terror-friendly neighbour. However, in September 2019, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew to the United States to attend the United Nations General Assembly 74th Session and again in October 2019, when the PM was going on a state visit to Saudi Arabia's Riyadh, Pakistan had not allowed India overflight rights. Therefore, Air India One had to take a detour both times. It is also important to know that the DGCA does not have the power of giving permission of overflight rights to any country without a political nod. READ | Sri Lanka Cancels Imran Khan's Speech To Its Parliament; Visiting Pakistan PM Embarrassed READ | Pakistan Attacks India's Win Over England; Imran Khan's PTI Endorses Vaughan's Pitch Jibe Sri Lanka Cancels Imran Khan's Speech To Its Parliament Meanwhile, on February 18, Sri Lanka had canceled Imran Khan's address to its Parliament during his official visit to the island nation. According to sources, the decision has been taken for two reasons. The first is that Sri Lanka believes giving Imran Khan that honour would put Pakistan on the same pedestal as India, as PM Modi has previously addressed the Sri Lankan Parliament. And second, because of concerns that Imran Khan could rake up the Kashmir issue. Imran Khan has a habit of parroting lies on the Kashmir issue whenever he is presented with a global platform, especially since the Indian Government's decision to scrap Article 370 in the former state of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019. According to a report in Colombo Gazette, Sergeant-at-Arms of Parliament, Narendra Fernando said that the Foreign Ministry had informed Parliament that the Pakistan Prime Ministers visit to Sri Lanka will go ahead as scheduled. Imran Khan will arrive in Sri Lanka on a 2-day official state visit. Khan, who will be the first head of state to visit the country since the Covid-19 pandemic, is to hold talks with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, and Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena during the visit, the report said. Khan's visit, scheduled a month after External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankars three-day visit to Colombo, will coincide with the early days of the 46th UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva. Jaishankar visited Colombo over three months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa held a virtual summit during which the two sides agreed to further expand ties in a range of areas such as anti-terror cooperation, maritime security, and trade and investment. READ | Maryam Nawaz Asks Pak PM Imran Khan To Speak To Relatives Of Balochistan's Missing People READ | Imran Khan Compares India-Pakistan Domestic Cricket, Terms Men In Blue As A 'top Team' For Subscribers Why South Dakota county officials are shirking state-given water rights Grant County could be the thirteenth county to repeal their drainage ordinance in the past decade. Press Release February 23, 2021 SEN. GRACE POE's AMENDMENT ON THE VACCINE CARD PROVISION AS ADOPTED: On the Vaccine Card provision under Section 12* of the clean copy, page 7, line 3, after the word "vaccinations", add a new line which reads: "AND MANDATE A UNIFORM FORMAT FOR THE VACCINE CARD WHICH SHALL BE UPDATED ACCORDINGLY TO ALWAYS CONFORM WITH GLOBALLY-ACCEPTED STANDARDS." The paragraph shall now read as follows: The issuance of a vaccine card is intended to be digital, but shall remain accessible through other means such as printed cards. The DOH, through the Department of Information and Communications Technology, shall develop the LGU-based digital systems and applications that will meet the objectives of the COVID-19 Vaccination program while maintaining quality, safety, ease of use, and accessibility for all Filipinos: Provided, that the DOH shall maintain a central database of vaccinations AND MANDATE A UNIFORM FORMAT FOR THE VACCINE CARD WHICH SHALL BE UPDATED ACCORDINGLY TO ALWAYS CONFORM WITH GLOBALLY-ACCEPTED STANDARDS: Provided further that LGUs shall recognize and accept vaccine cards validly issued by other LGUs. *Section 12 is an abridged version of Sen. Grace Poe's Senate Bill No. 1994 on vaccine passports. TRANSCRIPT FOR REFERENCE: Sen. Grace Poe: I have a suggestion for the wording of the card that might be a little bit more palatable to some who are averse to it. On the vaccine card provision under section 12, page seven, line three, after the word vaccinations, add a new line which reads: "and mandate a uniform format for the vaccine card which shall be updated accordingly to always conform with globally-accepted standards as prescribed by the World Health Organization." So in short, wala pa naman kasi pero eventually kapag meron nang standard hindi na kailangang bumalik pa to discuss and have another law just to update it. It's open formatted right now. Just a uniform card or if you don't want to call it a card, just a record which will be updated kapag meron nang globally accepted standard. Kasi baka mapag-iwanan na naman tayo 'pag sinabi na ito na ang kailangan na form, ano, we'll have to amend the law. At least this is already open-ended. That's my suggestion, Mr. President. Senate President Vicente Sotto: What does Senator Pimentel say? Sen. Koko Pimentel: That can proceed independently, Mr. President. My amendment is a deletion and then the amendment of Senator Poe is an additional sentence. Sotto: Deletion muna. Alright, so let's act on the motion first of Senator Pimentel. Any objection to the deletion of line three and four? Alright, Senator Poe, you can put that into motion if you wish. Poe: Okay. So now, again, if I may read it, page seven, line three. After the word vaccination, add the lines: "and mandate a uniform format for the vaccine card which shall be updated accordingly to always conform with globally-accepted standards as prescribed by the World Health Organization." Sotto: What does the sponsor say? Sen. Sonny Angara: Mr. President, we're inclined to accept but we were told by DOH, if this is amenable to Senator Poe, the proponent of the amendment, to just remove the phrase at the end, "as prescribed by the World Health Organization" because according to the DOH, WHO does not have standards for vaccine cards. So the amendment would end with the words "globally-accepted standards," and we would accept that, Mr. President. Poe: I think that's a better amendment. Angara: We accept, Mr. President. Sotto: Accepted. Any objections? Hearing none, adopted as amended. 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 third of freshwater fish species are facing extinction in a crisis engulfing Britain and the world, conservationists are warning. Eighty freshwater fish species have become extinct since 1970, according to a report by 16 nature organisations. And numbers of migratory freshwater fish which include salmon, trout and eels have also fallen by 76 per cent as, the report says, cities treat rivers as mere pipes to provide water, power and industry. Eighty freshwater fish species have become extinct since 1970, according to a report by 16 nature organisations - pictured, a common carp Much of the decline in the UK has been blamed on the poor state of habitats with only 14 per cent of English rivers achieving good ecological status last year. This was due to factors such as dams and agricultural pollution Much of the decline in the UK has been blamed on the poor state of habitats with only 14 per cent of English rivers achieving good ecological status last year. This was due to factors such as dams and agricultural pollution. None of Englands rivers met chemical standards for water quality in the same year. Dave Tickner, of the World Wide Fund for Nature, said: Nature is in freefall and the UK is no exception: wildlife struggles to survive, let alone thrive, in our polluted waters. He added that the Government must get its act together and clean up our rivers. The sturgeon - a royal fish the Crown can claim if one is caught in British waters - is extinct in UK freshwaters with no breeding populations. The burbot, a type of freshwater cod, was last seen in the UK in 1969. Salmon has suffered huge declines in the UK since the 1960s while eels are also under severe threat, the report warned. It blames the decline in the UK on the poor state of freshwater habitats. Just 14 per cent of rivers in England achieved Good Ecological Status last year. with nitrate and phosphate pollution from farmyard fertilisers to blame as well as river dams disrupting fish movements. There are 18,075 freshwater fish species on Earth, around half of all the worlds fish species; yet lakes and wetlands comprise less than 1 per cent of the Earths surface. In South America alone, more than 104 new species of freshwater fish have been identified every year for the past decade - an average of two new species a week. But the report warns freshwater fish are often in forgotten in discussions of risks to species. It said: Rivers continue to be valued primarily as water pipes for cities, industry, agriculture and power, ignoring their many hidden benefits, such as the freshwater fisheries they sustain. The WWF is calling all governments to back a global Emergency Recovery Plan for freshwater biodiversity as part of an ambitious agreement at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity conference later this year. This six-point plan would include reducing pollution, allowing rivers to flow more naturally, controlling invasive species, ending overfishing and removing obsolete dams. The chief executive of Ulster Bank said she apologised to staff after they were forced to live with uncertainty about the future of their jobs for months. Jane Howard said the manner of the closure announcement made last Friday was not the way anyone would have wanted. Ms Howard blamed the uncertainty around the final outcome, adding that media speculation compounded the stressful situation. She made the comments while appearing before the Oireachtas finance committee. First session on #ulsterbank is with @fsuireland where I raised the status of contract workers & concerns with regard to pensions of former staff as well as entitlements of current staff. pic.twitter.com/KExo4WPGE7 Neale Richmond (@nealerichmond) February 23, 2021 It was confirmed last week by NatWest that it made the decision to withdraw Ulster Bank from the Irish market. NatWest said a review of its Irish bank found that it would not achieve an acceptable level of returns going forward. Uncertainty now surrounds the banks 2,800 staff, although NatWest insists it will try to keep job losses to a minimum. Ulster Bank and NatWest were heavily criticised by TDs for its treatment of staff. A memo was circulated last Thursday claiming no decision to withdraw from the market had been made, however by Friday morning Ulster Bank confirmed it was closing. Responding to the criticism, Ms Howard said: The way that this was communicated was not the way that anybody would have wanted. I have personally apologised to our colleagues for that fact that they have had to live with this uncertainty for five months Jane Howard I have personally apologised to our colleagues for that fact that they have had to live with this uncertainty for five months whilst living in a pandemic and trying to serve our customers in the best way possible. During that time I have met with many colleagues and listened to their concerns. Where we can address their concerns we have done so, but the biggest concern that most people have was wanting to know the outcome of the decision and it was that uncertainty that causes challenges for people. We have got the outcome of that decision, and got that on Friday. Two other Irish banks Permanent TSB and AIB have already made moves to potentially acquire Ulster Bank assets. The Government is a majority stakeholder in both AIB and Permanent TSB. The announcement came as NatWest revealed that it made a pre-tax operating loss of 351 million in 2020. Expand Close The Ulster Bank headquarters in Dublin (Brian LAwless/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Ulster Bank headquarters in Dublin (Brian LAwless/PA) Ms Howard added: I announced three things (on Friday) one was there would no new redundancies this year, there would be no branch closures and the memorandum of understanding with AIB, whilst only a memorandum, was that colleagues would travel with the work. I am very aware it doesnt give all the certainty. We are in very early days with our conversations with PTSB and others. We dont have all the answer yet. But we will be engaging with the stakeholders over the coming weeks as we work through how we carefully, in an orderly way, withdraw from the market. We will establish regular communications with colleagues. I recognise how difficult this has been for people. Our core objectives is we want to minimise job losses and thats why we have reached the memorandum of understanding. However, the general secretary of the Financial Services Union (FSU) John OConnell said the behaviour of NatWest and Ulster Bank is unacceptable. I believe the withdrawal of Ulster Bank from the Irish bank sector will be a case study in how not to do change, Mr OConnell told the committee. It would be a disservice to our staff to ignore the behaviour of NatWest towards our staff over the past six months. This behaviour is not acceptable. That is continuing from NatWest and Ulster Bank today. There was a statement from them last Friday to say there would be no compulsory redundancies in Ireland today 40 staff are fighting for their jobs. He outlined three areas to be prioritised, including staff having the option of transferring their work. I believe the staff of Ulster Bank have been treated shabbily by you. Jim O'Callaghan It also included ensuring that compulsory redundancies is not accepted and that no branches should close until the end of next year. Fine Gaels Neale Richmond said it has been an extremely tough time for staff. Labours Ged Nash said: This has been absolutely devastating period for Ulster Bank staff, it has been hanging over their hands for five months. It is outrageous that staff had to learn of their fate and the fact that their jobs were under threat from media reports. Fianna Fails Jim OCallaghan said: I believe the staff of Ulster Bank have been treated shabbily by you. He said the decision to withdraw from the Irish market will have a significant impact on the banking sector. Sinn Feins spokesman on finance Pearse Doherty said: What NatWest and Ulster Bank did to your staff was deplorable, it was not acceptable and it shouldnt have happened. The Wyoming Department of Insurance is now enabling candidates for insurance licensure to schedule exams online through testing vendor Pearson VUE and their OnVUE online proctoring service. Online testing will begin on March 2. The weather and long distances in our state can, at times, make it difficult for some Wyomingites to travel to exam centers, Licensing Supervisor Bryan Stevens said in a statement. With online proctoring, candidates will no longer need to leave their homes to take their exam. Our goal was to make taking exams for residents in Greybull and Lander as convenient as it is for residents in Laramie and Casper. OnVUE online proctoring from Pearson VUE allows candidates to take licensing exams from home. Candidates provide their own computer and a private room to take the exam. OnVUE leverages artificial intelligence coupled with live proctoring through the webcam and microphone. This is a permanent change to our licensing exam availability, Stevens said. With the proliferation of the needed technology and the wide-open spaces of Wyoming, we feel that remote proctoring is a solution that perfectly meets the needs of our residents. SAGINAW, MI A Saginaw man has been charged in the sexual assault of two girls more than 20 years ago. A two-year investigation led police to arrest 55-year-old Scott J. Austin on Friday, Feb. 19. Austin on Monday, Feb. 22, appeared before Saginaw County District Judge A.T. Frank for arraignment on seven counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. The charges stem from Austin allegedly having sexually assaulted the two girls between April 1996 and April 1999. The women are now 33 and 38, prosecutors said. Under Michigan law, there is no statute of limitations for first-degree criminal sexual conduct, which involves penetration. Though the charge is currently a life offense in Michigan, Austin is charged under the law as it applied when his alleged crimes occurred, meaning the felonies are punishable by nine to 15 years in prison. Saginaw police began investigating Austin in 2019 when one of the women filed a complaint with Child Protective Services after encountering Austin at a store with a child in his care, said Detective Phil Graves. Over the course of the ensuing investigation, both women alleged Austin had sexually assaulted them when they were minors, Graves said. Police had previously investigated Austin in the late 1990s when one of the women made allegations of sexual misconduct against him. That investigation did not result in criminal charges against Austin. Since beginning his 2019 investigation, Graves attained detailed allegations from both women, he said. Austin declined to speak with police when they arrested him, Graves said. Judge Frank set Austins bond at $250,000 cash-surety. Austins next court date is pending. Read more: Saginaw police getting new surveillance cameras, special phone Crystal meth surging in Great Lakes Bay Region as its so easy to get and cheap, police say Trial begins for Bay City man accused of shooting man in head Snow, rain and nearly 40 mph wind gusts could strike central Pennsylvania Tuesday before one of the warmest days the area has seen in months, forecasters said. Little to no snow accumulation is expected from snow and possible rain showers that could fall Tuesday afternoon. The showers will gradually clear for a cloudy day with up to 37 mph winds in the forecast, according to the National Weather Service. The snow, rain and wind will clear by Wednesday, for a mostly sunny day with highs near 51, forecasters said. Theres a slight chance of rain in the afternoon, and up to 25 mph winds are possible. According to the NWS, Thursday and Friday will be mostly sunny with highs in the low 40s. Forecasters said there is a fifty-fifty chance of snow Saturday morning thatll mix with rain and taper off by the early afternoon. Overall, it looks like central Pennsylvanians can enjoy a week without any major snowstorms a rarity these days. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Real I.S. has acquired a fully let office building in the German city of Ingolstadt for its specialised institutional real estate AIF, Real I.S. SCF I from the Rudolf Ross Bau GmbH. The property located at Ferdinand-Braun-Strae 6 was completed in May 2020 and has a total rental area of Photos: Real I.S. AG [] You are here: China Chinese students will enjoy a return to normal school life after their last spring semester was disrupted by the COVID-19 outbreak, according to the Ministry of Education. To minimize the risk of any potential cross-infection, the ministry asked schools to stagger the return of students at a press conference held on Tuesday. Key locations and groups will be targeted for COVID-19 tests and key venues should be disinfected on a regular basis, the ministry said. SAN FRANCISCO - Elon Musk says he is stretched too thin. The chief executive of both electric car manufacturer Tesla and rocket company SpaceX bounces nearly daily on his private jet between locations - traveling to his longtime home in southern California, Tesla's plant in the Bay Area, the site of a new factory in Austin, Texas and SpaceX's launch facility on that state's Gulf Coast. Twice in a matter of days recently, the 49-year old complained of what he called an "insane" work schedule, juggling responsibilities with his car company and aerospace firm and taking in "torrents of information" in wall-to-wall meetings. But critics say the rigors of Musk's personal schedule, and the seeming cult of personality that has developed around him, are beginning to show in the car company he runs - the one that he took from an upstart pioneer in electric vehicles to the world's most valuable automaker. Musk, they say, is drowning in outside commitments like his aerospace company and other endeavors while letting quality - and strategy - at Tesla fall victim. And there are familiar concerns. "There have been years past where some of his behavior was horrifying and had cost huge costs especially from his little tussle with the SEC," said Ross Gerber, a Tesla investor and supporter of Musk who is close to the company. "And he's come a long way. What I'm worried about is his success makes him a little bit loose again." Musk spent much of the past year focused on trying to demonstrate his aerospace firm's viability to shuttle people into space on reusable rockets, all while Tesla worked to construct multiple factories and launched a new SUV. Musk also juggled the birth of a newborn son and his own personal move to Texas. He sprinkled in spontaneous public appearances in venues such as social media app Clubhouse in between his barrages of tweets. Musk became the world's richest person in January, thanks to skyrocketing Tesla stock. In interviews with a dozen current and former Tesla employees, investors and analysts, critics pointed to a series of questionable business moves, and even outright missteps by Tesla, as a potential symptom of the outside demands on Musk. They described a company where Musk is less present and increasingly isolated, where subordinates are reluctant to question the CEO's vision, and where the de facto position entails eschewing market research. It's a top-down, shoot-by-the-hip ethos directed by Musk. Tesla did not respond to repeated requests for comment. In response to emails seeking comment, Musk replied only:"Give my regards to your puppet master." In a regulatory filing in February, the company highlighted the risk it faces by relying so much on Musk. "We are highly dependent on the services of Elon Musk, our Chief Executive Officer and largest stockholder," Tesla said in the filing, in language unusual for the way it cited a corporate CEO's numerous outside commitments. "Although Mr. Musk spends significant time with Tesla and is highly active in our management, he does not devote his full time and attention to Tesla." The filing cited Musk's helm over SpaceX and "other technology ventures." Along with Tesla and SpaceX, Musk leads an outfit focused on merging the human brain with computers, Neuralink, along with a tunnel building firm, The Boring Company. Musk's impulsive leadership has worked to Tesla's benefit so far. His bets have resulted in huge successes, vaulting Tesla from an upstart electric vehicle pioneer to the world's most valuable automaker. The company delivered a record of nearly 500,000 vehicles in 2020 and has cannibalized prospective U.S. electric vehicle sales from practically every other automaker. But cracks have also started to appear as Tesla has stumbled on some vehicle releases and its vehicles grow older, prompting some recalls. Regulators are scrutinizing the company for fires and some of its more innovative features. "There isn't a culture at Tesla really other than 'let's do what Elon wants to do,'" said Ed Niedermeyer, who wrote the book "Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors." He said the eyebrow-raising Cybertruck debut - in which a supposedly unbreakable window shattered onstage - showed the state of play better than any other recent company event. "It clearly reflected Elon's increasing isolation inside the company," he said. "He becomes more powerful and that power sort of isolates him more and more." Current and former Tesla employees described Musk as less present on the factory floor in recent months, involving himself primarily in higher-profile decisions and events, like end-of-quarter delivery crunches and matters related to the company's earnings calls and investor presentations. That's a contrast from around three years ago, when the chief executive was known to sleep at the factory as the Model 3 faced production issues. "I think the stress is definitely less now that the company's more established," said one former employee on an automation team paid close attention by Musk, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on company matters. "His pressure on certain things has certainly dropped." Musk grew up in South Africa and went on to study in Canada and then the University of Pennsylvania. He emerged as a tech titan with the sale of the site he co-founded, PayPal, to eBay in 2002. Musk, the payments platform's onetime CEO, pocketed $165 million. He founded SpaceX in 2002, with the ambition to take humans to Mars in a private venture. The enigmatic entrepreneur invested in Tesla in 2004, a year after its founding, and holds more than a 20 percent stake in the company, according to a regulatory filing this month. He was named chairman of the company in 2004, though he would lose that title in the wake of a 2018 spat with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Musk became Tesla CEO in 2008 and proceeded to revolutionize the car industry. He helped mastermind the launch of a series of electric cars that were simultaneously sporty and aspirational, yet carried enough range to make them practical. That combination helped bring electrification to the masses, as Tesla went from niche luxury automaker to an electric vehicle powerhouse, selling nearly half a million vehicles per year. Musk has more than 47 million followers on Twitter, thanks in part to a bombastic personality there that has landed him in trouble. He's cut in the mold of many tech company CEOs, who are under constant pressure to keep their companies fresh and innovative. But as Tesla reaches middle age, it faces similar risks as other personality-driven Silicon Valley start-ups turned giants. Apple CEO Steve Jobs was known for his vision before his death in 2011 prompted what some view as a loss of innovation at the tech giant. Amazon will soon face the transition of founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos to executive chairman, testing the culture he's instilled. (Bezos owns The Washington Post.) "The biggest asset within Tesla is Elon," said Dan Ives, an analyst with Wedbush Securities who has followed Musk's moves closely over the years. He adds that some have worried what happens if "Musk feels like he's had massive success with Tesla, he's built an unparalleled brand and now he could go from fifth gear to third gear." Even Musk recently questioned how long he can keep it up, suggesting he'll write a book. "Nobody is or should be CEO forever," he observed during a Tesla earnings call late last month, launching a wave of speculation - almost certainly premature - about a potential looming departure. "It would be nice to have a bit more free time." It's a far cry from just two years ago, when the company's stock hit a recent low amid production and demand concerns. Musk had faced an SEC investigation costing him and Tesla $20 million each, and he lost his chair on the company's board in 2018. Musk has come out of the pandemic more famous and respected than ever. He is, depending on the day, the world's richest or second-richest person. Fortune named him its 2020 Businessperson of the Year. He made Gallup's poll of the world's most admired men, sandwiched between Pope Francis and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in the top 10. After hitting a near-term low of $177 per share in mid-2019, Tesla's stock soared to a new high of more than $2,000 just over a year later, before the company implemented a 5-for-1 split late last summer. Tesla's cash flow woes had abated and the company was posting consecutive quarters of profitability. Tesla faced an unusual stumble in late 2019, when the company released a polarizing pickup, dubbed the Cybertruck, as it aimed to capture a new market for its electric vehicles. While its sci-fi-derived design won over the company's most ardent fans, the angular proportions and stainless steel exoskeleton were off-putting to many who would have otherwise been interested in a Tesla pickup, and it remains unclear if the truck can be legally built with its current specifications. As the coronavirus took hold, Musk started tweeting the panic over it was "dumb." And he wrote that there would be "close to zero new cases" by the end of April a year ago. He was on a call with Trump where he pushed reopening and praised the president. He had a public meltdown during an earnings call in late April, raging against California officials' shutdown orders in an expletive-laden rant. "To say that they cannot leave their house and they will be arrested if they do, this is fascist," he said on the call. "This is not democratic - this is not freedom." Jennifer Chatman, a management professor at the University of California at Berkeley's Haas School of Business, pointed to Tesla's firing of workers who'd opted to stay home during the pandemic, a broken promise to workers first reported by The Post. "Every time you reduce the quality of Tesla as a workplace then by definition you're going to reduce the quality of the employees who are willing to work there," she said. In May, he sent his company's stock plunging with an eyebrow-raising tweet questioning its value. He also used Twitter to announce the birth of a newborn son, X A-Xii (initially spelled X A-12 but changed to comply with California regulations). "I am selling almost all physical possessions," Musk wrote during that whirlwind period in May. "Will own no house." That same month, Musk oversaw the most important mission in SpaceX's history at Cape Canaveral. SpaceX reached a milestone feat with the successful launch to space - and safe return - of a pair of NASA astronauts, becoming the first private company to fly humans into orbit. And like so many Californians who have become fed up with the state's politics and frequent natural disasters, Musk last year relocated to Texas, acknowledging in December he had moved. As Musk moved and focused more energy on SpaceX, Tesla employees said he didn't have the same presence he once did. Special requests from Musk dwindled. Tesla's hotly anticipated Model Y crossover, released in 2020, has surprisingly struggled, prompting the company to yank some variations from the lineup and cut the price by up to $3,000 at a time. Its refreshed Model S includes a controversial half-moon "Yoke" style steering wheel which aims to automate turn signals and gear selections, something likely to be scrutinized by regulators. The Model Y faced quality control concerns after its launch early last year, including reports that the roof of a brand new vehicle blew off, and a back seat was not attached. Some analysts attributed poor build quality to the strain of producing cars during the pandemic. Meanwhile, Tesla in October debuted the feature suite it dubs "Full Self-Driving" amid regulatory and industry concerns it was not ready. The company is not using the most advanced hardware available and is instead opting for a cheaper approach that relies on a series of interconnected cameras to stitch together live images of what the car sees. Some of Tesla's current fleet of passenger vehicles are nearing a decade old - with the flagship Model S and the Model X SUV facing a recall over faulty high-tech screens that failed to meet automotive standards. And observers balked at Tesla's response to the screen recall ordered by federal regulators in January. The company's Vice President of legal argued Tesla's giant center screens should not be expected to last the life span of the vehicle, raising concerns about the longevity of the cars overall. Musk now finds himself with the chance to expand Tesla's global reach in Europe and Asia, and stretch its appeal beyond the blue state that is America's biggest electric car market, to the middle of the country where Tesla plans to build its sci-fi pickup, the Cybertruck. Tesla has started construction on a factory in Austin, hailed as the future of the company, and another near Berlin that is expected to supply its vehicles in Europe. Meanwhile it is continuing an aggressive expansion into Asia, after the company built a facility in Shanghai where it is manufacturing a local-made variant of its Model 3 and Model Y. Musk has staked his bets on the Model Y crossover, which he has said will outsell its models S, X and 3 combined. He says he ultimately wants Tesla to build 20 million cars per year. Such claims might normally strike investors as pie-in-the-sky predictions. "Even a Jobs comparison is unfair at times because [Musk is] even one step even more extreme in terms of what he's done publicly," said Gene Munster, an investor and managing partner of Loup Ventures, who follows Tesla and Musk closely. "There is a group of founders and CEOs that are controversial but do a great job for shareholders and that's Steve Jobs and that's Elon." Investors and analysts point to more recent concerning signs. Just this month, Tesla said in a business filing it had invested $1.5 billion in bitcoin and would begin accepting the cryptocurrency as a payment. While a potentially savvy move to benefit from the volatile cryptocurrency, analysts also said it entails serious financial risk that could wipe out the company's profits. Musk in the days before the announcement promoted the joke cryptocurrency Dogecoin, driving up the price of the meme-based offering. "Who let the Doge out," one of the tweets read. Musk over the weekend opined on Twitter that the value of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin seemed too high. Bitcoin values have subsequently fallen by around $10,000 and price variations have plunged the cryptocurrency into uncertainty. Tesla stock dipped sharply Tuesday morning, trading down nearly 4% at $688 per share. "We're seeing this with Elon Musk: a lack of impulse control," said Chatman, the UC-Berkeley professor. One employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about company matters, said he winced as he learned a fellow factory employee had poured $70,000 derived from company-issued Tesla stock into bitcoin, following Musk's lead. "He knows whatever he says, people do and he's taking advantage of it," the worker said. He recalled warning his co-worker that Musk "doesn't care about you; he'll ruin you." Advertisement Pfizer and moderna will deliver at least another 135 million doses of coronavirus vaccines over the next five weeks, the firms will lawmakers on Tuesday. The two companies have considerably ramped up their production of vaccine doses and found solutions to previous manufacturing issues that caused bottlenecks in production. And Johnson & Johnson said it is ready to ship four million doses of its vaccine upon emergency FDA authorization - which could come as soon as Friday - and could deliver 20 million doses by the end of next month. AstraZeneca said it expects to get authorization in April and will have 30 million doses ready to ship. To date, Pfizer has delivered about 40 million doses to the US, and Moderna has delivered 45 million, executives for each firm said in prepared testimony for the House Committee on Energy & Commerce. CDC's vaccine tracker says the US has received a total of 75 million doses from the two companies, leaving the remainder to be shipped by the end of March between 135 and 145 million doses from the two companies. Together, Pfizer and Moderna are contracted to deliver 600 million doses of their shots to the US by the end of July, and they've pledged to have 220 million ready by the end of March. Moderna says it will increase weekly shipments to the US to 40 million a week by the end of April. Pfizer said it would increase shipments from four to five million to 13 million a week 'over the coming weeks.' After they failed to meet early delivery goals due to supply chain and production issues, each firm has now said it is operating ahead of schedule. As of Tuesday, nearly 64.2 million of those 85 million doses had been administered to Americans, according to data from Bloomberg. The US is giving about just shy of 1.4 million doses of vaccines a day, but most states are running out of supply. Another 135 million doses from Pfizer and Moderna over the next five weeks could dramatically increase the daily vaccination rates Pfizer earlier this month said it had doubled its production speed at its Michigan manufacturing plant, which President Joe Biden visited Friday (pictured, file) How West Virginia has become a GLOBAL front-runner in COVID vaccine roll-out West Virginia has the nation's highest percentage of obese adults, the highest drug-overdose death rate and the highest number of residents with diabetes. But the Mountain State is also leading the nation in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout with the highest per capita distribution of the shots - second only to Alaska, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Health officials in West Virginia have administered 465,593 first and second doses - 90 percent of its supply and enough to vaccinate one-quarters of its population. If the state were a country, it would have the fifth-highest vaccination rate in the world behind Israel, the Seychelles, the United Arab Emirates and the UK. Experts say that West Virginia's success can be attributed to opting for a hotline instead of an online appointment system, partnering with local pharmacies and enlisting the help of the National Guard. To schedule vaccine appointments, most states have used online registration system and some have even turned to the event ticket sales platform Eventbrite. However, these systems have been plagued with overloads and crashes, and Jam Gen James Hoyer says is not practical in West Virginia because 30 percent of the state does not have access to broadband Internet, he told NPR. 'If you're talking about people over the age of 70 and in their 80s, how many of them are Internet savvy?' he added. The team decided to instead create a telephone hotline that residents could call with questions about the vaccine or to schedule an appointment. As of Monday, the hotline has yet to crash due to West Virginia's relatively small population of 1.79 million. Advertisement The US rollout picked up steam earlier this month, but last week's extreme weather was a blow to President Biden's aim to dramatically accelerate vaccinations (though the campaign is still on track to meet his goal of 100 million shots in 100 days handily). The US is now giving 1.37 million doses a day, but shipments are barely keeping up with the pace at which shots are being administered, with more than 85 percent of distributed doses already used up in more than half of states. 'Because of the dire need to vaccinate more people, we have ramped up production of doses,' said Pfizer's chief business officer, John Young, in his testimony. Despite the ramp-up, just 13.3 percent of the US population has received one or more doses of vaccine, and just shy of six percent of Americans have been fully vaccinated. Pfizer fell short of its earliest global distribution goals due to supply chain issues. As a result it cut the number of doses it shipped globally by the end of 2020 by half. By the end of 2020, the US government said it had distributed a combined 14 million doses of shots from Pfizer and Moderna to states and three million shots had been administered . Both figures were far short of Operation Warp Speed's goal of giving 20 million first doses by the end of last year. Pfizer hit a second speed bump when updates to its Brussels manufacturing plant caused further production delays, though it said it was still able to deliver about 92 percent of its promised supply. But in early February the firm announced it had doubled output so that it could produce a batch of vaccine doses every 60 days, instead every 110 days, according to a USA Today report. 'Since July, we have increased projected 2021 global production from 1.3 billion doses, to at least 2 billion doses,' Young said in his testimony. The firm has opened new facilities, upgraded old ones, and gotten the FDA's okay to label its vials for six doses instead of five. 'As a result of these improvements, we expect to increase the number of doses we make available for shipment from approximately 4 to 5 million doses per week at the beginning of February to more than 13 million doses per week by the middle of March,' Young said. 'We are on track to make 120 million doses available for shipment by the end of March and an additional 80 million doses by the end of May. And, we anticipate all 300 million contracted doses will be made available for shipment by the end of July, enabling the vaccination of up to 150 million Americans.' About 13% of the US has had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, with the highest rates in states like West Virginia and Alaska States are using up their supply of vaccine doses nearly as fast as the federal government can ship doses. More than half of states have used up more than 85% of their doses West Virginia has the fifth-highest vaccination rate the world, at 25.8%, behind Israel, the Seychelles, the United Arab Emirates and the UK, as well as the US as a whole Moderna has hit fewer production snags early on, but several of its batches spoiled during distribution by partner McKesson, as well as on-site in Maine and California. CEO Stephane Bancel said in January that, although the overall production was successfully increasing, exactly how many doses it could offer on a given day or week fluctuated with the availability of raw materials. And last week the company said it had experienced some 'short-term delays' at contract manufacturing plant Catalent that delayed delivery of some doses but would soon be resolved and 'are not expected to impact monthly delivery targets.' It did not specify the nature of the issue. Moderna also asked the FDA permission to increase the number of doses it fills its bottles with by up to 40 percent, because while its supply of the vaccine serum itself was increasing, the number of bottles its machines can fill at once are limited. Now, Moderna president Dr Stephen Hoge tells Congress the firm has doubled its production of COVID-19 vaccines and will double it again by the end of April. 'To date, we have delivered over 45 million doses of our vaccine, with tens of millions more at different stages of the production process,' said Hoge in his testimony. 'We are on track to meet our commitment to deliver 100 million doses by the end of March. We have doubled our monthly deliveries since late 2020, and we are aiming to double them again by April to more than 40 million doses per month. 'Based on this progress scaling up manufacturing, we recently agreed to move up our delivery timeline: we now are aiming to deliver a second hundred million doses by the end of May and a third hundred million doses by the end of July. Meanwhile, Johnson and Johnson is ramping up its vaccine production as it looks ahead in the hopes of emergency authorization soon. An advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will meet Thursday to discuss whether to greenlight Johnson & Johnson's shot. 'We will have 20 million doses of the vaccine to be made available by the end of March and we are prepared to ship four million doses immediately upon emergency approval,' said Vice President of Medical Affairs of Janssen, Johnson & Johnson's pharmaceutical arm. A man returning from the U.S. surfs the Internet on his iPad at a Covid-19 quarantine facility in HCMC, April 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Phuong Phuong. Vietnamese netizens have become increasingly civil on social media, making the nation one of the world's biggest improvers in this year's rankings. Vietnam ranked 24th out of 32 surveyed economies in the latest Digital Civility Index (DCI) collated by American tech giant Microsoft with an overall score of 72 percent, an improvement over the previous ranking's 78 percent. A lower score indicates a lower exposure to online risks and a higher perceived level of online civility, said the report based on interviews of 16,000 adults and teens questioned across 32 economies, including 500 people in Vietnam. Along with Vietnam, four other big improvers are Colombia, Chile, Peru and Turkey. A total 36 percent of Vietnamese respondents fell victim to hoaxes, scams and fraud while 28 percent experienced hate speech and 16 percent witnessed discrimination. Nearly 51 percent of Vietnamese netizens were involved in at least one bullying incident. In Vietnam, generation Y (commonly called millennials, born between 1981 and 1996) and generation Z (born after 1995) were hit hardest by online bullying, the report said. Improved Vietnamese online civility was driven by teenagers who scored 69 percent as opposed to adults on 74 percent. Forty-three percent of Vietnamese respondents said online civility improved during the Covid-19 pandemic, which some attributed to a greater sense of community in dealing with the crisis. On the flip side, 18 percent said online civility grew worse during the outbreak since more false and misleading information was spread and people vented their frustrations online. For the upcoming decade, Vietnamese respondents mostly called for better safety (65 percent), respect (62 percent), civility (35 percent) and well-being (21 percent), the report noted. The Netherlands topped the online civility index, followed by Britain and the U.S. According to official statistics, there are 64 million active social media users in Vietnam, or nearly two-thirds of the countrys population. Of them, six million were Facebook and Instagram users under the age of 18. In addition, the plan aims to improve the sector's competitiveness by strengthening its institutions and the public-private partnership, the head of the Foreign Trade and Tourism Ministry (Mincetur), Claudia Cornejo , reported at a press conference. "This sector has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and, in this sense, we have already drawn up a national strategy for the reactivation of tourism , which has been introduced starting today," the government official explained. In three years The plans estimated implementation period is 3 years, the minister said, adding that the initiative includes a series of measures for the economic reactivation, as well as the sectors preservation and sustainable development, within the framework of the state of national emergency declared because of COVID-19." The actions to be carried out as part of the implementation of this plan are based on the new post-pandemic tourist demands, for example, "nature tourism and open spaces, without ignoring the highly-regarded cultural tourism." Participation The Cabinet member welcomed the participation of local governments, regions, and private sector in the design and preparation of this strategy, noting that her sector has been coordinating actions that will be envisaged in 2021 precisely with them. The Mincetur head together with Development and Social Inclusion Minister Silvana Vargas gave a press conference on Monday afternoon to inform citizens on the actions taken by the Executive Branch to address the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the lives of Peruvians. (END) CCH/RMB The Executive Branch will launch a National Plan for the Reactivation of Tourism, whose two main objectives are to develop and consolidate a range of sustainable destinations, as well as position Peru as a destination with safe and first-class tourism products.Published: 2/22/2021 Sorry! This content is not available in your region Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Posted Monday, February 22, 2021 4:48 pm Editor's Note: After publication of this story, 20th District lawmakers released a letter they've sent to Gov. Jay Inslee. Read that letter here. Lewis Countys dismally low percentage of residents vaccinated against COVID-19 has nothing to do with local deficiencies, the countys public health officials say. Instead, its the result of a lack of transparency and allocation decisions made by the state. According to data provided by Lewis County Public Health and Social Services, the county represents 1% of the states population, and has a disproportionate amount of seniors, yet has only received .5% of the states vaccines, plummeting it to last place in terms of vaccine distribution. Its disgusting to see where were at now. And I dont say that lightly, Public Health Director J.P. Anderson said Monday. The questions that need to be answered as far as how we got here need to be answered by the state Department of Health. And they need to be answered quickly. Dr. Alan Melnick, soon-to-be Lewis County health officer, who also serves several other Southwest Washington counties, said health officers have been iced out of the decision-making process. The formula, if there is a formula for allocation of vaccine to counties, has not been really clear, he said. Sitting here right now, I couldnt tell you how the decision was made to give Lewis County a specific amount of vaccine. In an email, state Department of Health (DOH) spokesperson Shelby Anderson said the state goes through a multi-step allocation process each week. Decisions are made based on several factors: proportional population of those eligible in the county, data from providers, providers current inventory and documented throughput, equity, and access to all provider types (hospitals, pharmacies, mass vaccination sites, and clinics), she wrote. But local officials say they havent seen any decision-making tree or other tools used by DOH to determine where vaccines are sent in the state. One metric they would like to see is a breakdown of which priority groups are actually accessing the vaccine by county but according to Public Health Deputy Director John Abplanalp, after weeks of requesting that data from the state, they still don't have it. Of the data they do have, Abplanalp said one especially striking trend is that in the last three weeks, Lewis County providers have been allocated only .1% of first-dose vaccines in the state approximately 300 in total. In Lewis County, only 6.92% of residents have received their first dose, compared to 12.18% across the state. The difference is starker compared to some neighboring counties, like Grays Harbor, at 13.63% and Pacific at 15.61%. Thurston County is at 11.07%. And although residents have struggled to navigate online sign-ups and faced barriers like transportation and internet access, Anderson said those things arent the main driver of Lewis Countys poor performance. The demand is there, as evident by frustrated residents, providers' requests which have been denied by the state, and the fact that no local doses have been wasted so far. Weve got staff that are ready to go. Weve got lists thousands long. Weve got operations ready to go. And we stood up mass vaccination clinics even before the state of Washington, Anderson said, referencing the countys first fairgrounds clinic, which operated with the help of dozens of local volunteers. So our local logistics are not the barrier to this work at this time. Its purely allocation. Lower vaccine allocations statewide have been the result of the states mass vaccination sites, which state officials expected would siphon off vaccines from local providers. For example, Valley View CEO Gaelon Spradley said his clinics saw a halt in allocations around the same time the mass vaccine clinics were stood up. But local officials point to barriers preventing many Lewis County residents from getting to those sites to begin with. I think its ridiculous to expect an elderly population to drive from Lewis County to Ridgefield to get a vaccine, Melnick said. For now, Anderson said the county may pivot to try to request Pfizer vaccines instead of Moderna. Despite being more difficult to handle and transport, Anderson said Moderna vaccines have been highly sought-after and harder to acquire. But planning around getting the Pfizer vaccine out will require some pretty timely planning, he said, noting that a deep freezer would likely be loaned out by a local high school. Regardless of whose fault it is, our department will be working to address it, Anderson said. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-24 00:33:36|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KUWAIT CITY, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on Tuesday held a meeting with visiting senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi, during which the two sides hailed the deep-rooted friendship and solid political mutual trust. Yang, 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, conveyed Chinese President Xi Jinping's cordial greetings to the Kuwaiti emir, and warmly congratulated Kuwait on celebrating its 60th National Day and the 30th anniversary of liberation. Yang noted that the China-Kuwait relations have stood the test of time thanks to the unswerving strategic mutual trust and sincere friendship, which is a vivid manifestation of "a friend in need is a friend indeed." China's "dual circulation" development pattern, in which domestic and overseas markets reinforce each other, and Kuwait's "2035 National Vision" have great potential for synergy, providing a powerful driving force for pragmatic cooperation between the two countries, he said. On the occasion of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of China-Kuwait diplomatic ties, China is willing to work together with Kuwait to consolidate strategic mutual trust, promote high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, expand cooperation in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, enhance people-to-people exchanges, and deepen China-Kuwait strategic partnership in the new era, the senior Chinese diplomat said. China appreciates Kuwait's positive role in promoting stability in the Gulf region, and is willing to strengthen communication and coordination between the two countries in international and regional affairs, Yang said. China welcomes Kuwait to continue playing a positive role in pushing forward the negotiations on clinching a free trade agreement between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council, he added. For his part, the Kuwaiti emir asked Yang to convey his sincere regards to President Xi Jinping. He spoke highly of China's development achievements and the fruitful achievements in Kuwait-China cooperation in various fields, stressing that the two sides enjoy deep-rooted friendship, solid mutual trust and broad prospects for cooperation. The Kuwaiti leader also sincerely wished the Chinese people success in gaining more brilliant achievements in development under President Xi's leadership. On the same day, Yang also met with Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah. Enditem Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Its nearly two months since turbulence erupted around China Huarong Asset Management Co.At the end of March, its 4% perpetual dollar bond was trading at 102 cents on the dollar as investors figured the January execution of former chairman Lai Xiaomin for bribery put a line under past wayward behavior. But the failure of the company to release 2020 results by a March 31 deadline, and a subsequent report by mainland media Caixin that the firm will restructure, sparked weeks of turmoil. The same bond is now at 57 cents.The heart of the matter is whether the central government will rescue a state-owned company thats integral to the smooth running of the financial system. While there are signs Beijing wants to ensure China Huarong can repay its debts on time, uncertainty prevails.Heres a look at the key events for China Huarong:May 28The company has wired funds to repay $978 million of notes maturing within the following week, according to Bloomberg News, the biggest bond payment since the 2020 results delay.May 27Liang Qiang, who currently heads another bad-debt manager, is on track to become president of China Huarong, reports Bloomberg News.May 24China Huarong dollar bonds climb after the managing editor of Caixin Media wrote in an opinion piece that the asset manager is nowhere near defaulting on its more than $20 billion of offshore notes.May 21Some of China Huarongs thinly traded onshore bonds slump after having held up better than the companys dollar-denominated notes, signaling broadening concern about the firms financial health.May 18China Huarong has transferred funds to repay a $300 million note maturing May 20, Bloomberg News reports, the first dollar bond to come due since the delayed 2020 results. Prices for the firms dollar bonds slump earlier in the day after the New York Times reports China is planning an overhaul that would inflict significant losses on both domestic and foreign China Huarong bondholders.May 17The company has reached funding agreements with state-owned banks to ensure it can repay debt through at least the end of August, by which time China Huarong aims to have completed its 2020 financial statements, according to a Bloomberg News report. That as at least two of its onshore bonds see big price declines in recent days, worrying some investors.May 13The firm says its prepared to make future bond payments and has seen no change in the level of government support, seeking to ease investor concerns after a local media report that regulators balked at China Hurarongs restructuring plan.May 6The company says it transferred funds to pay five offshore bond coupons due the following day, its latest move to meet debt obligations amid persistent doubts about its financial health.April 30China Huarong breaks its silence, with an executive telling media it is prepared to make its bond payments and state backing remains intact. The official also says the weeks rating downgrades have no factual basis and are too pessimistic.April 29Moodys Investor Service downgrades China Huarong by one notch to Baa1, adding the firm remains on watch for further downgrade. The cut reflects the companys weakened funding ability due to market volatility and increased uncertainty over its future, according to the statement.April 27China Huarong units repay bonds maturing that day. The S$600 million ($450 million) bond was repaid with funds provided by Chinas biggest state-owned bank, according to a Bloomberg News report.April 26Fitch Ratings downgrades China Huarong by three notches to BBB while dropping the companys perpetual bonds into junk territory. The lack of transparency over government support for the firm may hamper its ability to refinance debt in offshore markets, Fitch said.April 25China Huarong says it wont meet an April 30 deadline to file its 2020 report with Hong Kongs stock exchange because auditors needed more time to finalize a transaction the company first flagged on April 1. Securities and asset-management units said in the days before that they wouldnt release 2020 results by months end.April 22The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission asks lenders to extend China Huarongs upcoming loans by at least six months, according to REDD, citing two bankers from large Chinese commercial lenders.April 21China is considering a plan that would see its central bank assume more than 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) of China Huarong assets to help clean up the firms balance sheet, according to a Bloomberg News report. Peer China Cinda Asset Management Co. was said to be planning the sale of perpetual bonds in the second quarter.April 20China Huarongs key offshore financing unit says it returned to profitability in the first quarter and laid a solid foundation for transformation. Reorg Research reports that regulators are considering options including a debt restructuring of the unit, China Huarong International Holdings Ltd.April 19Huarong Securities Co. says it wired funds to repay a 2.5 billion yuan local note.April 16The CBIRC says China Huarongs operations are normal and that the firm has ample liquidity. These are the first official comments about the companys troubles. Reuters reports Chinese banks have been asked not to withhold loans to Huarong.April 13Fitch and Moodys both put the company on watch for downgrade. The finance ministry, which owns a majority of Huarong, is considering the transfer of its stake to a unit of the countrys sovereign wealth fund, Bloomberg News reports. Chinese officials signal they want failing local government financing vehicles to restructure or go bust if debts cant be repaid.April 9China Huarong says it has been making debt payments on time and its operations are normal. Bloomberg News reports the company intends to keep Huarong International as part of a potential overhaul that would avoid the need of a debt restructuring or government recapitalization. S&P Global Ratings puts China Huarongs credit ratings on watch for possible downgrade.April 8China Huarong is preparing to offload non-core and loss-making units as part of a broad plan to revive profitability that would avoid the need for a debt restructuring or government recapitalization, Bloomberg News reports.April 6Selling gains steam in China Huarongs dollar bonds, following a holiday in China. Huarong Securities says there has been no major change to its operations, in response to a price plunge for its 3 billion yuan local bond.April 1China Huarong announces a delay in releasing 2020 results, saying its auditor is unable to finalize a transaction. Stock trading is suspended and spreads jump on the firms dollar bonds while China Huarong tells investors its business is running as usual. Caixin reports the company submitted restructuring and other major reform plans to government officials and shareholders.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. Self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri's daughters and mother-in-law have been prevented from leaving Malawi. Bushiris attorney Wapona Kita confirmed to TimesLIVE that the daughters and their grandmother were on Friday prevented from travelling to Kenya. We are still trying to understand why they were blocked from leaving because they have not committed any offence and there are no travel restrictions imposed on them, he said. Kita did not divulge further details on why the children and their grandmother were going to Kenya and when they had planned to return to Malawi. Bushiri and his wife Mary fled SA a week after being released on R200,000 bail by the Pretoria magistrates court. Shortly after leaving, Bushiri said in a Facebook post that they had left the country for their safety. The Bushiris and their co-accused - Landiwe Ntlokwana, Willah Mudolo and his wife Zethu - face charges of theft, money laundering and fraud in connection with an alleged R100m investment scheme. The Bushiris bail conditions barred them from travelling outside SA. They and their co-accused were: instructed to report every Monday and Friday to their nearest police station; barred from disposing of property; ordered to hand over to the state the original title deed to their R5.5m property in Centurion; and barred from threatening witnesses, the investigation and prosecution teams, even while preaching. Their extradition case will be heard on March 8 in Malawi. Times Belfast City Council is investigating how a man was able to deliver a hate speech at City Hall, it has emerged. The preacher provoked fury by branding abortion "murder" and homosexuality "sin" in God's eyes, using the steps in front of the iconic building in the city centre as a podium. The PSNI is also probing the matter. Feminist activist Kellie Turtle, who initially raised the issue on Twitter, told the Belfast Telegraph that her main concern was that he was allowed to voice his views from the heart of local government. She also called on Belfast council to "explain, apologise and make sure this never happens again". "There is something seriously wrong when hard working social justice organisations have to jump through endless logistical hoops to hold rallies on the cobblestones outside City Hall, but this clown can just walk up to the steps and preach hate," she said. "As a person who had an abortion, it is totally unacceptable to me that somebody can stand on the steps of my City Hall, the most important institution of governance in my city, and call me a murderer. "And when he gets to do that it does seem like an endorsement - or at the very least negligence." A video of the individual appears on the Facebook page of an organisation called Hope on the Streets Belfast. In it, the preacher says: "This is a government here that is following the spirit of the antiChrist. It's making laws that go against the law of God. Heaven is coming down one day and all the governments of this world are going to go to hell." The organisation has been approached by the Belfast Telegraph for comment. Green Party councillor Anthony Flynn condemned the "hate speech" and said that a repeat performance must be prevented. "Belfast must be a city for all, and our City Hall should be a safe space and a visible symbol of the transition that our people have made towards peace, tolerance and progress," he said. "The incursion onto the grounds of City Hall and the hate speech that was delivered violated so many of our citizens. Expand Close Cllr Anthony Flynn / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Cllr Anthony Flynn "There are two issues to deal with here. Firstly, the grounds of City Hall are closed because of the pandemic, and I've contacted council officers to ensure that security is maintained, and this stunt isn't repeated. Secondly, the right to free speech is no defence for hate speech. The sentiment expressed in the grounds of City Hall has the potential to cause deep hurt and harm. "Hate preachers have blighted our city centre for some time now and violated the right of people to enjoy the public space. "This incident represents an escalation of the campaign to use our civic space to abuse others. This is a nasty, tiny but very noisy element of our society. There is a security response needed from Belfast City Council. But, there is a separate and wider community response which involves respecting each other, showing kindness and treating people with dignity and respect." A council spokesperson said: "City Hall grounds remain open for public use, but permission is required to stage any form of event within the site. "Using the grounds without permission in this way is a breach of current park bye-laws, and council is currently investigating this incident." A PSNI spokesperson said police have received a complaint in relation to a man preaching outside the City Hall. He added: "The matter has been reported as a hate incident and enquiries are currently ongoing." A convicted murderer currently behind bars for the rape and murder of a woman in 1980 will now stand trial for the death of his adopted daughter, 14, who he allegedly pushed down the stairs, dismembered and buried under a concrete slab back in 1989. Dennis Bowman, 71, from Michigan, appeared in Allegan County District Court Monday where a judge ruled there was 'ample evidence' to send him to trial over the slaying of Aundria Bowman, who he previously claimed had run away from home. Bowman's wife Brenda Bowman testified that her husband confessed to their daughter's murder in a prison phone call last year where he told her Aundria's body had been 'right under your nose' in their backyard for the last three decades. At the time of his confession, Bowman was behind bars for the rape and murder of 25-year-old Kathleen Doyle, the wife of a US Navy pilot, after new DNA genealogy analysis tied him to the 40-year-old cold case in 2019. Investigators then discovered the skeletal remains of Aundria in a shallow grave in the yard of Bowman's home and he was charged with her murder in May. He pleaded guilty in June to Doyle's rape and murder and is serving two life sentences. A convicted murderer currently behind bars for the rape and murder of a woman in 1980 will now stand trial for the death of his adopted daughter, 14, who he allegedly pushed down the stairs, dismembered and buried under a concrete slab back in 1989. Dennis Bowman appearing in court Monday Bowman, 71, from Michigan, appeared in Allegan County District Court Monday where a judge ruled there was 'ample evidence' to send him to trial over the slaying of Aundria Bowman Bowman's wife told the court Monday he had maintained for 30 years that their daughter ran away from home back in 1989. Brenda said her husband then confessed to the murder when she visited him in Allegan County Jail in December 2019. She told the court Bowman said he had gotten into an argument with the 14-year-old and 'slapped' her, causing her to fall down the stairs, reported ABC13. She said he then told her 'he put her in a box, and put her out with the trash.' Bowman then confessed in a February 2020 phone call that he had buried her body in the backyard of their home in Hamilton, she said. Brenda said Bowman had moved the body with them when they moved from the home in Holland where they were living when the teen disappeared to their current home in 1989. He said he moved her body 'as soon as we signed papers on the land,' she testified. 'He was talking something about so near, so far - right under your nose - and I said, 'What the heck are you talking about?' And he says, 'Aundria, she's buried in the backyard,'' she said. Aundria Bowman (pictured) vanished in 1989 with her father claiming she ran away at the time 'He told me she was out under the cement slab, left hand corner, front.' She added: 'He didn't lie to me this time.' Bowman's prison phone call confession led investigators to make the grim discovery of Aundria's dismembered remains in February 2020. The killer had confessed weeks earlier to cops that he was involved in his daughter's death but had not disclosed the burial site. Brenda said Aundria was 'rebellious' and had previously claimed Bowman sexually abused her, but said she hadn't believed her, reported The Holland Sentinel. Bowman is currently behind bars for the rape and murder of 25-year-old Kathleen Doyle (pictured) 'She told me one morning that dad had molested her. And I looked at her and told her, 'That's a lie, and you know it.'' Michigan State Police detective Todd Workman told the court Bowman confessed in a police interview that he got in a fight with Aundria when she said she would accuse him of sexual assault, reported ABC13. Bowman said he arrived home and found Aundria with a duffel bag packed to leave, Workman testified. When Bowman tried to stop her leaving, the teen reportedly told him she would report him for molesting her. Workman said Bowman said he pushed or punched her and she fell down the stairs. Bowman said his daughter was still alive and moaning at first but then her eyes went 'like dolls eyes' and she died, Workman said. The killer then claimed he wrapped her body in tarp and left her in their barn until they moved. Bowman was in May with open murder, child abuse and mutilation of dead bodies over Aundria's death. Brenda said she last saw Aundria alive on March 11 1989. Bowman's wife Brenda Bowman testified that her husband confessed to their daughter's murder in a prison phone call last year where he told her Aundria's body had been 'right under your nose' for the last three decades. Pictured the remains discovered last year Bowman had claimed Aundria ran away in 1989 but allegedly confessed to killing her in a prison phone call last year. Pictured a missing poster She said the teen had returned from a school band concert and was at home doing school work. Bowman then took Brenda to work. She said Bowman then claimed he had been out visiting family and returned home to find Aundria had stolen money and vanished. The Bowmans reported her missing to police but the case went cold. Questions about Aundria's disappearance resurfaced in 2019 when Bowman was arrested over another cold case - the rape and murder of Doyle. Doyle was found raped, strangled and stabbed to death in her home in Norfolk, Virginia, on September 11 1980 while her husband, a US Navy pilot, was on deployment. Two serial killers Henry Lee Lucas and Ottis Toole were charged in 1984. Dennis Bowman in mug. He was arrested in 2019 over Doyle's murder after new DNA genealogy analysis tied him to the 40-year-old cold case. He then allegedly confessed to Audrina's murder However, after investigations and the discovery they were confessing to numerous murders across the country, the charges were dropped. In 2018, new genetic genealogy databases were used to analyse the DNA from the bedspread in Doyle's home. This linked her murder to 30 potential suspects including Bowman. DNA taken from Bowman then tied him to the crime. He was arrested on November 2019 and later confessed to Doyle's murder. Bowman pleaded guilty in June to first-degree murder, rape and burglary for Doyle's slaying and was sentenced to two life terms plus 20 years in prison. He was then sent to Michigan to face charges over Aundria's murder. After Monday's court appearance, Bowman's case will now go to trial. The case has been bound over to Circuit court. His bond was set at $200,000. Gerry Cardinale did not make it to the final voting session on marijuana legalization Monday. He died on Saturday at the age of 86. But the conservative Republican senator from Bergen County was sorely missed, as was the sanity and levity he brought to such issues. The passage and signing by the governor of three bills on marijuana legalization followed three years of arguing among the Democrats who control the Statehouse. When I last spoke to him on Feb. 1, Cardinale told me he was getting fed up with the debate, which focused on such issues as taxation and regulation two things he hated. So in characteristic form, he crafted a bill that would have permitted people to grow enough pot for their personal use. That was a typical turnaround for Cardinale, who had been perhaps the loudest voice in the state Senate opposing legalization. I was one of the people who voted against making marijuana legal, he told me. But the people want it and we need to respect the will of the people. In November, the voters expressed that wish by a 2-1 margin as they passed a ballot question on marijuana legalization. Among the issues debated by the supporters of legalization was the question of how to crack down on the black market once pot became legal. But theres a common-sense way to eliminate the black market, Cardinale told me. It will take the continuing illegal trade down if people can grow it in the back yard, he said. Its no different than carrots or beets or tomatoes. The plant doesnt know whether its legal or not. No, it doesnt. In my studies of the subject, which included a trip to Canada to witness the first day of legalization there, I couldnt help but notice that once a buyer leaves a government dispensary, the weed he has purchased is indistinguishable from weed bought on the black market. If Cardinales plan had been adopted by the Legislature we could be spared the spectacle of a new bureaucracy called the Cannabis Regulatory Commission that was created by one of the bills signed yesterday by Gov. Phil Murphy. That was part of a package of three bills that were adopted yesterday after a debate that was difficult to follow for even the legislators themselves. Republican Assemblyman Hal Wirths invoked the spirit of the late senator as he questioned the majority Democrats on the bill. Why wouldnt this bill allow you to grow your own plants? asked Wirths. Were decriminalizing a lot of other things but if someone gets caught growing six plants, or even one plant, thats a serious crime. When I called Wirths later, he said Cardinale had introduced his bill to illustrate what he termed the hypocrisy of the bills backers. If its truly about having less people arrested for marijuana, why have this very severe penalty for someone who has a pot plant? he asked. When Ive discussed this with the sponsors they argue that the state needs to regulate cultivation to keep the pot from flowing to the black market. But Amol Sinha of the ACLU told me that the states tight controls will actually help the black market or the legacy market as he terms it. He said the bill would cap the number of cannabis cultivators at 37 for the first two years. But most of the current cultivators are having a hard time even meeting the demand for the current medicinal market One of the reasons why the Legislature chose to legalize is to drive down the legacy market, Sinha said. They say they do that to make sure prices are reasonable. But the way to keep prices reasonable is to encourage competition. At the moment, Sinha said, New Jerseyans are in a curious position. Possessing up to six ounces of pot is now legal. But theres nowhere to get that pot until that bureaucracy is up and running. Wirths said that even when that weed hits the market it will probably be priced higher than black-market weed. I dont think people will want to pay an extra $150 an ounce to get pot with a Jersey Fresh label on it, said Wirths, who comes from Sussex County and does a lot of work on behalf of the farmers there. How this will all work out is anyones guess. But the prime backer of the bill, Democratic state Sen. Nick Scutari of Union County told me hes proud of one big accomplishment. As of today if the police catch an adult with a personal supply of marijuana They wont charge you. As for how you get that pot, Cardinale might not be around anymore. But his bill is. 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. Throughout his electoral campaign, President Joe Biden was up against the Make America Great Again or MAGA phenomenon. This was more of a rallying cry for a political movement than Donald Trumps campaign slogan as such, and Bidens response was to call for restoring the US to world leadership. In fact, he wrote an article on the subject in Foreign Affairs. The image we get from that article and from subsequent speeches and writings is that of a world that existed before the Trump administration. We can sum it up as follows: first, the US is the sole true superpower; secondly, its bundle of hard and soft military and technological powers inspire universal fear and respect; thirdly, all this makes it the leader of globalization on the planet and in outer space; and, fourthly, in addition, the US also possesses a noble idealistic purpose, namely to spread democracy and human rights across the globe. This image of US world leadership reflects the situation as it stood at the turn of the century. It was one among several periods in which the US believed, as did the rest of the world at times, that it had a destiny to fulfil and that it was up to other countries to make way. When the neoconservatives came to power in Washington under George Bush Jr they expressed this view through the rubric that the 21st century should be just as much of an American century as the 20th. Biden has a sense of modesty that keeps him from being so ambitious. He is aware that his countrys might has shrunk considerably. During the past four years, the world changed much more than most US political elites would care to imagine. Whether they are chasing liberal or conservative dreams, those elites are lacking in pragmatism. When a political leader is more in touch with a reality, he tries first of all to gain time or, to borrow from computer jargon, he presses reset. Applied to US foreign relations, this means reexamining the nature of Washingtons bilateral relations with foreign states and blocs, identifying the USs specific interests with each and then charting a path forward accordingly. Which is precisely what Biden and his foreign policy and national security teams have been doing since his first few weeks in office. Then came a series of statements, visits and gestures, signalling to other parties what the US expects of them at this time. Naturally, there is no stated deadline for the completion of the reset process. What we do know is that the Biden administrations first priority - as is probably the case with other countries - is the Covid-19 pandemic. Last week, Biden said that he could not promise a return to normalcy in the US before next Christmas. He added that as good a timeline as he could offer with any level of confidence. Bidens problem is that not all parts of the world are synced to the White Houses agenda and timetables. While the US was struggling with the fallout from the Trump administrations delayed response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic impacts, China gained in influence, status and strength. Russian influence has also expanded, mostly in the strategic Mediterranean and Red Sea regions. Iran appears to be anticipating the opportunity to re-infiltrate countries it has infiltrated before and expand its reach and scope of aggression in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, probably with an increased use of arms and with some targeting of US military bases in the region. Certainly, Israel has not set the pace of settlement expansion activities according to the switch of administrations in Washington. For one, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has his eyes set on the Knesset elections in April and he plans to win them by catering to the settlers. Even Europe, where reset looked easier and quicker to achieve in the light of Bidens campaign statements about how he was looking forward to putting US relations with Europe and NATO back on track, is more complicated than it had appeared. Europe itself has changed considerately in the past four years. The rise of rightwing Trump-style leaderships and conservative isolationist trends in Eastern Europe, the UKs departure from the EU and the test case of the Brexit process as an avenue for departure, and the emergence of a new perception of the transatlantic Anglo-Saxon alliance are all aspects of this Bidens leadership style matches the way he wants to manage US affairs at home and abroad. It relies heavily on the various organisations that suffered attrition under Trump and that are keen to make a comeback through the research and studies they perform. Their task, however, is complicated by numerous urgent decisions the US administration has to make. Some of these, especially those related to the phased withdrawals from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, are particularly critical. These are the places that throw into relief the contradictions between a practical approach to handling rapidly shifting realities, and foreign policy concepts informed by an American public opinion fed up with external involvement at a time when adversaries such as Iran and the Taliban are baring their teeth. An analytical piece in The National Interest of 13 February 2021, titled How Israel Is Preparing for War With Iran, observed that Israel is increasingly signalling its readiness to attack Iran in order to build up pressure on both Washington and Tehran and that recourse to a military option could trigger a larger regional conflict. On 25 January, the article related, the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Lt Gen Aviv Kochavi, said that the Israeli military was refreshing its plans for a strike on Iran to supplement Israels current strategy. Kochavi said that the IDF would develop its plans over the next year. The IDF reportedly requested $918 million to supplement its annual budget from the Knesset to develop military options for an Iran strike. Such statements seem to throw down the gauntlet at US leadership, all the more so given that Biden wants his administration to be a moment of liberalism and democracy in arenas where the thinking is closer to violence, anarchy and military confrontation. Bidens intentions to restore the US to the helm of the international order may be sincere. But they may not be feasible because they fail to take into account variables that go beyond the ability to take a decision. Some of the aims of the new administration, especially those related to democracy and human rights, what is more, appear illogical. Clearly they do not take into account the USs political engineering experience in Iraq, the results of the revolutions in Syria and even the USs domestic experience in recent weeks. The writer is chairman of the board, CEO and director of the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies. *A version of this article appears in print in the 25 February, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Short link: The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company WASHINGTON President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are heading to Houston on Friday as Texas recovers from winter storms that left millions without power and water. The White House announced the trip on Tuesday. It is the presidents first trip to the state since he took office last month. The president will meet with local leaders to discuss the winter storm, relief efforts, progress toward recovery and the incredible resilience shown by the people of Houston and Texas, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. She said Biden will also visit a COVID health center where vaccines are being distributed, but did not specify which. TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox The trip comes as the president has declared a major disaster for 108 of the states 254 counties, with Gov. Greg Abbott and members of the Texas delegation urging him to expand it to cover the entire state. Although the initial effects of this unprecedented winter storm are beginning to dissipate, the entire state continues to reel from the aftermath that has left millions without power, potable water, and dwindling food supplies, more than two dozen members of Congress from Texas wrote in a letter to Biden on Monday. Psaki did not say Tuesday whether the president planned to expand the declaration further. In Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, sheltering operations continue to decrease, power and transportation are back to normal and water restoration continues, Psaki said. However, 9.8 million people are affected by water system outages and remain under boil water notices. She said 9 million liters of water have been delivered or are on the way to more than 200 locally managed water distribution sites. Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox Biden said last week he planned to visit Texas, but wanted to wait until his trip wouldnt be a disruption. I had planned on visiting Texas in the middle of next week, but I dont want to be a burden, Biden said at the time. When the president lands in a city in America, it has a long tail. The trip was already getting some criticism from conservatives on Tuesday. Rob Henneke, general counsel at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, tweeted: Biden will find it 62 degrees & everything back to normal. Dont see the point of the trip. ben.wermund@chron.com You got famous playing victims in Taxi Driver and The Accused, then started playing defenders of victims. I did play quite a few victims. I was attracted to that. I'm psychologically interested in how a character survives intact. And some of it is also ... I'm a woman ... the roles I play are determined by other people how they look at women, what they're interested in seeing women play. So it was a big leap for me, when I did Silence, to finally play somebody who was not just the victim of the crime, but somebody whose destiny it was to track down the criminal. Nancy is the first real living person you've ever played. Even though you've got her mannerisms, did you feel free to wear louder red lipstick and drive faster than she does? No, she's pretty much louder with the lipstick and faster with the cars than my character is. But I did tell her, My Nancy will be a lot meaner than your Nancy. More rude and brusque, formidable. Nancy's lovely. I took some liberties so that I could build a character that changed in time, that grew through her relationship with Mohamedou. Mohamedou is not what people expect of someone who spent 14 years at Guantanamo and tortured into a false confession of terrorism that he recanted. He left Mauritania at age 19 on a scholarship to Germany. He was dying to leave Mauritania ... so excited about going to a democratic country where corruption isn't tolerated. He was idealistic. He joined with al-Qaida then a U.S. ally to fight Afghan communists in 1990. Alongside the CIA. Yes. He also had the bad luck to get a phone call from Osama bin Laden's phone, because his cousin was a top bin Laden adviser. But Mohamedou didn't know bin Laden and left when al-Qaida switched enemies. All the circumstantial evidence [against Mohamedou], the charges within 15 minutes, the ACLU was able to debunk every single one. It's just that the American government wasn't really interested in doing the due diligence to have any benefit of the doubt. It was just plain fear after 9/11. I mean, I think that's understandable. The government was able to discard the laws and seek revenge, and try to protect themselves from it ever happening again. They thought it was more important to imprison lots of innocent men than miss some guilty men. Remembering those we've lost and helping those who are grieving Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 21:31:20|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close FUZHOU, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- An analysis of sequenced genomes of ancient East Asians and present-day groups showed strong genetic links between ancient Taiwan groups and Tai-Kadai speakers in the Chinese mainland's southern areas and Hainan Island. The finding was published in the journal Nature on Tuesday. A group of international researchers reported genome-wide data from 166 East Asians dating back 8,000 to 1,000 years from sites across the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, Mongolia, Russia, and Japan, and from 383 samples of 46 present-day groups from the Chinese mainland and Nepal. They found people from Taiwan 3,300 to 1,200 years ago derived about 75 percent ancestry from a lineage also common in modern Austronesian and Tai-Kadai speakers, suggesting Austronesians, including modern indigenous Taiwan groups, share the same ancestry with Tai-Kadai people in the mainland's southern areas and Hainan Island. Wang Chuanchao, an anthropologist at Xiamen University and co-author of the article, said they extracted and sequenced DNA of 46 individuals from two Iron Age sites in Taiwan, adding that it is also the first DNA study of ancient people in Taiwan. The study shows ancient Taiwan people also derived about 25 percent ancestry from a northern lineage related to but different from Yellow River farmers. "It explains why foxtail millet, which was domesticated in the northern part of the Chinese mainland, appeared relatively early in the Taiwan Neolithic Tapenkeng culture," Wang said. Wang noted this provides direct evidence that Austronesian speakers, who live across a wide swath of islands in Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific, originated on the Chinese mainland. Austronesian refers to a family of languages spoken in the area extending from Madagascar eastward through the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago to Hawaii and Easter Island and including almost all the native languages of the Pacific islands. The article was co-authored by 85 researchers from 43 institutions across the world including Xiamen University, Harvard University and Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. Enditem Northern Irelands jobless rate of 3.6% is artificially low as the furlough scheme continues to support jobs, an economist has said. At 3.6%, Northern Ireland had the lowest unemployment rate of 12 UK regions between October and December, according to the labour market report. But the figures from the NI Statistics and Research Agency also show a fall in the employment rate over the year of 3 percentage points to 69.4%. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, had climbed 1.2 percentage points over the year. Read More Mark Magill, a senior economist at the Ulster University economic policy centre, tweeted that it marked the first time that the employment rate here had fallen below 70% for two years. And the continued operation of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was also disguising the true number of unemployed. At the end of December, there were 94,8000 people here on the scheme, through which the government maintains jobs even where there is no work for employees to do, by paying up to 80% of an employees wages. Mr Magill tweeted: At 3.6% unemployment in NI remains the lowest amongst UK Government office regions. Artificially low due to furlough, but important reminder that we started the crisis from a strong position. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is due to give an update on the furlough scheme in his Budget next Wednesday. Furlough is to expire at the end of April but there is speculation it could be extended until at least May. The labour market report also shows that NI remains lumbered with the highest rate of economic inactivity of the UK regions. At 28%, economic inactivity had risen by 2.1 percentage points over the year. It is a measure covering those who are neither in work nor looking for work due to circumstances such as retirement, study or duties in the home. Mr Magill said that the recent trends are unfortunately widening NIs underperformance gap... with the UK. The year-on-year changes in the economic inactivity rate and the unemployment rate were significant, Nisra said. At 56,700, the claimant count of people claiming jobless benefits last month almost double the level of January 2020. However, there had been eight monthly falls in a row for the claimant count since a peak of 65,200 in May when the impact of the Covid-19 spring lockdown was most sharply felt. And experimental figures from HMRC showed that there were 742,900 payrolled employees in NI in December, down 0.9% on the same month a year earlier. Median monthly pay was 1,789, which was up 6.9%, or 116, on the same period a year earlier. Over the last year, there have been 5,150 confirmed redundancies, up nearly 70% on the year before and the highest since 2004. And proposed redundancies have hit 10,640 - more than double the 4,410 of the year before. However, companies only have to notify the government of redundancies where they are making 20 or more people redundant - so the true picture for redundancies may be more severe. CHICAGO, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new market research report "Automotive Ethernet Market by Component (Hardware, Software, and Services), Type, Bandwidth, Application, Vehicle Type (Passenger Cars, Commercial Vehicles, and Farming and Off-highway Vehicles), and Region - Global Forecast to 2026" published by MarketsandMarkets, the market size to grow from USD 1.8 billion in 2020 to USD 5.6 billion by 2026, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 20.9% during the forecast period. Major factors expected to drive the growth of the Automotive Ethernet Market include low-cost Ethernet technology, rise in demand for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and infotainment systems, and advancement in Ethernet technology. Browse in-depth TOC on "Automotive Ethernet Market" 189 - Tables 90 - Figures 283 - Pages Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=103704247 Based on component, services segment to record the highest growth during the forecast period Based on components, the services segment is expected to grow at a higher rate during the forecast period. The services segment has a major influence on the Automotive Ethernet Market's growth. The demand for services is increasing with the growing adoption of automotive Ethernet by passenger cars as well as commercial vehicle segment. These services assist end users in reducing costs, increasing overall revenues, and improving business performance. With the help of these services, automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) can track, evaluate, and analyze the requirements of their business to make better-informed decisions. Among vehicle type, the farming and off-highway vehicles segment to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period In the Automotive Ethernet Market by vehicle type, the farming and off-highway segment is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period. Currently, the Ethernet adoption across farming and off-highway OEMs is emerging and expected to grow during the forecast period. Rapid technology adoption in the farming and off-highway segment is expected to drive the Automotive Ethernet Market. OEMs are looking to Ethernet as an alternative technology to Controller Area Network (CAN). As per industry experts, farming and off-highway are one of the growing segments in the Automotive Ethernet Market. This segment will carry significant opportunities for Ethernet vendors during the forecast period. Get 10% Customization on this Research Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=103704247 APAC to account for the largest market size during the forecast period APAC is expected to hold the largest market size during the forecast period owing to the rising vehicle production across China, Japan, India, and South Korea. The APAC region promises massive opportunities for automotive vendors. The growth of the automotive sector in the APAC region is also driving the Automotive Ethernet Market. The global automotive OEMs are investing in the APAC region to increase their customer base and drive business revenue. In a nutshell, APAC is one of the promising and highest growing markets for automotive Ethernet vendors. Get Special Pricing on Bundle Reports: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/RequestBundleReport.asp?id=103704247 Key and emerging Automotive Ethernet Market players include Broadcom (US), NXP Semiconductors N.V. (Netherlands), Marvell (Bermuda), Microchip Technology Inc. (US), Vector Informatik GmbH (Germany), System-on-Chip Engineering S.L. (Spain), Molex, LLC (US), Texas Instruments (US), Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (US), TTTech Auto AG (Austria), Excelfore (US), DASAN Networks, Inc. (South Korea), ACTIA Group (France), NEXCOM International Co., Ltd. (Taiwan), AllGo Embedded Systems Pvt. Ltd. (India), Spirent Communications (UK), Keysight Technologies (US), Aukua Systems Inc (US), Intrepid Control Systems (US), RUETZ SYSTEM SOLUTIONS GMBH (Germany), TSN Systems GmbH (Germany), Xena Networks (Denmark), TEKTRONIX, INC (US), Rohde & Schwarz (Germany), and Realtek Semiconductor Corp. (Taiwan). Browse Adjacent Markets: Data Center and Networking Market Research Reports & Consulting About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Aashish Mehra MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/automotive-ethernet-market.asp Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/automotive-ethernet.asp Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 23 : Continuing his tirade against the now cancelled deep sea fishing project in Kerala, the Congress' Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala on Tuesday demanded a judicial probe into the entire sequence of events which began by first tweaking the fisheries policy and then signing of MoU with the US-headquartered EMCC which has an Indian partner. Following the controversy, on Monday the Pinarayi Vijayan government decided to cancel the MoU and announced a probe by senior bureaucrat T.K. Jose. Speaking to the media here, Chennithala said right from the time he brought this out, it was only "lies" that were being spoken, first by State Fisheries Minister J. Mercykutty, then by State Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan and then Chief Minister Vijayan who despite meeting these company officials twice, is yet to say anything. "The discussions to this project first began in 2018 with Mercykutty having a discussion with the company when she went on a visit to US. Then the first move to this came when the state fisheries policy was tweaked and included was a clause that deep sea fishing will be promoted and the traditional fishermen would be used for it. This was done purposely and then came two meetings which Vijayan took part with these company officials, which he is yet to admit. Both Mercykutty and Jayarajan were caught on the wrong foot, after they first denied meeting anyone and then it was proved wrong," said Chennithala. "This project, had we not found out, would have finished off the fisheries sector and this is nothing but big cheating of the hapless fisherfolk. We will provide our full support to the coastal 'hartal' called by various organisations on Saturday against this dubious project. We will also meet the fisherfolk and explain to them about this project," added Chennithala. "The present probe is being done by a bureaucrat T.K. Jose. It makes no sense as two state ministers and the Chief Minister are the prime culprits and hence only a judicial probe will reveal everything," said Chennithala. Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi who is presently in the state, will also meet the fisherfolk at Kollam. With the Assembly polls round the corner, and the fishing community seen as a huge vote bank, which of late has been more aligned to the Left, the Congress expects to exploit this deep sea fishing project in its campaign, which it expects will be able to swing this huge vote back to its advantage. Ferne McCann says living with her new boyfriend Jack Padgett during lockdown is a 'learning' process. The reality star, 30, went public with the model in late December after first meeting five years ago, and she admitted moving in together so quickly has 'fast-forwarded' her romance with her 'calm and kind' beau. Speaking in an interview with MailOnline, the mother-of-one explained while she initially found the prospect of letting a new man into her life 'daunting', she is confident she has found the 'right person' in longtime friend Jack. New couple: Ferne McCann says living with her new boyfriend Jack Padgett during lockdown is a 'learning' process Discussing her new Get Your Groove Back plan on her fitness app, Embodyment With Ferne, she told MailOnline: 'You have to want to work at it. You can't just be with someone and that's it, you have to want to be with each other and co-exist. 'It's about learning to want to be together and I'm loving it, he's so calm and kind and measured, but also fun. 'I feel very happy and lucky really. It's a new experience being with someone in a relationship which I actually want to work on.' Ferne added: 'Dating right now is completely different and has changed so much for everyone so you've got to be creative. 'I think it's all fast-forwarded, that's why we decided to quarantine together and do this lockdown together, and it's going well so far.' The couple first met five years ago while partying in the Spanish holiday hotspot of Marbella and stayed friends, before reuniting on a romantic basis in late 2020. A 'learning' process: The reality star, 30, went public with the model in late December, and she admitted moving in together so quickly has 'fast-forwarded' her romance with her beau Body confidence: The mother-of-one discussing her new Get Your Groove Back plan on her fitness app, Embodyment With Ferne, with MailOnline Ferne told MailOnline: 'It makes me laugh when people ask, "Where did you meet?" and I say "Marbella". It sounds like such a typical Essex thing, even though he's not from Essex. 'With social media, we've always kept in touch and followed each other on Instagram. 'He does events, so we went to a brunch during the time when restaurants were allowed to be open in the UK last year. 'I was telling my friends I really wanted to go out for food and then Jack was doing an event, and the rest is history. 'I feel like it was timing, I've known him ages but I feel like it was just our time.' Longtime friends: The couple first met five years ago while partying in the Spanish holiday hotspot of Marbella and stayed friends, before reuniting on a romantic basis in late 2020 Work it: Ferne said exercising and eating nutritious food has made her feel better about herself, which is what inspired her new Get Your Groove Back plan on her fitness app Jack joined Ferne and her daughter Sunday, three, on a business trip to South Africa over Christmas, and they decided to quarantine together when they returned to Britain. Speaking of how Sunday has adapted to the changes in their household, Ferne said: 'It's completely different for her. 'Not only does Jack live here, my friend Carl lives here with his dog, Carter the Chow Chow. 'It's a full house and we have a lot of fun, she loves having the dog here and the extra company.' Ferne recently admitted that she finds it 'scary trusting someone to see your body,' as she told her Instagram followers that she 'fell out of love' with her breasts after she had her daughter three years ago. Timing: Ferne confirmed she and the model hunk stayed in contact over social media and reunited at a brunch organised by Jack last year (pictured when they met five years ago) The former TOWIE star confirmed it can be nerve-racking being intimate with someone, as she said: 'It can be a really daunting, exposing experience to be naked in front of someone, to literally take your clothes off. 'If you're not confident and you don't feel good about yourself you're not going to be like, "Woo here I am." 'I think you can make yourself feel confident by working out, by working on self-love and by being with the right person.' Ferne said exercising and eating nutritious food has made her feel better about herself, which is what inspired her new Get Your Groove Back plan on her fitness app. The new programme aims to empower women and promote sexual well-being through a range of workouts and online discussions. Pelvic floor exercises, stamina-building X-Fight workouts and express 12-minute routines allow women to optimise their health while promoting self-confidence, from the comfort of their own home. Ferne said her body changed significantly after giving birth, but said she has learnt to appreciate it. She added: 'I had a newfound respect for my body, and how much it can change. My body changed so much in such a short period of time, my boobs breastfeeding are different compared to now, three years down the line. 'But I respect my body now and I try to be kind to it because it grew the best thing that happened to me, my daughter.' The Get Your Groove Back workout plan is available on the Embodyment With Ferne website A research group from the Center for Virology at the Medical University of Vienna, led by Elisabeth Puchhammer-Stockl, has now shown, in collaboration with doctors from Klinik Favoriten, that people with a partial or total absence of the NKG2C receptor are most likely to develop severe COVID-19.In their study, which was recently published in the journal Genetics in Medicine, the authors showed that people who required hospitalization with COVID-19 were significantly more likely to exhibit the genetic variation underlying the lack of the receptor than people who only experienced mild disease.Puchhammer-Stockl explains: "Absence of the receptor was particularly prevalent in COVID-19 patients being treated in intensive care units, irrespective of age or gender. Genetic variations on the HLA-E of the infected cell were also associated with disease severity, albeit to a lesser extent."The current study therefore shows the major importance of NK-cell response in the battle against SARS-CoV-2 infection: "This part of the immune response could therefore also represent an important target for drugs that could help to prevent severe COVID-19 disease," explains the MedUni Vienna expert.Source: Eurekalert Albany, N.Y. School districts in New York will soon be required to start reporting statistics on teacher vaccinations to the state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today. The data will help the state craft policy on reopening buildings for more in-person learning, he said. Cuomo said he understands teachers health concerns about ramping up in-person learning while the Covid-19 pandemic continues. But if enough of them have already received a vaccine, that concern is eliminated. There is damage being done to children with remote learning. Youre going to find mental stress for children who have been home. Youll see emotional issues because children have been home, Cuomo said. We want to open schools. If teachers are vaccinated, that should remove the main obstacle to in-classroom teaching. Lets find out where we are and get some facts so we can determine a policy going forward. Keeping schools remote also holds down the economy since it disrupts parents ability to work, he added. Cuomo said he wants to know how many teachers have been vaccinated and how many are currently doing in-classroom teaching. Districts will be asked for data weekly starting this Wednesday, Cuomo said. Cuomo said last week hed like to see schools in New York reopen for in-person learning five days a week. Schools across the state have been operating a variety of learning schedules since the academic year began in September. Many run a hybrid model, with different groups of students attending a portion of each week and then learning remotely the rest of the time. Some districts have been fully remote since March. Cuomo said last week he respects local governments and their role in running districts, but he made clear he wants to see kids back in classrooms. MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources First case of South African Covid-19 variant confirmed in NY resident Track NY Covid-19 vaccinations by county, region and race Who can book Covid-19 vaccine appointments at 3 new NY Upstate sites? Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598 [February 22, 2021] Telerad Tech announces its business expansion into four more countries, looking to grow exponentially in 2021 BENGALURU, India, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Telerad Tech (T2), a global healthcare provider of AI-enabled teleradiology software, announced it has expanded its presence further into four more countries namely Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Israel and Egypt. The company acquired new clientele through its flagship products RADSpa and Clinspa. "We are thrilled with the expansion we managed to make in 2020, with additional territories and increase in business revenues. We are expecting to grow our business 100% YOY for the next two years as healthcare providers continue to move towards telehealth with teleradiology being a key component of this shift," said Kishor Joshi, Chief Business Officer of Telerad Teh. "We expect 2021 to continue this momentum, as we believe the market is prime for AI-based radiology workflow platforms and we look forward to working with new partners to enable them to start and expand their own teleradiology offerings." "GCC and Africa remain, perhaps, the fastest-growing and the most dynamic teleradiology market worldwide after the United States and hence represents an exceptional opportunity for us, helping us to meet our global product innovation and sales strategic goals," he concludes. Telerad Tech has more than 100+ installations in 15 countries and has processed more than 20 million studies. The company's flagship product RADSpa is an AI-enabled radiology workflow platform leveraged by a range of healthcare service providers from small diagnostic centers to large-scale multi-site, multi-geography healthcare centers and teleradiology service providers. About Telerad Tech (www.teleradtech.com) Telerad Tech was established in 2009 with the goal of optimizing radiology productivity and improving patient outcome delivery through transformational medical imaging software solutions. Today, it is amongst the market leaders in providing integrated RIS-PACS software solutions for teleradiology, medical imaging centers, and hospitals of all sizes globally. Follow it: facebook, Linkedin, Twitter Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1442653/Telerad_TecH_Logo.jpg [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convenor congratulated the people of Gujarat on Tuesday for ushering in a new era of after his party registered impressive gains in the civic body polls in the state. Kejriwal will hold a road show in Gujarat on February 26 to thank the people of the state, the party said. "Heartfelt congratulations to the people of Gujarat for ushering in a new era of politics," the (AAP) chief said in a tweet in Hindi. He added that the people of Gujarat have voted for the of work as they are fed up with the of the BJP and the Congress. "The people of Gujarat wanted an alternative and the AAP has emerged as a key alternative to the present parties. Now the upcoming Assembly election will be fought between the and the BJP," the chief minister said. His deputy Manish Sisodia also took to Twitter, saying, "The kind of love and support the people of Gujarat have shown, heartfelt thanks to each voter. All of us will work together towards 'kam ki rajneeti' (politics of work)." "We will raise public issues on the streets as well as in the Assembly. The people of Surat have done a great job. The people of Gujarat are upset with the BJP, they do not trust the Congress and the has emerged as their only hope," he said in a statement. The AAP, which had fielded 470 candidates across six municipal corporations in Gujarat, won 27 seats in Surat. Its workers celebrated the poll results by cutting cakes. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) [February 23, 2021] Honeywell Expands Popular Ultraviolet Treatment Product Line To Serve New Transportation Segments PHOENIX, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Expanding on its popular UV Treatment System for airliners, Honeywell (NYSE: HON) has debuted a new, smaller version of the product that includes a UV wand and portable backpack. Designed to help reduce pathogens found on high-touch surfaces in a quick and low-cost manner, this new device can be easily used in a multitude of transportation options, from buses and trains to cars and small aircraft. "In early June we debuted the Honeywell UV Treatment System, which was designed to roll up and down the aisles of a passenger aircraft. We quickly recognized our customers' need for another option that was more portable and easier to use in smaller spaces, so we built the Honeywell UV Treatment Wand," said Brian Wenig, vice president, Mechanical Systems and Components, Honeywell Aerospace. "With this new system, smaller aircraft and other vehicles like trains and buses can benefit from the same proven ultraviolet-c (UVC) technology shown to reduce various viruses and bacteria." The Honeywell UV Treatment Wand includes a handheld wand approximately 12 inches long to dispense UVC light. The entire system weighs roughly 15 pounds and can be used in any size space where a person will fit, including vehicles, buildings and other shared spaces. The backpack portion of the device, which also rolls like a small piece of luggage, contains a battery that lasts for one hour of steady usage. It takes about 2.5 hours to recharge the battery when fully drained. The new portable option contains a single UVC lamp, and it can be operated for as little as 10 cents per use. The wand can be used at varying speeds and distances from a target surface. At its ideal dosage and speed, the wand can be used to cover approximately one square meter in 17 seconds, or about 3.5 meters per minute. The device could treat high-touchsurfaces in a midsize business jet cabin, cockpit and lavatory in less than 15 minutes. The surfaces in a typical rental car could be treated in five minutes. Unlike chemical cleaning solutions, UV light does not leave chemical residues on surfaces or require storage and frequent replenishment of chemicals. When properly applied, UVC lights have been found capable of delivering doses that clinical studies show reduce or inactivate various viruses and bacteria, including SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. Results vary based on UV dosage and application, and no testing has been done specifically on protection against SARS-CoV-2. Honeywell is currently accepting orders for the UV Treatment Wand with first shipments coming this April. Honeywell's larger UV Treatment System has been used by JetBlue Airways, Qatar Airways and Azul Airlines, among other airlines and ground handling companies. For video b-roll of the Honeywell UV Treatment Wand treating an aircraft: Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/511765037/c925cb9fd4 As with all our products and services, Honeywell will adhere to its commitment to integrity and compliance within its global supply chain; meet relevant legal, scientific and industry standards; substantiate claims; and obtain necessary regulatory approvals as products progress through the development process. About Honeywell Honeywell Aerospace products and services are found on virtually every commercial, defense and space aircraft. The Aerospace business unit builds aircraft engines, cockpit and cabin electronics, wireless connectivity systems, mechanical components and more. Its hardware and software solutions create more fuel-efficient aircraft, more direct and on-time flights and safer skies and airports. For more information, visit www.honeywell.com or follow us at @Honeywell_Aero. Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 technology company that delivers industry-specific solutions that include aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings and industry; and performance materials globally. Our technologies help aircraft, buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywell.com/newsroom. Contacts: Media Adam Kress (602) 760-6252 adam.kress@honeywell.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/honeywell-expands-popular-ultraviolet-treatment-product-line-to-serve-new-transportation-segments-301233530.html SOURCE Honeywell [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The transfer of cases from district administrative courts to the Supreme Court, which is proposed by bill No. 5067, will affect the timing of their consideration, due to which a dialogue with the authors of this initiative and the profile committee of the Verkhovna Rada is required, Head of the Supreme Court Valentyna Danishevska said. Danishevska told Interfax-Ukraine that the Supreme Court already has three years of experience in considering administrative cases as a court of first and/or appellate instances, therefore, the transfer to it for consideration of cases on appeal of regulatory legal acts of executive authorities, the National Bank of Ukraine, other subjects of power as a court of first instance will not be something new for judges. "At the same time, it should be remembered that the Supreme Court is a court of cassation, one of the main functions of which is to ensure the consistency and unity of judicial practice in all categories of cases," the court's head said. She drew attention to the fact that the Supreme Court considers on average 90,000 to 100,000 cases per year, which is a serious burden for the cassation court. Danishevska said the legislator regularly establishes additional cassation filters to restrict access to the Supreme Court of minor categories of cases. She believes the transfer must maintain a balance of reasonableness, including with respect to the temporary nature of such actions, since the Supreme Court must ensure a high-quality cassation review of disputes in all jurisdictions. "We have carried out a preliminary statistical analysis and if all cases stipulated by bill No. 5067 are transferred to the Supreme Court from the district administrative courts, which is more than 5,000 cases, then the rates of receipts to the Administrative Court of Cassation will increase by at least a quarter, and the figures for the Grand Chamber three times. This, certainly, will affect the timing of the consideration of cases in the Administrative Court of Cassation in the Grand Chamber, as well as block the performance of its main functions by the Grand Chamber," the head of the Supreme Court said. Thus, she said possible alternatives should be discussed. "The law may stipulate that cases on appeals against normative legal acts of central executive authorities are subject to consideration by the Supreme Court, but in order to ensure proper consideration of cases within a reasonable time frame, alternative solutions to the problem should be considered. I hope that in the near future we will together with the authors of this initiative and the profile committee of the Verkhovna Rada, we will have a professional discussion on this issue," Danishevska said. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Iulia Matei participated in the informal meeting of ministers and state secretaries for European Affairs from EU member states, held in videoconference format, informs the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE). The officials discussed aspects related to coordination at the EU level in managing the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthening the EU resilience in the health care field, as well as initiatives in the security and defence fields. The agenda of the General Affairs Council meeting also included discussions on the Action Plan on European Democracy, published by the European Commission in December 2020, respectively EU-UK relations, as well a briefing from the Portuguese Presidency on the Conference on the future of Europe.With regard to the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, Secretary of State Iulia Matei reaffirmed the need to maintain close coordination at the European level and a balanced and proportionate approach in terms of the measures adopted, both at the European and at the national level. In this context, he pleaded to avoid the introduction of unilateral measures that would affect the proper functioning of internal markets and the implementation of green corridors, designed to facilitate the movement of goods and people.Iulia Matei also underscored the importance of vaccination campaigns, highlighting their role for the efficient management of the pandemic. He also expressed Romania's support for strengthening resilience at the EU level in the health field, starting from the lessons learned during the crisis.Regarding the security and defence issues, the Romanian Secretary of State underscored the importance of a realistic approach based on coherence in the implementation of EU initiatives and complementarity with similar NATO processes. In this context, the Romanian dignitary reiterated the support for the implementation of the EU Strategy in the field of cybersecurity and highlighted the important role that the future European Cybersecurity Competence Centre in Bucharest will play in creating a European cybersecurity ecosystem.With regard to the Action Plan for European Democracy, she welcomed the ambitious and comprehensive approach proposed by the European Commission, which is in line with the Union's overall objective of promoting European values. She underscored, in the same context, her support for the objectives of freedom of the press and combating misinformation.Discussions on the EU's future relations with the United Kingdom took place in the presence of former Union chief negotiator Michel Barnier. The Romanian Secretary of State for European Affairs thanked him on this occasion for his efforts throughout the negotiation process, which led to the conclusion of a cooperation agreement with the United Kingdom and the maintenance of EU27 in support of common goals.The Romanian dignitary also underscored that, in terms of the future management of these relations, a unitary and coordinated approach at the EU level, based on solidarity, remains essential. He reiterated the signalling on the differentiated approach of the UK in relation to the citizens of five Member States, including Romania, regarding the amount of the fee charged for long-stay visas. He called for the identification of a solution at the European level to avoid differentiated approaches in relation to EU citizens, reiterating Romania's expectation to continue the European Commission's efforts in this regard. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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| 2021-02-22 23:46:28|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close RIGA, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- After a trial that dragged on for 12 years, the Riga Regional Court on Monday handed down a five-year jail sentence to Aivars Lembergs, the influential mayor of the northwestern Latvian port city of Ventspils and an alleged politically corrupt oligarch. The judge ordered Lembergs to be arrested in the courtroom. The charges brought against Lembergs included large-scale graft and extortion of bribes, laundering of more than 14 million euros (17 million U.S. dollars), as well as hiding his indirect ownership in the Latvian Shipping Company (Latvijas Kugnieciba). In October 2019, the United States imposed sanctions on Lembergs as a "government official responsible for...corruption, including the misappropriation of state assets, the expropriation of private assets for personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of natural resources, or bribery." The U.S. Treasury alleged that Lembergs controlled "entities through political parties and corrupt politicians, and systematically exploited those entities and individuals for his own economic gain." The prosecution had asked the judge to sentence Lembergs to eight years in jail. Lembergs' son Anrijs and business associate Ansis Sormulis, who were tried along with Lembergs as co-defendants, were each given a jail sentence of two years for aiding and abetting the Ventspils mayor's illegal dealings. Lembergs has never admitted any wrongdoing and claims political motives behind his conviction. Lembergs and his co-defendants can still appeal the verdict handed down by the court. 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. A beauty salon in Dublin has opened today as the owner says: "I need to support my family and pay my bills". Christine McTiernan is arguing she has the constitutional right to earn a living and should be allowed to operate despite businesses being closed under Level 5 restrictions. C&N Beautyroom in Balbriggan opened to clients today and the phone was engaged for most of the morning. Gardai are currently at the premises. Ms McTiernan says she has received calls from people in Galway, Wicklow and "all over". Read More "The reaction has been phenomenal and the support has been great, people have been telling me fair play," Ms McTiernan said. "Weve been booked up. The business owner made an announcement outside her salon after opening this morning, saying she will continue to prioritise the health and safety of her staff and customers. "I need to earn a living and to pay my bills. "Through my business I have served the community of Balbriggan for six years. I have received a huge amount of positive messages and well wishes. "I am thankful for their support. I operate my business to the highest health and safety standards and will continue to do everything possible to protect my business and staff. Finally my common law rights to provide for my family cannot be overturned. I would like to take the opportunity to thank everybody for their support, she continued. "This is to support my family. I need to pay my bills. I'm doing this for survival. "This is for me. I have to do what I have to do to pay my bills. I have to put food on the table, I have to pay my rent. It is for survival. This is the reason why I'm doing this because I have to survive. "Nobody else is going to put food on my table." Read More Under Level 5 restrictions, all non-essential businesses are currently closed. Beauty salons and hairdressers have been shuttered since December 31. In a statement posted on Instagram five days ago, Ms McTiernan said: "I never thought I'd be emailing this and going against the guidelines but with no help from the Government, and bills piling sky high the salon will be reopening next week. "This decides [sic] didn't come lightly as I've tried everything to get help of the Government. Salon has been open 20 days since October 16th and no help since then. The decision isn't about greed or selfishness, it's about survival and keeping the salon a float. "After six years of hard work keeping the salon going I don't want to see the doors shut for good. Apologies if this offends or upsets anyone with this decision but this is my livelihood. "They are destroying small businesses but allowing big chains to stay open." It's understood gardai have been trying to convince Ms Mctiernan to close the salon. A Garda spokesman said: "Gardai have attended a retail premises on Dublin Street in Balbriggan and are investigating alleged breaches of public health regulations. "In respect of regulations, which are declared to be Penal Regulations under the Health Act 1947 as amended, An Garda Siochana continue to adopt the approach of the Four Es which see Gardai engage, explain, encourage, and as a last resort, enforce. "Where Gardai find potential breaches of the public health regulations advices of the DPP will be sought or Fixed Payment Notices will be issued where appropriate." It is believed officers had not witnessed the business in operation. Guangzhou further expanded its nucleic acid testing as the city battles the spread of Covid-19, with Haizhu and Yuexiu districts starting mass testing on Sunday. In Haizhu district, residents queued for hours in the rain to get tested on Sunday. The city reported four new local and three new imported cases, and confirmed 14 cases originally reported as asymptomatic on Sunday May 31, 2021 05:47 PM New York state has won the latest round in a nearly 4-year-old dispute over casino taxes with the Seneca Nation of Indians, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo is looking at it as a way to cut into the states looming $15 billion budget deficit. Cuomo said Monday that a federal court ruling in the dispute could generate a windfall of about $435 million in back gaming revenue payments, with roughly $300 million going to the state. The rest, perhaps up to $150 million, would go to counties and other local governments that host the Senecas gaming facilities. But the Senecas arent giving up just yet. Mondays ruling in the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals could be challenged and perhaps taken as far as the U.S. Supreme Court. The Seneca Nation is reviewing todays decision and discussing all of our options at this time, the Senecas said in a statement released Monday. The Senecas have casinos in downtown Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Salamanca in Cattaraugus County. They operate them under an agreement, or compact, under which the state gave them exclusive rights to run casinos in a 14-county region of western New York. In return, the Senecas would pay 25 percent of the revenues they earn on slot and video lottery machines. The payments have come to more than $100 million per year. The dispute began in March 2017, when the Senecas announced they believed they were no longer obligated to make the payments. The Senecas argued the terms of the original agreement requiring revenue payments ended 14 years from the original compact or at the end of 2016. They made their last payment, $30 million covering the last quarter of 2016, in March 2017. In an arbitration filing, the state disagreed, saying the payment agreement was revised by both sides in 2013. That automatically renewed the agreement for seven years starting in December 2016, the state said. That would keep the payments flowing through 2023. The state won an initial ruling in its favor from an arbitration panel in 2019, and federal appeals courts have backed that up since then. The (2013) agreement was based on trust and respect, and it was one that I was proud to make, Cuomo said during a briefing Monday. This morning the U.S. second circuit court of appeals again affirmed the need for the Seneca Nation to fulfill their obligations and pay what they owe in exchange for those gaming rights. The courts decision was clear, and after years of delay, multiple appeals, and multiple court losses it is high time the Seneca Nation follows the law and pays what they owe, and it is significant funding, especially for the communities involved, as well as the State. Local governments depending on their share of the casino revenues include Erie, Niagara and Cattaraugus counties, the cities of Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Salamanca, and others, state budget director Robert Mujica said. More on gaming and casinos in New York: Cuomo extends closing time for casinos, gyms, pool halls NY mobile sports betting advocates welcome Cuomos backing, except for one thing With jobs to fill, Oneida Nation expands recruiting for Turning Stone, other casinos Don Cazentre writes about Upstate NY casinos for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The French government said Tuesday it would make period products free for students, joining a global drive to end "period poverty"the inability to pay for menstrual protection. Higher Education Minister Frederique Vidal said that machines containing free tampons, sanitary towels and other period products would be installed in student residences and university health services in the coming weeks. She added that the government aimed to make period protection "completely free of charge" for all by the start of the next academic year in September. In November, Scotland became the first country in the world to make period products free for all, blazing a trail that inspired feminists and anti-poverty campaigners around the world to also take up the issue of period poverty. In England, free period products are available in all primary and secondary schoolsa move New Zealand said last week it too would implement. In December, President Emmanuel Macron had promised to also address the issue of period poverty. Commenting on the plight of homeless women, he noted that "the fact of having your period in the street and to not be able to buy something to protect yourself and preserve your dignity" added to the humiliation they suffered. The move to make sanitary protection free for students comes amid a growing focus on youth poverty following shock images of food banks being swamped by hard-up students due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many students say they are struggling to make ends meet after losing part-time jobs in cafes and restaurants which have been closed for months due to the health crisis. Explore further New Zealand to issue free period products in schools 2021 AFP Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 If you havn't done it yet,to get one of the fastest volcano news online: Over the past 24 hours, DOST-PHIVOLCS observed moderate to voluminous emission of dirty-white to white steam-laden plumes rising 800 meters high before drifting southwest. On February 1st 2020, sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions was measured at an average of 97 tonnes/day. No significant changes in activity of the volcano have occurred during the past days: ... PHIVOLCS reported that 20 m high gas-steam plume occurred today at the vents of the Main Crater and extending to the south-southwest of the volcano. ... The seismic network of volcanological observatory PHIVOLCS detectedat less than 1 km depth that lasted in range of 5 to 12 minutes. ... Ongoing elevated seismic activity under the volcano sparked fears that the volcano, which had a massive, devastating eruption little more than a year ago, in January 2020, might erupt again in the near future. It prompted authorities to evacuate residents from Volcano Island, located within the crater lake of Taal volcano in the Province of Batangas, Philippines. ... This is one of our most exciting volcano tours! Halmahera, North Sulawesi and the Sangihe Islands are not only very scenic and interesting as well as nearly unspoiled by tourism, but also home to some of the country's most active (and often erupting) volcanoes, inclduing Dukono, Ibu, Lokon, Soputan and Karangetang. See which volcanoes are erupting at the moment! Probably more than you think... Ethiopia is a very diverse and beautiful country. Thanks to our numerous expeditions to Erta Ale and Dallol and beyond, we have an extensive collection of images showing the volcano's lava lake, the desert, the colorful hot springs of Dallol, the vast salt lakes, camel caravans and more. Support us - Help us upgrade our services! Weather reports Tsunami alerts Design upgrades Faster responsiveness Earthquake archive from 1900 onwards Additional seismic data sources Improved content in English Download and Upgrade the Volcanoes & Earthquakes app to get one of the fastest seismic and volcano alerts online: Android | IOS to get one of the fastest seismic and volcano alerts online: We truly love working to bring you the latest volcano and earthquake data from around the world. Maintaining our website and our free apps does require, however, considerable time and resources.We need financing to increase hard- and software capacity as well as support our editor team. We're aiming to achieve uninterrupted service wherever an earthquake or volcano eruption unfolds, and your donations can make it happen! Every donation will be highly appreciated. If you find the information useful and would like to support our team in integrating further features, write great content, and in upgrading our soft- and hardware, please PayPal or Online credit card payment )., these features have been added recently: MaxUp With MaxUp, we can now deploy software that provides analytics in real-time, helping operators keep critical assets running longer, more efficiently, and at a lower cost, thus driving exceptional business value to our customers. Lone Star Analysis, a trusted provider of leading-edge predictive and prescriptive analytics, and guided artificial intelligence solutions, announced today the launch of its real-time asset analytics software suite, MaxUp. Designed to help organizations maximize uptime on physical assets such as pumps, machines, equipment and vehicle sub-systems, MaxUp will serve a wide range of customers and industries. Lone Star has worked with numerous organizations and one of the most common challenges that we see is the profusion of costly, unplanned downtime for physical assets, said Davey Brooks, vice president of Lone Stars Automated Intelligent Analytics Solutions. With MaxUp, we can now deploy software that provides analytics in real-time, helping operators keep critical assets running longer, more efficiently, and at a lower cost, thus driving exceptional business value to our customers. Designed to increase overall uptime regardless of the device or machine, MaxUp serves as a parent brand to three specific families of software: MaxUp Fleet, MaxUp Energy and MaxUp Manufacturing. Under MaxUp Fleet, Lone Star offers vehicle condition-based maintenance (VCBM) asset analytics. This application conducts real-time analysis on critical vehicle sub-systems such as engines, tires, gearboxes and many others to predict when and why components will fail. The application also prescribes actions to prevent failures. With this solution, fleet managers will be able to lower maintenance costs while increasing asset availability and reliability. Lone Stars MaxUp Energy offers real-time analytics for electric submersible pump (ESP) operators. This ESP asset analytics software maximizes ESP uptime by mitigating issues before they happen, sometimes months in advance. This cause-and-effect based application predicts when an asset is likely to suffer a failure and when replacement parts are required, allowing steps to be taken to ensure the proper parts, personnel, equipment and tools are available at the optimal time. This keeps wells producing more, for longer, and at a lower cost. Lone Stars MaxUp Manufacturing offers RSC asset management software to address challenges faced by rotary screw compressor (RSC) operators. Using physics-based artificial intelligence (AI), the application provides powerful visualizations of predictions, prescriptions and data insights. Operational inefficiencies are identified by continually running diagnostics on numerous critical operating components and prescribing corrective action. This application enables users to reduce unplanned downtime, lower operating costs, and extend asset life. The MaxUp family of software is powered by Lone Stars AOS platform and deployed in either cloud or edge environments. To learn more about MaxUp, visit: https://www.lone-star.com/software/maxup-real-time-asset-analytics/. About Lone Star Analysis Lone Star Analysis is a Dallas-based provider of applied decision intelligence and engineering solutions. We harness predictive and prescriptive analytics, artificial intelligence and inherent knowledge to enhance innovation, create economic strength, and make the world safer. Since 2004, organizations have trusted Lone Star to deliver actionable answers to complex problems in manufacturing, aerospace, defense, energy, logistics, transportation and more. Media Contact: Elle Glatz Mod Op for Lone Star Analysis Elle.glatz@modop.com Campaign encouraged fans to share their love stories amid COVID-19 lockdowns GUANGZHOU, China, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- MINISO, a lifestyle product retailer, recently launched its LoveWithoutDistance Campaign on Instagram, which saw it select 100 touching love stories from people separated by COVID-19 lockdowns, and then deliver a mystery $100 MINISO gift box to their loved ones on Valentine's Day 2021. This saw MINISO staff delicately pack and customize gift boxes for the partners of winning participants, who were then able to pick up the mystery gift box at their nearest MINISO outlet, helping them to celebrate a difficult Valentine's Day 2021, while also echoing the brand's mission of "enabling everyone to enjoy life's little surprises." The campaign engaged over 11,000 participants globally and delivered 100 MINISO gift boxes to winners from 16 countries, including the United States, Canada, India, Singapore, Spain, Vietnam, United Arab Emirates, and Oman. Participants from across the world shared their long-distance relationship stories with MINISO, like Sonika, an Indian doctor on the frontlines of the pandemic. "I'm a doctor working in COVID ICU. I was busy treating patients and not able to see my boyfriend because of quarantine, and unable to comfort him after his family tested positive, even though we are in the same city. I hope to surprise him with a MINISO gift box, as I cannot be physically there due to work." "It has been an extremely tough year for my family. Despite being stuck in Paris, my boyfriend made every effort to lift my spirits. Never failing to make me feel his love from afar, I feel like he deserves to feel special with a little surprise," said Cara from Ireland. "Amid COVID-19 lockdowns, people across the world have been discouraged from meeting each other on this special day, especially couples who are in long-distance relationships," said Robin Liu, Chief Marketing Officer at MINISO. "This pandemic made us realize that there are no boundaries or distance when it comes to love." By Valentine's Day, the campaign had reached over 930-thousand people globally and was endorsed by various Instagram KOLs, such as Cindy T. Dinh and Andrea Rivas. The campaign also earned significant organic engagement on Instagram, with a total of 545 comments and 28,791 likes. Check out a recap of MINISO's LoveWithoutDistance Valentine's Day 2021 Campaign at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=newgUzpVKYo&feature=youtu.be About MINISO: MINISO (NYSE: MNSO) is a lifestyle product retailer, offering high quality household goods, cosmetics, and food at affordable prices. Since its first store opened in Guangzhou in 2013, MINISO has opened more than 4,330 stores in over 80 countries and regions in 7 years. With a focus on sleek design and fun trends, its mission is to assure through its products that a better life has nothing to do with the price. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1442633/The_USA_winners_visit_MINISO_store.jpg Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Teradata will work with leading manufacturers in the Open Manufacturing Platform community to develop solutions for industrial IoT and Industry 4.0 Group aims to enable faster and more cost-effective innovation and production in manufacturing and automotive through cloud-based data analytics Teradata (NYSE: TDC), a leading multi-cloud data warehouse platform provider, joined the Open Manufacturing Platform (OMP) a global alliance initiated by the BMW Group and Microsoft to drive industrial IoT developments and build future Industry 4.0 solutions in the manufacturing and automotive sector. As a member of the OMP, Teradata will help manufacturers accelerate innovation and achieve production efficiencies across the entire value chain by unlocking the potential of their data. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005429/en/ Teradata Joins Open Manufacturing Platform (Graphic: Business Wire) Common Challenges for Industry 4.0 While working to build their "smart factory," in which all plants, products and processes are digitalized and interconnected, manufacturers worldwide share similar advantages and challenges: They benefit from a rapid adoption of new technologies that allow for greater operational efficiencies, factory output, customer loyalty and net profits, but too many manufacturers still struggle with the real-world implementation of IoT concepts. One such challenge is ensuring that data from legacy, as well as modern systems, is interoperable and usable across a multi-cloud environment so that holistic decisions and predictions can be made. Proprietary systems, which so often become data silos, make reliable visibility throughout the supply chain daunting, and thus hinder future business models. In addition, thousands of analytical models are needed to evaluate the petabytes of data produced by machines and robots every hour in order to generate actionable insights. Building the Future of Manufacturing with Data Analytics To solve these pressing challenges, Teradata will bring its extensive experience, expertise, and solutions in cloud-based data analytics to the OMP community, with a specific focus on the "Manufacturing Reference Architecture" and "Semantic Data Structuring" working groups. In open collaboration and knowledge sharing with leading manufacturers, Teradata will work to develop a blueprint for an industrial IoT architecture, and to simplify the deployment and management of the entire cloud and edge manufacturing environment. Teradata will also help develop a semantic data structuring layer so that manufacturers can easily share, reuse, and evaluate heterogeneous data. Both are critical projects in terms of the objective of the working groups: to define and to use a common open data model, to influence existing and future standards, and to build open solutions for industrial IoT. By being completely independent of cloud providers or other vendors, Teradata's technology substantially aligns with the core principle of the OMP to bring forward platform-agnostic solutions that enable a smarter future in manufacturing. "Teradata has been helping the world's leading manufacturing and automotive companies boost their production through data for more than 40 years," says Peter Stadler, Vice President, Central Europe at Teradata. "As a member of OMP, we are pleased to accompany them on their way to Industry 4.0 and to contribute to new cutting-edge solutions with the help of data analytics and thus also to smart manufacturing of the future." Founded in 2019 under the umbrella of the Joint Development Foundation, a part of the Linux Foundation, the OMP helps manufacturing companies accelerate innovation at scale through open cross-industry collaboration, knowledge and data sharing as well as access to new technologies. Current OMP steering committee members are Anheuser-Busch InBev, BMW Group, Bosch Group, Microsoft, and ZF Friedrichshafen AG. Teradata also contributes to other industry alliances, such as the Open Subsurface Data Universe (OSDU) Forum, focused on developing a standard data platform that brings together exploration, development, and wells data in the oil and gas industry. More information about the Open Manufacturing Platform: https://open-manufacturing.org/ About Teradata Teradata is a leading multi-cloud data warehouse platform provider, solving the world's most complex data challenges at scale. We help businesses unlock value by turning data into their greatest asset. See how at Teradata.com. The Teradata logo is a trademark, and Teradata is a registered trademark of Teradata Corporation and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and worldwide. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005429/en/ Contacts: Jennifer Donahue 858-485-3029 office jennifer.donahue@teradata.com (Newser) Whether Ted Cruz is pissed at the late-night treatment he has received over the past few days is unclear. But on Tuesday the Texas senator made clear that his wife is pissed about a couple of things in the wake of their Cancun, Mexico, getaway. While appearing on "Ruthless," a conservative podcast, the Republican explained that Heidi Cruz was "pretty pissed" that her text chain to friends to gauge outside interest in accompanying the Cruzes on the trip was leaked to the New York Times. He added that Heidi "actually was over to a neighbors house yesterday, sort of walking through" it all. His thoughts on the matter? "Here's a suggestion just don't be a------s. Yeah, like just you know treat each other as human beings have some degree, some modicum of respect," he said, per the Sacramento Bee. story continues below She was also "pissed about" being snapped by paparazzi on the beach while bikini-clad, and while Ted Cruz allowed that it was a "creepy" move, he did add, "Heidi is smoking hot, so I looked at the pictures and said, 'Man, you look great.'" Other comments highlighted by Politico: Cruz joked that he hadn't gotten "this much negative press coverage since northern California in the 1960s"referring to a long-running joke that he is actually the Zodiac killer. He also came to the defense of his dog Snowflake, photos of whom were shared in a way that made the pet seem abandoned as they vacationed. "I spend too much time on Twitter, so I see apparently Ive literally fed Snowflake to the wolves," Cruz said, noting they had hired a pet sitter. (Read more Ted Cruz stories.) Beyond barbecues and ceremonies: Recognizing Memorial Day For many, Memorial Day weekend is about gathering with family and grilling or attending a parade. Some find a more personal way to honor the holiday. Pressure is mounting on Brisbane City Council to amend its planning system to stop developers having a direct input to the neighbourhood planning process. Building heights, the extent of green space and placement of community facilities as residential, commercial and industrial areas are established are determined in local neighbourhood plans. Brisbane's oldest suburb, Kangaroo Point, is facing the pressures of over-development its residents say. Credit:Tony Moore Neighbourhood plans are being developed for Bridgeman Downs, Eight Mile Plains Gateway, Sandgate District and Nathan/Salisbury/Moorooka and all have community planning teams. The council has community development forums, where local representatives are invited to help draft neighbourhood plans. QLine packaging range to meet demand for 'Made in Europe' solutions by major Chinese beauty brands The growth of the Chinese cosmetics industry has prompted international beauty packaging manufacturer and provider Quadpack to commence a commercial push into the domestic market. An agreement with long-term partner Yuga, based near Shanghai, will allow Quadpack to offer its QLine range to brands seeking the quality, performance and distinction of products 'Made in Europe'. The move into China is part of Quadpack's 2020-2025 business strategy, which sets out growth plans in each of its key territories of EMEA, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region. It follows last year's opening of a sales office in Japan and the appointment of Raj Savji as Managing Director - Asia Pacific, to develop Quadpack's presence in the region. "China's domestic beauty market is worth 52.5 billion and growing fast. What's more, it has shown itself to be incredibly resilient. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 and the subsequent downturn, China has been the first to recover. The market is mature and our products are a great fit. We are fortunate to be able to build on our partnership with Yuga - a relationship based on high levels of trust, shared values and proven results - to accelerate our entry into this market," said Savji. Beauty packaging manufacturer Yuga has been an official supply partner for Quadpack since 2010 and produces a number of QLine references, as well as bespoke projects. Now, Yuga's commercial team will sell the QLine portfolio in its home territory, starting with the skincare and make-up ranges, as well as solutions in wood and Sulapac, an eco-safe biocomposite material. QLine is Quadpack's portfolio of smart, modular packaging solutions, conceived, designed and engineered in Europe. The products are made at its Louvrette factory in Germany and the Quadpack Wood factory in Spain, as well as at the facilities of selected regional partners like Yuga. With Yuga's industrial capacity, components can be stocked, assembled and decorated locally. This inherent flexibility of manufacture and supply allows Quadpack to remain agile and deliver solutions in the region, for the region. Yuga CEO Victor Wu said: "It's a case of one plus one equalling greater than two. Just as Quadpack has extended our reach globally, our facilities can support Quadpack's growth. We also have 20 years of experience and a strong network in China and we are excited to introduce the QLine portfolio to local brands. The larger brands are going global and looking for high-end packaging solutions, particularly in the skincare segment. Those that are of European origin are sought-after commodities." Yuga has started promoting the QLine make-up range and will extend to skincare from April. -ENDS- Editors' notes: Quadpack is Sulapac's Preferred Global Cosmetics Packaging Partner. About Yuga Yuga Group is a manufacturer and provider of packaging solutions for cosmetics companies. Established in 2003 and headquartered in Suzhou City, China, the company has a national sales network and four factories (located in Eastern and Southern China) dedicated to injection moulding and aluminium processing. 'Crafting for Beauty' is Yuga's slogan, as it has a craftmanship spirit putting quality as one of its top priorities when it comes to R&D and manufacturing. For more information, please visit www.yuga-tech.com About Quadpack Quadpack is an international manufacturer and provider of enhanced packaging solutions for beauty brand owners and contract fillers. With offices and production facilities in Europe, the US and the Asia Pacific region, and a strategic network of manufacturing partners, Quadpack develops bespoke and customised packs for prestige, masstige and mass market customers. Listed on Euronext Growth in Paris since October 2019, Quadpack relies on a workforce of 600 people to build a more sustainable world. For more information, please visit www.quadpack.com ------------------------ This publication embed "Actusnews SECURITY MASTER ". - SECURITY MASTER Key: yWmfYMiXY2eblXCaZJhsb2lkbGdjyGidamicmpVtZMeYbW1myWiUnMaZZm9plWZr - Check this key: https://www.security-master-key.com. ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-68015-qp-apac-china-expansion-pr.pdf MATHURA: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will attend a 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' in Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday. Mathura is considered to be a stronghold of the Jat community in the state. The meeting to be held on Tuesday was rescheduled due to the demise of Congress leader Captain Satish Sharma on February 19. Today's meeting is in continuation of a series of ''Kisan Panchayat'' that the party is organising in 27 districts of Western Uttar Pradesh against the farm laws, even as the agitation of farmers continued at Delhi borders 90th day. The Congress leader, while addressing the 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' in Muzaffarnagar district on February 20, had lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over farmers' protest against the farm laws. "In our old stories, kings and queens became arrogant after they won power. After becoming Prime Minister twice, the PM is also showing arrogance," she said. "The Central government should respect the farmers. Why is Modi Ji not talking to the farmers who elected him as Prime Minister? Dialogue should be initiated with the farmers and their problems must be solved," she further said. During the Muzaffarnagar Kisan Mahapanchayat, Priyanka said Prime Minister Modi had promised that there will be a settlement of pending dues on sugarcane. She also asked the farmers assembled there about the payment of dues of sugarcane. Live TV India stood up Chinas disruptive use of technology and my way or no way attitude: CDS India set to clear 45 investments from China: Non-sensitive sectors to get faster approval India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Feb 23: India is set to clear 45 investments from China. This would also include those from the Great Wall Motor and SAIC Motor Corp. The development comes as the military tensions between the two countries ease out with the disengagement being complete at the north and south banks of Pangong Tso. The proposals have been held up since last year after the Indian government tightened controls on the Chinese investment in retaliation against the troop intrusion along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh. As relations sink, China looks to reset ties with US Nearly 150 investment proposals from China worth over USD 2 billion were stuck in the pipeline. Reports say that most of the 45 proposals set for early approvals are in the manufacturing sector. These are concerned noon-sensitive in terms of national security. Last year Great Wall and General Motors had made a joint proposal seeking consent for the Chinese automaker to purchase the US COmpany's car plant in India. Great Wall plans to invest USD 1 billion in India over the next few years. "Should we be granted all relevant approvals, we will push all work forward in India, abiding by the laws and rules laid down by the Indian government," a spokesperson of the company said. A GM spokesperson quoted by Reuters said that they will continue to seek all relevant approvals to support the transaction. Gujarat civic polls: BJP makes big gains | Celebrations begin | Oneindia News The Indian government will approve investments from the non-sensitive sectors faster. The investments from the sensitive sector will be reviewed later. Textiles, electronics, chemicals and automobiles are seen as non-sensitive, while those involving data and finance are deemed sensitive. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, February 23, 2021, 8:25 [IST] In January, a local political enforcer, Sunday Igboho Adeyemo, issued a seven-day ultimatum to Fulani residents to move out of Igangan in the Ibarapa area of Oyo State over alleged kidnappings and violent clashes with farmers by cattle herders in the area. Mr Adeyemo gave the order during a confrontation at the home of Saliu Abdulkadir, the Seriki Fulani of Igangan. He was not the first to issue such an illegal order in Nigeria. But unlike the others, Mr Adeyemo returned to Igangan at the expiration of his ultimatum and, alongside residents of the area, sacked the Fulani community there. This was despite warnings by Governor Seyi Makinde that he had no right to evict any group from the state and that the state government would not tolerate his action. After the violent eviction in Igangan, the police declared Mr Igboho wanted. But he has continued to walk about freely and in fact, shortly after, led another expedition to Ogun State to attack another Fulani community. Legal experts and other commentators said the Nigerian authorities face a dilemma in checking the activities of people like Mr Adeyemo because of the bad precedent the authorities set by treating with kid gloves others before him who threatened to expel Nigerians from other parts of the country. They said the failure of the authorities to firmly sanction groups and individuals for such clearly illegal action has encouraged others and is now threatening the unity of Nigeria. Section 41 of the 1999 Constitution stipulates that every citizen is entitled to move freely throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part thereof, and no citizen shall be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry thereby or exit therefrom. Limitations to this freedom of movement include imposition of restrictions on the residence or movement of any person who has committed or is reasonably suspected to have committed a criminal offence in order to prevent him from leaving Nigeria, or such person been tried outside Nigeria for any criminal offence, or undergo imprisonment outside Nigeria in execution of the sentence of a court of law in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty. Furthermore, Sections 43 and 44 of the 1999 constitution make provisions for the right of citizens to own property in any part of Nigeria. Section 43 states that: Subject to the provisions of this constitution, every citizen of Nigeria shall have the right to acquire and own immovable property anywhere in Nigeria. But these rights of the citizens have been violated on numerous occasions with the authorities turning a blind eye. PREMIUM TIMES review showed more than four such incidents since 2017 under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. Bad precedent In 2017, 16 northern groups gave Igbo residents three months to move out of the region or face physical attacks, over the clamour by secessionists in the South East region for a Republic of Biafra. Some of the groups which issued the ultimatum at a meeting in Kaduna identified themselves as the Arewa Citizens Action for Change, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Arewa Youth Development Foundation, Arewa Students Forum and Northern Emancipation Network. Abdulazeez Suleiman read a statement containing the ultimatum on behalf of the groups at the Arewa House in Kaduna. The group said it was in response to the failure of the authorities in the South-east to check the activities of the secessionists. This latest action and similar confrontational conducts which amount to a brutal encroachment on the rights of those termed as non-indigenous people residing and doing lawful businesses in those areas illegally demarcated and defined as Biafra by the Igbo, are downright unacceptable and shall no longer be tolerated, the groups said in the statement. In a swift reaction to the statement, Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai ordered the arrest and prosecution of Mr Suleiman and members of the groups. ADVERTISEMENT Mr El-Rufai, in a statement signed by his spokesperson, Samuel Aruwan, condemned the statement as inciting and for seeking to violate the rights of Igbo to live as citizens of Nigeria in the North. The Kaduna State Government takes exception to the fact that the northern youths did their irresponsible press conference in Kaduna. This government has been consistent in taking action to punish hate speech and incitement. People who may feel unhappy about irresponsible comments or actions that have taken place in other states must know that two wrongs cannot make a right, and they cannot use our state to do or say things that threaten the peace. KDSG has therefore ordered the arrest, investigation and prosecution of the signatories to the statement. However, that was as far as it went in terms of official reaction as no effort was made to arrest and prosecute Mr Suleiman and the others. Daily Trust newspapers later reported that the leaders of the group fled Kaduna following the governors order. Unofficial sources said Mr El-Rufais order was not enforced because the groups did not take any steps to carry out their illegal quit notice. Muyiwa Adekeye, the spokesperson of Mr El-Rufai, did not respond to requests for clarifications on why the state governments arrest order was not eventually enforced. Presidencys tame reaction Like Mr El-Rufai, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who was acting president at the time, also condemned the quit notice by the Northern groups. At a meeting of Northern traditional leaders a few days after the eviction notice, Mr Osinbajo said the government would deal with anyone who threatened the peaceful coexistence of Nigerians. Violence and war are not going to do anyone any good. Wars today hardly ends. No one who has seen the face of wars even on television would wish it for anyone. We should not tolerate hate speeches or divisive comments, the acting president said. There is no doubting the resolve of government not to allow anyone get away with hate speeches and divisive words. We will do everything within our power to protect the lives of every citizen anywhere and in any part of the country. However, the federal government took no action to sanction the members of the groups that had threatened to violate the rights of citizens to live in the north if they choose to. PREMIUM TIMES asked Mr Osinbajos spokesperson, Laolu Akande, what steps the then acting president took to back his bark with bite. You will need to talk to the security agencies for the details of that, Mr Akande said. The spokesperson of the police, Frank Mba, did not respond to enquiries on the subject. Many Nigerians, however, believe that the groups got away with mere warnings because they are from the same section of the country as President Muhammadu Buhari. Northern Governors Forum protection PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the former Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, Kashim Shettima, was among northern elites who discouraged the authorities from sanctioning members of the northern groups. According to government sources, some fellow northern governors were even furious that Mr El-Rufai ordered their arrest. Mr Shettima, for instance, called for dialogue with the groups. Ahmed Ningi, the spokesperson of Mr Shettima, said although the former governor met with the leaders of the groups, he did not have the full details of what he discussed with them. All I know is that Oga (Mr Shettima) called them for a peaceful resolution. He promoted the one Nigeria idea. I dont know anything about arrest, he told this newspaper. Disturbing pattern Since the 2017 incident, at least four non-state actors have made similar attempts to expel some Nigerians from their parts of the country. However, in only one of the four cases was attempt made to enforce the eviction notice upon the expiration of the ultimatum. That sole case involved Mr Adeyemo. Upon the expiration of his ultimatum, Mr Adeyemo stormed the community to evict some Fulani residents. The ensuing clash between his group and the Fulani residents resulted in the destruction of properties, including the home of Mr Abdulkadir, the head of the Fulani community in Igangan. Mr Abdulkadir and his kinsmen have since relocated to Ilorin, the Kwara State capital. Following the mayhem, Governor Makinde and the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, ordered the arrest of Mr Adeyemo. But the order was not carried out. The self-acclaimed Yoruba activist in multiple video footage later mocked the government, boasting of his powers and influence. Shortly after the crisis in Oyo, Mr Adeyemo again led his group to Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State to evict herders. Even though the Ogun State government immediately said it did not need his help to tackle insecurity in the state, no action was taken against Mr Adeyemo over the violence. Need for caution Demola Williams, a public affairs analyst, said Mr Adeyemos impunity indicated that the situation had gotten out of hand. If you noticed, before now, they only issue quit notices and move on. But now the Sunday Igboho saga has set a new precedent and people can go ahead with destruction of properties. Mr Williams warned that the development is capable of instigating a major ethnic crisis in Nigeria. Before you know it, another group may rise up tomorrow and tell Yorubas to vacate the North. The federal government does not know that it is sitting on a keg of gunpowder, he said. Other commentators who spoke with Premium Times agreed with Mr Williams and blamed the authorities for bringing the situation upon the country. A legal expert, Festus Ogun, said the reason someone like Mr Adeyemo was still walking freely is because the state and federal governments lack the political will to check people like him. Looking at the case of Sunday, the arrest was not effective because there is no political will from the actors of the state. If the authorities had the will to prosecute, we would not have the Sunday Igboho of this world. They made the order for arrest but at the end of the day, nothing gets done. That emboldens others to go ahead to eject or evict people, Mr Ogun said. A senior lawyer and human rights activist, Femi Falana, accused the federal government itself of also violating the rights of Nigerians in the past. Unfortunately, quit notices have been issued against some ethnic groups by some individuals who were never arrested or called to order. Beggars and other poor people are forcefully arrested and deported to their state of origin. Other poor people have their houses demolished by the federal government and many state governments. In all these cases, where the poor have been dislocated, the federal government has never protested. The federal government stands to be accused of selective defence of some herders in the country. However, Mr Falana said his position does not support the government or individuals issuing quit notice. He urged Nigerians to stop ethnic profiling of criminal elements. Another legal practitioner and a co-founder of the New Nigerian Bar Association (NNBA), Abdulbasit Suleiman, urged people whose rights are so violated to seek redress in court. Nobody has the power to issue any quit notice. A Hausa man can go to the South East to stay there and a Yoruba man can go to the North to build a house. What Sunday Igboho did infringed on the constitutional rights of the Fulanis. If the government is not ready to protect them, they have the rights to challenge the action of Igboho in any high court in Oyo State, Mr Suleiman said. Way forward Mr Ogun noted that the circumstances leading to the quit notices were mostly matters of insecurity. It must follow its words with responsible actions. Paying lip service to issues of security is inimical to Nigerias corporate existence, he said. The failure of the federal government is in not putting their words into action. Threatening them is not enough. Mr Ogun added, calling for the arrest of Mr Adeyemo and others issuing quit notices. Presidential spokespersons, Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu, did not respond to requests for comments for this report. Below are some of the other groups that had issued quit notices to Nigerians. Eastern group A group known as Voice from the East (VEAST) issued an ultimatum to Fulani herders to leave the South East in July 2018. According to Vanguard newspaper, the group during a peaceful protest, ordered the herders to leave the region by August 31 that year. VEAST convener, Kindness Jonah, said We carried out the demonstration for the sole purpose of issuing quit notices to Fulani herdsmen in Igboland. The aberrant killings by Fulani herdsmen purposely unchecked by the Federal Government and military instigated this quit notice. The state and federal governments did not speak on the threat, although the group is little known and its statement was not widely circulated or enforced. Niger Delta militants In 2018, another little-known group, the Coalition of Niger Delta Militants, warned Fulani herders to steer clear of the region and vowing to deal with any Niger Delta governor who allowed cattle grazing in the region. The group gave the warning in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. It also listed oil fields and installations as targets for resumed attacks if the federal government failed to address the grievances of the region. The group gave Fulani herders one month to vacate the region or face dire consequences. Signatories of the resolutions of the group included John Duku, Niger Delta Watchdogs and Convener, Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators; Ekpo Ekpo of Niger Delta Volunteers, Osarolor Nedam of Niger Delta Warriors; and Simply Benjamin of Bakassi Strike Force. Like those of the previous groups, the eviction order was not enforced. Ogun youth While the controversies surrounding the action of Mr Adeyemo were still raging, a group of youth in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State gave Fulani herders a seven-day ultimatum to leave the area. The youth, under the umbrella of Yewa North Patriotic Forum (YNPF), also blamed herders for the killing of five residents in Owode-Ketu and Egua communities. The youth issued the ultimatum in a statement signed by their president, Sanni Omobolaji. We also use this medium to give a seven-day ultimatum within which all killer herdsmen must vacate our local government or face the full anger of grieving people, part of the statement read. If this ultimatum is taken with levity, we shall stop at nothing in ensuring that all unknown Fulanis are flushed out of our local government at the expiration of the seven-day ultimatum. But the youth took no action upon the expiration of the ultimatum. Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Chinese investors are paying little heed to the governments biggest crackdown on cryptocurrency trading since 2017, underscoring the challenge for Beijing as it tries to rein in a speculative boom in digital assets.Knee-jerk selling has given way to a steady recovery on over-the-counter platforms that Chinese crypto traders have used since domestic exchanges were banned in 2017. One key gauge of local sentiment -- the exchange rate between Chinas yuan and the stablecoin Tether -- fell as much as 4.4% after the governments warning earlier this month but has since recouped more than half the loss, according to crypto data platform Feixiaohao, a Chinese equivalent of CoinMarketCap.China escalated its crackdown after a frenzied surge in Bitcoin and other tokens over the past six months heightened longstanding Communist Party concerns about the potential for fraud, money laundering and trading losses by individual investors. Yet the hard-to-trace nature of transactions on local OTC platforms and peer-to-peer networks means it will be extremely difficult for authorities to enforce a wholesale ban.That may come as a relief to global crypto enthusiasts after worries about a plunge in Chinese buying power contributed to the nearly $1 trillion selloff in digital assets from record highs in mid-May.As to the losses and the crackdown, I dont care, said Charles, a 35-year-old real estate consultant in Shanghai who asked to be identified only by his English first name. Hes been buying cryptocurrencies since 2017 and claims to have lost $11 million over three days in the recent pullback. To me its giving back the profits I made in the past few months, he said. Im looking at the 10- to 20-year horizon.Before China outlawed crypto exchanges in 2017, local investors owned an estimated 7% of the worlds Bitcoin and accounted for about 80% of trading, according to state media. The exchange ban has made it impossible to gauge those figures today, but Chinese investors are still widely believed to have a major presence in the crypto world via domestic OTC platforms and offshore venues that they access using virtual private networks.Domestic trades involving yuan and digital coins are difficult for Chinas government to track because they typically take place in two separate steps.The first happens on OTC platforms operated by firms including Huobi and OKEx, which allow traders to post bids and offers. Once both sides agree on a price, the buyer will use a separate payments platform -- operated by their bank or a fintech company like Ant Group Co. -- to send yuan to the seller. The digital coins, usually held in escrow by the OTC platform until the yuan payment clears, are then transferred to the buyer. Chinese regulators often have no way to connect one step of the transaction to the other.Because the yuan leg of the trades take place entirely within Chinas domestic financial system, the risk of large-scale capital outflows is low. But that hasnt stopped the government from warning financial firms and individual investors to stay away from crypto.Regulators this month reminded Chinese banks and payments firms of the requirement to identify and block suspicious transactions, and pointed out that facilitating cryptocurrency trades often violates banking rules. Chinas State Council called for a clamp down on Bitcoin trading and mining, vowing to resolutely prevent financial risks.Policy makers may be keen to avoid any major market disruptions around the politically sensitive 100th anniversary of the ruling Communist Party on July 1.After the governments statement, Huobi said it stopped its miner hosting services in mainland China and is scaling back futures contracts and leveraged investment products in some markets. Its unclear whether the firm plans to shut its OTC platform.Chinese regulators have so far stopped short of labeling individual trading illegal, but the crackdown will involve the public security department as some of the activities were suspected to have facilitated money laundering and terror financing, according to a person familiar with the matter.Police in Beijing have distributed printed warnings about potential risks associated with cryptocurrencies. Virtual currencies are among popular means for latest scams, and anyone in a panic, having a hard time distinguishing or not sure what to do should call the local police contact listed, according to one notice seen by Bloomberg.On social media, some crypto investors have made unverified claims that they were summoned by local police recently and warned against the risk of investing in cryptocurrencies. One investor said local authorities required him to sell his holdings. Another said police asked him to delete the trading app from his phone.Chinese officials see their success cleaning up the peer-to-peer lending industry two years ago as a model for its cryptocurrency crackdown, said the person familiar, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. The country purged the P2P industry after frauds and defaults became rampant, in some cases leading to suicide and street protests. In its heyday the sector had more than 50 million users and $150 billion in outstanding loans.The extreme price swings of cryptocurrencies have already left a mark. In one high-profile case, a Chinese man from the eastern city of Dalian killed his three-year-old daughter and tried to commit suicide with his wife after losing 20 million yuan ($3.1 million) on a leveraged bet on Bitcoin last June, according to local media reports.Peter, a Beijing tech worker, piled 20,000 yuan into cryptocurrencies three weeks ago, just in time for latest round of volatility. Within days, his portfolio grew to nearly 100,000 yuan, then quickly fell back down to 14,000 yuan. He echoed the carpe diem philosophy of crypto traders globally: It doesnt matter if it all goes to zero. But what if it brings me sudden wealth one day?More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. A Delhi Sessions Court granted bail to climate change activist Disha Ravi on Tuesday afternoon, subject to two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each. Ravi was arrested for being involved in sharing a 'toolkit' on social media in connection with the ongoing farmers' protest. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana said in his bail order that there is no palpable reason to not grant bail to Ravi who has no criminal background. He said, "Considering the scanty and sketchy evidence on record, I do not find any palpable reason to breach the rule of bail for a 22-year-old girl who has absolutely no criminal antecedent," After a short while, Pankaj Sharma, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of the Patiala House Court, rejected a Delhi Police application seeking extended custody of four days for Ravi. Appearing for Ravi, counsel Siddharth Agarwal said she had had no contact with secessionists. Delhi Police, opposing grant of bail, said Ravi could tamper evidence if she were to be released. The judge dubbed Delhi Police's reasoning "conjecture". On Monday, she was sent to one-day police custody after a three-day judicial remand and spending five days in police custody. Ravi was arrested on February 13. She was arrested by the Delhi Police from her Bengaluru home on the charge of being a key conspirator in the sharing of the toolkit that allegedly had a role to play in the riots during farmers' tractor rally on Republic Day. The police alleged that she, along with two others - lawyer Nikita Jacob and activist Shantanu Muluk - prepared and shared an online document meant to gain support for the farmers' protest. Also read: Families of govt employees who succumbed to COVID-19 to get Rs 50 lakh ex-gratia in UPA lso read: India critical to US strategy in Indo-Pacific region, say experts INDIANAPOLIS Nearly 63,000 Hoosiers ages 60-64 scheduled a free COVID-19 vaccine in their first three hours of eligibility Tuesday as the Indiana Department of Health continued its work to make the vaccine available to as many Hoosiers as supplies allow. To date, 905,236 Hoosiers have received the first dose of vaccine, and 459,603 are fully vaccinated. To schedule a vaccine appointment, visit https://ourshot.in.gov or call 211 if you do not have access to a computer or require assistance. Additional locations and appointments are being added as more vaccines become available. Indiana COVID-19 Dashboard & Map Effective immediately, only individuals who live in Indiana and meet the eligibility criteria can receive a vaccine at an Indiana clinic. This will ensure that doses allocated to Indiana go to Hoosiers. All clinics have been reminded to verify eligibility prior to administering a vaccine. To find testing sites around the state, click here. Out-of-state residents who received their first dose in Indiana can still receive their second dose at the same clinic. To schedule, visit https://ourshot.in.gov or call 211. The state and its partners are adding more locations for you to get vaccinated including select Meijer, Kroger, & Walmart pharmacies across the state. Vigo Countys three Kroger locations are included. All locations will show up on the state's vaccination website. It's important to note Meijer and Kroger will have their own appointment sign-up areas on their websites. The Indiana Department of Health will host 10 vaccine clinics for eligible Hoosiers around the state from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday this week. The clinics are being added to areas where there are currently no open vaccine appointments. Individuals must register in advance at https://ourshot.in.gov. No walk-ups will be allowed. The locations are: Bartholomew County: Ivy Tech, 4475 Central Ave., Columbus Clinton County: Ivy Tech, 251 E. Clinton, Frankfort Dearborn County: Ivy Tech, 50 Walnut St., Lawrenceburg Greene County: Greene County Fairgrounds, 4503 W. State Road 54, Bloomfield Lake County: Ivy Tech, 410 E. Columbus Dr., East Chicago LaPorte County: 3714 Franklin St., Michigan City Lawrence County: Inn at Spring Mill State Park, 333 Indiana 60 E., Mitchell Randolph County: Randolph County Fairgrounds, 1885 US 27, Winchester Scott County: Mid-America Science Park, 821 S. Lake Rd. South, Scottsburg White County: White County Fairgrounds, 12 N. 25 East, Reynolds Also Tuesday, the health department reported that 716 additional Hoosiers have been diagnosed with COVID-19 through testing at state and private laboratories. That brings to 657,037 the number of Indiana residents now known to have had the novel coronavirus following corrections to the previous days dashboard. A total of 12,025 Hoosiers are confirmed to have died from COVID-19, an increase of 44 from the previous day. Another 425 probable deaths have been reported based on clinical diagnoses in patients for whom no positive test is on record. To date, 3,088,729 unique individuals have been tested in Indiana, up from 3,085,554 on Monday. A total of 7,815,751 tests, including repeat tests for unique individuals, have been reported to the state Department of Health since Feb. 26, 2020 Cork City Council has moved to advise the public that the current severe weather event "is not over". Flooding on the Lee road, Cork city. In a statement this afternoon, the council said that due to the waterlogged land, tree roots foundations are weakened and "run-off of rainwater into rivers and on to roads is increased". "The continuing adverse weather conditions will lead to further river flooding this evening," the council said. A partly submerged bus shelter in Mallow, Co Cork after the River Blackwater broke its banks. . Picture Dan Linehan Cork City Council had crews out throughout the night and these were replaced with fresh teams today. "Our crews continue to monitor the situation and take action where necessary. "We continue to liaise with the other Principal Response Agencies and are ready to react to any situation which might develop," Cork City Council continued. Council worker Ger Roche blocking off the road leading to the flooded town park in Mallow, Co Cork after the River Blackwater broke its banks. . Picture Dan Linehan According to AA Roadwwatch, in Mallow, the N72 remains closed along Park Rd, and between Spa Glen and Oliver's Cross due to flooding. On the other side of the town, the road between Newberry (R621) and the N72 is also closed. The River Lee which has burst its banks and floods the fields after heavy overnight rain. Picture Dan Linehan Flooding has also caused the closure of the Doneraile/Newtwopothouse Rd (R581), the Dunmanway/Macroom Rd (R587) at Ardcahan, and the Dunmanway/Bandon Rd (R586) halfway between Dunmanway and Enniskeane. Flooding is still also affecting the Macroom/Toonsbridge Rd (R584). Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 Houston's Phil Archer, who took a knife to the side while reporting in 1978, will make his final report Thursday. The KPRC Channel 2 reporter announced in February that his last day at the station will be March 4. Archer is no stranger to Houston news, being the longest-running TV reporter on air. GOVERNOR UNDER FIRE: Anger toward Abbott grows in deadly storm's wake Archer's departure will no doubt be on every Houstonian's mind in the days after he's gone. Some Houstonians have already chimed in: Archer attended University of Houston in the early 1970s and was hired to KPRC in 1976. Two years later, Archer was covering the Moody Park Riots when he and then-photographer Jack Cato were stabbed. He lived to tell the tale, describing the attack to columnist Ken Hoffman in 2016: "We were the first reporters to get there," Archer said. "We got too far out in front of the police line. We were cut off, pelted with bricks and bottles and stabbed." Archer has received more than 50 awards for his reporting through the years. He recently made headlines during a flood in 2016 when he helped rescue a stranded dog in Fort Bend County. He was on a ride-along with then-Sheriff Troy Nehls when they spotted the struggling pup. Archer waded through four-foot waters to get to the dog. "I could see she was shivering as I got close to her," Archer told Hoffman in 2016. "I slipped a rope around her neck and tried to pull her to the boat. When I tugged on the line, it became apparent that she was tied to a porch column. I fumbled around under the water and found a chain attached to her collar. I found the clasp and disconnected it." Houston Humane Society Upon Archer's retirement, the Houston news landscape will never be the same. Washington, DC Californias Attorney General will be questioned during two upcoming days of Senate confirmation hearings. Xavier Becerra is President Joe Bidens pick to become Heath and Human Services Secretary and lead many of the elements of the COVID-19 response. The Associated Press reports that Republicans are portraying Becerra as unfit and radical, and Democrats counter that the GOP is playing politics. Today Becerra will go before the Senate Health Committee and tomorrow the Finance Committee. Yesterday Republican Senators Tom Cotton and John Kennedy sent a letter to President Biden arguing that Becerra is unfit for any position of public trust. In addition, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell refers to him as famously partisan. Becerra led Californias resistance to several policies enacted during the Trump Administration. He was appointed by former Governor Jerry Brown to serve as AG in 2017 shortly after President Trump took office. Governor Gavin Newsom has been waiting for Becerras confirmation hearings to conclude before announcing a potential Attorney General successor. The Health and Human Services Agency oversees drug safety and approvals, advanced medical research, health insurance programs and child welfare. [February 22, 2021] NRG Energy Announces Initial $10 Million in Relief for Texas Communities NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) today announced an initial $10 million commitment to provide relief for Texans impacted by the unprecedented effects of Winter Storm Uri. The company will provide $10 million in relief resources comprised of $3 million in cash donations and $7 million covering in-kind relief efforts and customer assistance. The funding aims to address three key areas: the immediate needs of the community, including food, water, and temporary or damaged housing; providing financial relief for customers through this difficult time; and aiding affected employees. "Texas is our home, and we are deeply saddened by the unprecedented hardship that our community is facing as a result of the recent winter storm," said Mauricio Gutierrez, NRG President and Chief Executive Officer. "As a company focused on our customers, we have built a stable business that enables us to provide relief and support during this difficult time for our communities, customers, and employees. We also want to reassure our residential customers that they are not exposed to the wholesale electricity price volatility that occurred during this winter storm. In the weeks and months ahead, we are committed to continue to support recovery efforts in the communities we serve." Community Support: NRG's pledge will include $3 million in cash contributions to: the American Red Cross; the Houston Food Bank; Houston Harris County Winter Storm Relief Fund; Kids' Meals, Inc; Metrocrest Services; Network of Community Ministries; North Texas Food Bank; Rebuilding Together Houston; SBP; Tarrant Area Food Bank; We Are All Human, and others. In addition to funding, NRG's HVAC and services group plans to provide pro-bono services through our non-profit partners. NRG would also like to thank its partner Malark Logistics for the delivery last week of three semi-trucks containing nearly 100,000 bottles of drinking water to Houston. Customer Support: In order to provide direct financial relief to customers impacted by Winter Storm Uri, NRG's retail brands, including Reliant, Green Mountain Energy, Direct Energy, and all others, paused all payment-relateddisconnects for all customers in advance of a recent order by the Public Utility Commission of Texas, have waived all eligibility requirements for extensions, payment plans and deposits for transfers of service, and continue to waive all fees for at least two weeks. Reliant is also providing payment assistance through its CARE program. Employee Support: As most of NRG's operations are based in Texas, a significant number of the company's employees, including those who worked tirelessly to keep power flowing into the grid through this crisis, also face hardship. NRG has allocated additional funding to the NRG Employee Relief Fund, which assists employees who are facing financial challenges immediately after a natural disaster or another unforeseen event. NRG also enacted its Immediate Response Program to provide grants to qualified Texas employees. About NRG Energy At NRG, we're bringing the power of energy to people and organizations by putting customers at the center of everything we do. We generate electricity and provide energy solutions and natural gas to millions of customers through our diverse portfolio of retail brands. A Fortune 500 company, operating in the United States and Canada, NRG delivers innovative solutions while advocating for competitive energy markets and customer choice, working towards a sustainable energy future. More information is available at www.nrg.com. Connect with NRG on Facebook (News - Alert) , LinkedIn and follow us on Twitter @nrgenergy. Forward Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions and typically can be identified by the use of words such as "expect," "estimate," "should," "anticipate," "forecast," "plan," "guidance," "outlook," "believe" and similar terms. Although NRG believes that the expectations are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these expectations will prove to be correct, and actual results may vary materially. NRG undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. The foregoing review of factors that could cause NRG's actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in the forward-looking statements included in this news release should be considered in connection with information regarding risks and uncertainties that may affect NRG's future results included in NRG's filings with the SEC (News - Alert) at www.sec.gov. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210222005981/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Abia State Government has said Kogi senator, Smart Adeyemi, is battling acute dementia and requires urgent psychiatric evaluation. It also said the lawmaker is battling with occasional fits of schizophrenia which manifests in making careless, dishonourable, unrelated and incoherent statements. This remark is in reaction to comments made by the senator during plenary on Tuesday. Mr Adeyemi, who was making his contribution to a motion on the urgent need for the restoration and revalidation of the Safe School Initiative in Nigeria, said people of Abia State are governed by drunkards. The senator, who represents Kogi West on the platform of APC also called the current Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, a champagne drinking man. In some states of Nigeria today, where we have highly intelligent people, highly educated people, very enterprising people, like Abia they are governed by drunkards. The governor of Abia is a champagne drinking man. Abia people are impoverished more than ever before. Abia people are unfortunate, he said. The rebuttal Shortly after PREMIUM TIMES contacted him for reaction, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Abia State Governor, Onyebuchi Ememanka, released the statement where he said the senator is suffering from a protracted case of mental illness. Mt Ememanka said the urge to ignore the senator became irresistible judging from the total disconnect between the matter being discussed by the Senate and the comments made by the senator as they affect the governor. If Senator Adeyemi was of sound mind, he said, he should know that Abia State is ahead of Kogi in terms of educational achievements. He also noted that there has not been one single case of attack on any school in Abia State. It is obvious that Senator Adeyemi is battling with acute dementia and has lost every of his instincts as a journalist. If not, he would have known that just last week, the National Bureau of Statistics adjudged Abia State as No. 3 on the list of states that attracted foreign direct investments, with only Lagos and Abuja ahead of Abia State in the entire country. It takes much more than drinking champagne to guide a state from zero foreign investments to No. 3 in the country. Kogi State featured prominently on the list of states that attracted zero investments. It is only a state that is peaceful and secure that has the capacity to attract such cross border investments, Mr Ememanka said. The CPS wondered why the senator was silent when the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) branded Kogi State unsafe for their consistent lip service to the COVID-19 pandemic. He added, Yet, he has the effrontery, or rather, the buffoonery, to abuse a governor whose state has maintained one of the lowest COVID-19 fatality rates in the country through proactive measures to protect our people. Between a governor who has consistently denied the existence of COVID and the one who has put in place measures to protect his people, one wonders who is the drunkard. The CPS said Mr Ikpeazu does not take alcoholic drinks and is shocked at the schizophrenic outbursts of Senator Adeyemi whom he has never met nor had any dealings whatsoever with officially nor privately. He said save for the parliamentary privilege on the senator, he (Adeyemi) would have been put to the strictest proof of his wild and senseless comments before a court of law. Mr Ememanka, thereafter, advised the senator to quickly seek psychiatric help before his case becomes unmanageable. ADVERTISEMENT Mr Adeyemis comment has generated different reactions from Nigerians on social media. While many condemned the use of foul language by the senator, others said he (Adeyemi) should have addressed the matter being discussed. Georgia's Ministry of Internal Affairs and the ruling Georgian Dream party have reported ongoing cyber attacks on their websites. Party chairperson Mamuka Mdinaradze said local media the "massed" digital operation was aimed at "destabilising" the political situation in the country. Mdinaradze said in comments to the press "all party websites" and interior ministry pages were under attacks that prevented uploading of news material and releases but expressing confidence professionals would "soon solve the issue". The party official told reporters an investigation would reveal people "behind a plan for destabilisation" while speaking about the digital attack following the arrest of United National Movement opposition party leader Nika Melia earlier in the morning. "A massed cyber attack is ongoing against both the Georgian Dream websites and those of state agencies. We believe it to be part of a plan the [opposition] could not succeed in today - ultimately, they did not dare resist the law, resist the state," Agenda.ge cited the ruling party official as saying. Relating the attack on his party's online resources with the arrest, the Georgian Dream chairperson said the government would withstand any "additional destructive measures" undertaken against it, as political tensions reached a high point during the early part of the day. On its part, the interior ministry reported attacks originating from "a number of countries" against its "computer infrastructure", noting digital security services of the ministry had neutralised the action and launched an investigation into its origins. Protesters hold signs outside the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco on Feb. 20 to call for an end to the Chinese regimes support for the Burmese military coup. (Nancy Han/The Epoch Times) Burmese Protesters Gather in San Francisco Against Coup, CCP Influence SAN FRANCISCOOver 400 Burmese people gathered in front of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco on Feb. 20 to protest against this months military coup in Burma (also known as Myanmar), as well as the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) support of the coup leaders. The protesters held signs that read Save Myanmar democracy and Myanmar military dictatorship is made in China. We love Chinese people, we love Chinese food, but were against the Chinese government policy toward our Burmese military regime, Koko Ley, the protest organizer, told The Epoch Times. Similar to the protesters in Hong Kong, they have made several demands. They want the CCP to acknowledge the 2020 election results in Burma, help seek and release all detainees (including the countrys elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi), stop the military coup violence committed against peaceful protesters, suspend Chinas support for the Burmese military, and restore democracy to Burma. [We want] the Chinese to stop helping the military. We want our democracy back. China is a communist country. We dont want to become like China again, protester Nay Naign told The Epoch Times. Protesters hold signs outside the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco on Feb. 20 to call for an end to the Chinese regimes support for the Burmese military coup. (Nancy Han/The Epoch Times) During protests in 1988 in Burma, the military released convicts to carry out violence and cause chaos. Thousands of pro-democracy activists were killed. The protesters dread the lifestyle that Burmese would have if their country were to become communist. Naign described the situation of Chinese living under the CCP: Theres no human rights and right now, the military people are killing people on the street, shooting people. They are arresting people at night. Ley said they want the CCP to stop providing military support, [economic] support, diplomatic support, including technical assistance. We dont want them to cooperate with the Burmese military regime. It is unlawful, unlawful [to] take over the power. This is a military coup. Thats why [the] people of Burma [dont] want it, said Ley. After the launch of the Honda CB350 RS, the company is eyeing to launch a new bike called CB500X as well. The Japanese auto giant is planning to launch the CB500X Adventure Touring motorcycle in India, sometime in April which is quite close to the heels of the CB350 RS. This development comes after the Honda President, MD, and CEO Atsushi Ogata recently said that they were still evaluating the Indian market, further mentioning that they would personally prefer a 500cc motorcycle, but nothing more was said. The bike is available in the international markets and if the same model comes to India, then its specifications would be a 471cc parallel-twin capable of producing 47 PS of power and 42 Nm of torque. The suspension is handled by a 41mm telescopic fork up front and a rear monoshock with nine-position preload adjustability. Also, the CB500X gets a 19/17-inch front/rear alloy wheel set-up. In terms of design, CB500X comes with a big tank, tall adjustable windscreen and staggered wheel set up. Other features include full-LED lighting, dual-channel ABS, and LCD instrument cluster. The bike may get priced at a sub-Rs 6 lakh figure and after its launch, the bikes sole competition would be Benelli TRK 502 in its specific segment. New Zealand has diagnosed a new local case of coronavirus with a high school student testing positive. The case was recorded in Auckland and is believed to be related to the cluster which plunged the city into a three-day lockdown last week. The infected student attends the Papatoetoe High School and is now isolating at home. The latest outbreak was confirmed to be the highly infectious UK strain of the virus. New Zealand has diagnosed a new local case of coronavirus with a high school student at Papatoetoe High School testing positive Nurses are seen speaking to people outside a Covid-19 pop up clinic in Auckland The student had been tested yesterday and had not returned to the school since, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said. Papatoetoe High School confirmed that all staff and students would be retested before they go home on Tuesday afternoon. Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the infected student lives in a household of six people, with one sibling also attending the same school. The other family members will be tested immediately but currently the confirmed case is the only one with symptoms. More information about any potentially infected venues will be released later on Tuesday. Papatoetoe High School had recently been shut in response to the outbreak of cases and only reopened to students who tested negative on Monday. It comes after Auckland entered a three day lockdown on February 15 after three people from one family - a Papatoetoe High School student and her parents - tested positive for Covid-19 It comes after Auckland entered a three day lockdown on February 15 after three people from one family - a Papatoetoe High School student and her parents - tested positive for Covid-19. The city was thrown into a level three lockdown while the rest of the country was put under level two restrictions. Two more cases linked to the school were recorded later last week and after a deep clean the school was reopened on Monday. So far 1,413 casual plus contacts have been tested with 41 remaining in isolation while they wait for results. Auckland had just returned to alert level one restrictions on Tuesday before the new case was identified. There are currently nine active cases in the community. For our free coronavirus pandemic coverage, learn more here. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Fiona Caffery never thought shed be looking for a job at 58. The small business owner was planning on working for another five years before selling her travel agency, scaling back her hours and retiring. Thats all been thrown out of the window, she says. Like many operators in the travel industry, the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on Cafferys small, but previously profitable, business in Melbournes Malvern East. While Caffery has seen her share of disruptions to the travel sector during her 38-year career terrorism attacks, tsunamis, earthquakes and economic downturns nothing compares to coronavirus. Overnight, through no fault of my own, my business is worth nothing, she says. While Caffery and two of her employees at Travel Sense each receive a fortnightly JobKeeper payment of $1000 from the federal government, her share has been entirely consumed by business costs and customer refunds. Advertisement She no longer has a shopfront, bidding farewell to it last year in order to cut costs. Staff now work from home, but there are still insurance, administration costs, licensing fees, IT fees and accounting bills. Caffery says she hasnt taken home a salary in more than a year. She also lost money on another business venture a salt therapy franchise which was forced into liquidation last year at the height of the pandemic. Im effectively unemployed, she says. At the end of March, the JobKeeper payments keeping her 13-year-old travel agency afloat are set to come to an end. Shell have to let go of her staff, a sad, but unavoidable outcome after a horror 12 months. It breaks my heart, she says, her voice wavering. Im a responsible business owner and these staff have been very hardworking, loyal and helped me build my business to what it is today. Advertisement They are like family. Loading Shes applied for work in office administration, catering and at hotels, but hasnt heard back from anyone yet. She knows competition is fierce and suspects her age might be working against her. Theres probably 100 other people who have applied for these positions, she says. Shes concerned the federal governments JobMaker scheme which gives hiring credits of up to $200 a week to businesses that employ workers under the age 35 might make it harder to find work. Its a policy that is being closely monitored by National Seniors Australia, which says the government must ensure it doesnt disadvantage one group while trying to help another. Advertisement Ian Henschke, the organisations chief advocate, says even before the pandemic older Australians were worried about losing their job and being shut out of the workforce. The failure to curb age discrimination, coupled with the increase to the pension age, and now high unemployment due to the pandemic makes the situation worse, he says. Loading But there are some positive signs, with the latest Bureau of Statistics figures showing the proportion of older employees in the workforce had almost returned to pre-pandemic levels. In December, 5.4 per cent of 55-to 64-year-olds were unemployed, down from 5.8 per cent in July. As well as the JobKeeper payments, Caffery has received $38,000 in state government grants for small businesses. While shes incredibly grateful for the assistance, she was embarrassed to ask for help. Im horrified to have to lean on the government, she says. Im a very independent person, and have supported myself, worked hard, paid my taxes all my life. Advertisement Instead of helping customers plan their dream holidays, Caffery now spends most of her time cancelling holidays and arranging refunds from airlines, tour operators and accommodation providers. Before the pandemic, Cafferys business used to have an annual turnover of $3 million, but the ongoing border closures has reduced this to almost nothing. While she had some success selling domestic travel experiences before Christmas, a spate of border closures brought that business to an abrupt halt. With so much uncertainty, clients are hesitant to book anything at all and you dont blame them, she says. Its hard to feel positive when its all just cancelling and refunding. Theres a bungalow at the back of Cafferys Glen Iris home thats filled with desks, couches, filing cabinets and brochure stands from her former shopfront. She wants to sell the furniture, but something is holding her back. Its been a real grief process, she says. While its unlikely Caffery will reopen a shopfront, she is determined to keep her business running, even if shes the only employee. Advertisement Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Malibu, California--(Newsfile Corp. - February 23, 2021) - Green Stream Holdings Inc. (OTC Pink: GSFI) ("the Company") ("Green Stream") (http://www.GreenRainSolar.com ), an emerging leader in the solar utility and finance space, announces today key updates on its flagship project site 160 Imlay Street in Brooklyn, NY. The Company has officially completed its structural engineering for the 160 Imlay Street Project and has submitted its application to integrate its solar and photovoltaic initiatives with conEd's powerful electric distribution grid. Structural Engineering for the 160 Imlay Street Project To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6720/75134_28cfc68ac45a2851_002full.jpg Con Edison provides electric services to 3.2 million customers in New York City and portions of Westchester County. Electricity is delivered through approximately 94,000 miles of underground cable, and almost 37,000 miles of overhead cable. Satcon To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6720/75134_28cfc68ac45a2851_003full.jpg As the demand for solar energy soars, the industry is booming in New York. Solar clients expect prompt interconnection, but this isn't always the case. The State of New York and utility companies, such as Con Edison, both have interconnection requirements. The vast majority of solar installers apply for interconnection on behalf of their residential and commercial clients. As part of its Clean Energy Commitment, conEd wants to make it possible for customers to buy 100 percent clean electricity by 2040. Con Edison Inc. is the second largest solar producer in North America and seventh largest in the world. Approval of Green Stream Holdings' initial application with conEd for Imlay street will facilitate the opportunity to harness renewable energy for GSFI to then lease back to the surrounding communities toward a sustainable, long-term income stream, as it continues to position itself as an industry leading lease-back utility company in the renewable energy space. Red Hook 160 LLC Imlay Street Property To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6720/75134_28cfc68ac45a2851_004full.jpg 160 Imlay Street is a work/live property venture with Red Hook 160 LLC, a privately-owned residential developer and owner of a portfolio of residential apartment buildings in New York City. GSFI 160 Imlay Street Project Aerial View To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6720/75134_28cfc68ac45a2851_005full.jpg Green Stream's initiatives for 160 Imlay include implementation of a rooftop photovoltaic system providing at a minimum of 300- 450 Kw of electric Photo Voltic Power, utilizing approximately 1000-1440 panels, on approximately 22,000 square foot space on the property. Green Stream Holdings, together with Morali Architects as their joint venture partner in this project, will design, erect, construct and install or retrofit the property, increasing its value and reducing the property's carbon footprint all the while. GSFI Photovoltaic Rooftop To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6720/75134_28cfc68ac45a2851_006full.jpg All 70 condos at Green Stream's 160 Imlay Street Project feature open layouts, wide plank oak flooring, double-glazed windows, beautiful Manhattan skyline views, custom oversized European doors, and beamed concrete ceilings at soaring heights. Custom Bulthaup kitchens are outfitted with white matte cabinetry and Miele appliances. Baths have Italian stone walls, contemporary fixtures, and backlit mirrors. Select units have private balconies, and an extraordinary triplex penthouse comes with 1,270 square feet of private outdoor space. All residents can enjoy such amenities as a landscaped roof deck, fitness center, steam rooms and saunas, and storage. GSFI 160 Imlay Street in Brooklyn New York To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6720/75134_28cfc68ac45a2851_007full.jpg GSFI 160 Imlay Street in Brooklyn New York To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6720/75134_28cfc68ac45a2851_008full.jpg Shareholders-visit greenrainsolar.com where you can view Green Stream's news, filings and even a live Level 2 stream, along with other company information. GSFI Company Proposal To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6720/75134_28cfc68ac45a2851_009full.jpg About Green Stream Finance, Inc.: Green Stream Finance, Inc., a Wyoming-based corporation with satellite offices in Malibu, CA and New York, NY, is focused on exploiting currently unmet markets in the solar energy space, and is currently licensed in California, Nevada, Arizona, Washington, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Colorado, Hawaii, and Canada. The Company's next-generation solar greenhouses constructed and managed by Green Rain Solar, LLC, a Nevada-based division, utilize proprietary greenhouse technology and trademarked design developed by world-renowned architect Mr. Antony Morali. The Company is currently targeting high-growth solar market segments for its advanced solar greenhouse and advanced solar battery products. The Company has a growing footprint in the significantly underserved solar market in New York City where it is targeting 50,000 to 100,000 square feet of rooftop space for the installation of its solar panels. Green Stream is looking to forge key partnership with major investment groups, brokers, and private investors in order to capitalize on a variety of unique investment opportunities in the commercial solar energy markets. The Company is dedicated to becoming a major player in this critical space. Through its innovative solar product offerings and industry partnerships, the Company is well-positioned to become a significant player in the solar space. Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and is subject to the safe harbor created by those sections. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. That includes the possibility that the business outlined in this press release cannot be concluded for some reason. That could be as a result of technical, installation, permitting or other problems that were not anticipated. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Green Stream Finance, Inc. to be materially different from the statements made herein. Except for any obligation under the U.S. federal securities laws, Green Stream Finance, Inc. undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For All Inquiries Contact: president@greenstreamfinance.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75134 Denton, TX (76205) Today Thunderstorms - a few could contain very heavy rain, especially this afternoon. High 79F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 2 to 3 inches of rain expected. Locally heavier rainfall possible.. Tonight Thunderstorms this evening will give way to steady rain overnight. Low 64F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. Locally heavier rainfall possible. Advertisement Sting's son-in-law has been slapped with a lawsuit and restraining order over his 'vermin-infested' and 'illegal' Los Angeles AirBnB hippy commune, DailyMail.com can reveal. Chris Kantrowitz, husband of pop legend Sting's daughter Mickey Sumner, has been accused of using a commercial building in Hollywood for residential tenants, and leaving the AirBnB renters in squalor. The commune, BE Hive, was billed as a 'hub for spiritual but also modern and nomadic entrepreneurs', hosting workshops on micro-dosing drugs with a European biochemist turned shaman, and 'sacred sexuality' sessions, teaching couples to use sex to access 'the mysterious, loving, magical depths of the universe.' But a lawsuit filed against Kantrowitz, 46, in Los Angeles Superior Court by his tenants this month claims that he broke zoning laws turning the commercial building into a boarding house with more than 12 rooms, improperly used other AirBnB renters as housekeepers, and failed to fix 'vermin infestations', 'a leaking hole in the ceiling' and 'clogged plumbing.' The court papers claim that after being caught using the building once a rock and roll memorabilia museum as a residential space, Kantrowitz tried to turf out his tenants and rent out the building to fitness company Sweatheory as a yoga studio. Chris Kantrowitz is the husband of pop legend Sting's daughter Mickey Sumner. He's been accused of using a commercial building in Hollywood for tenants and leaving it infested with vermin, DailyMail.com can reveal. The couple are pictured together In a lawsuit filed against Kantrowitz, his tenants claim that he broke zoning laws turning the commercial building into a boarding house with more than 12 rooms Pictures show broken windows, trash strewn on the floor, water damage streaking the walls and potentially dangerous electrical wires The court papers claim that after being caught using the building once a rock and roll memorabilia museum as a residential space, Kantrowitz tried to turf out his tenants and rent out the building to fitness company Sweatheory as a yoga studio 'Kantrowitz and a crew of approximately 20 workers without notice or consent began substantial demolition and renovation work in order to convert the rental unit to a Sweatheory business location,' the lawsuit, filed by tenants Gabriel Capra and Kristin Wright, said. Photographs included in court filings show broken windows, trash strewn on the floor, water damage streaking the walls and potentially dangerous tangles of electrical cables in the building. Chris Kantrowitz is the husband of pop legend Sting's daughter Mickey Sumner. Sting and Mickey pictured together in 2014 The tenants' court filings also complain of 'an accumulation of filth' with 'mold in the bathroom', 'rats on the premises' and 'droppings'. Capra and Wright's attorney, Makoa Kawabata, said he hoped Kantrowitz would 'take responsibility' as a result of the lawsuit. 'This is precisely the sort of behavior the Rent Stabilization Ordinance and other Los Angeles renter protection laws were designed to prohibit,' said Kawabata, who along with renters' rights attorney Elliot Rosenberger, represents wronged tenants in Los Angeles. 'We hope this suit will make the defendant take responsibility for his decision to profit from illegally renting out a property that he let fall into conditions the Los Angeles Department of Building & Safety determined to be substandard and hazardous.' Kantrowitz, BE Hive's primary investor, ran his music industry startup Gobbler from the building and committed the company to a 10-year lease there, LA Weekly reported in 2017. 'It's kind of this hub for spiritual but also modern and nomadic entrepreneurs, basically,' BE Hive co-founder Tamara Edwards told the magazine. 'Chris and I met in 2003 when I was 18, most likely on the dance floor. In 2011 he introduced me to Burningman,' she said in an interview on site ActiveCultureFamily.com. 'It was there, covered in the magical playa dust, that our friendship deepened and our hearts were forever connected. I was transformed by the experience. I was already a meditator but it was that trip that gave me my first spiritual awakening. I have been extremely grateful for Chris for facilitating that experience.' The commune, BE Hive, was billed as a 'hub for spiritual but also modern and nomadic entrepreneurs,' hosting workshops on micro-dosing drugs. But as these photos show it is a rundown building with water damage and broken windows The tenants' court filings also complain of 'an accumulation of filth' with 'mold in the bathroom', 'rats on the premises' and 'droppings' The tenants' lawsuit claims they paid $1,200 per month to rent a room in the 7,000 sq ft building on Sunset Boulevard. Water damage on the walls is seen in this photo Kantrowitz told the site his mission was 'to facilitate health and wellness for as many people as possible,' and 'share ancient learning.' 'The concept of the BE Hive was inspired by a place in San Francisco called the SafeHouse that was started by my friend Matt Wiggins. Tamara and I had stayed there one night and we decided then and there that LA needed a place like it. So we decided to make it happen,' he said. The tenants' lawsuit claims they paid $1,200 per month to rent a room in the 7,000 sq ft building on Sunset Boulevard. The documents said that from March 2019 through January 2021 Kantrowitz and his company received at least $30,543.85 from them, but 'did not take any measures to perform needed maintenance to keep the Rental Unit in a substantially habitable condition during any month of the tenancy.' Kantrowitz's lawyers responded to the tenants with their own legal filings claiming the lawsuit was 'littered with inaccuracies and misrepresentations', that they were 'Airbnb guests who have overstayed their time at a commercial hotel', and that the building 'has been legally permitted as a hotel or lodging/rooming house since 1914.' However, the City of Los Angeles hit the property with a Notice of Code Violation on February 16, saying that 'the property in fact is in violation' of seven regulations. The City of Los Angeles hit the property with a Notice of Code Violation on February 16, saying that 'the property in fact is in violation' of seven regulations. The tenants' lawsuit claims they paid $1,200 per month to rent a room in the 7,000 sq ft building on Sunset Boulevard An order to comply was seen at the property and included in the court filing. 'Stop all T.I. work. Obtain all required permits and inspection approvals,' it reads Kantrowitz's lawyer, Ellia Thompson, said his AirBnB business was legal, and that he offered to pay his tenants to relocate but that they sued him to extract more cash. 'Several Airbnb guests overstayed their 30 days becoming long-term guests, although since much of this occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr. Kantrowitz did not want to force them to look for new lodgings,' Thompson, of the firm Ervin Cohen & Jessup, told DailyMail.com. 'Knowing his lease for the space was coming to an end, my client offered compensation to the few remaining guests to help find new lodging, yet these two guests preferred to file a lawsuit hoping to cause financial hardship so they can get a windfall. 'When my client's lease expired at the end of 2020, the landlord took possession of his property and Mr. Kantrowitz no longer has any oversight or authority over the space.' BE Hive was meant to have 'sacred sexuality' sessions, teaching couples to use sex to access 'the mysterious, loving, magical depths of the universe Kantrowitz is married to actress Mickey Sumner, 37, who has starred in movies including Frances Ha, Low Winter Sun and Snowpiercer, and is the eldest daughter of musician Sting, whose real name is Gordon Sumner The couple are pictured with their child dressing up in Star Wars costumes The notice accuses the owners of 'unapproved occupancy' and that the building is 'being used as a hostel/hotel'. The damning notice demands fixes for 'inadequate maintenance,' 'lack of adequate heating', 'deteriorated or defective flooring', 'inadequate fire protection', 'hazardous electrical wiring' and 'missing or damaged plumbing sanitation fixtures.' Kantrowitz is married to actress Mickey Sumner, 37, who has starred in movies including Frances Ha, Low Winter Sun and Snowpiercer, and is the eldest daughter of musician Sting, whose real name is Gordon Sumner. She is not named in the lawsuit. Kantrowitz is a serial entrepreneur, the founder of online gaming technology company 3D Groove, and Frank the Plumber, a concert design firm that has worked with artists including The Strokes, Akon, Stevie Wonder, Beyonce, Katy Perry and John Legend. His latest venture, Gobbler, sells software for the music industry. Migrant labour who returned from Surat commits suicide in UP Two girls from Surat discover new asteroid HLV2514 that will soon pass by earth in near future More than 70 crorepatis in fray for Surat civic body polls, 50 from BJP Gujarat Municipal Election Results 2021: AAP opens account in civic polls, becomes No 2 in Surat India oi-Madhuri Adnal Ahmedabad, Feb 23: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday made inroads in Gujarat politics, winning 27 seats in the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC). Elections to six municipal corporations in the state were held on Sunday and counting took place on Tuesday. While the BJP retained power by winning 93 seats in the 120-seat SMC, the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP won remaining 27 seats. The Congress, which had won 36 seats in SMC last time, was reduced to zero seats. AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj announced that Kejriwal will hold a road-show in Surat city on February 26 "to thank the people" The AAP received crucial support from the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), the organization agitating for quota for the Patel community, once led by Hardik Patel. Hardik Patel is now the working president of Gujarat Congress. Though the PAAS is now virtually defunct, two of its prominent members - Alpesh Kathiria and Dharmik Malavia - are still active in Surat and command support in the community. Riding on the anti-BJP wave created by the quota agitation in 2015, Congress managed to win 36 seats in Patidar-dominated areas of Surat last time. Gujarat Municipal Election Results 2021: BJP heads for big win; AAP stuns in Surat But before Sunday''s elections, both Kathiria and Malavia had openly pledged to defeat the Congress following differences with its leaders over of ticket distribution. In 2016, Kejriwal had addressed a rally in Patidar- dominated Varachha area ahead of 2017 Assembly polls. But his party failed to open its account in the 2017 elections. This was for the first time AAP had fielded its candidates in the municipal polls in Gujarat, said Bhardwaj. But it did not win any seats in other five municipal corporations. "AAP has given a new hope to the people of Surat. We have put an end to the friendly match which was going on between Congress and BJP. For a party which does not even have a sarpanch in Gujarat, it is remarkable to win 27 seats," said Bhardwaj. Preeti Sharma Menon, Mumbai in-charge of the AAP, said the people of Surat and the party''s leaders there showed that "clean politics is possible across India". "The Congress is the opposition the BJP wants. Congress'' rout has yet again demonstrated that it is finished," she said, adding that only Kejriwal and the AAP can successfully take on the BJP electorally. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, February 23, 2021, 23:34 [IST] Daniele Johnson Daniele Johnson When asked about Black History Month, Daniele Johnson quickly refers to a quote from President Gerald Ford: Seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history. This summarizes the reason that we still need Black History Month, said Daniele. Ive witnessed many non-Blacks complain about the need for a whole month to focus on Black history and they inquire why is there not a month that highlights their non-Black history. I would defer to this quote every time! Daniele believes that every single month, we as a country need to acknowledge and learn about the contributions of Black Americans, not just in February. Carter G. Woodson, the father of Black history, believed that equality was only possible with the acknowledgement and understanding of a races history, said Daniele. Thus, Black History Month is very important to foster equitable environments and create awareness to societal injustices. Although Black History Month is in February, recognizing the contribution of Black Americans should be year-round. Daniele believes Black History Month allows people to see that Black history does not start with slavery. Black History Month is a short period of time that we get to stop to focus and highlight accomplishments of the African diaspora, said Daniele. Too often, Black history is overlooked or neglected. During the African diaspora, scientist, doctors, teachers etc. were stolen and made into slaves; thus, we have so much culture and Black contributions to celebrate! As a technician in the Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA), Daniele spends a lot of time researching answers to complex inquiries from various sources. My current position in the Enforcement Division has allowed me to become versed with the MRA statutes, rules and regulations, said Daniele. My priority is to outline the scope of the MRA and implement procedures. As a departmental technician, I assist the public by answering calls and responding to emails, upload documents to Accela database, and operate various computer software, including databases, Excel, Word and Adobe. Daniele is committed to using her skillset, strengths, passion, and problem-solving skills to ensure the compliance of Michigans Marijuana Acts and Rules. But she did not always plan on a career involving licensing and regulation. In fact, before she joined the MRA, Daniele was a licensed chiropractor. Daniele attended the University of Michigan and received her B.S. in Movement Science from the School of Kinesiology in 2011 and was then accepted to National University of Health Sciences where she obtained her doctorate degree in chiropractic medicine. After passing the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners exam, Daniele submitted her records for licensure and practiced as a chiropractor for almost four years. Although she healed many patients and had much success with her techniques, she was not feeling fulfilled, and the career restrictions did not benefit her current family dynamics. So, she decided to take a leap of faith and shift careers. I was instantly intrigued once I began working for the MRA, said Daniele. This was a huge career change and was absolutely unrelated to my prior education and skillsets. I was welcomed into the MRA and instantly felt appreciated, useful, and I really enjoy the ever-changing and fast-paced environment. Initially, Daniele was interested in the social equity aspect of the MRA due to her lifelong passion to prevent and address socio-economic disparities among diverse populations. However, she thinks that working in the Enforcement DivisionField Operations Sections has been a great experience and she truly enjoys her work environment. Although I have only been employed with the MRA for a short time, I believe that I have made a difference in our day-to-day operations with the unique perspective that I have to offer, said Daniele. Daniele is a Lansing native and she graduated from J.W. Sexton High School. Shes lived many places and she loves to travel. Danieles five-year old son is the light of her world and she strives to be the best mother she can be. During Black History Month, she takes the time to remember where she came from and teaches her son these important, age-appropriate lessons as well. I love being Black, a Black woman at that! Although, being Black is so beautiful, it is also very hard, said Daniele. Many Blacks can identify with the struggle, resilience, and adversity. However, we must be careful to not only focus on this aspect of being Black. Its the culture, pride, history, the sense of community and the physicality of melanin for me! Overcoming every single obstacle that was set before me just because of the color of my skin, then mastering my craft and being successful, is what being a Black woman feels like to me. Gordon Ramsay has revealed he's lost 57 million during the Covid pandemic after being forced to close his restaurants for much of 2020. The chef, 54, who owns 35 restaurants and is scheduled to open five more in 2021, admitted he's been 'devastated' by the financial impact of the crisis, and lost 10 million worth of bookings in January alone due to the third lockdown. It comes after Gordon revealed he was forced to cancel 22,000 bookings for his restaurants in December as England was placed in tiered restrictions following a rise in Covid cases. Huge impact: Gordon Ramsay, 54, has revealed he's lost 57 million during the Covid pandemic after being forced to close his restaurants for much of 2020 Gordon told The Sun: 'In December we had 10m worth of reservations wiped out overnight,' he exclusively tells The Sun from his London home over Zoom. 'As of 19th March to 3rd February this year we've suffered 57.5million worth of turnover down.' In December Gordon announced the opening of three new restaurants across London after England was brought out of a second lockdown, but just weeks later the hospitality sector was forced to close once again. Difficult: The chef who owns 35 restaurants, admitted he's been 'devastated' by the financial impact of the crisis (Gordon's Heddon Street restaurant is pictured) Gordon added he's been forced to take up the Government's furlough scheme to save thousands of jobs across his restaurant empire. He added: 'I get criticised for being wealthy, but the responsibility on my shoulders - the livelihoods at stake - is huge.' It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson finally revealed plans to re-open restaurants in his road map out of lockdown. After weeks of being restricted to delivery and takeaway service only, pubs and restaurants will be allowed to welcome customers from up to two households or in accordance with the rule of six, outdoors from April 12. Desperate measures: Gordon added he's been forced to take up the Government's furlough scheme to save thousands of jobs across his restaurant empire Indoor dining will be allowed from May 17, in accordance with the rule of six, and it's hoped all legal restrictions will be allowed to end on June 21. Last week Gordon revealed he had to cancel over 22,000 bookings for his restaurants in December. He said the effect Covid has had on the hospitality industry is 'devastating,' but he remains optimistic his business could re-open by Easter. Speaking on The Graham Norton Show Gordon said he's planning to open up even more restaurants when lockdown is eased. Shocking: Last week Gordon revealed he had to cancel over 22,000 bookings for his restaurants in December (pictured on The Graham Norton Show) Gordon admitted that thousands of bookings across his business were removed when Tier 3 restrictions in December forced many restaurants to close just weeks after re-opening following the second lockdown. Weeks later the government placed the entire country in lockdown, with not set date as to when pubs and restaurants can re-open. He told Graham: 'It's devastating. When you think about breaking bread and having fun with friends and family, it's just tragic not to have that.' The Hell's Kitchen star added: 'When we reopened last July, the atmosphere was monumental and electrifying, we didn't even need music, so to be shut backdown was tough. Tough: The chef said the effect Covid has had on the hospitality industry is 'devastating,' but he remains optimistic his businesses could re-open by Easter (pictured on the chat show) 'In December, our most important month, we cancelled 22 and a half thousand reservations, but I have always been optimistic. 'It is tough but we will come out of this we've re-created, re-developed and researched new ideas so when we come out of this lockdown we will open up as new restaurants. We are hoping we will re-open at Easter. It would be a dream.' Gordon also spoke to Graham about his new BBC quiz show Bank Balance, revealing the series was developed during the last lockdown. He said: 'It was developed via Zoom during lockdown this time last year, with the team spread out all over the country I was in Cornwall with my beloved neighbours and we got this high-pressured game to an amazing place. 'The set is really spectacular and intimidating and then you've got me asking the questions! It's really exciting.' The hospitality industry is one of those hardest hit by the pandemic, with many restaurants closed for most of 2020 due ever-changing restrictions, and thousands of staff furloughed or even left unemployed due to the impact on businesses. Despite re-opening in July, with strict social distancing measures and the introduction of the rule of six, the government's tier measures introduced in October forced many to close once again. Upsetting: He admitted that thousands of bookings across his business were removed when Tier restrictions in December forced many restaurants to close yet again In November the entire country was placed in another lockdown, forcing all hospitality business to switch to takeaway or delivery only, and some were open for just days in December before being ordered to close once again. Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, told Radio 4's The World At One that if the reopening of the sector was delayed until May, 3.2million could lose their jobs. Just one in five hospitality businesses are confident that they will have enough cash to get through beyond March,' she said. 'There is no way that businesses will be able to survive until May with no revenues coming in for seven months. 'It's a cash burn of half a billion pounds to keep the sector closed each and every month. If we are forced to wait for a longer period then unfortunately there will be little left of the hospitality sector and the 3.2million people who work in it to reopen at that point in May.' She said she hoped that with the vaccination programme under way, there would be a 'pathway' to the lifting of restrictions. 'Otherwise I think you've got a danger that you have an impact on peoples' mental health and well-being and also their economic health and well-being,' she said. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 17:47:23|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LUSAKA, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Each day, hundreds of trees are cut down in Zambia for purposes of charcoal burning, a trend that has not only contributed to the depletion of the country's forests but also resulted in ecological imbalances. In an effort to curtail deforestation and ensure sustainable livelihoods among the rural poor, ODI, an organization involved in professional beekeeping has been conducting education and sensitization meetings with charcoal burners and farmers in selected rural communities in Zambia. The essence of the meetings is to inform targeted communities about the advantages of investing in conventional beekeeping to both protect the environment and improve livelihoods. "One tree can give you about four bags of charcoal once you cut it down and burn it. But if you hang two or four beehives on a tree, you get a continuous income and at the same time save a tree. This is the information we are taking out there," said Francis Mwale, ODI Beekeeping cooperative secretary. Mwale further revealed that charcoal burners and farmers in central Zambia where the sensitization meetings have been conducted are now eager to invest in conventional beekeeping methods, which according to him promote the sustainable use of natural resources. "The response has been overwhelming. We are currently working on providing them with conventional beehives. We are also working to reach other parts of the country," he said. Mwale further said aside from helping to provide sustainable livelihoods and a range of health benefits through honey production, bees enhance the productivity of plants as they contribute immensely to pollination, which is vital for both plant and animal survival. George Ngoma, chairperson of Lupili market, a renowned charcoal trading place located in Zambia's capital Lusaka, noted that encouraging charcoal burners to take up beekeeping would have a positive effect on others involved in the charcoal trade. "Charcoal resellers, transporters, and a host of others involved in the business would also be encouraged to take up less hazardous work. Charcoal trade is not only detrimental to the environment but also to humans' health," Ngoma said. He added that many charcoal traders are willing to abandon the hazardous business but that they lack information about lucrative and eco-friendly ventures such as beekeeping. Enditem New Delhi, Feb 23 : Shantanu Muluk, an accused in the 'Toolkit' conspiracy case, filed an anticipatory bail application in a Delhi court on Tuesday. Muluk, along with climate activist Disha Ravi and Nikita Jacob, are the three accused in the case. The Bombay High Court had granted transit anticipatory bail to him for 10 days on February 16. Jacob and Muluk joined the investigation at Delhi Police's Cyber Cell office in Dwarka on Monday. They were confronted with Ravi the same day after they were issued a notice to join the probe last week. The Delhi Police have contended that the Google document tweeted by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg to back the farmers' protest and then deleted, was created by Ravi and two other activists - Jacob and Muluk. A 'toolkit' is a series of guidelines suggesting how a particular aim can be achieved. Toolkits chart out plans of action explaining topics at hand and offers suggestions that could be followed to achieve particular goals. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text DID YOU KNOW An African American woman worked in NASA to help put an astronaut in orbit around the Earth and also helped send astronauts to the moon. It was Katherine Johnson, a mathematician, whose calculations of orbital trajectories was crucial in the first manned flight. Katherine Johnson was born Katherine Coleman Aug. 26, 1918, in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Even as a child her abilities in math were astonishing. She started high school at the age of 10. She graduated from West Virginia State College (now West Virginia State University) when she was 18 years old. She received her bachelors degree in mathematics and French. She decided to take a teaching job in Virginia. She and three other African American students enrolled in the university for graduate courses. However, she decided to marry James Goble and start her family. James Goble died in 1956. She married James Johnson in 1959. Katherine began working at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), in 1953. She was with a group of African American women who were in the computing unit and manually performed complex mathematical computations for the programs engineers. The working conditions were not easy for Katherine and her friends. NACA was segregated. The African Americans had to use separate bathrooms and ate in separate dining facilities. However, in 1958, NACA became part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which banned segregation. In 1960, Johnson was a member of the Space Task Force and co-authored a paper with one of the engineers about calculations to put a spacecraft into orbit. She authored and co-authored 26 research reports in her career. Johnsons mathematical genius was instrumental in NASAs Mercury program (1961-1963). In 1961, she calculated the path for Freedom 7, the spacecraft that put the first U.S. astronaut in space. John Glenn depended on Katherine Johnson to verify that the computer calculations were correct. She verified the calculations and John Glenn made history becoming the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the earth. Katherines achievements and contributions to NASA and the space program were ignored for many years. The movie, Hidden Figures, brought her work and accomplishments to the awareness of the American people. A recent announcement came that NASA is honoring Katherine Johnson with a new spacecraft named after her. The aerospace and defense company, Northrop Grumman has named a new NG-15 Cygnas cargo craft, the S.S. Katherine Johnson. We thank Katherine Johnson for her strength to push through the racial segregation and still enrich NASA with her mathematical genius. Johnson died on Feb. 24, 2020, at the age of 101. Compiled by Shirley Madden, member of the Manistee Area Racial Justice & Diversity Initiative. GAL, a leading provider of aircraft sustainment solutions, has partnered with the Abu Dhabi Vocational Education and Training Institute (Adveti) to train and encourage UAE national students to join the companys MRO staff cadres in Abu Dhabi. Mohammed Al Khemairi, CEO of GAL signed the agreement with Dr Abdulrahman Jassim Al Hammadi, Managing Director, of Adveti on the sidelines of the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX 2021),underway at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) from 21 to 25 February. Under the terms of the agreements, GAL is to train students of engineering and logistics from Adveti in the latest MRO operations and processes at its dedicated facilities in Abu Dhabi, with a view to hiring them to join its workforce as permanent employees upon completion of their educational programmes. In addition, GALs team of experts will also collaborate with the faculty at Adveti in structuring the course curricula of the engineering and logistics programme to ensure their continued relevance in the workplaces of tomorrow. Students chosen from the bachelor's, higher diploma and diploma programmes in aircraft engineering, aircraft maintenance, air traffic management, electromechanical engineering, and information security engineering, will work with GAL as part of its efforts to increase the number of qualified nationals in its workforce. Mohamed Al Khemairi, CEO of GAL, said: As a leading MRO services provider, GAL is conscious of its crucial role in building the capacities of young UAE nationals from engineering and aviation focused disciplines to join our team of subject matter experts and technicians. In line with our commitment to the sustainability of the UAEs MRO sector, these partnerships will empower Emirati students to take up promising careers in the field of MRO and aircraft sustainment. The students will join GALs teams in providing an integrated range of allied services to enhance operational efficiencies for our customers. Such well-intentioned synergies between academia and industry go a long way in bridging the skills gap in the UAE labour market while also adding value for our clients in terms of fresh talent and ideas. Dr Abdulrahman Jassim Al Hammadi from Adveti, said: Adveti is thrilled to enter this agreement with GAL in order to enhance UAE national capabilities and opening new opportunities for young Emiratis to find their niche and follow their passions. Our strategy aims to boost the role of technical and vocational training in building a new generation of Emiratis qualified to perform highly specialized jobs, provide innovative services, and turn out world-class products proudly made in the UAE. Such initiatives are as important as Advetis indigenous programs that align with the UAEs development plans and offer various specializations. This agreement reflects our commitment to developing human resources and increasing the competitiveness of UAE nationals in the labour market in line with the National Agenda of the UAE Vision 2021 and the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030. GAL currently employs a 5,000-strong workforce from 71 different nationalities, with Emiratis accounting for 27 per cent. The company has gained a reputation for its varied expertise and talented technical and engineering teams employed locally and internationally to work on a diverse rotary and fixed-wing platforms, making them subject matter experts in the field. The company provides logistics and supply chain services as a value-added stand-alone offering or as part of an integrated lifecycle solution. GAL is part of the Mission Support Cluster at EDGE, an advanced technology group that ranks among the top 25 military suppliers in the world. TradeArabia News Service Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Williamstown Fire District Building Committee Recommends Owner's Project Manager WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. The Williamstown Fire District's Building Committee Friday chose to recommend the district appoint Colliers International to serve as the owner's project manager on the district's planned project to build a new fire station. Six of the eight committee members in a virtual meeting selected Colliers, which has offices in Boston and Agawam and throughout the country, from among three firms the panel interviewed. "Colliers stood out," said committee member James Kolesar, an emeritus vice president for public affairs at Williams College. "Their presentation was thoughtful, crisp, to the point. They highlighted things that the other groups had to be asked about; one was sustainability and greenness. They told a plausible story about how that's pretty important to them and they have a lot of experience in that. "The other one, as Elaine [Neely] mentioned, that I think is really important to our project and to me, is outreach. They convinced me that they could give concrete examples of being creative and specific in ways they helped communities do that work. They told a plausible story about exciting contractors to work in a remote location like ours, another detailed story about working in the time of COVID." Kolesar joined Fire Chief Craig Pedercini, Assistant Chief Michael Noyes, firefighter Ryan Housman, Prudential Committee member David Moresi and Building Committee Chair Neely in naming Colliers their first choice for the OPM contract. In a second round of voting, six members of the committee picked New Bedford's Architectural Consulting Group to be its second choice among the three finalists, in case the district cannot agree to a contract with Colliers. Ultimately, the five-person Prudential Committee will decide whether to accept the recommendation of the Building Committee and approve a contract with Colliers. The Prudential Committee's plan is to use the expertise of an OPM to select an architect and general contractor for a new station on Main Street and, eventually, oversee the construction process. Colliers, according to its website, was founded in Australia and expanded to the United States in 1978. Today, it has more than 150 offices in the U.S., operates in 67 countries and has $3.3 billion in annual revenue. Locally, it managed the construction of the Williams Inn and the renovation of the Colegrove Park Elementary School in North Adams (as Strategic Building Solutions). "I did speak to about eight people of varying scopes, all who had been engaged with Colliers," said Moresi, who was tasked with checking references for the firm. "Most of that came from Berkshire County. And as had mentioned at the last meeting, not only did I look to engage with public officials who utilized Colliers as an OPM, I also spoke to some of the larger contracting firms who have worked directly under Colliers. "Overall, everyone had positive things to say. I did speak with former Mayor [Richard] Alcombright of North Adams; Nancy Ziter, former business administrator; Jim Montepare, former superintendent of North Adams Public Schools. Nothing negative about Colliers. They said they represented the interest of the city well. That was a challenging project, and they did make note of it. They had significant issues with the general contractor on that project. It was rather challenging at times, and they said Colliers did a good job. They really assisted the city through those challenges they experienced. Mr. Montepare said they were tenacious with respect to getting after the GC." Later, during the deliberation phase of the meeting, Moresi said he thought the district would get the "whole package" from Colliers and added that he was concerned about what he was perceiving about another applicants' demeanor with general contractors. "That can be very concerning on projects like this because that can create a toxic work environment when you have a GC and OPM butting heads," Moresi said. "Some of these OPMs can really be bulldogs. Yes, it's a fine line; they are representing the owners. But sometimes the way you present yourself and the way you go about it might yield better results. You've got to be careful you don't create these toxic work environments. It seems like I heard that more than once in the feedback. That's something that raised a red flag with me." Anzac Day dawn services and marches will return to Queensland on April 25 after traditions honouring the Diggers were disrupted because of COVID-19 restrictions last year. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced on Tuesday the services would go ahead as normal. The city of Brisbane was a ghost town last year as ANZAC Day marches and services were cancelled. Credit:Tertius Pickard NEWS In times of strife, Queenslanders do what it takes to protect each other, she wrote on Facebook. Weve done it in wartime, and were doing it now through the global pandemic. A man has been jailed for 15 years after pleading guilty to the murder of reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta. Vincent Muscat changed his plea to guilty on Tuesday and was immediately sentenced at the courtroom in the capital Valletta. Ms Caruana Galizia, an investigative journalist who specialised in probing corruption, was killed by a bomb while driving in October 2017. Proceedings against brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio, who have maintained their not guilty pleas, will continue. A fourth man, hotelier Yorgen Fenech, is being charged separately. As the development unfolded, police arrested three men believed to have supplied the device that killed Ms Caruana Galizia. They are set to be charged in court in the coming days. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 13 May 2021 Muslim girls ride on a mini train after attending the Eid Al-Fitr prayer that marks the end of the Holy month of Ramadan at Uhuru Park in Nairobi, Kenya AFP via Getty Images World news in pictures 12 May 2021 Israeli artillery fire as the escalation continues between Israeli army and Hamas at the Gaza Border EPA World news in pictures 11 May 2021 Maya Nakanishi competes in the womens long jump - T64 category during a para-athletics test event for the 2020 Olympics at the National Stadium in Tokyo AFP/Getty World news in pictures 10 May 2021 A Palestinian man helps a wounded fellow protester amid clashes with Israeli security forces at Jerusalems Al-Aqsa mosque compound, ahead of a planned march to commemorate Israels takeover of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War AFP/Getty World news in pictures 9 May 2021 Falconer Giovanna Piccolo performs with her Eurasian eagle-owl at 'Roma World' theme park, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Rome Reuters World news in pictures 8 May 2021 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (29) is introduced as a starter against the St. Louis Blues at T-Mobile Arena. USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 6 May 2021 Buddhist monks and believers attend a lantern parade in celebration of the upcoming birthday of Buddha at a temple in Seoul, South Korea Reuters World news in pictures 5 May 2021 Russian MiG-29 jet fighters of the Strizhi (Swifts) and Su-30SM jet fighters of the Russkiye Vityazi (Russian Knights) aerobatic teams fly in formation over the Cathedral Square of the Kremlin in Moscow during a flypast rehearsal for the WWII Victory Parade AFP/Getty World news in pictures 4 May 2021 An elevated metro line collapsed in the Mexican capital on Monday, leaving at least 23 people dead and dozens injured as a train came plunging down, authorities said AFP/Getty World news in pictures 3 May 2021 Lightning bolts strike buildings during a thunderstorm in Bangkok AFP/Getty World news in pictures 2 May 2021 Samaritan worshippers arrive to take part in a Passover ceremony on top of Mount Gerizim, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus AFP/Getty World news in pictures 1 May 2021 A Gilet Jaune, or yellow vest, protestor stands in front of a burning barricade holding his hand up with an inscription calling for President Macron to resign as May Day Protest turn violent near Place de la Republique in Paris, France Getty World news in pictures 30 April 2021 A demonstrator from the Rio de Paz human rights activist group digs a symbolic grave in front of rows of bags symbolising bodybags on Copacabana beach, during a protest against the Brazilian governments handling of the coronavirus pandemic, in Rio de Janeiro AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 April 2021 An aerial picture shows dead carp fish flushed to the shores of al-Qaraoun reservoir in Lebanons Western Beqaa District in the countrys east. Tonnes of fish have washed up dead on the shoreline of the highly polluted artificial reservoir in eastern Lebanon in recent days AFP/Getty World news in pictures 28 April 2021 Health workers wearing PPE attends to coronavirus patients inside a banquet hall temporarily converted into a covid care centre in New Delhi AFP/Getty World news in pictures 27 April 2021 The full moon, known as the Super Pink Moon rises behind the Statue of Liberty in New York City, Reuters World news in pictures 26 April 2021 Balinese people lay wreaths with names of the crew on board the sunk Indonesian Navy submarine KRI Nanggala during a prayer at the sea near Labuhan Lalang, Bali, Indonesia EPA World news in pictures 25 April 2021 An Ethiopian Orthodox Christian worshipper walks around the Edicule, the place believed to be where Jesus Christ was buried, during Palm Sunday celebrations at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem AFP/Getty World news in pictures 24 April 2021 Fans of Wuhan Three Towns FC cheer for their team during the 1st round match Wuhan Three Towns FC and Beijing Institute of Technology FC during Chinese Football League One in Wuhan, China Getty World news in pictures 23 April 2021 A girl prays in front of the Dome of the Rock, in the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalems Old City, on the second Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, as coronavirus restrictions ease around the country, in Jerusalem Reuters World news in pictures 22 April 2021 People walk through the art work 'THE SPIRITS OF THE PUMPKINS DESCENDED INTO THE HEAVENS' by Yayoi Kusama, during the press preview of a retrospective exhibition of the Japanese artist at the Martin Gropius Bau museum in Berlin, Germany AP World news in pictures 21 April 2021 Hungary's Sara Peter competes in the Women's floor qualifications during European Artistic Gymnastics Championships at the St Jakobshalle, in Basel AFP/Getty World news in pictures 20 April 2021 South Korea university students gets their heads shaved during a protest against Japan's decision to release contaminated water from its Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, in front of the Japanese embassy, in Seoul Reuters World news in pictures 19 April 2021 A spectator wearing a football jersey of Argentina's forward Lionel Messi attends the ATP Barcelona Open tennis tournament singles match between Japan's Kei Nishikori and Argentina's Guido Pella at the Real Club de Tenis in Barcelona AFP/Getty World news in pictures 18 April 2021 People raise their fist during a demonstration near the George Floyd Memorial in Minneapolis, Minnesota AFP/Getty World news in pictures 17 April 2021 Security personnel stand guard outside a polling station during the 5th phase of West Bengal's state legislative assembly elections in Kolkata AFP/Getty World news in pictures 16 April 2021 Palestinians take part in the first Friday prayers of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam's third holiest site, in Jerusalem's Old City AFP/Getty World news in pictures 15 April 2021 A firefighter inspects the site of a car bomb attack in Sadr City district of Baghdad, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 14 April 2021 This picture shows the 100 days countdown till the start of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games displayed on the illuminated Tokyo Skytree in Tokyo on April 14, 2021 AFP/Getty World news in pictures 13 April 2021 This photo taken and received courtesy of an anonymous source shows Buddhist monks gesturing while taking part in a demonstration with protesters against the military coup in Mandalay during the Myanmar New Year festival of Thingyan AFP/Getty World news in pictures 12 April 2021 An Indian holi man during the Kumbh Mela royal bath (Sacred Hindu Pilgrimage) in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India. Thousands of pilgrims are gathering and taking holy dip in Kumbh Mela that is a mass Hindu pilgrimage which occurs after every twelve years and rotates among four locations EPA World news in pictures 11 April 2021 Nasa released images of of sand dunes on Mars captured using infrared reflections NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU World news in pictures 10 April 2021 People watch devotees pulling a chariot in Biska Jatra Festival in Bhaktapur, Nepal AP World news in pictures 9 April 2021 Maintenance workers clean the monument of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in Moscow on April 9, 2021. - Sixty years ago Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space, marking it a new chapter in the history of space exploration. AFP/Getty World news in pictures 8 April 2021 Protesters hold a banner and burning red flares during a demonstration of called by unions of healthcare and social workers in support of their sector and to demand a bonus in their pay in Paris AFP/Getty World news in pictures 7 April 2021 Protesters laying on the street near the Election Commission office in Kolkata during a demonstration demanding the halt of the ongoing state legislative election and campaign rallies amidst the rising number of Covid-19 cases AFP/Getty World news in pictures 6 April 2021 Voters stand in queue to cast their votes at a polling booth during third phase of West Bengal state elections in Baruipur, South 24 Pargana district, India AP World news in pictures 5 April 2021 The Statue of Christ appears behind clouds from the Sao Jorge Castle in Lisbon as the Portuguese government eased coronavirus restrictions AFP/Getty World news in pictures 4 April 2021 Christian worshippers light candles during an Easter service in Yerevan, the Armenian capital AFP/Getty World news in pictures 3 April 2021 Anti-coup protesters hold improvised weapons during a protest in Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmars military Junta continued a brutal crackdown on a nationwide civil disobedience movement in which thousands of people have turned out in continued defiance of live ammunition Getty World news in pictures 2 April 2021 A rescue works at the site after a train derailed in a tunnel north of Hualien, Taiwan Reuters World news in pictures 1 April 2021 Man flashes three-finger salute next to burning tires during a protest against the military c Reuters World news in pictures 31 March 2021 Mannequins wrapped in barrier tape stand in front of Berlins landmark Brandenburg Gate as part of German artist Dennis Josef Mesegs Corona Memorial called It is Like it is AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 March 2021 A ship heads down the Suez Canal, in Ismalia, Egypt EPA World news in pictures 29 March 2021 Flocks of flamingos are pictured in a pond in Navi Mumbai AFP/Getty World news in pictures 28 March 2021 Anti-coup protesters use slingshots and pelt stones towards approaching security forces on March 28, 2021 in Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmar's military Junta continued a brutal crackdown on a nationwide civil disobedience movement in which thousands of people have turned out in continued defiance of live ammunition. Getty World news in pictures 27 March 2021 The mother of Aung Zay Min, 20, who was shot and killed in the night by security forces, mourns over his body at his funeral in Dala township in Yangon, Myanmar Getty World news in pictures 26 March 2021 Farmers play cricket on a deserted highway road during a 12-hour strike, as part of protests against farm laws, at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border in Ghaziabad, India Reuters World news in pictures 25 March 2021 China Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2021 collection show in Beijing Reuters World news in pictures 24 March 2021 A man rows a boat against the setting sun at the Dal Lake after a downpour in Srinagar AFP/Getty Ms Caruana Galizia's killing led to international calls for accountability, as her investigative reporting had targeted the government of then-premier Joseph Muscat with claims that corruption was everywhere in political and business circles in the island nation. Joseph Muscat, who is not related to the suspect, resigned last year in the wake of the scandal. Additional reporting by Associated Press Ethiopian refugee doctor, Tefera Tewodros stands in the health clinic in Hamdayet, eastern Sudan. UNHCR/Giulia Raffaelli Medical doctor Tefera Tewodros was among the first refugees to reach safety in East Sudan at the onset of the crisis last November in Ethiopias Tigray region. Since then, he has been living and working at the health clinic in the border town of Hamdayet in Kassala state, where the majority of the 60,000 refugees fleeing the conflict in Ethiopia have sought safety. Born in Eritrea, Tefera moved after independence to Ethiopia, where he graduated from medical school and became a surgeon. For the past few years, he worked as a surgeon in Humera. He had a comfortable life and never imagined he would have to flee with just the clothes on his back. The first days as a refugee were the worst of my life. It was confusing and traumatic. I didnt know exactly what was happening. I was unable to think, recalls the doctor who was cut off from his loved ones as all communications were down. But on 16 November, everything changed. Stunned by the sheer number of people streaming across the border, many sick or wounded, he realized he had to step up and help. He went to offer his support to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and the Sudanese Commission for Refugees (COR) at the Hamdayet transit centre. The very next day he started volunteering at the health clinic, run by the Sudanese Red Crescent Society. The first days as a refugee were the worst of my life. It was confusing and traumatic. Regardless of the long hours, the lack of staff and medical supplies, Tefera has found renewed purpose in his work. Since that first day, I have been working with a commitment I have never had before, he adds. He and his colleagues attend to hundreds of patients daily at the health post in Hamdayet, a facility that has only two rooms one used as an office and outpatient department and a second serving as an infectious diseases laboratory, pharmacy and storage. It also functions as a mini hospital with an operation and resuscitation table, which used to be the doctors bed. I now sleep on a mat behind the clinic, he says. While he sometimes feels unable to perform to his full potential, due to the difficult circumstances, he continues to volunteer at the medical facility. At least I am doing something beneficial for my people and I am proud to support the local community too, he explains. He is currently training eight volunteers to help with the daily activities at the clinic. It takes time to train them as they are now requested to go beyond their routine work, amid many challenges, he adds. But he adds that there are some small wins, regardless. One of our trainees actually left us recently to start a job at a nearby clinic, he says. I now sleep on a mat behind the clinic. Tefera supports his people not only as an experienced physician but as someone who is going through a similar situation and understands the trauma of being uprooted. Feelings cant be translated as easily as words can, he says, adding that he is convinced that sharing the language and culture of his patients enhances his ability to help them. Besides his work at the clinic, the doctor spends his limited spare time talking to his friends and family abroad in Europe, the USA, and other countries. His ultimate hope is to go back to the life he had before leaving Ethiopia. Until then, while more than 30,000 refugees have been relocated from the border areas to the Um Rakuba and Tunaydbah settlements, in Gedaref State to offer them security and better living conditions he is committed to remain in Hamdayet and keep aiding the community there. London: Britain has ratcheted up its criticisms of China, as Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab denounced it at the United Nations for abusing Uighur Muslims human rights on an industrial scale. It comes as concern about the treatment of Uighur Muslims in Chinas Xinjiang province grows into a mainstream issue in Western democracies. Protesters decry Chinas treatment of Muslims Uighurs outside Parliament in Ottawa, Canada. Credit:Canadian Press/AP Raabs criticism was followed in short order by the Canadian Parliament passing a non-binding resolution saying Chinas treatment of the Uighur Muslim minority in Xinjiang constitutes genocide. Canadas House of Commons voted 266-0 for the motion brought by the opposition Conservative Party. Trudeau and his cabinet abstained from the vote, although Liberal backbenchers backed it. 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 beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks! Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics. The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc. The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics. The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates. Access to college recruiters and advisors its harder to line up higher education. Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family. Vote View Results SUNRISE, FL / ACCESSWIRE / February 23, 2021 / U.S. Stem Cell, Inc. (OTC PINK:USRM), a leader in the development of proprietary, physician-based, and novel regenerative medicine solutions, is pleased to announce the efforts of NorthStar Biotech Group and USRM Board Members to reinvest in U.S. Stem Cell, Inc. On May 9, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice, at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), filed suit against U.S. Stem Cell, Inc. and others to enjoin defendants from utilizing the SVF Surgical Procedure, in which "stromal vascular fraction" (SVF) cells are removed from a patient's fat tissue and reimplanted in the patient during the same surgical procedure. The Company has maintained that such cellular therapies are surgical procedures regulated by state law, and that the SVF surgical procedure is excepted from regulation under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). On June 25, 2019, the federal court for the Southern District of Florida ruled in favor of the government, enjoining the Company and the other defendants from certain product sales and processes. The Company filed an appeal on August 23, 2019 and attended oral argument on January 13th, 2021. The Court of Appeal has not yet ruled on the Company's appeal that the injunction should not have been entered. "While there can be no assurances for a positive outcome of the case, we believe and fully support the mission of U.S. Stem Cell" said Gregory Knutson, Managing Partner of NorthStar Biotech Group and U.S. Stem Cell board director. Further commenting "We believe in the technology and the potential of the Company and now is the time to help support it towards the next goal." "The support of our NorthStar Biotech partners and our board of directors is timely, crucial and testament to our company's potential." States Mike Tomas, President and CEO of U.S. Stem Cell Inc. U.S. Stem Cell, Inc. is an emerging leader in the regenerative medicine and cellular therapy industry specializing in physician training and certification, as well as veterinary applications, and management of cellular therapy clinics. To management's knowledge, the Company historically has completed more clinical treatments than any other cellular therapy company in the world in the past 20 years, and has certified more than 700 physicians and veterinarians in autologous cell therapies worldwide. Forward-Looking Statements: Except for historical matters contained herein, statements made in this press release are forward-looking statements. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, words such as "may", "will", "to", "plan", "expect", "believe", "anticipate", "intend", "could", "would", "estimate", or "continue", or the negative other variations thereof or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements and represent our management's beliefs and assumptions only as of the date hereof. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. The Company's business and the risks and uncertainties of the business are described in its past filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission which can be found at sec.gov. Media Contact: U.S. Stem Cell, Inc. 1560 Sawgrass Corporate Parkway, 4th Fl. Sunrise, FL 33323 Phone: 954.835.1500 Email: usstemcell@us-stemcell.com SOURCE: U.S. Stem Cell, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/631288/Northstar-Biotech-and-USRM-BOD-Members-Reinvest-in-the-Company Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Romania sends healthcare workers to aid Slovakia Intensive care specialists to stay three weeks. Foreign Affairs Minister Ivan Korcok and his Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu during the visit in Bucharest (Source: TASR) Romania is sending a team of healthcare workers to Slovakia to help fight the coronavirus pandemic. Foreign Affairs Minister Ivan Korcok announced the information on Monday. Five doctors and nine nurses are expected to come to Slovakia and remain for three weeks, said Korcoks Romanian counterpart, Bogdan Aurescu. Korcok thanked Romania for responding quickly to the Slovak request for assistance in this dire pandemic situation. Together and supported by friends we will overcome, he wrote. Last week the Slovak government approved the activation of the civil defence mechanism of the EU due to the deteriorating pandemic situation in Slovakia. Poland and Austria also promised help. Lukasz Kmita, head of the Lesser Poland (Malopolskie) region that neighbours Slovakia, said last week that a specialised hospital in the town of Nowy Targ by the border was ready to admit patients from across the border. This form of aid needs to be approved by the Polish central government, the TASR newswire reported. 23. Feb 2021 at 17:56 | Compiled by Spectator staff A parliamentary intern has shared text messages she received from the former Liberal staffer accused of raping Brittany Higgins, showing he invited her to a senator's office at Parliament House. Ms Higgins, a former parliamentary staffer, claims she was assaulted by a male colleague inside their boss Defence Minister Linda Reynolds' office in 2019. Another three women have since come forward to allege they were assaulted by the same man. The allegations have prompted another former intern to share intimate details about her experiences with the man on a couch in the office of a Nationals senator at Parliament House in 2014. While she says their encounters were consensual, she claims she felt 'pressured' to have sex with him on other occasions. Brittany Higgins (pictured) went public last week with the allegation she was raped by a male colleague inside Defence Minister Linda Reynolds' office in 2019 The former intern shared an exchange of Facebook messages, where the man claims the couch in the senator's office is 'really comfy' 'Nothing "rapey" happened. But that makes me feel really ill. I feel like he wanted to [take me there] because he wanted to show off his power. He was obviously much more important than I was,' the woman told news.com.au. 'There was one time I kept saying, "No, I am really tired, I don't want to do anything" and he kept being like, 'Oh, come on. Come on.' She also shared Facebook messages which refer to the couch in the senator's office, which the man insists is 'comfortable' as he invited her there. 'The lounge in his office is really comfy, good for doing readings. haha,' he wrote. The woman replied: 'mmm, depends, do you tend to talk a lot whilst studying?' The man adds he's usually 'a good boy' and has an essay to write. She claims the encounter occurred five years before the staffer allegedly raped Ms Higgins. A former intern has come forward with fresh allegations she had sex in a senator's office at Parliament House (pictured) with the he former Liberal staffer accused of raping Brittany Higgins The woman was a university student at the time and interning for a Labor MP. The man, whom she described as 'ambitious' with dreams of becoming Prime Minister, was also an intern at the time for a Nationals MP. She first met him at drinks where she got 'very drunk' and went back to his house. 'We kissed that night. I was very drunk and he was totally sober,' the woman recalled. 'I never felt weird about that but there were other instances where he definitely pressured me. We never had proper sex.' The woman says she will come forward to police to make a statement if it helps with their inquiries. Brittany Higgins (pictured) claimed she was assaulted by a male colleague inside their boss Defence Minister Linda Reynolds' office in 2019 when she was 24 Brittany Higgins with partner David Sharaz, who quit his job amid her rape allegations against a former male colleague The latest bombshell comes a day after Ms Higgins' boyfriend said he has 'no regrets' about quitting his job and standing by his partner amid allegations that she was raped in Parliament House. David Sharaz, who worked in Canberra dealing with federal government clients, said his bosses gave him time off to support her but realised he could not keep his job. 'My number one priority has always been to support Brittany during this incredibly challenging time,' he told The Guardian. 'Unfortunately the events of this last week haven't been without consequence for Brittany, her family and myself.' Mr Sharaz is a journalist with extensive experience working for SBS, Sky News and regional broadcaster Win. He also worked with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet before taking on a role in January dealing with government clients for a media analytics company. The former press gallery reporter thanked his employer for giving him time off, but said he was unable to do his job and maintain healthy relationships with ministerial offices in light of Ms Higgins' allegations. Mr Sharaz (pictured with Ms Higgins) is a journalist with extensive experience working for SBS, Sky News and regional broadcaster Win Mr Sharaz said he had 'absolutely no regrets in choosing to support my partner, and will continue to do so'. Pictured: Brittany Higgins Mr Sharaz said he had 'absolutely no regrets in choosing to support my partner, and will continue to do so'. 'The standard you walk past is the standard you accept. Being supportive is the least that I - or any other partner of a victim-survivor can do. 'Brittany - and many others deserve better.' Ms Higgins previously said she did not immediately report the alleged rape to police out of fear that she would lose her 'dream job', but resigned earlier this month before making the allegations last Monday - leaving the young couple unemployed. Her alleged rapist, who has since been accused of sexual harassment by three other women, has checked himself into a private rehabilitation clinic after losing his job at a large corporation. A spokesperson from the company said the former Liberal staffer started working for the company in July last year, but would not confirm whether any employees had reported sexual misconduct. Brittany Higgins' (pictured) allegations will be formally stated to police on Wednesday 'Given the nature of your inquiry it is not appropriate to comment further,' the spokesman told the Sydney Morning Herald. The man worked for four federal Coalition politicians over a four-year period before he gained a spot in Senator Reynolds' office. While Ms Higgins described him as a 'rising star' and favourite of the minister, others said the accused was 'social awkward around women' and had 'no female friends whatsoever'. One politician, who wanted to remain anonymous, described the man as 'uber-ambitious' and moved to another job with only one day's notice. On March 26, 2019, - four days after the alleged rape - he was fired for breaching security at the office. Until recently Ms Higgins worked for Employment Minister Michaela Cash (together in Parliament's Great Hall) Senator Reynolds (pictured with Ms Higgins) has known about the alleged rape for more than two years but did not inform the prime minister to respect Ms Higgins' privacy and welfare Two more women accused the former government worker of rape after Ms Higgins went public last week, and now a fourth alleged victim has taken her story to Canberra police on Sunday. Labor frontbencher Michelle Rowland said revelations of a fourth victim were 'deeply disturbing'. 'There now appears [there was] an alleged serial rapist on the loose in the ministerial wing of Parliament House,' she told Sky News on Monday. 'How on earth have we gotten to this position where we now have the Prime Minister saying he didn't know and no-one thought it was prudent to tell him?' The fourth woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the ABC the 'really sleazy' alleged rapist stroked her thigh on a night out in 2017. Ms Higgins (pictured) said she felt pressured to stay silent in order to keep her dream job Ms Higgins' claim, which will be formally stated to police on Wednesday, opened the floodgates for others to share their stories. The latest woman to come forward was with colleagues at Canberra's Public Bar in 2017 when the alleged rapist touched her thigh uninvited. She said it was not the first or last time she received unwanted advances from male colleagues. 'By that time, I was just so used to sexual harassment I just brushed it off,' she said. After speaking to officers from the local police station on Sunday afternoon, the woman said she received a call from the Australian Federal Police's Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Team. They asked her to make a formal statement with them later this week, she said. The third woman said she was assaulted while working as a coalition volunteer during the 2016 election campaign. She was barely out of school at the time of the attack, which allegedly occurred after a night out drinking with the then-political staffer. Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds is seen during Question Time in the Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra last week, after Ms Higgins' allegations were made public During the night out, she claims he bought her several rounds of 'double strength' vodkas and three tequila shots. The boozy night prompted the young volunteer, who had never been drunk before, to vomit in the nightclub bathroom. When everybody else had left, the woman said she told him she was going to catch an Uber home, and he suggested they go back to his hotel room 'around the corner' instead, and he would 'look after her', she told The Australian. After they arrived, she passed out while laying on his bed and allegedly woke up with her clothes undone and the staffer allegedly lying on top of her. The woman, who was a virgin, said she was uncertain as to whether he was conscious or sleeping, but she bolted from the room into the hotel lobby toilet, where she discovered she was 'bleeding'. Feeling embarrassed and ashamed, the woman made her way home and did not tell police, her family or friends. 'I believe his actions on the night of 29 June and the morning of 30 June constitute sexual assault, because he performed or tried to perform sexual acts on me whilst I was severely intoxicated and unable to provide valid and informed consent,' she told The Australian. 'I later realised I was so drunk, I was not able to give any consent.' Pictured: Prime Minister Scott Morrison during Question Time in the House of Representatives on February 22 Scott Morrison also believes the culture within Parliament House has to change as he and his government remain under scrutiny over the handling of the matter. Pictured with Ms Higgins 'Hearing Brittany Higgins' story, it was so eerily similar, it made me think this person has a pattern of behaviour.' The second alleged victim claimed she met the ministerial advisor in 2016 when he was working for Senator Reynolds during the election campaign. 'We went back to my place and we were kissing we were going to have sex and I said he had to wear a condom,' she said. 'He refused and we argued and I told him five or six times that we couldn't have sex unless he wore a condom. I was drunk and he just got on top of me, I said no, and then he was inside of me and I kept saying no.' Ms Higgins' bombshell allegations have rocked Canberra as the Morrison Government plunges into damage control and calls mount for systematic reform of working conditions for parliamentary staffers. Juan Mendez III, the mayor of Brownsville who is known as Trey, said even as his community deals with power outages and the pandemic, it can help support migrants as they continue their journey to relatives in the United States to pursue their cases. The number of migrants so far released into the town pales in comparison to 2019, when hundreds of families a day were dropped off at the local bus station. If its several hundred overnight, then thats something that would become overwhelming for us, said Mr. Mendez, adding that the coronavirus positivity rate among the released migrants hovers around 10 percent to 15 percent, compared with 25 percent for the Brownsville community at large. The administration is very well aware of that weve conveyed that on numerous occasions. On Saturday, border agents dropped off a dozen migrants, all mothers and small children, outside the Brownsville bus station. Some said they were held longer than the 72-hour limit that border agents are allowed to detain children. Within minutes, a team of city officials and volunteers had begun setting up a station to test for the coronavirus. With a negative test, they were allowed into the station to continue their journey. If they tested positive, the volunteers used donations to pay for their quarantine at a local hotel although it was not mandatory. Within three hours, the number of migrants at the station grew to about 50. Doris, a mother of two boys who fled an abusive former partner in Guatemala and crossed the border in recent weeks, did not expect to be provided testing, blankets or coloring books for her children when she was dropped off on Saturday. Theyre very good people, she said of the city staff and volunteers. A similar effort is underway in Matamoros. On the north end of the encampment, which holds about 1,000 migrants, the authorities are putting the final touches on a large tent where migrant families will receive a test for the coronavirus before they cross into the United States. Volunteers for the Red Cross walked around a camp that was for months neglected by both the Mexican and American governments. One Honduran, Walter Lara, who had lived in the camp since November 2019, was so excited at the prospect of entering the United States that he asked another asylum seeker to give him a haircut for the occasion. He was willing to be patient. We believe in the process that will happen, Mr. Lara said. Elsewhere confusion reigned. Those stranded by remain in Mexico struggled to register through the administrations online system and were frustrated that new arrivals were being released across the border, Ms. DCruz said. One campus, in Maryland, temporarily canceled in-person classes after coronavirus infections surged past 60 cases two days in a row. The other, in Virginia, kept classrooms open even after it logged 229 cases in a single day. The region's flagship universities - the University of Maryland at College Park and the University of Virginia - have tracked an alarming uptick in the number of viral cases on campus. And each school has taken a different approach to curbing the spread, illustrating the tensions and uncertainty of trying to operate major research universities in the pandemic and preserve public health. The communities surrounding these campuses are bracing themselves, should the cases from campus make their way into grocery stores and onto public buses. In recent weeks, virus cases have been declining overall across the greater Washington region. The surge at U-Va. spurred new safety restrictions, including a ban on in-person gatherings. But face-to-face classes remained in session, in part because officials have not seen incidents of viral transmission in the classroom, university leaders said last week. The university since the beginning of the pandemic has tried to strike the right balance between aggressive monitoring and trusting students, Jim Ryan, U-Va.' s president, said at a virtual town hall Friday. Canceling face-to-face classes could have veered into the former. "We knew that if we went too far or were too aggressive, it would feel like we were living in a totalitarian state and it contravened our foundational culture of trusting students to govern themselves," Ryan said on Friday. "If we did nothing, on the other hand, it would seem like we were condoning violations or just looking the other way." But U-Va. - like U-Md. and hundreds of other universities - is not isolated. The city of Charlottesville is affected by what happens on campus. Sena Magill, Charlottesville's vice mayor, said Monday that the university's neighbors are anxiously watching the caseload at U-Va. rise and fall. The campus recorded 737 cases last week, then just 39 cases over the weekend, data show. There are 840 active cases among students and employees. "There's definitely public fear right now. There's a lot of people who are very worried," Magill said. "We are supposed to be starting some in-person school at the beginning of March, and there's a lot of parents that are very worried that these numbers will spread into the community and will either cause teachers and children to get sick or stop the ability for the in-person [schooling] to happen." The outbreak on campus cannot be traced to a single source, campus officials said. Instead, leaders have blamed widespread noncompliance of health guidance - from large gatherings to small, maskless dinners - for the surge of cases. But many on and off campus have blamed sororities and fraternities, which hosted in-person recruitment events the weekend before cases began to rise. Photos and videos taken during the recent weekend of Greek events have surfaced online. "It was very disturbing to see," Magill said about the photos. "That's definitely sparked a lot of upset in the community, about what kind of enforcement is happening, especially within the Greek system." About three-quarters of cases reported by U-Va. are among students living off campus, but contact-tracing efforts have not linked any cases from the university to the wider Charlottesville community, Mitch Rosner, a professor and chair of the Department of Medicine, said on Friday. "We're all in the same neighborhoods and we all shop at the same grocery stores," said Heather Hill, a Charlottesville city councilor. "When you have this kind of thing happening, it does definitely impact the rest of the community - and that can be really frustrating, for sure." Both Hill and Magill said they are comforted by restrictions being imposed by the university. And even before the campus banned in-person social meetups, it capped social gatherings at six people, which is more stringent than Charlottesville's guidance that encourages groups to limit themselves to 10 people. Jeff Richardson, county executive for Albemarle County, commended the university for testing students weekly - processing 5,000 tests on a daily basis - and maintaining regular communication with city and county officials. Wes Bellamy, former Charlottesville vice mayor and current chair of Virginia State University's political science department, said the recent outbreak is a reminder that people still need to be educated about the virus and how to prevent its spread. "They're 18-, 19-, 20-, 21-year-old young people who are going to indulge in a wide variety of things. They're kids," Bellamy said. "Where there's concern, there's also opportunity for growth." U-Md. has reported more than 240 new cases - including university-arranged viral tests and self-reported data from students and employees - since Wednesday. And the seven-day moving average of daily new cases topped 40 on Monday, a level not seen since last September. There were 61 new cases Thursday and 62 Friday. Alarmed at the rise, the university on Saturday ordered students who live on campus to "sequester in place" for at least a week and asked off-campus students to limit their movements as well. U-Md. also halted all in-person instruction for a week. Even though there is little evidence that the virus spreads in college classrooms, U-Md. officials said they hoped to reduce the chances that infected and asymptomatic students might pass the virus among themselves if they were out and about on campus. "We wanted to stop any additional spread," said Patricia Perillo, vice president for student affairs. The university had not recorded such a fast and widespread rise in cases during the fall semester. "We were watching in real time the numbers go up in ways we had not experienced," Perillo said. Exactly why the clusters erupted is unclear. Perillo said the university had seen no evidence of any recent "superspreader" events such as large parties. She noted that the university is testing students for the virus more frequently than it did in the fall. That might identify cases that otherwise would have gone undetected. Another possibility, though not confirmed, is that a more infectious variant of the virus is on campus. But Perillo said officials are not waiting for confirmation of the presence of a variant. "All the steps we are taking are aligned with the assumption that it's here," she said. For the communities in Prince George's County that surround U-Md., the stakes are high as the university seeks to smother clusters of infection that have popped up all over the campus. Most of U-Md.' s 40,000 students live off campus. Only about 4,300 are in campus housing this semester. "I do think the university's doing the right thing by shutting down in-person instruction," said Patrick Wojahn, mayor of College Park. "Any increase in cases is worrisome. We need to just keep monitoring it." If U-Md.' s caseloads keep rising, he said, more "drastic action might be necessary." Maryland State Sen. James Rosapepe, D-Prince George's, who represents College Park, said he gives U-Md. high marks for fast intervention. "The university from the beginning has taken the danger of the pandemic to students and residents very seriously," he said. WASHINGTON - The public inquest into the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol begins a new phase Tuesday when four law enforcement officials - three of whom resigned their posts and some of whom have never before spoken publicly about the attack - face lawmakers aiming to uncover what led to the violence and prevent future unrest. But Tuesday's hearing before members of two Senate committees could also become a battleground for competing narratives over what prompted the riot and who was responsible for it - a question that has become even more pointed following former president Donald Trump's acquittal on impeachment changes earlier this month. Photo by Astrid Riecken for The Washington Post. Trump's allies in Congress and beyond have sought to downplay the former president's role in gathering his supporters in Washington and spreading the false claim that he, not President Joe Biden, won the November election - facts that led to bipartisan impeachment proceedings. Instead, they have sought to blame lapses by Capitol security officials - and the congressional leaders they report to - for the building's invasion. That has heightened the drama surrounding the expected testimony of former House sergeant-at-arms Paul Irving and former Senate sergeant-at-arms Michael Stenger, who resigned quickly after the riot was suppressed. Neither man has spoken publicly about their experiences and decision-making before and during the riot. Also expected to appear Tuesday are former Capitol Police chief Steven Sund, who has spoken to media outlets about his frustrations requesting assistance from Irving and Stenger ahead of the riot, and acting D.C. police chief Robert Contee III, whose officers engaged in some of the most brutal clashes with rioters at the Capitol's doors. The riot resulted in the deaths of one Capitol Police officer and four others. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., chair of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, said in an interview that preparations for the hearing have been strictly bipartisan and that she expected a "constructive tone" to prevail. "This is a moment to get the actual facts about what happened at the Capitol," she said. "The issues we identify and the answers we get are part of the solution, so this isn't just about throwing popcorn at a movie screen to try to get sound bites. We actually have to make decisions in the coming months." But she acknowledged that other senators may focus on contested aspects of the narrative surrounding the riot. Those questions are likely to include what role House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., played in reviewing or approving plans for Capitol security ahead of the attack. Irving reported to Pelosi, and Stenger reported to McConnell, who was majority leader at the time of the riot. Both men sit on the Capitol Police Board, a secretive four-member body overseeing congressional security matters that also includes the chief of the Capitol Police and the presidentially appointed architect of the Capitol. While neither Irving nor Stenger has addressed the matter directly, a former Capitol security official who spoke to The Washington Post last month at Irving's request relayed that Irving dismissed Sund's request to place National Guard troops on call, citing the "optics" of stationing uniformed military personnel at the seat of federal government. Irving did not consult with Pelosi on the decision to reject the request, said the official, former Senate sergeant-at-arms Bill Pickle, but Irving believed he was reflecting her wishes. That has not stopped several high-ranking House Republicans from seeking to add Pelosi to the list of those responsible for the events of Jan. 6. The top GOP members of four House committees last week demanded Pelosi answer questions about her knowledge of the security preparations, contending that "many important questions about your responsibility for the security of the Capitol remain unanswered." "The Speaker is responsible for all operational decisions made within the House," they wrote. Other GOP allies are also joining in, including conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch, which has gone to court with a demand for emails among members of the Capitol security apparatus as well as a blanket demand for security video at the Capitol. "We don't trust Nancy Pelosi (or, frankly, any other politician) to honestly examine the many controversies surrounding January 6, and so we want a closer look," the group said in an email last week. Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said that the GOP letter reflected an attempt to "deflect responsibility for the Capitol attack from Donald Trump" and noted that Irving and Sund briefed House lawmakers a day before the riot and assured them that all necessary precautions had been taken. "As the target of an assassination attempt, the Speaker knows all too well the importance of security at the Capitol and is focused on getting to the bottom of all issues facing the Capitol Complex and the events that led up to the insurrection," Hammill said. Republican senators have not made a similar demand for transparency from McConnell, who oversaw Stenger's hiring in 2018 and requested his resignation in the immediate aftermath of the riot. But at least one senator who will ask questions Tuesday has shown a willingness to challenge the prevailing evidence showing that the Capitol attack was conducted by Trump supporters, at least some of whom saw the infiltration of the Capitol as a way to obstruct the counting of electoral votes that was underway that the time and prevent Biden's inauguration. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., has publicly suggested that Pelosi is to blame for the riot and last week questioned whether the events of Jan. 6 could be fairly considered an "armed insurrection," despite the fact that several rioters were carrying weapons and a cache of weapons was found near the Capitol grounds. A spokesman for Johnson did not return a request for comment Monday. Three other senators who will participate in Tuesday's questioning - Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.; Ted Cruz, R-Texas; and Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss. - voted to discount at least one state's electoral votes after the riot took place. Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., said in an interview Monday that he expects Tuesday's hearings to "lead to even more questions" about what contributed to the security failures on Jan. 6. Both he and Klobuchar said that at least one additional hearing will be called featuring senior officials of the federal agencies who were involved in the preparations and response to the insurrection. "We need to know more about what happened prior to Jan. 6, and that's certainly something I will be focused on as chairman," Peters said, noting that "it certainly seems there was a major failure of leadership." But he sidestepped questions about whether the expected grilling of Irving and Stenger might yield to a more partisan and acrimonious debate over whether Pelosi or other elected officials bear responsibility for the lack of preparedness. Klobuchar and Peters stressed that they are working in close coordination with the top Republicans on their panels, Sens. Roy Blunt of Missouri and Rob Portman of Ohio, and expect to continue the investigation on a "nonpartisan" basis. "We need to know: was there credible intelligence about potential violence; when was it known; and who knew it," Portman is expected to say, according to a copy of his prepared statement obtained by The Post. "We need to know what happened and how to ensure that this never happens again." Peters would not speculate about what the final product of the panel's investigations would be - except to say that after "a number of hearings," there were likely to be "a series of policy decisions." Klobuchar said the hearing may result in improvements on the gathering and analysis of intelligence on threats to the Capitol, as well as a possible restructuring of the Capitol Police Board. In additional to the congressional probe, federal prosecutors are continuing to file cases against rioters, the Government Accountability Office is probing security preparations, and top congressional leaders continue to discuss creating an outside commission to investigate the attack, one modeled on the bipartisan 9/11 Commission. That effort, however, appeared to be on hold Monday amid a partisan dispute about its structure. "Having worked hand-in-hand with Don for more than two decades, I know him to be a values-based, agile and inspiring leader, and this appointment recognizes the expanded responsibilities he has assumed over the last several years," said Loree. "Don has had a meaningful impact at the company and was a significant contributor to our outstanding performance in 2020. Together, with our deep bench of senior executives and teams around the globe, we have built Stanley Black & Decker into a world-class company focused on purpose, innovation and social responsibility, and we are well-positioned for the next period of growth." In his new role, Allan will expand his responsibilities to further the company's growth trajectory, including leading the strategy and implementation of Stanley Black & Decker's operating model and oversight of Outdoor, Asia Tools & Storage and Stanley X. He will retain his existing responsibilities, including Finance, STANLEY Security, Information Technology, Margin Resiliency, Industry 4.0 and Advanced Analytics, as well as shared oversight of Global Operations and Supply Chain. Allan joined the company in 1999 as director of financial planning before being appointed Senior Vice President and CFO in 2008, and later Executive Vice President and CFO. He has been instrumental in driving the company's transformation strategy to a global diversified industrial with revenues approaching $15 billion in 2020. Before joining The Stanley Works, Allan held global financial management positions with Loctite Corporation, and spent nine years with Ernst & Young, predominately as part of the audit team. Allan is Lead Director at Anderson Corporation and is Chairman of the Board for United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut. He also serves on the boards of several non-profits, including Junior Achievement of Southwest New England, Boy Scouts Connecticut Rivers Council, The University of Hartford's Barney School of Business and Hartford Stage. Allan earned his bachelor's in accounting from the University of Hartford and is a CPA. About Stanley Black & Decker Stanley Black & Decker is a purpose-driven, $14.5 billion revenue industrial organization. Stanley Black & Decker has 53,000 employees in more than 60 countries and operates the world's largest tools and storage business, the world's second-largest commercial electronic security services company, a leading engineered fastening business as well as Oil & Gas and Infrastructure businesses. The company's iconic brands include BLACK+DECKER, Bostitch, CRAFTSMAN, DEWALT, FACOM, IRWIN, LENOX, Porter Cable and STANLEY. Stanley Black & Decker is a company for the makers and innovators, the craftsmen and the caregivers, and those doing the hard work to make the world a better place. Learn more at www.stanleyblackanddecker.com. Media Contacts: Shannon Lapierre Chief Communications Officer [email protected] 860-259-7669 Debora Raymond Vice President, Public Relations [email protected] Investor Relations Contacts: Dennis Lange Vice President, Investor Relations [email protected] 860-827-3833 Cort Kaufman Director, Investor Relations [email protected] 860-515-2741 SOURCE Stanley Black & Decker Related Links http://www.stanleyblackanddecker.com Appointment 23 February 2021 Donald's focus will be on building strong global partnerships with hosts, guests and our overall community. He will lead Airbnb's Community Policy, Ethics, and Crisis Management teams, including Airbnb's policies and support pertaining to important issues like safety, content moderation, host and guest standards, anti-discrimination, and more. He will also lead Airbnb's Trust Partnerships teams, who help foster partnerships with organizations that share in our commitment to building trust online and offline, such as the UN's Tech Against Terrorism initiative which Airbnb recently joined as the first sharing economy and travel industry partner. Donald joins us from Twitter, where he oversaw global customer service, content moderation enforcement, crisis management, vendor management, support engineering, data analytics, and more. Prior to Twitter, Donald led operations teams at Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, building on the first chapter of his career as a consultant for Deloitte. He has a deep passion for and understanding of the work of operations teams and believes in the power of partnerships between technology and operations teams. SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- After battling an anti-worker campaign, direct service staff at San Francisco-based non-profit ScholarMatch overwhelmingly voted to form a union with Teamsters Local 856 by nearly 90 percent yesterday. ScholarMatch employees began the process of unionizing last year after becoming concerned with instability and ensuring equity at the non-profit. Since last summer, multiple board members and senior leaders have stepped down, including its founder, famed San Francisco author Dave Eggers. The organization, whose mission is to support first-generation college students earn a bachelor's degree within five years, initially agreed to voluntarily recognize its employees' choice to unionize. However, management quickly reneged on its promise and forced its employees to hold an election through the National Labor Relations Board. The organization additionally hired a known anti-worker and anti-union law firm as its representation. "I am moved and have great pride in all of my colleagues who were brave enough to create this collective and all the organizing, actions, and risks made to ensure we truly live out our mission, values, and promises we make to our community and each other," said Organizing Committee Member Kate Bueler, a five-year employee of ScholarMatch. Local 856's newest members work in various administrative and direct services functions, including with high school and college students primarily in San Francisco and Los Angeles communities to ensure the mission of the non-profit. "Forming a union binds us together in our commitment to share power and keep one another accountable in our work in the community," said Samantha Lozano a program manager at ScholarMatch. "This is about building an equitable and inclusive world for our students where everyone has a seat at the table." ScholarMatch employees join Local 856's 17,000 members throughout Northern California, including an expanding non-profit sector. The new members are just the latest group to organize with the local, with over 400 workers voting to become Teamsters 856 members in the last year alone. "We enthusiastically welcome our newest non-profit sector members to our union and are eager to get to the table to negotiate a strong Teamster contract that reflects the important work they perform to improve the lives of first-generation students and our communities," said Peter Finn, Teamsters 856 Principal Officer/Secretary-Treasurer. "We commend their courage and tenacity in standing up to their employer and are proud to stand with them as Teamsters," Finn said. Founded in 1949, Teamsters Local 856 represents 17,000 hardworking members in the San Francisco Bay Area, North Bay, Sacramento, and Central Valley communities. Contact: Nicole Casey [email protected] or (650) 266-7712 SOURCE Teamsters Local 856 The chairman of the National Committee for the Coordination of Activities on Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2, Valeriu Gheorghita, said on Tuesday that there are currently 414 active centers for the inoculation of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and 192 for Astra Zeneca, according to AGERPRES. "The number of vaccination centers, at this moment, is 414 active centers, which include both the centers that were in phase I, most of which have already been closed, we are talking about 121 centers from phase I that are left active and still continue to administer the booster dose. We are talking about approximately 212 centers for the phase 2 and 81 centers in the Ministry of National Defence and Ministry of Internal Affairs network, cumulating a total of 664 vaccination offices. There is a total of 192 vaccination centers for Astra Zeneca vaccine, cumulating a total of 254 flows. Of these vaccination offices, 70 are in the network of the Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of Internal Affairs," Valeriu Gheorghita told a press conference at Victoria Palace. I spent most of my time in the lab, learning how to read malaria blood films, but I also saw the effects of malaria and other diseases not only on individual patients but also on their families and the larger community. he said. That opened my eyes to public health. A pre-med student, Noland spent two consecutive summers working at a rural hospital in southern Zambia. It was his introduction to malaria and other parasitic diseases. He traveled to Europe in high school and once crossed the Mexican border, but it was a college study abroad trip to Zambia that finally scratched his explorers itch. And it laid the foundation for his career to come as an epidemiologist and now director of the Carter Centers river blindness , lymphatic filariasis , schistosomiasis , and malaria programs . Growing up, Greg Noland voraciously read National Geographic magazines. From his home near Dallas, Texas, Noland became fascinated with other cultures and seeing the world. Noland confers with a member of his assessment team at a school in Plateau state, Nigeria. Blood samples taken from students confirmed the interruption of lymphatic filariasis. After graduation and with an interest in malaria, he joined the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where one of his duties was tending its mosquito colonies for malaria research. But as one of the great strokes of luck in my life, my supervisor was a parasitologist who insisted I learn about parasitic diseases broadly, apart from malaria, Noland said. After completing his doctorate in molecular microbiology and immunology, Noland was ready to return to the field. He took a three-year assignment in western Kenya, directing a malaria research project. He spent his days driving to remote highland communities where he examined the development and maintenance of immunity in areas close to eliminating the disease. Noland summed it up the way only someone who loves field work could: I spent most days pushing Land Rovers out of the mud, he said. Working in villages at the end of the road was a fantastic experience. (Incidentally, since joining The Carter Center in 2011, Noland has helped free stuck vehicles in Haiti, Ethiopia, and Nigeria.) To Noland, the most fulfilling part of his assignment in Kenya was working with in-country students and scientists. I loved seeing their ownership of the program, he said. That perspective carries over to the work we do at The Carter Center building relationships with in-country staff and developing local talent so they can lead the programs. Noland was hired as an epidemiologist for the Carter Centers malaria work, but it didnt take long before he became involved with the Centers other health programs, particularly lymphatic filariasis, which is heavily integrated with malaria because both diseases are transmitted by mosquitoes. Noland was promoted to director earlier this year, and he said he feels fortunate to have inherited the programs from Frank Richards, who led them for 15 years. Were on the cusp of significant wins in the battle against river blindness in several places, he said, referring to Uganda, Nigeria, and the Americas. Continued progress, however, will not be achieved easily. Noland said that since the programs rely on people voluntarily taking medication, community engagement is the key to success. Now COVID-19 is a threat, forcing the Center and others to look at the ways drug distribution can change and possibly improve. Looking back at his nine years at the Center, one of Nolands favorite projects was overseeing blood testing in schoolchildren in Nigerias Plateau and Nasarawa states to determine whether the parasite that causes lymphatic filariasis had been eliminated. The disease can result in severe swelling and disfigurement in limbs and genitals. Community volun-teers, under the direction of the Nigerian Ministry of Health, and local Carter Center staff had distributed preventive drug treatments for many years, and the testing proved the impact of this long-term effort the parasite had indeed been eliminated and some 7 million people were no longer at risk for the disease. It is satisfying to know these children will not have to face a life of physical pain or mental anguish, Noland said. To me, that is a victory. Related Programs River Blindness Elimination Program Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination Program Schistosomiasis (Bilharziasis) Control Program The Hispaniola Initiative Chinas President Xi Jinping may visit India in the second half of 2021 amid ongoing border tensions, to attend a meeting of the BRICS group, the Times of India reported without saying where it got the information. China has supported Indias hosting the meeting of heads of state of the grouping which also includes Brazil, South Africa and Russia, the newspaper said citing Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin. India and China have been engaged in a border conflict since May last year. The conflict turned bloody in June resulting in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers. China said last week it had lost four troops. Troops from both sides began pulling back from the north and south banks of Pangong Tso, a high-altitude glacial lake in the Himalayan region of Ladakh on Feb. 10, officials from both sides said. But other areas of conflict between the two neighbours have yet to be addressed. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. New Delhi: India-China bilateral trade in 2020 decreased by 5.64% Y-o-Y and stood at $87.65 billion compared to $92.89 billion in 2019, according to Union Commerce Ministry's recent data on India-China trade in 2020. Notably, Indian imports from China also dropped by 10.87% and stood at $66.78 billion compared to $74.92 billion in 2019. "Good signs that Indian exports to China increased by 16.15% from $17.896 billion to reach $20.87 billion in 2020. This is the highest level ever for Indian exports to China and the first time they have crossed $20 billion," said the ministry. Accordingly, the trade deficit with China has declined by 19.39% from $56.95 billion in 2019 to $45.91 billion. On the other hand, among the top 15 Indian exports (at HS-2 level), a steep rise was witnessed in 2020 in ores (75.35%), iron and steel (336%), aluminum (2023%) and copper, and related $4 billion and making India the fourth largest exporter of iron ores to China. According to the ministry, exports of iron and steel amounted to $2.53 billion, marking a Y-o-Y increase of 336.44% and making India the fourth largest exporter of iron and steel to China. Exports of aluminum and its articles registered a massive increase of 2023.12% to reach $640 million and making India the fifth largest exporter in this category to China (India ranked 21st in 2019), it stated. Live TV Among the key agricultural commodities, including sugar, rice, oil, etc., which we had focused on in 2019, total exports saw an increase of 58.99% from $125.3 million in 2019 to $1 99.14 million in 2020. The major contributors to this increase were cane sugar (387.5%), Soyabean oil (3050%), rice (184%), and vegetable fats, and oils (415%). The exports of mangoes and fish oil, however, declined dramatically to nil, while tea declined by 6.94% and fresh grapes had a fall of 24.1%. The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company A recent article by Bobby Harrison of Mississippi Today reported that "Senate Republicans [in the Miss. state legislature] Reject Plan to Expand Medicaid." Harrison's subtitle, failing to "Provide Health Care Coverage To 300,000 More Mississippians," clearly supports the Biden falsehood that Medicaid expansion is good for Americans. One of Biden's first executive orders was to "strengthen Medicaid" by extending the enrollment period. The Biden Health Plan seeks to do an end run around in those states that resisted expansion such as Mississippi and Texas by offering his "public option" at no charge. This is simply Medicaid in disguise. Medicaid is bad for Americans' health. Coverage doesn't equal CARE, though politicians, policy wonks, and even the AMA conflate the two. The Mississippi Today report estimates there are "300,000 Mississippians who cannot otherwise afford health care." Medicaid provides an affordable i.e., free piece of paper, not timely medical assistance. Biden's Medicaid "strengthening" and expansion offer Americans a Potemkin village, a facade of health security. His vaunted Medicaid insurance fails to provide the medical care we need. According to documents from the Illinois Department of Human Services, "752 Illinoisans on the state's Medicaid waiting list have died awaiting needed care." What good is insurance if it doesn't ensure life-saving care? As a result of the ACA's Medicaid expansion that Biden wants to expand further, wait times to see a primary care physician increased from an unacceptable 99 days to a medically unconscionable 176 days. That's four months to learn whether your belly pain is gas, an ulcer, or cancer, assuming you can find a doctor who accepts Medicaid. The Medicaid acceptance rate is the percentage of physicians who accept new Medicaid patients. Nationally, nearly one third of doctors say no. In Texas, more than half of licensed M.D.s refuse to take on patients enrolled in Medicaid. So, as the number of people with free Medicaid coverage increases, the number of people to provide care decreases. Biden's plans are a recipe for death-by-queuing: Americans "covered" by government insurance who have treatable illnesses and yet die while waiting in line for care. Such death-by-queueing was documented in Medicaid and in our V.A. system and is a common occurrence in single-payer health systems such as Great Britain's National Health Service. Deamonte Driver, a 12-year-old Medicaid-eligible boy, is another case in point. He died needlessly from a cavity in a tooth! There were no pediatric dentists who accepted Medicaid patients in Prince George, Maryland, where Deamonte lived. So the dental infection went untreated and eventually extended into his brain. Only when he developed seizures from a brain abscess did he get care. After two brain surgeries, Deamonte died, when he could have been saved by simple routine dentistry. Deamonte's hospital bill was approximately $250,000. The dental care that could have prevented his death would have cost less than $100. The Medicaid boondoggle is fiscal as well as medical. Governor Tate Reeves of Mississippi and reporter Harrison seem mesmerized by all the shiny new federal dollars that would roll into state coffers. With expansion, the Hospitality State "would receive an estimated $1 billion per year in federal funds." How can one resist a cool, free billion bucks? You can do so easily if you include expenses in your fiscal calculations. When New Mexico expanded Medicaid in 2013, the Land of Enchantment received an influx of 3 billion federal dollars. The cost of the mandatory coverage benefits, money paid to insurance companies, not providers, was $3.417 billion. With a $417-million shortfall, to balance its budget, New Mexico Medicaid had to cut reimbursements to providers. The net effect was insurance coverage went up, and access to care went down. Economic studies projected that by expanding Medicaid, Mississippi "would add as many as 9,000 jobs." This would benefit 9,000 Mississippi administrators, accountants, billers and coders, compliance officers, managers, regulators, and other bureaucrats, but not the Mississippians who pay their salaries. That money would be "health care" dollars that could not then be used to pay for care. This phenomenon, known as bureaucratic diversion, consumes between 31 percent and 50 percent of all health care spending in the U.S. Washington controls all state Medicaid programs with its one-size-fits-all approach. This is a violation of Washington's own 1965 Medicaid law that clearly defines Washington's role in the administration of state Medicaid programs: none. Sections 1801 is titled, "Prohibition against any federal interference." When viewed through a lens of hard facts and solid evidence, rather than political rhetoric and wishful thinking, Medicaid is a massive boondoggle. Mississippi was right to reject expansion, and Biden is wrong to keep pushing it. Deane Waldman, M.D., MBA is an Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics, Pathology, and Decision Science; former director of the Center for Healthcare Policy at Texas Public Policy Foundation; and author of the multi-award-winning book Curing the Cancer in U.S. Healthcare: StatesCare and Market-Based Medicine. The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company After weeks of intense negotiations, Iran and South Korea reached an agreement Monday to unfreeze $1 billion of Iranian assets in Korean banks. Governor of Irans Central Bank Abdolnasser Hemmat met in Tehran with South Korean Ambassador Ryu Jeong-Hyun to discuss the modalities of transferring and spending parts of Irans frozen assets. According to a statement issued by the Central Bank, the two sides reached an initial agreement on transferring the frozen assets to specific destinations, as determined by Tehran. The South Korean envoy, for his part, said Seoul was ready to cooperate with Tehran in facilitating the release of Iranian funds from South Korean banks, the statement said. Hemmati, however, said that Iran would seek "damages" from Seoul caused by the "non-cooperation" of Korean banks in getting the assets freed. "Although Iran welcomes the change in the approach of countries and increase in cooperation, the legal pursuits of this bank (CBI) to claim damages due to non-cooperation of Korean banks in recent years will remain strong," Anadolu Agency cited him as saying. Hemmati added that Korean banks have been dissuaded from cooperating with Tehran on the issue owing to the U.S. pressure campaign against Iran. Iran has around $7 billion frozen assets in South Korea, according to South Korean media. Catherine Chen, senior vice president and director of the board at Huawei / Courtesy of Huawei By Baek Byung-yeul Huawei has showed its support for the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and building a green, innovative and inclusive world as the tech company believes technology can work as an engine for human progress. On Feb. 22, government ministers from multiple countries took part in the Shared Prosperity forum, hosted by Huawei, GSMA, the Center for Environmental Economic Studies at Fudan University, and The Paper with the support of UNESCO. At the lead-up event to MWC Shanghai 2021, which will be held from Tuesday to Thursday, Catherine Chen, senior vice president and director of the board at Huawei, delivered a keynote speech. The senior vice president said Huawei's belief that the ultimate goal of technology is to benefit all people, and the digital technologies can facilitate the UN SDGs. She also called on enterprises to take firm action to use technology to create more value for the world as a whole. To let technology bring positive changes to us, she said "we must do two things to fully unleash the power of technology and drive sustainable development" and take "resolute action to make technology truly effective and create value for all." "Our first challenge will be to reach an honest consensus on whether technology is an engine of human progress. "I recently read a report, which said that any important digital platform that is dominated by China will be highly dangerous to the U.S. if not effectively contained and that 5G was one such platform. 5G is a standardized technology defined by its high bandwidth, low latency and broad connectivity. It helps traditional industries transform and can benefit all. Wide-scale 5G deployment can already be seen in multiple industries around the world. Everyday consumers are benefiting from 5G experiences, while industrial use in seaports, mines and the transportation sector is increasing operational efficiency. Is this a bad thing? I don't think so," she said. "If we claim that technology is critically important but its development is ideologically wrong, this will only result in division, confusion, and regression. We must reach a global consensus on this issue and believe in the power of technology to leverage it for the benefit of society," the senior vice president added. Huawei has long been an advocate of technological advancement. The company said its solar panel products are being widely used in over 60 countries to reduce carbon emissions by 148 million tons. The government is still trying to figure out the cause behind the surge in Covid-19 cases in states like Maharashtra and Kerala, but has ruled out any of the variants as being responsible for the spike. There is no scientific reason to believe they (variants) are responsible for the surge...This is a work in progress and eminent scientists are watching the situation, said V K Paul, member (health) of Kerala and Maharashtra account for 75 per cent of the total active cases in the country. The daily case trajectory is also seeing a surge in Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir. In Maharashtra, the daily case count on Tuesday went up from around 3,600 on February 13 to over 5,200. The government will send out special teams to these states for deep insights into the cause of rising cases. Besides the three strains from the UK, South Africa, and Brazil, the India Sars-Cov-2 Genomic consortium is monitoring two more mutations N440K and E484K that were detected in India for the first time last year. These two have been found in some districts of Maharashtra, Kerala, and Telangana. These mutations happen and we are closely watching not just the three famous ones but others as well. As analysed and understood, we do not see attributions of the mutant strains to upsurge of cases, Paul said. The consortium has sequenced 3,500 virus samples and found 187 cases of UK strain, 6 of South Africa, and one person with Brazil variant. The virus is still around. Even when high intensity epidemics have happened such as in Pune, a resurgence has happened...Those outside the urban conglomerates are vulnerable. Virus like gatherings, parties therefore precautions continue to be relevant, Paul said. On the role of the private sector in the drive, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said the private sector had played a big role in health initiatives of the government, such as the Prime Minister Jan Arogya Yojana and the Central Government Health Scheme. Of the 10,000 hospitals involved in the drive, 2,000 were private, he said. The Centre is aware of the multiplier effect that the private sector can have...The private sector will be used to ramp up in a big way in the coming day, Bhushan said. Corporate India, however, has pitched for increased participation in the drive going beyond private hospitals. The Confederation of Indian Industry had recommended that companies be allowed to vaccinate their employees and immediate family, as well as assist in rolling out the vaccine in surrounding communities as part of their corporate social responsibility. Close Misinformation about vaccines has made it harder for governments to endorse COVID-19 mRNA vaccines to people. It has been the biggest challenge so far in the efforts of ending the pandemic. Experts estimate that for the world to reach herd immunity, about 70% to 90% of the world's population should be vaccinated. But to do that, myths surrounding vaccines should first be dispelled. An immunologist and pharmacist explain six important facts behind some of the most common myths surrounding COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. Fact #1: COVID-19 Vaccines Have Undergone Rigorous Testing and Found to Be Effective and Safe Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines use mRNA technology, a novel vaccine development technique, to create a vaccine against COVID-19. Testing on these vaccines yielded a 94% to 95% effectiveness against the infection, Yahoo! reported. Its development, clinical trials, and approval happened at a faster rate than the usual time a vaccine takes to develop because of the funding and partnerships from private firms and the government. Also, the manufacturing and commercial-scale production of the vaccines started simultaneously. As the clinical trials proved that it was safe and effective, there was already a large stockpile of vaccines ready to be distributed. Fact #2: mRNA Vaccines Do Not Alter the Host DNA The mRNA delivered from vaccines enters the cell but not the nucleus where the DNA is located. The mRNA vaccine is used to create spike protein that evokes an immune response from the body. After that, the mRNA vaccine molecules degrade quickly through normal processes. Therefore, mRNA vaccines neither produce enzymes that facilitate host-cell integration nor alter the host DNA. Fact #3: mRNA Vaccines Does Not Give COVID-19 Contrary to the myth, mRNA vaccines do not give the patients COVID-19. However, many would experience mild side effects, such as arm pain, aches, chills, and fever after being vaccinated. These are the expected healthy reactions to the vaccines that go away after a few days. As of January 18, one in 212,000 people who received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and one in 400,000 who received the Moderna vaccine have reported anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction. Although there have been reports of death, they do not appear to be connected at all to the vaccines. ALSO READ: COVID-19 Vaccine: Will It Be Less Effective On People With Obesity? Fact #4: Pregnant and Breastfeeding Patients Can Be Vaccinated According to the CDC, pregnant or breastfeeding women may choose to get vaccinated if they are eligible. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine pointed out that the risk of COVID-19 is not greater than in pregnant populations. Experts agree that the risk of COVID-19 outweighs any potential and theoretical risks of vaccination. Initial animal studies showed that there are no harmful effects of the vaccine to the fetus or issues with its development from mRNA vaccines, ZME Science reported. Those who have questions regarding this should consult their doctors for clarification. Fact #5: No Effect on Fertility The mRNA sequence is too short to trigger an immune response that may result in infertility, according to experts. Also, there have been successful pregnancies even after the infection, with no increased risk of miscarriages in early pregnancy. That means the immune response of the body does not affect fertility. Some of the Pfizer/BioNTech trial participants also reported becoming pregnant after receiving the vaccine. Fact #6: Those Who Had COVID-19 Before Will Benefit From the Vaccine It is estimated that immunity from COVID-19 will only last for two to four months. Experts advise those who had previously been infected to still get vaccinated. They may choose to wait for 90 days after getting infected because their natural antibodies are still active at least for three months. RELATED TOPIC: Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine No Longer Requires Ultra-Cold Storage Check out more news and information on COVID-19 on Science Times. More than three years after he took office with hopes of legalizing cannabis in 100 days, Gov. Phil Murphy signed three bills that together launch a cannabis industry in New Jersey and put an end to thousands of arrests. But it took more than a cannabis-friendly governor to make reform a reality. There were years of failed legislative attempts, a ballot question that garnered more than 2.7 million votes in favor and three months of negotiations on tax revenue, licensing rules and the ultimate hangup that nearly killed the effort: penalties for those under 21 caught with cannabis. Murphy signed the bills Monday morning without the usual fanfare, putting his pen to paper just before the deadline to take action struck. If he had done nothing, two measures seeking to launch a legal cannabis industry and to end arrests would have become law without his signature. As of this moment, New Jerseys broken and indefensible cannabis laws which permanently stained the records of many residents and short-circuited their futures, and which disproportionately hurt communities of color and failed the meaning of justice at every level, social or otherwise are no more, he said Monday afternoon during his briefing on the coronavirus in Trenton. The governor signed the bills after both the Senate and Assembly held last-minute voting sessions Monday morning to pass a third bill establishing civil penalties for those under 21 caught with cannabis. Protracted debate drew the voting sessions out, and the bill passed both chambers with only 20 minutes left for Murphy to act on the first two measures. The legalization and decriminalization bills languished on Murphys desk for more than two months awaiting the proposal. The governor said he would not sign them until lawmakers made penalties clear, but refused to issue a conditional veto calling for the change. As the bills awaited action in 2021, police issued more than 2,000 charges for minor cannabis possession. And a few plans developed and collapsed In that time. Lawmakers extended the deadline for Murphy to sign the bills by more than two weeks and the lengthy, sometimes tense, negotiations continued. They finally proved fruitful Monday morning. Murphy acknowledged Monday that the legalization effort took longer than expected. This process may have had its fits and starts, but it is ending in the right place. And, I firmly believe, this process has ended in laws that will serve as a national model, he said. Legalization advocates celebrated the long-awaited news. This is a new beginning and the culmination of years of advocacy and we must keep in mind that it is only the start, Amol Sinha, executive director for the ACLU of New Jersey, said in a statement. Signing these laws puts in motion the next phase of this effort: to work relentlessly to transform the principles of legalization into greater racial and social justice in New Jersey. Those looking to legally buy cannabis in New Jersey will have to keep waiting. The state will need to license new dispensaries to meet the public need. New Jersey has 13 medical cannabis dispensaries throughout the state, and current companies expect to open more this spring. But they have struggled so far to supply enough cannabis for the states 100,000 registered patients, and must certify they can meet that need before opening their doors to the public. Experts had estimated sales could begin in late 2021, but those guesses came before the debate on underage penalties drew out the legislative process for two additional months. Murphy said the legal cannabis marketplace would begin forming in the coming months. He will still have to fully seat the Cannabis Regulatory Commission to oversee the cannabis industry, which has six months to set up its rules and regulations before it seeks new licensees for businesses. While cannabis consumers will not have legal avenues to purchase it yet, arrests for thousands of possession cases should begin to cease. And, starting immediately, those who had been subject to an arrest for petty cannabis possession an arrest that may have kept them from a job or the opportunity to further their education will be able to get relief and move forward, Murphy said. The decriminalization law allows people to possess up to six ounces of cannabis without legal consequence. But the new law on underage penalties for using cannabis also bars police from stopping young people if they smell cannabis, and allows them to only give out warnings to young people. If they knowingly break that law and wrongfully detain someone, they can be charged with deprivation of civil rights. This language is anti-police rhetoric at its worst and its consequences will be real, the state Policemens Benevolent Association said in a statement. Underage users of cannabis will be free to smoke it anywhere, including in places the bill says is illegal, because merely stopping a person to enforce the law is now illegal for police. Mondays signing closes a long, tumultuous chapter in the efforts to bring legal cannabis to New Jersey, but opens the next that will require the work of many to make it a reality. We can get down to the business of establishing a responsible, sustainable, profitable and diverse adult-use and expanded medical cannabis market in New Jersey, Edmund DeVeaux, head of the New Jersey CannaBusiness Association, said in a statement. Now the real work can begin. South Africa: Premier sets sights on rebuilding E Cape economy The Eastern Cape government will in the next 12 months focus its attention to transforming its economy and creating jobs as the province rebuilds from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, says Premier Oscar Mabuyane. The Premier made the commitment as he delivered the provinces 2021 State of the Province Address (SOPA). Now that the virus is subsiding, as evidenced by less infections, less deaths and less active cases, it is time to focus on the reconstruction and recovery of our economy, he said. It is also time to deliver the knockout blow to the virus, and to accelerate the pursuit of the initial goals we set at the beginning of the sixth term. In this regard, our immediate task is to intensify the work of transforming the economy and creating jobs. The province, he said, was doing this against the backdrop of low economic growth, rising unemployment, ongoing budget cuts, and increasing demands for services. Needless to say, business activity was negatively affected by the pandemic, with many businesses having to slow down or shut down their operations, said Mabuyane. Short-term business relief packages In response to the pandemic, the province introduced a range of short-term business relief packages. These included amending the Jobs Stimulus Fund to allow for additional support to businesses in distress. In this regard, R75 million was approved to augment the budget for the fund. To date, 38 businesses have benefited to the value of R26. 6 million, ensuring the retention of 1 538 jobs in the province. Said Mabuyane: As at 5 February 2021, the Temporary Employer/ Employee Relief Scheme benefitted 76 692 employers and 763 470 employees at a value of R3.164 Billion. Through the COVID-19 Agriculture Support Disaster Fund, R80.4 million was also disbursed to support 1 915 smallholder and communal farmers. He said the job stimulus fund would remain one of the key instruments for support to distressed businesses in the new financial year. We recognize that short term interventions are not enough to meet the challenges of growing our economy such that it accommodates all the needs of the people. We therefore need sustainable interventions that will enable us to reconstruct and recover the economy. Accordingly, a number of strategic infrastructure programmes, aimed at connecting, networking and rendering our Province as one big construction site, are being rolled out, said the Premier. Infrastructure sector In 2021, Mabuyane said, the Eastern Cape would assume its rightful place as a key player in the infrastructure sector, through the Khawuleza PMO and the Coega Development Corporation in partnership with National government and Infrastructure South Africa (ISA). During this period, he said the province would unveil high value infrastructure projects that underpin its infrastructure development trajectory. Beyond this, Mabuyane has set sights on building and maintaining state properties in an effort to attract investment. We have 20 147 immovable assets which include 7 959 assets in human settlements. The value for our audited assets is R8.1 billion, and the total estimated value is R42 billion. We are going to use this portfolio to transform the property sector, said the Premier. Government Office Precincts This year, the province aims to conclude and handover the Maletswai, Komani and Mt Frere government Office Park as it consolidates the Government Office Precincts strategy in Mt Ayliff, Addo and Bhisho. I am happy to announce that the protracted litigation on the Bhisho Erf 1 which many of you know as Amatola Sun has been settled. We estimate that this will unlock more than R4 billion in new property development investment to complement the new Bhisho Government Office Precinct, Mabuyane said. In Lusikisiki, a state-of-the-art modernised office has been built for the Department of Home Affairs. He added: We are pursuing a basket of multi-sectoral priority projects, which include technology and broadband, infrastructure, participation in the roll-out of SA Connect, elimination of inappropriate structures in schools using alternative technology, the eradication of informal settlements and investing in rural roads and construction of bridges. Water security interventions With water becoming a major challenge in the Eastern Cape, the Premier said the province was aiming to make inroads in this regard, with intervention programmes in Ndlambe and Makana water security interventions already afoot. With respect to the delivery of bulk water infrastructure, several projects are being implemented across the province, particularly through the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant program, he said. Currently, more than nine bulk water infrastructure projects, valued at R4.9 billion are in implementation in the province and are at varying stages of completion. The Amatola Water Six Plant Upgrade comprises six water supply schemes valued at R500 million. Road network On the provinces road network, the Premier welcomed a R16.8 billion investment for the next two years. The money, he said, would see R4.6 billion awarded to 14 Projects from Kareedouw to Humansdorp, Jansenville to Wolwefontein, King Williams Town, Fort Beaufort to Alice, Middleburg, Molteno, Maletswai to Lady Grey to Barkley East, from Whittlesea to Komani, Dordrecht to Indwe, Engcobo and throughout the province. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-02-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. The move of a 139-year-old home from 807 Franklin St. around the corner to Fulton Street on Sunday was the distraction San Francisco needed. But the joyous event that dominated social media, as crews took down wires and trimmed roadside trees to facilitate the move, turns out to be just a footnote in a city that cant seem to keep its buildings in one place. At one point in the 1940s and 1950s, house moves were so frequent there were three different San Francisco companies bidding for the jobs. It happened so often, sometimes dozens of moves in a year, that a Victorian on blocks could be on the city flag. With help from San Francisco Heritage and OpenSFHistory at the Western Neighborhoods Project, weve collected some of the highest-profile building moves in San Francisco history. Heres a look back in roughly size order, starting with the biggest. Courtesy OpenSFHistory Commerce High School Year of move: 1913 Newton J. Tharp Commercial School, a three-story steel-and-concrete building named after the citys architect who died during the schools completion, was San Franciscos grandest high school when it was completed in 1909. The problem: It was built on Grove Street between Larkin and Polk, where the new Civic Center was intended. So four years after the building went up, the city paid more than $100,000 to slide the 8,000-ton high school four blocks a glacial move on steel rollers that took more than seven months before it reached its current home at 170 Fell St. It blocked entire streets for weeks, spurred a lawsuit and never traveled farther than 25 feet in a day. The movers did not even break a window, The Chronicle reported on Nov. 13, 1913, when the journey was complete. The plastering is cracked in some places, and there is a tiny crack in the brickwork in some places, but that is all. The adjacent building along Van Ness, a registered historic landmark, and the site thats now City Arts and Lectures Sydney Goldstein Theater were added later. The school closed in the 1950s. And while it sustained damage in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the structure still stands. Chronicle file Ohio Building Year of move: 1916 The Ohio Building, a copy of the capitol building from that state, was one of many structures quickly created for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. But like almost every structure beyond the Palace of Fine Arts, it needed to be demolished or moved for the future construction of the Marina District. Bought for $1,000 at auction, the 1,000-ton Ohio Building was dragged on skids to a barge and on Aug. 16, 1916 was shipped 23 miles to San Carlos. It was initially abandoned, served as a speakeasy during Prohibition, and in 1956 was intentionally torched to clear the property. Courtesy OpenHistorySF Golden Gate Park Casino Year of move: 1896 From the moment Golden Gate Park Casino opened in 1882 next to the Conservatory of Flowers, it was at odds with with the family-friendly vibes of the park. So it was purchased and moved 20 blocks in 1896 to the corner of 24th Avenue and Fulton Street. Through the early 1900s the property thrived as an outpost for dancing and drinking, close enough to Golden Gate Park to draw park crowds but isolated enough for all-night partying. As late as 1909, advertisements ran in The Chronicle boasting that the roadhouse was open all night; owner Carl Leonhardt was able to skirt curfew laws for years by classifying the building as a hotel. As the Richmond District grew around it, the spot was demolished for housing in 1922. Bob Campbell / The Chronicle Moffitt Mansion Year of move: 1962 After World War II, city residents were used to seeing moving houses, as developments such as the Broadway Tunnel, Central Freeway and Interstate 280 caused entire neighborhoods to transform in short periods of time. But the Moffitt Mansion move in 1962 was a huge event, as the elegant home was chainsawed in two 85-ton pieces, pulled by truck to the water and placed on a barge that crossed the bay to Belvedere. The developers hoped the move would be the start of something big; shipping mansions across the bay and building high-rise apartment buildings in their place. But even though the Moffitt Mansion was a success it still stands in Belvedere it turned out to be one of a kind. Heritage archive Vollmer House More from the Archive The Vault Home of the San Francisco Chronicle's archive and more than 150 years of journalism covering the Bay Area and beyond. Year of move: 1974 The nonprofit group San Francisco Heritage began by saving Victorians. With San Francisco redeveloping blocks around Franklin and Turk streets, including where Opera Plaza now stands, beginning in 1971 the group identified and saved 12 historic houses finding new homes throughout the city. Most were beautiful buildings in need of a little care. But the most striking, and the biggest headache, was the tall, narrow and ornate Vollmer House at 773 Turk St. close enough to the 139-year-old Victorian that moved this weekend to borrow a cup of sugar. The Vollmer House traveled 11 hilly blocks in 1974, and several inches were shaved off the side before it fit in its new home at 1735 Webster St. (For years, the house was featured on S.F. Heritage letterhead.) Mark Costantini/The Chronicle Earthquake refugee shacks Year of move: 2006 Western Neighborhoods Project also has an origin story involving an ambitious move saving four of the remaining earthquake refugee shacks built after the 1906 earthquake and fires. There were once more than 5,500 shacks built for refugee camps in Golden Gate Park, Dolores Park, Washington Square and other parks. Most were carted around the Bay Area in 1907, often combining several shacks together and adding more construction until the original huts were unrecognizable. In 2002, Western Neighborhoods Project formed in part to preserve a few remaining shacks on Kirkham Street, arranging one on Market Street for the 100th anniversary of the earthquake. That shack is now on display at the San Francisco Zoo. Two more have been restored at the Fifth Avenue Institute in Oakland. And the organization continues to find new earthquake shacks in the Bay Area. Ken Cavalli / The Chronicle And more ... Old St. Patrick Church on Eddy Street in San Francisco has been moved twice since it was replaced by the Palace Hotel in the 1800s. Its now one of the oldest structures in the city. The old Beach Chalet in 1925 moved to become a Boy Scout headquarters. And impressive moves have happened outside the city, as well. In 1987 San Jose moved several old houses, including some across a freeway overpass, to form a historical district in Kelley Park. Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicles culture critic. Email: phartlaub@sfchronicle.com Regulatory News: Tikehau Capital (Paris:TKO), the global alternative asset management group, has completed fundraising for its T2 investment strategy focused on energy transition. This unique growth equity strategy attracted over 1 billion. Tikehau Capital's T2 Energy Transition investment strategy outperformed its original fundraising goals with over 1 billion raised 1 T2 fund is one of the leading and largest global growth private equity vehicles singularly committed to enabling the transition towards a low-carbon economy and fighting global warming T2 Energy Transition investment strategy has already invested 440 million in SMEs focused on clean energy generation, low-carbon mobility and energy efficiency T2 fund portfolio companies have already provided goods and services that, over their lifetime, will avoid one million tons of CO2 from being emitted Mathieu Chabran, co-founder of Tikehau Capital, declared: "The purpose of our energy transition-focused platform is to make equity investments in profitable companies in this sector. We give these companies a major boost so that they can immediately reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In line with our commitment in terms of ESG and particularly with our intention to address the climate emergency, we decided to launch the first private equity fund on this scale to focus entirely on energy transition. Tikehau Capital committed 100 million of its own balance sheet to the fund. This close alignment of interest with our investors, whom I thank for the trust they have placed in us, has enabled us to attract a wide range of people wanting to invest in a strategy aimed at decarbonising our economy. This has made our initiative a real success. And this is just the start. We can meet the targets set by the Paris agreements in 2015 provided that we invest today in these companies that are transforming our economic system by moving us towards a decarbonised future." Emmanuel Laillier, Head of Private Equity at Tikehau Capital, added: "Investors' enthusiasm for this fund shows the appeal of our energy transition-focused private equity platform. We launched the platform in 2018 with the ambitious objective of raising between 750 million euros and 1 billion euros, which we have now far exceeded. Our success also highlights the need to strengthen companies' equity bases to move faster with energy transition. This is an outstanding performance for a first generation of funds dedicated to energy transition. I would like to congratulate the Tikehau Capital team for this achievement. Together, we want to support the growth of European SMEs in a sector that is playing a crucial role in addressing the climate emergency." Tikehau Capital launched this strategy in 2018 with 100 million from its own balance sheet. This unique alignment of interest with LPs has proven successful, attracting large strategic investors from several geographies (whose commitments represent 45% of the funds raised overall). Tikehau Capital's T2 Energy Transition Fund is one of the leading and largest global growth private equity vehicles singularly committed to fighting climate change. The T2 Energy Transition Fund, set up to help reach the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, provides growth equity to European SMEs that directly help lower GHG emissions. The T2 fund's mission is to fight global warming by funding the growth of emerging corporate leaders in the energy transition space and investing in European SMEs that provide tools to response to the climate emergency. Over the last 18 months, Tikehau Capital has invested 440 million in six European SMEs focused on clean energy generation, low-carbon mobility and energy efficiency. Pierre Abadie and Mathieu Badjeck, co-managers of Tikehau Capital's T2 Energy Transition Fund, said: "In 2019 alone, Tikehau Capital's energy transition portfolio companies have provided goods and services that, over their lifetime, will avoid one million tons of CO2 from being emitted. And this is the just the beginning Tikehau Capital's T2 Energy Transition Fund has already acquired stakes in: Greenyellow, a provider of energy efficient refrigeration solutions to retail outlets; Groupe Rougnon, a specialist in energy-efficient refurbishment of buildings; Crowley Carbon, a service provider that helps factories become more energy efficient; Amarenco a leading developer in distributed solar projects; Enso, a biomass boiler specialist; and EuroGroup, a supplier of engine parts for EVs. The enclosed video highlights some of the fund's LPs and government support. Thanks to Mr. Philippe Etienne, French Ambassador to the United States, Mr. Alex Done, Deputy Comptroller, Asset Management CIO, Office of the NYC Comptroller, Mr. Scott Stringer, Ms. Olivia Gregoire, Minister of State for the Social Solidarity and Responsible Economy, as well as Mr. Nicolas Dufourcq, CEO of BPI France and Mr. Alain Godard, CEO of European Investment Fund, for their participation. To view this testimony: click here ABOUT TIKEHAU CAPITAL Tikehau Capital is a global alternative asset management group with 28.5 billion of assets under management (as of 31 December 2020). Tikehau Capital has developed a wide range of expertise across four asset classes (private debt, real assets, private equity and capital markets strategies) as well as multi-asset and special opportunities strategies. Tikehau Capital is a founder-led team with a differentiated business model, a strong balance sheet, proprietary global deal flow and a track record of backing high quality companies and executives. Deeply rooted in the real economy, Tikehau Capital provides bespoke and innovative alternative financing solutions to companies it invests in and seeks to create long-term value for its investors, while generating positive impacts on society. Leveraging its strong equity base (2.8 billion of shareholders' equity as of 30 June 2020), the firm invests its own capital alongside its investor-clients within each of its strategies. Controlled by its managers alongside leading institutional partners, Tikehau Capital is guided by a strong entrepreneurial spirit and DNA, shared by its 570 employees (as of 30 June 2020) across its 11 offices in Europe, Asia and North America. Tikehau Capital is listed in compartment A of the regulated Euronext Paris market (ISIN code: FR0013230612; Ticker: TKO.FP). For more information, please visit: www.tikehaucapital.com DISCLAIMER: This transaction was carried out by TIKEHAU INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT SAS (on behalf of the funds that it manages), a portfolio management company approved by the AMF since 19/01/2007 under number GP-0700000006. This document does not constitute an offer of securities for sale or investment advisory services. It contains general information only and is not intended to provide general or specific investment advice. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future earnings and profit, and targets are not guaranteed. Certain statements and forecasted data are based on current forecasts, prevailing market and economic conditions, estimates, projections and opinions of Tikehau Capital and/or its affiliates. Due to various risks and uncertainties. actual results may differ materially from those reflected or expected in such forward-looking statements or in any of the case studies or forecasts. All references to Tikehau Capital's advisory activities in the US or with respect to US persons relate to Tikehau Capital North America. __________________ 1 Circa 990 million raised by the T2 Energy Transition Fund and circa 100 million raised for the energy transition strategy through co-investments mandates. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210222005873/en/ Contacts: PRESS: Tikehau Capital: Valerie Sueur +33 1 40 06 39 30 France Image 7: Florence Coupry Charlotte Le Barbier +33 1 53 70 74 70 UK Prosek Partners: Clare Glynn +44 7912 107 653 USA Prosek Partners: Trevor Gibbons +1 646 818 9238 press@tikehaucapital.com SHAREHOLDERS AND INVESTORS: Louis Igonet +33 1 40 06 11 11 shareholders@tikehaucapital.com Spain is one of the countries that has administered the highest percentage of the population with the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine: 2.4% have received the two jabs, meaning they have the full protection offered by the vaccine. According to figures from Our World in Data, which is run by Oxford University in the United Kingdom, Spain is only behind Israel which is the clear world leader, with nearly a third of the population fully vaccinated the United States (4.83%), Denmark (2.99%), Romania (2.74%) and Serbia (2.67%). But while this is good news it means that the vaccines are being administered at a good speed as they are delivered there is another side to the coin. Studies indicate that just one dose of the vaccine can provide a high level of protection from Covid-19. This means that every second dose administered could be seen as a jab that didnt go toward protecting another person. The vaccination drive in the United Kingdom is following this principle. While Spain has administered a higher percentage of the population with the second dose than the UK, it is far behind the country with respect to the first jab. In Spain, 3.5% of the population has received the first Covid dose, compared to 25% in the UK. This approach from the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson was initially viewed with skepticism, but a growing amount of research has come to support it. A study published last Friday in the medical journal The Lancet shows that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 85% effective in symptomatic infections after the first dose. The investigation, which involved more than 7,000 workers at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv in Israel, found a dramatic reduction in infection rates between 15 and 28 days after the first inoculation, reports Juan Carlos Sanz. With respect to total coronavirus infections, including asymptomatic cases, the Pfizer vaccine was found to be 75% effective. The findings come after two Canadian scientists published a letter in the New England Journal of Medicine arguing that the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine was 92.6% effective, according to studies from the pharmaceutical company itself and the US administration. Although the Canadian scientists admit that there are doubts about how long the protection from one dose lasts, they argue that administering a second jab after just a month has fewer short-term benefits. They write: Given the current vaccine shortage, postponement of the second dose is a matter of national security that, if ignored, will certainly result in thousands of Covid-19-related hospitalizations and deaths this winter in the United States hospitalizations and deaths that would have been prevented with the first dose of vaccine. Spain is following the guidelines of regulatory bodies: administer the second dose when it is the time, according to the vaccines instructions. Amos Garcia Rojas, the president of the Spanish Vaccinology Society, says that new studies must be examined as they are published in order to decide whether this vaccination strategy must change, admitting that a lot can change very quickly depending on the new data. But for now, he supports following the protocol established by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), especially given that doses are expected to arrive more quickly, meaning the population can be vaccinated at a faster speed. In the case of the vaccine developed by Pfizer, the EMA recommends waiting 21 days before administering the second dose, but admits that this period can be extended to 42 days without having an impact on the vaccines effectiveness. These 21 days are not trivial. At Spains current speed, 1.3 million people could be vaccinated with the first dose in this period. With respect to the Covid vaccine from Moderna and AstraZeneca, the recommendation is to wait 28 days and 12 weeks, respectively, before administering the second dose. Spain has already updated its vaccination protocol once before. In response to studies that showed that people who had contracted the coronavirus developed a strong immune response, the Health Ministry recommended that an individual should wait six months from the date of their diagnosis before getting vaccinated. Impact of vaccination drive starting to show All signs indicate that Spain is starting to see the effects of the vaccination drive, which was launched at the end of December. Care homes, where more than 90% of residents have received the two doses, are showing increasingly more hopeful figures. Outbreaks in social service residences have fallen by 75% in the last month, more than double the drop recorded outside of these centers. And a growing number of Spains regions is reporting falls in new coronavirus cases and Covid-19-related deaths. One of the clearest cases of this fall is Asturias, which was also the Spanish region that most quickly vaccinated care home residents. The graph below shows the weekly number of coronavirus victims inside and outside of social service residences. While at the beginning of 2020, the two categories followed the same pattern, they started to diverge three weeks into the vaccination drive. The delay is understandable given that the vaccine can take between 10 and 12 days to have an effect and that the number of fatalities is the last data point to reflect a fall in contagion. But three weeks after the launch of the vaccination campaign, the lines on the graph began to diverge, and the number of deaths outside care homes continued to rise, while deaths inside care homes plummeted. For this to be considered solid proof of the vaccines impact a study analyzing the data and removing other possible factors is needed. But Mario Margolles, the director of the Asturian Health Observation, has few doubts about what the figures mean. It is evident that [the vaccines] are having an effect, because all the other factors are the same and we are seeing a fall in mortality from the first dose. Seeing this makes us very excited and gives us a feeling of great relief, he says. The third wave of the coronavirus hit Asturias a little later than the rest of Spain, and according to Margolles, this meant that the vaccine had more time to have an impact and prevented hundreds of deaths. Margolles also admits that the immunization drive has shown that the vaccines are not 100% effective. As studies indicate, they do not work in at least 5% of cases. We are seeing some cases who get infected more than a week after the second dose, but that was to be expected, he explains. Studies, however, have shown that those who contract the coronavirus after receiving the vaccine have a much lower viral load, meaning the virus causes less serious symptoms or no symptoms at all, and transmission levels are lower. English version by Melissa Kitson. Climate activist Disha Ravi reached the office of the Delhi Police Cyber Cell on Tuesday in connection with the probe into the "toolkit Google doc" backing the ongoing farmers' agitation, officials said. A Delhi court on Monday sent Ravi to one-day police custody as it said she has to be confronted with other accused in the case -- Nikita Jacob and Shantanu Muluk. Jacob and Muluk joined the probe on Monday. They were questioned at the Delhi Police Cyber Cell office in Dwarka. The Delhi Police, probing the "toolkit Google doc" shared by climate activist Greta Thunberg, had arrested Bengaluru-based activist Disha Ravi, while Jacob and Muluk were granted pre-arrest bail by court. Police had alleged that the "toolkit" was part of a global conspiracy to create unrest and trigger violence in India in the garb of the farmers' protest against the agri laws. Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, are protesting at various border points of Delhi demanding repeal of the Centre's three new farm laws. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ex-porn star reveals how the Bible transformed her after her boyfriend was murdered in front of her Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Christian author and speaker Brittni De La Mora believes that hardships and pain have purpose a lesson gleaned from some of her remarkable and inspiring firsthand experiences. De La Mora, a former porn star who famously left the industry behind to become a Christian, is now an author and speaker who regularly shares her faith and works to inspire people facing life struggles. LISTEN: Subscribe to the Lets Talk Purity Podcast on Edifi Sometimes, hardships that come into our lives ... are inevitable, she said on a recent episode of Lets Talk Purity, a show she co-hosts alongside her husband, Richard. There was a time in my life I actually was dating a guy who was murdered. He was stabbed in front of me. Listen to De La Mora reveal how she discovered the Bible during this traumatic event: De La Mora went into hiding for a few days while authorities searched for the people who committed the crime, and it was there, while isolated in a hotel, that she encountered a Bible. I saw a Bible. I wasnt a Christian. I was still in the porn industry during this time, she explained. And I remember taking that Bible I just started reading all the scriptures that pertained to everything that I was going through, and I would write out the scriptures as they spoke to me, and I was so liberated during that time. Despite not yet being a Christian, De La Mora said the fear that had been overtaking her in the midst of the tragic killing started to dissipate. Something about the Word of God gave me so much hope, so much encouragement during one of the hardest seasons that Ive ever been through in life, she said. After becoming a Christian, De La Mora more fully learned how to deal with the pain and struggles that often plague peoples lives. In the end, she and Richard explained that hardships are going to come in life, but that people must keep their faith in God. The couple encouraged people to keep a pure heart during hard times, and explored a plethora of examples of the challenges that can come in life. There are so many things in this life right now that can affect the purity of our hearts, Richard said early on in the Lets Talk Purity episode. We understand that theres purpose in every season. When we understand that theres purpose in every season, then we know theres stuff God is trying to show us and teach us during every season. Richard said he has learned to stop asking God, why are you doing this? and to start asking what God is trying to show him through difficult circumstances. Nothing grows our faith better than hard times, Brittni added. Its when you go through hard times that God shows up. Listen to the couple describe how to keep faith during hard times on their new Lets Talk Purity podcast. During his visit to Damascus, Pederson has discussed the economy, peace process, and the US and Turkish role in Syria, reports The Syria Times. The economic situation in Syria, the political peace process, the practices of US and Turkish occupation forces, and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia were the main topics discussed during the meeting held on Monday by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Faisal Mekdad and the UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen in Damascus. According to the Syrian News Agency (SANA), there was an agreement about the fact that the coercive and unilateral economic sanctions being imposed on Syria make the economic conditions tough amid the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Mekdad reiterated that the practices of the US and Turkish occupation forces and their support for terrorists in Syria breach Syrian sovereignty and contradict international law and all relevant resolutions. He also talked about the practices of the US-backed SDF militia against the Syrian people in Hassakeh, Raqqa, and Deir-ez-Zor provinces. Mekdad called on the UN to adopt a clear stance against these practices. The two sides in addition asserted the need to guarantee non-interference in the work of the committee that discusses the Syrian constitution. The work of the constitutional committee should be Syrian-led without any schedules imposed by outside parties, Mekdad added. He pointed out that the UN Special Envoy must keep his role as a neutral facilitator. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. The Scottish Parliament has removed and redacted evidence from former first minister Alex Salmond to the inquiry investigating the handling of complaints made against him. Mr Salmonds evidence was online for less than 24 hours when the Crown Office raised concerns about its contents and asked for it to be censored by Holyrood officials. There had previously been a legal wrangle over whether the evidence would be published at all. Why was the committee established? The Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints was set up to look into the Scottish Government investigation of the allegations against the former first minister. MSPs have so far taken evidence from civil servants, including repeated sessions from Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans, trade unions and SNP chief executive Peter Murrell who is First Minister Ms Sturgeons husband. Why did Mr Salmond take legal action? SNP chief executive Peter Murrell has already appeared before the inquiry (Andy Buchanan/PA) The former first minister did not feel his treatment by the Scottish Government was fair. It was later found that the lead investigator of the complaints had prior contact with some of the female complainers, with Judge Lord Pentland saying the investigation was tainted with apparent bias. How has the inquiry gone so far? The committee has repeatedly voiced frustration with how slow the handing of evidence has been from a number of parties. The Scottish Government was accused of obstruction last year, with the committee saying it was completely frustrated with the lack of evidence. Both the committee and the Scottish Government were at loggerheads over legal advice provided as part of the judicial review process. MSPs wanted to know when the Scottish Government was advised it would likely lose the challenge raised by Mr Salmond, but ministers said handing over the advice would breach the ministerial code. On two occasions, MSPs voted for the evidence to be released, with a deal eventually being struck in December to reveal the advice only to MSPs on the committee. Didnt Mr Salmond face trial on sexual misconduct charges? Yes. The former first minister was cleared of 13 charges at the High Court in Edinburgh in March last year after being arrested in January 2019. What were the issues with Mr Salmonds evidence? Mr Salmond and the committee have been wrangling in recent weeks over evidence published by the inquiry. Earlier this month, the former first minister said he would not appear after the committee decided not to publish his submission to a separate investigation into whether Nicola Sturgeon breached the ministerial code over fears it may identify some of the complainers in Mr Salmonds criminal trial last year. However, an alteration made to a court order by Judge Lady Dorrian meant the evidence could potentially be made public. While the committee voted against publication, the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) made the decision to publish anyway. Nicola Sturgeon is due to give evidence to the Alex Salmond inquiry (PA) The evidence, which was released on Monday evening, was online for less than 24 hours before the Crown Office raised concerns with Holyrood about it, asking for redactions to be made. In his submission, the former first minister accused some in the Scottish Government and SNP of a malicious and concerted attempt to damage my reputation and remove me from public life in Scotland. Ms Sturgeon said her predecessor did not have a shred of evidence to support his claims. On Tuesday morning, the submission was re-released, with a number of paragraphs relating to the set-up of a meeting between Mr Salmond and his successor redacted. How does this impact Mr Salmonds appearance before the committee? The former first minister was due before the inquiry on Wednesday, but has not yet confirmed whether this will go ahead. He has already pulled out of an appearance once when evidence he pushed for the committee to publish was not, but it remains unclear if the redactions will be enough for him to refuse again. Is the committee inquiry the only investigation into the matter? No. Ms Sturgeon is currently under investigation by James Hamilton QC to establish if she breached the ministerial code. Ms Sturgeon referred herself after being accused of misleading Parliament over when she knew of the complaints against Mr Salmond. She previously said she had been told about the allegations by Mr Salmond himself during a meeting in her home on April 2, 2018. However, it was later found that Mr Salmonds former chief of staff Geoff Aberdein had met with the First Minister in her Holyrood office four days prior to that, where she was told of the complaints. Will Nicola Sturgeon appear before the committee? The First Minister is expected to appear before the committee next week and has repeatedly said she looks forward to being able to present her side of the story. New Delhi: Five people including four relatives of a leading hotelier of Odisha were charred to death after a fire broke out at his residence in Bhubaneswars Budeshwari Colony on Thursday. Deputy fire officer Ramesh Chandra Majhi said, Six people were rescued from the house with critical burn injuries who were later declared dead by doctors. Bhubaneswar Police said, Five people were killed in the fire incident including businessman Satpal Singh's son and three minors. Police said other members of the family were safe as they were staying on the ground and first floor. The deceased have been identified as Gagan Pal Singh (40), Bhavna Singh (38), Shoba Singh (15), Rubir Singh (8) and Khusi Das (15). The official added that Singhs neighbours informed fire department about Satpals house in fire around 5:15 am. According to police Singh along with five others were pulled out in unconscious state from the second and third floor of the three storeyed building. The six were rushed to a hospital where doctors declared five inlcuding their household helper brought dead. Police said, three rooms on the second floor of the three-storeyed building was gutted in the fire. The fire officials had to face tough time dousing off the fire due to the presence of wooden household articles. Police and fire officials are yet to ascertain the exact cause of the the fire. However, a senior fire official talking to the media said, We suspect the fire originated after a spark caused due to short circuit in the AC. A Satpals neighbour told the media that they heard Satpal and his family members shouting for help around 5am and heavy smoke was coming out from their house. They told the media that Satpal Singh owned Pal Heights, a renowned hotels of Odisha. He further added that four fire-tender machines were engaged to douse and rescue people trapped in the house. Fire-officials managed to rescue few of people staying in the house after break opening the windows. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. An Iran-aligned Iraqi militia group on Tuesday denied any role in recent rocket attacks against U.S. targets in Iraq, but said an attack against Saudi Arabia last month was justified. It is a rare direct denial and the first time the Kataib Hezbollah group, one of the Iraqi factions closest to Iran, has commented on the most serious incident this year, a rocket attack in Erbil on Feb. 15 that killed a contractor working with U.S.-led forces. The attacks over the past 10 days are an escalation against U.S. sites in Iraq at a time when Washington and Tehran are looking for a way to return to the nuclear deal abandoned by former U.S. President Donald Trump. Kataib Hezbollah, the most high-profile Iran-backed militia in Iraq, does not usually comment on specific attacks. Its direct denial of actions against U.S. interests while Washington says it is still determining who carried out the Erbil attack is a sign that Iran and its allies wish to avoid an escalation that could bring a tough U.S. response. Some Western and Iraqi officials say the attacks, often claimed by little-known groups, are being carried out by militants with links to Kataib Hezbollah as a way for Iranian allies to harass U.S. forces without being held accountable. "We absolutely did not target Erbil or the Green Zone and have no knowledge of the group that did," Kataib Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Mohi told Reuters. In the Feb. 15 attack, rockets hit the U.S. military base housed at Erbil International Airport in the Kurdish-run region killing one non-American contractor. Another salvo struck a base hosting U.S. forces north of Baghdad days later hurting at least one contractor. Rockets hit Baghdad's Green Zone on Monday which houses the U.S. embassy and other diplomatic missions. Mohi, whose group demands a withdrawal of 2,500 U.S. troops stationed in Iraq and opposes Western influence there, said those who carried out the attacks wanted Washington to harden its stance on Iran or target Iraqi militia. He said a chance must be given for a U.S.-Iranian detente, which could result in U.S. troops leaving the country. Tensions have been high in Iraq and the wider region since the U.S. killing of Iranian military mastermind Qassem Soleimani and Kataib Hezbollah senior leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad in January 2020 sparked fears of a full regional war. Washington's Gulf Arab ally Riyadh has been increasingly targeted in the past year, including two aerial assaults in the past weeks. Some Western and regional officials have said one of those, on Jan. 23, which Saudi Arabia said it thwarted, appeared to be launched from Iraqi soil for the first time. Iraqi security officials have said they have no evidence it was launched from Iraq. Mohi did not comment on whether Kataib Hezbollah had any links with the group that claimed the attack, Alwiyat Alwaad Alhaqq. "We have not claimed it ... but we do say that people in the region who have suffered from Saudi (policy) have the right to retaliate," he said, responding to a question about whether Kataib Hezbollah was involved. Short link: Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-24 05:31:09|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close QUITO, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- At least 50 people died on Tuesday in three prison riots in Ecuador, according to a preliminary report by the National Police. On its Twitter account, the police said the deaths occurred in social rehabilitation centers in the provinces of Guayas (southwest), Azuay (south) and Cotopaxi (central), "where the police are taking control (of the prisons)." "At the moment forensics report more than 50 PPL (persons deprived of liberty) dead," the police said without providing more details. The riots broke out on Tuesday morning due to power struggles between rival gangs, according to information released by police authorities, as uniformed police officers were sent to take control of the facilities. Minister of Government Patricio Pazmino said via Twitter, the riots were due to "concerted actions by criminal organizations to generate violence in the country's prisons," therefore the Police Unified Command Post is taking action to regain control of the prisons. The minister is holding meetings with the police high command to coordinate actions to ensure control of all prisons and prevent violent acts in the South American country. Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno deplored the acts and said that the police was ordered to use progressive force "to guarantee the security of imprisoned citizens." Enditem A FRAUD probe is under way into the liquidation of a cash transit firm that cost Horse Racing Ireland 389,000,an Oireachtas committee was told. The garda bureau of fraud investigation of Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) is looking at the matter. It was an unfortunate situation, said HRI chief executive Brian Kavanagh, who earns 190,000 annually. Fianna Fail TD Paul McAuliffe asked how the transit company had managed to take ownership of the goods it was carrying, including cash floats and proceeds from the tote and racecourse betting from a number of meetings that should have been lodged to HRIs benefit. Mr Kavanagh said the sums involved had not been insured, as cover could not be obtained. He said tax clearance certs were coming in from the company on a monthly basis, yet when it was liquidated there was a liability to the Revenue Commissioners of 670,000. Speaking this morning at the Dail Public Accounts Committee, Mr McAuliffe suggested the same thing could happen again. Chief Financial Officer Suzanne Eade said there were policies in place and the new provider had been bang on in terms of our requirements. Members asked about the diversion of money allocated in 2017 for the installation of CCTV cameras in racecourse stables and operational areas, given a high-profile doping case that came before the courts. HRI allowed the money to be used for an online licensing system for trainers, of whom there are 600 around the country. This was done on foot of an application from the IHRB, the regulatory body for horse racing in Ireland. Verona Murphy, Independent TD for Wexford, said HRI had made such a big deal about obtaining the CCTV allocation in the first place, asking it was now disappointed in light of events. Mr Kavanagh said hindsight was great wisdom, adding that a tender had gone out last month for the installation of CCTV at all racecourses. He agreed HRI could have insisted that the money be spent for its allocated purpose. Ms Murphy suggested it was a terrible indictment because the HRI knew CCTV was needed to protect the integrity of the sport. The CEO replied: We would defer in the first instance to the regulator in that respect. Mr Kavanagh said there were 35,000 runners in Ireland in the last year surveyed, and 4,000 doping tests carried out, of which 11.8pc proved positive. He accepted there had a spike in positives when a new lab came on stream. But he added: A majority of the cases would have involved medication routinely given to the horse but not out of their system in time. Thats a venial sin. Separately the committee heard how Irish horse sales to overseas buyers collapsed by 35pc last year as a result of the Covid pandemic. The value of sales plunged from a value of 165m in 2019 to 106m in 2020, while Brexit means the sale of yearlings and other equines becomes a VAT and customs event. Large-scale sales events were switched out of Ireland to Britain last year, instead of being carried out at Goffs or Tattersalls here, the Public Accounts Committee was told. Horse Racing Ireland is now to introduce an incentive scheme for overseas buyers this year, to link one purchase with a discount on a second in Ireland. It is intended as an aid to breeders, said Mr Kavanagh, pointing out that 92pc across the country have five mares or fewer. Brexit was a worrying development because Ireland exports 60pc of the horses we produce every year, and while those exports go to 33 countries, by far the largest market is the UK. The two industries are practically interlinked. If you look at racing in the UK today, almost half the horses running will be Irish, and almost half the jockeys will be Irish jockeys. We had free movement of horses between Britain, Ireland and France before Brexit under a tripartite agreement that has now gone, he said. Britain has become a third country, so the movement of horses between the countries becomes a VAT event, it becomes a customs event, and theres new EU animal health law and phytosanitary requirements in terms of veterinary certification, and details that need to be checked before a horse can move between a third country and the EU. HRI is endeavouring to smooth the passage as much as possible, because there are 25,000 horse movements a year between Ireland Britain and France every year, the most intense movement of equines anywhere in the world. Mr Kavanagh said: Its key to our trade is that we can have easy access to our markets, and there's not additional cost associated with that. The breeders are the main people affected because they're selling these horses to UK owners and trainers, and they're breeding the horses for that market. He pointed out that a lot of British breeders sent horses to Ireland to be covered at stud, being a valuable source of income for stallion owners but also for veterinary services that and a whole host of related economic activities. It was very simple before Christmas but is now more complicated. There are big challenges and it's a real amber light for our industry, the impact that Brexit is having on the market for Irish horses in the UK. Anthony Albanese has thrown his support behind releasing Julian Assange from prison after 10 years without freedom. The Labor leader was asked at a caucus meeting in Canberra on Tuesday for his view on the ongoing detention of the Australian WikiLeaks founder. 'Enough is enough,' he responded. Wikileaks founder Julain Assange has been accused of conspiring to leak classified material in 2010 (pictured: Assange driven out of Southwark Crown Court in London) Labour leader Anthony Albanese (pictured) has thrown his support behind releasing Julian Assange from prison after 10 years without freedom 'I don't have sympathy for many of his actions but essentially I can't see what is served by keeping him incarcerated.' Assange is currently in prison in southeast England. Last month, a judge in the UK ruled he should not be extradited to the US due to concerns about his health. But he was denied bail on the grounds he could be a flight risk. Assange is awaiting the result of an appeal in the High Court over whether or not he should be sent to the US. He has been accused of conspiring to leak classified material in 2010. Supporters of Julian Assange have rallied for the Wikileaks founder's release from prison (pictured: supports during a snap rally in Sydney) Assange is awaiting the result of an appeal in the High Court over whether or not he should be sent to the US (pictured: Assange arrives at the Westminster Magistrates Court, after he was arrested in London) When it was his turn to question police officials during Tuesdays hotly anticipated Senate hearing on the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson said he had a long list of questions about the event. He did not, however, consider the hearingtraditionally a forum in which senators ask questions and witnesses answer thema format that really lends itself to asking any of those questions. What the hearing did lend itself to, in his estimation, was reading aloud passages from a conspiratorial article suggesting that antifa, fake Trump protesters, and assorted other agents-provocateurs were the true violent instigators. Advertisement Ron Johnson is using his questioning time during the Capitol security hearing to promote a conspiracy theory that the January 6 insurrectionists weren't actually Trump supporters, but were "provocateurs" and "fake Trump protesters" pic.twitter.com/t72QkHDbaG Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 23, 2021 Advertisement Advertisement The Jan. 14 first-person essay, by J. Michael Waller, describes the protesters as mostly wholesome folk, representing a diverse cross-section of America. There were families with small children; many were elderly, overweight, or just plain tired or frailtraits not typically attributed to the riot-prone. Some said they were police officers from around the country. Many wore pro-police shirts or carried pro-police Back the Blue flags. How great were these protesters? This was how great they were: They picked up trash, whereas large leftist crowds tend to be angry and leave trash in the streets and urine in the shrubs. Advertisement Subscribe to the Slatest newsletter A daily email update of the stories you need to read right now. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. Among those who didnt fit in, in Wallers account, were a few young men wearing Trump or MAGA hats backwards and who did not fit in with the rest of the crowd in terms of their actions and demeanor, whom I presumed to be Antifa or other leftist agitators. He also charged Capitol Policein a section Johnson read aloud in the hearingwith turning the otherwise charming crowd into a mob when they fired a tear gas canister. Johnson encouraged everyone to read the rest of the article and entered it into the record. He observed that the riot was not predictable and asked exCapitol Police Chief Steven Sund if he agreed that the vast majority of Trump supporters are prolaw enforcement, and the last thing they would do is violate the law? Advertisement Johnson is still making up his mind on whether to run for reelection in 2022. But hes already decided whose support matters if he does run. And so hes making more and more sure to promote the impression that the Capitol riotwhich left five people dead and forced Congress to cut off the certification of Electoral College votes and flee its chamberswasnt a big deal. Last week, in a radio interview, he said that it didnt seem like an armed insurrection to me, asking how many firearms were confiscated? (Heres a good overview of the array of confiscated weapons. Also, because this incident somehow keeps being buried, wed reiterate that two valid pipe bombs were planted outside both the Republican and Democratic party headquarters within a couple blocks of the Capitol complex.) The rest of the hearing, a joint venture between two committees, was otherwise within the bounds of professionalism. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, chair of the Rules Committee, hoped that would be the takeaway. I do want to make it clear that there are some items of agreement between most of us on this committee, Klobuchar said, and I dont think we should let the words of a few become the story here. A motorist cheated death when his van broke down on the inside lane of a smart motorway and was smashed into by a lorry. The accident spread debris across the M6, and emergency rescue workers feared anyone in the van had been killed. But miraculously electrician Ben French, 28, was pulled from the wreckage alive and is recovering at home a week later. Carnage: The scene of the horrific crash on the M6 The crash happened on a new 'all-lane running' section of smart motorway, in which the hard shoulder is used as a live traffic lane. Campaigners want them banned for safety reasons following a series of fatal crashes. Yesterday the Mail revealed further concerns about safety standards on the M6. Ten miles of the motorway from junction 21a near Warrington to junction 26 near Wigan will be turned into a smart motorway with emergency refuges up to 1.5 miles apart contravening safety guidance from Transport Secretary Grant Shapps. Following a review in March last year, Mr Shapps said the emergency bays should be between three quarters of a mile and one mile apart. But Highways England has admitted it will not fully comply with the new standards. Mr French, of Cheslyn Hay, Staffordshire said: 'I am lucky to be alive. I should be dead. 'I was on the phone talking to the lads at work looking in the wing mirror when I said, 'f***, there's a lorry coming'. 'I could only sit and watch and wait. 'I was helpless and could only brace myself seconds before it ploughed into me.' Mr French, a father-of-one, will be off work for three months as he recovers from near-fatal injuries which include a fractured pelvis and collarbone, punctured lung and broken rib. He had been driving home after a work trip to Preston when he had a tyre blow-out near junction 17 of the M6. He pulled over on the inside lane because there was no hard shoulder. Commenting on the controversial road design, Mr French said: 'They should be scrapped. 'They are putting cost in front of lives. 'I drive all over the country. It's just a cheap and easy way of keeping traffic moving instead of building an extra lane on the motorway. It's a stupid idea.' Mr French's partner, Charlotte Ashford, was distraught for four-and-a-half hours until she learned he had survived. The couple have a five-year-old son, Charlie. 'I thought I had lost him,' said Miss Ashford, 27. 'I just broke down in tears. He should be dead, everyone at the scene thought he was dead. Looking at the picture of the accident made me feel sick. I have no idea how he survived.' Ben French will be off work for three months Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, which attended the scene with three engines at 2pm on February 16, said the driver of the lorry managed to get out of his vehicle unaided. Firefighters pulled Mr French from what was left of his van and he was taken to the Royal Stoke University Hospital. The Department of Transport has not produced any accident figures for this section of the smart motorway network, which was completed two years ago. But safety reports on two other smart motorway sections of the M6 have seen increases in collision rates. Last month, a coroner ruled the lack of a hard shoulder contributed to the deaths of two drivers Jason Mercer, 44, and Alexandru Morgeanu, 22 on the M1 near Sheffield in 2019. Another coroner in South Yorkshire referred Highways England to prosecutors to consider a corporate manslaughter charge over the death of grandmother Nargis Begum, 62, who was killed when her car broke down on the M1 with no hard shoulder and was hit by another vehicle. There were 14 deaths in 2019 on motorways where hard shoulders are full-time or part-time lanes, up from 11 in 2018 and five in 2017. [February 23, 2021] Andersen Solidifies Africa Platform Following its rapid expansion in Africa, Andersen Global is now unifying its African member firms under the brand "Andersen." As part of this transition, five former collaborating firms will become member firms of Andersen Global, solidifying its platform in Africa. The announcement comes on the heels of the adoption of the Andersen brand by the founding U.S. member firm in 2019, and member firms in Europe, Latin America and the Middle East in 2020. Andersen Global member firms in Nigeria and Kenya-previously operating under the brand "Andersen Tax"-will now transition to the common brand "Andersen." Former collaborating firms in South Africa (Tabacks), Tunisia (Jelil Bouraoui & Associates), and Mauritius and Seychelles (ATax Advisors) will also adopt the Andersen brand. Andersen Global also welcomes member firms in Ivory Coast (Mondon Conseil) and Mozambique (Isalcio Mahanjane Advogado & Associados). Operating under a common brand demonstrates the region's ability to provide seamless service globally along with the other member firms of Andersen Global. Through its member and collaborating firms, Andersen Global currently has a presence in 45 countries on the continent, including legal services in 41 countries. "For the last several years, our platform in Africa has remained a high priority consistent with our commitment to client service and the provision of seamless tax and legal services globally. As the economy and markets continue o shift and become more global, our organization's need for comprehensive, cross-border solutions has become critical. Through our expansion efforts and the unification of our African member firms under a common brand, we have achieved our goal of having the largest legal footprint on the continent," remarked Mark Vorsatz, Andersen Global Chairman and Andersen CEO. "We remain committed to being one of the most significant tax and legal firms in terms of headcount, geographic coverage and, most importantly, in terms of quality." Further strengthening its management structure in the region, the organization's African Board selected Jelil Bouraoui, Office Managing Director at Andersen in Tunisia, to represent the region on the Andersen Global Board of Directors. Additionally, Olaleye Adebiyi, Office Managing Director at Andersen in Nigeria, and Derrick Kaufmann, Office Managing Director at Andersen in South Africa, will serve as Co-Managing Directors for the region. Jelil, Olaleye and Derrick will work closely to manage the Africa practice and support the region's future expansion efforts. Andersen's origins date back to 2002 when 23 former Arthur Andersen partners created the tax-only firm WTAS LLC and subsequently established Andersen Global (formerly WTAS Global) in 2013. The next year, the U.S. member firm adopted the brand "Andersen Tax" followed by member firms in Latin America and Europe. Andersen Tax debuted in Nigeria in 2017 and Kenya in 2018, and the region has since expanded to more than 65 locations, more than 1,000 tax and legal professionals, and nearly 200 partners today. Member firms in Canada and Israel will also adopt the Andersen brand this year, while Andersen Global will continue to focus on its expansion strategy in critical markets, including the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. Andersen Global is an international association of legally separate, independent member firms comprised of tax and legal professionals around the world. Established in 2013 by U.S. member firm Andersen Tax LLC, Andersen Global now has more than 7,000 professionals worldwide and presence in over 254 locations through its member firms and collaborating firms. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210222005838/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Arctic Blue LLC ("Arctic Blue") is pleased to announce that preparations are well underway for launch of Arctic Blue Diamonds, an online marketplace for discerning customers to shop ethically-mined diamonds from the Arctic, with a focus on uniquely beautiful, blue-fluorescing stones. Arctic Blue Chairman and veteran mining executive Patrick Evans commented: "In more than 20 years of diamond mining, I have never seen anything quite as beautiful as a blue-fluorescing diamond. Almost exclusively found in the Arctic, they are wonders of the natural world. Travelers from far and wide come to the Arctic every year to witness the incredible beauty of the region, including the phenomenal northern lights. These diamonds truly capture that magic and mystery, and it is with great pride that we are now able to share the opportunity to own them." Matthew Evans, Arctic Blue CEO, added: "Today's customers want to know if the diamonds they're buying are ethically sourced, but they don't have to compromise with a synthetic stone to feel good about their purchase. All our goods meet the highest standards of environmental protection because they are mined in the conflict-free Arctic regions of Canada and Russia. Additionally, these producers provide vital employment opportunities to indigenous communities-the same cannot be said for lab-grown diamond manufacturers." Evans continued: "Our online marketplace will provide exceptional value to customers. Traditional jewelry retailers add large markups to their goods which make genuine diamonds unaffordable for many customers. By partnering directly with major producers and midstream cutters/polishers, we effectively cut out brick-and-mortar retailers, allowing for a more convenient, enjoyable, and affordable diamond shopping experience. It's time to bring fine jewelry shopping into the 21st century." Contact Information For further information, please call Patrick Evans at (480) 747-3032, or email patrick@arcticblue.com. Arctic Blue LLC 8585 E Hartford Dr. #300 Scottsdale, AZ 85255 +1 (480) 419-0259 www.arcticblue.com About Arctic Blue Diamonds Arctic Blue Diamonds is an online marketplace for natural diamonds and diamond jewelry, with a focus on Arctic diamonds exhibiting natural blue fluorescence (a soft-colored glow when exposed to ultraviolet light). It is expected to launch in June 2021. Follow our progress and find your glow at www.arcticblue.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005271/en/ Contacts: Patrick Evans, (480) 747-3032 patrick@arcticblue.com (TNS) A 65-mile section of California's bullet train through the San Joaquin Valley that a contractor assured could be constructed much more cheaply with radical design changes has become another troubling and costly chapter in the high-speed rail project, ainvestigation found.The segment runs across rivers, migratory paths for endangered species and an ancient lake bed through the length of Kings County, a fertile agricultural belt south of Fresno. Before awarding a contract for the section, the California High-Speed Rail Authority and its consultants knew about these sensitive issues and prepared lengthy environmental reports aimed at accelerating construction by avoiding legal obstacles.But in 2014, when the rail authority awarded the contract, it went with the lowest bidder a Spanish company named Dragados which promised $300 million in cost savings by altering the design that the authority had proposed to regulators.Seven years later, these changes have been largely abandoned and have contributed to more than $800 million in cost overruns on the Kings County segment. That figure is 62 percent above the contract price tag, which the rail authority has agreed to pay, according to interviews and technical and contractual documents reviewed byIn addition, the rail authority awarded the contract without first completing a scientific assessment of how sinking land in the area a result of decades of excess groundwater pumping could affect the rail route. California is now paying tens of millions of dollars to raise track embankments over 21 miles.In a written statement, the California High-Speed Rail Authority said it is working with regulatory agencies to resolve design issues. The agency declined to make top officials available to answer questions but asserts it is making good progress on completing an initial 171-mile line through the San Joaquin Valley, which includes the Kings County section. It also said that it was not required to finalize the study on land subsidence before construction began in 2015."We continue to apply lessons learned to our current and future work to ensure issues of the past do not repeat themselves," the authority said, adding that in the last two years, the state agency has established 35 active construction sites across 119 miles of the Central Valley.Officials for Dragados which has extensive bullet train experience across Europe but less of a track record in California did not respond to telephone and emailed requests for comment, saying they are "required to coordinate responses to media questions" with the state.Some experts say this marks yet another black eye for the project that has been beset by cost overruns and delays that now threaten it. The price tag of the massive project to build a Los Angeles-to- San Francisco high-speed rail system has shot up from an original estimate in 2008 of $33 billion with service starting in 2020 to at least $100 billion with an uncertain start date."The rail authority should have been concerned about the low bid," said William Ibbs, a UC Berkeley professor of civil engineering who has consulted around the world on high-speed rail projects. "The devil is always in the details."When the rail authority launched the Kings County work, Obama administration officials were exerting "immense pressure," in the words of one former rail authority official, to get construction moving, even though it had fewer than 30 employees and was dependent on consultants. Four years earlier, the federal government had issued grants for what was supposed to be a "shovel ready" public works project, the nation's largest.Today, Dragados has not started construction on about half of its bridges and viaducts, four years after the original deadline of 2017, and it had completed less than 50 percent of its planned work by December, according to rail authority progress reports. The rail authority bears a share of responsibility, having failed to deliver 278 of 998 parcel land purchases needed for construction.But numerous change orders which include design revisions sought partly by Dragados are a large part of the problem.' review found that California has approved 273 change orders for the Spanish contractor about one every week since mid-2015. These changes covered items that included extra insurance premiums, delay costs, route changes and land shortages, adding up to more than $800 million."It is not like a single project, but a lot of projects strung over a distance," said USC civil engineering professor Gregg Brandow, who was asked byabout the process. "Even then, it seems like a lot of change orders," he added, terming the cost increases "extravagant."The rail authority, however, said it found nothing of concern about Dragados' significantly lower bid, citing "a public, transparent, multi-year two-step process that was approved by the board of directors."California's high-speed rail endeavor still has support from Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state leaders, who hope it will ultimately relieve congested airports, spur economic development in the Central Valley and provide a cleaner alternative for linking the Bay Area, the Central Valley and Southern California.But with continued cost increases and delays, the project potentially could run out of money before an initial 171-mile line from Merced to Bakersfield is completed. The Dragados segment, which is part of that initial line, is just part of the problem.Two other construction teams have filed their own massive change orders. Far more land than ever imagined is needed in the Central Valley, and it is coming at a higher cost. Consultants have racked up hundreds of millions of dollars in higher costs to develop environmental statements. Relocating underground utilities has proved more complex than expected.When California selected Dragados in 2014, the $1.2-billion contract was the rail authority's largest ever, but it was $506 million less than the next-lowest bidder, Tutor Perini, and $834 million less than the third bidder, Samsung. The exact bid number $1,234,567,890 was considered cheeky in the no-nonsense construction industry with its sequence of all 10 numerals.At the time, rail authority Chief Executive Jeff Morales heralded the low price tag as a "significant milestone." Others, however, say the wide gap among the bids should have been a red flag."Tutor Perini bid a half-billion dollars more and it was already working on the project," said UC Berkeley's Ibbs. "So they knew more about it and had more experience in California construction."In its bid, Dragados proposed fundamental changes to what the authority's environmental consultants URS, Hatch Mott MacDonald and Arup had envisioned in Kings County, with its complicated landscape of creek beds, wildlife habitats, roads and other infrastructure.To avoid potential conflicts, the authority's consultants proposed building the rail line on an elevated platform as it entered a future train station south of Hanford. But Dragados offering up "alternative technical concepts" and "design refinements" proposed constructing the rail station and adjacent line on ground level. The change was supposed to save $130 million.Yet the Spanish firm underestimated the challenges, records show and project officials say. These included moving a nearby four-lane freeway into a trench and rerouting track owned by Union Pacific Railroad. The freeway trench was far more complex than expected. No agreement was reached with the railroad. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife was opposed, according to two officials knowledgeable about the matter who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to talk to the media.By that point, the rail authority had purchased a 27-acre walnut grove for the at-grade rail station. Faced with hurdles, the rail authority and Dragados went back to the drawing board and designed a 2-mile-long, 60-foot-high concrete platform, which the contractor is now building at an unknown additional cost for the Hanford station. The rail authority issued a $99-million change order for the viaduct's foundation in 2020. The girders and deck costs have not been determined.Since the rail authority was stuck with the walnut farm, it decided to use the land for a concrete mixing plant, according to state documents and Mark Wasser, the attorney who represented the farmer. The rail authority later bought a temporary easement for 29 adjacent acres from the same farmer to store pre-cast parts for structures made at the concrete plant.It was a costly site for storage and mixing concrete. The state recently agreed to pay the farmer $3.5 million, or $63,000 per acre, substantially more than market value, Wasser said. "They paid him a premium price and he gets half of [the land] back," he added.Dragados also said its plan would save $79 million by replacing a proposed 2-mile-long viaduct over a network of waterways of the Kings River with 13 box culverts. And it proposed saving $43 million by lowering and shortening bridges over Cross Creek and Deer Creek, near Allensworth.The California Department of Fish and Wildlife nixed the plans.In an October 2019 decision, it approved a 1,883-foot-long viaduct about one-third of a mile with 57 culverts for wildlife over the Kings River waterways. A separate decision in May 2020 ordered additional culverts and animal protections for the creeks, including 14 escape dens for kit foxes that will have to be maintained "in perpetuity." The authority has approved at least one change order of $5 million for a viaduct over the river, and others are pending.In a statement, rail authority officials said the wildlife issues were resolved, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has its own role to enforce the National Environmental Policy Act, toldthat was not so.In a statement, the service's Sacramento office said it has contacted the rail authority about reviewing the latest plans for the segment, which the agency had originally approved based on a biological opinion under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. This new review "may result in the USFWS issuing an amended biological opinion on the revised project segment," the wildlife service added.Engineers who worked on the original environmental approvals, and asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to discuss project details, said they weren't surprised the rail authority is now running into regulatory hurdles under federal and state environmental laws."It is mind-boggling that they would entertain some of the things that Dragados proposed," said one senior engineer. "To have changes like this, they should have just started with a new environmental document and gone back to the beginning."Four senior project officials who spoke toon background said the state was lax in not holding Dragados accountable for the increased costs.In its statement, the rail authority disputed it was accepting the costs for the Dragados design alterations despite agreeing to pay for the change orders. It said it is evaluating each issue to determine who is responsible. In a "finding of fact," whichobtained in a Public Records Act request, the rail authority justified paying for the Hanford viaduct by asserting it would help meet a federal grant deadline.Another 2014 decision that has caused higher costs and delays is the rail authority's instruction that potential bidders could disregard land subsidence in what geologists call the Corcoran subsidence bowl, even though a geotechnical report on the issue had not been completed.When it was finished in 2017, the report found that some areas of the rail passage were expected to sink 20 feet between 2016 and 2036. The analysis said it wouldn't affect the operation of high-speed trains because the slopes would be within the design specifications of the track but flooding risks would increase.Last March, the authority approved two change orders by a Dragados subcontractor to elevate embankments over 21 miles, at an additional cost of $40 million, because the flood plain changed. In addition, the authority in August approved another change order for $61 million for embankment materials.Although the rail authority initially rejected paying for the extra flood protection measures, it later agreed to cover the cost, saying the measures have "merit," according to an agency document.Ideally, the state agency would have studied and recognized the subsidence problem before issuing a contract and would have put the required embankments into its bidding, letting different firms compete on the price, project engineers toldIt did not. Current bullet train leaders, facing deadlines of their own, are now grappling with those past decisions. Egypt as a tourist destination was the star of the online Tourism Fair due to its prices, Alin Burcea, vice-president of the National Association of Travel Agencies (ANAT), told AGERPRES, stating that most reservations were made for the next period and less for the summer, due to the uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic. "Romanians want to go where it is possible, mainly. I can say that everyone has gone crazy with Egypt, it was the star of the fair. The biggest sales for Egypt were made from Thursday to Sunday. But, in general, we are talking about upcoming departures, because people do not know what will happen in the summer. The summer holidays are not doing that well, it has nothing to do with 2019, and everything starts from the unknown, related to the epidemiological situation. There are many departures for Egypt. We made almost 400 reservations from Friday to Sunday and we reached somewhere around 2,700. And we set out to have somewhere around 10,000 reservations for Egypt this year," said Alin Burcea. The idea of an online tourism fair dates a while back, the ANAT representative declaring himself satisfied with the organization. Alin Burcea stated that a travel protocol would be signed between Romania and Greece, which would establish the rules for traveling. Turkey is also due to clarify certain issues regarding travel conditions in the coming period. Regarding the number of tourists who would go on vacation in 2021, Burcea said that there is a certain increase compared to last year. OKAYAMA, Japan, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In a study reported in the Journal of Controlled Release, researchers from Okayama University describe the use of nanocarriers in selectively transporting anticancer drugs to brain tumors. Glioblastoma is an aggressive form of brain cancer that is best treated with boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). BNCT involves the use of an agent that delivers boron into tumor tissues. When subsequently hit with radiation, boron (typically the 10B isotope is used) emits particles that kill neighboring cells. However, current methods do not cargo boron into cancer cells homogenously. Now, Associate professor MICHIUE Hiroyuki and Okayama university Neutron Therapy Research Center (NTRC) team have successfully used a nanocarrier that selectively delivers boron into brain tumors. The carrier, known as the A6K peptide, is a nano-scale structure that spontaneously clusters to form hollow tubes when immersed in water. The peptide has a positively charged core, which attracts any negatively charged molecules in the vicinity and traps them inside it. Another bonus feature is that the assembled tubes easily pass through cell membranes. The researchers first combined varying concentrations of the A6K peptide and BSH (disodium undecahydro-mercapto-closo-dodecacarborate), a negatively charged boron-containing chemical. The ensuing complexes formed were observed under the electron microscope. At high ratios of A6K: BSH a chaotic mess of branched complexes were produced, whereas at concentrations of 1:5 and lower, ordered spherical complexes were created. Seemingly, the BSH particles had been engulfed. These low concentration complexes were then introduced into glioma cells to find that they effectively penetrated the cancerous cells. However, the localization of only BSH into glioma cells was almost ten times less. A6K was thus highly competent in ushering BSH particles into the cells. Additionally, A6K-BSH did not induce any toxicity in the cells by itself. To then investigate how the complexes were transported in the body, A6K-BSH was injected into the tails of mice with glioblastoma. Within 2 hours the levels of A6K-BSH peaked within the brain tumors of these mice. What's more, no drug complex was found in healthy tissues. Finally, the tumor-killing properties of A6K-BSH were assessed by treating cells with the complex and then bombarding the cells with radiation for 30 minutes. Within 24 hours, cells irradiated for 15 minutes or more stopped proliferating. The BSH-containing nanotubes were successful in targeting and preventing the growth of cancer cells. "We aimed to demonstrate a new boron delivery system based on A6K peptide and BSH, and open up a novel direction for boron agents in the next generation of BNCT," claim the researchers. They also point out the convenience of using this system which simply involves one mixing step before use. While the system remains to be fully tested in animals, it paves the way for directed killing of hard-to-reach tumors. Background Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT): BNCT is a commonly used combination of drug and radiation therapy for cancers that are hard to target with traditional chemotherapy. BNCT involves transferring boron-containing compounds into cancer cells, and subsequently irradiating the cells with neutron beams. However, there are several challenges associated with traditional BNCT, such as ensuring that boron is escorted into tissues uniformly. Pharmaceutical scientists are now designing novel delivery systems for these boron-containing compounds. A vast array of synthetic polymers has been investigated for this purpose, but these pose additional issues such as toxicity and degradation of the boron agents. The A6K nanotube is a small peptide molecule that has been used to deliver gene therapy in the past. This study demonstrates that the peptide can usher many more substances. Related figure https://www.okayama-u.ac.jp/up_load_files/research_highlights/129_image_1.jpg Caption: Colonies of cells treated with the A6K-BSH complex reduced greatly when exposed to radiation for 15 minutes or more suggesting that the growth of cancer cells was halted. Reference Hiroyuki Michiue, Mizuki Kitamatsu, Asami Fukunaga, Nobushige Tsuboi, Atsushi Fujimura, Hiroaki Matsushita, Kazuyo Igawa, Tomonari Kasai, Natsuko Kondo, Hideki Matsui, Shuichi Furuya. Self-assembling A6K peptide nanotubes as a mercaptoundecahydrododecaborate (BSH) delivery system for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). Journal of Controlled Release, 2020 Nov 11;330:788-796. DOI : 10.1016/j.jconrel.2020.11.001 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168365920306489?via=ihub Reference (Okayama Univ. e-Bulletin): Professor MICHIUE's team OU-MRU Vol.14Simplified boron compound may treat brain tumours Correspondence to Associate professor MICHIUE Hiroyuki, M.D., Ph.D. Neutron Therapy Research Center, Okayama University, Shikata-cho 2-5-1, Okayama-city, Okayama 700-8558, Japan E-mail: hmichiue(a)md.okayama-u.ac.jp https://www.ntrc.okayama-u.ac.jp/en/index.html Further information Okayama University 1-1-1 Tsushima-naka , Kita-ku , Okayama 700-8530, Japan Public Relations Division E-mail: www-adm(a) adm.okayama-u.ac.jp For inquiries, please contact us by replacing (a) with the @ mark. Website: //www.okayama-u.ac.jp/index_e.html Okayama Univ. e-Bulletin: //www.okayama-u.ac.jp/user/kouhou/ebulletin/ Okayama University supports the Sustainable Development Goals: https://sdgs.okayama-u.ac.jp/en/ SOURCE Okayama University DETROIT, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Stratview Research announces the launch of a new research report on Asphalt Additives Market by Product Type (Anti-Stripping Agent/Adhesion Promoter, Rejuvenators, Emulsifiers, Polymer, and Others), by Application Type (Road Construction, Parking Lots, Roofing, and Others), by Technology Type (Hot Mix, Warm Mix, and Cold Mix), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World), Share, Trend, Forecast, & Industry Analysis: 2021-2026. This strategic assessment report, from Stratview Research, provides a comprehensive analysis that reflects today's asphalt additives market realities and future market possibilities for the forecast period of 2020 to 2025. The report estimates the short- as well as long-term repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on the demand for asphalt additives at the global, regional, as well as country level. Also, the report provides the possible loss that the industry will register by comparing pre-COVID and post-COVID scenarios. The vital data/information provided in the report can play a crucial role for the market participants as well as investors in the identification of low-hanging fruits available in the market as well as formulate growth strategies. Asphalt Additives Market: Highlights from the Report Additives gained huge momentum in the asphalt pavement industry in the wake of the requirements for high temperature and aging resistance, improvement in thermal cracking and stripping, and reduced maintenance cost of pavements. More than 90% of the road pavements performed today are being done with asphalt. There is also an increase in the penetration of asphalt with additives as compared to unmodified asphalt. The COVID-19 pandemic brought in slight disruption in the growth of the asphalt paving industry as well as the asphalt additives market with lockdown, shortage of labor, postponement of infrastructural development programs, and disruption in the supply chain across the globe being the major restraining factors. The possible impact of the pandemic on the asphalt additives market is likely to be graver in 2021 than its impact in 2020. The asphalt pavements industry is having a minimal impact of the pandemic as road construction/maintenance has been in operation considering an essential activity in various regions. Also, most of the road construction funds for 2020 were already allocated, which led to an insignificant slowdown in the market growth in 2020. However, the year 2021 is likely to see slower growth with a shrinking economy, lower tax collections in 2020, and a reduction in federal and state govt. budgets. After a slowdown in growth in 2021, the market is likely to regain its growth momentum from 2022, ultimately reaching US$ 3.7 billion in 2026. Click Here and Run Through the TOC of the Report: https://www.stratviewresearch.com/toc/877/asphalt-additives-market.html Based on the product type, the market is segmented as antistripping agent/adhesion promoter, rejuvenators, emulsifiers, polymers, and others. Polymer is expected to remain the key product type in the market over the next five years. Key driving factors for polymers are better durability and flexibility, reduction in the life cycle cost, and reduction in rutting and thermal cracking. Also, different regions have dominance of different additives along with varying dosage rates. For instance, China has high penetration of polymer additives, whereas Brazil has high penetration of emulsifiers. Based on the application type, road construction is estimated to maintain its huge dominance in the market in the years to come. Increasing new road construction projects fueled by federal and state governments especially in developing economies and strong demand for road maintenance and preservation in the developed economies. Furthermore, there has been an increasing penetration of road asphalt with additives as compared to unmodified asphalts. Based on the technology type, hot mix is estimated to maintain its dominance during the forecast period, whereas warm mix is expected to grow at the highest rate in the same period. Warm mix asphalt is gaining traction with its superiority in the reduction of carbon and fumed gas emissions and safer work environments over hot mix asphalt. North America is the world's largest market for warm mix asphalts, whereas Asia-Pacific is the largest market for hot mix asphalt. Enquire Here for a Free Sample of the Detailed Report: https://www.stratviewresearch.com/Request-Sample/877/asphalt-additives-market.html#form In terms of regions, Asia-Pacific is expected to remain the largest market over the next five years. China, Japan, and South Korea are the leading markets in the region. Strong demand exists from both new road pavement projects as well as pavement preservation/maintenance in the region. There is also huge whitespace opportunity from the developing Asian economies, such as India, where additive penetration in the asphalt industry is extremely low currently. The supply chain of this market comprises raw material suppliers, asphalt additive manufacturers, asphalt/emulsion manufacturers, asphalt pavement contractors, and state and national highway authorities. Key asphalt additive manufacturers are Kraton Corporation, Ingevity Corporation, Arkema S.A, Nouryon Chemicals B.V., Kao Chemicals, Sinopec Corp., Colas, BASF SE, Iterchimica S.r.l., Cargill Inc., DowDuPont, Solvay SA, Evonik Industries AG, and Sasol Limited. Report Features This report provides market intelligence in the most comprehensive way. The report structure has been kept such that it offers maximum business value. It provides critical insights on the market dynamics and will enable strategic decision making for the existing market players as well as those willing to enter the market. The following are the key features of the report: Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysis. Market environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porter's five forces analysis, SWOT analysis. Market trend and forecast analysis. Market segment trend and forecast. Competitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, product portfolio, product launches, etc. Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities. Emerging trends. Strategic growth opportunities for the existing and new players. Key success factors. This report studies the global asphalt additives market and has segmented the market in four ways, keeping in mind the interest of all the stakeholders across the value chain. Following are the four ways in which the market is segmented: Asphalt Additives, By Product Type Anti-Stripping Agent/Adhesion Promoter (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Rejuvenator (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Emulsifier (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Polymer (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Others (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Asphalt Additives, By Application Type Road Construction (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Parking Lots (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Roofing (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Others (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Asphalt Additives, By Technology Type Hot Mix Additives (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Warm Mix Additives (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Cold Mix Additives (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Asphalt Additives, By Region North America (Country Analysis: The USA , Canada , and Mexico ) Europe (Country Analysis: Germany , France , The UK, Spain , Turkey , and Rest of Europe ) Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: China , Japan , India , South Korea , and Rest of Asia-Pacific ) Rest of the World (Country Analysis: Brazil , The UAE, and Others) Stratview Research has several high value market reports in the advanced materials industry. Please refer to the following link to browse through our reports: https://www.stratviewresearch.com/market-reports/Advanced-Materials.html About Stratview Research Stratview Research is a global market intelligence firm providing wide range of services including syndicated market reports, custom research, and sourcing intelligence across industries, such as Advanced Materials, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & Mass Transportation, Consumer Goods, Construction & Equipment, Electronics and Semiconductors, Energy & Utility, Healthcare & Life Sciences, and Oil & Gas. We have a strong team of industry veterans and analysts with an extensive experience in executing custom research projects for mid-sized to Fortune 500 companies, in the areas of Market Assessment, Opportunity Screening, Competitive Intelligence, Due Diligence, Target Screening, Market Entry Strategy, Go to Market Strategy, and Voice of Customer studies. Stratview Research is a trusted brand globally, providing high quality research and strategic insights that help companies worldwide in effective decision making. For enquiries, please contact: Stratview Research E-mail: [email protected] Direct: +1-313-307-4176 SOURCE Stratview Research ADVERTISEMENT She goes to Geneva as an African but as a global leader and citizen. And there is a lot to do. She has given a signal of what to expect with her initial statement about the threat posed to internationalism by vaccine nationalism. She says no one is safe until everyone is safe. That is precisely the kind of clarity that the world needs right now. The biggest piece of happy-ending news in Nigeria in the month of February 2021 was the endorsement of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the next Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) by the United States. The South Korean candidate for the position, Yoo Myung-hee, whose candidacy had enjoyed the backing of the United States under the Trump administration, withdrew and the South Korean authorities have since pledged their support for Dr. N.O. Iweala. The South Koreans earlier refusal to step down had made it difficult for Dr. Iweala to be confirmed by consensus when she got the majority of the votes at the end of the selection process in October 2020. The WTO chooses its Director General by consensus. The Trump administration rejected Iweala on the grounds that she did not have requisite experience in trade negotiations. The process had to be kept on hold until after the US presidential election of November 2020. Luck is a very powerful factor in human affairs. As it turned out, Donald Trump lost the election. His loss is not a gain for the Democrats and Joe Biden/Kamala Harris alone, it was also a major gain for Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who has now benefitted from the change in the United States, as a globalist, liberal president has emerged in the White House. One of Bidens earliest tasks in office was to undo the damage left behind by his predecessor, and a resolve to re-establish Americas leadership in the international order, especially with regard to such issues as climate change, and Americas role and place in the world through such multilateral institutions as the UN, the World Health Organisation and the World Trade Organisation On Monday, February 15, the WTO officially announced Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the next Director General of the WTO (March 1, 2021 August 2025). You should have been in Nigeria or on Nigerian Social Media on that day. Nigerian Twitter exploded with shouts of excitement and expressions of delight. Nigerians did not talk about luck. (But imagine if Trump had won and that guy called Robert Lightizer had remained U.S. Trade Representative). They talked about the history made by a great Nigerian ambassador, a woman of destiny, and an accomplished person. Ngozi Okonjo-Iwealas triumph was the stuff of history: The first woman to emerge as DG of the WTO, the first African and also the first Nigerian to assume that office. This means a lot to the people. In a country where ethnic sentiments run deep, nobody talked about Okonjo-Iwealas ethnic group. Nobody talked about her religion. Her achievement was something far more significant, a subtle projection of the fact that the same Nigerians who promote mediocrity routinely, appreciate and applaud distinction when they see it. As a people, we indulge in mischief and unproductive wrangling for selfish reasons. But Ngozi Okonjo-Iwealas making of history was far too iconic and legendary to be reduced to such base instincts. The joy that was expressed revealed a gift of humanism that is often masked in the Nigerian character. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. It is early days yet under the Joe Biden administration but the new U.S. president has signalled that there is now a new dawn in the United States and the world. Within the same period that the U.S. dropped its opposition to the candidacy of Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, President Biden earlier expressed his readiness to work with and support the African Union. President Trump, before him, was not too enthusiastic about Africa. He dismissed some of our countries as shithole countries. Nigeria was identified as one of such countries. Today, four Nigerian-Americans are in the Biden/Harris team. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has also been endorsed. The Biden administration would do well to build on the goodwill that it currently enjoys in Africa. In addition, African leaders deserve commendation for the solidarity that they demonstrated with their support for Ngozi Okonjo-Iwealas candidacy. As we have seen in the case of Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus as Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2017, and Dr. Akin Adesinas re-election as AfDB president in 2020, in the face of again, Trump-Americas opposition, when African leaders unite around a goal, they can be more assertive within the international community. Back home, Nigerias President Muhammadu Buhari also deserves praise for the statesman-like, non-partisan support that he gave Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and, before her, AfDBs Dr. Akin Adesina. In June 2020, President Buhari nominated Okonjo-Iweala for the position, and withdrew the earlier candidacy of another Nigerian, Ambassador Frederick Agah. In October 2020, as the Americans tried to become a cog in the wheel of WTO progress, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala visited President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja to thank him for his support and to ask that Nigeria should continue to mobilise support for her candidacy. Mr. President, put a smile on my face. I am very proud of my country, she said. President Buhari told her: I assure you that we will do all that we can to ensure that you emerge as the Director-General of WTO, not only because you are a Nigerian, but because you are a great Nigerian. You deserve thisI did the same for Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina for President of the African Development Bank. Both of you served the country under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). You are both highly qualified. We will continue to support you. I will immediately make those calls. President Buhari has kept his promise. We are impressed. This is an act of mature leadership that we will recall positively. Even with the best of credentials, nonetheless, anyone seeking the leadership of a strategic body like the 164-member WTO would need a lot of support. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala got this in great supply. The return of the United States to the WTO fold, and the home support that she enjoys in Nigeria and Africa will make her assignment more manageable in many respects. NOI is of course eminently qualified for the position that is now hers. Twenty-five years at the World Bank as a technocrat, rising to become Vice President and Managing Director of the global body. Two-time Minister of Finance of Nigeria. One-time Minister of Foreign Affairs. Board Member, Twitter. Chair, GAVI Alliance. Special Envoy on COVID-19 to the African Union. Author. Public intellectual. Ph.D holder from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Development Economics, with proven distinction in learning and character. Recipient of many awards and distinctions. Eminent global citizen. Even with the best of credentials, nonetheless, anyone seeking the leadership of a strategic body like the 164-member WTO would need a lot of support. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala got this in great supply. The return of the United States to the WTO fold, and the home support that she enjoys in Nigeria and Africa will make her assignment more manageable in many respects. Even more so would be the folk hero status she now enjoys among the African populace. Last week, many of her compatriots took to the social media to celebrate. You may have heard of the Hillary Clinton pantsuit campaign or the Kamala Harris single strand, coral necklace celebration. The pantsuit is Hillary Clintons signature costume. During the 2016 American presidential campaign, her female supporters donned the pantsuit to demonstrate their solidarity for the then U.S. Democratic presidential candidate under the social media hashtag: #PantsuitNation. They were all over Facebook too as they projected the pantsuit as a symbol of Hillary Clintons messages: Power, equality and a level playing field. Conservative and formal in her pantsuit, Hillary Clinton cut the image of a professional who could hold her own in a room full of male politicians. She thus highlighted the connection between psychology and clothing. In 2020, we saw this on display again with the emergence of Kamala Harris as first female, first Asian, and first Black woman Vice President of the United States. On inauguration day, January 20, her admirers also wore her signature pearl necklace not just a piece of jewelry, but a symbol of power, sisterhood and solidarity. They also created a Facebook page: Wear Pearls on January 20, 2021. In the last week, the new WTO DG has had her own costume moment. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala is famous for her signature costume: the African wax two-piece attire, also known as Ankara, capped with a head tie popularly known as gele in the South-West of Nigeria. Probably in her younger days she wore the regular female attires of pantsuit, skirts and blouses, but since her days as Nigerias Minister of Finance under the Obasanjo administration, Nigerians cannot remember seeing her in official capacity in anything other than the Ankara dress and gele. The head tie is a major fashion statement among African women, and the usual styles are quite flamboyant. Tying the gele in itself is an art, with a thriving small-scale enterprise existing around it. Many men and women earn a living from helping to tie the gele in very artistic, creative styles, the most striking for me being the multi-deck, layered, skyscraper type, or those types that are meant to make onlookers turn their heads to take a double look. Compared to other fabrics, the African wax is considered cheap and comes in various shades of affordable grades, often difficult to distinguish in terms of cost or class by simply looking at it. In the early 2000s, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala adopted the African wax as her formal wear to official functions. Her adopted head tie style, which she said she stumbled upon by mistake, not knowing how to tie the gele properly, was often the butt of jokes a flat wrap-around, strewn together bunch of cloth, like a male cap, with a knot at the back; what Yoruba women refer to as osuka. I dont know the English word for that, sorry. In this signature two-piece, African wax costume, and the accidental gele, she made a powerful statement about simplicity, identity, authenticity and power. This same costume has now made it to the mainstream. It is hilariously remarkable. On February 15, Ms. Temi Giwa-Tubosun (@temite) wrote on Twitter: Ladies and Gentlemen, its tomorrow! #NOIgoestoWTO. We are giving away N100k to the best dressed! Dress up like NOI and send her a message of support as she goes to WTO! This caught on like wildfire, and was shared under different hashtags: #AnkaraArmy, #NgozigoestoWTO, #BeLikeNgoziChallenge and #JustlikeNgozi. The Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Ankara skirt and blouse soon became ubiquitous on all social media platforms, with the gele of course tied in the same manner, and some of the participants adding the NOI eye-glasses for effect. The interesting part of it is that some men actually joined in the fun. In Africa, at least in our part of it, it is unusual for a man to tie the gele; such an appearance could be interpreted as a sign of malady. But her male fans could not be bothered. They joined the women and the young ladies. I do not know when the winner of the prize was announced or who the winner is. I have not bothered to find out. We were all so consumed with the Ngozi-mania, the celebration and the euphoria, it did not matter who won and who did not. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala says she is going there with clear eyes and ears. We are beginning to see the signs. She is going to the WTO to save the organisation and the rest of the world. Africans have high expectations too. What does her new status mean for Africa, Nigeria and African trade in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), beyond the symbolism of her African-ness? My favourite entry, however, was posted by Tolulope Adeleru-Balogun (@tolulopeab) showing her daughter dressed like NOI, head to toe, tipping down her eye-glasses imitatively as she said: Congratulations, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. The #NOIchallenge will continue as promised on March 1, the day Ngozi goes to the WTO. If the Swiss authorities would be willing to give out visas as requested, to every African, many will follow Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to the WTO to announce her arrival! They should therefore be prepared for a colourful Ngonization of the WTO headquarters, because as the saying goes, Naija no dey carry last. One more thing: the symbolism of it all is inspirational. Despite the many achievements, historical and contemporary, of the African woman, there are still many institutional, religious and cultural barriers, very resilient and damaging, which limit the potential of the African girl-child and woman. This dilemma has been well written about in literature, as in Tsisi Dangarembgas Nervous Conditions, Buchi Emechetas The Slave, Second Class Citizen and The Bride Price. Add Zulu Sofolas Wedlock of the Gods; in politics, as in the discrimination and marginalisation of women in public life despite years of rhetoric about affirmative action; in business and governance, as evident in continuing inferiorisation and commoditisation of the African woman and the wanton feminisation of poverty. The likes of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala shattered the glass ceiling long ago. She is a successful career person, a mother, a community leader and an international citizen, who inspires other Africans with how she has successfully managed to balance many goals. Many parents want their daughters and sons to be like her. One Swedish newspaper, however, referred to her as a grandmother: This Grandmother will become the boss of the WTO (Luzerner Zeitung): How sexist and crass! The reference to her feminism and reproductive status is entirely misplaced. They make it sound as if she is going to the WTO to baby sit: What Igbos in Nigerias South East call Omu Ngwo. But come to think of it: Perhaps that is exactly what the WTO needs: a grandmothers instincts to straighten an institution that some bad, errant boys have spoiled over the years. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala says she is going there with clear eyes and ears. We are beginning to see the signs. She is going to the WTO to save the organisation and the rest of the world. Africans have high expectations too. What does her new status mean for Africa, Nigeria and African trade in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), beyond the symbolism of her African-ness? She goes to Geneva as an African but as a global leader and citizen. And there is a lot to do. She has given a signal of what to expect with her initial statement about the threat posed to internationalism by vaccine nationalism. She says no one is safe until everyone is safe. That is precisely the kind of clarity that the world needs right now. Reuben Abati, a former presidential spokesperson, writes from Lagos. A soldier indicted on federal charges of conspiring with neo-Nazis to ambush his own unit wants his case dismissed because the grand jury didn't include enough Black and Hispanic members. Pvt. Ethan Melzer's attorneys say the lack of diversity in the jury pool violated their client's rights to an impartial jury and due process. But prosecutors say they adhered to the Constitution and federal law. The two sides met Monday with U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods over the phone to discuss the case and set deadlines for upcoming motions, pending a decision on the defense motion to dismiss, which was filed in November. Melzer, 22, was arrested last spring in Italy, where he served with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, and pleaded not guilty in September to eight charges, including conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, and conspiring and attempting to murder U.S. service members, as well as providing support to terrorists. Prosecutors accused him of using an encrypted app to send sensitive details about his unit's locations, movements and security to members of the extremist groups Order of the Nine Angles, or O9A, and the neo-Nazi "RapeWaffen Division." They say he sought to plot an ambush on his unit during a planned deployment to Turkey. The grand jury that indicted him was drawn from the northern part of the Southern District of New York and convened in White Plains, though the case is being tried in a Manhattan federal courthouse in the district's south, where there's a larger Black and Hispanic population. Melzer's attorneys say prosecutors violated his rights under the fifth and sixth amendments, and a 1968 federal law, when they sought the indictment in the less diverse community. "Allowing a defendant to be indicted in one division and tried in another opens the door to prosecutorial gamesmanship where the government can forum shop for the racial, gender and economic demographics of their choice," the attorneys wrote. But in an opposing motion filed in late December, prosecutors said they sought and obtained indictments in June and August from one of the few available federal grand juries in the district as the pandemic forced suspension of other grand juries throughout the country. "Most of the defendant's claims to the contrary rest on a faulty premise: That a defendant who is likely to be tried in the Manhattan courthouse must be indicted by a grand jury sitting in that same courthouse," the federal prosecutors wrote. "That is not the law." They argued that the defense's analysis of demographics relies on an "apples-to-oranges comparison" of the minority makeup of the jury pool and the communities, and that any minority underrepresentation in the jury selection process is the result of what courts have found to be outside factors, not prohibited systematic exclusion. In a reply filed last month, Melzer's attorneys disputed the government's claim that the pandemic limited them from using a Manhattan jury and argued that the government's choice to "needlessly" seek the indictment in White Plains should count as systematic exclusion. The judge has yet to issue a decision on the motion on Melzer's case, said defense attorney Jennifer Willis, who works for a nonprofit that defends poor people charged with federal crimes. The court on Monday gave the defense about three months to review the evidence the government has provided for its case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Sam Adelsberg described as "fairly voluminous," including classified documents and other materials. 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. Pennsylvania movie theaters ditch mask mandate Three chain movie theaters have announced that masks are no longer mandatory for moviegoers who have been vaccinated against coronavirus. 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. Bhopal, Feb 23 : Madhya Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel launched sarees with the temples of Khajuraho etched on them and woven by the weavers of the state's Handicrafts Development Corporation at a programme organised at the Raj Bhavan. These sarees would soon be available in the market. Handicrafts Development Corporation Managing Director Rajiv Sharma and General Manager Mahesh Gulati were present on the occasion. The sarees were launched by Patel on Monday night. She lauded the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple etched by the weavers on the sarees and said it is a wonderful piece of craftsmanship and the result of the hard work of the artisans. The Governor was informed that the weavers of Chanderi and Maheshwar etched the temples of Khajuraho on the sarees. The Corporation now plans to create a textile chain based on the Ghats of Maheshwar and the Gwalior Fort. On this occasion, Governor Patel was presented a drape by officials of the Corporation on which the Buddhist Stupa at Sanchi had been etched by the weavers. The Asian Development Bank on Monday appointed Korea's Um Woo-chong as its managing director general. Um is the Philippines-based organization's first Korean managing director general in 15 years. Lee Young-hoi held the position from 2003 to 2006. Um currently assists the bank's president in instituting the bank's conferences on key initiatives. Since joining the bank in 1993, Um has served as secretary and director general. By Ruth Anderah The Chief Justice Alfonse Owinyi Dollo has declined to recuse himself from determining the presidential election petition filed by NUP leader Robert Kyagulanyi challenging president Musevenis victory in the January 14th January polls. The Chief Justice has ruled that the application requesting him to excuse himself from Kyagulanyis petition lacks merit. Todays decision stems from an application filed by lawyer Male Mabirizi, demanding the Chief Justice stays stay away from all cases involving President Museveni because he is not impartial. He explained that Justice Dollo was previously hired as a personal lawyer representing Museveni in the 2006 presidential election petition filed against him by Retired Colonel Dr Kiiza Besigye. He also accused the Chief Justice of holding several meetings with the head of State, a claim the judiciary has vehemently denied. However, the Chief Justice has declined to recuse himself and promised give his reasons for refusing to step aside on notice. The Chief Justices decision comes a day after Kyagulanyi instructed his lawyers to withdraw the petition against president Museveni accusing some of the judges on the panel of bias. In the past week, intelligence agencies in the Netherlands, Finland and Canada expressed deep concern about China's espionage and political influence in democracies. Why it matters: Three years ago, the U.S. was something of a global outlier in its strident warnings against China. Now democratic countries around the world are echoing the same fears. The Netherlands: Last week, the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) released a report on threats to Dutch national security interests. The report was blunt in its criticism of China, stating that Beijing's cyber espionage poses an "imminent threat" to the Dutch economy, in sectors including banking, energy and infrastructure. "Behind the scenes, China is rising on the agenda of the Dutch intelligence services. Spearheaded by the AIVD and NCTV, the focus is on economic espionage and political influence," Ties Dams, a research fellow at the Clingendael China Centre at the Clingendael Institute, told Axios. "With the upcoming elections in March, this is the intelligence community signaling that China has to be prioritized," said Dams. Finland: Antti Pelttari, director of the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service, said last week that authoritarian countries are trying to get hold of Finlands critical infrastructure," referring to China and Russia. Pelttari also said he believes Huawei should not be permitted to build Finland's 5G networks. Canada: David Vigneault, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, said last week that China is "pursuing a strategy for geopolitical advantage on all fronts economic, technological, political, and military and using all elements of state power to carry out activities that are a direct threat to our national security and sovereignty." Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-24 01:13:35|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BERLIN, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The German government's "housing offensive" was on track, and 1.5 million new apartments would be completed or under construction in the country by the end of the legislative period in September, the Ministry of the Interior (BMI) announced on Tuesday. Last year, more than 300,000 apartments were built in Germany, the highest level in 20 years, according to BMI. "Despite the pandemic, the construction industry was the real engine of the German economy," said Interior Minister Horst Seehofer at a digital meeting on Germany's housing plans. Around 1.2 million new apartments were already built since late 2017. In addition, 770,000 building permits were issued, according to Seehofer. "We have achieved quite a bit along the way. And the fact that there is still work to be done is also good news for everyone working in the construction industry," said Chancellor Angela Merkel during her speech at the meeting. The research department of Germany's state-owned development bank (KfW) noted in a statement that the new apartments would help "relieve tight housing markets." Nevertheless, the housing market in Germany is likely to remain tight, particularly in growing metropolitan areas. The trend toward urbanization is slowing down and "despite rising construction completions, demand for new housing in Germany is not being met," said KfW research. Enditem Also in the diary for mid-week is Dettol maker Reckitt Benckiser, which will be reporting its full-year figures to the market The mid-point of the week will see the flow of banking results continue with numbers from Lloyds, while investors will also be keeping an eye on Dettol and Durex maker and oilfield services group Petrofac. The UKs largest lender, PLC ( ) will report on Wednesday, having returned to profit in its previous quarterly results and then promptly deciding to cut 1,070 more staff. These final results will be the last under chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio, who is stepping down at the end of April, as well as the first under new chairman Robin Budenberg, who started last month. Analysts are forecasting the Spaniard will have to bow out with a rather meagre dividend of 1p a share, due to the PRAs caution despite impairment charges against expected bad loans falling from 3.8bn in the first half dropping to 300mln in the third quarter. As Lloyds incoming CEO Charlie Nunn, currently s head of executive, wealth and personal banking, will not be joining in the summer, analysts at UBS expect some uncertainty to remain over potential longer-term strategy beyond results. But, with costs under good control and a low comparative base for revenues set in 2020 we think the firm has the potential to offer attractively valued gearing to a recovering UK post COVID 19. Significant announcements for Wednesday February 24: Finals: PLC ( ), Group PLC ( ), Petrofac Ltd ( ), Telecom Egypt SAE (LON:TEEG) Interims: Haydale Graphene Industries PLC ( ), ( ), Town Centre Securities PLC (LON:TOWN) The Estee Lauder Cos Inc. has struck a deal to buy Canadian skincare company Deciem Beauty Group Inc. at a valuation of US$2.2 billion People pause outside the beauty supply store Deciem in Toronto on Tuesday, October 9, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette The Estee Lauder Cos Inc. has struck a deal to buy Canadian skincare company Deciem Beauty Group Inc. at a valuation of US$2.2 billion The agreement will see Estee Lauder purchase the Toronto-based company behind the popular skin care brand The Ordinary in two phases. Estee Lauder said the first phase of the deal, which is expected to close by June 30, will see the company increase its stake in Deciem to 76 per cent from 29 per cent for US$1 billion. The American multinational manufacturer of skincare, makeup, fragrance and hair care products said it has agreed to buy the remaining interests after a three-year period at an amount to be determined based on Deciem's future performance. It said Deciem, which calls itself The Abnormal Beauty Company, is an "industry disruptor with a consumer-focused approach." The skincare company was founded in 2013 by the late Brandon Truaxe, a computer scientist and cosmetics entrepreneur. While he oversaw Estee Lauder's initial investment in Deciem 2017, dealings between the companies became strained the following year after Truaxe alleged "major criminal activity" by employees and said he would be shutting stores. The closures sparked outcry from Deciem fans and beauty behemoth Estee Lauder took him to court and ultimately had him removed from the company's leadership. Nicola Kilner, co-founder and CEO of Deciem, said in a statement that Truaxe dreamed Estee Lauder would be the "forever home" for the Canadian skincare company. In a followup email, she said 2018 was a "very tough year" for Deciem, which faced "adversity no company wants to prepare for." Still, Kilner said Truaxe was inspired by Leonard Lauder, heir to the cosmetics giant, and "in awe of the family approach Lauder has to business." "Whilst we experienced this difficult time when Brandon stepped away for a short while, we always envisioned him returning to Deciem and carrying on the magic," she said. "Sadly this was not possible." Truaxe died in 2019 at the age of 40. Meanwhile, despite New York-based Estee Lauder buying the Canadian company, Kilner said Deciem will remain "firmly rooted" in Canada. "There will be no changes to our (headquarters) location, lab or production," she said. "The team structure at Deciem will not change." The growth trajectory as a result of the partnership means the skincare company will be looking at "hyper expansion" in staffing in its newer markets including India, the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia, Kilner added.Fabrizio Freda, president and CEO of Estee Lauder, said Deciem has cultivated authentic brands with highly effective, must-have products and a uniquely transparent and engaging communication style. "The companys hero products, desirable innovation, and digital- and consumer-first high-touch approach have been instrumental to its success," he said in a statement. "We are excited for what the future holds." Estee Lauder said since its initial investment in June 2017, Deciem has grown rapidly, achieving net sales for the 12 months ended Jan. 31, 2021, of about US$460 million. Deciem has gained a following for its position in the industry as the antithesis of most skincare brands. Products come in plain white packaging with scientific sounding names and price tags that are much cheaper than rivals. The company's products, especially its popular The Ordinary line, have been touted by celebrities like Kim Kardashian. It's unclear how Deciem fans will respond to the company being sold to the cosmetics behemoth, given Deciem's stance as an alternative to big beauty. Kilner said Deciem is continues to challenge what "luxury" skincare looks like. "Luxury can no longer be defined by price point," she said. "The quality and innovation of a product speaks to its success." Kilner added: "We are thrilled to be infiltrating a well respected conglomerate such as (Estee Lauder) with our continued mission to bring transparency and authenticity to the skincare industry." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 23, 2021. As countries race to vaccinate people against COVID-19, new variants of the coronavirus are again raising concerns around the world. In the U.S., about 1.7 million people are receiving shots from drug makers Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna each day. The two vaccines were approved for emergency use in late 2020 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The drugs have also received permission for emergency use in Europe, South Korea and Japan. Sputnik V, a vaccine developed by Russias Ministry of Health is being given to people in Russia, Belarus, Venezuela and other countries. Chinas Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines have received emergency use permission in China, United Arab Emirates, Brazil and Egypt. Several other vaccines, including those from drug makers Johnson & Johnson and Oxford-AstraZeneca, are awaiting decisions from health officials in some countries. At the same time, the United Nations-backed COVAX program wants to provide 2 billion vaccine treatments to lower-income countries around the world to fight the virus. Worrisome variants Like other viruses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, is always changing and has been changing all along. Sometimes new variants appear and disappear. Other times, new variants appear and spread across many countries. The head of Britains vaccination effort said the world faces around 4,000 variants of the virus that causes COVID-19. But three variants found to have come from South Africa, Britain and Brazil are most worrisome. Drug makers Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech said they are developing additional booster shots to fight against the worrisome variants. Others noted their shots have shown different levels of effectiveness against the variants. On Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that drug makers would not have to start new trials for vaccines adapted to fight against the new variants. The health agency added that the companies could use a similar process for the yearly influenza shot to test the effectiveness of the updated vaccines. Take the vaccine Dr. Gigi Gronvall is a professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. She spoke with reporters last week to discuss vaccines and their effectiveness against the coronavirus variants. Gronvall said some people are worried that the vaccine will not work against the variants. But she wanted people to understand that if they can get a vaccine, they should take it. If you've had the vaccine and your friend has not, and you're both exposed to somebody who has the virus, the likelihood that you're going to get sick is 95 percent less, so you have a 95 percent less risk than your friend. So that's the way you should be thinking about it. Dr. Andy Pekosz, another Johns Hopkins University professor, joined Gronvall in the video call with reporters. He noted that the variants from South Africa and Britain came when the virus was spreading easily. He said every time the virus moves to a new person, it can change slightly. So, the way to prevent more changes in the virus is to prevent it from moving to a new person through vaccination. That really is the critical thing. You've seen the emergence of variants during times when countries have had really peak amounts of virus spread. The two scientists added that along with vaccines, public health officials should continue to emphasize other preventive measures, including wearing face coverings and spending time in areas with good air flow. Im Dan Friedell. Dan Friedell and Hai Do wrote this story. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. Are you more or less worried about the virus variants after reading this story? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story variant - n. something that is different in some way from others of the same kind income n. money that is earned from work, investments and business; used to describe the average amount of money people make is a certain place booster (shot) n. an extra amount of a vaccine that is injected into a person or animal that improves or extends protection against a targeted disease expose - v. to cause something to be affected by a virus or something that could be harmful emphasize - v. to give special attention to something critical - adj. extremely important peak - adj. filled with the most activity Australias international visa program is using a Chinese government-linked company to process visa applications in Beijing, sparking an internal review into the security of sensitive information. The business at the centre of the network, VFS Global, provides visa services for Australia in 43 countries and has facilitated 226 million visas worldwide. It uses Beijing Dongfang Tianxiao Entry-Exit Service Co Ltd to process applications for Australian visas in Beijing. VFS Global uses local subcontractors to process Australian visas in China. Credit:AP The Department of Home Affairs launched a due diligence process in recent weeks into its visa services in China after concerns were raised about VFSs global arrangements to process Canadas visa applications in China. VFS is expected to appear before a Parliamentary inquiry in Canada this week after the Globe and Mail reported that the company had subcontracted its Canadian operations in China to Beijing Shuangxiong, which is owned by the Beijing Public Security Bureau the local police department. New Zealand also uses the same subcontractor. Watertown, NY (13601) Today Sunny. High 66F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 52F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he should have been more 'aggressive' in calling out reporters and politicians for 'lying' about his handling of Covid-19 deaths among long-term care residents. Cuomo, who's been accused of covering up the true scope of the death toll among the vulnerable population, said during a news conference Friday that he didn't combat the 'misinformation' about the situation enough and it hurt New Yorkers who lost loved ones. 'I did not aggressively enough -- we did not aggressively enough, take on the misinformation that caused people pain and, of course, pain for grieving families and that's what I regret, I'm not going to make that mistake again. If you're lying to the people of the State of New York, I'm going to call it out. If you are lying in a report, I'm going to call it out. If you're lying in a newspaper because you have your own partisan agenda, I'm going to call it out,' the governor said. The governor also announced sweeping nursing home reform legislation that he's proposing in amendments to the state budget. The reform will aim to ensure nursing home operators prioritize patient care over profits, increase staffing and are held accountable for health and safety violations. Cuomo said Friday he won't sign the budget without these reforms. State lawmakers have already introduced a collection of bills addressing some of these nursing home reforms and are expected to pass them in the Senate next week. Residents of long-term care facilities account for more than 15,000 confirmed and presumed Covid-19 deaths in New York since the start of the pandemic, according to the state Department of Health. Until last month, the state only publicly reported the deaths of those residents who died in a facility, not those who succumbed to the virus after being transferred to a hospital or elsewhere. 'It is a lie to say any numbers were inaccurate. That is a lie. Total deaths were always reported for nursing homes and hospitals,' Cuomo said. The governor did not address the news reported by CNN earlier this week that the US attorney's office in Brooklyn, along with the FBI, is scrutinizing the handling of some of the data surrounding Covid-19 deaths in long-term care facilities in New York. Governor defends his decisions Cuomo doubled down Friday on his defense of the state administration's handling of public data on Covid-19 deaths in nursing homes, reiterating points he's made previously about prioritizing a Department of Justice inquiry over a state legislative request for similar information. 'We paused the state request and we told them that we paused the state requests. They were told and they knew. And we gave DOJ precedence, yes, because that's how it works,' he said. Several state lawmakers publicly disagree with Cuomo's categorization of how they were informed. A spokesperson for the Assembly speaker says the governor's office only informed them of the delay, but not why. The governor said he's agreed with state lawmakers that it's time to 'move forward.' 'I've spoken to the legislative leaders, and we agree that we're in the midst of dealing with a real pandemic. We have a lot going on. And we have to put politics aside and move forward and have a more constructive dialogue,' Cuomo said. Meanwhile, New York State Senate leaders are pushing a bill that would repeal the current law granting Cuomo expanded executive powers and create a legislative mechanism that would avoid unilateral directives from the governor's office during a state of emergency, according to a legislative source familiar with bill discussions. 'We made the right public health decision,' official says New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker, in what appeared to be a pre-written speech, recounted the department's handling of Covid-19 spread last March. Zucker said ultimately he feels they made the right call with the widely-debated March 25 order that sent thousands of Covid-19 patients to nursing homes. State officials ended the policy May 8. 'March 25th was not the driver of Covid infections, it was not the driver of Covid fatalities. The facts are the facts,' Zucker said. Asymptomatic employees were the main cause of Covid-19 spread in long-term care facilities, according to the health commissioner. He said his department identified 37,000 nursing home staff members infected with the virus last spring. Zucker said 98% of the 365 facilities that received Covid-19 patients from a hospital under the admissions policy already had the virus prevalent in the facility when those patients were submitted. He said 132 nursing homes that never took a patient under the policy still had Covid-19 fatalities. 'We made the right public health decision at the time, and faced with the same facts, we would make the same decisions again,' Zucker said. Zucker is expected to testify next Thursday during a health care budget-related legislative hearing with lawmakers. The governor offered a formal apology to Zucker and the health department during the press conference for enduring 'unfounded' and 'unscrupulous attacks.' 'I want to say to Dr. Zucker and all the health staff, thank you for a great job,' Cuomo said. 'I'm sorry you have to do it in a lousy political environment, but that's where we are. I'm sorry that you had to deal with COVID, I'm sorry that you had to deal with the pandemic, I'm sorry that you had to miss your family working seven days a week, and I'm sorry that you have to be abused in the partisan politics of the day.' A Texas man was arrested Tuesday after homemade bombs were found inside his home just months after he made threats to a family member, authorities said. John Christopher Crawson, 47, first got under the radar of the Williamson County Sheriff's Office in mid-January after it was reported that he made the threat, Lt. Jason Braeutigam said at a press conference, Patch.com reports. Crawson was detained at around 8am at his residence on the 2500 block of Santa Barbara Loop just outside of Round Rock. John Christopher Crawson, 47, first got under the radar of the Williamson County Sheriff's Office in mid-January after it was reported that he made the threat At Crawson's home, authorities found 'several' improvised explosive devices. Six homes in the nearby vicinity had to be evacuated. Officers from the Austin Police Department's bomb unit and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reported to the scene to assist in the removal of the explosives. Braeutigam said that it was currently unclear whether the bombs were made at the home or bought elsewhere. And while authorities would not elaborate on the family disagreement, they did state that Crawson was going through an ugly divorce. At Crawson's home, authorities found 'several' improvised explosive devices Crawson was charged with making terroristic threat to a family member. Neighbors from the community came together to release a statement, expressing their pain at the situation. 'We're very close-knit,' Sonia Guardado said of the neighbors, Austin American-Statesman. 'We're all hurting right now.' Jo Lam, left, and Somang Yang sit together at their office. / Courtesy of KADA:KUDU By Hallie Bradley "Shoes have one of the highest return rates across all categories in e-commerce," KADA:KUDU co-founder Jo Lam began as she explained their new virtual fitting concept, which not only seeks to make fitting easier, but also specific to each foot individually. Along with co-founder Somang Yang, the two, who first met while colleagues for a consultancy in Singapore in 2013, are changing the way women shop for heels. KADA:KUDU is a brand that specializes in heels that can take women from the workplace to the dancefloor. Working with artisans in Seoul's Seongsu-dong neighborhood, an area known for shoe production, the designs are classic and are in line with KADA:KUDU's goal to promote purchasing less and buying better. The first line of shoes that Lam and Yang have introduced is the "Perfect Pump," a seven-centimeter heel that features a contoured memory foam insole lined with 360 Degree Air Cushion. The cushion provides all-day support and the soles are anti-slip rubber for shock absorption. An interesting aspect of the company is their virtual fitting solution which allows women to snap a photo of their feet for instant sizing. Should each foot be different sizes, then the customer will receive shoes that fit each foot perfectly. Though the idea for virtual fittings was a pre-COVID-19 concept, Somang explained that they "certainly have benefited from COVID as people who previously didn't like to shop for shoes online were suddenly much more receptive to the idea." A guide to using KADA:KUDU's virtual shoe fitting online. / Courtesy of KADA:KUDU In early 2020, Somang, originally from Korea, was in Berlin coming up with the tech behind virtually fittings for shoes and Jo, from the U.S., was working in California as a brand consultant. The idea was to move to Korea not only because K-fashion was opening up but because Europe and the U.S. were in the middle of pandemic lockdowns and the women needed to work with small-batch manufacturers and artisans who were difficult to access due to border closures and lockdowns. "K-Startup Grand Challenge was a great way to help us move to Korea, speed-track the paperwork and get plugged into the Korean startup ecosystem," Jo explained. Somang added, "I think the K-Startup Program itself is perhaps better suited to companies who already have a product that they want to introduce to a new market. However, it definitely provided the structure needed for us to progress very quickly in building out the tech and designing and producing our shoes." Connected to their shoe manufacturer by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, Somang said, "It was a great match as our manufacturer is a second-generation shoemaker in his 30s who was born into the craft, but also interested in e-commerce and selling online." Somang Yang, left, and Jo Lam fulfill orders. / Courtesy of KADA:KUDU CHICAGO and NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- GTCR LLC and Reverence Capital Partners, L.P. announced today that they have signed a definitive agreement to acquire Wells Fargo Asset Management ("WFAM") from Wells Fargo & Co. WFAM is a leading asset management firm with more than $600 billion in assets under management and investment capabilities across diverse asset classes. GTCR and Reverence Capital will partner with the management, portfolio managers, and employees of WFAM to complete and fund the transaction. Under the terms of the agreement, the purchase price is $2.1 billion. Following the closing, management, portfolio managers, and employees are expected to hold a significant share of the company's equity interests. As part of the transaction, Wells Fargo will own a 9.9% equity interest and will continue to serve as an important client and distribution partner. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2021 following the receipt of regulatory approvals and contractual consents. The transaction will strengthen WFAM's position as a high-performing asset management firm and allow it to operate with the singular focus of best serving the needs of its global institutional, retirement, and wealth management clients. As an independent company, WFAM will further enhance its focus on investment performance, innovative solutions, and client service. GTCR and Reverence Capital are committed to market-based compensation and incentive structures that align the employees' interests with the success of the firm, which is expected to contribute to the ongoing retention of high caliber portfolio managers and investment professionals. GTCR and Reverence Capital expect to make substantial investments in technology and operational effectiveness, as well as distribution and client support. WFAM will continue to be led by CEO Nico Marais, who joined in 2017 and became CEO in 2019. Mr. Marais previously held senior roles at Schroders, BlackRock, and Barclays Global Investors. Mr. Marais will also serve on the company's Board of Directors. Other existing management team members of WFAM are expected to remain, with moderate changes to better align the organization as a standalone firm. Additionally, Joseph A. Sullivan will join the company following closing as Executive Chairman. Mr. Sullivan brings over 40 years of experience in financial services and asset management, and he was previously CEO of Legg Mason from 2012 to 2020 and Chairman of the Board from 2014 to 2020. Mr. Sullivan will work closely with Mr. Marais, other managers and the Board of Directors on governance and strategic priorities. GTCR and Reverence Capital are leading private equity firms with substantial experience in the asset management segment in which WFAM operates, as well as adjacent areas of financial services. Both firms have a management-driven approach and longer-term investment orientation. Based in Chicago and founded in 1980, GTCR seeks to partner with exceptional management leaders who have strong track records of equity value creation to identify, acquire, and build market-leading companies in its core industry domains. GTCR will invest in WFAM from GTCR Fund XIII, a private equity fund raised in 2020 with $7.5 billion of limited partner capital commitments. Based in New York and founded in 2013, Reverence Capital focuses on thematic investing in leading global, middle-market financial services businesses through control and influence-oriented investments. Reverence Capital will invest out of Reverence Capital Partners Opportunities Fund II, an investment pool with $1.2 billion of limited partner commitments which was raised in 2020. Collin Roche, Managing Director of GTCR, said: "We are thrilled to work with Nico and the team at WFAM, and we have tremendous conviction in the caliber and capabilities of the management professionals and leadership team. The organization is poised to provide further innovation in the investment marketplace while continuing to deliver high quality products to its clients. The team, underpinned by its diversity, client-orientation, and collaborative culture, has delivered strong performance, and we will work to reinforce these values and sustain this performance. Along with our partners at Reverence Capital, we are committed to the long-term success of the organization." Milton Berlinski, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Reverence Capital Partners, said: "We are very enthusiastic about this exceptional opportunity to partner with such talented investment professionals and to create an independent company that will grow over the long term and further enhance its innovative products and creative solutions for its clients. As an independent organization, WFAM will pivot to the next phase of its growth, and is positioned to expand on its solutions-based approach, multi-asset offerings, retail separately managed accounts, and customized investment products." "This transaction represents a significant milestone in the growth and evolution of our firm," said Mr. Marais. "Through this new partnership, our business will be even better positioned to execute our strategy and provide our clients with innovative products and solutions to help them reach their investment goals. I look forward to working closely with Joe Sullivan, GTCR, and Reverence Capital on this next phase of our journey." Mr. Sullivan commented on the transaction and the opportunity: "As a result of the transaction, the organization has the potential to become a leading scale asset management business with a focus on client outcomes and creative solutions in all of the markets that it serves. It is an honor to have the opportunity to work with Nico and the management team to further extend the reach and success of this business. I believe that this transition into independent ownership will be a catalyst for growth and innovation, and it represents an opportunity to re-invest in the business and build a more entrepreneurial operating model from within the organization." Broadhaven Capital Partners and UBS Investment Bank served as financial advisors to the buyers relative to the transaction, with additional financial advice rendered by RBC Capital Markets and Perella Weinberg Partners. Kirkland & Ellis LLP provided legal counsel. About GTCR Founded in 1980, GTCR is a leading private equity firm focused on investing in growth companies in the Healthcare, Financial Services & Technology, Technology, Media & Telecommunications, and Growth Business Services industries. The Chicago-based firm pioneered The Leaders Strategy finding and partnering with management leaders in core domains to identify, acquire and build market-leading companies through transformational acquisitions and organic growth. Since its inception, GTCR has invested more than $20 billion in over 250 companies. For more information, please visit www.gtcr.com. About Reverence Capital Partners Reverence Capital Partners is a private investment firm focused on thematic investing in leading global, middle-market Financial Services businesses through control and influence oriented investments in 5 sectors: (1) Depositories and Finance Companies, (2) Asset and Wealth Management, (3) Insurance, (4) Capital Markets and (5) Financial Technology/Payments. The firm was founded in 2013, by Milton Berlinski, Peter Aberg and Alex Chulack, who collectively bring over 90 years of advisory and investing experience across a wide range of financial services sectors. For more information visit www.reverencecapital.com. About Wells Fargo Asset Management Wells Fargo Asset Management (WFAM) is the trade name for certain investment advisory/ management firms owned by Wells Fargo & Company. These firms include but are not limited to Wells Capital Management Incorporated and Wells Fargo Funds Management, LLC. Certain products managed by WFAM entities are distributed by Wells Fargo Funds Distributor, LLC (a broker/dealer and Member FINRA). At Wells Fargo Asset Management, we put the client at the center of everything we do. Our commitment: Help clients achieve what matters most to them on their path to financial well-being. We do this by channeling the collective wisdom of our specialized investment teams (backed by over 450 investment professionals) into solutions designed to help meet clients' goals. We place a relentless focus on pursuing consistent and positive risk-adjusted returns, with the support of our independent risk management teams. Together, we strive to help our clients build portfolios aimed at generating successful outcomes and defending them against uncertainty. Media Contact Gladstone Place Partners Lauren Odell / Mike Flaherty (212) 230-5930 SOURCE GTCR; Reverence Capital Partners Related Links https://www.gtcr.com/ February 23, 2021 Current Chairman Jeroen van der Veer and Vice-Chairwoman Mrs. Christine Poon to retire from Philips' Supervisory Board after their third consecutive term, effective upon closing of the 2021 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders Mrs. Orit Gadiesh, Philips' Supervisory Board member since 2014, to step down Philips' Supervisory Board appoints Feike Sijbesma as its Chairman and Paul Stoffels as its Vice-Chairman Mrs. Chua Sock Koong and Mrs. Indra Nooyi to be proposed as new members of the Supervisory Board Philips Chief Legal Officer Marnix van Ginneken proposed for reappointment as a member of Philips' Board of Management Amsterdam, the Netherlands - Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today announced that its Supervisory Board has appointed Feike Sijbesma as the Supervisory Board's new Chairman, effective upon the closing of Philips' 2021 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) on May 6, 2021. Mr. Sijbesma (Dutch, 1959) has been a member and Vice-Chairman of Philips' Supervisory Board since 2020, and will succeed the current Chairman Jeroen van der Veer (Dutch, 1947), who will retire. Mr. Van der Veer joined the Supervisory Board in 2009 and has served for three consecutive terms. Since 2011, he has been the Supervisory Board's Chairman, leading the stewardship and oversight of Philips during a defining phase as the company pivoted to a focused health technology leader. Furthermore, the Supervisory Board has appointed Paul Stoffels as its new Vice-Chairman. Mr. Stoffels (Belgian, 1962) has been a member of Philips' Supervisory Board since 2018. Philips has also announced that it will propose to the AGM the appointment of Mrs. Chua Sock Koong as a new member of the Supervisory Board. The appointment of Mrs. Chua (Singaporean, 1957) is recommended because of her in-depth knowledge of information technology and digitalization. She is the former CEO of Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel), Asia's leading communications technology group. During her tenure as Singtel CEO from 2007 till 2020, Mrs. Chua extended the company's footprint to 21 countries, including Singapore, Australia, India and Indonesia, and led Singtel's digital transformation. This included the digitalization of its core telecom business and the growth of new digital businesses. Prior to her appointment as CEO of Singtel, Mrs. Chua held various executive leadership positions, including the role of CFO. As announced last October , Mrs. Indra Nooyi will also be proposed for appointment as a new member of the Philips Supervisory Board at the 2021 AGM. Mrs. Nooyi (American, 1955) is the former Chair and CEO of PepsiCo, a global food and beverages company with operations in over 180 countries. She was the chief architect of PepsiCo's 'Performance with Purpose' pledge, and successfully delivered sustained growth by improving the nutritional value of the company's products, limiting its environmental footprint, and empowering its associates and the people in the communities it serves. Upon closing of the 2021 AGM, current Vice-Chairwoman Mrs. Christine Poon will retire from the Supervisory Board following the completion of her third consecutive term. In addition to the retirement of Mr. Van der Veer and Mrs. Poon, Mrs. Orit Gadiesh will step down from Philips' Supervisory Board, after serving on the Board since 2014. "I consider it a privilege to have served three terms on the Supervisory Board of Philips, ten years of which as Chairman," said Jeroen van der Veer, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Royal Philips. "I will hand over the reins to my successor Feike Sijbesma to lead the Board's supervisory role as Philips delivers on its purpose of improving people's health and well-being through meaningful innovation." Philips' Supervisory Board will also propose to the AGM the reappointment of Marnix van Ginneken as a member of the Philips Board of Management. Mr. Van Ginneken is Philips' Chief Legal Officer, and his reappointment is recommended in view of his broad knowledge of Philips and his extensive international corporate governance expertise, as well as the important role he has played in the Executive Committee since 2014. "I am very pleased that Marnix remains available as a member of the Board of Management and as Chief Legal Officer," said Mr. Van der Veer. "Providing valuable contributions on a wide array of subjects he has been instrumental in, among other things, managing Philips' legal affairs, intellectual property and government affairs, and guiding execution of Philips' strategic agenda and improvement of the company's operational excellence." "On behalf of the Executive Committee and the Supervisory Board, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Jeroen van der Veer for his invaluable advice and partnership during Philips' transformation into a health technology leader," said Frans van Houten, CEO of Royal Philips. "I am also very grateful for the long-term counsel of Christine Poon during this important time, and would like to thank Orit Gadiesh for her much-valued support serving on the board. At the same time, we are pleased that Indra Nooyi and Chua Sock Koong are available to join as new members. As recognized global business leaders with deep expertise in areas ranging from sustainability to digitalization, their experience will be highly valuable as we progress on our journey to lead the transformation of healthcare with integrated solutions. We are also pleased to welcome Feike Sijbesma in his new role as Chairman. I look forward to continuing our mission to grow Philips together, aiming to improve the lives of 2 billion people a year by 2025." More information about the 2021 AGM will be published in due course. Additional information about the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board can be found here . For further information, please contact: Ben Zwirs Philips Global Press Office Tel.: +31 6 15213446 E-mail: ben.zwirs@philips.com Derya Guzel Philips Investor Relations Tel.: +31 20 59 77055 E-mail: derya.guzel@philips.com About Royal Philips Royal Philips. Forward-looking statements This release contains certain forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and business of Philips and certain of the plans and objectives of Philips with respect to these items. Examples of forward-looking statements include statements made about the strategy, estimates of sales growth, future EBITA, future developments in Philips' organic business and the completion of acquisitions and divestments. By their nature, these statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances and there are many factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these statements. Attachments Download Image: Web A team of paleontology researchers led by Lycoming College has discovered a well-exposed section of the Catskill Formation in North-Central Pennsylvania that contains abundant macrofossils and sedimentary features that make it well-suited for Upper Devonian fossil occurrences. Their research, entitled, Vertebrate Taphonomy, Paleontology, Sedimentology, and Palynology of a Fossiliferous Late Devonian Fluvial Succession, Catskill Formation, North-Central Pennsylvania, USA was published in the December issue of Palaios, an academic paleontology journal. David Broussard, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology and chair of the department at Lycoming College, led the research and writing project in 2018-2019. He explained that by combining different types of evidence, including the abundance and types of fossils and changes in the rocks, it became evident that the paleoenvironments preserved at Late Devonian (~362 million years ago) Catskill Formation outcrops near the towns of Blossburg and Covington in Tioga County, Pa., changed ecologically over time. These coastal paleoenvironments included large rivers and small streams that periodically flooded, producing muddy floodplains and swamps. When these floods occurred, ancient fish that lived in these waterways were pushed out onto the floodplain, died, were covered by sediments, and were eventually preserved as fossils to be found millions of years later. As floods receded, plants colonized these thick layers of mud that also preserve various trackways of invertebrate animals. Over time (~2 million years), these habitats transitioned from mostly slow-moving small streams and floodplains to larger, faster moving rivers that were forming due to glaciation (due to global cooling) and increased mountain-building to the east at the end of the Devonian Period. These findings mean the area is ripe for future fossil discovery. There are several Catskill fossil sites to be more intensely studied in nearby Tioga and Bradford Counties, which we already knew before we started this project, said Broussard. But finding so much fossil diversity at the Blossburg-Covington outcrops has convinced us to focus on similar types of paleoenvironments preserved at similar outcrops nearby. As we discover and study more fossil sites in North-Central Pa, we will improve our understanding of Late Devonian terrestrial ecosystems. With funding from a Lycoming College Student Research Grant, Broussard was able to take on biology major Cayla Treaster 19 to assist with the work. Perhaps the best way for students to learn about science is to create and carry out a project from start to finish, he said. Cayla did exactly this. She formulated questions and hypotheses and collected her own data in the field. She also contributed to the entire publication process that included writing, addressing reviewer comments, and examining final proofs of the paper. I took a few of Dr. Broussards classes and I couldnt believe you could find fossils so close to campus. Ive always been interested in fossils but never thought I would have the opportunity to perform paleontology research, said Treaster, who is now working as a water management specialist at Special Pathogens Laboratory in Pittsburgh, assessing water systems and helping clients reduce risk of Legionella. I learned so much from this research experience and it opened a door to geology that I hadnt considered before. I think its neat that we can look at trends in the fossil record, apply them to whats currently happening in the world, and attempt to predict future outcomes. Research with Dr. Broussard also helped solidify my interest in attending grad school. I have been looking into programs and I hope to find one that combines my interests! The paper, written by Broussard, Treaster, Jeff Trop of Bucknell University, Ted Daeschler of The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Pierre A. Zippi of Biostratigraphy.com, Matthew B. Vrazo of The Food Trust, and Michael C. Rygel of SUNY Potsdam, can be read in full at: http://dx.doi.org/10.2110/palo.2020.005. Opalesque Industry Update - 100 Women in Finance (100WF), a global finance industry organization, announced that it has entered into a partnership with Black Hedge Fund Professionals Network (BHFPN), a non-profit organization based in New York that seeks to support the careers of black and brown professionals in the hedge fund industry. This is the second such partnership 100WF has entered into in recent months to advance the careers of professionals of color, through co-programming and speaker referrals, membership reciprocity arrangements, and support of early career professionals seeking to enter the finance industry. Launched in 2019, BHFPN is a growing and supportive community for black and brown professionals who are otherwise underrepresented in the hedge fund industry. The group offers education, career advancement tools and mentorship through its networking and speaker events and various other activities. The group also leverages its platform to engage with industry leaders on hiring, retaining, and promoting black and brown employees. 100WF CEO Amanda Pullinger stated, "100 Women in Finance began very similarly to BHFPN-three women in the hedge fund industry saw a need to create a community for professionals who were underrepresented in the hedge fund industry. Twenty years later, our mission continues with an even greater focus on diversifying the broader finance industry. Supporting organizations like BHFPN only serves to reinforce this effort. I am certain that a partnership with BHFPN will further align our interests and the needs of our increasingly diverse, global membership." Andra Ofosu, co-founder of Black Hedge Fund Professionals Network and Director, US Sales at Aspect Capital noted, "BHFPN is excited to work with 100WF on our shared goal of raising visibility for black and brown professionals in the hedge fund industry, as well as supporting the careers of our members through networking opportunities. This partnership will enable BHFPN to offer additional resources to our members and will also serve as a platform to highlight the knowledge and spectacular accomplishments of black and brown professionals in the hedge fund industry. BHFPN seeks to be a resource and support system that allows its members to grow and advance in their careers. The group also serves as a space for open dialogue on hiring, retaining and promoting underrepresented minorities in the hedge fund industry. Our partnership with 100WF will open up the ways in which we are able to offer support to our members, as well as expand the audience with whom we can actively engage on the topic of diversity and representation." Angela Outlaw-Matheny, BHFPN Advisory Board Member and Director of Investment Staff & Diverse Manager Equity at Crewcial Partners also noted, "I am excited for this partnership with 100WF and the wider platform it will afford our network to continue to engage in meaningful dialogue on sourcing, hiring and retaining diverse talent. I believe that you cannot solve a problem until you admit that a problem exists. My reoccurring goal is to be in rooms where the dialogue is different and follow it by calls to action. That is what is so intriguing about my role and this network. Working in concert with our industry leadership at Crewcial Partners and with groups like BHFPN and 100WF, we can continue to uncover differentiated talent and build better portfolios by way of increased focus on diversity and inclusion." Initially, 100WF will help accelerate BHFPN's growth by assisting with pro bono legal entity formation services, reciprocal memberships and by offering the opportunity to raise the profiles of its members through 100WF's visibility program (FundWomen, 100WomenFinTech, Allocator Showcase). An inaugural co-programmed event is also planned for April 7th and will feature a fireside chat with Michelle Gadsden-Williams, Managing Director & Global Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at BlackRock. Michelle will share with the audience her journey through the asset management industry and her views on how our industry can better support the careers of black women in asset management. Details of the event will be shared with BHFPN and 100 Women in Finance members in the coming weeks. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal Better Call Saul has called New Mexico home since 2015. The series will begin production on its sixth and final season beginning in March. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ According to White Turtle Casting, production will begin in the second week of March and the agency is looking for stand-ins for the series. Pre-production is currently underway, and the crew is being quarantined and tested for the upcoming start. Better Call Saul is the prequel spinoff to the hugely successful series Breaking Bad. Fans have been anticipating the final season to see the transition of Jimmy McGill into Saul Goodman. Production was originally set for March 2020, but was moved due to the pandemic. There will be 13 episodes in the final season, though no air date has been confirmed. The series has also had an impact on New Mexico communities specifically higher education film and media programs. Because the production is based in New Mexico, it participates in the New Mexico Film Office Giveback Program. The purpose of the program is to strengthen New Mexicos film schools and related fields, thereby supporting growth of the film industry workforce in New Mexico. In February, the production gave $80,000 to five film programs across the state. Since it began filming in 2015, the production has given $177,696 to New Mexico film programs. The Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul productions have done so much for the New Mexico film industry and their contributions go beyond what most even talk about, such as this funding to our Giveback Program, said Amber Dodson, state Film Office director. These financial contributions have a positive and wide-reaching impact, and are an important long-term investment in New Mexicos film industry. Programs like this are key to supporting continued efforts to expand our world-class crew and provide students who attend New Mexico film schools with the equipment they need to receive a quality education. The five programs receiving money are: Northern New Mexico College Film Program, New Mexico State University-Grants Campus, University of New Mexico-Taos Campus, New Mexico State University-Dona Ana Community College, and New Mexico Highlands University. The Digital Media Arts program at UNM-Taos has five instructors and over 100 students. These funds from productions shot in New Mexico allow us to equip our studio with state-of-the-art gear and help us grow the next generation of media makers, said Peter Walker, program coordinator, Digital Media Arts Program, UNM-Taos. Our goal is for our graduates to remain in New Mexico and utilize their skills as they become crew members for the New Mexico film and television industry. A convicted child rapist has pleaded no contest to sexually assaulting and murdering two boys in California in the 1980s. Kenneth Rasmuson, 59, is expected to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after he did not contend committing the killings of Jeffrey Vargo and Miguel Antero. The case had become a battleground over Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon's reform policies after he intervened to bar prosecutors from seeking the death penalty. Kennth Rasmuson has pleaded no contest to sexually assaulting and murdering two boys in California in the 1980s The convicted child rapist is expected to be sentenced for life for the killings of Miguel Antero (left) and Jeffrey Vargo (right) Rasmuson (pictured in court) has previously spent 17 years in prison for the separate abuse of an 11-year-old boy in Santa Barbara County and a three-year-old boy in Los Angeles Rasmuson, who has previously spent 17 years in prison for the separate abuse of an 11-year-old boy in Santa Barbara County and a three-year-old boy in Los Angeles, was linked two the two killings by DNA in 2015. Jeffrey Vargo, six, went missing on July 2, 1981, after leaving his home in Anaheim Hills in Orange County. His parents found his bicycle abandoned in an alley near a fireworks stand later that night. The following day, two construction workers found Jeffrey's body behind a pile of sand at a construction site about 25 miles away in Pomona, California. He had been strangled. Miguel's body was discovered (pictured) seven hours after he went missing with his body covered in stab wounds Connie Vargo (centre right), Jeffrey's mother, said she feared Rasmuson could have been released early before the plea deal was struck Miguel Antero, also aged six, vanished on April 8, 1986, after his school bus dropped him off near his home in Agoura Hills. Seven hours later the 'sweet and shy' boy was found dead nearby, his tiny broken body covered in stab wounds. Detectives at the time suspected Rasmuson but had insufficient evidence to charge him with the horrific crimes. Rasmuson might never have been linked to Miguel's murder if retired Sheriff's Sgt. John Laurie - one of the original detectives assigned to the homicide investigation - hadn't been watching TV at his home in Orange County. The news show he was watching aired an item - with a mugshot - about Pomona police arresting Rasmuson in connection with Jeffrey Vargo's murder. Miguel pictured with his mother Ana Bradshaw. She has had to wait almost 30 years to see someone appear in court over his death Laurie immediately recognized the man in the mugshot as the same one who - 28 years earlier - he'd suspected of killing Miguel Antero. But at that time, he couldn't find enough evidence to charge Rasmuson with murder. After the TV news show ran in 2014, Laurie called LA County Sheriff's cold case unit and asked them to dig out the dust-covered evidence files from Miguel's 1986 case. 'Take it to the lab and just run it through. I'm convinced this is our suspect,' Laurie recalled telling a trusted investigator. A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department senior criminalist, who performed the lab work, used the latest techniques and identified DNA evidence which connected Rasmuson to Miguel's murder. He was arrested and charged with both the killings in 2015 at his home in Sandpoint, Idaho, where he was living as a registered sex offender. Miguel's older sister Enid, who was 14 when he was killed, had said she wanted Rasmuson to face the death penalty Enid, pictured with Miguel, said that nothing could bring back the little brother she should have seen growing up But a protracted court battle has caused divisions in the Los Angeles justice system over Rasmuson's potential punishment. He was charged with murder with special circumstances because of the multiple killings, making him eligible for the death penalty. But Gascon barred prosecutors from pursuing the punishment because a capital sentence could lead to decades of costly appeals with little chance of an execution. California has not executed anyone since 2006 and there are more than 700 people on its death row. Gascon also barred prosecutors from filling special circumstance allegations. Detectives at the time suspected Rasmuson but had insufficient evidence to charge him with the horrific crimes Rasmuson was linked to the murder of Miguel years later by a retired sheriff who recognised his mugshot on TV But after facing a backlash, he made exceptions for certain cases including those involving child sexual abuse. Judges also blocked his office's attempts to get rid of the sentencing enhancements in this case. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer offered last week to try the case in his county with special circumstances because Jeffrey was first kidnapped there. But under the terms of the deal agreed on Monday by LA County Chief Deputy District Attorney Joseph Iniguez, Rasmuson pleaded no contest to the two killings and will be sentenced in late April. Spitzer said he would dismiss the case in his own county once sentencing has taken place. The case became the source of tension among prosecutors and district attorneys in California who are disputing progressive reforms in sentencing. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer (pictured in court) offered last week to try the case in his county with special circumstances because Jeffrey was first kidnapped there Iniguez accused Spitzer of political grandstanding with his attempt to move the case, while Spitzer said the plea deal was only reached because of the pressure brought about by his filing. Connie Vargo, Jeffrey's mother, said she feared Rasmuson could have been released early if Spitzer had not become involved in the case. She said, according to the Los Angeles Times: 'I'm afraid that the outcome might have been that they dismissed the special circumstances which means he could have possibly gotten out in 14 or 15 years. 'Imagine that a murderer, a child molester, a deviant to society. I'm just glad that that didn't happen.' Not long after state leaders announced school workers would be eligible for the coronavirus vaccine last week, Samantha Slim immediately filled out a school district survey confirming her interest in taking the shot. As a third-grade teacher at Rosenwald Elementary School in Pointe Coupee Parish, she said the vaccine is a crucial step back toward normalcy, to focus more on classroom instruction and, more importantly, to offer protection against getting sick. At this point, I'm tired of being scared, I'm tired of not being able to do the job I want to do and I know it's not going to take away everything," said Slim, 38. "I'm still going to have to be cautious, but at least I'll know I have that protection." Slim, who has worked in Pointe Coupee schools for 10 years, is one of the 166,000 K-12 school teachers and staff who became eligible for the vaccine for the first time Monday under newly expanded rules that Gov. John Bel Edwards set in the expectation that the federal government will ramp up delivery of new doses to Louisiana. Others newly eligible include those 55 to 64 who have at least one of a number of health conditions, including cancer, being a smoker, chronic kidney disease, heart conditions, obesity, sickle cell disease and Type 2 diabetes. For 57-year-old Gonzales resident Rosalyn Murphy, receiving the COVID-19 vaccine means shell be able to hug her kids, resume baking days with a friend and have peace of mind when running errands in the community. I didnt try to get on the list until I was eligible, said Murphy, who has high blood pressure. I didnt want to be a cheater. My dad is 80 years old and he has health issues. I would rather my daddy or someone elses dad get the shot before me. Murphy called Bertrand's Pharmacy in Gonzales to add her name to its vaccination list as soon as she became eligible Monday and learned she'd be able to receive a shot in a few weeks. "It's been faster than I thought it would be," Murphy said. In all, a half-million more people in Louisiana have become eligible for the vaccine this week 1.6 million in all, or roughly a third of the states population, are eligible now even as demand continues to outstrip supply and while availability and ease of access to the vaccine are unevenly spread among minority communities and some rural areas. Though the vaccine offers high levels of protection from severe cases of COVID-19, little is understood about whether a person can still spread the virus that causes it. Dr. Ralph Dauterive, vice president of medical affairs at Ochsner Medical Center in Baton Rouge, said he had already noticed the excitement from patients and others over the wider eligibility, especially for school teachers and what their mass vaccination can mean for restoring normalcy to society more generally. Concern remains, he said, around whether the supply will keep up with the hundreds of thousands of additional people now able to begin receiving their doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. At the same, he said, to his reading of the situation, Edwards decision seems to be a logical next step that anticipates the vaccine supply increasing in the coming weeks. Its hard to time this stuff, but you want to make sure that youve got your people willing to come in and take the vaccine as your product becomes available, Dauterive said. And the governor has been very upfront with saying, you know, the amount of vaccine you get is going to be determined by how much you give. Louisiana is set to receive 90,630 doses that will be distributed to 501 providers statewide. The total has grown three weeks in a row. In fact, this weeks allocation is the second-largest amount statewide since Louisiana began receiving vaccines in the week of Dec. 15. The highest week happened in late December when total state allocations were inflated with early separate batches set aside for nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, statistics show. 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 During Edwards announcement of the new eligibility rules last week, he said President Joe Biden's administration has promised that the 90,600 doses would represent a "floor" for the coming three weeks. Kevin Litten, spokesman for the state Department of Health, said the increased number of doses were not an indirect benefit of severe winter weather interrupting supply originally meant for other states. Despite the excitement in some quarters, word of the wider eligibility hasnt filtered fully to every corner of the Baton Rouge area. Dr. Nagaratna Reddy, owner of a chain of small health clinics in Ascension, Assumption and Iberville parishes, said she was still trying to get the word out about the expanded eligibility to the rural communities where the clinics are located. Teachers can get the coronavirus vaccine now. How are districts helping them get it? Starting Monday, teachers and other school employees across Louisiana can for the first time contact local hospitals and pharmacies and schedu She said she has been trying to speak with local mayors and Homeland Security officials and created a memo about the broader eligibility criteria to post in her Reddy Family Medical Clinic offices and in local government offices and buildings, like Donaldsonviles Lemann Center. Reddy said she she hasnt seen a large increase in interest yet from people in the newly eligible groups, but she is still hearing from those who arent eligible but hope to receive unused vaccines. Reddy was hopeful of receiving a double allocation this week for each of her clinics after deliveries were interrupted by last weeks severe winter weather. The states usage rate of the more than 1 million doses made available in Louisiana since vaccines began to be distributed hit 85% as of Monday, 21st-best in the nation. No state was below 72 percent, according to a ranking of federal data by Becker's Hospital Review. More than 294,230 people in Louisiana have received both doses of the vaccine, or about 6.3% of the state's 4.6 million people, state statistics say. Dauterive said that figure remains a long way from enough vaccinations and the state will have to sustain higher levels of vaccination for a few months more to move the state closer to herd immunity. Acceptance among those ages 20 to 50 is key, he said. Louisiana health experts urge COVID-19 vaccinations as distribution continues toward goal of herd immunity As COVID-19 vaccine distribution continues across Louisiana, medical professionals are reassuring citizens that it is safe, effective and has Those eligible to receive the vaccine can receive it at any pharmacy or vaccination site, but Slim, the Pointe Coupee teacher, said she plans to wait until local clinicians visit the schools in the coming days. Slim said she has continued to wear masks and take other precautions while at school and has made a point to avoid eating at restaurants and engage in other public activities. "I haven't been anywhere in almost a year now," Slim said. "I'm face-to-face with kids all the time, so if I do go anywhere, I go to the store." Like Slim, Murphy, in Gonzales, hasn't been out to eat dinner since her anniversary with her husband last March 7. When she receives the vaccine in a few weeks, Murphy said she doesnt intend to start going into large crowds or traveling she just wants to feel comfortable around her family and friends again. When its safe to do that, Ill do that, but in the meantime I want to at least be able to interact with people because I dont, said Murphy, who hasnt been together with all three of her adult children in just under a year. My dogs are my best friend right now, she added with a laugh. Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 Donald Trump's niece has said an investigation into the former president's taxes will reveal the truth about his finances, namely that the so-called billionaire has never 'never made any money'. Mary Trump told CNN on Monday night that she believed the decision made in a Supreme Court ruling that paves the way for New York City prosecutors to obtain Trump's tax returns and other financial records as part of a criminal investigation, was a 'long time coming'. Mary Trump told Chris Cuomo that she believed the returns will make several revelations. Mary Trump, Donald Trump's niece praised the decision by Supreme Court to allow New York State prosecutors to obtain her uncle's tax returns Mary Trump alleges that the former president has never made any money of his own and that he has 'likely been committing tax fraud for decades' 'Firstly, he has never made any money, and every penny Donald has was really my grandfather's initially. Secondly, he's going to be shown to have been somebody who gave zero to charitable causes... and the most important one is that he has most likely has been committing tax fraud for decades. 'It's a huge victory for the supreme court to have cleared the way for New York state to get access to Donald's tax returns because it's a long-time coming. He should have faced accountability a long time ago,' Mary Trump said. 'The Republican party is going to do absolutely nothing to contain Donald, and they're just going to allow him to continue to be the head of their increasingly anti-democratic party that's perfectly comfortable engaging in tactics to stay in power illegitimately.' The decision by the SCOTUS to make the returns available to the investigation is a blow to Trump's quest to conceal the details of his finances. Over the years he has kept his financial records hidden. Just now Mary Trump speaks on the Supreme Court releasing Trumps tax returns from 2011-2019, He has Most likely been committing tax fraud for decades. Maybe the best is yet to come. Video:CNN pic.twitter.com/7jdAAYjKSZ TheSadTruth (@ReportsDaNews) February 23, 2021 New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance, left, and the Attorney General of New York Letitia James will soon have access to Donald Trump's tax returns Trump would often claim to be 'under audit' to avoid having to publish his tax returns. But a grand jury investigation will soon have access to a whole host of documents spanning from January, 2011 to August, 2019, including tax returns that come from his accounting firm. Mary Trump believes her uncle Donald was simply claiming he was 'under audit' line as an easy excuse so he would not have to divulge his financial details. 'There is no reason to believe that he actually has been under audit for decades. But that aside, it doesn't matter what he says. Because the IRS knows the truth, and pretty soon the New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance and the Attorney General of New York Letitia James will have access to those documents. 'Donald has been playing fast and loose with his taxes for decades, and it's about time the American people have access to exactly what has been going on, and most likely has continued going on. Because let's face it, this is a very longstanding pattern,' Mary Trump added. Only a tiny portion of Donald Trump's tax returns have ever seen the light of day but Manhattan DA Cy Vance now has the approval of the Supreme Court to subpoena the ex-president's longtime accounting firm for them Donald Trump Statement on Ruling This investigation is a continuation of the greatest political Witch Hunt in the history of our Country, whether it was the never ending $32 million Mueller hoax, which already investigated everything that could possibly be investigated, Russia Russia Russia, where there was a finding of No Collusion, or two ridiculous Crazy Nancy inspired impeachment attempts where I was found NOT GUILTY. It just never ends! So now, for more than two years, New York City has been looking at almost every transaction Ive ever done, including seeking tax returns which were done by among the biggest and most prestigious law and accounting firms in the U.S. The Tea Party was treated far better by the IRS than Donald Trump. The Supreme Court never should have let this fishing expedition happen, but they did. This is something which has never happened to a President before, it is all Democrat-inspired in a totally Democrat location, New York City and State, completely controlled and dominated by a heavily reported enemy of mine, Governor Andrew Cuomo. These are attacks by Democrats willing to do anything to stop the almost 75 million people (the most votes, by far, ever gotten by a sitting president) who voted for me in the electionan election which many people, and experts, feel that I won. I agree! The new phenomenon of headhunting prosecutors and AGswho try to take down their political opponents using the law as a weaponis a threat to the very foundation of our liberty. Thats what is done in third world countries. Even worse are those who run for prosecutorial or attorney general offices in far-left states and jurisdictions pledging to take out a political opponent. Thats fascism, not justiceand that is exactly what they are trying to do with respect to me, except that the people of our Country wont stand for it. In the meantime, murders and violent crime are up in New York City by record numbers, and nothing is done about it. Our elected officials dont care. All they focus on is the persecution of President Donald J. Trump. I will fight on, just as I have, for the last five years (even before I was successfully elected), despite all of the election crimes that were committed against me. We will win! Advertisement Donald Trump blasted the court's ruling on Monday. 'This investigation is a continuation of the greatest political Witch Hunt in the history of our Country,' begins the missive, sent out from the Office of Donald J. Trump. The nearly-400 word statement, clearly dictated by Trump himself, brings back a litany of past complaints by the former president: calling the investigation a 'witch hunt,' blasting former special counsel Robert Mueller, and falsely claiming he won the election. 'So now, for more than two years, New York City has been looking at almost every transaction Ive ever done, including seeking tax returns which were done by among the biggest and most prestigious law and accounting firms in the U.S. The Tea Party was treated far better by the IRS than Donald Trump. The Supreme Court never should have let this fishing expedition happen, but they did. This is something which has never happened to a President before, it is all Democrat-inspired in a totally Democrat location, New York City and State, completely controlled and dominated by a heavily reported enemy of mine, Governor Andrew Cuomo,' the statement says. It even divulges into the first person - using the word 'I' repeatedly - and calls Trump by the title 'president.' 'These are attacks by Democrats willing to do anything to stop the almost 75 million people (the most votes, by far, ever gotten by a sitting president) who voted for me in the electionan election which many people, and experts, feel that I won. I agree!,' it reads. Trump then claimed to be a victim of what his Attorney General Bill Barr called ' headhunters' - career prosecutors who go after high-profile targets. 'The new phenomenon of headhunting prosecutors and AGs - who try to take down their political opponents using the law as a weapon - is a threat to the very foundation of our liberty. Thats what is done in third world countries,' Trump says. His statement comes after justices on the high court rebuffed his request to put on hold an October 7 lower court ruling directing the former Republican president's longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA, to comply with a subpoena to turn over the materials to a grand jury convened by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, a Democrat. The ruling does not make Trump's tax records public but gives Vance access to eight years of returns for his probe into possible tax fraud, and payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal. They are not supposed to become public as part of the prosecutors' investigation, but the high court's action is a blow to Trump because he has for so long fought on so many fronts to keep his tax records shielded from view. The justices did not disclose whether the court was split on taking the case, although at times justices who want to take a case but have been outvoted will make public their dissent. None did so Monday. The ongoing investigation the records are part of could also become an issue for Trump in his life after the presidency. The ruling against Trump comes just days before his planned political comeback, which will be a speech to the conservative conference CPAC on Sunday. Vance has disclosed little about what prompted him to request the tax records. In one court filing last year, however, prosecutors said they were justified in demanding the records because of public reports of 'possibly extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Trump Organization.' Stepping up investigation: Cy Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney has hired a high-profile former prosecutor who just re-interviewed Michael Cohen, Trump's one-time Mr. Fix-it Part of the probe involves payments to two women - porn actress Stormy Daniels and model Karen McDougal - to keep them quiet during the 2016 presidential campaign about alleged extramarital affairs with Trump. Trump has denied the affairs. In July, the justices in a 7-2 ruling rejected Trump's argument that the president is immune from investigation while he holds office or that a prosecutor must show a greater need than normal to obtain the tax records. Vance has hired a high-profile attorney with decades of experience with white collar crime cases as it ramps up its investigation. Mark Pomerantz, a former prosecutor for the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, joined Vance's team as a special assistant district attorney earlier this month. Pomerantz has already hit the ground running, conducting an interview with Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen last Thursday, Reuters reported. His hiring is part of a flurry of recent activity in Vance's investigation into the Trump family business, a probe which has been open for two and a half years. The Manhattan district attorney's office hired Mark Pomerantz (pictured in 2008), a high-profile attorney with decades of experience with white collar crime cases, this month as it ramps up its investigation into Donald Trump's business dealings 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 Auckland: Three new COVID-19 cases have been identified in New Zealand, linked to an Auckland high school. Earlier on Tuesday a student of Papatoetoe High School in East Auckland returned a positive test. It was followed by two of the students siblings, a teenager and an infant, also testing positive. The teenager also attends the school and works at a Kmart store in nearby Botany. Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield announced the cases. Credit:Getty Images The Ministry of Health said the Kmart worker had attended the store on February 19 and 20 from 4 to 10pm. Thirty-one of the workers colleagues have been identified as close contacts and are self-isolating. There is a front row seat for everyone this year at the National St Patrick's Festival. Duisigh Eire! Awaken Ireland! is the theme of this years festival, a clarion call to the Irish across the world to throw off the long, dark months and rise to embrace the brighter days ahead. Duisigh Eire! Awaken Ireland! promises to be a positive and uplifting celebration of our incredible people, our beautiful island, our community bonds, our young people, artists, creators and makers, and our diaspora across the world. The Festival will connect our global family, to mark our national day, through remembrance and celebration, song and story, laughter and tears, exploring the unique ties that bind us as a people. The Festival Programme is now available HERE. Many further collaborations will be announced shortly including #RTEVirtualParade with St. Patricks Festival, an exciting visual arts project with Damn Fine Print and some very special spectacle moments sure to thrill and delight! For this years online Festival, a rich and dynamic series of events are being safely created and recorded by hundreds of artists, musicians, performers, makers, creators, arts and live events workers and community organisations across Ireland. These events will run on St. Patricks Festival TV (SPF TV), a dedicated online TV channel at www.stpatricksfestival.ie, which launches on March 12 and runs over six great virtual days and nights, and will be accessible globally. Through St. Patricks Festival TV, the world is invited to take a front row seat at St. Patricks Festival 2021, connecting our family of 80 million through music, theatre, art, performance, poetry, storytelling, traditional arts, virtual tours, food, culture and much more. The full SPF TV schedule with days and times for each event will be announced in early March and viewers will be able to playback all the events on the SPF TV Player until March 21. The Festival will tell the stories of our dynamic, modern, diverse culture, and uplift and celebrate our proud ancient traditions. With more than 100 events taking place across six great virtual days and nights, there is something for everyone at the Festival this year. SPF Og offers a boisterous collection of events, performances, workshops and fun experiences for families and young people; Sounds is a packed programme of contemporary and traditional music from Ireland, recorded by our finest artists and musicians; Stories invites the world to explore Ireland through the lens of film, poetry, literature, performance and art; while Living Ireland is a reflection of Ireland now, how we live and love, work and play, make, create, remember and celebrate. In a year when our arts, culture, live events and tourism communities have been amongst those hardest hit by the pandemic, St. Patricks Festival has channelled more than 85% of its programme funding directly back into these communities all across Ireland, enabling the creation of events and experiences to fill our hearts with joy, hope and positivity, a truly national festival. Speaking of the 2021 St Patricks Festival, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin said: I was pleased this week to announce funding to support the vibrant, exciting programme of events for this years St. Patricks Festival. "This re-imagined programme, Duisigh Eire! will allow us all come together virtually to celebrate our national festival safely, but also provide us with an opportunity to reflect on what has been a very difficult year. "The engaging programme - for the first time ever - will also be broadcast live for almost a full week and includes something for everyone. I am particularly delighted that resources for the adapted festival are fueling arts, culture, live and tourism community activities - some of the worst impacted during these challenging times. Tabharfaidh se seo deis iontach duinn teacht le cheile go fioruil mar phobal chun cultur agus oidhreacht shaibhir na hEireann a cheiliuradh. Anna McGowan, Interim Director of St Patricks Festival, said: As we move from winter into spring, people across the country and our diaspora awaken with a new hope, a new shared vision of positivity for our future. "Duisigh Eire! Awaken Ireland! will capture this sense of hope and optimism, presented online this year through St Patricks Festival TV, with a huge range of events for every age and curiosity, celebrating our contemporary culture and those who have influenced us. We recognise a year of loss and isolation, and also one of community action, local and international heroes and the indomitable spirit of the Irish. We really cant wait to share this wonderful programme of events today. Artists and performers set to take part in the diverse 2021 Festival Programme include comedians Foil, Arms & Hog and Michael Fry , legendary poet Pat Ingoldsby, treasured writers and broadcasters such as Marian Richardson, Brendan Balfe and Manchan Magan. Failte Ireland CEO Paul Kelly commented: While we cant celebrate St Patricks Day in the same way this year, we hope to keep Ireland front of mind and St Patricks Festival 2021 will be a vibrant virtual showcase of the very best of Irelands culture, people and places. We look forward to welcoming international visitors to celebrate our national festival with us in 2022 once it is safe to travel again. St Patricks Festival is made possible through the continued support of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Failte Ireland, Dublin City Council, and many generous partners and funders. The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Sorry! This content is not available in your region Editors note: Understanding the complexities of protein folding has perplexed biologists for some 50 years. The way a protein folds into its 3D configuration determines its functionor lack thereof, in the case of some diseases. Renewed interest (and hope) in protein folding emerged in late 2020 when DeepMind, an AI development firm, announced its AlphaFold system could successfully predict protein folding in 3D. The technology was recognized for this achievement by a group known as the Critical Assessment of protein Structure Prediction (CASP). This breakthrough demonstrates the impact AI can have on scientific discovery and its potential to dramatically accelerate progress in some of the most fundamental fields that explain and shape our world, the firm wrote, in a blog post. The cosmetic industry picked up on this achievement as well. In fact, some ingredient suppliers have used protein folding as an approach for skin benefits; though its implications may only just be beginning to be realized. This led us to Karl Linter, Ph.D., an industry leader and pioneer in cosmetic actives and proteins, to whom we posed the question: How could protein folding benefit skin care? Following are his insights. Theories in Aging Cosmetic researchers are constantly searching for the newest ingredient and/or mechanism that will allow them to claim anti-X effects for their products; X being age, wrinkles, ptosis, cellulite, hyperpigmentation, hair loss, dark circles and more. A great number of ideas have seen the light in the last four decadesfrom ingredient families such as AHAs, retinoids, ceramides, peptides and polyphenols, to concepts such as transdermal skin delivery, anti-pollution, the microbiome, epigenetics, mitochondrial disturbance, superfruits, autophagy, glycation, etc. The number of theories of aging, i.e., causes and symptoms, increases steadily as research in this field advances. But no single theory will turn out to be the one because all phenomena are connected; a translation error in the ribosome, a small UV-induced base change in a gene, a loss of mitochondrial efficacy, a pollution related epigenetic change each and all of these will lead directly or indirectly to further detrimental changes and the well-known symptoms of aging. Every new discovery of a specific piece of the aging puzzle is scrutinized (and explored) for the possibility of counteracting this process for cosmetic effects. The latest such buzzword is protein folding, found in at least two commercial documentations (described later). What is this, precisely? And how does it relate to beauty? What is Protein Folding? As most readers know, a protein is a long linear chain of amino acids, from a few hundred amino acids to a few thousands. Consider it similar to a strand of pearls or a spaghetti noodle. If the protein is left alone in either a solvent medium of water, in a solution of urea or in cytoplasm, it may look like spaghetti, a random coil or a beautifully complex structure, respectively. Decades ago, only X-ray crystallography allowed researchers to study the shape of a crystallized protein. Today many other techniques, such as NMR, neutron scattering, fluorescence spectroscopy, superfast algorithms and more yield a correctly folded protein structure without the laborious trials of obtaining a good protein crystal for analysis. But what is the correct structure? To understand this, it is important to distinguish the four levels of structure in a protein, where each level contributes specifically to the final three-dimensional folded structure (see Figure 1). Figure 1. The four structures of a protein (By Holger87 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20899169) The primary structure of a protein is given by its amino acid sequencethe order of the amino acids in the long chain. This sequence, based on the genetic code in DNA, is unique to each protein species and is designated in writing either with the three-letter code, e.g., Tyr-Lys-Ala-Ala-Val (see Figure 1) or a one-letter code, for long chains; e.g., YKAAV. This sequence does not tell us anything about the shape of the proteinand even less about its function. The first crystallographic analysis of the structure of myoglobin was visualized Max Perutz and John Kendrew, for which they were awarded the Chemistry Nobel Prize in 1962. This elegantly showed that a protein usually does not, in fact, possess a spaghetti shape. The image obtained showed that the protein chain contains eight parts in a tight helical form, and that others appear irregular (see Figure 2). Figure 2. Myoglobin Later, in other proteins, a structure called beta-pleated sheets (see Figure 1) was discovered, followed by beta- and gamma-turns. These details are called the characteristic secondary structure of a protein. In 1974, the scientists Chou and Fasman of Brandeis University (Massachusetts)1 developed a statistical method based on the sequence of amino acids to calculate the percentage of a-helix and b-pleated sheet structures in proteins. With this, it became obvious to scientists that the side chains of each amino acid and their arrangement along the main protein chain were responsible for the creation of the secondary structure. A replacement of one amino acid in the chain by another, i.e., a transcription error, would often lead to an incorrectly folded protein. The huge number of protein structures revealed by analysis over the decades has made it clear that the secondary structure is only a tool for the protein to find its next stage: the tertiary or 3D structure (see Figure 1). Finally, some special proteins (hemoglobin, for instance) become truly functional only once they are associated in pairs or triplets or quadruplets of themselves in the quaternary structure (also see Figure 1). Why Correct Protein Folding is Important Christian Anfinsen, Ph.D., of the National Institutes of Health at Bethesda, MD, USA received a Nobel Prize in 1972 for his work on the enzyme ribonuclease and his dogmatic claim that what a protein does largely depends on its unique 3D structure. This claim still holds for many proteins but a number of exceptions exist; to quote from Wikipedia: Some proteins need the assistance of chaperone proteins to fold properly.[] However, the chaperones do not appear to affect the final state of the protein; they seem to work primarily by preventing aggregation of several protein molecules prior to the final folded state of the protein. [] Many proteins can also undergo aggregation and misfolding [] and some proteins have multiple native structures, and change their fold based on some external factors. Once a protein is released from the ribosome where the mRNA has transcribed the DNA sequence into the excreted amino acid chain, how does it know in which of the > 10300 (!) or so folded structures at its disposal2 it is supposed to fold? This question has occupied and intrigued scientists for the last 50 years.3 Early experiments, for instance, used a well-characterized enzymatically active protein in solution, then added a sufficient amount of urea to the solution to see the protein lose its activity, its shape and various measurable characteristics; e.g., NMR, IR and CD spectra.4 The removal of the urea could then either bring back the activity of the correctly refolded enzyme, or might lead to a differently shaped but inactive or toxic protein. Senior, et al.,5 recently claimed, based on major efforts and the help of AI, to have essentially solved the problem of the mechanics of protein folding,6 helping scientists to predict the correct 3D shape of the chain based only on its primary structure. For example, proteins are folded and held together by several forms of molecular interactions that involve thermodynamic stability, hydrophobic and electrostatic Van der Waals interactions, hydrogen and disulfide bonding. Protein Folding and Skin Aging: Potential Applications How might all of this biology relate to cosmetics? Keratinocytes and fibroblasts produce many different proteins, constantly. As these cross from the ribosome to and through the endoplasmatic reticulum (ER), they are taken in charge by chaperone proteins, sugar moieties, phosphorylation processes and other cellular toolsall helping the protein to adopt its correct functional shape. Alas, as skin ages, be it intrinsically or through external aggressions, the reduced efficacy of the ER and decreased number of chaperones leads to increased erroneous protein folding, resulting in increased agglomeration thereof and further reduction in metabolic efficacy in the tissue concerned. Fewer functional proteins may lead to higher rates of translation and transcription errors, and lower production of enzymes and structural proteins such as collagen, elastin, integrins, HA, etc. As Waller and Maibach7 observe, collagen becomes sparser and is thickened while elastin is degraded, leading to an age-related accumulation of aberrant elastoic material. Generally, age leads to increased [protein] folding [], all interacting in a feed-forward, vicious circle. Silab (France), with its Erisium product (INCI: Oryza Sativa (Rice) Extract), and Mibelle Biochemistry (Switzerland), with its IceAwake (INCI: Succinic Acid (and) Maltodextrin (and) Water (Aqua)) ingredient,8 have explored this avenue for skin care. They refer to academic research on protein processing in the ribosome and endoplasmatic reticulum,9-11 and highlight the fact that aged cells have a tendency to produce incorrectly folded proteins due to reduced amounts of chaperone proteins. While the Erisium Oryza sativa extract is said to reactivate the UPR (unfolded protein response) pathway, thus reducing ER stress, the IceAwake Iodobacter spp. extract appears to increase chaperone proteins; e.g., BiP, calnexin, calreticulin, endoplasminpresumably helping proteins to fold correctly and assuring their functionality (see Figure 3). Figure 3. Protein folding is optimized in the ER.12 Proteins such as calnexin can temporarily bind to nascent polypeptides, preventing them from forming incorrect secondary structures and releasing the protein for folding once the entire polypeptide has been translated. Caveat and Conclusion Protein folding is a crucial and delicate matter, occurring within the cells, generally tightly controlled by thermodynamics and helped by the aforementioned chaperones. It is presently difficult to measure and visualize this process in living tissue where many ribosomes constantly churn out various proteins as needed. It is probable that helping the chaperones and the UPR pathway in aged cells in culture with chosen materials, e.g., plants, biotech, synthetic, etc., turns out to be beneficial to the cell and subsequently to the skin. On the other hand, we also must not forget that a number of serious diseases such as transmissible spongiform encephalitis, Creutzfeld-Jacob, scrapie, Alzheimers, etc., are tightly connected with protein folding and its aberrant processes.13 The fact that oxidative stresses are often cited as significantly contributing to these pathologies14 suggests, however, that diverse ingredients such as the cited extracts may exert some preventative and/or curative activities. Further research would shed more light on this new approach. References 1. Chou, P.Y. and Fasman, G.D. (1974). Prediction of protein conformation. Biochemistry 13(2): 222-245; doi:10.1021/bi00699a002. PMID 4358940. 2. This number exceeds the number of atoms in the universe 3. Levinthal, C. (1969). How to Fold Graciously. Mossbauer Spectroscopy in Biological Systems, proceedings of a meeting held at Allerton House, Monticello, Illinois: 22-24. Archived from the original on 2010-10-07. 4. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Infrared and Circular Dichroism spectra 5. Senior, A.W., Evans, R., Jumper, J. et al. )2020). Improved protein structure prediction using potentials from deep learning. Nature 577, 706-710 (2020). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1923-7 7. Waller, J.M. and Maibach, H.I. (2006 Aug). Age and skin structure and function, a quantitative approach (II): Protein, glycosaminoglycan, water and lipid content and structure. Skin Res Technol 12(3) 145-54; doi: 10.1111/j.0909-752X.2006.00146.x. PMID: 16827688. 8. Mibelle Biochemistry literature (2019). IceAwake: Fighting aging in sleep-deprived skin. Available at: https://mibellebiochemistry.com/iceawaketm-0. 9. Naidoo, N., et al. (2008). Aging impairs the unfolded protein response to sleep deprivation and leads to proapoptotic signaling. J Neurosci 28(26) 6539-6548. 10. Pickard. A., et al. (2019). Preservation of circadian rhythms by the protein folding chaperone, BiP. FASEB J 33(6) 7479-7489 5. 11. Taylor, R.C. (2016). Aging and the UPR(ER). Brain Res 1648(Pt B) 588-593. 12. LibreTexts (2020, Mar 9). Protein folding and prions. Available at: https://chem.libretexts.org/Courses/University_of_Arkansas_Little_Rock/CHEM_4320_5320%3A_Biochemistry_1/02%3A__Protein_Structure/2.4%3A_Protein_Folding_and_Prions 13. Ashraf, G.M., Greig, N.H., ... Kamal, M.A., et al. (2014). Protein misfolding and aggregation in Alzheimer's disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus. CNS Neurol Disord Drug Targets 13(7) 1280-93; doi: 10.2174/1871527313666140917095514. 14. Benetti, F. and Legname, G. (2015). New insights into structural determinants of prion protein folding and stability. Prion 9(2) 119-124; doi: 10.1080/19336896.2015.1022023 Chief medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan, said his wife has left a legacy that can never be destroyed, and a void that will never be filled. Dr Emer Holohan (nee Feely), who had been living with a terminal form of blood cancer since 2012, died on Friday. Dr Feely was a specialist in public health medicine and a medical graduate of UCD. She died at Our Ladys Hospice, Harolds Cross, Dublin, in the company of her husband Dr Holohan and children, Clodagh and Ronan. Her funeral took place at St Pius X Church in Dublin on Monday. Irelands chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan (left) prays by the coffin of his wife, as it arrives for her funeral mass at St Pius X Church, Terenure, Dublin (Damien Storan/PA) Paying tribute to his wife, Dr Holohan said she was someone who lived for her family. With his two children by his side, Dr Holohan described Dr Feely as a loving, caring, warm, witty and sunny person. Emer, this is the day that was always coming, we knew that, we all did, he added. After that dreadful day in September 2012, you and I both knew you would leave us before your time, and you have. Your suffering is over, the pain, the anguish and the tears are at an end. We gather in this cruelly constrained way to mark your passing, in word, prayer and in song. This is not going to be a chronology of your life, I think too much of you to try summarise you in a few short minutes of words for people who may not know you. For those who do know you, they dont need me to set it out. He praised his wife in how she handled her long illness. Once upon a time, I worried about how you would ever cope with the adversity we met along the way of our lives. I thought your soft and sensitive nature might mean you would find some of lifes tests too much for you. How little I know, Dr Holohan added. You faced the illness without fear or anger. Sure, you asked the usual questions about why us and why me, but you didnt dwell on them. You didnt let it rule you or define you, no matter how it impacted you. Amazingly, it was in how on the countless occasions we received the proverbial bad news, you would get up the next day and simply choose to put it to one side, to get on with things and to be there for Clodagh and Ronan. For it was Clodagh and Ronan that kept you going, and in them and the people they are, all that they have and will achieve in their lives, that your greatest legacy will be felt. Dr Holohan has been the public face of the States response to the unprecedented public health emergency. Irelands chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan (centre) embraces family members as they arrive for the funeral mass of his wife Dr Emer Feely, at St Pius X Church, Terenure, Dublin (Damien Storan/PA) He took time off work last summer after she entered palliative care in early July. Dr Holohan said his wife amazed the medical professionals who looked after her and defied their predictions through sheer determination to live for as long as she could. Your passing leaves a legacy and a void, a legacy that can never be destroyed and a void that will never be filled, he added. The legacy you leave me, Clodagh and Ronan is how you made us feel, loved, valued, appreciated, understood and supported. Their daughter Clodagh, who is in college, described her mother as a ray of sunshine. Throughout our childhood mom was always there for us, Clodagh added. I remember the day when we were told that mom was sick, which was a complete shock to us all. The fear of the unknown was the worst bit. She epitomised the word brave. In the last number of years this horrendous disease took so much from her, her freedom, her independence, her mobility and her ability to do some of the things she loved, but it never took her strength. Dr Feelys son, Ronan, who is studying for his Leaving Certificate exams at Terenure College, said his mother was extremely important to their family. She was truly one of a kind. She was one of those people who had the ability to click with every person she met, she had such a sharp wit and her sense of humour was like no other, he added. I have always admired her so much for her strength and resilience whenever an obstacle came her way. She always had that special ability to put on a brave face even when it got tough. She said to us the other day, I have fought my best fight, and she really did. POLICE in Bulawayo have arrested 33 youths from Pelandaba West suburb for hosting an illegal birthday party in violation of national Level Four lockdown regulations. Under Level Four National Lockdown all social gatherings are banned as part of measures to contain the spread of Covid-19. The 33 youths who are between 16 and 25 years of age were arrested on Saturday at about 10.30PM by police officers who were on patrol. Thirteen of them were females and sources allege that the party to celebrate the host, Makhosini Sibandas birthday, was organised through WhatsApp. Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the arrests yesterday. He said it was worrying that police continue to arrest young people for hosting illegal parties. This is a matter of concern as we are repeatedly arresting young people for hosting parties during the lockdown regulations. This is the third time within a short space of time that we have arrested young people including minors for holding illegal parties. These parties are hosted in homes where adults are not at home as in this case, the home owner is someone who is based in Botswana, he said. Insp Ncube urged parents and guardians to monitor the activities of their children as some of them were engaging in anti-social activities such as alcohol and drug abuse. We are arresting young people, some who are 17 years of age and it worries us as the police that people of such age groups will not be home in the middle of the night. What is worrying about the parties is that they expose the girl child to abuse and often teaches youths substance abuse that leads to serious addictions. As police we have recorded several cases where the girl child is raped during such parties, said Insp Ncube. Sources said cops who were on patrol discovered that there was unusual activity at the house where the youths wee merry-making. This was already after the curfew hours and when the police officers arrived at the house, the suspects entered the house and started making noise while inside. The police officers called for backup and when the revellers realised that they had nowhere to hide, they opened the door leading to their arrest. There were empty alcohol bottles at the scene, said the source. Meanwhile, the suspects yesterday briefly appeared before West Commonage Magistrate Courts facing charges of flouting Covid-19 lockdown regulations. Two weeks, ago police arrested 10 youths aged between 18 and 19 years for holding a vuzu party in Emganwini suburb. The youths took advantage of the fact that the house owner is based in South Africa. Three weeks ago, police also arrested 12 people, including eight minors for holding an illegal party in Pumula South suburb. The party host was a 23-year-old man who escaped as police raided his home. He also lived alone as both his parents are late. Chronicle Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 VOA Learning English, we sometimes get questions like this: How can I speak English with more confidence? That is a great question. No matter what language we are learning, we would all love to speak more confidently. Yuliana Vasquez is an English teacher. She also trains teachers and is a language researcher at the University of Panama. She said lack of confidence can come from having trouble with pronunciation and not having a wide enough vocabulary. If you lack confidence when you speak English, you may do one or more of these things without realizing it: Speak in short phrases Speak too softly Speak too fast or unclearly So today, we have several pieces of advice to help you gain confidence in your English-speaking ability. Use positive self-talk Believe it or not, the most important person you talk to every day is yourself. In other words: Your thoughts matter. So our first piece of advice is to use positive self-talk. If you lack confidence as an English speaker, you may tell yourself things like, English is too hard and I will never improve. When you talk to other people, you may say things like, Im so sorry for my English. But if you keep thinking and saying such things, you are sure to start believing them. Magdi Saleh is an English teacher and teacher trainer based in Cairo, Egypt. Saleh said many English learners need to show themselves more patience because progress takes time:. You have to be patient with yourself and talk positively with yourself. He said you can tell yourself something like, Today, I will learn this thing and tomorrow I will learn other things. So the next time you are using your English, pay attention to what you tell yourself or others. Be sure to replace unhelpful thoughts or ideas with better ones. Speak louder, slower The next tip is to speak louder and slow down your speech. When I taught English at a language school in Washington, D.C., I noticed something about my students: Those who lacked confidence spoke too softly. And they did not enunciate well. Often, I had to ask them to repeat themselves a few times. To sound more confident, speak loudly enough that anyone in the same room can easily hear you. And try to slow down your speech if you speak too fast. Many English learners worry that speaking too slow will make them sound inexperienced. But speaking too fast may cause more mistakes. So avoid worrying that you are speaking too slow for the people around you. Speak in full sentences Our third tip is to speak in complete sentences and give longer responses when possible. If you are not confident in a language, you will likely try to say as little as possible when you speak. Trust me: I know! When I visited Brazil, for example, I remember asking a building doorman for the fitness center key. In Portuguese, I said just, Good afternoon. Fitness center key, please. Saleh says this is a common problem for language learners. For example, if you ask an English learner what their favorite color is, they may give a short, direct response like, My favorite color is blue. But a native English speaker is likely to give a detailed and less direct response, like this: Well, to be quite honest, I dont really have an actual color. I guess that if I were buying clothes, I would go for something like blue or grey. Using complete sentences and giving more detail in responses shows listeners that you are not afraid to speak English. Read out loud Now, we move to tip number four: Read out loud. Reading out loud can help build confidence in how your English sounds. So the next time you are reading a website, book or something else that you enjoy, take a few minutes to read the material aloud. Vasquez offers a possible plan of action. Before reading aloud, read the story silently first. The second time, if there is audio, you can listen to the speaker as you read along silently. Then, try to read the story out loud alone. Then, try listening to the speaker and reading out loud at the same time. List words you have trouble saying and then, later, check their pronunciation on Google Translate or in some other place. Saleh adds that learners should read for pleasure and enjoy what they are reading. So he advises not stopping to check word meanings in a dictionary while reading. Dont worry too much One of the biggest barriers to confidence in speaking a second language is the constant worry about making mistakes. So our next tip is: Do not worry too much about mistakes. Understand that making mistakes is a natural part of the language learning process. Yes, you will make mistakes. But keep in mind that the purpose of speaking a language is to communicate. And many English learners communicate very well, even with mistakes. Vasquez notes that mistakes can be a good thing. The more experience you get, the more you will know what is and is not correct, she explains. Set realistic goals Our final tip is to set realistic goals. If your English-speaking skills are at the beginner or intermediate level and you try to do something too difficult, you may fail. This can harm your confidence. But, if you do something that matches your level, you are more likely to do it well. As you learn English, it is natural to lack some of the skills you need to communicate well. Often, when we lack skills, we lack confidence. But remember that, as your skills grow, your confidence will, too. Vasquez advises learners to make a plan for daily practice and spend at least 30 minutes each day practicing your English. Im Alice Bryant. Alice Bryant wrote this story for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story confidence n. the feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed pronunciation n. the way in which a word is spoken vocabulary n. the set of words that a person knows phrase n. a group of words that express an idea but do not form a sentence positive adj. good or useful enunciate v. to pronounce words clearly and understandably key n. a special piece of metal used to open a lock guess v. to suppose, to think that something might be the case silently adv. quietly, without sound intermediate adj. relating to a level of knowledge that is not of a beginner or of an expert A burglar who was spared a prison sentence because of injuries he suffered when he was accidentally shot in the face by a garda, has been jailed by the Court of Appeal. The three-judge court agreed with the Director of Public Prosecutions that the sentencing judge was unduly lenient in suspending the entirety of the sentence imposed on Tomas Mikalajunas. President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham said Mikalajunas had travelled to Ireland to carry out well-planned burglaries of high-end goods, and imposed a sentence of two years and nine months. Mikalajunas (41), a native of Lithuania who had an address at Cluain Arra, Gortboy, Newcastle West, Co Limerick, sustained "life-changing injuries" in the shooting in 2016. Detailing the background to the case Mr Justice Birmingham said Mikalajunas and an accomplice carried out a "professionally and carefully planned burglary" on a pharmacy in Kinsale on January 30, 2015. They used a modified, reinforced Audi to force in the front of the premises before three men, wearing balaclavas and gloves and carrying torches, entered. They stole high-end perfumes, particularly targetting Chanel products, and made off with e60,000 worth of goods. The perfume was shipped to Lithuania where it was sold at markets. The second burglary was in 2016 at a boutique in Adare, Co Limerick that specialised in high-end fashion. e80,000 worth of clothes was taken and although they were retrieved by gardai the following day, they had been kept in conditions that meant they were unusable. The owner of the boutique was uninsured and suffered a devastating loss, the judge said. Following that burglary gardai identified a Toyota Corolla that was associated with the gang and on June 28, 2016 it was spotted driving from Newcastle West. A high-speed chase ensued during which the suspects' car exceeded speeds of 120km/h on rural roads. Gardai managed to stop the car but as one garda got out of the patrol car his service firearm accidentally discharged, hitting Mikalajunas in the right side of the face. He required extensive therapy to regain his mobility and speech and still has difficulty eating solid food. A bullet fragment close to his spine restricts his neck movements preventing him from returning to his former job as a truck driver. Mikalajunas made full admissions to gardai and pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary and one of criminal damage. Having heard the medical evidence the sentencing judge at the Circuit Criminal Court imposed a prison sentence of five years and six months, suspended in its entirety. Mikalajunas has since returned to Lithuania and followed today's court proceedings by video link. Mr Justice Birmingham said the offences were "very serious" and he noted that Mikalajunas appeared to travel to Ireland on both occasions specifically to carry out burglaries. While he said it was appropriate to take the injuries into account, he said it was excessive to suspend the entire sentence. Taking the sentence of five years and six months as the starting point, he said it would be appropriate to suspend half and therefore he imposed a sentence of two years and nine months with no part suspended. He imposed a concurrent sentence of two years for criminal damage. The president sat with Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and Mr Justice Seamus Woulfe. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Credit: Trinity College Dublin Research from the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) at Trinity College suggests that experiencing high levels of fear about dementia can have harmful effects on older adults' beliefs about their memory and general well-being. To date, few studies have measured the impact of dementia-related fear on daily functioning, despite its clinical relevance. In this new study, published in the journal Aging and Mental Health, researchers investigated if fear of memory decline predicted increased memory failures and poorer quality of life in older adults. Dr. Francesca Farina, Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health at GBHI, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Cambridge, University of Maastricht and Northwestern University developed a novel scaleknown as the Fear of Memory Loss (FAM) scaleto capture different components of fear related to memory loss. Using the scale, healthy older adults aged 55+ were assessed with respect to the different dimensions of fear. Questions probed specific fears like becoming dependent on others, being treated differently by friends or colleagues, and loss of identity, as well as coping strategies like avoiding social situations for fear of embarrassment. Findings from the study showed that having higher levels of fear about dementia was associated with reporting more memory lapses and a lower quality of life. Notably, these results were independent of performance on memory tests and the level of reported anxiety. That is, fears about dementia had a negative influence on peoples' beliefs regardless of how they performed on an objective lab-based memory test, or how they rated their anxiety levels. Key findings: Heightened fear of memory loss significantly predicted lower quality of life and increased self-reported memory failures, after controlling for objective memory performance and general anxiety. There was no difference in the level of fear expressed between those with and without a family history of dementia. Though surprising, this result is consistent with evidence of widespread fear of dementia among the general population. Over half of respondents (57%) said they worried about losing their memory and feared how people would treat them if this happened. The novel FAM scale highlights the important role played by avoidance behaviors in maintaining fear, along with subjective experiences and cognitions. Findings also have important healthcare implications. Fear of dementia is a psychological process that can be modified using interventions such as psycho-education and psychotherapy. Credit: Trinity College Dublin The researchers propose a preliminary fear-avoidance model, where perceived changes in memory result in fear, which over time, creates avoidance and social withdrawal. This combination of fear and avoidance has a negative impact on everyday functioning, which then impairs mood and sense of self. Identifying effective ways to challenge fears about dementia could prove beneficial to individuals and society. On the individual level, reducing fear could lead to improvements in how people view their memory function and quality of life. At the societal level, acknowledging and addressing fears about dementia would help to eliminate stigma associated with the condition. Dr. Francesca Farina, Atlantic Fellow at GBHI, and lead author said: "Almost 80% of the general public are concerned about developing dementia, according to the World Alzheimer Report 2019. Evidence also suggests that these fears increase with age. Given global population aging and the increased visibility of dementia, it is crucial that we find ways to address peoples' fears. Understanding and tackling these fears will serve to promote brain health and well-being, and reduce societal stigma for people living with disease and their carers." Tackling Fear and Stigma Through Art Data from the study inspired "Remembering What I Have Forgotten': a fictional diary written from the perspective of someone experiencing symptoms of dementia. Created by Irish artist Aoibheann Brady, student at the National College of Art and Design, the diary aims to capture the feelings and perspectives of people experiencing memory loss. Through the medium of a diary, "Remembering What I Have Forgotten' offers a realistic insight into the experience of dementia, with entries such as "I feel more withdrawn and am not going out or connecting" and "I am anxious that I will make mistakes." This diary, however, was not written by a personbut by a software application known as a chatbot, which had been trained on anonymous interviews with healthcare professionals and carers of people living with dementia. Aoibheann Brady, creator of "Remembering What I Have Forgotten' said: "With this project, I aimed to create work that is a crossover between art and science. I hope it helps demonstrate, to younger generations and members of the art world, that dementia is something that should be considered more in artistic practices." Explore further Education inequalities linked to increased cognitive aging in women More information: F. R. Farina et al. Fear of memory loss predicts increased memory failures and lower quality of life in older adults: preliminary findings from a fear-avoidance of memory loss (FAM) scale, Aging & Mental Health (2020). F. R. Farina et al. Fear of memory loss predicts increased memory failures and lower quality of life in older adults: preliminary findings from a fear-avoidance of memory loss (FAM) scale,(2020). DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2020.1856780 CPS Energy customers wont see dramatically higher monthly bills stemming from last weeks winter storm at least not yet. On Monday, CEO Paula Gold-Williams said the city-owned utility is still assessing the expenses caused by the deep freeze, which set off prolonged power outages in San Antonio and across Texas. Determining the extent of the financial hit, which includes the runaway cost of natural gas last week, could take weeks. We want to do all we can to get access to funds and assistance to reduce the bill on San Antonio, she said. We are taking time now to look at that. Gold-Williams assurance came as cold comfort to ratepayers, some of whom are calling on the utility to find ways to cover the expense without driving up their monthly bills. At a Monday meeting of CPS board, 108 residents signed up to address the utilitys five trustees. One of them was customer Maria Rodriguez, who said she and her family went without electricity for 96 hours last week. We had to put (my brothers) insulin in the snow, she said. So its just very sad what we went through. Last week, Gold-Williams said the utility would look for ways to whittle down the expense over a 10-year period. But customers swiftly panned the idea on Facebook and Twitter. State and local officials spanning the political spectrum among them Gov. Greg Abbott and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio also rejected the idea that sky-high costs spurred by the winter storm should be passed along to ratepayers. In a letter Monday to the CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the states grid operator, more than a dozen Texas mayors including San Antonios Ron Nirenberg, Sylvester Turner in Houston and Steve Adler in Austin called on state leaders to review the policies and decisions that left our cities and the entire state vulnerable during (last) weeks extreme weather event. It has become painfully clear that our communities were made vulnerable by numerous decisions by (ERCOTs) leadership, the mayors wrote. Nirenberg, who is also a CPS trustee, has said there would be hell to pay if residents wind up paying higher bills as a result of skyrocketing energy prices. Last week, he suggested CPS should send the bill to ERCOT rather than residents. If you put it on the backs of ratepayers, every elected official in Texas, and frankly across the country, should be against that, Nirenberg said in an interview Monday. The first thing lawmakers should be asking themselves is who got rich while Texans suffered. Others blamed CPS for not adequately preparing for severe winter weather after the last deep freeze in 2011. A challenging winter storm isnt new to Texas, said Mario Bravo, a project manager at the Environmental Defense Fund and a City Council candidate in District 1. As power plants failed and natural gas pipelines and wellheads froze Feb. 14 and 15, there wasnt enough electricity to meet demand across Texas. ERCOT told utilities statewide they had to cut power to homes and businesses to save the grid. Gold-Williams said ERCOT ordered CPS to slash five times as much power last week as it cut during the 2011 cold snap, which also resulted in blackouts in San Antonio. The grid operator also directed natural gas providers to preserve the fossil fuel to use for heating homes rather than sending it to power plants to generate electricity. The freeze sharply reduced the natural gas supply as demand for gas heat and electricity hit a new high in Texas. As the storms severity became clear, prices for natural gas in the Permian Basin skyrocketed more than 6,000 percent. CPS Energy had to buy natural gas at those astronomical prices to fuel power generation at its plants, Gold-Williams said. Typically, the gas price is affordable. But in this case, we had all the issues with supply, she said. That was happening across the state. CPS paid for some of the gas out of its cash reserves. Covering the cost isnt as simple as asking ERCOT to pay CPS natural gas bill. The utility owes natural gas suppliers, not the grid operator, Gold-Williams said. The biggest piece of (the expense) is from a completely different group of entities where were buying fuel, she said. They are not ERCOT bills. State lawmakers are grappling with the question of how to stop utilities from passing fuel costs to their customers. In a Sunday appearance in San Antonio, Abbott said storm-related utility bills will be the Legislatures top priority. Texans who suffered through days of freezing cold without power should not be subjected to skyrocketing energy bills due to a spike in the energy market, Abbott said. State Rep. Lyle Larson, a San Antonio Republican, is urging Texas leaders to dip into the states so-called rainy day fund to offset those costs a move Abbott didnt rule out Sunday. It is our fault we did not weatherize our power generation capacity, Larson said in a Sunday tweet. On Monday, Nirenberg appeared to favor Larsons idea. But he said hed also spoken with the White House about potential federal relief for utility customers. Taking money out of city coffers is out of the question, he said. We shouldnt collectively just roll over for the debacle that happened last week, Nirenberg said. Gold-Williams has said CPS will seek reimbursement from the state and federal governments. The utility could also sell bonds and use other financial instruments to spread out the cost over years. At Mondays CPS board meeting, customers bridled at the notion theyd be stuck with higher bills after going without power for hours or days last week. CPS put out a tweet about so-called bill relief, telling folks that they can pay back their bill over 10 years for power they may or may not have had, Isabel Castro said. That is not relief. That is a burden. Some called on Gold-Williams and other CPS executives to forgo bonuses or their salaries to help cover the costs. Gold-Williams said CPS in May canceled $13 million in incentive bonuses to 1,800 of the utilitys employees as the COVID-19 pandemic cut into the utilitys bottom line. The CEO, who makes a base salary of nearly $486,000, had been set to receive a bonus of $530,000. There are people that continue to bring up compensation as an element to be focused on, Gold-Williams said Monday. What we believe is that we need to be focused on providing energy and serving and connecting and finding solutions. Staff writers Joshua Fechter and Mark Dunphy contributed to this report. diego.mendoza-moyers@express-news.net Fast forward to 2011 when the siblings drew up a deed of succession which stipulated that Clive Jnrs second wife Elizabeth M. Evatt would have sole occupancy of the property during her lifetime. Clive Jnr made provisions for his sisters share of the property to transfer to his broader estate after they passed away. Easter might be awkward for the Evatts after a nasty spat over the ownership of the Blue Mountains mansion and toy museum, Leuralla. NSW Supreme Court documents reveal the family, sisters and children of the late defamation lawyer and art dealer Clive Evatt are embroiled in a series of claims and cross-claims concerning the art-deco mansion and museum purchased by former NSW Labor Minister Clive Evatt Snr from his wealthy in-laws in 1955. Then it became a mess. Clive Jnr had seven children from two marriages, including the trustee Victor. But Clive Jnr himself died in 2017. Soon after, a caveat was slapped on the property stopping any sale or any other potential changes of ownership. That triggered a raft of legal actions between family members over two generations. And then last month a settlement deal was reached and consent orders dismissed all the claims, cross claims and removed the caveat. Could Easter be saved yet? Lawyers for the parties declined to comment. CASHING IN Congratulations to Harper Collins, which has landed a $112,000 contract to compile a book for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. The National Bushfire Recovery Agency, which is run from PMC, has contracted the publisher to produce a tome that tells the stories of communities affected by the 2019-20 summer bushfires. And here we were thinking the ABC had already done that with its book Black Summer: Stories of loss, courage and community from the 2019-20 bushfires, edited by ABC News Breakfast presenter Michael Rowland. That book was published by, yes, HarperCollins. We should point out that HarperCollins is owned by Rupert Murdochs News Corporation, whose newspapers coverage of Black Summer was the subject of considerable controversy. The companys own commercial finance manager Emily Townsend wrote in a stinging all-staff email that the companys papers, which include the Herald Sun and The Australian, had waged a misinformation campaign to divert attention away from the real issue of climate change to instead focus on arson. It turned out that Townsend had already resigned a month before she wrote her blistering dispatch to executive chairman Michael Miller. So, maybe shes free to edit HarperCollins new book. If the NBRA description is anything to go by, it should be an inspiring read. It will be a dedication to the people who survived and sadly those who didnt and testament to the resilient Australian spirit which saw communities coming together to support and help each other, a spokesperson said. HarperCollins will provide the NBRA with 5000 copies (thats already a bestseller in Aussie publishing terms) to give free to local schools, libraries and community organisations in bushfire-affected communities. REVOLVING DOOR By Brendan J. Lyons | Times Union, Albany Albany, N.Y. Eleven members of the state Democratic Committee have offered a resolution to have their organization vote to formally censure Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo for what they claim was his attempt to deceive the public and the Legislature about the number of fatalities in New Yorks nursing homes due to the coronavirus. The Cuomo administration repeatedly stymied and refused to comply with requests for information regarding Covid-19 in nursing homes from the New York state Senate and Assembly ... (and) admitted to legislators that its lack of cooperation with the aforementioned information requests was due to fear of political accountability from the public and legal accountability due to an investigation by the United States Department of Justice, the resolution states. The resolution also criticized Cuomo for recent alleged verbal attack of Queens Democratic Assemblyman Ron Kim, saying the governor had inappropriately threatened members of the Legislature with retribution if they do not cease examining the nursing home tragedy and working towards accountability. Patrick Nelson, a Stillwater village trustee who last year unsuccessfully challenged incumbent state Sen. Daphne Jordan, R- Halfmoon, is among the small group that announced the resolution on Monday. This is not connected to my employment and is only in my capacity as a state committee member, said Nelson, who is a state Senate aide. It doesnt reflect the view of the Senate or any member. Im standing solely on my own two feet with my part in this. Richard Azzopardi, a spokesman for Cuomo, deferred comment to state Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs. I always advise the state committee that the purpose of the state committee is to recruit and nominate candidates for state office and to assist in the campaigns to elect Democrats, Jacobs said. Thats our job. When we get into other issues, as members often like to do, I think it is a distraction. These are matters that the Legislature and governors office are handling. Jacobs noted there has been similar political unrest in the Republican Party with state parties across the nation trying to censure Republican elected officials who opposed former President Donald J. Trump. Its the job of the voters to make those determinations, not individuals who are looking to jump into a situation ... maybe search for some relevance. I dont agree with it. Jacobs said there is overwhelming support generally for the governor in the state Democratic Committee, which has about 450 members. The resolution put forth by the group of 11 committee members also accuses Cuomo of conduct unbecoming his office, including an alleged failure to protect nursing home residents from Covid-19 ... (and) covering up of the number of deaths from Covid-19 in nursing homes. Honesty, dignity, respect and the well-being of our state and country must always come before party allegiance, said Nelson, who is the only Capital Region committee member supporting the resolution. When a member of the Democratic Party does wrong, we seek to ensure that they are held accountable no matter how powerful they are, unlike in the Republican Party. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Beyond barbecues and ceremonies: Recognizing Memorial Day For many, Memorial Day weekend is about gathering with family and grilling or attending a parade. Some find a more personal way to honor the holiday. The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company The investment by Vumela is a key milestone in our growth path, says Dominique Pitot, Inoxico CEO. This investment and the additional benefits of partnering with Vumela gives us the best possible start to 2021 as we focus all of our efforts on the next phase of our strategy implementation. We are very grateful to the team at Edge Growth, Vumelas fund manager, and look forward to the promising years ahead. Edge has been engaging with Inoxico over several years and following their progress closely, so we are delighted to finally have the opportunity to back this great company on its next growth journey. Dom, Andre and the team have done an incredible job re-shaping the business in recent years and we believe Inoxico is now poised for significant growth in South Africa and into Africa, says Richard Rose, portfolio head. The Vumela Fund was established in 2009 by FNB Business Banking and Edge Growth to help alleviate poverty in South Africa by creating jobs through supporting the growth of SMEs. Vumela has R388m under management from FirstRand and the Jobs Fund, and to date has deployed R175m to 15 early-stage businesses, creating over 1,000 permanent jobs, primarily for low to middle income individuals. Edge Growth is a leading SME and venture fund manager, specialising in developing small businesses and creating jobs and real transformation by connecting corporates and entrepreneurs, growing SMEs by addressing their key constraints: Access to finance, markets and skills. Our offering consists of three services areas, designed to achieve maximum impact: ESD Strategy for corporates and building SMEs in their value-chain Investing in and growing SMEs through fund management Scaling businesses to full potential through accelerator programmes If you would like more information, please contact Linda Erasmus at +27 10 001 3715 or email at moc.htworgegde@sumsarel Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death. Submit Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd , Indias largest wireless operator, plans to build a data centre in Uttar Pradesh at an investment of around $950 million, two people aware of the development said. This data centre may be powered by its own renewable energy plant. This is an important focus area for Reliance Jio," said one of the two people cited above, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity. Also Read | India Inc gears up to go back to office A top minister in the state government confirmed the development. For the data centre, a 20-acre plot had been allotted to the company, and the project is to cost approximately 7,000 crore," Sidharth Nath Singh, who heads the ministries of investment and export, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) and textile in the UP government, said in a statement in response to a Mint query. The centre will consist of six interconnected data centre buildings offering 30,000 racks capacity and 200MW of power. It is expected to generate thousands of job opportunities in IT (information technology) sector," Singh said in the statement. Reliance Jios data centre plan comes against the backdrop of the government projecting Indias digital economy to grow to $1 trillion by 2025. The Reserve Bank of Indias norms on data localization has necessitated the need for data centres. Data localization refers to storing data on any device that is present within the borders of a country where the data is generated. Queries emailed to a Reliance Jio spokesperson on Sunday night remained unanswered till press time. According to the government, India has around 375MW installed power capacity for data centres, which may triple by 2025. Also, there is a $4.9 billion investment opportunity by 2025 to set up data centre infrastructure. The Centre also plans to implement a policy to encourage firms to build data centre parks, including providing infrastructure status which will help them access benefits such as long-term credit at easier terms. Also, the Union and the state governments may provide fiscal and non-fiscal incentives. Need for data centre infrastructure within the boundaries of the country is further necessitated by the data localization provisions of proposed Data Protection Act and for protection of the digital sovereignty of the country in an increasingly connected world," said the draft Data Centre Policy released by the ministry of electronics and information technology. Investors have warmed up to Uttar Pradesh following the Yogi Adityanath-led governments industrial policy announced in 2017, which outlines measures ranging from subsidized electricity to fiscal incentives. With an aim to take UP to an unprecedented level, the Adityanath government has embarked on a mission to make it a $1 trillion economy by 2024. To achieve this target, the state has identified 5 sectorsinfrastructure development, industry, agriculture, urban development and service sectors," Singh said in the statement. Some of the other fiscal incentives, subsidies and concessions announced by the Industrial Investment and Employment Promotion Policy of Uttar Pradesh 2017 includes stamp duty exemption, capital and infrastructure interest subsidy, employee provident fund reimbursement and electricity duty exemption, subject to certain conditions, to attract investments. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Kolkata: A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team will on Tuesday grill Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjees wife Rujira Naroola in connection with its ongoing probe into the coal scam case. Rujira had on Monday responded to the CBI's summons in the alleged coal pilferage scam and urged the central agency to send its team to her residence for questioning on Tuesday (February 23, 2021). Stay tuned for the latest updates: 11:45 am: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee arrived at nephew Abhishek Banerjee's residence ahead of CBI examination of his wife in coal theft case. 11: 50 am: After a brief visit, CM Banerjee left the residence. 12:00 pm: Shortly after the West Bengal Chief Minister left, the CBI team arrived at MP Abhishek Banerjees residence 1:20 pm: After over an hour of interrogation, the CBI team was seen leaving the residence of Abhishek Banerjee. The CBI's visit to Abhishek's residence comes after Rujira told the central agency that she will be available for examination between 11 am and 3 pm on February 23, replying to a notice that the sleuths had hand-delivered her on Sunday. The agency sought the examination of Rujira Banerjee to ascertain the details of her bank transactions, suspecting a connection to the proceeds of the illegal coal excavation money, PTI reported. As if things weren't bad enough, some Texas workers are having to use their paid time off for the days they couldn't go work because of the winter storm. Steven Monacelli reports for the Daily Beast that "dozens" of employers in Texas told workers to use vacation, sick or personal time if they wished to be paid for days they were unable to work. AFTER THE FREEZE: Looking for an affordable generator for the next emergency? There's a sales tax holiday soon in Texas The icy weather made roads impassable and caused the state's main power grid to fail, knocking out power for more than 4 million Texans at one point. We are required to use vacation on the days of the storm when I had no heat or WiFi, or I can forfeit the money and not get paid, an anonymous Bell Helicopter employee told Monacelli. Even though Im salaried, Im entry-level, and any knock to my income will put me on the street and thats terrifying. Employees at United Ag & Turf, a John Deere equipment dealer, were allowed to "borrow" paid time off that would come out of future time off or pay. But employees were told they need to maintain a time-off balance to prepare for unexpected weather events like the winter storm. To be prepared for circumstances like this in the future, each employee is expected to manage their PTO and encouraged to always carry a balance for unexpected situations like health issues and bad weather. This type of assistance will not be offered in the future, read an email from the executive management of United Ag & Turf obtained by the Daily Beast. GIVING BACK: Trae tha Truth rented an entire gas station to help Houstonians Even employees for the City of Dallas received similar emails, according to Monacelli. The Dallas library department was told to use personal time off to make up for days they were unable to work. Austin Kaplan, an employment lawyer based in Austin, told the Daily Beast that a lack of expansive labor protections in the state allow employers to essentially decide how to handle unprecedented events that keep employees from working. Theres no requirement in Texas that people pay any vacation time at all. Theres just no safety net or anything like that, Kaplan said. "In my estimation, the state that turned the power grid off ought to be the one paying." At least 16 people died in Harris County as a result of the winter storm, the Houston Chronicle's Brooke A. Lewis reports. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. You are the owner of this article. Amid the spike in the Covid-19 cases, the Karnataka government has mandated RT-PCR certificates not older than 72 hours for those arriving in the state from neighbouring Kerala and Maharashtra. Health Minister K Sudhakar said that this measure was taken for those arriving by flights, buses, trains, personal transport from neighbouring Maharashtra and Kerala, following the recent surge in coronavirus cases in those states. "Passengers arriving from Kerala, Maharashtra please make note of the latest travel guidelines issued by the Government of Karnataka (GOK)," the official Twitter handle of Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru tweeted. Also Read | India Inc gears up to go back to office Latest travel guidelines for passengers arriving from Maharashtra As per the Government of Karnataka (GOK) circular dated 20 February, a negative RT-PCR report-not older than 72 hours - is mandatory for all passengers arriving from Maharashtra. The negative report will be verified by the airline staff at the time of boarding. Latest travel guidelines for passengers arriving from Kerala As per the Government of Karnataka (GoK) circular dated 20 February, a negative RT-PCR report-not older than 72 hours - is mandatory for all passengers arriving from Kerala. The negative report will be verified by the airline staff at the time of boarding. Karnataka Health Minister also cautioned people against negligence towards observing protocol and of stricter steps if the number of cases increase and said marshals would be deployed to monitor weddings as they were taking place without following any norms or guidelines. "Civic sense and responsibility are also important. If we don't understand it, in the days to come, if the cases increase, you (people) will be responsible for forcing the government to take strict measures. At a few places in Maharashtra, there is lockdown...you decide if such a situation has to come in Karnataka," he said, PTI reports. Karnataka is currently the third worst-hit state after Maharashtra and Kerala. It has 9,48,466 total number of infections and a death toll of12,299. According to the Union Health Ministry, 86.3% of the new coronavirus cases are from five states - Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Punjab. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. OTTAWA The Trudeau government says it wants to boost COVID-19 screening of cross-border truckers in Manitoba, though the province says promising consultations havent started yet. OTTAWA The Trudeau government says it wants to boost COVID-19 screening of cross-border truckers in Manitoba, though the province says promising consultations havent started yet. "We want to make available access to testing for those essential workers, and particularly those truck drivers," Public Safety Minister Bill Blair told the Free Press last week. "Because those truck drivers are doing really important work, we are absolutely committed to making sure that they can move those goods back and forth across our border, and do it safely, and do not represent an unacceptable risk to society." Essential workers such as truckers are exempt from both the federal Quarantine Act for Canadians returning from another country, as well as Manitobas public health orders for people coming from other provinces. Both require non-essential workers to isolate for 14 days. Cross-border truckers face a higher likelihood of COVID-19 exposure, yet they can go into public and their household contacts can go to school or work if no one is experiencing symptoms, similar to families of health-care workers who are more exposed to the novel coronavirus. In June, the province allowed truckers without symptoms to get tested if they want, a policy it put on hold during last falls spike, but has since resumed. "The province decided to put a hold on some asymptomatic testing, which included asymptomatic testing for truckers, as testing uptake was low in that population anyway," a Health Department spokeswoman wrote. For months, infectious disease specialists have called for more proactive monitoring of truckers, such as rapid screening tests, particularly as more contagious variants take over American states. Starting Monday, Ottawa has requires most Canadians driving up to land borders to take a PCR test upon arrival, though Blair ruled out including truckers in that process. "It would, frankly, cause an unacceptable delay of the movement of those goods and services," Blair said, adding Ottawa is looking at other options. "Were working with the provinces and the territories." The Pallister government said Monday it was not aware of any consultations on cross-border truckers. The Manitoba Trucking Association argued the existing protocols already keep people safe, with no recent outbreaks linked to truckers. "Theyre doing their part to stay isolated," said MTA executive director Terry Shaw. "They shouldnt be vilified; they should be celebrated for the protocols theyre taking." Shaw said truckers generally avoid unnecessary journeys, and many have been packing food for stateside trips. Many states have high COVID-19 spread, and some lack paid leave, which experts say incentivizes sick American restaurant workers to still show up for shifts. Federal data show since the pandemic started, truckers have made between 20,000 and 25,000 entries into Manitoba from the United States each month, accounting for more than half of entries. Shaw said those entries include truckers who make multiple trips a day, bringing parts between manufacturing plants. On Monday, he said truckers started reporting border guards were suggesting they download the ArriveCAN app, which allows travellers to fill out custom forms and quarantine plans digitally. Shaw argues the information is already captured in the detailed reporting used in truck shipments, so he wondered if federal agencies dont share such data. "It is a bit of a redundancy, from our perspective," Shaw said. "Its cumbersome, but it is something our industry will do, if thats what the federal government is demanding." Shaw added every time the trucking industry is mentioned in news stories about COVID-19, Manitoba truckers report being unfairly turned away for washrooms at local gas stations and restaurants. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca CALGARY, AB, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Peloton is pleased to announce that they have entered into an agreement to acquire Cevian Technologies, a cloud-based software company that specializes in real-time data acquisition, visualization, and reporting tools for the completions industry. Cevian's flagship product, FracNet, is a real-time fracturing data visualization and cloud storage platform, that makes any fracturing treatment data accessible in a standard, structured format during and after the job. As the energy industry embraces digitalization and cloud technology, the opportunity to align Cevian's FracNet software and services with Peloton's Platform solutions, including well data lifecycle and production data lifecycle, will enhance companies' ability to analyze fracturing data, improve decision-making and optimize opportunities. Glen Gray, CEO of Peloton says, "We look forward to further developing FracNet and integrating our combined technology to increase productivity and reduce cost for our clients." Jocelyn McMinn, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Cevian Technologies adds, "The addition of FracNet to the Peloton Platform brings real-time quality precision and standardization to the completions space, something long enjoyed by the drilling sector." "Peloton is the ideal home for Cevian, and together, we will provide clients with curated completions data that can be easily accessed using FracNet or any visualization platform," says Kevin Lo, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Cevian. About Peloton The Peloton Platform energizes the oil and gas digital transformation through mobility, automation, and data integration by providing fully integrated well data lifecycle, production data lifecycle and land data management solutions. Today, over 600 oil and gas clients worldwide rely on Peloton technology to equip their stakeholders with the tools and information necessary to manage, simplify and optimize their operations. About Cevian Cevian Technologies has extensive experience developing real-time data acquisition, visualization, storage, and reporting tools for the completions industry. Cevian's flagship product, FracNet, can power your analytics with clean, standardized frac data during and after the job and has been used for real-time operational decisions in over 10,300 completions to date. SOURCE Peloton Related Links www.peloton.com ADVERTISEMENT The police in Lagos said its Rapid Response Squad team arrested a 27-year-old pickpocket who had allegedly stolen over 240 mobile phones from Lagos commuters. Muyiwa Adejobi, the police spokesperson, said in a statement Monday that the suspect, Ayomide Sikiru, a resident of Mushin, was arrested around 10:00 p.m. on Sunday. The police said the arrest was after the suspect had successfully picked a Tecno Camon 12 from the hand bag of an elderly woman when she was trying to board a commercial bus to Ojodu-Berger, Lagos. The suspect, after stealing the phone, tried to alight from the bus but was restrained by a passenger who challenged him to return the phone he stole, Mr Adejobi said. He denied stealing any phone until RRS officers stationed at Iyana Oworo searched and recovered the phone along with an iPhone 7 and another mobile phone from his bag. The owners of the phones had been contacted immediately, the police said. Mr Adejobi, a chief superintendent of police, said the suspect said he has been in the business of pickpocketing for 14 months, after learning the illegal business in 15 days from one Sakiru. He also reportedly confessed that he operates only on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The suspect has been transferred to SCID Panti, Yaba, for proper investigation, the police said. In another development, the police said they arrested a dismissed soldier in Nigerian Army Uniform attacking and robbing commuters at Ogudu area of Lagos on Sunday. The police said the suspect, Johnson Godday, is from Edo State and was attached to NA 149 Batallion, Ojo, Lagos, before he was dismissed from the Nigerian Army. The suspect was arrested on Sunday after one of his victims, Onyebuchi Nwanga, reported that he was attacked by two men in military uniform around 10:15 p.m. One Onyebuchi Nwanga m of Bayo Oshinowo Street, Ogudu, Lagos reported that at about 22:15pm of Sunday 21st February, 2021, while alighting from a tricycle with his friends at Emmanuel street junction, they suddenly noticed two men, on motorcycle, in military uniform, who attacked them and snatched his Infinix Smart 5 phone. When they raised an alarm, the policemen attached to Ogudu Division on duty around the scene came to their rescue and arrested the suspect in army uniform while the other, also in the Nigerian Army uniform, escaped with the motorcyclist. The snatched phone was immediately recovered from the suspect, the police said. The suspect will be taken to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further investigation. Zydus Cadila Ltd will expand capacity of its covid-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D to produce 150 million doses a year and hire contract manufacturers to make an additional 50 to 70 million doses, a company spokesperson said. We have been investing a large amount of our capacities in building the vaccine, so we will now be able to produce 150 million doses of the vaccine annually," the spokesperson said, adding that the vaccine will be produced at its Zydus Biotech Park plant in Ahmedabad. Also Read | India Inc gears up to go back to office The company has invested 250-350 crore so far on trials of the vaccine and its manufacturing, the spokesperson said. Zydus Cadila expects to submit to the drug regulator its safety and efficacy data for the vaccine in either April or June. The company is currently conducting a phase 3 clinical trial of 28,216 participants for the vaccine across India and will calculate the shots efficacy when it gets 158 cases of covid-19 among the participants after the vaccination cycle is completed, the spokesperson said. Once the vaccination cycle is completed, one needs to wait for getting the 158 number of cases who test positive for covid-19 as this is a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Once this efficacy analysis number comes in, the trials primary objective would be complete," Zydus Cadila said. In a phase 3 trial, a vaccines efficacy is calculated when a pre-determined number of covid-19 cases is achieved across the vaccine and placebo arms of a blinded trial. When the number of covid-19 cases are observed, the participants are unblindedthe researchers find out who has received the vaccine and who has got a placeboand the efficacy is determined. The Indian regulator, as well as the World Health Organization (WHO), has kept 50% as the minimum efficacy required to get emergency licensure. Zydus Cadilas DNA-based vaccine is crucial because a successful trial and subsequent regulatory authorization would make it the fourth covid-19 vaccine to be launched in India. Also, with the vaccine platform being a relatively new technology, it can be quickly adapted to mutant strains, such as those from South Africa that are reducing the efficacy of some vaccines. In December, Zydus Cadila said its DNA vaccine can be altered and the modified vaccine can be produced within three months. So far, Serum Institute of Indias Covishielda version of the jabs developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca Plcand Bharat Biotech Internationals indigenous shot, Covaxin, are being administered in India. Dr Reddys Laboratories last week submitted its application to Drugs Controller General of India V.G. Somani seeking emergency use authorization for the Russia-developed Sputnik V vaccine. While the efficacy of the two-dose Covishield varies between 53-90%, depending on the interval between doses and the quantum of the first shot, Sputnik V has an efficacy of 91.6% for two shots given three weeks apart. On the other hand, Covaxin received emergency licensure in clinical trial mode" despite not having efficacy data as the regulators believed it would work more effectively against the recently-discovered UK strain. The proof of its effectiveness against the new strains was found through a laboratory-based study only after authorization was given. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. The other countywide race is for county treasurer. Democrats have not yet officially endorsed a candidate, while Republicans decided to back David Dempsey, a former Auburn city councilor. The incumbent treasurer is James Orman, a Republican who had run unopposed for the seat in 2009, 2013 and 2017 after first winning election by defeating longtime officeholder David Farrell. Orman could not be reached for comment on whether he intends to force a primary or possibly try to run on another party line. Both parties also endorsed candidates in county Legislature races: District 1 (Sterling, Victory): The GOP has endorsed current Fair Haven Mayor James Basile for the seat now held by independent Tucker Whitman, who won't seek reelection. Democrats have not endorsed a candidate in this race so far. District 3 (Montezuma, Mentz, Throop): Democrats are backing incumbent Benjamin Vitale for reelection. Republicans decided against endorsing a candidate after hearing from Lydia Patti Ruffini and Jeff Emerson, setting up a potential primary for that ballot line. District 7 (Springport, Ledyard, Scipio): Incumbent Keith Batman has the Democratic Party endorsement to run for reelection. Republicans have not yet endorsed for that district. First vaccines for healthcare professionals and hospital patients. AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are ready for use. Asia lags behind the US and Great Britain. In 2020, South Korean GDP was the third highest among advanced economies. Seoul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The national vaccination campaign against Covid-19 will begin over the weekend. South Korean health authorities announced yesterday, specifying that it will not be possible to obtain herd immunity by November. Previously, the government said it could vaccinate 70% of the population by September. According to various observers, in addition to the delays in starting the inoculations, the problem is the distrust of the population towards vaccines. According to a recent survey, less than half of South Koreans are willing to get vaccinated right away. On February 25, the first vaccines of the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca will be injected. The first to be vaccinated will be healthcare workers and hospital patients (under the age of 65). The following day, immunization with Pfizer-BioNTech's drug will begin. Seoul begins vaccinations later than many other countries. In Great Britain, nearly 27 million single doses have been administered; in the US more than 19 million. In Asia, the Chinese stopped at 2.8 million; Japan and Australia have not yet started the campaign. With just over 87,000 cases of contagion and 1,573 deaths, South Korea is among the countries that have managed the health emergency best. This has allowed the local economy to withstand the global crisis. Data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development reveal that Seoul's gross domestic product was the third best among advanced economies in 2020. South Korean GDP contracted by 1%, against a growth of the Chinese one of 2.3% and a contraction of the Norwegian one of 0.8%. Taiwan has outdone all other developed countries by far, recording a growth of 2.98%: the first overtaking against Beijing in 30 years. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. CALGARY - The CEO of Gibson Energy Inc. says "clarity" about the future of the cancelled Keystone XL pipeline has prompted increased interest from potential customers in an expansion of its diluent recovery unit now under construction at the Hardisty crude transport hub in east central Alberta. This Nov. 6, 2013, file photo, shows a warning placard on a tank car carrying crude oil near a loading terminal in Trenton, N.D. THE CANADIAN PRSS/AP/Matthew Brown CALGARY - The CEO of Gibson Energy Inc. says "clarity" about the future of the cancelled Keystone XL pipeline has prompted increased interest from potential customers in an expansion of its diluent recovery unit now under construction at the Hardisty crude transport hub in east central Alberta. Diluent, a light oil mixed with sticky, heavy bitumen from the oilsands to allow it to flow in a pipeline, makes up as much as a third of the volume of blended bitumen or "dilbit'' headed to U.S. refineries. Gibson's project is designed to remove the diluent from dilbit transported by pipeline to Hardisty, allowing transfer of the concentrated heavy crude to railcars for shipping south, while the diluent can be recycled to Alberta oilsands producers. Gibson CEO Steve Spaulding says the first 50,000-barrel-per-day phase of its project is set to be in service by the middle of this year under a 10-year contract with ConocoPhillips Canada, which owns the Surmont thermal oilsands project in northern Alberta with French partner Total S.A. Gibson is partnering with US Development Group, LLC, to construct and operate the facility which is to connect with a new US Development off-loading terminal in Port Arthur, Texas, from which the oil will be distributed to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Canadian crude-by-rail export numbers have been volatile in the past year, with shipments rising to a record 412,000 bpd in February 2020, then falling to an eight-year low of 39,000 bpd last July. "I think clarity around KXL certainly helps and discussions have picked up ... as we continue to talk to multiple producers and refiners," said Spaulding on an earnings conference call on Tuesday. "The feedstocks ... coming from Venezuela and Mexico continue to decline. So those U.S. refineries need that heavy crude oil produced by Canada.'' This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 23, 2021. Companies in this story: (TSX:GEI) Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 [February 23, 2021] Florida Department of Education Selects Intrado as Vendor for Alyssa's Law Project Intrado Safety Shield solution helps Florida schools comply with Alyssas Law while offering a complete range of emergency response capabilities ISLANDIA, N.Y., Feb. 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Intrado Corporation (Intrado or the Company), a global leader in technology-enabled services, announced today that its Intrado Safety Shield solution has been chosen by the Florida Department of Education as one of the solutions that K-12 public and charter schools can select to comply with Alyssas Law, a state statute that mandates the implementation of mobile panic alert systems. Named for Alyssa Alhadeff, one of the 17 students killed in the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Alyssas Law went into effect on July 1, 2020. Beginning with the 2021-2022 school year, each Florida public school must implement a mobile panic alert system. Florida has allocated $8 million to implement the statewide system. Each school or district can select their mobile panic alert solution from a list of approved vendors, including Intrado. Intrado Safety Shield helps Florida schools and districts comply with all the requirements of Alyssas Law, in addition to offering a broad range of tools that allow schools to manage many other key aspects of school safety and emergency response, said Vik Krishnan, General Manager of Intrado Notifications. Already serving a majority of the school districts and public safety answering points in Florida, we are thrilled that the Florida Department of Education has recognized us as an official Alyssas Law vendor. A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available by clicking on the image or link below: According to the statute, schools must implement a mobile panic alert system that: is capable of connecting diverse emergency services technologies to ensure real-time coordination between multiple first responder agencies integrates with local public safety answering point infrastructure to transmit 911 calls and mobile activations ensures real-time coordination between multiple first responder agencies in a school security emergency. Intrado Safety Shields diverse collection of tools is uniquely suited to exceed all of Alyssas Law requirements and delivers the following robust set of capabilities that are both powerful and easy to use: Provides a mobile panic button solution that works on both Apple and Android devices Automatically sends critical caller data to 911 dispatch, leveraging Intrados status as a 911 call flow service provider to enable rapid situational awareness Allows school leaders to share important data, such as floor plans and building access codes, with 911 dispatchers and first responders in real time Assists with emergencies, large and small, including medical emergencies, campus vandalism, severe weather, active shooter events, and much more Offers many additional tools that allow for end-to-end school safety management, including safety drill management, post-crisis parent reunification management, mass notification system integration, digital emergency response plans and checklists, and much more. As a leading provider of 911 systems for over 40 years, Intrado provides the majority of 911 call routing in the United Sates and Canada, with solutions used by more than half of all public safety answering points. In addition, Intrado is the longtime leader in school communications services across the U.S. and Canada, trusted by more than 63,000 schools across North America. Florida school administrators who wish to learn more about Alyssas Law compliance and Intrado Safety Shield can visit www.intrado.com/alyssaslaw. About Intrado Corporation Intrado Corporation, formerly West Corporation, is an innovative, cloud-based, global technology partner to clients around the world. Our solutions connect people and organizations at the right time and in the right ways, making those mission-critical connections more relevant, engaging and actionable - turning Information to Insight. Intrado has sales and/or operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Latin America and South America. Intrado is controlled by affiliates of certain funds managed by Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE: APO). For more information, please call 1-800-841-9000 or visit www.intrado.com. Contact Dave Pleiss Investor and Public Relations DMPleiss@Intrado.com 402.716.6578 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 part of a high-level segment of the United Nations Human Rights Council, a ministerial discussion entitled "International Response to Human Rights Violations in Temporarily Occupied Crimea, Ukraine" will take place on February 23. According to the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, the main topic of the event will be the presentation of the Crimean Platform. It is noted that the event was co-organized by Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Turkey. "The foreign ministers of Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, a representative of the U.S. Department of State, the deputy foreign ministers of Turkey and Georgia, and representatives of a number of other UN member states will take part in the discussion of the human rights situation in the temporarily occupied Crimea," the report reads. On January 14, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) declared sufficient grounds to accept Ukraine's complaints against Russia on eleven counts in an interstate case of human rights violations in Crimea. Russia's planned armed aggression against Ukraine began on February 20, 2014 with a military operation by the Russian Armed Forces to seize part of Ukraine's territory - the Crimean peninsula. Subsequently, Russian regular troops and Russian-led militants occupied certain districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine. ish "The sales catalogues, the first of which date back to 1766, are an invaluable resource for specialists. Faced with this decision to close, they expressed their anger and their incomprehension. The prestigious auction house has decided to end access to its archives due to staff lay-offs. "As a courtesy, Christie's has given free access to its archives for research purposes," said a spokesperson for the auction house, as reported by the Art Newspaper. "However, the archives team has been reduced and can now only meet the needs of our own specialist teams". Inestimable resource... "The auction house has responded to the criticism and didn't sound very certain about a possible reopening. Dirk Bool, President of Christie's in Europe, Middle East, Russia and India, said: "Unfortunately, the entire King Street building has been closed to the public due to the health crisis. Rest assured that we will continue to maintain our records in an appropriate and accessible manner. We will also explore ways to expand access to these archives in the future". thierry Ehrmann, President and Founder of Artmarket.com and its Artprice department: "The answer for Art Professionals, Auction Houses, Experts, Galleries, Museums and Collectors is the archives department of Artprice by Artmarket, a global player in the Art Market and world leader in art price databases and Art Market indices." Artprices' archive "Artprice Images" is absolutely unique... It allows unlimited access to the largest Art Market archive in the world... a library consisting of 180 million images and engravings of artworks from 1700 to today, commented by our historians, econometricians and writers, and covering more than 770,000 artists. This archive, which according to the specialized press worldwide, is unique in the world, consists of more than 750,000 manuscripts and art catalogues from more than 6,300 auction houses, carefully preserved in standardized archive blocks and, according to a former French Minister of Culture, it constitutes "a State mission, accomplished by a private company which managed, by raising capital, to do what the State should have done..." The Artprice archive covering the art market from 1700 to the present day has been built up since 1987 by the selective acquisition on all continents of a multitude of archives and/or companies (Sound View Press, Frank Van Wilder, Mayer, Bayer USA, Hippolyte Mireur etc. ..). It is the fundamental core of the services offered by Artprice by Artmarket databases with more than 30 million art market indices and sales results. It is accessible online at www.artprice.com or www.artmarket.com via our unlimited subscriptions. Images: [https://imgpublic.artprice.com/img/wp/sites/11/2021/02/Artmarket-Artprice-room-9-Archives-1.jpg] [https://imgpublic.artprice.com/img/wp/sites/11/2021/02/Artmarket-Artprice-room-9-Archives-2.jpg] Copyright 1987-2021 thierry Ehrmann www.artprice.com - www.artmarket.com Don't hesitate to contact our Econometrics Department for your requirements regarding statistics and personalized studies: [email protected] for your requirements regarding statistics and personalized studies: Try our services (free demo): https://www.artprice.com/demo Subscribe to our services: https://www.artprice.com/subscription About Artmarket: Artmarket.com is listed on Eurolist by Euronext Paris, SRD long only and Euroclear: 7478 - Bloomberg: PRC - Reuters: ARTF. Discover Artmarket and its Artprice department on video: www.artprice.com/video Artmarket and its Artprice department was founded in 1997 by its CEO, thierry Ehrmann. Artmarket and its Artprice department is controlled by Groupe Serveur, created in 1987. See certified biography in Who's who : imgpublic.artprice.com/img/wp/sites/11/2019/10/biographie_oct2019_WhosWho_thierryEhrmann.pdf Artmarket is a global player in the Art Market with, among other structures, its Artprice department, world leader in the accumulation, management and exploitation of historical and current art market information in databanks containing over 30 million indices and auction results, covering more than 770,000 artists. Artprice Images allows unlimited access to the largest Art Market image bank in the world: no less than 180 million digital images of photographs or engraved reproductions of artworks from 1700 to the present day, commented by our art historians. Artmarket with its Artprice department accumulates data on a permanent basis from 6300 Auction Houses and produces key Art Market information for the main press and media agencies (7,200 publications). Its 4.5 million 'members log in' users have access to ads posted by other members, a network that today represents the leading Global Standardized Marketplace to buy and sell artworks at a fixed or bid price (auctions regulated by paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article L 321.3 of France's Commercial Code). Artmarket with its Artprice department, has been awarded the State label "Innovative Company" by the Public Investment Bank (BPI) (for the second time in November 2018 for a new period of 3 years) which is supporting the company in its project to consolidate its position as a global player in the market art. Artprice by Artmarket's 2019 Global Art Market Report published in February 2020 : www.artprice.com/artprice-reports/the-art-market-in-2019 Index of press releases posted by Artmarket with its Artprice department: serveur.serveur.com/press_release/pressreleaseen.htm Follow all the Art Market news in real time with Artmarket and its Artprice department on Facebook and Twitter: www.facebook.com/artpricedotcom/ (5 million followers) twitter.com/artmarketdotcom twitter.com/artpricedotcom Discover the alchemy and universe of Artmarket and its artprice department http://web.artprice.com/video headquartered at the famous Organe Contemporary Art Museum "The Abode of Chaos" (dixit The New York Times): https://issuu.com/demeureduchaos/docs/demeureduchaos-abodeofchaos-opus-ix-1999-2013 L'Obs - The Museum of the Future: https://youtu.be/29LXBPJrs-o www.facebook.com/la.demeure.du.chaos.theabodeofchaos999 (4.5 million followers) https://vimeo.com/124643720 Contact Artmarket.com and its Artprice department - Contact: thierry Ehrmann, [email protected] Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1442351/Artprice_Archives_1.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1442352/Artprice_Archives_2.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1009603/Art_Market_logo.jpg SOURCE Artmarket.com Tijuana Carolina's first encounter with COVID-19 came in June 2020. Carolina's mother and brother tested positive for the virus during that month and were each very sick for a while. Her youngest son, a student at Aiken High School, tested positive around the end of October, and her eldest son, a USC Aiken student, tested positive around Thanksgiving. The virus was then transmitted to Carolina's husband, and she took care of both her husband and older son at home. Soon after, Carolina, 47, began feeling sick and was eventually admitted to the emergency room, where she tested negative for COVID-19. Despite her test result, she was experiencing basically every symptom associated with the virus. "I developed a cough, body aches, headaches, sore throat, lost my taste and smell, lightheadedness, dizziness, no appetite, (and a) fever" of 103 degrees, Carolina said. While Carolina was in the ER, she experienced diarrhea, which led to dehydration and, eventually, kidney failure. She also said she developed pneumonia, as well as diabetes. In addition to the initial test, she has tested negative for the virus two other times. She did, however, get tested for COVID-19 antibodies at the end of January, and that test came back positive. Since coming home from the ER, Carolina's hair has also started shedding, which she said happened to her mother as well. Despite all this, Carolina is still a fighter. "I can't complain," Carolina said. "I thought I was going to go to the other side, but I just prayed about it and did what I needed to do that I know I needed to do to come home." COVID-19's unequal impact Carolina is one of 103,280 Black South Carolinians who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the state saw its first case of the virus on March 6, 2020. These 103,280 cases represent 20.4% of the state's total cases, as of data reported Feb. 20. Of those 103,280 cases, 2,279 people have died, for a 2.2% rate of death. This percentage is the highest for any race in the state. By comparison, 4,524 white residents have died out of 227,840 cases, for a 2% death rate. Along with the death rate being the highest, Black residents also account for the highest rate of COVID-19-related hospitalizations. Of the 103,280 COVID-19 cases in Black S.C. residents, 7,153 of them have been hospitalized, for a 6.9% hospitalization rate. Comparatively, 10,221 white residents have been hospitalized, for a 4.5% rate. Gail Diggs, an Aiken City Council member and director of community health and outreach at Rural Health Services, said she sees a few factors behind the Black death rate being the highest. "We know that (Blacks) have the highest incidence of hypertension, diabetes, a lot of cardiovascular conditions," Diggs said. She also brought up that due to a lack of affordable health care options, "sometimes African-Americans have been in situations where, and not just African-Americans but a lot of other people, but especially them, where they have to choose between paying for their medicine and paying their rent. "Its not something where regular check-ups are happening," Diggs said. The pandemic has cast a light on weaknesses within society, as a whole, and particularly in Aiken County, said Eugene White, the president of the NAACP's Aiken County Branch. White said he sees COVID-19 as truly being a triple pandemic in Aiken County. "First, we had the pandemic that came from COVID, and then weve had the pandemic as it relates to economic opportunities and employment, and then, finally, an impact of social justice kind of washing across the county and the nation all kind of at the same time," White said. Given that all three of these things are interconnected, they can be difficult to unpack individually, White said. However, he sees the foundational piece that connects many of the COVID-19 struggles to be the digital divide that exists in the county, meaning the difference between those with internet access and those without. During the pandemic, internet access became a crucial piece of many people's lives, perhaps more than ever before. With many jobs going virtual, workers had to have broadband access to be able to work from home. Along with this, workers deemed essential did not have the option to work from home. Racial divides show up in an examination of this data. A 2017-2018 survey by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that only about 20% of Black workers had the ability to work virtually, compared to about 30% of white workers. "As a result, (the Black population) had to continue to clock into uncertain situations for wages, simply because their jobs and their services are deemed to be essential," White said. Vaccine distribution and hesitancy As the vaccine has been rolled out, it has created a new area of issues that include inequality with the distribution of the vaccines. As of Feb. 20, only 13% of the vaccines administered in South Carolina have been to the Black population, while the Black population makes up 27% of South Carolina's population. In comparison, around 64% of the vaccines have been given to white residents, who make up around 69% of the state's population. Around 8% of the state's vaccines have been given to individuals with an "unknown" race designation, meaning they do not know or did not wish to provide their race or ethnicity. "I think that there tends to be a distrust that comes from receiving a vaccine based on harms that have been done to the Black community in the past," White said. "Those things will be very difficult to overcome, although agencies are working to overcome those." Diggs referenced the Tuskegee Syphilis Study as one reason Black residents are leery about the vaccine. This study was conducted between 1932-1972 and its goal was to study how syphilis progressed if it wasn't treated. The study has been widely decried for a lack of ethics, as none of the men involved knew they had syphilis or that a cure was available. The only people studied were Black sharecroppers, who were promised free healthcare for participation. They never received it. Diggs said she's worked to tell questioning residents that "theres been a lot of research, and its not just going to be given to African-Americans like the Tuskegee vaccine was. Everybodys on the same playing field right now with the vaccine. Everybodys getting the same thing. Its definitely safe, and we can trust it to help get us through this pandemic." Carolina said she's been very leery about getting the vaccine, "but at this point, weve got to do something to control it." "My mom was very scared to get (the vaccine), but I told her, You have to at this point because your antibodies are probably gone by now," Carolina said. "Shes 65, and she needs to take it. I need her to be here a little bit longer, and I dont want this to take her to the place it had her before." Carolina's main fear comes from how quickly the vaccine was developed, much quicker than any other vaccine in history. However, she has decided to get it in the near future. Rural Health Services CEO Carolyn Emanuel-McClain said Rural Health Services has specifically chosen to hold vaccination clinics in rural areas or in areas of town where there's a large Black population. Emanuel-McClain said she thinks the reason for the Black population having received such a low distribution of the shots across the state is because the clinics aren't offered in communities that are easily accessible to them. One positive that Emanuel-McClain brought up is that she's seen about a 50/50 split in terms of Black residents versus white residents who have come to the vaccine clinics Rural Health Services has held. "(Black residents are) just as acceptable of the shot and want the shot as much as anyone else, especially when they have an understanding of what the shot is, what you can expect from it and how you will feel," Emanuel-McClain said. Posted Monday, February 22, 2021 11:43 am Three months before the world in many ways shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kevin and Bri Cummo of East Ridgefield CrossFit surprised members with a brand new space. Going from about 2,400 square feet to 6,000 square feet, the new gym features new machines and more space for classes. Nobody really knew that we were building out this new space. We had construction paper on the walls We wanted to surprise a majority of our athletes, Kevin Cummo said, mentioning that a majority of the equipment was moved over the course of one weekend so the new space would be ready by Monday. It was awesome to see the look on some peoples faces (when they saw the new space). We even recorded some of the reactions and put it on Facebook. The gym has equipment for classes of many different forms. From weightlifting to biking, the gym offers classes core to the CrossFit philosophy, which Cummo describes as a strength and conditioning program that derives results through constantly varied, functional movements, executed at high intensities. East Ridgefield CrossFit first opened in March 2017 in a suite five doors down from the current one. Cummo said he met his wife, Bri, at a CrossFit gym near Fort Vancouver, and the duo decided to open their own gym after getting married. Cummo said he and Bri chose to open up in Ridgefield as he saw a lack of CrossFit gyms in the North County area between Vancouver and Woodland. According to Cummo, the North County and Ridgefield community has been more than accepting of the gym's presence in town, and the CrossFit community is really glad to have the gym around. Our athletes talk about how they love the fact that everyone (at the gym) gets along, Cummo said. There arent really any cliques that have formed, which is something we try really hard to stomp out. We try to keep it where everybody is just one big family. When health restrictions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic limited gatherings and closed gyms, East Ridgefield CrossFit followed suit and remained closed. Cummo said the gym started offering Zoom classes and at-home workout kits for its clients to keep up their workout routines as people remained in their bubble. While weathering the pandemic was hard, Cummo said both the city of Ridgefield and members of the gym came through during the tough time. Not being able to run our classes was really hard, Cummo said. Luckily our members are awesome, our athletes are awesome and a lot of them continued to pay us and support us through COVID We couldnt have done it without them. For the last couple of months, East Ridgefield Crossfit and many other gyms in the state have held classes with limited sizes and workouts. Cummo said the process of "flip-flopping" between restrictions was "frustrating, for lack of a better word" and said he was excited to move forward into Phase 2 of the Healthy Washington reopening plan. Now that Clark County and the rest of Washington state have moved into Phase 2, gyms can host up to 25 percent of the total capacity, which is 30 for East Ridgefield CrossFit. Cummo said the gym has reduced its class sizes to 14 people seven on bikes, seven on rowers. Everybody has their own equipment, so nobody is sharing any equipment, he said about the health precautions the gym is taking. We also sanitize everything and wipe down everything after each class. In the future, Cummo said he hopes to keep building the community of the gym and open the classes up to more people. In a non-COVID-19 world, the 6,000-square-foot gym could hold around 50 people at a time for every single class. Cummo said the gym increased the number of classes it held per week to offer more opportunity for members while class sizes were decreased during COVID-19. When things open back up again, Cummo plans to keep the additional classes. Well, we cant cancel them now because the classes continue to grow and people like to come to them, Cummo said. For Cummo, seeing people improve in their fitness journey and complete their goals is one of his favorite parts of his job as a gym owner and trainer, especially the members he doesnt get to see often. Sometimes, Ill go a couple weeks without seeing a certain person and when I see them for the first time, theyre hardly able to do an air squat, he said. I'll come back a couple weeks later and see them squatting with weight and able to do a full range of motion and that is awesome. Cummo said CrossFit workouts and routines work for any skill level. Whether you work out every day or are trying to work on a new years resolution, there is a spot for you in the gym. While everyone in the gym may be doing the same workout routine at a given time, different weights allow for people of all skill sets to join the gym. In this file photo, Emma Coronel Aispuro, wife of Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, leaves from the U.S. Federal Courthouse after a verdict was announced at the trial for him on Feb. 12, 2019, in Brooklyn, New York. U.S. authorities arrested the wife of the Mexican drug lord on Feb. 22 as she arrived at Dulles International Airport outside of Washington, the Justice Department said. AFP The wife of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin ''El Chapo'' Guzman was arrested Monday at an airport in Virginia on international drug trafficking charges, the Justice Department said. Emma Coronel Aispuro, 31, who is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Mexico, was arrested at Dulles International Airport and is expected to appear in federal court in Washington on Tuesday. She is charged in a single-count criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana in the U.S. The Justice Department also accuses her of helping her husband escape from a Mexican prison in 2015 and participating in the planning of a second prison escape before Guzman was extradited to the U.S. in January 2017. Coronel Aispuro remained in custody, and it was not immediately clear if she had an attorney who could comment on the allegations. As Mexico's most powerful drug lord, Guzman escaped through an entry under the shower in his cell to a milelong (1.6-kilometer-long) lighted tunnel with a motorcycle on rails. The planning for the escape was extensive, prosecutors say, with his wife playing a key role. Court papers charge that Coronel Aispuro worked with Guzman's sons and a witness, who is now cooperating with the U.S. government, to organize the construction of the underground tunnel that Guzman used to escape from the Altiplano prison in Mexico to prevent him from being extradited to the U.S. The plot included purchasing a piece of land near the prison, firearms and an armored truck and smuggling him a GPS watch so they could ''pinpoint his exact whereabouts so as to construct the tunnel with an entry point accessible to him,'' the court papers say. Guzman was sentenced to life behind bars in 2019. His Sinaloa cartel was responsible for smuggling mountains of cocaine and other drugs into the United States during his 25-year reign, prosecutors said in recent court papers. They also said his ''army of sicarios,'' or ''hit men,'' was under orders to kidnap, torture and kill anyone who got in his way. Coronel Aispuro, a former teen beauty queen, regularly attended Guzman's trial, even when testimony cast her in a harsh light. The two, separated in age by more than 30 years, have been together since at least 2007 and share twin daughters, who were born in 2011. Her father, Ines Coronel Barreras, was arrested in 2013 with one of his sons and several other men in a warehouse with hundreds of pounds of marijuana across the border from Douglas, Arizona. Months earlier, the U.S. Treasury had announced financial sanctions against Coronel Barreras for his alleged drug trafficking. After Guzman was rearrested following his escape, Coronel Aispuro lobbied the Mexican government to improve her husband's prison conditions. And after he was convicted in 2019, she moved to launch a clothing line in his name. (AP) Tempe, Arizona will be the new site of JCFilms Studios, a faith-based, family-friendly movie studio that according to the company's website will "operate as a non-profit film ministry." The studio, which is designed as a "hub for Christian movie making," aims to use film as an avenue to "change the culture for Christ'' with compelling, entertaining, and wholesome content. JCFilms President Jason Campbell told FOX10 Phoenix that the company's goal is to create between 6 to 12 films within the next year and make it a central hub "for people of faith to get together and make family-friendly content." Campbell also shared that Arizona is teeming with talent that the film industry can benefit from. He shared that there is an "immense amount of talent" from people who are actors, filmmakers, production staff, and more. In fact, JCFilms' website encourages locals to "write that script, take that acting class, start that film production and get involved" with the new faith-based film studio's goal of expanding in the area. With more than 30 faith and family films under its name, the studio hopes to expand its collection of offerings to Christian viewers. It is starting with an upcoming film titled "Forgiven," which deals with issues of child abuse, starring Christian actor Dean Cain. Cain shared that Arizona is "a great place to film" because it has "better weather than Los Angeles, it's got incredible areas and places to film that can double for anything." JCFilms' "Forgiven" will delve into the real-life story of Andrea Weber-Pomykala, a real estate investor from Phoenix who was physically, emotionally, and sexually abused. Weber-Pomykala hopes that the film sheds light on the issue of child abuse, especially in light of the global pandemic that has contributed to a significant increase in child abuse cases. Cain is also vocal advocate of the fight against child abuse. He recently starred in the film "Trafficked: A Parent's Worst Nightmare," which tells the true stories of American suburban families who were victimized by child abductors and child traffickers. Cain, who rose to fame after starring as the titular Clark Kent in "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman," hopes that playing roles in family-centric films such as "Trafficked" and "Forgiven" can raise awareness of these societal issues that must be addressed at a local and national level. He admitted to The Christian Post, "Sometimes we don't like to face our uncomfortable truths in this country." Fifty-four year-old Christian actor Dean Cain, who is a father of two, also shared his passion for creating films that told stories of faith and other family-friendly titles. He said, "I like making movies of faith and discussing faith and showing faith in a positive light. I feel like there's been a real big-time attack on Christianity and morality in a sense recently, and I don't agree with it." Cain shared, "If that little movie can affect one person, five people, 10 people, it's a gift. So to be able to do that, I try to do as much as possible." IF you have absolutely no urgent or emergency need to be outdoors today, then remain at home. Should you take a chance and decide to tempt fate, then it may most likely result in you being stopped and questioned by police officers and members of the Defence Force, or even find yourself charged and taken before a court. A provision has been removed that prohibits appointing for a minister's post someone whose nomination Rada has already rejected. The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, convened on Tuesday for the sake of voting on a single bill recently vetoed by president this time, with the Volodymyr Zelensky's amendments. This is about Bill "On amendments to certain laws of Ukraine regarding the resumption of competitions for holding civil service positions and other civil service issues" (No. 4531). Read alsoEnergy ministry: Ukraine seeking to quit coal to become climate neutral by 2050Some 267 MPs out of 350 registered in the session hall backed the new version with the president's changes, an UNIAN correspondent reported. President's proposals According to the president's amendments, Law of Ukraine "On central executive bodies" stipulates the first deputy minister, deputy ministers give instructions that are binding on civil servants and the ministry's staff and its territorial bodies (if formed). What has been removed, as per proposals The final version excludes the ban on entrusting a first deputy minister and deputy ministers a wider range of minister's duties if the top post is vacant. The provision has been lifted which said that, if a minister's post remains vacant for more than 60 days, it is prohibited to entrust a first deputy minister and deputy ministers with a number of minister's duties. In contrast to the previous draft, vetoed by President Zelensky, a person whose candidacy for the relevant ministerial post has been rejected by the Verkhovna Rada can now be allowed to perform the minister's duties (as acting minister) Competitions for civil servants Among other things, the Law of Ukraine "On civil service" stipulates the Commission for the Higher Corps of the Civil Service holds a competition for the positions of the civil service of category "A" and submits proposals on appointment of no more than three candidates for such positions (previously no more than five people). The bill also establishes that competitions for positions held by persons with whom, prior to the entry into force of this bill, contracts have been concluded on the civil service for the period of quarantine established by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Ukraine, is announced within six months from the date of entry into force of this bill in accordance with the conclusion of contracts for the relevant civil service positions. Civil service contracts for the period of quarantine concluded before the entry into force of this bill are valid until the appointment of a person to the civil service position based on the results of a competition, but no more than nine months from the date of entry into force of this bill. At the same time, the announced selections for appointment to a vacant civil service position for the period of quarantine, the decisions on the results of which were made public, are canceled. A special check established by Article 56 of the Law of Ukraine "On the prevention of corruption" is not carried out in relation to persons appointed to civil service positions or in local governments no later than the next working day after the termination of the contract on their civil service for the period of quarantine, provided that a special check of such persons has already been carried out at the conclusion of the relevant agreement. Civil servants enrolled in the staff in accordance with Part 1 of Article 87-1 of the Law of Ukraine "On civil service" prior to the entry into force of this bill continue to be in the civil service. The maximum period for such stay is six months from the date of dismissal from office. Competitions for civil servants: Other details According to the bill, within six months from the date of its entry into force, competitions shall be announced for positions held by persons under a civil service contract for the period of quarantine established by the government over the COVID-19 pandemic. The relevant contracts will be valid until a person is appointed to the civil service position based on the results of a competition, but no more than nine months from the date this bill comes into force. If the post of minister is vacant for more than 60 days, the same person holding the post of first deputy minister or deputy minister cannot serve as minister for more than 30 days. The bill comes into force on the day following the day of its publication. Yuriy Vitrenko's nomination for energy minister: Background On December 17, the Verkhovna Rada did not support the appointment of the former top manager of Naftogaz of Ukraine, Yuriy Vitrenko, as first vice prime minister, minister of energy. A total of 186 lawmakers backed his nomination, with the required minimum of 226 votes. On December 21, the government appointed Vitrenko acting energy minister. December 22, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Dmytro Razumkov said in an interview with a Ukrainian TV channel that the appointment of Vitrenko as acting energy minister, bypassing parliament vote, would not facilitate cooperation with the government. On January 28, parliament once again snubbed Vitrenko's candidacy. On February 4, the Verkhovna Rada rejected a bill that would prohibit renominating the same candidate for a certain position in government during one Parliament session. Through an amendment to the draft law, introduced by First Deputy Chairman of the ruling faction, Oleksandr Kornienko, it was proposed to allow an acting minister to remain at the helm for 90 days instead of the current 30 days. The draft, however, was sent for revision after failing to pass Parliament. On February 15, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, MP with ruling Servant of the People faction Danylo Getmantsev said Vitrenko could once again be nominated to the post of energy minister. On February 16, the parliament passed a bill on the restoration of competitions for the civil service (No. 4531), the next day it was signed by Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Dmytro Razumkov. On February 18, it was returned with the president's proposals. Reporting by UNIAN Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Beyond barbecues and ceremonies: Recognizing Memorial Day For many, Memorial Day weekend is about gathering with family and grilling or attending a parade. Some find a more personal way to honor the holiday. The DIR800 is an accessory for the Aesculap Aeos Robotic Digital Microscope and is used in viewing intraoperative blood flow in the cerebral vascular area including, but not limited to, assessing cerebral aneurysm and vessel branch occlusion, as well as patency in neurosurgery. It also aids in the visual assessment of intraoperative blood flow and vessel patency in bypass neurosurgical procedures. With DIR800, the Aesculap Aeos Robotic Digital Microscope produces excitation light to illuminate the fluorescence properties of Indocyanine Green (ICG). The generated fluorescence signal depicts the distribution of the infrared dye in the patient's blood vessels during surgery. DIR800 combines infrared fluorescence technology with 3D digital visualization while also allowing the surgeon and OR team to share the same high-quality live view and slow motion playback on multiple 3D 4K monitors. Backlight illumination aids visualization of nearby non-fluorescing structures without the need to switch back to white light. Another key benefit is heads-up positioning to free the surgeon from the microscope ocular tether, allowing the surgeon, not the microscope, to dictate ergonomics. For more information on the Aesculap Aeos Microscope or any of our neurosurgical solutions, please visit our website at www.aesculapusa.com, subscribe to our YouTube channel or connect with us on LinkedIn. About Aesculap, Inc. Aesculap, Inc., a B. Braun company, is part of a 180-year-old global organization focused on meeting the needs of an ever-changing healthcare community. Through close collaboration with its customers, Aesculap provides advanced technologies for neurosurgery, general surgery and sterilization technologies. Aesculap continues a proud heritage of leadership and responsiveness as we strive to deliver products and services that improve the quality of patients' lives. For more information, call 800-282-9000 or visit aesculapusa.com. SOURCE Aesculap, Inc. Related Links http://www.aesculapusa.com Warning: Some images may be disturbing to readers. Ever wondered how big a giraffes heart is? This is not the type of query people usually encounter throughout their lives. But this is the exact question one Influencer posed to her Facebook followers after uploading a picture of herself holding the heart of a giraffe she just killed. The Mirror reports how 32-year-old Merelize van der Merwean avid hunter since the age of fivereceived the chance to achieve her dream of killing a bull giraffe as a Valentines Day gift from her husband when he spent 1,500 (a little over $2,000 USD) at a game park in South Africa. It was there that she was able to shoot the 17-year-old bull giraffe, taking multiple photos standing triumphantly with its corpse and then its heart. Needless to say, many who caught wind of the posts werent all too thrilled at Van der Merwes actions. Merelize van der Merwe posing with the heart of a 17-year-old bull giraffe she killed. (Merelize van der Merwe Facebook) Ever since Van der Merwe posted the photos of her big dream coming true on the social media platform, many other usersa portion of which are self-proclaimed animal rights activistshave flooded her page decrying her actions. A few even started petitions to ban her account. What kind of satisfaction can you find in killing such a majestic animal? asked one commenter on Facebook. In response to this backlash, Van der Merwe has consistently stood by the post as well as her hunting lifestyle. The public figure states that hunting not only protects tourism jobs, but also proves to be beneficial for the environment as a whole. When you publish your articles about me, please also publish that Kenya banned hunting in 1977 and lost 80 percent of all their wildlife because a goat has more value to the people than wildlife, says Van der Merwe in a previous post. Van der Merwe has also shared that shes since received death threats and has had people attempt to hack her email numerous times. The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company A total of 832 counties, 128,000 villages and nearly 100 million people were living in poverty. This was the reality that China had to face. The task of providing support to them all wasn't easy, and making sure that everyone receives the exact help they needed was even harder. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005505/en/ (Photo: Business Wire) "Who were these people and where were they located? If you are intent on leaving no one behind, then you have to locate each and every one of them and tailor relief measures accordingly," said Lin Wanlong, professor of economics and management at China Agriculture University. In November 2013, during an inspection tour of central China's Hunan, Chinese President Xi Jinping first raised the concept of "targeted poverty alleviation." To crystalize it, he said one should "seek truth from facts, tailor measures to suit local conditions, give targeted guidance, and be meticulous about the work." These points have become the guiding principle in China's fight against poverty. The first step of the targeted poverty alleviation campaign is to locate poverty through accurate identification, which means specifying survey data by matching it with individuals and households. Are there any better-off families in impoverished counties? Are there any poor households in rich townships? How does one differentiate whether a family really needs help? These were the first challenges that the campaign had to overcome. "When I was just assigned to the township, I was informed that there were over 2,300 households and about 8,000 people living in poverty. But nobody knew who exactly they were," said Zhu Shengjiang, head of Yeping Town in Jiangxi Province's Ruijin City. In a township of over 70,000 people, a poor population of over 8,000 was scattered among 399 villager groups. Zhu and his colleagues had to go door-to-door and look meticulously into their respective family conditions. Once poverty is identified, they would set up file for the households and log their information onto system. The ultimate aim of poverty alleviation is to ensure people don't have to worry about food and clothing and have access to compulsory education, basic medical services and safe housing. Commonly known as the "two assurances and three guarantees," these are the key indicators for poverty relief officials to identify who exactly needs help. "In each household, we look at things like whether there is sufficient working capacity, whether the child is receiving education and whether all family members are healthy. If the answer is no in all these categories, then we have found a household that really needs help," said Zeng Nenggui, director of poverty relief office in Ruijin City. The launching of a national digital database has enabled data to cover each and every registered village, household and individual, which not only ensures the accuracy of poverty identification but helps nail down the causes of poverty for those who are in the system. "These households are like a benchmark. What we do is to analyze their conditions and come up with tailor-made measures to lift them out of poverty," said Lu Chunsheng, director of the Information Center of the National Bureau of Rural Development. "For example, if a family remains poor because they couldn't receive proper education, our relief measures should include granting student loans and subsidies. If poverty is caused by a family member's poor health conditions, we then should provide them with sufficient healthcare." Prescribing the right remedy is the key. Under President Xi's guidance, the targeted poverty alleviation campaign has five key measures. Development & Production All 832 registered counties have formulated industrial plans to fight against poverty, with over 300,000 industrial bases in farming, planting and processing being constructed on site. Relocation More than 96 million registered people have moved into over 2.66 million newly constructed houses, all equipped with water, electricity, gas and internet. Transportation is convenient with better roads built. Ecological compensation Over 1.1 million registered people have been employed as ecological forest rangers, directly lifting a total of 3 million out of poverty. Education About 200,000 students who dropped out of school due to poverty have now returned to school. More than 8 million students from poor families who failed to continue their studies or get employed after finishing high school have received vocational education for free. Social security Since 2016, a total of 19.36 million registered people have been included in the subsistence allowance, support and relief system. To ensure that poverty is truly lifted, the strictest assessment system has been put in place. For each county to declare it has officially left poverty behind, it has to be thoroughly assessed by a third-party inspection team. "We have never encountered such rigorous measures," said Zhang Shibin, former director of the poverty alleviation office of Yunnan Province's Luquan Yi and Miao Autonomous County. " During the third-party inspection, village officials are not even allowed to follow these teams into the village." The targeted poverty alleviation campaign has perfectly embodied China's practical and down-to-earth approach in battling poverty, opening up a path that accommodates the country's realities while reflecting unique Chinese characteristics. Original article here. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005505/en/ Joe Biden speaks after a tour of a Pfizer plant producing the coronavirus vaccine in Michigan on Friday. Photo: Reuters/Tom Brenner. Democrats begin the final push for President Joe Bidens $1.9trn stimulus bill this week, dropping any pretence of bipartisanship to quickly pass the package before an earlier round of benefits runs out. This will be the first real test for Democrats full control of government since former President Donald Trumps impeachment trial, with implications for the rest of Bidens agenda and the pandemic-battered economy. The House plans to vote as soon as Friday on Democrats stimulus package, setting up a Senate vote as soon as next week. Resolving the final hurdles, especially disagreement among Senate Democrats about a provision phasing in a $15 per hour federal minimum wage, would clear the way for Biden to give his first address to a joint session of Congress in March outlining his next policy goals. The Senate is on track to send a robust $1.9trn package to the presidents desk before the March 14 expiration of unemployment insurance benefits from the last round of stimulus, Senate Majority Leader, Democrat Charles Schumer, said in a letter to colleagues on Friday . In public, the focus will be on yesterday's Budget Committee vote and a floor vote on the bill as soon as Friday. Currently theres no sign of a rebellion among the few remaining Democratic deficit hawks that would imperil the bill on the floor. Read More Biden initially sought some GOP support for his stimulus proposal, which includes $1,400 cheques for individuals making less than $75,000, resources for vaccine distribution, funds for schools to reopen, and $400 per week in supplemental unemployment insurance. But Republicans said the plan was too expensive, coming after last years $2trn and $900bn virus-relief packages enacted in March and late December, respectively. Biden on Friday called on Congress to pass his plan during a tour of a Michigan Pfizer plant producing the coronavirus vaccine. He called on Republicans in Congress to listen to their constituents, saying a majority of Americans support the measure. Speaking Sunday on ABCs This Week, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise said it makes no sense to pass the large stimulus package when there are unspent funds from the last relief bill and growing concerns about the nations debt. Democrats are using a fast-track budget procedure to enact the bill without needing at least 10 Republicans. That means the bill must comply with the instructions laid out in the recently adopted fiscal 2021 budget resolution. The total cost cant exceed the $1.9trn, and all provisions must be fiscal in nature. Scott Stafford has been a reporter, photographer, and editor at a variety of publications, including the Dallas Morning News and The Berkshire Eagle. Scott can be reached at sstafford@berkshireeagle.com, or at 413-496-6301 and on Twitter at @BE_SStafford. Photo: The Canadian Press FILE - In this Feb. 12, 2019 file photo, Emma Coronel Aispuro, center, wife of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, leaves federal court in New York. The wife of Mexican drug kingpin and escape artist Joaquin El Chapo Guzman has been arrested on international drug trafficking charges at an airport in Virginia. The Justice Department says 31-year-old Emma Coronel Aispuro, who is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Mexico, was arrested at Dulles International Airport on Monday and is expected to appear in federal court in Washington on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) The wife of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin El Chapo Guzman was arrested Monday at an airport in Virginia on international drug trafficking charges, the Justice Department said, spelling out in detail how she helped plot her husbands daring escape from a Mexico prison. Emma Coronel Aispuro, 31, who is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Mexico, was arrested at Dulles International Airport and is expected to appear in federal court in Washington on Tuesday. She is charged in a single-count criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana in the U.S. The Justice Department also accuses her of helping her husband escape from a Mexican prison in 2015 and participating in the planning of a second prison escape before Guzman was extradited to the U.S. in January 2017. Coronel Aispuro remained in custody, and it was not immediately clear if she had an attorney who could comment on the allegations. As Mexicos most powerful drug lord, Guzman escaped through an entry under the shower in his cell to a milelong (1.6-kilometre-long) lighted tunnel with a motorcycle on rails. The planning for the escape was extensive, prosecutors say, with his wife playing a key role. Court papers charge that Coronel Aispuro worked with Guzmans sons and a witness, who is now co-operating with the U.S. government, to organize the construction of the underground tunnel that Guzman used to escape from the Altiplano prison in Mexico to prevent him from being extradited to the U.S. The plot included purchasing a piece of land near the prison, firearms and an armoured truck and smuggling him a GPS watch so they could pinpoint his exact whereabouts so as to construct the tunnel with an entry point accessible to him, the court papers say. Guzman was sentenced to life behind bars in 2019. His Sinaloa cartel was responsible for smuggling mountains of cocaine and other drugs into the United States during his 25-year reign, prosecutors said in recent court papers. They also said his army of sicarios, or hit men, was under orders to kidnap, torture and kill anyone who got in his way. Coronel Aispuro, a former teen beauty queen, regularly attended Guzmans trial, even when testimony cast her in a harsh light. The two, separated in age by more than 30 years, have been together since at least 2007 and share twin daughters, who were born in 2011. Her father, Ines Coronel Barreras, was arrested in 2013 with one of his sons and several other men in a warehouse with hundreds of pounds of marijuana across the border from Douglas, Arizona. Months earlier, the U.S. Treasury had announced financial sanctions against Coronel Barreras for his alleged drug trafficking. After Guzman was rearrested following his escape, Coronel Aispuro lobbied the Mexican government to improve her husbands prison conditions. And after he was convicted in 2019, she moved to launch a clothing line in his name. 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 MIAMI Even in death, Rush Limbaugh sent political partisans to their fighting corners. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, a Republican who was close with Mr. Limbaugh, the right-wing talk radio megastar who died last week, said on Tuesday that flags at the State Capitol and at two Palm Beach County sites should be lowered to half-staff in his memory on Wednesday. That honor is usually reserved for well-known public officials, members of the military and law enforcement officers who died on duty. On Monday, for example, Mr. DeSantis directed that flags be lowered on Tuesday to honor a Pinellas County sheriffs deputy who was fatally struck by a car last week. But it is also within the governors power to issue what are known as flag memorandums to commemorate tragedies such as the Parkland school shooting. Mr. DeSantis said on Friday that Mr. Limbaugh, a Florida resident for more than two decades who died in Palm Beach, was an absolute legend. Not much needs to be said, the governor added of Mr. Limbaugh. He was a friend of mine and just a great person. Phuket Town bars raided for late trading PHUKET: Phuket City Police went on the hunt on Sunday night and raided three bars in the heart of Phuket Town in response to a complaint by Petchaburi Provincial Police chief about nightlife venues in Phuket Town trading illegally past their mandated closings times and disturbing the peace with loud music until 4:30am. alcoholcrimepolice By Eakkapop Thongtub Tuesday 23 February 2021, 10:30AM Maj Gen Uthai Kawindechathorn, Chief of the Phetchaburi Provincial Police, posted a video on his personal Facebook page on Sunday (Feb 21), with a long post calling for police in Phuket to step up their efforts to prevent such public disturbances. The video posted proved loud music coming from a bar along Lim Sui Ju Rd, on the south side of town. Late Sunday night, a task force was deployed, comprising members of the Phuket Provincial Narcotics Control Management Center (PNCMC) and Territorial Defense Volunteers (OrSor, or Kong Asa Raksa Dindaen). Also present in the raids, carried out from 11:30pm to 5:30am, were Phuket City Police led by Chief Col Theerawat Liamsuwan, as well as officers from Region 8 Police. The police party first raided the Kim Yong bar, located on Phuket Rd, and arrested Thaksadon Renumas, 36, who was found selling alcohol outside the permitted hours. Then officers raided 16 Bar, also on Phuket Rd, and arrested Ratthakarn Srisuksai, 28, for selling alcohol outside the permitted hours. Officers also seized nine baraku (shisha) and associated paraphernalia, including bills for providing baraku to customers. At the third venue raided, Sin Seng Long bar located on Yaowarat Rd, police arrested Thitiwat Tantipoolwinai, 36, who was also found selling alcohol outside the permitted hours. None of the bars were found disturbing the peace with loud music. All three bar operators were taken to Phuket City Police Station and charged for being illegally open outside permitted hours, while Ms Ratthakarn was also charged for illegally providing baraku and e-cigarettes. The task force also inspected the three nightlife venues on Lim Sui Ju Rd central to the complaint filed by Maj Gen Uthai. However, officers found that the three venues Maldives, H2O and Ther all closed at midnight. Europe has become the most attractive cocaine market in the world. But drug traffickers, including the Kinahan cartel, have been hit on six fronts by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report on organised crime. The Cocaine Pipeline report, jointly produced by InSight Crime and the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, found that while the pandemic has hampered drug trafficker networks it is likely to be just a temporary blip. Irish organised crime groups like the Kinahan cartel have significantly profited from the trade in recent years, forming alliances with other European and international crime networks and enjoying what the report says is a "cocaine steroid effect". Read More "Cocaine is a criminal steroid. Those that gain access to its riches enjoy accelerated growth and power, usually leaving a trail of violence and corruption in their wake. And today, there are more opportunities than ever for criminal groups to access cocaine in both Latin America and Europe," the report said. The report outlines the real life version of the hit crime drama ZeroZeroZero, starring Irish actor Gabriel Byrne, which shows the global connections in the cocaine trade. Cocaine production in Colombia, Bolivia and Peru doubled in the five years to 2018 and while the rate of growth has slowed recently there is no sign of demand for drug as having peaked - and Europe is beginning to rival the US mainland as the main destination for cocaine for a variety of reasons, the report found. "For the time being, Europe's market size, prices, risk levels, and its shipping infrastructure - moving millions of tons of goods to every corner of the earth - make it arguably the most attractive cocaine market in the world. "When Colombia's cartels made their first tentative deals with Galician smugglers and the Italian mafia to move cocaine into Europe in the 1980s, it would have been unthinkable that one day they might shy away from the United States in favour of the old continent. But today, it is a business no-brainer." However, the traffickers, like most businesses, have been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Kevin Mills, who recently retired from the British National Crime Agency after a 31-year career, told the report authors that Covid is impacting on the cocaine trade in six main ways. Kevin, who currently works as a security and investigations consultant in Comobia's capital, Bogota, said there has been a reduction in container traffic from Latin America to Europe. "In the first months of the pandemic, there was a drop in the volume of containers coming into Europe. A rise in seizures on the continent in the first half of 2020 might have been the result of traffickers trying to move the same amount of cocaine in a shrinking flow of containers, thus running a greater risk of discovery." He added that restrictions on personal travel in and out of Latin America over the last five months are also having an impact. "There is no ability for criminals and planners to fly out [to Colombia] as there is no incoming travel, which makes planning and closing deals more complicated, and there is no outgoing travel that permits a small, but a frequent supply of mules, or cocaine that is hidden in air cargo or suitcases." The massive drop in sailing craft crossing the Atlantic and moving through the Caribbean is another issue for traffickers. "The yachting threat has been really resurgent in the last two to three years from the eastern Caribbean. That is completely dead in the water at the moment, because vessels cannot move between countries." The overall reduction in maritime traffic has also meant vessels spotted off the South American coast attract a lot more attention, as do foreign vessels seeking to dock. "The movement of heavy cargo, tugs, fishing vessels, again because of the issue of crossing maritime borders, has taken a huge hit." Read More The massive drop in air traffic is also causing problems. "Few nations are giving the same sort of permissions for private planes to land, meaning that charter flights cannot operate as before and the overall reduction in flying means that illegal flights have less traffic in which to hide." With various lockdowns and restrictions in place around Europe, there has also been a drop in places to sell cocaine to users with social venues closed and fewer parties taking place, while people also have less money to spend. Mills said this was only a temporary state of affairs and traffickers are already adapting. Law enforcement officers told the report authors about a recent phenomenon of cloning shipping containers. One, speaking on condition on anonymity, said: "We have intelligence reports of say a blue container with a certain registration number being placed on to a ship in Guayaquil, Ecuador, loaded up with cocaine. Then a green container with the same number is unloaded in Europe, with the same cargo, but no sign of the drugs. We never found that blue container, nor the cocaine," he said. The popular "rip-on, rip-off" method of moving drugs is also increasing, according to the report. The method involves stashing cocaine in with legitimate shipments being transported by unwitting companies without the knowledge of the owners. The traffickers are also using methods like transporting cocaine in their own submarines to avoid detection or using torpedoes to drag along cocaine shipments which can be dumped if authorities come to search the vessel. The report said European groups such as Tito and Dino, Grupa Amerika, the 'Ndrangheta and the Galicians have grown enormously wealthy and powerful from cocaine. But unlike the Mexican cartels in the United States, none of them have the capacity to shut other European actors out of the market. "Irish, British, French, Dutch, Turkish, and Belgian actors also play a key role in the supply chain both up and downstream, and InSight Crime has also received reports of the growing presence of organised crime groups from Russia and other former Soviet states in Latin America. "Furthermore, in today's ever more fluid underworld, none of these groups have the capacity to run cocaine routes from production to retail single-handedly. Instead, they constantly form networks and alliances with different actors from all across the globe." In 2019, US Drug Enforcement Agency documents revealed the Kinahan organisation had formed a supercartel with the Balkan mob known as the Tito and Dino cartel, the Dutch Moroccan Mafia, allegedly led by Ridouan Taghi, and other organised crime gangs with links to the Italian mafia and South America. Taghi is currently awaiting trail on gangland offences in the Netherlands which could see him locked up for life. The report said the alliances like those the Kinahans have formed have become more prevalent. "Most of the cocaine networks operating into Europe have many different nationalities working together, making the division of which particular nationality controls which link in the chain harder and harder to define. "The networks pool shipments and share the profits or spread the losses when shipments are intercepted. "The days of focusing exclusively on a single drug-trafficking organisation or national mafia in the hope of dismantling the cocaine trade are long gone." Read More More doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine have arrived in Australia as the early stages of the jab rollout continue. Labor leader Anthony Albanese and Greens leader Adam Bandt have received their first dose of the vaccine in Canberra, in a bid to boost public confidence. Labor MP Peta Murphy, who has metastatic breast cancer, also got the vaccine. 'I wouldn't ask anyone to do something I'm not prepared to do,' she later posted to Twitter. Labor MP Peta Murphy (pictured), who has metastatic breast cancer, also got the vaccine 'If you have concerns, talk to your treating doctors. I did and I am confident it is safe to take the vaccine. 'Do it for yourself, do it for the community.' Prime Minister Scott Morrison has already received the Pfizer vaccine and says he hasn't had any side effects other than a sore arm. Health Minister Greg Hunt has confirmed another 166,000 doses of Pfizer have landed in Sydney, with another 120,000 to arrive next week. Frontline health and hotel quarantine workers across the country have begun receiving the vaccine, along with aged and disability care residents and staff. Frontline health and hotel quarantine workers across the country have begun to receive the jab (pictured, a Tasmanian nurse getting the vaccine) Most Australians will receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, with doses either made in Victoria or arriving from overseas. The United Kingdom is well advanced in its rollout of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines. Mr Hunt said UK authorities were pleased with how the rollout was going. 'The results of both vaccines are exceeding expectations,' he told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday. Authorities are looking into how and when restrictions will be eased, as more Australians receive the vaccine (pictured, people in Perth queue to get the jab on Monday) As more Australians receive vaccines against coronavirus, authorities are looking at how and when restrictions can be eased. Expectations are rising more Australians will be allowed to return home from overseas in coming months as the vaccine rollout progresses. About 40,000 Australians are seeking to return, but arrival caps and limited quarantine capacity mean they cannot do so. Chief nurse Alison McMillan is in the Northern Territory for discussions on a further expansion of the Howard Springs facility outside Darwin. Most Australians will receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, with doses either made in Victoria or arriving from overseas (pictured, health workers with the vaccine in Perth) Its capacity has already been increased from 500 to 850 a fortnight but a deal on a further expansion is understood to be very close. Concerns about capital city hotels has prompted another rethink of quarantine accommodation for international arrivals, with Victorian authorities looking at building a facility outside of Melbourne. The federal and Queensland governments are also looking at the potential for a purpose-built quarantine facility in Toowoomba. And a task force led by the head of the prime minister's department Phil Gaetjens is leading work on changes to quarantine arrangements. Over 211,000 people have returned to Australia through quarantine hotels since March last year. On Monday, Australia recorded another day without community transmission of the virus. South Australia is poised to lift its remaining COVID-19 travel restrictions with Melbourne from Thursday. MOSCOW, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund) announces the delivery of the first batch of Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus to Mexico. On February 3, 2021 the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risk of Mexico (COFEPRIS) approved Sputnik V under the emergency use authorization procedure without additional clinical trials in the country. Mexico has become the first country of North America to approve Sputnik V. Sputnik V is approved for use in more than 30 countries making the vaccine one of the world's top three coronavirus vaccines in terms of the number of approvals issued by regulatory authorities. Russia, Belarus, Argentina, Bolivia, Serbia, Algeria, Palestine, Venezuela, Paraguay, Turkmenistan, Hungary, UAE, Iran, Republic of Guinea, Tunisia, Armenia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Republika Srpska (entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Lebanon, Myanmar, Pakistan, Mongolia, Bahrain, Montenegro, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Gabon, San Marino and Ghana have authorized Sputnik V. Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, commented: "RDIF supports the efforts of the Government of Mexico to protect the population with a safe and effective Russian Sputnik V vaccine. Cooperation between Russia and Mexico on the vaccine is a great example of pooling efforts to jointly fight the pandemic and save lives. The positive decision of COFEPRIS to grant an emergency use authorization to Sputnik V provides people of Mexico with access to one of the best vaccines in the world." Sputnik V has a number of key advantages: Efficacy of Sputnik V is 91.6% as confirmed by the data published in the Lancet, one of the world's oldest and most respected medical journals; It is one of only three vaccines in the world with efficacy of over 90%; Sputnik V provides full protection against severe cases of COVID-19. The Sputnik V vaccine is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors, which cause the common cold and have been around for thousands of years. Sputnik V uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots. The safety, efficacy and lack of negative long-term effects of adenoviral vaccines have been proven by more than 250 clinical studies over two decades. The developers of the Sputnik V vaccine are working collaboratively with AstraZeneca on a joint clinical trial to improve the efficacy of AstraZeneca vaccine. There are no strong allergies caused by Sputnik V. The price of Sputnik V is less than $10 per shot, making it affordable around the world. Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is Russia's sovereign wealth fund established in 2011 to make equity co-investments, primarily in Russia, alongside reputable international financial and strategic investors. RDIF acts as a catalyst for direct investment in the Russian economy. RDIF's management company is based in Moscow. Currently, RDIF has experience of the successful joint implementation of more than 80 projects with foreign partners totaling more than RUB2 tn and covering 95% of the regions of the Russian Federation. RDIF portfolio companies employ more than 800,000 people and generate revenues which equate to more than 6% of Russia's GDP. RDIF has established joint strategic partnerships with leading international co-investors from more than 18 countries that total more than $40 bn. Further information can be found at rdif.ru Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1140939/Russian_Direct_Investment_Fund_Logo.jpg MILWAUKEE, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite the ongoing challenges of the past year, a recent study found that 85% of nonprofit organizations had an increase in volunteerism requests, more than double pre-pandemic levels. Northwestern Mutual's financial advisors have been no exception, as they continue to serve their communities where support is needed most. To spotlight these efforts, the company, through its Foundation, is awarding nearly $300,000 in grants to nonprofits nationwide as part of its 2021 Community Service Awards Program. Sixteen financial advisors are recognized each year through this program for going above and beyond through volunteer service. As part of the award, each winner receives a grant to benefit a local nonprofit they support. Twelve of this year's winners have been recognized with a $15,000 grant. Three of these winners also received an additional $5,000 grant for supporting organizations with a connection to the company's Childhood Cancer Program. The four Most Exceptional winners each received a $25,000 grant for their organizations. "No matter the odds, our advisors have remained committed to helping others," said Eric Christophersen, president, Northwestern Mutual Foundation. "Their spirit and dedication is an inspiration and we're proud to recognize the meaningful change they've accomplished." Since 1995, the Northwestern Mutual Foundation has donated more than $6.3 million through its Community Service Awards program. This year's winners were recently announced at the company's virtual regional meeting. 2021 Northwestern Mutual Community Service Award Winners Most Exceptional Winners ($25,000 grant) Name Organization Office Location Kevin Bode Knead Community Cafe New Kensington, PA Nate Fikse, CLU, CLF, ChFC LEAD OC Castle Rock, CO Daniel Jenkins, CLU, AEP Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA Sean Pickett, CLU Near West Little League Chicago, IL Outstanding Winners ($20,000 grant)* Luke Madsen, CLU, CFP The Goodtimes Project Seattle, WA Keith O. Moeller, CPA, CFP, RICP, MBA Crescent Cove Minnetonka, MN Mark Wise, CLU, ChFC, CASL, AEP, RICP, CFP Peyton Manning Children's Hospital at Ascension St. Vincent Indianapolis, IN Outstanding Winners ($15,000 grant) Thomas Albrecht P.C.U.P.S. Foundation Mt. Pleasant, MI Dana M. DiNigro CNY Quest New Hartford, NY Carrie Eisenmenger United Way of Champaign County Champaign, IL Matthew Krueger, CLU NAMI Rock County Janesville, WI Bette Lubas Foodstock NJ Wall Township, NJ William Newman, CFP, CLU, ChFC, CASL Girls Inc. of the Greater Capital Region Albany, NY Thomas Patnode United Heroes League Mendota Heights, MN Edward "Ted" Shanahan, RICP Homestretch Reston, VA Robert Spencer, CFA, CFP, RICP Kate's Club Atlanta, GA *Received additional $5,000 grant for connection to the company's Childhood Cancer Program. About Northwestern Mutual Foundation The mission of the Northwestern Mutual Foundation is to improve the lives of children and families in need. The Foundation has given more than $400 million since its inception in 1992 and is designed to create lasting impact in the communities where the company's employees and financial representatives live and work. We accomplish this by combining financial support, volunteerism, thought leadership and convening community partners to deliver the best outcomes. Our efforts are focused nationally on curing childhood cancer, and locally on education, neighborhoods and making our hometown of Milwaukee a great destination. Visit Northwestern Mutual Foundation to learn more. About Northwestern Mutual Northwestern Mutual has been helping people and businesses achieve financial security for more than 160 years. Through a holistic planning approach, Northwestern Mutual combines the expertise of its financial professionals with a personalized digital experience and industry-leading products to help its clients plan for what's most important. With $308.8 billion in total assets, $31.1 billion in revenues, and $2 trillion worth of life insurance protection in force, Northwestern Mutual delivers financial security to more than 4.75 million people with life, disability income and long-term care insurance, annuities, and brokerage and advisory services. The company manages more than $200 billion of investments owned by its clients and held or managed through its wealth management and investment services businesses. Northwestern Mutual ranks 102 on the 2020 FORTUNE 500 and is recognized by FORTUNE as one of the "World's Most Admired" life insurance companies in 2021. Northwestern Mutual is the marketing name for The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company (NM), Milwaukee, WI (life and disability insurance, annuities, and life insurance with long-term care benefits) and its subsidiaries. Subsidiaries include Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC (NMIS) (securities), broker-dealer, registered investment adviser, member FINRA and SIPC; the Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company (NMWMC) (fiduciary and fee-based financial planning services), federal savings bank; and Northwestern Long Term Care Insurance Company (NLTC) (long-term care insurance). SOURCE Northwestern Mutual Related Links https://www.northwesternmutual.com Leadership in all realms especially in the political one demands specific traits in which leading by example ranks the most vital. Political leaders determine the course of their followers lives. Worthier ones rally their people to reach a better place, and they accomplish this by following certain attributes that turn ordinary politicians into deserving leaders. In the process, they are transformed into long-standing historical figures whose image survives the years. These attributes are all very salient: vision and purpose; confidence; integrity; respect; courage; humaneness; ability to influence, to inspire, and to delegate; and many others. Political leaders also keep their word; when they say they will accomplish something, they fulfill their promises. They also act with consistency and take responsibility for their actions and words. Since they are responsible for implementing strategies and policies meant to better serve the interests of the country they govern, the onus is on them to lead their countries to advancement, and they are often recognized for how they govern during times of crisis and how they handle emergencies distinguishably. And leaders are skilful speakers who possess the charisma that captures the attention of listeners and inspires devotion in them. Besides, their image must remain impeccably flawless. Unfortunately, when these essential traits are not upheld and fall by the wayside, citizens switch off their leaders. They become indifferent and lack regard towards the leader and their country in general. Even worse is when citizens follow a failed leaders approach; then, the country is in deep trouble. But most importantly, leaders lead by example, and this is the core of todays discussion. The renowned leaders dont lead by only telling others what to do, but by showing them how to do it, by being idyllic examples themselves. A leader sets the tone and framework of how those he leads will function, so when he does well, others will pursue his approach, but when he does poorly, others will imitate his drawbacks. Both models, the exemplary and the unworthy, set the way for followers. To put it succinctly, leaders embolden and empower followers to act in a certain way. Mahatma Gandhis most honorable trait was his ability to practice what he preached, and, hence, lead by example. He wore the clothes of the poorest Indians and was a minimalist, owning very few possessions. This symbolized the masses he was hoping to represent. Despite what Nelson Mandela went through, serving 27 year of imprisonment, he never reacted to racism with racism. Quite the contrary, when he became president, he served as president of the whole nation. It took a leader like Nelson Mandela to play a significant role in turning South Africa around, abolishing apartheid, and leading the country towards multiculturalism. Quite the antithesis is seen in ex-President Trumps approach, and, consequently, his followers. Trump was reluctant to wear a mask during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many Americans followed his lead maybe causing the US to be worse hit than other countries. When he didnt respect minorities or even distinguished figures, Americans lashed out in an identical fashion. In fact, his remarks incited his followers to pursue the same tone; Lock her up, was parroted after Trump decried ill of Hilary Clinton. After he attacked Ilhan Omar, a congresswoman who has been a US citizen for 30 years, the crowds chanted Send her back, send her back. And finally, refusing to concede, President Trump, during a rally, implied his supporters storm Capitol Hill, and they did. Now lets focus on some noteworthy traits in a certain exceptional leader. When a leader places his country above all else and vouches to obliterate anyone who goes against it, he enhances peoples love towards their land. Consequently, they become more appreciative of their country and are concerned with its wellbeing. When a leader is empathetic towards his people, he empowers them to become empathetic, too. When a leader donates half his salary and half his personal assets and inheritance to assist in building his country, he encourages officials, businessmen, and regular citizens to do the same. Hundreds of projects have been completed by donations. When a leader speaks softly, he gets others to speak in a similar fashion, as the trait is, hopefully, passed on to them. When he avoids name calling, foul language, and obscenities, it becomes the norm to speak in those terms. Had he shrieked out or bellowed insults, chances are he would have encouraged others to do the same. When a leader acknowledges and then bestows honours on doers and martyrs, alike, others realize that it is indeed an honour to serve, and die, for ones country. When the cast of a series such as The Choice, or El Ekhtiar, are recognized, other performers excel in repeating a similar series at par with the first one. After a long awaited acknowledgement, over sixty years to be exact, Ex-President Mohamed Naguib had a military base named after him posthumously in Alexandria. Schools across the country are renamed after martyrs who lost their lives defending their country. A dredger gets to be named after ex-Chair of the Suez Canal Authority, Mohab Mamish. It is indeed an honour, but when the leader retreats and asks Mamish to raise the flag over the dredger himself, it is an act of humbleness that deserves note. When a leader exerts monumental effort to create better standards for his people, others take it upon themselves to act in a similar fashion. They, too, exert their best effort; they aspire for a higher level of efficiency and strive for perfection. When a leader pursues the highest standards and encourages those he leads to do the same, they perform outstanding work. Both the Golden Parade of the Egyptian Kings and Queens and the refloating of the Ever Given mirror these standards that have become the expected norm. Without doubt Egypt has a leader of exceptional calibre, one who leads by example. A medical worker prepares a shot of COVID-19 vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccination station in Macao, south China, Feb. 22, 2021. The Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Monday started inoculating local residents who are not in prioritized groups with COVID-19 vaccines produced by the mainland. As of Monday, about 15,000 residents in Macao had made reservations for inoculation and over 3,000 in prioritized groups had completed the inoculation, according to the center. (Xinhua/Cheong Kam Ka) MACAO, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Monday started inoculating local residents who are not in prioritized groups with COVID-19 vaccines produced by the mainland. Around 2,600 residents made reservations for inoculation on the first day at 12 medical facilities, which can offer services to 5,000 people in total on a daily basis, according to the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center of Macao. As of Monday, about 15,000 residents in Macao had made reservations for inoculation and over 3,000 in prioritized groups had completed the inoculation, according to the center. The first batch of mainland-made inactivated vaccines arrived in Macao on Feb. 6. Inoculation officially started on Feb. 9, with Macao SAR Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng being the first one to be vaccinated. Priority was given to certain groups of people, including those engaged in front-line work for epidemic control and those who are at high risk in terms of occupational exposure. As of Monday, no locally-transmitted COVID-19 cases had been reported in Macao for nearly 11 months. A total of 48 confirmed cases had been reported. A teenage boy landed himself in the school principal's office after he cooked a swastika Christmas biscuit and posted it on social media. The 13-year-old shared a photo of the dessert he baked over the holiday period to his Instagram story with the hashtags 'Hitler', 'myfavouritecookie' and 'Christmas cookies'. Anti-Defamation Commission Chairman Dvir Abramovich alerted the school in Berwick, Melbourne's south-east, to the teenager's social media post. The Year 8 student was then taken into a meeting with the principal and his parents were called into the school later that day. The boy's parents were appalled by his actions and forced him to deactivate all of his social media. The 13-year-old shared a photo of the dessert he baked over the holiday period to his Instagram story with the hashtags 'Hitler', 'myfavouritecookie' and 'Christmas cookies' The teenager was reportedly 'contrite' after his online behaviour was addressed. Dr Abramovich also took part in a meeting with the school principal, deputy principal and a representative from the department of education. The school has now implemented after-school 'education sessions' for the next few weeks. The student will be required to produce a detailed project on the Holocaust, anti-Semitism and write reflections. The school's principal has also indicated they will welcome Click Against Hate, the ADC's anti-racism program. The school has not been named to protect the identity of the student. Dr Abramovich commended the school for how they handled the incident. 'This is a case study on how a school should respond to incidents of antisemitism. No turning a blind eye,' he said in a statement. 'No dismissing of such ugliness as ''kids being kids''. No empty rhetoric about how this happened outside school hours, so it is outside our circle of responsibility. 'Rather, what we saw here is swift and decisive action, which included disciplinary measures and the parents' involvement so as to back up the zero tolerance to racism that the school has assured me they are committed to. 'We all have a role to play in pushing back and addressing the escalation of religious and racial hate in our schools.' YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 23, ARMENPRESS. The consequences of Azerbaijans use of force against Artsakh and occupation of some of the territories of Artsakh cannot be considered a settlement to the conflict: only the political negotiated settlement, which will respect all rights and will determine the final status of Artsakh, can be considered as the final point of the conflict, Foreign Minister of Armenia Ara Aivazian said at the session of the parliamentary standing committee on regional and Eurasian integration affairs. The minister stated that after the 44-day war rearrangements of both regional and major role-players are taking place in the South Caucasus, however, he added, that its still early to assess the ongoing developments and challenges. Nevertheless, we can record that Russia played a key role in observing ceasefire, ensuring security in the region and solving the current humanitarian problems. Turkeys ambitions in the regional process have also increased openly, he said. The FM noted that ensuring the comprehensive security of the Armenian people in the region has been and remains the key direction of Armenias foreign policy. The fact that the Karabakh conflict has not been solved remains one of the major regional challenges. The consequences of the use of force by Azerbaijan with the support and direct participation of Turkey against Artsakh, the occupation of some of the territories of Artsakh cannot be considered a settlement of the conflict. Only the political negotiated settlement, which will respect all rights and will determine the final status of Artsakh, can be considered the final point of the conflict, the minister said. FM Aivazian reiterated that the Armenian side is committed to the resumption of the settlement process, however, he stated that first of all an environment contributing to peace is needed, but its preconditions are still not seen by the Azerbaijani side. The evidence of this is the non-fulfillment of the humanitarian point of the November 9 trilateral statement by Azerbaijan. At the same time our position remains unchanged the Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship is the only internationally recognized format for the Karabakh conflict settlement, and we will continue supporting this format. We are expecting to see strong chairmanship in the region which first of all will be able to ensure the content of its mandate, in particular the promotion of the peace process, the Armenian FM said. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan A former MassHealth employee reportedly compared enforcement of mask requirements to Nazi Germany and anyone who had a problem with he comments should report me. Someone did and she no longer has a job. Denise Foley, 60, is no longer MassHeaths director of internal and external training and communication following a series of comments in a private Milton Facebook group, according to the Boston Herald. The newspaper reported the comments started on Dec. 3 when within the group of about 12,000 members, a discussion began about a mailer neighbors received about turning in neighbors who arent wearing masks. Foley, the report said, responded to the post, Sounds like what the Nazis did in Germany. The report said Foley followed up the comment with another that said, How dare anyone try to take away my rights! I have the right NOT to wear a mask if I dont want to. I have the right to gather with friends and family if I want to. If thats a problem for you or anyone else, report me! The report said Foley included her place of employment on her Facebook page making it fairly easy to identify where she worked for anyone who wanted to identify her. Foley was placed on paid administrative leave on Dec. 21, and fired on Jan. 27, the newspaper said. As a result of her termination, Foley told the newspaper that her first amendment rights were trampled on and she plans to file a lawsuit against the state. Related Content: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi asserted the need to observe infrastructure sustainability criteria in new city projects nationwide to meet any future needs once new cities become operational. During a meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli and Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities Assem El Gazzar on Tuesday, Sisi also underlined the importance of completing all housing projects as scheduled as per the best quality standards, while paying special attention to inter-city roads, services and landscaping activities. Sisi also instructed that all the road networks connecting the New Administrative Capital with its surroundings be as wide as possible to accommodate expected traffic volume. The meeting tackled the implementation status of the ministry's ongoing projects, especially the new cities under construction nationwide, Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement. Meanwhile, Gazzar posted the president on the construction progress of the New Mansoura City, Rasheed New City, New Aswan City and New Alamein City projects. He also outlined the progress made in the construction work in the new capital, including residential buildings, the government district and an iconic tower in the central business district, the spokesman added. In a related context, Sisi ordered that all the data relevant to a major rural development project be verified at the hand of specialized teams of academics and statisticians and planning experts to gain an accurate and comprehensive perspective on the situation on the ground in the targeted villages. Short link: Send only violent criminals to jail Cities and the state should help pay to house inmates Get defendants to trial faster Vote View Results Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 20:53:38|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LUANSHYA, Zambia, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese entrepreneur has donated school requisites to 50 vulnerable school-going pupils in Zambia who passed their 2020 grade seven examinations to mitigate the challenges of COVID-19 faced by people in the community. The Chinese nationality donated 200 exercise books and 50 uniforms to vulnerable pupils who passed to grade eight in various schools. Making the donations on Monday at Masaiti welfare center in Copperbelt Province, Wang Li was touched to help the children because their parents could not afford to buy them their school requirements following the challenges of COVID-19. "I felt moved because these children come from poor families and the children have done well but their parents have no money to sponsor them," he said. From Shandong Province in China, Wang, 46, who deals in agro-business and came to Zambia in 2009, said education is key to national development, adding that this is the reason why it is important that the education sector should be heavily supported by all stakeholders. And one of the parents to one of the children who received the donation, Getrude Mpundu, commended the Chinese entrepreneur for helping the children with school requisites. On education, Mpundu said that cannot be left to the government alone but that every one, especially those doing business, should come on board and help support the underprivileged pay for their education. "This is a good gesture, we are very thankful for this Chinese entrepreneur, he is paying back to the community for supporting his business," she said. She urged other local businessmen in the area to emulate the Chinese for the good gesture to support the learners. Meanwhile, the Supreme Council of African Youths Organization also commended the initiative by Wang to help youths with school requisites. "These are people we want in our society who can think of our sufferings, during this time when we are faced with COVID-19," said Gerald Mwewa, secretary to the organization. Enditem The 'Aap Ke Dwar Ayushman' initiative is focused on generating large-scale awareness about the scheme and its benefits National Health Authority (NHA), Government of India, in collaboration with the Government of Bihar has launched Aap Ke Dwar Ayushman campaign to drive awareness about Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) across Bihar. The campaign was rolled out from February 17 and will continue till March 3. The 'Aap Ke Dwar Ayushman' initiative is focused on generating large-scale awareness about the scheme and its benefits, accelerating the Ayushman card generation, and increasing utilisation in the states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh which account for over 30 per cent of the eligible beneficiaries under the scheme. Starting with Bihar where 1.09 crore families (or more than 5.56 crore citizens) are eligible for benefits under AB PM-JAY, various ground-level activities are being carried out across all the 38 districts of the state. Dr Ram Sewak Sharma, CEO, National Health Authority said, This campaign or Ayushman Bharat Pakhwara has been launched in Bihar. After the experience of these States, this outreach and communication strategy will be executed in the other states. Thousands of functionaries at state, district, block, and village levels will be carrying out this initiative. Over 6,500 Panchayati Raj Institution Executive Assistants (PREAs) will be engaged to conduct the fortnight-long special beneficiary awareness camps across all the 8,686 Gram Panchayats covering more than 45,000 villages spread in 38 districts of Bihar. Kaushal Kishore, CEO, Bihar Swasthya Suraksha Samiti, (State Health Agency) said, The proposed initiative of 'Aapke Dwar Ayushman' is focused on improving awareness about the scheme, accelerating improvement in the e-card being issued, and improving utilisation of the scheme in Bihar. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 20:06:24|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close The enforcement personnel participating in the 88th Mekong River joint patrol are seen at Guanlei Port in southwest China's Yunnan Province, Nov. 19, 2019. (Xinhua/Wu Han) KUNMING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Law-enforcement authorities from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand joined forces Tuesday for the 102nd Mekong River joint patrol. Three Chinese vessels departed from Jingha Port, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China's Yunnan Province for the patrol. Before the patrol, the four countries' law-enforcement authorities held a video conference to discuss the river's security situation. The Mekong River, known as the Lancang River in China, is a vital waterway for cross-border shipping. SITEKI Drama unfolded on Saturday at Malindza Umphakatsi when some children of the late Senator and businessman, Robert Zwane, are alleged to have almost exchanged blows following a heated argument that erupted during a meeting. A source close to the matter claimed that the children had been summoned by the chiefdom on matters related to their household. The source alleged that some of the late businessmans children had ganged up with their siblings who were born outside of wedlock. The argument started after one of the children asked what the others, who were born out of wedlock, were doing as the matter was for the Zwane family members from wives who were recognised by the household. They started exchanging heated words, threatening to manhandle each other and that is when one of the late senators sisters called police to intervene, alleged the source. Information Further information relating to the incident could not be established and verified as none of the parties concerned wanted to comment on it. Police were called and their arrival stopped what could have been a nasty situation, alleged the source. Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni, confirmed the matter. We have a reported case of children of Robert Zwane with the police that happened over the weekend, she briefly said. Malindza Chiefdom leader, Chief Ndlondlo Tsabedze, who is also Siteki Eswatini National Court President, confirmed knowledge of the matter, although mentioning that it had not yet been officially reported to him. I heard that there was an argument between the Zwane children. But they were attended to by indvuna. I have not yet been officially informed about the matter, Tsabedze said. The chiefdoms traditional Headman, Cijwa Dlamini, said he met the children on Saturday as they had been summoned on matters that needed the attention of the family. They had come for matters that were within the jurisdiction of the chiefdom and to also thank the chief for his kind gesture he showed during their fathers burial. The Zwane family has been told to bring a report on the matters discussed before the end of the week. There was an argument that erupted as it happens in many families, Dlamini said. Comment The late Zwanes senior son, Juluka, asked not to comment on the matter as he was not authorised to do so. Let me not comment about what happened as I am not authorised to do so, he briefly said. When a mobile phone number of one of the wives was sought, Juluka said she had no mobile phone and abruptly ended the conversation. The late former senators elder brother, Mkhuluza, Zwane, said he did not attend the meeting. I did not attend that meeting and wasnt part of it. I was also not informed about it because I had told them that we cannot go to the umphakatsi because we havent finished what we were assigned to do as a family. I dont know about the fight, he briefly said. Meanwhile, the former senator was buried last year in September after a memorial service which was held at the Metropolitan Church at Fairview North in Manzini. A month after his burial, this publication reported a family dispute among his children for his estate, in which police also intervened to calm the situation. In a similar case that happened recently, children of the Siteki Town Ward Two Councilor, Mvila Dlamini, were also embroiled in an estate dispute after his demise in January this year. For Subscribers Why South Dakota county officials are shirking state-given water rights Grant County could be the thirteenth county to repeal their drainage ordinance in the past decade. Premier Brian Pallister took aim at the opposition during a Monday afternoon media availability, chiding the Manitoba NDP after one of the partys MLAs was found to have violated the Legislative Assemblys respectful workplace policy last week. Advertisement Advertise With Us Premier Brian Pallister took aim at the opposition during a Monday afternoon media availability, chiding the Manitoba NDP after one of the partys MLAs was found to have violated the Legislative Assemblys respectful workplace policy last week. Adrian Sala, the NDPs MLA for St. James, had a complaint filed against him last December by former Treasury Board secretary and current assistant deputy minister Paul Beauregard. Brian Pallister The MLA had alleged Beauregard had improperly advised Manitoba Hydro on several business decisions, including one to give Beauregards former employer, Bell MTS, a $37-million contract extension to manage networking services at provincial government offices. Last Friday, a private public relations company working on Beauregards behalf told media outlets that Sala had been found to have violated the provinces respectful workplace policy in an arms-length investigation. The letter describing how Sala violated the rules has not been released to the public. "For the past six months, a Manitoba public servant named Paul Beauregard has been the subject of repeated bullying and harassment actions through false allegations made against him of conflict of interest by an NDP member of our legislature," Pallister said Monday. "In this, he has been aided and abetted by the Leader of the Opposition." According to the premier, Sala was found to have violated the workplace policy "on a repeated basis." He added later that in the case of the networking services contract, the province decided it was best to extend it instead of testing the market due to the instability provided by COVID-19. Beauregards emails saying Manitoba Hydro wouldnt put in a bid were merely him conveying cabinets messaging on the matter, said Pallister. Pallister said that he and his government would personally defend civil servants from any instance of harassment and bullying. Then, he criticized the NDPs response to the investigation, saying that the party is trying to politicize a non-partisan code of conduct. "Mr. Kinew appears to want a structure that would put NDP MLAs somehow in a separate class above the rule," said the premier. As he did last week, NDP Leader Wab Kinew stated in an email his belief that Beauregards complaint was intended to distract the public from issues surrounding Manitoba Hydro. "The premier, through his abuse of an important process, is desperately trying to distract from his governments ongoing interference in Manitoba Hydro," Kinew stated. "We know this government interfered to raise rates, sell off a profitable subsidiary and close down another piece of Hydro. Our team is proud of our fellow caucus member for standing up for Manitoba Hydro, and we refuse to be silenced by the premiers repeated attacks. We will always fight for a public Manitoba Hydro and affordable rates for families." Asked about the NDPs allegation that Beauregards complaint was directed by him to prevent his government from being asked tough questions, Pallister called it false and an attempt to discredit the attempt to create a safer workplace. Last Thursday, Pallister provided more details on Manitobas deal to purchase doses of a made-in-Canada vaccine from Alberta-based biotech company Providence Technologies and said that all the premiers and the prime minister would have a call to discuss the project on Friday. However, Pallister had little to say about the results of that meeting on Monday. He reiterated why he thinks the Providence deal is a good idea while acknowledging that the federal government has made a small investment in the company already. "The response is, as I would anticipate, very optimistic and I think very supportive," he said. "Most of the premiers and their senior officials are involved in an inter-provincial, Ill call it a task force, to investigate the possibilities of moving further on this." The premier did not address how many provinces were seriously interested in joining Manitobas vaccine plan, instead, he said that other provinces and the federal government are interested in investigating how the country can improve its vaccine research, development and distribution for either a future pandemic to create booster vaccines for COVID-19. While specifics werent forthcoming, the premier said that the province is open to creating more COVID-19 support programs and that consultations with business officials are ongoing to create a new recovery support. cslark@brandonsun.com, with files from the Winnipeg Free Press Twitter: @ColinSlark Dr. Alejandro Badia Augmented reality can help surgeons return patients to quality of life and even save lives -- by ensuring safer, more accurate care, with less pain and discomfort. Is Pokemon coming to a health care clinic near you? Quite possibly, according to orthopedic surgeon Alejandro Badia MD, who has introduced a gaming-like system to his own practice. He says the new technology called augmented reality -- is rapidly growing in popularity among physicians and proving especially beneficial to orthopedic patients, enhancing the safety and accuracy of joint procedures. Dr. Badia is using his system the McGinley Augmented Reality device -- with ultrasound to inject biologics and other healing materials into patients painful joints, reducing the time needed to complete the procedure and minimizing any patient discomfort. Through a special pair of goggles worn by the surgeon, the technology literally projects the ultrasound monitor image onto the joint area undergoing treatment. I no longer have to keep turning my head, looking at the patients diseased joint, then at the ultrasound monitor, and then back to the patient to properly position the injection needle, says Dr. Badia, founder and medical director of the Miami-based Badia Hand to Shoulder Center and OrthoNOW. The system allows me to maintain my gaze at the point of treatment, while viewing the ultrasound image of the inside of the patients joint right in front of me as I work. The goggles do not at all impede my sight lines. Meanwhile, procedure time is reduced, accuracy is ensured, and the patient ultimately benefits, he states. Although augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality share certain technical components, the technologies are different. Instead of taking a viewer to a different or virtual -- world, AR helps the surgeon literally see Pokemon by pairing specialized computer software with smart glasses to superimpose digital information in the form of images onto a real environment, namely the patients body. The technology can be activated through a PC computer or by simply opening an app on an iPad or mobile phone, Dr. Badia explains. Experts indicate AR systems are becoming all the rage in medicine, because the technology provides crucial information during performance of procedures or operations without requiring the surgeon to repeatedly turn away from the patient to check a monitor or computer screen. In an article published in a December 2019 issue of the Bone & Joint Journal, authors conclude that their review of past studies shows AR oftentimes results in better outcomescompared to traditional techniques. Other scientists, writing in a 2020 edition of BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, state that, unlike robotics which enhances a surgeons mechanical preciseness, AR increases the ability of the surgeon by intuitive augmentation of medical information. An abstract published online in 2018 as part of a book series, Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, indicates that AR techniques also can improve hand-eye coordination by providing [ortho] surgeons with the merged surgical scene, enabling them to perform procedures more easily. In fact, 3-D visualization and AR navigational technology already have been applied successfully during spine surgery, the authors state. The capabilities of AR are immense and growing, says Dr. Badia, who specializes in treating musculoskeletal disorders of the upper limb. He cites a July 2020 abstract in which researchers describe use of AR to ensure correct positioning of the glenoid cavity on the lateral angle of the scapula -- during shoulder joint repair, specifically reverse shoulder arthroplasty. Wyoming radiologist Joseph McGinley MD, the radiologist who worked with students in marrying AR to ultrasound and whose device Dr. Badia now uses, reports employing the technology effectively in treating carpal tunnel syndrome. AR has potential applications for any number of surgical and minimally invasive endoscopic procedures, Dr. Badia states. He is planning to expand his own use of AR by combining it with fluoroscopy. Fluoroscopy employs X-rays to create real-time video or images for immediate physician review and interpretation during procedures for repairing bone fractures, treating base-of-thumb disorders, realigning bones, even measuring bone density. Augmented reality also may be useful in conjunction with CT scanning and magnetic resonance imaging for a variety of musculoskeletal interventions involving both bone and soft tissues, he indicates. High-tech experts contend that use of specially designed AR headsets in operating rooms and outpatient settings could prove effective in collecting real-time video data and then sending the information for immediate analysis to a computer, with the intent of providing the surgeon important recommendations and precautions and tracking patient response during an actual procedure. We have only scratched the surface in terms of understanding the potential of this new technology, Dr. Badia. Augmented reality can help surgeons return patients to quality of life and even save lives -- by ensuring safer, more accurate care, with less pain and discomfort. Its not just for gamers anymore. Bio: Alejandro Badia, MD, FACS, is an internationally renowned hand and upper-limb surgeon and founder of Badia Hand to Shoulder Center and OrthoNOW, a network of walk-in orthopedic centers. Dr. Badia is the author of Healthcare from the Trenches. http://www.drbadia.com http://www.orthonowcare.com A giant spider has been spotted rudely interrupting a pair of flies having sex. The two flies were seen clinging to each other in Bendigo, Victoria, when their intimate moment was ruined by a spider, who dragged them up a wall by its pincers. A photo of the terrifying encounter was shared to a Facebook page last Tuesday captioned, 'two flies having sex, then bang'. A spider interrupted a pair of flies having sex before dragging them up a wall in Adelaide, South Australia (pictured) The two flies remained motionless as the spider dragged them up a wall last Tuesday (pictured) Australian homes have been overrun by the creepy crawlies due to the end of the summer breeding season. The large, long-legged spiders known for their speed have appeared in droves this season as cities across the country cop a plague of arachnids. The sightings, which have been shared widely on social media, bring little comfort for those with arachnophobia. Recently, a video shocked viewers when a red-browed finch was found hanging upside down from the sticky spider's web in a backyard in Johns River, in New South Wales. The footage showed the bird wrapped in the spider's web and hanging from its tail. The ILO report comes days after Britain's Supreme Court ruled that drivers for US ride-hailing app Uber are entitled to rights such as a minimum wage and paid vacation The United Nations called Tuesday for urgent international regulations ensuring fair conditions for workers paid via digital platforms such as food delivery appsa form of employment that has rocketed during the pandemic. The number of online platforms offering work has grown five-fold over the last decade, according to a report released by the International Labour Organization (ILO), a UN agency. They range from taxi-booking apps to services connecting customers with a plumber or a freelance website developer. And the shift to finding work via such platforms has accelerated during the pandemic, due to soaring job losses and increasing demand for home deliveries in countries where restaurants and retail have been shut. "Since the COVID19 outbreak, the labour supply on platforms has increased significantly," the ILO said. The increased competition was in some cases forcing workers to accept less money per job than before, it added. And some sectors heavily reliant on online platforms, such as ride-hailing, have seen a drop in business, causing difficulties for drivers not receiving a regular salary. A survey of taxi drivers in Chile, India, Kenya and Mexico found that nine out of 10 had lost earnings due to COVID, some having to take out loans or defer bill payments to get by. "Seven out of 10 workers indicated not being able to take paid sick leave, or to receive compensation, in the event they were to test positive for the virus," the report said. More opportunities for women The report also highlighted some of the upsides of the rise of digital labour platforms, for companies and workers alike. The shift has given businesses access to a large flexible workforce with varied skills, while providing new opportunities for some demographics including women, people with disabilities and the young, it said. These workers however have only limited protections because they are beholden to the platforms' terms of service agreementswhich are often unilaterally determined. Workers employed via digital platforms frequently faced limits on access to their basic labour rights, ILO director-general Guy Ryder told journalists. That included "the right to organise, freedom of association, and the right to bargain collectively", he added. Working hours can often be long and unpredictable, while workers sometimes have to pay a commission to work for a platform, the report noted. And part of those working hours go unpaid, said ILO economist Uma Rani Amarasuch as the time spent driving around looking for a customer on a ride-hailing app. Worldwide, the average hourly income for people working via digital labour platforms is no more than $3.40 per hour, according surveys of some 12,000 workers and 85 businesses included in the report. Half of online workers earn less than $2.10 per hour, it added. Common solutions 'crucial' In recent years, pressure has been growing on online giants to better protect the workers who rely on them to make a living in precarious conditions. Last week, Britain's Supreme Court ruled that drivers for US ride-hailing app Uber are entitled to rights such as a minimum wage and paid vacationa judgement with huge implications for the so-called "gig economy". The ILO called for international cooperation to regulate digital labour platforms. National solutions were not enough because the companies operate in multiple jurisdictions, it argued. "The only way to effectively protect workers and businesses is a coherent and coordinated international effort," Ryder said. "Universal labour standards are, and must be, applicable to everybody," he added, describing common regulation as "crucial". Digital labour platforms globally generated revenue of at least $52 billion in 2019, the report said. But the costs and benefits were not evenly distributed around the world. About 96 percent of the investment in such platforms is concentrated in Asia ($56 billion), North America ($46 billion) and Europe ($12 billion). And just over 70 percent of the revenues generated were concentrated in just two countries: the United States (49 percent) and China (22 percent). Europe combined accounted for 11 percent. Explore further World lost equivalent of 255 mn jobs in 2020: UN 2021 AFP Dean of the School of Performing Arts at the University of Ghana, Professor Kofi Agyekum, popularly known as Opanyin Agyekum has called on government to begin public education on the COVID-19 vaccines. Ghana will receive her first batch of vaccines starting on Monday, March 1, 2021. Information Minister-designate, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah disclosed this during Conference and Donor Presentation for the Sustainable Development of Yendi Municipal Hospital on Sunday. According to Ghanas Program Manager for the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI), Kwame Amponsa-Akyianu, 20 million persons have been estimated to receive the vaccines from the first week of March. Our vision as a country is to vaccinate the entire population. We are expecting a total of 350,000 COVID-19 vaccines to arrive in the country by Feb. 22 to pave way for the vaccination in the first week of March. The exercise will continue till October this year, he stated. As government prepares for the vaccines, Opanyin Agyekum is calling for an enhanced education of Ghanaians to dispel all controversies and rumors surrounding the vaccines. ''Government must enhance education on the COVID-19 vaccine because people have started peddling rumors...We plead with the churches, Islam, the information service as well as the media must assist in the education'', he said. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Parliament has passed a bill on extending the special legal order in connection with measures to protect the country against the coronavirus pandemic. The law which authorises the government to extend related decrees by 90 days was passed with 133 votes in favour, 55 against and one abstention. Justice Minister Judit Varga, in her reasoning attached to the bill, said the approval by lawmakers was a political recognition of the governments efforts so far to stop the epidemic. Under the new law, interim elections or referendums cannot be held while the special legal order is in force. Votes thus postponed shall be scheduled within 15 days of the special legal orders termination. The new law also stipulates that the government should provide regular information about its pandemic-related measures to parliament, or to the house speaker and group leaders when the assembly is not in session. The law will take effect on the day of its publication for 90 days. MTI Photo: Zsolt Szigetvary This AI-enabled device can replicate manual policing to ensure the COVID-19 prevention norms are being followed Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal innovators have developed a low cost Crowd and Mask monitoring system, to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In an initiative to tackle the spread of COVID-19, Dr PB Sujit, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, IISER Bhopal along with Dr Mitradip Bhattacharjee and Dr Santanu Talukdar, Assistant Professors, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, IISER Bhopal and Dr Venkateshwar Rao, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, IISER Bhopal, and BSMS Student Kasi Viswanath developed this AI-enabled device that can replicate manual policing to ensure the COVID-19 prevention norms are being followed. Elaborating about this innovation, Dr Sujit said, We wanted a simple advisory system to warn students of breaching social distancing norms at selected locations To achieve the desired outcome, the innovators used the principles of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI-ML) in a high definition camera attached to a microchip computer and a 5V battery in a 3D printed case to monitor the movement of people in the campus. If the camera detects that the social distancing and mask norms were not being followed, the device starts alerting the crowd with a pre-recorded message. The innovators deployed the device at the campus in October 2020 and continuously improved it till it became stable with minimum false alarms. The innovators are planning to open source the complete system along with a how-to-use tutorial for the betterment of society in such disruptive times. Given opportunity, this device can be deployed at various crowded public places to ensure that the basic safety rules are not violated in this tough time of Covid-19 pandemic, feels the IISER Bhopal team. February 23, 2021 Biden Commits To Forever War On Afghanistan The forever war on Afghanistan will continue. The U.S. and its NATO proxy force have spent nearly 20 years and a trillion dollars to "do something" in Afghanistan. What that something was to be was never clear. There were attempts to impose some kind of enlightened model of governance on the Afghan people. But anyone with knowledge of that country knew that this would never work. Bribes were handed out left and right and Afghan warlords, many of whom hold government positions, enriched themselves by scamming the occupation forces. They naturally do not want that to end. There are also Afghans who do not want to live under the heel of corrupt warlords and ignorant occupation troops. They are called Taliban and get support from Pakistan and Arab countries which the U.S. calls 'allies'. The occupation forces tried to fight them but after nearly 20 years of wars the Taliban again rule over half of the country. Even while the warlords still have military support from the occupation forces their troops are losing in nearly every engagement. Militarily the war against the Taliban has long been lost. Even with the 100,000 'western' troops the Obama administration had sent there was no way to win it. President Donald Trump made efforts to end the useless war on Afghanistan. He negotiated with the Taliban to remove all 'western' forces by May 1. The agreement also commits the Taliban to not attacking those forces and to negotiate with the warlord government in Kabul on power sharing. They agreed to that after the U.S. promised that Taliban prisoners of war, held by the Afghan government, would be released. The Afghan government had and has of course no interest in losing power. At least not as long as still gets sponsored by 'western' money. It also did not want to let prisoners go as those would just turn around and again fight against it. A year ago the Trump administration threatened to withhold money should the Afghan government not follow the negotiated terms: Facing collapse of Afghan peace talks before they even start, the Trump administration has threatened to withhold up to $2 billion in aid unless President Ashraf Ghani and his main rival put aside their political differences and open negotiations with the Taliban. ... The threat was the sharpest sign yet that the Trump administration is distancing itself from its Afghan ally and moving closer to the Taliban. The longtime U.S. adversary has in effect become a wary partner as President Trump seeks to withdraw thousands of American troops before the November election and end Americas longest war. ... The Kabul government is heavily dependent on international assistance. U.S. aid was expected to total $4.3 billion this year, all but $500 million of which was earmarked for training and equipping the Afghan army. The threat worked as expected. But when it became clear that a new management would take over the White House the Afghan government again tried to stall the process. Today the talks resumed but they are unlikely to achieve any results: Peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government have resumed in the Qatari capital Doha after weeks of delays, escalating violence and a change in US diplomatic leadership as the Biden administration began. Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem tweeted on Monday night the resumption of the talks, which were the outcome of an agreement between the Afghan armed group and the US in February 2020. But the administration of President Joe Biden is reviewing the agreement, which was aimed at ending the longest war the US has fought. ... When talks ended abruptly in January, days after they began, both sides submitted their wish lists for agendas which they now have to sift through to agree on negotiation items and the order in which they will be tackled. The priority for the Afghan government, Washington and NATO is a serious reduction in violence that can lead to a ceasefire, the Taliban have until now resisted any immediate ceasefire. Washington is reviewing the Doha peace agreement the previous Trump administration signed with the Taliban as consensus mounts in Washington that a delay of the withdrawal deadline is needed. The Taliban have resisted suggestions of even a brief extension. Without financial pressure there is no chance that the Afghan government and the Taliban will ever reach a power sharing deal. Even if there would be an agreement there is little chance that it will be upheld by all sides. The conflict would likely reignite and the Taliban would win. The obvious consequence should be to just follow Trump's plan and to leave as soon as possible. But Trump was bad and thus the Biden administration is discussing three options: If the US leaves in the next three months, its likely the Taliban will overrun the US-backed Afghan government and once again make life worse for millions of Afghans, especially women and children. Staying in Afghanistan just a little bit longer would likely delay that takeover, but would also expend any diplomatic capital the US has left with the Taliban and keep US troops in harms way. Finally, violating the terms of the agreement and remaining indefinitely will almost certainly lead the Taliban to restart its campaign, put on hold ahead of the May 1 deadline, to kill American service members in the country. Biden could follow Trump's agreement with the Taliban and order the troops home. He could sell that as a victory and a fulfillment of a campaign promise. But with the blob again in power that option had little chance to survive: The opinion editors at The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal may not agree on much, but they are both determined to oppose bringing forces out of Afghanistan as our war there approaches its 20th anniversary, raising the specter of withdrawing irresponsibly. Meanwhile conservative establishmentarians like Washington Post columnist Max Boot, and his cohort on the center-left side of the dial, David Ignatius, as well as Madeleine Albright, make common cause for keeping troops in Afghanistan as Bidens best option. Todays stay advocates, which include Republicans like Lindsey Graham making the media rounds, may all be coming from different plot points on the Washington political grid, but keeping the United States committed to a desultory, unwinnable conflict unites them. Their messages are circulated and amplified by social media and establishment friendlies, and among big cable news outlets. Thus, a consensus is born. The blob is usually fond of claims that "all options are on the table". Here it was keen to take one away: Multiple US officials told me in recent days that the administrations Afghanistan policy review is nearing its end, with one telling me they expect Biden to make a decision very soon. I dont know which way the president will go, said this official, who like others spoke with me on the condition of anonymity to talk freely about a sensitive national security deliberation. Another person familiar with the Afghanistan discussions told me its clear a full withdrawal by May 1 is off the table. This again demonstrates that the U.S. is no longer agreement capable. By staying longer than May 1 the Biden administration will breach an international agreement the previous administration had made. It is unlikely that the Taliban will agree to a prolonged stay of any troops from such an unreliable entity. They will rescind the ceasefire and the war will again enter a bloody phase: [F]ew think Biden will withdraw all US troops by May 1, which means he will be keeping US service members in the country with or without the Talibans approval. If he does it without their approval, that could lead the insurgents to attack and kill American personnel as they overtake major Afghan cities, perhaps even Kabul. At that point, withdrawing from Afghanistan would be harder, experts say, because the administration wont want to look like its running away from the fight. A return to a larger war, then, would likely ensue, leading to more death and woes for the millions of Afghans whove already suffered tremendously. Unfortunately the decision by the Biden administration was utterly predictable. The military-industrial complex will not allow a retreat from a profitable battlefield and Biden is way too weak to resist its pressure. Posted by b on February 23, 2021 at 17:19 UTC | Permalink Comments next page next page 2021-02-23 Maeci The Italian Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Luca Attanasio, and Carabiniere Vittorio Iacovacci have fallen victim to a level of violence that we can neither understand nor accept. A diplomat and a Carabiniere died together, in a distant country where they were working at the service of Italy. Yesterday, I did not express the deep sorrow of the Foreign Ministry and our most heartfelt sympathies to the families of the victims because we thought that it was a time to be left alone with our emotions, in silence. Today, instead, I wish to put pen to paper to praise Luca's example, which, so I sincerely hope, will not fade away in the years to come and may, instead, inspire young people who have made the same professional choice. He was a good and affectionate person, with the wonderful family that he loved above all else and who had accompanied him to Africa, despite the tender age of his three girls. But he was also a true diplomat, who looked on his "Career" with the enthusiasm of those who are conscious that we must all learn and seek to make our experiences without cutting any corners and by facing the challenges that a life in the diplomatic service pose at every step of the way in our professional and personal life. Luca Attanasio joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2003 coming from Lombardy, where his parents live and where he had graduated in Economics from Bocconi University. His choice was dictated by his desire to get involved and to get to know the world, while remaining firmly anchored to his country and proud to represent it to the best of his ability. At the Foreign Ministry he started by working in the Africa Office of the Development Cooperation Department, followed by active service abroad in many African countries, serving as Consul General in Morocco, in Casablanca, where he met Zakia, his wife. Then, he was appointed Deputy Ambassador in Abuja, Nigeria. And finally, since 2017, Ambassador in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Luca lived his profession based on the belief that he could actually help in building a better world, where loyalty and merit are placed at the service of non-negotiable values and principles, first and foremost the dignity of all human beings. He believed that Italy acting with the European Union and the United Nations had an important role to play in promoting development and peace. And to this he dedicated himself wholeheartedly, with humility but also with absolute commitment and preparation, working silently and composedly. Luca was a generous person, who wanted to do good. Today, on the Embassy's website, I saw again the video with which Ambassador Attanasio addressed the Italian community in Congo, on 2 June 2020, Italys Republic Day. A beautiful, simple video, in which he told his fellow citizens that "your Embassy" was at their disposal in this difficult pandemic. It was with this generous spirit, with this sense of pride in the State and the community that acknowledges in the Republic its guiding light, that yesterday Luca began his day's work, embarking on his last trip to a distant region of Congo. Many people are expressing their thoughts on the social media of the Foreign Ministry and many others have personally expressed their closeness and affection to me. They are all messages for Luca and represent the most beautiful testimony of what Luca has bequeathed to his family and to the Foreign Ministry. We are so proud of him. Goodbye Luca, colleague, friend and Ambassador of Italy For years, professional associations and regulatory boards lacked hard data that demonstrated the value of licensing amid state regulatory threats to licensure in highly technical professions. In 2020, the Alliance for Responsible Professional Licensing (ARPL) sought to fill that information gap by commissioning Oxford Economics to help people better understand the nuanced impacts of licensing on professions, as well as trade and vocational occupations. The study, published in the 2021 quantitative report Valuing Professional Licensing in the U.S., found that in fields that require advanced education, women and minorities benefit significantly from current licensing policies. In addition, a license narrows the gender wage gap by about one-third and the race-driven wage gap by about half, according to the study. A female engineer, for example, can expect higher wage returns from gaining a license than a male engineer. For lower-skilled workers, though, men see better licensing returns than women. Highly skilled minority workers, meanwhile, receive higher returns from licensing than high-skill nonminorities, the report says. The report shows that a distinction exists between professional and occupational licensing. Its findings suggest licensing is an important economic tool for professionals, said Alice Gambarin, a senior economist at Oxford Economics, which conducted the study for ARPL. These new findings reflect the distinctions between each profession and occupation. Licensing systems that support them should take those differences into consideration. In addition, the report also referenced a 2019 ARPL-commissioned national study by the Benenson Strategy Group (BSG) in which 75% of 952 registered voters said they supported licensing regulations for highly technical professions that have a direct effect on public health and safety. More than two-thirds of the voters said professional licensing should be required unless evidence shows that its elimination would not negatively affect public health and safety, and 76% said professional licensing makes consumers feel safer. Nonetheless, reasonable regulation and substantial equivalency requirements are endangered in states around the country. Legislators in 36 states have proposed about 130 licensing-related bills. Many would potentially reduce licensing requirements for highly technical professions and potentially put the public at risk from inadequate and improper practice, according to Marta Zaniewski, AICPA vice presidentState Regulatory & Legislative Affairs. Time and time again we have seen that an attempt at broad-brush policymaking doesnt work, but reasonable regulation and professional licensing does, said Zaniewski, who sees no sign of this issue going away. Occupational licensing will continue to be a hot issue, especially given workforce and budget challenges some states are facing. As a result, this issue will continue to be proposed and discussed in statehouses around the country for many years to come. Its a myth that theres a silver bullet for occupational licensing. The ARPL/Oxford Economics study now gives us substantial data from a reputable nonpartisan group stating that regulation and the need for licensing should be considered differently for occupations and professions, Zaniewski said. There need to be very clear distinctions between professions and occupations. The licensing systems already in place for CPAs, architects, and engineers reflect those differences, given the impact these professions have on the public. Although there is an assumed difference between what constitutes a profession or occupation, Zaniewski said there is now a concrete difference. We always knew education, exams, and experience played a key role, and now with this report we have the data to confirm those differences matter. Perfect storm Around six years ago, a perfect storm of events intensified states desire to assess occupational licensing in jurisdictions, according to Zaniewski. In 2015, the Obama administration issued a white paper that called on states to review unnecessary occupational licenses that limited worker mobility and reduced wages. That same year, the U.S. Supreme Court rendered a decision regarding an antitrust case in North Carolina that involved persons who performed teeth-whitening procedures on the public. Prior to this case making its way to the Supreme Court, the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners stopped the practice of teeth whitening by the group, given their interpretation of what constituted the practice of dentistry in North Carolina. As a result of the vague language in the final Supreme Court ruling, and with the majority of the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners primarily composed of dentists, the case was seen as a prime example of too many market participants regulating their own profession. The ruling created an opportunity for jurisdictions to closely examine the composition, functions, and responsibilities of state licensing boards and the role professions played in the decision-making functions of regulatory boards. Zaniewski said: 2015 was the catalyst of ongoing conversation regarding licensing and regulation as various interest and political groups began engaging and lobbying on this issue. Legislative writing and policymaking should be a nuanced and collaborative process. Instead what we have seen, and keep seeing, is legislation that is usually written in a vacuum that applies broad-brush policies that dont take into account existing models for responsible licensing and regulation. Occupational licensing continued to be a bipartisan issue with the Trump administration taking office in 2017. The push for deregulation continued with the former administration asking governors to reform licensing and regulations models in their jurisdictions. As the pandemic continues, and licensing issues keep getting prioritized on legislative agendas, the AICPA is monitoring occupational licensing bills to ensure they do not harm the profession and the public. The current situation worries us because public engagement may be limited due to COVID-19, Zaniewski said. There may be instances where the profession is in a position where we may not have the dedicated space and time to educate legislators on the importance of the CPA license. Furthermore, executive branch officials accustomed to issuing sweeping pandemic executive orders may be testing waters regarding their executive powers. There is tension in states between legislative and the executive branches of government, given the number of executive orders issued as a result of the pandemic. We are keeping an eye on how this type of political tension may play out on issues in various jurisdictions, Zaniewski said. As the 2021 state legislative sessions move along, Zaniewski recommends continued membership involvement with state CPA societies to raise the voice of the profession regarding occupational licensing. Legislators need to hear directly from CPAs on why licensing matters, learn about the model we currently have in place to protect the public, and understand the important work CPAs do and no one can deliver that message of importance better than the AICPA membership and the state societies. George Spencer is a freelance writer based in North Carolina. To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Chris Baysden, a JofA associate director, at Chris.Baysden@aicpa-cima.com. Assassinat de l'Ambassadeur d'Italie en RDC Les autorites congolaises ont attribue l'attaque qui a coute la vie a l'ambassadeur d'Italie a Kinshasa et a deux autres personnes dans l'est de la RDC lundi aux rebelles hutus rwandais des FDLR. Les reactions se multiplient apres le meurtre de lambassadeur italien, son garde du corps et un chauffeur du Programme alimentaire mondiale (PAM). Selon la version des autorites, ces membres du cortege sont morts pendant que les forces de securite tentaient de les liberer apres leur kidnapping au nord de la ville de Goma au Nord-Kivu. Ils pointent du doigt les rebelles des Forces democratiques pour la liberation du Rwanda, rapporte notre correspondant a Kinshasa, Pascal Mulegwa. Pour le Barometre securitaire du Kivu, il est possible que les FDLR soient responsables de cette attaque. Mais, il est trop tot pour le confirmer, car ce groupe n'est pas le seul a operer dans cette zone, au pieds du volcan Nyiragongo, a indique le Barometre dans une note a RFI. Les FDLR eux-memes ont dementi, affirmant que leurs troupes sont trop eloignees de la zone, controlee, selon eux, par larmee congolaise. Nos troupes sont tres loin du drame. Cet acte ignoble a eu lieu entre Goma et Kibumba ou sont installes des elements des FARDC, au-dela de la route qui mene de Goma a Rutshuru, a reagi le colonel Placide Niyiturinda, porte-parole de leurs Forces armees combattantes. Donc les FDLR nont rien a voir avec cette attaque. Il faut quune enquete internationale soit diligentee pour que la verite soit etablie . Zone instable Les services de securite congolais sont embarrasses par cette situation. Le ministere de lInterieur a tenu a souligner dans un communique que le deplacement de l'ambassadeur n'avait pas ete notifie aux autorites. Les services de securite et les autorites provinciales n'ont pu ni assurer des mesures de securisation particuliere du convoi, ni leur venir en aide faute d'informations sur leur presence dans cette partie du pays pourtant reputee instable . La route empruntee par le convoi de lambassadeur, qui se rendait dans le territoire de Rutshuru, etait classee en jaune par le PAM. Cest-a-dire quil fallait se deplacer en convoi ou au minimum deux voitures, lescorte netait pas obligatoire. Meme si la securite setait amelioree, ces deux dernieres annees, il y a quelques cas historiques dattaques dans cette zone. En 2018, deux touristes britanniques et leur chauffeur congolais y avait ete kidnappes. Le gouverneur du Nord-Kivu Carly Nzanzu Kasivita pointe par ailleurs que les FDLR ont developpe dans la region une veritable economie de la rancon, selon lui. Les rescapes ont entendu leurs ravisseurs parler kinyarwanda mais aussi la zone du parc de Virunga aux abords de Kibumba, est une zone dinfluence FDLR. Ils sont dans la region en train dexploiter le bois et aujourdhui, avec la rarete du bois, ils ont developpe une strategie de kidnapping des personnes. Une attaque terroriste Le gouvernement congolais regrette ce drame et assure ne menager aucun effort pour le retablissement de la securite dans cette region en proie aux groupes armes nationaux et etrangers . Dans un message lu en soiree par son porte-parole a la television nationale, le president congolais Felix Tshisekedi a condamne avec la plus grande fermete cette attaque terroriste et a demande que les auteurs de l'attaque soient identifies et traduits devant la justice . Du cote des chancelleries occidentales, des doutes pesent encore sur les circonstances memes de l'attaque : qui a tire les balles qui ont atteint lambassadeur et son garde du corps tues au cours dechange de tirs avec les gardes du parc ? Pour le gouverneur du Nord-Kivu, ce sont les ravisseurs eux-memes qui ont tire sur les deux etrangers et leur chauffeur congolais. Ce drame preoccupe les autorites congolaises au plus haut sommet de lEtat. Un comite de crise sest reuni autour du president Felix Tshisekedi qui a decide depecher une equipe de la presidence a Goma afin d'accompagner les enquetes sur l'attaque. Un emissaire du president congolais devrait se rendre ce mardi a Rome, pour apporter la lettre personnelle de Tshisekedi au president du Conseil Italien. Le secretaire general de lONU, Antonio Guterres, a demande au gouvernement congolais d'enqueter rapidement sur cette attaque odieuse d'une mission conjointe sur le terrain et de traduire les auteurs en justice . Du cote de l'Union europeenne. Charles Michel, s'est declare choque par ces vies perdues . Le president du Conseil europeen a toutefois rappele, sur twitter, que l'UE restera aux cotes de la RDC et de sa population pour la securite et la paix . Face masks will likely keep being used 'for years to come' if coronavirus continues to spread and new viruses crop up, top scientists say. Professor Graham Medley, a SAGE adviser and infectious disease expert at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said they may still be used in five years from now out of habit. And the UK's chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, yesterday said face masks may still be required next winter, even if all adults in the UK have been vaccinated against Covid. Sir Patrick said the Government will keep a set of Covid measures after the country comes out of lockdown and these could include wearing masks in public. Government scientists have also suggested people may have to follow the 'baseline' measures indefinitely, even after the vaccination roll-out is complete. In a document discussing life after Covid, SAGE said keeping some social distancing measures were 'almost certain to save many lives and minimise the threat to hospital capacity'. Face coverings were first made mandatory for public transport in June and later for shops and other indoor spaces, after heated debates about whether they actually slow the spread of the virus. And in the US, chief medical adviser Dr Anthony Fauci warned people they could still be wearing masks into next year. Professor Medley said he was optimistic 'for the first time in a year' in an interview with LBC's Nick Ferrari, but that the country was unlikely to return to pre-pandemic life any time soon. Professor Graham Medley, a SAGE adviser and infectious disease expert at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said they may still be used in five years from now Face masks will likely keep being used 'for years to come' because the coronavirus will continue to spread and new viruses could crop up, top scientists say. Pictured: People wearing face masks walk through snowfall on Great George Street beside Parliament Square in London on February 9 He said: 'Let's see where we are in September. 'I think it's likely face coverings will continue to be a measure against respiratory viruses, and not just for this virus but, in five years time, if coronavirus 3 comes out then face coverings will go straight back on.' Speaking to MailOnline, Professor Medley explained that while current evidence suggests mask use may only reduce transmission by a few per cent, this effect when multiplied across a whole population can have a significant effect. He said: 'Personally I will not be surprised to see people wearing face coverings in the future in crowded, indoor places for years to come. 'Whether government requires them is unknown.' Face masks are expected to still be in use until the end of the year at least, Sir Patrick warned. Speaking alongside Boris Johnson at a Downing Street press conference yesterday, the chief scientific adviser suggested 'non-medical interventions', including masks, are likely to continue even if the UK's vaccination drive is successful. He said: 'Its possible that, coming into next winter in particular, certain things may be necessary. 'Tony Fauci yesterday said in the US that he thought that things like masks may be needed next winter. 'I think were in the same position, that it may be necessary next winter to have things like mask-wearing in certain situations.' Dr Fauci said that while he agreed with President Joe Biden that the US would reach a 'degree' of normality by the end of the year, it is possible face masks would still be required in public in 2022. And masks will likely still be legally required on public transport and in shops until at least that year in the UK according to a majority of infectious disease experts polled by New Scientist. The survey of around 200 leading UK epidemiologists, modellers, virologists and public health researchers suggested the 'one metre-plus' for physical distancing will also likely still be in place next year. Sir Patrick Vallance yesterday said that face masks may still be required as far as next winter even if all adults in the UK have been vaccinated against coronavirus Professor Mark Jit, a vaccine epidemiology expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said that even if masks are made no longer compulsory, their use could continue to be widespread in the years ahead. He said: 'It will stop being legally mandated at some point, but I think there will be a permanent culture change for people to wear face masks in public, especially when they have respiratory symptoms. We already saw that happen in Asia following SARS.' It comes after documents released yesterday suggest the Government's 'baseline' measures against Covid avoiding crowded public transport, ensuring good ventilation indoors and wearing face masks could continue indefinitely. In a document dated February 17, SAGE said: Maintaining baseline measures to reduce transmission once restrictions are lifted is almost certain to save many lives and minimise the threat to hospital capacity. These could include voluntary measures as well as effective Test, Trace and Isolate. Minutes from a SAGE meeting on February 18 added: Detaining a baseline set of policies to reduce transmission after other restrictions have been lifted would reduce the scale of a resurgence. A specific set of policies has not been modelled, but could include voluntary measures (e.g. hygiene measures, mask wearing in certain situations, avoiding crowding), environmental measures (e.g. ventilation), and test, trace, and isolate systems. Some of these policies are likely to be needed in the longer term. And last month Britain's chief medical officer Jonathan Van Tam suggested people may choose to wear masks forever. He said he did not think mask-use would be enforced but that people could continue wearing coverings long after the pandemic has subsided. He told The Sun: 'The pandemic has changed a lot of things. It has changed the way you and I approach hand hygiene. 'I think there are going to be people who make a personal decision to say, you know what, when Im in a crowded place in the winter Im going to put a face covering on. 'When Im on a tube I am going to put a face covering on.' The driver of the Jeep was taken to Holy Cross Hospital with back, knee and neck pain, the crash report said. The front passenger was taken to St. Bernards with pain to the right wrist, back and head. The back seat passenger was also taken to St. Bernards with pain to the back and arm. A significant date in the history of the University of the South at Sewanee has almost been unnoticed in the long history of the school that was originally chartered in 1858, survived the burning of the school during the Civil War and the second founding on March 22, 1866 and its growth to the present which has earned the school on the Cumberland Plateau recognition as one of the outstanding liberal arts universities in the nation. Prior to advent of radio and television coverage, a special visitor came to Sewanee on Nov. 9, 1911 with very little fanfare but at the request of a Sewanee graduate. Major Archie Butt was the Military Aide to President William H. Taft and persuaded his Chief to make a stop on his trip from Nashville to Birmingham for a speaking tour. He was traveling on the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad which would travel through the Cowan railway tunnel several times a day. After transferring to the Mountain Goat Railroad and making a stop at Sewanee, the train would continue to Monteagle and several other stops at the coal mining towns of Tracy City, Coalmont, Gruetli-Laager and Palmer. The Mountain Goat Railroad was constructed in 1853 as a spur of the Nashville and Chattanooga line and would carry coal and passengers until 1885 when it was decommissioned. President Taft disembarked at the Sewanee depot from the Mountain Goat at 8:15 a.m. It was a typical fall day at Sewanee with a fine drizzle falling and the unpaved street from the railroad station to the University rough and muddy. Local hack operator Harry Hoskins had decorated one of his rigs in red, white and blue bunting for the President to ride in but an alternative source of travel was used when the only automobile on the mountain was commandeered from its Tracy City owner who happened to arrive on the scene. President Taft, Bishop Gailor, Vice Chancellor William Bonnell Hall and two Secret Service men rode in the automobile while Major Butt and additional Secret Service agents rode in the Hoskin hack. The opportunity to participate in the protection and safety of the President by the local Volunteer Police almost got out of hand. One observer raised the question of whether Sewanee was attempting to honor the President or whether the crowd was following in the wake of a wonderous caravan. The uniforms of the volunteer law enforcement personnel were described as picturesque and Police Chief McBee had deputized 12 men to assist him in protecting the President. Several rode on stately horses and the Chief donned a uniform remnant of King Charles the First, complete with a Vandyke beard and buskin leather boots. Armed with the nether portion of a billiard cue, he had a sackful of handcuffs attached to the knob of the saddle of his horse. Carrying four revolvers about his person he was a living protector under Tennessee law. Prior to the Presidential train, Chief McBee handed out to his volunteers as many guns and ammunition as their clothing would hold. The pageantry and appearance of the horses aroused such admiration that offers to buy the steeds came in on the telegraph wire which, if they had been accepted, would have brought more money to the mountain. From the porch of the chapel Mr. Taft gave a short speech expressing his appreciation of Sewanee and his good wishes for her future. The President then visited the library with the Vice Chancellor and a few of the University faculty and their families. A pleasant and informal reception was held at the request of the President as he had asked that his visit be entirely without ceremony and a compliment to Major Butt. Although one observer described the Presidents visit as the greatest day of Sewanee political history, it did not get much publicity as the Associated Press reporter travelling with President Taft was ignored until the entire ceremony was half over and he refused to leave the train car after being snubbed. One negative incident did occur as one Sewanee resident, an avowed and dedicated Democrat, refused to go to her window to review the parade as it passed her house because he was a Republican President. * * * Jerry Summers (If you have additional information about one of Mr. Summers' articles or have suggestions or ideas about a future Chattanooga area historical piece, please contact Mr. Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com) is expected to register a positive growth rate of 2.02 per cent at 2011-12 constant prices in 2020-21 as against an All India negative growth rate of 7.7 per cent for the current fiscal. Meanwhile, the State has asked the Centre to merge cesses and surcharges with the basic rate of tax so that States receive their legitimate share of revenue. While presenting the interim Budget today, Deputy Chief Minister and State Finance Minister, O Panneerselvam, attributed the strongest performance among states to the primary sector, which grew at 5.23 per cent, with the livestock and fisheries sectors faring even better. Growth in the secondary sector is 1.25 per cent and in the services sector it is 1.64 per cent. This significantly better-than-expected growth in 2020-21 is due to the expeditious and effective measures taken by the Government to tackle the pandemic, Panneerselvam said. "I have no doubt that in 2021-22, the growth performance will be even stronger," he added. Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Tamil Nadu, S Krishnan, expects the State to report double-digit growth next fiscal. Krishnan said that due to the Government efforts industries have also started quickly in the State. Exports and services sectors, especially, have also managed to start quickly and growing strongly. "We expect a bounce back and double digit growth by next year," said Krishnan, adding that the interim budget don't have any new revenue streams or new schemes. The focus has been managing finance as efficiently as possible, ensuring that all the welfare schemes are funded, continuing the capex so that give a boost to the economy. The State Government has incurred a total expenditure of around Rs 13,352.85 crore on the Covid-19 pandemic response. The State which is gearing up for assembly election in the next few months made a provision of Rs 5,000 crore for the crop loan waiver scheme. In the interim Budget a provision of Rs 11,982.71 crore has been made for Agriculture. The other major focus has been education, healthcare, infrastructure, public distribution system, industries, development of local bodies among others As far as subsidy concerned, a major portion of it will go towards electricity, food and for students, said Krishnan. The interim budget, which was presented today, reflected a significant impact from Covid-19 on the finances. The State Own Tax Revenue is expected to be Rs.1,09,968.97 crore in the Revised Estimates 2020-21 which represents a drop of 17.64 per cent as against Rs.1,33,530.30 crore anticipated as revenue in the Budget Estimates 2020-21. Panneerselvam said due to COVID-19 pandemic and an increase in spending for health and relief, the total revenue deficit in 2020-21 is revised to Rs. 65,994.05 crore, up from Rs. 21,617.64 crore projected in the Budget Estimates 2020-21. ""The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a sharp drop of revenue, but the expenditure levels had to be enhanced to protect people's welfare. Hence, it is completely unavoidable that the Government had to resort to borrowings resulting in a higher fiscal deficit", he said. The Covid-19 pandemic has necessitated additional expenditure on the revenue account of Rs. 12,917.85 crore primarily for health and relief related expenditure, said Panneerselvam. On the whole, the fiscal deficit in the Revised Estimates 2020-21 is expected to widen to Rs.96,889.97 crore which is 4.99 per cent of the GSDP. This is within the limits recommended by the 15th Finance Commission and is in accordance with the amended Tamil Nadu Fiscal Responsibility Act 2003, he said. Coming to the Interim Budget Estimates for 2021-22, given that revenue receipts dropped considerably in 2020-21, a rebound for receipts have expected in 2021-22, he added. For 2021-22, the interim budget estimated overall revenue deficit of Rs. 41,417.30 crore and fiscal deficit is estimated at Rs. 84,202.39 crore, which is 3.94 per cent of GSDP. "The elevated level of the fiscal deficit in the current financial year was unavoidable and this deficit has to be brought down gradually to ensure there is no adverse impact on the economy. Even the 15tn Finance Commission has recommended that a higher fiscal deficit of 4 per cent of GSDP should be permitted to States in 2021-22," Panneerselvam said. State's overall debt outstanding as on March 31, 2021 is estimated to be Rs.4,85,502.54, crore and Rs.5,70,189.29 crore as of March 2022. Krishnan said, debt situation in the State is not alarming and it is well within the norms prescribed by the 15th Finance Commission. Panneerselvam also called on the Central Government to merge cesses and surcharges with the basic rate of tax so that States receive their legitimate share of revenue. Jeremy Shingoose, who is running for chief at Waywayseecappo First Nation, requested the election period be extended. Advertisement Advertise With Us Jeremy Shingoose, who is running for chief at Waywayseecappo First Nation, requested the election period be extended. The election is scheduled for today. In a letter dated Feb. 19 to the electoral officer, Shingoose cited a main area of concern is the mail delay due to the pandemic, which primarily concerns off-reserve members. "Members have either not received their ballots through the mail yet and there are concerns about the ballots being mailed back in time to make the deadline of February 23rd, 2021. Voting in advance polls in Winnipeg or Brandon is not an option for many members as we are spread out across Canada and the United States," stated Shingoose. "Also, even those members in Winnipeg and Brandon have voiced concerns about getting to the locations for the advanced polls. Traveling to Waywayseecappo for the election during the pandemic is not an option for anyone because of the restrictions imposed by Manitoba provincial government." But Murray Clearsky, the current chief at the First Nation, told The Brandon Sun everyone knows the election is held Feb. 23, as it has been every election period in the past whether on the new four-year cycle or on the previous two-year cycle. As for possible Canada Post issues, he said the First Nation just has to work around that. But Shingoose stated there is a significant number of members who still have not received their ballots. "Due to COVID, Canada Post has delayed ballots from being received and sent back in a timely manner before the deadline. Other couriers are having issues delivering to a P.O. Box," stated Shingoose. Theres also the fact, he stated, that "the ballots of members that fail to reach the electoral officer in time effectively shut out those members from the electoral process and is a denial to those members of their right to choose their leadership." Shingoose and others running in the election have expressed they wish to unite all members, on and off reserve. Electoral officer Richard Gaywish previously told the Sun he cannot speak with the media. Shingoose suggested extend the voting date by 30 days, and that an online voting system be instituted. He also stated Waywayseecappo members are asking that a livestream video feed show that the ballots are counted on the day of the election for all members to observe. To the Sun, he said members are just trying to do their due diligence. The Government of Canada has amended the Indian Act, the First Nations Election Act and Elections According to Custom to reflect the pandemic, which allows for extending terms. Details can be found at bit.ly/2ZM7pYV Shingoose had not heard from the electoral officer by press deadline about whether the extension would be granted. mletourneau@brandonsun.com Michele LeTourneau covers Indigenous matters for The Brandon Sun under the Local Journalism Initiative, a federally funded program that supports the creation of original civic journalism. Britons are rushing to book their summer getaways ahead of the return of international travel from May 17 - despite a SAGE professor warning holidaymakers not to go on foreign trips before 2023. Some of Britain's biggest airlines and travel firms revealed a surge in holiday bookings to destinations including Greece, Spain and Turkey in the hours after Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled the roadmap out of lockdown yesterday. Britons were quick to act on the news, with easyJet revealing a 337 per cent surge in flight bookings and a 630 per cent jump in holiday bookings for destinations such as Alicante, Malaga, Palma, Faro and Crete after 3pm yesterday. Of the rising bookings, most are for August, followed by July and then September. Jet2 saw a 600% increase in summer holiday bookings after the announcement, with bookings surging for destinations across the board including mainland Spain and its islands, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. Tui reported its best day for bookings in over a month, with Britons particularly interested in holidays in Greece, Spain and Turkey for the summer and Thomas Cook said it saw a 100 per cent surge on website traffic after the announcement. However, Professor Graham Medley, who sits on SAGE and is the UK's chief pandemic modeller, said today he wouldn't book a holiday until 2023. He said: 'I'm not, I didn't last year and I won't next year probably either. I think it's a time of caution and we have to see. While we're doing very well with the vaccine in this country, other countries are not doing so well.' Asked to clarify he would not even book a foreign holiday for 2022, he added: 'Not at the moment. I wouldn't book anything. I think the whole situation's going to be uncertain for a long time. We've got more optimism and certainty now in this country than we have for most other places.' Pictured is a beach in Magaluf, Spain. The surge in holiday bookings included places such as Greece, Spain and Turkey The roadmap revealing the return of international travel triggered mixed reactions from the travel industry. Simon Dolan, Chairman of Jota Aviation & Founder of the Keep Britain Free Movement slammed the plan. He said: 'For almost a year the travel and aviation sector has been forced to adapt to a series of impossible measures. 'Border closures, testing, quarantines and travel bans have brought the industry to its knees. 'We simply cannot wait until May 17th for travel to open again and there's no saying Boris won't push this date back even further. 'At this point, the public is so accustomed to Government U-turns that they won't be rushing to book a holiday anytime soon, and companies will suffer as a result.' He also warned against vaccine passports and described them as another barrier to the recovery of the industry. Read the small print before booking your summer holiday Boris Johnson's announcement of a roadmap out of lockdown yesterday triggered a huge surge in summer holiday bookings. Britons, keen to put the stresses of the past year behind them, immediately began booking foreign trips in the hours after the prime minister revealed international travel was back on the menu from May 17. However, experts have warned that holidaymakers should exercise caution when booking their trips. In November, holiday firms were accused of illegally withholding 1billion in refunds to families whose holidays were cancelled due to the pandemic over the past year. Around 9.4million people have lost a trip since coronavirus hit the UK and many of the firms involved delayed giving refunds or even tried to fob people off with vouchers or the option to re-book, say consumer experts Which? After the criticism, many companies have cleaned up their acts and now offer more reasonable refund terms. However, the risk still remains, especially with the threat of further lockdowns if new variants emerge. So, consumers should only book a holiday if the path to a refund is clear to them. Package holidays offer the best protection - if your trip is cancelled a refund is owed within 14 days. There is no obligation to accept a voucher and so Britons must exercise caution. Advertisement He said: 'Even when the day comes, it will be blighted by the introduction of vaccine passports. These will simply act as another barrier to getting the sector back on its feet and are completely discriminatory against those who are unable to, or choose not to get the vaccine for personal reasons. 'After all we've been through this past year, do we really want to start ostracising people for their choices and creating new marginalised groups? 'It is critical we start looking at a way to reopen travel sooner. Otherwise our world-leading industry simply won't survive and struggling small and medium enterprise will just disappear.' Thomas Cook's chief executive Alan French, however, dubbed the PM's roadmap 'good news' with the travel company seeing booking 'flooding in' already for countries like Greece, Cyprus, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Mr French said: 'The government's announcement today is good news for those of us desperate to get away on holiday. 'While we await more details, it's clear that the government's ambition is to open up international travel in the coming months and hopefully in time for the summer holidays.' Shai Weiss, CEO Virgin Atlantic said: 'Following the Prime Minister's update on the UK roadmap out of lockdown, we look forward to working with the Department for Transport and the Global Travel Taskforce on a framework to reopen the skies safely. 'Building on our flexible booking policies, we will provide customers with the confidence to book ahead and plan for the summer, whether reuniting with family or reconnecting with businesses and colleagues. 'On the back of the tremendously successful UK vaccine programme, we recognise the importance of protecting the UK from new strains of Covid-19, so that the achievements of the last few months are not undermined. Therefore, we look forward to developing a risk-based framework, based on science and data, to allow the safe restart of travel at scale. 'We are ready to work as part of an industry task-force with Government experts, to develop the flightpath for aviation, in time for travel this summer.' Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays said: 'We have seen enormous pent-up demand from British holidaymakers for some time, with people wanting nothing more than to get away to the sunshine and enjoy their well-deserved holidays. 'The government's announcement is the news they have been longing for, and the surge in bookings shows how ready our customers are to get away to the sunshine on a real package holiday.' 'We are very pleased that the government has shown a clear ambition to reopen international travel in the coming months, and we look forward to more detail in due course. 'Throughout the pandemic, we have done absolutely everything to look after our valued customers and we have always said that the sun will shine for them once again. We know what an incredibly difficult time it has been for everyone, and we very much look forward to taking everyone from our rainy islands to their dream holiday choice this summer and beyond.' EasyJet's chief executive Johan Lundgren told the BBC: 'We have consistently seen that there is pent up demand for travel and this surge in bookings shows that this signal from the Government that it plans to reopen travel has been what UK consumers have been waiting for.' The airline has put flights for spring 2022 on sale early offering over 110,000 flights to hundreds of destinations across Europe following surge in demand for flight and holiday bookings Amanda Matthews, managing director and owner of luxury travel agency network Designer Travel, said her firm saw double the usual number of enquiries on Monday. She added: 'If we were to believe that May would enable us to reopen, then I believe we'd have a really strong summer, but the uncertainty and the lack of information about dates, potential quarantine measures and the cost of testing needed to get back into the UK that makes doing our job an impossible task.' Travel firms revealed a surge in holiday bookings in the hours after Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled the roadmap out of lockdown Tui reported that it had its best day for bookings in over a month, with Britons particularly interested in holidays in Greece, Spain and Turkey for the summer The road map to recovery: The PM's plan sees pubs shut until at least April 12 after Easter 'We've got people who are due to pay balances for holidays at the end of May, and we have to hope that the news is positive, as opposed to people getting nervous and cancelling.' Paul Charles, CEO of travel consultancy The PC Agency and co-founder of the Save Our Summer campaign which successfully campaigned for a May re-start for overseas travel, said: The holidays being snapped up by Britons after Boris Johnson's announcement Travel firms and airline reported a huge surge in bookings for holiday trips after yesterday afternoon's roadmap announcement. They revealed that August appeared to be the most popular month and here we highlight some of the most popular round trip holiday bookings since the PM's speech on Monday easyJet London to Alicante from 107 London to Malaga from 109 London to Crete from 160 Jet2 London to Alicante from 190 London to Paphos from 386 London to Antalya from 558 Tui London to Corfu from 316 London to Ibiza from 203 London to Antalya from 331 Advertisement 'Sales have started to soar again as some consumers start spending their wall of money stored up for overseas travel. 'May is a safe and responsible time to re-start and the 900 firms behind Save Our Summer will hold the government to account on their future dates. 'Future travel in the short-term is likely to see a mix of testing and digital health apps but most countries will be happy to welcome British tourists due to their spending power. Digital health apps will be seamless and integrated with airline apps to make it easier for consumers to travel safely. 'It's also vital to ensure we can welcome overseas tourists into the UK as soon as safely possible so we need to see quarantine rules removed in May as well so as to restore confidence.' Britons desperate to get away have been rushing to arrange staycation plans following the PM's announcement yesterday. Figures released by Avvio, which provides technology to more than 500 hotels around the world, revealed the demand for hotels in August has already risen by a whopping 239 per cent and July by 166 per cent. The data, which was released yesterday, also showed the revenue for June is up by 63 per cent. As holidaymakers rush to make bookings, Avvio's Chief Commercial Officer, Michael De Jongh, said the company had seen a surge in holidaymakers booking hotels in the UK, with the average price being spent for a seven-day stay hitting 1,743. He said: 'We've all had a tough year and people are desperate to get away this summer. 'Many consumers feel it's too risky to book a foreign holiday, so they're using the money they would have spent going abroad to treat themselves to an incredible stay at a 4 or 5-Star hotel in the UK instead. 'It may well be the first time many of them have stayed in such a high-end hotel. 'Of course none of us can be 100 per cent sure what the situation will be like by the summer, but so long as consumers make sure they can amend or cancel their booking easily, they won't be left financially worse off if lockdown continues longer than anticipated.' Among the most popular hotel sites being snapped up by Britons so far are the Grand Eastbourne in East Sussex, Rudding Park Hotel in Yorkshire, Crieff Hydro Hotel in Scotland and Lough Erne Resort in Northern Ireland. The figures by the property site also showed that staycation bookings were also booming across all types of hotels and self-catering accommodation, with August hotel and self-catering bookings up 91 per cent ahead of last year. Visit Cornwall tourist board has also revealed that bookings for summer by February are up by 50 to 100 per cent compared to last year, The Telegraph reports. New Delhi, Feb 23 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing on the CBI's plea challenging the discharge of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and two others in a graft case connected with a contract awarded to Canadian firm SNC-Lavalin during his tenure as state Power Minister. Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, representing the CBI, submitted before a bench headed by Justice U.U. Lalit that he is occupied in a partly-heard matter in another court and requested the court to schedule the matter for further hearing next week. The top court, however, scheduled the matter for further hearing on April 6. The CBI had moved the top court challenging the Kerala High Court order upholding a special court's decision to discharge Vijayan in the matter. Agreeing to hear the matter, the top court had specifically asked the CBI to bring out a strong reason to challenge the discharge of Vijayan and others in the matter. In December last year, the CBI had sought the court's permission to file additional some additional documents. It had said that it will file a comprehensive note giving the factual aspect of the matter. The case is connected to corruption allegations for a loss of Rs 374.50 crore to the state exchequer due to the contract given to SNC-Lavalin when Vijayan was Power Minister in 1996. In November 2013, the CBI special court had discharged Vijayan and others, and in August 2017, the High Court had observed that the CBI had "wrongly picked" Vijayan and there was no prima facie case against him. The CBI had filed the charge sheet in the case contending there was sufficient evidence to prove the charges against the accused. The High Court decision had come on a revision petition filed by the CBI in 2014 against the discharge of Vijayan and others by the special court. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Member for Hughes Craig Kelly arrives in the Media Gallery at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia on Feb. 03, 2021 . (Sam Mooy/Getty Images) Aussie MP Craig Kelly Quits Liberal Party to Stand by His Conscience Australian federal MP Craig Kelly has quit the Liberal Party during a party room meeting in Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday, over a crisis of conscience. In his resignation letter, Kelly indicated that some of his recent conduct had not helped the boat of government go fasterreferring to a sporting analogy he said was once used by the prime minister in the lead up to the 2019 federal election. I acknowledge that some of my conduct over the recent months has not helped the boat go faster, Kelly wrote on Feb. 23. However, at all times, I have acted upon my [conscience] and my beliefsnot political expediency. My goal has only been to save lives and ensure that my constituents and all Australians were not denied access to medical treatments if their doctors believed those treatments could save their life, he wrote. Kelly, who is the member for Hughes in New South Wales, has faced a strong backlash from segments of the media and political opponents for sharing information about the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine. Discussion of HCQ has fallen under a censorship umbrella that captured several other treatments known to help boost the immune system and lessen other viral infections. (Stock Footage Inc/Shutterstock) One of his posts on social media included an article by Australian immunologist and COVID-19 expert, Prof. Robert Clancy, who said hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin could be used in early treatment strategies, along with vaccines, for optimal control of the virus. In an op-ed for Quadrant published on Jan. 17, Clancy said that a sequenced multi-drug regimen would help to keep up to 80 percent of COVID-19 patients out of hospital if the protocols, designed by experienced physicians based on evidence, are implemented. He wrote that it would effectively end the US, UK, Canada, and EU hospitalisation crisis. On Feb. 16, the politician revealed this post featuring Clancys op-ed was one of five that Facebook deleted. Facebook also removed a post in which Kelly shared an opinion from a pathologist that paper and fabric masks are simply virtue signalling. Kelly was later suspended from Facebook for a week, with the social media giantcurrently at-odds with the Australian governmentindicating his posts allegedly violated their misinformation and harm policy by sharing information about hydroxychloroquine. At the time, he told The Australian that the ban was a dark day for freedom of speech. He added that it would not stop him from voicing support of early treatment drug options. The member for Hughes resignation comes one day after the Australian government officially began to roll out vaccinations against COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison gives the thumbs up after receiving a COVID-19 vaccination at Castle Hill Medical Centre in Sydney, Australia, on Feb. 21, 2021. (Mark Evans/Getty Images) Prime Minister Scott Morrison acknowledged Kellys resignation, telling reporters: We had a discussion a couple of weeks ago, as youll be aware. I set out some very clear standards, and he made some commitments that I expected to be followed through. He no longer felt that he could meet those commitments. But I can tell you, my standards dont change, he added. Neither do the standards of Kelly, who wrote in his resignation letter: Therefore, I see that if Im to continue to act in line with my [conscience] and principles, and the oath that I took on becoming a member of Parliament, and to speak fearlessly and faithfully represent my constituents, I have no alternative other than to resign as a member of the Liberal Party effective immediately Kelly had previously threatened to quit the Liberals ahead of the 2019 election when he faced a challenge to his seat from within the New South Wales branch, but was saved by Scott Morrison, then a candidate for prime minister. Labor MP Linda Burney, Parliament House, Canberra, Australia, on Feb 14, 2019. (Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images) Senior Labor MP Linda Burney said Kelly has been a thorn in the side of the Liberals for some time. The government has the slimmest of majorities in the parliament now, she said. Adam Bandt, leader of the Australian Greens, and federal member for Melbourne, wrote on Twitter: Craig Kellys dangerous crusade means the Liberals have just lost control of the Parliament. This makes the crossbench much more powerful, but unfortunately, it also means Craig Kelly as a crossbencher will have even more power over Scott Morrison. Kelly has assured the Morrison government that he will continue supporting it on votes in the House of Representatives, so long as they are consistent with the policies the Coalition took to the 2019 election. Police are investigating a three-car crash Monday at the intersection of Lee Road and Route 7 in Stockbridge. MBABANE Schools are ready to open, but the biggest challenge now is inadequate health facilities where sick learners and teachers could be admitted in a worst case COVID-19 scenario. This was revealed by Minister of Education and Training Lady Mabuza when requested to give an update on the reopening of schools in the country. Mabuza said the issue of reopening of schools was very sensitive in that every decision taken should be considerate and accommodate all possible situations. She said preparations to reopen schools were at an advanced stage so much that it was safe to reopen, but there were other challenges that needed equal attention. The minister highlighted that the ministry was responsible for over 354 000 learners and over 17 000 teachers. Imagine if 1 000 teachers could contract the virus all at once in the Shiselweni Region, where would we accommodate them? We dont want a situation where we reopen schools but fail to deal with the worst possible scenario, she shared. In his address, during the official opening of the 3rd Session of the 11th Parliament, the King highlighted that keeping people at home had sadly meant closing schools and many of the learners were now lagging behind in their lessons, as only a few were attending classes. The King highlighted that a year had gone by and everyone was keen to see all the learners return to school. We need to ensure that this process is carried out with due care and attention so as to realise a safe reopening environment that will not cause a rise in new infections, he said. In that spirit, Mabuza said government was collectively looking at ways to overcome the situation, but she didnt elaborate much on what they would do to help the situation, except to say government, through the Deputy Prime Ministers Office, would announce the date of the reopening of schools when it had been set. Frustrated When requested to give a glimmer of hope to frustrated parents who are eagerly waiting to know the reopening of schools date, at least by giving a timeframe on the return of classes, Mabuza said the ministry had a bad experience with dates and they preferred not to hint on the reopening of schools. The issue of dates and time- frames have previously come back to haunt the ministry and half the time we are blamed for giving false hope when the dates are actually not official. Parents should be patient with government, we are working tirelessly to have schools reopened, but we should tread with caution, she added. Schools in South Africa started reopening on Monday (February 15) for the beginning of the 2021 academic year, after a delay by weeks due to the second wave of the coronavirus. Masked parents and pupils had to sanitie their hands and have their temperatures checked before entering school premises. Mabuza said the country should not be compared to other countries in the reopening of schools as the circumstances and demographics were not the same. New York State Police responded to reports of an explosion at a residence in the town of Liberty at 11:55 am on Sunday. As it turned out, a gender-reveal device had exploded, bringing gloom to a supposedly happy occasion. The state police and its bomb disposal unit are still investigating the incident. Christopher Pekny, 28, was killed while setting up the said gender-reveal device that exploded, New York State Police reported. He is the father of the child whose gender was supposed to be revealed during the occasion. The incident, however, deprived him of life and the opportunity to see his baby at birth. The explosion also injured his 27-year-old brother, Michael Pekny. The device was intended to explode in a cloud of colored powder which reveals the gender of the baby but instead sent lethal shrapnel flying. Christopher died as a result of the accidental explosion. His younger brother, Michael, suffered injuries from the shrapnel hitting him in the torso and legs, and was then taken to Garnet Medical Center in Middletown for treatment. Authorities still haven't specified what kind of device Pekny was building for the gender-reveal party, but a New York State Police spokesperson told BuzzFeed News on Monday that "Currently there are no charges to be filed." CBS New York also reported that there was no "malicious intent" in the lethal incident that happened. Other gender reveal accidents This is not the first time a gender-reveal stunt has led to a lethal consequence. While most gender-reveal parties go off without any troubles, there are a few which resulted in deadly incidents that have captures headlines, The Blaze said. In October 2019, in Knoxville Iowa, Pamela Kreimeyer, a grandmother, was instantly killed by a homemade "pipe bomb" gender-reveal device where she was hit in the head by a metal shrapnel after the device, which was created by family members, went off. The report added that Kreimeyer "was standing with other family members approximately 45 feet from the device. It's believed that the projectile that struck the victim then continued another 144 yards through the air coming to rest in a field." In nearly February, another incident where an exploding device took the life of a Michigan man who was just attending his friends' gender-reveal party when a cannon exploded during the event and sent metal shrapnel flying. The shocking incident unfolded in Gaines Township. Authorities said the homeowners had planned to set off a small explosive device that looks like a cannon as a part of the celebration, but it suddenly blew up as they were trying to ignite it. Among the worst incidents caused by a gender-reveal mishap was last September's massive El Dorado wildfire in San Bernardino County, California that was sparked by a pyrotechnic device used at a family's gender-reveal event. The fires lasted for two months, burning over 7,300 acres and killing a firefighter who was battling the wildfire. More than 500 firefighters, 60 fire engines, and four helicopters were deployed in Southern California to combat the massive fire. "Juno RxTracker was designed by clinicians, who really understand how the application enhances providers workflows allowing them to easily prescribe medications without taking them away from patient care, said Todd Mingo, General Manager of RxTracker. Document Storage Systems, Inc. (DSS), a leading provider of health information technology (HIT) solutions for federal, private and public healthcare organizations, today announced the official launch of its Juno RxTracker, a new solution for smarter, faster and safer ePrescribing. Designed by clinicians for clinicians, Juno RxTracker offers streamlined ePrescribing that empowers physicians to rapidly prescribe with ease, according to their unique workflows via desktop and mobile app. It also offers a concierge-set up for allowing providers to be quickly and easily up-and-running on the solution. Allowing Providers to Achieve EPCS Compliance Providers in the United States must use Electronic Prescribing of Controlled Substance (EPCS) technology when prescribing controlled substances containing opiates for Medicare patients by January 1, 2022. In addition, 13 U.S. states enacted ePrescribing requirements for controlled substance prescription refill rules in 2019. To meet this need, Juno RxTracker is an (EPCS)-certified solution that boosts patient safety through an automated electronic prescription process for all medications, including controlled substances. Today, ePrescribing is going through a period of massive growth and adoption by individual practices, which is being further driven by EPCS mandates, said Todd Mingo, General Manager of RxTracker. In addition, Juno RxTracker was designed by clinicians, who really understand how the application enhances providers workflows allowing them to easily prescribe medications without taking them away from patient care. Enabling Smarter, Faster and Safer ePrescribing Juno RxTracker offers a wide-range of functionality that enables providers to have the highest level of safety and effectiveness in their ePrescribing efforts. Smarter: Simple Prescribing Flow, Intuitive Workflow; EHR-Enabled; Access to PDMP Databases; Friendly, 24/7 Emergency Support Faster: RxHistory On-Demand; Concierge-Like Set-Up; Real-Time Prescription Benefits; Free Mobile iOS App. Android app coming soon. Safer: EPCS Certified; FDB State and Federal Module Controlled Substances Module; Complete Pharmacy Network; Data Security Juno RxTracker also offers a comprehensive concierge set-up, which includes a dedicated Onboarding Specialist, customer support via telephone and chat, 24/7 emergency support, as well as no long-term contracts. We all know that traditional health technologies are often difficult to set-up and its frustrating to get the ongoing support you need, added Mingo. With Juno RxTracker, providers no longer need to be both caregivers and technologists. Thanks to our pedigree in health IT, we are able to guide our customers on their seamless journey to ePrescribing. For almost three decades, DSS, Inc. has developed innovative healthcare technology solutions for the Department of Veterans Affairs, the largest integrated health system in the U.S., as well as leading commercial health systems. To learn more about Juno RxTracker, please click here, and listen to our podcast here. In addition, click here for more details about how to receive up to $140.00 in savings per prescriber for a one-year subscription by signing up for Juno RxTracker. About Document Storage Systems, Inc. (DSS, Inc.) With over 25 years of experience, DSS knows what works. We are a health information software development and systems integration company, providing services and solutions used daily by thousands of clinicians and administrative staff nationwide, to reduce costs, streamline workflows and improve patient care. For more information about DSS, visit http://www.dssinc.com. Unemployed Australians will be given a permanent $50-a-fortnight rise to the JobSeeker payment when the coronavirus supplement ends in March, while employers will have the power to dob in anyone refusing a job offer. The federal government on Tuesday announced the dole would be lifted to $615.70 a fortnight, or about $44 a day, after March 31, up from the base rate of $565.70 a fortnight. The base rate of JobSeeker will be increased after March. Credit:Rhett Wyman Job seekers obligations will also be increased, with the number of job searches required each month to rise gradually to 20 from July 1, and a new hotline for employers will be put in place to discourage people from refusing offers of work. The new rate is equivalent to an increase of just under $4 a day and people will be able to earn $150 a fortnight before they start to see a reduction in their payments. The measures are estimated to cost about $9 billion over the forward estimates. Aleksei Garshin, a 50-year-old activist based in Tashkent, says it was late 2018 when his fellow hunting enthusiasts told him about a secretive resort allegedly built for Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev in a forested highland. He says he had heard that because of the resort -- which locals refer to as the Uzbek presidents dacha, though its scale and cost far exceed that of a simple country home -- authorities had sealed off the area where the compound was built, known as Shovvozsoy. I went to Shovvozsoy in December 2019 to see if this was true, Garshin, who regularly posts YouTube videos fiercely critical of Mirziyoev, told RFE/RLs Uzbek Service. Tashkent-based activist Aleksei Garshin in the highlands of Uzbekistan He and a fellow hunter hopped in a car and took off toward the presidents alleged mountain hideaway, about 100 kilometers away by car, filming their road trip for posterity. After setting off from the small town of Krasnogorsk, they ran into the first indication that at least one of the rumors was true: a roadblock manned by security personnel who pointed to a no entry sign and told them to turn back. Garshin and his friend proceeded to grill the two guards about why they couldnt drive on. At one point, a guard tells the other in Uzbek: How would we know how far he goes if we let him through the roadblock? Tell him that our father's dacha is over there. Many Uzbeks refer to the president as father. The other guard tells Garshin and his friend: Guys, please leave. This area. I'll tell you. This area is protected. Why? Because over there, in the hills, there's a dacha. Garshin responds by saying: We heard. Our respected president's dacha. Yes, yes, the guard responds. In a new investigation by RFE/RLs Uzbek Service, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the Shovvozsoy resort said it was built for Mirziyoevs use for a likely price tag that three of these sources estimated at several hundred million dollars. Plans for the project were already under way as early as February 2017, two months after Mirziyoev assumed the Uzbek presidency promising greater transparency and human rights protections following the death of his autocratic predecessor, Islam Karimov. Construction of the compound, including an adjacent reservoir about which there is virtually no public information, also came at a time when Mirziyoev was directing officials to tighten their belts and use taxpayer money prudently. Garshins efforts to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding the Shovvozsoy resort were the focus of two videos on his YouTube channel: one showing his road trip that ended at the roadblock in December 2019, and another in November 2020 in which he rang up several companies involved in the construction of the compound. RFE/RLs Uzbek Service only discovered Garshins two videos after having discussed the secretive resort with numerous sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fears of retribution from employers or authorities. The results of his digging corroborate details about the Shovvozsoy compound that sources independently told RFE/RLs Uzbek Service. The "no entry" sign that Aleksei Garshin encountered features the logo of Uzbekistan Railways. Classified Secret Garshin, who has said publicly that he received a threatening WhatsApp message due to his criticism of authorities, says he became determined to figure out exactly how much public money was spent on the Shovvozsoy resort -- and whether its construction violated any laws. He says he had heard from a source that the dam next to the compound had leaked sometime in 2019, the year before the Sardoba Dam in Uzbekistans eastern Sirdaryo region burst, leaving six dead and displacing tens of thousands. After hearing from an eyewitness that a special reservoir had been built for the presidential dacha and that the dam had a leak even before the Sardoba collapse, I started calling construction companies to get information about the reservoir and the dacha as a citizen of Uzbekistan, he said. Garshin made repeated calls to state-owned companies Uzbekistan Railways, which controls the territory on which the resort is located, as well as UzbekHydroEnergo, whose head, Abdugani Sanginov, was involved in the construction of the Sardoba Dam. Both Sanginov and former Uzbekistan Railways Chairman Achilboy Ramatov, now a first deputy prime minister, are loyal allies of Mirziyoev. Sources told RFE/RLs Uzbek Service that both were involved in plans for the Shovvozsoy resort, as were their companies. Garshin provided reporters with the audio recordings of his calls to these companies, excerpts of which were included in his YouTube video. His repeated calls to UzbekHydroEnergo in search of answers about who built the Shovvozsoy reservoir led him to Topalang Water Construction, a private company owned by Sanginov's son that was also involved in construction of the Sardoba Dam, which burst in May 2020. In the recording, a man who identifies himself as the companys chief accountant tells Garshin that Topalang Water Construction indeed built the Shovvozsoy reservoir. But he declined to disclose the cost of the project. UzbekHydroEnergos 2018 annual report lists several contracts with Topalang Water Constructions parent company around the time of the reservoirs construction, though the nature of the contract is not stated, according to an investigation by RFE/RLs Uzbek Service. In a statement to RFE/RLs Uzbek Service, UzbekHydroEnergo said it was not involved in the construction, control, or operation of the Shovvozsoy reservoir. A financial record found by reporters shows that an UzbekHydroEnergo subsidiary conducted slope-stability calculation at the Shovvoszoy site. In a November 3, 2020, call to Uzbekistan Railways, Garshin spoke to a man who identified himself by the last name Tulyaganxodjaev and gave his position as chief specialist of the companys capital construction directorate. Asked by Garshin who commissioned the mountain resort, the man responded that the directorate he leads was in charge of building a recreation area in the Shovvozsoy forestland -- and that construction was carried out based on a decree by the cabinet of ministers. He claimed that no one is using the facility and that documents are being prepared for this purpose. Garshin then tells the company official: "It is no secret that this facility was built for Mr. Mirziyoev's personal needs." The man on the other line responds: Yes, apparently you know it. Our people are very good people. They know a lot about things that are secret. Asked by Garshin how much it cost to build the resort, the Uzbekistan Railways manager said this figure could not be disclosed. The property was built in line with a document that is classified as secret, he told Garshin. The roadblock that Aleksei Garshin encountered on his way to the secretive compound known as "Mirziyoev's dacha." Attempts to reach Tulyaganxodjaev at Uzbekistan Railways were unsuccessful. One woman who answered the phone there said he had not worked at the company since the end of 2020 but declined to say why, referring the matter to human resources. Another person reached by telephone at Uzbekistan Railways said Tulyaganxodjaev had retired but declined to give his age. Calls to the companys human resources department went unanswered. Garshin says he believes sealing off large swaths of territory from the general public in order to build a resort for Mirziyoev and his close associates is unconstitutional. The taxpayers who paid for these buildings were deprived of the opportunity to go and relax with their families on tens of thousands of hectares of forest, he told RFE/RLs Uzbek Service. He cited Article 55 of the Uzbek Constitution, which states that "the land, its minerals, fauna and flora, as well as other natural resources shall constitute the national wealth and shall be rationally used and protected by the state. Requests for comment sent to Mirziyoevs office, Uzbekistan Railways, UzbekHydroEnergo, and Topalang Water Construction went unanswered. Susan Chappell, a South Georgia native who worked as a registered nurse for nearly thirty years before her retirement, has completed her new book The Kalifee: a riveting novel that keeps the pages turning until the satisfying conclusion. The story opens in the distant future, postapocalyptic. Women have had to step up their game, moving in many directions, fighting on so many levels. The population and the earth had been severely damaged. Women outnumber the men in alarming proportions. There are roaming gangs of rogue malesrape gangs. Women have had to become warriors. All the Kalifee have to fight. The worlds oldest profession helps support the Kalifee people. A woman could move from brothel worker to being the queen of the Kalifee, the Califia! A brothel worker was a skilled courtesan and could rise to exalted queen. Women were held at a high regard in Kalifee society and are equal to men. Published by Page Publishing, Susan Chappells engrossing tale is an entertaining choice for avid fiction readers. Readers who wish to experience this engaging work can purchase The Kalifee at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes Store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708. About Page Publishing: Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing understands that authors should be free to create, not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Pages accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com. 23 February 2021 Bezant Resources Plc ("Bezant" or the "Company") Drill Planning for the Kalengwa Copper Project, Zambia Bezant (AIM: BZT), the copper-gold exploration and development company, is pleased to announce the commencement of diamond drill target testing over the Kalengwa exploration project area in Zambia (the "Kalengwa Exploration Project "). Highlights Maiden Bezant diamond drill programme of about 800m at Kalengwa to test the first two priority exploration targets based on review of extensive historic exploration datasets The Kalengwa SW2 target, with strong coincident magnetic and copper geochemical anomalies straddles the major Kalengwa Lineament structure just 2.5km southwest from the former mine Previous Aircore/RAB drilling within the weathered profile at the SW2 target reported intervals returning 19m @ 1,259ppm Cu and 4m @ 1,962ppm Cu - no recorded historic bedrock drilling The Minemba target is located on a structural 'mirror image' of the Kalengwa mine setting just 4km distant, with a coincident copper geochemical anomaly Limited past drilling in the late-1960s at Minemba intersected 4.3m @ 1.43% Cu and 2.7m @ 2.08% Cu - mineralisation is open along strike and apparently widening down-plunge A drill contract has been signed and a rig is due to be mobilised in the coming days Detailed evaluation continues over several other strong prospects on the property Colin Bird, Executive Chairman of Bezant, commented: "The whole of the Kalengwa area is highly prospective for copper discovery with numerous anomalies identified for follow-up through detailed integration of historic data sets. Just 2.5km to the south of the former Kalengwa open pit a coherent geochemical, geophysical and structural anomaly has been targeted for drilling with several holes. A further strong drilling prospect has been identified at Minemba some 4km north of the open pit, which shows promise to be a structural mirror image of the former pit with scope to be identified. We are very excited about the underlying fundamentals of Kalengwa and will progressively pursue our exploration with the aim of selecting the best targets with the greatest prospect to produce a world class copper deposit." Drill Plan Summary Bezant has reviewed an extensive dataset from previous exploration over the Kalengwa exploration licence. Several strong anomalies were identified by early-stage overview and detailed evaluation was carried out over the initial priority selections, based on prospective features and site accessibility during this latter end of the rainy reason. Review work undertaken recently by Company has particularly highlighted two strong drill targets, namely Kalengwa SW2, located 2.5km southwest of the Kalengwa open pit copper-silver mine and the Minemba area, 4km northeast of the mine. The Kalengwa SW2 target features coincident magnetic and soil geochemical anomalies for Cu covering an area of more than 1km2 occurring directly over the projection of the Kalengwa Lineament structure which is thought to be a controlling feature of the emplacement of the Kalengwa orebody. Follow-up exploration in 1999 comprised a series of angled Aircore/RAB drilling profiles on 300m x 100m spacing across the soil and magnetic anomalies. Such drilling can penetrate through the weathered layer as far as bedrock surface but cannot penetrate fresh bedrock. Sampling is typically carried out every one or two metres through the weathering profile. At Kalengwa SW2 the weathering profile is deep, averaging 43m true thickness, potentially masking or diluting the surface expression any mineral body. Drill intervals with analytical values >250ppm Cu were found in 10 of the 34 holes drilled, peaking at 19m @ 1,259ppm Cu from 20-39m in hole KWA99RA211 and 4m @ 1,962ppm Cu from 12-16m in adjacent hole KWA99RA212. These results are strongly supportive of the shallow Cu soil anomaly. The magnetic anomaly at Kalengwa SW2 is similar to, but stronger than, the magnetic anomaly at the Kalengwa mine. Such anomalies are thought to relate to local mafic intrusive centres which are believed to be the source for the hydrothermal system that introduced mineralisation at the mine. The target appears not to have been previously tested by core or RC drilling. Bezant plans to drill a profile of 3-4 angled diamond drill holes totalling about 400-500m across the Kalengwa SW2 target to test the bedrock for copper-silver mineralisation similar to that mined at the high grade Kalengwa open pit. The Minemba target was selected for follow-up based on a copper geochemical anomaly found by auger drilling along strike 4km to the northeast from Kalengwa, associated with a discrete magnetic anomaly believe to be related to intrusive rocks. Five historic diamond drill holes spaced 100-200m apart and angled towards the north were completed by Roan Consolidated Mines, the operator of the Kalengwa mine, in the 1960s. Four of these intersected steeply dipping chalcopyrite-pyrite mineralisation over narrow intervals at depths ranging from 80-200m below surface within a mafic intrusive body - in contrast to the sedimentary host rocks at Kalengwa. Drill intercepts include 4.3m @ 1.43% Cu (hole MN 496) and 2.7m @ 2.08% Cu (MN 495). Despite the proximity to the high grade Kalengwa mine, no further diamond drilling was subsequently carried out. Mineralisation based on drilling covers a strike extent of 300m and is open along strike to the northeast as well as down-plunge, with an average thickness of 2.5m, apparently widening at depth. The Company has reviewed in detail regional and local map data layers, including a regional structural interpretation. This is particularly useful as it shows the Kalengwa open pit deposit and associated geochemical anomaly to lie at a complex structural junction between the major NE-SW 'Kalengwa Lineament' and a series of N-NE faults including the 'Pit Fault' mapped in the open pit. Of special interest is that a structural mirror image to the Kalengwa deposit setting is interpreted at Minemba which adds considerably to the attractiveness of the target. It appears that the mineralisation encountered in drilling is aligned directly with the offset continuation of the NE-trending Kalengwa Lineament. Two initial angled diamond drill holes are proposed at Minemba totalling about 300-400m, laid out to test the down-plunge and along strike development of the Minemba mineralisation on the Kalengwa Lineament. They would also look to cut the sediment/intrusive boundary, if present in the immediate locality. If the mineralisation can be traced into adjoining sediments or breccias, then this would represent a classic sedimentary target, based on analogy with Kalengwa and the Copperbelt in general. Further drilling will be contingent on the outcome of the initial two holes. A contract has been signed with an experienced local drilling company to carry out the planned programme, with drilling due to commence shortly. Kalengwa Exploration Project Background (as previously announced 27 April 2020) The Company has a 30 per cent. interest and acts as operator in the approximate 974km2 large scale exploration licence numbered 24401-HQ-LEL in The Republic of Zambia (the "Licence") through a 30 per cent. shareholding in KPZ Int. The Licence is held by Kalengwa Processing Zone Ltd ("KPZ"), a 100 per cent. (less one share) Zambian subsidiary of KPZ Int, and is for the exploration of copper, cobalt, silver, gold and certain other specified minerals. The Licence was granted on 2 April 2019 and is valid for an initial period up to 1 April 2023. The Kalengwa Exploration Project comprises the Licence but specifically excludes the processing area, the tailings dumps and the flooded open pit (the "Flooded Pit") and the area 500 metres to the north of the Flooded Pit and 500 metres to the south of the Flooded Pit, such excluded area being the subject of the pre-existing Kalengwa Processing Project between the existing shareholders of KPZ Int and Xtract Resources Plc (AIM: XTR) ("Xtract") (the "Kalengwa Processing Project") details of which are set out in Xtract's announcement of 15 July 2019. The exploration licence, 24401-HQ-LEL, covers an area of 974.83km2 in the North-Western Province of Zambia and is accessed from the regional centre of Solwezi via a 240km long tarred road of good quality and then by dirt/gravel roads within the property. The exploration acreage includes extensive ground along strike from the historic, high-grade Kalengwa open pit copper mine. Past third-party production from the mine is estimated at 1.9 million tonnes ("Mt") grading at 9.44% Cu and 50g/t Ag. The historic mine workings exhibit features of both IOCG-type deposits as well as stratiform copper mineralisation, more typical of that seen at the major Zambian Copperbelt mines to the east. In addition, the Project area surrounds a further copper deposit at Mufumbwe in the southwest of the property which is held by a third party. A non-compliant mineral resource estimate of 7.2Mt grading at 2.2% Cu has previously been estimated from drilling at this adjacent prospect. The stratigraphic package at Kalengwa is similar to that hosting the world-class deposits in the Copperbelt. These deposits are thought to be formed from hydrothermal and ore-bearing fluids sourced from the intrusives of the Hook Granite complex. It is notable that such intrusives occur at the Kalengwa mine and are known from historic third-party drilling and airborne magnetic surveying to occur at, or close to, several other prospects within the Project area. Previous exploration data available includes extensive soil geochemistry, airborne magnetics and electromagnetics, structural interpretation and drilling. Based on review to date of these data sets, up to nine high priority targets have been highlighted within the Licence boundary, most with limited or no previous drill testing. Apart from the two prospects earmarked for drilling in the current programme other strong targets include the Mufumbwe northeast extension, an undrilled 13km long northeast-trending soil geochemical anomaly aligned with an interpreted structural zone, lying directly along strike from the Mufumbwe copper deposit. The remaining exploration targets all have significant soil geochemical anomalies as well as geophysical and structural features of interest. The historical exploration datasets in respect of the Kalengwa Exploration Project will continue to be examined in detail in order to prioritise further targets and assist with planning the requisite follow up work by Bezant. Technical Sign-Off Technical information in this announcement has been reviewed by Edward (Ed) Slowey, BSc, PGeo, technical director of Bezant. Mr Slowey is a graduate geologist with more than 40 years' relevant experience in mineral exploration and mining, a founder member of the Institute of Geologists of Ireland and is a Qualified Person under the AIM rules. Mr Slowey has reviewed and approved this announcement. For further information, please contact: Bezant Resources PlcColin Bird Executive Chairman +27 726 118 724 Beaumont Cornish (Nominated Adviser) Roland Cornish +44 (0) 020 7628 3396 Novum Securities Limited (Broker) Jon Belliss +44 (0) 20 7399 9400 or visit http://www.bezantresources.com The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014. Note All production and resource figures stated above are gross to the Project. Glossary A 'Mineral Resource' is a concentration or occurrence of solid material of economic interest in or on the Earth's crust in such form, grade (or quality), and quantity that there are reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction. The location, quantity, grade (or quality), continuity and other geological characteristics of a Mineral Resource are known, estimated or interpreted from specific geological evidence and knowledge, including sampling. Mineral Resources are sub-divided, in order of increasing geological confidence, into Inferred, Indicated and Measured categories. "Ag" Silver "Cu" Copper "Mt" million tonnes "g/t" grams per tonne Seoul - As part of the partnership between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Samsung Electronics, four additional Young Leaders will join Generation17 to galvanize the global community in achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Also known as the Global Goals, they are a blueprint for a future without poverty, inequality or the devastating effects of climate change. This group of Generation17 Young Leaders is made up of four visionaries combatting inequalities and promoting human rights issues and educating their generation on the Global Goals across Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and Eastern Europe: Daniel Calarco (Brazil): A 23-year-old human rights activist who founded the International Youth Watch to create better opportunities for young people from marginalized communities. Nadine Khaouli (Lebanon): A 25-year-old community activist who leads disaster relief efforts for Lebanon in response to the 2020 Beirut Port explosion and the COVID-19 pandemic through her organization Kafe be Kafak. Yejin Choi (South Korea): A 26-year-old cognitive therapist turned CEO who founded DoBrain, an AI-based mobile app that aims to improve early-education opportunities for children with disabilities. Yurii Romashko (Ukraine): A 28-year-old transparency advocate who founded the think tank Institute of Analysis and Advocacy that empowers his community to make more informed, data-based decisions in their daily lives. Samsung is committed to delivering meaningful solutions that bring communities together, and we are proud to extend our commitment to a new group of inspirational young activists, said Stephanie Choi, SVP & Head of Marketing of the Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics. These four leaders are integral members of the Galaxy community, and they have our full support and encouragement to continue rallying us all to advance the Global Goals and help build a better future The Second Cohort of Generation17 Young Leaders Over the next year, the introduction of these new agents of change will strengthen the initiatives inclusivity and broaden its global scale, as they spearhead previously unaddressed yet critical issues across the Global Goals. The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened generational divides around the world, and, now more than ever, its important that younger generations have the opportunities and resources to be heard and to be active participants in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner. Together, with Samsung, we are supporting young changemakers as they build sustainable policies, communities and progress during this pivotal time. I look forward to working with this group of Young Leaders and exploring new paths for a green and equitable recovery. Elevating the Voice of a Generation Generation17 was born in October 2020 with the mission to inspire an entire generation of tech savvy young individuals to achieve the Global Goals in less than 10 years. Since launch, an inaugural cohort of Young Leaders, including Maximo Mazzocco, Sadya Toure, Shomy Chowdhury and Tafara Makaza, have championed the effort, using UNDPs and Samsungs support to broaden their reach. Over the last few months, UNDP and Samsung increased the visibility and impact of their work through mentorship with the UNDP Youth Global Programme and the Global Policy Network, participation in global and regional development-related events, such as the #Youth4ClimateLive series and the Karma Dialogue, and engagement with country offices and partners. Samsung also equipped the Young Leaders with the latest Galaxy technology to better connect them with their peers and raised awareness of their work across its global network using personalized content and the reach of its online channels. Exemplifying the need to act together, the Young Leaders leveraged their expanded network to exchange ideas and best practices and collaborate for peer-to-peer engagements. Support for the first cohort will continue throughout the year, starting with participation in the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum 2021. Both groups of Young Leaders will immerse themselves in the seamless and connected Galaxy ecosystem and use their Galaxy devices to collaborate online and brainstorm innovative solutions to their shared challenges, ultimately addressing the diversity and complexity of the Global Goals and expanding their network of strong activists. The Young Leaders will continue to engage with the Global Goals using the Samsung Global Goals app, which is installed on over 100 million Galaxy smartphones and has provided more than US $1.5million in donations for UNDP. The app received an Honorable Mention in the SDG Action Awards and was an Honoree for Software & Mobile Apps, Tech for a Better World in the CES 2020 Innovations Award. It was also shortlisted in the Reuters Responsible Business Awards for SDG Impact. About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Samsung inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies. The company is redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, digital appliances, network systems, and memory, system LSI, foundry and LED solutions. For the latest news, please visit the Samsung Newsroom at http://news.samsung.com. About UNDP UNDP is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet. www.undp.org. About the Global Goals The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. The 17 SDGs are integratedthat is, they recognize that action in one area will affect outcomes in others, and that development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability. Guided by the goals, it is now up to all of us, governments, businesses, civil society and the general public to work together to build a better future for everyone. www.globalgoals.org. Imagine being trapped in a snowbound town: no electricity, no clean water, and food is running out. You give out everything you can offer, hoping to help the poor get through this difficult time. But one of your rich neighbors, while hoarding food for himself, mocks your acts of charity, calling it sub-quality, and says you are doing it just to boost your reputation or influence in the neighborhood. It hurts, doesnt it? Thats how it feels when you read the Wall Street Journals latest article titled China Deploys Covid-19 Vaccine to Build Influence, With U.S. on Sidelines and dozens of similar essays claiming that Chinas vaccine donations to the developing world harbor a hidden agenda. Again, some media outlets still couldnt help acting like professional judges, pointing fingers at an act they are too arrogant to believe. But vaccines are not like wine - they save lives, especially in developing countries where the medical infrastructure is not as advanced as in the U.S. For months, China has been donating masks, ventilators, testing kits, and COVID-19 vaccines to other nations, even though it hasnt fully recovered from the pandemic itself. Volunteer Michelle Zhou (1st L) presents donations of medical supplies to staff members of Elmhurst Hospital in Queens of New York, the United States, on March 28, 2020. (Xinhua) When the state of New York was in desperate need of ventilators, the Chinese government donated 1,000 machines to the once COVID-besieged place. When hospitals in Italy were at full stretch, Chinese doctors and nurses who hadnt even had a chance to rest from the grueling battle with the deadly virus in their motherland came to the rescue. When African countries were hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, aggravated by natural disasters including a locust plague and famine, China dispatched medical teams carrying much-needed medical equipment together with millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines. Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue (R, front), vice president of Equatorial Guinea, and Chinese Ambassador to Equatorial Guinea Qi Mei attend a handover ceremony for COVID-19 vaccines in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, Feb. 10, 2021. (Xinhua/ Li Boyuan) On January 25, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a special address at the virtual Davos Agenda event, during which he specifically said that China will "make them (vaccines) public goods that are truly accessible and affordable to people in all countries." This month, China announced it would provide 10 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to developing nations through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) initiative. "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, so as to help developing countries receive vaccines in time and contribute to the global defeat of the pandemic at an early date," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin at a daily press briefing. Related Reading: China providing vaccine aid to 53 developing countries: FM spokesperson As the U.S. has a hard time delivering its premium vaccines evenly to its own citizens, not to mention donating vaccines to developing countries that dont have any at all, please for the last time at least stop the smear campaign against other nations that are doing so. One comment under WSJ's article reads: Providing vaccines to the developing world will save millions of lives. If we are in no position to do it, then we should be applauding, not criticizing the ones who are doing it. Related Reading: COVID-19 vaccination drive reflects racial disparities in the U.S. No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main, wrote John Donne, an English poet, more than four centuries ago. That classic verse still resonates today. Lending a helping hand to other nations in need has never come with the aim of building geopolitical influence, but for saving lives, those of others, and also ourselves. Because in the fight against a global pandemic, no one is safe until everyone is safe. The World Bank warned that it may halt funding for Lebanons COVID-19 vaccination campaign amid allegations that members of parliament are jumping the line to receive their jabs. On Tuesday, 16 lawmakers and five of their staff members were vaccinated at the parliament, despite a rollout plan that prioritizes health workers, the elderly, epidemiological staff and people 55 and older with medical conditions. Adnan Daher, the parliaments secretary-general, dismissed favoritism allegations, telling LOrient Today that anyone who was vaccinated under 75 has illnesses confirmed by a doctors note. When announcing a $34 million loan to cover vaccines in Lebanon last month, the World Bank called for transparency in the distribution process. The Banks regional director, Saroj Kumar Jha, tweeted on Tuesday that there could be consequences if people don't wait their turn. Upon confirmation of violation, World Bank may suspend financing for vaccines and support for COVID19 response across Lebanon!! he wrote in a tweet that has since been deleted. I appeal to all, I mean all, regardless of your position, to please register and wait for your turn. Earlier this month, the small Mediterranean country received its first batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The 28,500 doses, which were shipped from Brussels to the Beirut airport on Feb. 13, are among the 2.1 million Lebanon will get incrementally throughout the year. The country of 6 million people is also set to get 2.7 million doses through the World Health Organizations COVAX initiative. The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the World Bank are monitoring the distribution. Abdul Rahman Bizri, the head of the COVID-19 vaccination committee, said the incident in parliament had hurt public confidence in Lebanons vaccination campaign, adding that a real statesman waits for his turn like any citizen. Lebanon is dealing with its worst economic crisis in decades and still reeling from an explosion in Beirut this August that caused billions of dollars in damage and left more than half the citys hospitals unable to function. The blast, which was caused by some 2,700 tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate stored unsafely at Beiruts port, was seen as further evidence of the governments negligence and corruption. Just over a year after detecting its first COVID-19 case, Lebanon has recorded more than 356,000 infections and 4,387 deaths from the virus. The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company San Mateo and Marin County restaurants may reopen for indoor dining at 25% capacity, making them the only places in the Bay Area where indoor dining is available. Both Marin and San Mateo counties moved out of the most restrictive purple tier of the states reopening plan on Tuesday and into the red tier. Counties in the red tier may reopen dining rooms at a limited capacity, which both counties announced they would do later in the day. San Francisco is still in the purple tier. Speaking at a Washington Post Live forum Tuesday, San Francisco Mayor London Breed said that she expects San Francisco may loosen some restrictions as soon as next week. She added that restaurants will be able to expand, but did not elaborate. Gov. Gavin Newsom said he anticipates more counties will move into the red tier next week and the week after, which could include other Bay Area counties. In Larkspur, Frank Caiazzo of Left Bank Brasserie said Tuesday that the restaurant would open for indoor dinner service that evening. They expected it to start later in the week, but had set up one of three dining rooms just in case they got news that they could reopen. Having a year experience with this now, it happens quicker than you think, the closings and the openings, he said. Caiazzo also recently invested $40,000 in a large parklet for outdoor dining, hiring a local muralist to paint it with images of Larkspur. Indoor dining carries high risks of coronavirus transmission, compared to other activities, and California has been slow to allow it again after a surge in cases this winter. Bay Area restaurants closed their dining rooms in November after briefly being open earlier in the year. Until recently, the state was the last in the country to widely restrict indoor dining. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. In addition to being able to offer dining at 25% capacity, counties that fall under the red or substantial tier can allow retail stores to operate with 50% indoor capacity; museums, zoos and movie theaters at 25% capacity; and gyms at 10%. Until today, only four counties in the state had left the purple tier, which are all rural areas with low populations. Aidin Vaziri and Michael Williams contributed reporting. Tara Duggan is The San Francisco Chronicles assistant food editor. Email: tduggan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @taraduggan 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. SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. Farhan Zaidi likes to think out of the box, and he also likes to reconnect with players he has known at other stops as a big-league executive. On Tuesday, Zaidi went way outside the box with a surprise signing, adding former As and Dodgers starter Scott Kazmir on a minor-league deal. What year is it? Kazmir joked during a phone call with The Chronicle. Kazmir, 37, hasnt pitched in the big leagues since 2016. He pitched in four minor-league games in 2017 and was in Braves camp in 2018 before asking for his release; then he packed it in for a while after his wife, Kim, had their two sons: Bodhi, 3, and Utah, 1. In addition, Kazmirs parents, Eddie and Debbie, have cancer. Eddie has stage 4 bladder cancer and Debbie stage 3 multiple myeloma; both are being treated at Houstons renowned MD Anderson Cancer Center, so Kazmir had reasons to stay home, especially once the pandemic hit. Thats been rough on the whole family, he said. Its been tough. But were staying positive. When Utah was born, the Kazmirs decided to go back to the same hospital where Kim had delivered Bodhi, Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles. While there, Kazmir started throwing with another former As starter, Kendall Graveman, who was rehabbing. I contemplated retiring when I was first out of the league, but my body told me I still had pitches left, Kazmir said. Kendall came and visited us and we played catch; it was the first time Id picked up a ball in a while. Id just been surfing to stay in shape. But it felt great throwing, so when he left, I just kept throwing at parks around L.A. by myself. He found a spot to play briefly in a little pop-up league run by Roger Clemens and Greg Swindell last year near his home in Sugarland, Texas, and he found his velocity creeping up. Even throwing his hardest as an All-Star with Tampa Bay, Kazmir said he didnt hit 90 mph in bullpen sessions he did so only with batters in the box but now hes up to 92-93 mph in workouts. Its very encouraging, especially without having that extra game adrenaline to provide more velocity, he said. His mechanics are closer to what they were when he was with the Rays; Kazmir has ditched the high, twisting leg delivery he had when he reinvented himself with Oakland. This is a lot more efficient, he said. Im not doing the big wraparound, twisting motion. That was tough on my body. The past week and a half, Kazmir hasnt had much opportunity to work out after a massive winter storm hit Houston, leaving the city without power and water for days. He had installed a generator two weeks earlier, so some family members came to stay with him. They didnt have water for a time, and once the taps worked again, they had to boil their water. This has just been a crazy couple of months, he said. Kazmir had a nice season and a half in Oakland in 2014-15, going 20-14 with a 3.12 ERA and resurrecting his career. The As traded him to Houston, then he signed as a free agent with the Dodgers, for whom Zaidi a longtime member of the Oakland front office was the GM. Kazmirs deal with the Giants calls for a $600,000 base salary if he makes the big-league team, and he does not have an opt-out. Along with being reunited with Zaidi, Kazmir is back with former Tampa Bay teammates Gabe Kapler, now the Giants manager, and third baseman Evan Longoria. Its come full circle, Kazmir said. I feel like Im in a good place. This is a guy who was a really special talent, Longoria said. He's got that big-league ability to throw the baseball. Our hope as a group is that he can rekindle some of that and be a major-league pitcher for us." Susan Slusser covers the Giants for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: sslusser@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @susanslusser RTHK: 'Climate change a grave threat to world peace' British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and veteran naturalist David Attenborough made direct pleas on Tuesday to the UN Security Council to take urgent action on the climate crisis or face worsening global instability. The meeting represents a departure from the traditional focus of the Security Council of averting conflicts or establishing peacekeeping operations. But Johnson, who was chairing a virtual session of the council on climate and security, said: "It is absolutely clear that climate change is a threat to our collective security and the security of our nations." He added: "I know that there are people around the world who will say that this is...green stuff from a bunch of tree-hugging tofu munchers, and not suited to international diplomacy and international politics. "I couldn't disagree more profoundly." Johnson stressed that helping vulnerable countries adapt to climate change and cutting global emissions to net zero will aid the protection of biodiversity as well as prosperity and security. He evoked the examples of farmers becoming susceptible to radicalisation when their crops dry up, or girls whose daily search for water takes them further and further from home and they fall prey to human trafficking. "When are we going to do something if we don't act now?" he asked, concluding: "Whether you like it or not, it is a matter of when, not if, your country, and your people will have to deal with the security impacts of climate change." Attenborough meanwhile likened the threat to civilisation to that posed by World War II, which took place in his youth. But the new threats "do not divide us," he said. "They are threats which should unite us, no matter from which part of the world we come, for they face us all." He continued: "The change needed in itself sounds immense, and of course it is, but we already have many of the technologies needed, at least for the initial changes. "And perhaps crucially, we also have a level of public support and demand for action that I have myself never seen before. " Britain has committed into law a target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and will host the COP26 climate summit in November in the Scottish city of Glasgow. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres meanwhile cited a study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which found that eight of the ten countries hosting the largest multilateral peace operations in 2018 were in areas highly exposed to climate change. "In Afghanistan, for example, where 40 percent of the workforce is engaged in farming, reduced harvests push people into poverty and food insecurity, leaving them susceptible to recruitment by criminal gangs and armed groups," he said. US climate czar John Kerry, French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi were also set to address the forum. The meeting will serve as a test for US-China relations, one UN ambassador said on condition of anonymity, alluding to one of the few issues where the two big powers might agree. But this is not a given. "We should watch how the Chinese position themselves with the Americans," the ambassador said in the runup for the event. Traditionally, the ambassador said, "you know that the Russians and the Chinese will immediately say (climate change has) 'nothing to do' with the council's issues." Today, however, "the Chinese are more liable to be slightly open to that discussion," which "leaves the Russians pretty much on their own." (AFP) This story has been published on: 2021-02-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 18:51:23|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Photo taken on Dec. 21, 2020 shows the Union Jack flag and the Big Ben clock tower of the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain. (Xinhua/Han Yan) It appears that some British policymakers are pretending their anti-China talking will not be heard by China. They need to know that a Janus-faced strategy will only lead to double failure on both fronts. by Xinhua writer Guo Yage BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- London's China policy has gone extremely Janus-faced, if not deranged. Addressing the UN Human Rights Council on Monday, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab maliciously smeared the human rights record in Xinjiang. He even attempted to lobby other council members and the United Nations to join his rumor-mongering campaign. However, just a few days ago, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reportedly branded himself as "fervently Sinophile" and vowed to improve ties with China. Over the past two years, Downing Street's China policy has grown increasingly inconsistent. Sometimes, it looks like a person's two hands are working against each other. While one hand was giving the order to promote bilateral cooperation with China, notably in trade and economy, the other one issued instructions to ban Huawei in Britain's 5G rollout, blocked China's law-abiding television network, adopted tailored policy for Hong Kong residents, and barred the import of goods from Xinjiang citing the so-called use of "forced labor." Photo taken on Jan. 28, 2020 shows a Huawei 5G mobile phone testing speed at the Huawei 5G Innovation and Experience Center in London, Britain. (Xinhua/Han Yan) Carrying out such a two-faced policy is like splashing dirty water onto someone repeatedly and then saying, "Never mind and let's be friends." London also seems to be self-deceiving. It appears that some British policymakers are pretending their anti-China talking will not be heard by China. The only logical explanation for such duplicity is that London intends to eat the cake and have it. It wants to cash in on its pragmatic cooperation with China while pretending that it can stand tough against what the "Western democracies" call the "Red China." The British decision-makers need to know that such a Janus-faced strategy will only lead to double failure on both fronts. In the post-pandemic and post-Brexit era, a healthy and stable relationship with China is in line with Britain's own long-term interests. And that relationship is only possible when London knows how to foster mutual trust and respect with Beijing. Of course, it is London's liberty to choose to advocate the so-called Western values. Yet if it seeks to do it at the expense of China's core interests, Beijing will not sit quietly. Sanctions against Belarus are incompatible with human rights, the country's foreign minister Vladimir Makei said Tuesday.He was addressing an online meeting of the Human Rights Council, the United Nations' top human rights body. "The beloved toy of Western countries, that is to say economic sanctions, are actually actively used by them to exert pressure against other sovereign states, is absolutely incompatible with human rights and with the human being itself," Makei said. The United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on Belarus in response to the crackdown on protests that followed last year's disputed elections. But Makei said the measures amounted to "political pressures against a lawful government." The elections last August produced a landslide for President Alexander Lukashenko, according to official results. But opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and her supporters say the vote was rigged. Authorities responded to opposition protests with a sweeping crackdown. More than 30,000 people were detained and thousands were brutally beaten. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Unemployed Australians will be given a permanent $50-a-fortnight rise to the JobSeeker payment when the coronavirus supplement ends in March, while employers will have the power to dob in anyone refusing a job offer. The federal government on Tuesday announced the dole would be lifted to $615.70 a fortnight, or about $44 a day, after March 31, up from the base rate of $565.70 a fortnight. The base rate of JobSeeker will be increased after March. Credit:Rhett Wyman Job seekers obligations will also be increased, with the number of job searches required each month to rise gradually to 20 from July 1, and a new hotline for employers will be put in place to discourage people from refusing offers of work. The new rate is equivalent to an increase of just under $4 a day and people will be able to earn $150 a fortnight before they start to see a reduction in their payments. The measures are estimated to cost about $9 billion over the forward estimates. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 12:25:26|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Xinhua writer Xu Zeyu BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Poverty plagued China for thousands of years. Through generations of struggle after the founding of New China in 1949, the country had lifted 700 million out of penury by the end of 2012. By then, China still had nearly 100 million people living under the poverty line, one ninth of the world's total. About 100,000 villages were yet to be connected by paved roads; some 4,000 villages had no access to electricity; and 8.3 percent of the country's rural households eked out a living in ramshackle, grass-thatched mud huts. In November 2012, Xi Jinping became China's top leader, and he inherited a mission China had striven to achieve for generations, which is eradicating absolute poverty. The Communist Party of China (CPC) aimed to reach the goal by the end of 2020. "To achieve this goal, China has to lift 10 million people out of poverty every year," said Eduardo Regalado, senior researcher at Cuba's International Policy Research Center. "That is, 20 people every minute." TARGETED POVERTY ALLEVIATION At the end of 2012, Xi braved the ghastly winter temperatures to visit the villages of Luotuowan and Gujiatai, impoverished places set deep in the Taihang Mountains of Hebei Province. It was the first of a myriad of inspection tours dipping into the country's underdeveloped regions for Xi as the top Chinese leader. Chatting with villagers, Xi was particularly concerned with difficulties they faced in their daily lives, such as problems concerning their income, food, education and medical care. The austere living conditions were astounding. With similar hardship still haunting tens of millions of impoverished people in rural areas, Xi knew there was no time to spare. While the entire nation held its breath waiting for his answer, Xi's commitment to this seemingly insurmountable task was never in question. He knew what it was like to be hungry. "Meat would not grace our tables for months at a time," Xi once said, referring to the days when he was sent to Liangjiahe Village in northwest China's Shaanxi Province as a farmer some five decades ago. "How I wished to treat my fellow villagers to meat at least once." From a junior local official to China's top leader, Xi always held dear the wish he had made. Ensuring the rural poor improve their lot has been his motivation all along. Reviewing the whole situation, Xi determined that China had entered the most difficult stage of relieving poverty, and the root cause of every household's destitution needed to be identified before any targeted approaches could be formulated. It was during a visit to Shibadong Village in Hunan Province that he proposed a targeted approach to address poverty. "We should seek facts from truth; guidance and development must reflect the local conditions," Xi said. "This is what I mean by targeted poverty alleviation." In an effort to meticulously tackle impoverishment in various locations, the authorities need to have a full grasp of the conditions on the ground. Therefore, China launched an unprecedented project to compile a database of every single underprivileged citizen. In 18 months, the country had a complete nationwide register of its poor population. It was the first time in history that an all-encompassing poverty database had been compiled. "Precision poverty targeting is supporting the government in targeting the remaining poor in the last mile," said Jim Yong Kim, former president of the World Bank. "A SOLDIER'S PLEDGE" In November 2015, Xi led a conference on poverty alleviation and development, the largest of its kind ever held. The heads of 22 provincial-level regions in the central and western parts of China signed liability pledges to eradicate poverty in their purview on time, said Liu Yongfu, former director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development. "Xi Jinping took a liability pledge at the meeting, and said it is just like a 'soldier's pledge' and we must keep our word," Liu recalled in an interview. "Should tasks not be finished on time, the signatory would be held accountable," Xi was quoted as saying. Xi, too, had nothing to fall back on. The entire system was mobilized to help the rural indigent population, with more than 250,000 teams dispatched to offer on-the-ground support and over 3 million people sent to countryside as special commissioners for poverty relief. While they have brought about transcendental changes for those in dire need of help, 1,800 of them lost their lives in the line of duty. To uncover the root causes of underdevelopment and advise on solutions, Xi pushed on unabated with inspection tours, visiting some of the poorest places in China. Ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year in 2018, Xi traveled 2,200 km from Beijing to Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province to review plans for the relocation of communities. Eleven out of the 17 counties in the prefecture were flagged as key locations in the state's poverty alleviation work. "Not a single ethnic group, family or person should be left behind," Xi said. Locked in rough, unforgiving mountain terrain, Atulie'er Village in Liangshan, known as the "cliff village," was emblematic of how difficult it would be for the country to fulfill its poverty-free pledge. Due to the village's isolated location, precariously perched with near-vertical cliffs both above and below, villagers had to use a series of handmade ladders to scale the 800-meter-high cliff. "I saw that children had to climb the unsteady vine ladders on the cliff with no safety measures whatsoever. It made me feel heavyhearted and concerned," Xi said. Two years later, all 344 of the cliff village's former residents left the village in the clouds and moved down to safer ground. Bidding farewell to their former houses, the villagers moved to brand-new apartments. Children resumed their study in bright classrooms, without the need to scale daunting cliffs on the way to class. The village has since seen over 100,000 visitors every year, generating substantial income for the locals. As tourism becomes a pillar industry of the local economy, penury is resigned to history. At the end of 2019, China's rural underprivileged population had fallen to 5.51 million. An end to poverty was within reach. "It is difficult to recall or identify any parallel achievement," said Guy Ryder, director-general of the International Labour Organization. SPRINTING THE LAST MILE In early 2020, the sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic dealt a heavy blow to the economy of China and the world. "For the first time in thirty years, poverty is rising," said Antonio Guterres, UN secretary-general. While most people assumed China's goal to lift all its people out of poverty by 2020 would take a back seat, Xi took a tougher path. In March 2020, Xi presided over an unusual symposium attended by officials ranging from country leaders to local officials. Xi stressed that lifting all rural residents living below the current poverty line out of poverty by 2020 was a solemn promise made by the CPC Central Committee, and it must be fulfilled on time. "There were only 300 days left, and Xi said this meeting had to be held as soon as possible for another round of deployment and mobilization," said Chen Songbai, deputy Party chief of Zhaojue County, Sichuan Province. "He had a very grave look on his face when he said it." Although fiscal revenue was at a low ebb in 2020, Xi pointed out that funding was key to achieving poverty alleviation. Instead of reducing investment, the central government's special fund for poverty reduction reached 146.1 billion yuan (about 22.4 billion U.S. dollars). There was also a one-off supplementary injection of 30 billion yuan. Xi's decision recharged the campaign and the whole society played its part. Once again, the have-nots knew that they would not be left behind under any circumstance. Over the past eight years, the rural landscape has been completely reshaped. More than 9.6 million people suffering from intractable destitution have been relocated from uninhabitable areas. All villages in the country are connected to the network of paved roads. Every rural household is connected to the power grid. More than 100,000 countryside schools have been renovated or rebuilt, providing tens of thousands of rural children with a chance to carve an alternative future. Along the path to zero poverty, Xi made plans and decisions that have changed the fate of millions of Chinese families for the better. The path has been littered with bumps and holes, yet he held on to his original motivation. "Through eight years, under the current standard, China has eradicated extreme poverty for the nearly 100 million rural people affected," Xi said in the New Year speech that rang in 2021. China has ended the poverty that plagued the country for thousands of years, but it merely marks another beginning -- the beginning of more miracles yet to be worked, and a path toward an even brighter future. Enditem Security officials tasked with protecting Washington, D.C. testified before a U.S. Senate panel that they knew extremist groups were poised to commit violence on Jan. 6, but said information suggesting a planned attack on the U.S. Capitol wasnt shared with police. Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, co-chaired a joint hearing of two Senate committees investigating failures that allowed a mob of Trump supporters and far-right agitators to delay the certification of the presidential election. Former Capitol security officials who testified Tuesday blamed federal agencies for not passing along vital information that planned protests would likely be more violent than two earlier pro-Trump events. We had planned for the possibility of violence, the possibility of some people being armed, not the possibility of a coordinated military-style attack involving thousands against the Capitol, said Steven Sund, who resigned from his position as chief of the U.S. Capitol Police after the riots. Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee said available intelligence pointed to a large presence of extremist groups that participated in violence during Million MAGA March protests in Washington, D.C. in November and December last year. Contee said police werent provided information suggesting the groups were plotting an assault on the Capitol itself. Sund told lawmakers that did not receive an FBI report that warned extremists were preparing for war in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6. Peters, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said the failure to deliver this important information before the attack is an obvious problem. How could you not get that vital intelligence? Peters asked. I think that information would have been helpful to be aware of, Sund answered. Security officials said they were caught off guard by the level of coordination between the rioters, who communicated through private radio channels and hand signals. Federal charging documents allege members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers extensively planned ahead of the attack, removed police barriers and used improvised weapons to beat back police. Authorities have yet to arrest people responsible for planting pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Democratic Party and Republican Party, which Sund said was likely an attempt to draw police attention away from Capitol. Others brought climbing gear and chemical irritants. Peters noted that the Department of Justice is prosecuting more than 200 federal cases, with 40 linked to extremist groups like Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. Rioters smashed through windows and doors to breach the Capitol and engaged in a melee that injured 140 law enforcement officers. A Capitol Police officer died from injuries sustained in the attack, while a woman was shot by police near the House chamber where rioters were trying to break in. These criminals came prepared for war, Sund said. Sund said an internal report he viewed on Jan. 3 warned protesters were planning to target Congress itself. Sund said security plans were changed based on that report. No civilian law enforcement agency is trained or equipped to repel thousands of rioters, Sund said. However, he said police procedures also prevented necessary resources from being deployed to handle the threat. The chief of Capitol Police cant request a declaration of emergency without approval from the Capitol Police board. Sund asked the board to declare a state of emergency and mobilize the National Guard on Monday, Jan. 4, but the request was not granted. Paul Irving, former House Sergeant at Arms, said security plans for Jan. 6 were based on incomplete intelligence about the threat. Irving said he met with Sund and former Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger to discuss whether the National Guard should be deployed. Irving said they collectively agreed the bringing in the National Guard wasnt necessary. We all believed that the plan met the threat and that we were prepared, Irving said. We now know we had the wrong plan. Testimony from the security officials conflicted on some details of the events. Sund said he contacted Irving shortly after the attack began to request help, though Irving said he has no memory of the phone call. Senators asked for phone records to clear up the discrepancy. Tuesdays hearing is the first of several steps Congress is taking to review the Jan. 6 incident and adopt reforms. The hearing follows a week-long impeachment trial examining the role former President Donald Trump played in the riots. The House voted to impeach Trump on one charge of inciting an insurrection, but a bipartisan group of Senators did not gather enough support to convict the former president. Peters said the matter still deserves exhaustive consideration to give Americans answers on how the Capitol was breached. Peters was elevated to lead the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in the 117th Congress. Peters said addressing a rising threat of domestic terrorism, white supremacy, anti-government militias and QAnon conspiracies is a top priority. These ideologies are intertwined in numerous ways, and on Jan. 6 we saw just how quickly they can shift from online communities to committing organized violent attacks in the real world, Peters said. READ MORE ON MLIVE: Fueled by lies over stolen election, a Michigan man breached the U.S. Capitol after Trumps call to action FBI arrests, impeachment trial contradicts riot hoax claim promoted by Michigans top Republican Unchecked national security wont stop Americas long-standing domestic terrorism threat How riots, politics and a pandemic drove record gun sales in Michigan Extremists have gone mainstream. Lawyers, realtors and every-day folks make up their ranks. Michigan man arrested for breaking into Capitol released on bond Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. This is the time for us to lean into the policies that can fix our decades-old or in some cases centuries-old inequities, the governor said Tuesday in a budget address, which he delivered virtually. A key pillar of the budget is a proposal to fully fund the states public sector pension obligations for the first time since 1996. The state has not set aside the full amount of its pension obligation for 25 years, leading $4 billion in extra debt to accrue over time, Ms. Muoio said. Under a deal brokered with the Legislature, Mr. Murphy had been on track to fully fund the states share by the 2023 fiscal year. But the spending plan released on Tuesday sets aside $6.4 billion for the pension system, accelerating full funding by a year. New Jersey is done kicking problems down the road, the governor said. We are solving them. Under the plan, the states surplus, which proved to be a vital resource during the first wave of the pandemic, would not grow, officials said, but would remain at about the same level it was at the end of 2020. Mr. Murphys spending plan, which must be approved by the Legislature, which is controlled by Democrats, by the end of June, also sets aside $20 million to create a Cover All Kids insurance program for the states estimated 88,000 children without health care. When lawmakers approved a 10.75 percent tax rate on all income over $1 million in September, they also established a rebate of up to $500 for taxpayers who earn less than $75,000 a year. The proposed budget sets aside $319 million to fund the first year of rebates, which would be issued in July three months before the governor and state lawmakers are up for re-election. The proposed budget is 8.8 percent larger than the current fiscal years. State Senator Declan OScanlon, a Republican who represents much of the northern Jersey Shore, said the increases in spending were unsustainable. Sen. Tom Cotton had some particular, if bizarre, questions on his mind Monday. During the Senate Judiciary hearing for President Joe Bidens attorney general appointment, the junior senator from Arkansas asked about nominee Merrick Garlands stance on the death penalty. He noted Garlands work in the Justice Departments 1995 case against Timothy McVeigh, a white supremacist who orcehstrated the deadliest incident of domestic terrorism in American history. Then Cotton asked Garland if he regretted that McVeigh was executed in 2001, considering that he now holds a different viewpoint on the death penalty. Advertisement Garland responded saying that he supported the policy during McVeighs case, when he became a judge, and that he doesnt regret that. But I have developed some concerns about the death penalty in the 20-some years since then, he said. Garland explained that exonerations of death row inmates, the randomness of the policys application, and the disparate impact on Black Americans and other communities of color were among what gave him pause. Advertisement Advertisement Cotton pivoted to asking if Garland would support the death penalty today if someone like McVeigh or Dylann Roof, a white supremacist who murdered nine Black parishioners in a historically Black church in 2015, were to carry out another attack. Listening to an enslavement apologist use the victims of a horrific hate crime in order to the defend the death penalty was a perverse experience that underscores much of what is known about Cotton. Yet, somehow, it got worse as his questioning moved forward. Advertisement A few minutes later, Cotton asked Garland if he believed the government shouldnt discriminate against someone based on race and if discrimination is morally wrong. Garland answered both questions with emphatic agreement. This was the setup for what Cotton attempted to deliver as a gotcha: Are you aware President Biden has signed an executive order stating his administration will affirmatively advance racial equitynot racial equality, but racial equity? Garland replied that he was familiar with the order and that equity was defined as the fair and impartial treatment of every person without regard to their status, including individuals who have been in underserved communities where they were not afforded that before. But I dont see any distinction, he continued. Thats the definition that was included in that executive order youre talking about. Advertisement Advertisement Cotton responded by asking Garland if he thinks racial equity and equality are the same thing. This is a word that is defined in the executive order as I just said it. So I dont know what elseI cant give you any more than [the way the] executive order defined the word it was using, said Garland. The distinction between equality and equitythe latter of which, in the executive order, is described in terms of overcoming inequalityseems like a narrow thing to fuss over. Hypothetical scenarios in which a Democratic presidents nominee for attorney general might not react seriously to white supremacists committing mass murder are obviously fanciful. But if it werent for the narrow and the fanciful, there wouldnt be much space for Tom Cotton to argue against racial justice at all. Advertisement This is the senator who, during a self-commissioned PR campaign against the New York Times 1619 Project over the summer, referred to enslavement as a necessary evil and introduced legislation that would bar schools that teach the project from receiving federal funds. Cotton championed the idea that the military should shut down protests during the largest anti-racism demonstrations in American history. He also compared that uprising to racist mobs trying to prevent school desegregation. He bookended the thought by introducing legislation that would prevent anyone convicted of a federal offense at a protest from receiving coronavirus-related unemployment funds. In 2015, he returned a campaign donation from a racist cited in Roofs manifesto. The premise of Cottons questioning hinged on the specter of reverse racism and the idea that racial equity would, somehow, be detrimental for white Americans. Achieving equity requires people to be treated based on their need in order to reach an equal outcome. Equality simply means everyone is treated the same, which ignores the impact of systemic oppression and the disparate outcomes it causes. If anything, his issue with the distinction and his twisting of the death penalty scenarios confirms everything we know about Cottons views on racism. My role as ambassador to China has given me first-hand knowledge of the impact that freedom of navigation plays in international relations and the critical role of the Surface Navy in protecting and assuring the security of the sea lanes for international trade. The National Museum of the Surface Navy, founded aboard Battleship USS Iowa and scheduled to open in 2025 as the nations first museum dedicated to Americas Surface Navy, today announced the naming of former United States ambassador and governor of Iowa, Terry Branstad, as National Campaign Co-Chair. Branstad will join a prestigious leadership team that is charged with providing the guidance, knowledge, diversity, and leadership to transition Battleship USS Iowa to a national museum. Branstad, who most recently served as the U.S ambassador to China from 2017 to 2020, was the longest serving governor for the state of Iowa, served three terms in the Iowa House of Representatives and served as president of Des Moines University. The Iowa native will hold a crucial role in ensuring the long-term sustainability of Battleship USS Iowa by helping to broaden national awareness to provide the relevancy and support that will be necessary to preserve the IOWA into the future. Branstad served as the governor of the state of Iowa during the battleships Cold War recommissioning in 1984 and when the ship was awarded as a museum to Pacific Battleship Center in 2011. Im deeply committed to the future of the Battleship and am honored to serve as national campaign co-chair, Branstad explained. Not only is this historic ship my states namesake, but my role as ambassador to China has given me first-hand knowledge of the impact that freedom of navigation plays in international relations and the critical role of the Surface Navy in protecting and assuring the security of the sea lanes for international trade. There could be no finer or more appropriate individual to serve as our national campaign co-chair than Ambassador Branstad, said retired U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Mike Shatynski, Chairman of the Board of the National Museum of the Surface Navy. His deep personal and professional ties to Iowa combined with his impressive background in international relations brings a unique level of insight and support that will contribute greatly to bringing this state-of-the-art museum to life aboard the IOWA. When the first national museum dedicated to the Surface Navy is launched in 2025, the National Museum of the Surface Navy at the Battleship Iowa will honor the millions of sailors that have served aboard thousands of ships since the founding of the U.S. Navy in 1775. A diverse variety of programs and exhibits offered through the high-tech museum will educate the public on the importance of the Surface Navys role in Freedom of the Seas in areas including international relations, free trade, humanitarian assistance, and technological innovation. Since 2011, the citizens of the state of Iowa have contributed $4.65 million towards the refurbishment and maintenance of their namesake ship, said Jonathan Williams, president and CEO of Battleship Iowa Museum. Battleship IOWA is key to the national museum as its primary artifact and an iconic symbol of the Surface Navy. Ambassador Branstad was a key supporter during his service as governor of the state of Iowa and we are thrilled to have him continue his direct support as we move into Battleship Iowas next stage as it transitions from one of the top attractions in Los Angeles to a national museum. The free Plank Owner program provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for individuals to show their support for the National Museum of the Surface Navy prior to its opening aboard Battleship USS Iowa in San Pedro at the Port of Los Angeles. Click here to learn more about the National Museum of the Surface Navy. Click here to learn about the programs and tours available now aboard Battleship USS Iowa. Follow Battleship Iowa Museum on: About Battleship USS Iowa Museum Located in the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, Calif., Battleship USS Iowa Museum is one of the top five museums and attractions in Los Angeles, bringing the ships history to life through in-person and virtual tours and educational programs for youth. In addition to providing a natural platform for veterans and patriotic civilians to come together as a community, Battleship USS Iowa Museum provides a wide array of impactful programs and resources that support the critical needs of our military and veterans. The museum is operated by Pacific Battleship Center, a 501c3 non-profit organization solely supported by admissions, donations, event space rentals, and gift shop. We do not receive government funding for our operations. Media Contact: Ken Hagihara, APR, Fellow PRSA, MCM Integrity Public Relations, Inc. 949-768-4423 ext. 101 ken@integritypr.net # # # A drink-driving police officer has been sacked from her force after she attended a house party during lockdown where she 'learned of sex abuse claims against a relative' and then crashed her car. Pc Tasia Stephens, 24, was also placed on the barred list preventing her from working elsewhere in the profession after her actions were said to have the potential to undermine confidence in the police. On Tuesday, a misconduct panel in Pencoed, Bridgend, told the South Wales Police officer she had chosen to ignore lockdown restrictions in place at a time when adhering to them was 'nationally important' and while she was still serving her probation period. South Wales Police officer Tasia Stephens, 24, (pictured) crashed her car into a building after leaving a lockdown-breaching party at her aunt's house in April last year Pc Stephens' representative had argued she had been 'distressed' after recently dealing with her first sudden death while on duty. They said she visited her aunt's home on the evening of Saturday April 25 last year to seek help processing it. While she was there she was told of historic sexual allegations against a family member. But misconduct panel chair Susan Ridge said: 'We are satisfied the impact of these issues was not a factor on the night. 'More likely than not you wanted company, took a bottle of wine to a relative's house, drank alcohol there, then chose to drive.' The hearing was told Pc Stephens walked home from the four-person party in Conway Road, Treorchy, South Wales, at around midnight to her own home nearby where she then got in her car despite drinking earlier. She was even stopped by two of her police colleagues, who were said to not have noticed she was over the limit, and carried on with her car journey despite being reminded by one of the stay-at-home restrictions in place, the hearing heard. PC Tasia Stephens, 24, was off-duty when she crashed her car into a house after attending the family party, which took place on a Saturday night in April during the first lockdown Pc Stephens drove for just under two miles before crashing into the wall of a shop on Gelli Road, Pentre, which the hearing was told led to its owner suffering a financial loss. Ms Ridge said: 'You took the decision to get in your car and drive nearly two miles before you crashed into a shop wall. 'Although you were visiting a relative, you did choose to ignore lockdown restrictions at a time when adhering to them was nationally important.' Ms Ridge said the officer's conviction for the incident at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates' Court in July last year had undermined confidence in policing. She added that her decision to drive showed she gave 'no other thought to others while driving when unfit due to alcohol'. Despite acknowledging Pc Stephens had shown 'genuine remorse', Ms Ridge added: 'We've concluded that your conduct, taken as a whole, is so serious that nothing less than dismissal is needed to maintain public confidence.' At the time of the incident, the entire UK was under strict stay-at-home rules, with people in Wales banned from meeting either indoors or outdoors with people they did not live with. Case presenter Barney Branston had told the hearing on Monday that Pc Stephens attended the house party contrary to coronavirus restrictions and despite her having an 'expectation to enforce the law and take action against members of the public who break them'. Mr Branston also said Pc Stephens 'took the extraordinary decision to drive after she knew she'd been drinking' and gave 'no thought to other road users'. Members of the public who heard the sound of the crash alerted police who found Pc Stephens 'extremely upset, saying she wanted to kill herself' and made reference to the crime said to have been committed by a family member. The misconduct hearing heard yesterday that PC Stephens had just learned about sexual abuse claims against a relative before she left the party Pc Stephens failed a roadside breath test, and was taken to a police station where she was found to have 90 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, with the legal limit to drive being 35mg of alcohol. On July 10 last year she pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol and was given a conditional discharge for 12 months and banned from driving for 15 months. Pc Stephens told the misconduct hearing she accepted attending the house party, driving when unfit, and being convicted in court. She also accepted each of the allegations amounts to discreditable conduct, and also amounted to gross misconduct, with the panel later reaching the same conclusion. Pc Stephens was also placed on the police barred list, which will prevent her from joining a police force again, but has the right to appeal. Gulfs are defined as a portion of the ocean that penetrates the land. Covering an area of about 1,800 km2, the Gulf of Fonseca is a portion of the Pacific Ocean located in Northern Central America. The Gulf of Fonseca is a shallow water body that is bordered by Honduras in the northeast, El Salvador in the northwest, and Nicaragua in the southeast. Gulf of Fonseca Map Important Geographical Features The Gulf of Fonseca stretches inward from the Pacific Ocean for approximately 65 km and the gulfs major part is shallow, which has an estimated average depth of about 15 m. The entrance of the gulf is marked by Cape Cosiguina in Nicaragua and by Cape Amapala in El Salvador. The gulfs coastline extends for about 261 km, of which 185 km is in Honduras, 29 km in El Salvador, and 40 km in Nicaragua. The Gulf of Fonseca is situated in a typical subtropical climate zone with alternating rainy and dry seasons. During the rainy season from May to November, the gulf receives a high amount of rainfall (1,400-1,600 mm), which occurs in an unpredictable pattern in short and intense bursts. Conchagua volcano in El Salvador is a prominent feature of the Gulf of Fonseca. The rivers that drain into the gulf include the Rio Negro, the Estero Real River of Nicaragua, and the Choluteca River of Honduras. The Goascoran river, which forms the border between El Salvador and Honduras, also drains into the Gulf of Fonseca. The fringes of the gulf are indented by a series of winding lagoons and all of them are covered by mangrove swamps. The mangrove swamps are however absent in the western part of the gulf, where the Conchagua Volcano rises sharply from the shore. The Gulf of Fonseca comprises a few volcanic islands. The significant islands that are found here include the Meacguera and Conchaquita islands in El Salvador and the Zacate Grande and El Tigre islands in Honduras. Marine Life Fishermen in the Gulf of Fonseca. The common mangrove species that are found in the Gulf include the red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle), black mangrove (Avicennia germinans), white mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa), and botoncillo (Conocarpus erectus). These mangroves act as ideal feeding and breeding grounds for a large number of economically important fish, crustaceans, and mollusks, which also take shelter from predators in the complex web of mangrove roots. During the rainy season, the lagoons provide shelter for a large number of migratory and native avian species. The notable seabirds that are found at the gulfs entrance include the brown booby (Sula leucogaster) and the blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii). The largest colony of Bridled Tern (Sterna anaethetus) is found in the islets of Los Farallones, which is situated at the entrance of the Gulf of Fonseca in Nicaragua. Brief History The Honduran port of Ampala, in the Gulf of Fonseca, on a Honduran banknote. The port is an important economic centre. The Gulf of Fonseca was discovered by the Spanish explorer Gil Gonzalez de Avila in 1522. It was named by him in the honor of his patron, Archbishop Juan Fonseca. All three countries with coastlines along the gulf, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, have been involved in serious lengthy disputes over the rights of the Gulf and the islands that are located within it. In 1992, the International Court of Justice decided in a landmark judgement that all three countries would share the control rights over the gulf. The court also awarded the islands of Meanguerita and Meanguera to El Salvador and the El Tigre Island to Honduras. The Gulf of Fonseca region provides a livelihood for several people who reside along the shores, by supporting traditional fisheries and shrimp farming and also supplying mangrove wood for construction activities. The important ports in the Gulf of Fonseca region include La Union in El Salvador, San Lorenzo and Amapala in Honduras, and Puerto Morazan in Nicaragua. Love Islands Greg OShea is to receive an award from his alma mater, University of Limerick, for outstanding achievement. The Limerick native (25) won the fifth series of Love Island in 2019 alongside Amber Gill. He graduated from University of Limericks School of Law in 2017 with a law degree and recently passed his FE-1 exams. The rugby sevens star is to be the first recipient of the Fellowship from the University of Limerick Law Society. He shared the news on his Instagram story, stating that he is very honoured to receive the award. The Society announced the news in a post that read: ULs own Greg OShea, law graduate and Society alum, will be the first recipient of the Fellowship of the University of Limerick Law Society. This award is being granted for outstanding achievement both inside and outside of Gregs chosen field. Expand Close Amber Gill and Greg OShea (Yui Mok/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Amber Gill and Greg OShea (Yui Mok/PA) Read More Greg will accept his award during a virtual ceremony on Wednesday 24th February and will also be interviewed by students. The news of his award comes after Gregs success in his FE-1 law exams. He received his results in January and passed with flying colours. The Love Island star said: They were the hardest exams I have ever done. Honestly, I have never been challenged more in all my life genuinely. Anyone who has done these exams know how hard they are, and I kept training and kept working my way through it. I'm not trying to be dramatic, but these are the hardest exams ever. The 25-year-old was delighted for himself: I honestly didn't think I would pass them. I just gave them a crack because I said I would try them and now I have passed them - I am so happy. I don't even want to be a solicitor right now in my life; I just did these exams as a back-up and because I said I would do them and I passed them all. Hind sight is 20/20. Looking back over the past four years of the Trump administration, what did we gain? Almost nothing in terms of draining the swamp. However, we now have a crystal-clear view of what we are dealing with. The final 30 days of Donald J. Trumps presidency were sobering, startling, eye opening, and finally clearly separated the true swamp creatures from honest men. A lot of the creatures who were about to bust, sucking in their lies, could hold it no more. They made astounding statements that pointed directly to their true character and moral values. Their RINO DNA reverse metamorphosed those swamp butterflies into worms. Mitch McConnell, a nominal Republican, turned on Donald Trump the instant Trump lost power, proving his duplicity. McConnell tried to straddle the fence. McConnell voted not to impeach Trump, but immediately said that Trump was guilty of inciting the Capitol Hill riots. Translation: McConnell signaled Joe Bien and others that he had returned to the swamp. He could not afford to vote to impeach Trump because his vote would have encouraged other swamp Republicans to vote against Trump. Impeachment would have caused a revolution within the Republican party and destroyed McConnells fund-raising base. McConnells vote was not about principle, or conservative politics, it was about money. Swamp creatures like McConnell worship at the foot of the money tree. Money, not principle, is where their personal and political power comes from. As Republican minority leader in the US Senate, McConnell has the ability to raise huge sums of money, maybe up to one hundred million dollars in an election cycle. This money is used to elect Republican Senators. I first suspected McConnell of being something other than a Republican when he directed huge sums of money, some say as much as eight million dollars, into the campaign to defeat Judge Roy Moore during his Alabama Senate race in 2017. No doubt Judge Moore was a controversial character but he was well respected when it came to conservative principles. He was well known not to back down. These two characteristics, strong conservative and having aback bone, do not fit with a manipulative swamp creature like McConnell. In order to be a McConnell team player you have to take orders to make the deals over money and influence work. Doing the right thing does not fit with Mitch McConnell. So Judge Roy Moore had to go. McConnell sacrificed Judge Roy Moore and a Democrat won the Senate seat. McConnell has never presented himself as a true conservative. He does not take the lead on anything. McConnell slinks around, manipulating the players, and then, only when he is in an advantageous position does he go public. Therefore, he always appears to be a winner. But, what does he really stand for? The best answer is the Washington swamp and himself. Dont think for a minute that the swamp creature club does not know how the money is divided, who gets what and whose relatives get the rake off. Basically all of Washington is run on corruption. The Democrats and Republicans share power regardless of who gets the most votes on elections day. McConnell will be a great asset for Biden.Both Biden and McConnell have served 36 years together in Washington DC politics. Almost all of those lawyers at the Justice Department have worked off and on for the big defense contractors and other companies with government interests. They were paid millions. The Justice Department is a revolving door for this kind of, at best, unethical behavior. Having lawyers in the right places at the right times make defense and government contracts work really well. These guys are well suited for McConnell and his swamp. At any other time in our history Senator Mitch McConnell would be considered a serious national security risk. It is reported that his wife has family in Communist China with close enough ties to the Communist Chinese Government to own a ship building company. One does not own anything in China without supporting the Communist dictatorship. It has been reported that McConnells wife is part owner of the ship building company. With community property laws within marriages being what they are in the United States, does that make McConnell part owner of a Communist Chinese company? Living in McConnells swamp, there is North Carolinas own Senator Richard Burr. Burr claims to be a pure conservative Republican. But, he was accused of trading stocks illegally about one year ago. Even before the stock trading accusations Burr never acted like a conservative. In his position as Chairman of the Select Senate Committee on Intelligence during the first three years of the Trump administration, Burr never stepped forward to defend President Trump. He occupied a key position on the Intelligence Committee to be able to expose the corruption of Hillary Clinton paying for the creation of the information used by the FBI to make so much trouble for Trump. He hung back like a coward. After the Justice Department investigation started for the selling of stock on insider information, there was no hope Burr would ever do anything to help Trump. Surprisingly Burr was released of the stock selling charges by the corrupt Justice Department about the time he voted to impeach Trump. Burr, just another swamp rat enjoying his payoffs. Do not think for one minute that McConnell has not known for a long time all about the dealings of the Biden family with Communist China? Because of these Communist China dealings, politics will swim along smoothly among Biden, McConnell and almost all of the swampy Republican Senators for at least the next two years. If we can elect enough independent, honest people to the House of Representatives and the Senate during the 2022 elections we stand a chance of laying the ground-work for the return of Donald J. Trump in 2024. The people elected in 2022 must have the honesty and courage to stand up to the McConnell swamp creatures, to say no and not waver. These people along with the 75 million Trump voters can hold the fort until Trump can get re-elected in 2024. My point in all of this is that McConnell and most of the US Senate are unfit in one form or another to serve. Whomever we elect to fill the Burr vacancy should be a true rock-ribbed conservative Republican. We cannot afford the greed and dishonesty any longer. Success in the political future of the United States is based on improvement in free and fair elections with progress being made on the meaningful reduction of election fraud. YOKNEAM ILIT, Israel, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- PixCell Medical, innovator of rapid diagnostic solutions at the point-of-care, announced today that the Risk Underlying Rural Areas Longitudinal Study (RURAL) has selected PixCell's novel miniaturized, portable hematology analyzer, HemoScreen, as part of its six year research study, aiming to gain insight into the specific health-related concerns of the rural southeastern United States' population. The RURAL Study is funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Led by a group of researchers from 16 different US institutions, the RURAL study aims to understand health concerns specific to rural communities in the South, particularly related to increased rates of heart, lung, blood and sleep disorders. Focusing on ten rural counties in Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi, the research team will examine about 4,600 residents to study different aspects of their health. "We are aiming to better understand the health concerns facing people in rural communities who don't have the same healthcare access as their urban counterparts. Our research initiative aims to assess people's health right at their doorsteps," said Jon Peter Durda, Ph.D., Faculty Scientist at the Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont, and co-investigator of the study. "Rural residents often encounter barriers to critical healthcare services and restricted ability to receive the care they need, including limited access to clinics and labs within a reasonable proximity. The HemoScreen will be a key piece of research equipment in our cohort study." RURAL plans to deploy HemoScreen hematology analyzers within the MEU lab to do phenotypic measurements in a non-clinical research setting in the rural south, and to test the performance characteristics of the HemoScreen in this setting. The blood count data collected will be analyzed as part of the broader study to better understand risk and resilience factors that may be specific to members of rural communities. The HemoScreen device is FDA cleared to perform the Complete Blood Count (CBC) with intended use at the point of care. HemoScreen is the only FDA-cleared 5-part differential, cartridge-based hematology analyzer indicated for use at the point of care. The HemoScreen's small size, ease-of-use and portability make it unique and relevant to the remote locations in the research study. "Portable and reliable blood analyzers are essential for understanding people's health. For those living in rural areas with limited access to lab-grade diagnostic devices, HemoScreen can play an important role in gathering hematological data to support the research efforts of the RURAL cohort study," said Dr. Avishay Bransky, CEO of PixCell Medical. "One of the crucial differentiators of the HemoScreen for this study in particular is its portability. Most standard hematology analyzers cannot be transported as they require constant maintenance and recalibration not so with the HemoScreen. We expect to gather high quality health insights from the HemoScreen's deployment with the RURAL Cohort study." About PixCell Medical PixCell Medical provides the first truly portable point-of-care blood diagnostic solution. Leveraging the company's patented Viscoelastic Focusing technology, along with AI-powered machine vision, PixCell's FDA-cleared and CE-marked HemoScreen diagnostic platform shortens diagnostic results delivery from days to minutes. With just one drop of blood and within six minutes, PixCell delivers accurate readings of 20 standard blood count parameters, saving patients, clinicians and health systems significant time and costs. For more information: www.pixcell-medical.com and follow PixCell on LinkedIn. Media Contact: Finn Partners for PixCell Medical Lior Feigin [email protected] @LiorFeigin SOURCE PixCell Medical Related Links https://www.pixcell-medical.com/ New Delhi: The commerce ministry's investigation arm DGTR has initiated a probe to review the need for continuing imposition of anti-dumping duty on certain types of steel products imported from China following complaints from domestic industry, according to a notification. ISMT Ltd and Jindal Saw Ltd have filed an application before the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) for sunset review of anti-dumping duty imposed on imports of 'seamless tubes, pipes and hollow profiles of iron, alloy or non-alloy steel from China. The applicants have alleged that dumping of these products from China has continued even after imposition of anti-dumping duty, and there has been a significant increase in the volume of imports. "There is a likelihood of continuation of dumping on the goods" from China "if the existing duty is allowed to expire", the notification has said. On the basis of the duly substantiated application of the applicants and "having satisfied itself, on the basis of the prima facie evidence submitted by the domestic industry, substantiating the likelihood of continuation or recurrence of dumping and injury...the authority, hereby, initiates a sunset review investigation," the notification added. DGTR would review the need for continued imposition of the duties in force and examine whether the expiry of existing duties is likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping and impact the domestic industry. The duty on the product was first imposed in February 2017 and is set to expire on May 16 this year. The duty is aimed at ensuring fair trade practices and creating a level-playing field for domestic producers with regard to foreign producers and exporters. 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. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Students holding greeting boards and a teacher dressed in cartoon character of ox greet students at a primary school in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, Feb. 22, 2021. Middle and primary schools in Hefei greeted new semester on Monday. (Xinhua/Du Yu) Students holding greeting boards and a teacher dressed in cartoon character of ox greet students at a primary school in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, Feb. 22, 2021. Middle and primary schools in Hefei greeted new semester on Monday. (Xinhua/Du Yu) Students holding greeting boards greet classmates at a primary school in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, Feb. 22, 2021. Middle and primary schools in Hefei greeted new semester on Monday. (Xinhua/Du Yu) Students show their holiday extracurricular creations at a primary school in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, Feb. 22, 2021. Middle and primary schools in Hefei greeted new semester on Monday. (Xinhua/Du Yu) Students take part in a flag-raising ceremony at a primary school in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, Feb. 22, 2021. Middle and primary schools in Hefei greeted new semester on Monday. (Xinhua/Du Yu) A teacher dressed in cartoon character of ox greets students at a primary school in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, Feb. 22, 2021. Middle and primary schools in Hefei greeted new semester on Monday. (Xinhua/Du Yu) Chandigarh, Feb 23 : Amid growing concern over rising Covid-19 cases in Punjab, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday ordered restriction on indoor gathering to 100 and outdoor to 200 persons from March 1, along with strict enforcement of mask-wearing and social distancing, with testing to be ramped to 30,000 a day. Chairing a high-level virtual meeting to review the situation, he also authorised the Deputy Commissioners to impose night curfew in hotspots in their districts if needed, with micro containment strategy to be adopted. He directed the police to ensure strict enforcement of wearing of masks, along with notification of Covid-19 monitors by all restaurants, marriage palaces, with the Department of Excise and Taxation to be the nodal agency in this regard. The Chief Minister said a decision on reducing occupancy in cinema halls will be taken after March 1. Private offices and restaurants will be encouraged to display last tests done for all employees, he added. Directing increased testing, Amarinder Singh ordered mandatory testing of 15 contacts per positive, with review to be undertaken by the Health Department. The Chief Minister also took stock of the vaccination status, underlining the need to carry out an IEC campaign to promote 100 per cent coverage of healthcare and frontline workers. He directed the Health Department to plan for a strategise roll-out of vaccine for the elderly population and those with comorbidities. Expressing concern over the 3.23 case fatality ratio, Amarinder Singh took note of the mortality audit findings that many of the deaths are happening within 2-14 days of hospitalisation. He underscored the need for continued supervision of protocols for managing patients with comorbidities, especially in private facilities. Citing cases of some deaths at home, he further directed the Health Department to ensure proper monitoring of home isolation cases, especially those with comorbidities. Apprising the Chief Minister of measures taken by Punjab Police to enforce adherence to safety protocols, DGP Dinkar Gupta said instructions have been issued to field officers to strictly impose restrictions. Earlier, in a brief presentation, Health Secretary Hussan Lal informed the meeting that the districts of Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, SAS Nagar and SBS Nagar had shown a spike in positivity in recent days, triggering concerns over a possible fresh wave in the state. On the vaccination front, he said there had so far been 61 cases of minor adverse events following immunisation, while six severe and 14 serious cases had been reported. All had since recovered, he added. K.K. Talwar, who is heading the state government's expert group on Covid-19, said a detailed analysis was being done on the recent spike in positivity rate, which suggested an increase in cases among young people. At the current rate, the positivity could go up to four per cent in two weeks, translating into 800 cases per day, he said, stressing the need for urgent preventive steps. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form When a behemoth gaur, also known as an Indian Bison, was found caught in a trap, Cat Tien forest rangers immediately went into action and drew up a plan to rescue the animal. It was one of the most memorable experiences for forest rangers working at Cat Tien National Park in Dong Nai Province, located in southern Vietnam, according to Huynh Van Trung, deputy head of the forest ranger unit, who directly commanded the rescue. Five years ago, Trung got an urgent call from his colleagues. Weve found a trapped gaur. Its too ferocious, and we cannot approach it, his colleagues told him from the scene. The gaur is a large wild cattle species that is native to Southeast Asia. They are currently considered a vulnerable species, having gone extinct in Sri Lanka already. Trung coordinated with other rangers to come with him, 5km from the office. Before leaving, he brought along water, an anesthesia syringe and some tools to deconstruct the trap. However, these supplies proved incapable of helping the trapped animal. The gaur was too big and violent," he recounted. "It weighed nearly a metric ton. "We had to stand 30 meters away while trying to find another solution, worrying it might attack us. They decided to administer the anesthetic and give water to the gaur to make the trapped animal more comfortable while waiting for support from Dong Nai Provinces Forest Ranger Department. Suddenly, the gaur jerked off the cable tied around its limbs. Seeing the animal escape, the rangers ran and climbed up nearby trees. The gaur howled furiously and ran around. Seeing no one, it ran into the woods. The one-in-a-blue-moon rescue took place from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm," Tung recalled. "Luckily, no one got hurt." Breathtaking rescues Trung said the forest ranger force at Cat Tien National Park was in charge of managing and protecting the woods as well as preventing loggers from chopping trees and hunting wild animals. Rescuing trapped animals becomes an inevitable part of their job. Because of their remote location, there is usually no cellphone service and it takes a long time for rescue teams to arrive. While rescuers are on their way, rangers will have to provide first aid to wounded animals. It is simple to deal with deer, pangolins, birds or other 'gentle' animals since even in panic, they are not likely to hurt humans, according to Trung. For those dangerous ones, gaurs or boars in particular, they always fight back as a kind of self-protection mechanism," he said. "Once free from the trap, they immediately attack us. "For wounded cobras, how dare we take care of them? The forest ranger said giving wild animals treatment and rehabilitation before releasing them back into the wild is not simple. They are not equipped with anesthesia guns and bellows, whereas syringes often do not work with thick-skinned, furious animals. Any animal has its own safe distance, it might run or otherwise, attack humans for self-defense, according to Trung. He said with an attempt to escape, trapped animals always hurt themselves, causing serious wounds. Once they defend, forest rangers will be in danger, he said. Those who set traps only think of how to catch the animals alive to sell them at higher prices. "We have seized several types of hand-made traps and guns ever since. Those [animals] which were lucky could be rescued overnight. "Most of them are small animals." He expressed the hope to be equipped with proper tools to save wild animals. In the best scenario, we can stand up to 40 meters away from the animal while giving it an anesthetic dose, Trung explained. Vets then will be able to feed it and provide first aid before transferring it to Dong Nai Province or Ho Chi Minh City for examination, based on its conditions. Handmade traps seized by the Cat Tien forest ranger department. Photo: Kim Ut / Tuoi Tre Existing challenges Nguyen The Viet, deputy director of Cat Tien National Park Center for Rescue and Conservation of Species, said they receive some 200 animals of 20 species each year. One-third of them are saved by forest rangers. The rest are handed over by local residents or other centers, he said. On the post-rescue process, Viet said they have to check on the animals health conditions, whether they are saved in the woods or from cages before prescribing treatments. When fully recovering, such animals will be brought to a larger cage surrounded by the forest to get used to the new environment and learn to find food. Before being released, any animal will be checked and monitored in 21 days to make sure it does not have any infectious disease that can spread to healthy peers in the woods. Areas for release are decided based upon the distribution of species. More than two decades working in the field, Viet said they have had to face two main challenges, a limited budget and lack of experts. Expenses for rescuing wild animals are enormous, from the construction of cages to transportation and treatments. Besides all that, it also requires the vets to take care of the animals to have extensive expertise. The center was established in 2015 with 30 workers. In 2020, it rescued and received 154 animals. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 22, 2021 / IMC International Mining Corp. (CSE:IMCX)(OTC PINK:IMIMF)(FRA:3MX) (the "Company" or "IMC is pleased to announce that it has commenced start up procedures for the up coming 2021 work program at its 100% owned 206.58 sq. km Thane Property in north-central BC. The 2021 work program is planned to include diamond drilling, soil and rock sampling, geological mapping, IP surveying and aerial studies that will include aerial photographs and LiDAR surveying. Request for proposals have been submitted for diamond drilling, while historical samples collected from previous years' work is being reviewed and entered into the geological database. The 2021 work program has been designed to follow up on the encouraging results from last summers' exploration program. To date, the Company has identified six areas that host significant base and precious metal mineralization. They include, from south to north, the Cathedral, Cirque, Gail, CJL, Lake and Mat Areas. Diamond drilling will focus on testing the depth potential of the copper-gold mineralization at the Cathedral Area. IP surveying will focus on the Cirque and Gail areas. Geological mapping, rock and soil sampling will follow up on all of the six identified mineralized areas found to date on the Property. Work in 2020 at the Cathedral Area identified multiple areas containing significant copper-gold mineralization. The Showings within the main zone of the Cathedral Area have returned up 13.90% Cu and 6.85 g/t Au from the Cathedral Showing, 4.72% Cu and 1.33 g/t Au from the Cathedral South Showing, 11.10% Cu and 2.77 g/t Au from the Arc Showing and 3.13 % Cu and 0.32 g/t Au from the Gully Showing. Grab samples from outcrop sources undertaken during the 2020 work program, which returned greater than 0.3% Cu, included: Sample # Cu % Au g/t Ag g/t 2258 5.930 2.490 11.90 2275 0.462 0.015 1.66 2291 0.429 0.294 3.73 2305 0.377 0.876 1.91 2351 0.597 0.010 1.37 2417 0.500 0.014 7.17 3119 3.020 5.090 6.55 3148 0.647 0.054 23.80 Chip samples from outcrop sources, which returned greater than 0.3% Cu and/or greater than 0.2 g/t Au, included: Sample # Width(m) Cu % Au g/t Ag g/t 2255 0.43 3.600 0.555 7.10 2264 1.50 0.093 0.223 0.73 2269 1.25 0.107 0.588 1.51 2280 1.30 0.313 0.070 1.50 2282 0.80 0.692 0.181 3.54 2286 0.60 0.067 0.269 1.11 2306 1.50 0.052 3.930 3.83 Styles of mineralization at the Cathedral Area include stockwork and disseminated porphyry-type and vein-hosted. Copper occurs as chalcopyrite and rare bornite. Late stage quartz veins containing high-grade gold values define the Pinncale Showing, located approximately 740 metres to the north of the main zone of the Cathedral Area. These veins have returned up to 20.10 g/t Au and 3.29% Cu. Highly chargeable bodies of disseminated and fracture-controlled copper-gold mineralization appear proximal to and associated with an interpreted north-south trending moderately southeast dipping syenite. A tilted or off-set and possible hidden extension of a copper-gold alkalic porphyry system dominated by potassic, propylitic and sodic altered diorite, quartz monzonite/quartz monzodiorite intrusive phases is interpreted for the Cathedral Area. The drilling program has been designed to test the geological model by targeting the anomalous IP zones that have surface expressions of significant copper-gold mineralization in both rock and soil. At the Cirque Area, the soil sampling and IP survey will follow up on the significant results returned from the 2020 work program. The survey will be expanded to the east to cover the Gail Area, where up to 7.69% Cu of 2.84 g/t Au and 65.2 g/t Ag was returned from a geological mapping program undertaken by the Company's subsidiary company (Thane Minerals) in 2012. Selected results from grab samples from outcrop sources collected by the Company in 2020 at the Cirque Area, that returned greater than 0.3 % Cu, included: Sample # Cu % Au g/t Ag g/t Mo ppm 2313 0.725 0.128 3.74 1.77 2314 1.500 1.070 6.60 41.40 2317 5.410 0.690 18.45 228.00 2318 3.800 0.138 22.00 3.40 2319 8.700 1.825 29.80 10.35 2320 0.355 0.047 0.89 2.36 2321 5.680 2.720 26.00 6.34 2324 0.957 0.379 22.60 26.70 2326 0.411 0.041 2.30 1.89 2361 0.341 0.062 2.49 3.87 2362 1.920 0.462 8.65 1.49 2363 0.770 0.063 3.30 8.73 2365 0.422 0.719 5.96 341.00 2366 0.532 0.142 14.65 454.00 3109 2.070 0.003 0.70 1.42 3133 0.385 0.094 2.41 24.90 3135 2.860 0.059 12.30 24.20 3140 0.403 0.162 2.74 9.24 3307 0.910 0.024 5.49 2.91 3309 0.517 0.297 4.81 159.00 3312 0.367 0.105 3.16 5,320.00 Selected results from chip samples included. Sample # Width(m) Cu % Au g/t Ag g/t Mo ppm 3103 1.20 1.830 0.454 7.44 201.00 3110 0.12 3.260 77.800 56.40 1.08 At the Lake Area, the 2020 exploration program returned up to 0.227% Cu and 0.29 g/t Au from grab samples of outcrop, while earlier work by its subsidiary company (Thane Minerals) returned up to 3.82% Cu and 0.95 g/t Au from grab samples of outcrop. At the Mat Area, the 2020 exploration program identified a zone of anomalous arsenic values at the eastern end of the two line soil grid. Arsenic is a known pathfinder element for gold on the Property, as the high gold values from quartz veining at the Pinnacle Showing are associated with high arsenic values. Dave McMillan, President and Interim CEO stated "The upcoming exploration activities will significantly improve our understanding of the geology within the known mineralized areas of our property and we are extremely excited to get the drills working this year. Based on the interest generated by our results so far, we expect to identify a potential new copper-gold discovery through this year's high probability drilling targets and we look forward to keeping our investors notified as we advance this project." All rock samples from the 2020 exploration program were cut by rock saw with one half delivered to ALS Minerals (ALS) in North Vancouver, B.C, for sample preparation and analysis while the other half of the sample was retained for reference. Analysis consisted of Multi-element ICP-MS and gold fire assay with assays performed over limits, The scientific and technical information disclosed in this news release was reviewed, verified and approved by Christopher O. Naas, P.Geo., COO of IMC, who is a "Qualified Person" as defined in NI 43- 101. Further details and past press releases are available on the Company's website, www.imcxmining,com. ON BEHALF OF IMC INTERNATIONAL MINING CORP. David McMillan Interim Chief Executive Officer and Director Telephone: +1-604-588-2110 Investor Relations: Email: ir@imcxmining.com Telephone: +1-604-588-2110 Website: https://imcxmining.com ABOUT IMC INTERNATIONAL MINING CORP. IMC is a junior exploration and development company focused on creating shareholder value through the advancements of its current assets that include the Cathedral Property in north-central British Columbia, and the Bullard Pass Property in Arizona. Utilizing its heavily experienced management team, IMC continues to source and evaluate assets to further generate shareholder value. The Cathedral property covers approximately 206 km2 (50,904 acres) and is located in the Quesnel Terrane of north-central British Columbia. The northern part of the Quesnel Terrane extends from south of the Mt. Milligan Mine northward to the Kemess Mine, with the Cathedral property located midway between these two copper-gold porphyry deposits. The Cathedral property includes several highly prospective mineralized areas identified to date, including the 'Cathedral Area' on which the Company's exploration is currently focused. Forward-Looking Information: This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. These forward- looking statements are made as of the date of this news release. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "plans", "projects", "intends", "estimates", "envisages", "potential", "possible", "strategy", "goals", "objectives", or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this news release relate to future events or future performance and reflect current estimates, predictions, expectations or beliefs regarding future events and include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: (i) completion of the Offering; (ii) receipt of regulatory acceptance for the Offering; (iii) the Company's intentions to use the gross proceeds from the Offering to fund exploration programs on its Thane Property in north-central British Columbia; (iv) the Company's intention to acquire further mineral properties; and (v) the Company's business and plans, including with respect to undertaking further acquisition and carrying out exploration activities in respect of its mineral projects. All forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current beliefs as well as various assumptions made by the Company and information currently available to the Company. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct, and actual results and future events could differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements in this news release. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the respective parties, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and the parties have made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation, the Company's business and financial condition potentially being materially adversely affected by the outbreak of epidemics, pandemics or other health crises such as COVID-19, and by reactions by government and private actors to such outbreaks; risks to employee health and safety as a result of the outbreak of epidemics, pandemics or other health crises such as COVID-19, that may result in a slowdown or temporary suspension of operations by the Company; the risks that the Offering may not complete as contemplated (or at all), the risks related to the Company's ability to obtain necessary regulatory approvals for the Offering; the speculative nature of the Company's business; the Company's formative stage of development; the Company's financial position; conclusions of future economic evaluations; business integration risks; fluctuations in the securities market; that the Company's plans and prospects will vary from those stated in this news release; that the Company does not complete any further acquisitions; that the Company does not carry out exploration activities in respect of its mineral projects as planned (or at all); and that the Company may not be able to carry out its business plans as expected. Except as required by law, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation and does not intend to update any forward-looking statements in this news release. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward- looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. All forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. SOURCE: IMC International Mining Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/631239/IMC-International-Mining-Corp-Announces-Exploration-Plans-for-2021 Staying in different lodgings each night to evade arrest, the lawyer representing Aung San Suu Kyi says her trial will help determine whether Myanmar's people again become "slaves" of the military Bangkok, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Feb, 2021 ) :Staying in different lodgings each night to evade arrest, the lawyer representing Aung San Suu Kyi says her trial will help determine whether Myanmar's people again become "slaves" of the military. Soldiers raided the civilian leader's residence and detained her in pre-dawn raids three weeks ago, effectively ending Myanmar's 10-year experiment with democracy. The new military regime has pledged to hold elections in a year, but for now the junta wields power over all the country's political institutions -- including its courts. Khin Maung Zaw has been tasked with defending her from a pair of obscure charges for possessing unlicensed walkie-talkies and violating coronavirus restrictions. "Myanmar is now at a crucial point of history," the 73-year-old told AFP by phone from Naypyidaw, the country's capital, while reflecting on weeks of nationwide protests demanding his client's release. "If we lose, we will become slaves of the military junta for 40 or 50 years. We have to win this battle." The junta has already taken action to purge the country's top courts of potential Suu Kyi sympathisers, and Khin Maung Zaw's brief is thoroughly stacked against him. Despite several requests, he has still not been given permission to see his client ahead of her March 1 hearing. "If I don't get permission to meet with her for the hearing, I will let all the world know that the trial is not fair," he said. He has also stepped up his own safety precautions, due to "indirect pressures" passed onto him from relatives. "At night, I have to stay away from my house and I have to stay in other people's houses," he told AFP. Born in 1948 in Pyinmana, a town now on the outskirts of the capital built by an earlier junta, Khin Maung Zaw says he's used to threats from a powerful military. He was first jailed at the age of 17 after protesting an earlier dictatorship for distributing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights around his university campus in Mandalay. He was sent to the notorious Coco Islands prison, 400 kilometres (250 miles) off the coast of Myanmar. He says it was the "equivalent of a gulag". It was later demolished after inmates staged a hunger strike to protest the island's dire conditions. Released in 1972, he was arrested again three years later for joining student demonstrations. He has spent a total of nine years behind bars. "I have no reason to be afraid for myself because I have weathered all these executions and repression," he said. Since the coup, authorities have steadily ratcheted up their use of force to contain the massive civil disobedience campaign sweeping the country. Khin Maung Zaw is amazed by their drive, but fearful for their safety, with at least three anti-coup demonstrators killed so far. "The spark has become a pyre fire," he said. "In the past, when the military becomes desperate, they will do anything." His last high-profile case was defending Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. Both men spent nearly 18 months in prison for reporting on atrocities against the country's stateless Rohingya minority. The case placed him at odds with the administration of Suu Kyi, who had defended the army's attacks on the Rohingya community and, according to a US diplomat, once referred to the reporters as "traitors". But Khin Maung Zaw says he does not consider the "personal aspects" of the case, which were unimportant compared to the country's efforts to avoid a return to military rule. "I'm not representing Aung San Suu Kyi as a person -- I am representing a publicly elected person under attack by the military forces," he says. "That is all in defence of democracy." Katie Price is reportedly searching once again for a suitable residential college for her son, Harvey, after fearing her current choice is too far away and she won't be able to 'immediately help him'. Her pal and autism campaigner, Anna Kennedy OBE, said she feels she has 'exhausted all possibilities' while trying to help the TV star, 42, find a local facility. Katie originally applied for her 18-year old son - who is on the autism spectrum - to go the National Star College in Cheltenham and will discover if he is successful next month. Family: Katie Price is reportedly searching once again for a suitable residential college for her son, Harvey, after fearing her current choice is too far away and she won't be able to 'help him' Anna, 60, said to The Sun on Tuesday: 'She wants to see a few more just to make sure it's the right place for him because this particular one is a three hour drive, so it's quite a trek. 'She hadn't even thought about that. She said "I'll be there, I'll be able to help him", but I said, "if Harvey's three hours away from you he could already be in the unit by the time you get there."' According to Anna, who is the mother of two autistic sons, Katie has been combing over 86 different college options and wants to visit them in person, but is struggling to do so due to current lockdown restrictions She added: 'She wants to know if there are any more colleges I can think of, but I think I've exhausted all the possibilities now.' Scouring the UK: Her pal and autism campaigner Anna Kennedy OBE, said she feels she has 'exhausted all possibilities' while trying to help the TV star, 42, find a local facility Harvey was also born with disabilities including partial blindness, ADHD and Prader-Willi syndrome. Due to Harvey's health conditions, Katie is looking for a residential college which can fulfill his educational requirements and living needs. The autism campaigner said she has encouraged the mother-of-five to keep her options open due to cuts in local authority budgets. Anna said she expects the reality star might need to 'fight for funding' or go to a tribunal if a place at National Star College is the best option, a decision which she wholeheartedly supports. First pick: Katie originally applied for her 18-year old son - who is on the autism spectrum - to go the National Star College in Cheltenham and will discover if he is successful next month According to Anna, there is a risk she won't be able to get the funding to cover the 350,000 annual fee required for Harvey to attend the independent specialist college. The charity founder recently appeared on Katie's acclaimed BBC documentary, Harvey & Me, to alert the star to other cases involving special needs children who have been sent to mental health units. She reflected on other instances where autistic kids have been sectioned after their families reached 'crisis point' and they were deemed a risk to themselves and others. Options: Anna, 60, said to The Sun on Tuesday: 'She wants to see a few more just to make sure it's the right place for him because this particular one is three hours drive, so it's quite a trek' Last week, Katie signed the autism campaigner's petition which asked to help parents secure care for their autistic children after they die. She took to Instagram and asked her 2.4 million followers to do the same. The Sun also revealed on Monday that Katie and Anna are in talks about launching an autism-only chat show to raise awareness. Earlier on Tuesday, Katie revealed that vile online trolling of her son Harvey has gotten worse. Wow! She said she expects the reality star might need to 'fight' for funding or go to a tribunal if a place at National Star College is the best option, as it comes with a 350,000 annual fee After vowing to get a law through Parliament that would prosecute anyone caught sending abusive comments online, the former glamour model spoke about her disabled son's trolling ordeal during an appearance on This Morning. Katie admitted that she wants social media platforms to require the use of ID so users can't hide behind anonymous accounts when they post comments online. Katie has been campaigning for 'Harvey's Law' to be created to make online trolling a specific criminal offence. The star discussed the devastating impact of trolling with Britain's Got Talent runner-up Sign Along With Us, after the group's star Christian Kilduff, who has cerebral palsy and is registered severely sight impaired, was bombarded with abuse online. Katie said: 'I'm so sorry that you're having to go through this, everything you're saying I'm just agreeing with you this is why I'm doing Harvey's law. 'I'm doing a new campaign this week, it has to stop, I want to ask these people why you want to sit there, what goes through their heads, these videos and comments what are they getting out of it. 'Any act online, you should have ID so you can get tracked because at the moment they can close it down and start another account and start again. 'If you call them out I think it just encourages them, I've got it worse by doing that. as soon as it goes in place, they could get a fine or a prison sentence, I think if they have something like then then it will get better. But also the people who retweet it, I don't know what they get out of it.' Mbuyisa Moleele Attorneys, assisted by Leigh Day, are preparing a class action lawsuit to be filed in the Johannesburg Labour Court against Uber on behalf of South African Uber drivers. The claim is based on the drivers entitlement to rights as employees under South African legislation and will seek compensation for unpaid overtime and holiday pay. This case follows a decision by the UK Supreme Court that Uber drivers should be legally classified as workers rather than independent contractors. As such they are entitled to similar benefits. Leigh Day represented the UK Uber drivers in the case in which the lower courts, including the English Court of Appeal, also ruled in favour of the drivers. Mbuyisa Moleele Attorneys said South African legislation relating to employment status and rights is very similar to UK employment law. Furthermore, Uber operates a similar system in South Africa, with drivers using an app, which the UK Supreme Court concluded resulted in drivers work being tightly defined and controlled by Uber, said Zanele Mbuyisa of Mbuyisa Moleele Attorneys. In the UK case, the key issue was whether drivers contract with passengers using Uber as an agent, or alternatively that drivers are working for Uber. The conclusion of the Supreme Court was that they work for Uber. Even though Ubers lawyers gave the impression that Uber were merely agents, the Court ruled that the true position was that Uber has control over the way in which drivers deliver their services. Through the app, Uber sets the amount of the fare, the level of information given to the driver about the passenger and their destination. Uber also monitors drivers performance and deactivates drivers who do not conform to Ubers standards. The UK Supreme Court found that the contractual terms on which drivers perform their services are dictated by Uber. The Court noted that while the system of control operated by Uber was in its commercial interests, it clearly placed drivers in a position of subordination and dependency in relation to the company. The company has lost or settled similar labour law cases in France, Switzerland, Ontario and North Carolina. Uber in South Africa Uber South Africa operates in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria, Port Elizabeth and East London. In 2018 it was estimated that Uber controlled 75% of the South African taxi market. As the largest ride-hailing service in the world, Uber has a market capitalisation of around $102 billion, and its Mobility (Uber X) business reported operating income of US$293 million in 2020. Due to South Africas income disparity, few professional drivers actually own the cars that they drive. Instead, they rent them from owners, known as partners and split the earnings. Key to Ubers defence in the UK case was that it is merely a technology company acting as a booking agent for drivers, and not an employer. However, in its own submissions to the 2020 SA Competition Commission Inquiry into metered taxis and e-hailing services, Uber said its local operations were different from countries like the United States. Uber said drivers in South Africa tend to be predominantly full-time on the Uber platform and their work for Uber is equivalent to fulltime employment, and not just a way of earning supplementary income. This, along with the fact that the Competition Commission found that after deductions, some drivers earn less than the minimum wage, means that Uber drivers in South Africa work incredibly long hours just to make ends meet. The Supreme Court recognised similar difficulties faced by drivers in the UK case by stating that in practice, the only way in which drivers could increase their earnings was by working longer hours while constantly meeting Ubers measures of performance. Estimates suggest that there are between 12,000 to 20,000 drivers in South Africa using the Uber app who will be covered by the lawsuit. The lawsuit is an opt-out class action in which a small number of representative plaintiffs are claiming on behalf of the wider class of Uber drivers. Uber responds Uber said the vast majority of drivers who use the Uber app say they want to work independently. Weve already made significant changes to our app to ensure we support this, including through partner injury protection, new safety features and access to quality and affordable private healthcare cover for drivers and their families, voluntarily, it said. Uber added that at a time when more jobs are needed, they believe Uber and other platforms can be a bridge to a sustainable economic recovery. Uber has already produced thousands of sustainable economic opportunities, it said. This is testament to the appeal of the Uber business model which provides drivers with an independent status while allowing them to develop and expand their businesses following their needs and time schedules as well as their business skills and plans, and pursue any economic activities of their choice. Now read: Uber promises better rights for gig workers Nearly 40 years after a body of a girl was found on Valentines Day off a northern Arizona highway, earning her the nickname 'Valentine Sally,' she has been identified by police as a teenage runaway from St. Louis. Coconino County Sheriff Jim Driscoll announced on Monday that DNA confirms the victim is 17-year-old Carolyn Eaton. The decades-old cold case began when an Arizona state trooper spotted her body on February 14, 1982, on the north side of Interstate 40 just west of Williams. Named; An Arizona homicide victim previously known only as 'Valentine Sally' has been identified thanks to DNA and online ancestry databases as 17-year-old St Louis runaway Carolyn Eaton (pictured left in a facial reconstruction, and right in artist's rendering) Eaton's body was found off of Interstate 40 near Williams, Arizona, on February 14, 1982, earning her the moniker 'Valentine Sally' According to Coconino County sheriffs officials, detectives exhausted all possible leads over the years but were unable to determine the girls identity. Investigators recently hired a private company to process DNA from the body for entry into online ancestry databases for genetic comparison. The sheriffs office says this led to the discovery of possible familial DNA matches. Former waitress Patty Wilkins spoke to Eaton less than two weeks before her body was discovered when the girl walked into the truck stop cafe where she worked Detectives in Arizona traveled to St. Louis to interview the potential relatives. These possible family members told police they had a sister - one of six siblings - who ran away around Christmas in 1981 after an argument. 'The family members were awestruck,' Cococino Sheriff's Lt Jason Lurkins told St Louis Post-Dispatch. 'We told one family member we were investigating a missing person case and they asked: Is this about Carolyn?' From there, detectives collected new DNA samples which led to positive confirmation. The sheriff credited the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children with providing funding that allowed DNA testing through a private company, which led to the positive identification. Patty Wilkins, then-a waitress at her family-owned truck stop in Flagstaff, is believed to be among the last people to have seen Eaton alive, less than two weeks before the discovery of her body. Wilkins said Eaton (pictured in another artist's rendering, left) was accompanied by a man in his 60s wearing a cowboy hat with a peacock feather (pictured right in a sketch) She recalled how on February 2, 1982, Eaton, dressed in a striped sweater and jeans, walked into the cafe at the truck stop accompanied by a man in his 60s wearing a brown leather vest and a cowboy hat festooned with a peacock feather. Eaton complained she had a toothache from a recent root canal, so Wilkins said she gave her an aspirin pill to put on her tooth, reported KSDK. 'And I asked her, I said, "Do you want to stay here with me or did you want to go with this gentleman?'" Wilkins said, to which Eaton replied that she is fine and will go with the man. On Valentine's Day, a detective arrived at the truck stop cafe, asking questions about a girl in a striped sweater and jeans they had found murdered. The victim still had Wilkins' aspirin on her tooth. Eaton was found wearing this red-and-white striped sweater, which Wilkins recognized from her meeting at the cafe She also had on this pair of Seasons designer blue jeans Wilkins said she learned from the detective that the girl likely died not long after she left the truck stop with the older man. 'I could have pulled her off that truck. I could have forced her to stay with me. I could have called 911. I could have done a million different things that I didn't do. The only thing I did was put that aspirin on her,' Wilkins said Monday in an interview with the St Louis Post-Dispatch. Sheriff Driscoll said Eatons death is a homicide, but no cause of death has been determined because of the state in which the body was found. Detectives will now move on to looking for suspects. Police have never identified the older man in the cowboy hat who was last seen with Eaton. ALBANY Two Walgreens stores closed last Friday afternoon - one on North Pearl Street and one in Menands. Patients prescriptions are being sent to neighboring locations, the blue signs posted outside the stores read. But for many patients and former employees, the closure is not that simple. I feel miserable. This store is closing and I dont have a job, one employee at the North Pearl location said the night before the store closed. And for the people in the community that shop here too, its not fair to them. The closings have community members, pharmacy academics, city officials, and state legislators concerned about the lack of access to health care and food that these pharmacy closures will create - as well as leaving 27 employees out of a job. The two closings come after the closing of a Rite Aid on Ontario Street in Cohoes in May 2019 and the closing of a Rite Aid on South Pearl Street in 2018, which created a similar outcry about a lack of access to pharmaceutical care and basic food staples. In March, Walgreens purchased 1,900 Rite Aid stores, with plans to close a third of the stores it acquired, the Times Union previously reported. This is creating a health care desert, and a vaccination desert, said Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan. Many people rely on their pharmacy for health care, for getting the flu vaccine, for being able to talk to a pharmacist about concerns or questions that they have with respect to conditions or medications. And this is again negatively impacting a neighborhood that is predominately made up of African Americans. Im pretty disturbed by it, said Diane Dewar, a health policy professor at the University at Albany. Pharmacies are taking on a major role in medical care delivery, especially during the pandemic, as they have the ability to test for COVID-19 and now administer vaccines, Dewar said. Prescriptions from the North Pearl Street location are being transferred to the Walgreens on Holland Avenue. For many people without a car, or who rely on public transportation, this creates a significant barrier, Dewar said. I can see Walgreens closing stores to keep afloat I know money is tight everywhere, Dewar said. The problem Im having with it is not Walgreens, they are just doing their job, they are a company not a charity, but they have just created a pharmacy desert. That is a societal and equity problem. In Menands, the village clerk, Don Handerhan, is worried about the elderly community that relied on the Walgreens for medical care. Its a very big inconvenience for senior citizens that live here in the village. Now we have to go to Watervliet or Loudonville, which is a drive for us, said Dave Teitsch, a resident of Menands for ten years. Walgreens used to send a pharmacist to the senior group he and his wife are a part of to administer flu shots each year. Dr. Greg Dewey, the president of Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, says that pharmacists are a staple in the community and have been throughout history. The counseling service is important, Dewey said. That is where the trust comes in and when you lose that trust you have lost the trust of a counselor. Sometimes it takes years to develop that relationship, and when that disappears the community is hurt by it. Pharmacists also play a role in helping community members transition out of the hospital and into taking care of themselves at home, advising people who might not have a primary care doctor about medical concerns, and making sure patients stay on track taking their medicines, Dewey said. Walgreens not only showed blatant disregard for the people of the communities whose lives will be impacted by these closings but also, 27 working people with good union jobs, said Mindy Berman, the regional communications director for 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, who noted that also means the loss of fair wages and benefits. That is painful for those families and also for the local economy, because of course, good jobs are drivers in a communitys economy. Walgreens did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Sheehan, State Sen. Neil Breslin, and Assembly member John McDonald, himself a pharmacist, are looking to create government incentives to help keep pharmacies in low-income neighborhoods where they might not make as much profit. This pandemic has demonstrated in very stark numbers the health care disparities that have existed in this country for centuries. When you look at the fact that Black and brown Americans have been so disproportionately impacted, they have gotten sicker, and died at much higher rates than Caucasians. And access to testing has been a continual struggle throughout this pandemic and now access to vaccines is a huge struggle, Sheehan said. Closing this pharmacy in a neighborhood that serves that very population to me is indefensible. Romania will remain a dedicated supporter of the Belarusian people's right to a democratic future and a rightful place in the European family, Romania's Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said on Tuesday in a keynote speech to the high-level segment of the 46th regular session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva via videoconference, according to AGERPRES. "I would like to express Romania's serious concern about the situation in Belarus. (...) We regret to witness that Belarus still has one of the most restrictive and hostile media environments in Europe. The situation has only worsened after the rigged presidential elections of 2020 and we have urged for abusive measures to stop. Belarus needs support so it can continue on the path towards democratic transformation, according to the legitimate expectations of its citizens. The UN Human Rights Council has a duty to support this effort, along with the international friends and partners of Belarus. Romania will remain a dedicated supporter of the Belarusian people's right to a democratic future and a rightful place in the European family," Aurescu is quoted as saying in a press statement released by the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE). He also spoke in context of the situation in Syria. "Human rights violations are among the biggest obstacles to peace and development. If we turn to Syria we see that this is, tragically, a country where the conflict will soon enter the 11th year of continuous violence and brutal violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. A nationwide cease-fire is urgently needed, as well as unhindered humanitarian access to alleviate the human suffering in this country. Romania will continue to support the efforts of the UN, aimed at ending the conflict," he said. The head of the Romanian diplomacy also mentioned the situation in Ukraine saying that "in Eastern Ukraine, the negative impact of almost 7 years of conflict has been augmented by the COVID-19 pandemic." "Not only do many people suffer from physical, political, social and economic isolation, but they remain unable to exercise basic rights, such as the freedom of movement, expression, religion, and peaceful assembly and association. Romania supports the activity of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, urging that it be granted full, free and unhindered access to the whole territory of Ukraine, including the illegally annexed Crimea," said Aurescu. Regarding the current situation in Myanmar, the minister said that Romania condemns the military coup d'etat there. In his speech, Aurescu also welcomed the determination and resilience with which the Human Rights Council responded to the events and changes generated by the current pandemic, remaining a decisive player in defending human rights worldwide. In 2020, the year of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, the international community was faced with the urgent need of swift solutions to the unfolding impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the head of Romanian diplomacy, the pandemic has demonstrated the major importance of human rights as a fundamental pillar of the world in which we live. Also, dignity and inalienable rights of every individual must be respected during the fight against the spread of the virus. "For too many times, the spread of false information about COVID-19 inflicted real risks upon people, influencing their understanding of the pandemic and willingness to comply with needed measures. Fake news and misinformation are, unfortunately, more acutely present than ever in our societies. Thus, as representatives of states, we must find ways to engage more directly and closer with the citizens. It is time to acknowledge the need for ?digital democracy' tools, strengthened by exchanges of good practices and lessons learned lately. We need better instruments to counter online misinformation, develop self-regulation functions in social media, and proactively promote accountability and transparency standards," said Aurescu, pointing out that this is one of the priorities of the current Romanian Presidency of the Community of Democracies and it is looking forward to further contributing to these debates. At the same time, Aurescu mentioned that one of the goals of sustainable development set out in the 2030 Agenda is to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, and exemplified the determination with which Romania works to achieve it. In his speech, the minister specified that the first Romanian National Strategy for preventing and combating anti-Semitism, xenophobia, radicalisation and hate speech is soon to be approved by the Romanian government. *** The Human Rights Council (HRC) is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them. Romania is running for a new term of office on the Human Rights Council for 2023-2025. Its previous terms lasted between 2006-2008, and 2011-2014, holding its chairmanship between June 2007 and June 2008. Changing Californias college placement rules has dramatically helped Black students whose four-year college graduation rate has doubled in the past decade to 20% and advocates have more ideas about how to push racial equity in higher education. The State of Higher Education for Black Californians, released Tuesday, laid out which policies have helped Black students in recent years and which ones lawmakers and education leaders should now pursue. The report from Campaign for College Opportunity reveals that the share of Black community college students taking classes eligible for transfer to the University of California soared in 2019 after state lawmakers eliminated no-credit remedial classes at community colleges in 2017 and replaced them with college-level instruction. Specifically, 48% of Black community college students in 2019 completed transfer-level English, compared with 15% four years earlier. At the same time, 27% of Black students completed transfer-level math, up from 7% in 2015 even as 72% of Black students enrolled in the critical math class, up from 12% four years before. The latest report comes amid a national push to end the racial barriers that have impeded Black participation in all areas of the economy, from top-paying jobs to leadership roles in every career. College graduates also generally earn higher salaries than those without a degree. Another positive trend: Black students four-year college graduation rate doubled in the past decade to 20% because of at least three policy changes, says the report from the California nonprofit that assesses Black students college access and achievement every two years. But while the improvement is notable, 20% is still a far lower share than advocates would like. The first policy change shown to help Black students success was the 2013 adoption of streamlined transfers from community college into the California State University system, the researchers said. And in 2017, CSU Chancellor Timothy White replaced all no-credit remedial classes with college-level instruction. Finally, CSUs 2015 Graduation Initiative 2025 set graduation targets and is helping students reach the goals. We are thrilled about the good news were sharing in this report, said Michele Siqueiros, director of the Campaign for College Opportunity. It speaks to the fact that our college and state leaders need to continue to be focused on Black student success, so more students can graduate and reap the benefits of what we know the value of a college education to be. But the report makes clear that more changes are needed. Despite the gains, many Black students remain cut off from higher educations benefits. For example, even though Black students are 6% of Californias 18- to 24-year-olds, they represent 4% of CSU undergraduates, and just 2.5% of UCs. (This year, the number of Black applicants to UC for next fall grew by nearly 22%, an increase of 1,505 requests for admission.) In community college, only a third of Black students earn a degree or certificate, transfer to a four-year university, or are prepared to transfer within six years. And at CSU, a gap of 21 percentage points in the graduation rate between Black and white students in the Class of 2016 widened to a 25 percentage-point gap in 2020. At UC, the four-year graduation rate for Black students is about 20 percentage points lower than for whites. Researchers also found that 60% of Black high school graduates never took the classes required to enter CSU or UC known as A-G classes and that within a year of graduating from high school, just 60% of Black graduates enrolled in college. To reverse these trends, Siqueiros and Vikash Reddy, the reports lead researcher, want the state to set a goal that 60% of Black Californians in the workforce hold a degree or high-value credential by 2030. To get there, the report calls on high schools to automatically enroll students in A-G courses. Also, the group says that filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (or the California Dream Act application for undocumented students) should be mandatory for all high school seniors. While that sounds great to JaCorey Bowens, 20, a third-year student double-majoring in Africana studies and sociology at San Francisco State, simply requiring students to fill out the FAFSA is bound to fail without people to help them do it, he said. My parents went to college, but they didnt remember anything about filling out the FAFSA. And some peoples parents never went to college, so that can be intimidating, he said. Not only do you have to know your own financial status, you have to know your parents and some people dont have contact with their parents. COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California. He praised enrolling students automatically in A-G courses. He had friends, he said, who had the requirements to graduate from high school but not to get into Cal State or UC. So I think making it the default curriculum is a great idea, personally. At UC Berkeley, Kyra Abrams, 20, is chair of the Black Student Union and is a junior majoring in interdisciplinary studies with a focus on tech policy. She said that if filling out the FAFSA is required, dont just tell me to fill it out. Have a designated time, go through each step with students, and explain how they can tell their parents what (the form) is asking. Similarly, if students are automatically enrolled in A-G classes, make sure every student is supported so they arent just trying to get by, but actually learning in those courses, she said. But at San Francisco State, Ibory Moore, 32, president of Black Residents United in Housing and a junior majoring in electronic communications, expressed skepticism. She recommended having a comprehensive course beginning in ninth grade to help students understand, step by step, why college matters and how to prepare for it. That will give them enough time to prepare and know what theyre getting into, she said. But all the students agreed with another recommendation: that Californias colleges commit to identifying, hiring, retraining and promoting Black faculty at public campuses. All three said they rarely see Black professors. A lot of Black students on our campus dont feel represented among faculty and staff which definitely affects most of us, said Bowens, who is working with the Academic Senate to urge the campus to hire more people of color. Students wont stay if we dont feel seen or represented. Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NanetteAsimov Decrease Font Size Font Size Increase Font Size Article body Mike Phillips has been named director of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, the primary outreach organization for Alabama A&M and Auburn universities, both of which are land-grant institutions with the mission of providing real-life solutions and helping improve the lives of all Alabamians. Phillips will begin his new role March 1 with the joint systemreferenced generally as Alabama Extensionwhich was created in 1995 when the universities Extension programs were combined. What an exciting time for Alabama Extension as it continues to reinvent itself to meet the needs of Alabama citizens, Alabama A&M President Andrew Hugine Jr. said. The Extension director stands at the crossroad that integrates and interprets academia and research for common people, while confronting state, national and global demands that impact our society every day. Dr. Phillips professional background enables him to shape Alabama Extensions future. We look forward to his leadership and wish him well. Auburn President Jay Gogue echoes that sentiment. Dr. Phillips has a tremendous background and the excellent leadership skills needed to meet the everchanging role of Extension, both in rural and urban areas, Gogue said. We are excited about his ability to improve the lives of Alabamians through both land-grant institutions, as he builds upon the great work of his predecessors, like Dr. [Gary] Lemme. Phillips succeeds former Director Lemme, who is retiring after 10 years. The Alabama Extension director reports jointly to both presidents and is responsible for providing leadership to more than 700 faculty and staff on both campuses and in all 67 Alabama counties. It is truly a high honor to be selected to serve in this capacity, Phillips said. The opportunity to lead in making the state a better place is very special, and I am passionate about it. Our Extension professionals are here to enhance citizens livelihoods and make communities a better place to live and work. Phillips, an agronomy professor, has served since 2018 as Alabama Extension assistant director for agriculture, forestry and natural resource programs and as associate dean in Auburns College of Agriculture. The ongoing pandemic has taught us so many things, such as being flexible in how we deliver information, utilizing virtual platforms to reach audiences and working with our many stakeholders in continuing to extend valuable information to Alabamians. Phillips adds that collaboration with the stakeholderslocal, state and federal entities, as well as private partnershas created vast improvements in many areas, such as youth development, human nutrition and well-being, agriculture, forestry and natural resources. Paul Patterson, dean of Auburns College of Agriculture, chaired the statewide, interinstitutional search committee that included representatives from both Auburn and Alabama A&M. Dr. Phillips has been excellent in his role as associate dean for Extension in the College of Agriculture, and I know hell be excellent as Alabama Extension director, Patterson said. He brings a wealth of experience not only in Extension leadership, but also in academics and research at Auburn and other land-grant institutions. Agriculture is a vital part of the programming that Alabama Extension offers statewide. We look forward to working closely with Dr. Phillips and his team as he begins his new role. Phillips says education has great meaning to his family. My parents were working-class people, often working two jobs each, Phillips said. I am one of those first-generation college graduates. I take great pride in that by saying my parents knew and valued education at every level. My wife, June, is an incredibly strong supporter of the value of education. In Extension, we teach every dayits just that it may be on a turnrow or in a hayfield or forest. There are many examples, but we make the difference in livelihoods every day in very impactful ways. Prior to joining Alabama Extension and the Auburn faculty, Phillips was head of Mississippi State Universitys Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. His career also includes the role of chair of the Department of Agricultural Sciences at Kentuckys Morehead State University. He began his career at the University of Arkansas Southwest Research and Extension Center in Hope, Arkansas, where he was director and professor. Phillips, a native of Benton, Arkansas, earned a masters degree and doctorate in agronomy in 1982 and 1985, respectively, at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He received his bachelors degree in 1980 from the University of Arkansas at Monticello, majoring in agriculture. A Virginia Senate bill would withhold $22 million pledged to Metro unless the transit system adds the name of Capital One bank to the McLean rail station. The legislation would rename the Silver Line station as "McLean-Capital One Hall," a reference to a performance venue the bank is building a quarter-mile from the site. Sen. Janet Howell, D-Fairfax, said she inserted the provision in transportation funding legislation because the bank did not like being "squeezed for money." She said Metro was unfairly pressuring the bank to pay for the naming rights rather than granting them free. The legislative tussle rose from Metro's newfound interest in selling naming rights to private companies for its stations. For years, the transit system has resisted doing so, viewing stations as landmarks with names that should match their surrounding neighborhoods. The coronavirus pandemic's crushing economic effect has prompted Metro to reconsider that policy. Naming rights potentially could bring it millions at a time when the transit agency is facing declining revenue amid a historic drop in ridership. As Metro was rethinking the policy, Tysons-based Capital One expressed interest in adding the name of its new theater to the McLean station. The bank offered to pay the costs associated with changing signage and got the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on board. The county then asked Metro, which ultimately makes naming decisions. The transit agency refused. Instead, it offered to sell the naming rights to the Fortune 100 company. That did not sit well with Howell, chairwoman of the powerful Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee. She tucked the ultimatum to Metro into a massive state budget bill: Change the name free or lose out on $22.4 million in dedicated capital funding the state already had committed to provide. Howell, whose district includes Capital One Tower and the McLean station, accused Metro of seeking to extract money from the company after it built a venue to serve the public - a venue big enough that it deserves its name on the Metro station nearby, she said. "Capital One is putting in a community theater, and so letting the public know where to get off the Metro would be very helpful for that," Howell said. "And the (Fairfax County) Board of Supervisors had also approved it. So this was a last-minute effort by (Metro) to just extract money, and I wanted to put a stop to it." One of the nation's 10 largest banks, Capital One occupies the 470-foot Capital One Tower - the tallest occupied building in the Washington metro area. The company employs more than 9,000 people in the region and earned $28.5 billion in revenue last year. The new 1,600-seat Capital One Hall performance center on the company's campus will host symphonies, plays, concerts and other major events intended to draw people from across the region. The $120 million facility is expected to open this fall. "As long as (the name change) is something that's not a profitmaking thing but of public value, a public accommodation that will be used by our people, that's OK," said Sen. David Marsden, D-Fairfax, a member of the finance panel's transportation subcommittee, which approved the amendment. While Metro receives funding from Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, it operates independently, with a board that includes representatives of each of the jurisdictions and the federal government. Howell's amendment appears to threaten Metro's right to name its own stations and negotiate its own agreements with private companies. Competing versions of the budget bill that include the renaming stipulation are being debated by Virginia lawmakers, who are working out differences over school funding, restarting in-school instruction and other issues during a special session in its final days. Metro said its governing board hasn't decided what it will do if Virginia's share of capital funding is held up by the Senate's demands. Capital One says it's staying away from the debate. Marsden said he did not know much about the amendment, which slid through the transportation subcommittee virtually unnoticed with no discussion. But he had an explanation. "It's politics," Marsden said. Capital One began lobbying for the name change last fall, asking the Fairfax County board for its support. County leaders unanimously voted on a resolution in September asking Metro for the change. Metro often grants station name changes through requests from cities and counties, which are responsible for the costs of new signs, maps and other legal steps associated with making such a change. In Capital One's case, the company offered to pay costs estimated at more than $320,000. Over its 45-year history, Metro has chosen not to name or rename stops for widely agreed-upon points of reference that are privately owned or sponsored, such as Nationals Park or Capital One Arena, which has changed names multiple times. Granting one corporate request could leave the transit agency in a tight legal spot in its ability to reject others. In the case of Capital One, Metro's board of directors expressed interest in exploring a sale or lease of the name, according to a Jan. 15 letter that Metro board chairman Paul Smedberg sent to Jeff McKay, D-At Large, chairman of the Fairfax board. "The McLean station offers a unique opportunity for commercial importance to the region, as transit properties in many cities are developing mutually beneficial partnerships through station naming sponsorships," Smedberg wrote. Smedberg wrote that he authorized Metro staffers to explore a naming-rights sponsorship with Capital One. Metro spokeswoman Sherri Ly said transit officials had approached Capital One based on Smedberg's direction, but she declined to say whether the company showed interest, calling it a "contractual matter." The company declined to comment on its discussions with Metro. A Capital One official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the sensitivity of the discussions said the company has not engaged in serious negotiations, because it is unclear about Metro's intentions. While Smedberg has expressed interest in a possible sponsorship agreement, The board has not lifted its policy against selling commercial naming rights. Howell said she was not approached by anyone to craft the amendment requiring Metro to change the name if it wanted its annual capital contribution from Virginia. She said that she spoke with Capital One before filing the amendment and that the company expressed displeasure at being charged for the name change. "They were upset about being squeezed for money for a naming that was already approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors," she said. Howell said Capital One should not have to pay for signage for what will be a community theater and place of public use. McKay said that Fairfax County leaders did not ask state senators to intervene and that the county does not support the budget amendment in Richmond. ""Though I'm aware of a budget amendment in Richmond that has been proposed since our action, the County had nothing to do with it and we do not support it," he said in a statement. "We have not been involved further." Capital One said in a statement that its representatives did not lobby state legislators for the amendment and have not discussed the amendment with Fairfax County officials. "Capital One joined state and local leaders and community organizations supporting this routine request and we committed to cover the County's costs of the name change," the company said. "We are not involved in the budget negotiation process and hope (Metro) and Fairfax County engage in productive dialogue." Metro issued a statement saying it was aware of the legislation while declining to discuss specifics. The agency has made no decision on how it plans to respond to the amendment. The Virginia General Assembly committed in 2018 to provide Metro with annual funding for capital expenses, but lawmakers have the power to withhold it. Two years ago, Maryland withheld funding from Metro for months until the transit agency agreed to more auditing and detailed financial reporting. Howell's amendment was inserted into Senate Bill 1100 before a Feb. 10 meeting of the transportation subcommittee, records show. Marsden said he did not recall any committee discussion on the addition, but he said its intent seems to be in line with the interests of Virginians and Metro customers. "Things that are public venues that are going to be used by the public - which is what this hall is all about - I see (their names) on other subway stops around the country," Marsden said. Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, a member of the subcommittee, said in a text message that he did not "recall being part of the subcommittee discussion." A staff member from the office of Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, said she was not involved in the amendment. Four other members of the Senate subcommittee - Chairman George Barker, D-Fairfax; Richard Saslaw, D-Springfield; Stephen Newman, R-Forest; and Emmett Hanger Jr., R-Augusta, did not respond to The Washington Post's requests for comment. Capital One is a large donor to several Virginia politicians, which is not unusual for a company of its size. Campaign finance records show it donated $134,550 to various political campaigns in the state last year, including to those of Howell and several members of the transportation subcommittee. In a 2012 survey, a majority of Metro riders said they did not want commercial entities attached to station names, a factor that went into the Metro board's consideration when it last formally revisited the naming-rights policy, that same year. Board members briefly picked up the issue again in 2017 amid the financial strain of a $125 million budget hole. In 2019, months after Amazon committed to building a second headquarters in Northern Virginia, Metro explored the possibility again, asking consulting companies to submit proposals on how much money they thought the transit agency could bring in by renting out station names. In November 2019, Metro seemed ready to take the plunge. Metro staffers brought board members an offer to sell naming rights to the Innovation Center Metro station on the yet-to-open Silver Line extension to a "Fortune Global 500 Company," officials said at the time. But the board never publicly discussed the proposal, which was pulled after Fairfax County supervisors opposed it. In November 2020, Metro's board approved requests from Fairfax and Prince George's (Md.) counties to rename two stops. The Tysons Corner station - next door to the McLean station - will become Tysons when the new Silver Line extension opens, while the Prince George's Plaza station is being renamed Hyattsville Crossing. In December, two more station names were tweaked. The transit system dropped "UVA" from the West Falls Church-VT station after the University of Virginia relocated one of its campuses. Meanwhile, the city of Alexandria successfully requested that Metro add "VT" to the new Potomac Yard station to mark the new Virginia Tech campus nearby. None of the changes involve a corporate name. - - - The Washington Post's Antonio Olivo and Laura Vozzella contributed to this report. VAUGHAN, ON, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - GFL Environmental Inc. (NYSE: GFL) (TSX: GFL) ("GFL" or the "Company") today announced that Violet Konkle has joined the Board of Directors as an independent director and a member of the Audit Committee. "I am very excited that Vi has agreed to join our Board of Directors," said Patrick Dovigi, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of GFL. "Vi brings with her a wealth of experience as an operator, having previously served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Brick Ltd. and holding several executive level positions with Walmart Canada and Loblaws Companies. She currently serves on the board of directors of The Boyd Group Services Inc. (TSX:BYD) and The Northwest Company (TSX:NWC). We welcome Vi to our board and look forward to working with her." "I am delighted to join the GFL Board of Directors. GFL is a dynamic Canadian company with a very promising future," said Ms. Konkle. "I look forward to serving with the other directors, Patrick and GFL's stellar management team." Mr. Dovigi continued, "We are also announcing today the resignation of Shahir Guindi, who served as a director of the Company since 2018 and a member of the Audit Committee since March 2020. I would like to thank Shahir for his valued contributions and his insightful advice during his tenure as a director." "Having had a very small part in GFL's extraordinary journey has been a true privilege and pleasure for me," said Shahir Guindi. "The Company's successful initial public offering and impressive execution and integration of large M&A and smaller tuck-in acquisitions is a testament to Patrick's leadership and vision and the strength of an exceptionally hard-working and dedicated management team." About GFL GFL, headquartered in Vaughan, Ontario, is the fourth largest diversified environmental services company in North America, providing a comprehensive line of non-hazardous solid waste management, infrastructure & soil remediation and liquid waste management services through its platform of facilities throughout Canada and in 27 states in the United States. Across its organization, GFL has a workforce of more than 15,000 employees. For further information: Patrick Dovigi, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, +1 905-326-0101, [email protected] SOURCE GFL Environmental Inc. Related Links http://www.gflenv.com [February 23, 2021] VideoStudio Ultimate 2021 Offers New Creative Options for Fast & Fun Video Editing OTTAWA, Feb. 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VideoStudio Ultimate 2021 delivers a streamlined and intuitive movie editing experience, making video creation fun and accessible for anyone. New creative features including Instant Project Templates, face-tracking AR Stickers and enhancements to the Split Screen Template Editor, empower users to easily transform their photos and footage into standout projects. Performance and usability improvements make the video editing workflow simpler and more efficient. VideoStudio Ultimate has long been known for its unique combination of power and simplicity that makes it easy for users to create personalized and compelling projects that are uniquely their own, said Prakash Channagiri, Director of Product Management for Video at Corel. With VideoStudio Ultimate 2021, were taking this fun factor even further with new creative tools and boosted performance so you can effortlessly dive in and create amazing projects. VideoStudio Ultimate 2021 is a complete editing toolkit with everything from basic tools and effects to powerful features including motion tracking, multi-camera editing, screen recording and even full color grading controls for eye-catching HD and 4K movies. Highlights include: NEW! Instant Project Templates: Quickly and easily create popular video styles with new templates that let you create video clips inspired by viral content on social media, edit social media posts, add themed intros, turn portrait videos into landscape, and create business webinars and presentations. Quickly and easily create popular video styles with new templates that let you create video clips inspired by viral content on social media, edit social media posts, add themed intros, turn portrait videos into landscape, and create business webinars and presentations. NEW! AR Stickers: Instantly add fun and personality to any video project with face-tracking stickers that enhance emotions and introduce playful moments to your videos. Instantly add fun and personality to any video project with face-tracking stickers that enhance emotions and introduce playful moments to your videos. ENHANCED! Performance: VideoStudio Ultimate 2021 is optimized for the latest video hardware acceleration technologies from Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA, improving previews and speeding up rendering to popular file formats. VideoStudio Ultimate 2021 is optimized for the latest video hardware acceleration technologies from Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA, improving previews and speeding up rendering to popular file formats. ENHANCED! Mask Creator: Expand your creative possibilities with new keyframe controls that allow you to quickly and efficiently adjust the position, size, and angles of your video masks. Jump right into the Mask Creator, without selecting any clips, to create windows in your project and achieve cinema-quality special effects and transitions. Expand your creative possibilities with new keyframe controls that allow you to quickly and efficiently adjust the position, size, and angles of your video masks. Jump right into the Mask Creator, without selecting any clips, to create windows in your project and achieve cinema-quality special effects and transitions. ENHANCED! Usability: Enjoy a simpler and more intuitive editing experience from import to export. New Replace Mode lets you drag and drop footage to Instant Project Templates or Split Screen videos with ease. Adjust the color of your titles, graphics and backgrounds with the updated Color Picker which introduces standard palettes for quicker access to your preferred tones. Enjoy a simpler and more intuitive editing experience from import to export. New Replace Mode lets you drag and drop footage to Instant Project Templates or Split Screen videos with ease. Adjust the color of your titles, graphics and backgrounds with the updated Color Picker which introduces standard palettes for quicker access to your preferred tones. ENHANCED! Split Screen Template Editor: Work smarter across split screen projects with enhanced tools that streamline your workflow. Save time with Replace Mode and control objects more easily in the Split Screen Editor, thanks to new zoom-in and zoom-out options. Copy and paste keyframe edits rather than re-working customizations. Work smarter across split screen projects with enhanced tools that streamline your workflow. Save time with Replace Mode and control objects more easily in the Split Screen Editor, thanks to new zoom-in and zoom-out options. Copy and paste keyframe edits rather than re-working customizations. ENHANCED! Customize Motion: Leverage updated Customize Motion tools for mor polished motion effects throughout your video projects. The new Auto Motion Blur automatically applies the optimal level of blur effect to make motion in your video look more natural, and makes editing customized animations easier than ever. Leverage updated Customize Motion tools for mor polished motion effects throughout your video projects. The new Auto Motion Blur automatically applies the optimal level of blur effect to make motion in your video look more natural, and makes editing customized animations easier than ever. ENHANCED! Video Stabilization: Make real-time corrections to shaky hand-held footage and bumpy action shots quicker and more efficiently with the enhanced proDAD Mercalli video stabilization add-on. Make real-time corrections to shaky hand-held footage and bumpy action shots quicker and more efficiently with the enhanced proDAD Mercalli video stabilization add-on. ENHANCED! Premium Effects: Achieve remarkable creative transformations and go beyond basic editing using the expanded collection of premium effects from NewBlue FX and more than 100 VitaScene effects from proDAD. Add interest with 3D titles, fix imperfections, apply lens corrections, enhance and calibrate color, and create reflections quicker and easier than before. VideoStudio Ultimate 2021 has the tools you need to quickly create impressive videos and share them online, via social media, or even on DVD! Take advantage of FastFlick for easy slide-show creation; and burn videos to disc with custom chapters and themed menus with VideoStudio MyDVD. MultiCam Capture Lite makes it simple to record your screen and capture webcam video simultaneously, and includes support for new AR Stickers for fun effects. VideoStudio Ultimate 2021 is part of the VideoStudio family of products that also includes VideoStudio Pro. For more information, please visit this comparison chart. Pricing and Availability Corel VideoStudio Ultimate 2021 is available in English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese. Suggested Retail Pricing (SRP) is $99.99 (USD/CAN)/ EUR 89.99/ 89.99 with upgrade discounts available. GBP and EUR prices include VAT. To try VideoStudio and learn more, please visit www.videostudiopro.com. To access volume licensing for commercial and education organizations, please visit www.videostudiopro.com/en/licensing/. Connect With Us & Learn More Connect with VideoStudio users on Facebook: www.facebook.com/corelvideostudio Follow our Twitter updates: @videostudio Take advantage of helpful training resources at learn.corel.com. First-time Studio Backlot customers receive a 10-day, all-access pass to VideoStudio training (available in English and French) from Class on Demand. About Corel Corel products enable millions of connected knowledge workers around the world to do great work faster. Offering some of the industry's best-known software brands, we give individuals and teams the power to create, collaborate, and deliver impressive results. Our success is driven by an unwavering commitment to deliver a broad portfolio of innovative applications including CorelDRAW, MindManager, Parallels, and WinZip to inspire users and help them achieve their goals. To learn more about Corel, please visit www.corel.com. 2021 Corel Corporation. All rights reserved. Corel, FastFlick, MultiCam Capture, MyDVD, VideoStudio, CorelDRAW, MindManager, and WinZip are trademarks or registered trademarks of Corel Corporation in Canada, the U.S. and/or elsewhere. Parallels is a trademark or registered trademark of Parallels International GmbH in Canada, the U.S. and/or elsewhere. All other company, product and service names, logos, brands and any registered or unregistered trademarks mentioned are used for identification purposes only and remain the exclusive property of their respective owners. Use of any brands, names, logos or any other information, imagery or materials pertaining to a third party does not imply endorsement. We disclaim any proprietary interest in such third-party information, imagery, materials, marks and names of others. For all notices and information about patents, please visit www.corel.com/patent. Media Contact: Ashley Ruess ashley.ruess@corel.com www.corel.com Photos accompanying this announcement are available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/44960b33-c8ab-4ce0-a68b-513263ccc3d4 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e8069f2b-2ae5-4406-973e-88501e172089 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b9238ee7-99ca-4301-9f67-52cbbc726c23 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fe645f2e-a640-4a02-8ea0-89434d5fc4c4 A video accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5eed9137-b62e-45b5-9420-6ccbc1838a62 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Future Retail Ltd on Monday said the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) can issue directions to convene meetings of shareholders and creditors of applicant companies, including it, to consider the Rs 24,713-crore deal with Reliance Retail following an order by the Supreme Court. Earlier in the day, the apex court had allowed the NCLT, Mumbai to continue with the proceedings but asked not to pass a final order on the amalgamation of Future Retail Ltd (FRL) with Reliance Retail, as it agreed to hear Amazon's plea against the Delhi High Court verdict that stayed a single judge directive to maintain status quo on the deal. The US-based e-commerce giant had moved the top court against the order of the high court division bench which paved the way for the Reliance-FRL deal. A bench comprising Justices R F Nariman and B R Gavai issued notices to FRL, Chairperson Kishore Biyani and others and sought their replies to the Amazon plea. The reply is to be filed in three weeks and a rejoinder to it two weeks thereafter, the bench said, adding that the appeal will be listed for hearing after five weeks. The Supreme Court has "further specifically ruled that the proceedings before NCLT will be allowed to go on but will not culminate in any final order of sanction of the scheme. Accordingly, the NCLT can now issue directions to convene the meetings of shareholders and creditors of the applicant companies including FRL to consider the scheme," Future Retail Ltd said in a regulatory filing. The Delhi High Court on February 8 had stayed its single judge direction to FRL and various statutory authorities to maintain status quo on the mega deal. The interim direction was passed on FRL's appeal challenging the February 2 order of the single judge. The high court division bench had also declined Amazon's request to keep its order in abeyance for a week so that it can explore appropriate remedies. The division bench, however, said it was staying the single judge order as firstly, FRL was not a party to the share subscription agreement (SSA) between Amazon and Future Coupons Pvt Ltd (FCPL) and the US e-commerce giant was not a party to the deal between FRL and Reliance Retail. The bench further said it was of the prima facie view that the share holding agreement (SHA) between FRL and FCPL, the SSA between FCPL and Amazon and the deal between FRL and Reliance Retail "are different" and "therefore, the group of companies doctrine cannot be invoked". FRL, in its appeal, had claimed that if the February 2 order was not stayed it "would be an absolute disaster" for it as the proceedings before the NCLT for approving the amalgamation scheme have been put on hold. It contended that the single judge's status quo order will effectively derail the entire scheme which has been approved by statutory authorities in accordance with law. In August last year, Future had reached an agreement to sell its retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing units to Reliance. Subsequently, Amazon took FRL into an emergency arbitration before the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) over an alleged breach of contract by the Future group. Amazon had first filed a plea before the single judge for enforcement of the October 25, 2020 Emergency Arbitrator (EA) award by the SIAC restraining FRL from going ahead with its Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance Retail. In its suit before the single judge of the Delhi High Court for enforcing the EA award, Amazon had sought to restrain FRL from taking any steps to complete the transaction with entities that are a part of the Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani (MDA) Group. Amazon also sought detention of the Biyanis, directors of FCPL and FRL and other related parties in civil prison and attaching of their properties for alleged "wilful disobedience" of the EA order. After the SIAC's EA order, Amazon wrote to the SEBI, stock exchanges and CCI, urging them to take into consideration the arbitrator's interim decision as it is a binding order. FRL thereafter moved the high court to restrain Amazon from writing to SEBI, CCI and other regulators about SIAC's order, saying it amounts to interfering with the agreement with Reliance. A single judge on December 21 last year had on FRL's plea passed an interim order allowing Amazon to write to the statutory authorities, but also said that prima facie it appeared the US e-commerce giant's attempt to control Future Retail was violative of FEMA and FDI rules. Against the observations, Amazon moved an appeal before a division bench and during its pendency, Amazon filed the suit for the enforcement of the EA award. Also read: RIL announces demerger of oil-to-chemical biz as talks with Aramco resume Judges ruled that a finding John Thomas Murphy was in possession of the replica weapon with intent to cause fear of violence could not be sustained. A west Belfast man has won his appeal against a conviction for having an imitation firearm discovered in his home with more than 500 rounds of ammunition. Senior judges ruled today that a finding John Thomas Murphy was in possession of the replica weapon with intent to cause fear of violence could not be sustained. But they upheld separate verdicts that the 33-year-old had the ammunition in suspicious circumstances and without a relevant licence. Murphy is serving a three and a half year sentence for the discoveries made during a search at his Beechmount Close home in June 2017. Police located the imitation firearm and assorted bullets inside two bags in a bedroom wardrobe. Latex gloves and a black knuckle-duster were also found. Murphy denied a total of four charges during a non-jury trial at Belfast Crown Court last year where he declined to give evidence. Prosecutors argued Murphy could be forensically linked to some of the items, with his fingerprint found on a bag, and his DNA on a zip and gloves. The trial judge found him guilty on three counts: possession of an imitation firearm with intent, having the ammunition in suspicious circumstances, and without a certificate. However, the defendant was acquitted on the further charge of possession ammunition with intent to endanger life. Last November Murphy was ordered to serve 21 months in prison and a further 21 months on licence. As part of a challenge to the verdict, defence lawyers told the Court of Appeal there was insufficient evidence to warrant a finding that he intended to cause a fear of violence with the imitation firearm. His conviction on that count was inconsistent with the acquittal for having the ammunition with intent to endanger life, they contended. Backing that part of the appeal, Lord Justice McCloskey said the prosecution had to establish beyond reasonable doubt that Murphy was in possession of the imitation firearm with specific intent. "It follows that the conviction in respect of (that) count cannot be sustained," he held. However, the judge also confirmed: "The court harbours no reservations about the safety of the remaining two convictions of the appellant, namely possession of ammunition without a certificate and possession of ammunition in suspicious circumstances. "Thus, the appeal succeeds to the limited extent indicated." Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 Ulster Bank has written to customers today stating that the bank remains open to new business despite announcing last week that it was winding-down and exiting the Republic of Ireland. According to correspondence seen by the Irish Independent the bank has notified personal customers that "a decision has been made for a phased withdrawal of all its banking activity", in line with its corporate announcement last Friday. However, in the same letter the lender said it "will remain open for all new business", suggesting that customers might still open new accounts, take out loans or apply for credit cards while the wind-down is ongoing. A broker who does business with the bank said that Ulster Bank is now "untouchable" for new customers and that the communication was a "formality" that shouldn't be taken seriously. Read More Last Friday Ulster Bank confirmed that it would be leaving the market over a period of several years in "an orderly and considered manner". Chief executive Jane Howard said in a statement that customers did not need to take any action and that the bank would be communicating with them in the coming weeks and months. Ulster Bank has agreed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with AIB for the sale of the bank's 4bn performing commercial loan book. Permanent TSB is also in discussions with the bank for the acquisition of its personal banking business and possibly the SME business, which has about a 20pc market share. News of Ulster Bank's departure followed months of speculation about the future of the bank in Ireland after it was reported that NatWest, its UK owner, had hired Goldman Sachs to conduct a strategic review of the business. Private equity group Cerberus was also reported as a potential buyer. NatWest was receiving poor returns on Ulster Bank, with 4.5bn of capital "trapped" in its Irish subsidiary to back its lending here, according to banking analysts. Heavy risk weighting required by European regulators meant that it could be years before profitability at the Irish bank would improve - believed to be a key factor in the decision to close. Ulster Bank did not respond to a request for comment. This photo provided by the Alexandria Adult Detention Center shows Emma Coronel Aispuro. The Justice Department says Emma Coronel Aispuro was arrested at Dulles International Airport on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021 and is expected to appear in federal court in Washington on Tuesday. She is the wife of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin El Chapo Guzman and is accused of helping her husband run his multibillion-dollar cartel and plot his audacious escape from a Mexican prison in 2015. (Alexandria Adult Detention Center via AP) PHOTO:Alexandria Adult Detention Center via AP Wife of El Chapo Arrested on US Drug Charges By The Associated Press WASHINGTON - The wife of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin El Chapo Guzman was arrested in the United States and accused of helping her husband run his multibillion-dollar cartel and plot his audacious escape from a Mexican prison in 2015. Emma Coronel Aispuro, a 31-year-old former beauty queen, was arrested at Dulles International Airport in Virginia on Monday and is expected to appear in federal court in Washington on Tuesday afternoon. She is a dual citizen of the United States and Mexico. Her arrest is the latest twist in the bloody, multinational saga involving Guzman, the longtime head of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Guzman, whose two dramatic prison escapes in Mexico fed into a legend that he and his family were all but untouchable, was extradited to the United States in 2017 and is serving life in prison. And now his wife, with whom he has two young daughters, has been charged with helping him run his criminal empire. In a single-count criminal complaint, Coronel was charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana in the U.S. The Justice Department also accused her of helping her husband escape from a Mexican prison in 2015 and participating in the planning of a second prison escape before Guzman was extradited to the U.S. Coronel was moved to the Alexandria Detention Center in Virginia late Monday night and is expected to appear by video conference for her initial court appearance on Tuesday. Her attorney Jeffrey Lichtman declined to comment Monday night. As Mexicos most powerful drug lord, Guzman ran a cartel responsible for smuggling mountains of cocaine and other drugs into the United States during his 25-year reign, prosecutors said in recent court papers. They also said his army of sicarios, or hit men, was under orders to kidnap, torture and kill anyone who got in his way. His prison breaks became the stuff of legend and raised serious questions about whether Mexico's justice system was capable of holding him accountable. In one case, he escaped through an entry under the shower in his cell to a milelong (1.6-kilometer-long) lighted tunnel with a motorcycle on rails. The planning for the escape was extensive, prosecutors say, with his wife playing a key role. Court papers charge that Coronel worked with Guzmans sons and a witness, who is now cooperating with the U.S. government, to organize the construction of the underground tunnel that Guzman used to escape from the Altiplano prison to prevent his extradition to the U.S. The plot included purchasing a piece of land near the prison, firearms and an armored truck and smuggling him a GPS watch so they could pinpoint his exact whereabouts so as to construct the tunnel with an entry point accessible to him, the court papers say. Guzman was sentenced to life behind bars in 2019. Coronel, who was a beauty queen in her teens, regularly attended Guzmans trial, even when testimony implicated her in his prison breaks. The two, separated in age by more than 30 years, have been together since at least 2007, and their twin daughters were born in 2011. Her father, Ines Coronel Barreras, was arrested in 2013 with one of his sons and several other men in a warehouse with hundreds of pounds of marijuana across the border from Douglas, Arizona. Months earlier, the U.S. Treasury had announced financial sanctions against her father for his alleged drug trafficking. After Guzman was rearrested following his escape, Coronel lobbied the Mexican government to improve her husbands prison conditions. And after he was convicted in 2019, she moved to launch a clothing line in his name. Mike Vigil, the Drug Enforcement Administrations former chief of international operations, said Coronel has been involved in the drug trade since she was a little girl. She knows the inner workings of the Sinaloa cartel. He said she could be willing to cooperate. She has a huge motivation, and that is her twins, Vigil said. BOGOTA, Colombia, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ecopetrol S.A. (BVC: ECOPETROL;NYSE: EC) reports that in order to comply with the provisions of Part III Title I Chapter VI of the Basic Legal Circular issued by the Financial Superintendency of Colombia (SFC for its Spanish acronym) (E.C. 029 of 2014), the Board of Directors of Ecopetrol S.A. ("Ecopetrol" or the "Company") approved the implementation of the following measures aimed at guaranteeing the adequate representation of shareholders at the Ordinary General Shareholder's Meeting (the "Meeting") to be held on March 26, 2021: The Company's Management was ordered to inform shareholders of their right to be represented by the appointment of a proxy, explain the proxy scheme to be implemented and indicate the legal requirements of the proxies to be granted for such purpose. It was ordered to inform those appointed to verify the granted shareholder proxies that those that do not comply with the minimum requirements provided by law will not be admitted as valid and not to accept powers of attorney where the name of the respective representative does not appear clearly defined. The Company's Management was ordered to inform the Company's officers and employees that they may not make a recommendation to the shareholders to vote for a certain list. The Company's Management was ordered to inform the Company's officers and employees that they may not suggest, coordinate, or agree with shareholders the presentation of proposals at the Meeting. The Company's Management was ordered to inform the Company's officers and employees that they may not suggest, coordinate, or agree with shareholders to vote in favor or against any proposal to be presented at the Meeting. The Company's Management was ordered to verify that the shareholders do not grant proxies to persons directly or indirectly related to the Company's management or employees. The Company's Management was ordered to adopt all necessary measures so that the Company's employees act with neutrality towards the different shareholders. The General Secretary of the Company was appointed as the officer responsible for verifying adequate compliance with the above measures. The Legal Vice-Presidency was appointed as the area responsible for supervising the review of proxies and the proxy scheme to be implemented in 2021. The above measures adopted by the members of the Board of Directors of the Company will be informed by the Chairman of the Board of Directors to the general market, through the Superintendent Delegate for Issuers, prior to the Meeting. Ecopetrol is Colombia's largest firm and is an integrated oil company that is among the 50 largest in the world and the four largest in Latin America. In addition to Colombia, where it generates over 60% of the country's production, it is active in exploration and production in the United States (Permian basin and Gulf of Mexico), Brazil and Mexico. Ecopetrol operates the largest refinery in Colombia, most of the country's oil-pipeline and polyduct network and is significantly increasing its share of bio-fuels. This press release contains statements relating to business prospects, estimates of operating and financial results, and Ecopetrol's growth prospects. All are projections, and therefore are based solely on management's expectations of the company's future and its continuous access to capital to finance its sales plan. Achieving these estimates in the future depends on its performance under given market conditions, regulations, competition, the performance of the Colombian economy and industry, and other factors; therefore, they are subject to change without prior notice. For further details, please contact: Acting Head of Capital Markets Juan Pablo Crane Phone: +571-234-5190 Email: [email protected] Media Engagement (Colombia) Jorge Mauricio Tellez Phone: + 571-234-4329 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Ecopetrol S.A. Related Links http://www.ecopetrol.com.co Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 2021 Albuquerque Journal With a decline in COVID-19 cases throughout the state, Albuquerque-area hospitals have announced that they are relaxing restrictions on visitors, which have been in place through much of the pandemic. Top physicians at the University of New Mexico, Presbyterian, Lovelace and Christus St. Vincent health systems all said in a teleconference Monday that their hospitals were changing policies surrounding visitors to their facilities. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Patients with COVID, or those suspected of having COVID, still cannot have visitors for the most part. But most other patients will be allowed a visitor or support person, though they will still be subject to safety measures. All of our facilities have been working together to allow increased visitation for those patients who are hospitalized with other types of disease processes, said Dr. Vesta Sandoval, chief medical officer at Lovelace. Thats been a very positive (move) that weve taken this week. The state reported 237 new COVID cases on Monday. For the past week, the state has averaged about 323 new cases per day. The state reported 11 additional COVID-related deaths: eight women and three men, ranging in age from their 50s to 90s. There were 247 people hospitalized with COVID throughout the state. Of those, 65 patients were at Presbyterian facilitites, a number low enough that the health system felt it could welcome more visitors, said Dr. Denise Gonzales, medical director of Presbyterian Healthcare Services. This is the lowest number of hospitalizations that weve experienced since mid-October 2020, Gonzales said. With the declining cases, we evaluated our visitor policy. At Presbyterian, for example, patients in the emergency department and those having outpatient surgery can now have one support person present. Pediatrics, and labor and delivery were increased to two visitors per patient, according to the hospitals website. This is a very positive thing that all the health systems are doing, said Dr. David Gonzales, chief medical officer at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, which expanded visiting hours this week. Allowing visitors really helps the staffs not feel so isolated. Dr. Rohini McKee, University of New Mexico Hospital chief quality and safety officer, said most UNM patients will now be able to have one visitor. But she cautioned against people letting their guard down, despite the recent decline in cases, noting that daily cases are higher than they were last spring and summer. Of the new cases reported Monday, 79 were in Bernalillo County. This is not the time to take your foot off the gas, she said. We are not out of the woods yet Hang in there for a little while longer. The decline in cases comes as the state continues to vaccinate certain groups against COVID-19. A state vaccine dashboard shows that more than 500,000 shots have been administered. About 329,000 people have had one shot and 172,000 people have had both. Frontline health care workers, folks 75 years and older, and other people with certain medical conditions have so far been given priority. Gonzales said Presbyterian is hopeful that, starting some time next week, the health system could begin offering a large vaccination clinic. But she said such a clinic is entirely dependent on supplies. We know how frustrating it is to wait while supply catches up to demand, she said. A 30-year-old New Jersey man has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for bringing two woman to Virginia and forcing them to work as prostitutes, authorities said. One of the women believed she was in a dating relationship with Rockwell W. Pohlig and that they were moving to start a business, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia said in a statement Monday. Pohlig told the other woman that she was indebted to Pohlig because he paid the funeral expenses of one of her family members, prosecutors said. When the three arrived in Virginia in April 2020, Pohlig ordered one of them women to advertise online for the womens sexual services, officials said. Virginia Beach police got a tip on April 13 that two men and two women were in hotel rooms in an Econo Lodge engaged in possible prostitution and human trafficking, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorneys Office in Eastern Virginia. Cops then put the motel under surveillance. Pohlig, of Stratford, was on two years probation in New Jersey for after being convicted of aggravated assault for a domestic violence incident. He was sentenced in August 2018 for an incident that took place in West Deptford on Christmas Eve in 2017, according to New Jersey court records. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JGoldmanNJ. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com PLANS for a phased reopening of schools from March 1 are expected to be announced today after being signed off by Cabinet. Education representatives met Education Minister Norma Foley yesterday to discuss the plans which are believed to be aligned with public health advice. Cork TD and Sinn Fein education spokesperson Donnchadh O Laoghaire has expressed his hopes that today will finally see clarity for the school community on when they will return. He said: It is vitally important that the Government have learned lessons from January, have done the preparation, and will arrive at an announcement that is clear, detailed, and most importantly that has been agreed by all stakeholders. We all saw the return to special education fall apart last month because the Government did not plan and did not engage properly with representatives from the school community. School staff and students all deserve better communication and honesty. We need to know the up-to-date public health advice. It is crucial therefore that we get a plan, and that it ensures that schools are made safe. We need to know how school transport is going to work. We need to know the plan for when staff must isolate. We need assurances from the Government that tracing has been improved and there will be serial testing for school staff, and adequate safety measures. There also has to be a commonsense approach to both at-risk staff, and indeed at-risk children and families, and we should respect their decisions. I am hopeful tomorrow [Tuesday] will finally bring this clarity, and will not be another Government kite-flying exercise. If a return date is announced [today], the Government need to have done the work to make sure that the return does happen on that date. The Government cannot keep letting the school community down. "Hyundai Motor Company brought Tucson production to the U.S. because we have proven our ability to build world class automobiles," said Ernie Kim, President and CEO Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama. "Today, the Hyundai brand has positive momentum in the marketplace, thanks to the expanding lineup of sport utility vehicles. The new Tucson will continue that momentum in 2021." HMMA recently completed a plant expansion project to support adding the Tucson to HMMA's product mix. The addition of the Tucson will further enhance HMMA's ability to adjust its vehicle production with market demand and stay competitive in the ever-changing automotive market. "Adding this fourth Hyundai vehicle to HMMA's production lineup will help the Hyundai brand meet the growing demand for SUVs in the North American market," said Jose Munoz, President and CEO Hyundai Motor North America. "It will also better position HMMA to fully utilize its vehicle assembly capacity." The addition of the Tucson will continue to sustain high-quality jobs at HMMA and throughout its supplier base. Tucson is Hyundai's best-selling model globally and represents its vision for progressive design, eco-focused powertrains and segment-leading technologies. HMMA will supply internal combustion versions of the Tucson to the North American market, including Canada and Mexico. The 2022 Hyundai Tucson will begin arriving in U.S. dealerships this spring. For features and technical specifications please visit HyundaiNews.com https://www.hyundainews.com/en-us/models/hyundai-tucson-2022-tucson Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, headquartered in Montgomery, Ala., is an independent manufacturing operation of Hyundai Motor Company, based in Seoul, Korea. HMMA currently produces the Hyundai Sonata, Elantra, Santa Fe, and Tucson. Hyundai cars and sport utility vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced by more than 900 Hyundai dealerships across North America. SOURCE Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, LLC Look closely, TKC is in this photo . . . I'm holding a sign and yelling for a completely different reason. Nevertheless, here's a glimpse at futile urban core fear of inevitable gentrification. Read more . . . Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 04:53:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A man wearing a face mask enjoys the view in Rome, Italy, Feb. 22, 2021. Italy extended an inter-regional travel ban for another month on Monday, as health authorities were increasingly concerned for the circulation of coronavirus variants despite a relatively stable pandemic scenario. (Xinhua/Cheng Tingting) ROME, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Italy extended an inter-regional travel ban for another month on Monday, as health authorities were increasingly concerned for the circulation of coronavirus variants despite a relatively stable pandemic scenario. Prime Minister Mario Draghi's new cabinet issued a specific decree to prolong until March 27 the travel restriction, which was due to expire on Feb. 25. The ban will apply to the whole country, and would only exempt traveling for proven reasons of emergency, work, or health. The new decree also confirmed that visiting other people's home will remain subject to the limit of two adults at a time in all regions but those areas declared as "red" (means the highest risk of infection). In the "red" areas, calling on relatives or friends will not be allowed at all. The decision came as 9,630 new cases were registered on Monday against the previous day, according to the data by the Health Ministry. The pandemic curve has remained quite stable in the last weeks, with a limited increase in new cases and a downward trend in active infections observed since Jan. 11. On Monday, the number of active infections dropped by 992 cases to 387,903, while recoveries grew by 10,335 to a total of 2,334,968. Also on Monday, 274 new deaths were registered against the previous day, bringing the country's death toll to 95,992. Overall, considering active infections, fatalities and recoveries, Italy totaled over 2.8 million cases, the latest data showed. Despite the progress so far, experts with the Health Ministry and the National Health Institute (ISS) have lately warned about the rising risk represented by the COVID-19 variants already detected in the country, although on a minority of cases so far. "We need to act promptly and very aggressively against the variants that have not yet spread too much here," ISS Director of Infectious Diseases Department Giovanni Rezza told reporters in the institute's latest press conference on Friday. "Selected red zones must therefore be declared within the regions (where the variants have been registered)," Rezza stressed. Currently, several municipalities have been declared red zones and subjected to full lockdown in the central Umbria region, northeast Alto Adige autonomous province, and northwest Piedmont and Lombardy regions. As for the variant first detected in Britain, following a survey at the national level last week, the ISS warned it was currently responsible for 17.8 percent of new active infections in Italy, but "likely destined to become the prevalent one in the next months." Meanwhile, the vaccination campaign exceeded 3.5 million people by midday on Monday, according to the statistics provided by coronavirus emergency commissioner Domenico Arcuri's office. Health workers made the vast majority (over 2.2 million) of them, followed by other categories at risk (staff in nursing homes, schools, and army), and by over-80 elders. Seen as the most powerful weapon against the pandemic, vaccination campaigns with authorized COVID-19 vaccines are ongoing in several countries around the world. Further 251 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 70 of them in clinical trials -- including in Germany, Italy, China, Russia, Britain, and the United States, according to data released by the World Health Organization on Feb. 19. Enditem The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Monday dismissed a complaint pertaining to alleged cartelization among various domestic airlines. The case had emanated upon receipt of a letter from the Lok Sabha secretariat in January 2014 with a request to examine whether there is any evidence of cartelization in the airlines sector. The data was analyzed for the sample reference period from April 2012 to March 2014 in respect of Jet Airways (including JetLite), Indigo, SpiceJet, GoAir and Air India for certain routes. In September 2016, the CCI had directed the director general (DG), its investigation arm, to cause an investigation into the matter on "prima facie" finding that the airlines- Jet Airways (including Jet Lite), Indigo, Spice Jet, Go Air and Air India-were exhibiting characteristics of anti-competitive conduct. The analysis of the four major routes indicated that airlines were maintaining some degree of stability in their market shares in both lean and peak seasons during the examined period. Further, almost similar cost structure of the airlines also appeared to facilitate collusion on price to be charged in contrast to differentiated cost structure, where low-cost firms usually compete with high-cost firms on prices to capture greater market share. Also, it was observed that despite differences in base fares and airlines fuel surcharge, the end fares charged by all the airlines for tickets, were almost similar. The DG had analysed the market share of five airlines on four sectors during the reference period, as well as their air fare and its determination practices in order to detect any sign of stability or parallelism, or any possibility of communication between the airlines to fix prices. However, as brought out by the investigation, no such pattern of stability or parallelism was noticed between the airlines, rather, a significant variance was seen in the market shares of the airlines, CCI said. The DG had said that price parallelism has become the natural outcome, but it cannot be said to be the result of any agreement or action in concert. "The DG concluded that in view of the analysis done with respect to daily bucket wise movement of price, relationship between price and capacity, and in the absence of any evidence suggestive of meeting of minds, the investigation could not find any contravention of the provisions of the Section 3(1) of the Act read with Section 3(3) thereof against the airlines," as per the order. Further, the Commission notes that a parallel conduct is actionable under the Competition Act only when the adaptation to the market conditions is not done independently and is attributable to information exchanged between the competitors or through some other collusive conduct, the object of which is to influence the market. In the present case, no exchange of communication between the airlines could be established, CCI noted. "There is no evidence on record to establish cartel amongst airlines during the period April 2012 - March 2014 and having examined the material on record, the Commission finds no reason to differ with the findings recorded by the DG," CCI concluded. Also read: Uttar Pradesh Budget 2021-22: UP to name airport after Lord Rama; allocates Rs 101 crore Beyond barbecues and ceremonies: Recognizing Memorial Day For many, Memorial Day weekend is about gathering with family and grilling or attending a parade. Some find a more personal way to honor the holiday. A team of officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation visited the Vijayawada Airport at Gannavaram on Tuesday and conducted a preliminary investigation into the freak accident involving an Express Boeing aircraft here on February 20. Official sources said pilot error caused the mishap in which the Boeing aircraft suffered a minor damage on its right wing after it hit an electric pole while taxiing on the runway. According to sources, a Canadian woman pilot commanded the flight when the mishap occurred. The aircraft landed here from Doha, en route Tiruchirappalli, but all 64 passengers aboard were safe. "The team launched a preliminary investigation into the accident and is probing various aspects.It has also inspected the damaged aircraft and spoke at length with the Canadian pilot," the sources said but refused to divulge more details as "these things are confidential". The team is expected to continue its task on Wednesday as well. (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.) BALLSTON SPA Mayor Larry Woolbrights January call to end the increasingly nasty tone of political campaigns got a promising response. He was able to get the Democrats and Republicans to agree to a nonpartisan election. Thus, the March 16 vote for the village Board of Trustees has five candidates running for two seats on lines such as a Better BSpa, Unity in Diversity and Ballston Spa Visions. But political peace did not last. Candidate Robert Bush Jr. tried to knock off the ballot the registered Democrats who are running, incumbent Shawn Raymond and political newcomer Ben Baskin, with a laundry list of petition objections. Village Clerk Teri O'Connor said that the Saratoga County Board of Elections did not agree with those challenges, and both men are still on the ballot. However, Bush's attorney, Frank Rossi Jr., a town of Milton Republican committee member, are threatening to go to court over a signature that Rossi alleges is forged on one cover sheet of a petition. (The Board of Elections) may feel the document qualifies, but we still think that a forgery occurred," Rossi said. Its a criminal matter, technically. Previously: In hopes to end bickering, party-line politics dissolves in 'Village of Friends' Political feud in Milton leads to threats of arrest Canvassing case bounces from Milton to Ballston Rossi said that Raymonds signature did not look like his other signatures and there was a period after Raymonds middle initial that wasnt there before. Honestly, there are so many glitches in that signature, Rossi said. It was such a forced attempt to match a signature. Raymond said hes not worried about criminal charges because, he said, I signed it. I was outside in the driveway when Ben ran it over, Raymond said. Im sure my signature was a scrawl, a little sloppy. There was another cover sheet on the form, so the cover sheet he is discussing is superfluous anyway. Raymond said he'd also like to see "these kinds of antics stop." "Beat us at the polls," said Raymond, who ran and won his seat in 2017. Dont try to cook up some kind of cockamamie thing to try to knock us out on a technicality. Just beat us at the ballot box. Baskin agreed. Shawn and I believe that we have the relevant experience, skills and values that many voters look for in a trustee, Baskin said. That is why our opponents would rather do an end-run around the election than actually give voters a choice at the polls. Saratoga County District Attorney Karen Heggen said she has not seen anything filed at her office alleging criminal conduct. She also said election law proceedings are not criminal. "I direct anyone who believes a crime was committed to talk to the police," she said. This is not the first time Rossi has tried to push criminal charges on political opponents in the village. In 2019, his father, represented by Rossi, filed a complaint that resulted in Ballston Spa police filing trespassing charges against Trustee Liz Kormos for dropping off campaign literature an apartment building owned by the older Rossi. The charges were contrary to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2002 that gave citizens the right to go door-to-door and advocate for religious, political or other noncommercial causes. Heggen, who has received campaign contributions from the Rossi family, recused herself and sent the case to the Montgomery County district attorney. It has yet to be resolved. Ellie Dillon, chair of the Democratic Committee in Milton, of which Ballston Spa is a part, said she was surprised that Rossi would go to such false lengths to remove two qualified candidates. Sue Robbiano, chair of of the Democrats in Ballston, which borders Ballston Spa to the south, said the Republicans are raising accusations because Baskin and Raymond are "experienced and qualified candidates who've shown in the past they won't be controlled by special interests. Its no wonder the objector would go to such heinous measures to try and remove them." Meanwhile, Rossi said Bush is disappointed by the decision of the Board of Elections. A potential forgery of a candidates signature on the documents used to qualify for placement on the ballot is inappropriate, especially in light of the election concerns this country has faced over the last year, Rossi said. Any suggestion that such actions are OK by the Board of Elections sets a horrible precedent with respect to how such candidates might utilize absentee ballot requests, etc., in this election. Woolbright said this is exactly what he wanted to avoid. I would, obviously, much rather have things be smooth and quiet and friendly, Woolbright said. But I have no control over that part of things. All I could do was convince the two parties not to endorse candidates. ... Im disappointed things are not going to be as easy as I hoped. Note: The story was updated to indicate that Frank Rossi Sr. pressed charges against Trustee Liz Kormos. Rossi Jr. legally represents his father. A woman in Beijing received a 50,000-yuan ($7,708.08) compensation for household labor during divorce proceedings. This was the first time in China a divorce case reached a decision like this, which sparked an outcry on Chinese social media on Monday and triggered discussions on Chinese women's status and place in families. According to media report, the woman, surnamed Wang, asked for a 50,000-yuan household labor compensation because she was responsible for most of the domestic work since her marriage with her husband surnamed Chen in 2015, including taking care of children and maintaining the house. The court, besides dividing the couple's common property equally, also ruled that Wang was legally divorced from her husband Chen and that he had to pay the compensation to Wang. Feng Miao, the judge who presided the case explained that the decision was made according to the Article 1088 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, which stipulates that "Where one spouse is burdened with additional duties for raising children, looking after the elderly, or assisting the other spouse in his/her work, the said spouse has the right to request for compensation upon divorce against the other party, and the other party shall make due compensation." "The case likely is the first case in support of household labor compensation in divorce [in the Chinese mainland], according to news and current judicial judgments that can be searched," Han Xiao, a lawyer from Beijing Kangda Law Firm, said to the Global Times on Monday. The case went viral on Chinese social media platform with the hashtag "Full-time wife gets 50,000-yuan compensation for housework" being viewed more than 440 million times as of Monday, over 17,000 netizens joining the discussion. Some netizens hailed the judgement, taking it as a recognition of full-time wives' work. Others said 50,000 yuan for household labor compensation to a full-time wife in Beijing is far from enough, noting that the payment for a house cleaner for six months is more than that. Some netizens, taking the case further to the aspect of gender issue, alleged that women should not be full-time housewives anyway. Han believed that this case is a good start and regulations on the compensation for household labor in China would continue to improve. However, some other lawyers reached by the Global Times noted the complexity of divorce cases and warned that it is difficult to quantify household labor and it unnecessarily relies more on women to do the work. "The family life is so complicated, not to mention that there are divisions of labor both in society and family, so it is difficult to quantify the labor. The common property system has taken into account the issue of the balance between the two parties' contributions and returns, so I do not recommend that the court support a larger amount of housework compensation litigation," Chen Hao, a lawyer of Shaanxi Dezun Law Firm, told the Global Times on Monday. "The situation of each family is different, and gender is not the only standard in judging such cases. Everyone has his/her own balance concerning work and family duty, which is a personal choice," Chen 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. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly is under renewed fire after he was forced to clarify comments he made suggesting talks between the minister for education and teaching unions on schools reopening had not concluded On RTE TV on Monday night, Mr Donnelly said an issue had arisen that evening which meant Norma Foley was still negotiating with unions ahead of the Government's announcement later today. His clarification is the latest in a series of botched communications incidences by Government in the past week. On social media after his appearance on the Claire Byrne Live show , Mr Donnelly said: "Clarification re return of schools and meetings with the teaching unions concluded early this afternoon. Government intends making an announcement after Cabinet in line with plans as already outlined." Ms Foleys spokesman issued a statement which said: Talks concluded with the unions early Monday afternoon. The department will be making an announcement after Cabinet that is in line with the Government's Living With Covid Plan. Earlier on TV, Mr Donnelly said Ms Foley is still in negotiations with the teachers union and the matter is not yet agreed. He said that comments from another government minister, Josepha Madigan, at teatime to the effect the deal was done were made in good faith, but a late issue arose and has meant talks are still ongoing. As of just two hours ago, Minister Foley is still in negotiations with the unions on this, and Cabinet hopes to be in a position to announce something tomorrow [Tuesday], Mr Donnelly said. I have kids in some of those classes so I very much hope so myself. "But all I can say is I wanted to double-check before I came on the show what I could say, what was going to be agreed by Cabinet, and what I was told was that the talks are still ongoing, and certainly what minister Foley wants to be able to announce, what Cabinet want to be able to announce is the reopening, Mr Donnelly said. A spokesman for Mr Donnelly told the Irish Examiner: "The Minister mis-spoke he was advised before going on air that union officials were going back to their executives with the proposals and understood this to be that the process was not complete." Opposition reaction The opposition has hit out at the confusion caused by Mr Donnelly's comments at a time when people are already under severe strain. Sinn Fein's David Cullinane said there was "a lot of anger" about the government's communications. "There's a lot of frustration out there at the moment, particularly from people very upset at the government's handling of this, the mixed messages, leaks on issues and no sense of leadership or a coherent plan, in the context of people making very big sacrifices," he said. "They're losing the confidence of the people. We need better leadership from government. "Minister Donnelly's comments last night did not inspire confidence, but sowed confusion. "Ministers need to get their act together." Labour leader Alan Kelly said that his party would table a motion of no-confidence in Minister Donnelly if the State was not in a public health crisis. "The public feel disrespected by the Government," he said. "Given the performance of Stephen Donnelly last night the simple fact of the matter is, last night to a whole nation, to misunderstand, not just misspeak what clearly had happened, hours earlier, for me is beyond comprehension. "Do not speak unless you know what you're talking about. The minister last night did not know what he was talking about. So now I'm saying directly to Taosieach and Tanaiste there is a serious issue with communications with Minister Stephen Donnelly and a serious issue of confidence in the minister in charge of the health service, vaccines and quarantine." China was Germany's most important trading partner in 2020 for the fifth consecutive year, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Monday. Despite the coronavirus crisis, foreign trade turnover with China increased by 3.0 percent compared to 2019, with goods worth 212.1 billion euros (256.7 billion U.S. dollars) traded between China and Germany last year, according to the provisional figures of Destatis. Germany's second and third most important trading partners were the Netherlands and the United States, with foreign trade at 172.8 billion euros and 171.6 billion euros, respectively, according to Destatis. Compared to 2019, however, Germany's foreign trade with both countries declined by 8.7 percent and 9.7 percent, respectively. "The importance of China for German imports is growing steadily," Destatis stressed. Since 2015, China has been Germany's biggest import partner. Last year, goods worth 116.3 billion euros were imported from China to Germany, an increase of 5.6 percent compared to 2019. Similar to overall foreign trade, imports from the Netherlands fell 9.6 percent compared to 2019, while imports from the United States were down 5.0 percent year-on-year. "The coronavirus crisis led to declines here," Destatis noted. The United States remained Germany's biggest export market, unchanged since 2015, although exports declined by 12.5 percent compared with 2019 to reach 103.8 billion euros, according to Destatis. China ranked second among Germany's most important export markets. Last year, German exports to China were almost unaffected, decreasing by 0.1 percent year-on-year to 95.9 billion euros. (1 euro = 1.21 U.S. dollars) Panasonic AI-driven cameras empower an expanding vision of new uses Imagine a world where video cameras are not just watching and reporting for security, but have an even wider positive impact on our lives. Imagine that cameras control street and building lights, as people come and go, that traffic jams are predicted and vehicles are automatically rerouted, and more tills are opened, just before a queue starts to form. Cameras with AI capabilities Cameras in stores can show us how we might look in the latest outfit as we browse. Thats the vision from Panasonic about current and future uses for their cameras that provide artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities at the edge. Panasonic feels that these types of intelligent camera applications are also the basis for automation and introduction of Industry 4.0, in which processes are automated, monitored and controlled by AI-driven systems. 4K network security cameras The companys i-PRO AI-capable camera line can install and run up to three AI-driven video analytic applications Panasonics 4K network security cameras have built-in AI capabilities suitable for this next generation of intelligent applications in business and society. The companys i-PRO AI-capable camera line can install and run up to three AI-driven video analytic applications. The AI engine is directly embedded into the camera, thus reducing costs and Panasonics image quality ensures the accuracy of the analytics outcome. FacePRO facial recognition technology Panasonic began advancing AI technology on the server side with FacePRO, the in-house facial recognition application, which uses AI deep learning capabilities. Moving ahead, they transitioned their knowledge of AI from the server side to the edge, introducing i-PRO security cameras with built-in AI capabilities last summer, alongside their own in-house analytics. Moreover, in line with the Panasonic approach to focus more on collaboration with specialist AI software developers, a partnership with Italian software company, A.I. Tech followed in September, with a range of intelligent applications, partially based on deep learning. Additional collaborations are already in place with more than 10 other developers, across the European Union, working on more future applications. i-PRO AI-capable security cameras Open systems are an important part of Panasonics current approach. The companys i-PRO AI-capable cameras are an open platform and designed for third-party application development, therefore, applications can be built or tailored to the needs of an individual customer. Panasonic use to be a company that developed everything in-house, including all the analytics and applications. However, now we have turned around our strategy by making our i-PRO security cameras open to integrate applications and analytics from third-party companies, says Gerard Figols, Head of Security Solutions at Panasonic Business Europe. Flexible and adapting to specific customer needs This new approach allows the company to be more flexible and adaptable to customers needs. At the same time, we can be quicker and much more tailored to the market trend, said Gerard Figols. He adds, For example, in the retail space, enabling retailers to enhance the customer experience, in smart cities for traffic monitoring and smart parking, and by event organisers and transport hubs to monitor and ensure safety. Edge-based analytics offer multiple benefits over server-based systems Edge-based analytics Edge-based analytics offer multiple benefits over server-based systems. On one hand, there are monetary benefits - a cost reduction results from the decreased amount of more powerful hardware required on the server side to process the data, on top of reduction in the infrastructure costs, as not all the full video stream needs to be sent for analysis, we can work solely with the metadata. On the other hand, there are also advantages of flexibility, as well as reliability. Each camera can have its own individual analytic setup and in case of any issue on the communication or server side, the camera can keep running the analysis at the edge, thereby making sure the CCTV system is still fully operational. Most importantly, systems can keep the same high level of accuracy. Explosion of AI camera applications We can compare the explosion of AI camera applications to the way we experienced it for smartphone applications" We can compare the explosion of AI camera applications to the way we experienced it for smartphone applications, said Gerard Figols, adding However, it doesnt mean the hardware is not important anymore, as I believe its more important than ever. Working with poor picture quality or if the hardware is not reliable, and works 24/7, software cannot run or deliver the outcome it has been designed for. As hardware specialists, Figols believes that Panasonic seeks to focus on what they do best - Building long-lasting, open network cameras, which are capable of capturing the highest quality images that are required for the latest AI applications, while software developers can concentrate on bringing specialist applications to the market. Same as for smartphones, AI applications will proliferate based on market demand and succeed or fail, based on the value that they deliver. Facial recognition, privacy protection and cross line technologies Panasonic has been in the forefront in developing essential AI applications for CCTV, such as facial recognition, privacy protection and cross line. However, with the market developing so rapidly and the potential applications of AI-driven camera systems being so varied and widespread, Panasonic quickly realised that the future of their network cameras was going to be in open systems, which allow specialist developers and their customers to use their sector expertise to develop their own applications for specific vertical market applications, while using i-PRO hardware. Metadata for detection and recognition Regarding privacy, consider that the use of AI in cameras is about generating metadata for the detection and recognition of patterns, rather than identifying individual identities. However, there are legitimate privacy concerns, but I firmly believe that attitudes will change quickly when people see the incredible benefits that this technology can deliver, said Gerard Figols, adding I hope that we will be able to redefine our view of cameras and AI, not just as insurance, but as life advancing and enhancing. i-PRO AI Privacy Guard One of the AI applications that Panasonic developed was i-PRO AI Privacy Guard Seeking to understand and appreciate privacy concerns, one of the AI applications that Panasonic developed was i-PRO AI Privacy Guard that generates data without capturing individual identities, following European privacy regulations that are among the strictest in the world. Gerard Fogils said, The combination of artificial intelligence and the latest generation open camera technology will change the worlds perceptions from Big Brother to Big Benefits. New applications will emerge as the existing generation of cameras is updated to the new open and intelligent next generation devices, and the existing role of the security camera will also continue. Future scope of AI and cameras He adds, Not just relying on the security cameras for evidence when things have gone wrong, end users will increasingly be able to use AI and the cameras with much higher accuracy to prevent false alarms and in a proactive way to prevent incidents." Gerard Figols concludes, That could be monitoring and alerting when health and safety guidelines are being breached or spotting and flagging patterns of suspicious behaviour before incidents occur. New Delhi/Prayagraj, Feb 23 : A day after Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited Prayagraj to meet fishermen whose boats were allegedly damaged by the police, she on Tuesday announced that the party will take out a "Nadi Adhikar Yatra" in support of the community's cause. She also announced a sum of Rs 10 lakh to the affected fishermen whose boats were damaged. In a series of tweets in Hindi, she said that the rights of river resources are of the fishermen community and the Congress will be taking out a Yatra to fight for the rights. She demanded that the government investigate the illegal sand mining and the mining being done by big companies. She also has sought a white paper from the government detailing the river where mining was being done. Earlier on Sunday, the Congress General Secretary visited Prayagraj to support the boatmen who were allegedly harassed by the local police. She was informed by a boatman named Sujit Nishad about the issues that the boatmen belonging to the Nishad community were facing, including brutality against them, by police whom he alleged had destroyed their boats. Nishad is one of the largest communities of OBCs after Yadavs, Maurya and Kurmi in Uttar Pradesh and have been with Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party. The BJP and the Congress, both are eyeing to make inroads and galvanize support from the community said sources. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Facebooks cooperation is a major victory in Australias efforts to make two major gateways to the internet, Google and Facebook, pay for the journalism that they use a faceoff that governments and tech companies the world over have watched closely. Google also had threatened to remove its search functions from Australia because of the proposed law, but that threat has faded. Representatives of the UAEs company DT World, which belongs to one the world's largest port operators DP World and specializes in trade facilitation solutions and services using the latest technologies, offer Ukraine cooperation in reforming, modernizing Ukrainian customs, simplifying, accelerating and improving its work. This was discussed at a meeting between Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko, Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov, Minister of Finance Serhiy Marchenko, Head of the State Customs Service Pavlo Ryabikin, Adviser to the Head of the Office of the President Tymofiy Mylovanov and Chief Operating Officer at DT World Mahmood Al Bastaki held at the Office of the Head of State, the press service of the Head of State informs. The COO of DT World noted that his company has experience working with customs services in more than 100 countries and offers solutions that help reform and modernize customs, improve the protection of state borders against illegal movement of goods through an automatic risk assessment system for all transactions, increase revenue, speed up the customs clearance process for traders. "The implementation of the approaches and solutions we propose will result in an increased trade volume and national GDP growth. Ukraine can significantly improve its logistics performance index (LPI) of the World Bank, which is a reference point for investors," Mahmood Al Bastaki said. According to him, the company is ready to offer Ukraine its best practices and help implement new approaches that will not require capital investment from the state. "This is part of our cooperation at the level of governments, at the level of the ruler of our country and the President of Ukraine," he said. In turn, Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov noted that the key problem of Ukraine is not IT technologies, where the country has a huge potential, but process reengineering. He asked if DT World could help with this in the framework of potential cooperation. The Chief Operating Officer of DT World suggested organizing a team that will study the Ukrainian system, processes, conduct a comprehensive inspection, and then the Emirati company will offer the Ukrainian party a roadmap of future work. "Indeed, the issues of legislation, process reengineering and the creation of an appropriate electronic system are very important, because it will not work without an assessment of the risk mechanism," he said. Deputy Head of the Office of the President Yulia Svyrydenko suggested focusing on roadmap development to submit it to the leadership. As reported, President Volodymyr Zelensky made a state visit to the United Arab Emirates on February 14-15. ol A 20-year-old engineering student from Bhiwani, Haryana has developed a software based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) which would prevent a driver from starting the car if he's in an inebriated state or has not put on a seat belt. The Road Pulse software created by Mohit Yadav, a second-year student of B.Tech at Chandigarh University also has a mechanism to assist the driver in detecting objects around the car during fog which reduces visibility. "As soon as the driver touches the steering wheel after consuming excessive alcohol, moisture on his hands will alert the sensors installed therein and he/she won't be able to start the car," Yadav told The Tribune.He added, "Besides, the driver's breath will trigger the sensors if he/she has consumed excessive alcohol," The software will also automatically turn on indicators when the driver is about to switch lanes. This happens with the pre-installed Google maps in the software, It will also not allow the car engine to start if the driver does not have a seat belt on. Yadav says that the software will prevent accidents caused due to reckless driving. Highlighting that fog is another major reason behind road accidents, he said there is an inbuilt ultrasonic radar system in the software which lets the driver know if there is anything blocking their way within a radius of 50 metres. Yadav is already an owner of six start-ups and has got 24 patents, including one for the above mentioned software. He is also the founder of Sky Messenger, a web-based communication platform like WhatsApp. Also read: World's most expensive biryani with edible 23-karat gold in Dubai; check price, all details Also read: Families of govt employees who succumbed to COVID-19 to get Rs 50 lakh ex-gratia in UP Four attorneys from global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP will present Thursday, Feb. 25, at two virtual seminars hosted by Minnesota CLE. Tucker A. Chambers and Draeke H. Weseman, associates in the firms Minneapolis office, will speak during the first seminar, "Introduction to Trademark Law: How to Create, Register and Enforce Trademark Rights," taking place from 9:00 a.m. 12:35 p.m. CST. Chambers will moderate the session, "In-House Counsel Perspectives on Trademark Assets. It will feature a panel of distinguished in-house counsel as they discuss their role in managing and protecting their companys valuable trademark assets, including trademark clearance, prosecution, and enforcement. Weseman will present the Trademark Law 101 session. It will explore how trademark rights arise, trademark ownership and transfer, differences between U.S. and foreign/international rights, and best practices for building and maintaining a trademark portfolio. Shareholders Stephen R. Baird and Joel Feldman will present during the second seminar, Advanced Trademark Law: New Developments, M & A Due Diligence and Overcoming USPTO Refusals, at 1:15 p.m. 4:50 p.m. CST. Baird will present the session, "Is it a Mark or Not? Overcoming Refusals Based on Incapability and Failure to Function as a Mark," discussing how to proceed if the Trademark Office decides that what a client is attempting to register isnt a mark at all. His session will explain how these substantive refusals manifest themselves and will provide valuable tips for overcoming these refusals. Feldman will co-present, with Marshall Brenner of CrossFit LLC and Ashley Zito of InterContinental Hotels Group, the session, "Trademark Due Diligence in Mergers and Acquisitions," which will highlight the due diligence required when selling or acquiring a company with a trademark portfolio. The session will discuss how to prepare for trademark due diligence, how to favorably present trademark information for due diligence, and how to organize, prioritize, and evaluate voluminous trademark information during due diligence. Baird, a shareholder in the firms Minneapolis office, provides strategic guidance on trademark usage and clearance, branding strategies, domestic and worldwide portfolio management, litigation and enforcement, internet domain name and trademark disputes, licensing, and prosecution. He protects companies most important brands and other intellectual property assets by designing efficient, creative, and tailored legal strategies to advance their most important business objectives. A prolific blogger and recognized thought leader, for two years in a row Baird has been named the No. 1 author on trademark matters according to JD Supras Readers Choice Awards. Feldman, vice chair of the firms Trademark & Brand Management Group, counsels companies, organizations, and individuals on the protection of their intellectual property rights. He focuses his practice on establishing effective domestic and international brand management best practices, and resolving intellectual property controversies between his clients and third parties, including trademark, copyright, domain-name and right-of-publicity disputes. Chambers handles trademark clearance and prosecution, trademark enforcement, takedowns of counterfeits on online marketplaces, IP litigation, and domain name disputes. He has deep experience with proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) and trademark litigation in federal court. His passion for this area of law allows him to think creatively to design innovative strategies for pursuing clients legal goals. Weseman counsels clients on the strategic development, maintenance, and enforcement of trademark rights. He works with brands to pursue their legal and business objectives by applying his experience and deep knowledge of trademark law to solve complex trademark problems and capture valuable trademark opportunities. His collaborative approach to trademark matters is driven by thoughtful business-oriented questions, and he delivers actionable advice in plain language. About Greenberg Traurigs Trademark and Brand Management Group: Greenberg Traurigs Global Trademark and Brand Management Group works hand in hand with clients to build, protect and enhance their brands and trademark portfolios to meet their business objectives. The group is one of the largest international trademark prosecution, portfolio management, licensing, litigation and counseling legal practices. With more than 200 intellectual property attorneys and agents in the United States, Asia, and Europe, Greenberg Traurig provides a broad range of patent, trademark and copyright protection and strategic counseling. Greenberg Traurig was named Law Firm of the Year for Trademark by U.S. News and Best Lawyers, 2020 Best Law Firms." About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT) has approximately 2200 attorneys in 40 locations in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. GT has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, diversity, and innovation, and is consistently among the largest firms in the U.S. on the Law360 400 and among the Top 20 on the Am Law Global 100. The firm is net carbon neutral with respect to its office energy usage and Mansfield Rule 3.0 Certified. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com (Newser) A Scottish earl and distant cousin of Queen Elizabeth II is headed to jail following a sex assault at his ancestral castle. The Earl of Strathmore, 34-year-old Simon Bowes-Lyon, in January pleaded guilty to the February 2020 attack at Scotland's Glamis Castlethe childhood home of the Queen's late mother, where the Queen's sister, Princess Margaret, was born, per Page Six. A 26-year-old woman had been staying at the castle for a three-day public relations event when a drunk Bowes-Lyon forced himself into her room, pushed her down on the bed, and tried to pull off her nightgown, according to testimony heard in Dundee Sheriff Court, per the BBC. The outlet reports the attack lasted 20 minutes despite "repeated verbal and physical protestations" on the part of the victim. story continues below "Once she'd finally managed to eject you from her bedroom, you returned to the door and pleaded with her to let you back in," Sheriff Alastair Carmichael said Tuesday, handing down a 10-month sentence, per the Guardian. He noted the woman had locked the door and wedged a chair under the handle. He said she still suffered nightmares. Bowes-Lyona great-great nephew of the Queen Mother, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, making him the Queen's first cousin twice removedapologized following his guilty verdict last month. "I did not think I was capable of behaving the way I did but have had to face up to it and take responsibility," he said, adding he was "receiving professional help." In addition to 10 months in jail, Bowes-Lyon will be listed as a sex offender for 10 years. (Read more Royal Family stories.) English French MONTREAL, Feb. 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bombardier (TSX: BBD.B) announced today that it recently suffered a limited cybersecurity breach. An initial investigation revealed that an unauthorized party accessed and extracted data by exploiting a vulnerability affecting a third-party file-transfer application, which was running on purpose-built servers isolated from the main Bombardier IT network. In accordance with established cybersecurity procedures and policies, Bombardier promptly initiated its response protocol upon detection of the data security incident. As part of its investigation, Bombardier sought the services of cybersecurity and forensic professionals who provided external confirmation that the companys security controls were effective in limiting the scope and extent of the incident. Bombardier also notified appropriate authorities, including law enforcement, where required and will continue to work with the authorities as the investigation continues. Forensic analysis revealed that personal and other confidential information relating to employees, customers and suppliers was compromised. Approximately 130 employees located in Costa Rica were impacted. Bombardier has been proactively contacting customers and other external stakeholders whose data was potentially compromised. The ongoing investigation indicates that the unauthorized access was limited solely to data stored on the specific servers. Manufacturing and customer support operations have not been impacted or interrupted. Bombardier can also confirm the company was not specifically targetedthe vulnerability impacted multiple organizations using the application. Bombardier will continue to assess the situation and stay in close contact with its clients, suppliers and employees, as well as other stakeholders. With the ever-increasing number and sophistication of cybersecurity attacks on corporate groups, Bombardier remains committed to maintaining the integrity of its IT infrastructure and safeguarding employee, client and supplier information. About Bombardier Bombardier is a global leader in aviation, creating innovative and game-changing planes. Our products and services provide world-class experiences that set new standards in passenger comfort, energy efficiency, reliability and safety. Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Bombardier is present in more than 12 countries including its production/engineering sites and its customer support network. The Corporation supports a worldwide fleet of approximately 4,900 aircraft in service with a wide variety of multinational corporations, charter and fractional ownership providers, governments and private individuals. News and information is available at bombardier.com or follow us on Twitter @Bombardier. Notes to Editors To receive our press releases, please visit the RSS Feed section. Bombardier is a registered trademark of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries. For Information Mark Masluch Bombardier + 1 514-855-7167 mark.masluch@aero.bombardier.com Coronavirus - Uganda: WHO supports Uganda to Mitigate the Risks of COVID-19 Transmission during the election period Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 09:49:02|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TRIPOLI, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Monday said that 1,315 illegal migrants, including women and children, have been rescued off Libyan coast over the past week. "In the period of 16-22 February, 1,315 migrants were rescued/intercepted at sea and returned to Libya," the IOM said. So far in 2021, a total of 3,589 illegal migrants have been rescued off Libyan coast, including 267 women and 187 children, the IOM said. The IOM also revealed that 20 illegal migrants died and 92 others went missing on the Central Mediterranean route so far this year. Due to the state of insecurity and chaos in the North African nation following the overthrow of its leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, thousands of illegal migrants, mostly Africans, chose to cross the Mediterranean from Libya towards Europe. The IOM estimates that in 2020, 323 migrants died and 417 others went missing on the Central Mediterranean route, while 11,891 illegal migrants were rescued and returned to Libya. Many illegal migrants who were either rescued at sea or arrested by the authorities end up detained inside overcrowded reception centers in Libya, despite repeated international calls to close those centers. Enditem A on Tuesday granted bail to climate activist Disha Ravi, arrested in connection with allegedly being involved in sharing a "toolkit" on social media related to the farmers' protest, terming evidence produced by police as scanty and sketchy. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana granted relief to Ravi on a personal bond of Rs one lakh and two sureties of like amount. ALSO READ: Toolkit case: Climate activist Disha Ravi released from Tihar jail "Considering the scanty and sketchy investigation, i do not find any palpable reason to breach the rule of bail for a 22-year-old girl who has absolutely no criminal antecedents," said Additional sessions judge Dharmender Rana. Ravi was arrested by a Cyber Cell team of the Delhi Police from Bengaluru and brought to Delhi. She was currently in police custody. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Houston is on the road to recovery after winter snowstorm Uri. There were many different relief efforts in the city from celebrities and public figures alike. GIVING BACK: John Wall donated meals to Houstonians affected by snow storm One fundraising effort was spearheaded by New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Over the course of just a few days, she was able to raise over $4 million, which was distributed among local organizations. You already have so many families in the state and across the country on the brink that they cant afford an emergency to begin with, Ocasio-Cortez told the Houston Chronicle. This can set people back for years, not just days. Winter storm Uri wreaked havoc on the state of Texas, causing fatal tragedies for the young and the old and leaving millions without power for multiple days. Some are still waiting on safe drinking water. On the steps of the Houston Food Bank Saturday morning, Ocasio-Cortez made a statement. "Disasters don't strike everyone equally," Ocasio-Cortez said. "We need to make sure that we make short and long-term policy decisions so that this devastation, preventable devastation, never happens again." Elizabeth Conley/Staff photographer DEATH TOLL: Conroe family files $100 million lawsuit after son's death during winter storm To help with the fundraising effort, the New York congresswoman was joined by Texas representatives Sheila Jackson Lee and Sylvia Garcia, who helped to fill boxes with food at the Houston Food Bank. Ocasio-Cortez relief effort began on social media last Thursday. According to Matthew S. Schwartz at NPR, within two hours the fund received $325,000 in donations. By Saturday, donations surpassed $4 million and surpassed $5 million by Monday. The donations received from Ocasio-Cortez's relief effort will be distributed to multiple relief organizations in Texas, including food assistance, homelessness relief, and eldercare. Vietnam is calling for capital to facilitate its infrastructure projects that will serve as the backbone of its development. Is the legal framework sufficient to accommodate investors needs? Seth Tan, executive director of Infrastructure Asia In general, when countries move to the next stage of development, there can be instances that existing laws and regulations are updated in time. However, the government has done a good job in ensuring that the laws are up to speed. One of the remarkable efforts was the passing of the Law on Public Private Partnership Investment by the National Assembly last year. This is expected to open a widen corridor for foreign investors to enter. What sentiments have you been seeing among foreign investors about the Vietnamese market? We have seen an increasing interest from foreign investors, even during this time when COVID-19 is drastically affecting the economy in Vietnam and globally. We see many Singapore-based companies continue to invest in Vietnam. According to statistics from the Vietnam Ministry of Planning and Investment, despite the strong impact of COVID-19, Singapore remained the top country in terms of foreign investment in Vietnam in 2020 with more than $9 billion. I think Vietnam has done very well in terms of attracting investment in all sectors, particularly in manufacturing and processing, as well as renewables, waste management, and water treatment. There are many major organisations from Singapore that have been investing in Vietnam for a long time. These include Sembcorp, which has been in Vietnam for more than 20 years, as well as developers such as CapitaLand, Keppel Land, and Frasers. In November 2020, Vinh Phuc ICD Logistics Centre (SuperPort), the largest logistics project in the country, was launched in Vinh Phuc province. T&T Group of Vietnam and YCH Group will be investing about $170 million to build SuperPort. The centre will serve as a transit point for domestic goods, exports, imports, and others transported on the Hanoi-Lao Cai economic corridor and from China via the Lao Cai border gate. It will also act as an inland container depot and provide customs clearance services for exports and imports. How do you evaluate the appeal of infrastructure projects in Vietnam to international private investors? Given the high growth potential of Vietnam in the coming years and consequently the need for infrastructure, the international private sector remains quite keen to invest in quality opportunities. Infrastructure Asia is a regional infrastructure project facilitation office under the Singapore government. We aim to harness the network and collective capabilities of public sector agencies and private sector firms, and partner with stakeholders across the region to meet Asias large infrastructure needs. We function as a bridge, helping to connect government organisations in Southeast Asia (including Vietnam) and South Asia with the most suitable partners from our network to catalyse projects. Such partners include Singapore-based infrastructure players as well as multilateral and third-country partners like the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the US International Development Finance Corporation, and the Danish International Development Agency. How does Infrastructure Asia help with funding-related challenges? Most governments budgets are unable to finance 100 per cent of the investment needed for infrastructure development. Therefore, it is imperative to tap into funds from the private sector. At Infrastructure Asia, we bring the ideas and various solutions to improve the attractiveness of infrastructure projects to the international private sector and facilitate the best solutions for them to get involved. We also involve the private sector early on in the discussions. This is important as studies from Global Infrastructure Hub (a G20 office) show it can improve the investability of opportunities. What is Infrastructure Asias plan for the Vietnamese market in the time to come? We continue to stand ready to support Vietnam. In particular, we think that logistics and environmental solutions, such as water and waste management, will be in demand as the country develops. They will also present opportunities for private sector capital. We will also work with third-country partners to explore finance investment in Vietnam, and provide options and possibilities for sustainable infrastructure (including climate-resilient infrastructure) to Vietnam. Following reports that International Dancehall Queen winner Keisha Kiki Rodney was seen walking the streets of Montego Bay naked, her sister, Tanya Rodney, has cleared up misconceptions about Kikis current situation. Speaking to the Jamaica Star, Rodney first set the record straight that her sister is not on drugs but actually suffers from mental illness. Kiki won the International Dancehall Queen title at just 20-years-old back in 2015. The competition was held at the Pier One Complex in Montego Bay and she beat out 36 other competitors from all over the world to gain the title. At that time she said she felt blessed to be crowned. Tanya told the STAR that she and her family were relieved that Kiki had been admitted to the hospital where she is getting the care that is needed for her situation. She added that she was very disappointed that no one tried to help her sister but instead made videos and shared them on social media without bothering to learn the entirety of the situation. She also said that Kiki went missing and that her family launched a massive effort to try and find her. Kiki has been sick. She has mental health problems. She went missing two weeks ago. We had sent out to persons all around and they were on alert looking for her. But I was still shocked when somebody sent me the video of her naked and it hurt mi heart to know that instead of tek piece of clothes and throw pon her, dem a video her in the nude and put her all over social media. Come on man, at least cover her up and then do your video, she said. She received the video herself and thats how she was able to track down Kiki. She then enlisted the help of a family friend. It was in the evening and he drove all around and people were telling him that them see her at various places, but he didnt find her. The following morning, he started the search again and somebody told him that she was at a guest house sleeping, she added. When the friend eventually found her, he called the police, she continued. So he didnt alert her, he called the police and they in turn called the health people and they took her to the hospital, she said. Kikis mental health issues began in 2018 but her sister admitted that many people did not know about her situation. The former dancehall Queen who is now 26-years-old has gone missing before but never for such a prolonged period of time. Only people who close to her would know, but I guess everybody knows now. She has gone missing before, but for like a couple hours, or one day at the most. She was on track and then in January, we noticed a change, but we were asking if she needed help, she said. She added that some of her woes were due to her own stubbornness as well. I guess you could say that shes a bit stubborn. I am glad that she is somewhere where she is getting help. At the hospital, she is being evaluated and will be assessed by psychiatrists before she is discharged, she added. California Governor Gavin Newsom and California lawmakers have approved a $7.6 billion stimulus package for state residents and undocumented people as Americans still wait for the $1,400 check from the federal government. The relief package is offering much-needed aid for businesses, individuals, and students. It will also be coming to Californians in different ways, according to a We are Mitu report. The relief package will be increasing small business aid, waive license renewal fees for businesses affected by the pandemic. It will also be allocating additional resources for critical child care services and funds emergency financial aid for community college students. Newsom said in a statement that he is grateful for the legislature's partnership to provide urgent relief and support for California families and small businesses. "From child care, relief for small business owners, direct cash support to individuals, financial aid for community college students and more, these actions are critical for millions of Californians who embody the resilience of the California spirit," Newsom said in the statement. Low-income California residents will be eligible for a one-time $600 stimulus check from the state government, while undocumented residents will be given a $600 boost. Related story: Next COVID-19 Relief Package: Immigrants Must Be Included Undocumented Residents in California Undocumented Californians do not qualify for the federal stimulus payments and unemployment benefits despite many of them working in industries ravaged both by pandemic closures and the COVID-19 itself. They are also mostly unqualified for other safety-net benefits, such as food stamps. The Golden State relief program has planned to provide $500 to undocumented residents last spring. However, there was only enough money for about 150,000 people, according to an ABC report. California Budget & Policy Center said the $600 payments could reach the families of around 250,000 undocumented workers, and they could qualify if they file taxes with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. Lawmakers and advocates argued in legislative hearings that the state of California should do more for those families. California Budget & Policy Center noted that undocumented residents in California pay $3 billion a year in local and paying taxes. Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins said the stimulus package proposal provides the immediate emergency relief that families and small businesses need right now. Atkins added that people are hungry and hurting and many businesses in the community are at risk of closing their doors. He noted that the state of California is at a critical moment. Assemblyman Phil Ting said on Monday during the floor debate before the legislature that this is such an important bill because it gives millions of hardworking residents of the state the money they need during this time, according to a Los Angeles Times report. State Sen. Jim Nielsen said the budget would be creating long-term obligations to the undocumented residents in California. But Sen. Nancy Skinner noted that the stimulus check to immigrants is a one-time payment and not a continuing budget obligation. On the other hand, Sen. Maria Elena Durazo said the proposal for immigrants and low-income residents is much needed and significant. However, Durazo added that it would not go far enough. "I think there is room to include more who are still not covered either by our state or by the federal [programs]," Durazo said in the report. Reports said the CalWorks payments would be placed on EBT cards and issued to participants by mid-April once Newsom signed the bill, which he hoped to do on Tuesday. However, the sending of payments could still change based on the ability to automate the process. Read more: Small Business Leaders Clamor for a Standalone Relief Package Francesca Paris covers North Adams for The Berkshire Eagle. A California native and Williams College alumna, she has worked at NPR in Washington, D.C. and WBUR in Boston, as a news reporter, producer and editor. Find her on Twitter at @fparises. Appointment 23 February 2021 AC Hotel Fort Lauderdale Sawgrass Mills/Sunrise, the first hotel in Sunrise in 15 years and the first AC Hotel brand in Broward County, has appointed Christine Caraccia as director of sales and marketing. Christine Caraccia will oversee the launch of the eight-story, 174-room hotel when it opens in March 2021. The hotel is located just steps from the iconic Sawgrass Mills Mall shopping center, one of the largest outlet and value retail shopping destinations in the US. With more than 15 years of hospitality experience, Christine Caraccia is responsible for hotel sales revenue including guest rooms, meeting space and banquets; developing and implementing marketing programs; overseeing the sales team; and ensuring top-notch client service. A Los Angeles native, she moved to South Florida in 2015. Preceding her current role, Caraccia was the director of national accounts for Fontainebleau Miami Beach for nearly three years. Her past engagements include group account manager at W Fort Lauderdale, senior sales manager at Hyatt Regency Century Plaza and group sales manager at W South Beach. She also served as senior sales executive at Renaissance Hollywood Hotel & Spa in California, where she started her career. A graduate of California State University Northridge, she earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Management and a minor in Marketing and is fluent in Armenian. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis will pay a working visit to Ukraine on February 23-24, the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has reported. "On February 23-24, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis will pay a working visit to Ukraine at the invitation of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba," the report reads. This will be the first visit of Gabrielius Landsbergis to Ukraine after his appointment as head of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry. According to the report, the ministers will discuss further strengthening of the strategic partnership between Ukraine and Lithuania, supporting Ukraines efforts to restore sovereignty and territorial integrity, countering hybrid threats, and interaction within international organizations. In addition, Kuleba and Landsbergis are expected to focus on increasing bilateral trade and preparing a Ukraine Reform Conference. On Tuesday, February 23, at 17:15, the ministers plan to hold a joint press conference. As Ukrinform reported, on February 16, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic Ivan Korcok paid his first working visit to Ukraine. Photo credit: DELFI / Kiril Cachovskij ish [February 23, 2021] YCharts Expands Executive Leadership Team to Fuel Continued Rapid Growth YCharts, a cloud-based investment analytics and communications platform for RIAs, broker-dealers and asset managers today announced that Kevin Knull will be joining their executive leadership team as President and Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). Kevin brings 20+ years of financial services and wealthtech experience, having played key executive roles driving growth in industry leading RIAs, Asset Managers, and wealth management focused software companies. As President and CRO, Kevin will focus on driving the expansion of YCharts' industry vertical sales strategies and revenue generating operations, as YCharts continues its rapid growth in the RIA, asset management, and broker-dealer market segments. "I am excited to have Kevin join our all-star team as President and CRO. Kevin is a well known and highly regarded name in our space, and brings decades of proven experience in helping wealth advisors and asset managers understand and address their business challenges. My team and I are looking forward to working with Kevin on our quest to transform the way our industry makes investment decisions and communicates insights," said Sean Brown, CEO at YCharts. "The company is incrediblywell-positioned for significant growth, and I am thrilled for the opportunity to help catalyze its future success," said Kevin Knull, CFP. "I am honored to join the extraordinary YCharts team," he added. Knull previously held the position of President at PIEtech?, Inc., the creator of the industry's leading financial planning software, MoneyGuidePro. Prior, Kevin was a Managing Director at Symetra Investment Management, Inc., Head of Registered Investments for Symetra Financial, and President of Symetra Services, Inc., the firm's institutional broker dealer. Previous experience also includes co-founding consumer analytics platform, Truthify, serving as the CEO of his own registered investment advisory firm and as Vice President for The Hartford Leaders Group. In addition, he served as an officer in the United States Coast Guard. About YCharts YCharts is an investment research platform that enables smarter investments and better client communications. Built for wealth management professionals, YCharts offers comprehensive data, powerful visualization tools, and advanced analytics for equity, mutual fund and ETF research, portfolio construction, idea generation, and market monitoring. For more information, visit www.ycharts.com. Also visit YCharts on social media: LinkedIn Twitter YouTube View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005283/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Czech government said Monday it would sue neighbouring Poland over plans to expand its Turow coal mine close to the Czech border and demand that Poland stop mining there Prague, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Feb, 2021 ) :The Czech government said Monday it would sue neighbouring Poland over plans to expand its Turow coal mine close to the Czech border and demand that Poland stop mining there. The Czech foreign ministry alleges that the brown coal mine has a negative environmental impact on border regions, where residents complain about water loss, noise and dust. The mine is located in the southwestern corner of Poland near borders with both the Czech Republic and Germany, which has also complained about the mine and its expansion. Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek said his ministry would file the complaint to the EU Court of Justice at the turn of February and March, and that it expects a verdict within a year. "I have long tried to resolve the dispute without going to court," Petricek said in a statement. "We will also file a proposal for a preemptive measure and if the court complies, mining at Turow would have to stop until the verdict is passed," he added. In operation since 1904, the mine supplies coal mainly to a local power station. Poland's largest energy group PGE, which owns both the mine and the plant, is planning to extract coal at Turow until 2044. PGE wants to expand the mine from 25 to 30 square kilometres (10 to 11.6 square miles) and extract coal from a depth of up to 330 metres (1,000 feet). The Polish ministry of climate and environment extended Turow's mining licence by six years in March 2020, despite protests from the Czech Republic and Germany. The European Commission said last December that Poland had misjudged the environmental impact of the mine and misinformed its neighbours about its plans. But it added that Czech complaints about the mine's impact on drinking water supplies were unfounded. Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Cloudy skies with a few showers this afternoon. High 52F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 42F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. FLINT, MI -- Less than three days before students were scheduled to begin their return to the classroom at Flint Community Schools, Amanda Butler saw a news article stating plans had changed. As a parent, she was confused. Just two hours prior, Butler said she had received an email from the district outlining return to school procedures including temperature checks and safety measures. It didnt make any sense, so I was like, Wait, is this a joke? Is this for real? I dont understand whats going on, Butler said. Its Friday evening, and now suddenly were not going back to school on Monday. I mean, weve been preparing for the past month. School officials announced at about 4:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19, that the district would delay its plan for students to return to classrooms Monday, Feb. 22 through a hybrid in-person model. The board approved the plan at a Jan. 20 board meeting. The district stated in a letter from Superintendent Anita Steward, that the delay is due to concerns brought up regarding sneeze guards. Sneeze guards are an additional safety measure that, while not a requirement for in-person learning, is something our Board members, families and staff have expressed a strong desire to have in place, the letter states. Related: Flint schools postpone Feb. 22 in-person start date citing sneeze guard concerns The letter states the district will delay its return to in-person learning until issues regarding the sneeze guards have been resolved. No further information has been provided by the district on when the sneeze guard issue will be resolved. Butlers oldest daughter is in first grade at Durant-Tuuri-Mott Elementary. Her son is in preschool and attends the Great Start Readiness program. Her youngest daughter is two years old and receives services from Early On Genesee County. Related: Flint parents urged to use free Early On evaluation services for infants and toddlers Her first-grader was prepared to return Monday after shopping for clothes and supplies, Butler said. Their family had talked about rules to prevent the spread of COVID-19, she said. I told them, I know youre gonna wanna hug your friends and your teachers, but youre not going to be able to like I dont want you touching and hugging, she said. Weve talked about washing hands and using hand sanitizer. Weve been going over wearing masks and keeping masks on. My kids do great wearing their masks. They understand its important and its keeping them safe. So, yeah, weve just been preparing for weeks and getting ready to go back to school to find out the last minute that we arent. In the fall, Butler said she participated in surveys gauging parent interest in an in-person option for their students. But when the second wave of COVID-19 cases hit, she understood the need to delay plans to return to the classroom. It was the last-minute change Butler said she found beyond frustrating. My husband was out of work for a good portion last year, she said. So, ideally, it would be great if I could go to work full time, but I cant. I have to stay home because my kids are in school and at home. Its a whole other ballgame when you have to think about when they have to log on at certain times throughout the day. At a recent parent meeting with Durant-Tuuri-Mott Elementary, Butler said she was told only about half of the students enrolled in the school planned to return to in-person. This reassured Butler that proper spacing of students would be possible. She said she has been in touch with her childrens teachers and is grateful for all of their work. My kids teachers are working so hard. Im not upset with the teachers, Butler said. Im upset with the district and how theyre mismanaging a lot of things. So many things happen at the last minute. Its just becoming too much. Flint Community Schools Board of Education members and members of the public raised concerns about returning to school during the boards Wednesday, Feb. 17, meeting. However, the board did not vote to postpone the planned return. When the district resumes hybrid learning it will adhere to all of the health and safety guidelines outlined in its Safe Return and Recovery Plan, which was developed with the input of administrators, teachers, staff, community partners, board of education members, union representatives and parents, the district has stated. The United Teachers of Flint has not responded to requests for comment. On Jan. 8, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer strongly encouraged schools to offer an option for in-person instruction no later than March 1. Students at Flint schools have not been back in the classroom since March when the state issued a shutdown for all in-person classes. Read more on MLive: Flint school board votes to offer hybrid in-person class options by end of February Michigan governor calls for in-person learning to resume by March 1 Flint school board elects president and officers in contested vote, new board members sworn in Flint school board fills vacancy through appointment at special board meeting Flint schools will pay $207,000 to ousted superintendent, void disciplinary record Flint-area administrators reflect on school year amid coronavirus pandemic Millions of Australians have been warned to brace themselves for torrential rain and strong winds after thunderstorms drenched the east coast overnight. More than 100,000 lightning strikes lit up the sky between the Darling Downs and Brisbane overnight as parts of south-east Queensland received more than 30mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours. Heavy rain in Sydney on Wednesday morning has prompted the Bureau of Meteorology to issue a road weather alert for dangerous driving conditions in the city's eastern suburbs. Motorists on the M5 have been told to expect significant delays due to flooding - with one lane closed in both directions at Kyeemagh in the city's south. Traffic was queuing back for 5km to Bexley Road as of 8am as emergency crews work to re-open the road. Rose Bay has already copped 38mm of rainfall in the past day as a low pressure trough sweeps through the region. Thunderstorms in Brisbane overnight saw 100,000 lightning strikes ligt up the sky between the Darling Downs and Brisbane Traffic is queuing back for 5km in Kyeemagh in the city's south after the Cooks River Tunnel was hit by flooding Traffic was queuing back for 5km to Bexley Road as of 8am, with motorists urged to allow extra time for their travel The bureau has also issued a flood warning for the Bellinger and Kalang rivers on NSW's mid-north coast - as well as the Paroo River in the state's north-west. 'The road weather alert for Sydney will remain in place as long as heavy rainfall continues,' NSW BoM duty forecaster Helen Kirkup told Daily Mail Australia. 'At the Bellinger River at Thora we're likely to see minor flooding this morning due to the intense rainfall.' The river - which flows into Urunga south of Coffs Harbour - is expected to peak about 10am on Wednesday. South-east Queensland was on Wednesday afternoon issued with a severe thunderstorm warning for parts of Somerset, Scenic, Southern Downs & Toowoomba Council. A major flood warning is still in place for the Herbert River at Halifax north of Queensland. The river though is expected to fall below major flood levels on Wednesday morning Across the country, a broad trough and lows across the tropics are causing areas of rain and thunderstorms across the country, heaviest over the Northern Territory. Heavy rain has hit in Sydney on Wednesday morning - with Rose Bay in the city's east already receiving 38mm of rain as of 8am A flood warning for the Bellinger and Kalang rivers on NSW's mid-north coast has been put in place following intense rainfall A man rides his bike across Dudley Page Reserve in Dover Heights in Sydney's eastern suburbs on January 4 Another trough is generating showers and storms across parts of Northern Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and eastern Victoria. Sydney is forecast for a mostly cloudy day tomorrow with a max of 25C, before high chances of showers on Thursday and chance of a thunderstorm on Friday. Saturday is forecast to be a partly cloudy day with a medium chance of showers and light winds while Sunday is another partly cloudy day with a max of 27C. Every day we visited a different neighborhood. We built a playground in Uptown where neighborhood kids stared and laughed and eventually helped us. We spent time at Operation Breadbasket with Jesse Jackson and sat in on the Chicago City Council. An all-night tour that began at 4 p.m. and ended at 10 a.m. included the garbage dump, a homeless shelter, Cook County Hospital, and the Night Pastor on Rush Street. Stereotypes of city kids and their stereotypes of us fell away as the days went on. We became friends. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-24 01:34:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BUCHAREST, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Border police in western Romanian county of Arad said on Tuesday that 28 immigrants were caught in the past 24 hours while trying to illegally get out of Romania to Hungary. At a border crossing in Nadlac, the border police found 20 immigrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia, aged 15-23, in three trucks carrying sparkling mineral water, metal products, boilers and glasses to the Netherlands, Germany and France, Arad Border Police said a press statement. Further investigation revealed that all of the immigrants were asylum seekers in Romania, while the drivers of the three trucks were Romanian, Bulgarian and Ukrainian citizens, respectively. Meanwhile, a policeman found eight young citizens from Afghanistan and Pakistan trying to cross the border on foot early in the morning, at some 100 meters from the border line in Nadlac. The border between Romania and Hungary is also the eastern border of the Schengen area. Police data quoted by official Agerpres news agency showed that the number of immigrants captured at the borders to Schengen area reached 2,011 last year, 2.5 times more than in the previous year. Enditem On Thursday, Democratic Representative David Cicilline of Rhode Island reintroduced the Equality Act to the House of Representatives. The pro-LGBT legislation is set to be voted on this week and is co-sponsored by 223 Democrats. While passing the House is to be expected, the chances of the legislation becoming law under the Senate is not yet certain. But President Biden is already urging Congress to "swiftly pass this historic legislation," he said in a statement on Friday. President Biden, who fully supports the pro-LGBT legislation that could potentially endagner religious freedom and human rights, said that "full equality" has been denied to the LGBTQ+ community because of the "rampant discrimination" against them. Referring to the Equality Act, he said that it was a move to provide "long overdue federal civil rights protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity." However, if the pro-LGBT legislation becomes law of the land, it will have a detrimental impact on religious freedom and women's rights. For one, Christian Headlines reports that the bill will amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which confronts racial discrimination by adding "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to the list of protected classes for public spaces and employment. If and when Congress will "swiftly pass" the bill as per President Biden's request, it will have implications on even the most trivial matters, such as using a shared facility. The pro-LGBT legislation says that anyone cannot be denied access to shared facilities such as restrooms, locker rooms, and dressing rooms, "that is in accordance with the individual's gender identity." According to NBC News, the pro-LGBT legislation that is the Equality Act has been introduced by Rep. Cicilline every year since 2015, but was stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate. Democrats are more confident that the pro-LGBT legislation will pass with a majority. But the Equality Act does not come without backlash. The New York Post's Ryan Anderson criticized the pro-LGBT legislation, writing that while it may provide the LGBT community with certain protections, it does on the other hand "persecute those who don't embrace newfangled gender ideologies" and "sacrifice the hard-won rights of women, while privileging men who identify as women." If Congress is ready to "swiftly pass" the pro-LGBT legislation upon Biden's request, the nation will have to get ready to deal with a lot of major changes that would endanger people's rights and freedoms. Under the law, men who identify as women will have the right to compete in women's sports, enter exclusive schools for women, take up work that are intended for women, use women's public restrooms and facilities, and more. The pro-LGBT legislation, if passed by Congress, will also put in danger people's religious freedoms. Under the Equality act, religous institutions such as schools, adoption agencies, and other such organizations will "face federal sanction for upholding the teachings of mainstream biology and the Bible, modern genetics and Genesis, when it comes to sex and marriage," Anderson wrote. President Biden is convinced that the pro-LGBT legislation is needed, saying, "No one should ever face discrimination or live in fear because of who they are or whom they love." However, the Equality Act is undeniably a step back for women who have been fighting for their rights for years and a threat for religious organizations to comply with modern day sexual ideologies. Danbury schools Superintendent Sal Pascarella co-wrote a letter on behalf of a number of Connecticut school districts calling on Gov. Ned Lamont to supply their districts with more state aid after he put a hold on scheduled increases to the districts grant money. The letter states the superintendents opposition to Lamonts pause in state funding escalations in his proposed biennial budget, which would take more than $109 million away from Connecticuts 53 Alliance District and urban schools, they claim. The letter is co-authored by superintendents from Danbury, Meriden, Vernon and East Hartford and signed by numerous district leaders including those from Bridgeport, New Haven, Norwalk, Stamford, Middletown and Torrington, among others. As such, we urge you to reconsider this strategy and reinstate the original phase-in schedule for all Alliance Districts, the letter read. Alliance Districts are identified by the state as eligible for additional funds and are historically under-performing. This shift will allow us to fund our general budget obligations, help cushion distressed municipalities from large tax increases, and avoid utilizing one-time federal funding intended for COVID-related purposes to fund ongoing operations, it continued. The state conceived a grant formula to give Alliance District schools and others in some urban districts representing fiscally challenged communities state funding to address a persistent state achievement gap, according to the letter. These schools are typically awarded an increase in grant money annually to help provide vital services to students. However, Lamonts pause will discontinue the planned increases leaving these schools at a loss. Danbury was scheduled to see an increase of more than $2.5 million for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years. Lamonts spokesman Max Reiss said more $440 million in federal funding is available to school districts across Connecticut including the states Alliance and urban districts. Connecticut districts are also preparing to receive their slice of a federal COVID-19 relief grant, which they can use to supplement missing grant money for the next two years by infusing millions of federal relief dollars into their budgets for COVID-related expenses. These funds can and should be used for school leaders to provide the resources necessary to address the needs of the districts and focus on learning loss and recovery as well as continued safe reopening, Reiss said. The governors budget mitigates the need for broad-based tax increases, relying on federal aid and partial use of the states Budget Reserve Fund while the states economy and revenues continue to recover. While this aid helps relieve some pressure in the interim, superintendents said it will be burdensome to their long-term fiscal plans. By pausing the ECS increase formula [grant money increases] and supplanting this phase in approach with funds not intended for general budget activities, Connecticut adopts a financial strategy that will create large-scale disruptions for fiscal year 2024, the letter read. Using the federal aid from Congress will add to their current budgets, but leave a hole when that aid is no longer available in two years, forcing them to seek local and state help in filling their budgetary gaps. When districts mitigate the large financial shortfalls associated with using the one-time funding from Congress, local governments will have to navigate the following three ripple effects. Districts will either lean on already economically challenged municipalities to subsidize their funding, seek massive increases in state aid, or be pushed to reduce supportive programs for students in the aftermath of the states grant cuts, the letter said. While we recognize that there are no easy answers, we are eager to engage with you and your team on helping design a sustainable, long-term financial plan that can preserve our states commitment to equity, stimulate academic recovery and best utilize the federal dollars, the letter stated. Reiss said as the budget process continues, the administration will continue to engage with local stakeholders, those who work with students, and the General Assembly on a sustainable path forward. For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. Planned Parenthood abortions reached record level in 2019 as gov't funding rose: annual report Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Planned Parenthood performed the highest number of abortions in over a decade in 2019, received a record amount of government funding and saw net assets increase compared to the previous year, the organization's latest annual report shows. According to Planned Parenthoods 2019-2020 annual report released last week, the nations largest abortion provider performed 354,871 abortions, an increase from the 345,672 the nations largest abortion provider performed in 2018. The amount of government funding received by Planned Parenthood also increased from 2018 to 2019. The organization received $618.1 million in government health services reimbursements and grants in 2019, a slight increase from the $616.8 million awarded in 2018. Government funding accounted for about 38% of Planned Parenthoods revenue in 2019, making taxpayer dollars the largest source of income for the abortion provider. Private contributions and bequests were Planned Parenthoods second-largest source of income, accounting for 31% of the total. Planned Parenthoods total revenue for 2019 amounted to $1.64 billion, similar to its revenue in 2018. The pro-life activist group Live Action has kept track of the number of abortions Planned Parenthood has performed overall in the past 20 years. In 2019, the group found that abortions provided by Planned Parenthood constituted 41.15% of all abortions performed, the highest share since 2000. Based on the number of abortions provided by Planned Parenthood in 2019, one abortion occurred every 89 seconds that year. Live Action reports that the 2019 total of abortions conducted was a record for Planned Parenthood. Pro-life groups reacted to the annual report with disgust. Planned Parenthoods business is abortion, not health care, maintained Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the national pro-life grassroots organization Susan B. Anthony List. The SBA List reports that Planned Parenthood abortion numbers hit a 15-year high. With Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the White House, we can expect this alarming trend to continue as Democrats seek to force taxpayers to bankroll abortion businesses at home and abroad, roll back FDA safety precautions on dangerous abortion drugs, and convert every pharmacy and post office into an abortion center reversing decades of pro-life progress, Dannenfelser warned. The pro-life movement will work tirelessly to expose the Democrats extremism on abortion. We will never quit fighting to stop taxpayer funding of the abortion industry and provide the life-affirming alternatives women and families deserve. Chuck Donovan, president of the Susan B. Anthony Lists research organization, the Charlotte Lozier Institute, said that it is a tragedy that abortions continue to increase at Planned Parenthood even as they decline all across the country. Women are paying a heavy price for this very wealthy organization to achieve its quotas and goals, Donovan argued. Trends like this are exactly why Congress has limited family planning grants to exclude them from going to programs where abortion is a method of family planning. This is exactly the situation the American people have always strived to avoid. In addition to performing hundreds of thousands of abortions, Planned Parenthood also provided services for transgender patients in a total of 31 states. While hormone therapy is available to transgender individuals at 200 Planned Parenthood locations across the U.S., the exact number of these services provided was not listed in the report. The transgender services were lumped in with other procedures in the breakdown of affiliate medical services provided in the report. The other procedures, which totaled 17,791 in 2019, also included WIC services, other adult preventive care, and high complexity visits, including infertility services. The report also noted that Planned Parenthoods Abortion Service Locator, which enables those seeking an abortion to obtain personalized information about their options, any state requirements, and the nearest Planned Parenthood health centers that can provide them with a safe, legal abortion, received more than 767,000 visits since its launch in September 2019. Planned Parenthood only issued 2,667 adoption referrals in 2019 and provided nearly 600,000 cancer screenings and other prevention services. Michael New, an associate professor at the Catholic University of America, explained on Twitter that the report shows that breast exams at Planned Parenthood are down 63.9% over the last 10 years, while Pap tests are down 65.6%. He said that abortion services had risen 7.7% over the last decade, while prenatal services have fallen 72.3%. New pointed out in another tweet that adoption referrals decreased by over 37.6% in the latest report. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. The train that struck him left Aurora at 6:10 a.m. and was scheduled to arrive at Union Station in Chicago at 7:15 a.m. It was running express from Downers Grove and not scheduled to stop at the La Grange station, Metra 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. By Kim Bo-eun Apple has long been seeking to enter the car industry, but its culture of secrecy and its domineering presence over subcontractors appear to be holding it back from striking key partnerships to enable this to happen. These factors are seen as being behind halted talks with major carmakers for an autonomous electric vehicle (EV) Apple is apparently envisioning. Former employees have referred to Apple's obsession with secrecy as being almost cult-like. Hyundai Motor's affiliate Kia had been in talks with the iPhone designer, with various reports saying the entities were nearing a deal, but Hyundai also said earlier this month that it was not in discussions on developing Apple's so-called "i-Car." The talks are seen to have fallen apart due to Apple's apparent discomfort concerning alleged secrecy violations over the potential manufacturing deal. But recent remarks by Nissan's chief imply that there are more things holding back carmakers from forming a tie-up with the tech giant. Apple is known to have approached the Japanese carmaker, but the "brief" talks failed due to what Nissan referred to as "branding" issues. Nissan CEO Ashwanti Gupta implied the carmaker wants the upper hand in the development of any potential new vehicle. Apple is seen to have wanted to design, market and sell the future car while having the carmaker simply assemble it, something that Nissan apparently would not agree to do. Apple has immense brand power driven by global fandom for its sophisticated designs, and partnering firms have dared not ruffle its feathers given its power and industry status. Manufacturers have followed Apple's proposals despite tight margins, as entering the company's supply chain was considered a test for superior technology. This situation has enabled the tech company to make unilateral demands that subcontractors have been forced to agree to. "Apple is known for tight management of its branding. And unless contract manufacturers make fat profit margins, partnerships have not been beneficial for them in many cases," an industry source said. The company is known to have notified Samsung Display which supplies OLED panels for iPhones that it would delete the section in their contract that states it will compensate for unsold supplies if there is an oversupply situation. Samsung Display declined to comment. Another industry source said, "Apple is a tough business client, because it requires a lot from suppliers." As for telecom companies that have a sales channel for Apple's handsets, the Cupertino-based firm has been making SKT, KT and LG Uplus pay for expenses related to iPhone TV ads, although it does add the mobile carriers' logos at the end of each. "Apple is the only smartphone manufacturer that requires telecom firms to shoulder 100 percent of its advertising expenses. In other cases, the costs are shared between the manufacturer and telecom firm," an industry official said. Apple has also had the mobile carriers here bear the cost for repairing faulty handsets. This situation has led to an investigation by an antitrust watchdog, to which Apple pledged to create a 100 billion won fund partially subsidizing customers for repair fees and supporting research and development for small businesses. Mobile carriers say this does not do anything regarding the ad expenses, as the tech giant did not make any specific comments regarding these. "Apple has a superior position when it comes to these types of contracts, based on its selling power," the source said. But conditions for developing a future vehicle appear less favorable for Apple than for car manufacturers that already possess the capability to produce EVs. Given their standing, car manufacturers appear to have few concerns about Apple's planned vehicle. Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess was cited by media as saying that the automotive group was "not afraid of Apple," given the fact that the car business takes time to set up. Moreover, given any prospective deal between automakers and Apple will likely end up as them becoming mere subcontractors with the latter not sharing its technology or R&D results, there appears to be no compelling reason for car manufacturers to enter into any partnership. Hyundai Motor is set to focus on its own EVs. Hyundai's original E-GMP EV platform is a key strength it possesses, along with Hyundai-Kia's EV supply chain. Hyundai has a production capacity of 7 million vehicles a year. Apple established its presence in the global smartphone market because it set up an ecosystem that did not previously exist. The situation for future cars is different because existing carmakers hold the advantage in this aspect. Observers note that Apple will need to partner with an established carmaker to be able to launch its envisioned self-driving EV. This is because, while Apple may possess key technologies in software, it does not have the expertise nor the supply chains to manufacture cars. This latter area is where carmakers come in, but given the fact that some of the major manufacturers have been in business for over a century, it appears unlikely they will be willing to be relegated to being subcontractors simply assembling Apple vehicles. Smart cars are set to have the same impact as smartphones, based on forecasts of explosive growth in the market for EVs and self-driving vehicles. Apple, meanwhile, appears to be locked in a dilemma between the marketability of future vehicles and its wish to maintain its dominant status in any partnership. New Delhi: In an outrageous move, pro-Khalistan outfit 'Sikhs For Justice' (SFJ) has written to the chief ministers of West Bengal and Maharashtra seeking independence for the states. SFJ "counseled" All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) chief Mamata Banerjee and Shiv Sena's Uddhav Thackeray to "unilaterally declare the independence of the territories of West Bengal and Maharashtra from Union of India." It said that the move would "safeguard the prosperity, ethnicity, identity, language, and culture of the Bengali and Marathi peoples from the Indian hegemony which denies diversity and imposes ahistorical homogeny". "Just like Punjab, since 1947 natural resources of West Bengal and Maharashtra are being exploited while their ethnicity, language, culture, and identity of the indigenous people of West Bengal and Maharashtra is also under existential from the Government of India," said, SFJ General Counsel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The communique also made a bizarre claim saying that such a decision would be upheld by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). SFJ, which has been banned by India, had earlier attempted to intensify farmers' agitation against the Centre's farm laws. It had planned a Kisan rally in London to rake up the issue overseas. Earlier, the central government, as part of its crackdown on SFJ, banned a website of the group claiming to provide a platform for the Khalistan referendum four days after it was launched. Live TV Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the Main Battle Tank Arjun Mark1A to the nation, the on Tuesday is all set to clear the acquisition of these tanks worth over Rs 6,000 crore by the Army. The had recently cleared the induction of 118 Arjun Mark1A tanks into the "The will consider the proposal in the Defence Acquisition Council meeting to be held in presence of the Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and Army chief Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane," defence sources told ANI. The tank has been fully designed and developed by the DRDO in close coordination with the 118 tanks would be joining the fleet of the first batch of 124 Arjun tanks which have already been inducted into the Army and are deployed in the western desert along the Pakistan front. The 118 Arjun tanks would also form two regiments in the Armoured Corps of the like the first 124 tanks. Officials said the Army has reduced the number of tanks required for the formation of a tank regiment and that is why the present order has six lesser tanks than the previous order for two regiments. The DRDO has been developing the Arjun Mark 1A for quite some time now and the project was hastened by both Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and DRDO chief Dr G Satheesh Reddy to increase the level of indigenous weapon systems in the armed forces. The Arjun has been designed by the DRDO's Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) based out of Chennai. (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.) Send only violent criminals to jail Cities and the state should help pay to house inmates Get defendants to trial faster Vote View Results Hyundai Motor has signed a MoU with South Koreas Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy as well as Hyundai Glovis, LG Energy Solution and KST Mobility to foster an EV ecosystem and sustainable battery reuse. An analyst speaking to just-auto says the move which will includes a battery leasing element will be closely watched by others in the auto industry, as well as governments interested in encouraging EV take-up. Bakar Sadik Agwan, Senior Automotive Consulting Analyst at GlobalData, says the MoU has potential to support the EV growth in South Korea and will be a use case for OEMs across the world. He says there needs to be a focus on batteries to boost EV adoption. The cost of acquisition along with the availability of charging infrastructure and concerns related to battery-life are key factors that affect the large-scale uptake of electric vehicles, Bakar says. He notes that OEMs across the globe have been exploring opportunities to increase the uptake of electric vehicles through innovative business models, battery-as-a-service being one of them. An EV sans battery reduces vehicle upfront cost by 30-40% and battery can separately be rented out or leased, dividing the cost of owning and maintaining over a vehicles lifetime, Bakar maintains. GlobalData estimates that a customer can lease EV battery for over eight years at a price that is equivalent to the purchase cost of an EV battery. Leasing is a better option for customers, who do not clock high number of kilometers every year, Bakar points out. Furthermore, renting or leasing out batteries offers additional benefits such as timely inspection of battery residual values by service provider, free/warranted replacements and assistance by service provider in events of breakdown. Shared mobility, logistics and delivery companies with large fleets will gain significant cost-benefits with renting/leasing model covering repair, service and replacement of batteries. Some OEMs and governments in key markets such as China and Europe already have an active battery renting or leasing business model. However, it has not reached the required rate of commercialization globally. Hyundais implementation of the EV ecosystem with battery being rented or leased out can be a good example for other OEMs, government and stakeholders such as energy companies and mobility players across various countries to replicate the model to boost the uptake of electric vehicles. President Joe Biden led Americans in observing a moment of silence on Monday to commemorate the grim milestone of more than 500,000 U.S. deaths from COVID-19, urging Americans to set aside partisan differences and fight the pandemic together. "Today we mark a truly grim, heartbreaking milestone - 500,071 dead. That's more Americans who have died in one year in this pandemic than in World War One, World War Two and the Vietnam War combined," Biden said in emotional remarks at the White House. 500,000 lives lost to COVID-19. Its an unfathomable number, but each one represents a family that will never again be whole. To those who have lost loved ones: I know no words can numb the pain, but I hope you find some solace in knowing the nation grieves with you. President Biden (@POTUS) February 22, 2021 "But as we acknowledge the scale of this mass death in America, we remember each person and the life they lived. Theyre people we knew." Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, first lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff marked a moment of silence around 6:15 p.m. (2315 GMT) outdoors at the White House after the president's remarks, bowing their heads somberly. Five hundred lit candles lined the White House steps to commemorate the dead and a military band played a soaring rendition of "Amazing Grace." Biden ordered that all flags on federal properties and military facilities be lowered to half-staff until Friday at sunset to commemorate the dead. The president called on Americans to remain vigilant in fighting the pandemic by continuing to wear masks, observe social distancing and receive vaccinations when it is their turn. It's not Democrats and Republicans who are dying from the virus. It's our fellow Americans. It's our neighbors, our friends, our mothers, our fathers, our sons, our daughters, husbands, wives. We have to fight this together, as one people, as the United States. President Biden (@POTUS) February 23, 2021 "We must end the politics and misinformation that has divided families, communities and the country, and has cost too many lives already. It's not Democrats and Republicans who are dying from the virus. It's our fellow Americans," Biden said. "We have to fight this together as one people, as the United States of America." About 19% of total global coronavirus deaths have occurred in the United States, an outsized figure given that the nation accounts for just 4% of the worlds population. The country has the highest overall death figure, reflecting the lack of a unified, national response last year, when the administration of former President Donald Trump mostly left states to their own devices in tackling the greatest public health crisis in a century. Biden, a Democrat, took office on Jan. 20 after defeating Trump, a Republican, in the 2020 presidential election, in part by arguing he would do a better job of addressing the pandemic. Trump downplayed the pandemic in its early stages and repeatedly predicted rosier numbers about the expected death toll in the United States than came to fruition. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. The Delhi government has made it slightly easier for private schools to get recognition or extension of their provisional recognition, reducing the number of regulatory compliance parameters from 91 to 73, officials said Tuesday. At present, private schools' requests for recognition, up-gradation, or extension of provisional recognition are examined on 91 compiled checkpoints by the Directorate of Education, Assistant Director of Education Yogesh Pal Singh said. "Now, these checkpoints have been clubbed to make the process easier, and minimizing regulatory compliance burden," he said. "Therefore, now onwards, all cases of recognition, upgradation, extension of provisional recognition of private schools shall be examined as per clubbed 73 checkpoints in place of 91 checkpoints," he added. The checkpoints on basis of which schools are examined include number of classrooms, library and laboratories facility, playgrounds, drinking water supply, separate toilets for boys and girls, among other criteria. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. The Senate has confirmed the immediate past service chiefs as non-career ambassadors, ignoring two petitions against the nominees and the complaints by some senators. Those confirmed are the former Chief of Defence Staff, Gabriel Olonisakin; former Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai; former Chief of Air Staff, Ibok Ibas; and former Chief of Naval Staff, Abubakar Sadique. The confirmation comes barely five days after they were screened by the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and three weeks after they were nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari. The confirmation was sequel to the adoption of the report of the committee which was presented by the chairperson of the committee, Muhammed Bulkachuwa. The confirmation In his presentation, Mr Bulkachuwa said the nominees were asked questions regarding their previous services and their recent nomination. The nomination, he said, is in line with Section 171(40) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He further said the committee received two petitions against the appointment and confirmation of the nominees but the petitions were dismissed by the committee. He, however, did not explain why the petitions were dismissed or whether the petitioners were invited to explain their stance. The police report received showed that the nominees have been cleared by the DSS. They presented their slip from the Code of Conduct Bureau and possess the requisite skills for the position. Their experience as service chiefs makes them eminently capable for the position and they were knowledgeable and articulate in their response to questions posed by members of the panel, he continued. Mr Bulkachuwa said the committee was satisfied with their performance and their knowledge of international diplomacy. He, thereafter, asked the Senate to confirm the nominees. But the Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe (PDP, Abia), questioned why the petitions were dismissed. He said the Senate on three occasions passed resolutions that the nominees be removed as service chiefs and for them to be brought back to be confirmed for another position demands explanation. In his reaction, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, said having looked through the said resolutions, understanding is that they have not been appointed to serve as service chiefs which is a plus for the Senate. If they are nominated for a different position, our resolution will not apply. What we have to do is to advise the executive to use the past experience of the ex-service chiefs in their new positions. The nomination cannot be nullified because we said they should be changed, he said. Mr Abaribe was ruled out of order by Mr Lawan when he attempted to make further comments. The Senate, thereafter, dissolved into the committee of the whole to confirm the nominees despite echos of nays from many senators. ADVERTISEMENT The confirmation comes amidst criticism of their nomination by many Nigerians. This was shortly after presidential media aide, Femi Adesina, announced on February 4 that the president had forwarded the ex-service chiefs names to the Senate for confirmation as non-career ambassadors. The appointment came a week after they stepped down from service and their replacements announced. There were many allegations levelled against the ex-military chiefs ranging from the 2015 massacre of more than 340 members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), violent attacks on members of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), last Octobers shooting of innocent Nigerians who took part in the #EndSARS protest at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, the extrajudicial killings in Oyigbo, an Igbo settlement in Rivers State, among others. Experts, both foreign and local, have called on the national assembly and even countries where they will be posted to reject them as ambassadors. During his screening, Mr Buratai said the Nigerian military cannot solve the Boko Haram insurgency because they did not start it in the first place. He said this at the screening exercise where the former service chiefs were grilled one after the other by members of the panel. The were asked questions ranging from their successes in their previous jobs to their plans if confirmed for the new appointments. Multi-ethnic neighborhoods in England retain their diversity and are much more stable than such neighborhoods in the U.S., according to geographers from the U.S. and U.K. The team examined how neighborhood diversity has changed on a national scale from 1991 to 2011 using U.K. Census data. Past studies of this kind have often focused on neighborhoods in which the presence of two or three different ethnic groups constituted a diverse neighborhood but this study applied a more rigorous standard. A multi-ethnic neighborhood had to have at least five or more ethnic groups represented and no group could represent more than 45% of the neighborhood's population. The analysis was a research collaboration by: Richard Wright, a professor of geography and the Orvil E. Dryfoos Chair of Public Affairs at Dartmouth College; Gemma Catney, a senior lecturer in geography at the School of Natural and Built Environment at Queen's University Belfast; and Mark Ellis, a professor of geography at the University of Washington. Published recently in the Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, the study classified all English neighborhoods by ethnic mix. As 85.4% of the population identified as white in 2011, not surprisingly, the most common types were ones with a white majority. The overall share of these types of neighborhoods, however, is declining as the proportion of more diverse neighborhoods increases. The research revealed that England's multi-ethnic neighborhoods have grown steadily from 0.5% of all neighborhoods in 1991 (170 of all neighborhoods) to just over 1.5% in 2001 (528 of all neighborhoods) to over 4% in 2011 (1,417 of 32,944 neighborhoods). This may seem like a small proportion of the total, but multi-ethnic neighborhoods in England are now the third most common type. The 2011 data also indicates that about 5% percent of the total population in England or 2.5 million people lived in multi-ethnic neighborhoods. The findings demonstrate that England's multi-ethnic neighborhoods are highly stable and are continuing to increase: 88% of multi-ethnic neighborhoods in 1991 retained their diversity in 2001, and over 95% of multi-ethnic neighborhoods in 2001 remained highly diverse in 2011. London's neighborhood diversity was the most stable in the country, accounting for 56% of multi-ethnic neighborhood stability in 1991 and 73% in 2011. The authors asked if this stability is to be explained by high rates of owner occupancy with fewer renters or perhaps, by an aging population. The data revealed the opposite. Only 42% of the population in highly diverse neighborhoods owned their homes as compared to 67% of residents in other types of neighborhoods. When the age profiles of multi-ethnic neighborhoods were compared with other neighborhood types, the results showed a higher proportion of 20- to 30-year-olds across both white British and ethnic minority groups, reflecting recent in-migration and immigration. Given the youthful population mix, older whites aging out of these multi-ethnic neighborhoods did not appear to play a role in the stability of neighborhood diversity. "In England, we suspect people are seeking multi-ethnic diverse neighborhoods out because they are so diverse," explains Wright. "These places may be stable because they are desirable. The typical population churn of people moving in and out may actually be contributing to this stability." While multi-ethnic neighborhoods in England tend to be highly stable, racially diverse neighborhoods in the U.S. are not. Such U.S. neighborhoods are often transitionary, typically in the midst of a shift from being predominantly white to predominantly Latino areas. The co-authors cite their previous research, which found that "less than 50% of neighborhoods retained their high-diversity status for more than a decade (2000-2010)." One striking aspect of the recent study is that the U.K. Census relies on units (lower layer super output areas), which are much smaller in population (about 1,600 people) than the U.S. Census tracts (4,000). As the co-authors explain, while one might be inclined to think that smaller neighborhoods may be more susceptible to instability, the results prove otherwise. The research illustrates that many of England's neighborhoods are becoming increasingly diverse and also debunks the common misconception in England that neighborhoods with ethnic populations are becoming more segregated. Greater intermixing of neighborhoods can help foster tolerance and may help reduce discrimination; however, the researchers point out that Brexit has created uncertainties with the future of immigration and emigration, which will no doubt, impact future stability of neighborhood diversity in England. ### Wright is available for comment at: richard.a.wright@dartmouth.edu. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form BAGHDAD A massive double suicide attack in the Iraqi capital Jan. 21 was followed by the removal of several high-ranking intelligence and Interior Ministry officials. One, in particular, stood out: the replacement of the man who had led Iraqs super-secretive Falcon Intelligence Cell since its inception, known as Abu Ali al-Basri. His real name had, prior to the announcement of his removal, not been reported in the media for security reasons. The Falcon Intelligence Cell, which answers to the Interior Ministry, had long been run mainly by Basri, who in previous meetings had told Al-Monitor that he had been the main person behind the founding of the super-secretive spy unit. Among the nations the intelligence unit has collaborated with are the United States and the UK. When asked by Al-Monitor in late January to comment on the reason for his removal, Basri said there had not been any major attacks in Baghdad for three years, indicating that this showed the success of his work. The last suicide attack in the capital prior to the one in January had occurred in the same square in 2018. Basri had been in the position for over a decade, since the establishment of the unit, and will retain a position within the Interior Ministry. He and the unit had been widely praised in previous years for their work. He said he was not authorized to comment further. One report claimed that the reason for his removal was his alleged proximity to Iran-based militias, saying the Falcons Cell had been one of the Iranian-backed factions most-prized assets in Iraq. But a senior Iraqi government official told this journalist Feb. 18 that Basri was believed to have been covering for four individuals in connection with the deaths of activists and journalists. The four were arrested Feb. 15 in Basra. A close associate of Basris had stressed to Al-Monitor in a conversation in the Iraqi capital in January that the former Falcon Cell chief was known in previous years for being the only one who could say no" to Nouri al-Maliki when he was prime minister and that Basri was widely respected by many sides in Iraq. Maliki, leader of the Shiite Dawa party and prime minister from 2006-2014, has been blamed by some for inciting sectarian tensions over the years. This journalist had interviewed Basri twice previously in Baghdad, in July 2019 and February 2020. In person, Basri came across as sharply intelligent and humble. He traveled without security guards as part of his efforts to retain a low profile, he had said at the time. In the first interview he spoke about the units operations against al-Qaeda and then the Islamic State (IS), including a joint cross-border operation with the Iraqi air force where he said IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had allegedly been injured in the city of Hejin in Syrias eastern Deir al-Zor region. In the July 2019 interview, Basri also discussed the training his men received from abroad and the training that they in turn provided to other nations, given the wealth of experience fighting terrorism they had gained in Iraq. Though declining to go into specifics about collaboration with foreign intelligence agencies, he said that his unit did not have any direct contact with the Syrian government but that there was a four-member operations room in Baghdad at that time involving Syria, Iran, Iraq and Russia through which information needed to save lives was channeled. The Falcon Cell gained international attention following a lengthy New York Times article in August 2018 by Margaret Coker on an IS infiltrator killed in the line of duty, Harith al-Sudani. The article led to the granting of benefits linked to his death to his family even though the mans body was never found. A book on the Falcon Cell and its chief written by Coker is due out in the United States later this month. During Coker's time as the Times' Baghdad bureau chief, the paper was sent a video of five Syrian and Iraqi IS commanders caught by the Falcon Cell in a complex operation between Turkey, Syria and Iraq. Al-Monitor also reported on the video and the identities of those arrested at that time. This journalist had met one of the Syrian commanders in 2012 prior to his joining IS. In more recent years, Basri had spoken to more media outlets on occasion. The former Falcon Cell chief holds a European passport in addition to his Iraqi one and his family is abroad for security reasons. Last year, Basri expressed to Al-Monitor the desire to expand the units operations to include striking at the funding of terrorism through corruption. He said the Falcon Cell could be used as a model for a similar unit to focus solely on corruption or could itself be employed to crack down on it. Basri also said he thought the units experience in intelligence gathering could be useful to stop the scourge of the sexual harassment and blackmailing of Iraqs daughters that had become so widespread in recent years. In May 2020, when Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi was sworn in, he pledged to try to bring all arms under state control. More fully centralizing the vast array of intelligence agencies in the countrys various ministries and departments may be yet another attempt to work toward this goal. In an effort to help foster diversity and inclusion within the public relations industry, The TASC Group launched a scholarship program for talented and gifted multicultural students in the public relations and advertising program at CCNY in early December and is proud to announce the first recipient, Veronica Vaccaro. As the recipient of this scholarship, Veronica will receive $2,500 toward tuition fees along with a paid semester-long internship at The TASC Group that includes professional development and mentoring by TASC employees. I believe nonprofits are the trailblazers when it comes to reform and enacting positive change, stated Veronica. I know at The TASC Group I will be able to remain true to my values by helping to drive their clients amazing work, and I cant wait to get started. Veronica Vaccaro is currently earning a BA in Communications and Sociology at The City College of New York, CUNY and is dedicated to empowering social movements through strategic communications. Veronica volunteers at her local church and takes EMT classes to assist the growing demand for healthcare workers. She also serves as a personal care provider at The Center for Discovery. We are thrilled to announce Veronica as the recipient of The TASC Groups Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Scholarship at CCNY, said Rida Bint Fozi, managing director of The TASC Group. We received so many incredible applicants for the scholarship and were deeply impressed with Veronica's dedication to serving her community and her keen grasp on the intersection of public relations and advocacy. We are excited to welcome Veronica to our team this summer and look forward to our continued partnership with CCNY to support and promote diversity and inclusion in the public relations industry. Inspired by their ongoing work with social justice and nonprofit clients such as The Trayvon Martin Foundation, The Eagle Academy Foundation and The Gathering for Justice, TASC worked with CCNY to develop a program that would award exceptional students with career growth opportunities and real-world public relations experience. "I applaud The TASC Group for addressing the urgent need to further diversify our industry, said Lynne Scott Jackson, distinguished lecturer & deputy chair of media & communications at CCNY and founder, president and CEO of Millynneum Incorporated. Veronica is among our brightest Ad/PR All Stars, and her internship marks the beginning of a fruitful and lasting partnership between the agency and CCNY. The internship will begin Summer 2021 and run through until the fall. ABOUT THE TASC GROUP The TASC Group (TASC) is an independent, full-service communications and public relations firm. TASC was founded as a progressive-minded company dedicated to working with some of the most dynamic and inspiring clients in the world. The company is passionate about and committed to helping its clients achieve their goals. TASC represents mission-driven private and public companies, organizations, nonprofits, labor groups and community organizations. The companys services include media relations, crisis communications and issues management, corporate social responsibility campaigns, thought leadership development, cause-related marketing, red carpet and celebrity events, SEO and online reputation management and social media. For more information, visit http://www.thetascgroup.com. ABOUT THE CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.2% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNYs annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the for dollar return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 16,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit. Growing up, Christopher and Michael Pekny were brothers and best friends. It only made sense that when 28-year-old Christopher was preparing to celebrate the upcoming birth of his first child, his little brother was right there beside him. "My brother Michael and my brother Chris were so incredibly close," Peter Pekny, their oldest brother, told The Washington Post early Tuesday morning. "'Chris and Mike' - it was one name. They were always, always together." And so the two men were together Sunday morning, tinkering in a garage in Liberty, N.Y., to rig a small device to emit a pink-or-blue burst during the grand finale of a gender-reveal party planned for later that evening. But the homemade device unexpectedly malfunctioned, killing the expectant father and seriously injuring his 27-year-old brother, New York State Police said in a statement Monday. Police are still investigating the cause of the explosion, but no criminal charges have stemmed from the accident. "It has been two nights in a row of not being able to sleep, waiting, hoping to hear that this is all some crazy misunderstanding," Pekny told The Post. "But we all know that's not the reality here." Gender-reveal parties, which have roots in a 2008 parenting blog, have turned dangerous in recent years, as excited couples have opted for increasingly elaborate stunts to share whether they are having a boy or a girl. A novelty cannon killed a Michigan man at a gender-reveal party earlier this month. A soon-to-be grandmother died in Iowa after shrapnel from a homemade explosive device struck her chest in 2019. The parties have also sparked wildfires and caused a plane crash in recent years. The tragic accidents, often caused by unintended explosions, leave families grieving instead of celebrating. Christopher Pekny, who towered at 6-foot-5 before he donned his work boots, was an avid outdoorsman who hunted and fished in his spare time, his brother said. He was also quite handy - the middle Pekny brother worked for a masonry company and knew a fair number of hands-on technical skills from electrical wiring to repairing a diesel engine. Still a kid at heart, Christopher had fully embraced his role as a soon-to-be father, his brother said. "He was finally ready to settle down and he was so happy to be a dad," Peter Pekny told The Post. "He was just this big kid, ready to be a man. And this shouldn't have happened." The eldest Pekny brother said Christopher was the kind of person who would drop everything to help someone in need. "If you were three hours away, laying in a ditch somewhere, he'd make it in two," he said. While working at the family's diner in Livingston Manor, N.Y., Christopher once drove an elderly customer to the hospital in the middle of his shift after the man collapsed in the parking lot, his brother said. The man survived, and still comes into the Robin Hood Diner to this day, he added. Following the news of Christopher's death, Peter Pekny said friends, neighbors and even regular diners at their family-owned restaurant have offered support. "They all want to be there for us the same way that Chris would be there in a moment's notice for anyone else," he told The Post. "And I think that's the greatest tribute to the type of person that he was." Michael Pekny was also injured in the accidental explosion, which shattered his right knee. Peter Pekny told The Post that his younger brother had survived a surgery to reconstruct his knee and doctors said he would eventually regain mobility in both of his legs. But he said the loss of Christopher would weigh heavily on the 27-year-old even after he has physically healed. "With all the wonders of modern medicine, they can piece his legs back together, but they still don't have anything to piece back together a broken heart," he said. The energy cooperation between the US and India supports sustainable development, harnesses sources to meet 21st century power needs, protects security and promotes regional and international stability, a senior official has said. The US and India collaborate on natural gas, renewable energy, nuclear energy, clean coal technologies, smart grids, and unconventional and clean energy sources research for the benefit of our people now and in the future, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Monday at his daily news conference. "When it comes to energy cooperation more broadly, I would say that the US, India energy partnership supports sustainable energy development, it harnesses energy sources to meet 21st century power needs, it protects security and promotes regional and international stability, he said. Responding to a question on energy co-operation between India and the US, Price said the strategic energy partnership is strong and will continue growing even as the administration prioritises climate change issues. Of course, we have worked closely with India on the challenges of climate change. It was December 2015 when the Paris Agreement was consummated that the US and India worked especially closely to usher in the Paris Climate Agreement just as we did with China at that time. So, we will continue to work closely with India on the challenges of climate change, he said. India's Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, has recently described the as one of the "five baskets" of the India-US collaboration. The five baskets are cooperation in healthcare and pharma and COVID-19 management, including affordable medicines and vaccines; the digital space, including information and communication technology, innovation and start-ups; the energy sector, including LNG, renewables and solar that will allow to combat climate change; the education and knowledge partnership; and cooperation in strategic and defence areas, including in the Indo-Pacific. In a recent op-ed in Newsweek magazine, Sandhu said India remains committed to the goals of the Paris climate accord and welcomes the return of the US to this important agreement. Here again India has demonstrated leadership, creating the International Solar Alliance, while being on track to surpass our voluntary commitments under the Paris Accord. Our solar energy production will reach 450GW by 2030, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30-35 per cent by that year (from 2005 levels), he wrote. India and the US already work together in renewable energy under the Strategic Energy Partnership, Sandhu said. We can build on these gains and accelerate a green transformation through effective technology transfers, financing and an equity-based approach that will increase access to renewable energy for a wider population, which in turn will create global low-carbon pathways, green jobs and achieve shared climate goals. "Such an approach will also ensure that India's growth trajectory, critical to the economic empowerment of millions, will be sustained and sustainable, Sandhu wrote. (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.) Aaron Dworkin introduces himself as professor of arts leadership and entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance as well as professor of entrepreneurial studies at Michigans Ross School of Business. He laughs and adds: I know thats a lot. Actually, it could be a lot longer. Dworkin is a former dean of Michigans arts school, and he was President Obamas first appointment to the National Council on the Arts. In 2005 he was designated a MacArthur Fellow, which is sometimes called a Genius Grant. Hes founder and president of the Detroit-based Sphinx Organization, which supports and encourages diversity in classical music and other arts across America. He is a violinist, a curator, and an author. Among his books are a volume of poetry, a childrens book, a science fiction novel, a guide for entrepreneurial success in the arts, and a memoir entitled Uncommon Rhythm: A Black, White, Jewish, Jehovahs Witness, Irish Catholic Adoptees Journey to Leadership. His memoirs title gives away a portion of his interesting journey through life. He was born in Monticello, N.Y., to Audeen and Vaughn Moore. His biological mother is of Irish descent and his biological father is African-American. At 2 weeks old, he was adopted by Susan and Barry Dworkin, neuroscience professors in New York City. His adoptive family is Jewish. When he was 10, Dworkins parents got jobs at the Hershey Medical Center and moved the family to Hershey, Pennsylvania. Dworkin will be the keynote speaker, via Zoom, at 6 p.m. March 3 for the Le Moyne College Impact Awards celebrating the arts in Central New York. Five individuals will receive awards for their achievements: The deadline to register for the awards show and Dworkins talk is 5 p.m. March 3 on Le Moyne Colleges website. What does Dworkin plan to tell his Syracuse audience? Im definitely going to talk about my own personal background a little and give context to that. Im going to talk about how one builds a creative career and what that looks like. Im going to talk about diversity in the arts and certain things that we can do related to that. Im going to talk about entrepreneurship and creativity. What advice would you give someone who wants to take on a leadership role or become a better leader? There are certainly a number of things. Ill start with: You have to be able to write. That is a key aspect of leadership. Invariably, you are going to communicate with people through your words, through the written word emails, papers, public articles, whatever it might be. Your ability to capture the things you believe, the things you want to get done as a leader are critically important. Integrity. You have to have integrity. The things you do when no one else is looking are critically important. Setting the example. As youre calling upon people to do certain things, not that youre going to do exactly what they are doing, you set an example of approach. You set an example of commitment to your shared values. Innovation. Things simply do not stay static in our society. Leaders who are not innovative will inevitably see the organizations or companies that theyre leading falter, because others will respond to the changing world. The difference between mediocrity and excellence is attention to detail. Details matter. Have a commitment to a level of excellence in the things that you do. Finally, and this may go along with integrity, is honesty. Be honest with the people on your team. Be honest with the people who you partner and collaborate with. Through honesty, you build trust. That trust will carry you through challenging times. What qualities do you see in leaders you admire? All those aspects that I just shared, but I also think they have vision, which comes from belief in a dream. And I think persistence and resilience. What attributes do you see in poor leadership? Lack of integrity, lack of honesty. That is terrible, terrible, terrible leadership. An inability to persist or to be resilient. An inability to follow through on things and commitments. I would say also an inability to delegate. You have to be able to delegate. You cannot simply do things on your own. Tell me about a time when your leadership was tested, so we can learn from how you handled it. One of the things I wanted to do with Sphinx was build partnerships with orchestras. In the past, there was an orchestra that said: We dont need to partner with you. This diversity stuff is not important. I was being told that my whole lifes work was just not important. As an individual, you might want to rail against that and tell them how wrong they are and those types of things. As a leader, leading an organization, you have to think about your long-term goals. Our long-term goal was to change the thinking in the field. So it meant to change the approach to one of looking and engaging in a conversation, a dialogue with that orchestra, and finding ways to demonstrate why a partnership would be important to them, why this work related to diversity mattered to them, and the types of benefits that they would see through becoming interested in diversity. We found that that approach led ultimately to having a successful partnership. Otherwise, it would have been very difficult. What techniques did you learn from that? One, I would say, was controlling emotional responses to issues that you care passionately about. Thinking long-term rather than short-term in the goals and objectives of the organization that you represent. And then engaging with people less in a process of adjudicating their perspective, but rather focused on understanding it so that you can provide information that might help evolve it. Like every business or group, arts organizations in Central New York have been severely challenged by the pandemic. What insights would you offer arts organizations to survive? Innovation. Innovation. Innovation. Avoid stagnation and commiseration. The reality is there will not be a full return to the way things were. And so the organizations that are looking forward, understanding what the new reality will be, and positioning themselves to do that are the ones who will flourish and thrive in the new environment. There were so many things before the pandemic where organizations were like: We cannot do that remotely. We cannot do that online. We cannot do. Whether it be functional things like accounting or finance or marketing or things like that, but also the delivery of artistry and artistic products. We always would think it sacrosanct how they must be done. Of course, because we will go back to some semblance of live performances. But those organizations and leaders who are thinking and rethinking how to evolve are the organizations that are most going to thrive. Its possible to do a whole lot while theres a lockdown going on. For example, I developed and launched two shows where we have over 100,000 viewers per week. And we directed, arranged, and produced an independent film. You could check out artsengines.org. And then there is artfulscience.org that launched in January. We did a film called An American Prophecy. (Its a docudrama about front-line health care workers in the pandemic delivering text from Khalil Gibrans 1923 book The Prophet.) You can go to AmericanProphecyFilm.com and read about it. You can do a lot even in these times, but it requires innovation and creativity. Whats your advice for a leader to spark innovation within an organization? I think a couple of things. One is to provide the ability for the people on your team to have a voice, to know that an idea will seriously be considered and potentially implemented. You have to set that standard, that when ideas are brought, they are engaged, seriously considered, and that some, if appropriate, will be implemented. Another is to provide an incentive. One of the things that weve had at Sphinx is an idea fund. So every person on the team is given financial resources to pursue any creative idea that they think might benefit either their role at the organization or the organization as a whole. Tell me about early influences. Were you in leadership roles growing up? I would say not really, especially as I think about middle school, high school, that kind of thing. And starting out in college I wasnt president of student groups or things like that. I originally grew up in New York City, in Manhattan, till I was 10 years old. My first violin teacher was Vladimir Graffman, one of the great teachers who brought the Russian school of teaching over to the States. At 10 years old, we moved to Hershey, Pennsylvania, and lived there and we would go to Harrisburg for the Harrisburg Youth Symphony and all of that. For my last two years of high school, I went to the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. Interlochen is one of the top arts boarding schools in the country. Its located in northern Michigan. When I moved to Hershey, Pennsylvania, I was actually ostracized. If I had to find the first kind of leadership role that I was in, it would be there; I was concertmaster of the Harrisburg Symphony Youth Orchestra. I was one of the only African-Americans in the orchestra. As concertmaster, the orchestra actually wouldnt be quiet when I needed to tune the orchestra. Its a key thing for the concertmaster to do. So that kind of leadership capacity was oddly kind of a negative experience for me. Tell me about it. So there I was, 10 years old, big Afro, played the violin, last name Dworkin, Black in a town that at the time had one Black family and me because I was adopted when I was two weeks old by a white Jewish couple who already had a birth son, my older brother, who was white, of course. And so white parents, white brother, last name Dworkin, big Afro, played the violin. I just did not fit in. What do you remember happening? It affected a lot of things, lack of friends, things like that. Going through the halls, other students wouldnt say my last name. They wouldnt say Dworkin. They would always say dorkin and dorkmeister. Things like that. They would put their hands up and like kind of put one hand on their elbow and reach up and try and grab my hair and say: Give dorkin the Afro clutch. It wasnt the most pleasant of times. Then I went to Interlochen and it was the first time in my life where I was surrounded by everyone who was in the arts. That was a tremendous experience. I credit Interlochen with saving my life. How did it save your life? I was 15, and I went to Interlochen for the last two years of high school. If I wouldve stayed in Hershey, between teenage rebellion against my parents and the pressures from outside, I think I would have just gone down a negative slope. Tell me about college and starting the Sphinx Organization. I was an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. Actually, I was a transfer. I started out at Penn State. I started as a business major, but my second semester I switched to violin performance and ended up being concertmaster of the Penn State Philharmonic. At Michigan, I also majored in violin performance. At Penn State, I had had a falling out with my parents. I really wasnt in communication with my parents. So it was a very tough financial period, very poverty-stricken, those types of things. I had four years off from college where I got a lot of real-world, unique work experiences. I literally started canvassing door to door. Going up to a strangers door and within several minutes, ideally, having them sign their name to something that you believe in and give you money in support of it. That is an extraordinary skillset to develop. I worked for environmental issues and various kinds of civil rights issues. I kind of worked my way up in that way, and then I got experience at a marketing company, hiring into the mail room. I also was being an entrepreneur and starting a couple of projects. Even though they didnt become ongoing concerns, absent those experiences, I never would have been able to found the Sphinx Organization. The entrepreneurial experiences during those four years gave me benefits. I knew basics of fundraising. I knew the basics of forming a corporation. I knew how to build a board of directors. So I came in having those experiences. After I transferred to Michigan, I started thinking intentionally for the first time in my life about issues surrounding diversity in the arts. I walked into a lesson one day and my teacher asked: Do you want to play music by black composers? I didnt know there were any black classical composers. Id go to local orchestra concerts, not see any one of color who looked like me, not only on stage, but also in the audience. That led to this idea of what if there was a competition for students like me, and we could come together, play music by composers of color, and through this competitive process gain scholarships and awards to gain visibility, performance opportunities, and thus build careers. At the time, I thought we could just do this and that will instantly change classical music. Itll be diverse, and the problem will be solved. Of course, I began to learn that a lot more was involved and that led to building out the organization. The weekly Conversation on Leadership features Q&A interviews about leadership, success, and innovation. The conversations are condensed and edited. To suggest a leader for a Conversation, contact Stan Linhorst at StanLinhorst@gmail.com. Last week featured Debra McClendon-Boddie, founder of PGR Foundation Inc., which helps girls prepare for success by being Poised, Gifted, & Ready. Do you have a news tip? Want to share good news story, or do you have information that should see the light of day? Then we want to hear from you. More here The banner for "Just The Truth," a show hosted by Jenna Ellis. (Courtesy of Jenna Ellis) Trump Attorneys New Show to Focus on Nexus Between Law, Current Issues One of the key attorneys who worked on former President Donald Trumps post-election legal effort will focus on the intersection of constitutional law and the issues that Americans care about in a new video show set to premiere next week. Jenna Ellis told The Epoch Times that the first episode of her daily hourlong show will feature Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), who, like Ellis, is a constitutional lawyer. The show, titled Just the Truth, will aim to cut past partisan clutter on cultural and social issues and look at what the government can or cant do within the boundaries of the Constitution. The tagline for the show is Not red, not blue, this is just the truth. Were so siloed in tribalism, either Republican or Democrat, and we lose the perspective of what does the Constitution actually say, Ellis said. We can all have our opinions on policy issues, but as far as what the government can and cant do according to the Constitution, thats the perspective that I think is really driving the show. The video program and podcast are being produced in partnership with Just the News, the outlet created by veteran journalist John Solomon, and Real Americas Voice, a media platform thats home to a number of conservative voices, including Trumps former chief White House strategist, Steve Bannon. Ellis said her work on the election legal team has been the greatest honor of her life and that Trump is a great friend. She nevertheless lamented the cancel culture that came with the territory, having received death threats and other incredibly inappropriate messages because she represented the president. The entire understanding of why competent counsel can represent a client is that, whether its civil or criminal litigation, everyone deserves an attorney to represent them, Ellis said. And so it doesnt matter what the claim is, the attorney should never be targeted for that. Ellis still has an attorney-client relationship with Trump but is no longer working on any lawsuits. In 2015, Ellis self-published The Legal Basis for a Moral Constitution, a book that argues that the originalist interpretation of the Constitution is inseparable from the Bible. She plans to make that perspective part of her program. Im bringing the Judeo-Christian foundation of our heritage of America to our understanding of interpretation of the Constitution, Ellis said. Absolutely. Each of the daily episodes will open with a monologue by Ellis, followed by a deep dive into a topic with a guest or a panel. Ellis will take questions from the audience at the end of the program, which viewers can submit online. Prior to her efforts for the Trump campaign, Ellis, 35, worked as a litigator, a prosecutor, and a criminal defense attorney. She received her law degree from the University of Richmond School of Law in Virginia. She studied journalism in college and felt a natural synergy between law and media when she began to do interviews about her book. I found that so many people didnt want to just know whats the political perspective, they wanted to know why, and they wanted to have an argument thats based on the law and the Constitution, Ellis said. During the tumultuous two months between Nov. 3, 2020, and Jan. 6, Ellis crisscrossed the nation in an effort to convince state legislatures to assert their constitutional mandate over local election laws and rules and disavow the electors certified for then-presidential candidate Joe Biden. She argued that state officials and courts made late-game changes to election laws and rules, usurping the legislatures power. None of the legislatures ultimately made the move, and Trump acknowledged the Biden administration shortly after Congress certified the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6. Ellis believes that much of the media is operating in ideological bubbles, leaving a niche for a legal expert such as her to offer a perspective beyond politics. We dont have a lot of people that are doing this, a lot of the media is so siloed, she said. And so I think Im bringing to the marketplace of ideas something that really, we dont have anywhere else. LONDON, Feb. 23, 2021- Darkness at Sunrise: UK Care Homes Shifting Profits Offshore? - by the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability & Research (CICTAR) and Public Services International (PSI) reveals that UK care homes shift profits offshore while charging thousands of residents 200 in daily fees. Ownership through tax havens enables the more than 60 care homes to report losses in the UK while foreign investors make a killing in a sector subsidised by public spending. COVID-related deaths in UK care homes have exposed the need for major reforms which must include greater financial transparency to ensure that care is prioritised over profit. Operated by Sunrise Senior Living, Gracewell Healthcare and Signature Senior Lifestyle, the care homes are controlled by PSP Investments, a Canadian government pension fund. The report exposes a detailed case study of a much broader problem. The UK's care sector is dominated by private equity firms with a track record of aggressive tax dodging. Christina McAnea, general secretary of UNISON, the UK's largest union, said, "The scale of tax avoidance across the UK care home sector is deeply concerning. Urgent reform is needed to raise standards and ensure companies are accountable. The entire? care system has been underfunded and understaffed for too long. Unscrupulous employers have been allowed to exploit workers and put residents at risk, while taking the profits and shifting them offshore." Welltower, a major US real estate company, is a minority partner in these UK care homes and owns over 120 UK care homes in total. In 2019, Welltower's share of profit on these homes was an estimated 64 million. "Profits reported to shareholders, reveal what is usually kept hidden," said Jason Ward, the author of the report. "Complex corporate structures using tax havens artificially create losses to avoid UK tax." In Canada, the pension fund owns the second largest care home operator which faces scrutiny for COVID-19 deaths and growing calls for public ownership. Mark Hancock, National President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which has 65,000 members working in long term care said, "Aggressive tax avoidance adds insult to injury, and shows profits are prioritized over improving care. This is an embarrassment for Canadians." Eva Joly, an ex-Member of the European Parliament and ICRICTcommissioner said, "This important report raises critical questions about how the care sector is funded and regulated, not just in the UK, but across the EU and globally. The use of Luxembourg is particularly telling, given the recent revelations about that tax haven at the heart of Europe." https://cictar.org/ In January, the news of Peacock's strange, tiered payment system forcing fans to shell out $10 per month to stream all nine seasons of The Office created a significant divide among Dunderheads across the nation. While many took after Michael Scott -- saying "NO GOD, PLEASE NO!" to the new NBC streaming service's absurd pricing model before picking up the show's $60-ish DVD box set in protest, it seems a quiet majority jumped on the bandwagon, seemingly keeping Peacock afloat one rewatch at a time. Continue Reading Below Advertisement As Peacock seemingly works to secure its niche nearly one year after its launch last April, recently acquiring the rights to WWE's network, becoming the "exclusive home" for the majority of the wrestling organization's video content, it seems NBC's smash series is significantly helping the network pay the bills, nearly a decade after its series finale in 2013. "The hit sitcom, which was consistently one of Netflix's most popular shows until leaving for Peacock this year, generated more signups to Peacock than when the service launched nationwide in July," Business Insider reported, citing data from data firm, Antenna. Furthermore, the property, which hit the streaming service at the beginning of the year after leaving its long-time home of Netflix drove sign-ups by 3.9 times as compared to a December weekend, according to the financial publication. Continue Reading Below Advertisement However, it appears this model has done more than merely increase sign-ups, driving numbers of fans purchasing pricier subscriptions, with the number of Premium Plus plans skyrocketing by 9% after the show hit Peacock. Although promising, these numbers are only half the battle considering Peacock's place in the larger streaming wars, with the firm reporting that Apple Plus and Peacock combined comprise just two percent of streaming service market share. Continue Reading Below Advertisement So, could The Office become the NBC platform's weapon of choice in the streaming wars? Maybe -- never discount the power of an obsessed fandom even a decade on. For more internet nonsense, follow Carly on Instagram at @HuntressThompson_, on Twitch.tv @HuntressThompson_ and on Twitter @TennesAnyone. [February 23, 2021] Sequoia's COVID-19 Vaccine Employer Policies Report Finds that 42% of Companies Are Uncertain if They Will Mandate Vaccinations SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sequoia Consulting Group, a tech-enabled consulting and services company today released its COVID-19 Vaccine Employer Policies Report. As COVID-19 cases decline across the U.S. and new variants arise, the report found that most companies are uncertain at this time if they will require employees to get immunized with the coronavirus vaccine, while a small percentage of employers will require vaccination before returning to the workplace. 42% of Companies Are Uncertain if They Will Mandate Vaccinations The report also examines how employers are planning to address vaccine incentives, time-off for employees to receive the vaccine or recover from possible side effects, onsite vaccine administration, as well as hybrid and work from home policies. Key report findings While most companies are uncertain if they will mandate employees to be vaccinated before returning to the workplace, many have decided they will not mandate vaccinations. Does your company plan to mandate employees to be vaccinated ? 42% - Uncertain at this time 31% - No, we will not andate vaccinations 20% - We are considering mandating vaccinations 4% - Yes, we will mandate vaccinations for all employees 3% - Yes, we will mandate vaccinations for certain employees For those mandating vaccinations for certain employees, which employees will be required to have the vaccine before returning to work? Note: Respondents selected all that apply. 69% - Employees who work onsite 46% - Employees who travel internationally 39% - Employees in high exposure jobs 39% - Employees who travel domestically 31% - Employees in positions that have direct contact with customers 8% - Employees over 55 years old The COVID-19 Vaccine Employer Policies Report provides insights and information from 493 people-first companies that participated in a survey from February 4th to February 9th. To download the full report, visit: https://bit.ly/3pHXDBN. Sequoia's Pulse Reports tap into a vast community of VC-backed tech companies, financial institutions, healthcare organizations, and large enterprises to small businesses across various sectors to understand the latest business trends. To view our recent reports, visit: https://www.sequoia.com/resources/insights-reports/ About Sequoia Consulting Group Sequoia Consulting Group is a tech-enabled consulting and services company that provides benefits, HR, payroll, and risk management solutions for people-centric employers with 20 to 20,000 people. The Sequoia People Platform centralizes workforce data and helps companies navigate complex issues so they can maximize their investment in people whether they are in office, distributed, or global. For two decades, Sequoia has been working with companies to balance the needs of their business with the needs of their people. Sequoia Consulting Group has offices in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Tempe, and Bangalore. Visit Sequoia.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to learn more. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sequoias-covid-19-vaccine-employer-policies-report-finds-that-42-of-companies-are-uncertain-if-they-will-mandate-vaccinations-301233807.html SOURCE Sequoia Consulting Group [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Education issued a handbook guide to provide strategies to elementary and secondary schools on how to safely reopen campuses to students. The first volume focuses on mask procedures, social distance guidelines and a roadmap on how to engage all school leaders and educators in the safe reopening. The handbook outlines multiple ways to mitigate COVID risks, many of which have been in practice in both of the large Laredo school districts. One of the most effective mitigation strategies is the consistent and correct wearing of masks, the ED states in the COVID Handbook. CDC recommends universally and correctly wearing a mask in all public settings. Masks should be worn by students, educators, staff and anyone else working in, around or entering the school. They continue by addressing cases where masks are unfeasible, such as people with hearing issues or speech disabilities. Additional instructions include the encouragement of wearing a face shield and mask combination, as the departments studies showed that face shields alone show poor transmission prevention. Both masks and shields work better and are recommended for school nurses or adults that may come in contact with sick children. The ED believes that universal signs with the rules and procedures of mask wearing will increase effectiveness. For example, signs that state how to maintain mask integrity, proper washing procedures, the dos and donts of mask wearing, and how to discard masks safely would help provide adequate information to students and staff. For principals, counselors, teachers and the staff, the ED encourages them to create protocols on how and when masks can be removed and placed for safe keeping, specifically during mealtimes. However, mask removal protocols are to be consistent with CDC recommendations. They should discourage or prohibit group mask breaks indoors that are not part of these protocols, the ED writes. However, school leaders should establish safe protocols for students who require a break from their face covering or mask, such as students who require a sensory break, allowing temporary removal in a well-ventilated, ideally outdoor, space away from peers. UISDs signage can be found on its website and includes the proper way to wear a mask, the type of masks that are effective and the guidelines in place at all district campuses. Following mask recommendations, social distancing guidelines written in the handbook provide an extensive list of how to increase distancing in classrooms as well as outside of them, all while also providing alternative routes to reduce the risk on campus. Again, schools throughout the county have already implemented several the guidelines provided. These include a reduced number of students in class, the use of plexiglass partitions and applying physical guides like tape and signs to navigate the halls safely and efficiently. However, the handbook provides additional procedures to help restart on-campus instruction. These include: Seating charts. Removal of nonessential furniture. Same seat assignments for students. Using cafeterias or gyms for instruction. Creating one-way routes for traffic flow. Changing bell schedules to help traffic flow. More teacher coordination regarding bathroom breaks and hallway traffic. Both district websites have a COVID-19 specific site that provides more information regarding safety guidelines. LISD provides links to the CDC website and informational videos regarding on campus sanitation and procedures. Information can also be found in both English and Spanish. Lastly, the ED believes that local education stakeholders should reach out to the community for a better connection and information platform. By using surveys, virtual town halls and outreach activities, a stronger connection is formed with Laredo families. However, they warn that the outreach should reach the entire community, specifically families in rural areas that may not have full access to the internet. With the outreach, school districts would have the opportunity to use the information to then have data regarding their community and use it in federal purposes. A second volume is estimated to arrive in late February or early March. It will cover and focus on the disruptions created by the pandemic, including the strain it inflicts on students, staff and faculty, the ED states. It will also cover how to address lost instructional time, equitable access to broadband internet, school nutrition and more. cocampo@lmtonline.com The decision of Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro to replace the chief executive of oil major Petrobras triggered investor panic and a selloff that led to a slump in the company's shares yesterday that can be measured in billions. Bolsonaro ousted Roberto Castello Blanco after less than three years at the Petrobras helm and replaced him with former defense minister and army general Joaquim Silva e Luna. As a result, banks and analyst agencies rushed to downgrade the company's credit ratings and shares in Petrobras took a 22-percent plunge on Monday after the news broke, shedding some $13 billion from its market value. "A good reputation is hard to earn and easy to lose," said one analyst, as quoted by Reuters. The replacement of the Petrobras top man follows a spat between Bolsonaro and Castello Blanco regarding diesel prices. Petrobras and its chief executive have been calling for diesel and gasoline price hikes to reflect the oil price situation on international markets. However, price hikes like that tend to spark protests, which is why Bolsonaro instituted a two-month cut in diesel price taxes starting March 1. This happened after Petrobras announced the fourth price increase at the pump since the start of the year, setting its chief executive on a collision course with the president, prompting the latter to say last week that "something will happen at Petrobras in the coming days," per a Reuters report. The threat followed comments made by Castello Blanco about the possibility of a truckers' strike in response to higher prices. Bolsonaro has made it clear on numerous occasions that he and Castello Blanco do not see eye to eye. As Reuters recalls, the president even mocked the Petrobras CEO for social distancing since the start of the pandemic. The current Petrobras chief executive, let's be very clear, has been at home for 11 months without working, working remotely. Now, the boss has to be on the front line, Bolsonaro said recently. "This is for me unacceptable," he added. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.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. U.S. efforts to detect dangerous, fast-moving COVID-19 mutations that are already bedeviling states remain slim and disconnected as the Biden administration seeks to speed up the process. While as many as 7,000 to 8,000 samples are being analyzed weekly, thats just 1.7% of the 463,843 new cases in the U.S. last week, making it little more than a random effort. Meanwhile, three highly-contagious variants have gained significant footholds in the country, with two showing an ability to evade though not yet overcome existing vaccines. State health departments directly send just 770 of the samples analyzed by U.S. health officials, with the rest coming from academic, commercial and state labs. That can lead to over-sampling in areas where labs are located. And the academic labs often have little direct contact with local health departments that need to swiftly start contact tracing to control spread, said David Haussler, scientific director at the University of California-Santa Cruz Genomics Institute. We should be doing vastly more, Haussler said in a telephone interview. With that light level of sampling, by the time you notice it, its already spread too far to do anything about it. The U.S. should model their efforts after the U.K., he added. That country reported a 10.9% sequencing rate for samples collected during the last week in January. Variants that have emerged from the U.K., South Africa and Brazil are all now circulating in the U.S., according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with at least 1,688 cases identified since the first of the three turned up in the country less than two months ago. States in the Great Plains region, where cases are increasing again, rank in the bottom half in the country for cumulative samples sequenced and published publicly, according to data from the CDC. Since January 2020, North Dakota and Nebraska have sequenced just 0.1% of cases and South Dakota has only sequenced 0.09%. Hawaii, Maine, Wyoming, Washington and Utah rank among the highest, ranging from 1.6% to 3.5%. National and academic labs are producing the rest of the samples in a system that Anthony Fauci, a top adviser to President Joe Biden on the pandemic, said on Thursday hasnt been interconnected. Were trying to build the plane as were flying it, said Stacia Wyman, senior genomics scientist at the University of California-Berkeleys Innovative Genomics Institute. From sample acquisition to preparation, sequencing, analysis and public health responses, the national scale-up of genomic sequencing requires tremendous logistics and coordination, she added. Fauci, who also serves as head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and CDC chief Rochelle Walensky both said last week that the administration is moving quickly to improve the system. On Wednesday, Walensky said the Biden Administration now plans to spend $200 million to update its sequencing efforts. Under the plan, the number of samples sequenced would grow three-fold to about 25,000 weekly. The new funding should make a huge difference on the current pace and geography of sequencing, according to Wyman. In the U.S., you have a couple of hubs where a lot of sequencing has been going on, she said. And then just vast expanses where theres barely any at all. The turnaround time for getting samples sequenced and uploaded is crucial to make an impact on public health, she added. Wymans lab has gotten their turnaround time down to two weeks, she said, and that time could shorten by scaling up volume and batching samples together. Beyond sequencing and analysis, scientists say they need access to metadata such as the travel history related to samples to improve public health responses. Recently, Wyman sequenced samples from an outbreak on campus at the University of California-Berkeley. She was able to confirm that the outbreak was unrelated to a variant detected in other parts of California. And based on the genomic data, she suggested a link to large events happening on campus and coordinated with university health services to respond. These types of connections have to happen across the country between local health departments and scientists, Wyman said. Right now, hurdles remain for scientists to access sequencing metadata without active research studies that require review, board approvals and patient consent. Wyman has signed up to volunteer with the local health department just to be able to access more information about the samples shes sequencing. Fauci also believes the added funding will make a difference, along with increasing collaboration between the CDC and the National Institutes of Health, which is also part of the plan. I think reasonably soon, were going to have a rapid acceleration to doing much more genomic sequence surveillance than we have, he said during an interview on MSNBC. And that will likely give us better eyes on whats going on in the community vis-a-vis the dynamics of the virus. Public health laboratories in states can already share and access metadata with local public health departments, but they do not have enough staff and need funding to hire more, said Kelly Wroblewski, director of infectious disease programs at the Association of Public Health Laboratories. Up until recently, diagnostic testing has been the overwhelming priority, she said. A lot of their sequencing staff has been pulled to do the diagnostic testing. Wroblewski said she is hopeful that the recent funding will serve as a stopgap until more funds come through from the U.S. Congress, and that some of it will be invested in building infrastructure at public health labs. The association has 41 public health laboratories in 33 different states that actively do sequencing, for a total of roughly 4,500-5,000 samples a week. Of particular concern, is the deadly variant known as B.1.351 from South Africa that was first found in the U.S. on Jan. 28. It has now infected 22 Americans in 10 states, according to the CDC. A study of that swift-moving mutation released on Thursday found that the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE vaccine provides a weaker response to it than to the original strain. The vaccine is still considered effective against the variant, but researchers said its unclear what the lab data means in practice. The mutation that emerged from the U.K., meanwhile, has been particularly aggressive, identified in 1,661 cases in 44 states as of Sunday, according to the CDC. Federal officials have expressed concern it could soon become dominant nationwide. The mutation that emerged from Brazil is the latest to reach U.S. shores. Its now been identified in five cases in four states Maryland, Florida, Oklahoma and Minnesota. Its not clear any of these highly-contagious mutations are necessarily deadlier. But the increased level of contagion alone is a problem, with more transmissions potentially leading to further surges before the vaccination campaign can take hold. ___ Jill R. Shah of Bloomberg News wrote this story. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2021 Bloomberg L.P. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC West Bengal Chief Minister on Tuesday visited the residence of MP Abhishek Banerjee ahead of the CBI examination of his wife in the coal theft case. The supremo was at the Abhishek's house for around ten minutes. Rujira Banerjee, the wife of Abhishek, had responded to the CBI's summons in the alleged coal pilferage scam and asked the central agency to send its team to her residence for examination between 11 am and 3 pm on Tuesday. The CBI had on Sunday asked her to join the probe. (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 search has ended for a Salinas man who drowned after attempting to save his son from the punishing waves at a nearby beach. George Botello, 32, was at Moss Landing State Beach with his family Sunday afternoon when his 12-year-old was pushed down into the ocean by a wave and swept deep into the waters. Botello was able to swim to his son. But Monterey County Sheriff's spokesman Derrell Simpson told KSBW in Salinas that "he got pulled out to sea pretty quickly." His wife also attempted to rescue their son, but swam back after realizing the waters were too intense. "A bystander witnessed it, jumped in and actually rescued the 12-year-old child and got him safely to shore," Simpson told KSBW. An earlier sheriff's report stated that the 12-year-old was able to swim back himself to a nearby jetty, and family members were able to pull him out. By the time a lifeguard tried to reach Botello, he went underwater for the last time. "The other family member was seen further out in the waters then they lost sight of him," a sheriff's statement shared on Facebook read. "While the lifeguard was paddling the paddleboard out to sea, the man went under for the last time and he wasn't able to be located very close, just tragic, Simpson told the news outlet. The search, coordinated by Monterey County's Sheriff's Office, California State Parks, the Monterey Fire Department and the Coast Guard, was called off Monday afternoon. The effort involved a dive team, helicopters and a drone. "The parents are to be commended; they both put themselves in harms way to save a child they loved and it's a tragic accident, Simpson told KSBW. The sheriff's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from SFGATE. (Reuters) - Luxury electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors on Monday agreed to go public by merging with blank-check firm Churchill Capital IV Corp in a deal that valued the combined company at $11.75 billion. Lucid, run by an ex-Tesla engineer, is the latest firm to tap the initial public offering market, with investors rushing into the EV sector, spurred by the rise of Tesla Inc and with emissions regulations toughening in Europe and elsewhere. Other prominent players in the sector went public through mergers with so-called special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) last year. ... Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz enjoyed an emotional chat on Monday over Zoom to mark Drew's 46th birthday. Cameron, 48, appeared on Drew's chat show as a surprise Zoom guest, with Drew becoming tearful as they talked about their long-term friendship and revealing they have a nickname for one another: Poo Poo. 'Truly one of the great joys of my life is our friendship,' Cameron - who starred alongside her pal in Charlie's Angels and its subsequent sequel 20 years ago - said. Revealed: Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz's nickname for one another is Poo Poo 'When I think about you, literally I will cry, because I just think youre so special and to celebrate you every year, its one of my favorite times of the year.' Drew replied: 'Youve made me a better person my whole life. And youve seen me through everything. Ugly, beautiful, loss, life, birth.' When the idea of a third Charlie's Angels movie was mentioned, Drew said: 'Im glad that people feel that way.' 'Ill be grannies in inner tubes with Poo Poo, so we can do anything and everything as long as were together. I have a whole life to live with you,' Drew added to Cameron, revealing her nickname for her pal. Tearful: 'When I think about you, literally I will cry, because I just think youre so special and to celebrate you every year, its one of my favorite times of the year,' Cameron gushed. Drew replied - 'Youve made me a better person my whole life. And youve seen me through everything. Ugly, beautiful, loss, life, birth' Surprise! Cameron, 48, appeared on Drew's chat show as a surprise Zoom guest for her 46th birthday on Monday, with Drew becoming tearful as they talked about their long-term friendship 'Truly one of the great joys of my life is our friendship,' Cameron - who starred alongside her pal in Charlie's Angels and its subsequent sequel 20 years ago - said [pictured with co-star Lucy Liu in 2000] Drew also revealed the only person she lets sleep in a bed with her - aside from romantic partners - is Cameron. 'I dont like co-sleeping with anyone, its a thing. I dont know why but its my thing. If its like a lover then obviously thats different, but no friends. I will sleep in a bathtub, Ive slept on a pool table, like you name it, but this one, oh my gosh. 'Weve lived together for periods of time, been roommates. Ive slept in a tent while my fever was breaking on a Chilean mountain in a thunderstorm in, like, Patagonia. I mean, yeah, weve been everywhere together.' Drew is mother to daughters Frankie and Olive, who also wished her a happy birthday during the special episode of her daytime chat show. As guest host Savannah Guthrie announced Olive, eight, and Frankie, six, had taped a message for their mom, Drew gasped, put her hands up to her face and teared up. They go way back: Drew also revealed the only person she lets sleep in a bed with her - aside from romantic partners - is Cameron Emotional: Drew was moved to tears when her little girls wished her a happy birthday during a very special episode of her daytime chat show The girls narrated a short animated clip in which they appeared as cats. 'Hi, Mom! Olive and I wanted to send you a special message on your birthday, so here it goes,' Frankie began. They then recited their tribute to the former child star and actress who turned 46 on Monday. 'We love you more than squirrels and pearls, or eating cheese in the breeze,' the girls said. Surprise: As guest host Savannah Guthrie announced Olive, eight, and Frankie, six, had taped a message for their mom, Drew gasped, put her hands up to her face and teared up Sweet: The girls narrated a short animated clip in which they appeared as cats. 'Hi, Mom! Olive and I wanted to send you a special message on your birthday, so here it goes,' Frankie began Cute poem: 'We love you more than squirrels and pearls, or eating cheese in the breeze,' the girls said. 'We love you more than holding hands, or swinging on the trapeze 'We love you more than holding hands, or swinging on the trapeze,' they said. 'We love you so much it makes us nuts, we love you so much with all our guts.' Frankie then concluded: 'There's only one thing left to say. You're the best mom in the world. Happy birthday!' Drew shares her daughters with ex-husband Will Kopelman from whom she split in 2016 after four years of marriage. The two have been amicably co-parenting Olive and Frankie ever since. So much love: Frankie concluded: 'There's only one thing left to say. You're the best mom in the world. Happy birthday!' Family: Drew shares her daughters with ex-husband Will Kopelman from whom she split in 2016 after four years of marriage. The two have been amicably co-parenting Olive and Frankie ever since It wasn't the only time Drew got emotional during the special episode of The Drew Barrymore Show. Several of her very famous friends from her four-decade Hollywood career also sent birthday greetings or stopped by the taping. Cameron Diaz, Steven Spielberg and David Letterman all surprised Drew on the show, dropping in to reminds her of some of her most unforgettable moments. 'Let's get the party started,' shouted Diaz as she kicked off the celebrations. Letterman appeared in the studio in-person, shocking the 40 First Dates actress and, a little overwhelmed, she hid her hand behind her face. Others taking part in the show airing Monday included Jimmy Fallon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chelsea Handler, Henry Winkler, Tyra Banks, Molly Shannon, Tom Green, Nicole Richie, Keith Morrison, DJ D-Nice, Gordon Ramsay and Chloe Fineman. Overcome: It wasn't the only time Drew got emotional during the special episode of The Drew Barrymore Show. Several of her very famous friends from her four-decade Hollywood career also sent birthday greetings or stopped by the taping Bestie: 'Let's get the party started,' shouted Drew's close friend and Charlie's Angels co-star Cameron Diaz as she kicked off the celebrations Upstate New York protester Martin Gugino, who suffered a fractured skull after being shoved to the ground by two Buffalo police officers during a Black Lives Matter protest last year, is suing the police, the city and the mayor. Attorneys for Gugino, 75, on Monday filed the lawsuit in federal court, claiming that the man's constitutional rights to freedom of speech, peaceful assembly and due process, among others, were violated during the incident that took place outside Buffalo City Hall on June 4. It also alleges forcible assault without warning by police officers. The complaint names as defendants the City of Buffalo, Mayor Byron Brown, Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood, Deputy Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia, and police officers Robert McCabe, Aaron Torgalski, and John Losi. Scroll down for video Black Lives Matter protester Martin Gugino, 75, on Monday filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming his constitutional rights were violated when he was shoved by cops Gugino was pushed to the ground in front of Buffalo City Hall in New York on June 4 Officers walked past as the 75-year-old lay on the ground, visibly bleeding from his ear Viral video captured the moment McCabe and Torgalski pushed Gugino to the ground and left him lying on the sidewalk with blood pouring from his right ear. The lawsuit alleges that the third officer named as a defendant in the complaint, Losi, was the one who instructed McCabe and Torgalski to shove him, as the rest of the police team 'yelled out in chorus, "push him, push him."' Gugino suffered a fractured skull and spent four weeks in the hospital recovering from his injury. In the aftermath of the protest, McCabe and Torgalski were charged with felony assault counts and suspended without pay, but earlier this month a grand jury dismissed the charges. 'If the roles were reversed, and Gugino pushed a BPD officer who then fractured his skull, he would have been immediately indicted, and for good reason,' plaintiff's attorney Richard Weisbeck said in a news release. Gugino's lawsuit accuses the officers of pushing him without warning while enforcing what they described as an unconstitutional 8pm curfew that had been imposed by the mayor, and the other defendants of trying to cover it up, reported Buffalo News. In the complaint, Gugino also argues that his rights to petition the government for redress of grievance, movement, unreasonable seizures and freedom from the unlawful use of force by government agents, were violated. The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and unspecified monetary damages 'in an amount sufficient to punish them and deter others from similar conduct,' reported NBC News. Buffalo police initially said in a statement that a person 'was injured when he tripped and fell,' but following an outcry Captain Jeff Rinaldo announced that an internal affairs investigation was opened, and Mayor Brown went on television to reassure the public that it was not their intention to mislead anyone. Torgalski and McCabe are still suspended, pending an internal inquiry, WIVB reported, although they are now back on the pay roll. Gugino said in October that he was fine, although he was left with permanent damage to his ear. 'Look, I'm up, got a cane, no problem. I'm good,' he said. 'The city is not good. 'These were not two especially bad officers. The whole system is wrong. Aaron Torgalski (left) and Robert McCabe were cleared by a grand jury on Thursday Martin Gugino, 75, suffered a fractured skull when he was shoved by two police on June 4 'The curfew is wrong. Mayor [Byron] Brown needs to be taught what the First Amendment means. The chief of police, whatever training he gave these guys is not right. 'You are allowed to protest on the sidewalk. Protest is the American way.' Gugino was asked if he saw the video of the incident. 'I didn't see it until a few days later. I thought, 'Wow. That's not good,'' he recalled. He said there was no justification for what happened to him. 'Fall down, hit your head, blood comes out of your ear, carted off unconscious - there's no reason for that,' he said. John Evans, president of the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association, said earlier this month they were pleased with the grand jury's decision to not indict the officers, and argued Torgalski and McCabe were simply following orders. 'As we have stated all along, Officers McCabe and Torgalski were simply following departmental procedures and the directives of their superiors to clear Niagara Square despite working under extremely challenging circumstances.' Iran officially started restricting international inspections of its nuclear facilities Tuesday, a bid to pressure European countries and U.S. President Joe Biden's administration to lift crippling economic sanctions and restore the 2015 nuclear deal. World powers slammed the restrictions as a ``dangerous'' move. It came as the International Atomic Energy Agency reported in a confidential document distributed to member countries and seen by The Associated Press that Iran had added 17.6 kilograms (38.8 pounds) of uranium enriched to 20% to its stockpile as of Feb. 16. It was the first official confirmation of plans Iran announced in January to enrich to the greater purity, which is just a technical step away from weapons-grade levels and far past the 3.67% purity allowed under the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. It also increased its stockpile of low enriched uranium to 2,967.8 kilograms (6,542.9 pounds), up from 2,442.9 kilograms (5,385.7 pounds) reported on Nov. 2, the IAEA reported. Iran's violations of the JCPOA and the move Tuesday to limit international inspections underscores the daunting task facing Biden as he seeks to reverse former President Donald Trump's decision to pull the U.S. unilaterally out of the deal in 2018. That left Germany, France, Britain, China and Russia struggling to keep it alive. The JCPOA was the most significant pact between Iran and major world powers since its 1979 Islamic revolution, and Germany, France and Britain stressed their commitment Tuesday to preserving it, urging Iran to ``stop and reverse all measures that reduce transparency.'' ``The E3 are united in underlining the dangerous nature of this decision,'' the European powers said in a statement. ``It will significantly constrain the IAEA's access to sites and to safeguards-relevant information.'' Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said a new law had gone into effect Tuesday morning, under which Iran will no longer share surveillance footage of its nuclear facilities with the U.N. agency. ``We never gave them live video, but (recordings) were given daily and weekly,'' Zarif said of the IAEA's access to information recorded by camera monitors. ``The tape recording of our (nuclear) program will be kept in Iran.'' The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Tehran's civilian nuclear agency, has promised to preserve the tapes for three months, then hand them over to the IAEA _ but only if granted sanctions relief. Otherwise, Iran has vowed to erase the tapes, narrowing the window for a diplomatic breakthrough. Since Trump pulled the U.S. out of the JCPOA, Iran has gradually been violating its restrictions to put pressures on the remaining nations to come up with economic incentives to offset crippling American sanctions. In addition to surpassing the purity and stockpiles allowed, Iran has also been spinning advanced centrifuges, and producing uranium metal. Zarif stressed in a tweet Tuesday that Iran's new limits on nuclear inspections and other violations of the pact are reversible, insisting that the U.S. move first to revive the deal. In a show of defiance, Cabinet spokesman Ali Rabiei outlined further developments in Iran's nuclear program on Tuesday. Over the last three weeks, he told reporters, Iran has installed and started feeding gas into an additional 148 high-tech IR2-m centrifuges at its Natanz nuclear enrichment facility and its fortified nuclear complex at Fordo, bringing the total number of centrifuges to up to 492. Another set of 492 centrifuges will be installed in the coming month, he said. He added that Iran has installed two cascades of even more advanced centrifuges at its nuclear enrichment facilities, but did not specify where. On Monday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also signaled Iran would refuse to capitulate to U.S. pressure over its nuclear program. Khamenei said that Iran could enrich uranium up to 60% purity if necessary, but stressed the country forbids nuclear weapons. Tehran has long insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, such as power generation and medical research. The Biden administration has said it's ready to join talks with Iran and world powers to discuss a return to the deal. Zarif responded to the overture cautiously on Tuesday, saying that Iran is ``assessing the idea of an unofficial meeting`` with the parties to the accord ``in which America is invited as a non-member.'' In further diplomatic moves, the new U.S. administration rescinded the Trump-imposed U.N. sanctions and eased restrictions on the domestic travel of Iranian diplomats posted to the United Nations. Rabiei praised the steps on Tuesday but threw cold water on hopes for a swift revival of the deal. ``While we consider this as putting America on a constructive path, we see (the steps) as extremely insufficient,`` he said. Before Iran implemented its new restrictions on IAEA inspections, the agency's Director-General Rafael Grossi negotiated a temporary deal during an emergency weekend trip to Tehran allowing him to keep the same number of inspectors on the ground. Still, he conceded there would be ``less access'' and urged a political solution during the three-month window of opportunity opened by the ``technical understanding'' he reached with Iran. Short link: Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya has called on Belarusians to continue their protests with street rallies on March 25 against Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who has run the country since 1994. In a statement posted on Telegram on February 22, Tsikhanouskaya said that in the last several months Lukashenka has "not just caused a terrible crisis in Belarus, but has become the main threat to the country's independence." "[Lukashenka] is trying to sell Belarus piece by piece in exchange for loans and support," Tsikhanouskaya's statement said, hinting at Lukashenka's talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin held on the same day in Russia. Putin has supported Lukashenka during ongoing protests that started after Lukashenka was officially declared the winner of the August 9 presidential election. Tsikhanouskaya reminded her supporters that March 25 is unofficially marked by Belarusians each year as Dzen Voli (Freedom Day) to honor the anniversary of the short-lived Belarusian People's Republic, which existed for less than a year in 1918. "I call on all the Belarusians to begin getting ready for that day now -- to mobilize the protest spirit, create safety groups, to plan returning to the streets of your cities. Because the only force that can prevent our country's being sold out is the Belarusian people," Tsikhanouskaya wrote. Tsikhanouskaya is currently in Lithuania, where she relocated for security reasons after the presidential election that she and her supporters say she won. Lukashenka's victory declaration has sparked continuous protests that have seen tens of thousands take to the streets demanding that he leave. Security officials have cracked down hard on the demonstrators, arresting thousands and pushing most top opposition figures out of the country. Several protesters have been killed in the violence, some were handed prison terms, while rights organizations say there is credible evidence of torture being used against some of those detained. Lukashenka, meanwhile, has denied any wrongdoing and refuses to negotiate on stepping down and holding new elections. The European Union, the United States, Canada, and other countries have refused to recognize Lukashenka, 66, as the legitimate leader of Belarus and have imposed sanctions on him and senior Belarusian officials in response to the "falsification" of the vote and the postelection crackdown. On February 23, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said the EU may impose further sanctions on Belarus after Minsk last week jailed two journalists for filming protests. "Unfortunately, the situation in Belarus is constantly deteriorating, so more sanctions are likely to be imposed. The list of political prisoners becomes longer. Also two Belsat journalists were added to the list," Poland's state news agency PAP quoted Rau as saying. Last week a Belarusian court jailed two Belarusian journalists from Belsat, a Poland-based satellite television station focusing on Belarus, for two years on charges of orchestrating protests against Lukashenka. Katsiaryna Andreyeva, 27, and Darya Chultsova, 23, were detained in November after they reported live from a rally against the death of an anti-government protester. With reporting by Reuters First Fiscal Quarter of Fiscal Year 2021 results: Cash sales totaled RMB962 million Net revenues totaled RMB685 million , at the high-end of the guided range of RMB600 million to RMB700 million Average monthly student enrollments totaled 148,134 470 learning centers as of November 30,2020 , increasing from 434 learning centers a year ago SHANGHAI, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- OneSmart International Education Group Limited (NYSE: ONE) ("OneSmart" or the "Company"), the leading premium K-12 after-school education services provider in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the first fiscal quarter ended November 30, 2020. Highlights for the First Fiscal Quarter Ended November 30, 2020 Since the beginning of the fiscal Q1, our offline operations have continuously experienced a strong recovery due to customer preference for our premium tutoring, which includes personalized 1-on-1 tutoring and other school admission planning services. We are delighted to achieve the initial successful results from Go Premium Strategy with consumption upgrade in education sector. The newly-launched premium products are well received by our target customers and further strengthens our premium position in this space. Specifically, for our three core business units: OneSmart VIP (the leading premium K-12 1-on-1 business in China ): In the quarter, net revenues from OneSmart VIP business were RMB487 million , accounting for 71.1% of total net revenues. The average monthly student enrollments were 76,176. On a like-for-like basis for 1on1 programs (excluding 1on3 program), cash sales grew by 10.2% year over year, and the average monthly student enrollments were in line with the same period of the prior year. For year to date between September and January, the unit price of new purchase was RMB 44K per student on average basis, representing 73% year-over-year increase from same period of FY20. This indicates the robust demand for our products as school returns to normal schedules and improved customer experience of our upgraded 1on1 product, newly launched Elite VIP product, refurbished learning centers and services. OneSmart Young Children Education : HappyMath (premium young children math education business) and FasTrack English (premium young children English education business): Net revenues from OneSmart Young Children Education business were RMB141 million , accounting for 20.5% of total net revenues in the quarter. The average monthly student enrollments totaled 49,121, a year-over-year increase of 1.3%. During the quarter, the average unit price of new purchase improved by 14% and 29% year-over-year for HappyMath and FasTrack English respectively. OneSmart Online (the leading premium online education business in China ): Online platform is complementary to offline business with same price in the form of OMO take-out service. In the quarter, net revenues from OneSmart Online were RMB30 million , accounting for 4.4% of total net revenues. The average monthly student enrollments of OneSmart Online business totaled 10,596 during the quarter. "Go Premium" Strategic initiatives and Progress OneSmart VIP : In the fiscal Q1, Elite VIP program accounted for 12% of the cash sales from OneSmart VIP business. The Elite VIP product is developed to better address the customers' enhanced needs of one-stop school admission planning and provides a better upside on topline as it is priced 1.8 times of regular VIP product. We will continue to roll out Elite VIP and expect it to become a key growth driver to optimize our revenues mix in the future years. Since December 2020 , we have conducted a series of premium branding campaign and local marketing in the key cities, which largely enhanced OneSmart's premium brand awareness among target families in these cities. By the end of January 2021 , we upgraded 83% of our learning centers and opened 12 flagship VIP learning centers, to provide a premium learning center experience. We have also upgraded the teachers' profile for Elite VIP program by certifying 550 VIP teachers. Heading into the fiscal Q2, our operating metrics will continue to improve. In the fiscal Q2 to date, our cash sales improved by 29% year-over-year for OneSmart VIP business or 27% year-over-year for OneSmart VIP excluding 1on3 program. Recently, we have introduced contactless tutoring services to set up an industry-leading high standard of safety and cleanliness in offline learning centers, thus to further protect our teachers and students in response to the COVID-19 resurgence in certain cities. OneSmart Young Children Education : Cash sales had a sequential growth of 38% in the fiscal Q1, primarily driven by newly-launched premium products of "Practical Math Program ("PMP") and MBA Kids English for HappyMath and FasTrack English respectively. During the quarter, the average unit price of new purchase improved by 14% and 29% year-over-year for HappyMath and FasTrack English respectively. Cash sales for these premium products picked up quickly and accounted for 9% of total cash sales for young children education business in the fiscal Q1. The standard of safety and cleanliness is also upgraded in our HappyMath and FasTrack English learning centers to encourage a high attendance rate among young children students. As of the end of the fiscal Q1 2021, HappyMath achieved a retention rate of 80%, as high as the pre-COVID level. OneSmart Online : The online platform continues to drive incremental growth, as well as serves as a strategic backup option against COVID-19. We continuously improve the functionalities to enhance customer experience through our online platforms. The upgraded live online classrooms meet the requirements of multiple class formats and enhance the interactive teaching results and visualized effects. Our teachers are well trained to adapt to both online and offline teaching environment. Mr. Steve Zhang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of OneSmart, commented, "We are delighted to report a good start in fiscal 2021. All the key metrics are recovering, and the year-over-year comparison gaps are further narrowing. Our Go Premium Strategy is executed well on track with significant enhancements were made on products, teachers profiles, learning centers and premium brand awareness. Our recently launched Elite VIP product has achieved strong cash sales thanks to its distinguished value-added premium offerings in power learning ability and school admission planning, on top of the basic score improvement feature. Our teachers' profiles are continuously improving, and they are highly-selected and well-trained to satisfy students and parents' evolving needs for academic achievements. By the end of January 2021, we have refurbished 83% learning centers. The upgraded center study environments will provide a superb experience to our students. In addition, we are making great efforts on premium brand building and local marketing to reach our target customers more effectively. OneSmart's brand position of Premium Tutoring is rooted in target families mind evidenced by improved brand awareness in select cities. With the consumption upgrade in China's education sector, the premium K-12 after-school education sector is an enormous underserved market. We will continue to leverage our resourceful platform and our innovative products and services to capture the growth opportunities. As a leading premium tutoring service provider, we are confident to expand our market share in this fast-growing sector and to achieve RMB10 billion in cash sales by 2023." Key Financial Results (In thousands/RMB) VS 1Q VS 1Q 1Q FY2019 1Q FY2020 1Q FY2021 FY2020 change FY2019 change Net revenues 646,977 797,200 684,804 -14.1% 5.8% Gross profit 260,392 280,641 208,353 -25.8% -20.0% Operating (loss)/income (61,069) (114,698) (163,503) N.A. N.A. Non-GAAP operating(loss)/income (42,888) (86,776) (128,753) N.A. N.A. Net (loss)/income attributable to OneSmart (16,307) (89,933) (159,577) N.A. N.A. Non-GAAP net (loss)/ income attributable to OneSmart 1,874 (62,011) (124,827) N.A. N.A. Mr. Greg Zuo, OneSmart's Director, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategic Officer added, "We have moved to a new phase of growth post-pandemic and are proactively investing in our core business to build a long-term successful enterprise. Our company-wide cash sales year-over-year growth has continued to go up, recording 14%, 23% and 37% in the December 2020, January and mid-February 2021 respectively. The balance of our prepaid tuition has reached an all-time record level at RMB2.75 billion by fiscal Q1. This is a result of strong demand post normalized public school schedules, enhanced customer satisfaction thanks to our premium initiatives, and our enhanced student acquisition approach. The Go Premium strategy is structurally re-setting the unit economics of our business model, making it more financially attractive in the future. For year to date FY21, the average unit price of new purchase for our core VIP segment was RMB 44K per student, representing 73% year-over-year increase from same period of FY20. This set up a much higher per student revenue thus a much more robust unit economics down the road. Encouraged by the initial success of the Go Premium Strategy and justified by the increased revenue profile, we will continue to invest in our core products, teacher credentials, learning centers and build our premium brand. In the fiscal Q1, our marketing expenses accounted for 8% of cash sales, in line with pre-COVID FY2019 level. We primarily leverage our offline presence and resources to attract customers more effectively through building a higher brand awareness and creative local marketing activities, which mitigates the intensified online marketing competition. Our fiscal Q1 P&L results have not yet reflected recent strong cash sales momentum as it typically takes 1-2 quarters for sales to translate into class consumptions i.e. revenue recognition in our business. In addition, the fiscal Q1 is a typical low season for class consumption due to less intensive study and exam schedules in China - historically our revenue in FQ3 and FQ4 doubled that of FQ1. As a result, we observed temporary margin pressure in fiscal Q1. In addition, the margin is affected by those upfront investments in teachers, learning centers and marketing for the Go Premium Strategy. With the strong cash sales trend and significantly higher new sales ASP, we are optimistic about FY21 top-line performance, particularly in FQ3 & FQ4, the peak study season. We expect strong topline growth and margin expansion in H2 FY21. Lastly but importantly, we continued to strengthen our focus in the core business. We are pleased to announce the successful re-org and forming of a separate independent platform by combining several previously invested small-class K-12 tutoring businesses, including Tus-Juren and Tianjin Huaying, to better focus on the core 1on1 business. We believe in the tremendous potential in the premium 1on1 segment in the top-20 cities based on our in-depth understanding of customers' needs and trends. Such focus lays a solid foundation for both scale and profitability for the next few years." Financial Results for the First Fiscal Quarter Ended November 30, 2020 Net Revenues Net revenues were RMB684.8 million (US$104.1 million), a decrease of 14.1% from RMB797.2 million during the same period last year. The year-over-year decrease was mainly attributable to a drop in consumed class units as a result of the COVID-19 impact to students' study and exam schedules, partially offset by an increase in our ASP for class units consumed. The net revenues in the fiscal Q1 2021 were 5.8% higher than those in the fiscal Q1 2019. Operating Costs and Expenses Operating costs and expenses for the quarter were RMB848.3 million (US$129.0 million), a decrease of 7.0% from RMB911.9 million during the same period last year. Non-GAAP operating costs and expenses, which excludes share-based compensation expenses, were RMB813.6 million (US$123.7 million), a decrease of 8.0% from RMB884.0 million during the same period last year. Cost of revenues decreased by 7.8% year-over-year to RMB476.5 million ( US$72.5 million ). The year-over-year decrease was mainly attributable to lower staff cost relating to a decline in class units consumed, partially offset by the slight increases in rental costs and depreciation and amortization costs relating to VIP learning centers opening and upgrade in top cities; decreased by 7.8% year-over-year to ( ). The year-over-year decrease was mainly attributable to lower staff cost relating to a decline in class units consumed, partially offset by the slight increases in rental costs and depreciation and amortization costs relating to VIP learning centers opening and upgrade in top cities; Selling and marketing expenses decreased by 12.3% year-over-year to RMB170.9 million ( US$26.0 million ). Non-GAAP selling and marketing expenses, which excludes share-based compensation expenses, were RMB170.9 million ( US$26.0 million ) (accounting for 25.0% of net revenues or 17.8% of cash sales), a decrease of 12.3% from RMB194.8 million (accounting for 24.4% of net revenues or 17.6% of cash sales) during the same period last year. The slight year-over-year increase in ratio was primarily due to proactive branding and offline marketing activities to reach target families in the execution of Go Premium strategy, offset by more efficient selling spending; decreased by 12.3% year-over-year to ( ). Non-GAAP selling and marketing expenses, which excludes share-based compensation expenses, were ( ) (accounting for 25.0% of net revenues or 17.8% of cash sales), a decrease of 12.3% from (accounting for 24.4% of net revenues or 17.6% of cash sales) during the same period last year. The slight year-over-year increase in ratio was primarily due to proactive branding and offline marketing activities to reach target families in the execution of Go Premium strategy, offset by more efficient selling spending; General and administrative expenses increased by 0.2% year-over-year to RMB200.9 million ( US$30.6 million ). Non-GAAP general and administrative expenses, which excludes share-based compensation, were RMB166.3 million ( US$25.3 million ) (accounting for 24.3% of net revenues), a decrease of 3.7% from RMB172.7 million (accounting for 21.7% of net revenues) during the same period last year. The year-over-year increase in ratio was primarily due to the lower revenue in the fiscal Q1 as a result of COVID-19 impact. Total share-based compensation expenses, which were allocated to related operating expenses, were RMB34.8 million (US$5.3 million) in the first fiscal quarter of 2021, compared with RMB27.9 million in the same period of the prior fiscal year. Operating Income/Loss and Operating Margin Operating loss for the quarter was RMB163.5 million (US$24.9 million), compared with operating loss of RMB114.7 million in the same period of the prior fiscal year. Non-GAAP operating loss, which excludes shared-based compensation, was RMB128.8 million (US$19.6 million), compared with non-GAAP operating loss of RMB86.8 million during the same period of the prior fiscal year. Operating margin for the quarter was -23.9%, compared with -14.4% in the same period of the prior fiscal year. Non-GAAP operating margin was -18.8%, compared with -10.9% during the same period last year. The decrease of margin was mainly due to one-off revenue impact by COVID-19, coupled with increased investments in teacher profiles, learning centers and increased sales and marketing activities to support the Go Premium Strategy. Net interest expense was RMB23.5 million (US$3.6 million), compared with net interest income of RMB4.0 million during the same period last year. Other income, which mainly represents government subsidies and other gains, was RMB29.9 million (US$4.5 million), compared with RMB10.1 million during the same period last year. Income tax benefit was RMB12.3 million (US$1.9 million), compared with RMB3.4 million income tax benefit during the same period last year. Net Loss Attributable to OneSmart Net loss attributable to OneSmart was RMB159.6 million (US$24.3 million), compared with net loss of RMB89.9 million during the same period last year. Non-GAAP net loss attributable to OneSmart was RMB124.8 million (US$19.0 million), compared with net loss of RMB62.0 million during the same period last year. Capital Expenditures Capital expenditures for the first fiscal quarter of 2021 were RMB40.8 million (US$6.2 million), a decrease of 45.2% from RMB90.2 million in the first fiscal quarter of 2020. The decrease was mainly due to more selective expansion and upgrade in key cities. Financial Position As of November 30, 2020, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of RMB802.2 million (US$122.0 million), restricted cash of RMB182.4 million (US$27.7 million) and short-term investments of RMB464.0 million (US$70.6 million). As of November 30, 2020, the Company had short-term loan of RMB789.6 million (US$120.1 million) and long-term loan (including long-term and short-term portion) of RMB1,139.9 million (US$173.3 million), decreasing by RMB178.7 million from a quarter ago. OneSmart's prepayments from customers balance, which represents cash collected from enrolled students for courses and recognized proportionately as the training sessions are delivered, was RMB2,752.1 million (US$418.5 million) at the end of the first fiscal quarter of 2021, an increase of 13.5% from RMB2,425.7 million at the end of the first fiscal quarter of 2020. Cash Flow Net cash used in operating activities in the first fiscal quarter of 2021 was RMB72.4 million (US$11.0 million). Net cash used in investing activities in the first fiscal quarter of 2021 was RMB121.8 million (US$18.5 million). Net cash used in financing activities in the first fiscal quarter of 2021 was RMB146.9 million (US$22.3 million). Outlook for the Second Fiscal Quarter of Fiscal Year 2021 Based on the latest estimates, we expect to generate net revenues of RMB850 million to RMB950 million for the second quarter of fiscal year 2021, representing 24% to 39% increase from the first quarter of fiscal year 2021. We expect the full year net revenues to reach above the pre-COVID FY19 level. However, this outlook represents OneSmart's current view, which is subject to change. Exchange Rate Information This announcement contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars at a specified rate solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to U.S. dollars are made at the noon buying rate on November 30, 2020, as set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, which was RMB6.5760 to USD1.00. Conference Call Information OneSmart's management will hold an earnings conference call at 7:00 AM on Tuesday, February 23, 2021, U.S. Eastern Time (8:00 PM on the same day Beijing/Hong Kong Time). Dial-in numbers for the live conference call are as follows: International 1-412-902-4272 Mainland China 4001-201-203 US 1-888-346-8982 Hong Kong 800-905-945 Passcode OneSmart A telephone replay of the call will be available after the conclusion of the conference call through March 02, 2021. Dial-in numbers for the replay are as follows: International Dial-in 1-412-317-0088 U.S. Toll Free 1-877-344-7529 Passcode: 10152317 Additionally, a live and archived webcast of this conference call will be available at: http://ir.onesmart.org. About OneSmart Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Shanghai, OneSmart International Education Group Limited is a leading premium K-12 after-school education company in China. Our vision is to be the most trusted and heart-warming education company and our mission is POWER LEARNING changes the future with technology advancement. Our company culture is centered on the core values of customer focus, excellence, integrity, and technology and innovation. The Company has built a comprehensive premium K-12 education platform that encompasses OneSmart VIP business, HappyMath, and FasTrack English, and OneSmart Online. As of November 30, 2020, OneSmart operates a nationwide network of 470 learning centers in China. For more information on OneSmart, please visit http://ir.onesmart.org. Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements made under the "safe harbor" provisions of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar statements. OneSmart may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its reports filed with or furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Any statements that are not historical facts, including statements about OneSmart's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements that involve factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such factors and risks include, but not limited to the following: OneSmart's goals and strategies; its future business development, financial condition and results of operations; its ability to continue to penetrate premium K-12 after-school education services market; diversify and enrich our education offerings; enhance the development and management of our teacher team and teaching materials; competition in our industry in China; its ability to maintain and expand online education presence; relevant government policies and regulations relating to the corporate structure, business and industry; and its ability to protect our students' information and adequately address privacy concerns. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release is current as of the date of the press release, and OneSmart does not undertake any obligation to update such information, except as required under applicable law. Non-GAAP Financial Measures In evaluating its business, OneSmart considers and uses the following measures defined as non-GAAP financial measures by the SEC as supplemental metrics to review and assess its operating performance: non-GAAP operating costs and expenses, non-GAAP selling and marketing expenses, non-GAAP general and administrative expenses, non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP net income attributable to OneSmart. To present each of these non-GAAP measures, the Company excludes share-based compensation expenses. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. For more information on these non-GAAP financial measures, please see the table captioned "Reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures" set forth at the end of this release. OneSmart believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding its performance and liquidity by excluding share-based compensation expenses that may not be indicative of its operating performance from a cash perspective. OneSmart believes that both management and investors benefit from these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing its performance and when planning and forecasting future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate management's internal comparisons to OneSmart's historical performance and liquidity. OneSmart computes its non-GAAP financial measures using the same consistent method from quarter to quarter and from period to period. OneSmart believes these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors in allowing for greater transparency with respect to supplemental information used by management in its financial and operational decision making. A limitation of using non-GAAP measures is that these non-GAAP measures exclude share-based compensation charges that have been and will continue to be for the foreseeable future a significant recurring expense in the Company's business. Management compensates for these limitations by providing specific information regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from each non-GAAP measure. The accompanying tables have more details on the reconciliations between GAAP financial measures that are most directly comparable to non-GAAP financial measures. For more information, please contact: OneSmart Ms. Ida Yu +86-21-2250-5891 E-mail: [email protected] ICA (Institutional Capital Advisory) Mr. Kevin Yang Phone: +86-021-8028-6033 E-mail: [email protected] ONESMART INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION GROUP LIMITED UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Amounts in thousands) As of As of As of August 31, November 30, November 30, 2020 2020 2020 RMB RMB US$ (Audited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) ASSETS Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents 1,158,044 802,188 121,987 Restricted cash 187,241 182,367 27,732 Short-term investments 486,756 464,001 70,560 Amounts due from a related party 491 9,947 1,513 Prepayments and other current assets 344,870 529,163 80,466 Total current assets 2,177,402 1,987,666 302,258 Non-current assets: Property and equipment, net 581,248 556,428 84,615 Intangible assets, net 277,953 263,336 40,045 Long-term investments 1,048,178 1,057,165 160,761 Operating lease right-of-use assets 1,481,196 1,484,584 225,758 Goodwill 1,481,401 1,468,271 223,277 Deferred tax assets 191,721 210,916 32,074 Amounts due from a related party 20,400 20,400 3,102 Other non-current assets 638,892 627,121 95,365 Total non-current assets 5,720,989 5,688,221 864,997 Total assets 7,898,391 7,675,887 1,167,255 LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY Current liabilities: Short-term loans (including short-term loans of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of RMB789,550 and RMB789,550 (US$120,065) as of August 31,2020 and November 30, 2020, respectively) 789,550 789,550 120,065 Amounts due to a related party (including due to a related party of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of RMB14,447 and RMB14,580 (US$2,217) as of August 31, 2020 and November 30, 2020, respectively) 14,447 14,580 2,217 Long-term loans, current portion (including long-term loans, current portion of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of RMB98,280 and RMB90,000 (US$13,686) as of August 31, 2020 and November 30, 2020, respectively) 295,433 325,398 49,483 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities (including accrued expenses and other current liabilities of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of RMB642,674 and RMB634,996 (US$96,563)as of August 31, 2020 and November 30, 2020, respectively) 889,055 781,255 118,804 Income taxes payable (including income taxes payable of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of RMB93,156 and RMB100,344(US$15,259) as of August 31, 2020 and November 30, 2020, respectively) 97,720 101,449 15,427 Prepayments from customers (including prepayments from customers of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of RMB2,547,444 and RMB2,752,028(US$418,496)as of August 31, 2020 and November 30, 2020, respectively) 2,547,493 2,752,077 418,503 Operating lease liabilities, current portion (including operating lease liabilities, current portion of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of RMB483,056 and RMB505,558 (US$76,879) as of August 31, 2020 and November 30, 2020, respectively) 483,056 505,558 76,879 Total current liabilities 5,116,754 5,269,867 801,378 Non-current liabilities: Deferred tax liabilities (including deferred tax liabilities of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of RMB71,021 and RMB69,883(US$10,627) as of August 31, 2020 and November 30, 2020, respectively) 71,025 69,886 10,627 Long-term loans (including long-term loan of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of RMB291,781 andRMB247,500 (US$37,637) as of August 31, 2020 and November 30, 2020, respectively) 1,023,151 814,453 123,852 Convertible senior notes (including convertible senior notes of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of nil as of August 31, 2020 and November 30, 2020, respectively) 239,659 230,160 35,000 Unrecognized tax benefit (including liability for unrecognized tax benefit of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of RMB29,610 and RMB29,463 (US$4,480) as of August 31, 2020 and November 30, 2020, respectively) 29,610 29,463 4,480 Operating lease liabilities, non-current portion (including operating lease liabilities, non-current portion of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of RMB929,135 and RMB909,726 (US$138,340) as of August 31, 2020 and November 30, 2020, respectively) 929,135 909,726 138,340 Other non-current liabilities (including other non-current liabilities of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of RMB23,084 and RMB23,084 (US$3,510) as of August 31, 2020 and November 30, 2020, respectively) 47,084 46,133 7,015 Total non-current liabilities 2,339,664 2,099,821 319,314 Total liabilities 7,456,418 7,369,688 1,120,692 Commitments and contingencies Shareholders' equity: Class A ordinary shares (US$0.000001 par value; 37,703,157,984 shares authorized; 4,146,103,947 issued and outstanding as of August 31, 2020 and 4,159,755,667 issued and outstanding as of November 30, 2020, respectively) 26 26 4 Class B ordinary shares (US$0.000001 par value; 2,296,842,016 issued and outstanding as of August 31, 2020 and November 30, 2020, respectively) 16 16 2 Treasury stock (274,648) (274,648) (41,765) Additional paid-in capital 5,598,978 5,635,677 857,007 Statutory reserves 12,270 12,172 1,851 Accumulated deficits (5,035,172) (5,167,761) (785,852) Accumulated other comprehensive income 99,167 67,585 10,278 Total OneSmart International Education Group Limited shareholders' equity 400,637 273,067 41,525 Non-controlling interests 41,336 33,132 5,038 Total shareholders' equity 441,973 306,199 46,563 Total liabilities, non-controlling interests and shareholders' equity 7,898,391 7,675,887 1,167,255 ONESMART INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION GROUP LIMITED UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS (Amounts in thousands) For the three months ended November 30, 2019 2020 2020 RMB RMB US$ (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) Net revenues 797,200 684,804 104,137 Cost of revenues (516,559) (476,451) (72,453) Gross profit 280,641 208,353 31,684 Operating expenses: Selling and marketing (Note 1) (194,894) (170,914) (25,991) General and administrative (Note 1) (200,445) (200,942) (30,557) Total operating expenses (395,339) (371,856) (56,548) Operating loss (114,698) (163,503) (24,864) Interest income 29,736 2,587 393 Interest expense (25,691) (26,101) (3,969) Other income 10,126 29,863 4,541 Other expenses (8,697) (16,918) (2,573) Loss before income tax and share of net loss from equity investees (109,224) (174,072) (26,472) Income tax benefit 3,399 12,283 1,868 Loss before share of net loss from equity investees (105,825) (161,789) (24,604) Share of net loss from equity investees (3,834) (5,891) (896) Net loss (109,659) (167,680) (25,500) Add: Net loss attributable to non- controlling interests 19,726 8,103 1,232 Net loss attributable to OneSmart's shareholders (89,933) (159,577) (24,268) Note 1: Share-based compensation expenses are included in the operating costs and expenses as follows: For the three months ended November 30, 2019 2020 2020 RMB RMB US$ (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) Selling and marketing 143 61 9 General and administrative 27,779 34,689 5,275 Total 27,922 34,750 5,284 ONESMART INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION GROUP LIMITED UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME/(LOSS) (Amounts in thousands) For the three months ended November 30, 2019 2020 2020 RMB RMB US$ (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) Net loss (109,659) (167,680) (25,500) Other comprehensive income/(loss) Unrealized gain/(loss) on available-for-sale investments, net of tax (18,259) 6,427 977 Foreign currency translation adjustment 2,530 (38,009) (5,780) Comprehensive loss (125,388) (199,262) (30,303) Add: Comprehensive loss attributable to non-controlling interests 19,726 8,103 1,232 Comprehensive loss attributable to OneSmart's shareholders (105,662) (191,159) (29,071) ONESMART INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION GROUP LIMITED Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures to the Most Comparable GAAP Measures (Amounts in thousands) For the three months ended November 30, 2019 2020 2020 RMB RMB US$ (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) Selling and marketing expenses 194,894 170,914 25,991 Share-based compensation expense in selling and marketing expenses 143 61 9 Non-GAAP selling and marketing expenses 194,751 170,853 25,982 General and administrative expenses 200,445 200,942 30,557 Share-based compensation expense in general and administrative expenses 27,779 34,689 5,275 Non-GAAP general and administrative expenses 172,666 166,253 25,282 Operating costs and expenses 911,898 848,307 129,001 Share-based compensation expense in operating costs and expenses 27,922 34,750 5,284 Non-GAAP operating costs and expenses 883,976 813,557 123,717 Operating loss (114,698) (163,503) (24,864) Share-based compensation expenses 27,922 34,750 5,284 Non-GAAP operating loss (86,776) (128,753) (19,580) Net loss attributable to OneSmart's shareholders (89,933) (159,577) (24,268) Share-based compensation expenses 27,922 34,750 5,284 Non-GAAP net loss attributable to OneSmart (62,011) (124,827) (18,984) SOURCE OneSmart International Education Group Limited Related Links www.1smart.org MANZINI A prospective property owner at Mkhosi Township wants to be compensated with interest for paying an inflated price for her plot. Phumelele Dlamini submitted to the Zonke Magagula-led Commission of Enquiry on the Mkhosi Township Petition. The chairman of the commission, who is also a senior attorney, heard the allegations with the commissions member William Ndlela and the Secretary, Nhlanhla Nkonyane. Also present were representatives of the Manzini Municipal Council. This, Dlamini claimed, had to happen due to the provisional price that was availed to her for a plot which was valued at E33 160 measuring 547 square metres. Expectation I need interest on my E193 000 as I did not expect it would be with them (municipality) for two years. The interest should be accrued by the difference between E193 000 and the E33 160 which was the initial price of my plot, Dlamini said. The prospective property owner submitted that she was disappointed that the price was increased despite that the plot size had been minimised to 547 square metres while the initial plot had been 829 square metres. She purported that when she paid the hiked price for the plot, it was still for the old measurements. Dlamini relayed to the commission that her partaking in its proceedings followed signing of a petition wherein some of the people she endorsed it with were complaining that they were not afforded title deeds. However, her title deed was offered to her after she travelled to Mbabane and enquired about it. After her enquiry, Dlamini alleged that she paid about E13 000 for transfer costs. She further submitted to the commission that the municipality needed to avail signage that would identify plots as she had visited hers only to find that there were no markings identifying it. Submission Meanwhile, for a year, a prospective property owner at Mkhosi Township has been battling to get a title deed. Margaret Mahlobo made this submission before the commission. She claimed that despite the hike in her plot price, she used her pension to pay the price which was around E230 000. I took my pension money and paid something around E230 000. This is despite that the initial plot cost me about E40 000, she submitted. Mahlobo, when making her submissions to the commission, requested that she should be pardoned as it had been a long time since the project started. This was when commissioner Ndlela had sought her to state the details of her initial plot. The details he sought were the size of the plot, its price and its number. This was after Mahlobo had claimed that in the early years of the project, she had paid a deposit before being informed to suspend payments as some issues were being addressed. Following her submission that she had paid for the plot, the chairman sought to establish if she had physically seen her plot. In response, Mahlobo claimed that she had been shown the plot. Informed However, she purported that for a year, her title deed was still not with her as the Manzini Municipal Council informed her to collect her title deed at a law firm in Mbabane. Its been a year since I paid. I paid everything including transfer costs. I came once to the municipality to lodge a complaint and they informed me that maybe they were still processing (the title deed), she submitted. Her complaint, she submitted, was that she had been shocked that a plot that had been cheap had its price increased drastically. Mahlobo claimed that because she did not know whether her deposit would be refunded if she stopped paying, she proceeded to pay with her pension. She pleaded with the commission that if possible, could it review the pricing of the second offer as prospective property owners never had a platform to engage the municipality when the pricing changed. We had an agreement which was altered without consultation, she submitted. New Delhi: Ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has expressed his displeasure over the trading of Cryptocurrencies, stating a business TV channel that he will never buy them. Jhunjhunwala has also said that Centre should ban Cryptocurrencies. On the trading of bitcoins, he told CNBCs Street Signs Asia on Tuesday that it is "speculation of the highest order". Meanwhile, a a report in the Business Standard had said last week that government is contemplating to levy income-tax (I-T) and goods and services tax (GST) at the rate of 18 percent on gains and trading of bitcoins or related cryptocurrencies. Ahead of the presentation of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 in the Budget session of Parliament, as has been reported by several media publications, the report further added that both the taxes will be levied for the current fiscal year. Last year, a report in the Times of India, quoting officials said that the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB), an arm of the finance ministry had suggested that bitcoins can be categorised under intangible assets class, thus making it liable for GST levy. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance had issued statement on February 9 on Virtual Currencies stating that they are like Ponzi Schemes. Live TV #mute The Finance Ministry in its statement said that VCs are not backed by Government fiat. These are also not legal tender. Hence, VCs are not currencies. These are also being described as Coins. There is however no physical attribute to these coins. Therefore, Virtual Currencies (VCs) are neither currencies nor coins. The Government or Reserve Bank of India has not authorised any VCs as a medium of exchange. Further, the Government or any other regulator in India has not given license to any agency for working as exchange or any other kind of intermediary for any VC. Persons dealing in them must consider these facts and beware of the risks involved in dealing in VCs. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. BRANDE, Denmark, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NAME IT and VERO MODA are entering the world of live shopping, in partnership with Bambuser. NAME IT became the first BESTSELLER brand to launch a live shopping broadcasting platform, which they have dubbed NAME IT LIVE. NAME IT LIVE will broadcast several times per week, with prominent Danish influencers on occasion taking part as hosts or guests. Initially limited to a Danish audience, NAME IT LIVE's debut broadcast kicked off on Monday 22 February 2021. "We are extremely proud of being the first-ever Danish children's brand to launch a live shopping broadcast. This is a unique possibility for us to communicate with our customers in a whole new way. In the live streams we will highlight styles and trends, but also share more educational content like our Better Materials programme," says Matilde Louise Damsgaard, International Marketing Manager at NAME IT. VERO MODA expects to go live on Friday 26 February 2021 with a run of three shows in three days, with an initial focus on Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany. "Looking at stats, live viewings on Facebook spiked by 50 percent during lockdown, while viewings on Instagram surged by 70 percent. Meanwhile, 89 percent of consumers expect to increase their live shopping in the coming year," explains VERO MODA's Digital B2C Team Leader Anne-Katrine Bjerregaard Madsen. "So there's no doubt that the live format is super relevant and the direction retailers need to go. Another super important thing to note is that consumers want proof before they buy and they want to be reassured. Human-driven content like influencer live streams are therefore a great way to create trust." Monday's launch of NAME IT LIVE marked a significant milestone for live shopping in BESTSELLER - a project that has quickly developed from a standing start over the past month. NAME IT and VERO MODA have linked with one of the world's leading providers of live shopping - Bambuser - to develop their respective platforms. While watching the show, consumers can chat with the hosts and guests, as well as browse relevant styles. "Live shopping brings a unique shopping experience both for us as a brand and for the viewers," says Ajla Smrkovic, NAME IT's Digital Communication Responsible. Contact information: Maryam Ghahremani CEO Bambuser [email protected] +46 8 400 160 02 Bambuser is a software company specializing in interactive live video streaming. The Company's primary product, Live Video Shopping, is a cloud-based software solution that is used by customers such as global e-commerce and retail businesses to host live shopping experiences on websites, mobile apps and social media. Bambuser was founded in 2007 and has its headquarters in Stockholm. Erik Penser Bank AB is Bambuser's Certified Adviser. This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/bambuser/r/bestseller-brands-embrace-live-shopping-e-commerce-trend-in-partnership-with-bambuser,c3294046 The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/15749/3294046/1377664.pdf Release https://news.cision.com/bambuser/i/name-it-live,c2880577 NAME IT LIVE SOURCE Bambuser Credit: CC0 Public Domain A new study of nearly 4,000 school children has found that youngsters who feel they have empathic support from their parents and caregivers are verging away from a wide range of delinquent behavior, such as committing crimes. Published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Moral Education, the research, which drew on data surveying children over a four year period from when they were aged 12 to 17, also shows that those who received empathy were less likely to execute acts of serious delinquent behavior, compared to those who simply felt they had supportive parents. In addition, the new findingsout todaydemonstrate that parents/caregivers who display greater empathy enhance their teenagers' own development of empathy, or the ability to acknowledge and understand the feelings of others. The results follow an investigation of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children data source, which features a series of interviews with 3,865 boys and girls across Australia over the period when delinquent behavior first tends to appear. Author of the paper, Professor Glenn Walters from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, U.S., states his findings demonstrate that parental support, as perceived by the child, plays a "small but significant role" in the development of empathy in early adolescent youth. The Associate Professor of Criminal Justice adds: "Empathy in youth also appears to have the power to mediate the negative association between perceived parental support and future juvenile delinquency." The study was launched to expand on results of several previous articles which investigated the relationship between parental support and delinquent behavior in teenagers. The proposition is that strong parental support reduces the propensity for such behavior. However, the results have been mixed. Forensic psychologist Professor Walters wanted further clarification. Could parental support and delinquent behavior include an indirect relationship, rather than direct, and be mediated by another factor: high levels of empathy? To find out, he first scrutinized two interview sessions where the children were asked about their level of parental support as they perceived it, and their development of empathy. To determine parental support, they were asked to rate statements such as "I trust my parents" and "I talk to my parents". To assess empathy, they were asked to rate statements such as "I try to empathize with friends", and "I try to make others feel better". In the final session, when they were 16 or 17, they were asked how often they had engaged in 17 delinquent acts in the past year. These acts varied in their seriousness, from drawing graffiti in a public place to purposely damaging or destroying property to using force or the threat of force to get money or things from someone. Using a variety of statistical techniques, Professor Walters found that empathy did indeed appear to mediate the relationship between parental support and delinquent behavior. Children who reported more parental support tended to have higher levels of empathy, and these children were less likely to engage in delinquent behavior. "What the current study adds to the literature on the parental support-delinquency relationship is a mechanism capable of further clarifying this relationship," Walters says. "The mechanism, according to the results of the present study, is empathy." He does concede, however, that other factors such as social interest and self-esteem may also play a role in mediating the relationship between parental support and teenage delinquency, and says these factors should be explored in future research. Walters also suggests, in future research, empathy should be measured from a younger age and that new criminalities such as cybercrimenot included in this data setshould be assessed. More information: Glenn D. Walters, In search of a mechanism: mediating the perceived parental supportdelinquency relationship with child empathy, Journal of Moral Education (2021). Glenn D. Walters, In search of a mechanism: mediating the perceived parental supportdelinquency relationship with child empathy,(2021). DOI: 10.1080/03057240.2021.1872511 [February 23, 2021] Evisort Raises $35M Series B Led by General Atlantic, Quadruples Revenue As Enterprises Race To Tame Contracts SAN MATEO, Calif., Feb. 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Evisort , the intelligent contract management platform, today announced $35M in Series B funding following a year of 4x revenue growth, bringing its total funding to $55.5M. Global growth equity investor General Atlantic led the round, with participation from existing investors Amity Ventures, Microsofts venture fund M12, and Vertex Ventures. General Atlantics Operating Partner and former GE CIO Gary Reiner will join Evisort as a board member. The company will use the funds to grow its customer success team, expand its platform to include more workflow-specific offerings, and continue to push the boundaries of its pre-trained AI. Enterprises have been racing to digitize contract management due to a convergence of three factors: Remote work has made manual contracting processes all but impossible New regulations have dramatically increased the risk of non-compliant contracts Pandemic-hit businesses are eager to find hidden cost savings and revenue in their contracts Evisort pioneered a contract management solution to address all three factors. Unlike most contract management solutions which merely streamline processes, Evisorts cloud-native, end-to-end platform has helped enterprises do business faster and uncover millions of dollars in potential cost savings and new revenue hidden in their contracts. For example, one customer was able to recognize hundreds of thousands of dollars in unfulfilled rebates because Evisort identified discount clauses in thousands of vendor contracts and issued a notification through the finance system before the vendor invoices were paid. This intelligent approach to contract lifecycle management (CLM) has secured Evisort 4x revenue growth over the past year and helped win or expand seven Fortune 500 or global clients in banking, healthcare and enterprise tech, including Microsoft , NetApp, Molina Healthcare, and Fujitsu. In this ever-shifting regulatory environment, it's hard to know what information in contracts will be important tomorrow. Evisort makes it simple for our teams to train custom algorithms so we can react quickly as our compliance needs change. Were able to track new information across hundreds of thousands of contracts without any manual effort, said Tom Orrison, Director of Legal Ops at Microsoft. Contract assets are core to B2B relationships, and yet contract data is an under-utilized resource. Evisort exceeds enterprise expectations and needs, providing a solution that works out of the box with all the legacy systems and across use cases and industries to deliver meaningful value. The resonance and traction of the business is underscored by Evisorts recent success in securing major Fortune 500 customers, and by the positive customer feedback we uncovered during our diligence process, said Gary Reiner, Operating Partner at General Atlantic and board member a Citigroup and HPE. Evisort is one of the only AI-first, end-to-end CLM products for pre- and post-signing that can be implemented in days. Its authentic AI was developed in-house and pre-trained on millions of documents. Evisort Contract Management, its post-signature solution, can read a 30-page document in 15 seconds, extracting insights and making them actionable through integrations with CRM, ERP, HR, and Finance systems. With the launch of Evisort Contract Workflow in July 2020, the platform can now automate the entire lifecycle of a contract: from contract creation to negotiation to signature. Evisort works out-of-the-box on over 230 types of contracts, meaning it accurately analyzes the document without warning or preparation. We have closely tracked the legal technology space for years, and Evisort stands out as an emerging global leader that is primed to disrupt the status quo and capture growth in a market that is large and currently, inefficiently served, said Alex Crisses, Managing Director and Global Head of New Investment Sourcing and Co-Head of Emerging Growth at General Atlantic. Jerry and the Evisort team have built differentiated technology with real AI, and we believe that the company has the potential to embed itself as the system of record for contracts across the enterprise. We look forward to partnering with Evisort to grow the business from its earlier stages into a long-term category leader. Evisort will use the Series B funds to accelerate its AI development and expand its platform to include more workflow offerings tailored to specific industries, such as financial services, healthcare, and tech. The company will also focus on delivering a best-in-class user experience, quadrupling its customer success team to help clients create their own digital contracting Centers of Excellence . As a no-code platform which can be up-and-running in days, Evisort requires little implementation expertise. Once customers recognize the value it brings, they quickly look to roll it out enterprise-wide as part of a full digital transformation initiative, led by a cross-functional team of legal, IT, and procurement experts. Evisort has already guided several Fortune 500 companies through this process, providing best practices and blueprints for success. We know Evisort helps our customers close deals faster, stay on top of important dates, and mitigate risks. Those are huge wins already, but with this funding we can push the envelope of our end-to-end platform even further, said Evisort Founder and CEO Jerry Ting. Whenever any part of the business touches a contract, whether thats an accounting professional finding savings or a salesperson negotiating a better deal, Evisort will be there delivering insights they can act on. Were building the intelligent contract management platform enterprises actually need with innovative AI capabilities they didnt know were possible. About Evisort Founded in 2016 by Harvard Law and MIT researchers, Evisort leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to help businesses categorize, search, and act on business-driving documents of any type. Evisorts proprietary AI understands meaning and context in legal language, eliminating the need for manual data entry and parsing of contracts or business documents. The company is backed by leading strategic and institutional investors including General Atlantic, M12, Microsofts venture fund, Vertex Ventures, and Amity Ventures. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, more information on Evisort can be found at Evisort.com . Follow @Evisort on Twitter , Facebook , Medium and LinkedIn. About General Atlantic General Atlantic is a leading global growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for growth companies. Established in 1980, General Atlantic combines a collaborative global approach, sector specific expertise, a long-term investment horizon, and a deep understanding of growth drivers to partner with great entrepreneurs and management teams to build market-leading businesses worldwide. General Atlantic has more than 175 investment professionals based in New York, Amsterdam, Beijing, Greenwich, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Munich, Palo Alto, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, and Singapore. For more information on General Atlantic, please visit the website: www.generalatlantic.com . Evisort Theresa Carper 415 848 9175 evisort@firebrand.marketing General Atlantic Mary Armstrong Emily Japlon media@generalatlantic.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Nader Motee, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Lehigh University and a globally-recognized scholar in distributed control systems and real-time robot perception, will provide a technical keynote address to the 7th International Conference on Control, Instrumentation and Automation (ICCIA 2020). This academic event, hosted by the University of Tabriz in Tabriz, Iran, is incorporating virtual content this year due to complications brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and will take place Feb 23-24, 2021. The goal of the 2-day conference is to develop and enhance the technical knowledge of its attendees and participants, and to foster the exchange of scientific findings and research results in the field of control engineering, instrumentation and automation. Topics to be covered include control systems analysis, design, and security, control engineering applications and education, industrial automation and instrumentation, robotics and mechatronics, applications of artificial intelligence, and more. The biennial ICCIA event occurs through the combined efforts of the Iranian Society of Instrumentation and Control Engineers, the Iranian section of the IEEE, and the International Conference on Control and Informatics Engineering. In his keynote, entitled "Time-Delay Origins of Fundamental Limits and Tradeoffs Between Risk of Large Fluctuations and Network Connectivity," Motee will address topics related to consensus networks, with particular emphasis on applications related to autonomous vehicle platooning and synchronous power networks, and introduce notions of risk to assess robustness of such networks in presence of communication time-delay and external disturbances. "I am proud that my group's efforts are being honored in this way, and I am always happy when we have the opportunity to share what we discover in our research with the scientific community," says Motee. "I also believe that it is important to build connections with researchers and practitioners who address similar issues to those my team encounters in our lab, and events like this provide a meaningful way of accomplishing this." ### About Nader Motee Motee leads the Distributed Control and Dynamical Systems team at Lehigh, who have recently taken up residence in the University's brand-new Autonomous and Intelligent Robotics (AIR) Laboratory. The AIR Lab, housed within the enormous research complex known as Building C on Lehigh's Mountaintop Campus, is essentially a 2,545-square-foot glass and aluminum box--a 3-story space enclosure outfitted with a high-frame-rate 360-degree camera system and high-speed data analysis technology--enables researchers to safely design and test a variety of robotics applications in a large three-dimensional space. "In our work, we seek to close the gap between real-time sensing and taking autonomous actions in robots,"" explains Motee. "Humans do this easily and constantly. The question is: How do we make a robot understand the entire process very quickly, almost in real time?" Motee is a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics at Lehigh University. Before joining the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science, he was a postdoctoral scholar at the Control and Dynamical Systems Department at California Institute of Technology and a visiting scholar at University of California, Santa Barbara. He received a PhD in electrical and systems engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 2007. His research interests include theoretical foundations of distributed control systems and optimization with applications to robot perception and networked robotics. Motee has been recognized with the 2019 Best SIAM Journal on Optimization and Control Paper Prize, ONR Young Investigator Award (2016), NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award (2015), and AFOSR Young Investigator Award (2013). Motee is affiliated with Lehigh's Institute for Data, Intelligent Systems, and Computation (I-DISC) and Institute for Cyber Physical Infrastructure and Energy (I-CPIE) and was the lead organizer of a NSF-funded workshop on Robot Learning Systems in October 2019. Related Links: Photo: (Photo : Rene Asmussen from Pexels) Danielle Kern had to undergo three open-heart surgeries when she was a child. Twenty-four years after, she gave birth to her firstborn, a baby boy. The Florida mom gave birth at the same hospital she had all of her heart surgeries, St. Joseph's Hospital. ALSO READ: Mom Passes the Bar; She Gave Birth Between Sections of the Exam Giving birth by C-section When Kern was about to give birth, she was monitored by St. Joseph's Hospital's congenital cardiologist, Dr. Joel Hardin. Because of her heart condition, the doctors had to be extra careful. Dr. Hardin said in an interview with Bay News 9, "Women born with complex heart disease (this is just one complex type of heart disease) they do have increased risks of complications." The Florida mom gave birth to a healthy baby boy weighing 8 1/2 pounds. Both Kern and her baby were safe after the delivery. Initial tests also show that Kern's baby boy has a perfectly healthy heart. Dr. Hardin also shared that seeing Kern and her son go through it safely is something that would stand out in the experiences that he had in his career. ALSO READ: Mom Who Survived COVID Coma and Gave Birth Prematurely, Discharged from the Hospital The risks of pregnancy Before trying to be pregnant, doctors have strongly discouraged Kern from having a baby. She said in an interview, "They basically told me it was a big no-go, but I don't like to listen to people." Although she can now say that she could get through the pregnancy and give birth, Kern also admits that the journey was not easy. Before being blessed with her miracle baby, the Florida mom had two miscarriages. However, these incidents did not stop her from trying. When she finally got pregnant, Kern was worried that maybe she wouldn't be able to make it through the entire nine months. She reveals that she wasn't the only one saying, "No one thought I would make it." The Florida mom's heart surgeries When Kern was still a baby, doctors had to fix one of her heart chambers. For them to be able to do this, the Florida mom had to undergo three open-heart surgeries. Even though the operations were successful, this still meant that Kern was at risk when she chose to have a baby. READ NEXT: Mom Gave Birth to Her Twins in the Living Room, She Was Even Able to Film It Finding support While going through her pregnancy journey, Kern found support from groups of moms who also have heart defects like her. For the Florida mom, women like her who also have heart defects and would want to embark on motherhood, they should ask for help from heart specialists. She adds that these experts should be a part of the planning phase so that everything would result in a successful pregnancy. ALSO READ: Florida Mom Casts Her Vote Before Giving Birth [She Was Already in Labor] Fears are growing that St Patrick's Day celebrations will rage through Belfast's student area after "alarming" reports of multiple house parties on Monday night. Residents in the Holyland area said young people have been gathering "from far and wide" for drunken festivities, and blatantly disregarding current lockdown restrictions. And there are grave concerns the situation will ramp up significantly as March 17 approaches. Brid Ruddy, chair of Holyland Residents Network, told the Belfast Telegraph that Monday night was "absolutely terrible". "There were around 15 house parties, starting during the day because the weather was so good - that always happens," she said. "People seem to think the student parties have stopped since the latest lockdown began after Christmas, but nothing could be further from the truth. People are coming into the area every night, specifically to party. "Come to the Holyland and you'll see discarded cans and broken bottles all over the place. "The rest of the residents are adhering to lockdown, so it's galling for us to watch this going on." Expand Close Brid Ruddy / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Brid Ruddy Police confirmed that they responded to Holyland parties on Monday, issuing 12 Covid notices and arresting one man. Alliance MLA Paula Bradshaw said the situation was alarming in the run up to what is traditionally the biggest student celebration in the calendar year. "With just three weeks to go to St Patrick's Day, I fear the worst if measures aren't put in place at this stage," she said. "There needs to be a steel wall across all agencies operating in the Holyland so that the area can remain safe. This is happening every night of the week, not just at weekends." She called for action ahead of St Patrick's Day to avoid trouble and potential disturbances. "We're moving toward a time of the year when there have been problems in the past," she said, adding that "it's very frustrating that a small number of young people think they can party". Ms Bradshaw said that, with bars and clubs closed, there has been a surge in house parties. "It's not just at the weekend; this is happening every night of the week," she said. "Residents in the area are feeling deflated and abandoned with the ongoing anti-social behaviour and low-level deliberate criminal acts." She added: "There will always be an increased risk of community transmission of the virus until the issue of our very mobile student population is dealt with." Police said they responded to reports of three house parties in the Carmel Street, Fitzroy Avenue and Agincourt Avenue areas on Monday, issuing 10 Covid 4 and two Covid 2 notices, alongside two additional community resolution notices. A 20-year-old man was also arrested for disorderly behaviour. Chief Inspector Gavin Kirkpatrick said it is "disappointing and frustrating" for the PSNI and the local community that police "are having to respond to small groups of young people who believe the health regulations do not apply to them". "As people across the country make sacrifices whether isolating, working from home or having temporarily closed their businesses to try and prevent the spread of Covid 19, those who are visiting or staying in this residential area must take responsibility for their behaviour," he said. "We will continue to patrol the area and will liaise with the universities, colleges and other partners to address any issues. "Where appropriate, the universities and colleges will consider their own sanctions against any students involved. Police will robustly challenge and deal with people who are either disregarding the health regulations, or engaging in anti-social or criminal behaviour." A Belfast City Council spokesperson said its representatives are working in the area. "Our Safer Neighbourhood and Alcohol Enforcement Officers are actively responding to requests for service in the Holyland area of Belfast," said the spokesperson. "Our Night Time Noise Team is also operating a full service and is available seven days a week, 8pm-4am. "We continue to engage with other statutory and community partners daily to manage the area and to identify long term solutions to this problem." A Queen's University spokesperson warned students that breaches of Covid-19 regulations would result in automatic suspension. A strict off-campus disciplinary code is in place and if any Queen's student is found to have brought the university into disrepute, they will be subject to the full rigours of this code," said the spokesperson. "The university also has stringent disciplinary measures in place for students who breach the Covid-19 public health guidelines, resulting in automatic suspension for 14 days." QUB also said it works in close partnership with the Students' Union, Ulster University, the PSNI and Belfast City Council. It added: "Members of the university's commsunity engagement team will be on the ground with council staff in the Holyland area responding to complaints of anti-social behaviour in the lead up to and after St Patrick's Day. This will begin over the coming days." The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes has retrieved backup tapes of recordings of first hand accounts of the institutions. Last week, Children's Minister Roderic OGorman told a Dail committee he had been informed by the commission the records had been destroyed and were not retrievable. However, in a statement today from the Department of Children, it was confirmed the tapes containing the audio recordings were recovered from an off-site storage. The department said an IT expert had checked first to ensure the recordings were retrievable by testing a random sample, which verified they were accessible and audible. The commission then agreed to deposit the recordings with the department. This was in keeping with other actions it is taking to transfer the rest of the archive to the Minister of Children Roderic OGorman, who will become data controller next week. Commenting on the recovery, the minister said: The retrieval of audio recordings from the back up tapes and their imminent transfer to my department now provides another avenue for the people who appeared before the committee to access their personal data. That said, 80 people have asked for their interview with the Confidential Committee to be redacted, and the commission is now considering how this will be done. The minister said their decision will be respected. My department will liaise with the commission as current data controller in this regard, he added. If any of the people who appeared before the committee consider that their record is inaccurate or incomplete, they will be able to exercise their GDPR rights with the department once it becomes data controller. This will involve them making a request to exercise their right to rectification after the archive transfers to my department. The department said it will continue its preparations to become data controller of the Mother and Baby Homes archive from February 28, and they will continue to engage with the Data Protection Commission in this regard. It will shortly publish information on how people can access their data, once it becomes the data controller next week. In the commissions recent communications with the minister, it restated the actions it took to preserve the accounts and experiences of the 550 people who appeared before the Confidential Committee, for future generations. Each interview was attended by two commission staff. In addition, the commission said the interviews were audio recorded purely as an aide memoire to ensure the documented account of the survivors experience - which would later inform a published report on their experiences - reflected accurately the personal accounts they shared with the committee. While the audio recordings were later deleted, the commission said the process ensured the personal experience of 550 people was heard, documented in an accurate manner and published by way of a summary report. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Monday extended the ban on travel between the country's 20 regions till March 27. According to The Local Italy, the government also extended restrictions on visiting friends and relatives, under which no more than two adults can visit another person's home."It is essential to continue with the restrictions with the (spread of coronavirus) variants," The Local quoted Roberto Speranza, Italy's health minister, as saying. The ban applies to all non-essential travel between all regions, regardless of which zone they are in under Italy's tiered system of restrictions. The regional does not apply to travel for work, health, or emergency reasons, or to anyone who needs to travel to return home. Travel within for tourism remains prohibited. The government also extended a rule under which no more than two adults (plus their children under 14) can visit another household, and no more than once a day. However, the rule has not been extended for areas declared red zones, meaning visits will no longer be allowed in those areas, The Local reported. Further changes to the Italian restrictions are set to be confirmed by March 5, when an updated emergency decree is due. Regional Affairs Minister Maria Stella Gelmini said that Draghi's government would make "timely" decisions on restrictions in agreement with regional governments. The new government last week provoked an outcry when it extended the closure of ski slopes just hours before they were due to reopen, The Local Italy reported. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has been serving as Prime Minister of Italy since 13 February 2021. The new cabinet was formed after weeks of a political crisis that played out on the differences among the previous coalition forces about the approaches to economic recovery and resulted in the resignation of former Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, reported Sputnik. (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.) Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Its nearly two months since turbulence erupted around China Huarong Asset Management Co.At the end of March, its 4% perpetual dollar bond was trading at 102 cents on the dollar as investors figured the January execution of former chairman Lai Xiaomin for bribery put a line under past wayward behavior. But the failure of the company to release 2020 results by a March 31 deadline, and a subsequent report by mainland media Caixin that the firm will restructure, sparked weeks of turmoil. The same bond is now at 57 cents.The heart of the matter is whether the central government will rescue a state-owned company thats integral to the smooth running of the financial system. While there are signs Beijing wants to ensure China Huarong can repay its debts on time, uncertainty prevails.Heres a look at the key events for China Huarong:May 28The company has wired funds to repay $978 million of notes maturing within the following week, according to Bloomberg News, the biggest bond payment since the 2020 results delay.May 27Liang Qiang, who currently heads another bad-debt manager, is on track to become president of China Huarong, reports Bloomberg News.May 24China Huarong dollar bonds climb after the managing editor of Caixin Media wrote in an opinion piece that the asset manager is nowhere near defaulting on its more than $20 billion of offshore notes.May 21Some of China Huarongs thinly traded onshore bonds slump after having held up better than the companys dollar-denominated notes, signaling broadening concern about the firms financial health.May 18China Huarong has transferred funds to repay a $300 million note maturing May 20, Bloomberg News reports, the first dollar bond to come due since the delayed 2020 results. Prices for the firms dollar bonds slump earlier in the day after the New York Times reports China is planning an overhaul that would inflict significant losses on both domestic and foreign China Huarong bondholders.May 17The company has reached funding agreements with state-owned banks to ensure it can repay debt through at least the end of August, by which time China Huarong aims to have completed its 2020 financial statements, according to a Bloomberg News report. That as at least two of its onshore bonds see big price declines in recent days, worrying some investors.May 13The firm says its prepared to make future bond payments and has seen no change in the level of government support, seeking to ease investor concerns after a local media report that regulators balked at China Hurarongs restructuring plan.May 6The company says it transferred funds to pay five offshore bond coupons due the following day, its latest move to meet debt obligations amid persistent doubts about its financial health.April 30China Huarong breaks its silence, with an executive telling media it is prepared to make its bond payments and state backing remains intact. The official also says the weeks rating downgrades have no factual basis and are too pessimistic.April 29Moodys Investor Service downgrades China Huarong by one notch to Baa1, adding the firm remains on watch for further downgrade. The cut reflects the companys weakened funding ability due to market volatility and increased uncertainty over its future, according to the statement.April 27China Huarong units repay bonds maturing that day. The S$600 million ($450 million) bond was repaid with funds provided by Chinas biggest state-owned bank, according to a Bloomberg News report.April 26Fitch Ratings downgrades China Huarong by three notches to BBB while dropping the companys perpetual bonds into junk territory. The lack of transparency over government support for the firm may hamper its ability to refinance debt in offshore markets, Fitch said.April 25China Huarong says it wont meet an April 30 deadline to file its 2020 report with Hong Kongs stock exchange because auditors needed more time to finalize a transaction the company first flagged on April 1. Securities and asset-management units said in the days before that they wouldnt release 2020 results by months end.April 22The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission asks lenders to extend China Huarongs upcoming loans by at least six months, according to REDD, citing two bankers from large Chinese commercial lenders.April 21China is considering a plan that would see its central bank assume more than 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) of China Huarong assets to help clean up the firms balance sheet, according to a Bloomberg News report. Peer China Cinda Asset Management Co. was said to be planning the sale of perpetual bonds in the second quarter.April 20China Huarongs key offshore financing unit says it returned to profitability in the first quarter and laid a solid foundation for transformation. Reorg Research reports that regulators are considering options including a debt restructuring of the unit, China Huarong International Holdings Ltd.April 19Huarong Securities Co. says it wired funds to repay a 2.5 billion yuan local note.April 16The CBIRC says China Huarongs operations are normal and that the firm has ample liquidity. These are the first official comments about the companys troubles. Reuters reports Chinese banks have been asked not to withhold loans to Huarong.April 13Fitch and Moodys both put the company on watch for downgrade. The finance ministry, which owns a majority of Huarong, is considering the transfer of its stake to a unit of the countrys sovereign wealth fund, Bloomberg News reports. Chinese officials signal they want failing local government financing vehicles to restructure or go bust if debts cant be repaid.April 9China Huarong says it has been making debt payments on time and its operations are normal. Bloomberg News reports the company intends to keep Huarong International as part of a potential overhaul that would avoid the need of a debt restructuring or government recapitalization. S&P Global Ratings puts China Huarongs credit ratings on watch for possible downgrade.April 8China Huarong is preparing to offload non-core and loss-making units as part of a broad plan to revive profitability that would avoid the need for a debt restructuring or government recapitalization, Bloomberg News reports.April 6Selling gains steam in China Huarongs dollar bonds, following a holiday in China. Huarong Securities says there has been no major change to its operations, in response to a price plunge for its 3 billion yuan local bond.April 1China Huarong announces a delay in releasing 2020 results, saying its auditor is unable to finalize a transaction. Stock trading is suspended and spreads jump on the firms dollar bonds while China Huarong tells investors its business is running as usual. Caixin reports the company submitted restructuring and other major reform plans to government officials and shareholders.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. Even if youve never stopped at The Original Pronto Pup, youd probably recognize the place. After all, its hard to miss the 30-foot fiberglass corn dog that sits atop the building. But now, after five years in operation, the eye-catching corn dog restaurant is up for sale, offered to potential buyers on Craigslist and Facebook on Sunday. Owner Anthony McNamer, a Portland-based lawyer, opened The Original Pronto Pup in 2016 as a way to celebrate Rockaway Beachs claim to fame as the home of the first corn dog. Its a contested claim, but the Oregon coast town has a great case one that McNamer is happy to promote. The Pronto Pup was the original corn dog, he said. It was weird to me that in Rockaway there wasnt a giant corn dog statue or something. When he opened his restaurant, he decided to build the statue himself. The giant fiberglass corn dog on top of the restaurant is in all likelihood the worlds largest non-edible corn dog. And if thats not enough to get tourists to stop, the restaurant also has a riding mechanical corn dog, which McNamer says is the worlds first. It all makes The Original Pronto Pup one of the best roadside attractions on the Oregon coast (not to mention a successful fast-food restaurant in a busy tourist town), but celebrating the history of the corn dog is the eaterys true raison detre. Owner Anthony McNamer adjusts the saddle of his mechanical corndog outside the new Pronto Pup restaurant in Rockaway Beach.Samantha Swindler/The Oregonian You can buy three Original Pups and a side of tots for $11.Samantha Swindler/The Oregonian Constance Rhodes wipes down a table during the grand opening day of the Pronto Pup in Rockaway Beach.Samantha Swindler/The Oregonian In the late 1930s, Rockaway Beach hot dog vendors George and Vera Boyington first dipped hot dogs in a special batter and deep-fried them, seeking a way to avoid soggy buns. The Boyingtons called their creations Pronto Pups, and originally sold them out of a soda fountain window in Portland in 1941. Pronto Pup franchises began to pop up across the country, as the corn dog became a fair food and fast-food staple. Today, Pronto Pups are largely found at carnivals and local fairs, though a few independent locations remain. The distinctive batter that differentiates a Pronto Pup from other corn dogs is sold out of a tiny Southwest Portland storefront, which also sells concessions supplies for parties and events. But while you might be able to get a Pronto Pup at your local county fair, nobody celebrates Oregons famous corn dog quite like the restaurant in Rockaway Beach. McNamer said The Original Pronto Pup remains a popular and successful business, offering standard $3 corn dogs as well as options like spicy sausages, footlong hot dogs, zucchinis and pickles deep-fried in the same batter. Its stayed successful throughout the pandemic, he said, earning a profit from the busy tourism season on the coast in 2020. Its kind of a cash cow, McNamer said. We just have the perfect business. So why sell it? McNamer said that while he owns the business, its day-to-day operations are run by his 70-year-old mother, who has been eying retirement for the last two years. His life is too busy to take over the restaurant himself, he said, so hes hoping somebody else can step in and keep his vision going. In the latest offering, McNamer is asking $200,000 for the business, saying that is equal to one year of gross sales at the restaurant an unambitious number, the owner conceded, due to the fact that he runs the business only 116 days of the year, including four days a week in the summer. I am selling the business for $200,000 and I will lease the building and lot at essentially my cost of $2500/month, McNamer wrote in his Craigslist offering. I would also sell both lots and the buildings for an additional $650,000. This is the second time McNamer has tried to sell The Original Pronto Pup, following a failed effort last year. A few potential buyers have shown interest, he said, but so far no one has stepped up. Hes hoping to make a deal by the end of the restaurants 2021 season in November. Selling the restaurant is a necessary step for the family that owns and operates the attraction, but it will be a bittersweet moment when it comes. For the Portland lawyer, corn dogs have not just been business, but a part of his identity for the last five years. All my friends call me the corn dog king, its like this running joke, McNamer said. It will be very weird if I go to Pronto Pup and I have to pay for a corn dog. --Jamie Hale; jhale@oregonian.com; 503-294-4077; @HaleJamesB Kolkata, Feb 23 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday visited her nephew and Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee's residence before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) interrogation of his wife Rujira in connection with the illegal coal mining scam. The Chief Minister made an unscheduled visit to Santiniketan, Abhishek's residence in Harish Mukherjee Road in south Kolkata, while on her way to the state secretariat Nabanno. She spent about 10-minutes with the family and was seen emerging from the building accompanied by Abhishek's daughter, her grand niece. Soon after Banerjee left the place, the federal investigation agency officials reached Abhishek's residence to question Rujira Banerjee who was served with a CBI notice on Sunday. Earlier, Rujira had responded to the CBI communication on Monday saying she was ready to be quizzed by the agency. She also asked the CBI investigators to visit her Harish Mukherjee Road residence between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Tuesday. Rujira also said that she was unaware of the reason for which she was being called for questioning and the matter of the investigation. A five-member team of CBI's anti-corruption branch had gone to Abhishek Banerjee's south Kolkata residence on Sunday afternoon and served the notice. The Trinamool second-in-command's wife was summoned for interrogation by the central agency sleuths. Rujira was not present at the residence when the CBI team had arrived. The CBI had also summoned Rujira's sister Menka Gambhir for interrogation. A CBI team, along with female officials, arrived at Menka's high-rise residential complex at Panchashyar on Monday, at around 12 noon. The team, led by Umesh Kumar, had to wait at the main entrance for some time till they got the permission. Menka stays at Upohar Luxury Complex (Tower-3) near Kolkata's EM Bypass. The interrogation went on for about three hours, sources said. SILICON VALLEY, Calif., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- EquityBee, the startup employees' stock options funding solution, announces its Series A financing round, raising $20M to accelerate growth, make additional hires across all departments, and expand product offerings. The round is led by Group 11 with participation from Oren Zeev Ventures, Battery Ventures, and ICON Continuity Fund. The round brings EquityBee's total funding to more than $28M. Founded in 2018, EquityBee saw high triple-digit growth in 2020, growing capital raised to fund employee stock options by over 560%, and number employees funded through the platform by over 360%. EquityBee's Investor Community, which comprises of family offices, funds, and high net-worth individuals, grew by 700%. After launching in Israel in 2018, EquityBee has grown quickly, expanding to the US market in 2020. To date, EquityBee has funded employees from hundreds of companies, including recently IPOed companies such as Airbnb, Palantir, QuantumScape, Unity, and jFrog among others. EquityBee provides funding to startup employees who have helped build successful pre-IPO companies by leveraging its Investor Community. The employees receive 100% of the needed capital to cover the cost of exercising their stock options and taxes, and in return the investors and employees share future gains in liquidity events. "As a serial entrepreneur who has been part of the startup ecosystem for the last 15 years and experienced it from all levels, from employee to founder, I have witnessed countless colleagues and friends lose out on a significant portion of their compensation because they didn't understand the convoluted stock options system, and couldn't afford to exercise the options they worked so hard to earn. EquityBee is removing this barrier and helping startup builders access the equity they have earned" says Oren Barzilai, CEO of EquityBee. "After leading EquityBee's Seed round, we have witnessed the company's remarkable triple-digit growth over the past year. We are now convinced that EquityBee not only has the perfect product-market fit, but that the strong founding team also has what it takes to become the uncontested market leader," says Dovi Frances, Founding Partner of Group 11. "EquityBee's scalable tech solution has the potential to help millions of tech employees gain access to liquidity in a market otherwise set up against them. Our decision to double down on EquityBee is an easy one and we are pleased to continue supporting the company." SOURCE EquityBee Related Links https://equitybee.com/ Amid the vaccine crusade happening in the United States, there are still people who are hesitant to take it despite the benefits. With allegations surrounding the notorious virus treatment, President Joe Biden addresses the issue by countering fear and misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine by giving funds to people of color. According to NBC News, the Biden administration is including efforts to re-establish the American public's trust to fight disinformation, which, according to the public health experts, is a significant problem in the United States. Also read: COVID-19 Transmission Spreading Fear Through Overcrowded Prisons in Latin America Funds for People of Color CBS News reports that fifteen organizations advocating for Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native Americans have received funds to boost their COVID-19 vaccine educational outreach. They add that UnidosUS and the National Urban League are awarded the most prominent funds that work $3.2 Million and $2 Million, respectively. CBS News also notes that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gave more than $17 Million, which is intended for several organizations planning to provide vaccine education. In an emailed statement, BuzzFeed News shares that Biden spokesperson T.J. Ducklo shares when Biden was still a president-elect that he will rebuild the American people's trust as a priority through providing accurate, fact-based information about progress in getting the pandemic under control. President Biden wants to focus on the people of color because, according to CBS News, people of color are more likely to get infected with COVID-19 more than White people. Also, They noted that Hispanic and Native Americans are two to three times more likely to require hospitalization, according to the CDC's data. CBS News also shares that White Americans are getting vaccinated at a far higher rate than other racial minorities. Data from CDC reveals that as of February 22, among the 19 million inoculated with the vaccine, 65% of them are White. Lives lost due to COVID-19 Apart from the funds that are inclined to minorities who have uncertainty, the Biden administration lowered the flags as the United States mourn the demise of about 500,000 individuals as they lost their lives battling the notorious disease. The Straits Times mentions President Biden's words in the remembrance ceremony, saying that the number of people who lost their lives during the pandemic is more than the number of Americans who died during the First and Second World War and the Vietnam War combined. The Straits News also references CDC Director Rochelle Walensky's data shared in a briefing stating that the current average of COVID-19 cases per day of 66,000 is 74 percent lower than the peak seven days on January 11. Related article: Homemade COVID-19 Vaccine: Does it Work and is it Safe? WATCH: The dangerous global flood of misinformation surrounding COVID-19 from PBS NewsHour New Delhi, Feb 23 : India's considerable success in containing terrorism within its borders can be attributed not only to its intelligence, police and the security forces, but also to community response in keeping radicalisation and fundamentalist tendencies at bay, says Adil Rasheed, Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. In a freewheeling conversation with Indianarrative.com, Rasheed spoke about threats to India, the global jihadi networks operations and how India needs to keep an eye on the home-grown radicals. Dr Rasheed has recently published his book, Countering the Radical Narrative, that talks about the need for countries and societies to develop a counter-narrative to combat terror groups. Excerpts from the exclusive interview: Role of global terrorism and State-actors "We see that non-State actors are increasingly becoming State proxies. They have always been there but now we see a degree of state revisionism happening. If earlier there was non-State radicalism, it is now shifting towards state revisionism. In West Asia specially we find that countries like Iran and Turkey are moving towards religious orientation and are also trying to revive historical geopolitical games. We find that these new developments are taking place and these tendencies are becoming more ambitious as they find the US planning to withdraw its forces from the region. This has thrown up a new set of challenges." On radicalisation of youth Radicalisation started with the coming up of the ISIS monstrosity in West Asia but now it has subsided a bit. The disturbing part is that political stability still has not been restored to that area. Things are volatile as the ISIS is trying to make a comeback and as long as that area remains restive, there are problems of security and stability in the region." Is India prepared to take on these threats? "I think India has done a pretty good job considering the stress it has been facing in terms of terrorism. We have been able to foil a lot of terror incidents specially since 2008. Our military, security agencies and police have done a splendid job in gaining intelligence and foiling attacks particularly when our neighbourhood is dangerous and the extended neighbourhood is restive. The challenge is that terrorism changes and morphs, just as we saw Al Qaeda change into a more dangerous ISIS. It appears that the threat is not there but we have to be on guard so that it does not transform itself into a more malicious and difficult challenge. We have to be on constant vigil. In the case of India, there has been cooperation between the forces and various sections of the society when it comes to countering radicalisation. The police has been getting support from the elders and religious leaders. At the same time, I think every different region has different issues and everywhere a different kind of radicalisation manifests itself. The situation in Jammu and Kashmir is different from one in Assam and we have to act accordingly." Positions taken by India and France "It was wonderful to see Prime Minister Narendra Modi address the Aligarh Muslim University, a first by any Prime Minister in 50 years. It was very well received by students and faculty. In countering radicalisation, education is important and so is the battle of perception. Sometimes perceived grievances are more important than real grievances. People combating terrorism also need to address perceived grievances, even if unfounded, they are actually causing a problem. France has taken a position which some Muslim countries have welcomed including the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council). Other Muslim countries also feel you draw a line when it comes to politics and religion-you have to be careful when politics comes into State decision-making." Terrorism from Pakistan-based organisations "When it comes to the threat of jihadism in India, I personally believe there are three sources - global jihadist organisations like Al Qaeda and ISIS. The others are Pakistan-backed terrorist organisations like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba. The third is the home-grown groups. Sometimes there is a collusion of these groups and sometimes the home-grown groups completely subsume themselves into the groups outside the country. But there is a separation also-these groups have a different motivations, a different agenda and they come from different religious doctrinal orientations. We need to understand such differences and create those wedges and firewalls between them. Of these, the Pakistan-backed groups have been the most dangerous as most of the attacks have come from them. For India, because of the proximity and efforts by Pakistan, the threat of cross-border terrorism is more than transnational terrorism." How does India mount a counter-radicalism narrative? "One thing we have to always reinforce is that the spirit of India is based on liberal and constitutional values. We have to keep reaffirming this at the international stage. We cannot be looked upon as any other banana republic which the West tries to pontificate at. We have a democracy that is mature and very strong. Our human rights and judicial systems are very strong. We have to reiterate that fact and demonstrate it as well. The other thing is that if there are protests and demonstrations in the country, if people in Kashmir have a different point of view, we respect that. We allow dissent and unlike other countries we do not suppress dissent. This democratic potential and constitutional values have to be shown repeatedly." Radicalisation in madrasas "There are a lot of myths about madrasas in India. In the case of Pakistan yes, madrasas are jihadi factories and are not producing ulemas. But in India we have found that well educated people turned radicals. Suddenly, after their graduation they move towards religious education and look for it online. They become Google Sheikhs and end up visiting a jihadist website which claims to be teaching them about Islam. Without any upbringing on religion these neophytes begin accessing hate-filled information. India's border regions might have such madrasas." India and counter terror "The fact that we did not have major terror attacks shows that we have understood terrorism effectively. Our police has done a good job unobtrusively-locating areas of disturbances and involving families, society and elders. In India we have tried to use the social fabric itself to mitigate issues at that very level. If a young boy has been visiting websites that are objectionable, messages are sent to family members requesting them to counsel their child. Even in the case of young people who have come back, you will not find them mentioned in the media and these cases are not blown out of proportions. We found that very few Indians have joined the ISIS as compared to people in Europe. We are doing a good job as we have been able to stamp the fires before these could light up. Even in Jammu and Kashmir our security forces have done a good job." Social media is a double-edged sword "There are big issues with social media. Even if you have half-baked ideas in mind, you can spew that onto the social media. This kind of a visceral outpouring is not freedom of expression. Even if social media platforms say they are doing some kind of censorship, this will only be post-facto and controversial. Importantly, what we need to do is to block certain social media handles. But blocking is not always the answer. We need to have a counter to that-an ideological counter so that the person who is doing this gets a counter viewpoint. The young generation should also know what is the other side saying. This will not be a foolproof thing but is important in ideological matters. But this battle has not even started as yet." (This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) Shares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money. Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists. New Delhi, Feb 23 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday took objection to submissions of a law student while addressing the judges as "Your Honour". A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian told the law student, who was appearing as party-in-person, "When you call us Your Honour, you either have the United States Supreme Court or the Magistrate in mind. We are neither." The petitioner immediately apologised and submitted he had no intent to upset the judges. The petitioner said he will use "My Lords" while arguing his matter. The Chief Justice replied, "Whatever. we are not particular what you call us, but do not use incorrect terms." The law student had filed a petition in the top court in connection with filing up of vacancies in the subordinate judiciary. Justice V Ramasubramanian quizzed the law student citing something crucial is missing in his arguments and he had come to the court without doing his homework properly in the matter. He pointed out that the law student has missed out the directions in the Malik Mazhar Sultan case, and the appointments in subordinate judiciary are done as per the time-frame set in this matter. Observing that the petitioner is searching for answer and not able to reply to the query put to him, the Chief Justice told him in such a situation, you must seek time to study the case. Adjourning the matter, the bench told the petitioner to study the case and come back to it later. "Permission to appear and argue in person is granted. At the request of the petitioner, list the matter after four weeks", said the top court in its order. Former Capitol Police Chief Blames Intelligence Breakdown for Jan. 6 Capitol Breach The former chief of the Capitol Police on Tuesday blamed a breakdown in intelligence ahead of the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol. I think in exigent circumstances there needs to be a streamlined process for the Capitol police chief, for Capitol Police, to have authority, former Chief Steven Sund told senators during a hearing about the incident. Sund, who resigned from his post several days after the Capitol breach, remarked that the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms on Jan. 4 allegedly did not respond to a request for assistance. He also requested assistance from the National Guard but was rebuffed. Your testimony makes clear that the current structure of the Capitol Police Board resulted in delays in bringing in assistance from the National Guard, Senate Rules Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) told Sund during the hearing. Acting Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee defended the response, saying officials were not alerted about the potential for violence despite federal officials claims. The District did not have intelligence pointing to a coordinated assault on the Capitol, Contee said in a statement before the hearing. MPDs police officers were engaged in a literal battle for hours. Many were forced into hand-to-hand combat to prevent more rioters from gaining entry into the Capitol. This was not a peaceful protest. This was not a crowd trying to express their First Amendment rightsrights which we are proud to protect regardless of belief, Contee said, referring to the Metropolitan Police Department. At the end of the day, this was an assault on our democracy, and MPD officers held the line. Former Acting Department of Homeland Security Chief Chad Wolf earlier this month said there are still questions as to why Capitol Police officers werent properly prepared. There was a heightened threat environment due to the Jan. 6 rally given all the tensions regarding the elections outcome, Wolf told CBS News, adding there were numerous coordination calls with various law enforcement agencies. He said the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies beefed up security ahead of the riot. Capitol Police had the same intelligence that we did at the Department of Homeland Security, Wolf said. He said that intelligence was shared with the U.S. Capitol Police as well as the Metropolitan Police Department. Former President Donald Trump was impeached in January for a speech he gave on Jan. 6, with Democrats and some Republicans blaming the riots on his remarks and rhetoric. Trump, via lawyers, denied that he incited violence. During his speech, he called on demonstrators to peacefully and patriotically make [their] voices heard. As tamale season was in full swing this past December, Chris Galaviz took pen to paper and brought an idea to life. "He was in me all my life," Galaviz, a San Antonio native, said. "He's an homage to my upbringing on the West Side." He's talking about none other than Chale Tamale, a figure that combines a San Antonio food staple with the Chicano subculture of cholos. Think of the late 90s Homies toys meets San Antonio's Christmastime favorite. Chale's an anthropomorphic tamale, complete with dark sunglasses, long khaki shorts, and a signature mustache, that just so happens to be rockin' fresh Nike Classic Cortez sneakers. Galaviz sketched Chale in one 15-minute sitting before transferring the work to his iPad, cleaning up the lines and moving the spiffed-up tamale into Adobe illustrator. Although originally planned for a sticker and T-shirt release, there's something so tangible about Chale Tamale that Galaviz and his wife knew this called for more. "He has so much personality. He needed to be something in physical form. My wife had the idea to turn him into a plush toy and we went for it," Galaviz said. After finding a manufacturer to take on the project in China, Galaviz was sent frequent updates as Chale made the leap from 2D into the world of soft plush. In the meantime, he focused on the packaging, creating header cards for Chale Tamale and accompanying T-shirts. "We put our heart into this project," Galaviz said. "I wanted it to be perfect and do right by him as a character." A month later in mid-January, Galaviz received the first prototype of his mijo. He shared the sample on his social media under his artist name, "Gemini Vato." And the fervor started. "I was getting hounded for a month after posting the sample," Galaviz said. Galaviz ordered 100 Chale Tamales, and set out to host a Pinche Pop-Up at GG's Emporium on Blanco Road on February 10 (as in 2.10, because this is San Anto after all), which he called a "pretty cool vintage toy shop that supports local artists." They thought of everything down to the tamales served that evening, because you can't release Chale Tamale without its namesake present. Maricela Olguin, who has collaborated with Galaviz in the past, and owns both Sweet Chela's Custom Cakes as well as Aurora's Tamales, said she jumped at the chance to help with the launch. For Olguin, helping Chris was a no-brainer. "Chris is proud to be del WestSide. I'm proud to be del WestSide and having a family business that makes homemade tamales... Chale Tamale is familia. And as familia, we support each other," Olguin said. She and her mother, Aurora, whipped up 12 dozen tamales for the day, packaging each in pairs of two as a tasty thank you to folks who purchased Chale Tamale for $45. As San Antonio was getting a taste for the cold weather that it was about to experience, dozens of San Antonians lined up outside of GGs to score their very own Chale Tamale. Galaviz handed out wristbands so folks could wait in their cars away from the cold. "I was hesitant about having it on a Wednesday at first," Galaviz, 37, said. "They braved the cold, I couldn't believe it." Some of those that braved the weather include Emma Hernandez, who is now the "proud owner of No. 11 of 100" Chale Tamales. Hernandez has been following Galaviz's work for a while. She called the plush Galaviz's "latest quintessentially San Anto project." "I currently plan to keep Chale Tamale in his packaging, but Im tempted to open him every day," Hernandez said. Currently, Galaviz has a few Chale Tamales left from the original run of 100. He's stashed a few for an upcoming pop-up at Varrio Vintage (Sunday's pop-up was rescheduled due to the winter storm), but San Antonians shouldn't expect another order any time soon. For now, Galaviz is trying to figure out what's next for Chale, who already took up residence on his right forearm. "The plan is to do more characters, make some homies to make him a little food gang," Galaviz said. Chale already has a crispy dog cousin, that's currently available on a T-shirt. Or maybe Chale needs some love in his life. "Id like to see Chale Tamale have a corn husk-wrapped companion, especially during the colder months. I think this vato needs a hyna," Hernandez said. 's ( ) CEO Harry Hyman and CFO Richard Howell explain to our Proactive audience how they continue to support the NHS in the UK, HSE in Ireland and their GP occupiers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Hyman says they are 'delighted to play their part in the NHS and HSE in the fight against this terrible Covid disease'. Many of the company's primary care facilities and occupiers are now in the front-line of delivering Covid-19 vaccines and they have therefore continued to see a demand for extra space to help enable the redirection of activities out of hospitals. As a consequence of this demand, the group reported a 22.4%jump in earnings over the year, while the value of its portfolio crept up 2% to around 2.58bn. A wartime vessel may be returning to Lough Neagh as an outdoor exhibit. Picture courtesy of Lough Neagh Partnership A wartime vessel may be returning to Lough Neagh as an outdoor exhibit. The Joyce is being made available to Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council through a maritime charity in association with the Lough Neagh Partnership. The current private owners wish to gift the vessel to a good home where it will continue to be preserved. The Joyce operated on Lough Neagh from 1943 as a torpedo retrieval boat. The 40ft boat was decommissioned by the Royal Navy in 1960 and has since been used as a working boat in Weymouth. The Joyce, which has a wooden hull, was designed and built for use as a recovery boat during test firing of torpedoes. Silvery Light Sailing, a Northern Ireland-based charity which promotes maritime heritage, has been asked by the boat owners to explore the potential return of the boat to its historical home. Councillors were told that the cost of transporting The Joyce to Lough Neagh is expected to be approximately 20,000 with a contribution of 2,500 by the Lough Neagh Partnership. Employer groups are sceptical about a new hotline to dob in job seekers who turn down offers of work, and critics have dubbed it DobSeeker and say it is wide open for abuse. The government will establish the employer reporting line as part of stronger mutual obligations on recipients of JobSeeker and Youth Allowance when the welfare payments increase by $50 a fortnight in April. Employment Minister Michaelia Cash and Social Services Minister Anne Ruston have announced a suite of stronger mutual obligations for unemployed people. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Employment Minister Michaelia Cash said her department would follow up on people dobbed in to the hotline to see if they had a valid reason for turning down work. You often hear, though, employers saying, Joe applied for a job. He was qualified for the job ... and they said no, she said. In the event that they do not have a valid reason, they will be breached for that. [February 23, 2021] ezeep is Chrome Enterprise Recommended BERLIN and DENVER, Feb. 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ThinPrint's cloud printing solution ezeep is now officially Chrome Enterprise Recommended, and becomes a Google verified third-party solution for Chrome OS. Many businesses are looking for a simple way to manage printing for their employees, students and guests. ezeep Blue, the cloud printing solution from print expert ThinPrint, has been offering Chrome OS optimized printing for some time. With the inclusion of ezeep Blue in Google's Chrome Enterprise Recommended partner program, which was preceded by meeting extensive technical requirements, the solution's added value for Chrome OS users is now official. With ezeep Blue, companies have instant managed printing from the cloud without the cost of PCs or servers. Admins manage user access to printers via a clear web portal, with users simply printing from any of their devices. No drivers or trainings are required, and the solution is scalable from 10 to 10,000 users. State-of-the-art encryption of print data guarantees security. Print jobs are automatically deleted immediately after transmission to the printer and are thus secure from hacker attacks. Seamless Chrome printing is delivered thanks to ezeep. "We're happy to officially become Chrome Enterprise Recommended and thus a recognized partner of the Chrome OS ecosystem," said Christoph Hammer, Senior Vice President Cloud Services at ThinPrint GmbH. The plug-and-play set up and management of the print environment, especially in combination with our ezeep Hub print appliance, requires no technical knowledge. And users can print from any device, including mobile devices, at the fastest speeds, and importantl, using all the printers' printing options." ezeep Blue is available for a 30-day free trial, with full support and without any obligation. https://www.ezeep.com/blue/ About ezeep: With ezeep, printing is dramatically simplified, enabling any device to print to any printer whether from desktops, smartphones, tablets, or even drag & drop via any browser-enabled device. Consumers print unlimited and naturally free-of-charge to their own printers and, depending on the provider, free or at a cost to external printers. This makes printing as easy as making a phone call, eliminating the need for any user support. Companies can lower the infrastructure demands on their printer setups in branch offices worldwide, thanks to ezeep, drastically simplifying their administration. With this, the total costs for deploying printers is significantly reduced. Coworking spaces, universities, exhibition grounds, train stations, airports and kiosks can not only make their printers publicly available with just a single click, but also charge for printing with ease. The same applies to private users or cafes which want to share their printers with others. Printers are thereby transformed into sources of income, not costs. Open interfaces enable integrations with existing solutions, such as for user and resource management, cost control or compliance monitoring for maximum cost savings via automation. A constantly growing ecosystem of standard integrations by development partners makes these benefits also available to non-technical users. By reducing costs and removing all technical requirements, whilst providing the ability to use third-party printers at any time, ezeep ensures that in the future people will be able to print from almost every location quickly and easily, for whatever reason they might have. ezeep is committed to minimizing the CO2 footprint of printing and ensuring that printed paper can be a meaningful, productive and responsible alternative to screen-based information consumption. For more information, please visit: www.ezeep.com. Media Contacts: North America: Kendra Westerkamp, VisiTech PR Phone: +1-303-752-3552, email: CT@visitechpr.com Rest of World: Silke Kluckert, Public Relations Manager Phone: +49 30 39493166, email: press@cortado.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain In a new ongoing panel survey by Northwestern University and The Ohio State University, researchers find Americans significantly less concerned they could die of COVID-19, while their overall perceived likelihood of contracting the virus remained relatively consistent from December through February. "Public Attitudes about COVID-19 Vaccination," a study of 1,200 Americans surveyed monthly from December 2020 through June 2021, tracks changes in attitudes around risk perceptions, decision making, policy preferences and preventative health behaviors. Respondents were asked about mask and vaccine mandates, restrictions on bars and restaurants and places of worship, willingness or hesitancy to get vaccinated, vaccine availability and effectiveness, as well as their most important sources of information on COVID-19. The study is a collaboration between the Center for Communication & Public Policy in Northwestern's School of Communication, where the full report is available, and The Ohio State University School of Communication. It is funded by a RAPID COVID-19 grant from the National Science Foundation. "In December, Americans believed that they had almost a one in three chance of dying if they contracted COVID-19," said Erik Nisbet, the Owen L. Coon Professor of Communication & Policy Analysis and director of the Center for Communication & Public Policy at Northwestern. "Now, two months later, that number has dropped significantly to an approximately one in four chance of dying if they got sick. Interestingly, the overall perception of the likelihood of contracting COVID-19 has not changed significantly." Mask and vaccine mandates Despite some states lifting statewide mask mandates (Iowa, North Dakota, Mississippi and Montana), the public's strong support (61%) for mask mandates remains unchanged from December. "Since December, support for a vaccine mandate has risen from 31% in December to 35% in February," said Graham Dixon, assistant professor of communication at the Ohio State University. "Though in comparison to mask mandates and closures, a vaccine mandate remains highly unpopular overall." Closing bars and restaurants and places of worship In December, similar numbers of Americans were strongly supportive of closing restaurants/bars and places of worship. However, since that time, a gap has emerged where significantly fewer Americans are strongly supportive of keeping bars and restaurants closed while support for closing houses of worship remains unchanged. This is also noteworthy in light of recent Supreme Court decisions that direct states and localities to treat houses of worship the same as businesses when mandating closures. Vaccine availability Americans also appear to be increasingly worried about vaccine availability. Since the first wave of the survey in Decemberwhich was prior to the rollout and around the time that the COVID-19 vaccines were receiving FDA emergency authorization researchers have seen a sharp increase in the number of people concerned about being able to get the vaccine. Initially, the researchers found approximately one in three Americans expected it would be easy to get the vaccine. "Since December, reality has set in with the slow pace of the rollout and limited supply, where now two months later, among the same set of Americans, the number who feel that way is closer to one in seven," Nisbet said. "What is worrisome and needs to be monitored is whether frustration over getting the COVID-19 vaccine discourages some segments of the population from getting it." Vaccine accepting or hesitant The study shows that approximately four in 10 Americans are "vaccine accepting," saying they are extremely likely or likely to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Another one in four are "vaccine hesitant," reporting that they are either somewhat likely or somewhat unlikely to get vaccinated. Approximately one in three Americans remain "vaccine resistant," replying they are unlikely or extremely unlikely to get it. Over a three-month period, these percentages have remained steady and largely unchanged. As other studies have found, race and gender were among the differentiating factors between those who are vaccine accepting from those who are vaccine hesitant. Respondents who expressed hesitancy, as compared to acceptance, were more likely to be female, Black and/or religious, and they indicated they were less interested in news. They are also less trusting of healthcare providers and public health experts, less likely to get an annual flu shot and perceive the COVID-19 vaccines as less safe and somewhat less effective. Most important source of information Most Americans say they rely most on highly credible sources for COVID- information. According to 23 percent of respondents, the most important source of information on the COVID-19 pandemic is news media, including newspapers, TV news, radio, news websites, followed by federal health authorities, such as those representing the CDC and FDA at 18 percent. Health care providers and scientists were both chosen as the most important source by 11 percent. Few respondents named social media or state and local officials as a primary source of COVID information. The researchers said these interim study results provide some insights for COVID-19 vaccination communication campaigns as vaccination programs move beyond health care workers and the most vulnerable populations. The messaging should be calibrated to the audience. "For the 45% of Americans eager to get vaccinated, we need to ensure they have information providing the when, where and how to act upon those intentions," Nisbet said. "However, that same communication strategy won't work for the 25-30% of Americans who remain hesitant about COVID-19 vaccination. They need reassurance about the safety of the vaccine paired with constructive engagement that will build trust with health care providers and public health actors. Peer networks, community champions and religious leaders also all need to part of the communication strategy with this segment of the population. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak More information: Public Attitudes about COVID-19 Vaccination: Public Attitudes about COVID-19 Vaccination: polcomm.northwestern.edu/wp-co _briefing_2_22-2.pdf Kataib Hezbollah, one of the largest Iran-backed militias in Iraq, publicly denied any involvement in a recent rocket strike on Erbil International Airport and Baghdads Green Zone. We absolutely did not target Erbil or the Green Zone and have no knowledge of the group that did, spokesperson Mohammed Mohi told Reuters on Tuesday. A supposed group calling itself Saraya Awliya al-Dam claimed credit for last weeks 14-rocket barrage on Erbils airport in Iraqs semi-autonomous Kurdish region. The fusillade killed a military contractor and wounded nine others, including a member of the US military. While some experts have suspected the supposed group is a front for Iran-backed groups such as Kataib Hezbollah or Asaib Ahl al-Haq, the Biden administration has avoided publicly blaming Iran for the incident thus far. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby reiterated on Tuesday that no blame could be conclusively assigned for the Erbil attack, citing an ongoing investigation led by the Iraqi government. State Department spokesperson Ned Price on Monday said the United States would hold Iran responsible for the actions of its proxies that attack Americans. Price also said the rockets fired in recent attacks were Iranian-made and Iranian-supplied but that no precise attribution for the attack could yet be made. We will respond in a way thats calculated, within our own timetable, and using a mix of tools at a time and place of our choosing, as youve heard me say before, Price said, adding, What we will not do is lash out and risk escalation that plays into the hands of Iran. Irans Foreign Ministry denied involvement in the Erbil strike last week. Mohi on Tuesday told Reuters that such strikes appeared designed to trigger bad blood between the United States and the Iran-backed militias, noting that if a detente sought by both the United States and Iran were allowed to take hold, it could lead the United States to remove its troops from Iraq a long-time goal of groups like Kataib Hezbollah. A similar rocket attack in 2019 killed an Iraqi-born, naturalized US citizen who was working as a military contractor. The previous US administration under former President Donald Trump retaliated for the killing by bombing Kataib Hezbollah targets in various locations across Iraq. In response, Iraqi Shiite militia and political leaders and supporters stormed the US Embassy in Baghdad. The Trump administration then assassinated Iranian Quds Force commander Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani in a Baghdad drone strike a death Iranian leaders have vowed to avenge. The Biden administrations cautious statements on the incidents contrast sharply with the tendency of the former Trump administration to blame Iran and its proxies for such attacks. The new approach has some observers wondering whether the new administration is tiptoeing through such incidents in order to preserve fragile yet so far small gains in convincing Iranian leaders to reengage in dialogue to reassert the 2015 nuclear deal, which the Trump administration abandoned in 2018. On Tuesday, Kirby appeared to speculate that the strikes in Iraq could be tied to Iranian posturing ahead of the proposed nuclear talks. Its difficult to say with certainty whether theres a strategic calculation driving this recent uptick in attacks, or whether this is just a continuation of this sort of attack that we have seen in the past, Kirby said Monday. Iran-linked armed groups have launched renewed attacks in recent weeks elsewhere in the region. Explosions were heard over Saudi Arabias capital late last month as the commander of US forces in the Middle East visited the kingdom. US officials have said one of those strikes was launched from Iraq but provided no public evidence. A supposed group called Alwiyat al-Waad al-Haq claimed credit for that strike, which reportedly hit the Saudi royal compound on Jan. 23. Mohi on Tuesday told Reuters that people in the region who have suffered from Saudi [policy] have the right to retaliate. Earlier this month, at least four explosive drones hit an airport in southwest Saudi Arabia as Washingtons Yemen envoy, Timothy Lenderking, was set to arrive in the kingdom. Yemens Houthi rebels, who have ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, claimed credit for that attack. The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Etisalat and stc remain the frontrunners across the MEA region, claiming the title of the MEAs strongest and most valuable telecoms brands, respectively. stc is the regions most valuable brand, its brand value up an impressive 14% to US$9.2 billion, simultaneously jumping 5 positions to 13th and becoming a AAA- brand. stc has recently doubled the capacity of its network, never compromising on customer service something the brand prides itself on. stc is playing a crucial part in KSAs Vision 2030 a strategic framework to diversity the economy away from oil through establishing a digital hub for the whole region, to accommodate future growth in the IT sector. David Haigh, CEO, Brand Finance commented: stcs brand has evolved and grown following its successful masterbrand refresh and extension into Kuwait and Bahrain at the beginning of last year. The company continues to execute its DARE strategy successfully and has strengthened its positioning as a company that enables digital life. Its commitment to digital transformation has been shown with stc pay, recognised as the first tech unicorn in Saudi Arabia. Brand Finance evaluates the relative strength of brands, based on factors such as marketing investment, customer perceptions, staff satisfaction, and corporate reputation. Alongside revenue forecasts, brand strength is a crucial driver of brand value. Etisalat has been crowned the MEAs strongest telecoms brand, with a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 87.4 out of 100 and a corresponding AAA brand strength rating the only brand in the region to achieve this rating. Thanks to its strategy over the last few years and its recent achievement of becoming the fastest network on the planet, the brand was in a position to respond immediately to the 'new normal' of the pandemic, providing solutions and flexibility in a way that connected emotionally with consumers. Etisalat Group, the most valuable telecoms portfolio in the region which has recently broken the $11 billion mark, is turning its sights on transforming into a truly global player. Haigh said: When Covid struck in 2020, Etisalat led from the front ensuring business continuity, robust e-governance, enablement of smart cities and remote learning, to help drive the digital future of the UAE. Staying relevant and enabling the nation with the fastest network on the planet, Etisalat has earned its place as the regions Strongest Brand, ready deliver on its ethos of Together Matters as the UAE welcomes the world at Expo 2021. Out of the seven Middle Eastern brands Etisalat, Mobily, Ooredoo and stc have climbed the ranks this year. Mobily is the fastest growing telco brand in the region with a 17% brand value growth, jumping 10 places in the ranking to 75th position. Mobily (brand value US$1.3 billion), has strengthened its business and brand over the last three years by positioning the brand as the everyday hero. It has attained the highest Brand Strength Index score in its history at 75.4 out of 100 (brand strength rating AA+) and is in a strong position to capture the next wave of growth by seizing opportunities in the digital economy. -- Tradearabia News Service Sterling made fresh gains and shares in sectors battered by the pandemic rallied as investors welcomed the plan to ease lockdown rules albeit slowly. As Goldman Sachs declared the UK economy was 'well positioned for a near-term rebound', the pound rose above $1.41 for the first time since April 2018 and topped 1.16 for the first time since March last year. It came as travel and airline stocks made gains, on hopes that families would get away on holiday this summer. As Goldman Sachs declared the UK economy was 'well positioned for a near-term rebound', the pound rose above $1.41 for the first time since April 2018 But analysts warned that hospitality firms 'still have a long way to go before they can really open' due to the cautious timetable outlined by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. British Airways owner IAG, Easyjet, Wizz Air and Tui were among the winners after Johnson hinted that international travel could resume on May 17, sparking a surge in holiday bookings. Also on the rise was Upper Crust owner SSP, which jumped 17 per cent, and WH Smith, which was up 7.2 per cent. Both have many outlets at travel hubs such as airports and train stations. Tui said bookings for foreign trips jumped 500 per cent, while Thomas Cook revealed traffic to its website was up 100 per cent, with bookings flooding in for countries such as Greece, Cyprus and Mexico. Tour operator Jet2 said summer bookings had leapt 600 per cent. At the same time airline Easyjet reported a 337 per cent rise in flight bookings and a 630 per cent jump in holiday bookings for locations such as Alicante, Malaga, Palma, Faro and Crete. Oliver Blackbourn, fund manager at Janus Henderson, said: 'The news will be the light at the end of the tunnel for the services side of the economy, where the restrictions have been devastating.' Overall, the FTSE 100 rose 13.70 points to 6625.94 and the FTSE 250 added 76.63 points, at 21,057.72. The two indices were unloved during 2020 but have risen steadily this year as the rapid vaccination rollout has drawn overseas investors to the UK. Cecilia Mariotti, analyst at Goldman Sachs, said: 'The FTSE 100 has been the best-performing equity market since the start of the year. 'Considering the vaccine rollout and the decrease in infection rate and potential for an expansionary March Budget, the UK is well positioned for a near-term rebound.' But others were frustrated that the UK is not moving faster out of lockdown, adding that over-caution is likely to hurt the hospitality sector. Neil Wilson, analyst at Markets, said: 'Hospitality businesses still have a long way to go before they can really reopen. The Government ought to be loosening up quicker since the data has been so encouraging. 'The economy will have been out of kilter for 15 months by June and even then foreign travel, a rich source of income, will still likely be severely curtailed. 'The hope is that this is the final push and we will never return to lockdowns they have been hugely and irreversibly damaging to some of the most vulnerable.' A father who's about to see his wife and daughter again after more than a year. A wife who's supposed to get her second dose together with the love of her life, but he died before Valentine's Day. An 85-year-old who's wary of needles. They're among the 105 residents from different villages who got their COVID-19 vaccine at the Yona gym on Tuesday. Every village-based vaccination clinic is allotted 100 doses, but at times, there's more demand for it. "My husband and I got our first Pfizer vaccine at Okkodo High School in January. We're supposed to be getting our second dose today, together. Now I'm here by myself because he passed away on Feb. 13," Julie Duenas, 55, said. She and her husband Melton spent 33 years together, including 20 years as a married couple. A massive stroke took him away from her. "He was the one who told me I should get vaccinated," Duenas said, adding that getting fully vaccinated is like fulfilling her late husband's wish. Even in death, she said, it's like her husband wanted what's best for her so she would get an added layer of protection from COVID-19. "I wish he's here," the grandmother of 16 said. Duenas, a building custodian for the Department of Public Works, took the COVID-19 test three times over the past year and, thankfully, she said, "all came back negative." "I hope I'd be OK, with no side effects from getting this second vaccine," the Inarajan resident said. "I hope I won't have fever tonight." 'Peace of mind' Denis Snaer, a dental assistant, said getting the vaccine offers him peace of mind, especially with travel plans to see his wife and 4-year-old daughter after more than a year of waiting because of the pandemic. "I haven't seen my family in more than a year," he said, during a 15-minute observation period after getting his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Snaer, 49, last saw his wife and daughter in November 2019 and he was supposed to visit them again in March 2020, but COVID-19 started tearing through Guam. He moved the trip by another month, thinking the pandemic would be over by then. About a year later, the world is still in the throes of the pandemic, with travel restrictions very much in place. As a health care worker, he opted for the free vaccination which would help prepare him for his travel to Taiwan to see his family. "Having FaceTime is nice, but it's hard. It's not the same. My daughter asks me, 'When are you coming?' And when she sees a plane, she thinks it's from Guam and with her dad in it," he said. Almost gone The Department of Public Health and Social Services' village-based vaccination clinic is separate from its clinic at the University of Guam Calvo Field House that's done in partnership with the Guam National Guard. Government officials are looking to achieve herd immunity by summer, but the limiting factor is the vaccine supply. Guam has used nearly all the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech doses it received, so it has to pause the vaccination for about a week starting Saturday. However, Guam will be receiving 35,260 more doses that are expected to arrive on March 5. More than 48,000 residents have so far gotten either one or two doses, and more than 17,000 have been fully vaccinated with two doses. Needles not really that big Rufina Aguon, 85, watched the news of ongoing vaccination for COVID-19 in different places and was scared of the large size of the needles shown on TV. It turns out, the needle actually used for the vaccination isn't really that big, she said. "I feel OK," the Barrigada resident said, after getting her first Pfizer vaccine dose at the Yona gym. With her was her niece and primary caregiver, Katherine Murphy, 60, who also got her first dose. "On TV, the needles looked so big, but thankfully it's not really that big when you get the vaccine. My aunt, she's turning 86 in March and she's still strong. We were supposed to get the vaccine earlier, but she kept putting it off. It's probably because of the needles you see on TV," the niece said. One can still get COVID-19 even after full vaccination, but the symptoms are not expected to be as severe as what it would be. Officials also said people who receive the vaccine should still wear a mask, wash their hands and observe social distance. Grace Bordallo, spokesperson for Public Health, said 105 people got their first or second Pfizer vaccine shots at the Yona Gym, and the last person was released from post-observation at 12:18 p.m. The village clinic is supposed to be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., but all doses usually get administered by lunch hour. "We're very thankful to the (Yona) mayor and the people in our social media who helped us reach 100 today," she said. Public Health will return to Yona in three weeks to administer the second Pfizer shots. Steven Acfalle said COVID-19 has already killed and infected so many people around the world so he decided to get the vaccine to better protect himself against it, he said. The 52-year-old Yona resident got his first dose on Tuesday, and is looking forward to getting the second one to be fully vaccinated. "Thank God there's now a vaccine," he said. The next village-based vaccination clinic is at the Barrigada Community Center on Friday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., for Pfizer vaccines. Walk-ins are accepted, but people are encouraged to register with the village mayor's office. 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. ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 23rd Feb, 2021) Saab has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Abu Dhabi Ports regarding collaboration for the development of technologies for port surveillance and vessel traffic management. The agreement was signed at the international defence exhibition IDEX 2021 in Abu Dhabi. Saab is a leading defence and security company in the UAE, partnering with the UAE government and institutions to support the building of a competitive defence and security industry and ecosystem. For Saab successful strategic partnerships are key to success and essential to generate innovative products and solutions for national needs as well as the global market. "We are excited to collaborate with one of the fastest growing and innovative port operators in the world. Their high requirements will be essential for us in our ambitions to develop market-leading technologies made in the UAE", says Anna-Karin Rosen, Managing Director, Saab Ltd in UAE. Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi Ports is a company that owns, develops, manages and operates 11 ports and terminals in the UAE and Guinea. The company facilitates global maritime trade, industry and logistics by effectively managing integrated ports, logistics assets and services, industrial cities and a free zone. "Through our maritime trade proposition, Abu Dhabi Ports is enabling our emirates economy to soar to new heights, and compete globally as a key hub connecting east and west. Our partnership with Saab further solidifies our long-term strategic effort by creating new opportunities for both companies to work together to pioneer and develop solutions that place us at the forefront of technology", says Captain Maktoum Al Houqani, Chief Corporate Authority Officer, Abu Dhabi Ports. Saab is an early investor in the UAE having started its business in the 1980s and is using its unrivalled innovation, expertise and capabilities to create world-class Emirati defence and security solutions, for national needs as well as the global market. A company which began life in 1985 as a way for serving police officers to pool their Christmas savings might not sound like the ideal recipient for a 200,000 prize aimed at developing a new generation of fintech lenders. Yet that is exactly what happened to Police Credit Union last March. The member owned co-operative, which has grown to 34,000 members since its founding in 2002, was handed the cash from a Treasury-backed fund so it could help those in the police, armed forces and other public services cut the cost of their borrowing as their financial habits improved. Officially dating back to the 1960s and with roots which go back to the 18th century, credit unions have long been applauded for their membership model. High profile supporters of the co-operatives include Michael Sheen and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall And it was not the only one. Despite their age, credit unions have been around since 1960 and can trace their roots back to the 18th century, two of the three winners, and four of the six finalists, of the 200,000 prizes were credit unions. The hundreds of thousands of pounds are designed to enable firms like PCU to 'find innovative technological solutions to increase access to affordable, responsible credit', according to Nesta, the firm behind the 'Affordable Credit Challenge'. For Paul Norgrove, the chief executive of PCU, which operates under the wider umbrella of the Serve and Protect Credit Union, 2016, that is largely about making more people aware they exist, and reducing how long it might take prospect borrowers to get a loan. 'We saw a lot of people going into the military with thin credit files, many had gone to a doorstep or payday lender and didn't know we existed. Many more predatory lenders were better at raising awareness through Google', he said. 'Wonga made us all sit up and go "why did they go there and not to us". We've spent the last two years trying to refine our approach, to improve our digital offering and minimise that friction so we can be available when our members need us.' Adverts for payday lenders like Wonga were more visible than those for local credit unions, which likely would have offered hard-up borrowers a cheaper alternative It is also about trying to attract new blood to co-operatives which can be dominated by older savers. Marlene Shiels, the chief executive of Capital Credit Union, which serves 24,000 members in eastern Scotland and was one of the other winners of the 200,000 grant, said: 'For members who want to go digital this funding was vital for transforming us. 'We'll have an aging membership (the average age of a member is 47) otherwise. We're trying to attract younger people and digitise.' And attracting younger members is not the only struggle credit unions face. How have credit unions grown? 2015 2019 Members 1.85m 2.07m Loans made 1.25bn 1.63bn Total assets 2.8bn 3.5bn Income 186.3m 210.9m Income earned from loan interest 143.9m 176.2m Source: Bank of England Although membership of around 400 co-operatives in Great Britain and Northern Ireland has grown from 1.85million in 2015 to 2.07million in 2019 and the number of loans by a similar level, chief executives and regulators alike have raised concerns the sector is being held back. Credit unions have long been popular for their community ethos; all members must have saved with a union and be united through a 'common bond', which may be geographical, like Capital, or professional, like Serve and Protect. High-profile backers of such co-operatives include Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, the actor Michael Sheen and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. And the narrative such ethical local lenders can fill the void left by the demise of the likes of Wonga and help more disadvantaged borrowers access credit is one plenty would like to buy into, even if it has yet to come true. What does the 1979 Credit Union Act say? According to the legislation which formalised credit unions, the objectives of these co-operatives, which must have a minimum of 21 members, are: 1. The promotion of thrift among members of the society by accumulation of their savings 2. The creation of sources of credit for the benefit of members at a fair and reasonable rate of interest 3. The use and control of members' savings for their mutual benefit 4. The training and education of members in the wiseuse of money and in the management of their affairs Marlene Shiels, chief executive of Capital Credit Union, told This is Money regulators took a very restrictive interpretation of the act and what it permitted credit unions to do. Only last year, the chairman of the Financial Conduct Authority, Charles Randell, gave a speech titled: 'Is this the decade of the credit union?' He said: 'The need for more sustainable community based finance is huge. 'The transformation that the credit union sector needs to undergo if it is to meet much more of this need is huge. But the benefits of doing so could be huge as well.' And this time it really could be different. Not least because a 68-page review into Britain's unsecured credit market authored by the FCA and published this month has thrown its weight behind the most substantive reforms to the system since it was formalised at the end of the 1970s. 'Despite positive efforts to encourage more alternatives to high-cost credit, the market has not delivered at scale, and further reform is needed', the review stated. 'This includes liberalisation of the approach taken to regulating credit unions and to encourage more mainstream lenders to participate at lower costs in this part of the market.' It added: 'Credit unions offer an important alternative to high-cost credit and enable wider financial inclusion. To fully realise their potential there is a case for removing some of the current restrictions on their activities.' Its call for the Bank of England, FCA, Treasury and Northern Irish Government to look at legislation published before the advent of the internet, let alone smartphone banking, was welcomed by campaigners and chief executives alike. 'I 100 per cent welcome the review's recommendations', Paul Norgrove said, 'the 1979 Credit Union Act is older than me.' Robert Kelly, the chief executive of the trade body which represents 169 credit unions in England, Scotland and Wales, said 'a big priority' was reviewing the legislation and regulation governing the sector. Credit unions currently have one source of income, that's not a great strategy for building a substantial business, we need to be able to compete and diversify. Marlene Shiels, Capital Credit Union 'The reality is the regulatory environment has restricted credit unions in terms of transformation and innovation. 'The FCA has said credit unions can offer basic savings and loans. We've argued for the capability to offer car finance, credit cards, insurance facilitation, as well as more collaboration.' Marlene Shiels, who sat on the review's advisory panel, added: 'We have the most restrictive legislative framework of any country, it's important that's changed. We need to be able to offer more for our members beyond savings and loans. 'Credit unions currently have one source of income, that's not a great strategy for building a substantial business, we need to be able to compete and diversify.' Credit unions made 210million in income in 2019, according to figures from the Bank of England - the vast majority, 83 per cent, came from loan interest. 'There has been an increasing dependency on the interest paid on loans', it noted in its latest statistics published last July. And while credit unions versus payday lenders is not a zero-sum game, unions offer savings accounts and payroll deducted savings, a variety of lower cost loans and even mortgages in some cases, the review also called for regulators to look at the 42.6 per cent APR cap and whether it 'allows credit unions to fully serve the subprime part of the market.' This recommendation was welcomed by Capital Credit Union's Marlene Shiels, but some are more sceptical as to whether this would have a real impact. Robert Kelly's predecessor as chief executive of the Association of British Credit Unions told MPs in 2016 that as many as 80 per cent of applicants to credit unions could be turned down, with Kelly himself telling This is Money the focus on 'responsible credit' meant co-operatives were 'not throwing money out the door'. Peter Tutton, head of policy at StepChange Debt Charity, said the review 'raised questions about wider social policy. 'Wider access to suitable credit can help people who can afford to borrow on commercial terms', he said, 'but there's also another important cohort of people who need cheaper and better ways of being able to meet their necessary costs.' The charity called for a no interest loan scheme to help 'those in the most financially vulnerable positions.' But those from the sector who spoke to This is Money felt the review's recommendations, coupled with the Treasury-backed grants from Nesta, were a step in the right direction in allowing credit unions and community finance to help more borrowers of all stripes. 'We can play a more prominent role, of course we can, and we should', Kelly said. 'We should absolutely have a more prominent place in building financial resilience in the gaps where irresponsible lending has taken place. 'I'm not going to say we'll fill it completely, but I think we can do much more.' Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convenor will hold a road show on February 26 in Gujarat, where his party registered impressive gains in the civic body polls. In a tweet in Hindi, the (AAP) chief thanked the people of for ushering in an era of "new politics" in the state. Party leaders said Kejriwal will hold a road show in Surat, where the AAP has won 27 seats in the municipal polls. "AAP National Convenor Shri @ArvindKejriwal will visit on 26th Feb, 2021. He will thank the people of for believing in AAP's Model of Development, in a grand Road Show," a tweet from the official handle of the AAP said. The AAP, which had fielded 470 candidates across six corporations, won 27 seats in Surat. Its workers celebrated the poll results by cutting cakes. (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.) San Francisco school officials unanimously approved a health and safety agreement with labor unions allowing the reopening of schools before the end of the academic year. The deal, approved during Tuesdays school board meeting, is the first major hurdle in bringing the first students back into classrooms for in-person learning, although the unions and district are still at odds over what the school day will look like when classrooms reopen. Any return to in-person instruction which is not a certainty is likely at least two months off. The district and board have faced increased pressure from parents and city officials to reopen schools including a lawsuit and possible recall and continue to face several hurdles before returning students to the classroom. Theyre now struggling to reach an agreement with teachers union officials, who have expressed both concern over learning loss as well as possible outbreaks among staff and in the community when students return. A key component of the agreement approved Tuesday allows a return to classrooms once the city reaches the red tier, the second most restrictive level of Californias reopening blueprint, if coronavirus vaccinations are made available to on-site school staff. San Francisco is expected to reach the red tier within the next week. 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 question now is what the school day will look like when schools reopen. The daily schedule for students and teachers is still pending, requiring an agreement between the district and teachers union. While bargaining continues over those issues, labor leaders and district officials expressed frustration at the ongoing talks over disagreements on how often students would be in classrooms. District officials touted a proposal at a Tuesday news conference before the board meeting for the youngest students. Superintendent Vince Matthews detailed the districts reopening proposal for children in transitional kindergarten through second grade, including students with disabilities, highlighting that the district is fighting for longer hours and days than the teachers union. The district wants five hours a day, five days a week at schools with low demand for a return to in-person learning, and for pre-K and special education students. In those cases, children would be in school for 25 hours a week. The superintendent said the unions proposal would provide just 12 hours of in-person instruction at those schools, with three hours a day for four days each week, and one day of distance learning. Under the unions plan, students and families would also spend much of the day transitioning from home to school and back, Matthews said. We dont want to just offer half days, he added. We want to offer consistency. In response, the United Educators of San Francisco issued a statement that did not directly address the difference between the proposals but said that after five days at the bargaining table arguing about how to reopen the schools before June, the union wants to bring in outside help. At this point, we believe there needs to be a trusted mediator to intervene, as we have lost confidence in the Superintendent to manage this process, Susan Solomon, the unions president, said. Solomon said teachers believe the most equitable and workable schedule is for students to attend school at least four days a week, even if they are half days and that families who choose not to return wont be left out. The statement added that students should remain with the same teacher theyve had all year. Several teachers spoke during public comment Tuesday, saying its imperative students remain with their current teacher given the importance of relationships already built during a tumultuous time. Im urging the board to trust and value educators, said teacher Betty Estrada. The districts hard push for its plan was the latest in an escalating battle over reopening schools. City Attorney Dennis Herrera, with backing from Mayor London Breed, sued the district in early February, arguing it didnt have a concrete plan to bring students back. COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California. Both the districts and unions plans require students to sit 6 feet apart, meaning that only 14 students could be in a single classroom. Both plans divide elementary schools into two categories: those with more requests for in-person instruction and those with fewer requests. Matthews said that more than 80% of schools would likely be able to stick to the 14-person limit. Under the districts plan, children at schools with more requests for in-person instruction would attend class twice a week all day, and learn at home on the three other days. In all, there would be 16 hours of live instruction each week, Matthews said. By contrast, he said the unions proposal for the same schools would provide 14 hours of live instruction with four half-days in the classroom each week. Children would be at home doing distance learning once a week. District officials said during a reopening update before the school board that there is still no date set to bring students back given uncertainty about vaccines and when the city will enter the red or orange tier. In addition, all elementary schools must be cleared by the Public Health Department for reopening yet only six of 64 elementary schools have completed applications for in-person instruction. There are no plans to bring back middle and high school students. Matthews said the district has heard from many families that are eager for more information, and school officials are trying to provide that. I know many families are anxiously awaiting clarity, he said. Nanette Asimov and Jill Tucker are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @nanetteasimov @jilltucker DARIEN Teachers could start getting the vaccine as early as next week, according to the towns Department of Health and the districts superintendent. The timing coincides with the last phase of Dariens secondary students returning to in-person learning on Monday. Despite the change, the leaders of the town and schools, both up for the vaccine in the next phase, say they will take a back seat on the list for those who need it first. Though he will be eligible as an educator and by age for the next round, Schools Superintendent Alan Addley said he will wait as those who work directly with children on a daily basis get vaccinated first. First Selectman Jayme Stevenson, also eligible beginning next week, said Tuesday that as long as there are others who need the vaccine and supplies are limited, she will wait. Im putting myself at the end of the line, she said. Gov. Ned Lamont announced Monday the state will expand COVID-19 vaccination eligibility next month through defined age groups and to teachers, shifting priority away from essential workers and those with underlying medical conditions. While state officials touted the new plan as a more efficient way to ramp up vaccinations, the approach deviates from guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the CT Food Association and several labor unions, criticized the governor for leaving behind frontline essential workers and those with medical conditions that make them more susceptible to COVID complications. Under the new plan, people age 55 to 64 will next be eligible to receive the vaccine as of March 1. The state plans to make an exception for teachers, school workers and child care professionals, who will also be eligible to receive the vaccine next month at separate clinics, in schools wherever possible. Darien is running vaccine clinics at the Mather Community Center at Town Hall. Addley said a clinic will be set up there for teachers. He said several school employees have already been vaccinated, either due to their age or because they are medical workers. From what I have gathered, teachers are very excited that we will be eligible for the vaccine next week, said Joslyn DeLancey, who is head of Dariens teachers union and is a teacher at Tokeneke School. I wont speak for everyone as I havent surveyed, but I will say that I personally will feel more comfortable in the classroom after having both doses of the vaccine, she said. DeLancey said the district has recently had more staff cases. Although we cant always directly link the cases to school exposure, we do think it to be true in some cases, she said. DeLancey said a vaccine for teachers and school staff is a huge step forward in getting back to some sort of normalcy and consistent in person learning for all. We are hoping the town can get a clinic in place for teachers and other school employees in order to get us vaccinated as soon as possible, she said. Addley said he is working with town health director David Knauf to begin teachers clinics next week through March. He said it will be held in the Mather gymnasium where the rest of the clinic is being held. It is exciting for our teachers. They will get a bit of understandable security and comfort. Its also good for kids in the rest of the state who are currently not in school, Addley said. Im so glad the state has now seen teachers as a priority, he said. Addley said he intends to be last on the list though he will be eligible. I assure you I will not be in the front of everyone who works in the schools or goes to visit the schools, he said. Addley said hes glad to see the state has made educators a priority. They deserve it, he said. Page Content The MMC for Economic Development in the City of Johannesburg, Councillor Lawrence Khoza, met the owners and management of Wasaa Gasses and the CEO and staff of Lanseria City Airport on Monday, 22 February 2021. Over the past few weeks, MMC Khoza has been on a quest to meet business owners to understand the challenges they face as a result of Covid-19 and slow economic growth and to establish how the City can partner with them as part of the citys reconstruction and recovery of the economy. These visits go a long way in addressing investor issues to ensure that the city retains existing investors and attracts new investors, while also providing the City with an opportunity to develop informed interventions that are aimed at assisting these businesses. The City is committed to creating a conducive environment for businesses to thrive. Energy is one of the key sectors that is seen as an enabler to all the other industries. Manufacturing cannot take place without energy security, and the city has plans to ramp up the manufacturing sector in order to generate more jobs and to also attract more investment opportunities. The main reason for the visit to Wasaa Gasses was to showcase the potential of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in addressing some of the energy issues the country is plagued with and to also highlight the opportunities that exist in the value chain. The visit was also to ascertain the challenges faced by businesses operating in this sector. Wasaa Gasses is the first independent petrochemicals company that is 100% black women owned. Municipalities have a role to play when it comes to policy interventions. Each municipality should lead in LPG and in green energy interventions through our policy choices and directed investments. The City of Johannesburg can lead the renewables and green revolutions, said MMC Khoza. The Lanseria Airport is a key anchoring economic node in the proposed Lanseria Smart City and is also a strategic partner of the City of Johannesburg. The aviation industry has been adversely affected by the pandemic as it is normally the gateway to other destinations. Aviation is viewed as an enabler to tourism including business tourism and therefore engaging the airport was to gauge how the pandemic has impacted their business and their future expansion plans, it also provided an opportunity for management of the airport to highlight key challenges that the city can address to assist them to recover from the effects of the pandemic. The City of Johannesburg looks forward to further engagements with the Lanseria Airport Management in imagining and building a Lanseria that is inclusive, developmental and economically vibrant, MMC Khoza added. Angry protesters occupied a governor's office in southeastern Iran on Tuesday, a day after at least two fuel smugglers were shot dead at the nearby border with Pakistan, according to Iranian media and online videos. Iran, which has some of the lowest fuel prices in the world, has been fighting rampant smuggling to neighbouring countries, particularly in its impoverished Sistan-Baluchestan province - long the scene of clashes between security forces and separatist militants and drug smugglers. Iranian officials have in the past tolerated limited smuggling as a source of income for a local population plagued by high unemployment, but have tightened controls recently, a resident told Reuters. State TV quoted deputy provincial governor Mohammad Hadi Marashi as saying two people were killed by gunfire on the Pakistani side of the border. But Pakistani border officials said protests broke out on Monday on the Iranian side of the frontier after Iranian forces fired at people involved in the illegal Iranian fuel trade. Abdul Razaq Saloli, deputy commissioner of the border district of Panjgur, told Reuters that a body and an injured Pakistani were handed over to Pakistani border authorities by Iranian officials. Saloli said the injured Pakistani man, identified as Shams Baloch, had reported that over 10 people had been killed and many others injured in the bout of shooting. Protesters stormed the governor's office on Tuesday and set fire to a police car, according to videos posted on social media. Security forces were seen using tear gas to disperse the crowd. Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the footage. Sana Ullah Baloch, a member of the provincial assembly in the neighbouring Pakistani region, said on Twitter that 12 Baluchi youths had been killed and urged Iran to investigate the incident and punish those guilty. Short link: Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. French actor Gerard Depardieu has been charged with rape and sexual assault allegedly committed in 2018 against an actress in her 20s. The 72-year-old is alleged to have repeatedly attacked the young woman who cannot be named for legal reasons over a number of days in August 2018. It follows a series of #MeToo complaints against powerful men in the Paris arts establishment who are said to have raped or otherwise abused young women working as models and actresses. Depardieu's alleged victim is said to have been involved in play rehearsals in the French capital at the time of the rapes. Depardieu who made his names in Hollywood films such as Green Card and Cyrano de Bergerac allegedly invited her back to his Paris mansion to 'help her with her career'. A first probe of the rape accusations against Depardieu was dropped for lack of evidence but later reopened, leading to criminal charges filed in December, a judicial source told AFP on Tuesday. Gerard Depardieu on the set of Commissaire Maigret last week Gerard Depardieu with his partner Clementine Igou at a film premier in May 2007 Depardieu pictured in the 1998 American action film 'The Man In The Iron Mask' The French actor was initially accused of assaulting and raping the actress at his Paris home in August 2018. A probe into the allegations was dropped in 2019 but the actress subsequently relaunched proceedings, Paris prosecutors said last year. Depardieu's lawyer, Herve Temime, told AFP that the actor, who is free but under judicial supervision, 'completely rejects the accusations'. According to a source close to the case, Depardieu is a friend of the actress's family. Some reports have suggested Depardieu and the actress were rehearsing a scene of a theatre play, but the source said 'there was nothing professional about the encounter'. Two rapes are alleged to have taken place inside Depardieu's Parisian home in 2018 one on August 7, the other on August 13 and there were also multiple sexual assaults around the same time. The victim has told judicial police she was visiting Depardieu as a 'family friend' and not in any professional capacity. In turn, Depardieu has spoken of a 'consensual relationship', saying he was a good friend of the woman's father, and had offered her career advice. She first made a complaint in the city of Aix-en-Provence, in the South of France, but a nine-month investigation came up 'with no evidence of a crime,' said the investigating source. It included the victim facing Depardieu in a meeting set up by the authorities, but the case was originally formally dismissed on June 4, 2019, before being reopened last August. The actor's lawyer, Herve Temime said his client was now free on bail, and was 'sorry that this information has been made public.' The woman's lawyer, Elodie Tuaillon-Hibon, said that she hoped her client's 'private sphere will be respected' as the case unfolds. Ms Tuaillon-Hibon said her client 'requested privacy' and would remain anonymous, in line with her legal fight. She said her client had been able to 'automatically reopen the case', despite it being closed originally. There was no immediate indication as to what new evidence had come to light. Described as a controversial and larger-than-life character, Depardieu became the face of French cinema due to roles in films such as such as Cyrano de Bergerac, Jean de Florette and Camille Claudel. He has also had a successful international career, having made more than 180 films, working among others with Peter Weir in Green Card and with Ridley Scott in 1492. He has also acted in Cyrano de Bergerac in 1990, The Man in the Iron Mask in 1998, and Life of Pi in 2012. Depardieu with French actress Isabelle Huppert as they pose during the photocall for 'Valley of Love' at the 68th annual Cannes Film Festival, in Cannes, France in 2015 A preliminary investigation was opened on August 27, 2018 after the young woman filed a complaint near the southern city of Aix-en-Provence for rape and sexual aggression against the star. It was then passed on to officers in Paris but the probe was dropped after nine months in early 2019 after investigators failed to gather enough proof to proceed to formal charges. At the time, Depardieu's lawyer, Herve Temime, said the actor 'absolutely denies any rape, any sexual assault, any crime' and dismissed the complaint as 'groundless.' The young woman relaunched proceedings by acting as an 'injured party' - which under French law almost always leads to a case being examined by an investigating magistrate. Depardieu made his name in the 1974 film 'Going Places' after which he enjoyed a meteoric rise, demonstrating talent and allure in wide-ranging roles in classics, dramas and comedies alike. In 2013 Depardieu sparked a huge outcry by leaving France and taking Russian nationality in protest at a proposed tax hike on the rich in his homeland. Russian President Vladimir Putin treated him to a dinner to present him with his new citizenship and Depardieu was subsequently full of praise in an interview to Komsomolskaya Pravda daily. The French actor's romantic history has been turbulent with him divorcing his first wife actress Elisabeth Guignot in 1996. The couple married in 1970 and share two children, Guillaume and Julie. His son Guillaume died in 2008, aged 37. While separated from Guignot, he had a daughter named Roxanne, with model Karine Silla in 1992. Depardieu dated Carole Bouquet from 1997 until 2005. Ms Bouquet is also a successful French actress who plaid Melina Havelock in the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only. Most recently, he has been linked to Clementine Igou, a 41-year-old Harvard University graduate. The pair met in Italy 2004 and were reportedly drawn to each other due to their mutual love of wine. The couple have lived together since 2005 and have a 30-year age gap. As well as he romantic life, the actor has been in the headlines for his public row over tax arrangements in France and his decision to become a Russian resident. The Cyrano de Bergerac star took Belgian residence after a bitter dispute with the French government over high rates of tax. Described as a controversial and larger-than-life character, Depardieu (attending the opening of the Beiteddine International Art Festival in 2019) became the face of French cinema due to roles in films such as Cyrano de Bergerac, Jean de Florette and Camille Claudel He later became a Russian citizen in 2013 after befriending President Vladimir Putin. The Green Card star caused controversy at the time after slamming his home country. He described France as a place 'populated by foreigners and imbeciles making wine and stinky cheese'. While in 2014, he was accused of throwing water over revellers beneath his Italian flat after being annoyed by their noise. And in 2011 he had to apologise for urinating into a bottle on a flight from Paris to Dublin after being told by the flight crew that he would have to wait at least 15 minutes until he could use the onboard lavatories. The actor was fined in 2013 after falling off his scooter while driving drunk in Paris. He failed to turn up at the hearing at which he was fined 4,000 and had his licence suspended for six months. Depardieu has also never been afraid of taking a swipe at the film industry, slamming the Oscars in 2016. He said: 'Cinema doesn't exist any more. There is a world of entertainment and people, terrorised by the Americans, don't know any more which language to speak.' The Cyrano de Bergerac star took Belgian residence after a bitter dispute with the French government over high rates of tax, and later became a Russian citizen 'There are 10 stars and they are all American. Their films are crammed with special effects... and the rest of the world of cinema is struggling to exist.' In 2014, Depardieu claimed he sometimes drinks up to 14 bottles of wine per day. He told French magazine So Film: 'I can't drink like a normal person. I can absorb 12, 13, 14 bottles per day. 'In the morning, it starts at home with champagne or red wine before 10am, then again champagne.' Gerard said he breaks up the wine intake with a little aniseed liqueur pastis. However, his behaviour was condemned at the time by French mental health expert Professor Michel Lejoyeux, who blasted French attitudes to the heavy consumption of alcohol, and the media's admiration of his alcohol intake. He said: 'We smile about heavy users, calling them 'bon vivants', while non-consumption is not allowed. In society, it is the one who does not drink who will feel guilty. 'A consumption of 14 bottles a day is beyond all data, all thresholds and health references of the World Health Organization. 'This is proof of the positive vision we have of alcohol poisoning.' Previously Depardieu made headlines after he was banned from an Air France flight for urinating in the aisle as it prepared to take off, forcing the plane to turn back to its parking spot. A passenger on the flight said Depardieu appeared to be drunk and insisted he be allowed to use the bathroom during takeoff, when passengers must remain seated. The case follows French film director Luc Besson in January being classed as an 'assisted witness' in a court case over allegations that he raped an actress. The case is the second brought against the 'Fifth Element' director by the Dutch-Belgian actress Sand Van Roy, who has accused Besson, 60, of repeatedly raping her over a two-year period. In France, assisted witness status indicates that a judge considers there is some evidence to suggest culpability, but not enough to charge the suspect. Van Roy, who has renounced her anonymity, initially filed a rape claim against Besson in May 2018, a day after meeting him at the five-star Bristol Hotel in Paris. Others who have been accused of rape include director Roman Polanski, who is also wanted in the United States for the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl in 1977. Big names in the world of Paris fashion who have been accused of rape include the former scout Jean-Luc Brunel, who was a friend of the late American convicted paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein. The 31-year-old wife of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera was arrested on Monday in Virginia over charges of her alleged involvement in international drug trafficking. Emma Coronel Aispuro is a dual U.S.-Mexican citizen. El Chapo was the infamous leader of a Mexican drug trafficking organization known as the Sinaloa cartel, according to a Fox News report. Aispuro was arrested at Dulles International Airport and is set to make her initial appearance in federal court on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District Columbia through a video conference. Stated under the court documents, El Chapo's wife is charged with participating in conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and marijuana for transportation into the United States. In addition, she is also alleged to have conspired with others to assist Guzman in his Jul. 11, 2015 escape. Guzman was imprisoned at the time at Altiplano prison, which is located in Almoloya de Juarez, Mexico. Related story: Former Lover Of El Chapo and Mexican Congresswoman Caught at U.S.- Mexico Border El Chapo's Wife Aispuro married El Chapo in 2007 and was a fixture at his high-profile Brooklyn trial two years ago. He was then sentenced to life in prison in July 2019, according to the New York Post report. Prosecutors claim that not only was Aispuro aware of her husband's role as the leader of the violent Sinaloa cartel, but she also served as his go-between to help his drug trafficking operation. In addition, his wife allegedly "relayed messages" on his behalf while El Chapo was hiding out from Mexican authorities. Federal authorities in court documents said that Aispuro grew up with knowledge of narcotics trafficking industry and married El Chapo when she was a teenager. "Coronel understood the scope of the Sinaloa Cartel's drug trafficking; Coronel knows and understands the Sinaloa Cartel is the most prolific cartel in Mexico," according to a USA Today report. Aispuro was allegedly passing messages between 2012 and 2014 on his behalf to further his drug trafficking activities, according to an arrest affidavit. In February 2014, Aispuro allegedly continued to pass on messages she got from him during prison visits. The prosecutors also pin to Aispuro claims that she helped in his 2015 jailbreak through an underground tunnel. Jeffrey Lichtman, a prominent New York City defense lawyer, confirmed on Monday that he is representing Aispuro. He was also involved during El Chapo's trial. He did not comment further on Aispuro's case. El Chapo's Case Damaso Lopez Nunez was a former lieutenant of El Chapo. He testified as a witness against him in January 2019 and told jurors that his boss was determined to escape Mexico's maximum-security Altiplano prison, where he was imprisoned after a team of Mexican Marines captured him in February 2014. El Chapo made his getaway on a motorcycle attached to rails inside the ventilated and lighted passageway. Nunez added that Aispuro started relaying El Chapo's instructions during a secret meeting that took place around April 2014 in Culiacan, Mexico. He testified through a Spanish translator. Nunez also testified that Aispuro relayed additional instructions from her husband to the plotters, saying that a tunnel had to be built and they should start to work. At the time, Brooklyn federal prosecutors declined to discuss why Aispuro had not been charged in her husband's indictment. Related story: El Chapo Was Illegally Extradited to US, According To His Mother The Irish Community Rapid Response Air Ambulance was tasked to 490 incidents across 13 counties, including Offaly, during 2020, which was its first full year in operation. The ICRR Air Ambulance, based in Rathcoole in County Cork, works in tandem with the National Ambulance Service to provide both paramedic support and transport to hospital for seriously ill patients. Figures from the ICRR show that July was the single busiest month, with the Air Ambulance being tasked a total of 59 times. Road traffic accidents account for the most incidents, with a total of 94 taskings throughout the year. Amongst the other incidents responded to were; 81 cardiac arrests, 74 general trauma calls, 73 general medical calls, 46 farming accidents and 29 falls from heights. While Cork, Kerry and Waterford were the counties most likely to require the service, the Air Ambulance also provided support to Counties Tipperary, Clare, Wexford, Limerick, Leitrim, Kildare, Kilkenny, Offaly, Roscommon and Galway. ICRR Chief Executive Micheal Sheridan says, The statistics show the demand that exists for an Air Ambulance based in the south of the country. The ICRR Air Ambulance is airborne in under four minutes of being tasked by the National Ambulance Service, and is thirty minutes away from most of the areas within its catchment. "Dozens of lives have been saved as a result of the hard work of the crew, and care administered in a timely manner to hundreds of others. Ireland needs this service, and this service needs the continuing support of our community fundraisers and corporate supporters. The ICRR Air Ambulance can bring casualties to the hospital that best suits their life-saving needs, not just the closest geographically. From the base in North Cork, the ICRR Charity Air Ambulance can put a 25,000km2 area within 30 minutes of emergency medical care. The ICRR Air Ambulance is staffed by advanced paramedics and EMTs from the National Ambulance Service. Director of the National Ambulance Service, Martin Dunne, says, The ICRR Air Ambulance has been a great addition to our emergency response capacity. Our dispatch teams have the option of either the Aer Corps service from Tullamore, or the ICRR service from North Munster. This provides much needed and timely support to our on-road response teams operating across the country. Equally, the provision of these services ensures that critically ill patients can be brought to emergency trauma centres faster, which improves the likelihood of a successful outcome. The ICRR Air Ambulance currently has two helicopters at its medical aerodrome in Rathcoole, County Cork, only one of which is operational at any one time, the other acting as a backup. A new faster helicopter with longer range capacity is due to be delivered later in the year. Micheal Sheridan says, We already possess an additional helicopter asset, and we know that there will always be a demand for the service across the country. A priority for us in 2021 is to work with other partners to ensure everyone on the island of Ireland is within 30 minutes of an air ambulance service either provided by ICRR or the Irish Aer Corps. ICRR recently launched its new Further Faster campaign to help raise the 1.5 million needed this year to fund the service and its new Air Ambulance helicopter. The appeal started with our 310,000 steps challenge Marching Through March where the public and companies are asked to participate in the challenge and to fundraise. Full details are available at www.icrr.ie Sorry! This content is not available in your region Claudette Colvin is a pioneer of the 1950s civil rights movement in Montgomery, Alabama. On March 2, 1955, she was arrested at the age of 15 for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a crowded, segregated bus. The University of Dayton and the Entrepreneurs Center will host a public grand opening for The Hub Powered by PNC Bank at the Dayton Arcade. At 95,000 square feet, it is among the largest university-anchored innovation hubs in the country, including shared and private office spaces, meeting rooms, conference areas, pop-up retail opportunities, learning labs and classrooms. The virtual event will be at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, March 4. We could not be more excited for the Hub to become a reality, said Eric F. Spina, president of the University of Dayton. This is a triple play for the University of Dayton in that it provides excellent learning opportunities for our students; facilitates greater collaboration and connection between our faculty, research staff and students and the greater Dayton entrepreneurial ecosystem; and will help reinvigorate a key part of our citys downtown and the historic Arcade that was vacant for decades. This truly is a great day for UD and for Dayton. The Hub is visible proof that Daytons long heritage of innovation remains vibrant, healthy and growing, said Scott Koorndyk, president of the Entrepreneurs Center. In one space, weve brought together the support, talent and energy that small businesses and entrepreneurs need to be successful. We are thrilled to join our partners at the University of Dayton and PNC Bank in making the Hub a catalyst for the future of our regions innovation economy. Our goal in supporting the Hub was to foster collaboration, which is the key to success, said David Melin, PNC regional president for Dayton. The Hub Powered by PNC Bank will serve as a catalyst that will merge creative ideas from students, entrepreneurs, businesses and the community to create a stronger future for the region. The virtual grand opening will include videos with entrepreneurs and UD faculty introducing Hub spaces, such as: Innovation Hall, where the Entrepreneurs Center offers comprehensive business and commercialization support services, along with its Small Business Development Center; and the University has offices for the L. William Crotty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, a satellite office of the Greater West Dayton Incubator to drive equitable access and inclusion, as well as others; UDs studios for painting, printmaking, photo and graphic design; UDs The GEM, a non-traditional learning space that connects the University and city with a focus on community-centered approaches to social innovation; A representative workspace that showcases the environment that entrepreneurs and small businesses can find at the Hub; and A cafe with a menu that will be intentionally curated by the Greater West Dayton Incubator to feature underrepresented entrepreneurs. The event also will feature a panel discussion with Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, City Manager Shelley Dickstein, PNCs Melin, developer Cross Street Partners CEO Bill Struever, University of Daytons Spina and the Entrepreneurs Centers Koorndyk. The grand opening will conclude with a blessing and a ribbon-tying ceremony to symbolize the coming together of all the partners and stakeholders that have made the project possible and will be involved in the Hub going forward. Local entrepreneurs and startups are currently working in the Hub or making plans to move in during the coming weeks. Additionally, university classes will begin in the space as public health conditions allow beginning in fall 2021. The Hub Powered by PNC Bank could fundamentally shift how universities and community partners collaborate in support of startup ecosystems, said Vince Lewis, president of The Hub Powered by PNC Bank and director of UDs Crotty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. Having students directly engage with entrepreneurs and others who support startups on a daily basis in an iconic space is a game-changer. Additionally, UD and the Entrepreneurs' Center will host community programming. This will include the University's Flyer Pitch competition, one of the largest business plan competitions at the collegiate level; small business acceleration programs; the Dayton Arcade Entrepreneur Academy; summer internships; and opportunities to participate in other competitions and programs. To join the grand opening, visit Youtube. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Analogue's Pocket may have been out of stock for a while now, but fans of retro games are in for a treat as Analogue is set to release more Pockets this year. Analogue Pocket restock The famous portable console that can play Game Gear, Game Boy, Atari Lynx and Neo Geo Pocket Color games from its original cartridges went up for pre-order in 2020 and it was sold out almost immediately. The company, Analogue, had to put a pause in releasing a new batch of products because of the pandemic and its effects on the supply chain. Pocket is set to be out in the market again on May 2021 after the company released an announcement assuring the fans that it is selling more gaming units in the future. Also Read: Intel i9-11900T 8 Core 35TDP Could Make an Impressive Gaming CPU for Portable Gaming Currently, Pocket is still out of stock on Analogue's website but buyers have the option to get a notification as soon as the product becomes available. Analogue's announcement makes it very clear that Pocket will be available for purchase soon and that the status is not permanent. Pocket is not a limited edition device as Analogue stated and it will be available for purchase in mid-2021. The company is also taking steps to prevent scalpers from purchasing dozens of units at once and selling them at much higher prices. The company promised to implement robust bot protection on its store. All of the orders that are placed by bots will be automatically cancelled. Bot orders usually happens when a product first goes up for pre-order or sale on a website. Also, the company will monitor retail websites like Amazon and eBay for listings as they resell pre-orders and will immediately report them to the e-commerce platforms directly. The company will also cancel all of the pre-orders that are listed for resale. While Analogue did not say when the exact date is that Pocket will be available again, the company is encouraging interested people to sign up for a notification on their Analogue website now. What is Pocket? The Pocket is an FPGA-based aftermarket Game Boy Color, Game Boy, Game Gear, Game Boy Advance, Neo Geo Pocket Color, Neo Geo Pocket, Atari Lynx and TurboGrafx-16 designed and manufactured by Analogue, Inc., a Seattle-based company. Pocket was made for portable gaming and it can be compatible with the cartridges of Game Boy, Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color. The cartridge adapters of Pocket can play Neo Geo Pocket, Game Gear, Atari Lynx and Neo Geo Pocket Color game cartridges. It has a 3.5-inch LCD display and it also supports numerous game cartridge. The gaming device also allows the users to play through HDMI by using a dock. Developers can create or modify games through Pocket's FPGA system, according to The Verge. Launched in October 2019, the Analogue Pocket was a massive hit and it received critical acclaim. Analogue Pocket was nominated for Wallpaper Design Awards back in 2019 and it was also awarded two Fast Company awards, one for Best Product Design in 2020 and Best Design Innovations in 2020. Related Article:Alternative Consoles 2021: Purchase These While Waiting for Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S Restock This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Sieeka Khan 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Eight striking workers from the Alton tea estate in the Up-Cot, Masekeliya area of central Sri Lanka were arrested and jailed by police on February 17. The arrests are a part of a joint company-police operation aimed at breaking an indefinite strike by about 500 Alton workers who walked out on February 3 to demand a 1,000-rupee ($US5.19) basic daily wage. Line room accommodation at Alton Estate (WSWS Media) The Alton estate strikers are now demanding the immediate release of the eight workersS. Puwanesary, Kanapathy Devi, G. Shatheeswary, Francis Thiresammal, Marimuthu Thamilselvi, Yohasakthi, M.K.Shaneethuni and Aandimuthu Visvakethu. The Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), Sri Lankas main plantation union and a political partner of President Gotabhaya Rajapakses government, has actively supported these attacks. On February 17, strikers resisted police attempts to arrest the workers. But CWC leaders visiting the estate, including the unions vice president Kanagarai, Maskeliya area leader Rajaram and Senpahavally, who is also Maskeliya Pradeshiya Sabha chairman (a local government body), intervened to hand over the workers to the police. CWC officials declared that the eight strikers would only be taken to the police station to record their statements. The arrested workers, however, were brought before the Magistrates Court in Hatton, a major plantation town, and remanded for 14 days. They are now jailed in Kandy, the hill countrys capital. The witch hunting of Alton estate workers is part of broader government-company repression against plantation workers who are becoming increasingly hostile to their poverty-level wages, mounting workloads and the deepening attacks on their basic social and democratic rights. In an attempt to contain this deep-seated anger and impose a sell-out deal, the CWC called a one-day strike on February 5 to demand payment of the 1,000-rupee pay claim. Determined to win this long-outstanding pay rise and to secure other demands, some 200,000 plantation workers participated in the walkout. SEP member Thevarajah addressing Alton Estate workers (WSWS Media) Seizing on recent clashes between plantation workers and management, such as at the Alton estate, plantation companies have demanded increased state repression. In a recent letter to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, Planters Association of Ceylon secretary Lalith Obesekera called for state intervention against workers. Plantation managers confronted an organised campaign of violence and intimidation unleashed by thugs in order to sabotage RPC [Regional Plantation Companies] tea production, Obesekera falsely claimed. We wonder how such a catastrophic breakdown of law and order is being allowed and why no meaningful action has yet been taken against those who are inciting violence on the estates. Alton estate workers began their indefinite industrial action for higher wages two days before the CWCs February 5 national one-day strike. On February 2, a day prior to their walk out, Alton workers attempted to block a lorry transporting processed tea from the estate factory to Colombo. The Alton estate manager responded by physically assaulting a female workera local CWC area leaderwho was injured and hospitalised. The manager was arrested the following day after workers protested about the assault, but he was immediately brought before the courts and bailed out. By contrast, when an estate manger called on the police to break up the workers action on February 2, they immediately intervened, threatening workers and ordering them to allow the lorry to proceed. The vehicle reached Mallihaipoo Junction, three kilometres from the estate factory. In an attempt to defuse Alton workers anger, CWC leader Senpahavally intercepted the lorry at the junction and told the driver to return to the factory. The CWCs collaboration with the company and the police against Alton workers is bound up with its attempts to break their strike, which continues in defiance of the union. On February 7, about 50 striking Alton workers visited the office of CWC leader Jeevan Thondamans office in Kotagala township to demand he support their indefinite walkout. Thondaman, who is the Rajapakse governments minister of estate infrastructure, refused. Strengthened by the CWCs treachery, Alton estate management on February 15 organised a strike-breaking operation in one division of the estate. Angry strikers, however, intervened and blocked the plucked tea leaves being transported in a three-wheeler to another estate factory. The following day a group of strikers demonstrated outside the estate managers bungalow. Management responded by demanding that police arrest the workers, accusing them of violence during their protest against the scab operation. Speaking to the World Socialist Web Site, a group of female Alton workers angrily denounced the treacherous role of the CWC. One worker explained that when the police arrived at the estate on February 17, they had no clear idea of who they planned to arrest. CWC leaders Kanagarai, Rajaram and Senpahavally, she said, selected the workers to be sent to the police station and urged them to go there. Another Alton worker said, We all united and blocked the arrest of the eight workers when the police arrived at the estate. But the CWC leaders said to us, The police will only get statements from them, so you should allow them to go to the police station. We were all ready to demonstrate outside the police station to demand the release of all those arrested, but the union leaders would not allow us to go there. Instead of releasing the workers from the police station, they were taken to Dickoya Base Hospital for PCR tests, and then to court later that evening and they were remanded for 14 days. All of the trade unions have betrayed us. The police, the court, the trade unions and the government have joined with the plantation companies and are working against us. We will not end the strike without winning their release. We call on all other workers to support our struggle. The determined fight of Alton estate workers not only exposes how the police defend the plantation companies, but also how the CWC and other unions collaborate with the company and the police in witch-hunting workers. In order to advance their struggle for decent wages and other basic social rights, plantation workers must break from the unions, form independent action committees based on a socialist program, and unite with other workers facing similar government and employer attacks. The Socialist Equality Party has actively intervened in the plantation workers struggle and in the February 5 one-day national strike, widely distributing its statement, Reject wage proposals of plantation companies and unions! Fight on socialist program for decent wages and working conditions! Build action committee! Alton estate workers powerfully responded to the SEPs analysis and at a meeting addressed by this writer on February 21 agreed to establish an Action Committee at the estate. The meeting also passed a resolution pledging to campaign for the immediate release of the eight arrested workers and appealing to workers from other estates to join this struggle. Subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts for the full episode. During the presidential primaries, Joe Biden characterized student loan forgiveness as unrealistic. When a woman recently asked the new president about a proposed $50,000 student debt relief package, he volleyed back and tried to sell a $10,000 debt relief plan. Its clear that many of the people who got Biden elected see this issue very differently than he does. That $10,000 doesnt seem nearly enough, and this kind of relief only cancels a certain kind of debt, without doing additional work to address the causes of rising college costs. Further, as Rep. Ayanna Pressley has pointed out, the fight over student debt relief is also an issue of economic justice for Black Americans. So just what is the best way to fix whats ailing higher education? To try to answer that, I spoke with Slate senior economics and business correspondent Jordan Weissmann on Tuesdays episode of What Next. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mary Harris: The drumbeat for student loan debt relief seemed to start right after it was clear Biden was going to be president. I could see politicians lining up behind this issue. Did you see the same thing? Jordan Weissmann: Oh, absolutely. I wrote an article saying he should go for it. The reason was pretty simple. At the time Biden was elected, it was not clear he was going to have a Democratic Senate. There was this idea sitting around that academics had pushed for a while and that Sen. Elizabeth Warren had embraced: The president could forgive student loan debt unilaterally by using a section of the Higher Education Act to write off all the loans in the country, cancel it with a stroke of the pen. Advertisement Whats interesting to me is that even after the Democrats won the Senate, people didnt start talking about it as legislation. It was still: President Joe Biden can wipe out this debt. And it quickly became this debate about two numbers, whether the debt that should be relieved would be $50,000 and less or $10,000 and less. How did we get to these two numbers? For a long time, when people talked about student debt forgiveness, it was a little bit of an all-or-nothing proposition. The idea was to just forgive all the debt, and often critics would respond by saying, Youre going to give away a lot of money to doctors and lawyers and people who are pretty well off now and dont need the help. Warren dealt with this during her presidential campaign with a plan saying were going to forgive up to $50,000 in loans for people who make under a certain amount of money, that were going to cap forgiveness for higher earners and phase it out. She built a plan that was targeted at the middle class. During the campaign, Warren said, I will do this on day one using executive authority. And she got this opinion from the Legal Services Center at Harvard Law School saying that you can legally do this. Chuck Schumer also got behind this plan and started pushing Joe Biden on it. Advertisement Advertisement The other figure that you mentioned, $10,000, was an idea Democrats talked about when they were doing their initial rounds of coronavirus relief, during the CARES Act. It never really made it into the bill, but at the time, Biden said he would support that. Classic congressional compromise, find something between zero and 50. I wrote that once youve committed to student debt relief, theres nothing really scientific about the idea of $10,000. Theres a rationale for it, but theres no strong philosophical reason why you would do $10,000 instead of like $20,000. Subscribe to What Next Get more news from Mary Harris and her team every day. Subscribe Warren and Schumer held a press conference earlier this month where they called on Biden to cancel this debt by executive order. Is the idea that Biden can do this but just isnt willing to? Advertisement The argument that Biden can forgive all of this debt on his own hinges on a reading of the Higher Education Act and a specific section that says the secretary of education has the right to has the power to essentially forgive or compromise on any student loan. This was to help with debt collection. If someone owed too much, they were able to get a break on their loans. However, the language is a little bit broad. And so if you read it very, very literally, you can say they have the power to forgive and compromise on and cancel any bill, any debt that they want. The Supreme Court has been signaling that it wants to crack down on the ability of federal agencies to very creatively interpret statutes like this. Maybe the court would decide not to interfere because it would cause so much political blowback for them. But I dont know if its a sure bet. Advertisement Advertisement The argument I hear a lot is that forgiving this bigger amount of debt would be a step toward achieving racial justice. I know youve looked at the numbers and dug into who owes what and who would be affected by this kind of forgiveness. What did you find? The unfortunate truth about student debt is that Black families have more of it. Its one of the major issues that fuels the racial wealth gap in this country. For middle class households, just looking at undergraduate debt, theres about a $7,400 difference, according to this Brookings report that came out a few years ago. A Black college graduate finishes with about $23,000 worth of debt on average versus $16,000 for a white student. If those numbers sound a little bit low to you, its because they include nonborrowers. If youre only looking at borrowers, the numbers are even bigger. And that gulf between Black borrowers and white borrowers actually gets much bigger after college because Black students tend to borrow a lot more for grad school. Advertisement The bottom line is that Black Americans, in order to get the basic credentials you need to get ahead in this country, go deeper into debt. They start the race several meters behind. Thats part of the reason why student debt forgiveness has become a big issue, a matter of racial justice in peoples eyes. "A lot of people are uncomfortable with just doing student debt forgiveness because youre going to end up back in the same place unless you reform the system." Jordan Weissmann I was listening to Ayanna Pressley, the representative from Massachusetts whos one of the legislators really pushing for more debt relief. She spoke to the American Federation of Teachers earlier this month and gave this really emotional appeal. Shes had 70-plus-year-olds come to her and say theyre still paying off student loans. She said 85 percent of Black students had to borrow, that she herself defaulted on her loans, and that Black and brown students are five times more likely to default. At one point she called the current state of student loan regulations policy violence and called for a kind of New Deal for colleges, to make everything more affordable. It struck me listening to her that this executive action were talking about wouldnt touch some of those bigger things that shes hungering for. Advertisement This is one of the big questions: If youre going to do student debt forgiveness, in what context should you do it? A lot of people are uncomfortable with the idea of just doing student debt forgiveness because youre going to end up back in the same place after a few years unless you reform the system. If you dont also do something about college costs and rein in predatory institutions and figure out better ways to make debt sustainable in the future, its going to be Groundhog Day. In fact, it actually would create incentives for some scam schools to keep charging students as much as possible because they might get forgiven. So it makes sense to pair student debt forgiveness with a big reset of how we do higher ed. But to what extent do you think student debt forgiveness is itself necessary to reset how we do higher ed? Are there other ways we could reform student loans to make them less of a burden on people? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ill also say that, with what Pressley said about it being policy violence, I think that really does reflect the way its viewed by many Black Americans now, because, again, youre talking about a group of Americans whove been asset-stripped throughout history. They were cheated out of their savings, they couldnt get normal mortgages thanks to redlining, and they were forced into these rent-to-own schemes. Student debt plays into that same sense of historical injustice, that other people are making money off Black Americans, whether its private for-profit colleges or even the federal government that makes a profit off some of its loans. Lets talk about the policy Biden says he prefers, eliminating $10,000 worth of college debt. What would that do? How would that compare with the bigger number? Advertisement Ten thousand dollars would do a lot of good. Its not $50,000, but it would help a lot of people. If you just look at the federal governments student loan portfolio, approximately one-third of balances are under $10,000 right now. That includes some students who are still in school. But thats just a third of all borrowers who would have debts totally forgiven for the time being unless they are still in school. Then another 20 percent of borrowers have between $10,000 and $20,000 worth of debt. So they would have their loans at least cut in half, if not more. In some ways it would very roughly target some of the people who most need help. One of the unintuitive things about student debt is that the people most likely to default actually tend to have lower balances, often former students who dropped out of school. They took out a few thousand dollars to try community college or went to a for-profit school and it didnt work out. And nobody told them how to manage the debt afterward, and they didnt get very good jobs. Whereas people with higher balances, they tend to have graduated or maybe they went to grad school and tend to make a little bit more money. Debt balances actually tend to grow with income. So it actually is for the most part the smaller borrowers who need the help most urgently. But again, like Pressley mentioned, its a lack of regulations that led to this debt. To put it really simply, the government fucked up in some meaningful ways. It played a role in fueling this crisis through several means. So I think its morally incumbent on it to some extent to forgive some of this debt and find a way to lessen the harm. Subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts Get more news from Mary Harris every weekday. By SA Commercial Prop News Natalie Berg from Planet Retail UK. Multi-channel retailing or selling to the public through a mix of shops, online or catalogue is dominating retailer strategies around the world. This trend, and others, will be explored at the SA Council of Shopping Centres (SACSC) Research Conference in March 2012, which includes two hard-hitting presentations by international retail experts. Natalie Berg from Planet Retail in the UK will provide a global perspective on key retail trends, and what may impact South Africa in the future. Berg points to private label, multi-channel and customer endorsement as key trends to watch. Colin Buxton of Toolbox Marketing, in the UK and Europe, will discuss how on the fittest retailers survive, even with multi-channel retailing and marketing. The intensive one-day session combines insight from some of the best minds in the retail business. Leading lights from across SA and the world will bring delegates up to speed with international best practice and trends. Introduced in 2011, this is the second SACSC Research Conference. Based on the inaugural success of this focused, interactive event, it will become an annual feature on SAs retail calendar, says Amanda Stops, general manager of the SACSC. It creates a much-needed opportunity to learn about and discuss the latest in sound retail tactics. This year the conference is themed Surviving and thriving in the future. It brings the complex relationship between retailers and consumers into the spotlight, with its knowledgeable programme of speakers facilitating a better understanding of consumers. SACSC Research Committee Chairman and Research Conference Chairman Dr Dirk Prinsloo explains that retail success takes a combination of research, innovation and intuition. The conference highlights research to enable conference-goers to better understand the market in which shopping centres and retailers operate, says Prinsloo. We hope that this knowledge will also inspire retail innovation. Retail contributes significantly to the SA economy. Even the simplest decisions from advertising a promotion to selecting a site can make or break a retailer or shopping centre. This can have a significant knock-on economic affect. Prinsloo explains the programme considers macro and micro sector dynamics, to give retailers, shopping centre owners, marketers, managers and developers the competitive edge. Besides a focus on retail and consumer trends, the conference takes a peek into the future of the retail sector. Tapping into the wealth of home-grown knowledge, Chris Moerdyk of Moerdyk Marketing and Media will introduce delegates to the consumer of the future. Professor John Simpson of UCT Unilever Institute will bring SAs most affluent consumers into the spotlight to achieve a greater understanding of the top-end consumer market. New technology, like geographic information systems (GIS), as a tool for better retail decision making, will be explored by Magnus Rademayer of Afrigis. Drawing from his own experiences, retired retailer Brand Pretorius will look at ways of surviving and thriving in tough times a topic which will resonate with many retailers in the current challenging economic climate. Hein Wagner will give a surprisingly different perspective on retail a blind mans shopping experience. Blind adventurer and motivational speaker Wagner will leave delegates with something to think about as he introduces them to A blind man with vision. SAs retailers and its shopping centre community will engage with and learn from the best at the SACSC Research Conference, and put research into action, notes Prinsloo. [February 23, 2021] MeritDirect Adds New Hires to B2B Marketing Team RYE BROOK, N.Y., Feb. 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MeritDirect, announced today that the company has hired two B2B marketing veterans to grow the companys excellence across analytics, intelligence and performance marketing for clients. Mo Awad joins the Merit Intelligence and Analytics team as Vice President, Search and Peter McVay joins as Vice President, Business Development in Performance Marketing. Search marketing is such a strategic advantage for successful B2B marketers, and Im thrilled to welcome Mo to the team, said Andy Joyce, Senior Vice President, Intelligence and Analytics at MeritDirect. Merits data-driven approach to B2B marketing sets our clients up for long term success. Our expansion into new channels further increases the importance of having a search strategy that servers as a foundational thread across many other marketing efforts. At MeritDirect, Mo Awad will be responsible for paid and organic search, which has grown in importance for B2B marketers in recent years. MeritDirects search practice combines the companys multichannel perspective with deep in-channel expertise to drive superior results for clients. Previously, Awad was the Commerce Group Director at Mindshare GroupM. He has also worked as Global Diretor at PHD Omnicom and as the Paid Search and Social Lead at Spark Foundry, a Publicis agency. Peter McVay, brings over 25 years of experience to MeritDirect, he will be responsible for business development and the continued growth of the Performance Marketing division. Most recently, McVay was Senior Sales Executive at Synthio. Peter is a proven sales leader and his consultative experience in B2B marketing solutions especially related to DaaS and SaaS will help to keep us on pace as we continue to grow our product offerings for technology marketers, said Chris Blohm, Senior Vice President, Performance Marketing at MeritDirect. Im excited to welcome both Mo and Peter to our team. Both are performance marketing leaders with a background in data-driven analytics and intelligence, said Rob Sanchez, CEO at MeritDirect. Were seeing the value that our growth strategy is bringing to our clients as we expand our product offerings and deepen our bench of industry experts, we have plans for even further expansion in the near future. About MeritDirect MeritDirect, based in Rye Brook, NY, with 6 other offices across the US and UK, is the leading provider of B2B data, database products and performance marketing solutions. The Company leverages its leading database technology platform to provide marketers access to the most comprehensive, current and relevant B2B data in the market so they can optimize and improve their customer acquisition and retention efforts. More information on MeritDirect can be found at www.MeritDirect.com. CONTACT: Deirdre Blohm MeritDirect Senior Vice President, Marketing 914.368.1066 dblohm@meritdirect.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Chandigarh, Feb 23 : Delhi violence accused and gangster-activist Lakha Sidhana on Tuesday dared police to arrest him as he addressed a public rally he called in Punjab's Bathinda as a show of strength and to express solidarity with those facing police action for supporting the cause of the protesting farmers. However, leaders of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha distanced themselves from the 'mahapanchayat' that saw tens of thousands of people largely comprising the youth and the women at Mehraj, the ancestral village of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. Sidhana, who is carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh for providing information about him, has been booked by Delhi Police for instigating violence during the farmers' tractor rally at Red Fort on Republic Day. "If Delhi Police come to arrest anyone in Punjab, villagers will gherao (surround) them," Sidhana said at the rally, indirectly referring to his arrest. After the rally, he left the venue on a motorcycle. The rally was called to express solidarity with Deep Sidhu, Sidhana, Nodeep Kaur and other arrested people associated with the farmer agitation and "to give a message that youth is upbeat and not defeated or disappointed". Calling to intensify the agitation, speakers at the rally favoured that reins of the agitation should be handed over to the youth. They asked the farmer union leaders to show big heart by saying "they are with every youth of Punjab who are being prosecuted by Delhi Police". The leaders should raise their voice for all such youth so that governments should know that we are one, the leaders advocated. Earlier, in a video post, Sidhana had asked people to turn up in large numbers at Mehraj village to show their support for the protesting farmers. "We have been agitating for seven months. Now, this protest is at its peak...we are holding a big programme in village Mehraj in district Bathinda on February 23," Sidhana had said. Grandfather of farmer Navreet Singh, who had died in New Delhi on January 26, and AAP legislator Kultar Singh Sandhawa were among those who attended the rally. Lakhbir Singh alias Lakha Sidhana, named as one of the main accused for the violence on Republic Day, dreamed of making big in politics through the farmers' agitation. Since November 25, he had been quite active in the agitation on the borders of the national capital and aggressively lobbying for the agitation to gain momentum. Sidhana, a small-time gangster who aims to enter politics by reflecting himself a social activist, was acquitted in several cases before contesting the 2012 Assembly polls as a candidate of the People's Party of Punjab, once led by Manpreet Singh Badal, who is currently the Finance Minister in the Congress government in Punjab. Farmer leaders have, in fact, now distanced themselves from Sidhana and are now blaming him and Deep Sidhu for inciting violence at the Red Fort. Sidhana belongs to Sidhana village in Bathinda district. At one point of time, he used to work for the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). He was first jailed in 2004 and was put behind the bars many times till 2017. Of late, he hogged the limelight as a social activist by demanding that all official signboards, other than English, should be in Punjabi first. Along with Sidhana, Punjabi actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu, who was seen as protesters swarmed the Red Fort and even put up a religious flag on its ramparts, has been named the main accused in the violence. He has already been arrested by Delhi Police. One of three men accused of planting a car bomb that killed Maltese anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017 dramatically pleaded guilty Tuesday and was sentenced to 15 years in jail. Vincent Muscat received a relatively lenient sentence after the judge said he had cooperated with police in the case that had rocked the Mediterranean island nation. The murder of Caruana Galizia, who exposed cronyism and sleaze within Malta's political and business elite, sparked international outrage and protests that forced prime minister Joseph Muscat to resign. The murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia (pictured), who exposed cronyism and sleaze within Malta's political and business elite, sparked international outrage Two alleged co-conspirators are still awaiting trial over the October 16, 2017 attack, while a businessman, Yorgen Fenech, is also awaiting trial for allegedly masterminding the murder. In a statement read out by their lawyer, Jason Azzopardi, the victim's family expressed their "hope that this development will begin the road for total justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia". The 53-year-old's murder "destroyed her right to life and removed her right to enjoy her family and grandchildren who were born after her murder", he said. The lawyer added: "I say all this because if Daphne's family were to respond today with all the emotions, it would be obvious as to what their reply would be." Vincent Muscat and brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio, all in their fifties at the time, were arrested in December 2017 for carrying out the murder, and charged in July 2019. In a pre-trial hearing on Tuesday, Muscat's lawyer Marc Sant informed the court that his client wanted to register an admission. People holding placards and photos of killed journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia stage a protest called by Galizia's family and civic movements outside the office of the prime minister in Valletta, Malta in 2019 When asked how he wanted to plead, Muscat replied: "Guilty." Judge Edwina Grima told the lawyer: "These are grave accusations. Murder, conspiracy... he (Muscat) possibly faces a life term." But Muscat repeated that he pleaded guilty of charges including murder, possession of explosives, placing the bomb, and criminal conspiracy. He was sentenced just hours later to 15 years in prison, in a deal with the prosecution in which he renounced his right to appeal. He must also pay 42,930 euros in court expenses. Caruana Galizia, who has been described as a "one-woman WikiLeaks", was known for investigating high-level corruption, including contributing to the 2016 Panama Papers data leak. She was killed in a car bomb targeting her vehicle not far from her home in the north of the island. One of her sons accused Prime Minister Muscat of being complicit and turning Malta, a former British colony that joined the European Union in 2004, into a "mafia island". The murder of Caruana Galizia sparked international outrage and protests that forced prime minister Joseph Muscat to resign Muscat stepped down in January 2020 after the investigation into the murder implicated some of his closest collaborators. Muscat's chief of staff, Keith Schembri, and his tourism minister, Konrad Mizzi, had both been accused by Caruana Galizia of being involved in corruption - which they denied. Fenech is currently awaiting trial for being the mastermind. The owner of a Dubai company, 17 Black, on which Caruana Galizia had reported, he was arrested in November 2019 as he was sailing away from Malta on his yacht. President Donald Trump (L) speaks as Vice President Mike Pence (R) looks on in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Nov. 24, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Trump Spokesman Denies Report Saying Former President Would Skip CPAC Over Pence An adviser to former President Donald Trump disputed a report claiming the former commander-in-chief told advisers that he would not speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Florida if former Vice President Mike Pence attended. The Washington Examiner, which cited alleged anonymous sources for its claims, said Trump told friends that if Pence showed up to the event, he wouldnt attend. As far as Trump is concerned, there is no way back for Pence, the Examiner quoted a source close to the president as saying, adding that Trump did not want to share a stage with his former deputy. But Trump advisor Jason Miller wrote on Twitter Monday that [the Examiner] story is patently false, and these anonymously sourced attacks designed to create division are why people distrust the media. No such demand or request was ever made by President Trump, and in fact, President Trump and Vice President Pence had a great call last week! he wrote. But Pence, for his part, will not attend the event, which is slated to run from Feb. 25 to Feb. 28 in Orlando, Florida, according to CPACs organizer Matt Schlapp. Im going to encourage him to come, he said, saying Pence declined an offer. I think the conservative movement and the conservative community want to hear from its leaders and wants to hear from people who want to lead it in the future. That all starts on Friday in Orlando. We are pleased that the president will be joining us, and were disappointed the vice presidents not coming. We think its a mistake for him not to come. We conservatives think of Vice President Pence with great honor and dignity. He is a real champion of conservatism, Conservative Political Action Conference Executive Director Dan Schneider also told MSNBC on Sunday. Schneider said that Pence has likely spoken at CPAC more than a dozen times over the years. And this year, if Pence attended, he would be greeted very warmly, he said. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Az.), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), and others are also slated to speak during the event. Last year, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) was told not to attend the event. Recent polls have suggested that Trump enjoys heavy support among Republicans. A recent poll found that twice as many GOP voters found Trump to be the best ever president over former President Ronald Reagan. WASHINGTONAs President Biden pushes for passage of his coronavirus relief plan, he has begun working on a wide-ranging economic recovery package that could face skepticism from lawmakers who are wary of another high-dollar legislative response to the pandemic. White House officials say Mr. Bidens priority is passing the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package being negotiated in Congress. But Mr. Biden, a 36-year veteran of the Senate, has begun laying the groundwork for the coming proposal in phone calls and White House meetings with his former colleagues. The president and his advisers have for weeks been quietly discussing the matter with members of Congress and senior Capitol Hill aides, according to people familiar with the matter, and Mr. Biden is optimistic that a compromise can be reached. The exact contours of the new round of investments in the economy remain to be determined. Mr. Biden during his presidential campaign outlined his interest in new infrastructure investments and measures to combat climate change and boost manufacturing jobs, as well as improving access to child care and seeking ways to increase racial equity. The prospect of another pricey package is already raising concerns among some Republicans. Congressional aides also said that while there is bipartisan interest in funding infrastructure improvements, there will be tension between progressive lawmakers who want expansive proposals that address longstanding Democratic priorities and moderates and Republicans who support less expensive, more tailored measures. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R., W.Va.), who was among a group of lawmakers who recently discussed infrastructure plans with Mr. Biden in the Oval Office, noted that if Congress passes Mr. Bidens $1.9 trillion relief package, it will have approved more than $3 trillion in spending related to the pandemic since December. As the amount of money we have spent increases, we must be cognizant of the fiscal burdens we are adding to future generations," said Ms. Capito, the top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. She will play a key role in crafting any legislation to upgrade the countrys roads and bridges, a measure that likely will be part of Mr. Bidens broader economic package. Rep. Sam Graves (R., Mo.), the top Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said GOP lawmakers want to work on a transportation bill but added: It depends on what that price tag is." Mr. Biden so far has declined to say how much he wants to spend on his broad economic plan, but outside analysts estimate that the proposals he made during his presidential campaign could cost trillions of dollars. Allies of Mr. Biden have had early discussions about using a budget maneuver known as reconciliation to pass the economic recovery package with only Democratic votes, people familiar with the matter said. Such an effort, which would face fierce opposition from Republicans, would echo the approach Democrats are taking with the $1.9 trillion relief measure. White House officials said they hoped to pass the second measure, often referred to as the Build Back Better plan, with bipartisan support and remained open to ideas from Republicans. The Build Back Better plan in all of its elementsthat again we have yet to announce and to develop a strategy for how we want to handlewe believe has a strong potential for bipartisan support in many of its elements," top adviser Steve Ricchetti said in an interview. White House officials said they were spending much of their time ensuring that the initial relief bill passes Congress. Democratic lawmakers have said they intend to send the bill to Mr. Bidens desk by mid-March. The bulk of all of our efforts are on the rescue package itself," Mr. Ricchetti said. He said discussions about the forthcoming package are in initial stages and wouldnt pull attention away from the legislation moving through Congress. During a January speech, Mr. Biden described a two-step plan to rebuild the economy, starting with the current coronavirus relief package and following with a more expansive recovery plan. He said at the time that he would lay out that second plan during a joint address to Congress in February. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last week that there was no date set for an address. Sen. Ben Cardin (D., Md.), who also attended the infrastructure meeting with Mr. Biden at the White House this month, said: I think [Mr. Biden] would like to go big. I think that was very clear. And that he would like to start now, recognizing that its going to take time." Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Tom Carper (D., Del.) said senators discussed with Mr. Biden how to pay for the infrastructure component of the package. There has to be some way as a country that we have to start paying for things. If things are worth having, theyre worth paying for," Mr. Carper said. While infrastructure projects are popular with both parties, deciding how they are financedwhether through government spending, loans or public-private partnershipshas proven to be a sticking point in previous negotiations. Another question is whether the White House will endorse one sweeping package or a series of smaller proposals. Lawmakers are reviewing bills that were approved in the previous Congress but werent signed into law. Mr. Carper said he is planning to ask all senators to provide lists of transportation projects that should be included in his coming surface transportation bill, which he hopes to pass in his committee by Memorial Day. Democrats are expected to employ a similar political strategy to sell the coming package that they are using for the $1.9 trillion bill, which includes pointing to public polling that shows elements of the proposal are popular with the public in an effort to pressure Republicans to support it. Rep. Kathy Castor (D., Fla.), the chairwoman of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, said recent blackouts in Texas due to severe winter storms showed the need for investments in the electric grid. I dont think you can underestimate public opinion coming out of this Texas blackout," she said. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.) Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Water levels in some sections of the Mekong River have only increased slightly in the last seven days though China has claimed consistent excess outflow from the Jinghong dam. The outflow at Jinghong hydrological station rose from 786 cubic meters per second on February 15 to 1,020 cu.m per second after a week, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) said in a press release on Monday. This contrasted with a statement by Chinas Ministry of Water Resources earlier month, which said that the outflow at Jinghong had consistently exceeded 1,000 cu.m per second since the end of January. The MRC says the discrepancy between outflow estimates could stem from different methods being used to calculate discharge at the Jinghong station. "The Secretariat and Chinas Ministry of Water Resources are now working together to provide more consistent water discharge information," the MRC said. Jinghong is one of 11 hydropower operational dams that China has built on the Mekong River. In the Lower Mekong River Basin, the increase in water levels was more apparent from Chiang Saen in Thailand to Vientiane in Laos, but less discernible in stretches of the river between Nakhon Phanom (Thailand) and Savannakhet in (Laos), and between Kompong Cham in Cambodia and the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. In October 2020, China agreed to provide the MRC with year-round hydrological data from two stations located on the upper Mekong mainstream, one at Jinghong and one on a tributary at Manan in Chinas south-western Yunnan province. However, the agreement covers data on water levels, not discharge. In another development, the MRC Secretariat has forecast that this years dry season will be wetter than in 2019 and 2020, with the rainy season likely to begin early May. Normally, the monsoon rains begin late May and end in October. Downstream countries have suffered record low levels along the Mekong River in 2019 and 2020, severely damaging livelihoods and raising questions over the impact of mainstream Mekong dams in China and Laos on the rivers flow. Around 60 million people depend on the Mekong for fishing and farming in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. 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). PRAGUE, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Avast (LSE:AVST), a global leader in digital security and privacy products, and member of the Coalition Against Stalkerware , carried out an analysis of the advertising messaging and positioning used by the top nine most used stalkerware apps detected by Avast's antivirus within its user base. While stalkerware is sometimes targeted at jealous partners for spying on their spouse and for employers to spy on their staff, the findings show that all of the apps target parents to secretly monitor their children's online behavior. As Avast's CISO, Jaya Baloo, said, "Stalkerware can be installed on somebody's phone without their consent to stealthily monitor their communications activities, which we consider highly unethical. With this study, we took a closer look at the messaging used by these apps to understand the psychological tools they use to attract users. Unfortunately, these apps are preying on parents' fears of protecting their children. Creating a safe environment for your child starts with trust and while parental controls can be helpful, stalkerware is not the answer. Children have a fundamental right to privacy and independence as well and staying informed about your child's online activities is important and requires consent. Transparency and open conversations are key." Avast's analysis showed that all nine of these solutions promise parents can monitor children without them knowing for "the price of a daily cup of coffee". These apps position themselves as serving a greater good and promise to help keep kids safe from online dangers by: Monitoring messaging apps and SMS Monitoring and recording calls, as well as seeing call logs and deleted logs Location tracking Accessing multimedia files such as pictures, videos, audios Monitoring different social media platforms Monitoring web browsing and access navigation history, accessing the microphone in the background to record noises or conversations Remotely controlling the smartphone and blocking websites or apps from being used on the phone Checking the app usage of the owner of the device Avast's analysis found that messaging used by stalkerware apps to rationalize their use included: Fear-mongering: Many of these apps try scare tactics, focusing on online and offline threats and what could happen to kids, such as cyberbullying, access to inappropriate content, and predators. They employ statistics to highlight the different real or emotional threats children can face and use examples like bad guys lurking in deserted parks. Many of these apps try scare tactics, focusing on online and offline threats and what could happen to kids, such as cyberbullying, access to inappropriate content, and predators. They employ statistics to highlight the different real or emotional threats children can face and use examples like bad guys lurking in deserted parks. Appeal to emotion: Most of these apps try to relate to the potential customer by reinforcing the feelings of anxiety and concern they might already have . Most of these apps try to relate to the potential customer by reinforcing the feelings of anxiety and concern they might already have The promise of benefits: These apps try to rationalize their use by saying they can help "keep your children on the right track". These apps try to rationalize their use by saying they can help "keep your children on the right track". A sense of majority: The websites use phrases that imply that other people are using their apps with great results, stating between 100,000 customers to 3 million users. One of the apps inconsistently reports 100,000 and 2M users on the same page, which makes the information even less credible and should be a red flag for users of any app. The websites use phrases that imply that other people are using their apps with great results, stating between 100,000 customers to 3 million users. One of the apps inconsistently reports 100,000 and users on the same page, which makes the information even less credible and should be a red flag for users of any app. Fake user reviews: Four out of the nine stalkerware apps analyzed feature user reviews which are likely to be fake. For example, on some websites, the same reviews, word by word, are attributed to different people, and in one case the exact same reviews were used across two "competing" platforms. In another case, the same review included in the stalkerware app is reused in a different non-related app, bringing the authenticity of these reviews into question. Children need advice and help from their parents to stay safe Avast has the following tips and recommendations for parents when addressing online safety issues with their children: Be informed about social media platforms trending among children and teenagers, and their privacy conditions. You need to be a step ahead to be able to help your child stay safe. Lead by example. If our children see that you are sharing pictures of them without their permission, then why would they hold back sharing pictures of themselves and others? If you want to share pictures of your children, it is advised to use pictures where they can be seen from behind or with the face blurred. Additionally, you should always ask your child for consent before publishing a photo of them. Explain what personal information is, educate your child about how sensitive data can be and how long such data may exist online, and set expectations around sharing . Work out what you think is okay and not okay for your child to share online, then have a conversation with them about it. If your children are older, you should also talk about sexting and private images. Talk about how they can be used against them, both by the person who receives them and others. Talk about the risks of online strangers. Discuss the different ways a stranger may reach out and work out a plan for what your kid can do when and if that happens. Teach your child to set strong passwords. A strong password, or passphrase should be long and complex, consisting of special characters, numbers, and lower- and upper-case letters. Explain phishing and best practices to protect themselves. Children should not click on links they receive via email or social media from unknown sources. If asked to enter personal data on a website, they should enter the URL manually into the browser instead of clicking on a link. Install anti-virus software on your child's devices. Children are as likely (if not more likely) to click on suspicious links as adults are, so it is best to ensure their devices are protected if they do. Set YouTube and gaming systems to a "Restricted Mode", which filters out content inappropriate for children. Together with your child, go through privacy settings on social media and check app permissions. Explain why restricting the access of apps to their data is important. Have an open ear for your children . Let them know they can always come to you with anything online related and won't get in trouble - even if they broke the rules. Unlike stalkerware, which is used without consent from the victim, parental control apps can be beneficial to keep your family safe when used the right way. Legitimate parental control tools are clearly visible to the child on their device and it is recommended that parents discuss the usage with their children prior to activating. Having family conversations around keeping the child safe from inappropriate content, limiting screen time to maintain well-being, and ensuring your child is safe when they are online are extremely important to ensure children understand and consent. More information on how to talk to your child about tracking software here . About Avast Avast (LSE:AVST), a FTSE 100 company, is a global leader in digital security and privacy products. With over 435 million users online, Avast offers products under the Avast and AVG brands that protect people from threats on the internet and the evolving IoT threat landscape. The company's threat detection network is among the most advanced in the world, using machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to detect and stop threats in real time. Avast digital security products for Mobile, PC or Mac are top-ranked and certified by VB100, AV-Comparatives, AV-Test, SE Labs and others. Avast is a member of Coalition Against Stalkerware, No More Ransom and Internet Watch Foundation. Visit: www.avast.com. About this study Avast carried out a qualitative analysis of nine of the top stalkerware apps currently used by reviewing and analyzing the content of their websites, FAQs and blogs. The names of these apps aren't included in the release as to not encourage and further promote the use of the software. Keep in touch with Avast: Follow us on Twitter: @Avast_antivirus For security and privacy insights, visit the Avast blog: https://blog.avast.com/ Join our LinkedIn community: https://www.linkedin.com/avast Visit our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/avast Media contact: [email protected] SOURCE Avast Related Links www.avast.com Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 Amid the ongoing virtual FATF plenary, which will decide the fate of debt-ridden Pakistan, the Rawalpindi-based Pak army on Monday claimed 375,000 intelligence-based anti-terror operations were conducted in the country in the last four years to reduce urban terrorism and dismantle related networks. Pakistan's claims are highly dubious, seeing as it is well known that its crackdowns on its vast terror network are mostly cosmetic in nature, with the Pak army, ISI and deep state being the masterminds behind using terrorism as an instrument of state policy. 'Clear, hold, build & transfer': Pak's strategy on war against terror The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) had placed Pakistan on the grey list in June 2018. This week's meeting will decide whether Pakistan will remain in the grey list or exit from it, depending on the level of compliance by Islamabad on the 27 points of a plan of action charted out by the FATF. Addressing the media on the occasion of Operation Radd-ul Fassad completing four years, Army Spokesman Major General Babar Iftikhar said Pakistan has come a long way in its fight against terrorism and the efforts would continue till the threat was completely wiped out. Launched in February 2017, Operation Radd-ul Fassad -- which translates to elimination of discord -- is the strategic foil to the military actions against terrorists in their tribal strongholds. It aims to curtail the freedom and movement of such non-state actors and attack them when seeking refuge after their bases have been destroyed. "The strategic intent of Raddul Fasaad was, and is, a peaceful, stable and normalised Pakistan where people's confidence in the state is restored and terrorists and extremists are rendered completely ineffective by curtailing their freedom of action," he said. He said 375,000 intelligence-based operations had been conducted in the last four years, reducing urban terrorism and dismantling many terrorist networks. He said Raddul Fassad helped to establish the writ of the government on 750 sq km, seizing 72,000 foreign weapons, 5 million rounds of ammunition. Over 5,000 threat alerts were issued in this period. The spokesperson said about 1,850 incidents of terror took place from 2017-2021, while 1,684 cross-border firing incidents were also reported on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Over 350 terrorists have been killed and several hundred arrested as part of Raddul Fasaad, the spokesman said. "Terrorism support based infrastructure has been greatly damaged but still the threat is not over and will take some time to completely dismantle," he said. The spokesperson also said that while armed forces fight terrorists, terrorism and extremism can only be defeated by the civil law enforcement agencies and society as a whole. READ | Rahul Gandhi supports Rihanna's tweet on farmers, blames govt for sustained protests READ | 'US to continue following India & China troop disengagement reports closely': State Dept He said that according to the "whole of nation approach", every Pakistani is a sepoy of Raddul Fasaad. The spokesperson said Pakistan's grand strategy in its war against terrorism was based on four concepts: "clear, hold, build and transfer." The period between 2010 and 2017 was the 'clear and hold' phase while Raddul Fasaad was the beginning of the build and transfer' phase. He said Pakistan was not relenting in its efforts to eliminate terrorism and aggressively going against its targets and it took action against more than 78 terrorist outfits. More than 1,200 terrorists surrendered in the last four years, he said. Talking about the loss of lives in the armed forces, he said 450 personnel were killed during the operation. He acknowledged that terrorists were using social media platforms but the government was aware of it and that action was being taken to tackle the threat. He said 717 cases were sent to the military courts in the last four years and 344 terrorists were given death sentences, of whom 58 were executed so far. Another 106 were given life sentences. READ | PM Modi foresees 'poriborton' in WB; tears into TMC's 'votebank' & appeasement politics READ | Myanmar coup protests grow in strength as Army crackdowns on Civil Disobedience Movement (With PTI inputs) United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday announced a ban on non-essential international travel from and to the country till at least May 17. The extension of the ban came as the new Covid-19 strain has been spreading in the UK and as part of a new four-step plan to ease the lockdown could see all legal limits on social contact lifted by June 21, if strict conditions are met.. The UK government will report on April 12 with recommendations about how international travel should resume, while managing the risks of new variants of coronavirus. "The government will determine when international travel should resume, which will be no earlier than 17 May," the government said in its statement. Britain is looking at a system of allowing vaccinated individuals to travel more freely internationally, the statement added. Johnson said the first stage of the new plan would prioritise schools returning on March 8 when only minimal socialising outdoors would be allowed. Shops, hairdressers, gyms and outdoor hospitality could reopen on April 12. From May 17, two households might be allowed to mix in homes, while the rule of six could apply in places like pubs. It requires four tests on vaccines, infection rates and new coronavirus variants to be met at each stage. Prime Minister Boris Johnson told MPs the plan aimed to be "cautious but irreversible" and at every stage decisions would be led by "data not dates". Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Former Indian Ambassador to Kazakhstan, Latvia and Sweden, Ashok Sajjanhar lauded the co-operation extended by India to permit Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's aircraft to use the Indian Air Space, on his trip to Sri Lanka on February 23. "Tense relations between the two nations must not in the way of opinions, views or co-operation," said Sajjanhar. READ | India Allows Pakistan PM Imran Khan's Flight To Sri Lanka To Pass Through Indian Airspace It must be noted that a similar event took place in 2019 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi's aircraft was denied landing on Pakistan's airspace, as his plane was en route to the US and Saudi Arabia. Pakistan had said so citing allegations against India over human rights violations in Kashmir. Sajjanhar referring to the event from 2019 appreciated India's move to let Imran Khan use the Indian airbase and said that "the misdoings of Pakistan can be overseen". READ | Pakistan's FDI Falls 27% In Seven Months Of FY2021 As FATF's Grey-listing Scares Investors "It is a good and positive decision that India has taken to permit Imran Khan's aircraft to overfly the airspace of India to visit Sri Lanka on February 23. India is a large country, India is a magnanimous country. It is a normal global international protocol to allow the aircraft of traveling heads of states, heads of governments to overfly this space. So I think it is very appropriate," the former Indian Ambassador explained. READ | Pakistan Attacks India's Win Over England; Imran Khan's PTI Endorses Vaughan's Pitch Jibe Usually, the aircraft of VVIPs from other nations are granted permission as a co-operative affair and India did abide by it when Pakistan's PM needed help. (With inputs from ANI) READ | Pakistan PM Imran Khan Targets Indian Cricketers & Bollywood Celebs; Confuses With Hashtag 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. Posted Monday, February 22, 2021 4:24 pm The city of Chehalis Community Development Department is hearing from an applicant proposing to build a Washington State Employee Credit Union (WSECU) location on Northwest Louisiana Avenue. The WSECU building is proposed to be 4,200 square feet with four drive-through lanes and subsequent parking. The project value is estimated at $2 million. The 2.740 acres on Louisiana Avenue has an assessed value of $716,100 and is currently owned by the city of Chehalis. The Chehalis Development Review Committee will hear the proposal at their meeting at 9 a.m. on Feb. 25 at the Chehalis-Centralia Airport. The city's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) has facilitated the distribution of around 43 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines including to overseas destinations since January. Mumbai Airport had started airlifting the vaccines since January 13. CSMIA has facilitated the distribution of approximately 43 million Covid-19 vaccines, weighing around 113 tonnes, to over 57 destinations, including 29 international ones, the private airport operator said in a release. Of the total doses, 34.5 million were airlifted to various countries and the rest 8.5 million to the cities across India, it said. The highest export of the vaccine was made to Dhaka in Bangladesh with nine million doses, followed by Morocco with six million doses and Brazil with four million doses, CSMIA said. The airport operator said it supported over 18 airlines in the distribution across the globe with national carrier Air India and Emirates and Royal Air Morocco transporting the maximum number of doses of the total 34.5 million vaccines to international cities, it said adding that while Air India carried 15 million doses, Emirates and Royal Air Morocco airlifted 6.1 million and 6 million doses, respectively. Budget carriers SpiceJet, IndiGo and Go Air were the three Indian carriers, airlifting the highest number of doses across domestic cities, it added. As a pharma hub, CSMIA has a rich experience in transporting vaccines across the world and has placed a well-defined process for the faster turnaround of the vaccine and transshipment movements. The standard operating procedure (SOPs) implemented by the airport in anticipation of the vaccine distribution saw the terminal register an average cargo processing time of just 10 minutes for domestic delivery and 25 minutes for international, right from goods acceptance to dispatch at the ramp, it said. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Chaos, confusion at Karnataka- Kerala border as new COVID rule kicks in India oi-Deepika S Bengaluru, Feb 23: Chaos and confusion ensued at Karnataka- Kerala border after the Karnataka government made RTPCR negative report mandatory for passengers from Kerala. Protests were reported at the border points of Bavali in HD Kote and Talapady in Dakshina Kannada. There was confusion because people from border villages, who come for work daily from Maharashtra wondered if they have to produce covid negative report every day. In light of the spike in the Covid-19 cases, the Karnataka government has mandated RT-PCR certificates not older than 72 hours for those arriving in the state from neighbouring Kerala and Maharashtra. COVID-19 protocols: Karnataka closes borders with Kerala again The government also cautioned people against negligence towards observing protocol and of stricter steps if the number of cases increase and said marshals would be deployed to monitor weddings as they were taking place without following any norms or guidelines. "Civic sense and responsibility are also important. If we don't understand it, in the days to come, if the cases increase, you (people) will be responsible for forcing the government to take strict measures. At a few places in Maharashtra, there is lockdown...you decide if such a situation has to come in Karnataka," he said, PTI reports. Gujarat civic polls: BJP makes big gains | Celebrations begin | Oneindia News Karnataka is currently the third worst-hit state after Maharashtra and Kerala. It has 9,48,466 total number of infections and a death toll of12,299. The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company A staff member of Sinovac Biotech, a Chinese biopharmaceutical company, displays a dose of COVID-19 inactivated vaccine in Schering bottle package in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 23, 2020. China's National Medical Products Administration on Friday granted conditional market approval to CoronaVac, an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech, the company said on Saturday. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei) BANGKOK, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Thailand has approved Sinovac Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, paving the way for the country to receive its first vaccine shipment of 200,000 doses from the Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Wednesday. The country's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the Sinovac vaccine for emergency use, and the first batch, aboard a Thai Airways International plane, is scheduled to arrive at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi international airport Wednesday morning, Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul confirmed Tuesday. The authorization for the Sinovac vaccine will be valid for one year, according to the FAD approval letter that Anutin posted on his Facebook account. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will go to the airport to observe the delivery of the Chinese vaccine, said a government official, who requested anonymity due to lack of authority. Prayut said Monday that he may be among the first people in the country to get vaccinated with the Sinovac vaccine. The first Sinovac shots will be administered to at-risk groups, including medical workers, close contacts with COVID-19 patients, people with certain chronic illnesses and people aged 60 years or older, according to the Disease Control Department. The Southeast Asian country ordered two million doses from Sinovac, with the second batch of 800,000 doses scheduled for delivery next month, followed by the third batch of one million doses in April. On Tuesday, Thailand's total COVID-19 caseload rose to 25,599, with more than four-fifths of the infections being detected since the new wave of outbreak erupted in mid-December. Hotel and guesthouse owners across Laois and Offaly are calling for an urgent review of business and employment supports for the hospitality sector following the announcement at the weekend that it is unlikely to reopen before mid-summer. They are also asking the Government to intervene with the banks to ensure that appropriate supports and engagement processes are in place for business owners and their team members until Covid-19 has been suppressed. Dara Cruise, chair of the Midlands branch of the Irish Hotels Federation warns that failure to act now will have long term implications that could take years to repair. Mr Cruise states: Public health must always be the number one priority and we recognise the difficult balance the Government has to achieve. However, if the all-important summer period is being eroded, additional supports are required now to safeguard businesses and the livelihoods they support until society reopens and the sector and wider tourism industry can recover. The news at the weekend resulted in acute frustration and anxiety for many people. Prior to this pandemic, some 4,400 livelihoods were supported by tourism and hospitality across Laois and Offaly with the sector contributing 66 million to the local economy. "Hotels and guesthouses not only provide local employment opportunities, they buy local services, source locally produced food and provide a vital infrastructure in support of local business and communities. In some parts, whole communities are built around tourism. A severely devastated tourism and hospitality sector would be a major loss to the economy and society here for many years to come. This can and must be avoided. It wasnt that long along ago that in the aftermath of the last financial crisis tourism was the number one sector in terms of job creation. Government must step up with engagement and the required supports to ensure that the sector and its 270,000 community nationwide can recover, he said. [February 23, 2021] Detected Cyber Threats Rose 20% to Exceed 62.6 Billion in 2020 DALLAS, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, today announced it detected 119,000 cyber threats per minute in 2020 as home workers and infrastructure came under new pressure from attacks. This insight and many others come from Trend Micro's 2020 roundup report, A Constant State of Flux: Trend Micro 2020 Annual Cybersecurity Report (https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/research-and-analysis/threat-reports/roundup/a-constant-state-of-flux-trend-micro-2020-annual-cybersecurity-report). The report also shows that home networks were a major draw last year for cybercriminals looking to pivot to corporate systems, or compromise and conscript IoT devices into botnets. Trend Micro found attacks on homes surged 210% to reach nearly 2.9 billionamounting to 15.5% of all homes. The vast majority (73%) of attacks on home networks involved brute forcing logins to gain controlof a router or smart device. Email-borne threats made up 91% of the 62.6 billion threats blocked by Trend Micro last year, indicating that phishing attacks continued to be hugely popular. The company detected nearly 14 million unique phishing URLs in 2020 as attackers targeted distracted home workers. "In 2020, businesses faced unprecedented threat volumes hitting their extended infrastructure, including the networks of home workers. Familiar tactics such as phishing, brute forcing and vulnerability exploitation are still favored as the primary means of compromise, which should help when developing defenses," said Jon Clay, director of global threat communications for Trend Micro. "Global organizations have now had time to understand the operational and cyber risk impact of the pandemic. The new year is a chance to adjust and improve with comprehensive cloud-based security to protect distributed staff and systems." Other key trends included: Newly detected ransomware families increased 34%, with "double extortion" attacks where attackers steal data before encrypting it to force payment by threatening to release the stolen information and more targeted threats becoming increasingly popular. Government, banking, manufacturing and healthcare were the most targeted sectors. The number of vulnerabilities published by the Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) increased 40% year-on-year, but Trend Micro continues to see flaws from as far back as 2005 being heavily exploited. Many attacks targeted flaws in VPNs used by remote workers. CVE-2019 -11510, a critical arbitrary file disclosure flaw in Pulse Connect Secure, already has nearly 800,000 hits based on Trend Micro customer data. -11510, a critical arbitrary file disclosure flaw in Pulse Connect Secure, already has nearly 800,000 hits based on Trend Micro customer data. Cloud service misconfigurations increasingly had consequences in 2020. Trend Micro observed exploitation of unsecured APIs in several cryptocurrency mining attacks. The ZDI published 1,453 vulnerability advisories, nearly 80% of which were rated as Critical or High severity. On the positive front, there was a 17% fall in detections of BEC attacks, although there's no indication of how many were successful. About Trend Micro Trend Micro, a global leader in cybersecurity, helps make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Leveraging over 30 years of security expertise, global threat research, and continuous innovation, Trend Micro enables resilience for businesses, governments, and consumers with connected solutions across cloud workloads, endpoints, email, IIoT, and networks. Our XGen security strategy powers our solutions with a cross-generational blend of threat-defense techniques that are optimized for key environments and leverage shared threat intelligence for better, faster protection. With over 6,700 employees in 65 countries, and the world's most advanced global threat research and intelligence, Trend Micro enables organizations to secure their connected world. www.trendmicro.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/detected-cyber-threats-rose-20-to-exceed-62-6-billion-in-2020--301233378.html SOURCE Trend Micro Incorporated [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Click here for updates on this story Sacramento, California (KCRA ) -- Crystal and Chris Jackson just received word Sunday night that their three sons are not allowed to attend Sacramento's Sacred Heart Parish School anymore, and they said it's all because of Crystal's online presence as a model on the adult, membership-based website OnlyFans. It started as marriage fun, said Crystal Jackson. I went through menopause early and I was just like, wanting to have that connection with my husband again. The couple said posting to the OnlyFans site which includes, in their words, pin-up model-style photos and some that are more explicit to go along with sexy stories Crystal said she writes was their way of rekindling a spark in their marriage of 14 years. You get this confidence in yourself, she explained. It's that confidence that you gain that you're like maybe I do feel sexy, or maybe I am sexy. The more they posted, the more attention Crystals online presence received. In their first month on the site, the couple made $15,000. The following month, that number grew by 30%. Now, just over a year later, theyre making $150,000 a month for their daily pictures and posts. Some of our most popular pictures are of her in a grocery store, Chris Jackson said. It's the branding of the mom next door.' When word got out about Crystal's work-from-home gig, other families at their school blew the whistle, sending Sacred Hearts principal the risque photos of Crystal. Its always been, from day one, you need to leave the school, and thats actually what they accomplished, Crystal Jackson said, in reference to the parents from the school who discovered the photos and alerted administrators. They accomplished getting the kids kicked out of school. Following an interview the couple did with the British tabloid The Sun that was published last week, the Jacksons said they received an email from Sacred Heart's principal Sunday evening saying the family is not allowed to come back to the school for any reason. That email, shared with KCRA 3 by the Jacksons, read in part: "Your apparent quest for high-profile controversy in support of your adult website is in direct conflict with what we hope to impart to our students and is directly opposed to the policies laid out in our Parent/Student Handbook. We therefore require that you find another school for your children and have no further association with ours." KCRA 3 reached out to Theresa Sparks, the principal of Sacred Heart Parish School. Sparks indicated in writing that she could not provide comment or information about the Jackson family's enrollment status, writing: "We cannot discuss the status or circumstances of any member of our school or parish community." It's tough to find the Christianity here, and that makes me sad, said Chris Jackson. The church we were married at. The church all our children were baptized at. And, is this what it is? The Jacksons are now in search of a new school for their sons. They said they're also asking that their former school community will not continue to judge the couple's online activity. I'm still the same Crystal I was, like, two years ago, a year ago when we had coffee before you knew this, she said. Now you just are judging me. 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. A woman who died of a heart attack before she was due to be executed for murder in Iran has been hanged anyway so the victim's mother could exercise her right to kick away the chair, her lawyer has claimed. Zahra Ismaili was convicted of killing her husband, an Iranian intelligence official, who had allegedly been abusive to her and her daughter. Her lawyer Omid Moradi described online how the mother-of-two was forced to wait in line at the gallows behind 16 condemned men and watch as they were hanged. Ismaili passed out and suffered a heart attack, but they took her up the scaffold and hanged her from a noose so that the victim's mother could kick a chair from under her lifeless legs. Zahra Ismaili, left, was dragged to the gallows despite dying of a heart attack, her lawyer said. The mother-of-two was convicted of murdering her husband who she alleged was abusive to her and her daughter The concession was granted under the sharia law of qisas ('eye for an eye'), a doctrine which grants the victim or victim's family the right to retributive justice. Ismaili was hanged in the notoriously brutal Rajai Shahr Prison on Wednesday in the town of Karaj, around 20 miles west of Tehran. The Islamic Republic is second only China in its use of capital punishment. But even by Iran's standards, a mass execution of 17 people in one day is uncommon. The United Nations recorded 233 executions last year, up to the start of December, including three who were teenagers at the time of their alleged offences. Iran continues to hang people for non-violent crimes, including drug trafficking. In 2014, Reyhaneh Jabbari was hanged in a high profile case after being convicting of murdering a former intelligence official who she claimed had tried to rape her. The 26-year-old's hanging drew widespread international condemnation. COVID vaccination priorities announced THAILAND: The first 200,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to arrive tomorrow (Feb 24) will be sent to 13 provinces with high infection rates and economic significance, according to a government spokesman. CoronavirusCOVID-19drugshealth By Bangkok Post Tuesday 23 February 2021, 04:58PM Dr Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman for the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration, announces the COVID-19 vaccination schedule at Government House in Bangkok earlier today. Photo: CCSA Screenshot. Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman for the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration, said today that the vaccination programme will be divided into two phases. The first phase, with limited doses available, will cover: - medical and health personnel in both government and private sector in contact with infected people; - people with chronic diseases, severe and chronic respiratory illness, cardiovascular disease, stage-5 renal disease, stroke, cancer under treatment, diabetes and obesity with body weight of more than 100 kilogrammes; - people aged 60 years and over; - disease control workers in contact with patients. The second phase, with greater availability of doses, will cover: - recipients from the first phase; - other medical and health personnel; - tourism-related workers; - workers who travel internationally, including pilots, flight attendants and business people; - the general public; - diplomats, staff of international organisations, foreign business people and expatriates; - workers in the industrial and service sectors. Dr Taweesilp said 2 million doses from Sinovac were set to arrive from February to April. Phase 1 The first 200,000 doses to be delivered tomorrow will be delivered to 13 provinces with the highest infection rates, the greatest economic significance, or both. The provinces with the highest infection rates are Samut Sakhon (a COVID-19 maximum and strict control zone) and eight provinces designated as COVID-19 control zones: Bangkok (western), Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan, Tak (Mae Sot district), Nakhon Pathom, Samut Songkhram and Ratchaburi. The four provinces of economic significance are Chon Buri, Phuket, Surat Thani (including Koh Samui) and Chiang Mai. Phase 2 A further 800,000 more doses are expected in March and 1 million more in April, the spokesman said. AstraZeneca will deliver 26 million doses from June to August and 35 million doses from September to December. Vaccination procedures at hospitals will take 5-7 minutes per recipient, who must then wait for 30 minutes while their condition is monitored, Dr Taweesilp said. Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 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. Hyderabad, Feb 23 : Police in Cyberabad on Tuesday said they have busted a passport racket with the arrest of eight people including four Bangladeshis and two policemen. The accused were arrested for fraudulently obtaining Indian passports from Nizamabad district of Telangana. Cyberabad Police Commissioner V. C. Sajjanar told a news conference that as many as 72 passports were fraudulently obtained. The police have sent reports to Regional Passport Officer (RPO) Hyderabad for cancelation of these passports. "We have also requested the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) to issue lookout circulars against the passport holders," the Commissioner said. The police are coordinating with Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for cancellation of 72 fake Aadhar cards used to obtain passports. District Collectors and Superintendents of various districts of West Bengal are being apprised regarding these 72 persons. Special teams have been formed to trace the passport holders and three absconding accused. The police busted the racket during an investigation taken up after three Bangladeshi nationals were arrested on January 24 at Hyderabad airport when they were about to catch a flight to Dubai on fraudulently obtained Indian passports. They revealed that they stayed at Bodhan in Nizamabad districts and an agent from West Bengal arranged fake Aadhaar cards and helped them obtain Indian passport fraudulently. During the subsequent investigation, police found that many others fraudulently obtained Indian passports. A sub-inspector of police and an assistant sub-inspector of police, who did the verification of passport applicants, were also arrested. The arrested include Nitai Das alias Sanjib Dutta, Mohammed Rana Mia alias Sandip Mondal, Mohammed Hasibur Rehman alias Ramu Das, Parimal Bain alias Shivam alias Shovan, all Bangladeshi nationals, and Shahnaj Pail alias Sabuj, a resident of West Bengal. Mateen Ahmed Mirza, a resident of Nizamabad who created fake Aadhaar cards and policemen Peruka Mallesh Rao and B. Anil Kumar were also arrested. Sameer, a resident of West Bengal who helps the foreigners to cross illegally into India, Manoj, also of West Bengal and Sadham Hussain, a flight ticket agent from Mumbai are absconding. Curtis Coulter's "An Excursion to the Past" is a unique, historical book of two small towns in America with long histories, beginning in 1775 with the sale of 20 million acres of land by the Cherokee Indian Nation to the Transylvania Company. That event sparked the great Indian Wars of East Tennessee that led up to the April 29, 1779 auction that gave Sale Creek its name. Other major historical events included Fields Settlement (precursor to the name of Sale Creek as the community name), the Gideon Blackburn mission to the Cherokee Indians, first settlers, the first schools beginning in 1840, the Civil War years, the Welsh coal mining venture beginning in 1867, the coming of the Cincinnati Southern Railroad in 1880, and the great strawberry and peach growing businesses from 1900-1953 which put Sale Creek on the map. Also included is a history of McDonald Farm, a Sale Creek institution since 1821. Lastly, the author includes the folklore of the Pitty Pat of Shipley Hollow. Coulter, a retired, 40-year Hamilton County educator, is a sixth-generation native of Sale Creek, whose roots run deep, where his great-great-great-grandparents were original settlers in 1819. He masterfully weaves a thoughtful and archival view of these two small towns, whose overlapping history of tenacious settlers, battles, and fierce warriors provide treasured memories of the two small towns. The book also honors and shares the personal and humorous stories of veterans from both areas, 350 men and one woman, who valiantly served in World War II. With his work, Curtis desires to bring awareness of the history of the communities of Sale Creek and Coulterville in Hamilton County, just 28 miles north of Chattanooga, and to highlight much of the towns history through pictorials, descriptions of events, genealogical information and countless interviews with residents of the community, both past and present. Coulter has authored five books, numerous periodicals, published historical and geographical maps, along with information on the communities of Sale Creek and Coulterville. He continues to live in Sale Creek with Alice, his wife of fifty years, where he remains deeply committed to his communitys past, present and future. In 1992, he also produced a historical calendar with events that took place for each date of the year at some time in the history of the town. All items are available at www.coulterpublications.com. If you like to read about the history of small-town USA, this book is a must. It is written in a very entertaining style, which you will love even if you are not a history buff, said Candido Segarra, CEO of Foresight Publishers, a leading book and digital publishing company in Chattanooga. The book can be purchased locally at: - Daniel Farm Supply - Sale Creek; - Torbett Automotive - Sale Creek; - Floyd Hardware - Soddy Daisy; - Small Town Antique Mall - Sale Creek; - Sale Creek Storage - Sale Creek; - The Gathering Place - Dayton; - R.J.'s Food Mart - Sale Creek; and - Sale Creek Outdoor Power Equipment. The head of the World Health Organization on Monday chastized high-income countries for undermining the international Covax initiative when trying to secure Covid-19 vaccines for their own populations. Referring to pledged funding for the international vaccine distribution mechanism, WHO director- general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "Even if you have the money, if you cannot use the money to buy vaccines - having the money doesn't mean anything." He was speaking after talks with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whose country has pledged 1.5 billion euros to the scheme. Without mentioning names, Tedros said some wealthy countries had approached vaccine manufacturers directly to strike deals and in doing so reduced the amount available to Covax. The UN health chief stressed the importance of global access to vaccines: "If this virus is not defeated everywhere, we cannot defeat it globally. It will have a safe haven somewhere and can strike back." Countries left behind in vaccinating could also become "breeding grounds for new variants," he warned. Steinmeier conceded that money alone was not the solution, adding that vaccines were still a "scarce commodity." While refusing to be drawn on how many of its doses Germany would donate and when, Steinmeier said sharing the vaccines was in everyone's interest. "This is not easy but it is a question of humanity," the German head of state said, while adding that distributing vaccines, tests and medicines during the pandemic was a "litmus test for global solidarity." French President Emmanuel Macron has called in recent days on rich nations to donate 4-5 per cent of their vaccine stock as quickly as possible. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The collaboration gives fixed income traders around the globe the ability to harness the precision analytics, industry-leading speed, and extensive market coverage of Overbond AI alongside Rapid Addition's high performance electronic messaging platform to automate up to 50% of RFQs. Overbond's fixed income artificial intelligence (AI) now offers protocol and system agnostic integration with venues and e-trading systems used by sell-side and buy-side trading desks thanks to a strategic alliance with electronic trading innovator, Rapid Addition. The collaboration will help fixed income traders around the globe to harness the power of Overbond AI and automate up to 50% of RFQs. Rapid Addition's expertise in FIX protocol, counterparty and market-place connectivity via its open API enterprise software platform will allow global fixed income trading desks to seamlessly integrate AI-driven bond pricing and liquidity scoring analytics into their workflow, regardless of which internal OMS, e-trading system, direct venue connectivity, cloud or on-premise solution they currently use. These API connections allow for internal system integration, pre- and post-trade external data vendor ingestion, and liquidity venue connectivity ultimately creating a streamlined system capable of automating RFQ flow using Overbond's AI engine. With the internal system connectivity facilitated through Rapid Addition's Open API, sell-side bond trading desks can make Overbond's AI models their own by accessing recorded transaction history to train the model according to the trading style of the desk. By maximizing the precision of these models with cross-venue coverage, desks can optimize P&L performance. "Great tools are most powerful when they are easy to deploy, easy to use and a seamless part of your workflow. Overbond has a powerful suite of AI modeling and visualization tools for trading automation, and with Rapid Addition's ability to provide interoperability and market connectivity we can now provide sell-side traders with a system that is not just capable of automating RFQ flow in any currency they make markets in, but is fully integrated from front to back," said Vuk Magdelinic, CEO of Overbond. Overbond's COBI-Pricing LIVE is a customizable AI pricing engine designed to assist traders in automating pricing and trading workflows for global investment-grade bonds. It can generate prices and liquidity scores for more than 100,000 fixed income instruments and build curves for more than 10,000 issuers in various real-time liquidity scenarios. COBI-Pricing LIVE has an industry-leading refresh rate of less than three seconds giving sell-side trading desks the ability to fully automate 30% of their RFQs and execute an additional 20% with trader supervision. According to Rapid Addition CEO, Mike Powell, "We continue to see increased electronification across capital markets, partly driven by changes to regulation and market structure, but also driven by the deployment of new technologies. We are excited by the potential of combining Overbond's expertise in AI and Machine Learning with the latest iteration of Rapid Addition's market leading electronic trading middleware, RA Platform 3.0. At a time when firms are looking to improve ROI and competitive differentiation, this new generation of flexible, open technology will help empower the next phase of their business growth." About Overbond Overbond is a developer of process-redefining, AI-driven data and analytics and trade automation solutions for the global fixed income markets. Overbond performs market surveillance, data aggregation and normalization, and deep AI quantitative observation on more than 100,000 corporate bonds and fixed income ETFs. Applying proprietary artificial intelligence to pricing, curve visualization, market liquidity, issuance propensity, new issuance spreads, default risk and automated reporting, Overbond enables trade automation and enhances trade performance and portfolio returns. Clients of Toronto-based Overbond include global investment banks, broker dealers, institutional investors, corporations and governments across the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit www.overbond.com. About Rapid Addition Rapid Addition's platform and modular development framework provide the foundational technology needed to build flexible, high performance and resilient electronic trading solutions. Rapid Addition was an early pioneer in the development of electronic messaging technology and is recognised as a market leader in financial messaging protocols and FPGA. Helping customers with a broad range of use cases across the trading life cycle, Rapid Addition serves sell-side firms, asset managers, exchanges and liquidity platforms around the globe. Additional information can be found at www.rapidaddition.com Twitter: @rapidaddition LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/rapid-addition-limited View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005691/en/ Contacts: Jonathan Mairs North America + 1 917 517 7097 jonathan.mairs@overbond.com Tim Focas Europe + 44 (0)20 709 281 33 tim.focas@aspectusgroup.com WILMINGTON, Del., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) released the ninth annual Global Food Security Index (GFSI) sponsored by Corteva (NYSE: CTVA), which measures the underlying drivers of food security in 113 countries, based on the factors of affordability, availability, quality and safety, and natural resources and resilience. The GFSI considers food security in the context of income and economic inequality, gender inequality, and environmental and natural resources inequality calling attention to systemic gaps and most recently how COVID-19 exacerbates their impact on food systems. Based on these findings, global food security has decreased for the second year in a row. "Sponsoring the Global Food Security Index is part of Corteva Agriscience's long-term commitment to growing progress," said James C. Collins, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of Corteva Agriscience. "With food security declining again, we all must heed the urgent call to renew our collective commitment to innovation and collaboration. Our future is only as secure as our food system and agriculture is at the heart of it. Together we must better support global food security." This year, the GFSI formally includes "Natural Resources and Resilience" as a fourth main category. This addition marks a significant shift in methodology, revealing food systems' resiliency against climate change. The sub-indicators under this category include food import dependency, disaster risk management and projected population growth. The 2020 index also measures gender inequality and inequality-adjusted income as sub-indicators for the first time in its history. For the third consecutive year, the North America region is leading the world in food security. Europe is a close second, accounting for eight of the top 10 countries. Using the new methodology, Finland tops the list while last year's leader, Singapore, drops down to 19th place. Ireland retains its second rank position, while the United States moves to 11th place. The new methodology underscores the importance of climate-risk management and its link to food security. "Incorporating the Natural Resources and Resilience category as part of the main index highlights the impact of climate-related factors on food systems and food security" said Pratima Singh, project lead for the Global Food Security Index at The EIU. "It is critical that climate risk becomes a core part of the dialogue on food security. We hope this will drive much-needed action on developing policies that can build a stronger and more sustainable global food system." Building Resilient Agriculture The GFSI 2020 shows that rising temperatures and global warming have a direct impact on the agricultural sector and food system. Highly volatile agriculture production in countries like Australia, Norway and Sweden demonstrates the risk that climate change poses to agriculture and food production. The GFSI finds that agricultural production has become more vulnerable in 49 countries compared to the previous index period. While climate change is notably creating new challenges, farmers are still required to anticipate demand for volume of food. With the increasing impact of extreme weather conditions and demand, there is a great need for staple crops that are more tolerant to extreme weather and can thrive with limited water as well as in poor or limited soil. Corteva is innovating to make crops more resilient, so they can thrive in poor soils and better withstand extreme temperatures, droughts, and new infestations. The company's precision agriculture technology delivers whole-farm solutions, empowering farmers to use data to solve problems in the field. It's all part of helping farmers and building a more secure food system. Supporting Smart Agriculture The GFSI 2020 shows creative supply chain solutions powered by new technologies can help alleviate challenges to food security and farmer well-being. A successful mobile technology program can help farmers to anticipate market demands and respond in time, as well as connect them with the right resources, suppliers and markets. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed existing vulnerabilities in the global food system. Although the various stakeholders have been quick to respond, the lockdown restrictions, and resulting economic fallout, have had a disproportionate impact on those living below the poverty line with limited, if any, social protections. In the agricultural sector, smallholder farmers, the majority of whom reside in rural areas, have suffered a significant loss of income as lockdowns have prevented market access and interrupted the planting season. Corteva Agriscience is working with supply chain partners to anticipate shifts in global demand and thus continuing to help ensure a reliable food supply. The company's mobile software puts market data in farmers' hands to enable them to make better business decisions. Corteva's advanced seed breeding methodologies provide the right high-yielding potential products and agronomic advice helps farmers put it on the right hectare, for the right market. Advancing Sustainable Agriculture The GFSI shows that sustainable farming is essential to food security and farmer productivity. The index shows that the global food systems have been under strain even before the COVID-19 began to spread, with many countries struggling to increase productivity, adapt to a worsening climate and reduce environmental harm. In 2020, both Australia and the U.S. were impacted by high levels of land degradation, ranking 81st and 63rd respectively on the land degradation indicator. According to the index, Latin America suffering from irregular rainfall and above-average temperatures between June and July 2019 led to a second consecutive year of crop failure in the 'Dry Corridor' spanning Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua. Corteva is driving a more responsible food system, with products and services to produce what our food system demands while conserving resources and sustaining the land. The company's biological solutions give farmers additional tools to address pressures from pests and disease, while helping meet consumer demands. About Corteva Agriscience Corteva Agriscience is a publicly traded, global pure-play agriculture company that provides farmers around the world with the most complete portfolio in the industry - including a balanced and diverse mix of seed, crop protection and digital solutions focused on maximizing productivity to enhance yield and profitability. With some of the most recognized brands in agriculture and an industry-leading product and technology pipeline well positioned to drive growth, the company is committed to working with stakeholders throughout the food system as it fulfills its promise to enrich the lives of those who produce and those who consume, ensuring progress for generations to come. Corteva Agriscience became an independent public company on June 1, 2019 and was previously the Agriculture Division of DowDuPont. More information can be found at www.corteva.com . Follow Corteva on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube. Trademarks and service marks of Corteva Agriscience and its affiliated companies. SOURCE Corteva, Inc. Related Links http://www.corteva.com Victoria Police resources became so stretched during the coronavirus pandemic that 25 stations were temporarily closed to the public at one point due to a lack of personnel. Chief Commissioner Shane Patton told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that hotel quarantine commitments, border closures and enforcement of coronavirus restrictions meant the front counters of between 20 and 25 stations were closed at the peak of the burden on police since June. Victoria has 331 police stations in total. Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said police have had to balance resources. Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui The Age can reveal that police last week introduced a QR code system in response to the temporarily shortened opening hours of front counters at a number of stations across Melbournes eastern and south-eastern suburbs, allowing visitors to scan the codes and identify the nearest open station. The codes have been implemented at all 27 stations in the southern metropolitan area, stretching from South Melbourne to Sorrento, in a move police sold as going digital. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Bhubaneswar, Feb 23 : The Odisha Assembly on Tuesday expressed concern over the rising fuel price, while the state government said the funds collected through tax is utilised for welfare activities. Raising the issue of hike in fuel prices through an adjournment motion, the opposition asked the state government to reduce the tax on fuel to reduce the burden on the common man. The opposition members said that the people of the state are hard hit by the price hikes of essential commodities. Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati said the BJP government at the Centre is looting the people as the petrol price has breached Rs 100 mark in Malkangiri district for the first time. Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, both the Centre and state government increased tax on petroleum products. The government needs to decrease the tax on fuel, said Bahinipati. Bishnu Charan Sethi, deputy leader of BJP legislature party, said the tax collected on fuel is utilised by the Odisha government for welfare activities in Odisha and across the country. He demanded that the state government should decrease the tax on fuel. Participating in the discussion, opposition chief whip Mohan Majhi said like other states, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik should set an example by decreasing the Value Added Tax (VAT) on petroleum products. However, Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari said the government is levying less tax than the Central government and utilising funds for welfare activities. Pujari said the Centre is collecting Rs 32.90 paise from fuel while the state government is levying Rs 21.40 paise towards 32 per cent VAT on prevailing price retail of petrol in Bhubaneswar. The prevailing price of petrol in Bhubaneswar stands Rs 91.66 (as on February 23), while the petrol prices in Bhopal, Mumbai and Kolkata are Rs 98.96, Rs 97.34 and Rs 91.12 respectively. Similarly, the diesel price in Bhubaneswar is Rs 88.63, while the diesel prices in Bhopal, Mumbai and Chennai are Rs 89.60, 88.44 and 86.31 respectively, said the Minister. He said the Centre should reduce the agriculture infrastructure development cess and infrastructure cess on the petroleum products. Earlier, three Congress MLAs reached Odisha Assembly by riding a bicycle as a mark of protest against the rise in the prices of petrol and diesel. Congress MLAs Taraprasad Bahinipati, Suresh Routray and Adhiraj Panigrahi took out the novel protest by riding cycles to the State Assembly. New Delhi/Mumbai, Feb 23 : Healthy festive season sales along with low base and high corporate savings are expected to lift India out of the technical recession spiral in Q3FY21. Besides, healthy performance of the agricultural sector as well as a lagged recovery in contact-intensive parts of the services sector such as aviation and hospitality are expected to give an upward push to the GDP growth rate. A poll of economists and industry experts conducted by IANS showed that majority of them expect a flat-to-positive growth in GDP during Q3FY21. Consequently, even with a minute growth, India would have exited the recessionary phase, even though the long-term impact of the pandemic will still to hamper the growth. "We expect India's GDP to grow by 0.7 per cent in Q3FY21, indicating an end to the recession. Festive sales, government spending and a low base aided the exit from the recession," said Aditi Nayar, Principal Economist, ICRA. In financial parlance, an economy is said to have entered a technical recession after it consistently remains in the negative output territory for two subsequent quarters. This trend underscores the reduction in purchasing power along with lower tax collection for the government, likely defaults on debt and falling Capex spends. "Strong corporate earnings and pickup in other lead activity indicators should support a sequential recovery in growth, implying that the GDP will likely be back in the positive territory by Q3FY21," said Madhavi Arora, Lead Economist, Emkay Global. In November 2020, the data furnished by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed that the Q2FY21 GDP, on a year-on-year basis, contracted by 7.5 per cent from (-) 23.9 per cent in the preceding quarter. Though not comparable, the GDP had grown by 4.4 per cent in the corresponding quarter of FY2019-20. "With many high frequency indicators in the economy close to the earlier levels, we expect a marginal growth of 0-1 per cent in Q3FY21. The replenishment of inventories post the festive season is also an indication of potential demand revival," said Suman Chowdhury, Chief Analytical Officer, Acuite Ratings & Research. Furthermore, ICRA pointed out that an expected revival in exports and a rise in government spending will contribute to the expected mild growth. However, Sunil Sinha, Principal Economist, India Ratings and Research, said: "The scar of the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown on the economy, although subsiding, will continue to impact the normalisation of economic activities in the contact-intensive sectors till mass vaccination or herd immunity becomes a reality. India Ratings' estimate shows GDP growth will continue to record negative growth till Q3FY21. However, it will turn positive at 0.3 per cent in Q4FY21." According to Brickwork Ratings' Chief Economic Advisor M. Govinda Rao: "Our own projection is that the contraction will continue at (-) 2 per cent in Q3FY21, although at a lower rate compared to the first two quarters of FY21. We expect GDP growth likely to turn positive in Q4FY21 at 5 per cent, largely due to continued recovery and partly due to the base effect of lower growth of 3.1 per cent in Q4FY20." (Rohit Vaid can be contacted at rohit.v@ians.in) I paid off my HSBC credit card in October 2020 and closed the account. Later, Amazon and Enterprise Rent-a-Car issued refunds to the closed account. I supplied HSBC with my account details to refund money to my bank account. However, HSBC have not sent me a cheque, nor have they refunded me through my bank account. What should happen in this situation and how can I get them to give me my money back? I.R., via email. Our reader closed a credit card in October 2020 but later received refunds from two companies and is struggling to get the money back George Nixon of This is Money, replies: Although not a new problem, this particular situation might be one affecting a far greater number of people at the moment. Last year saw huge numbers of holidays, experiences and other big purchases cancelled due to the coronavirus, with consumers likely putting them on a credit card for the protection doing so offers. And with Britain's collective credit card balance falling 16.2 per cent between December 2019 and 2020 to 58.4billion, it is possible more people like yourself may have closed their cards and purged any need for a reliance on plastic. But doing so before any refunds due to those accounts are paid can leave consumers with one or two problems. As mentioned above, this is not a new problem. A quick Google search reveals one person in 2018 was left waiting for a 450 refund from Amazon for an Xbox for two months after it was paid out to a closed Halifax account. Having been refunded in October, the money was finally found by the bank in December. Sadly the consumer in that case was never given any explanation as to where it had finally been found, after they had previously been told by Halifax that the money could not be traced 'without an originating sort code and account number.' Meanwhile a similar thing happened in May last year to one consumer who received a 2,138 refund from Airbnb to an old Lloyds credit card, which had been replaced after the holder was the victim of fraud. Their case was sorted after they wrote to The Guardian, who were told the money 'had been placed in an unallocated funds account.' This provides an indication as to what should happen in your situation. Although Adam French, from the consumer group Which?, stated your old bank or card provider should 'pay a refund into your new account once you've provided the details', clearly this is not always the case. Such refunds tend to be held in an 'unallocated funds' or 'general ledger' account if they can't be matched to an active account. Nicky Kelvin, director of content at the credit card and travel website The Points Guy UK, said: 'This is definitely a tricky situation. If someone closes a current account via the Current Account Switching Service, there's a "redirect" in place that means any funds sent to such an account will be forwarded to the new bank and new account details - that's sadly not in place with credit cards.' But unfortunately, given they hold the money, the best port of call remains HSBC, even if they appear to be unresponsive. 'The best suggestion is to continue to pursue HSBC, escalating the complaint as much as you can, and try emailing as well as calling, so you have the situation in writing', he added. Alternatively, it might be worth trying the companies which owe refunds and asking them to send a cheque, although Nicky noted that 'they may only do that if HSBC have returned the funds to them, which they may do after a certain period of time'. For this it would be best to provide Amazon and Enterprise with as many details as possible about your original purchases with them. This could include order or customer reference number, a billing address and details of what was purchased. If none of that works and you still fail to hear back from the bank, both Adam French and Nicky Kelvin note you can complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service. It might take a while, but you should get your money back in the end. In response, HSBC said in a statement: 'A customer who has closed their credit card would be entitled to any refunds that are returned to the account after that happens.' The Government has refused to reveal the number of Covid cases found through its controversial quarantine hotels scheme. Since February 15, travelers returning home to the UK after visiting one of 33 red-listed countries have been forced to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days at a cost of 1,750 each. The red-list areas are considered high risk and the quarantine, ministers hope, will prevent people from bringing mutated variants of the coronavirus into the UK. A variant that first emerged in South Africa, and appears to make vaccines less effective, is already spreading in Britain and officials are trying to keep it under wraps and prevent new versions of the virus from springing up. The Government has banned visitors from travelling into the UK from red-list countries, which include Portugal, Brazil and South Africa, but not people who have residency visas or British citizenship. The policy was criticised at the outset by travellers themselves, who have to stump up the cost, and by critics who said it would be too difficult to enforce or ineffective. It is not clear how many travellers are actually using the quarantine hotels, and the Department of Health has refused to reveal how many of them have tested positive. The Department declined to comment. Since February 15, travelers returning home to the UK after visiting one of 33 red-listed countries have been forced to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days at a cost of 1,750 each (Pictured: A woman stands by the window at a quarantine hotel close to London Heathrow) The Department of Health said data counting the number of people carrying Covid when they arrived in the UK is not publicly available. It would be the only benchmark to determine whether the hotel quarantine is working. When asked about how many cases had been spotted since the scheme started, the agency simply said all positive tests are recorded in the daily national updates. Officials said they would not provide a commentary on the number of passengers in quarantine or on 'enforcement action'. Health Secretary Matt Hancock today boasted that the UK's border measures are working well but his claims were contradicted by PHE data. The measures also include a requirement for all travellers to test negative within the three days prior to arriving in the UK, and to produce a certificate proving this. Mr Hancock said today on Sky News: 'The good news is that the number of new variant cases we're finding across the whole UK is falling, and has fallen quite sharply over the last month. 'In the last week or so, there were just over a dozen new cases, which is far smaller than we were seeing even a couple of weeks ago. 'So the extra measures we are taking at the border are working and also the lower case rate makes it much less likely that there will be new variants here because new variants tend to arrive when you've got an area that's got a very high case rate.' But a PHE report updated today showed 42 more infections with concerning variants were found between February 17 and February 22. The South African variant was detected 23 more times, taking the total to 258, and it has been seen in Northern Ireland for the first time. This is the variant causing most concern among politicians and scientists because it is widespread in other parts of the world and makes vaccines slightly less effective. It carries a mutation called E484K that makes immune cells produced in response to other versions of the virus less able to attach to it and stop it, allowing it to partially evade immunity. Another four cases of an older variant containing the same mutation, first found in Liverpool, were announced, along with four cases of the Bristol variant; and seven of a separate one discovered dotted around the UK. On the count of people testing positive in quarantine hotels, the Department of Health said it never breaks down positive tests by individuals' locations or test sites. Upon arrival, travellers must show Border Force officers evidence of a negative PCR or antigen test result taken within three days of leaving the previous country. Quarantining guests are then tested on days two and eight using PCR tests self-administered in their own rooms. They can leave after they have received a negative result and quarantined for 10 days. Meanwhile, guests who test positive on the second occasion will have to pay 1,200 to extend their stay for an extra eight nights at 152 per day. Arrivals who lie about where they have been and their possible exposure to new Covid variants could be jailed for a maximum of 10 years. And if they leave their hotel before the end of quarantine they could be fined up to 10,000. The wife of Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman has been arrested at Washington DC's Dulles Airport and charged with drug trafficking, with an informant accusing her of masterminding a $3 million plan to break him out of Mexico's jails before he was extradited to the US in 2017. Emma Coronel Aispuro, a 31-year-old former beauty queen with both U.S. and Mexican citizenship, was detained on Monday at Dulles Airport in Virginia. It's unclear where she had flown in from, or how it came about. The Department of Justice has not confirmed when or how she agreed to turn herself in. At a virtual court appearance on Tuesday, her attorneys said they were not immediately seeking bail. The hearing was delayed because an interpreter hadn't been called. U.S. Magistrate Judge Robin Meriweather said prosecutors had provided sufficient reason to keep Coronel behind bars for now. Aispuro is facing a minimum of 10 years in prison but a maximum of life and a fine of up to $10million. She has been charged with one count criminal complaint with a conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, five kilograms or more of cocaine, 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana, and 500 grams or more of methamphetamines for unlawful importation into the U.S. According to prosecutors, she helped run her husband's drug empire between 2014 and 2017, and she also participated in two plots to spring him from prison - one in 2015 - which was successful - and another in 2016, while he was awaiting extradition to the US, which was not. Emma Coronel Aispuro, a 31-year-old former beauty queen, was arrested in Virginia on Monday. It's unclear what the circumstances of her arrest were - if she turned herself in or not At a virtual court appearance on Tuesday, Aispuro's attorneys said they were not immediately seeking bail. Aispuro is pictured in a court sketch of the virtual proceedings along with her lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman (top left) and U.S. Magistrate Judge Robin Meriweather (top right) Emma Coronel Aispuro (C) departs United States Federal Court after the first day of jury deliberations in the case against her husband Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman in Brooklyn, New York, USA, 04 February 2019 Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman (center) came up through the ranks of the defunct Guadalajara Cartel before going on his own and co-founding the Sinaloa Cartel During her first appearance, prosecutor Anthony Nardozzi said: 'This defendant worked closely with the command and control center of the Sinaloa Cartel. 'Most notably, with her husband, Joaquin Guzman, the leader of the cartel, prior to his extradition and subsequent conviction int he United States. As the complaint reads, this defendant is charged with knowingly distributing large amounts of heroin, cocaine, marijuana and meth. Knowing and intending that these substances would end up in the US. Her actions, which notably included her participation in her husband's escape in 2015 and her efforts to again help Guzman escape from custody prior to his January 2017 extradition, aided and abetted the objective of the cartel. Additionally, the defendant has access to criminal who are members of the Sinaloa cartel and means to flee. 'Further she has no direct ties to the Washington DC area. For those reasons, the government believes that pre-trial detention is justified.' Aispuro's attorneys agreed to a temporary stay of detention. She thanked her interpreter at the end of the hearing. They have not yet set the next trial date. While she is undoubtedly a high profile arrest for the authorities, she is far from being a major player in her own right. Many suspect that prosecutors will lean heavily on her to 'flip' - something which, for someone so embedded in trafficking culture, may not come easy. The U.S. government's case is helped by an informant, named only as 'Cooperating Witness 1,' who testified that they were given $100,000 by Coronel to help his escape from prison when he was recaptured in 2016, and $1 million in total. The informant also claims that Coronel oversaw a plan by which a further $2 million was sent to bribe Mexico's head of prisons to send Guzman from a prison in Ciudad Juarez back to Altiplano, where he would once again be busted out of jail. According to the indictment, Coronel 'stated to Cooperating Witness 1 that approximately $2 million had been paid to the Mexican official who oversaw the Mexican prisons to facilitate the transfer.' Mike Vigil, a former DEA agent who worked undercover in Mexico, told DailyMail.com that Coronel was 'a narco princess' deeply enmeshed in the world of trafficking. After Guzman was re-arrested in Mexico in January 2016, Coronel is alleged to have engaged in planning the additional jail break, before he was eventually extradited to the U.S. in January 2017. 'She was not a distributor, or a money launderer, or involved in logistics,' said Vigil. 'But she did things he ordered he to, like passing messages.' Vigil pointed out that all her alleged involvement took place prior to his extradition to the United States - authorities in the U.S. were well aware of her role, and so have prevented her continued help of him while behind bars. She is not believed to have been allowed to see him inside the Colorado prison. Vigil said that her current focus was on their daughters, and spending his money, noting: 'She's not involved any more.' He added: 'So did she participate? Yes. 'But these charges are related to things that she did in the past. It's not like she's branching out on her own.' Coronel is charged in a one count criminal complaint with a conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin; five kilograms or more of cocaine; 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana; and 500 grams or more of methamphetamines for unlawful importation into the U.S. Guzman's lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, told DailyMail.com he is representing Coronel. Guzman and his wife are pictured in a courtroom sketch from January 31, 2019 For Coronel, born in California, trafficking was a family affair. Her father Ines Coronel Barreras was a mid-ranking lieutenant in the Sinaloa Cartel, as was her brother, Omar. FBI intercepts of Guzman's phone showed him discussing business in 2011 with Ines - the father-in-law groveling to the man he repeatedly refers to as 'senor'. 'Make sure you delete everything every time we're done chatting,' Guzman reminds his wife, when she takes the phone back. Ines and Omar were both arrested in April 2013. Coronel married Guzman in 2007 in La Angostura, Durango, and gave birth to their twin girls on August 15, 2011. The girls, Emali and Maria Joaquina, were born at Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, California - on their birth certificates, the father's name was left blank. Coronel is pictured with Emali and Maria Joaquina, born in 2011, in February 2018 in New York Coronel is pictured with members of her father's legal team on January 17, 2019, in Brooklyn The wiretaps showed how intricately Coronel was involved in her husband's business, with the pair discussing by text the price per kilo of drugs and liaising about impending police raids on their properties. 'Our Kiki is fearless,' Coronel writes, in January 2012, with reference to Maria Joaquina. 'I'm going to give her an AK-47 so she can hang with me.' On January 24, 2012, he tells her: 'Love, whenever you guys see suspicious-looking cars let me know right away so I can get them checked out, love.' She says that the security team saw some strange vehicles, but 'they were told they were from the government'. He replies: 'I am told that they are following you, darling. You just go ahead and lead a normal life, that's it. They just want to see if you are coming to where I am.' A week or so later, she says that she's been told her home will soon be raided. 'Let me check and see what's going on,' he replied. 'Do you have a gun?' She replies that she has one he gave her. Shortly after, he responds: 'They are doing a thorough check for me.' She remarks: 'I hope it won't be today. I have a headache.' During his trial, Coronel was a constant presence - the drug lord waving goofily at her across the courtroom, and blowing kisses. She sat through hours of testimony from his former mistresses, and from former associates who turned against him. Coronel herself treated the trial as a fashion parade, turning up every day in a striking new outfit. She announced afterwards that she was launching a fashion collection. In November 2019 Coronel was in talks to join the VH1 reality series Cartel Crew. TMZ obtained photos of her on a yacht, as another cast member - Michael Corleone Blanco, son of Colombian drug dealer Griselda Blanco - pulled up alongside her boat. The series ended in December 2019, however, and it does not appear that she filmed any scenes beyond the yacht one. Coronel is accused in the court documents of having been in contact with Guzman's sons, known as 'Chapitos', who are currently believed to be running the Sinaloa Cartel. Four of Guzman's 15 known sons - Ivan, Jesus, Ovidio and Joaquin Jr - are all referenced in the charging documents. Ovidio was captured in October 2019 in Culiacan, a stronghold of the Sinaloa Cartel. He was then released amid a full-scale shootout with cartel members in broad daylight that left cars burning and civilians running for cover, in a case which sparked huge controversy for Mexico's president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Vigil, the former chief of international operations for the DEA, who spent 20 years infiltrating Mexican and Colombian cartels, told DailyMail.com that investigators would now be trying to use Coronel to entrap other, bigger, fish. Coronel, said Vigil, will be pressed as to the whereabouts of the sons and of Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, the 73-year-old who was Guzman's right-hand-man. 'They have cooperating witnesses who claim that she was liaising with the sons,' he said. 'And they know that she is very devoted to her daughters, so she won't want to be separated from them. 'They'll be really pressuring her to flip.' Others were intrigued by the timing of Coronel's arrest, relating to activity that, according to the charge sheet, stopped in 2017. Several pointed out that her high-profile detention came only months after the debacle of the arrest of Mexico's former defense minister, General Salvador Cienfuegos. Cienfuegos, who served under former president Enrique Pena Nieto, was accused by the U.S. authorities of taking bribes in exchange for protecting drug cartel leaders. He was arrested at the request of the Drug Enforcement Administration in Los Angeles in October. However, a month later the Justice Department agreed to hand him back to Mexico, in a move that stunned many within the State Department and internationally. Mexico promised to try him in Mexico, with Marcelo Ebrard, the foreign minister, saying 'it would be very costly' for Mexico to 'do nothing' after having asked for the charges against the former defense chief to be dropped and for him to be returned home. 'It would be almost suicidal,' Ebrard said. Yet in January Mexico declared that Cienfuegos had been exonerated and would face no further charges. Arturo Sarukhan, Mexico's ambassador to the US from 2007-13, tweeted that Coronel's arrest was 'likely related to a tightening of screws in the aftermath of the Cienfuegos debacle.' The glamorous life of El Chapo's beauty queen wife who grew up the daughter of narcos then married Mexico's most famous drug king pin Coronel, 31, married young into infamy and had a front-row seat to Guzman's high-stakes cat-and-mouse game with Mexican and U.S. agents hunting him down. A U.S.-Mexican dual national, Coronel was arrested on Monday at Dulles International Airport and is due to appear in a U.S. District of Columbia court on Tuesday charged with distributing cocaine, heroin and other drugs. Coronel caught the attention of Guzman, who is more than three decades her senior, when she was a teenaged beauty queen. They married after she turned 18 in 2007 and had twin daughters, spending their entire married life with Guzman either in jail or on the run as the leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel. Guzman is serving a life sentence in a U.S. jail. Coronel's fame soared during Guzman's 2019 trial in New York, where she became a media sensation with her designer outfits and the loyalty she showed her husband - even as prosecutors detailed how he kept a string of lovers. Coronel was a teenage beauty queen when she met Guzman, who was her father's boss She even became a key character in the court drama when a former lieutenant of Guzman's alleged Coronel played a pivotal role in her husband's Hollywood-style escape from prison in a mile-long tunnel burrowed under his jail cell's shower in 2015 Piggybacking on her husband's fame and seeking to cash-in on her celebrity outside Mexico, Coronel launched a clothing brand in the United States in 2019 and even appeared in a U.S. reality show about mafia families. 'I consider myself a normal woman,' Coronel said in VH1's Cartel Crew show, speaking aboard a yacht. 'It's sad that they judge us without knowing us. It's hard.' In media interviews, Coronel emphasized her enduring loyalty to Guzman and her focus on bringing up their twin daughters. 'Emma is like the old narco families in Sinaloa,' a former acquaintance told Reuters. She has recently appeared in an episode of the VH1 show Cartel Crew where she socialized with the show's stars and told of plans to launch a clothing line in her jailed husband's name, claiming it was something they had talked about 'when he was free' Coronel promoted the El Chapo clothing line on social media before she was arrested. Steeped in the narco tradition from an early age, Coronel was raised in the mountains of Durango, part of Mexico's 'Golden Triangle' of drug trafficking states that includes Sinaloa. Her father was jailed for trafficking drugs in 2017. Coronel first hit the headlines in Mexico after her 2007 church wedding in rural Durango to Guzman, who at the time was on the run from authorities. Coronel would be by Guzman's side during several near-misses as Mexican police and U.S. agents tracked him. At Guzman's trial, his former right-hand man, Damaso Lopez Nunez, testified how Coronel, along with Guzman's sons, helped orchestrate the audacious 2015 prison escape. They got a plot of land near the prison, arranged weapons, brought an armored truck and even had a GPS wristwatch smuggled into Guzman's cell so the tunnel engineers would have exact jail cell coordinates to help their digging, according to testimony. At Guzman's trial, whenever he entered the court, he would seek Coronel out and wave. They could not speak to each other but their glances caught the attention of the media. 'It was like a love story in complete silence as she wasn't allowed to say anything,' said journalist Miguel Angel Vega of the Riodoce newspaper in Sinaloa who covered the trial. 'It's quite interesting to see what's happening in this new case,' Vega said. 'It's like a soap opera.' Beyond barbecues and ceremonies: Recognizing Memorial Day For many, Memorial Day weekend is about gathering with family and grilling or attending a parade. Some find a more personal way to honor the holiday. Though next statewide election is a little less than three years away, both Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser and Attorney General Jeff Landry are raising big money for the November 2023 election, according to recent disclosures filed with the Louisiana Board of Ethics. Nungesser raised $1.3 million and has a little more than about $1.4 million available in his campaign war chest as of the end of 2020, according to the campaign finance disclosures that cover activity from Jan. 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2020. Landry raised $1.2 million in 2020 to build a $2 million campaign war chest. Leading Louisiana good-government group slams AG Jeff Landry's lawsuit against reporter Attorney General Jeff Landrys lawsuit targeting a reporter for The Times-Picayune and The Advocate who filed a public-records request seeking Though both Republicans were sworn in to a second term in January 2020, it seems both are looking ahead. 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 Nungesser and Landry are frequently named as possible successors to Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards. Neither will comment publicly on the speculation. Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain, another Republican statewide elected official said to be looking at the top office, reported $329,119 in the bank. Public Service Commission Chairman Craig Greene, yet another state-level GOP politico talked about as a possible candidate, showed $135,965 on hand in his disclosure. Edwards, who has hauled in tens of millions in the past, didnt seem to lean into fundraising last year, reporting $69,682 on hand as of Dec. 31. Edwards cant run again for governor. Edwards has been mentioned, though not by he, as a possible U.S. Senate candidate in 2022. But funds raised on the state level cant be used directly for a federal office race. PG 2021: The National Board of Examinations (NBE) will commence the online application process for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Postgraduate ( PG 2021) on its official website today. The PG registration link will be activated at 3 pm, and the last date to submit online applications for NEET PG 2021 is March 15, 2021. NBE had earlier released the examination dates for NEET PG 2021, NEET MDS 2021. According to the official notification, the NBE will conduct NEET PG 2021 examination on April 18, 2021. Students appearing for NEET PG 2021 exam can visit the official website of NBE on nbe.edu.in for NEET exam details. The NEET PG 2021 examination will be held in the computer-based test (CBT) format. Important dates to remember NEET PG 2021 last day to submit application: March 15, 2021 NEET PG 2021 exam date: April 18 NEET PG 2021 result: By May 31 NEET PG 2021 eligibility For candidates to be eligible for NEET PG 2021, they must have an MBBS degree (provisional or permanent) certificate issued by an institute recognised by the Medical Council of India. They must also have a similar registration certificate issued by the MCI or State Medical Council. NEET PG 2021 aspirants must also have completed a years internship on or before 30 June. About NEET The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is an entrance examination in India for students who wish to study undergraduate or postgraduate medical courses (MBBS) and dental courses (BDS) in government or private medical colleges and dental colleges in the country. About NBE The National Board of Examinations (NBE) is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (India), and established in 1975 as a society under the Delhi Society Registration Act to standardise post-graduate medical and examination in India. ANN ARBOR, Mich., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Asalyxa Bio, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing nano-engineered, immune cell-targeted therapeutics, today announced the closing of an over-subscribed seed financing round totaling more than $2 million. The financing was led by Research Bridge Partners, co-led by ID Ventures, and also included Michigan Rise Pre-Seed Fund III, BRCC of Western Michigan University, Ann Arbor Spark, Woodward Angels and other undisclosed investors. Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance Asalyxa Bio's lead development candidate, ASX-100, into first-in-human clinical trials. Asalyxa Bio's drug development programs are based on the company's proprietary PANTHER technology platform, which enables the targeted delivery of therapeutic compounds directly to neutrophils and other key immune cells. Lead program, ASX-100, is a neutrophil-targeted formulation being developed for the resolution of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). ARDS is a critical health problem, affecting approximately 500,000 Americans each year. The condition frequently develops in the context of severe respiratory disease, contributing significantly to mortality in cases of COVID-19, influenza, pneumonia and other conditions. ARDS is fatal in 50% of cases and has no approved pharmaceutical treatments. ASX-100 is a novel therapeutic formulation that targets neutrophils through their well-studied professional phagocytic function. The development candidate is designed to deliver a multi-functional, anti-inflammatory compound that attenuates the systemic innate immune responses that drive ARDS, including the dysregulated release of pro-inflammatory messengers commonly referred to as "cytokine storm." These same inflammatory mechanisms, driven by neutrophils and related myeloid immune cells, also contribute to a wide range of other severe inflammatory diseases and conditions, offering a broad range of opportunities for the company's platform and development candidates. Importantly, the company's focus on delivering its drug directly to neutrophils allows for improved pharmacodynamics and a widened therapeutic window. The PANTHER platform is based on the research of University of Michigan professor and chief scientific officer Dr. Lola Eniola-Adefeso and her team, which has demonstrated the in vivo neutrophil-targeting capabilities and therapeutic potential of ASX-100 in relevant animal models. This research has supported the accelerated development of ASX-100 toward a planned first-in-human clinical study in 2021. In addition to its lead program in ARDS, Asalyxa Bio is leveraging the PANTHER platform to generate a portfolio of therapeutic formulations to transport high-value payloads directly to neutrophils and related myeloid immune cells. As part of the financing, James Graham of Research Bridge Partners has joined the Asalyxa Bio board of directors. "This is an exciting time for Asalyxa Bio as we approach initiation of our first-in-human clinical study of ASX-101. This seed funding will enable us to continue the rapid development of the program as we work diligently to bring a much-needed treatment to patients battling ARDS," said Marc Appel, president and CEO of Asalyxa Bio. "We are excited to welcome James to our board and thank all of our investors for their support." "We are pleased to support Asalyxa Bio in the company's efforts to address the critical unmet need in ARDS," said Mr. Graham. "This investment is highly aligned with our focus on mid-continent innovation in the service of global health." Ms. Patti Glaza, managing director of ID Ventures added, "Asalyxa Bio is a great example of the innovation and talent that exists in Michigan. We are proud to invest in this local startup with big potential for global impact." About Asalyxa Bio Asalyxa Bio is a drug development and platform technology company focused on novel therapeutics to treat major unmet medical needs caused by the dysregulation of immune signaling. With applications across a wide array of disease areas and conditions, Asalyxa Bio's platform technology enables delivery of existing and novel drugs directly into over-reactive immune cells. https://www.asalyxabio.com About Research Bridge Partners Research Bridge Partners, a 501 (c) (3) organization, enhances the societal and economic impacts of America's research universities by bridging preeminent innovators at mid-continent institutions with the commercialization resources of Silicon Valley. Founded by Isaac Barchas and Reid Hoffman, Research Bridge Partners uses proprietary data analytics to identify the nation's leading researchers and translational philanthropy to transform their scientific breakthroughs into investible companies for the benefit of people everywhere. www.researchbridgepartners.org About ID Ventures ID Ventures was created by the nonprofit Invest Detroit in 2009 to enhance its overall mission to support inclusive growth of entrepreneurial ventures. As one of few venture funds located in Detroit, ID Ventures is one of the most active early stage investors in the state and have invested in over 150 Michigan-based companies across multiple sectors including life sciences and healthcare, information technology, fintech, mobility, advanced manufacturing and materials, among others. ID Ventures invests in Michigan-based companies and oversees additional programs designed to grow and support the state's startup ecosystem. Visit www.investdetroit.vc for more information. SOURCE Asalyxa Bio; Research Bridge Partners Related Links www.researchbridgepartners.org The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company SIXTY new jobs are to be created in Cork over the next three years, with 200 in the pipeline within the next seven as Microchip Technology is investing $20M to create a new development centre based in Cork. The new facility will open during Q1 CY21 and will reinforce Microchips existing presence in Ireland and boost the pool of engineering talent across key skills. Located close to the city centre, this new facility will incorporate an engineering lab to support state-of-the-art innovation and extend Microchips regional customer support. The project is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland. Initially, the development centre will focus on mixed-signal integrated circuit design, applications and software development for high-speed networking, timing and synchronization products, high voltage power management devices and solutions, high reliability integrated power systems and Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA). Taoiseach Micheal Martin said I welcome Microchip Technologys $20m investment in a new development centre in Cork. Eventually, this centre will create 200 new jobs and is further testament to the depth of engineering and research talent in the country. "The partnerships established with leading Irish universities will also ensure strong opportunities for graduates in the growing digital economy. I wish them every success. Close partnerships with Irish universities will enable the Microchip development centre to offer internships and collaborate on key next-generation initiatives. The partnership between the development centre and leading Universities in Ireland will enhance the knowledge base and skill levels of engineers in the semiconductor development space in Ireland. The development centre will also participate in Microchips New College Graduate (NCG) programme, which operates worldwide, and in the Government of Irelands Skillnet programme which promotes the development of future skills. The development centre will build on Microchips existing presence in Ireland which is a mix of operations in Dublin, Cork and Ennis. As part of a network of development centres across Europe, the Cork development centre will work seamlessly with many Microchip business units. The creation of jobs will include engineers for integrated circuit design and testing, hardware and software system design, applications development plus field and customer support. Minister for Enterprise Trade & Employment Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said: This is really welcome news from Microchip. "There is a deep pool of talent in Cork and the South West enabling companies like Microchip to grow and embed their operations in Ireland. "This investment will result in the creation of 60 new jobs over the next three years, with a further expansion of up to 200 over the next seven years. Congratulations to the team involved and best of luck for the future. The new Microchip development centre in Cork will establish a significant R&D presence in Ireland and emphasise Microchips commitment to Ireland and Europe as a whole, explains Ganesh Moorthy, President and CEO-Elect of Microchip. Cork was chosen for the development centre as it is the second-largest city in Ireland, with a growing pool of talented engineers and the Centre will add to Microchips ability to deliver superior products and be able to provide timely response to our customers. Availability of analogue and mixed-signal talent is another key factor in selecting Cork. IDA Ireland CEO Martin Shanahan said: Todays announcement by Microchip is very welcome. The companys investment in a new development centre aligns with IDAs Strategy to attract engineering development activity to Ireland and to secure investments for regional locations. I wish Microchip every success with this initiative. ROME, FEB 23 - Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio will report to parliament on Monday's attack in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in which Italian Ambassador Luca Attanasio, and a Carabiniere, Vittorio Iacovacci, were killed, later on Tuesday or on Wednesday, Relations with Parliament Minister Federico D'Inca said. Attanasio, 43, and Iacovacci, a-30-year-old who was part of the ambassador's security detail, were killed along with a driver in an attack on a UN World Food Programme (WFP) convoy travelling from Goma to Bukavu in the African country. A statement by the office of DRC President Felix Tshisekedi said the attack was staged by kidnappers armed with Kalashnikovs and machetes. It said they fired from close range, killing Iacovacci immediately, while the ambassador died of his wounds in hospital in Goma an hour after the attack. Tshisekedi is sending his emissary to Rome on Tuesday to bring Premier Mario Draghi a "personal letter" from him". (ANSA). An exorcist has warned a Wisconsin woman that her creepy-looking cat is possessed by a demon and should be caged and prayed over. Alyson Kalhagen, from Green Bay, was contacted after posting pictures of her cat Pixel online, intending to show off his 'beauty and refinement'. The wide-eyed Cornish Rex with protruding fangs instead caused alarm and Kalhagen, 39, said she was soon bombarded with messages from people afraid of her cat, which has been likened to a 'sleep paralysis demon'. The mother-of-one said most people are just curious about two-year-old Pixel's 'unique looks' but that some comments came from a 'place of real fear and hesitation'. One such message was from an exorcist who told Kalhagen that a demon was using her pet as a 'puppet' and instructing her to keep Pixel caged and pray 'over and over' in front of him to get the demon out. An exorcist has warned a Wisconsin woman that her creepy-looking cat is possessed by a demon and should be caged and prayed over Alyson Kalhagen, from Green Bay, was contacted after posting pictures of her cat Pixel online, intending to show off his 'beauty and refinement'. The wide-eyed Cornish Rex with protruding fangs instead caused alarm and Kalhagen, 39, said she was soon bombarded with messages from people afraid of her cat, which has been likened to a 'sleep paralysis demon' An exorcist told Kalhagen that a demon was using her pet as a 'puppet' and instructed her to keep Pixel caged and pray 'over and over' in front of him to get the demon out 'I had a message from this person telling me that they were an 'exorcist' and Pixel had been 'taken over by a demon that was controlling his face'. 'I think he was trying to tell me that's why my cat is making all of these crazy faces,' Kalhagen said. Pictured: The message from the exorcist 'In that photo he's got kind of a blank stare with his weird little grin on his face - like maybe the lights were on or no one was at home, or whoever was at home wasn't up to any good. 'All the time people say 'this is the creepiest cat I've ever seen', 'my sleep paralysis demon has come to life' and if they saw him in the middle of the night they'd have a heart attack and it would scare them to death. 'People say all the time that he's a 'demon cat' who 'must be possessed' and that the devil's taken control of him. It's kind of a recurring theme. 'I think it's pretty funny because I usually just say 'imagine coming face to face when you're trying to scoop the litter box'.' Kalhagen seems to have ignored the exorcist's unsolicited advice but admits that Pixel has left her 'startled' at times and that she has even opted not to upload some pictures of the cat, having deemed his facial expressions 'too wild for public consumption'. Despite his spooky looks, Pixel has a 12,000-strong social media following and has even won awards. Despite his spooky looks, Pixel has a 12,000-strong social media following and has even won awards A cute photo she snapped of him wearing a bat costume, with his distinctive 'insane face', captured a lot of interest online - and also won a Halloween photo contest at her local vet. Kalhagen believes Pixel's expressions 'take people aback' as well as his disproportionately large eyes, ears and small head - all typical of his breed. His black smoke coat has seen many liken him to a werewolf, but he's also been compared to a bat, kangaroo and even a Tim Burton character. 'If people haven't seen a cat like that before - they would be maybe a little apprehensive to begin with because they're not quite sure what they're looking at,' Kalhagen said. Kalhagen (pictured with Pixel the cat) has had the cat since he was just 12 weeks old A cute photo of Pixel wearing a bat costume, with his distinctive 'insane face', captured a lot of interest online - and also won a Halloween photo contest at her local vet 'I get a whole lot of 'that's the ugliest cat I've ever seen' and sometimes things like 'that's not a cat, that's a rat' - I tend to just laugh off because he's a triple champion. 'I think it's really funny anytime someone compares him to a different animal. 'Some people think he's from out of space - I've had a couple of people say 'that has to be an alien with those eyes'. Kalhagen said she can able to get some hilarious pictures of Pixel as he poses with his signature 'awkward smile' on demand much of the time and shows off his gleaming front gnashers. 'I would really like people to know that I'm not coercing him to get these faces - these are actually the faces that he makes on a daily basis,' she said. 'He's a very sweet boy - it's funny because the faces he makes sometimes do tend to scare people. 'I don't think he even realises it - he just makes these crazy faces. Kalhagen admits that Pixel has left her 'startled' at times and that she has even opted not to upload some pictures of him, having deemed his facial expressions 'too wild for public consumption' Pixel has always taken a shine to the camera which means that every photo Kalhagen snaps for his adoring fans is 'pure gold' 'I get a lot of gasps when people notice him - there was a snow removal guy outside and Pixel was sitting in the window and I heard the guy go 'wow, you're weird'. 'Sometimes people will just gasp and say 'wow, look at that' - it's really kind of funny.' Pixel, who Kalhagen has had since he was 12 weeks old, has always taken a shine to the camera which means that every photo she snaps for his adoring fans is 'pure gold'. 'I wanted to showcase the eloquence and refinement of the breed but the harder I tried to do that the more Pixel asserted his personality. 'That sort of came through on the photos - he didn't quite agree with my vision and I was like 'you know what buddy, let's do this'. 'I think the curiosity factor draws people in initially and then once they start learning more about him, he has the sort of 'it' factor that seems to come through on the camera. 'He was just kind of born with it and I'm lucky to be able to come along on the ride. 'I've received a couple of messages from people telling me that his photos make them so happy and that they have such a good time sharing them with their kids in the morning. 'It makes my day to hear that he's brought someone a smile - especially in these times.' [February 23, 2021] Crew Launches Crew Email, the First Fully Unified Inbox, Custom Built for Frontline Employees Crew, the #1 digital workplace for frontline teams, has launched Crew Email, a feature designed to further streamline frontline communication by providing hourly and shift-based employees with instant, personalized access to crucial company information. Crew Email accomplishes this by automatically generating a secure email address for every frontline employee. This process doesn't require any of the traditional technical overhead, licensing, and deployment costs associated with creating employee email addresses. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005891/en/ With Crew Email, leaders can link frontline employees to their accounts in existing business systems, instantly enabling real-time notifications for things like training and/or updated policy guidelines. (Graphic: Business Wire) The launch of this new feature addresses an issue all too familiar to distributed frontline workforces: the challenge of efficiently and effectively communicating information to team members who traditionally have not had ready access to corporate email. A recent conversation with the VP of Operations at a leading North American health and beauty operator, illuminated this difficulty: "Prior to using Crew, we communicated via text message and/or email. Not all of our employees have a company-sponsored email account, so it was very difficult to be in contact through an email chain." "A common theme in our conversations with customers is that communication has been disjointed, particularly for their team members on the frontline," said Scott Van Brunt, Chief Operating Officer at Crew. "Frontline team members tend to work on hourly schedules and turn over at higher rates than corporate employees. Traditionally, most also do not have access to company email. This creates a digital divide and the potential for an ever-growing communication disconnect. Crew Email gives leaders a lightweight way to bridge that divide and communicate directly with all employees. It also enables frontline employees to benefit from the same tools and systems as desk-based employees, which often trigger personalized email notifications for important updates and required actions." With Crew Email, leaders can link frontline employees to their accounts in existing business systems, instantly enabling real-time notifications for things like: Document signatures Training and/or updated policy guidelines Emergency communications Employee sentiment surveys For organizations looking to digitally equip their frontline teams, Crew Email offers leaders a simple way to better connect the entire organization and improve the employee experience. About Crew Crew is the #1 digital workplace trusted by the world's largest enterprises to streamline post-COVID-19 operations. Core to the platform is a highly engaging, secure mobile app that transforms how work gets done for frontline teams. Crew better connects organizations through communication, optimizes labor through streamlined scheduling and staffing workflows, and builds culture through public recognition and motivation. Crew helps more than 40,000 organizations create more productive frontline teams. To learn more, visit www.crewapp.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005891/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 23, 2021] Reliant Provides Customer Support After Historic Winter Storm Following the unprecedented weather from Winter Storm Uri, Reliant is providing assistance, reassurance and resources to Texans impacted by the devastating storm. The company immediately began proactively supporting customers who are facing hardships following the historic cold weather by: Providing voluntary payment extensions and waiving late fees. Assisting customers with deferred payment plans. Offering bill payment assistance and increasing funding for Reliant's CARE program. Pausing payment-related disconnects for all customers, in advance of a recent order by the Public Utility Commission of Texas. As a longstanding retail electricity provider trusted by millions of Texans, Reliant is reassuring all residential customers on term contract or month-to-month electricity plans they were not exposed to the wholesale electricity price swings that occurred during Winter Storm Uri. In fact, 99% of all Texas residential electricity customers, regardless of the electricity provider they have chosen, were not exposed to real time wholesale prices that spiked during the storm. For some consumers, the extreme cold could have resulted in higher than normal electricity usage, which is especially true in homes with electric heat. This higher usage would be priced based on their current month-to-month or contract energy rate and will not be impacted by last week's increase in wholesale electricity market prices. If customers have challenges with their bill, Reliant's flexible payment arrangements will help. "As a native Houstonian and sixth-generation Texan, I am heartbroken to see the devastating impacts of last week's winter storm," said Elizabeth Killinger, president, Reliant. "We at Reliant are providing support to our communities and customers, both existing and new, to provide relief and peace of mind as together we recover from this extreme weather event." Together with Texas To support our neighbors in need, Reliant and parent company NRG Energy, Inc. are making an initial $3 million commitment in cash donations to the communities we serve to address food and water shortages, temporary or damaged housing and the overall recovery effort across Texas. This includes support for local food banks, disaster relief organizations and a $500,000 contribution to the Houston Harris County Winter Storm Relief Fund, established by the City of Houston and Harris County and jointly administered by United Way of Greater Houston and the Greater Houston Community Foundation. An additional $500,000 is being provided to Reliant's CARE program that works with nonprofit agencies to assist residential customers, including seniors and low-income families, with paying their Reliant electricity bills. For customers who want more information on CARE, call 2-1-1 or visit 211texas.org. 24/7 Support Reliant is available 24/7 through a variety of channels, including live phone support at 1-866-Reliant, online chat at Reliant.com and through the Reliant app. If customers have concerns regarding bills, plans or tools to help manage their account, we encourage them to reach out to us directly so we can work with them through this difficult time. For more information and resources, visit Reliant.com/WinterStorm. About Reliant, an NRG company Reliant powers, protects and simplifies life by bringing electricity, security and related services to homes and businesses across Texas. Serving customers and the community is at the core of what we do, and the company is recognized nationally for outstanding customer experience. Reliant is part of NRG, a Fortune 500 company that creates value by generating electricity and providing energy solutions to more than 3.5 million residential and commercial customers across the U.S. and Canada. NRG's competitive residential electricity business, which includes Reliant, is one of the largest in the country. For more information about Reliant, visit reliant.com and connect with Reliant on Facebook (News - Alert) at facebook.com/reliantenergy and Twitter (News - Alert) or Instagram @reliantenergy. PUCT Certificate #10007. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005844/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] e-bot7, the leading provider of Conversational AI in customer service, has implemented a translation layer for its AI platform that uses advanced machine learning technologies. High-quality translations can thus be provided on demand: The AI platform can now communicate with customers in 70+ languages as a smart chatbot. This is an important step for Conversational AI and a milestone for the company as it continues to internationalise. Munich, Germany, Feb. 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Conversational AI platform now available in more than 70 languages. High-quality translations are achieved through Neural Machine Translation. Till Bauer, Tech Lead of the Machine Learning department explains: "We have expanded our translation layer by adding more languages. We chose Neural Machine Translation as our approach because machine translation can already access our existing models." "As an international company, it is enormously important for us to be able to map as many languages as possible in our target markets," explains Maximilian Gerer, co-founder and CTO of e-bot7. "With the help of Neural Machine Translation, we were thus able to add the new translation layer to our platform so that we can deliver outstanding linguistic quality to the customer." Outside of the English-speaking regions, various providers of smart chatbots in comparison to e-bot7 cannot deliver the linguistic quality that customers perceive as standard in customer service today. For this reason, the platform was expanded to include the translation layer. Previously, the AI platform was already available in nine languages. The following languages are now available: Afrikaans, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Danish, Dari, Catalan, English, Estonian, Farsi (Persian), Finnish, French, French-Canadian, Georgian, German, Greek, Gujarati, Haitian Creole, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kazakh, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malay, Malayalam, Maltese, Macedonian, Mongolian, Norwegian, Pashto, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Sinhalese, Slovak, Slovenian, Somali, Spanish, Spanish-Mexican, Swahili, Swedish, Filipino Tagalog, Tamil, Czech, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese and Welsh. Attachments Govt mulls bank merger before privatisation: report The government is going ahead with plans to privatise at least two state-run banks, but only after completing the merger process for public sector banks initated earlier, says report. Finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman, in her budget speech, had announced that two state-run banks will be privatised in the next fiscal. A media report said the government will look into the balance sheet of banks in the first quarter of next financial year and may consider merger of two public sector banks, before going ahead with privatisation. However, government has not so far finalised the banks for privatisation and this would be done only after a proper assessment of the finances of the banks concerned, the report said. It may be noted that a working group set up by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has last year proposed that large corporate/industrial houses and well-run non-banking financial companies with asset size of Rs50,000 crore and above, including those run by corporates may be allowed as promoters of banks, of course, after necessary amendments to the Banking Regulation Act. RBI constituted the Internal Working Group (IWG) on 12 June 2020 to review extant ownership guidelines and corporate structure for Indian private sector banks, inter alia including review of the eligibility criteria for individuals/ entities to apply for banking licence, examination of preferred corporate structure for banks and harmonisation of norms besides a review of norms for long-term shareholding in banks by the promoters and other shareholders. According to sources in the Finance Ministry, the government has not yet shortlisted any bank so far and it would be done only after examining the balance sheet. A report in The New Indian Express said the banks for privatisation will be shortlisted after taking into account performance of the Q4 (Jan- March 2021) and Q1 of FY22 ( April to June 2021) after consultation with the RBI. The two banks proposed to be privatised exclude IDBI Bank, which is already on the privatisation list, the finance minister had tated in her budget speech. Other than IDBI Bank, we propose to take up the privatisation of two public-sector banks and one General Insurance company in the year 2021-22, Nirmala Sitharaman had said. However, the two banks proposed to be privatised may not be the weakest bank, according to officials. Dr Reddy's seeks emergency use authorisation for Russia's Sputnik V vaccine Dr Reddys Laboratories today announced that it has initiated the process with the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) of Russias Covid-19 vaccine candidate Sputnik V. The Indian pharma major, which is authorised to manufacture and market the human adenoviral vector-based platform vaccine, said it would present the safety profile of the phase 2 study, and interim data of the phase 3 study, which is expected to complete by 21 Februart as part of the review process. In September 2020, Dr Reddys partnered with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to conduct clinical trials of the Sputnik V and for its distribution rights in India. The vaccine is currently undergoing phase 3 clinical trial in India. Sputnik V, according to Dr Reddys has demonstrated an efficacy rate of 91.6 pr cent in the interim analysis of the phase 3 clinical trial, which included data on 19,866 volunteers in Russia, who received both the first and second doses of the vaccine. Sputnik V maintained a consistent efficacy at 91.8 per cent even among the group of 2,144 volunteers over 60 years old, it added. The efficacy of Sputnik V was reported to be 91.6 pr cent by the Lancet, which is an impressive development in the fight against Covid-19. The initiation of the EUA process will be a critical step forward for us in ensuring speedy access to the Sputnik V vaccine in India, G V Prasad, co-chairman and managing director, Dr. Reddys Laboratories, said. Sputnik V, developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, was registered by Russias ministry of health on 11 August 2020, the first Covid-19 vaccine to be registered gobally. More than 250 clinical studies over two decades have proven the safety, efficacy, and lack of negative long-term effects of adenoviral vaccines. Sputnik V is one of only three vaccines in the world with an efficacy of 91.6 per cent and has most authorizations granted with 26 countries globally. The vaccine has already been administered to more than 2 million people worldwide. (TNS) Tens of thousands of unemployment claimants are answering a federally mandated question wrong every week, holding up their own claim, the New Jersey Labor Department said.It doesnt mean they did anything wrong, but these are federally mandated questions we need to ask for weekly certification, said Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo said during an interview on. 20,000 claimants a week 20,000 a week were still being pended because one of those eight questions was being answered in a way that we had to pend their claim per federal rules.These questions have to be answered by claimants to continue collecting benefits. If a question is answered in a way that raises question about their eligibility for benefits, it must be reviewed to ensure the claim continues to be valid, said Labor spokeswoman Angela Delli-Santi.She urged claimants to visit the tip sheet the Labor Department to clarify how to answer questions, depending on peoples work circumstances. It is extremely beneficial for claimants to familiarize themselves with the questions before certifying for benefits to avoid pending their claim. New Jersey may be the only state to offer such extensive guidance to its claimants, Delli-Santi said.During the interview onThursday night, Asaro-Angelo said the tip sheet was an enormous step to help claimants, but people still often check the wrong box, or select an accurate one that forces them to have to speak to an agent.This could be the reason that thousands of New Jersey residents continue to await payment, despite the Labor Departments completion of the 11-week benefit extension.Still, Asaro-Angelo explained, the Labor Department automatically runs a weekly script that unpends the ones we feel comfortable unpending.There are certain ones, because of federal law, we need to speak to that person, and that is definitely a hang up for people. I do not deny that at all, he said.The 11-week extension was held up for weeks while the state awaited federal guidance on distributing the funds, leaving some New Jerseyans more than six weeks without payment and more than 75,000 residents in limbo.More than 2 million claims have been filed since the pandemic began nearly 11 months ago, when Gov. Phil Murphy ordered nonessential businesses and restaurants to close to curb the spread of the coronavirus.Since the unemployment office was suddenly flooded with claims, its been faced with technological hurdles that have left claimants without benefits for weeks and months at a time. Asaro-Angelo has been advocating for the federal government to consolidate all 50 individual state systems into one to make it simpler to use.The Labor Department is in regular contact with the Biden administration and colleagues in other states to begin preparing for the next stimulus package. The current one, which was signed by former President Donald Trump in late December and funds a weekly $300 payment, expires March 13.While the department is limited in how much it can prepare, Labor workers are doing what they can based on current discussions of what the bill could contain, Delli-Santi said.The latest stimulus proposal could include $400 weekly payments to all unemployment claimants, which would require the Department of Labor to institute new programming. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Police said thieves have hit the same U-Haul lot twice last week to steal catalytic converters in Napa County. A person stole the catalytic converter from a U-Haul truck at a dealership in American Canyon at around 1 a.m. Saturday morning. Just four days earlier, someone attempted to steal another trucks converter, according to American Canyon police. Catalytic converter thefts are rising across the country alongside the sharp increase in the prices of precious metals used in the devices. The thieves operate at night, and operate very quickly, Oscar Ortiz, American Canyon Chief of Police, told The Chronicle in a statement. Ortiz continued, They usually quickly jack up the car, saw off the catalytic converter, and leave the scene, oftentimes in under ten minutes. John Arrambide, owner of a U-Haul dealership in American Canyon, said he was very upset when he showed up to work Saturday morning and found that one of his trucks was missing the device. I invested a tremendous amount of money in my company and these little setbacks wipe everything away, Arrambide told The Chronicle. Im just trying to run a little business here and survive, especially during COVID. Its so ridiculous that I have to worry about my equipment that is part of my business, he said. Napa County authorities have reported a spike of catalytic converters being stolen in recent months. In early February, police reported two suspects arrested in Yolo County were tied to 12 robberies in Napa County, the Napa Valley Register reported. In Oakland, three people were arrested two weeks ago after a high-speed chase led to a nosedive crash off an overpass and a stockpile of allegedly stolen catalytic converters. The expensive devices have precious metals inside, like palladium and rhodium that help reduce vehicle emissions. An epidemic of thefts in the U.S. has caught the attention of North Dakota lawmakers who are considering a bill aimed at reducing the robberies. Most robberies have occurred at night. Arrambide said the lack of light posts near his business has made it difficult for him to identify the burglars in the video footage from his security cameras. Arrambide said hes working with local police to find the burglars and has offered a $500 reward for help. A U-Haul spokesperson said the company does not comment on criminal activity and/or open investigations to our rental fleet. Jessica Flores is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jessica.flores@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jesssmflores When news spread that teachers would be eligible for the coronavirus vaccine, Kristen Bowen's phone "went from zero to 60" with texts and calls, the eighth grade social studies teacher at Mary D. Coghill Elementary said. Bowen has been teaching in-person classes since early fall, and her friends and colleagues know it's been "terrifying" for her. On Tuesday, she was one of about 250 people to get a COVID-19 vaccine at Children's Hospital New Orleans. "I feel relieved," Bowen, 32, said. "It is a blessing to be able to get this shot." Even with the vaccine, Bowen said she will remain cautious, even continuing to wear two masks in the classroom. Bowen and other teachers and school support staffers are among the 1.6 million Louisiana residents now eligible for the vaccine, joining a growing list of people ranging from military veterans to pregnant women to people over age 55 with specific health conditions. Taslin Alfonzo, a NOLA Public Schools spokesperson, said Tuesday that about 5,000 people -- about 63% of eligible New Orleans public school employees and contractors -- have signed up for the vaccine. About 115 public and private schools in the metro area are working with Children's to get teachers vaccinated, officials said. New Orleans East Hospital is also providing vaccines to local public schools. As vaccine eligibility expands, teachers and others are hopeful: I'm tired of being scared Not long after state leaders announced school workers would be eligible for the coronavirus vaccine last week, Samantha Slim immediately fille 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 As of Tuesday, there weren't yet enough vaccines to go around. Tiffany Delcour, NOLA Public Schools' chief operations officer, said so far more than 1,000 school staff at local public schools at 14 schools were likely to be vaccinated this week, although that number could change. NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Henderson Lewis Jr. said that schools had been put in a lottery to decide who gets to go first, while other area school systems are still figuring out logistics or working with other health care providers. Jefferson Parish school officials were sending out questionnaires to roughly 7,000 eligible employees, too, but were waiting for doses to be allotted to the school system. St. Tammany Parish public schools spokeswoman Meredith Mendez said that the school district is working Ochsner Health System on a plan. Officials were "still tabulating" interest on Tuesday. Archdiocese of New Orleans spokeswoman Sarah McDonald said that most of the Catholic schools have a community health provider and will register for the vaccines that way. Tulane launches three new research centers to combat coronavirus, future infectious disease To better arm doctors with life-saving information about coronavirus -- and future infectious diseases that will threaten the world -- Tulane Although interest has been high in New Orleans, at least some teachers have said they aren't comfortable getting the vaccine yet, Lewis acknowledged. "What I'm very hopeful about, in this moment here, is that individuals who are colleagues are getting vaccinated, it builds more trust that this is safe and it's the right thing to do," Lewis said. Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 Halcon, a regional leader in the production and supply of precision-guided weapons, has unveiled SkyKnight - the first UAE designed and manufactured counter-rocket, artillery, and mortar (C-RAM) missile system. SkyKnight is on display at the International Defence and Exhibition Conference (IDEX) 2021 taking place in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi 21 25 February. EDGE Group, parent company of Halcon, has been developing a short-range air defence system, as has Germany-based Rheinmetall AG, which was actively seeking a missile system to form part of its Skynex air defence system. The companies decided to jointly offer a solution, with Halcon providing SkyKnight, the missile system to the highly regarded Oerlikon Skynex Air Defence System, which sets new standards with its unique open architecture. Halcons SkyKnight was purposely designed to counter the full spectrum of modern threats, providing early warning signals and precise surface-to-air intercept capabilities targeting of rotary-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) rockets, artillery, mortar, and other fixed-wing aircraft at a range of up to 10Km. Faisal Al Bannai, EDGE Group CEO and Managing Director said: SkyKnight is the UAEs first, but will not be the last air defence missile developed by Halcon. It is one of several tremendous achievements announced as part of the nations aim to establish sovereign defence capabilities, and with the goal to address ever-evolving threats that are not well covered by many players in the market. We are pleased to team up with Rheinmetall, a leading player in the defence industry, for us to jointly offer the worlds most advanced and comprehensive C-RAM solution leveraging our SkyKnight missile and Rheinmetalls Skynex solution. This collaboration is a clear message that EDGE is open to teaming up with various players to offer joint advance solutions. The Oerlikon Skynex air defence system comprises the Oerlikon Skynex control node, multi-sensor units (MSU) featuring active electronically scanned multi-mode radars (AMMR), multiple 35mm revolver guns RG Mk3 and Halcons SkyKnight C-RAM missiles and missile launchers, each of which has a capacity of 60 missiles. Halcons C-RAM missile is capable of tracking and neutralising numerous, multi-directional incoming targets at one time, providing protection for static assets, as well as for mobile and mechanised forces. Transportable and mobile, the system can be deployed fixed on land, sea and moving land platform. Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall AG said: Rheinmetall Air Defences technologies are well suited to cover the recently shown gaps in ground-based air defence against very challenging new threats. Combined with Rheinmetall Denel Munitions capabilities in missile technology the cooperation of Rheinmetall and Halcon offers exciting new potential and a bright future. Rheinmetall AG, through its Swiss subsidiary, Rheinmetall Air Defence, has deployed the Skyguard system in numerous countries, which can bring down fast, small targets, and is used as the inner tier of layered air defence of vital points and critical military infrastructure. Countries that have rolled out Skyguard systems will ultimately upgrade to Skynex, placing Halcon, its SkyKnight C-RAM missile system, and the UAE at the forefront of air defence system innovation. Halcon is part of the Missiles & Weapons cluster within EDGE, an advanced technology group for defence that ranks among the top 25 military suppliers in the world. TradeArabia News Service The recent extended electricity outage in Texas has spurred a sharp debate on how to prevent future disasters in Texas and other states. Much of this debate ignores the fact that few states have adopted a proactive approach to energy security. Instead, most have left energy security matters to market mechanisms and to Washington, neither of which can deliver on local needs. States would benefit from adopting energy security policies. In crafting these policies, they can learn from the tenets of international energy security policy as practiced by many countries with smaller populations and GNP than medium and large U.S. states. These lessons include the need for government involvement in energy security, the necessity of emergency-supply plans, the importance of diversifying fuel sources, the need for energy storage and dual-fuel power plants, and legal protection of ownership and operations of critical energy infrastructure. Lesson one is that energy security is akin to national security, and markets alone cant provide it. Accordingly, U.S. states need energy security policies. While market mechanisms and private companies can play the dominant role in energy production, transit, and marketing, the state must stay involved in ensuring that mechanisms are in place for energy security. Second, well-governed states develop and execute detailed emergency plans in case of disruptions of natural gas, liquid fuels, and electricity supplies. Most NATO member countries, for instance, have energy emergency-supply plans. These plans allow these governments to pre-emptively shut down energy-intensive, non-essential industries, such as cement production, desalination plants, and some manufacturing. By doing so, governments can prevent grid collapse and ensure that those that need the supplies most, particularly residential customers, will receive energy supplies. As the recent bitter freeze loomed, Texas should have preemptively ordered such a shutdown. Instead, several days into the crisis, energy-intensive industries in Texas, like gas-liquefaction plants, chose to shut down. Texas and many other U.S. states rely on market mechanisms to direct such shutdowns, but the market mechanisms did not deliver. A simple emergency-response plan could have prevented the meltdown. Next, diverse fuel mixes enhance security of energy supply. Following the Texas outage, interested parties sought to blame specific energy sources such as wind and natural gas for the failure. Its a good thing that Texass electricity is produced by multiple energy sources, but as foreign countries know, energy systems need back up and redundancies. Governments need to mandate that natural gas companies store backup supplies, not leave it to the companies discretion. Israel, for instance, despite possessing, like Texas, vast natural gas resources in the ground, stores liquefied gas for emergency use. And some of the electricity power plants should be dual-fuel, so that when gas supplies are disrupted, they can easily transfer from one fuel type to another and keep generation going. The dual-fuel plants are less efficient, so the private market tends not to install them. Again, it falls to governments to ensure some backup plants are available when needed. Most Eastern European nations possess dual-fuel power plants to offset potential disruptions of Russian gas. While not connected to the Texas supply outage, future disruptions could be tied to foreign actors that acquire ownership in U.S. energy infrastructure. Most foreign countries enact laws to protect their strategic infrastructure from being acquired by potential hostile actors. For instance, Lithuania in 2012 barred ownership of its energy and other strategic national infrastructure by companies that do not share a trans-Atlantic orientation, in an effort to prevent Russian ownership of its grids and ports. U.S. states need also to assess the risks from foreign actors and put legislation in place to protect essential energy infrastructure. Marketization of energy trade has had many worthwhile results, leading to greater supplies and lower prices of many forms of energy. However, U.S. states need to enact policies that ensure the reliability of those supplies, especially as most American communities plan expanded use of electricity. States are much better equipped than the vast federal government to provide for local security of supply of energy. Market mechanisms are not enough to get the job done. The public expects local governments to ensure secure energy supplies. When the lights go out, citizens blame their states, not private companies or Washington. Dr. Brenda Shaffer is an international energy expert. She is a research faculty member of the US Naval Postgraduate School, a Senior Advisor for Energy at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Councils Global Energy Center. Her book Energy Politics is used as a textbook in over 200 university courses. It is true, as many commentators have noted, that this is looking more and more like a third Obama administration. Poor Ol' Joe just crouches down there as power leapfrogs over him from Barack to Kamala. And just as with Obama, those voices that were raised most loudly about certain political hot-button issues when a Republican was president have fallen completely silent now that there's a Democrat in the White House again. For example, you might have noticed that the conspicuous silence from the climate change crowd when Biden fired up the Oval Office fireplace the other day. It's been all over the news that he personally stokes this fire, but where is the hue and cry against increasing carbon emissions? Why the silence about the fact that the resultant carbon emissions, cancer-causing agents, and other contaminants are largely impacting a minority and historically oppressed community? Only three weeks ago, Biden signed a flurry of executive orders mandating increased federal reliance on fossil fuelfree transportation and "green" federal procurement. So far, no one is calling out this blatant hypocrisy. Following in Obama's footsteps, Biden ignores his own policies and public statements, for his own comfort. Obama had urged Americans to make sacrifices for the environment, saying, "We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times. He then turned the thermostat up to 75 degrees in his new home and was criticized for it. Biden has now done something similar, at just about the same point in his administration. But AOC, our magical environmental congressional Disney princess, has been silent. Does this mean that fussy Alexandria O'Green New Deal Cortez (D-Paris, Kyoto, and Rio) is turning into an establishment Democrat? In the past, she threatened to primary other Democrats who failed to line up with her political priorities. Now Cortez seems to have softened a bit from her first-term call-outs to her colleagues. Lately, she certainly has failed to rail against carbon emissions from new sources. What's up with that? AOC's Green New Deal emphasized that the marginalized suffered more than most from the ravages of pollution and climate change. So why was she silent this past year as Antifa and BLM rioters set fires not just to structures, but to whole city blocks all across America? They poured tons of carbon, smoke, and highly toxic material into the air within and surrounding so many of these marginalized communities. Oh, that's right, because she said that "marginalized" communities have no choice but to riot against their so-called oppressors. "I believe injustice is a threat to the safety of all people. Because once you have a group that is marginalized...once someone doesn't have access to clean water, they have no choice but to riot." How about clean air? Can't we all just riot without burning the place down? Our little butterfly is a woman of many shifting priorities. At one time, it was kids in cages, but she's not uttered a peep about Biden's new temporary shelter tent cities at the border or his reopening of overflow facilities there for children. At another, it was a cleaner environment for marginalized and indigenous communities. I wonder what our marginalized communities in the Midwest would prefer rioting, burning, looting, and murdering in their midst, or clean air to breathe? Anony Mee is a retired public servant. Image: AOC weeping. YouTube screen grab. Boris Johnson leapt to the defence of environmental activists like his fiancee Carrie Symonds today as he warned that climate change was 'a threat to our collective security'. The Prime Minister attacked climate sceptics in a speech to the United Nations, blasting those who 'say this is all green stuff from a bunch of tree-hugging tofu munchers and not suited to international .... politics'. In the virtual address to the Security Council, as the UK chaired the body for the first time in 30 years, he drew a direct link between environmental change and terrorism. He warned that those displaced when their homes became unlivable were easy prey for extremists in refugee camps. After presenting a speech from Sir David Attenborough, the PM told assembled heads of state: 'If this council is going to succeed in maintaining peace and security worldwide then it has got to galvanise the whole range of UN agencies and organisations into a swift and effective response. 'When are we going to do something if we don't act now when changing sea levels are affecting navigation around our coasts or when huddled masses fleeing drought or wildfire or conflict over resources arrive at our borders?' Mr Johnson's fiancee Ms Symonds is well known as an environmental campaigner. In January she began a new job as head of communications for the Aspinall Foundation. Their relationship has been credited with influencing his declarations about 'building a green recovery' after the Covid pandemic by striking agreements on cutting carbon emissions and boosting renewable technologies. The Prime Minister attacked climate sceptics in a speech to the United Nations, blasting those who 'say this is all green stuff from a bunch of tree-hugging tofu munchers and not suited to international .... politics'. Mr Johnson's fiancee Ms Symonds is well known as an environmental campaigner. In January she began a new job as head of communications for the animal conservation charity the Aspinall Foundation Sir David said that if the world acts to bring down emissions with "sufficient vigour" it may avoid runaway climate change. The UK is also hosting the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) later this year. Addressing the UNSC today online from the Foreign Office's Locarno dining room, Mr Johnson said: 'It is absolutely clear that climate change is a threat to our collective security and the security of our nations. I know there are people around the world who all say this is all green stuff from a bunch of tree-hugging tofu munchers and not suited to international diplomacy and international politics. I could disagree more profoundly. 'The causes of climate change we have got to address but the effects ...are absolutely clear. 'Think of a young man forced onto the road when his home becomes a desert, one of 16 million people displaced every year as a result of weather-related disasters and weather-related disasters that are associated with climate change. The PM introduced a video message from Sir David Attenborough, a man he described as having 'devoted much of his life to chronicling the threats to all forms of life on our fragile blue planet' 'He goes to some camp and becomes prey for violent extremists, people who radicalise him and the effects of that radicalisation are felt around the world.' Before the meeting the Prime minister called for action to help vulnerable countries adapt to climate change and cutting global emissions to 'net zero' - which requires huge cuts to greenhouse gases and any remaining pollution to be offset through measures such as planting trees - to protect prosperity and security.uralist and broadcaster will warn the 15-member council in a video message. The UNSC session is the first leader-level discussion it has held on climate, and is the first time it has been chaired by a British prime minister in nearly 30 years. Sir David said that if the world acts to bring down emissions with "sufficient vigour" it may avoid runaway climate change. The UN's Cop26 climate summit being hosted by the UK in November in Glasgow could be the last opportunity to make the necessary change, the naturalist and broadcaster warned the 15-member council in his video message. Its no secret Chicago takes its egg rolls very seriously. But if you wander around predominantly Black neighborhoods on the West and South sides, youll notice a completely different kind of egg roll one that uses the same wrapper, but then leaves nearly everything else behind. Here are five great egg rolls from Black restaurateurs you can find around the Chicago area. Two rockets fell in Baghdads Green Zone, home to foreign embassies, on Monday. No casualties have been reported so far, according to Iraqs military and the US-led coalition. A third rocket landed in the nearby al-Harithiya neighborhood, just west of the Green Zone. The rockets launcher was found by Iraqi security forces in al-Salaam neighborhood southwest of the citys center, Iraqs Security Media Cell said. The attack is the latest in a long series of Katyusha rocket barrages against Western targets that renewed late last year. Some of the strikes have been claimed by suspected front groups for powerful Shiite militias in Iraq. On Saturday night, at least four rockets landed at Balad air base, wounding a South African contractor for Sallyport, an American company that services Iraqs F-16s. Last week, some 14 rockets landed in and around Erbils airport in the typically tranquil Kurdistan Region of Iraq. One contractor for the US-led military coalition was killed and nine others were injured, including an American military member. The grounds of Erbils airport house an air base used by the US-led coalition to defeat the Islamic State (IS). A supposed group calling itself Saraya Awliya al-Dam, or the Guardians of the Blood Brigade, claimed credit for the Erbil strike. Some experts suspect the group could be a front for either Kataib Hezbollah or Asaib Ahl al-Haq, two of the most powerful Shiite militias in Iraq that are backed by Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Such strikes have sporadically continued since the United States, Iraqi forces and Iraqs Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) crushed IS' hold on Iraqi territory. A similar strike in 2019 killed a US citizen, leading to the United States bombing Kataib Hezbollah targets across Iraq. Days later, PMU representatives and supporters stormed the US Embassy in Baghdad. Then-US President Donald Trump ordered Qasem Soleimani, commander of the IRGCs expeditionary Quds Force, killed in a drone strike in Baghdad. Iranian officials have vowed revenge for Soleimanis killing. Irans government typically denies involvement in the strikes. Yemens Houthi rebels, also linked to the IRGC, have continued to launch aerial attacks into Saudi Arabia in recent weeks as the new US administration of President Joe Biden pushes for an end to the war in Yemen. At least two recent aerial attacks on Saudi Arabia have come during visits by senior US officials. Meanwhile, the US administration is seeking to reenter the 2015 international nuclear agreement with Tehran to limit the Islamic Republics nuclear capabilities. Iranian officials insist the scope of the proposed talks does not go beyond the original nuclear deal, which placed no restrictions on Tehrans ballistic missile or drone program. The Trump administration unilaterally abandoned the agreement in 2018, replacing it with a regime of economic sanctions designed to roll back Irans influence in the Middle East. US and UN officials have cited evidence of Iran transferring missile and drone technology to proxies in Iraq and Yemen. Washington has left a small residual presence of military forces in Iraq and Syria, nominally to mop up the remnants of IS sleeper cells. Particularly in Syria, the remaining troop presence offers US policymakers the added benefit of limiting Iranian proxies free access to strategic territory, as Israeli airstrikes hit Iran-linked targets suspected of transporting military hardware that could potentially threaten Israel. ALTON Mike Lauer, Executive Director of Emergency Preparedness at BJC HealthCare, said people who missed BJC COVID-19 vaccination appointments last week because of the weather will need to re-register. Lauer said in Illinois, patients will have to visit their county health department to re-register. For Missouri patients, BJC HealthCare can look through medical records and see how a patient has previously applied. For Illinois, its more of a county-centric process, Lauer said. For people who are registered, he said the best thing to do is arrive as close to the appointment time as possible. What were seeing a lot of is people wanting to come in early, he said. Were working to try and make sure that we dont have a lot of people showing up and just standing in line. Once a person arrives, they will be asked to provide demographic information and sign a form acknowledging that they are being vaccinated, he said. Once a person is vaccinated, they then enter an observing area to make sure they do not have any immediate reactions. Lauer said that one of the biggest myths around the vaccines is that a person can hang around at a clinic until the end of the day and receive a vaccine because the clinic cannot let vaccines go to waste. Thats really not true, he said. We only bring as much as we need into the clinic so that there is not a lot of overage. We dont want any chance of wasting vaccines. According to Lauer, the response to the vaccines are positive. The general sense that I get from people in the community is that theyre starting to feel like were at the beginning of turning the corner, he said. Lauer also said to pre-register for a vaccine people can visit www.bjc.org/covid-vaccine. The city is poised to pay $2 million to the family of 17-year-old Quanice Hayes, a suspect in an armed robbery and attempted carjacking who was shot and killed by Portland police four years ago. The negotiated settlement of the familys federal civil rights lawsuit is expected to go before City Council members on March 10. Lawyers for Hayes family argued that the teenager wasnt a threat when he was killed on Feb. 9, 2017, but on his knees unarmed and moving forward in an attempt to lie on the ground in response to commands from officers. The suit contended police acted unreasonably with excessive force when Officer Andrew Hearst shot Hayes three times with an AR-15 rifle after police confronted Hayes outside a Northeast Portland home. This case was always about getting answers for the Hayes family, and we got as many answers as we were going to get, the familys attorneys J. Ashlee Albies and Jesse Merrithew said in a statement. We know that Quanice Hayes was shot while he was surrendering to the police. We also know that the City of Portland will never admit their fault, and we know that Andrew Hearst will never be punished for his conduct, they said. We are happy that we were able to obtain some measure of compensation for the family, and we remain hopeful that the protests in the streets will force this city to enact a meaningful system of accountability that will finally see fit to punish an officer who kills an unarmed 17-year-old boy kneeling in front of him. Deputy City Attorney Daniel Simon, in a signed statement to a federal judge, acknowledged that the parties in the case had reached a settlement. The family will receive $1.5 million, with $595,081 going to attorney fees and costs, according to Jim Middaugh, spokesman for Mayor Ted Wheeler, who serves as police commissioner. Steven Hayes, an uncle of Quanice Hayes who represented the family, said the settlement was the desire of his younger sister, Quanices mother, Venus Hayes. Shes done and she wants to get out of the city, he said. Its too hurtful for her. The shooting occurred after officers discovered Hayes, a suspect in an armed robbery earlier that morning, in an alcove in front of a home in the 8300 block of Northeast Hancock Street and ordered him to keep his hands up and crawl toward officers on the driveway. When Hayes appeared to reach toward his waistband, Hearst said he fired, killing Hayes. The familys lawyers hired forensic biomechanical engineer Jesse L. Wobrock, who reviewed the paths of the three bullets and the wounds to Hayes. Wobrock found that Hayes was on his knees, his head and neck bent forward and his torso leaning slightly forward to comply with officer orders to go down to his face when Hearst fired three shots, according to his written opinion. Bullets struck Hayes in the abdomen, torso and head. Hayes likely moved his hand to the ground to help him lie prone, Wobrocks opinion said. While Wobrock concluded Hayes didnt have his airsoft pistol on him at the time he was shot, the citys expert, forensic scientist Matthew Noedel who formerly worked for the Washington State Patrol crime lab, offered in written documents no opinion on the position of the gun. Noedel found that Wobrocks theory that Hayes was following police orders to lie down went beyond what data could show. Noedel also said he believed Hayes reached to his waistband and tossed the airsoft pistol to his right when he was shot, though theres no physical evidence to back that up, according to the plaintiffs and their experts. Noedel said in a deposition that he believed that once Hayes was struck in the abdomen by the first police gunshot, it likely made him pitch forward and then he completed his toss of the pistol to his right, according to the case documents. Not a single officer testified before the grand jury that they saw Hayes with a gun before he was shot, according to the grand jury transcripts. Hearst told a Multnomah County grand jury that he never saw Hayes with a gun but believed Hayes was the suspect in the holdup of a man in his car earlier that morning. The man described his assailant as holding a tan pistol. Officers found a black and tan airsoft pistol in a flower bed about 18 inches to the right of Hayes body, they said. Steven Hayes, 44, said he sat through the officers depositions in the civil case and doesnt believe Hearst should still be working as an officer. Theres never going to be justice for me as long as hes still working. It could have played out a hundred different, safer ways than the way it played out, he said. Im not the guy who hates police. But I think the police should take some accountability. Steven Hayes also said he wished the Police Bureau had body cameras at the time his nephew was shot and killed. If so, he said, This would have been a completely different case. Having listened to the officers depositions, he said he was disappointed that he didnt hear remorse from them, he added. Last year, the city withdrew its allegation in court that Hayes mother was negligent and at fault for her 17-year-olds fatal shooting by police. The city initially alleged that she was at fault for not being able to control her son. Citing grand jury testimony, lawyers for Hayes family also argued that Hearst and fellow Officer Robert Wullbrandt were shouting contradictory commands at the time Hearst shot Hayes. He obeyed the commands of Officer Robert Wullbrandt, and crawled on his hands and knees as ordered, coming to a stop when ordered to do so,' the suit says. Defendant Hearst, while Officer Wulbrandt was ordering Quanice to crawl on his hands and knees, was ordering Quanice to crawl on his knee with his hands in the air. Quanice bent forward to comply with Officer Wullbrandts command and Defendant Heart shot him. City-hired consultants that reviewed the police shooting concluded that the officers placed themselves in a dangerous position with no available cover when they confronted the teen who they suspected was armed. Police needed to slow down, find cover and coordinate commands, according to the report. Some officers present reported confusing and conflicting orders such as keep your hands up' and crawl forward' just before Hayes was shot and killed, the analysis by OIR Group noted. Hayes death increased tensions between police and members of the Black community after the grand jury found no criminal wrongdoing by officers. The $2.095 million settlement is below the $2.3 million city settlement of a federal suit that resulted after Officer Dane Reister wounded William Kyle Monroe in 2011 after mistakenly firing lethal rounds from a beanbag shotgun. Monroe, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, was permanently disabled as a result of the shooting. Its above the $1.6 million settlement the city paid to the family of James Chasse, a man who suffered from a mental illness and died in police custody in September 2006. Police thought Chasse, 42, who had schizophrenia, might have urinated in the street in the Pearl District and tried to stop him. They chased him and knocked him to the ground, then wrestled with him to arrest him. Multnomah County jail staff refused to book him because of his medical condition. He died in police custody en route to a hospital. An autopsy found he died of broad-based blunt-force trauma to the chest. -- Maxine Bernstein Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212 Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian Subscribe to Facebook page General Assignment Reporter Chris Mays is a general assignment reporter for the Brattleboro Reformer. He has been with New England Newspapers Inc. since 2012. WASHINGTON - Joe Biden granted Justin Trudeau at least one of the items atop his wish list Tuesday as they met for the first time as president and prime minister: a pledge to help get two Canadians out of a Chinese prison. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with US Vice-President Joe Biden on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, December 9, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Patrick Doyle WASHINGTON - Joe Biden granted Justin Trudeau at least one of the items atop his wish list Tuesday as they met for the first time as president and prime minister: a pledge to help get two Canadians out of a Chinese prison. Strenuous expressions of presidential dismay were nowhere to be seen during the final two years of Donald Trump's tenure as Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor languished behind bars. That all changed Tuesday as Biden and Trudeau one in D.C., the other in Ottawa wrapped up a warm and comprehensive, if virtual, summit meeting, Biden's first since taking office. "Human beings are not bartering chips," the president said of Kovrig and Spavor during closing remarks from the East Room of the White House. "You know we're going to work together until we get their safe return." The two were detained in China in an apparent act of retaliation after Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in December 2018 on U.S. charges of violating sanctions on Iran. They have remained in custody ever since, held on what the federal government and international observers alike have described as bogus charges aimed at putting relentless pressure on Canada. Biden, however, offered no hints about how the White House might help secure their release, such as by abandoning Justice Department efforts to extradite her to stand trial on U.S. soil. The public portions of Tuesday's meeting were cordial from the start. Biden made much of the fact that both his first phone call and his first foreign meeting were with Trudeau evidence, he said, of the deep friendship and lasting ties between the two countries. "The United States has no closer friend than Canada," Biden said from the Roosevelt Room, where he was flanked by cabinet members including Vice-President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. In Ottawa, Trudeau was joined by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau, with Biden, Harris and members of his cabinet projected on a big-screen TV. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is seen with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland and Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau as they meet virtually with United States President Joe Biden from his office on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Tuesday February 23, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld After four years of dealing with Trump, who famously ignored calls to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Trudeau's enthusiasm for Biden's aggressive climate-change strategy was hard to miss. "Thank you again for stepping up in such a big way on tackling climate change U.S. leadership has been sorely missed over the past years," he said. "As we are preparing the joint rollout and communique from this (summit), it's nice when the Americans are not pulling out all references to climate change and instead adding them in." Freeland, who addressed Harris directly, was no less effusive in her praise for the first woman and person of colour to be elected U.S. vice-president. "Your election has been such an inspiration for women and girls across Canada, especially for black women and girls, and for South Asian women and girls," Freeland said. "I couldn't agree more with what the president said, that we have a real responsibility now, all of us, to show that democracy can deliver for people for Canadians, for Americans and for the whole world." After the obligatory jokes about the challenges of learning French "Every time I tried to speak it, I made such a fool out of myself," Biden was heard to say the group got down to business. A White House "road map'" for the bilateral partnership issued earlier Tuesday highlighted six priority areas for the meeting, including battling the pandemic, rebuilding the economy "on both sides of the border," and a "high-level climate ministerial" meeting to align efforts to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. It also mentioned social diversity and inclusion, expanded co-operation on continental defence and a modernized Norad, plans for a cross-border dialogue on the Arctic and restoring a collective commitment to global institutions like NATO and the World Trade Organization. There was no direct mention of Canada's hope for an exemption to Buy American, Biden's protectionist guardrails for infrastructure and procurement projects, nor of COVID-19 vaccine doses. Canada has been squeezed by vaccine production problems in Europe, prompting calls for U.S. help especially since a key Pfizer manufacturing facility in Michigan is just two hours from the border. Only a diplomatically crafted readout from the Prime Minister's Office offered clues to how those discussions went. Biden and Trudeau "agreed that the pandemic will not end until everyone, everywhere has access to a vaccine," it said. They also discussed "the importance of avoiding measures that may constrain the critical trade and supply-chain security between our countries." Job 1 for the president is getting the vaccine to every American who wants it as soon as possible, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said earlier Tuesday. "Our focus right now is getting shots in arms at home," she said. "All options are on the table down the road, but we remain committed to getting Americans vaccinated." Nor did either leader mention Keystone XL, the on-again, off-again cross-border oil pipeline expansion Biden cancelled with the stroke of his presidential pen on his first day in office. The president has long believed the project was not in the best interests of the U.S. and was simply making good on his promise during the election campaign to cancel it, Psaki said. "We want to try to address our climate crisis while also creating good-paying union jobs. He believes you can do both." That approach is precisely why Ken Neumann, national director of the United Steelworkers union, had hoped Trudeau would be able to secure an agreement to allow Canadians to bid on U.S. contracts. "If the president can be convinced to include Canada as a partner in his plans on these priorities, it would mean more jobs and opportunity in both countries," Neumann said in a statement. "If the prime minister lets Canada get left out of the new president's plans to grow the American economy, Canadian workers will be left on the outside looking in." Mark Agnew, vice-president, policy and international with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, urged Canada to keep up the effort to secure a "carve-out" on Buy American. "Strengthening the relationship is important for Canada at the best of times, but even more critical now as a means to support a business-led recovery on both sides of the border," Agnew said. The two leaders intend to resurrect the North American Leaders' Summit a trilateral meeting of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, more commonly known as the "Three Amigos" summit, which hasn't been convened since 2016. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 23, 2021. With files from Mike Blanchfield in Ottawa Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version misspelled the name of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Page Content The COVID-19 vaccines from the Netherlands arrived in St. Maarten on Friday, February 19, 2021, and was received by Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs. Accompanying the Prime Minister were Acting Minister of VSA, Ludmila de Weever, Special Envoy to the Dutch Caribbean for COVID-19 Vaccine, Dr. Marc Sprenger, and head of the Representation of the Netherlands in Sint Maarten, Chris Johnson. In the first shipment, St. Maarten has received a little over 8000 vaccines to start with. The vaccines will first be offered to seniors aged 60 years and older and health care workers. The campaign will commence today with senior citizens of the White & Yellow Cross Care Foundation (WYCCF). The first vaccine administered will be streamed live on the Government of Sint Maarten Facebook Page. The vaccinations will continue with staff from the WYCCF and St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) along with other health care providers on the island. Both organizations have made the necessary arrangements and provided their staff with special training. The islands approach to implementing the vaccine campaign is prioritizing the most vulnerable groups. The biggest challenge in rolling out the vaccine is the logistics, to get it to the most vulnerable groups first, stated Dr. Sprenger. St. Maarten is extremely fortunate to be amongst recipients of the vaccine. It is of course a huge deal that were getting this vaccine. St. Maarten will be receiving the Pfizer BionTech vaccine, Comirnaty. The first results from this specific vaccine have been promising. In Isreal 70% of residents in the category, aged 70+ have receive the vaccine and a steep drop in active cases have been observed in that group. The vaccine is safe and will be issued to all residents on St. Maarten documented or undocumented. Vaccinations must be issued to as many individuals as possible to reach herd immunity. This is important to safeguard the health of the members of the community. More tourists can then return to the island and our economy can begin to recover. The public is encouraged to register online for the vaccine by visiting the Government of St. Maartens website: www.sintmaartengov.org/coronavirus. Paper versions of the registration form will be available later this week at Collective Prevention Services, various doctors offices, Government Administration Building (Labor Affairs), and the Public Service Center in Simpson Bay. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) on Tuesday approved buying of defence equipment worth Rs 13,700 crore for the three armed forces, including 118 Arjun Mk-1A tanks for the The DAC also accorded three Acceptance of Necessities (AoNs) for an overall cost of Rs 13,700 crore, the Defence Ministry said in a statement. All these AoNs are in the highest priority category of defence acquisition --- 'Buy [Indian-IDDM (Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured)]. The DAC, headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, is the highest decision-making body for "The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, has approved capital acquisition proposals of various weapons/ platforms/ equipment/ systemsrequired by the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force, in New Delhi on February 23, 2021," the statement added. Sources said of the 13,700 crore, Rs 8,300 crore will be for procuring 118 Arjun (Mk-1A). Earlier this month Prime Minister Narendra Modi handed over to the the home-made Arjun Main Battle Tank (MK-1A) in Chennai. The state-of-the-art tank, has been indigenously designed, developed, and manufactured by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)'s Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment The tank is infused with 71 new features and would ensure effortless mobility in all terrains, besides precise target engagement during day and night. All these acquisition proposals approved by the DAC will be indigenously designed, developed and manufactured, the statement added. These will include inter-alia platforms and systems designed and developed by DRDO. The DAC also approved that all capital acquisition contracts (delegated and non-delegated) other than D&D (design and development) cases shall be concluded in two years. The ministry, in consultation with the services and all stakeholders, will come up with a detailed plan of action for achieving the same, it added. 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. The recent winter storm in Texas left the state reeling and resulted in several people losing their lives. Given the fact that the state is accustomed to warm climate, the state wasn't prepared for such adverse weather as millions were left without electricity. But while people in Texas sought heat and shelter, another problem emerged online. Conspiracy theories of outlandish proportions claiming that the snow in the region is actually 'fake'. Also read: Animals Are Freezing To Death In Texas As Winter Storm Leaves The State Motionless Twitter Several videos are being circulating on social media that purportedly showed something strange going on with the snow. These videos featured people attempting to light snowballs on fire, and were often accompanied by the claim that the snowfall in Texas had been artificially made by the government. In videos uploaded to social media, users attempt to prove the snow isn't real. I am obsessed with idiots in Texas thinking the snow is fake and a government plot pic.twitter.com/7F0hsLB3hB B.W. Carlin (@BaileyCarlin) February 22, 2021 "Thank you Bill Gates for trying to f***ing trick us that this is real snow, a woman says in the video as she holds a cigarette lighter to a snowball. Youll see its not melting and its going to burn. Snow dont burn. Snow f***ing melts. No water, no dripping, no nothing. If I put this s*** in the microwave, its going to start sparking because theres metal mixed in it. Also read: Extreme Weather Pushes US Hospital To The Brink, Trash Bags Being Used To Clean Toilets What is the truth? Theres no truth to these claims, claim certain sources. These videos are allegedly based on theories do not really prove that the government manufactured a giant snowfall in Texas. One way of looking at this is how this video demonstrates a common property of snow. AP Science blogger Phil Plait explained to Slate that the reason the snow doesnt appear to melt in these viral videos is because it is reabsorbing the water as it melts. Plait also noted that the scorch marks are created by a chemical reaction. This is not that first time that such absurd claims have been made. The 'fake snow' videos have been circulating on social media since at least 2014 and every time there's a big snowstorm in the US, more emerge. Also read: 6 Dead After Fatal Multi-Vehicle Pileup After Freezing Rain Leaves Road Covered With Ice 02/23/2021 Photo (c) Toshe_O - Getty Images Coronavirus (COVID-19) tally as compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Previous numbers in parentheses.) Total U.S. confirmed cases: 28,194,840 (28,139,690) Total U.S. deaths: 500,617 (499,128) Total global cases: 111,878,487 (111,555,751) Total global deaths: 2,478,131 (2,469,417) One dose or two? Doctors are beginning to question whether people really need two doses of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine, especially when measured against the bottlenecks and shortages that have delayed vaccinations in many states. Health officials are holding back significant quantities of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in order to provide second shots three weeks later. However, antibody tests have shown that most recipients create protective antibodies within three weeks of receiving the first dose. But the Biden administration is opposed to the move, as are some other health experts. They worry that one dose of a vaccine will be less effective against the new variants of the virus that have emerged in the U.K. and South Africa and are now present in the U.S. Drug companies increasing vaccine production If youve been frustrated because you have been unable to book an appointment to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, help may be on the way. Drugmakers say they are stepping up production and that supplies should be more plentiful next month. Pfizer said it expects to provide more than 13 million doses of its two-shot vaccine per week by mid-March, doubling its current output. Moderna President Dr. Stephen Hoge told CNBC that his company is also on track to double its output. Since the end of 2020, we have doubled our monthly deliveries to the U.S. government, and we are working to double them again by April to more than 40 million doses per month, Hoge said. Biden reflects on 500,000 deaths When the U.S. death toll from the virus exceeded 500,000 on Monday, the White House paused to reflect on the gravity of the loss. President Biden marked the milestone with a solemn ceremony at the White House. "Today, we mark a truly grim, heartbreaking milestone," Biden said in a brief speech. "500,071 dead. That's more Americans who died in one year in this pandemic than in World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War combined." Biden presided over ceremonies at the Lincoln Memorial hours before his inauguration, marking the death of 400,000 Americans from COVID-19. That was just over a month ago. Vaccines may reduce severity of symptoms Most people are lining up to receive a vaccination against the coronavirus in hopes of avoiding a potentially lethal infection. But a British study shows that even if you end up getting the virus, having a vaccination may keep you out of the hospital. The U.K. study focused on two vaccines -- the one produced by Pfizer and BioNTech and the one developed by AstraZeneca at Oxford University. Both significantly reduced hospitalizations among those who got the virus after being vaccinated. The study also found that both vaccines were effective against a new, more contagious variant of the virus. Researchers say antibody testing can slow the virus spread Researchers at Queens University Belfast say largescale antibody testing could result in people taking more precautions and, as a result, reducing the transmission of the coronavirus. The researchers say most people have gone about their daily lives without knowing whether they have the virus or not, but many assume they dont. They point to research suggesting that this lack of knowledge can cause people to disregard mitigation rules, such as social distancing. This research suggests that there can be sizeable gains in terms of lives saved from conducting largescale antibody testing, Dr. Luis Guimaraes, one of the researchers, said. The benefits of these tests are particularly large for those that cannot work from home in areas in which many are estimated to have been infected like London. Around the nation As Scranton School District teachers and students prepare to return to their classrooms, school directors will continue to meet virtually for now. Meeting in an auditorium would require the district to restrict in-person attendance and could lead to technical issues with trying to allow public participation through Zoom or YouTube, some directors said. Director Tara Yanni encouraged fellow board members to find a way to safely meet. I just feel we need to lead by example, Yanni said at Monday nights work session. For an indoor event at a venue that holds up to 2,000 people, the Pennsylvania Department of Health limits capacity to 10%. For example, a meeting at the West Scranton High School auditorium would only allow 100 participants, officials said. More than 225 people watched the work session live via Zoom or YouTube on Monday night. Scranton school directors have met virtually for nearly a year due to the pandemic. Teachers must return to buildings March 1, followed by a phase-in of elementary students starting March 15. If its safe for them, its safe for us, Director Sean McAndrew said. While the school board understands the importance of in-person learning, the purpose of a board meeting is to present information to as many members of the public as possible, Director Gretchen Welby said. Meeting in-person will limit the number of people the board can reach live, she said. Board President Katie Gilmartin said a virtual meeting is the most efficient way for directors to meet right now, but the board could revisit the issue next month. At next weeks regular meeting, directors plan to vote on establishing a Reopening Educational Advisory Committee, members of which could help monitor and assess the districts plans and their impact. Members would include parents, teachers and administrators. If the board approves the committees creation at the March 1 meeting, the district will announce how people can submit letters of interest. The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company President Xi Jinping pledged on Monday China's support for Egypt and Kyrgyzstan in their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that the country stands ready to deepen vaccine cooperation with both nations. Xi made the remarks in phone conversations with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and his Kyrgyz counterpart Sadyr Japarov. In his talk with Sisi, Xi said China has always placed Egypt in an important position on its diplomatic agenda, and the country remains a trustworthy friend and partner of Egypt. China stands ready to consolidate political mutual trust with Egypt, and offer steadfast support and step up coordination on regional and international affairs and jointly uphold multilateralism and international fairness and justice, he said. He expressed China's willingness to support international solidarity against the pandemic and promote the fostering of a global community of health for all. While speaking with Japarov, Xi stressed the need for both nations to promote the stable growth of bilateral pragmatic cooperation and the high-quality building of the Belt and Road, saying that the two sides should deepen cooperation in trade, connectivity and agriculture. Sisi and Japarov both expressed firm support for China's principled position on issues concerning Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Taiwan. Sisi said Egypt firmly supports China's endeavors to safeguard its national sovereignty, security and unity. Japarov said Kyrgyzstan welcomes more Chinese investment, and the country is willing to make concerted efforts with China to promote cooperation in major programs and the high-quality building of the Belt and Road. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 nomination of free press advocate and Toms River High School North alumna Maria Ressa for the Nobel Peace Prize, district officials said Monday they will name the schools newly renovated auditorium after her when the project is completed in September. Ressa, 57, a Filipino-American journalist who co-founded the Manila-based investigative news site Rappler.com, was nominated for the prize by Norwegian labor leader Jonas Gahr Stre as part of a joint nomination with two international press freedom groups, Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists. Toms River Regional Schools officials acknowledged the nomination during a board of education meeting last week, after Stre revealed it to a Norway-based news site, Journalisten.no. On Monday, the district announced that it would name the new auditorium at Toms River High School North after Ressa when the project is finished. Ressa moved to the United States from the Philippines at age 10, and spent her adolescent and teen years in Toms River. She graduated from High School North in 1982, before going on to Princeton University and later worked as a CNN correspondent in Southeast Asia, before founding Rappler, where shes the CEO and editor-in-chief. Maria Ressa, a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, in her 1982 Toms River High School North yearbook photo.Toms River Regional Schools Ressa has reported on terrorism networks and human rights abuses under the regime of Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte. In retaliation, she has been subject to harassment and multiple arrests, according to her Rappler bio. Mondays announcement by the district included excerpts from a conversation between Ressa and High School North Principal Ed Keller after her nomination was revealed. Toms River North is my roots, Ressa was quoted as saying in Mondays announcement. I learned to be comfortable with who I was. I was an immigrant kid. Toms River and Toms River North shaped me as the person I would become. It was a path to acceptance, she added. My teachers and my AP classes helped me get to Princeton. They helped my dreams come true. In 2018, Ressa was included in Times Person of the Year issue alongside a group of fellow journalists. Keller also plans to nominate Ressa for the districts Hall of Fame. We are very proud of Marias accomplishments as well as her lifes work in helping others, Keller stated in Mondays announcement. This is a wonderful example for all of our current students, that anything is possible with hard work and determination, Keller stated. It is inspirational to think that someone who walked the same hallways was able to make a difference on the world stage. Winners of the five categories of the Nobel Prize chemistry, literature, peace, physiology or medicine, and physics will be announced in Norway in December. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. She shamed her husband Jake Edwards for having a chest tattoo during their wedding on Monday's episode of Married At First Sight. But it appears Beck Zemek is quite the hypocrite, as she has a tattoo of her own. The Perth business manager, 27, has a small inking along her bikini line, as seen in a selfie posted to Instagram on January 10. Pot calling the kettle black! It turns out Married At First Sight bride Rebecca Zemek has a tattoo of her own, after criticising her husband Jake Edwards for his body art on their wedding day The tattoo, which is positioned low on her right hip, appears to read 'XO'. During the MAFS season premiere, Rebecca complained about her 33-year-old groom's nails and teeth after they exchanged vows. She whinged to producers: 'He bites his nails. I pay attention to details [and] he's been gnawing those away. 'So, you know, even though he's coming across really cool, calm, he is not. We need to get rid of that.' What is it? The business manager, 27, has a small inking along her bikini line, as seen in a selfie posted on January 10. The tattoo, which is positioned low on her right hip, appears to read 'XO' Rebecca then took aim at his outfit, sniping: 'He wasn't wearing a tie. On your wedding day, it's a day to be extremely formal. 'And I noticed he had his buttons undone showing his tattoo piece. I know my parents would not approve of that at all.' The Rebecca Judd lookalike went on to criticise Jake for the condition of his teeth. 'We need to get rid of that': During the MAFS season premiere, Rebecca complained about her husband Jake's (left) nails and teeth after they exchanged vows 'I think it's his smile. I like really good teeth. I'm a brusher twice a day, two minutes. You know, extra floss,' she said. Fans watching at home were appalled by Rebecca's attitude, with many labelling her 'high maintenance' and 'judgmental' on Twitter. 'Jesus Christ, this Beck is a b**ch. How judgmental,' one viewer wrote, while another added: 'She is high maintenance.' Married At First Sight continues Tuesday at 7:30pm on Channel Nine A man holds a sign depicting the shooting of a protester by a policeman during the Oct. 1 , 2019, protests in Hong Kong, China, on Oct. 2, 2019. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images) More Hong Kongers Gain Residency in Australia to Escape Communist Control As Beijing tightens its grip on Hong Kong following the imposition of the National Security Law in July last year, Australia has given safe harbour to Hong Kongers fleeing the country to escape communist control. According to data obtained by SBS, one of Australias public broadcasters, around 1,849 Hong Kongers were granted permanent residency (PR) visas between July and November last year. This is a 26 percent increase compared to the five months prior to the introduction of the law. The largest majority of Hong Kongers who were granted PR status occurred in November, with around 59.7 percent (345) being through the skilled worker stream. This marks a 117 percent increase in skilled visas granted in the February to June period. Protesters chant slogans during a rally against Beijings new national security law in Hong Kong on July 1, 2020. (Dale de la Rey/AFP via Getty Images) The Morrison government last year unveiled a safe haven plan which would allow Hong Kong passport holders, who hold Australian student, recent graduate, or skilled workers visas, to extend their stay for another five years, with the possibility of a path to permanent residency. Hong Kongers Afraid to Go Home Tensions between the Hong Kong police and pro-democracy protesters heightened last month, as 53 activists and former lawmakers were arrested for allegedly subverting the citys national security law. Graeme Smith, a fellow at the Department of Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University, told public broadcaster ABC that the police presence in Hong Kong is even more claustrophobic than in the past. Its been an amazing transformation for the Hong Kong police force, from one of the most trusted in Asia to basically a force that is feared, he said. One Hong Konger who successfully applied for a visa extension told the ABC that he did not feel safe returning home as the police would arrest him for political content he shared on social media. Since I left [Hong Kong], things are getting worse and worse, he said. They are trying to control the people. (L-R) Pro-democracy activists Eddie Chu, Gwyneth Ho, Leung Hoi-ching, Tiffany Yuen, Joshua Wong, Lester Shum, and Agnes Chow campaign during primary elections in Hong Kong on July 12, 2020. (Issac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images) Another source told SBS that the bleak outlook and backward education system in Hong Kong after the Chinese Communist Partys takeover has motivated her to escape from her hometown. The gloomy situation in Hong Kong means Australia has seen an influx of Hong Kong immigrants. Aussie Politicians Speak Out Rex Patrick, a South Australian independent senator, has been calling on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to make the immigration criteria less stringent to smooth the way for Hong Kongers to reside in Australia, The Guardian reported. Chinas demolition of democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Hong Kong is accelerating, Patrick said. In these circumstances, Australia must open our door wider to give our Hong Kong friends refuge, safety, and full opportunity to enjoy democratic freedoms. Meanwhile, the Australian Greens have been pushing for stronger measures that would grant permanent protection for all Hong Kongers who currently reside in Australia. Janet Rice, the newly elected Senator for Victoria, spoke at a rally against Chinas organ harvesting crimes in downtown Melbourne, Australia, on Sept. 22, 2013. (The Epoch Times) The Greens foreign affairs spokesperson, Senator Janet Rice, said she wanted Australia to adopt the Tiananmen-style immigration policy, considering the current situation in Hong Kong. Rice was referring to when former Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke granted 42,000 permanent visas to Chinese nationals after the Tiananmen Square massacre. Hong Kongs political refugees need a Hawke, but in Scott Morrison, they got a Howard, she told The Guardian. Referring to former Liberal Prime Minister John Howard, who was known for his tough immigration policies. Luring Talent Down Under Australias move to offer safe haven to Hong Kongers fleeing communist China serves a dual purpose of luring super talent down under. Last year, the government set up a Global Business and Talent Attraction Taskforce to hunt for super talent in key markets including Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The program aims to lure special global talents to Australia and boost domestic employment. The United Kingdom and Canada have also opened their doors to Hong Kong refugees, launching immigration measures to encourage Hong Kong passport holders to migrate. A British National Overseas passport (BNO) and a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China passport are seen in Hong Kong, on Jan. 29, 2021. (Kin Cheung/AP Photo) The UK government announced last year that Hong Kong passport holders with British National Overseas (BNO) status can live, study, and work in Britain for five years before applying for citizenship. It is estimated that over 250,000 Hong Kongers will apply for the visa in five years. Meanwhile, under Canadas migration scheme, all Hong Kong university students in Canada in the past five years are eligible for a three-year work visa, which will eventually allow them to apply for permanent residency. Salvatore Babones, an expert in the political economy of East Asia, said that although Australia is a top destination for talented individuals, it still has a long way to go before becoming the next business hub for Asia, especially when compared to other countries such as Japan and Singapore. Australias chief advantage is lifestyle, and that is less persuasive for businesses than it is for individuals. When it comes to operating as an Asian business hub, Australia is just too far away, he told The Epoch Times. Daniel Y. Teng contributed to this article. Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the number of permanent residency visas granted through the skilled worker stream. The Epoch Times regrets the error. CLEVELAND, Ohio Cleveland City Council President Kevin Kelley on Tuesday stripped indicted Councilman Ken Johnson of his chairmanship of councils Municipal Services and Properties Committee and removed him from his committees. Kelley announced the changes Tuesday afternoon. Councilman Kevin Bishop will take Johnsons place as chairman. Bishop has been a member of that committee. The Municipal Services and Properties Committee conducts oversight of Clevelands Department of Parks, Recreation and Properties, all matters pertaining to public parks, places, buildings, playgrounds and beaches and public recreation. It also reviews sale and purchase of city-owned properties and street work. Johnson was also a member of the Health and Human Services Committee. Johnson was arrested Tuesday morning on 15 charges from a federal grand jury that among other things accuse him of swindling the council out of $127,000 by submitting false expense reports. The charges against Johnson include conspiracy to commit theft from a federal program, aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, tampering with a witness and falsification of records during a federal investigation. The indictment alleges that many of the charges stem from Johnson requesting and receiving from council the maximum amount of monthly expenses reimbursement, $1,200, for services that were never performed. The reimbursements were approved over a period of years. Johnsons executive assistant, Garnell Jamison, was indicted on the same charges. John Hopkins, who served as the executive director of the Buckeye-Shaker Square Development Corp. in Johnsons ward, was charged with conspiracy to commit theft from a federal program. Earlier Tuesday, in an interview with cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer, Indicted Cleveland Councilman Ken Johnson wouldnt get to pick successor if he resigns in disgrace. Members who resign in good standing have the privilege of nominating their replacement. Members of the council vote on that nominee and by practice have followed the wishes of the departing member. But Kelley noted that the last two council members to resign under the cloud of criminal charges were not granted that privilege. Their replacements were selected from community leaders to close out the term of office, with the agreement that they would not run for election. Johnson, meanwhile, continues to hold his seat and draw his annual salary of nearly $87,000. The council has no authority to remove indicted members. More from Cleveland City Hall Black Cleveland neighborhoods hardest hit by housing crisis left behind during 2020 home sales boom, research says Cleveland to no longer mix potentially sensitive announcements with daily coronavirus briefings Cleveland City Council approves landmark status to help century-old fruit auction house become a distillery Cleveland may consider tighter controls on absentee landlords to force them to maintain properties 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 Two people have died and another is in hospital after a horror crash on the Flinders Highway between Townsville and Charters Towers. Queensland Police confirmed an eight-year-old girl and a 49-year-old woman suffered fatal injuries after their Holden Barina collided with a truck in Dotswood at about 7am on Tuesday. They were both pronounced dead at the scene and police stated that one of the deceased was ejected from the vehicle on the 110km/h stretch of road. Two people have died and another is in hospital after a horror crash on the Flinders Highway between Townsville and Charters Towers (the crash scene is pictured) The truck driver had to be airlifted to Townsville University Hospital with leg injuries. The Flinders Highway was shut down until 3pm as investigators from the Forensic Crash Unit combed the section of road where the tragedy unfolded. It has since re-opened. Senior Sergeant in charge of the Townsville Road Policing Unit Robert Nalder, said it's not yet known what caused the crash. 'It appears a heavy vehicle was travelling towards Charters Towers and a smaller vehicle was heading towards Townsville,' he told the Courier Mail. 'An impact has occurred and as a result we've had two people from the smaller die at the scene. 'At this stage the cause of the crash is being investigated by the Forensic Crash Unit and they'll be able to make a report to the coroner.' Queensland Police confirmed an eight-year-old girl and a 49-year-old woman suffered fatal injuries after their Holden Barina collided with a truck in Dotswood at about 7am on Tuesday (the scene of the crash is pictured) Social media users have flooded social media with their condolences. 'So sad... heartfelt thoughts to the families affected,' one person wrote. Others called the incident 'heartbreaking' and offered their 'deepest condolences to the family, RIP'. Another said: 'This is so sad'. Investigators are now calling on anyone with any information, who may have been travelling on the Flinders Highway or dashcam footage of the incident, to contact police immediately. Its not just a home surveillance system. Its a surveillance system. Documents obtained by the EFF and shared with The Intercept show law enforcement used footage from Ring doorbell cameras -- cameras some people have obtained for free from Rings thousands of law enforcement "partners" -- to hunt down people protesting police violence. The documents show the Los Angeles Police Department sent requests to Los Angeles residents asking them for footage recorded by their cameras. But the LAPD did not specify what sort of footage it was looking for. The task force making the request was charged with investigating crimes committed "during protests and demonstrations." This information was vaguely conveyed to Ring owners in the area. The requests didnt even bother to specify whether the "incident" the LAPD was investigating could even have been captured by the doorbell cameras targeted by this request. "The LAPD Safe L.A. Task Force is asking for your help, reads the message, from detective Gerry Chamberlain. During recent protests, individuals were injured & property was looted, damaged, and destroyed. In an effort to identify those responsible, we are asking you to submit copies of any video(s) you may have for [redacted]. The request appears to have made no mention of what exactly the LAPD was pursuing; no crime, proven or alleged, is described in the unredacted portion of the request, only that the police wanted footage of an unspecified incident related to a protest. The redacted portion of the request does not appear to contain any substantive further description. This was not the only message sent. The documents show the LAPD made additional requests following other demonstrations, in essence asking Los Angeles residents to rat out people engaged (for the most part) in peaceful protests. The task force wasnt asking for any info about specific crimes, but rather anything that showed people doing stuff that (again, for the most part) was protected by the First Amendment. And there wasnt a lot of criminal activity. At least, not so much the LAPD should have felt comfortable sending out blanket requests for footage from cameras owned by private citizens. In October, the Los Angeles Times cited LAPD data showing that the vast majority of the citys Black Lives Matter rallies, part of a national wave of outraged mobilization following the police killing of Floyd, were peaceful, with only between 6% and 7% of protests resulting in any violence, including violence perpetrated by the LAPD itself. But Ring has made aggressive inroads with thousands of law enforcement "partners." And it has provided them with instructions for requests like these -- ones that evade warrant or subpoena requirements. On the plus side, the requests make any handover of footage completely voluntary. Bear in mind that law enforcement "requests" for footage are perceived by citizens as being far less voluntary than law enforcement perceives them to be. But the bottom line is these are requests, not demands. Even so, the LAPD would rather not answer questions about its mass emails or their efficiency rate. And thats a problem Ring doesnt have an answer for. Indeed, its an answer Ring doesnt even appear to care about. Ring likes cops. The people actually buying and/or deploying its cameras appear to be far down the list of things Ring cares about. As far as Ring is concerned, the market it has cornered is little more than an extension of existing government surveillance networks. If it did care about its users, it would have done more to protect them from malicious hackers and law enforcement officers who cant be bothered to boilerplate up a warrant affidavit. Even if you decide the First Amendment question isnt settled enough to give Los Angeles residents pause when handing over footage to cops, the mutual appreciation society formed by Ring and law enforcement cuts private citizens out of the equation. It turns their cameras into cop cameras. Sure, people may retain control of the devices and ignore emailed requests for footage, but Ring is doing all it can to erase the line between public and private. It allows law enforcement agencies to give cameras to citizens, increasing the chance the recipients of these freebies will be receptive law enforcement requests. It gives cops a portal that shows them where cameras are located, giving the government information it wouldnt have under other circumstances. Finally, Ring inserts itself into the PR process, giving itself final approval on press statements from law enforcement that involve its products, allowing it to craft a more self-serving narrative. Theres no indication this effort was limited to areas where criminal activity during protests was suspected. Instead, the portal provided by Ring made it possible for the LAPD to ask for private citizens inadvertent recordings of protected speech. This is secondhand surveillance. And its encroachment into our everyday lives should be greeted with suspicion. This is an opportunistic approach to law enforcement, one that embraces mission creep. Press Release 23 February 2021 Social media may be the best way for luxury hotels to tap in to China's enormous consumer market, according to a groundbreaking study co-authored by Mr Xinhai Mou, Dr Lisa Gao of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and a co-author. The global luxury sector is growing, and in an era of information overload, platforms such as WeChat and YouTube enable hotel managers to bring luxury experiences vividly to life. Drawing on a sample of affluent Chinese consumers, the researchers show how luxury hotel managers can develop curated social media content to meet the needs of the world's biggest market for luxury travel. Advertisements Living extravagantly is becoming a new reality for many, the researchers observe, as a rise in disposable income worldwide fuels the growth of the luxury sector. Few market segments offer a more promising target for luxury brands than China, whose consumers represent more than a third of the global luxury market. Hotels are no exception. To take advantage of this enormous market, hotel brands need to attract affluent Chinese travellers who seek unique, personalised accommodation experiences. The first task is to understand what motivates Chinese consumers to purchase luxury products and services. "In China, material success has become an essential indicator of achievement", the researchers tell us. "Consumers are motivated to purchase luxury products to gain respect or dignity and improve their social status". The researchers term this motivation "need for status" (NFS). Compared with their Western counterparts, Chinese consumers generally engage in more conspicuous consumption and have a greater NFS. However, the researchers warn that the situation may be more complex than it seems. Despite attaching great value to the social benefits of luxury purchases, Chinese consumers have surprisingly limited knowledge of luxury brands. Younger generations and more experienced consumers may not even view luxury as a marker of social status. Yet despite these important differences, "little research in the tourism and hospitality setting specifically investigates Chinese luxury consumers' behaviours". To help hotels understand this growing market segment, the researchers set out to explore how Chinese consumers with different levels of NFS view luxury hospitality consumption. No study of modern luxury hospitality would be complete without considering social media, which have revolutionised the interaction between luxury hotels and their customers. Astonishingly, the researchers write, "more than half of luxury purchases are influenced by others' experiences reported on social media". By posting on platforms such as WeChat, Weibo and YouTube, hotels can share their facilities, decor and services with thousands and even millions of users. Meanwhile, uploading pictures and videos to social media enables consumers to impress others by displaying tangible evidence of their luxury consumption experiences. "For example", note the researchers, "celebrities may post pictures of luxury hotel experiences such as high tea" to show off their elegant and extravagant lifestyles. Why do social media offer such a good way to market luxury hotel experiences? The researchers explain this in terms of the sights, smells, sounds and tastes conjured in our minds by a particularly evocative image or description. Watching a YouTube video of your favourite celebrity enjoying afternoon tea at a five-star hotel might make you hungry for more than just cucumber sandwiches. "If consumers imagine themselves having enjoyable experiences at luxury hotels", the researchers explain, "they are highly likely to feel the urge to book stays at such establishments". When consumers search online for information on luxury hotels, the kind of content they see may affect the images that form in their minds. For example, close-up photos or videos give consumers the sense that they are completely immersed in what they see, whereas wide-angle photos shot from a distance offer a more detached view. Consumers who wish to impress others with their luxury purchases may be particularly attracted to close-up images that provide a first-person perspective on hotels' high-end furnishings, well-appointed spa facilities, Michelin-starred dishes and so on. To test these ideas, the researchers first created a series of social media style photos intended to vividly convey the experience of enjoying afternoon tea at a luxury hotel. Some were taken from a first-person perspective. "They were close-up shots of the delicate workmanship of the porcelain and delicious desserts, with no actors in the field". The rest were taken from a third-person perspective. They showed the dishes and cutlery on the table, the diners and the surrounding environment. Next, the researchers showed the photos to 200 Chinese consumers. As they had all experienced luxury services in the last two years, from fine dining to first-class flights, the participants were defined as "affluent consumers who could afford to engage in luxury consumption". They were all familiar with social media. In a questionnaire, they were asked to indicate how immersed they felt in the scenes shown in the photos, and whether they would be likely to recommend the hotel to others. The researchers carefully analysed the participants' responses to examine the intentions of real-world affluent Chinese consumers to seek out luxury hotel experiences after viewing social media photos of luxury hotels. Their findings have important practical implications for managers of luxury hotels in the new era of Chinese tourism. As expected, the participants who wished to impress others with their luxurious lifestyles preferred the close-up photos of the hotel. For affluent consumers with a high NFS, the researchers explain, "viewing images from the first-person perspective significantly increases their intention to engage in luxury hospitality consumption". In contrast, photos of hotels are unlikely to have much effect on affluent customers who lack the desire for social status, "because they do not feel the need to distinguish themselves from less affluent consumers". They view luxury consumption as a normal, everyday activity. As consumers with a high NFS make up a big part of China's luxury market, efforts to understand their behaviour and meet their needs have high commercial value. To attract well-off Chinese hotel guests keen to distinguish themselves from others, write the researchers, "hospitality companies are encouraged to create immersive and vivid information for consumers online". When sharing photos and videos on social media, they should focus on capturing the tangible aspects of the luxury experiences their hotels provide, such as furniture, food and amenities. In China today, increasingly more celebrities are posting photos of their experiences at luxury hotels on social media. These posts serve as "subtle hotel advertisements", the researchers tell us. To stay ahead of the curve, luxury hotel managers and marketers could invite celebrities and key opinion leaders to post photos of their hotels from a first-person perspective. This would encourage affluent Chinese consumers to form concrete mental images of luxury hotel consumption, making them more likely to book a stay in the future. "The potential power of social media to influence final hospitality-related consumption decisions should not be ignored", conclude the researchers. Luxury hotels have emerged as a niche segment in the global travel sector, making a sizeable contribution to total hotel revenue in recent years. Although luxury hotels may still be the stuff of daydreams for many, they are becoming more affordable for China's enormous and increasingly affluent consumer base. This study not only shows luxury hotel managers how to capitalise on the world's biggest market, but may also shed light on the path ahead in a time of global uncertainty. The most effective kind of luxury tourism today, suggest the researchers, is "aesthetic", "escapist" and "immersive", and this can be realised through the right social media strategies. Xinhai Mou, Lisa Gao and Wan Yang (2019). The Joint Effects of Need for Status and Mental Imagery Perspective on Luxury Hospitality Consumption in China. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, Vol. 36, Issue 9, pp. 1050-1060. 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 Gandhinagar, Feb 23 : The people of Gujarat have started looking for options other than the opposition Congress, seeking an alternative to the ruling BJP in the local body elections of six municipal corporations in Gujarat. Parties like Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have opened their accounts in Gujarat. Making a debut in the state by fielding its candidates for the six municipal Corporations, the AAP gained 27 seats in the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) against the BJP's 93 seats, becoming the main opposition party in the SMC. AAP candidates captured entire wards of 2, 3, 4, 5, 16 and 17 in the SMC and won 2 seats in ward 7 and a single seat in ward 8. The Congress could not even secure a single seat in Surat. Similarly, AIMIM opened its account in Ahmedabad by winning two wards of Jamalpura and Maktampura, with all its candidates in both the wards winning. The Congress had a stronghold on these areas until now. Besides that, the BSP gained three seats in ward number 6 of the Jamnagar Municipal Corporation (JMC). The people of Gujarat it seems have rejected the only opposition they have had until now, that of Congress in many areas. Beside Surat, the Congress could garner only four seats in the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC), whereas in 2015, it had secured 34 seats against BJP's 38 out of the total 72. Till now, there has been a direct fight between the BJP and Congress. The third option has always been rejected by the people of the state. "The people of Gujarat are fed up of the BJP government, but they had no other option until now. We think that both the BJP and Congress are the same. We thank the people of Gujarat for supporting us in this election and helping us secure seats in SMC," said Jaydeep Pandya, AAP General Secretary, Gujarat. CHICO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / February 23, 2021 / AmeraMex International, Inc., (OTCQB:AMMX) a national and international provider of new and refurbished heavy equipment to logistics companies, infrastructure construction, logging companies, and forestry conservation organizations, announced today that its Corporate Overview and Presentation has been launched on the M-Vest Website. M-Vest is an online investment bank and digital community built for issuers, investors, and thought leaders to share information and access investment opportunities. Please visit www.m-vest.com to access AmeraMex International's Corporate Presentation under Insights and visit www.AMMX.net for more information regarding AmeraMex International. The AmeraMex International, Inc. presentations published via the M-Vest website shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. About Maxim Group LLC and M-Vest M-Vest is an online investment bank and digital community built for issuers, investors, and thought leaders to share information and access investment opportunities. M-Vest LLC-hosted company profiles and other materials including web content, are based on data obtained from sources M-Vest believes to be reliable but are not guaranteed as to accuracy and are not purported to be complete. As such, the information should not be construed as advice designed to meet the particular investment needs of any investor. Any opinions expressed in M-Vest-hosted company profiles, or other materials and presentations are subject to change. M-Vest and its affiliates may own shares of securities or options of the issuers mentioned on the M-Vest website. In the purview of Section 17(b) of the Securities Act of 1933 and in the interest of full disclosure, M-Vest calls the reader's attention to the fact that M-Vest is retained by certain clients to increase investor awareness. Maxim Group, a sister company to M-Vest LLC, is a full-service investment banking, securities, and wealth management firm. About AmeraMex International AmeraMex International sells, leases, and rents heavy equipment to companies within multiple industries including construction, logistics, mining, and lumber. AmeraMex, with a US and international customer base, has over 30 years of experience in heavy equipment sales and service. Follow AmeraMex on Twitter @ammx_intl and visit the AmeraMex website, or www.hamreequipment.com for additional corporate information, online heavy equipment inventory/pricing and videos. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release are forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "potential," "continue" or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties, and there are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Investors are encouraged to review the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investors should not place any undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects the Company's current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Investor and Media Relations McCloud Communications, LLC Marty Tullio, Managing Member Office: 949.632.1900 Marty@McCloudCommunications.com SOURCE: AmeraMex International, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/631212/AmeraMex-International-Launches-on-M-Vest Rahul Gandhi stoking fear on vaccine, all will be vaccinate by December: Union Minister Rahul targets Left Front govt over buffer zone around Kerala's Wayanad wildlife sanctuary India oi-Madhuri Adnal Wayanad (Ker), Feb 23: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday attacked Kerala''s CPI(M)-led LDF government over its "stand" on the buffer zone around the boundary of Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, saying it is putting at risk the livelihood of the people of his constituency. "The State Govt''s stand on buffer zone is putting at risk the livelihoods of the people around Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary.Govt action is pushing these hardworking people to a bleak future of uncertainty & suffering. Corrective action is immediately needed," the Wayanad MP, who concluded his two-day constituency visit on Tuesday, said in a tweet. Hitting back at the Wayanad MP, State Forest Minister K Raju said the decision on buffer zone is determined by the Union Environment and Forest Ministry. The minister said Gandhi, who is based in New Delhi, should give necessary suggestions to the Forest Ministry to exclude densely populated areas around the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary while notifying Ecological Sensitive Zone around its boundary. "It is the central government which takes decisions on the matter.We have written to the ministry seeking to exclude populated areas while notifying bufferzone," Raju told PTI when his attention was drawn to Gandhi''s tweet. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slams PM Modi for ridiculing MGNREGA He said the state government''s earlier suggestion was to create a 0 to 1 km buffer zone around the boundary but an amended suggestion was sent later suggesting that densely populated areas should be excluded. On February 6, Gandhi had sent a letter to Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar urging him to address the concerns raised by the people of his constituency on the issue. In its draft notification issued on January 28, the Ministry had proposed to notify an area to an extent varying from 0 to 3.4 km around the boundary of the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary as the Eco-sensitive Zone. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Ramesh Chennithala have sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allay the apprehension of the people in Wayanad over the draft notification. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, February 23, 2021, 19:44 [IST] On February 19, after a month in office, the Biden administration clearly outlined US policy in the Asia-Pacific, especially in the East Sea. Joe Biden has not made concessions to China and has not changed the tough line outlined by his predecessor, but only changed the approach. The US State Department's press release dated February 19 affirmed the validity of the statement on July 13, 2020 on China's unlawful maritime claims in the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea), and the US standing firm in its respective alliance commitments. Chinese coast guard vessels. Photo: Kyodo The press release reiterated the key points: The US stance is similar to the statement of the 2016 Arbitral Tribal ruling on China's non-legal claims in the exclusive economic zones or continental shelf of the Philippines. The US opposes any claim to waters outside the 12-nautical-mile territorial water of the claim islands in Truong Sa Archipelago (Spratly Islands). It is illegal for China to banish exploration and fishing activities of other countries in the waters of other claimants, or to unilaterally exploit those resources. These waters are named in both claims such as the Reed Bank (Philippines), Tu Chinh Vanguard Bank (Vietnam) or Luconia (Malaysia). The February 19 statement paid much attention to concerns of countries about China's recent enactment of the Coast Guard Law, which took effect on February 1, 2021. Immediately after this law came into effect, Chinese coast guard vessels appeared in the Senkaku/Diaoyu area. The US State Department said that the language in that law expressly ties the potential use of force, including armed force by the China Coast Guard, to the enforcement of Chinas claims in ongoing territorial and maritime disputes in the East Sea. This law allows the Chinese coast guard to open fire when it is necessary in the waters and airspace under Chinese jurisdiction without defining the term "necessary" and the areas under Chinese jurisdiction. International observers are concerned that this law allows the Chinese coast guard to open fire in disputed waters, within the 9-dash line claim, to establish an Air Defense Identification Area (ADIZ), and to realize the intention of use national law to resolve international disputes, turning coast guard, a civilian-police force, into an armed force. Opening fire to attack state ships, law enforcement forces of other countries will be considered an act of war. Lack of restraint among forces in the region could lead to war, destabilizing and affecting peace, and the prosperity and development of the region and of the world. The US State Department's press statement also stated that this law, which allows the coast guard to destroy other countries economic structures and to use force in defending Chinas maritime claims in disputed areas, strongly implies this law could be used to intimidate Chinas maritime neighbors. Drastic moves on the field USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier appears with USS Nimitz in the East Sea on February 9, 2021. Photo: US Navy Notably, the statement confirmed that the US will defend its alliance commitments to Japan and the Philippines when these countries are under attack. The US reminds China of its obligations under the United Nations Charter to refrain from the threat or use of force, and to conform its maritime claims to the International Law of the Sea, as reflected in the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS). This shows that the US is aware of the need to unite countries against excessive behavior, violation of international law of a country, on the basis of respecting international law, sovereignty and interests of countries, not the "America First" policy as before. In the field, the Biden administration also took drastic measures. One day after the China Coast Guard Law was approved on January 22, the US deployed a group of aircraft carriers including USS Theodore Roosevelt, cruiser USS Bunker Hill, destroyers USS Russell and USS John Finn in the East Sea. On February 5, the destroyer John S. McCain first moved through the waters near the Hoang Sa archipelago (Paracel Islands) of Vietnam. Then, the second group of aircraft carriers USS Nimitz entered the East Sea on February 9 to join an exercise. This is the first time the US send two groups of aircraft carriers to the East Sea at the same time since July 2020. After the exercise, on February 17, the USS Russell passed through the Spratly Islands. If it took the Trump administration five months to resume freedom of navigation (FONOP) operations after taking office, President Biden's response took place within a few days and with a large number of vessels, demonstrating a serious and powerful attitude. Internationalizing East Sea disputes Notably, US allies also sent warships to protect freedom of navigation in the East Sea. The UK sent HMS Queen Elizabeth to the Pacific Ocean through the East Sea in January 2021. France sent two ships, including the SNA Emeraude nuclear attack submarine to the East Sea. Germany also plans to send its ships to the East Sea in 2021. The statement of the US and countries outside the region show solidarity with small countries against the attitude of power, protesting against the use of force and threatening to use force in resolving disputes in the East Sea. This proves that the internationalization of the East Sea disputes has become more clearly. The world is paying more attention to and is carefully considering the activities and attitudes of the disputing parties in the East Sea, expecting the parties to restrain and soon settle disputes by peaceful means, in accordance with the UN Charter and UNCLOS. Nguyen Hong Thao East Sea 2020: The US adjusts its policy, Southeast Asia gets tough with China Facing China's actions, the United States increased military operations in the East Sea and adjusted its policy towards endorsing the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA)'s ruling in 2016. 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. Dr Swati Mohan, the Indian-American scientist who played a crucial role in the landing of Perseverance, the NASA Mars rover, spoke exclusively to Republic Media Network on Tuesday. "It is really quite humbling and overwhelming honestly. I am still trying to grapple with it all," Dr Mohan, who leads the guidance, navigation, and control operations of NASA's Mars 2020 mission said on the reception she received from across the globe since the landing of the historic craft. Dr Mohan said that "not even in her wildest dreams" she had imagined the adulation she has got over the past few days. Dr Mohan had been front and centre of NASA's coverage of the entire landing which was streamed across the world. 'It has really been a journey...,' narrates Dr Swati Mohan "I am just one of the whole team of Perseverance rover. The landing was made possible because we have an immensely talented diverse team who all worked together to achieve that success. This type of mission is not due to any one person or any one team but rather everyone working together in order to bring their best to achieve something so great," she said. Speaking about her journey from being a part of the Cassini mission to Saturn, GRAIL, a pair of formation flown spacecraft to the Moon and several others to the Mars 2020 mission, Dr Swati Mohan said, "It has really been a journey. In the previous missions I worked, I had much smaller roles and an opportunity to learn. Being a part of the Mars 2020 project was my first opportunity to see the entire life cycle of a mission starting from when it was just a paper concept to actually when we got to operate it in space." "It gave me the opportunity to bring all the pieces together from the different missions I had worked on or previous technology I had worked on and bring it all in one mission to see it from concept to design and finally to operations," she added. Feeling the heat, and the Gs! Im past peak heating and deceleration. Now in guided entry phase, maneuvering to zero in on my landing target.#CountdownToMars pic.twitter.com/TbNAFBRGWf NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 18, 2021 You might have seen photos from Mars, but have you seen high-speed video? We captured our @NASAPersevere rovers final minutes of descent and landing in a way never seen before. Take a look: https://t.co/CQQtlWAzNF pic.twitter.com/uR3dtocwLF NASA (@NASA) February 23, 2021 READ | Indian-origin scientist Dr Swati Mohan leads NASA's op Perseverance Rover landing on Mars 'Firing spacecraft during a pandemic, not an easy feat' Dr Swati Mohan said that firing a spacecraft during a pandemic was "not an easy feat." Terming communication the "biggest challenge", she said, "In operations when so many things are going on, we rely on being talking to each other in order to understand the system quickly and bounce ideas back and forth with each other. Usually, we are in the same room, so that sort of interaction gets taken for granted but with the pandemic, we really had to make sure that type of interactions and communication could still happen in order to assess the health of the spacecraft and understand what we needed to do." "When the pandemic first hit, we had to basically reimagine what that meant in terms of how meetings would take place and how we would actually talk to each other on conference calls if we could not be in the same room together, how we are going to get information back and forth to the team when people were not co-located in one area. As time passed, we gradually were able to refine those processes and get our rhythm back. I think what helped the most because the Perseverance team was working together for so long beforehand that we all had the bonds with each other already which enabled that type of communication to be a little easier. It certainly was a challenge though," she said. Miss my landing? Catch the highlights below. Send us your own highlights too. Share your pictures and video using #CountdownToMars. pic.twitter.com/OL2wSAi36e NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 19, 2021 READ | NASA releases video of Perseverance Rover's Mars landing & first audio of Red planet 'Could not celebrate fully due to Covid protocols' Dr Swati Mohan pointed out that working with the Perseverance team has been a highlight of the mission. "All the members are such immensely talented and dedicated," she said while sharing her experience of working with a diverse team. "I would say probably the biggest disappointment was because of Covid protocols, not being able to fully celebrate the day of landing. Only about half the team was able to be there in person," the NASA veteran said. Speaking about the moments after the landing, she said, "We had a series of Webex parties in terms of celebrating afterwards since we were still under the Covid protocols. Each group ended up creating their own meetings so that people could join in and recount their experiences of watching it whether in person or remote. It was really special to hear people about how they celebrated." READ | ICC takes cricket to Mars, netizens predict England would whine over the pitch there too On the Perseverance Rover's 'Seven minutes of terror' "For those seven minutes, I was really hyper-focused the data we were getting back and trying to parse out what we were seeing. Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has a methodology in place on how we train for this type of critical events. So we had gone through simulations of landing day with the whole team. In some sense, it felt like one of those simulations where as long as I was looking at the data, I was trying focused just on that. It actually did not fully sync in until a few moments after the landing when people are up and cheering and I realised that I did not have anything more to say because we had actually touched down. And then, it started to sync in that it was not a simulation." Whoosh Ive ditched my heat shield and am looking straight at Mars for the first time! Just over 2 mins to landing.#CountdownToMars pic.twitter.com/kzxMCjh0TE NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 18, 2021 Here goes! Lighting the engines on my jetpack for final descent. Wheels down in less than a minute.#CountdownToMars pic.twitter.com/AQKPEBGr0o NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 18, 2021 'Perseverance- the first leg of Mars sample return' "Perseverance is unique because, for the first time, it is setting up not just for this single exploration but a whole campaign of exploration that will happen due to Perseverance. It is the first leg of Mars sample return, so the whole sample cashing system will be able to travel to different places and collect samples of Mars in different sorts of geological features. This is the first step in bringing those back to earth. If we are able to bring them back on earth, it will be the first time, we can use all of the different technological instruments and scientific queries we have on those samples to answer a wide variety of questions and really open up the explorations and find answers to questions like, 'Could life had existed on Mars in the past?' It will bring us to understanding how we evolved and what that means for the existence of life elsewhere," Dr Swati Mohan said. The moment that my team dreamed of for years, now a reality. Dare mighty things. #CountdownToMars pic.twitter.com/8SgV53S9KG NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 19, 2021 READ | NASA shares stunning images of Mars taken by Perseverance rover An Idaho couple teamed up to tackle an unusual Guinness World Record when the wife helped the husband don 35 T-shirts in one minute. ADVERTISEMENT David Rush, who has broken more than 150 Guinness records to promote STEM education, said he and his wife, Jennifer, previously attempted the same record in summer 2020, but despite managing to put on 32 shirts, their attempt was disqualified due to a requirement that each shirt be pulled to the waist all around the body. Rush shared a video showing his wife helping him pull on 35 T-shirts, beating the previous record of 31 shirts. Rush said having a helper turned out to be crucial for the last few shirts, as wearing so many articles of clothing restricted the movement of his arms. A medical staffer takes part in a training for COVID-19 vaccinationat a nursing home in Gwangju, Tuesday, ahead of the inoculation scheduled to start on Friday. Yonhap By Lee Hyo-jin The government's rollout of its COVID-19 vaccination program is just around the corner with the goal of achieving herd immunity in Korea by November. But health experts say that this target may not be so easy to reach as the plan could be affected by several variables. Beginning with the first inoculations Friday of patients and healthcare workers aged under 65 at nursing homes, the administration plans to vaccinate 70 percent of the population by September in order to achieve the immunity by the set date. But a recent report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a sister company of The Economist, predicted that Korea's widespread vaccination coverage of 70 percent of adults will only be possible by mid-2022. Criteria taken into account for the forecast included supply and production constraints, vaccine hesitancy, population size, and the availability of healthcare workers. "It is tricky to stably manage vaccine supply schedules in the current situation when demand exceeds supply worldwide, but if we are able to thoroughly carry out the plan, it will be possible to form herd immunity by November," said Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyung in a briefing Monday when asked about the prediction from EIU. But she listed three variables vaccination rates, the supply schedule, and the emergence of new variants as risk factors in reaching the goal. Medical staff at a public health center in Gwangju check a box which will be used to carry vaccines, during a vaccination drill. Feb. 19. Yonhap Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 09:57:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TRIPOLI, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- United Nations (UN) envoy to Libya Jan Kubis held discussions with a wide range of interlocutors in various parts of the country, and stressed the UN's commitment to the roadmap of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF), the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said Monday. Kubis, the special envoy of the UN Secretary General for Libya and head of the UNSMIL, met the interlocutors that included the Tripoli-based UN-backed government, the eastern-based House of Representatives (HoR), the eastern-based army, the National Oil Corporation, the High National Election Commission, and the newly-selected executive authority, the UNSMIL said in a statement. The discussions focused on the progress made on the implementation of the LPDF roadmap and the priority of next steps, the statement said. The parties concerned talked about the imperative to ensure steady progress towards the full implementation of a cease-fire agreement, the importance of advancing timely preparations for the upcoming national elections in December, and the commitment of Libya's leadership to meet the basic social and economic needs of the population, including addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as national reconciliation and transitional justice, the statement added. "The Special Envoy welcomed the progress achieved so far by the Libyan stakeholders in different areas and stressed the importance of all relevant institutions to respect the roadmap and continue working for its full implementation," the statement said. The UN official also called on all parties to meet their obligations and to provide the necessary support for the implementation of the cease-fire agreement and relevant UN Security Council resolutions, including the withdrawal of foreign forces and mercenaries. "The Special Envoy reiterated UNSMIL's strong commitment to supporting the efforts to reunify Libya, its authorities, and institutions and to restore its full sovereignty, towards its sustainable security, stability, and prosperity," the statement said. The UN-sponsored LPDF recently selected a new executive authority for the country, which was welcomed by all the Libyan parties. The new executive authority's main task is to prepare the country for the upcoming general elections on Dec. 24, as agreed upon by the LPDF. In October 2020, the Libyan parties signed a permanent cease-fire agreement that ended the war between the eastern-based army and the UN-backed government in and around the capital Tripoli. Enditem FAIRFAX, Va., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Salient CRGT has been awarded a $105M contract by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to support strategic initiatives including Cloud first approaches (e.g., SaaS, PaaS, IaaS), improve network operations, consolidation of IT services, cybersecurity, and IT Portfolio Planning and Management. This 5-year, single-award contract, named USAID Strategic Programs, was awarded as a competitive contract under the General Services Administration (GSA) Alliant 2 Vehicle. Salient CRGT will support various USAID Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) divisions. The scope of USAID Strategic Programs includes support services for the following OCIO organizational functions: 1. Enterprise Architecture and Engineering Management; 2. Policy, Process, and Quality Management; 3. FITARA Support; 4. Audit and Reporting; 5. Project Management Office (PMO); and 6. Major Investments Management. In support of America's foreign policy, USAID leads the U.S. Government's international development and disaster assistance through partnerships and investments that save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance, and help people emerge from humanitarian crises and progress beyond assistance. "Our knowledge of the operational environment and our commitment to the highest possible customer service provides USAID with a dedicated and trusted partner to assist in executing this critical mission," said Tom Ferrando, Salient CRGT CEO. "We are honored to stand with USAID when disaster strikes or crisis emerges as the world leader in humanitarian assistance." The Salient CRGT team is moving forward with the transition process leveraging our experienced team to ensure USAID Strategic Programs gets off to a great start. About Salient CRGT Salient CRGT provides agile software development, health, data analytics, mobility, cybersecurity, and infrastructure solutions. We support these core capabilities with full lifecycle IT services and trainingto help our customers meet critical goals for pivotal missions. We are purpose-built for IT transformation supporting homeland security, defense, intelligence agencies, federal civilian, health, and Fortune 1000 companies. We use the most innovative talent delivery model in the industry, scientifically providing exactly the right people for the customers' most urgent requirements. Salient CRGT has earned a record of success with the integration and operations of largescale, highvolume solutions. Visit our newsroom and explore www.salientcrgt.com . Tweet: @Salient_CRGT Awarded $105M Contract for USAID Strategic Programs. http://bit.ly/1MGSz5l SOURCE Salient CRGT, Inc. Related Links www.salientcrgt.com South Korea and Iran have agreed a way forward that could see billions of dollars of frozen oil money unblocked, Seoul said Tuesday, but signalled that the agreement was effectively subject to US approval. Tehran last month seized a South Korean-flagged tanker in sensitive Gulf waters, citing the ship's 'repeated infringement of maritime environmental laws'. The seizure of the tanker came after Tehran had urged Seoul to release billions of dollars of Iranian assets frozen in South Korea under US sanctions over its nuclear programme. The South's foreign ministry said Iran's central bank governor and Seoul's ambassador had reached an agreement in Tehran. ' Iran has agreed to our proposals to use the fund,' the ministry said in a statement, without giving details. There have been suggestions the money could be used to buy coronavirus vaccines, or to pay Iran's debts at the UN. But the South Korean ministry added: "Actual lifting of the fund freeze will have to go through consultations with related actors including the US." The comment suggests Washington which is insisting Iran move first in the nuclear stand-off will have a de facto veto on any transfers. The Iranian government released a separate statement on the deal, quoting Central Bank of Iran governor Abdolnasser Hemmati saying it would continue to demand compensation from South Korean banks. ' The South Korean side needs to make a lot of efforts to erase this negative record,' he added. Tehran was a key oil supplier to resource-poor South Korea until Washington's rules blocked the purchases. The then US president Donald Trump in 2018 withdrew Washington from a landmark nuclear agreement with world powers and then reimposed and reinforced crippling sanctions on Iran. According to Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei, Tehran has $7 billion of funds blocked in Seoul. Tehran has repeatedly denied any link between the ship's seizure and the issuing of the funds, and earlier this month said it had agreed to allow the crew members to leave in a 'humanitarian move'. Short link: "The addition of USAePay to the NMI family will complement our existing products and bring additional expertise to our team," said Vijay Sondhi, CEO of NMI. NMI, a leading global payments enablement technology company, today announced it has acquired USAePay, a payment solutions company. Bringing together the NMI and USAePay solution sets allows the combined entity to better serve its joint partners and the market by expanding NMIs technical capabilities, offering more choice and further establishing its leadership in global omnichannel payments. As merchants continue adapting their payment strategies to meet consumers where they are during COVID-19, omnichannel solutions have cemented their role as the leading payment processing method across industries. NMIs acquisition of USAePay will create an even stronger global omnichannel offering, pairing each companys leading solutions across e-commerce, unattended, retail and mobile payments. Its joint offerings and capabilities will drive more value for partners and developers, and enable more modularity to create unique payment solutions for consumers. The acquisition will also strengthen NMIs coverage in several key verticals, including retail and restaurant where USAePay has established footprints due to their card-present point-of-sale offerings. NMI has a history of continuously innovating to provide payment solutions that reflect changing market conditions, said Vijay Sondhi, CEO of NMI. Were committed to providing our ISO, ISV, bank and fintech innovator partners with the choice and flexibility they need to meet shifting consumer preferences across channels through our white-labeled platform. The addition of USAePay to the NMI family will complement our existing products and bring additional expertise to our team. It will further establish our commitment to offering greater scale, breadth and depth in our solutions and resources to better serve the market. Our combination reinforces our position as the main independent player of scale delivering flexible white-labeled solution agnostic of acquirer or merchant account provider." This is an exciting move by NMI and USAePay. If theres anything 2020 taught us, its the importance of omnichannel, said Mike Strawhecker, President of The Strawhecker Group (TSG), an analytics and consulting firm focused on the payments acceptance industry. The restaurant and retail industries are prominent examples of this, but its true across the board. With nearly a half-century between the two companies of transacting payments, they should be able to reliably innovate at a rapid pace. The combined company accounts for $100+ billion in payment volume and 1.5+ billion in payment transactions in 2020. The combination of USAePay with NMI will benefit the broader payment enablement market including USAePay customers, said Ben Goretsky, CEO of USAePay. Were thrilled to become part of NMIs growth story and join their global footprint. Were proud of the success weve had as an independent payments solutions provider and look forward to enjoying even greater success by combining our complementary capabilities and market coverage with NMI to support a wider range of partners and their merchants with a stronger set of omnichannel solutions. USAePay is headquartered in Glendale, Calif. NMI will maintain the Glendale office and welcome the USAePay employees into the NMI family. Terms of the acquisition are undisclosed. For more information about NMI, visit http://www.nmi.com. About NMI NMI is a leading global payment enablement platform, processing more than $70 billion in payments annually. We enable payments for 1,450 partners and over 150,000 merchants around the world and across the entire commerce ecosystem: online, in-app, mobile, in-store, unattended and whatevers next. Were constantly innovating in order to power the next era of payments, building in the latest technology so ISOs, ISVs and fintech innovators can focus on what they do best. NMI has offices in the US and UK and serves global customers. About USAePay USAePay is a payment gateway company with over 20 years of experience. Their payment gateway is used by nearly 90,000 merchants and supports most of the major platforms in the credit card industry and works with some of the leading check platforms. They work with most of the larger merchant service banks in the US and Canada. Hearst Connecticut Media WILTON As students returned to school Monday, Superintendent Kevin Smith said six new COVID cases were reported during the winter recess. The Middlebrook School saw the most positive test results, accounting for half of the new cases. Wilton High School, the Miller-Driscoll School and the Cider Mill School each reported one new case. [February 23, 2021] Tawazun and Yahsat collaborate to develop 'Made in the UAE' SATCOM solutions ABU DHABI, UAE, Feb. 23, 2021 /CNW/ -- Tawazun Economic Council and the UAE's flagship satellite services operator, Yahsat, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a new company to develop critical in-country capabilities in relation to the development and manufacture of advanced satcom solutions within the UAE, with a focus on building intellectual property locally for increased national security and advanced technology development. The MoU confirming the planned collaboration was signed during IDEX 2021 by Eisa Al Shamsi, Deputy General Manager of Yahsat Government Solutions, and Matar Al Romaithi, Chief Economic Development Officer for Tawazun, in the presence of H.E. Tareq Al Hosani, Chief Executive Officer of Tawazun, Musabbeh Al Kaabi, Chairman of Yahsat and Masood M. Sharif Mahmood, Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of Yahsat. Under the MoU, the new company will develop technologies and produce products around three main streams: Aeronautical Satcom Technologies, Satellite Modem Technologies and Enablement of other Satcom Products and Technologies. It will leverage the significant knowledge and expertise establishment in the UAE and will be complemeted by select international experts to build a global leader in this sector. The first seed project entails the development of a protected, multi-platform satellite modem for government and defense markets in the UAE and internationally. Yahsat will play an integral role in ensuring that the new company's products meet the requirements of its government customers with a differentiated and targeted product strategy, enabling the UAE Government and other local and international users to address key technology development. It will source key product development capabilities from leading solution providers and manufacturers to lay the foundation for local production lines and integrated value chain management. "Yahsat and Tawazun are playing a key role in accelerating the advancement of the satellite communications sector in the UAE, this collaboration is further testament to our country's position as a global pioneer across a number of high growth sectors. These partnerships are vital to the diversification of the UAE's economy, and we are committed to supporting our UAE Investments' portfolio companies as they contribute to our nation's sustainable growth," said Musabbeh Al Kaabi, Chairman of Yahsat. CEO Tawazun, H.E. Tareq Abdulraheem Al Hosani said: "At Tawazun, we seek to reaffirm Abu Dhabi's position as a leading regional hub of strategic technologies and manufacturing. We are excited about the long-term prospects of our collaboration with Yahsat. In less than a decade since it launched its first satellite, Yahsat has grown to be one of the world's leading satellite enterprises, with an enviable track record of accomplishments that are a source of pride to all Emiratis. Our collaboration stands to gain tremendously from Yahsat's expertise and connections, spurring innovation and technology development within the UAE." Ali Al Hashemi, Chief Executive Officer Designate of Yahsat added: "Yahsat has always served as a catalyst for the diversification of the UAE's economy. We have invested heavily in nation-building through our longstanding partnership with the UAE Armed Forces and various other initiatives, driving growth and new opportunities. In keeping with the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030, we now look forward to commencing homegrown production of advanced communication technologies so that the UAE can achieve its national objectives with greater autonomy. We are grateful to our country's leadership and Tawazun for entrusting us with this opportunity to develop Emirati's to serve the growing space sector." By developing bespoke solutions for critical national requirements, Tawazun and Yahsat expect to raise the bar for customer satisfaction, especially among key decision-makers in the UAE, GCC and beyond. Their mission is to capture value and establish the UAE as a producer of satellite-enabled defense communication technologies, entrenching its reputation as a sustainable and sovereign space economy. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1442926/Yahsat_Tawazun_MoU.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1442927/Yahsat_Logo.jpg View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tawazun-and-yahsat-collaborate-to-develop-made-in-the-uae-satcom-solutions-301233552.html SOURCE Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] ROCHESTER, Minn. After five car chases in two counties, a southeastern Minnesota man is going to prison. Brian Keith Rathbun, 55 of Wykoff, was sentenced Monday to five years behind bars, with credit for 205 days already served. Thats for concurrent sentences for fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle in Olmsted County and possession of a firearm or ammunition after being convicted of a crime of violence in Fillmore County. As part of a plea deal, 13 other criminal charges against Rathbun were dismissed. He was first accused of evading a traffic stop on March 8, 2019, in Rochester where just under four grams of methamphetamine were found in his vehicle. Next, Rathbun was charged with failing to obey an officer, leading to a car chase on May 13, 2019, that started in Oronoco and reached speeds of 70 to 80 miles per hour. Rathbun was then found sleeping in his vehicle in Rochester on September 17, 2019, and after a police officer determined there were felony warrants for his arrest, Rathbun again sped away. Law enforcement tried to capture Rathbun after learning he was at a trailer park in Wykoff. After another car chase that reached up to 80 miles per hour, Rathbun again escaped but his vehicle was found. Law enforcement says there were two shotguns and drug paraphernalia in the vehicle. And after being accused again of drug possession in Fillmore County, Rathbun was finally caught on October 15, 2020 at Willow Creek Campground. Rochester police say Rathbun tried to drive away but officers had blocked the campground exit and when Rathbun tried to escape on foot, he was captured by a police K9 dog. LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / February 23, 2021 / World High Life Plc (AQSE:LIFE)(OTCQB:WRHLF) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, leading UK-based CBD brand, Love Hemp Limited, ("Love Hemp"), has submitted its Novel Food dossier to the Food Standards Agency ("FSA"). The dossier submitted by Love Hemp is in support of the FSA's move to regulate a currently unregulated CBD market in the UK. Tony Calamita, CEO of World High Life and Love Hemp, says "We are committed to providing our consumers with the highest quality THC-free CBD products and believe the new Novel Food regulations will help end regulatory uncertainty surrounding CBD in the UK." Dr. Sepe Sehati, Chief Scientific and Regulatory Affairs Lead at Love Hemp, says "It's been a huge pleasure to spend the past few months leading a dedicated team to compile a robust evidence-based dossier for submission to the FSA. To my knowledge, Love Hemp's application is also in the unique position of having provided comprehensive pre-clinical results, based on our own proprietary study protocols, investigating the effects of Love Hemp's finished product formulations on the pharmacokinetics of CBD. To have been able to do this at pre-validation stage is a great achievement." The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement. About Love Hemp Love Hemp is one of the UK's leading CBD and Hemp product suppliers and has more than 40 product lines, comprising oils, sprays and vapes and a variety of edible and water-based CBD products. Love Hemp has established relationships with over 1,500 stores in the UK, including leading brands such as Sainsbury's, Boots, Ocado and Holland & Barrett. About World High Life World High Life was established by the founders of Supreme Cannabis (TSX: FIRE), and 1933 Industries (CSE: TGIF), both companies at the forefront of the legalized cannabis industry. LIFE was established to take advantage of the huge opportunities available in the UK and European legal cannabis space, which is set to be the largest in the world within five years. For further information please contact: Andrew Male Director +44 (0) 7926 397 675 andrew@worldhighlife.uk AQSE Corporate Adviser Mark Anwyl/Allie Feuerlein Peterhouse Capital Limited +44 (0) 20 7469 0930 ma@peterhousecap.com af@peterhousecap.com Financial PR Tim Blythe Alice McLaren Madeleine Gordon-Foxwell +44 (0) 207 138 3204 worldhighlife@blytheweigh.com For more information on World High Life please visit: www.worldhighlife.uk Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain. This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com. SOURCE: World High Life PLC View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/631256/World-High-Life-PLC-Announces-Love-Hemp-Submits-Novel-Food-Dossier-to-FSA Bengaluru gangrape case: Two accused shot in the leg while trying to escape Rape in Bengaluru: Time to wake up to the grave threat of illegal Bangladeshi crime syndicates in India Victim, who was tortured and gangraped in viral video, traced in Kozhikode, brought to Bengaluru Another lockdown in Bengaluru if Covid scene worsens, warns civic body India oi-Deepika S Bengaluru, Feb 23: Bengaluru Municipal Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad has warned that the Karnataka government may reintroduce a lockdown if if people fail to exercise caution amid rising coronavirus or COVID-19 cases. "We need to strictly enforce social distancing norms as well as compulsory wearing of masks. We can not ignore these two basic requirements to keep this virus at bay. Even the slightest laxity in implementing these norms could push them to the brink of lockdown in Bengaluru at least," news agency IANS quoted the official as saying. The statement assumes significance as neighbouring states like Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have been witnessing a spike in COVID-19 cases. One-week complete lockdown imposed in Maharashtra's Amravati amid Covid spike Bengaluru has been witnessing a surge in new covid cases. Two COVID-19 clusters have been detected in Bengaluru withig 10 tens. On February 13, the first cluster was found at Manjushree Nursing College near Kaval Byrasandra in the city, where 42 students of 210 students tested positive. Most of them are from Kerala. Gujarat civic polls: BJP makes big gains | Celebrations begin | Oneindia News On February 15, another cluster was found as 104 residents of an apartment complex in Bommanahalli, tested positive, with 96 of them above the age of 60 years. The apartments house 1,052 people. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, February 23, 2021, 11:19 [IST] TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / February 23, 2021 / GlobeX Data Ltd. (OTCQB:SWISF) (CSE:SWIS) (FRA:GDT) ("GlobeX" or the "Company"), the leader in Swiss hosted secure communications and secure data management, is pleased to report that it is in the final stages of signing a distribution deal in South Asia with a large telecommunications operator, for its Swiss hosted Sekur encrypted email, encrypted messaging and secure file-share solution. The deal should be completed as soon as all parties have signed the Distribution Agreement. The Agreement is with a publicly listed company and for this reason, the name of the telecom operator will remain confidential until the agreement has been executed by both parties and a formal announcement can be made. The terms of the Agreement and the name of the telecom operator will be disclosed once the Agreement has been signed by all parties. GlobeX expects the Agreement to be completed in the next two to four weeks. The telecom operator operates in several countries in South Asia and has a global mobile subscriber base of over 150 million subscribers. GlobeX already has an agreement in place with America Movil the 7th largest telecom in the world, and largest in Latin America, as announced recently in its press release dated October 13 2020, and this would be the second telecom conglomerate it would sign up in the emerging markets. Recently, Alain Ghiai, CEO of GlobeX Data, has been featured in an Interview in Cybersecurity Asean, based in Malaysia, as the region has suffered some disastrous damage due to cyber-attacks as Southeast Asia remains a hotspot for cyber-attacks according to this article from Computer Weekly, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as many medical and financial records have been stolen by cyber criminals. Alain Ghiai, CEO of GlobeX Data said: "We are very pleased to announce this new distribution, which, once completed and signed, will give GlobeX a vast territory of 150 million mobile subscribers in several South Asian countries. I have been working myself on this distribution deal for a year and unfortunately, COVID-19 has put a pause on this for most of 2020. We recently re-engaged conversations and we are almost ready to sign all the paperwork. We expect to announce more details once the agreement has been signed, and we expect this distribution to start generating revenues in Q2 or Q3 2021. This would be our second telecom deal in emerging markets, covering a total subscriber base of over 400 million mobile subscribers in two continents. We look forward to grow over the coming years in South Asia and welcome this new addition to the many distribution agreements we have delivered so far. As we are not connected, and never have been connected to, AWS, Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud platforms, commonly referred to as "Big Tech", we can offer a truly independent, private and secure means of communications through secure messaging, secure voice record transfer, secure voice and video conferencing, and secure email through our proprietary technology and our secure servers based in Switzerland." Sekur, which includes SekurMessenger as part of a bundle of email, messaging and file transfer into one app solutions, includes the Company's latest SekurMail technology, which includes proprietary anti-phishing and privacy feature called SekurSend. SekurSend lets a user send an email to any other recipient, whether they have Sekur or not, in full privacy and security as the email never leaves Sekur's encrypted email servers based in Switzerland. The recipient can then click on the notification and reply in the same manner using SekurReply, without the recipient having to register for a Sekur account. The sender can also decide to protect any email sent by adding a password to open it, a read-limit and a self-destruct timer as well. Sending an email with the SekurSend feature allows the senders and recipients to add limitless size attachments to the emails without crowding the recipients' email box. This also eliminates BEC attacks for businesses and email phishing attacks. Additionally, SekurMail includes full control of email delivery, automatic data export for large Enterprises and an automatic Data Loss Prevention technology ("DLP") with real time continuous archiving. Recent data breaches in messaging applications and in particular in the WhatsApp application have created a certain urgency for businesses and data privacy advocates to protect their communications form cyber-attacks and identity theft via mobile and desktop devices. SekurMessenger eliminates many of the privacy and security risks by not only not requiring a phone number, which would divulge a user's phone device ID, but also by not social engineering a user's phone or computer contact list and infecting the contacts by default as well, eliminating a huge loophole in security and privacy. SekurMessenger issues each user a username and a SM number. The SM number is the contact ID a user would disclose in order for other SM users to be added. The service comes with a self-destruct timer and other features as well, including GlobeX's proprietary VirtualVaults and HeliX technologies with all data stored in Swiss hosted encrypted servers. GlobeX's Data privacy solutions are all hosted in Switzerland, protecting users' data from any outside data intrusion requests. In Switzerland, the right to privacy is guaranteed in article 13 of the Swiss Federal Constitution. The Federal Act on Data Protection ("FADP") of 19 June 1992 (in force since 1993) has set up a strict protection of privacy by prohibiting virtually any processing of personal data which is not expressly authorized by the data subjects. The protection is subject to the authority of the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner. Under Swiss federal law, it is a crime to publish information based on leaked "secret official discussions." In 2010 the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland found that IP addresses are personal information and that under Swiss privacy laws they may not be used to track Internet usage without the knowledge of the individuals involved. About GlobeX Data Ltd. GlobeX Data Ltd. is a Cybersecurity and Internet privacy provider of Swiss hosted solutions for secure data management and secure communications. The Company distributes a suite of secure cloud-based storage, disaster recovery, document management, encrypted e-mails, and secure communication tools. GlobeX Data Ltd. sells its products through its approved wholesalers and distributors, and telecommunications companies worldwide. GlobeX Data Ltd. serves consumers, businesses and governments worldwide. On behalf of Management GLOBEX DATA LTD. Alain Ghiai President and Chief Executive Officer +1.416.644.8690 corporate@globexdatagroup.com For more information, please contact GlobeX Data at corporate@globexdatagroup.com or visit us at https://globexdatagroup.com. For more information on Sekur visit us at: https://www.sekur.com . For more information on SekurSafe visit us at: https://www.sekursafe.com . Forward Looking Information This news release contains certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). All statements other than statements of present or historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "achieve", "could", "believe", "plan", "intend", "objective", "continuous", "ongoing", "estimate", "outlook", "expect", "project" and similar words, including negatives thereof, suggesting future outcomes or that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations; they are not guaranteeing future performance. GlobeX cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond GlobeX's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the future of the Company's business; the success of marketing and sales efforts of the Company; the projections prepared in house and projections delivered by channel partners; the Company's ability to complete the necessary software updates; increases in sales as a result of investments software development technology; consumer interest in the Products; future sales plans and strategies; reliance on large channel partners and expectations of renewals to ongoing agreements with these partners; anticipated events and trends; the economy and other future conditions; and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in GlobeX's prospectus dated May 8, 2019 filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available on www.sedar.com. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, GlobeX undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information. SOURCE: GlobeX Data Ltd. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/631276/GlobeX-Data-in-Talks-with-Large-South-Asian-Telecom-Operator-for-its-Swiss-Hosted-Sekur-Secure-Email-and-Secure-Messaging-Security-and-Privacy-Application-Solution Whats Hidden in Bidens $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Bill: GOP Study Committee The Republican Study Committee (RSC), the largest conservative caucus on Capitol Hill, has released a fact-sheet exposing what Democrats are hoping the public wont find about in President Joe Bidens $1.9 trillion stimulus bill. Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), RSCs newly elected chairman, said in a memo sent to caucus members that Democrats have included items of special interest pork and other liberal goodies in the proposal. Democrats on Feb. 19 unveiled the full text of the 591-page bill (pdf), titled the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Keep in mind only 1 percent of this $1.9 trillion will go toward vaccines, and only 5 percent overall of this entire package is geared toward public health efforts directly related to the pandemic, Banks said in an interview with Fox News. Banks said Bidens bill is a bailout full of kickbacks to Democrats special interest groups that gave them power, such as $10 million to every labor union, bailouts to Planned Parenthood, and stimulus grants to illegal-immigrant families. If thats not bad enough, Nancy Pelosi plugged in a $200 million earmark for an underground tunnel in San Francisco for Silicon Valley employees, Banks said. This is a bailout to the special interest groups that gave them power. The fact sheet (pdf) points out that the $50 million for EPA environmental-justice grants is a thinly-veiled kickback to leftist environmental groups. Under the category of the lefts social justice agenda, billions are given in loan forgiveness and subsidies to farmers and ranchers on the basis of race and ethnicity, the RSC fact sheet claims. The RSC also identified $600 million for additional paid leave for federal employees and postal workers. The panel also claims that Bidens bill is keeping schools closed. It pointed out that the bill provides $130 billion on top of the $110 billion already given to schools, even if they remain closed. Plus, the bill gives labor unionsincluding those teachers unions fighting against school reopeningaccess to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding worth up to $10 million per union. The RSC went on to assert that a provision in the plan that would boost the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour is job-killing, and 1.4 million jobs will be lost, with younger Americans who have less formal education being hit the hardest. The RSC also said providing a weekly $400 bonus for up to nearly a year and a half would effectively give 53 percent of Americans a raise for being unemployed; it wont encourage people to go back to work. Meanwhile, promised $1,400 stimulus checks would go to some couples with up to $200,000 in annual income. Budget-busting spending is another reason why the caucus is critical of the legislation. The RSC said that more than $1 trillion from previous stimulus packages remains unspent while Democrats push Bidens $1.9 trillion budget-buster. It also pointed out that in Bidens bill, $350 billion will be spent as a bailout for state and local governments, $30 billion will go to transit giants, $8 billion to largely urban airports, $150 billion to the Coronavirus Relief Fund for state and local governments to cover pandemic-related expenses, among others. The bill also is soft on China, the RSC claims. For example, it allows funding to go to colleges and universities that have partnerships with Confucius Institutesa propaganda tool embedded in U.S. academic institutionsand allows funding to colleges that have partnerships with companies owned or controlled by communist China. The House Budget Committee voted Feb. 22 to advance the American Rescue Plan to a full House vote expected later this week. House Republican leadership has recommended a no vote for the $1.9 trillion relief bill. Republicans insist that we must safely reopen schools, reopen the economy, speed up vaccine distribution, and effectively spend the remaining $1 trillion from previous COVID packages, House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) said in an email to his caucus on Feb. 19. However, Democrats rejected hundreds of Republican amendments and any efforts to advance bipartisan solutions that are targeted, temporary, and tied to COVID relief. President Joe Biden announces changes to the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses during brief remarks at the White House in Washington on Feb. 22, 2021. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) Biden said that the legislation needs to pass. We need Congress to pass my American Rescue Plan. It deals with the immediate crisis facing our small businesses, Biden said when he announced changes to the PPP funding on Feb. 22. Now, critics say the plan is too big. Let me ask them a rhetorical question: What would you have me cut? What would you leave out? In fact, an analysis by Wall Streets firm, Moodys, estimates that if we pass my American Rescue Plan, the economy will create 7 million jobs this year. Biden indicated earlier this month that his proposal would pass even without Republicans support. Mimi Nguyen Ly contributed to this report. Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 The national PV body in the country wants 1 billion from the EU's recovery and resilience fund to be allocated to upgrading the electricity network to host more solar power generation capacity.The Federal Association for Photovoltaics in Austria has called for 1 billion of the 3.3 billion Covid-recovery funding allotted the nation by the EU to be spent on expanding the grid to accommodate more solar power generation capacity. The industry body has proposed half of the estimated 2 billion investment required to modernize the Austrian grid could come out of the European "recovery and resilience ... Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Flemington Speedway Historical Society has canceled its scheduled A Look Back to Midget Racing premier event during the Dirt Track Heroes Car Show at the Palmer Mall in Easton, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, March 6. According to a statement released by the FSHS, The difficult decision was made after the number of coronavirus cases have continued to rise, as well as the current CDC guidelines and restrictions in place for indoor events. FSHS president Dennis Tretter said, All of us at FSHS feel the responsible decision was made in canceling the premier A Look Back to Midget Racing event at the Dirt Track Heroes car show, which has also been cancelled for 2021. With the current COVID-19 restrictions in place, it would have been impossible to host the event in the manner that fans are accustomed to seeing our FSHS events. The A Look Back to Midget Racing was a scheduled premier event with guest speakers, midget race cars and memorabilia, as well as several other race cars from different eras and race divisions. The event was set to be held in the former BonTon store at the Palmer Park Mall. There is no rescheduled date at this time. Flemington Speedway Historical Society Inc. is a nonprofit organization that works to preserve, protect, and document the history of the Flemington Fairgrounds and Speedway. For additional information, visit www.flemingtonspeedwayhistoricalsociety.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 tradesman detained on a cruise ship for six days following a disastrous threesome with two young women will have an estimated $400,000 payday. Air conditioning technician Daniel Rawlings, 32, was awarded legal costs by a NSW District Court judge on Monday after winning his case against Royal Caribbean. Mr Rawlings boarded the cruise liner's 'Schoolies' themed Explorer of the Seas ship in November 2016 but his 10 day holiday turned into a traumatic years-long ordeal. He was falsely accused of raping an 18-year-old woman after she was found wandering the corridors 'naked, intoxicated and disoriented' one morning. Mr Rawlings, from Sydney's north, won $100,000 in damages last December. A well-placed source estimated his legal costs to be worth a further $300,000. Rawlings was detained halfway through his holiday in conditions Judge John Hatzistergos described as akin to 'solitary confinement'. Rawlings claimed at one point he was left solely in his underwear. He wasn't released until the ship returned to Sydney. Tradesman Daniel Rawlings, left with his best mate Matthew Champion, right, prior to the cruise ship incident Rawlings (left and right, with a friend who is unrelated to the case) was awarded $100,000 after being detained for six days of a 10 day cruise to the south Pacific Last year Judge Hatzistergos found the ship's captain, Rick Sullivan, was justified in initially detaining Rawlings, investigating the incident and choosing to refer it to New Caledonia law enforcement. But the judge ruled that his further days-long detention 'comprising conditions akin to solitary confinement for the remainder of the journey back to Sydney ... was not reasonable.' Royal Caribbean intends to appeal. Flirty moment on the dancefloor At trial last year, the District Court heard that Mr Rawlings picked up an 18-year-old woman on the dancefloor at the ship's Dizzy's Nightclub on November 13, 2016. The pair had sex in his cabin. Rawlings suggested a threesome with another teenage girl The next evening, at the same venue, Rawlings suggested they have a threesome with a second passenger, Ms A, also 18. The court heard evidence that after a moment on the dancefloor they stumbled back to Rawlings' cabin. There, the trio began kissing, touching and undressing each other, before taking turns having sex. The court heard it wasn't long before Rawlings' roommate Mr Champion stormed out with his blanket and sought out a deck chair to sleep on. 'Not again,' he said. Rawlings told the court he pushed the two single beds together and the trio 'had sex for several hours which he later refined to more than an hour, possibly two,' Judge John Hatzistergos recounted in his judgment. But the court heard Ms A fell ill. Rawlings told the court he helped Ms A into the bathroom so she could vomit and have a shower. 'Whilst that took place, the (Rawlings) stated that he began having sex with (the other woman), but only have (the sick woman) was feeling better,' the judgment said. Mr Rawlings and the second woman told the court they had fallen asleep. But later that night, ship security were called. Ms A had been found naked in another guest's room after 5am, one guard saying the young woman said: 'I don't know what happened. All I know is I am dancing in Dizzy's and am looking for a bathroom.' In his judgment, Judge Hatzistergos recalled the ship's crew members were concerned the confused young woman was too intoxicated to be able to consent to sex, with one categorising the incident as 'sexual assault - rape' based upon that. Ms A's mother was also worried her daughter may have been drugged during the episode. An onboard drug screening test recorded a negative result. Confined in his board shorts Rawlings was confined to a room by the ship's crew members, the District Court was told. It was claimed in court that he was left wearing only a pair of board shorts for two days, and had to wash them in the ensuite sink. After more than 36 hours in custody, on the morning of November 17, a senior investigator at the cruise line's Global Security company told the the ship's crew Rawlings had been detained for an excessive amount of time and should be released and instructed not to go near Ms A, the court heard. Hours later, the ship's captain Rick Sullivan met with Ms A's mother. The court heard the mother became 'very emotional' at the prospect of Rawlings' release and threatened to 'throw the suspect overboard if he is released from custody'. Rawlings told the court on the fourth day of his confinement, he heard Ms A's mother outside his room. She was furious, insisting Rawlings could escape and should be bound and restrained. 'He is in there. He raped my daughter,' she said, Rawlings told the court. Rawlings was reduced to tears by the wrongful claim, telling the court it left him 'destroyed' and the accusation still impacts him to this day. Rawlings said he would be the first person to assist, help and comfort a woman who he felt was being mistreated. The tradesman was on board the Explorer of the Seas in November 2016, holidaying with a pal - but it turned to disaster and he was imprisoned for days The cruise ship was travelling from Sydney to Vanuatu, return, at the time. Above, an island near Port Vila The tradesman claimed that, while in confinement, he waited two days before he was given generic clothes from the ship's gift store. A security guard sat outside the door and would come in every 30 minutes to check on him, he alleged. On one occasion, the guard came in while he was naked and it was 'very embarrassing', Rawlings claimed. Captain Sullivan told the court he chose to detain Rawlings until the ship returned to Sydney on November 20. If the mother and Rawlings ran into one another it could have caused conflict, the court heard, and he did not have enough security guards to monitor Rawlings. Police boarded the Explorer of the Seas cruise ship when it docked at Circular Quay in November 2016 and questioned Rawlings over the threesome incident. No charges were laid Rawlings was interviewed by NSW Police upon arrival in Sydney Harbour. Officers had no jurisdiction and referred the matter to the Federal Police, the court heard. The AFP did not press charges against Rawlings for several reasons, including that Ms A hadn't provided an account of what happened during three critical hours, the other woman had given an account that the sex by all three members was consensual, and a lack of evidence from the crime scene or Rawlings' phone. Judge Hatzistergos found Rawlings' accounts of his detention were 'in some respects unreliable and exaggerated'. But after careful scrutiny of Rawlings' evidence, the judge found in his favour, ordering payment of $97,344 by Royal Caribbean, whose lawyers sought to stay the judgment. Rawlings was represented by Bondi solicitor Sharron Vogel of Walker Law Group. Credit: CC0 Public Domain The Netherlands will extend its coronavirus curfew by two weeks despite the violent protests against the measure, and may keep even longer if need be, the prime minister said Tuesday. The 9-4 overnight curfew has been in force since January 23 and had been scheduled to be lifted on March 2. But Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Tuesday it would now remain in place at least until the morning of March 15. The government will decide next week whether to extend the curfew beyond March 15, the first day of legislative elections, Rutte told reporters. "At the moment, we're still in an incredibly difficult phase," said Rutte. Experts viewed a third wave of COVID-19 infections as "inevitable". "The figures are rising again. This is a reality we have to face," he added, highlighting concerns over the highly contagious variant of the virus first identified in the United Kingdom. The government nevertheless said that some other restrictions would be eased, with hairdressing salons and massage parlour set to reopen. The government also announced the partial reopening of secondary schools from March 1. Primary schools were already allowed to welcome pupils back at the beginning of February. Bars, cafes and restaurants will remain closed, while non-essential retail outlets will be opened on March 3 for those with appointmentsand with a maximum of two customers per floor. Clashes over the curfew Rutte is currently acting as caretaker PM until elections next month, after his government resigned in January over a scandal involving childcare payments. In the run-up to the vote, his administration's handling of the pandemic is coming under particularly close scrutiny. The imposition of a night-time curfew at the end of January, the first since the Second World War, sparked three days of some of the worst protests the country has seen in decades. Police arrested more than 400 people during the unrest. The curfew also became the subject of a fierce legal battle. Last week a lower court ordered the government to immediately lift it, arguing that such measures could only be used in sudden national emergencies such as a dyke breach. But that court order was suspended pending an appeal and that court's ruling is now expected at the end of this week. The parliamentary elections will be held over three days, from March 15-17, in an attempt to limit the spread of the virus, with the polling stations remaining open until 9:00 pm. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP Final Boorara Toll Milling Campaign nets $1.2 Million Cash Perth, Feb 23, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Horizon Minerals Limited ( ASX:HRZ ) is pleased to announce completion of the fourth and final milling campaign from trial mining at the Boorara Gold Mine, 10km east of Kalgoorlie-Boulder in the goldfields of Western Australia (Figure 1*).HIGHLIGHTS- Final toll milling campaign completed successfully at the Lakewood processing facility, 7km west of the Boorara gold mine in the Western Australian goldfields- Campaign comprised ore treatment from Regal East trial pit at Boorara and a parcel of low-grade ore to test grade allocation from the ore block models- At Regal East, 14,962 dry tonnes were processed with a mill reconciled grade of 1.6g/t Au and calculated recovery of 94.2%, in line with expectations- Low grade parcel reconciled 6% above the model with 17,334 dry tonnes processed with a mill reconciled grade of 0.9g/t Au and 92.0% calculated recovery- Gold produced totalled 1,182 ounces generating A$2.8 million in revenue at an average gold sales price of A$2,356 per ounce- Campaign generated A$1.2 million in net cash after haulage and toll milling expenditure with all mining related costs expended in the September Quarter 2020- Final geological and economic reconciliation from the Boorara trial now being completed and expected for release in the current March Quarter 2021- All reconciliation data and pit mapping information being incorporated into an updated Mineral Resource Estimate expected for release early in the June Quarter 2021- A maiden Ore Reserve for Boorara will then be compiled as part of the consolidated Feasibility Study assessing a larger scale development and a stand-alone mill- Cash at bank of A$10 million plus A$5.2 million in listed investments and no debtCommenting on the final milling campaign, Horizon Managing Director Mr Jon Price said:"The Boorara trial mining and toll milling exercise has provided a greatly improved geological understanding of this complex mineralised system and confirmed the presence of multiple flat lying cross cutting structures that will now be incorporated into an updated Resource model.""In addition, testing the ore through a mill gives us real time metallurgical recoveries, reagent consumptions and optimal plant design parameters and costs as we advance the consolidated Feasibility Study. Generating cash at the same time is the icing on the cake and we now look forward to releasing the updated resource and reserve in coming months."The ultimate aim of the trial mining and toll milling from Boorara is to verify the tonnage and grade uplift potential when compared to the current Boorara global resource model. Results to date have demonstrated this potential and will inform an updated Mineral Resource Estimate and a maiden Ore Reserve as part of the consolidated Feasibility Study ahead of a development decision inclusive of construction of a standalone processing facility at Boorara.The final milling campaign commenced on 19 January 2021 and ran for 17 days to 4 February 2021 with first gold poured on 28 January 2021. Milling performance has again been excellent with throughput averaging 87tph, gravity recoveries at 38% and reagent consumption within expectations. The campaign comprised treatment of the final high-grade ore from the Regal East pit and a parcel of low-grade material to test ore grade allocation from the mine block models.Mill reconciliations have now been completed with a total of 32,296 dry tonnes processed at a reconciled mill grade of 1.22g/t Au. Regal East high-grade ore reconciled at 1.60g/t Au, in line with grade control modelled grades of 1.62g/t Au. The low-grade parcel reconciled at 0.90g/t Au, exceeding the claimed grades of 0.85g/t Au and providing valuable insight into the orebody and how the future grade allocation process can be improved for the larger scale development.Overall gold recoveries exceeded expectations with a calculated recovery of 93.4%, above the modelled recoveries of 91.0%.Gold produced from the campaign totalled 1,182 fine ounces with all gold sold at an average price of A$2,356 per ounce generating revenue of A$2.8 million. All mining and site costs were expended in the September Quarter with the third campaign generating A$1.2 million in net cash after haulage and toll milling costs.A full geological and economic summary is now being completed for release in the current March Quarter 2021.Pit mapping and geological review of the mined trial pits is complete and will be used with the completed mill reconciliation data to update the Boorara geological model and Mineral Resource Estimate, expected for release early in the June Quarter 2021. A maiden Ore Reserve will then be compiled for the longer-term production plan being assessed as part of the consolidated Feasibility Study due for completion in the September Quarter 2021.To view tables and figures, please visit:About Horizon Minerals Limited Horizon Minerals Limited (ASX:HRZ) is a gold exploration and mining company focussed on the Kalgoorlie and Menzies areas of Western Australia which are host to some of Australia's richest gold deposits. The Company is developing a mining pipeline of projects to generate cash and self-fund aggressive exploration, mine developments and further acquisitions. The Teal gold mine has been recently completed. Horizon is aiming to significantly grow its JORC-Compliant Mineral Resources, complete definitive feasibility studies on core high grade open cut and underground projects and build a sustainable development pipeline. Horizon has a number of joint ventures in place across multiple commodities and regions of Australia providing exposure to Vanadium, Copper, PGE's, Gold and Nickel/Cobalt. Our quality joint venture partners are earning in to our project areas by spending over $20 million over 5 years enabling focus on the gold business while maintaining upside leverage. In the Star Wars universe, the High Republic is the stuff of legend. But someone had to write the story. It all started with a vague reference from Obi-Wan Kenobi. "For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic," Obi-Wan explained in 1977's "Star Wars: A New Hope." "Before the dark times. Before the Empire." In the decades since those words were uttered, movies, books and television have explored nearly every imaginable facet of the Star Wars universe. But this particular period in the galaxy's past remained in the realm of conjecture. Now, that abstract golden age - a time of tranquility but also expansion, hundreds of years before the Skywalker saga - is finally coming into focus. Five writers, all with previous Star Wars books on their resumes, have been tapped to usher in a new era for the franchise by exploring one of the most storied. In the coming years, Charles Soule, Claudia Gray, Cavan Scott, Daniel Jose Older and Justina Ireland will release books in the High Republic series, including comics and novels targeting various age groups. They will introduce new heroes - including the inspirational Jedi Avar Kriss - and villains, such as the Nihil, "space marauders," who threaten the peace of the galaxy. Creators working within the confines of an existing and lucrative franchise seldom have much creative freedom. But for both writers and readers, this is a rare opportunity to imagine the Star Wars universe as a blank slate. Soule, who previously worked on a Marvel miniseries about Kylo Ren (aka Ben Solo) and is currently writing Marvel's main Star Wars comic book series, refers to working within known stories as "dancing between the raindrops of existing characters." "If you take Luke Skywalker as an example," said Soule, whose High Republic novel, "Light of the Jedi," was released in January, "we've seen the moment he was born, we've seen the moment he died, we've seen him when he got his first lightsaber. All of those beats are there, and they are sort of taken off the table for other storytelling with that character." But working on the High Republic series is a different kind of choreography. "We have all these toys back in the toybox," he said, "and it's really invigorating." The High Republic is a welcoming entry point for newcomers to Star Wars, the lore of which can be intimidating to the uninitiated. Readers won't need to have seen any of the movies to understand the plots. The new series essentially levels the playing field, because even the most obsessive fan won't know where these stories will go. "The great thing about it is that people are already discovering that the characters that they think are going to be the characters they'll be with for the entire initiative, don't always make it through that chapter, let alone the book," said Scott, who is writing "The Great Jedi Rescue," a children's book illustrated by Petur Antonsson, and Marvel's High Republic comic book series, drawn by Ario Anindito. Readers with Star Wars knowledge will find at least one familiar face, though: Yoda's. (Forget you must not that Yoda lived to be 900 years old.) In the new series, he's younger (kind of) and does a lot more than dispense wisdom, especially in the IDW comic books written by Older, "Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures," illustrated by Harvey Tolibao. "We see Yoda really out in the galaxy," Older said. "He's not stuck on Coruscant. He's not in a library somewhere studying. ... We get to see him in action, in the thick of battle doing all these Jedi master Yoda things." There had to be a cohesive vision of what this world would look like, and that entailed get-togethers, primarily through Slack messages and email once the pandemic began. The team wanted to get the new look of the Star Wars universe down through early conceptional art, as well as to formulate "The Great Disaster," a deep-space tragedy that connects all of the High Republic books. There were a couple of field trips to Star Wars creator George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, California (which felt like "the best summer camp ever," Ireland said). Gray found a lot of inspiration at the Skywalker Ranch library, especially while plotting the path for "Into the Dark" protagonist Reath Silas, a young Jedi Padawan (apprentice) who would much rather read about lightsabers than use his. "It's literally just stuffed full of material that is designed to inspire creativity," Gray said of Skywalker Ranch, noting that she could look through books on mythology or fashion from different centuries and that she found a note from someone who worked on a recent Star Wars movie inside a book. "It's like a real cool Airbnb, but the movie poster on the wall happens to cost 10 thousand dollars." The franchise has stumbled at times in its quest to become more inclusive. The casting of John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran in the sequel trilogy seemed like progress, until their characters were "pushed to the side," as Boyega put it in a GQ interview, by the end of the third movie. But the High Republic books, much like "The Mandalorian" television series, are putting creative control into the hands of a diverse set of people. "The diversity question is really a question about telling the truth," Older said. "And the truth is, the world is much more diverse than the one that we've been shown on the movie screen and on the bookshelf for a long time. The truth is there are lots of different kinds of people in the world, [and] the way we know Star Wars works, there would be lots of different Jedi too. It makes perfect sense really." The new works will introduce High Republic characters in whom readers from various backgrounds will be able to see themselves. Ireland, the author who gives voice to tech-savvy 12-year-old Avon Starros in "A Test of Courage," a novel for young readers, said: "I think it's normal, especially for fans of color, to want to see themselves. But it's also just normal to have a very diverse cast of people. I think the more we realize that's just how it should be because that's how the world is, the less we'll find that as something to be pearl-clutching about." That's the plan, according to Michael Siglain, the creative director of Lucasfilm Publishing. "We want that kid to look at [the High Republic books] and go: 'Hey, look, that could be me. I could be a Jedi. I could be a hero,'" Siglain said. "This is the Jedi Knights of the round table. You should see yourself reflected in it. That's part of the beauty of it. It's a big galaxy. Let's celebrate that." Russia's officers in command positions at formations and units of the 1st and 2nd Army Corps have also undergone rotation. Another sniper unit of the Russian armed forces has arrived in Ukraine's Donbas frontlines to reinforce the occupiers' positions. "The command of the Russian armed forces keeps using the non-controlled sections of the Russian-Ukrainian border in Donetsk and Luhansk regions to maintain combat effectiveness of the Russian occupation forces' operational group," the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's press service said with reference to intelligence data. The arriving unit is armed with Russian- and foreign-made sniper systems of various calibers. Read alsoEscalation in Donbas: Ukraine reports two KIAs, three WIAs on Feb 22-23According to Ukrainian military intelligence, over 2,300 tonnes of fuel has also been imported from Russia to the temporarily occupied territory in Donetsk and Luhansk regions since month-start. In addition, Russia's officers in command positions at formations and units of the 1st and 2nd Army Corps have undergone rotation, the report says. Reporting by UNIAN New Delhi, Feb 23 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday held that there should be no gap in circumstantial evidence, if a conclusion of guilt is derived from it. A bench comprising Ashok Bhushan and Ajay Rastogi said: "In a case based on circumstantial evidence, the settled principles of law are that the circumstances from which the conclusion of guilt is to be drawn should be fully proved, such circumstances should be conclusive in nature and moreover, the circumstances should be complete and there should be no gap left in the chain of events." The top court made these observations while dismissing a convict's appeal challenging a Madras High Court verdict, which sentenced him to life term for murdering his pregnant wife on October 28, 2005. It noted that the prosecution had no direct evidence to offer and rested its case upon circumstances which would indicate that in the past, the accused was ill-treating his wife and there were complaints to the police. Counsel for the accused tried to persuade the court that there are missing links in the circumstantial evidence on the basis of which the charge for offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code has been establish against the appellant. The top court said the present case squarely rests on circumstantial evidence where the death has been caused by homicidal violence and the accused had taken the deceased to the hospital and made a false statement to the doctor that she had suffered cardiac arrest. The claims of the accused were found to be false, as the post-mortem report established that nature of injuries on the body of the deceased were contrary to the accused claims. The top court upheld the verdicts delivered by the trial court and the high court which handed down life term to accused R. Damodaran in the case. On the day of the incident, he had beaten his wife Nirmala Mary with a wooden log causing severe internal injuries. The top court observed it has, in a series of decisions, consistently held that when a case rests upon circumstantial evidence, such evidence must satisfy the following tests: "The circumstances from which an inference of guilt is sought to be drawn, must be cogently and firmly established.." Then, "the circumstantial evidence in order to sustain conviction must be complete and incapable of explanation of any other hypothesis than that of the guilt of the accused and such evidence should not only be consistent with the guilt of the accused but should be inconsistent with his innocence". Gov. Phil Murphy Monday signed a law that will allow more community hospitals to perform non-emergency angioplasties, the routine, artery-clearing procedure that is a reliable revenue generator in New Jerseys competitive health care market. New Jersey was the last state in the nation that refused to allow community hospitals to do elective angioplasties if they were not licensed to perform cardiac surgery. Community hospitals have fought for years to overturn the prohibition, arguing patients should not have to travel out of their way for the procedure that a national study has shown was safe. Elective angioplasty is not available in seven of the states 21 counties, the laws sponsors said. All New Jerseyans deserve easy access to procedures that can prevent serious illness or death, no matter where they live, Murphy said in a statement after signing the bill, (A1176). This law will allow for more hospitals to provide angioplasty services and ensure that those living in lesser populated areas of state are still able to take advantage of these preventative measures. Angioplasty involves the insertion of a stent, a small metal, mesh tube, to clear plaque-clogged arteries and restore the flow of blood to the heart. About 600,000 angioplasties are performed a year nationwide, according to Harvard Medical School. Two-thirds of these are done on an emergency basis, while one-third are scheduled in advance to avoid a heart emergency, the medical schools website said. The law allows hospitals to seek permission from the Department of Health to perform cardiac catheterization, a diagnostic procedure to determine damage to the heart muscle, valves or coronary arteries. The hospital must prove to the state it performs a minimum of 250 catheterizations a year, with each cardiologist performing a minimum of 50, according to the new law. The hospital also participate in the health department data collection program and in national registries to monitor quality, outcomes, and compliance with state regulations, the law said. Six months after a hospital has acquired its catheterization license, it may perform emergency angioplasties, and a minimum of 250 elective angioplasties a year to maintain proficiency. Right now there are only 29 hospitals in New Jersey licensed to provide elective angioplasty. That may sound like a lot, but the problem is that most of those hospitals are clustered in only 14 counties, said Sen. Vin Gopal, D-Monmouth, one of the bills sponsors. This law is a way to give more opportunity to more residents who might seek out these services. The New Jersey Coalition for Community Hospitals lobbied for the bills passage. The coalition includes Bayonne Medical Center; Capital Health System; CentraState Healthcare System; Christ Hospital; Hoboken University Medical Center; Inspira Health Network; Jefferson Health NJ; Penn Medicine Princeton Health; Saint Clares Health; St. Lukes Warren Hospital; and Saint Peters University Hospital. Heart procedures like angioplasty are lucrative and give community hospitals not tied to large health systems a leg up in New Jerseys competitive healthcare market. Angioplasty saves lives every day, but far too often they are performed only in emergencies. Elective Angioplasty as a preventive measure can lessen symptoms, improve quality of life, and reduce mortality rates, according to a statement from the Assembly sponsors, Andrew Zwicker, D-Middlesex, Roy Freiman, D-Somerset, and Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, D-Mercer. Ensuring more medical centers are licensed for full-service elective angioplasty will increase access to safe and preventative healthcare measures for residents combatting heart disease. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. BlueStacks, the world's largest Android gaming platform for PCs and Macs, is bullish on India and with over 2 million games across numerous developers, the company is revolutionising the way Android gaming is taking shape in the country, a top executive said on Monday. BlueStacks has over 500 million users globally across more than 200 locations. "India is an extremely large for us. Last year, the pandemic drove a surge of gamers across the world, including India, which saw a near 100 per cent jump in user base," Rosen Sharma, CEO BlueStacks, told IANS in an interview. A typical BlueStacks user is spending an average of 5 hours playing mobile games every day. According to Sharma, the gaming eco-system in India is majorly driven by mobile games. "With developers coming out with bigger and heavier games, more mobile gamers will play in interruption-free environments and migrate to PC-based platforms. Mobile games are not designed for long gameplay," he noted. Founded in 2011 by Sharma, Jay Vaishnav, Harvinder Sawhney and Suman Saraf, BlueStacks has a global team of over 400 people. BlueStacks, that has crossed 1 billion downloads, has launched BlueStacks 5 (Beta) update that promises a 40 per cent reduction in RAM usage. The new BlueStacks 5 (Beta), which will support ARM devices, offers significantly faster boot, install and launch times and core gamers can look forward to better gameplay experiences. "We have always believed in listening to our users for driving our product roadmap and this has enabled us to bring the best features to the market. BlueStacks 5 is also developed basis the response we got from our gamers' community," Sharma told IANS. The company's app container technology enables games to be optimised to run on PC, Mac and other devices without any additional work needed from the developer. This is a key component missing in both Android on Chromebook and iOS apps on Mac. "We see the market for BlueStacks Game Platform expanding considerably with Apple's endorsement of running iOS apps on the Mac form factor," said Sharma. BlueStacks 5 is faster, smoother, and lighter than the previous version. The eco-mode is a great initiative for gamers who frequently switch between different apps. With the vastly upgraded Multi-instance manager and Eco mode, it will be a game changer for the gaming community as they can now run more BlueStacks instances faster and without lag. "Our focus has been to drive the best performance across any other app player in the industry. The performance benchmarks that BlueStacks 5 has been delivering are really positive and aims re-defines the industry standards," Sharma elaborated. BlueStacks is also working on to optimise its platform for Apple's in-house ARM Silicon M1 chip-based Macs and this "should be rolled out soon in future," Sharma said. --IANS na/vd (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Ethisphere Institute, a leading US think-tank, has named the Kao Corporation (TOKYO:4452) one of the World's Most Ethical Companies. Kao is a leading consumer goods company and the only Asian company to have made the list every year since Ethisphere began its ranking in 2007. Thoughtful, purposeful consumption is at the heart of Kao's business and this continued recognition by Ethisphere, reflects this commitment. *"World's Most Ethical Companies" and "Ethisphere" names and marks are registered trademarks of Ethisphere LLC. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005050/en/ The Ethisphere Institute develops and shares best practices in business ethics and corporate social responsibility. The World's Most Ethical Companies list recognizes companies which have demonstrated outstanding performance in transparency, integrity, ethics, and compliance. The Institute surveys and evaluates companies worldwide across five categories covering: ethics and compliance programs, corporate citizenship and responsibility, culture of ethics, governance, and leadership and reputation. Commenting on the accolade, Yoshihiro Hasebe, Kao's President and CEO, said: "We are honored to have been recognized as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies for 15 consecutive years. Our business has always been based on walking the right path-a core value of our founder. Outside evaluations are therefore an important indication we are indeed going in the right direction. However, we should never be satisfied with the status quo. What has worked for us today may not work in the future, so we should always strive for improvement. As CEO, I am determined we continue to make ethical decisions in this ever-changing world." Ethisphere's Chief Executive Officer, Timothy Erblich, said: "We are, once again, delighted to include Kao in our World's Most Ethical Companies list-the only Asian company we have honored every year since the award's inception. This is a testament to Kao's dedication to advancing ethical and ESG management best practices. We believe Kao will continue to be at the forefront of setting ethical standards in the industry globally." Kao's purpose is to create a Kirei life for all. The Japanese word 'kirei' describes something that is both clean and beautiful. For Kao, Kirei not only encapsulates appearance, but also attitude- to create beauty for oneself, other people, and for the world around us. Kao Group's ESG strategy-the Kirei Lifestyle Plan-aims to integrate ESG as the foundation of its management to accelerate business growth and create products and services of better value for consumers and society. Additionally, Kao's corporate code of conduct-the Kao Business Conduct Guidelines-guides our everyday business and is tailored to the special characteristics of Kao's operations in different countries and regions. With the world still gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic, Kao has taken a series of actions to support industry initiatives to promote good hygiene and handwashing, increasing production capacity for hand sanitisers, and making charitable donations across the world. Kao also took immediate action to ensure employee safety at an early stage of the pandemic, which included encouraging employees to work from home and providing them with the company's products such as hand soap and sanitizers. About Kao Kao creates high-value-added products that enrich the lives of consumers around the world. Through its portfolio of over 20 leading brands such as Attack, Biore, Goldwell, Jergens, John Frieda, Kanebo, Laurier, Merries, and Molton Brown, Kao is part of the everyday lives of people in Asia, Oceania, North America, and Europe. Combined with its chemical division, which contributes to a wide range of industries, Kao generates about 1,400 billion yen in annual sales. Kao employs about 33,000 people worldwide and has 130 years of history in innovation. Please visit the Kao Group website for updated information. https://www.kao.com/global/en/ [Related Information] World's Most Ethical Companies 2021 https://www.worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/ Kao>Sustainability https://www.kao.com/global/en/sustainability/ Kao launches new ESG Strategy "Kirei Lifestyle Plan" to support consumer lifestyle changes https://www.kao.com/global/en/news/sustainability/2019/20190422-001/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005050/en/ Contacts: Media inquiries should be directed to: Makiko Takahashi Corporate Strategy Kao Corporation pr@kao.co.jp The Supreme Court has denied former President Donald Trump and his allies' challenges to the election results in five states. Appeals were filed in December in an attempt to overturn the results in the states to sway the election in favour of Mr Trump. The ruling ends the election challenges pushed in court by Mr Trump and his associates. Appeals were turned away by the Supreme Court for challenges to the results in Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Two of the filings came from Mr Trump personally, Bloomberg News reported. The Pennsylvania case that the court declined to take up was focused on mail-in ballots. Republicans say the state's Supreme Court overstepped its authority by extending the deadline by which time ballots could arrive by three days because of the pandemic and mail delivery delays. Even if Mr Trump had won that case, it wouldn't change the results, as state officials say that only about 10,000 votes were received in those three extra days and President Joe Biden won the state by 80,555 votes. The blow from the Supreme Court comes in a double-whammy to Mr Trump as the court also cleared the way for Manhattan prosecutors to subpoena Mr Trump's tax records on Monday. Read more: Follow live updates on the Biden Administration and the Trump post-presidency The court rejected a request from Mr Trump to withhold his tax records from the Manhattan district attorney after New York state prosecutors sought his personal and corporate tax returns. This opens the door to a grand jury review of his financial records, which Mr Trump has done his utmost to keep under wraps for decades. The Supreme Court delayed acting on the case by months with the last of the briefs in the case being filed in October. Three of the justices were appointed by Mr Trump and they, along with the other six justices, waited through the election, the inauguration of Joe Biden and a month of Mr Trump being out of office to come to a decision. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr has been after Mr Trump's tax records since 2019. The Democrat Mr Vance had subpoenaed the records from the Mazars accounting firm, which has worked for Mr Trump and his businesses for years. They said they would comply with the subpoena but Mr Trump then sued to block the release of the records. The case involves a grand jury subpoena for more than eight years of Mr Trumps personal and corporate tax records. Mr Vance has disclosed little about what prompted him to request the records, but in one court filing last year, prosecutors said they were justified in demanding the records because of public reports of possibly extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Trump Organization". Allies of Boris Johnson have dismissed incorrect claims that his fiancee Carrie Symonds is playing a leading role in the Government. Tory think tank The Bow Group has called for an independent inquiry into her alleged influence in No 10 amid ongoing rumours about tensions at the heart of government. But the British Prime Ministers press secretary Allegra Stratton gave the claims short shrift, saying that there would be no response to the think tanks call. The Bow Group said an inquiry should look at Ms Symonds possible influence in government hiring and appointments. It comes after two allies of Ms Symonds, Baroness Finn and Henry Newman, were appointed as key advisers in No 10. Their rise followed the departure of former Vote Leave figures Dominic Cummings, Lee Cain and Oliver Lewis from No 10 in recent months. Ben Harris-Quinney, chairman of the Bow Group, said Ms Symonds currently holds no official role in the Conservative Party or the government, yet consistent reports in the press suggest that Ms Symonds is taking a central role in running the country, without any authority or accountability to do so. But Ms Stratton said its incorrect to say Ms Symonds has a central role in Government. Read More She began a new job working for wildlife charity The Aspinall Foundation at the end of January. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister was focused on the response to coronavirus, Ms Stratton said. Conservative MP Laura Trott questioned whether some of the hostile briefing against Ms Symonds could be because she is a woman. The Sevenoaks MP, who worked in the No 10 Policy Unit during David Camerons premiership, told BBC Radio 4s Westminster Hour: I used to work with Carrie, shes an incredibly talented and able person and I think there should be some consideration given... about whether some of these things would be said about a man. Its very distasteful and I think its incredibly unnecessary. Asked whether Mr Johnson felt there was an element of sexism in the allegations against his fiancee, Ms Stratton said: Thats something I have heard him say. Yesterday Mr Johnson announced plans to reopen Englands schools and allow people to see family and friends, part of a phased exit from Covid-19 lockdown underpinned by one of the worlds fastest vaccine roll-outs. With more than 120,000 deaths, Britain has suffered the worlds fifth-highest official death toll from the pandemic and its $3trn economy its biggest crash in over 300 years. But a fast start to the vaccine roll-out plus a sharp fall in infections mean Mr Johnson can now set out a cautious easing of Englands tough national lockdown, which started on January 5. New cases across the UK hovered around 11,000 a day last week, compared with a high of over 80,000 in late December. Our decisions will be made on the basis of the latest data at every step, and we will be cautious about this approach so that we do not undo the progress we have achieved so far, Mr Johnson said on Twitter. MEDAN, Indonesia, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In a policy announcement on Saturday (20/02), Indonesia's Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, encouraged the public to "get behind the new BeliKreatifDanauToba movement" (BKDT) with pride in Indonesia and Lake Toba products. The Minister announced the new policy alongside a series of guidelines by the Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan; the Governor of the Bank Indonesia Perry Warjiyo; Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati; Minister of Communications and Information Johny Gerard Plate, and the Vice Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Angela Tanoesoedibjo from Balige North Sumatra; and the Regent of Dairi Regency Eddy Keleng Ate Berutu. Leading by example, Sandiaga launched the new Beli Kreatif Danau Toba policy at Debang Resort, Dairi, North Sumatra in a traditional songket Tapak Catur with Ulos Simalungun motif by local fashion designer, Irsan. "I came directly from Dairi Regency wearing my traditional Tapak Catur songket clothes specifically to express my appreciation to this incredibly creative designer and to demonstrate my wholehearted support for the Beli Kreatif Danau Toba movement. This outfit is one of the many examples of local Toba products that have been transformed into one of Indonesian's exclusive economic products," said the Minister for Tourism and Creative Economy, Mr Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno. BeliKreatifDanauToba (BKDT) The BKDT movement consists of two main programs: Providing support to local Toba-based businesses through up-skilling To improve marketability through "to market assistance", helping artisans expand domestic sales or export volume to increase turnover and employment. To ensure the central BKDT policy's success, MOTCE has prepared three strategies: innovation, adaptation, and collaboration to stimulate the tourism and creative economy sector in Indonesia. Commenting on MoTCE's support of the central government's policy, Minister Uno, said "The three strategies and series of programs are designed to help facilitate the growth of Lake Toba's 5,700 creative economy artisanal businesses in North Sumatra." He added, "In addition, as a grassroots campaign for the country, each has been designed with collaboration in mind between ministries, local governments, marketplaces, MSE communities, and creative economy actors so we can all play our part and show our support for Indonesia's development." In line with the Bangga Buatan Indonesia (BBI) National Movement, launched by the President in 2020, MOTCE has also introduced the Beli Kreatif Lokal (purchase innovative local products) campaign. The new policy will provide market support and assistance to artisans in the fashion, crafts, and culinary subsectors in the Jabodetabek area. In 2021, MOTCE will expand the BBI national movement derivative program to facilitate Indonesian artisans' growth in North Sumatra under the BKDT program. In addition, MOTCE will also promote Lake Toba as a 'Super Priority Destination', with development to be monitored by President Joko Widodo. "Through this program, the MOTCE wants to encourage a sense of pride in the purchase and use of local products from North Sumatra among the public so that we can actively take part in national economic recovery," Sandiaga explained. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1441882/Sandiaga_Salahuddin_Uno.jpg Over the past day, February 22, the occupiers violated the ceasefire in Donbas 11 times. One Ukrainian serviceman was killed and two more were wounded. Today, three attacks have already been launched, killing a soldier and wounding another one. "In the area of responsibility of the operational and tactical group East, the armed formations of the Russian Federation opened fire from grenade launchers of various systems and small arms on Ukrainian positions near the village of Avdiivka (17km north of Donetsk). As a result of the enemy shelling, one serviceman was killed and another soldier suffered shrapnel wounds," the press center of the JFO Headquarters informs. In addition, Russian occupation forces fired 82mm mortars, grenade launchers of various systems, heavy machine guns and small arms outside Vodiane in the Sea of Azov area. The enemy also placed remotely about two dozen POM-2 mines in the direction towards the Ukrainian positions. The enemy also opened unaimed fire from a hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher in the suburbs of Marinka (23km south-west of Donetsk), and from small arms outside Pervomaiske (17km north-west of Donetsk). In the area of responsibility of the operational and tactical group "North", the armed formations of the Russian Federation shelled Ukrainian positions, using grenade machine guns, heavy machine guns and small arms near Pivdenne (40km north-east of Donetsk). "One serviceman of the Joint Forces was wounded in the shelling. The soldier was promptly provided with medical care and taken to a medical facility," the statement reads. According to the Headquarters data, today, February 23, three ceasefire violations have been recorded. In the area of responsibility of the operational and tactical group "North", Ukrainian positions came under 82mm mortar and tripod-mounted man-portable antitank gun fire near the village of Zaitseve (62km north-east of Donetsk). "As a result of the shelling, one serviceman was killed and another soldier suffered shrapnel wounds," the Headquarters informs. In addition, in the area of responsibility of the operational and tactical group "East", the armed formations of the Russian Federation opened fire from 120mm mortars near Krasnohorivka (21km west of Donetsk), tripod-mounted man-portable antitank guns in the suburbs of Avdiivka. Ukrainian troops opened fire in response to the enemy shelling. The OSCE representatives were informed about the actions of Russian formations through the Ukrainian side of the Joint Control and Coordination Center (JCCC). ol WASHINGTON With sunset remarks and a national moment of silence, President Joe Biden on Monday confronted head-on the countrys once-unimaginable loss half a million Americans in the COVID-19 pandemic as he tried to strike a balance between mourning and hope. Addressing the grim, heartbreaking milestone directly and publicly, Biden stepped to a lectern in the White House Cross Hall, unhooked his face mask and delivered an emotion-filled eulogy for 500,071 Americans he said he felt he knew. We often hear people described as ordinary Americans. Theres no such thing, he said Monday evening. Theres nothing ordinary about them. The people we lost were extraordinary. Just like that, he added, so many of them took their last breath alone. A president whose own life has been marked by family tragedy, Biden spoke in deeply personal terms, referencing his own losses as he tried to comfort the huge number of Americans whose lives have been forever changed by the pandemic. I know all too well. I know what its like to not be there when it happens, said Biden, who has long addressed grief more powerfully than perhaps any other American public figure. I know what its like when you are there, holding their hands, as they look in your eye and they slip away. That black hole in your chest, you feel like youre being sucked into it. The president, who lost his first wife and baby daughter in a car collision and later an adult son to brain cancer, leavened the grief with a message of hope. This nation will smile again. This nation will know sunny days again. This nation will know joy again. And as we do, well remember each person weve lost, the lives they lived, the loved ones they left behind. He said, We have to resist becoming numb to the sorrow. We have to resist viewing each life as a statistic or a blur or, on the news. We must do so to honor the dead. But, equally important, to care for the living. The president ordered flags on federal property lowered to half staff for five days and then led the moment of communal mourning for those lost to a virus that often prevents people from gathering to remember their loved ones. Mondays bleak threshold of 500,000 deaths was playing out against contradictory crosscurrents: an encouraging drop in coronavirus cases and worries about the spread of more contagious variants. Bidens management of the pandemic will surely define at least the first year of his presidency, and his response has showcased the inherent tension between preparing the nation for dark weeks ahead while also offering optimism about pushing out vaccines that could, eventually, bring this American tragedy to a close. After he spoke, the president along with first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff stood outside the White House for a moment of silence at sundown. Black bunting draped the doorway they walked through. Five hundred brilliantly lit candles each standing for 1,000 people lost illuminated the stairways on either side of them as the Marine Band played a mournful rendition of Amazing Grace. President Joe Biden reads the number of American that died from COVID-19 during a speech at the White House, Monday, Feb. 22, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)AP The milestone comes just over a year after the first confirmed U.S. fatality from the coronavirus. The pandemic has since swept across the world and the U.S., stressing the nations health care system, rattling its economy and rewriting the rules of everyday society. In one of his many symbolic breaks with his predecessor, Biden has not shied away from offering remembrances for the lives lost to the virus. His first stop after arriving in Washington on the eve of his inauguration was to attend a twilight ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to mourn the dead. That somber moment on the eve of Bidens inauguration typically a celebratory time when America marks the democratic tradition of a peaceful transfer of power was a measure of the enormity of loss for the nation. The COVID-19 death total in the United States had just crossed 400,000 when Biden took the oath of office. An additional 100,000 have died in the past month. Former President Donald Trump invariably looked to play down the total, initially claiming the virus would go away on its own and later locking into a prediction that America would suffer far fewer than 100,000 deaths. Once the total eclipsed that mark, Trump shifted gears again and said that scale of loss was actually a success story because it could have been much worse. Outside of perfunctory tweets marking the milestones of 100,000 and 200,000 deaths, Trump oversaw no moment of national mourning, no memorial service. At the Republican National Convention, he made no mention of the suffering, leaving that to first lady Melania Trump. And at campaign rallies across the nation, he erroneously predicted that the nation was rounding the corner on the virus while he disregarded safety measures such as masks and pushed governors to lift restrictions against public health advice. In audio tapes released last fall, it was revealed that Trump told journalist Bob Woodward in March that I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down because I dont want to create a panic. Biden, by contrast, has long drawn on his own personal tragedy as he comforts those who grieve. He has pledged to level with the American public on the severity of the crisis and has repeatedly warned that the nation was going through a very dark winter, one now challenged by the arrival of more contagious virus variants. Biden also has deliberately set expectations low particularly on vaccinations and when the nation can return to normal knowing he could land a political win by exceeding them. He is on track to far exceed his initial promise to deliver 100 million vaccinations in his first 100 days, with some public health experts now urging him to set a far more ambitious goal. The administration says it expects to have enough vaccine available for every American by the end of July. Bidens reference to next Christmas for a possible return to normalcy raised eyebrows across a pandemic-weary nation and seemed less optimistic than projections made by others in his own administration, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has suggested a summer comeback. ___ Jonathan Lemire and Josh Boak of The Associated Press wrote this story. Lemire reported from New York. NEW DELHI: Amid their respective hectic schedules, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan took time out for their family and attended the wedding of one of their relatives. In photos that have been shared by actor's fan clubs, Ash and Abhi are seen in ethnic ensembles and matching masks. Also seen was their daughter Aaradhya Bachchan. In a picture shared by a fan club, the power couple is seen posing with their daughter Aaradhya for the camera while a cute little girl joins them in the frame. Both Aishwarya and Abhishek chose pastel attire for the event, whereas Aaradhya looked absolutely adorable in a bright pink outfit. Check out the photos from their family wedding below: In another photo, the Bachchan family and Aishwarya's mother Vrinda Rai were captured attending Asihwarya's cousin Shloka Shetty's wedding festivities. In one of the pictures, Aishwarya is seen striking a pose for the 'mandatory family photo' with the newly-weds. Also seen in the frame is her daughter Aaradhya, her mother among other relatives. Aishwarya and Abhishek were recently captured by shutterbugs at Mumbai airport. According to reports, the family was returning from Hyderabad. On the work front, Abhishek kick-started shooting for the upcoming social comedy titled 'Dasvi' on February 22. The 'Bluffmaster!' star took to Instagram and shared his first look from the forthcoming film. Touted to be a hilarious social comedy, the film also stars Yami Gautam and Nimrat Kaur in key roles. Aishwarya, who was last seen in 'Fanney Khan' is currently working on Mani Shankar's 'Ponniyin Selvan'. Aishwarya and Mani have previously worked together in projects like 'Raavan' and 'Guru'. The unsuccessful candidate for the presidency has called on the Supreme Court to nullify the election result. He charged that the election was rigged. He was prevented from campaigning; he and his supporters were attacked; soldiers killed his bodyguard. The campaign was shortened by three months, making it more difficult for the opposition to mobilize its supporters. The military supervised the polling stations; opposition leaders were arrested; peaceful protests and opposition rallies were blocked. Journalists were detained. Opposition candidates were restricted from meeting with the media. A law of 2020 imposed a daily tax on social media and required users to obtain a license and to agree not to engage in distortion of facts or put out content likely to create public insecurity. Though this state of affairs may resemble politics in Washington, D.C., it actually applies to Uganda, where the presidential and legislative election took place on January 14, 2021. The incumbent president, Yoweri Museveni, the 76-year-old former guerrilla leader who seized power in 1986 and has been elected five times, was seeking his sixth term in office. Age limits and term limits as qualifications for the position in Uganda had been removed. In a turnout of 59%, the official result for president was 58.38% for Museveni, National Resistance Movement, NRM, to 35.08% for the main opposition leader, Bobbi Wine, the 38-year-old reggae star, National Unity Platform, NUP. The parliamentary result for the 529 seats was 316 for NRM and 61 for NUP. The defeated Bobbi Wine has filed a petition with Uganda's Supreme Court calling for the nullification of the re-election of Museveni, whom he accused of being an agent of violence. Wine was not only critical of the corruption and bad government of the regime. He declared the election was stolen. He was banned from using social media and messages. At times he wore a bullet proof vest and a helmet. There was intimidation from security forces. The military stuffed ballot boxes and cast votes for the candidate of the regime. Wine released a list of 243 people who were abducted by security forces, and said that at least 3000 of his supporters were detained before and after the election of January 14. Observers noted that Uganda opposition candidates, 11 in all, were repeatedly detained, threatened, and prevented from campaigning. Their supporters were harassed, beaten, and some were killed. However, the starting problem for Wine's call for nullification of the official result is that the members of the Supreme court were appointed by Museveni and will uphold the incumbent. Comments from foreign observers and organizations generally support Wine's position. The U.S. is considering action against Museveni, who has been a considerable beneficiary of American aid. The Parliament of the E.U., concerned about the continued harassment of political actors in Uganda, passed a resolution that the election was not democratic and not transparent and that the security and armed forces and police had used excessive force in the election. It was critical of the growing interference of security forces in the political process. The Uganda election was shameful in its unfairness and use of violence against opponents of the ruler, but unfairness is not unique in African regimes, most of which are authoritarian, intolerant, and hostile to dissenters, and in which young people have difficulties in political participation. This latter point is becoming more important since Africa has the world's largest population of young people; the median age is 20. Projections are that by 2050, Africa will have a population of 2.5 billion, the majority of whom will be young people. The aging authoritarian rulers will have to include young people, presumably more open to democratic ideas and policies, in the political and economic system. Is political change likely in African countries? No simple answer is possible on the continent of 54 states, which differ on the quality of governance and extent of democracy and are plagued by continuing conflict, political instability, and corruption. Africa is still fundamentally troubled by what one may call the politicization of ethnicity or the ethnicization of politics. After the independence of African countries from colonial rule, democracy did not flourish, and rulers came to power through coups or as warlords or as charismatic personalities. There was an urgent need to create a unified society of the existing tribal arrangements to prevent secession, to agree on acceptable territorial boundaries, and establish a stabilized infrastructure while maintaining some traditional norms. The post-colonial regimes, almost all of which can be characterized as authoritarian or "hybrid democracies," varied from the quasi-totalitarian system of Idi Amin , the "butcher of Uganda," brutal despot, to so-called traditional African democracy, "government by discussion as opposed to government by force" of Julius Nyerere in Tanzania, to one-party systems in Ivory Coast under Felix Houpouet-Boigny or in Malawi, under Dr. Banda, president for life. The country most commonly viewed as democratic in character is Mauritius, with its four communities or ethnic groups, unicameral parliamentary system, stable multiparty system, civil liberties, and peaceful transfer of political power. After Mauritius as a democracy is Botswana, with eight main tribes, which tolerates opposition; has relatively little violence; and also has a tradition, if limited, of peaceful transfer of power. There are 12 more national elections in Africa slated to be held in 2021, the first in Somalia and then the Republic of Niger. The election in Somali has been delayed because of the spread of COVID-19 and the civil war caused by the al-Qaeda Islamist group. The election in Niger scheduled for February 21, 2021, a run-off presidential election because no candidate on the first ballot got the necessary 50% vote, may be significant. The incumbent, who had seized power in a military coup in 2010, announced he was stepping down after two five-year terms. The new election constitutes the first democratic, peaceful transition of power in the history of Niger since complete independence from France in 1960. A second possible change may occur as the result of the parliamentary election in Ethiopia on June 5, 2021. In this country of 116 million, the event is supposed to be the country's first genuine competitive multiparty election. Will the election be one of real popular participation and representation, promised by Abiy Ahmed, who became P.M. in April 2018, or remain subject to authoritarianism? Will there be a free flow of information and the internet, now that bans on political parties have been lifted, or shutdowns and media blackouts? A fundamental problem may result from the fact that Ethiopia is a country with a federal system with ten regional governments, many with border disputes; ethnic rivalries; and some secessionist movements such as in the Tigray region, where armed conflict has occurred. Up to now, many of the elections in Africa have been political theater, events to give legitimacy to leaders who lack a popular mandate. In some countries, including Algeria, Egypt, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, there are no term limits on the person in power, though 21 African counties maintain some term limits. This has meant that some leaders or family dynasties have ruled for long periods. Ten have ruled for more than 20 years, and the longest, the dynasties in Gabon and Togo, for 53 years. In a number of countries, opposition parties and critical media are banned. In five countries, Chad, Ethiopia, Libya, Niger, and Somalia, the election will take place in the midst of armed conflict. However, some countries, like Rwanda and Uganda, have allowed dissent, and have some seats in parliament reserved for women and minorities. Why has authoritarian politics persisted in Africa rather than movement to democratic systems? In this moment of BLM protests in Western countries, it is pertinent to consider the degree to which past colonialism by Western countries is central to Africa's problems and to the failure to create viable democratic institutions. Should the West be held responsible for the prevalence of authoritarian systems, one-party states, military rule, and personal dictatorships, and did it have a negative effect on political development? Certainly, the colonial powers exploited African wealth and resources and benefited economically and strategically, obtaining raw materials such as cotton, copper, and iron ore, and used cheap and forced labor on a large scale. Their activity led to degradation of natural resources, soil erosion, changes in social systems, urbanization, artificial creation of colonial boundaries, imposition of leadership, tribal communities moved and relocated, and disregard for local culture. But colonialism also meant medical and educational improvement, building of an infrastructure of transport and communication, and a monetary economy. The British rule introduced new political ideas, a written constitution, separation of powers, parliamentary systems, parties and elections, a common legal system, an organized civil service, independent courts, and a partly free press. The positive and negative aspects of colonialism in Africa remain controversial. The crucial problem remains. Why did democracy not flourish after independence? Image: Sergey Pesterev via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. The UK Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee held a lively online meeting on Saturday, just days before yesterdays unsafe reopening of schools across Scotland and Wales, and as the Johnson government moves to reopen all school on March 8. The meeting was attended by educators, parents, and students. Chair of the Committee Tania Kent, a special needs teacher said, The purpose of this meeting is to make an appeal to those in attendance to take the necessary steps to build independent forms of organisation within your workplace, school, college and university to oppose the deadly agenda of the ruling class which is to allow the pandemic to let rip through communities in the weeks and months ahead. Every single country in the world is in the process of reopening schools and the economy under conditions in which the virus remains, virulent, out of control and mutating. Kent explained, Yesterday, a joint statement was issued by nine trade unions who work within education. These are the largest trade unions within the UK with several million members, including the National Education Union [NEU], NASWUT, NAHT and GMB, UNISON and UNITE. This statement was sent to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, to influence his announcement of the reopening of schools due on Monday. The letter confirms that the unions are nothing but an arm of the corporations and speak in their interests. They are fully complicit in the herd immunity agenda of the government. Short of a rebellion against these organisations and the building of independent action committees, the working class will continue to be treated as lambs to slaughter. Year seven pupils are directed to socially distance as they arrive for their first day at Kingsdale Foundation School in London, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2020. AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) The letter does not make a single reference to the over 120,000 who have lost their lives to this pandemic or demand a single safety precaution to protect its members. Its sole concern is to block any further disruption to the economy. After a pro-forma warning to Prime Minister Boris Johnson against an immediate full return to schools, the statement merely calls for a few weeks rollout It continues: We are committed to bringing all children and young people back into the classroom as soon as possible. However, it is counterproductive if there is a danger of causing another surge in the virus, and the potential for a further period of lockdown [the unions] are concerned not with the loss of life and suffering of their members, but the losses in profit that could impact the ruling class. Kent concluded with an urgent appeal, We are calling for a political general strike and a response to the pandemic that puts lives before profits. We call on education workers in the UK to join the Educators Rank-and-File Safety build its influence and link it to other key sectors of workers who confront the same issues. We will provide assistance in setting up these in your school and workplace. US Socialist Equality Party member Evan Blake spoke on the lessons of the recent teachers struggle in Chicago and the broader significance of the campaign to reopen schools in the US. I think above all, this has been really a critical lesson for educators and the entire working class on the nature of the Democratic Party, the pseudo-left and the trade unions. Democrat President Joe Biden had directly intervened on a number of occasions to gear up the reopening of schools. I think this whole process has been very eye-opening for educators everywhere, most of whom voted for Biden and have long had illusions in reformism and the Democratic Party. Many still have these illusions, but the basic reality that the Democrats fundamentally serve the same capitalist class is becoming clearer to broad sections of educators and other workers every day. Schools began reopening in Chicago on January 4. The Chicago Teachers Union did nothing to oppose this and allowed over 150 teachers to be locked-out of their online classrooms when they refused to return for in-person learning. Under enormous pressure from rank-and-file teachers, the CTU was forced to call a strike authorization vote before other grades were scheduled to return in mid-January, which passed with overwhelming support. They then continued secret negotiations for weeks with Democrat Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the school district. In the aftermath of the CTUs abject betrayal, the Chicago rank-and-file committee and the Socialist Equality Party have been established as the centre of opposition in Chicago. Were continuing to organize among educators, and to prepare them for the struggles that will erupt as the catastrophe of school reopenings unfolds over the coming weeks. Each of these struggles will have the potential to rapidly spread to other industries, and were fighting to popularize the call for a political general strike to close all schools and nonessential workplaces, with full compensation for workers, in unity with your committees in the UK, Germany and around the world fighting for the same program. International Youth and Students for Social Equality member (IYSSE) Gregor Link, speaking from Germany, said that COVID-19 currently claims 400 lives every day on average in Germany alone with 4,000 people dying each day across Europe. In Germany, total new cases have risen from 6 percent to more than 22 percent within just two weeks. Primary school teacher Helen said, There are no real safety measures in schools, still no masks being worn in classrooms and I think the schools around where I am are probably around 15 to 20 percent capacity and there are cases almost every day Obviously, if that goes up to full opening that can only get worse. We need to do what we can to stop this from happening because its clearly not safe. Students Sasha (Cardiff University) and Danny (Oxford) spoke about the dire impact of the pandemic on the life of students, and the growing anger of the student population that has expressed itself in a series of rent strikes at over 50 universities. Miles Driver, from the London Bus Drivers Rank-and-File Safety Committee, reviewed the experiences of transport workers in the capital, who have fought against managements and the trade unions, who have collaborated to force transport workers to work in unsafe conditions. He reported the deaths of nearly 50 bus drivers. Only on the basis of rank-and-file committees where workers themselves can organise themselves can we go forward nationally and internationally. The pandemic is a global crisis and requires a global solution. Mike, a retired secondary school teacher from Wales, sent in a supportive comment reading, The trade unions are conspiring with the establishment to get everyone back to work, back to normal. Who wants to go back to normal? We need to move forward to something better for people of the world. Dont let the ruling class divide us from each other. While still a Labour member, Mike said, History has shown us that we cant rely on the Labour Party or the trade union movement when the going gets tough. Politicians and the trade unions tell us to think of the national interest when what they mean is the interest of the ruling class. Lucia asked Why do you think parents are not being given a choice of in-person over remote learning. Do you think we could organise a parent-strike? Kent related the experience of the parents strike that was sabotaged by the teaching unions and Labour Party in November last year, and the response of the Committee to the organisations that had facilitated this betrayal. Linda, a parent of three school children, spoke of her concern on the numbers of people that are refusing a vaccine. Liz Smith explained that vaccine hesitancy among some oppressed sections of workers was in part an expression of mistrust towards those in power, whose policies had led to the deaths of so many of their loved ones. She called attention to a WSWS article addressing some of these issues: Why do US health care workers continue to refuse vaccination against COVID-19? Kent concluded with an appeal for educators, parents and students to join the Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee which will be meeting again before the reopening of schools in England in two weeks time, so we need to really build this campaign and build its influence more broadly. The price of petrol has crossed Rs 100 in some parts of India for the first time. A parallel development is that of the total revenue that the government receives 33 per cent, or one-third now comes from the tax on fuel. Indias consumers pay the highest rate of tax on the petrol and diesel that they consume. The nations that follow India on the list of those with high taxes are all European nations, plus the United States and Japan. These are of course places where consumers are much better off than us and the government can in fact extract money from them without significant hurt. In India, the majority of consumers are poor. And a tax on fuel affects all of us equally and hurts the poor disproportionately. The autorickshaw owner and the Uber driver pay the same to fuel up their vehicle as the corporate executive and or business tycoon. This makes very little sense. Ideally, taxation should be focused on those who can afford to pay more, and this is through direct taxes like income tax. But this has not happened in India for a variety of reasons. The base of people who file their income-tax returns has gone up, but the actual money that comes in as direct taxes has not gone up proportionally. The other reason that taxes from fuel have gone up as a proportion of all taxes is what has happened to the Goods and Services Tax. This was meant to replace a series of other taxes and create a single market where more trade and more commerce would happen, expanding the economy. But the GST was not able to produce as much revenue as the taxes it replaced. And the market has not grown. Indeed, in the last 36 months, the Indian economy has slowed significantly, falling from around eight per cent growth in the quarter starting January 2018 to around three per cent in the quarter starting January 2020. And in the period after that, the economy has actually contracted for the first time in decades. And so, the short-term prospects for growth are not good, and the government must look around for immediate ways in which it can fund itself. The easiest way is through taxes on fuel. Petrol and diesel had been deregulated before Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office. The logic of deregulation was that the Indian State kept subsidising the consumer even when the price of crude rose globally, putting the mostly state-run oil businesses here at a loss. The consumer was protected no matter what the price of crude was. But now the reverse has happened. The government is protected no matter what the price of crude is. If the price goes down it takes more profits and does not lower the retail rate of petrol and diesel. If the price goes up, it hikes up the rates further. This was not the purpose of deregulation. The Prime Minister says that it is not his fault and previous governments are to blame for keeping India dependent on imported crude. But that is the case with all the worlds nations who do not have a reserve of oil that can be tapped. Alternative sources of energy are a recent phenomenon and their ability to match fossil fuels in terms of price is something even more recent. We should know that in the area of petrol and diesel in automobile use, this parity has still not come. Petrol and diesel are very energy dense. About 50 kg of fuel or a full tank can take the car for about 700 km. For an electric car to do that, it needs a lithium ion battery pack that must be at least 45 or so kilowatt hours. The price of this battery alone is around $5,000, and so approximately `4 lakh. Add the rest of the car and the minimum cost of a vehicle that can do the same range as a petrol or a diesel-driven car can do today is around `10 lakh, which is out of the budget for three-fourths or more of Indias car buyers. This will change over time and the cost of battery packs will fall as more and more nations take to electric vehicles for environmental reasons. But it is wrong to assume that it could be done today and certainly wrong to assume it could have been done in the past. The last aspect is that of infrastructure. Lithium ion batteries in cars take about 10 hours to charge at home, assuming all car buyers have a garage with access to electricity. America, Europe and China have tens of thousands of direct current fast chargers in networks that span their nations. This enables cars to charge up in about half an hour or so. India does not have these networks because the government has not built them. Even if all cars today were to magically become electric and not dependent on fossil fuel, where would they be charged? That the Prime Minister did not say. The reality is that no matter what Jawaharlal Nehru or Indira Gandhi or Atal Behari Vajpayee did, we would be dependent today on petrol and diesel. The question is whether the government should extract such a large share of tax from us. That is a question only Narendra Modi can answer and not Jawaharlal Nehru. Behind the jokes, however, there is frustration. Mr. Blinken and President Biden say the United States faces a herculean challenge in restoring bonds with key allies, re-establishing American leadership against rivals like China and Russia, and confronting threats such as climate change and a nuclear Iran. Although Mr. Blinken has been vaccinated against the coronavirus, State Department officials say they are being cautious about his foreign travel, which involves an entourage of aides, security personnel, support staff and journalists, many of whom would be at risk of contracting or spreading the virus. Mr. Blinken currently has no travel planned, and a senior administration official said he might not take to the air before late March though even that timeline is uncertain. That, former government officials and diplomacy experts say, is an undeniable handicap, especially at a moment of such flux in the world. Plenty of business can be done through phone calls and video meetings. But diplomats say proximity breeds a familiarity that cannot be replicated, fueled by body language, eye contact and handshakes, shared meals, cultural events, exchanged gifts and the serendipity of hallway encounters, outdoor walks and other moments away from neurotic, agenda-clutching aides. Mr. Blinken was, for instance, unable to make an in-person appearance at the annual Munich Security Conference, a forum staged virtually last week for American and European elites to speak, schmooze, strategize and affirm trans-Atlantic bonds. On Monday, he held a video call with European Union foreign affairs ministers. In ordinary times, those events might have been part of a sweeping Europe trip to include the Munich Security Conference and a trip to NATO, said Cathryn Cluver Ashbrook, the executive director of The Future of Diplomacy Project at Harvard Universitys Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. (Alliance News) - US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet by video Tuesday to calm the waters after the turbulent Donald Trump era, renewing an emphasis on the neighbors' far-reaching alliance. The White House is touting that the extensive talks a held by video because of the Covid-19 pandemic a will provide a "roadmap" for better relations. Trump, who recategorized Canada and other traditional US allies as hostile competitors, had a sometimes tense personal relationship with Trudeau. By contrast, Biden and Trudeau are pulling out all the stops to change the mood. The first foreign leader to call the Democrat after he defeated Trump was Trudeau, while the first foreign leader Biden called after getting into the Oval Office was Trudeau. "It is a fitting testament thatthis is his first bilateral meeting," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. Biden sees his role as being the one "to rebuild relationships, rebuild trust," she said. The White House highlighted the weight it puts on the relationship by emphasizing how US-Canada ties play an important role in multilateral settings, from the G7 to NATO, the Five Eyes intelligence alliance and the WTO. Underlining a reset from Trump's typically bruising trade policies, the White House said the "roadmap" includes working "towards reviving the North American Leaders' Summit as a recommitment of solidarity among the US, Canada and Mexico." But while Canada is looking forward to more reliable behaviour from its largest trading partner, Biden has already introduced his own new source of friction by cancelling the cross-border Keystone XL pipeline project, citing environmental concerns. "I think the biggest deliverable from the trip, or from the meeting, is going to be essentially... a roadmap to reinvigorate US-Canada collaboration," a senior US administration official told reporters ahead of the meeting. Announcements on "next steps" will be made in multiple areas such as diplomacy, transportation or infrastructure, and battling Covid-19, the official said. There was no word on whether lifting border restrictions first imposed early in the Covid crisis a year ago would feature. Biden and Trudeau will address several mutual priorities, including tackling climate change, revving up the North American economy, the Arctic, and threats to democracy in Myanmar and Venezuela. "By being on the same line on several subjects, like climate change or economic revival, we can do more together," Trudeau's office said. But they will also wade into the thorny issue of China's "unfair economic practices," its human rights record and Beijing's continued detention of two Canadian nationals, according to the senior US official. Former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor were arrested in China in 2018 in what was seen as likely retaliation for the arrest in Vancouver of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou that year on a US warrant. "Certainly we expect the prime minister to raise it and the president is ready to discuss it," the official said. The US administration official would not be drawn on how US-Canada ties might have been damaged during the four-year Trump administration, opting instead to highlight the various "shared interests" between the two countries. One new sticking point that is likely to come up: Biden's decision to cancel the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, a project fiercely opposed by environmentalists but backed by Ottawa. Biden rescinded the permit by executive order on his first day in office. "The president made clear that this is a commitment he's made in the past, that it's not in the interests of the US and that we want to try to address our climate crisis, while also creating good paying union jobs, Psaki said. "The prime minister raised his concerns directly with the president, has previously, and he's of course welcome to today." The summit begins with a 45-minute closed-door bilateral meeting with Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, along with their Canadian counterparts. It will then be expanded to a broader bilateral discussion. source: AFP Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. A Mongolian chartered plane carrying China-donated COVID-19 vaccines lands at the Chinggis Khaan International Airport in Ulan Bator, capital and largest city of Mongolia, late at night on February 22. BEIJING, Feb. 23 -- A Mongolian chartered plane carrying Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Chinese government and the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) landed at the Chinggis Khaan International Airport in Mongolia's capital city of Ulan Bator on February 22. The two sides hosted a handover ceremony at the airport. Mongolian Deputy Prime Minister Sainbuyan Amarsaikhan, also head of State Emergency Commission, welcomed the Chinese vaccines at the airport. Chinese Ambassador to Mongolia Chai Wenrui, Minister-Counsellor Zhang Muxing, Mongolias Minister of Health, Mongolias Defense Minister, and government officials from the two countries attended the ceremony. In his speech, Deputy Prime Minister Amarsaikhan thanked the Chinese government and people for their assistance to Mongolia for the COVID-19 vaccines. He said that the Mongolian people often say that "neighbors are close to each other and share a common destiny". Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mongolia and China have shared information and supported each other. They have become a model of cooperation between neighboring countries in fighting the pandemic. Amarsaikhan believes that the vaccines provided by China this time will help Mongolia's anti-pandemic work achieve new results and enter a new stage soon. Ambassador Chai Wenrui said that China and Mongolia are friendly neighbors connected by mountains and rivers. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries have helped each other and joined hands in fighting the pandemic, and have built a China-Mongolia health community. China's assistance to Mongolia with the COVID-19 vaccines fully demonstrates the profound friendship between the two peoples. Chai believes that these vaccines can help Mongolia better respond to the pandemic. A citizen of Ulan Bator said that, like other ordinary people in Mongolia, he highly trusts the safety, effectiveness, accessibility and affordability of Chinese vaccines and hopes that he can get the Chinese vaccine as soon as possible. Mongolia is still a high-risk country of the pandemic, and the situation in the capital Ulan Bator is not optimistic. As of 11:00 on February 22, a cumulative total of 2,693 confirmed cases had been reported in the country. 1,933 infected had been cured, and six people had died. Among them, the total number of cases in Ulan Bator has reached 1,852, accounting for 68.77 percent of all confirmed cases in the country. The Mongolian government has recently decided to launch a vaccination plan from February 23 to quickly and effectively curb the spread of the pandemic. Mongolia will continue to seek the COVID-19 vaccines from the international community actively. In the first stage, Mongolia will give priority to front-line high-risk groups such as medical workers and police personnel and will continue to expand the scope of vaccination later. A suspicious object which sparked a security alert in Belfast city centre has been declared as nothing untoward. Several streets were cordoned off around lunchtime on Tuesday. Office buildings were evacuated and roads closed as the Army bomb squad attended the scene. The city council offices on Adelaide Street and Linen Hall Street were sealed off and all employees asked to leave the buildings. In a statement, the PSNI said: "The security alert in the Adelaide Street area of Belfast is now over. "Police attended a report of a suspicious object located in the area, which has been declared as nothing untoward." Ninety-nine years after the Battle of Volochayevka, history buffs relive the clash that many see as the end of the Russian Civil War. These scenes were photographed near Khabarovsk, in Russia's Far East, where military reenactors marked the 99th anniversary of the Battle of Volochayevka on February 14. The 1922 clash was fought between elements linked to the Soviet Red Army and what remained of the counterrevolutionary White Army. Hundreds of fighters died and the anti-revolutionary White Movement was effectively finished off by the battle. This memorial is currently being refurbished in time for the 100th anniversary of the battle next year. The work at the site meant this year's reenactors had to stage their battle a short distance from the hilltop site of the clash. Kirill Bashinsky, one of the reenactors of the battle, tells RFE/RL's Siberian.Realities that participants buy the equipment and blank rounds for the guns themselves. The history enthusiast says reenactments are "a fairly expensive hobby. Preparation for a 'battle' can take up to two months." Bashinsky says that "the most expensive thing is a rifle, which can cost upwards of 50,000 rubles ($675)." Bashinsky says part of the motivation for the hobby is that when the mock battles get under way, the realism and heavy equipment allows him to "really plunge into that time -- you begin to understand how hard it was for the average fighter." Historian Vadim Agapov has written books about Russia's Civil War and says in the area where the Volochayevka battle took place the remains of "many" defeated White Army fighters lie in unmarked and unknown graves. Agapov says, "The Red Army won and in the U.S.S.R. they did not erect monuments to the enemies." Bashinsky says: "I don't care whether I fight on the side of the Reds or Whites. Whichever side needs a soldier, that's what I dress for -- the uniforms are nearly the same." The history buff adds: "I'm interested in seeing things from both sides. They all fought for some idea of their own." Reenactor Bashinsky says one of the most difficult aspects of the hobby is taking public transport while carrying around formidable-looking rifles. "People raise their eyebrows when someone with a 'weapon' is trying to get into the compartment. But we have documents that confirm that this product is not a [working] firearm." When volunteer firefighters arent protecting their communities, theyre often hosting dinners, throwing carnivals, running raffles and playing bingo. Sure, its fun, but thats what they have to do to keep the lights on. And to keep their fire engines running. A tremendous amount of fire companies across Pennsylvania rely on fundraising for their everyday operations, said Jerry Ozog, executive director of the Pennsylvania Fire and Emergency Services Institute. Good Intent Hose Co. No. 1 in Llewellyn is no different. At first, it looked like 2020 was going to be a gangbusters year of fundraising for them. In March, they had their annual raffle auction, which fire company PIO Paul Kennedy said accounts for 10% to 15% of their fundraising budget in a normal year. That was the last one we were able to do, Kennedy said. Thats a significant number, and we were able to get that in the books. The fundraising efforts for fire companies like Good Intent in Llewellyn have been made difficult due to the pandemic, which has drastically cut down on in-person gatherings. (Steve Marroni/PennLive). Its a good thing, too, because days later, the coronavirus pandemic put the kibosh on in-person gatherings. Since most of their budget is covered through fundraising -- all those fun-filled gatherings for dinners, games and events -- the limitations on public gatherings had a big impact on the bottom line for Pennsylvanias fire companies. And veterans groups. And many other non-profits out there. Officials at Good Intent came up with a few good ideas to make ends meet, Kennedy said, which included online raffles. That was going well at first. It was a real game changer for us, he said. But it turns out, they were breaking state regulations and had to stop. For now, anyway. Online raffles Good Intent was one of the many fire companies that tried online raffles. It was going well until they were contacted by the state police or by their county treasurers offices, saying under their small-games-of-chance licenses, they were not permitted to accept credit or debit card payments. That meant cash payments for raffles and pull-tab tickets, which was next to impossible with the elimination of in-person events. Many fire departments were told if they continued to accept credit card payments for online raffles, they could lose their small-games-of-chance licenses, Ozog said. There are more than 2,000 fire companies in Pennsylvania, ranging from large departments with paid firefighters, like Harrisburg, to the small, volunteer-run groups that rely primarily on fundraising, like Good Intent, which tend to be the departments that rely most heavily on fundraising. Colonial Park Fire Company No. 1 Chief John Fogg said his suburban department is lucky in that they get support from their township and they do not rely quite as heavily on fundraising. They still run raffles on their Facebook page, but they only accept cash payments, which brings in far less revenue than they would collect if they could accept credit cards. They are in a position where they can do that. Not everyone is so fortunate. Across the state, there are a lot of nonprofits that relied heavily on small games of chance, he said. With the lack of ways to raise money, it puts some fire companies in a potentially tough financial position. Weve had some that say they havent been able to make a loan payment on firetruck, Ozog said. That is a troublesome sign when we see that occurring. They were living one fundraiser to the next, and when that source of income is cut off and theyre not able to pay their bills, that is a challenge. Many departments hes talked to say theyve had to take a bite out of their reserve funds, he said, which, down the road, could hurt with making major purchases, like new equipment and firetrucks. Thats why he said he would support proposed legislation that would allow fire companies and similar volunteer organizations to collect funds for small games of chance via credit and debit card during the coronavirus pandemic. But will that legislation happen soon? Possible new legislation Legislation was first introduced in the state House in August to allow fire companies and similar groups to accept credit card and debit card payments for small games of chance during the current emergency declaration. Introduced by the late Rep. Mike Reese and Rep. Ryan Warner, the bill did not make it out of the Gaming Oversight Committee. But on Jan. 27, Warner reintroduced the legislation as the prime sponsor. Many of these organizations have been negatively impacted, like so many businesses. One of their main sources of raising funds involved people gathering, said Warner, a Republican who represents Fayette and Westmoreland counties. What sparked this bill was some local organizations we knew of were announcing the winners of pull-tab games online. At some point, they were issued a letter from state police reminding them it was not legal to perform any of these games online at all, and thats what prompted this bill. The new House Bill 290 has been referred to the House Gaming Oversight Committee. That bill can be found here. The bill would amend the Small Games of Chance Act of 1988 to allow organizations like fire companies to accept debit and credit card payments for raffles and similar games of chance through online and social media platforms during the COVID-19 emergency declaration. Ozog said he supports this bill and any efforts that would assist fire companies in their fundraising efforts. If the bill does not go through, there are a few options, but they arent great. Ozog said fire companies can work with their local governments to assess a fire-protection tax. They can also seek help from the community by asking for additional donations. Some may have to cut deep into their reserves, or even reduce their operations. And the pandemic continues Though there is a coronavirus vaccine, there is no telling how much longer the pandemic will go on, or how much longer in-person gatherings will be limited. Or how much longer fire companies can hold out. Ozog said he hasnt yet heard of any fire companies that are planning to close, but he knows many are struggling, and hes aware of at least one township that was approached by a fire company that could not make a payment on a fire engine. And its more than fire companies. Its been a terrible struggle, said Pennsylvania VFW Commander Ron Peters. I have 430 VFWs across the state that cant make a living when the doors are closed. Anything that would help VFWs stand up during the pandemic is welcome, he said. If it helps us, Im good with it, Peters added. There are VFWs out there that were struggling before the pandemic set in last year, and some of them are not [going to] make it unless they find a way to get some financing. At Good Intent, Kennedy said they support this proposed legislation. The company has had to get creative after the raffles were taken away. In April, they held a drive-thru food truck service, moving 5,000 cars through in six hours. Theyve had take-out service from their kitchen and have tried a few other similar, socially distanced events, but they are pretty limited with what they can do. The online gaming option will give us an opportunity to make some of that money back, Kennedy said. Even with the rollout of vaccine, were still looking at several months before we can do in-person events like we used to. It is becoming a critical situation for the department, he said. Were in real trouble if cant get the online raffles up and running, he said Confronting footage has captured the tragic moment a garbage truck struck and killed an elderly woman crossing a suburban road in the morning. The unsuspecting lady was struck in Chester Hill in Sydney's southwest on Tuesday at 8.30am after the driver allegedly made an illegal right-hand turn. CCTV footage showed the truck doing a three-point turn moments before the accident. The garbage driver, 32, tried to assist the woman and paramedics were quick to respond but the woman died at the scene, reported 7NEWS. An unsuspecting woman (pictured) has died after being hit by a truck in Sydney's south west 'The driver has been oblivious to the pedestrian and similarly the pedestrian has been oblivious to the truck,' Bankstown Police Commander Murray Reynolds said. The deceased woman has not been formally identified but one neighbour said she didn't believe garbage should be picked up during peak hour traffic. 'I don't think rubbish trucks should be coming around at 8.30 in the morning,' Ruba Carwizi said. '[They should] be coming much earlier at 5am when there isn't so much traffic.' The Campbelltown driver was charged on four counts including negligent driving occasioning death, disobeying a no right-hand turn sign and not giving way to a pedestrian. The man has been granted conditional bail to appear in Bankstown Local Court on March 11. SC adjourns hearing on CBI plea against discharge of Kerala CM, others in graft case India pti-Deepika S New Delhi, Feb 23: The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing on CBI's plea against the discharge of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and two others in a graft case related to awarding of a contract to Canadian firm SNC-Lavalin when he was the power minister. A bench headed by Justice U U Lalit deferred the matter to April 6 after Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the CBI, sought adjournment in the matter. 'I am engaged in a part heard matter in another court. Please have it next week,' the ASG said. The bench then posted the hearing to April 6. The case pertains to allegations of corruption and causing a loss of Rs 374.50 crore to the state Exchequer in awarding of a contract to SNC-Lavalin when Vijayan was the power minister in 1996. The top court had earlier asked the CBI to come up with very strong grounds against the discharge of Vijayan and two others in the SNC Lavalin graft case. The high court and the lower court have held that they should not be tried in the matter. The CBI said this was a cross-appeals matter filed in 2017 and it will file a comprehensive note giving the factual aspect of the matter. On August 23, 2017, the Kerala High Court had upheld the discharge of Vijayan in the SNC Lavalin graft case, saying the CBI had 'wrongly picked' him as prima facie there was no case against him. The high court had also upheld the discharge of two others in the case while rejecting the CBI's plea that their full-fledged trial was necessary to prove the conspiracy. The high court's verdict had come in a revision petition filed by the CBI in 2014 challenging the discharge of Vijayan and five others in the case by a special CBI court in Thiruvananthapuram. The CBI special court, Thiruvananthapuram, had in November 2013 discharged Vijayan and others. The probe agency had filed the charge sheet in the case arguing that there was sufficient evidence to prove the charges against the accused. The discharge by the special court was 'illegal', CBI had stated in its revision petition. The special judge had ruled that the CBI had failed to prove the charges of conspiracy and corruption levelled against Vijayan and other accused. Gujarat civic polls: BJP makes big gains | Celebrations begin | Oneindia News The CBI had argued before the high court that a trial was must to prove the conspiracy in giving the contract to revamp the power projects to the Canadian firm when Vijayan was power minister in 1996. Claiming that the conspiracy was hatched at different stages in awarding the contract, the CBI had assailed the lower court order discharging Vijayan and six others and said a full-fledged trial was necessary to prove the conspiracy. Thousands urge Cadbury to drop ad featuring same-sex kiss ahead of Easter Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment As Easter approaches, more than 30,000 people have signed a petition asking Cadbury Creme Eggs to remove an advertisement featuring a same-sex kiss. The United Kingdom-based chocolatier Cadbury released an advertisement on Jan. 4 celebrating the 50th anniversary of its signature Creme Eggs, referring to the occasion as a golden goobilee. The commercial, which runs for nearly a minute, demonstrates several ways to consume and prepare the chocolate eggs, highlighting lickers, bakers, eggsperts, dippers and discreaters. A roughly six-second segment from the latter portion of the commercial, which targets sharers, has received significant blowback from social conservatives. A recent advertisement for Cadburys Creme Eggs features a gay couple engaged in a highly-charged sexually provocative act, a petition launched by the socially conservative group CitizenGo explains. In a show of affection, the couple uses their lips and tongue to exchange the contents of a creme egg; an image which many customers have complained is both disgusting and off-putting, the petition continued. By choosing to feature a same-sex couple, Cadburys are clearly hoping to cause controversy and escape criticism, by claiming that any objections must be rooted in homophobia, but members of the LGBT community have also expressed their dislike of this campaign. The petition, launched on Feb. 15, is addressed to Guy Parker, the U.K.s Advertising Standards Authority's chief executive, and Louise Stigant, the managing director of Cadbury UK. The petition asks the ASA, which regulates commercials in the United Kingdom, to immediately withdraw the advert from mainstream circulation, citing the sexual objectification featured in the ad as a violation of the ASAs code of conduct. The ASA has not hesitated in banning advertisements featuring sexual objectification in the past. A 2017 advertisement for the shaving company Femfresh that zeroes in on scantily clad womens bikini lines as they danced suggestively was banned for its presentation in an overly-sexualised way that objectified women. The CitizensGo petition contends that if the couple in the advertisement were heterosexual, the ad would likely be prohibited due to the sexually explicit and graphic nature of the kiss. The petition accuses Cadbury of trying to cause gratuitous offence to members of the Christian community during the most important feast in their calendar and that the advertisement poses a danger to the impressionable minds of young children, a target audience of the chocolate company. Cadburys know full-well that their product is enjoyed by children and deliberately market it at this demographic, making this campaign even more irresponsible, the campaign argues. Cadburys is traditionally a brand associated with families. Exposing children to sexualized content constitutes a form of grooming. It is well-known that children will often copy what they see on the screen. A boycott was launched by the conservative group One Million Moms, well-known in the United States for its opposition to the promotion of homosexuality. The campaign urges Americans not to purchase Cadbury Creme Eggs. Warning that Cadbury just might bring this ad to American television for your children to see, One Million Moms asserts that taking a stand now will send a strong signal that their eggs are cracked up. So far, more than 30,000 people have signed on in support of the One Million Moms statement addressed to Cadbury, which takes issue with their social agenda to promote homosexuality. Your latest ad offends me and many other Christians who celebrate Easter with reverence and respect, the letter crafted by the conservative group states. I wont be buying your products either. Im taking Cadbury Creme Eggs off my shopping list. Please stick to making chocolates and candies, not political and social statements. In response to the criticism, Cadbury released a statement to Premier Christian News asserting that Cadbury has always been a progressive brand that spreads a message of inclusion, whether it is through products or brand campaigns. The company expressed pride in its clip of a real life couple sharing a Cadbury Creme Egg featured in the advertisement, indicating that it has no intention of pulling the commercial any time soon. This is not the first time Cadbury has faced criticism from Christians. In 2017, the egg company removed the word Easter from promotions for its annual egg hunt for children and families, citing a desire to invite people from all faiths and none to enjoy our seasonal treats. The decision faced pushback from the Church of England and then-Prime Minister Theresa May. Huge tailbacks of traffic, caused by the creation of a cycle lane trial scheme in Malaga city centre led to the brakes quickly being applied to the project. After complaints on Monday the city council decided to abruptly end the trial of a reserved cycle lane on the Pablo Ruiz Picasso promenade heading in to the centre from the west. The decision was made after a meeting of the council team responsible for the green mobility scheme. The worst traffic jams were between 3pm and 4pm, when the queue passed the Alameda de Colon, with Canovas del Castillo and Paseo de los Curas being grid-locked. The same happened again at around 6.15 pm when people left work. Local Police were drafted in to try and keep things moving for frustrated motorists. "We have had no choice," explained councillor Jose del Rio, after acknowledging that there had been hundreds of affected drivers and many complaints about the low number of cyclists. Malaga City Council will once again close the right-hand cycle lane to traffic on the eastbound road between La Malagueta beach and Banos del Carmen on Saturday 27 February and Sunday 28 February, and also on 1 March, from 8am to 8pm coinciding with the Andalusian holiday weekend. In this way, this bi-directional and provisional bicycle lane, which is segregated from traffic, will be limited to weekends and holidays. South Africa: Class of 2020: Scholars of courage President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid tribute to the matriculants who sat for the National Senior Certificate (NSC) in 2020 as scholars of courage. In the face of great difficulties brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, our learners have been resilient, they have done themselves, their families and their country proud, President Ramaphosa said. The matric results were announced on Monday, 22 February 2021, by the Department of Basic Education (DBE). President Ramaphosa said last years matriculants had to prepare for the crucial exam under challenging and highly pressured conditions, necessitating adjustment to the lockdown restrictions as well as extra work and effort. The President thanked the countrys educators, teacher unions, school staff and parents for their support to the matriculants throughout the school year. This support our young people received made all the difference, making it possible for the crucial final year of schooling to be salvaged, President Ramaphosa said. The President applauds the 75.8 percent pass rate among female matriculants, as this lays an important foundation for the empowerment of young women in the country. The President added that the matriculants who sat for the exam in 2020 were inheritors of the mantle of the brave generation of 1976. Paying tribute to the Class of 2020, President Ramaphosa recalled Tebogo Tsietsi Mashinini who at a meeting in Soweto just days before the fateful protest in 1976 delivered a speech to reassure the anxious students. Against the greatest of odds our matriculants persevered to write their exams last year as Tsietsi said that day, let us indeed honour the charge they made, President Ramaphosa said. The President called on matriculants who did not pass the exam to take advantage of supplementary exams, the DBEs Second Chance programme and other support mechanisms. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-02-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Admin gears up as Hisar farmers get set to protest today Punjab MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu hoists black flag at his residence in support of protesting farmers Disha Ravi gets bail in Greta Thunberg Toolkit case India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Feb 23: A Delhi Court on Tuesday granted bail to 22-year old climate activist Disha Ravi, who was arrested by the Delhi police in connection with the toolkit case. Disha Ravi granted bail by Patiala House Court after arrest on feb 13th| Oneindia News Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana granted relief to Ravi on a personal bond of Rs one lakh and two sureties of like amount. Ravi was arrested by a Cyber Cell team of the Delhi Police from Bengaluru and brought to Delhi. She was currently in police custody. The Delhi Police had accused Ravi of creating the online toolkit - a Google document - in support of ongoing farmers' protest in the country and claimed she is part of global conspiracy to create unrest and trigger violence in the guise of farmers' stir against the three agriculture laws. There is no evidence to show that the toolkit on farmers' protest is responsible for the violence on January 26, activist Disha Ravi's counsel had told the court. It alleged that Ravi deleted WhatsApp chats, emails and other evidence and was aware of legal actions she could face. Why did Disha Ravi cover her track and delete evidence if she did not commit wrong, the police said, alleging that his shows her guilty mind and sinister design. Ravi "was part of the Indian chapter of the global conspiracy to defame India and create unrest in the garb of farmers' protest", it alleged, adding she was in touch and preparing and sharing toolkit with those advocating Khalistan. "It shows there was a sinister design behind this toolkit," the police told the court. However, Ravi's lawyer rejected the allegations. "There is no evidence to link me with Sikhs For Justice, a banned organisation. And even if I (Ravi) meet someone, there is no symbol on him that he is a secessionist," the defence counsel said. Haiti - FLASH : Intervention of President Moise before the UN Security Council On Monday, February 22, 2021, Jovenel Moise spoke by videoconference to the United Nations Security Council where he presented an assessment of the situation in Haiti since his accession to the head of state, which we invite you to share. Excerpts from President Jovenel Moise's speech : "[...] I congratulate the Secretary-General for this comprehensive and balanced report that he presented to the Council on the situation in Haiti and in which he gives the measure of the political crisis which continues to hamper the proper functioning of institutions and undermines the country's stability. [...] [...] My Administration found an economic system which allowed the systematic plundering of the State by powerful oligarchs and the impoverishment of the population. To correct this state of affairs, we have proposed dialogue to the sectors concerned to find an operational consensus. They didn't want the system to change. We have therefore carried out reforms in energy, particularly electricity and the acquisition of petroleum products, the management and construction of road infrastructure. We put an end to currency manipulation and changed agricultural policy. We put an end to corrupt contracts [...] As a response, the corrupt oligarchs associated with the sore losers blocked by violence, for almost three years, the regular functioning of the Senate of the Republic preventing the ratification of Governments, the vote of the budget and the electoral law to facilitate the organization of elections for the renewal of political staff. Added to this, the 'peyi lok' operation of the radical and violent opposition [...] caused serious economic damage with nearly 2.4 billion dollars and nearly 80,000 jobs lost [...] In four years, my Administration has had to deal with seven attempts to interrupt the constitutional order by violence. The violent attack on the Senate of our country on September 11, 2019 by radical opposition gangs [...] The creation of numerous gangs and a phantom terrorist group 509 formed by numerous police officers dismissed for drug trafficking and other crimes who attacked the national police, the prime minister, several ministries and other state institutions are among the dangers that our democracy has had to face in recent months. The latest is the attempted coup on February 7, 2021. [...] [...] This systematic rejection of political alternation through the ballot box constitutes a source of permanent tension [...] We are facing a political opposition which is devoid of democratic alternatives and of any credible social project for the population of the towns and countryside. It rejects the electoral route to gain power. If we have turned our backs on the dictatorship to embrace democracy as a political regime, we owe it to ourselves to submit to all its demands. Election is one of the fundamental rules of democracy. An elected must be replaced by another elected. [...] In strict compliance with the five-year constitutional mandate granted to me by the Haitian people and since my swearing-in on February 7, 2017 [...] I am pursuing the structural and institutional reforms essential to the consolidation of democratic gains, to the preservation of the rule of law and in-depth reform of the State so that it is finally at the service of the entire population and not of a small group. The ongoing constitutional reform process and the organization of elections at all levels during 2021 with a view to renewing political staff and ensuring democratic alternation on February 7, 2022 are part of this process. The April and September elections will indeed be an opportunity to decisively advance the democratization process underway in the country. Likewise, the constitutional reform that the whole country is calling for is becoming a reality [] The need for a new Constitution has been felt for a very long time [] It is a project of the Haitian people who aspires to real change. More than 86% of the population aspires to a new constitution according to the last two opinion polls carried out in the country at the end of the year 2020. [...] It will take time and patience to establish a lasting peace and security that has suffered for decades trauma and shocks. With the constant support of the Security Council and the international community as a whole, we are convinced that we can move forward on the march towards a peaceful and prosperous future for all." Download President Moise's full speech : https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/jovenel-moise-onu-22-02-2021.pdf HL/ HaitiLibre Acting Seoul Mayor Seo Jung-hyeop, second from right, looks around Space Sallim in Dongjak District, Seoul, in this Feb. 18 photo. Yonhap By Bahk Eun-ji Growing Mom, a startup providing childcare-related information, recently moved into "Space Sallim" in Dongjak District, Seoul, a place for women entrepreneurs. Since the move, its CEO, Lee Da-rang, doesn't have to struggle to find someone to take care of her son attending elementary school, as her office has a section with play mats and small chairs for the children of workers. "I feel relieved that I can work while taking care of my child, when he is not going to school during vacation," Lee told reporters during an open-house day last week. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it has launched the pilot project of Space Sallim, a center supporting business and childcare for women entrepreneurs, so that they can maintain work-life balance. The center was built on the former site of Camp Grey, a U.S. military base that used to sit in front of Daebang Station on Subway Line 1. Space Sallim has shared offices and other facilities where women can work and take care of their children during work. It is different from other companies that operate separate daycare centers. Currently, 17 women entrepreneurs and their 24 children use the offices, where a recreational area has been prepared for the children. There is also a separate daycare center at Space Sallim where three full-time staffers provide childcare services for infants and toddlers when working mothers are busy. During vacation season, several programs will be held in connection with startups providing childcare services. While the daycare center is available only for people at Space Sallim, the city government plans to open the childcare facilities to workers at other companies nearby once the COVID-19 pandemic subsides. "As a working mother, I previously used other offices where I could bring my child, but there are more advantages as this place was designed for that purpose from the beginning," Lee said. "This place is safe for children as well. They don't feel cramped here and there are no thresholds children can trip over." Acting Seoul Mayor Seo Jung-hyeop looks around a vegan products shop in Space Sallim in Dongjak District, Seoul, Feb. 18. Yonhap Chennai: Ahead of the assembly elections likely in April, the AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday presented an interim budget for 2021-22 with the COVID-19 pandemic contributing to a 17.64 per cent fall in revenue and a widening of fiscal deficit. The budget, presented amid a boycott by DMK and its allies, projected a positive growth rate of 2.02 per cent in 2020-21 as it expressed hopes of the economy rebounding due to various sustainable policy decisions of the government. Amid expectations of sops with elections around the corner, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who holds the Finance portfolio, allocated Rs 5,000 crore for the Rs 12,110.74 crore co-operative crop loan waiver scheme, announced earlier this month by Chief Minister K Palaniswami. He also urged the Centre not to utilise the 15th Finance Commission recommended grants to substitute their share of funding for the central sector and centrally-sponsored schemes. "I reiterate my call to the Government of India to merge cesses and surcharges with the basic rate of tax so that the states receive their legitimate share of the revenue." Also, the share of central taxes for the state indicated in the union budget at Rs 32,849.34 crore (2020-21) has been cut to Rs.23,039.46 crore in the revised estimates, the Deputy CM said. While the main opposition DMK and its allies, including the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League, boycotted the budget presentation by staging a walkout, leader of the opposition M K Stalin, in a statement, condemned the government for Rs '5.70' lakh crore debt. As Panneerselvam started his budget speech, DMK deputy leader Duraimurugan urged Speaker P Dhanapal to allow him to express a 'view,' which was disallowed. While there was a din for a while, the opposition members eventually staged a walkout, boycotting the presentation of the interim budget, the last by the present AIADMK government before the polls. Stalin, who did not participate in the House proceedings, assured 'growth' for the state after assuming power by winning the coming polls. With the pandemic casting a shadow, the State's Own Tax Revenue (SOTR) is now expected to be Rs 1,09,968.97 crore in the revised estimates for 2020-21, a drop of 17.64 per cent as against Rs 1,33,530.30 crore anticipated as revenue in the budget estimate. The aggregate revenue receipts in revised estimates (2020-21) are estimated at Rs 1,80,700.62 crore, a decline of 17.63 per cent from budget estimates. With the pandemic necessitating an additional expenditure on revenue account to the tune of Rs 12,917.85 crore primarily for health and relief, the total revenue deficit (2020-21) is estimated to be Rs 65,994.06 crore, a steep rise against the Rs 21,617.64 crore projected in the 2020-21 estimates. Also, the fiscal deficit in the revised estimates (2020-21) is set to widen to Rs 96,889.97 crore, 4.99 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product, Panneerselvam said adding yet it was within the limits of the 15th Finance Commission. The 2021-22 budget estimated the revenue deficit to be Rs 41,417.30 crore and fiscal deficit at Rs 84,202.39 crore, 3.94 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). The revenue expenditure has been projected at an aggregate level of Rs 2,60,409.26 crore. Noting that the budget carried the 'imprint' of the unprecedented challenges posed by the pandemic, the Deputy CM said Tamil Nadu was being hailed as a model state in tackling COVID-19. On the whole, the government incurred an expenditure of Rs 13,352.85 crore on the pandemic response, he said. In sync with the recommendation of a high-level panel, additional sanctions were granted -towards more capital expenditure including irrigation, housing and highways- to the tune of Rs 20,013 crore. In view of such measures, the state is expected to register a positive growth rate of 2.02 per cent against an all-India negative growth rate of 7.7 per cent in 2020-21, he said. As against Rs 37,734.42 crore in the revised estimates for 2020-21 towards capital expenditure, Rs 43,170.61 crore has been provided in the budget estimates for 2021-22 for furthering economic development, Panneerselvam said. Due to the pandemic, the State's Own Tax Revenue (STOR) collapsed in the first four months of the current financial year and the collection of state GST and Value Added Tax started to pick up from August last year. The collection of stamp duty and the registration fee has also revived but motor vehicle tax collection is yet to fully recover. In view of the pandemic, there was a sharp drop in revenue, "but the expenditure levels had to be enhanced to protect people's welfare," he said. Hence, "it is completely unavoidable that the government had to resort to borrowings resulting in a higher fiscal deficit," he noted. In his two-and-a-half hour-plus address, he said the government intended borrowing Rs 84,686.75 crore and the outstanding debt as a percentage of GSDP is expected to be 27.44 per cent in 2022-23 and 27.50 per cent in 2023-24 well within the norms outlined by the 15th Finance Commission. The overall debt outstanding as on March 31, 2021, is estimated to be Rs 4,85,502.54 crore and as on March 31, 2022, Rs 5,70,189.29 crore. The budget, the last in the AIADMK's 2016-21 term pegged State GST revenue to be Rs 45,395.50 crore, receipts from excise duty at Rs 9,613.91 crore and VAT at Rs 56,413.19 crore and overall commercial taxes over Rs 1.02 lakh crore. A provision of Rs 11,982.71 crore has been made for agriculture and in the revised estimates (2020-21) the provision for food subsidy has been stepped up from Rs 6,500 crore to Rs 9,604.27 crore. The government made allocations to other departments, including a hefty subsidy of Rs 8,834.68 crore, for the state-run electricity generation and distribution entity, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation. In aggregate, the SOTR is expected to be Rs 1,09,968.97 crore in the revised estimates (2020-21) which represents a drop of 17.64 per cent against Rs 1,33,530.30 crore anticipated as revenue in the budget estimates for 2020-21. A murder investigation has been launched after a woman was found dead at a property in west London. Police were called to an address on Castlebar Road in Ealing at 3.45pm on Monday following reports of an unresponsive woman. The victim, believed to be in her 40s, was pronounced dead at the scene. She has yet to be formally identified, the Metropolitan Police said. Police were called to an address on Castlebar Road in Ealing at 3.45pm on Monday They were called to the home following reports of an unresponsive woman, but the victim was pronounced dead at the scene. Pictured: Police at the property Officers in forensics suits have been seen going in and out of the property, which is currently cut off by police tape A man, also in his 40s, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and is being held at a west London police station. Inquiries are ongoing and a crime scene remains in place around the address, the force said. Officers in forensics suits have been seen going in and out of the property, which is currently cut off by police tape. Inquiries are ongoing and a crime scene remains in place around the address, the Met Police said Police cars have been parked outside the property all day (pictured) as police investigate the death A police officer and forensic expert were pictured today at the scene of the suspected murder Several police vehicles have also been parked outside the west London address throughout the day. Anyone with any information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting reference CAD 4360/22Feb. Alternatively, witnesses can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Boeing is urging air travel companies to suspend the use of all the companys 777 passenger jets with one kind of engine model. The move comes after an incident that took place Saturday. A Boeing 777s engine blew apart during a United Airlines flight shortly after takeoff. The airplane landed in the U.S. city of Denver with all passengers safe. Boeing urged airlines to suspend use of all 777s with the same kind of engine. It is called the Pratt & Whitney 4000-112. Most airlines flying planes with those engines said they would temporarily suspend their use. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement it was calling for increased inspections of 777s using the Pratt & Whitney 4000-112 engines. Boeing said 69 aircraft with that kind of engine were in service. Another 59 planes were in storage. The FAA said United Airlines is the only American-based airline using planes with the Pratt & Whitney 4000-112 engine. The company said on Sunday that it had voluntarily removed from service 24 active 777 planes with that engine. Two Japanese airlines Japan Airlines and ANA announced they had suspended the use of all 777 aircraft with the engines. South Koreas Asiana Airlines also grounded its planes, while Korean Air said it was discussing whether to suspend use of the aircraft. Boeing said it was working with regulators in the U.S. and other countries to examine the planes. They are to be examined by inspectors from engine maker Pratt & Whitney. The weekend emergency landing of the United plane was the latest trouble for Boeing. The companys 737 Max planes were grounded, or barred from flying, for more than a year after two deadly crashes in 2019. The Max planes began returning to service late last year, but the company lost billions of dollars during the flight ban. Boeing has also suffered from major drops in air travel related to the coronavirus pandemic. Video posted on Twitter from Saturday's emergency showed the engine on fire as the plane flew through the air. Other pictures posted on social media appeared to show a broken fan blade in the engine. Passengers, who were on their way to Hawaii, said they feared the plane would crash after they heard an explosion and saw a bright flash of light. The explosion, which could be seen from the ground, left a cloud of black smoke in the sky. People on the ground saw large pieces of the aircraft fall. One piece narrowly missed hitting a home, The Associated Press reported. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said two of the engine's fan blades were broken and the remaining blades showed damage. Japans Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said an engine in the Pratt & Whitney 4000 family suffered trouble on a Japan Airlines 777 flying to Tokyo from Naha on December 4. The airline has said the plane had engine difficulties after takeoff and returned to Naha. An inspection showed damage to the engines structure and missing fan blades, Japan Airlines said. Increased inspection methods were ordered as a result of the incident. Im Bryan Lynn. The Associated Press and Reuters reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story regulator n. an official who works for the part of government that controls a public activity by making and enforcing rules fan blade n. part of a jet engine that turns very quickly forcing air through the engine flash n. a sudden bright light For a couple of years, my wife and I escaped Obamas America by owning a Pacific Ocean hotel in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. The irony was that in supposedly socialist Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega's government left us alone far more than government did in the supposedly free country of the United States of Obama. Still, while Ortega 2.0 might have shed most of his socialism, he had not shed his lust for power, and the job of making sure he never lost again was that of the Chief Justice Roberto Rivas Reyes of what is in effect the Nicaraguan Supreme Court. Im not sure who was actually more powerful or corrupt -- President Ortega or Justice Rivas -- but Rivass was bigger. His motorcade, that is, and he owned the two biggest homes on the two most elevated lots in San Juan del Sur, the nations top coastal town, a few hundred yards from our hotel. Today Im not sure whose court is more corrupt vis-a-vis election law: Nicaraguas court or our Supreme Court. It appears that Donald Trump has remade the U.S. Supreme Court -- in Mitt Romneys image! (I am not blaming Trump, just stating the obvious.) While I think the United States Supreme Court stumbled badly in its 7-2 rejection of the Texas case on standing last year, the refusal to grant cert (i.e., to take the case) yesterday in a Pennsylvania case is horrifying beyond words. I could say that our election laws are now full-on banana republic, but Id hate to insult bananas that badly. East facade of the Supreme Court Building Photo credit: Jeff Kubina CC BY SA-3.0 license What the Supreme Court codified yesterday, and what it started with the Texas rejection, is that election laws and procedures cannot be challenged beyond a state court, at any time, regardless of how badly those states shred the United States Constitution, and regardless of the major consequences to the other 49 states as a result. They dont ever say that per se, but the results of what those two rulings have done are just that. Period. Those trying to challenge Pennsylvanias obviously corrupt and rigged election system have been told that they cannot challenge the laws ahead of the election, because there is not yet a victim. Theyve been told that fellow Americans impacted by Pennsylvanias corrupt system cannot challenge, because of standing. Now theyve been told that they cannot challenge after the election, because its after the election - and therefore moot. Ortega on line one, asking the Democrats just how do they get away with this? This kind of infantile and absurd logic just defies belief and takes one's breath away. And not just mine. I think its clear that Justice Clarence Thomas is even more mystified than am I, and he was livid. He was also, as he always is, right on the money in his analysis. "One wonders what this Court waits for, understates Thomas in his dissent, adding we failed to settle this dispute before the election, and thus provide clear rules. Now we again fail to provide clear rules for future elections. The decision to leave election law hidden beneath a shroud of doubt is baffling. By doing nothing, we invite further confusion and erosion of voter confidence. Our fellow citizens deserve better and expect more of us. In other words, we are punting the ball again. But lets make no mistake -- this is not doing nothing with all respect to Justice Thomas. This is proactive, and it absolutely legalizes institutional voter fraud and neuters state legislatures in lieu of state courts. Lawyers gonna lawyer, I reckon. The only other quibble I have regarding Justice Thomass statement is that actually no, we dont expect more of our courts any more. This is exactly what we have come to expect. We saw Brett Kavanaugh emasculated in his hearing process, and clearly he hasnt had enough testosterone replacement shots yet, and Amy Coney Barrett, the mom, seems worried about her kiddies at school. Cancel Culture 1, Constitution 0. Voters be damned. For the record, the broad strokes of the Pennsylvania case revolve around the fact that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court changed election laws at the last minute to expand unchecked mail in voting. The Constitution, that once relevant but now apparently irrelevant document, makes it clear that the state legislatures are in charge of state elections. In Pennsylvania, as in many states, the legislature is controlled by Republicans - while Pennsylvanias Supreme Court is controlled by radical leftists. One lesson the late, great Rush Limbaugh helped teach us is that the left always uses the courts to get stuff done that they could never accomplish through the ballot box. Never has that been truer than in the 2020 Election, in Pennsylvania and other places as well. As Thomas adds: "The Constitution gives to each state legislature authority to determine the 'Manner' of federal elections...Yet both before and after the 2020 election, non-legislative officials in various States took it upon themselves to set the rules instead.... [T]he Pennsylvania Legislature established an unambiguous deadline for receiving mail-in ballots... the Pennsylvania Supreme Court extended that deadline (and) ordered officials to count ballots received by the new deadline even if there was no evidencesuch as a postmarkthat the ballots were mailed by election day. these cases provide us with an ideal opportunity to address (this) before the next election cycle. The refusal to do so is inexplicable. Tragically, its not inexplicable. Its very explicable. Its that the explanations are chilling and uncomfortable. Our Supreme Court is now part of the Washington Swamp, and the Washington Swamp is now totally divorced from any understanding of or caring about the rest of the nation. Roberts surrendered to the Swamp shortly after being seated. Kavanaugh and Coney-Barrett have done so even quicker. Our Supreme Court is now no more an agent of a free people than similar courts are in places like Venezuela and Nicaragua. Our nation is becoming ungovernable, because there is no reason for a thinking person to have any respect for our institutions like the FBI, The Justice Department, or our courts on any level. We are facing dark days indeed. Edmund Wright is a long time contributor to American Thinker, Breitbart, Newsmax TV, The Rush Limbaugh Show and author of several political books. Posted Monday, February 22, 2021 12:13 pm The effort to replace the aging Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River is ramping up, and the head of the project is hopeful that ongoing public response will aid in getting the work done. The Reflector had a virtual chat with Interstate Bridge Replacement Project (IBRP) administrator Greg Johnson to see how current work is going to bring forth an eventual solution to the issue of the I-5 bridge spans, which includes one span that dates from the World War I era. He said the current phase of project development has been going tremendously well, focusing on community outreach in order to get an idea of what locals want to see in the eventual build. Johnson reiterated a description he had made previously that the establishment of the advisory groups was when the project somewhat shifted out of first gear into second gear with a more public approach to the work. He noted that most recently the project has comprised community and equity advisory groups, in an effort to get feedback on the projects purpose and need statements, which will help steer it toward its eventual goal. Johnson said each group has equity embedded in it, but there was a need for a specific advisory group dedicated to equity to look at both internal processes and outcomes. He said the group would be one to advise project players if they had missed the ball, and be able to analyse situations where, as he explained, OK, we think youve missed the ball here, we think you could do better, try this. He said that advisory group would look at all of the processes and decisions through the lens of equity, taking note of how the program includes groups traditionally marginalized by large-scale building projects Johnson said the community advisory group had a broader purpose than the equity-focused one, bringing their experience and representation to the table with regards to impacts the project may have, be it language or disability, he noted as examples. He said its goal was to answer the question of, are we reaching the right corners of the communities to hear these voices that traditionally havent been heard, Johnson said hes heard a lot of passion from those involved with the new advisory groups. Folks, they want to jump in and really start designing what this (bridge replacement project) looks like, Johnson said, noting that there were still foundational steps to take before that part of the project could be undertaken. The new bridge replacement project is not without precedent. Johnson said that the new project material relies on old research and data gathered through an old, and ultimately failed, project from several years before. The Columbia River Crossing, a project planned to do much of the same that the current IBRP would do, ultimately failed due to the proceedings of the Washington State Legislature in 2013. He said some of the technical information that the CRC brought forth would be made use of in the IBRP, such as soil and foundational examinations. He said aspects such as traffic modeling, This is a critical gathering of information, determining the purpose and need, and then starting to put together alternatives to what a crossing of the Columbia would look like at this location, Johnson said. Johnson said he saw similarities in disparate opinions expressed across the Columbia as he saw across the Detroit River for the Gordie Howe International Bridge project he was a part of previous to his current position. That bridge project, currently under construction, will connect Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, Canada. He said that project had similarities in the number of contentious issues around it, noting how one of the communities involved was very much accepting of the location of the proposed bridge, whereas another community was frankly tired of being saddled with every piece of infrastructure, as Johnson put it. Johnson said there was a common ground among both Portland and Clark County-based residents on how crucial the piece of infrastructure was. Johnson said he reports equally to both the Washington State Secretary of Transportation Roger Millar and the Oregon Department of Transportation Director Kris Strickler, the latter of which used to work for WSDOT in a regional capacity. He noted that governmental officials brought himself in in as someone without a horse in the race for either vantage point, as he put it himself, which was particularly poignant given the tumult that resulted from the CRC. My role is to put forward best practices, (to) put forward a good way to get this piece of infrastructure updated that takes into concerns (on) both sides, Johnson remarked. One of the contentious issues has been on how mass transit would look in the program. Johnson considered both bus rapid transit (BRT) and light rail as options, explaining their differences as more about the type of effectiveness a population desired. He said that bus rapid transit was more flexible, but light rail had greater capacity and also had the ability to tie into existing networks in Portland. Although opinions on what a future bridge will look like differ across the river, Johnson said that the overall goal among communities in both Oregon and Washington was more or less the same in its focus, on getting a bridge built that benefits both. The differences between Portland and Vancouver are very striking, and Im reminded of that every day, Johnson remarked. The priorities are somewhat different. But once again, they share this common piece of infrastructure, and both communities realize how important this piece of infrastructure is to their viability and their future economic prospects. Weve got to make sure that we are building in these future aspirations and wants and needs of a generation thats going to have this bridge for their entire lifetime, Johnson remarked. Albany, N.Y. Movie theaters in New York City will be allowed to reopen March 5. Theyll be limited to 25% of their maximum capacity and no more than 50 people per screening, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today. Theaters in a few other counties elsewhere in the state that have been required to remain closed will also be allowed to return. Theaters in most of New York, including Onondaga County, were allowed to reopen in the fall. Many chains reopened initially, but closed soon after, including Regal Cinemas. In addition to capacity limits, theaters must meet certain air ventilation and purification standards, Cuomo said during a conference call with reporters. Staff must control occupancy and seating to ensure compliance with reopening rules. Assigned seats and social distancing are required. Masks are required unless moviegoers are seated and eating or drinking. Also today, Cuomo outlined new reopening guidance for pool halls in New York. Some pool halls in the state were allowed to reopen earlier this year after they successfully sued New York over their mandatory shutdown. The new rules will allow billiard halls to reopen statewide, Cuomo said. Establishments will be limited to 50% of their maximum capacity, 35% in New York City, and masks will be required except if customers are seated for eating or drinking. Parties will be assigned tables and social distancing must be enforced, Cuomo said. Pool halls must also place physical barriers between tables and ensure frequent cleaning and disinfection. MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources First case of South African Covid-19 variant confirmed in NY resident Track NY Covid-19 vaccinations by county, region and race Who can book Covid-19 vaccine appointments at 3 new NY Upstate sites? Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598 SIENA, FEB 23 - An Italian university professor has been suspended after he insulted nationalist Brothers of Italy (FdI) leader Giorgia Meloni after she criticised Premier Mario Draghi. Modern history lecturer Giovanni Gozzini last week called rightist leader Meloni a "fishwife" for "daring to criticise someone like Draghi", a former European Central Bank chief credited with saving the euro whose nickname is Super Mario. Asked to moderate his language so as not insult fishsellers, Gozzini replied "what should I call her then, a cow, a sow, what fully captures her ignorance and arrogance?" Meloni received crossparty solidarity after the incident, broadcast live on Italian radio. Siena University said Monday it was suspending Gozzini from teaching "as a precautionary measure" pending possible disciplinary action. The dean said he would propose Gozzin serve a three-month suspension for actions deemed to have brought the institution's good name into disrepute. (ANSA). Couples have been warned they'll face competition for Autumn dates as wedding suppliers report a 720% increase in sales as bride-to-be's rush to book their weddings following Boris Johnson's announcement. The Prime Minister announced yesterday weddings with a maximum of six will take place from March 8, increasing to 15 'no earlier than April 12' and to 30 people from May 17. But couples hoping for a full-sized wedding face an uncertain wait, with June 21 given as the earliest date when they will be given the green light - but that didn't stop brides from resuming plans for their big day - with September to November dates proving very popular. From wedding venues to florists and bridal dress designers, many industry leaders and suppliers witnessed a rapid, sharp u-turn following the announcement, as the prospect of 500,000 weddings taking place in the next year quickly became a reality. Wedding decoration suppliers, Ginger Ray, saw searches for wedding decorations peak at 3,054 last night, while Hamish Shephard, founder of leading UK app Bridebook, revealed that the app crashed due to a sharp, sudden rise in traffic - with 23,112 couples logging in. 'Get ready for the race down the aisle,' Hamish warned. 'Couples should be aware they may face a lot of competition for Autumn dates as brides-to-be rush to plan and book suppliers. 'We saw a 720% spike after Boris Johnson's announcement and its looking like a huge amount of couples will want to get married between September and November. If you have not booked your venue yet, I would highly encourage couples to move quickly.' Hamish Shephard (pictured), founder of leading UK app Bridebook, revealed that following Boris' announcement, the app crashed due to a sharp, sudden rise in traffic Wedding photographer duo Stephanie and Nicole say that they have also seen added interest since Boris' announcement yesterday Hamish commented: 'It was the busiest night in wedding planning history and the app crashed within an hour of Boris's announcement! 'We saw a high number of couples attempting to download Bridebook to book their venue in the space of a few hours. Sadly it was too much traffic to cope with - though I am pleased to say we are now back up and running.' 'It's not surprising given the clarity we now have for the summer peak wedding season and beyond, with next year being set to see 1,000,000 people get married and 500,000+ weddings.' According to Bridebook, 735 lucky couples will get married on Monday 21st June. The wedding planning app says weddings are back in a big way, and there's an enormous amount of pent up demand across the country. Hamish added: 'By 8pm three venues had commented on our Slack channel that they had had two booking confirmations. Consumer confidence is up immeasurably finally, and the wedding industry is ready!' Speaking exclusively to FEMAIL, Bridebook bride Alison Mullett, who is due to marry Glenn Mather, told how she was one of the lucky ones who jumped straight on the phone and managed to get a new wedding date booked in for Monday 26th July 2021. Phillipa Lepley (pictured), British couture dress designer, says that since last night, they have seen an incredible spike in enquiries Sue Barnes from LGF says that Lavender Green Flowers has already seen a huge number of brides contact them since yesterday afternoon to discuss confirmations on weddings (pictured) Alison, who was originally due to get wed on Sunday 26th July 2020, explained that before Boris' announcement, she had planned four weddings - two dates and two differed styles. Following the news yesterday, she added: 'This is our fifth attempt to get married this year! The announcement was totally unbelievable. Even though I didnt feel like I was anxious about it, as soon as he said June 21st it felt like the most enormous weight had been lifted. I am still really teary now. I just thought FINALLY!' 'We watched the announcement right until the end to check there werent any u-turns and then as soon as it was finished we sat at the dining table and went on the Bridebook app. 'The app was down last night, so we ended up pulling out all our old excels and pieces of paper starting to draw up plans, until we got back on this morning.' Alison says she resumed wedding planning 'straight away' - adding: ' We had a bottle of pink Lanson champagne ready to go in the hope we would be happy with the news, which we opened straight away!' Speaking exclusively to FEMAIL, Bridebook bride Alison Mullett, who is due to marry Glenn Mather, jumped on the phone to book a new wedding date following Boris' announcement (pictured, together) Alison (pictured, with Glenn) says she resumed wedding planning 'straight away' - adding: ' We had a bottle of pink Lanson champagne ready to go in the hope we would be happy with the news, which we opened straight away!' 'I took today off work to get ahead and because I just feel so excited! I have been so busy getting in touch with absolutely everybody - all our suppliers and the venue. Relatives and invites will all come next - that is our plan for tomorrow evening.' Alison continued: 'We're having the whole thing at the venue now as our notice of marriage has expired and the registrars weren't open to renew it, so now we are getting married at the local church and then having the ceremony at the venue, Venue is Heaton House Farm, in Macclesfield. I am just SO excited to get back planning! We have managed to put it to the back of our minds for so long and try to forget until we have positive news.' 'We have a wedding WhatsApp group with family and close friends on, and we messaged straight away - everyone on it was thrilled! We have people planing to come to the wedding from Scotland, Plymouth, Devon and the Midlands - it will just be so brilliant to see everyone in July.' Jess and Max (pictured) initially planned to get married on Saturday 29th May, but have since scheduled their date for August Fran Everist, Head of Sales & Marketing at leading wedding venue Hedsor House, says that her team were prepared and also waiting for the announcement - despite not knowing if it would be the news they or their couples wanted to hear. 'Luckily it was positive news for many - the phone started ringing at 4pm yesterday and it hasn't stopped since,' she said. 'Our existing couples are our priority and we will be are working through plans with each and every one of our existing couples them carefully, and new enquiries have started to come in thick and fast today.' Monty Clevely, founder of Full Monty Events, a boutique wedding and events planning consultancy, was equally as delighted by the news. 'After the announcement yesterday, I had about 10 brides message and call me saying that they want to resume their planning and get started now that they have been given the green light, which was so exciting,' she explained. 'I am over the moon that there is now light at the end of the tunnel and I can get back to doing what I love most planning beautiful weddings. 'I am also so happy that brides to be can finally move forward and be excited for their dream weddings to actually happen!' Monty Clevely (pictured), founder of Full Monty Events, a boutique wedding and events planning consultancy, says she was 'so anxious' for the announcement yesterday - but was delighted with the news A private client of Monty's told FEMAIL: 'My fiance and I are so thrilled that weddings can finally resume at normal capacity come the end of June. 'We have had to cancel our wedding twice now due to the pandemic and while it was really tough and sad at the time, it's given us extra time to really narrow down exactly what we want for when we can have our special day! 'We are so excited to be working with Monty again so that we can go full steam ahead with the preparations. Wedding gift list companies have also seen a rise: The Wedding Present Company: 'Last night saw our highest evening of guest pledges since December 2020, with revenue more than doubling on previous sales so far in 2021. We saw a +46% increase on same day last year, showing that guest confidence is on the rise! Yesterday also saw a spike in new wedding list registrations, up 98% compared to the previous Monday. All new registrations were for 2021 weddings bar one, with an average guest list size of 120. Almost immediately after Boris announcement, we saw a flurry of requests from engaged couples to book a private showroom appointment for when we can reopen our London showroom on 12 April. 'We continue to utilise our Virtual Appointments (born out of lockdown to serve our clients remotely) to get to know our couples and help them get started with their wedding gift list in the meantime. From 4pm yesterday we saw: - 22% increase in users to the website last night - 10% increase in new users to the website last night - 24% increase in organic traffic to the website' Georgie Evans, The Wedding Present Company MD (pictured) The Wedding Shop: 'There was a 50% increase in registrations compared to the previous Monday and 17% increase compared to the previous day. We saw twice the number of appointments being booked compared to the previous day The average guest pledge value was up compared to the same day the previous year.' Prezola: 'Logged in traffic up was up 16% compared to the previous day and we saw a spike in registrations at 7pm. Compared to the previous Monday we were up 40% in logged in users, 35% in sessions and 71% up in page views.' Advertisement 'As soon we heard last night's announcement, we texted her immediately asking for a call today to discuss how best to move forward. 'Thankfully our wedding venue still had a few dates available for this year, so we immediately confirmed that as our first port of call. Then we gave Monty a call to talk through everything!' Elsewhere, Kate Beavis, the owner of creative wedding blog and directory Magpie Wedding, says that yesterday was a 'key day' for couples and wedding suppliers alike. 'Our bride group have almost stopped planning as they didn't want their hopes dashed again,' she explained. 'Last night felt like a very different story. 'Our wedding Magpie Wedding Directory (where we showcase amazing suppliers to our couples) had the biggest day every for website hits. 'We usually get a few thousand a day but last night we reached 18, 000 and today looks to be the same, in fact, double! Our couples want a sustainable wedding - our Guide To Having An Ethical Wedding was downloaded a record amount yesterday. 'We are now so hopeful that we can put our wedding shows on again too - couples are itching to come out to meet suppliers, to taste the cake samples, and try on dresses!' And Nehar Ullah-Donofrio, from Spot On Event, says that they have also had a few bookings confirmed since the announcement, which is 'amazing news.' She added: 'I can imagine the venues are very busy though because I myself have allied two venues since this morning to confirm dates and also a few to understand their cancellation policy should there be a change in the rules.' Another couple who were eager to book in a new wedding date yesterday was Jess and Max - who do not wish to share their surname. They initially planned to get married on Saturday 29th May with a beautiful Tipi wedding. But since Boris' announcement, Jess has been rushing around all of her suppliers trying to arrange a new date, which has since been scheduled for August. Speaking of plans prior to Boris' announcement, Jess told FEMAIL: 'We had all our suppliers in place and remained hopeful that we would still be able to get married in May. However, planning the little details and getting excited about the day had dropped off as deep down we probably knew we wouldn't be able to have as many guests as we wanted (we planned for 140 and decided that we would go ahead as long as we could have 50 guests).' 'The uncertainty really impacted our feelings about the wedding, as it is so hard to be excited and motivated to plan for a wedding we weren't sure would happen!' Jess went on to say how the couple initially felt 'deflated' after the news. 'Whilst we probably had already realised it would be tough, it was much more disappointing hearing it confirmed,' she explained. 'It was also hard to process that if we had a wedding a month later, there would be no restrictions.' 'I also felt really overwhelmed by the need to scramble for a new date, as of course there are many couples in our situation.' But Jess resumed her wedding planning this morning, adding: 'By some miracle, we have got all our main suppliers aligned for a new date in August which we are SO thrilled about.' 'All of my suppliers, especially Caviar & Chips and Sami Tipi, have been so wonderfully supportive throughout the whole process and helping us re-plan.' And it wasn't only wedding venues and planners that saw an almost immediate demand from brides-to-be. Sue Barnes, from Lavender Green Flowers, says that the company has already seen a huge number of brides contact them since yesterday afternoon to discuss confirmations on weddings. She went on to say that the announcement has given them the confidence and enquiries are, thankfully after the toughest more diabolical year in the business's 30 year history, coming back in. She added: 'The team are thrilled if somewhat overwhelmed. But we are raring to go!' Dresses and couture overlays patiently waiting in the window of the closed Phillipa Lepley shop Kate Beavis, the owner of creative wedding blog and directory Magpie Wedding says that yesterday was a 'key day' for couples and wedding suppliers alike And Phillipa Lepley, British couture dress designer, says that since last night, they have also seen an incredible spike in interest. 'Brides are thrilled to be able to resume the process of creating their dress with us,' she explained. 'They are quickly booking additional virtual appointments so they can be ready for as soon as the shop opens to have their in house fittings.' 'It has been a joy to see messages from brides and how happy those who are choosing to go ahead in the next couple of months are feeling. 'We have an additional large pop up space in Chelsea close to our store to manage the backlog of fittings and viewings required. We can see twice as many brides in person when safely allowed to do so, this way we can facilitate the large number of brides who have waited patiently and postponed weddings over the last year.' Stephanie Moran, bridal designer in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, also thinks with all the uncertainty, her clients have finally got actual light at the end of the tunnel with regards to tying the knot, without restrictions. 'I came to the stage of not booking future appointments so since the announcement I've had so many brides that were on 'on hold' per se, call and email me before I've had a chance to put a plan in place,' she explained. Stephanie Moran (pictured), bridal designer in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, also thinks with all the uncertainty, her clients have finally got actual light at the end of the tunnel with regards to tying the knot, without restrictions Amy, the owner of Amica Bridal Boutique (pictured), has been inundated with brides contacting them to book appointments to try on dresses or to have their wedding dress altered ready for the big day they've been waiting for Photographer Kate says that almost instantly, she had couples get in touch with jer yesterday evening following the announcement, weeks after their initial enquiry 'From couture clients to alterations and accessories clients, it's now about planning carefully for the dates ahead to make sure that I can fit it all in as it is vital everyone gets their dream dress; it will be tough, as we have an influx of current and new brides excited about their wedding.' The Wedding Lawyer Pranav Bhanot, founder of The Wedding Lawyer and head of Wedding Law at law firm Meaby & Co LLP, says: 'Since the Government Roadmap last night, we have received approximately 100 enquiries overnight regarding the next steps both suppliers and couples should not be taking.' 'Whilst there is cautious optimism, there is also a frantic rush to get the weddings organised. What we have noticed: 1. Couples are using the Government Roadmap as an opportunity to resolve their disputes about refunds with suppliers and adopt a conciliatory approach to wedding planning. 2. Couples wish to move fast as they appreciate peak weekends over the summer months will be subject to high demand. We have found a surge in consultations, as couples wish to obtain guidance and advice before going ahead with their bookings. 3. Wedding suppliers and couples are asking for us to review new agreements and addendums to existing contracts as a renegotiation of terms and conditions are taking place between the parties following the announcement last night. 4. I have been approached by a venues to ask what the Government announcement means for ensuring they can host a COVID-19 Secure event.' Advertisement 'For the wedding industry, this is what we have waited for and we do the job because we love it, so my brides will definitely be walking down the aisle in the dress of their dreams!' Amy, the owner of Amica Bridal Boutique has equally been inundated with brides contacting them to book appointments to try on dresses or to have their wedding dress altered ready for the big day they've been waiting for. She added: Many brides who got engaged during lockdown feel that they've been robbed of the excitement and buildup to their big day - no dress shopping, hair trials, engagement party or visits to wedding fairs. 'Their experience has been tarnished. Brides-to-be and their families can't wait to be part of the bride experience and have something exciting to do together! We will be embracing them when we can reopen. It's going to be such an incredible time.' And wedding photographer duo Stephanie and Nicole also say that they have also seen added interest since Boris' announcement yesterday - although it hasn't been at quite the spike as other suppliers. 'It has been the hardest year of our lives - I can't tell you how much more positive we have been feeling in the last 12 hours,' they explained. 'The phone isn't ringing off the hook yet, but we did see a couple of booking confirmations come through last night and website traffic is up slightly today, so hopefully improvements will continue. 'We can't wait to be back photographing weddings again soon!' Kate Gray, wedding photographer and Owner of Kate Gray Photography, added: 'It is has been a year of uncertainty for the industry, but the announcement yesterday seems to have given some couples that much needed confidence to commit and book their suppliers. 'Almost instantly, we had couples get in touch with us yesterday evening following the announcement, weeks after their initial enquiry. 'It is clear many couples have been sat on the fence waiting for that glimmer of hope for the future, and it seems yesterday provided that.' Kate is urging couples to reach out to potential suppliers as soon as they can. She added: 'We will begin to see a real rush of enquiries, with almost a double season of weddings expected for years 2021 and 2022, as so many couples have decided to postpone or reschedule, and further disappointment could be a real blow to many brides.' Donald Richard 'Dick' Donovan, 75, is charged with four felony counts in Georgia A district attorney in Georgia has been charged with bribery and other counts in an investigation stemming from his alleged sexual harassment of a female employee. Donald Richard 'Dick' Donovan, 75, surrendered for arrest on Monday in Paulding County, where he is charged with false swearing, bribery, and two counts of violation of oath by an officer. Donovan, who has been the district attorney of Paulding County since 2011, was charged following an investigation that stemmed from a sexual harassment suit filed in 2019 by Jaime White, who worked as a victim advocate in his office. The lawsuit accused Donovan of making several unwanted advances against White between 2017 and 2019, including allegedly describing his sexual fantasies about her in detail. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation investigated the matter, and said that Donovan refuted the claims in the lawsuit in a sworn affidavit. His denial is the basis of the false swearing charge. Donovan (left and right), who has been the district attorney of Paulding County since 2011, was charged following an investigation that stemmed from a sexual harassment suit 'I have never suggested we have sex, I have never offered to have sex with her, I have never said I wanted to have sex with her, I have never tried to have sex with her. I have never touched her anywhere that was inappropriate,' Donovan said in an affidavit, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In contradiction to the affidavit, White provided audio tapes and written notes to investigators, prosecutors say. The indictment alleges Donovan lied when he denied 'ever having said that he wanted to have sex' with her and that he lied when he denied 'describing his fantasies desiring to be physical' with the woman. The bribery charge against Donovan relates to allegations that he tried to bribe a prosecutor to drop shoplifting charges against White. The indictment also alleges Donovan violated his oath of office when he committed bribery. The indictment alleges Donovan lied when he denied 'ever having said that he wanted to have sex' with a victim advocate in his office. He is seen above at a community event The bribery charge against Donovan (second from right) relates to allegations that he tried to bribe a prosecutor to drop shoplifting charges against the female employee White claimed in a discrimination complaint that Donovan repeatedly told her he was in love with her and forced her to sit in lengthy private meetings with him. Donovan's behavior toward her, White said, caused her 'anxiety, shame and emotional distress.' White's civil suit was settled for $300,000 in January 2020. Donovan has denied any wrongdoing. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has the power to suspend Donovan as district attorney if a committee appointed by the governor deems it necessary. The committee is currently reviewing the indictment against Donovan. A bench warrant for Donovan's arrest was issued on Thursday, giving him until Tuesday to surrender for booking. Donovan surrendered at around 4.30pm on Monday and was released about an hour later after posting a $2,500 cash bond. Following the implementation of groundbreaking data privacy restrictions in the European Union and California, New York is one of a handful of states thats now taking on the fight to protect consumer data. As part of his executive budget proposal earlier this year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo introduced the New York Data Accountability and Transparency Act a law that will limit the ability of internet companies to collect, sell and share consumer data. The proposal, which also includes the creation of a Consumer Data Privacy Bill of Rights, is just the latest example of states addressing the goal of protecting users personal information, as our understanding of just how much of our data is collected and shared often for profit by large tech companies expands. Personal information is an overarching term; it might refer to your demographic data, location data or even your online purchasing history. In practice, the sharing, selling or leveraging of personal information can cross into discrimination or civil rights abuses, as companies have been accused of targeting job openings or housing listings based on race and gender. Cuomo isnt the only one intent on tackling the way companies monetize consumer data. On Monday, state Sen. Liz Krueger announced a new bill that would impose a tax on companies collecting and profiting off of user data. Every time New Yorkers visit social media sites or shop online, their data is being harvested for profit, often without their having any idea its happening. Big companies are making a fortune from New Yorkers data its time for New Yorkers to get a little something in return, Krueger told News10. The appearance of this proposal in the budget suggests that the Cuomo administration is interested in curbing the practice by large internet companies of profiting off of their users personal information, but the devil is in the details. Some of the privacy and consumer organizations who have long been advocating for this kind of interest from government in regulating the use of personal data are raising concerns about Cuomos proposal. In a letter sent to the Cuomo administration earlier this month, organizations including the New York Civil Liberties Union, the National Action Network and the Immigrant Defense Project urged that the act be removed from the budget. This is a bill that looks like we're doing something about privacy if you don't read the details, said Allie Bohm, policy counsel at the NYCLU. If you start reading the details, you realize there are so many loopholes that it's not actually clear to me that it protects consumer privacy at all. From whats included in Cuomos proposal to details on the backlash its already facing, heres what you need to know about the New York Data Accountability and Transparency Act. What would the New York Data Accountability and Transparency Act do? The New York Data Accountability and Transparency Act known also by the helpful acronym NYDATA would crack down on what personal information companies collect on New Yorkers, and how that data can be sold or shared. The bill would require that any company processing the personal information of 100,000 New Yorkers or more or companies that derive more than 50% of their revenue from the collection, sharing and processing of personal information disclose to consumers what purpose that data will be used for. It also limits companies to then using that data only for the stated purposes. Under the proposal, consumers would also be able to request copies of their personal information thats been collected in the last 12 months, and in some cases, request that that information be returned or destroyed. As part of the proposed Consumer Data Privacy Bill of Rights, consumers would also have the right to opt-out of the sale or sharing of their personal data, meaning that consumers could demand that companies not share their information with third parties. Theres some language in the proposal requiring that companies make it easy to opt-out. Theyd be required to provide clear and conspicuous links on their sites titled Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information and Limit the Use and Collection of My Personal Information. New Yorkers appreciate the value and convenience that technology has afforded their lives, but progress does not need to come at the expense of basic privacy, Cuomo said in a statement when announcing the act last month. In a world where we are reliant on technology to work, learn, and even see our family, New Yorkers deserve transparency and accountability from the companies who collect and use their information. New York will act to pass a strong privacy law that safeguards New Yorker's personal information and continues to encourage innovation. What do privacy and consumer advocacy groups say about the proposal? In a letter sent to the Cuomo administration earlier this month, a little over a dozen civil liberties, privacy and consumer advocacy groups raised concerns about the New York Data Accountability and Transparency Act. Included in those concerns are arguments that the proposal defines consumer too narrowly, lacks an adequate enforcement mechanism and targets the sharing and selling of personal information, but not the practice of companies who may not share or sell their users information, but who leverage it to sell ads. Bohm, the policy counsel at the NYCLU, provided one example of this. An advertiser approaches a Facebook or an Amazon with Here's the audience I want to reach. I want to reach women who live in the suburbs, who have 2.5 kids and drive blue minivans. And Facebook says, Okay, I can find that audience, Bohm said. But instead of sharing the information on 300 people who met that criteria, Facebook goes back to the advertiser and says that their ad was shared 300 times. While no personal information changes hands, the practice still involves the monetization of user data. The groups who sent the letter including the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project and the Electronic Frontier Foundation also took issue with the opt-out portion of the proposal, saying that as written, the act allows companies to evade the requirement limiting their use of consumers personal information, simply by offering users the opt-out option. More generally, Bohm said an opt-out system for consenting to data sharing as opposed to an opt-in system may make it more likely that people wont exercise that right to opt out, and may negatively impact people with less digital literacy. There will always be more information processed under an opt-out regime than under an opt-in regime, she said. Similar concerns about opt-out systems have been raised by consumer advocacy groups with other states attempts to pass privacy legislation, including in Virginia, where a consumer data protection bill is poised to pass soon. A spokesperson for Cuomo did not respond to the specific concerns raised in the letter, but a state Department of Budget spokesperson said that the proposal leaves open the possibility for regulations to be refined in the future. New York State's proposal, in conjunction with California's similar recent actions, will result in market-changing digital privacy protections that will drive reform nationwide, DOB spokesperson Freeman Klopott wrote in an email. Given the complexity of the issue and its constant evolution, the proposal in the Executive Budget empowers regulators to develop and implement rules that will maximize these protections. Privacy advocates and tech watch dogs arent the only ones who arent quite sold on the proposal yet. The tech industry will likely look for refinements in the budget proposal. One area they might target is ensuring that smaller tech companies arent burdened by the regulations. We value consumer privacy and our members do as well, said Ryan Naples, policy director and deputy director at the industry group Tech:NYC. This is why we're working with the governor's office and other stakeholders toward a framework that ensures smaller tech companies and others are able to comply with a privacy law in a way that isnt so expensive that it threatens their viability. Doesnt New York already have data privacy laws? This isnt New Yorks first crack at protecting consumer data. In 2019, New York passed the SHIELD (Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security) Act, which requires businesses to implement reasonable technical, administrative and physical security measures to protect individuals sensitive information, such as biometric data. That law amends a data breach notification law that has been on the books since 2005. Some data privacy proposals are still waiting for their moment in the sun. State Sen. Kevin Thomas has introduced the New York Privacy Act, a bill which has failed to gain momentum the last few years, but which most notably would have introduced a concept known as a data fiduciary. Under the idea, companies would be legally obligated to protect users personal information and be barred from exploiting it at the expense of its users. Thomas said he was encouraged to see Cuomo tackle data privacy in the budget, but said he still favors his own approach. The inclusion of data privacy in the executive budget is hopefully a turning point, Thomas wrote in an email. This has been a priority issue of mine since taking office two years ago. It's great to see that the Governor is now focusing on it as well but my plan is stronger and more comprehensive. Thomas said that he plans to introduce a new, updated version of the New York Privacy Act in the next few weeks. Cuomos proposal still has a ways to go before gaining approval from consumer advocacy groups and from the tech industry. New York isnt the only state with a renewed interest in taking on data privacy legislation, but Bohm said that despite the urgency of the issue, its not legislation that should be rushed. This is too important to get wrong, she said. CHELSEA, MI Impeding traffic charges have been dismissed against several of the protestors who participated in demonstrations last summer in the city of Chelsea. Washtenaw County 14A-3 District Court Judge Anna Frushour declined to charge members of an antiracist activist group on impeding traffic violations, ruling that punishing the individuals would be in violation of the First Amendment of the United Sates Constitution. More than a dozen people who had participated in protests in downtown Chelsea last summer appeared via Zoom at a court hearing Monday, Feb. 22, where Frushour delivered the verdict. The letter from the Chelsea Police Department states you have been identified as blocking the street while demonstrating, Frushour said of the language included in the ticket of Mya King, one of the leaders of the youth-led group. The inclusion of that language makes this ticket about more than just impeding traffic. The judge dismissed 31 charges total, according to the court. In a release on Friday, police said 47 civil infraction tickets were issued to 29 individuals, seven of which were juveniles. Of those these violations, 12 were adjudicated and two were dismissed by issuing officer before Mondays court hearing. Frushours decision follows a protest on Friday, Feb. 19, at the Chelsea Police Department calling on the police department to drop the charges themselves. In a press release Friday, Chief Edward Toth blamed the charges on the demonstrators frequency of events and lack of leadership and organization. The Chelsea Police Department also claimed Friday that it is not within its authority to drop civil charges that have already been submitted to the court. The group of protestors were members of Anti-Racist Chelsea Youth, an advocacy group made up by several minors, seven of which were ticketed last summer. King, who attended protests in Chelsea last summer, says she was injured by a counter-protester who punched her in the mouth. The Chelsea Police Department confirmed a report of the assault was sent to the Washtenaw County Prosecutors Office Aug. 10 and was still under review as of fall. The Chelsea Police Department did not have an update on the incident. I feel relieved, King said in a statement following the decision Monday. Theres still a long way to go as we try to promote an antiracist Chelsea, but this is a good first step. On Feb. 16, Chelsea City Council recommended that Police Chief Ed Toth and the Chelsea Police Department drop all charges against protestors. The police department did not heed the councils unanimous recommendation and declined to drop the charges. At the meeting, some debate occurred over whether it was legal for council to direct the police department to drop the charges, which resulted in the motions amendment from direct to recommend dropping the charges. The agenda items original language Direct Chelsea Police to Repeal Citations issued for Impeding Traffic to Protestors during Summer 2020 was changed after city officials doubted whether council had the power to direct police enforcement. Chelsea Mayor Melissa Johnson and Council Member Cheri Albertson pushed back against the recommendations, arguing that the suggestion is outside of councils authority. After amending language in the motion to recommend the Chelsea Police Department to drop impeding traffic charges against protesters, city council granted the Chelsea Police Department the authority to make the call. Council Member Tony Ianelli called on the police department to drop the charges in order to avoid any perception of selective enforcement. Members of ARCY marched from Pierce Park to the police station on July 31 last year where officers were seen video recording those protesting against police violence while being met with pro-police counter-protesters. Chelsea residents who called into the city council meeting said the tactics used by the Chelsea Police Department during the protests and months after raise questions about the attitude of the department. Do you stand with antiracists, or against them? Thats how those who are watching this will see it, said Glenn Bugala, who attended the protest with his daughter, during public comment. Thirty years from now when your grandkids ask you what you thought of Black Lives Matter, will you say, I believe they had valid points, so I let them express it in Chelsea, or will you say I stood on a traffic technicality and like a prosecuting attorney, I shut them down. READ MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS: Lack of quality healthcare pushes Ann Arbor nonprofit to help Uganda community Judge dismisses several claims in Ann Arbor school principals lawsuit Photos: Ann Arbor residents spend their snow day shoveling and sledding ANZs defence lawyer Tim Game SC has threatened to quash the public prosecutions indictment against the bank and its senior executive Richard Moscati, in the latest setback in the landmark criminal lawsuit over alleged cartel activity. Tim Game, SC, of Forbes Chambers, is acting on behalf of ANZ. Credit:Peter Rae ANZ, Citi and Deutsche Bank AG and six individual bankers stand accused of breaching anti-cartel laws by hatching a plan to offload $791 million of ANZs shares after a botched capital raise in 2015. The bankers and banks deny this and will defend the matters. After pressure from Justice Michael Wigney last December, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions filed an indictment this month that outlined 42 charges against the banks and bankers, excluding JPMorgan who was also working as an investment banker on the capital raise but was granted whistleblower immunity. The indictment is the legal document that formally charges the parties, officially kickstarts the criminal proceedings and will be seen by a jury once the matter reaches trial in April 2022. Nelipak Healthcare Packaging in Clara have issued a statement following a significant outbreak of Covid-19 at their plant in recent weeks. It's understood up to 20 members of staff at the plant have tested positive in the last two weeks, with other cases confirmed among close contacts of workers. This news comes as Offaly has the highest 14-day incidence rate of the virus in the country with cases clustered in the Tullamore Municipal District, which takes in the town of Clara, according to Department of Health data. 341 cases have been confirmed across the county in the last two weeks with Offaly's 14-day incidence rate standing at 437.4 per 100,00. The national average is now down at 240 per 100,000. The rate in the Tullamore Municipal District, including Clara, as of last week, was 538.4 per 100,000, one of the highest of any local area in the country. Staff at Nelipak in Clara have raised concerns to the Offaly Express about the handling of the outbreak after a delay in closing the plant for testing following a number of confirmed cases in the early part of the week commencing February 8. It's understood a number of staff members walked out of the workplace on Wednesday, February 10, following the confirmation of positive cases before widescale testing took place among the staff. The plant closed between February 11 and February 15 to facilitate the process. Staff also raised concerns over the Covid-19 safety measures in place prior to this outbreak. With as many as 20 members of staff testing positive, a number of their close contacts have subsequently tested positive with a small number of those people requiring hospitalisation. RESPONSE Responding to a request from the Offaly Express, a spokesperson for Nelipak in Clara, said: "On February 9, Nelipak received notification that several employees from one shift had tested positive for Covid-19. "Following its Covid-19 action plan, management contacted the Regional HSE (Health Services Executive) and Public Health Organisation to ensure full contact tracing was carried out around those affected employees. "Based on the level of community transmission in the locality and as an employer with a duty of care to our employees, we decided to extend testing to all employees as a precautionary measure," the spokesperson continued. "While those tests were ongoing, the company took the decision to close the facility from the evening of Thursday, February 11 reopening on Monday, February 15 to give our employees time to get their test results before returning to work. "Following the companys own Nelipak Covid-19 protocols and recommended best practice from the HSE, a deep clean of all affected areas of the plant was carried out before operations resumed. "Acting in accordance with HSE guidelines affected individuals are currently self-isolating. We will continue to work with the HSE in relation to their safe return to work. "The Health and Safety of our employees, customers, suppliers, business partners, and the patients who benefit from our products is our top priority. We would particularly like to acknowledge the excellent support from the HSE and the Public Health Services as we continue to prioritise the wellbeing and safety of our employees," Nelipak concluded. Laois-Offaly TD and Clara native Barry Cowen told the Offaly Express that he was aware and "naturally worried" by the cases at Nelipak and that he had been in contact with the company directly. "I was aware that despite their own protocols and mechanisms within the workplace, they did have an outbreak. They worked then immediately and closely with the HSE who were of great help and assistance to ensure the proper contact tracing measures were adhered to. They [Nelipak] are most grateful for the help they received from the HSE," Deputy Cowen said. The former Minister said the company had eight cases among a workforce of nearly 200 since last February prior to this current outbreak. He said this was a sign measures in place had been stemming the spread of the virus and pointed to the new UK strain as a major factor now in situations like this. "I'm satisfied having spoken with them [Nelipak], that despite how difficult it is, how challenging it is and how worrying it is, every effort has been made to contain this. I was glad to hear that they [Nelipak] worked hand and glove with the HSE and continue to do so." He said any ongoing testing regime at the plant would be a matter for the company and the HSE and that he would defer to the health expertise on that aspect. "The HSE have been successful in other instances in containing and helping companies through these situations," he said. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Serena by the Sea The market shifted quickly to be certain, said Alan McDonnell, Chief Planning Officer at Valor Capital in Florida. Buyers priority lists became much more focused on personal and family well-being, so the idea of communities with amenities emphasizing large gatherings are no longer desirable. COVID-19 has dramatically shifted homebuyers priorities, prompting real estate developers and related industries to place more emphasis on innovative design features that set new standards for ensuring their clients health and wellness. Just three months into the pandemic, shared spaces became out-of-date and even irresponsible; designers and developers have refocused on creating spaces that are private, virtual, distanced, and ones own. Developers have all but agreed that health and wellness are at the top of buyers wish lists.(1) As affluent northeasterners and west coasters turn their attention to the warmer temperatures and wider spaces in the South, many developers have quickly pivoted away from the amenities that were once a draw for these homebuyers. The market shifted quickly to be certain, said Alan McDonnell, Chief Planning Officer at Valor Capital in Florida. The buyers priority lists became much more focused on their personal and familys well-being, so the idea of communities with amenities emphasizing large gatherings are no longer desirable. Developers in other states began rethinking their approach to building and floorplan designs. In some cases, like one developer in North Carolina, their ambitious, yet pre-COVID-19 plans had to be discarded and entirely new ones created, as every aspect of their home designs would now have to be shaped by the pandemic.(2) Valor Capitol was one of Floridas developers to take a more proactive approach to this shift in properties. They refocused their design and development, giving top priority to their markets concerns and desires. Our newest properties, such as Serena by the Sea, are designed from the ground up with unprecedented standards of health and wellness living in mind. Well-being is more than a way of life from now onits part of the very architecture itself. Serena by the Sea, Built for COVID and Beyond Serena by the Sea in Florida is a prime example of a residential project on the cutting edge of luxury living amid the new normal. This 80-unit condominium development overlooking the Gulf of Mexico is just minutes away from Clearwater and Dunedin, and it is preparing to break ground. Individual units and all common areas are the product of the new design philosophy. As McDonnell explains, Our entire community will have a How to Stay Well protocol in effect at all times, meaning we will always put health first and foremost -- we even have an emergency protocol ready to be put in place in case of a health crisis. Every living space at Serena by the Sea includes amenities and features to ensure residents benefit from these protocols. All common areas are equipped with polarized media electronic air filters, an enormous improvement on flat filters. UV-disinfecting lights that kill an average of 99.9% of germs in all common areas HVAC units. All doors have touchless entry systems. EPA-approved, pet-friendly cleaning products are to be used on every surface (which have also been proven to kill 99% of tested viruses). Pools and jetted spas have the state-of-the-art water filtration systems to keep water always pristine. Healthy Building, Welcome to Well-Being Serena by the Sea is designed with unprecedented standards of health and wellness living in mind where well-being isnt just a way of lifeits part of the architecture. As for the condominiums themselves, each unit is equipped with non-traditional, individual fresh air intake 24 hours a day. The key point: when at home, residents do not share air with anyone else. In addition to this, there are solar panels producing 600,000 kw per year as people are staying at home and using more electricity. Gomez Vasquez International is Serena by the Seas external design firm, who throughout the last five decades, has completed more than 1,000 projects in over 81 destinations worldwide, demonstrating a commitment to design excellence, innovation and sustainability. DKOR Interiors, who are among the top residential interior design firms in the South Florida region and internationally, were chosen for their luxurious and innovative interiors. Theres not another community with the level of attention to detail like ours, McDonnell assures. Were convinced that homebuyers will find that Serena by the Sea goes above and beyond, that weve created homes that can truly enhance their quality of life. Valor Capitals first Brokers Event will be held on: March 5, 2021 at The Capitol Theatre in Clearwater, Florida. Cocktail hour begins at 5:00 pm. Valet parking will be provided. Guest appearances include Ryan Serhant, top-producing real estate agent and star of the series, Million Dollar Listing and Sell It Like Serhant. About Serena by the Sea Valor Capitals newest resort-style, waterfront condominium development, Serena by the Sea offers relaxed, luxury living where its residents enhance their lives, find solace from the confusion and difficulties of daily life, refresh and prepare to conquer life once again. Serena by the Sea is where one can truly pause and appreciate all that they have achieved. Visit http://www.serenabythesea.com About Valor Capital Valor Capital is a subsidiary of Terra Capital Partners SA de CV (Terra Capital Partners). Terra Capital Partners has been in operation for over 15 years (while its main partner has over 30 years of experience) and is the parent company of several sub-companies and investment funds that each have a specialization in different aspects of the real estate business (shopping malls, corporate offices, residential buildings, and land development. To learn more, visit valorc.com. 1. Taylor, Peter Lane. Real Estate Will Never Be The Same Post COVID-19. Three Top Developers Explain The New Normal. Forbes, 23 April 2020, forbes.com/sites/petertaylor/2020/04/23/real-estate-development-will-never-look-the-same-post-covid-19-realtors-and-architects-should-pay-attention/?sh=76ee46786f2a. 2. McLaughlin, Katy. Covid is Forcing Real-Estate Developers to Rethink Buildings. The Wall Street Journal, 10 Aug. 2020, wsj.com/articles/covid-real-estate-11596040879. The main opposition DMK on Tuesday boycotted the presentation of interim budget for 2021-22 in the Tamil Nadu assembly and walked out of the House. (Image credit : ANI Twitter/@ANI) Chennai: The main opposition DMK on Tuesday boycotted the presentation of interim budget for 2021-22 in the Tamil Nadu assembly and walked out of the House. As soon as the House convened for the budget and for tabling the demands for advance grants, Speaker P Dhanapal called Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam to present the interim financial statement. However, DMK Deputy leader Duraimurugan was on his feet and sought the Chair's permission to express the party's 'view'. The Speaker replied that the budget has to be tabled and whatever the DMK leader spoke would not go on record. Following this, all the DMK members stood up and sought the Speaker's permission to allow Duraimurugan to convey the party's opinion. As Panneerselvam began reading the budget, DMK members walked out after raising slogans for a while against the government. ENDEAVOUR REPORTS POSITIVE PFS RESULTS FOR BOTH FETEKRO AND KALANA, CONFIRMING STRONG ORGANIC GROWTH PIPELINE HIGHLIGHTS: Positive PFS results for both Fetekro and Kalana Projects confirm Endeavour's high quality organic growth pipeline Fetekro PFS shows potential for +200kozpa production at low AISC over long mine life: 10-year mine life based on current reserves of 2.1Moz Average annual production of 209koz at AISC of $838/oz Robust economics with after-tax NPV 5% of $479m and IRR of 33%, based on a $1,500/oz gold price Kalana PFS shows potential for 150kozpa production at low AISC over long mine life: 11-year mine life based on current reserves of 1.8Moz Average annual production of 150koz at AISC of $901/oz Robust economics with after-tax NPV 5% of $331m with IRR of 49% based on a $1,500/oz gold price DFS on each project will now commence, with further opportunities to optimize and expand the projects through exploration and engineering George Town, February 23, 2021 - Endeavour Mining (TSX:EDV) (OTCQX:EDVMF) is pleased to announce that it has recently completed a positive Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS") for both its Fetekro and Kalana projects as part of its focus on organic growth opportunities. The robust PFS results confirm that both projects justify moving forward to the Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") stage, which will now commence. Sebastien de Montessus, President and CEO said: "The positive studies announced today confirm the compelling nature of our two most advanced projects and reinforce our focus on organic growth. Together with a number of earlier stage projects, Endeavour now has an attractive pipeline of opportunities, each of which will compete for capital with the goal of generating strong returns across operations, projects and exploration. At Fetekro, our exploration efforts have resulted in the discovery of a project with the potential to become a cornerstone mine with annual production of +200,000 ounces at low all in sustaining costs over at least 10 years while boasting robust economics. Our $20 million investment in exploration at Fetekro over the past three years has generated significant returns as we now have a project with an NPV 5% of approximately $480 million at a gold price of $1,500/oz. At Kalana, we have outlined a project with annual production of 150,000 ounces over at least 10 years with very attractive economics. Having purchased Kalana for approximately $120 million in 2017, the project now has an NPV 5% of approximately $330 million at a gold price of $1,500/oz, despite the overhaul of the geological model which incorporates more conservative assumptions. From a broader ESG standpoint, in accordance with our aim to reduce our carbon footprint, both projects have low forecast emissions intensity, in line with our current operations, as well as the opportunity to benefit from renewable energy, either in the form of a solar plant at Fetekro, or from the Malian grid for Kalana which has a significant portion powered by renewables. We will now progress the Definitive Feasibility Studies for both projects, which we expect to announce in late 2021 for Fetekro and in early 2022 for Kalana." Table 1: Project Highlights FETEKRO KALANA ENDEAVOUR STRATEGIC TARGETS Reserves, Moz 2.1 1.8 >2.0 Mine life, years 9.5 11.0 >10 Average annual production, kozpa First 5 years 220 186 >200 Life of mine 209 150 AISC, $/oz First 5 years 916 679 <900 Life of mine 838 901 NPV 5%, $m1 479 331 n.a. IRR, %1 33 49 >20 1Post-tax, based on a gold price of $1,500/oz The PFS summary metrics and project economics for the Fetekro and Kalana projects are shown in Tables 2 and 3 below. Table 2: PFS Summary FETEKRO KALANA OPERATION TYPE Mine Type Open Pit Open Pit Mill Type 3.0Mtpa Gravity / CIP Plant 3.0Mtpa Gravity / CIL Plant RESERVES & RESOURCES P&P Reserves 31.9Mt at 2.0 Au g/t for 2.1Moz 35.6Mt at 1.6 Au g/t for 1.8Moz M&I Resources (inclusive of reserves) 32.0Mt at 2.4 Au g/t for 2.5Moz 46.0Mt at 1.6 Au g/t for 2.3Moz Inferred Resources 0.8Mt at 2.5 Au g/t for 0.1Moz 4.6Mt at 1.7 Au g/t for 0.3Moz LIFE OF MINE PRODUCTION Mine life, years 9.5 11.0 Strip ratio, W:O 10.3 6.7 Tonnes processed, Mt 32 36 Grade processed, Au g/t 2.0 1.6 Gold contained processed, Moz 2.1 1.8 Average recovery rate, % 95 90 Gold production, Moz 2.0 1.7 Average annual production, kozpa 209 150 Cash costs, $/oz 684 785 AISC, $/oz1 838 901 AVERAGE FOR YEARS 1 TO 5 Production, kozpa 220 186 Cash costs, $/oz 751 589 AISC, $/oz1 916 679 CAPITAL COST Upfront capital cost, $m 338 297 ENVIRONMENTAL DATA GHG Emissions Intensity2, t CO2e/oz 0.36 0.30 Energy Intensity, GJ/oz 6.99 7.65 1Based ona gold price of $1,500/oz. 2 GHG Emissions Intensity calculated as Scope 1 and 2 emissions. Table 3: Project Economics FEKETRO KALANA Gold Price $1,350/oz $1,500/oz $1,650/oz $1,800/oz $1,350/oz $1,500/oz $1,650/oz $1,800/oz PRE-TAX NPV 5% , $m 439 663 862 1083 310 498 687 875 IRR, % 28 38 46 55 44 59 74 88 Payback years1 3.3 2.6 2.2 1.9 1.4 1.1 0.9 0.8 AFTER-TAX NPV 5% , $m 308 479 630 799 204 331 458 584 IRR, % 24 33 40 49 36 49 62 74 Payback years1 3.4 2.7 2.3 2.0 1.5 1.1 0.9 0.8 1 Payback period calculated starting from start of commercial production FETEKRO PROJECT PRE-FEASIBILITY STUDY Endeavour expects to file a Technical Report pursuant to National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("the NI 43-101") in respect of the Fetekro PFS within a 45-day period. Overview Endeavour began exploration on the Fetekro greenfield project in March 2017, following a strategic assessment of its exploration tenements which identified the project as a top priority target. A maiden Mineral Resource was published on October 29, 2018 and was subsequently updated on September 3, 2019 and August 18, 2020. A positive Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA"), based on the 2019 Indicated Resource, was published on August 18, 2020. As a result of the positive PEA results, a PFS was expedited to evaluate the economic potential of the updated 2020 Indicated Resource. Lycopodium Minerals Pty Ltd ("Lycopodium") was responsible for the compilation of the report and delivery of the PFS to Endeavour. For the mining section, Lycopodium was assisted by Snowden Group ("Snowden") and for the infrastructure, tailing storage facility ("TSF") and water management sections assisted by Knight Piesold. As shown in Figure 1 below, the PFS demonstrates Fetekro's ability to deliver 220kozpa over the first five years and 209kozpa over its 9.5-year mine life, with further significant exploration opportunities. Figure 1: Fetekro 2021 PFS Production Profile The following key changes have been incorporated in the 2021 PFS, compared to the 2020 PEA: The study is based on an Indicated Resource of 2.5Moz compared to previous 1.2Moz Indicated Resource Nominal mill capacity increased by 100% from 1.5 to 3.0Mtpa, while upfront capital increased by only 26% PFS includes the addition of a solar hybrid power option to provide sustainable power Average annual production increased by 76% from 119 to 209kozpa and the mine life was extended from 8 to 9.5 years, resulting in an AISC increase of 20% from $697/oz to $838/oz mainly due to the higher strip ratio and the lower average grade Table 4: Fetekro 2020 PEA vs 2021 PFS PFS PEA VARIANCE PLANT TYPE, SIZE & CAPEX Plant type Gravity / CIP Gravity / CIL Mill Type 3.0 1.5 +100% Upfront capital cost, $m 338 268 +26% LIFE OF MINE PRODUCTION Mine life, years 9.5 8.0 +31% Strip ratio, W:O 10.3 7.4 +41% Tonnes processed, Mt 31.9 13.1 +143% Grade processed, Au g/t 2.05 2.38 -14% Gold contained processed, Moz 2.1 1.0 +110% Average recovery rate, % 95 95 0% Gold production, Moz 2.0 1.0 +109% Average annual production, kozpa 209 119 +76% Cash costs, $/oz 684 592 +27% AISC, $/oz2 838 697 +20% ECONOMICS (BASED ON $1,500/oz) Pre-Tax Returns NPV 5%, $m 663 372 +78% IRR, % 38 37 +2% Payback, years1 2.6 1.7 +49% After-Tax Returns NPV 5%, $m 479 272 +76% IRR, % 33 32 +2% Payback, years1 2.7 1.8 +48% 1 Payback period calculated starting from start of commercial production Notes: For details regarding the 2020 PEA Study, please refer to the press release dated August 18, 2020, available on Endeavour's website. Reserves and Resources As shown in Table 5 below, a total of 2.1Moz were converted into a maiden Probable Reserve out of an Indicated Resource base of 2.5Moz, representing a conversion ratio of 85%. The PFS is based on the updated 2020 Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE"), as published on August 18, 2020, which outlined a 108% increase over the resource base used for the PEA. The Fetekro Reserves and Resources, which comprises only the Lafigue deposit, are shown in the table below. The Inferred material within the pit design was treated as waste. Table 5: Lafigue Mineral Reserves and Resource 2021 PFS 2020 PEA VARIANCE On a 100% basis. M&I Resources shown inclusive of Reserves. Tonnage Grade Content Tonnage Grade Content Au Content (Mt) (Au g/t) (Au koz) (Mt) (Au g/t) (Au koz) (Au koz) Proven Reserves - - - - - - - Probable Reserves 31.9 2.00 2,100 - - - +2,100 P&P Reserves 31.9 2.00 2,100 - - - +2,100 Measured Resource (incl. reserves) - - - - - - - Indicated Resources (incl. reserves) 32.0 2.40 2,471 14.6 2.54 1,190 +1,281 M&I Resources (incl. reserves) 32.0 2.40 2,471 14.6 2.54 1,190 +1,281 Inferred Resources 0.8 2.52 66 0.9 2.17 60 +6 Mineral Reserve Estimates follow the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") Definitions Standards for Mineral Resources and Reserves and have been completed in accordance with the Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Reported tonnage and grade figures have been rounded from raw estimates to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate. Minor variations may occur during the addition of rounded numbers. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Resources were constrained by MII Pit Shell and based on a cut-off of 0.5 g/t Au and $1,500/oz gold price. The Qualified Person for the Mineral Resources and Reserves is Kevin Harris CPG, VP Resources. Mining Operations The Lafigue deposit is near surface and amenable to conventional open-pit mining. The mine planning, resource and cost estimation for the PFS is based on a contract mining operation with a maximum mining movement of 50 million tonnes per ("Mt") per year with the variation largely due to different productivities by weathering type. The Lafigue pit will be developed in eight stages. Stockpiles are expected to be accumulated to allow high-grade material to be preferentially processed. Processing Operations Ore will be processed via a 3.0 to 3.3 Mtpa processing plant. Ore feed will be above the nominal capacity for the first two years of processing due to the presence of more highly weathered ore. Over the life of mine, the plant will be fed with approximately 92% fresh ore and 8% oxide/transitional ore. Primary jaw crushing will produce a coarse crushed product, which will feed a secondary conventional cone crusher and high-pressure grinding roll. Ore will be milled to 80% passing 75m (microns), at which point a gravity circuit will remove coarse free-milling gold. Gravity concentrate will be treated by intensive cyanidation and electrowinning to produce gold dore. The remaining ore that is not recovered by gravity will be leached in five leach tanks. The leached gold solution will be processed in seven carbon-in-pulp tanks before gold is recovered from loaded carbon in a AARL elution circuit, electrowinning and gold smelting to produce dore. Extensive metallurgical testwork has indicated that gold is free milling with very high gravity and leach extraction potential, with 95% gold recovery expected over the life of mine. Operating Cost Summary Mining operating cost estimates, prepared by Snowden, are based on a small owner's team managing mining activities using a contract-mining model. Process operating cost estimates were prepared by Lycopodium and General and Administration ("G&A") cost estimates were prepared by Lycopodium with input from Endeavour, as summarized in the table below. Table 6: Fetekro Life of Mine Operating Unit Costs UNIT COSTS Open Pit Mining & Rehandling $2.83/t mined Processing $9.23/t processed G&A $5.24/t processed Operating costs have been based on a delivered diesel price of $0.90 per litre and are in line with current local pricing. Power will be sourced from a combination of the grid supplying 225kv to site and a 7MW solar power plant, with power costs estimated at $0.09/kWh. The addition of the hybrid power plant decreased the estimated LOM unit power cost from $0.12/kwh to $0.09/kwh. Capital Cost and Infrastructure Summary The project capital cost estimate was compiled by Lycopodium with input from Knight Piesold on the TSF, water infrastructure, site access roads and airstrip. Endeavour has provided project specific portions for mine establishment and facilities, owners costs and the high voltage power supply. A 22-month construction period is projected with the initial capital cost summarized in the table below. Table 7: Fetekro Capital Cost Estimate Summary (+20/-10%) CAPITAL COSTS ($M) Treatment Plant 74.4 Reagents and Services 14.4 Infrastructure 70.4 Mining 50.3 Construction Distributables 23.5 Subtotal 233.0 Management Costs 24.5 Owners Project Costs 34.2 Working Capital 4.8 Sub-Total 296.5 Contingency 37.7 DFS 3.8 Total 338.0 The Fetekro Project benefits from minimal resettlement requirements and good infrastructure, including access to the power grid with a 225kv supply within 28km of the project, which will be supplemented by an on-site 7MW solar power plant with an associated capital cost of approximately $7 million. A diesel backup power supply, with an associated capital cost of approximately $24 million plus contingency, may be contemplated within the DFS trade-offs. Downstream raise construction methods will be utilized for all TSF embankment raises of the perimeter embankments. The TSF will comprise a cross-valley storage facility formed by multi-zoned earth fill embankments, comprising a total footprint area (including the basin area) of approximately 114 ha for the Stage 1 TSF increasing to 200 ha for the final TSF. The TSF is designed to accommodate a total of 32.8 Mt of tailings. The Stage 1 TSF is designed for 18 months storage capacity. Subsequently, the TSF will be constructed in annual raises to suit storage requirements; however, this may be adjusted to biennial raises to suit mine scheduling during the operation. As shown in Figure 2 below, the process plant and TSF will be located on the northwestern side of the open pit. Access to the project is by the regional highway B412 and then a sealed road to Yammoussoukro and Bouake. A 15km stretch of unsealed access road will be upgraded as part of the project and an airstrip will be built 3.5km north of the accommodation village. Figure 2: Schematic Fetekro Site Layout The recommendations from the Environmental Social Impact Assessment ("ESIA") will be used to compile an Environmental and Social Management Plan ("ESMP") which will guide Endeavour's local community engagement as well as ensure it fulfils its environment obligations, minimizing the mine's impacts where possible. The ESMP will be used to ensure compliance with environmental specifications, monitoring and management measures and will be implemented from site preparation through to decommissioning and closure. Monitoring plans will be based on the ESMP. A total of $35 million has been provisioned into the economic model for the demolition and closure activities after mining and processing activities have ceased. Ownership, Permitting, Taxes and Royalties Endeavour increased its stake in the Fetekro Project in Q4-2020. Under the terms of the agreement, once the mining permit is granted, Endeavour will be entitled to an 80% stake in the Fetekro Project, compared to 65% previously, while SODEMI (the Ivorian state-owned mining company) and the Government of Cote d'Ivoire will each have a 10% stake. Endeavour will retain full ownership of the Fetekro exploration license until it is converted into a mining license. The environmental permit was received on February 18, 2021 and the exploitation license application was submitted on February 2, 2021. Endeavour acquired the additional stake from SODEMI for a consideration of $19 million plus contingent payments of $3 per ounce for future Proven and Probable Reserves defined outside of the existing Measured and Indicated Resource boundary. The contingent payment is based on a gold price of $1,450 per ounce and will be adjusted upwards or downwards in a linear relationship with the gold price. A corporate tax rate of 25% of gross profit has been applied in the PFS. A royalty of 4.0% and stamp duty of 0.5% was applied to all sales. A transport and refining charge of $4/oz Au was also applied. Exploration Upside The Lafigue resource estimate encompasses a mineralized area extending over 2km long by 1km down dip with the deposit remaining open at depth and along strike. To date, only a small portion of the Fetekro Project has been explored, as the priority has been the Lafigue deposit. Several additional exploration targets have been identified within 10km of Lafigue, which have received limited drilling. A 15,000m drilling campaign was completed in Q4-2020, as shown in Figure 3 below. In addition, further exploration is planned for 2021 with a budget of $7 million, with the aim of further extending the Fetekro resource and testing nearby targets, including Lafigue Sud, as shown in Figure 3. Figure 3: Fetekro Plan Map with Exploration Targets Next Steps The Definitive Feasibility Study is expected to commence immediately and is due to be completed in Q4-2021 Further exploration is planned during 2021 on near-mine exploration targets and on the Lafigue deposit with an allocated budget of $7 million KALANA PROJECT PRE-FEASIBILITY STUDY Endeavour expects to file a Technical Report pursuant to National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("the NI 43-101") in respect of the Kalana PFS within a 45-day period. Overview In mid-2017, Endeavour acquired Avnel Gold Mining Limited (TSX:AVK) ("Avnel"), who held an 80% interest in the Kalana Project ("Kalana") in southwestern Mali for a total consideration of approximately $122 million1. At the time, Kalana was the only project within Endeavour's development pipeline following the Ity CIL project (constructed between late-2017 and early-2019). Following the purchase of Kalana, Endeavour focused its efforts on increasing its confidence in the Kalana deposit Mineral Resource, through further drilling and by rebuilding the geological model using a more conservative approach to account for the nuggety gold mineralization. This process resulted in an updated and independently estimated Mineral Resource for Kalana, as prepared by Optiro, and described in the "Reserves and Resources" section below. Following the completion of the updated resource, Lycopodium Minerals Pty Ltd ("Lycopodium") independently prepared a Pre-Feasibility Study (the "2021 Study"), with the inputs from Snowden and Knight Piesold, to assess the economic viability of the Kalana Project. As shown in Figure 4 below, the 2021 Study demonstrates Kalana's ability to deliver 186kozpa over the first five years and 150kozpa over its 11-year mine life, with significant near mine exploration opportunities. The project boasts strong economics a post-tax NPV 5% of $331 million and a post-tax IRR of 49% at a $1,500/oz gold price. Figure 4: Kalana 2021 PFS Production Profile The following key changes have been incorporated in the 2021 Study, compared to the Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") published by Avnel on March 30, 2016 (the "2016 Study"), with the goal of increasing annual production and augmenting the confidence level of the study estimates: Nominal mill capacity increased by 150% from 1.2 to 3.0Mtpa, with upfront capital increased by 51%. The 2016 Study included pre-production revenue from the tailings processed during construction, which were removed within the 2021 Study. Inclusion of the Kalanako satellite deposit and the abovementioned more conservative resource model for the Kalana deposit, which led to the average processed grade decreasing by 43%, tonnage processed increasing by 63%, and the strip ratio decreasing by 34% Average annual production increased by 49% from 101 to 150kozpa, while shortening the mine life from 18 to 11 years AISC increased by 15% to $901/oz reflecting updated unit costs and the lower grades Table 8: Kalana 2016 vs. 2021 Study Comparison 2021 STUDY 2016 STUDY VARIANCE PLANT SIZE & CAPEX Nominal mill capacity, Mtpa 3.0 1.2 +150% Upfront capital cost, $m 297 196 +51% LIFE OF MINE STATS Mine life, years 11 18 -39% Strip ratio, W:O 6.7 10.2 -34% Tonnes processed, Mt 35.6 21.8 +63% Grade processed, Au g/t 1.60 2.81 -43% Gold contained processed, Moz 1.8 2.0 -9% Average recovery rate, % 90 93 -3% Total gold production, Moz 1.7 1.8 -8% Average annual production, kozpa 150 101 +49% AISC, $/oz 901 784 +15% Notes: Details related to the Avnel 2016 Study, published on March 30, 2016, are available on SEDAR under Avnel's profile. Comparative period economics are unavailable as a gold price of US$1,200/oz was used in the 2016 Study while $1,500/oz was used in the 2021 Study. Reserves and Resources As shown in Table 9, a total of 1.8Moz were converted into Probable Reserves from an Indicated Resource of 2.3Moz by the 2021 Study for the Kalana Project, representing a conversion ratio of 79%. The 2021 Study is based on recently updated Mineral Resource Estimates ("MRE"), rather than the previous estimate as prepared on behalf of Avnel in 2016. The updated MRE includes the Kalana and Kalanako deposits and two TSFs stemming from the historical underground mine which utilized gravity-only recovery methods. The deposit's geological models were updated using a more conservative approach to incorporate tighter geological controls for the high-grade nugget effect, stacked vein sets and dilution after additional drilling in 2017-18, as further described in the section below entitled Kalana Technical Notes. Table 9: Kalana Project Mineral Resource and Reserve Evolution 2021 PFS BY ENDEAVOUR1 2016 FS BY AVNEL2 VARIANCE On a 100% basis. M&I Resources shown inclusive of Reserves. Tonnage Grade Content Tonnage Grade Content Content (Mt) (Au g/t) (Au koz) (Mt) (Au g/t) (Au koz) (Au koz) Proven Reserves 0 0 0 5.1 3 492 -492 Probable Reserves 35.6 1.6 1,831 16.1 2.76 1,472 +359 P&P Reserves 35.6 1.6 1,831 21.7 2.81 1,964 -133 Measured Resource (incl. reserves) 0 0 0 9.5 4.2 1,283 -1283 Indicated Resources (incl. reserves) 46 1.57 2,318 14.2 3.98 1,821 +497 M&I Resources (incl. reserves) 46.0 1.57 2,318 23.7 4.07 3,103 -785 Inferred Resources 4.6 1.67 245 2.1 4.7 314 -69 Mineral Reserve and Resource estimates follow the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") definitions standards for Mineral Resources and Reserves and have been completed in accordance with the Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Reported tonnage and grade figures have been rounded from raw estimates to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate. Minor variations may occur during the addition of rounded numbers. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. 1The 2020 Updated Kalana Project Mineral Resource has an effective date of June 30, 2020 and is constrained by a $1,500/oz conceptual open-pit shell. For notes relating to the 2020 Resource Estimate, please consult the section below entitled Kalana Technical Notes. 2As per Avnel Mineral Resources as of March 30, 2016, based on $1,400/oz Au; for the notes relating to the 2016 estimate, please consult the Kalana Technical Report dated March 30, 2016 available on the Endeavour website. The Kalana Project comprises two primary deposits, Kalana and Kalanako, and two TSFs, with resources outlined in the table below. Table 10: Updated Kalana Project Mineral Resource Estimate INDICATED INFERRED Deposits on a 100% basis, Tonnage Grade Content Tonnage Grade Content shown inclusive of reserves (Mt) (Au g/t) (Au koz) (Mt) (Au g/t) (Au koz) Kalana 43.5 1.54 2,158 4.2 1.64 222 Kalanako 1.6 2.15 112 0.4 1.99 23 Old Tailings 0.8 1.80 48 0.0 0.00 0 Total 46.0 1.57 2,318 4.6 1.67 245 Mineral Resource estimates follow the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") definition standards for Mineral Resources and Reserves and have been completed in accordance with the Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The Kalana and Kalanako Mineral Resources are constrained by MII $1,500/oz Pit Shell and based on a cut-off of 0.5 Au g/t. The TSF Mineral Resource does not have a cut-off grade applied. Reported tonnage and grade figures have been rounded from raw estimates to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate. Minor variations may occur during the addition of rounded numbers. The Qualified Person for the exploration data and geological interpretation is Helen Oliver MSc FGS CGeol, Endeavour Mining Group Resource Geologist. The Qualified Person for the Tailings Mineral Resource Estimate is Ms. Oliver. The Qualified Person for the Kalana and Kalanako Mineral Resource Estimate is Paul Blackney BSc Hons MAusIMM MAIG, Optiro Pty. Ltd. The cut-off date for the Kalana drill hole database is 1 July 2018 and 7 February 2018 for the Kalanako drill hole database. The effective date of the MRE is 30 June 2020. The Probable Mineral Reserves for the Kalana Project, inclusive of dilution and mining loss, derived from an Indicated Resource is summarized in the table below. Table 11: Updated Kalana Probable Mineral Reserves Tonnage Grade Content Deposits on a 100% basis (Mt) (Au g/t) (Au koz) Kalana 33.6 1.58 1,707 Kalanako 1.2 2.21 85 Old Tailings 0.82 1.67 44 Total 35.6 1.60 1,836 No Proven reserves have been estimated. Mineral Reserve estimates follow the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") definitions standards for Mineral Resources have been completed in accordance with the Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Reported tonnage and grade figures have been rounded from raw estimates to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate. Minor variations may occur during the addition of rounded numbers. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Mining Operations The mine planning, resource and cost estimation for the 2021 Study is based on a contract-mining operation with a maximum mining movement of 30Mt per year with the variation largely due to different productivities by weathering type. A high proportion of the orebodies are within the saprolite weathering horizon resulting in approximately 30 to 40% of the material moved requiring no or limited blasting. Nearly 97% of the ore tonnes are from Kalana, the remainder is from Kalanako which is higher grade at a higher strip ratio. The Kalana pit will be developed in six stages while Kalanako will be mined in two stages forming two separate pits. Endeavour elected to use a more conservative approach incorporating fully diluted blocks susceptible for large volume open pit mining rather than small scale selective mining as envisaged in the previous 2017 study. Stockpiles are expected to be accumulated to allow high grade material to be preferentially processed. Processing Operations The plant design has been based on a nominal capacity of 3.0Mtpa of primary mineralized material, if fed with fresh rock, and a capacity of 3.8Mtpa if fed with oxide material. Over the life of mine, the plant will be fed with approximately 27% oxide, 9% transition, 62% fresh and 2% tailings material, with the majority of the oxide and tailings processed in the first four years of operation. The 2021 Study envisages a conventional single stage primary crusher, followed by a SABC circuit (SAG and ball mill, with pebble crusher) grinding to 80% passing 90 m. The grind material will be passed through a gravity concentration circuit to remove coarse gold, which will be subsequently treated by intensive cyanidation and electrowinning to recover gold dore. The remaining feed will be treated by pre-leach thickening and carbon in leach. Loaded carbon will be passed to a split AARL elution circuit, electrowinning and then gold smelting to recover gold from the loaded carbon to produce dore. Metallurgical testwork demonstrates the Kalana ore has high potential for gravity recoverable gold, particularly the oxide ore, and an average total gold recovery of 90% is projected for the life of mine. Operating Cost Summary Mining operating cost estimates, prepared by Snowden, are based on a small owner's team managing mining activities using a contract-mining model. Process operating cost estimates were prepared by Lycopodium and G&A cost estimates were prepared by Lycopodium with input from Endeavour, as summarized in the table below. Table 12: Kalana Life of Mine Operating Unit Costs Open Pit Mining & Rehandling $2.71/t mined Processing $13.28/t processed G&A $3.97/t processed Operating costs have been based on a delivered diesel price of $0.77 per litre and are in line with current local pricing. Power will be derived from the Malian grid with power costs estimated at $0.14/kWh. Capital Cost and Infrastructure Summary The project capital cost estimate was compiled by Lycopodium with input from Knight Piesold on the TSF, water infrastructure, site access roads and airstrip. Endeavour have provided the project specific portions of mine establishment and facilities, owners costs and the power supply. A 22-month construction period is expected with the initial capital cost summarized in the Table below. Table 13: Capital Cost Estimate Summary (+20/-10%) CAPITAL COSTS ($M) Treatment Plant 68.3 Reagents and Services 16.1 Infrastructure 43.1 Mining 16.9 Construction Distributables 18.6 Sub-Total 163.0 Management Costs 21.7 Owners Project Costs 67.5 Working Capital 5.7 Sub-Total 257.9 Contingency 35.8 DFS 3.3 Total 297.0 The Kalana Project will be powered by Malian grid power, which will require the construction of a 51km 66 kV power line from Yanfolila and a new sub-station at the project. Additional emergency power will be supplied by onsite 2,000kVA diesel generators. Downstream raise construction methods will be utilized for all TSF embankment raises of the perimeter embankments. The TSF will comprise a two-cell paddock storage facility formed by multi-zoned earth fill embankments, comprising a total footprint area (including the basin area) of approximately 77 ha for the Stage 1 TSF, increasing to 239 ha for the final TSF. The TSF is designed to accommodate a total of 35.6Mt of tailings. The stage one TSF is designed for 18 months storage capacity. Subsequently, the TSF will be constructed in annual raises to suit storage requirements, however this may be adjusted to biennial raises to suit mine scheduling during the operation. As shown in Figure below, the process plant will be located on the north eastern side of the open pit, and the TSF will be located on the south western side of the open pit. The accommodation camp will be located north of the process plant. The airstrip will be located 4km north of the process plant. The 4.9km main access road will approach the site from the south east and connect to the RN8, part of the regional road network between Yanfolila and Bougouni. Figure 5: Kalana Site Layout The project requires the partial resettlement of Kalana town due to the placement of project infrastructure and the need to ensure a safe buffer zone between mining activities and the community. The development will also result in the compensation of various farmers due to the establishment of mining infrastructure and associated activities. Resettlement and compensation will be undertaken under the terms of the relevant Malian legislation and industry best practice. A Resettlement Action Plan will be completed in three phases for a total cost of $62 million, of which $36 million (plus a 12% contingency) is included into the upfront capital spend for the first resettlement phase. The recommendations from the Environmental Social Impact Assessment ("ESIA") will be used to compile an Environmental and Social Management Plan ("ESMP") which will guide Endeavour's local community engagement as well as ensure it fulfils its environment obligations, minimizing the mine's impacts where possible. The ESMP will be used to ensure compliance with environmental specifications, monitoring and management measures and will be implemented from site preparation through to decommissioning and closure. Monitoring plans will be based on the ESMP. A total of $30 million has been provisioned into the economic model for the demolition and closure activities occur after mining and processing activities have ceased. Ownership, Permitting, Taxes and Royalties Endeavour has an 80% interest in SOMIKA, the holder of the Permit. The Government of Mali holds the remaining 20% beneficial interest in SOMIKA. The Project comprises one Exploitation Permit (Permis d'Exploitation), registered to SOMIKA that grants the exclusive right of exploitation and exploration. The Permit confers the right to exploit and explore for gold and silver for a period of 30 years. According to Article 43 of the 1999 Mining Code, an exploitation permit is granted by decree for a 30-year period, renewable for a further 10-year period until depletion of the reserves contained within the boundaries of the permit. Following the three-year period from the commencement of commercial production, an 18% value added tax will be applicable on goods and services, which is fully reimbursable, and customs duty will be applicable on imported goods. As SOMIKA elected to stay under the old CIT regime in force before Loi de Finance 2012, the tax structure in Mali applicable to its operations consists of a general corporate income tax rate of 35% of profits after deductions for expenses and allowable depreciation. SOMIKA is also subject to a minimum tax rate of 1.0% of net revenue, even in years with a deficit. SOMIKA is subject to a royalty which is a special tax on mining products (Impot Special sur Certains Produits or ISCP) at a rate of 3% and is calculated on the basis of turnover before tax. Pursuant to the stability clauses in the Company's Foundation Agreement, the 3% Ad Valorem Net Smelter Return Tax, introduced as part of the 2012 Mining Code, is not applicable to SOMIKA. Exploration Upside The Kalana Project is highly prospective, particularly the Kalanako Northwest area and the Djirila deposit. Discovery of additional deposits may provide an extension of the Kalana mining operation. In addition, potential high-grade free-digging soft material may provide further operating flexibility. The Kalanako Northwest area is highly prospective due to the presence of historical artisanal workings, gold showings and soil and geophysical anomalies. The Djirila deposit, located 22km southwest of the proposed plant location, is within a reasonable trucking distance from the Kalana plant and should be reviewed in regard to identifying possible additional mineral resources. Figure 6: Kalana Plan Map with Exploration Targets Next steps The Definitive Feasibility Study is expected to commence immediately and is due to be completed in Q1-2022 Further exploration is envisaged on near-mine exploration targets FETEKRO TECHNICAL NOTES Mineral Resource Estimate Fetekro's Lafigue Mineral Resource model was developed in Geovia's Surpac software. A total of 26 mineralized zones were defined from the current drilling data and geologic interpretations made across Lafigue South, Center and North areas. The gold assays from the drill holes were composited to one metre intervals within the mineralized wireframes and capped from 15 g/t to 30 g/t Au. Spatial analysis of the gold distribution within the mineralized zone using variograms indicated a good continuity of the grades along strike and down dip of the mineralized zones. Density was measured in 2,282 core samples within the various rock types then averaged within the model by the weathered zones. The laterite density is 2.0t/m3, the saprolite density is 1.80t/m3, the transition is 2.4t/m3, and the fresh rock is 2.80t/m3. The gold grade was estimated using Ordinary Kriging constrained within the mineralized domains. The grade was estimated in multiple passes to define the higher confidence areas and extend the grade to the interpreted mineralized zone extents. The grade estimation was validated with visual analysis and comparison with the drilling data on sections and with swath plots comparing the block grades with the composites. The mineralized domains were classified into Indicated and Inferred Resource classifications, depending on the sample spacing, number samples, confidence in mineralized zone continuity, and geostatistical analysis. The Indicated classification was generally applied to blocks within the mineralized zoned defined by a minimum of seven samples from at least three drill holes with a 50 m search. The Inferred classification is defined by a minimum of three samples within a 75m search from two drill holes. The Mineral Resource was constrained by a $1,500/oz Au pit shell and 0.50 Au g/t cut-off. The Whittle pit shell optimization assumed a base mining cost of $2.50/t, and $2.75/t for oxide mineralized zones, $3.25/t for transition mineralized zones and $3.75/t for fresh rock mineralized zones, mining recovery of 95%, mining dilution of 10%, pit slope of 40, recovery of 96% of the gold in the oxide, 95% in the transition and 94% in the fresh, and processing and a G&A cost of $19.85/t in the oxide and $21.17/t in the transition and fresh. Drilling, Assay Procedures and Quality Assurance and Quality Control Procedures The Reverse Circulation drill program samples were collected on a one metre interval using dual tube, a percussion hammer and drop centre bit. The material passes through a cyclone which is thoroughly cleaned after every sample by flushing the hole. Samples were split at the drill site using a three-tier riffle splitter with both bulk, laboratory and retained duplicate samples weights and moisture recorded. Representative samples chips for each interval were collected with a spear, sieved and retained into chip trays for reference. Drill core (PQ, HQ and NQ size) sampling intervals are selected by LMCI geologists and cut in half with a diamond blade saw at the project site. Half of the core is retained at the site for reference purposes. Sample intervals are generally on metre in length. All samples are transported by road to Bureau Veritas (BV) in Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire). Every laboratory sample is secured in poly-woven bag ensuring that there is a clear record number of the chain of custody. On arrival at the laboratory, the entire sample is weighted, dried and crushed to <2mm (70% passing) and 250g pulverized to 75m (85% passing). Samples are analyzed for gold using standard fire assay technique with a 50g charge and an Atomic Absorption (AA) finish. Blanks, field duplicates and certified reference material (CRM's from Geostats Pty Ltd) are inserted by LMCI geologists in the sample sequence for quality control and to ensure there are a suite of QC samples in each fire assay batch. The sampling and assaying at Lafigue is monitored through the implementation of a quality assurance / quality control (QA/QC) program. This QA/QC program was audited by international mining consultants CSA Global in 2019 and consequently designed to follow industry best practices. KALANA TECHNICAL NOTES Mineral Resource Estimate The Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") for the Kalana Project, including the Kalana and Kalanako deposits and two TSFs, has been updated with additional drilling in 2017-18 including 165 reverse circulation (RC) drill holes for 24,900 m and 81 diamond drill (DD) holes for 27,200 m at Kalana and 63 RC holes for 7,800 m and three DD holes for 540 m at Kalanako. The drilling results facilitated the advancement of the geological models and an updated Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS). The MREs also utilised the IAMGOLD-SOMIKA joint venture (2009-13) and SOMIKA (2008, 2014-16) exploration results. The drilling and sampling protocols are largely the same and are considered to be suitable for use in an MRE. The Kalana deposit gold mineralisation has been modelled at a threshold of 0.2 ppm Au to 0.3 ppm Au with a thickness of three metres down-the hole (DTH, equivalent to two metres vertically. One hundred and thirty-five (135) veins have been modelled within 61 Vein Packages, grouped into eight types or domains based on geometry, orientation and/or location. The veins have a typical thickness of four to five metres (DTH), but may exceed 40 m. There is no gold enrichment or depletion in the saprolite which has a typical thickness of 30 m. Gold mineralisation at Kalanako has been modelled at a threshold of 0.2 ppm Au with a minimum thickness of three metres DTH into 34 wireframes (of which six represent two-thirds of the total mineralised volume). The mineralised wireframes are considered to be a single domain and have an average thickness of seven metres. The grade estimation of the mineralised veins at Kalana and Kalanako are hampered by the very coarse nature of the gold; the drill hole databases have numerous instances of barren assays with a number of visible gold grains logged in a known mineralised vein. The resource estimation methodology applied uses Categorical and Ordinary Kriging. An appraisal of downhole sample length demonstrated that over 99% of the drillhole data had sample lengths of one metre or less. Consequently, the drillhole data was composited to a target length of one metre within the constraints provided by the vein package, weathering and lithology interpretations. This composited data was used for all further analysis. The MRE classification criteria follows the CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Reserves 2014. KALANA The June 2020 independent Kalana Mineral Resource Estimate done by Optiro Consulting utilises data and geological interpretations compiled by Endeavour in 2018. The average grade of the encapsulated samples in the mineralised wireframes is 1.37 Au g/t. Variable top-caps on composited data were applied based on categorical grade categories and geological domains. The Kalana gold grades were estimated by Categorical and Ordinary Kriging in a block model created with topography, weathering, lithology, vein package and TSF wireframes. The wireframes were represented by 10 mE by 10 mN by 5 mRL parent blocks with 5 mE by 5 mN by 1.25 mRL subcells at boundaries in Datamine Studio RM. Parent block grade estimation was undertaken using Ordinary Kriging of the top-cut, one metre downhole composite samples. The model was depleted for underground mining using a stope and development wireframe model. The Kalana Mineral Resource Estimate is constrained within a US$1,500/oz gold Whittle open-pit shell as a limit of economic extraction, defined using the following parameters (all costs are in US dollars), and a cut-off grade of 0.5 Au g/t: Slope angles - Laterite & Oxide 28.5; Transition 42 W & 45 E; Fresh 48 W & 52 E Au recovery - Laterite & Oxide 95.4%; Transition 92.4%; Fresh 92.7% Gold price - $1,500/oz Mining cost - Laterite $1.64/t; Oxide $1.80/t; Transition $2.08/t; Fresh $2.95/t Processing cost - Laterite $19.82; Oxide $19.96/t; Transition $24.52/t; Fresh $23.00/t Selling cost - $4/oz Au Royalty - 3.6% Endeavour considers the updated 2018 Kalana geological model to be a more robust and accurate model, as compared to the previous 2016 estimate prepared on behalf of Avnel as: The geological model was updated with over 30,000 metres of in-fill drilling completed since the Project was acquired in mid-2017. In total, more than 2,200 holes and more than 221,000 assays (including over 103,000 LeachWELL assays) were used to refine the geological model A total of 135 veins within 61 vein packages were individually modelled as opposed to the previous approach of applying geostatistics to 56 grouped vein packages, and thereby provided an upgraded confidence in the vein packages/domain boundaries Mineralised intersections outside of the defined wireframes where continuity was not proven were excluded The cut-off grade was lowered from 0.9 Au g/t to 0.5 Au g/t In addition, different algorithms were used to estimate the grade, whereby Categorical and Ordinary Kriging were used by Optiro Consultants as opposed to Multiple Indicator Kriging. KALANAKO The June 2020 Kalanako Mineral Resource Estimate by Optiro Consulting utilises data and geological interpretations compiled by Endeavour in 2018. The average grade of the encapsulated samples in the mineralised wireframes is 1.42 Au g/t. Variable top-caps were applied based on categorical grade category. The saprolite is deep, with a typical depth of 50 m to 70 m. The Kalanako gold grades have been estimated by Categorical and Ordinary Kriging into an azimuth rotated (310) block model. The topography, weathering, oxidation, graphitic and mineralisation wireframes were represented by 5 mX by 20 mY by 10 mRL parent blocks with 1.25 mX by 5 mY by 2.5 mRL subcells at boundaries. The Kalanako MRE is constrained within a US$1,500/oz gold Whittle open-pit shell as a limit of economic extraction, defined using the following parameters (all costs are in US dollars), and a cut-off grade of 0.5 Au g/t: Slope angles - Laterite & Oxide 28.5; Transition 42 W & 45 E; Fresh 48 W & 52 E Au recovery - Laterite & Oxide 96.0%; Transition 88.5%; Fresh 89.0% Gold price - $1,500/oz Mining cost - Laterite $1.53/t; Oxide $1.68/t; Transition $2.11/t; Fresh $2.82/t Processing cost - Laterite $20.19; Oxide $20.26/t; Transition $24.78/t; Fresh $23.41/t Selling cost - $4/oz Au Royalty - 3.6% TAILINGS STORAGE FACILITIES Two TSFs exist within the Kalana Project: the principal TSF located halfway between Kalana and Kalanako, and the small TSF ("Shaft No. 2 TSF" filling an old open-pit) within the fence close to the historical plant. The TSF volumes have been estimated with consideration of their estimated volume in 2004, preliminary dam design reports, the estimate in the 2016 NI 43-101-compliant DFS Technical Report, production plant discharge data, depletion records and various topographic surveys. The significant grade of the TSFs is based on the high underground mining grades, the gravity-only recovery, plant tailing samples and limited drilling. The TSFs are estimated to contain 845,000 t at a grade of 1.8 Au g/t for 48 koz Au as of June 2020 by Endeavour. Density Density measurements for Kalana and Kalanako were taken from diamond core samples using a water displacement (Archimedes) method. Density values, as shown below, were assigned to the resource models based on the interpreted weathering domain. Table 14: Block Model Assigned Densities, t/m3 ROCK TYPE KALANA KALANAKO TAILINGS Laterite / Mottled Zone / Regolith 1.67 1.70 1.50 Saprolite 1.64 1.76 1.50 Saprock 2.15 2.09 1.50 Fresh 2.68 2.64 1.50 Drilling Procedures The RC drill programme samples were collected on one metre intervals using dual tube, percussion hammer and a drop centre bit. The material passed through a cyclone which was thoroughly cleaned after every sample by flushing the hole. Samples were split at the drill site using a three-tier riffle splitter with both bulk and laboratory sample weights and moisture recorded. Samples sent to the laboratory are between four and five kilograms in weight. Representative samples for each interval were collected with a spear, sieved into chip trays and retained for reference. Washed chips were also glued onto display boards. A small proportion of the reject sample material was washed for visible gold. Drill core (PQ, HQ and NQ size) samples were selected by Endeavour geologists and sawn in half with a diamond blade at the project site. Half of the core was retained at the site for reference purposes. Sample intervals were generally one metre in length. All samples were transported by road to ALS in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso or in Kumasi, Ghana, or to the BIGS Global Burkina SARL Laboratory in Ouagadougou in secured, poly-woven bags. Assay Procedures On arrival at the analytical laboratory, the RC and DD samples were weighed and crushed to 6 mm (70% passing), and a two-kilogram sample taken by a rotary split which was pulverised to 75 m (85% passing). The two kilogram pulverised samples were analysed for gold using the LeachWELL (LW) method. LW tails were further analysed by Fire Assay (50 g charge) with an Atomic Absorption (AA) finish when returning an assay of over 0.3 ppm Au. A systematic re-assaying programme of the IAMGOLD-Avnel joint venture drill samples was undertaken in 2013-15 in three (depth constrained) phases due to the visible gold in samples with barren assays. Sample selection criteria was based on: Gold grade above 0.1 g/t, or a sample below 0.1 Au g/t and included in a mineralised intercept. Visible gold. Sample located with a geologically mineralised zone but with no grade. During the re-assay programme, the leaching tails were systematically assayed using fire assay to ensure that the leaching process was complete if the LeachWELL grade was over 0.1 Au g/t. Since 2015, all samples are routinely sent for LeachWELL analysis. Quality Assurance and Quality Control Procedures The sampling and assaying in the Kalana Project were monitored through the implementation of a quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) programme with the use of Certified Reference Materials ("standards"), blanks and duplicates inserted into the sample stream by Endeavour geologists. QA/QC results are reviewed on a certificate basis and "failed" samples are identified and re-assayed according to the Endeavour QA/QC protocol. The Kalana Project exploration database is held within a propriety electronic secure database system with a dedicated Database Manager. QUALIFIED PERSONS Patrick Perez, P.Eng , Director of Technical Studies for Endeavour Mining - a registered member of APEGS (Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan), is a "Qualified Person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and has reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release. CONTACT INFORMATION Martino De Ciccio Brunswick Group LLP in London VP - Strategy & Investor Relations Carole Cable, Partner +44 203 640 8665 +44 7974 982 458 mdeciccio@endeavourmining.com (mailto:mdeciccio@endeavourmining.com) ccable@brunswickgroup.com (mailto:ccable@brunswickgroup.com) Vincic Advisors in Toronto John Vincic, Principal +1 (647) 402 6375 john@vincicadvisors.com (mailto:john@vincicadvisors.com) The Toronto Stock Exchange has neither reviewed nor accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. ABOUT ENDEAVOUR MINING CORPORATION Endeavour Mining is one of the world's top ten senior gold producers and the largest in West Africa, with operating assets across Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso and a strong portfolio of advanced development projects and exploration assets in the highly prospective Birimian Greenstone Belt across West Africa. A member of the World Gold Council, Endeavour is committed to the principles of responsible mining and delivering sustainable value to its employees, stakeholders and the communities where it operates. Endeavour is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, under the symbol EDV and will be seeking a secondary listing as a Premium issuer on the London Stock Exchange during Q2-2021. For more information, please visit www.endeavourmining.com. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This press release contains statements which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of Endeavour with respect to future business activities and operating performance. Forward-looking information is often identified by the words "may", "would", "could", "should", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" or similar expressions and includes information regarding Endeavour's estimates, expectations, forecasts and guidance for production, all-in sustaining cost, capital expenditures, cost savings, project economics (including net present value and internal rates of return) and other information contained in the feasibility study; as well as references to other possible events, the future price of gold, the estimation of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the realization of mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production, capital expenditures, costs and timing of the development of the project and mining and processing activities, permitting timelines, requirements for additional capital, government regulation of mining operations, and environmental risks. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking information is not based on historical facts but instead reflect Endeavour management's expectations, estimates or projections concerning future results or events based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made. Although Endeavour believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, such information involves risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such information, as unknown or unpredictable factors could have material adverse effects on future results, performance or achievements of the combined company. This forward-looking information may be affected by risks and uncertainties in the combined business of Endeavour and market conditions, including. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward looking information prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although Endeavour has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Endeavour does not intend, and do not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information except as otherwise required by applicable law. Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. 1 As per press release dated June 28, 2017, available on Endeavour's website. Attachments Born in Sudan, Africa, Dr. Victor Zaki spent most of his life struggling to make ends meet and make life better for himself and his family in his homeland. Through his lifelong journey, Dr. Zaki observed how the Sudanese community he grew up in exhibited the values of generosity and hospitality, despite living in dire conditions where they lacked clean water, electricity, and proper shelter. According to a press release, the Christian author's experiences growing up in Sudan and his experiences of religious persecution are chronicled in his new memoir, "My Life Journey from Darfur, Sudan to Boston, USA." Dr. Zaki said of his book and his people, "With my book, I wanted to share the beauty of the citizens of Sudan. They proved to be a positive light in the midst of the challenges our country faced." While he had a love for his country, the Christian author soon learned that it was not safe for him to stay. Before he fled Sudan, he observed how the military persecuted members of the local Christian community. As part of their religious persecution efforts, the local government even controlled broadcast media, forcing people to get their news from only one television station under their regulation. It was in 1990 when Dr. Zaki and his family moved to the United States to escape religious persecution. Armed with an education that he earned from Egypt, the United Kingdom, and later the U.S., the Christian author started a new life. Throughout the years and through his travels Dr. Zaki made a commitment to "make each destination better than when he first arrived." He worked as a medical doctor in various cities in Sudan for 20 years, but his experiences there were not without challenges. He said that whenever he would face a challenge or any negative situation, he would pray for God's guidance. Dr. Zaki's book can be purchased from Barnes & Noble, Xlibris and Amazon, The story of a Christian author escaping religious persecution to obtain freedom in the United States is not the first to inspire other Christians to do the same. Earlier this month, a Christian Chinese woman by the name of Lily Tang Williams uploaded a video to Facebook, in which she shared how her life was under communist China. Williams, who described religious persecution and living in communist China as "like a concentration camp," left the country at 24 to live the "American dream of freedom." Dr. Zaki and motivational speaker and educator Williams have made it their life mission to encourage others to seek out freedom from religious persecution. These kind of journeys happen outside the U.S. too. In November last year, Christianity Daily also reported about the journey a North Korean Christian woman had to undertake to escape religious persecution in the communist country led by Kim Jong-un. Sookyung Kang experienced religious persecution firsthand when her uncle, a Christian missionary, was imprisoned for sharing the gospel. Kang decided to take the risky journey, traveling 3,000 miles to escape religious persecution and "be free to praise and pray to God." She left North Korea in 2011 with the assistance of the international nonprofit organization Liberty in North Korea, and successfully made it to South Korea, where she found the freedom to worship God without fear. Maharashtra: 150 fishermen get Rs 26L for setting marine animals free February 23,2021 | Source: Mumbai Mirror The state government has paid Rs 26.50 lakh as compensation to 150 fishermen for setting marine animals free after they were caught in their nets during fishing. In order to protect marine biodiversity and to shield fishermen from incurring losses, the state government had in December 2018 announced a compensation for those fishermen who have to cut their expensive nets to release turtles, shark, dolphins or even protected fish such as sawfish and guitar fish back into the sea. According to the compensation scheme, if any fisherman or fisherwoman releases such rare fish or animal which is caught in their net and the net is damaged in the process, they should file an application before the chief conservator of forests, mangrove protection cell. The state government will provide them a compensation of up to Rs 25,000. For compensation, a fisherman will have to give details of his fishing licence, boat licence, exact location of the incident, including GPS, details of the exotic fish or animal that was caught and video or photographs. Many times, turtles, dolphins and even protected fish like sawfish and guitarfish get trapped in fishing nets. Catching and selling of these species is a crime. But these fisherfolks also incur losses when their nets are damaged. So, we have started compensating them, an official from the mangrove cell said. After the scheme was launched more than two years ago, 150 fishermen released the endangered species in the sea and followed the procedure for compensation. They have been compensated. According to the data, 68 olive riddle turtles, 47 green sea turtles, 27 whale sharks, 3 hoxbill turtles, one Indian Ocean humpback dolphin, one leatherback sea turtle and two jaunt guitarfish have got a new life due to the scheme in the past two years. Recently, 17 new compensation proposals were also received by the mangrove cell for approval. In January this year, the government issued a fresh GR in connection with the compensation, revising the compensation structure. It was decided that the fishermen will get the compensation amount depending upon the size and type of the species. The maximum compensation is Rs 25,000 while the minimum compensation is Rs 8,000. The government had also mentioned in the GR that the a fisherman can apply for compensation only thrice a year and the amount of compensation will be reduced after the first compensation. For example, for the second time they will get Rs 20,000 and the third time they will get Rs 15,000. (TNS) - California is failing to provide crucial information about COVID-19 vaccine supply levels to local officials, complicating efforts to schedule appointments and contributing to temporary closures of vaccination sites.Officials running local vaccination programs in multiple counties say they are not being told how many doses they will receive over the next three weeks, which is key data they need to keep vaccine sites open and running smoothly.President Joe Biden promised last month that his administration would provide a "reliable three-week supply look-ahead" in an effort to improve the transparency and efficiency of the country's rocky vaccine rollout.Gov. Gavin Newsom said he learns every Tuesday morning how many doses the Golden State will receive over the next three weeks. But state officials have yet to share those numbers with many local, city and county leaders, making it difficult to create appointments and plan for the administration of second doses."Every vaccine planner right now, we all have nerves in our stomach. We're nervous about it," said Joe Prado, community health division manager for the Fresno County Department of Public Health. "We would all like to have a three-week window, but until then we will just continue to do it week to week."A California Department of Public Health spokesman did not answer questions about why the state has not shared three-week previews with local health officials. Instead, he said the question is "no longer relevant" because the state is transitioning to a new vaccine distribution model led by Blue Shield of California, under a contract that started Feb. 15.Newsom, speaking Sunday at a mobile vaccination clinic in Inglewood, said counties will start getting a three-week look-ahead this week as part of the Blue Shield partnership, but he did not elaborate.A spokeswoman for Blue Shield directed questions to state health officials, who did not respond.As of Monday, local officials said they still were not getting the advance information.The communication problems come as winter storms have hammered much of the U.S., delaying shipments of already-scarce vaccine doses to California and other states. Lack of predictability, coupled with ongoing dose shortages, have forced temporary closures at several mass vaccination sites, including Dodger Stadium, Moscone Center in San Francisco and Petco Park in San Diego.The production picture for doses is murky at best. Vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna have been accelerating their weekly production levels, with 13.5 million doses scheduled to be delivered in the U.S. this week, but are not on track to meet their first target of 100 million doses each by March 31 if they continue at their current weekly rates.The companies have said they are constantly working to ramp up capacity and that their weekly rates will increase.California is scheduled this week to receive a total of 1.5 million doses, almost evenly split between the two companies.The number of doses, already scarce, will be stretched even thinner starting next month, when as many as 6 million more Californians will become eligible for the shot. As more people get their first dose, even more of the incoming supply will have to be set aside for second doses.Earlier this month, Los Angeles was forced to close Dodger Stadium and four other city vaccination sites for two days because the city had not received enough doses to keep them open. The stadium and another site, Hansen Dam, closed early at 6 p.m. last week because of a shortage.All of the city's sites were closed for vaccinations again this past Friday and Saturday because shipments of at least 63,000 doses were tied up at UPS and FedEx shipment facilities in Kentucky and Tennessee due to severe weather.Los Angeles County, which allocates vaccine doses to hundreds of local sites, including Dodger Stadium, is not receiving details on shipments three weeks in advance, public health director Barbara Ferrer said Wednesday."We still have a fair amount of variability in what we get, week to week," Ferrer said. "I don't have any projections about what we're getting for the next two to three weeks out."Ferrer said health officials are still receiving information on dose shipments a week at a time, and that last week, the figures were delayed. Health officials have said for weeks that the lack of transparency makes running an efficient vaccine site more difficult, because appointments, vaccinator shifts and other logistics can't be planned in advance.Ferrer said that she was "confident" that the county would begin receiving a better picture of future dose shipments, "but it hasn't happened yet."Orange County is also receiving information about vaccine dose allocations one week at a time, health officer Dr. Clayton Chau said.Fresno County Supervisor Ernest "Buddy" Mendes said it's often a surprise how many doses will be granted to his county each week, and officials there can only organize as much as a week in advance."You can't make any plans," Mendes said. "You can plan out the logistics, but then you don't have the vaccinations to do it. So a lot of times, you can't do it."Two mass vaccination sites in Fresno stopped giving first doses for 14 days last month due to a lack of supply.In San Francisco this week, the Moscone Center had to pause vaccinations due to supply shortages a little over a week after it opened as a mass vaccination site.A spokesperson from the San Francisco Department of Public Health said Thursday that officials still don't know when first-dose appointments will resume at the Moscone Center. The vaccine supply, they said, "remains limited, inconsistent, and unpredictable.""As of now, we never know the following week's allocations, which makes it challenging to plan ahead," the department said in a statement.Late last month, Newsom authorized a deal with Blue Shield of California to run the state's vaccine program under an emergency contract that did not require legislative approval. Several local health authorities say they haven't received concrete information about how vaccinations will be handled under Blue Shield.Blue Shield will create an algorithm to distribute the vaccine, according to the contract for the far-reaching agreement. The company will also have wide latitude to select which healthcare providers and counties will receive and administer doses.The company will create a statewide vaccine network in three waves, starting with Central Valley counties such as Fresno, Kern, San Joaquin and Stanislaus next week, the state has previously confirmed to The Times. Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura are among the counties in a second wave in early March. The final wave, a week later, would include San Francisco, Contra Costa and Alameda counties.Vaccine supply to California has increased in recent weeks, but so has the number of vaccination sites across Los Angeles County. That means mega sites like Dodger Stadium are competing against a growing number of vaccine sites for a still-limited number of doses.Because supply has been so limited, it's not clear whether Dodger Stadium will reach its promised capacity of 12,000 daily vaccine doses, Los Angeles deputy mayor for public safety Jeff Gorell said. With more supply, the site could provide three or four times as many shots per day, he said.Los Angeles hasn't received a guarantee of how many of the 200 million combined doses that Pfizer and Moderna have promised by March 31 will be sent to the city, chief innovation officer Amanda Daflos said.A new federal vaccination site that opened last week at Cal State L.A. will be receiving its vaccine doses directly from the federal government, rather than through the county. That means the site won't compete with other L.A. County sites for a limited pool of doses.___2021 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. 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. CLARK COUNTY, Ill. (WTHI) - Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed a criminal justice reform bill into law on Monday, but it comes with some controversy after concerns from local law enforcement. The law eliminates cash bail for inmates within two years. It mandates the use of police body cameras for all officers by 2025. It enhances de-escalation training for police officers, and officers can now only use deadly force when victims are in imminent danger. News 10 spoke with Clark County, Illinois Sheriff Bill Brown on Monday afternoon to gauge his reaction to the bill being signed into law. Sheriff Brown says this law truly concerns him for the safety of Illinois citizens, and he feels it hinders police officers to do their jobs effectively. During Governor Pritzkers press conference on Monday afternoon, he said the bill accomplishes three criminal justice priorities for his administration. First, it transforms the pre-trial detention system. Governor Pritzker says this is so low-income individuals arent put in jail while the wealthy walk free. Next, it diverts low-level drug crimes into substance treatment programs. Last, it reduces excessive stays in prison. He says this law will make Illinois a safer place. Sheriff Brown says he is all for accountability and for true justice. However, he feels the points in the law would make real-life scenarios hard for officers. Both he and Governor Pritzker spoke about their opinions on the new legislation on Monday afternoon. This legislation marks a substantial step towards dismantling the systemic racism that plagues our communities, our state, and our nation, Governor Pritzker said, It brings us closer to true safety, true fairness, and true justice. Its really going to affect the citizens and how we can do our job as compared to how we could do it in the past, Sheriff Brown contended, Its a bad bill for law enforcement. Its a bad bill for the citizens of the State of Illinois and, specifically for me, the citizens of Clark County. Sheriff Brown watched Governor Pritzker sign the new legislation into law on Monday. Just a week ago, he presented scenarios to the Clark County Board on how this bill will affect the safety of citizens in Illinois and affect the ability of police officers to do their jobs effectively. For instance, Sheriff Brown used the situation of an active school shooter as an example. Police arrive at the scene, but the suspect flees. The officers catch up to the suspect, but they are no longer putting people in danger at that specific point in time. Officers now, under this new legislation, cannot use force against that suspect even though they shot at people just moments ago. Sheriff Brown used this, among other real-life examples, to show why he and other County Sheriffs are concerned. I take it so personal for the safety of the citizens of this county, Sheriff Brown explained, If they would have just taken time and sat down with all the parties involved, we could have come up with a good bill. Sheriff Brown outlined what he would like to see happen moving forward although this bill was signed into law. What my hope is, is that there will be trailer bills that come along behind it that will clean this thing up, Sheriff Brown concluded, I think when the citizens of this state get information like we are sharing right nowhow many people will call their legislators and say, what have you done? Why have you put our kids in this kind of danger? You know, 120,000 people signed a petition saying, hey, Governor. This is bad. This is not good. He doesnt care. Sheriff Brown says he and his sheriffs office will continue to serve the people of Clark County under the law with a priority in keeping citizens safe. Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 Sorry! This content is not available in your region One of our favorite coffees, this fruit-dried Gesha from Oxapampa, Peru is nothing short of amazing. With notes of florals, mango, pineapple and other tropical fruits, its no wonder this coffee placed among the countrys best. Natural Gesha craft coffee roasted by Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea was a finalist in this years Good Food Awards, winning a place among the countrys top craft coffees. It was the only Ohio coffee finalist. One of the top honors in the food industry, the Good Food Awards recognize the countrys best-tasting and most responsibly sourced coffees. It was an incredible honor to once again be recognized among the countrys top craft coffee roasters, said Founder and President Greg Ubert. This is Crimson Cups fourth placement at the Good Food Awards within the past five years. Its Ethiopian Kossa Kebena coffee won in 2017 and 2020 and was a 2019 finalist. Crimson Cup sources Natural Gesha from Perus Oxapampa region. Since most of the finalists were Ethiopian coffees, we were excited to see how much the judges loved our Peruvian Gesha, said Sustainability Director Brandon Bir. One of our favorite coffees, this fruit-dried Gesha from Oxapampa, Peru is nothing short of amazing, Bir said. With notes of florals, mango, pineapple and other tropical fruits, its no wonder this coffee placed among the countrys best. Bir discovered the coffee during one of his frequent trips to develop relationships with Peruvian coffee farmers. He met grower Hector Portocarrero through the NARSA (NEGOCIACIONES AGROINDUSTRIAL AREVALO S. A.) co-op. We are thankful that Hector shares his exceptional Gesha with us, Bir said. Our friends at NARSA dried this special coffee on their roof-top drying facility, which assisted in even drying and clarity in flavor and sweetness. Crimson Cup has been working with NARSA since 2014 as a part of its unique Friend2Farmer initiative. The roaster makes economic, environmental and social impacts in coffee farming communities through this direct trade strategy. NARSA Founder Don Julio Abel Arevalo Tello and his team focus on helping small coffee and cacao farmers in Perus Central Highlands and Amazon regions gain market access throughout Peru and beyond. Don Julios team pushes cup quality and crop health to develop a more sustainable industry, Bir said. This aligns perfectly with Crimson Cups commitment to quality and sustainability. Among other contributions to the local coffee community, Crimson Cup has funded rooftop raised drying beds and helped develop and certify The Quality Lab at NARSA. We created Friend2Farmer to forge a connection between coffee farmers and coffee consumers, Bir said. Specialty coffee consumers seek out exceptional coffees and are willing to pay more for a superb cup. When growers earn more, they can invest in farms and communities. As a coffee roaster, were honored to work with small-plot farmers to produce the best cup and to help win recognition for their hard work. Now in its 11th year, the Good Food Awards celebrate tasty, authentic and responsible foods. The 17 categories include beer, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, cider, coffee, confections, elixirs, fish, grains, honey, oils, pantry, pickles, preserves, snacks and spirits. Entries passed a rigorous vetting to confirm they met Good Food Awards standards that emphasize fairness and transparency from seed to plate or cup. These include environmentally sound agriculture practices, sourcing transparency and responsible relationships throughout the supply chain. About Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea Columbus, Ohio coffee roaster Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea is a 2020 Good Food Award winner, 2019 Golden Bean Champion for Small Franchise/Chain Roaster and Roast magazines 2016 Macro Roaster of the Year. Since 1991, Crimson Cup has roasted sustainably sourced craft coffee for consumers and wholesale coffee customers. Through its 7 Steps to Success coffee franchise alternative program, the company teaches entrepreneurs to run independent coffee houses in their local communities. By developing a coffee shop business plan, entrepreneurs gain insight into how much it costs to open a coffee shop. Crimson Cup also supports life-enriching projects through its Friend2Farmer initiatives, promoting the education, health, sustainability and economic growth of small-plot coffee farmers and their communities. Crimson Cup coffee is available through over 350 independent coffee houses, grocers, college and universities, restaurants and food service operations across 30 states, Guam and Bangladesh. The company also operates several Crimson Cup Coffee Houses and a new Crimson retail flagship store. To learn more, visit crimsoncup.com, or follow the company on Facebook and Instagram. It is linked to Russian-registered KVT-RUS LLC, the owner of the vessel. The United States has made changes to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) by including a Russian-flagged vessel involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. This is reported on the website of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Read alsoLithuania proposes pausing Nord Stream 2 until Russian elections media It says it is the FORTUNA (UBDP8) vessel whose registration identification is IMO 8674156 (vessel). It is linked to Russian-registered KVT-RUS LLC, the owner of the vessel. Nord Stream 2: Background The Nord Stream 2 project envisages the construction and operation of two gas pipeline branches with a total throughput capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year from the coast of Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany. It should connect Russia's Ust-Lug and Germany's Greifswald. This new pipeline bypassing Ukraine is to be built next to the existing Nord Stream 1 pipeline. The construction of the pipeline was expected to be completed before the end of 2019. The pipeline will be 1,220 km long. The project is being implemented by Russia's Gazprom in alliance with European companies ENGIE, OMV, Royal Dutch Shell, Uniper, and Wintershall. Ukraine stands against the construction of Nord Stream 2 as it will most likely lose its status of a gas transit country, while its potential revenue losses are estimated at US$3 billion annually. The project is also highly criticized by the U.S., Poland, and the Baltic States. On November 4, 2020, the media reported that U.S. Congress wanted to expand sanctions against Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream. On December 6, 2020, United States Charge d'Affaires to Germany Robin Quinville called on the EU and Germany to declare a moratorium on the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. On December 9, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with expanded restrictions against the Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. On December 11, 2020, the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline resumed. On December 29, 2020, it became known that the House of Representatives overcame the then President Donald Trump's veto on the U.S. defense budget with sanctions on Nord Stream 2. The United States is urging European allies and private companies to halt works on Nord Stream 2, and is preparing broader sanctions against the Russian project in the coming weeks. The U.S. Senate approved the U.S. defense budget for the fiscal year 2021, which provides for new sanctions against Russia's Nord Stream 2. On January 7, 2021, a fund was established in Germany to support the completion of the Nord Stream 2 project. On January 13, 2021, the U.S. Department of State notified European companies involved in the construction of Nord Stream 2 of the risk of imposing new sanctions. Reporting by UNIAN 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. ROME, FEB 23 - Luca Attanasio, the Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo who was killed in an attack in the African country on Monday along with a Carabiniere police officer and a driver, was happy about the mission he was engaged in, his father Salvatore told ANSA on Tuesday. "He told us what the objectives (of the mission) were," Salvatore Attanasio said at his home in Lombardy town of Limbiate. "He was always a person who was focused on other people. "He always did good. He was driven by high ideals and capable of involving anyone in his projects. "He was able to make positive something that could seem unclear to me. "He was honest, fair, we never had a row". The 43-year-old diplomat, who had spoken of setting an example in a dangerous cause, is survived by wife and three young daughters. Salvatore Attanasio spoke of the she he felt when he learned the news of his son's death. "The memories of a lifetime passed by in 30 seconds," he said. "The world caved in on us. "Things like this are unjust. They should not happen. "Life is over for us now. "It necessary to think of the grandchildren now. "These three kids had green pastures ahead of them with a father like that. "They don't know what has happened yet. "Their mother, Luca's wife, is devastated by the pain too". (ANSA). Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company NORTH CANTON, Ohio, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Timken Company (NYSE: TKR; www.timken.com), a world leader in engineered bearings and power transmission products, has earned a spot among the World's Most Ethical Companies for the 11th time. Ethisphere Institute, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, announced Timken and the rest of its 2021 honorees today. "This recognition reflects the ethical mindset of our 17,000-plus global associates and our ongoing commitment to growing our collective knowledge, advancing our sustainability efforts and promoting leadership inside and outside of our company," said Richard G. Kyle, Timken president and chief executive officer. "We apply our engineering and systems thinking to not only our products and services, but also how we support our communities as a global industrial leader." This year, 135 honorees from 22 countries and 47 industries earned a spot on the list. Timken is among eight companies honored in the industrial manufacturing category. To compile the list, Ethisphere assesses a company's culture, environmental and social practices, ethics and compliance activities, governance, diversity and initiatives to support a strong value chain. "Timken continues to earn the trust of stakeholders through its commitment to leading with ethics and integrity," said Ethisphere CEO Timothy Erblich. "Earning the World's Most Ethical Companies designation for a remarkable 11th time underscores Timken's unwavering commitment to the highest values and helping to advance the communities it calls home. Congratulations to everyone at Timken for this incredible accomplishment." The full list of the 2021 World's Most Ethical Companies can be found at https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/honorees. About The Timken Company The Timken Company (NYSE: TKR; www.timken.com) designs a growing portfolio of engineered bearings and power transmission products. With more than a century of knowledge and innovation, we continuously improve the reliability and efficiency of global machinery and equipment to move the world forward. Timken posted $3.5 billion in sales in 2020 and employs more than 17,000 people globally, operating from 42 countries. Media Relations: Scott Schroeder 234.262.6420 [email protected] SOURCE The Timken Company Related Links https://www.timken.com Dine out in Collinsville for 10 delicious days Feb. 26 through March 7 during the second Collinsville Restaurant Week. Fixed price lunch and dinner specials will be available at nine locally owned and operated restaurants throughout the city. Restaurant Week is sponsored by The Great Rivers & Routes Tourism Bureau of Southwest Illinois. The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company If you are thinking to invest in your website. It is for the best. Because a good website is your visibility. It does not only represent your business but attracts a wide range of customers and is the key reason why that customer should be your client. It drives traffic and helps your page to rank higher in the google search. We have curated some best picks for you. but, before jumping to the list. Let us understand, How to choose the best website design company for you! Making a website is more than just coding. Having a website and online presence strategy allows you to plug your business online. A website is also vital because it helps to establish credibility as a business. A website not only gives credibility but also helps to suggests a positive impression that your company is authentic and more successful. A good website helps you to build credibility and trust with your customers. Visitors have no reason to stay on your website unless they are tempted to! It depends on your chosen website design company. It is vital for the business that they provide convenient navigation and exceptional features on their website. A visitor is likely to move out of the website is complicated. Consider below points to decide- Decide your budget and match it with the company's price. The company should know CMS(content management system) Thoroughly research the company you are likely going to hire. Go through their portfolio. Responsive design- The best way to design a website now. India has become the hottest destination for outsourcing services like web designing and others. The market is very dynamic and growing continuously. Therefore, every company is putting efforts to be their best out in the market. We have curated some best picks for you. ALPHA INFORMATION SYSTEMS INDIA PVT LTD- Alpha Informations Systems India is one of the leading website development companies in India. They provide IT Services/ Solutions across Software Development, Web & Mobile Application Development, Internet of Things, Blockchain Development Services. They have their offices in the USA - NJ, Norway Sandane, Bangalore & Hubli - India. They have served 900 and counting clients across the world. PRISTINE IDEAS- Pristine Ideas is a 360-degree advertising agency based in Mumbai. They have their offices in Bhopal and Indore. They have services including Brand Consultation, website designing, content writing, event management, PR & Marketing, Photography, Digital Media, Designing, and SEO. They have clients as big as Jagran lake university, the Times of India, etc. CAPITAL NUMBERS- Capital numbers is a digital marketing company with 500+ experts delivering in 3 countries. It is headquartered in Kolkata, India. Their In-Demand Skills, On-Demand allows businesses to build up their team for Web, Mobile, DevOps, AI/ML, or UI/UX Development needs. WALKING DREAMZ- Walking Dreamz Technologies is one of the best Indore-based website design and development companies. They provide full ledged services including Complete Web Solution Include Website Designing & Development, Ecommerce Solution, Mobile Application Development, SEO SMO & Online Marketing, Web hosting Services, Domain Registration, Business Email Services, Bulk SMS. They have been a strong player for 8 years in Indore. UNIFIED INFOTECH- Unified Infotech is an award-winning web design company. They serve SMEs, Startups, big companies to provide end-to-end solutions to enhance their business' efficiency. KRISHA WEB - They provide user-centric services to their clients. They have been acknowledged as Top B2B Service provider two times by Clutch. They have been placed and recognized as a Preferred Digital Agency among the Top 1000 companies from across the world. They have worked with companies like DELL, HP, etc. UiSort Technologies- UiSort Technologies is a leading Web And Mobile Application Development Company. They are a team that is dedicated to serving the customers and being functional in the IT industry since 2014. UiSort specializes in the fields of open source web development and mobile application development. HyperEffect - HyerEffect is a leading Web and Mobile App development company in The USA and India. The company has branches all over the USA and India. They have a team of experts developers and marketers. They are helping businesses to grow and establish themselves. They have completed 5+ successful years as an IT company and have 1000+ satisfied clients all over the globe. They have their offices in the USA - Silverdale, E2 Developer- They have a successful track record of over 10+ years in serving their clients with innovative and specialized IT solutions. They are based in Noida. Their work helps clients to spread their business values & analyze the user behavior for measurable engagement & further strategies. We adopt an iterative designing process to produce premium designs & an intuitive experience. THE SMILING HIPPO- The company was founded in 2005. They have been credited as trustworthy by their customers also they provide the best quality services. They are the best in their collaborative work. Their main industrial focus is in e-commerce, leisure & travel, lifestyle, financial services, luxury goods, and jewelry. SV Institute - SVInstitute is an India-based training institute in Indore. They are providing digital marketing training and digital marketing services with the best quality website and mobile application development support. The organization is founded in 2019 and within a year it has shown tremendous growth in Education and Website development aspect. ProgramersIndia Software house is an award-winning digital agency based in New Delhi, India who delivers world-class web and software solutions tailored for your requirements. They have been recognized as a Leading Design & Creative Agency, a Top Asia Web Designer, and a Top Asia Web Developer in 2019. CONCLUSION- Analyze all your options and compare them with their competitors based on your requirement. Your website is the face of your company so be sure about your designer. You can always ask for some sample work from your vendor. The last point to ponder is whether or not the web development company hosts the website it develops. The notable points here are about any downtime occurrences, protections against hackers and viruses, and website backup. Now choose the right Web Design Company from the top 10 list, who design-friendly and creative search engine website that brings great online success for your business. Jeep Wrangler to launch on March 15 India inks defence and trade agreements with Mauritius Kathmandu: 25 Indian priests in Kathmandu for forgiveness worship Nearly two months ago, the federal government made billions of dollars in COVID-19 relief funds available to the states. Michigan is in line for over $5 billion in relief funding, including $2.1 billion to re-open schools in our state. However, so far, none of that money has been allocated and, if its not used by the end of March, we will forfeit it. The only reason the money has not been accepted is because Republicans will not agree to accept it until Governor Gretchen Whitmer cedes her authority to keep our state safe and allows local school districts to decide for themselves when and how to reopen schools. The condition they are putting on the acceptance of over two billion dollars is nothing short of a power play to maintain their gerrymandered control over our state. This morning, a group of parents from around the state held a press conference demanding that Republican legislators stop using the lives of their children as a bargaining chip in the quest to diminish Governor Whitmer. Tinu Roland, a parent in the Detroit Charter School District, was blunt: People like [State Representative] Thomas Albert think its okay to play games with our children, she said. It feels like our kids are in a different pandemic than he is. Rep. Albert, a Republican from Lowell, is the Chair of the House Appropriations Committee. In addition to his demand that Gov. Whitmer relinquish her authority to protect all Michiganders, he refuses to release all of the funding from the federal government at once, instead making the funds available only on a quarterly basis. If the governor performs in that time period, then well continue on with the next installment, he told The Detroit News. Dallas Flippen, a parent and pastor with a child in the Jackson Public School system, pointed out that sometimes its the little things that can trip a student up, things like not enough charger cords for the laptops and other electronic devices kids are using both at home and for in-person classes. This financial support can solve these sorts of problems, he said. Speaking as a pastor, he pointed out that moral failure isnt just doing something bad, its also failing to do good when the oppportunity presents itself. Another parent from Detroit, Arlyssa Heard, has a child with learning challenges. She described how important it is for him to have a structured learning environment and how hard remote learning has been for him. Getting schools open safely is a priority for her. I am outraged that this money is being withheld due to political squabbles and plays for power, Heard said. She has one message for Republicans who are holding up this desperately-needed education funding: Grow up and listen to our children for once! Leah Groves, a parent from Lowell and a constituent of Rep. Albert, described Republicans behavior as deplorable, indefensible, and dishonorable. Some may say this is not the time to use our childrens futures as leverage. I say it is never the time to use our childrens futures as leverage, she said. Politicians shouldnt be playing politics more than my children are playing safety at school. It is never acceptable to hold back federal funds from our schools and I object to this dishonorable behavior. Its not just parents who are livid at the Republicans game playing. School administrators are equally angry. Robert McCann, executive director of the K-12 Alliance, had this to say: Congress worked tirelessly to pass COVID-19 relief funding for schools and intentionally left no discretion to the states on how it is to be used. The Michigan Legislature has only one job as it relates to this funding: allocate it. [] The K-12 Alliance is comprised of every public school superintendent from Genesee, Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne counties. Their districts have a combined 580,000 students. Superintendents are equally disgusted: Were caught in the middle of this political struggle in Lansing. Its not a great place to be, said Kevin Miller, the Superintendent of St. Clair County Regional Educational Service Agency. [] [T]tying these dollars to health-related debates is unacceptable. Its unconscionable, said Peter Spadafore, the deputy executive director for external affairs at the states association of superintendents and administrators. [] Other costs like after-school activities, summer school programs, public transportation to school buildings are also outlets where the money is spent. Another is refitting the ducts to improve airflow in buildings a popular remodeling project during the pandemic. But that kind of project can take months to complete. Any facility work as it relates to air systems, that work takes months and months, said Randy Liepa, superintendent of Wayne RESA. Districts doing any major renovations need time to prepare. Education dollars arent the only federal funding that Republicans are sitting on in their effort to stick their thumb in Governor Whitmers eye. Rental assistance is going unallocated, too. In fact, there is quite a list of people waiting for Republicans to stop flexing their biceps and start doing their jobs: $90 million for vaccine distribution throughout Michigan so we can get more shots into peoples arms. $575 million to expand COVID-19 testing, contact tracing and lab capacity. $2.1 billion in food assistance. $661 million to help with rental assistance and winter utility bills. $2 billion for Michigans public schools. $270 million for small-business relief. Language that would extend unemployment assistance from 20 to 26 weeks. Its important to focus on the fact that Republicans arent harming just one group of people with their intransigence. They are harming ALL of us by unnecessarily prolonging the societal impacts of the pandemic and by further stalling the restart of our economy. It doesnt matter if you are rich or poor, if youre white or brown, or where you live, by delaying our eventual recovery simply to exert political power, Michigan Republicans are hurting ALL of us. Its time for them to put aside their pettiness and frustration with the results of the 2018 and 2020 elections and do whats right for ALL of the residents of Michigan. The company plans to begin a 2,500-metre drilling program in the coming weeks focusing on the extension of known lode-hosted gold mineralisation and a new VMS target. ( ) has increased its landholding at the Messenger Project in Western Australia with a new extension that covers the historic high-grade Messengers Patch gold production area. The new ground captures an area of historical high-grade gold production and nearby historic drilling of up to 451 g/t gold. Tempest plans to begin a 2,500-metre drilling program in the coming weeks focusing on an extension of known lode-hosted gold mineralisation followed by the new Wally volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) target. New extension The new extension is a mining lease comprising 72 hectares along strike from previous drilling and new exploration leases. Tempest has entered into an agreement with the holder of M5900495 to earn up to 50% of the tenement through the expenditure of $50,000, including drilling, over the next 12 months. Project background Messenger Project is part of the companys extensive landholding within the Yalgoo greenstone belt 450 kilometres north of Perth. The project is 8 kilometres north of the prolific Golden Grove Copper-Zinc-Gold Mine and adjacent to the historic Messengers Patch. It is in a well-known historic mining area that had numerous high-grade mines and a state battery in the early 1900s. The area is undergoing an explosion in exploration including multiple discoveries and major intersections announced by ( ) at their Gnows Nest and Monte Christo prospects including 3 metres at 42 g/t including 1-metre at 89.5 g/t from 78 metres. Geophysical modelling Despite its strategic location adjacent to numerous mining centres, the Messenger Project is underexplored with little or no modern exploration conducted outside of prospecting activities. Previous drilling by others encountered extremely high grades including 2 metres at 228.92 g/t gold from 10 metres including 1-metre at 451 g/t, however, additional drilling in the area appears to have been incorrectly positioned to test the mineralisation. Updated magnetic data and geological context have revealed the geometry of the underlying mineralisation, particularly VMS mineralisation in some instances. The project also boasts a large bullseye known as the Wally Target. Next steps The company plans to start the 2,500-metre drilling program at Messenger Project in the coming weeks focusing on the Dally high-grade gold zone and the Wally base metal VMS target. It is also planning an extension of the drilling program onto new project ground. Geochemical results of strategic soil samples are pending and all data from geochemical testing and drilling will be used to further refine future exploration models. The shake-up at Aviva under chief executive Amanda Blanc is continuing at a fast pace, as the company announced the sale of its French business. The deal comes months after the insurer completed the sales of its Vietnam, Hong Kong and Singapore ventures, and revealed it was selling its Aviva Vita business in Italy. Aviva said today it had struck a 3.2billion deal (2.8billion) to sell Aviva France to Aema Groupe, a new company which was formed through a merger earlier this year. Shake-up: Amanda Blanc is trying to refocus Aviva on more profitable divisions such as Britain, Ireland and Canada since she took over in July last year Blanc, 53, is trying to refocus Aviva on more profitable divisions such as Britain, Ireland and Canada since she took over in July last year. She said that the French deal was a 'very significant milestone in the delivery of our strategy' and would increase excess capital by 2.1billion. She added: 'The transaction will increase Aviva's financial strength, remove significant volatility and bring real focus to the group.' Aviva expects to use the proceeds of the sale to reduce its debt pile, invest for long-term growth and return excess capital to shareholders. It comes as Aviva cut dividend payouts to shareholders by nearly a third in November . Aema Groupe serves eight million customers and was formed in January this year when Aesio and Macif combined. Employees at Aviva France will transfer with the business to the new ownership, and Aviva France will continue to operate as a standalone part of Aema Groupe. Global insurance companies have been making dozens of deals in recent years, as the industry was facing pressures even before the pandemic. In December, Aviva sold off its Vietnamese unit for around 100million, while in November it offloaded its Italian arm for 355 million and two months earlier it sold its Singapore arm for 1.6billion. According to Bloomberg, Aviva is currently also in talks to sell a second business in Italy. Aviva shares were up 0.1 per cent to 375p by 11:30am on Tuesday. Our group loves to go freezing for a reason. When the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to disrupt The Maryland State Police Polar Plunge fundraiser recently, a beloved annual tradition enjoyed by Stertil-Koni employees and friends, the company knew exactly who to call their local fire department. In a normal year, the Polar Plunge hosts hundreds of corporate teams, schools, and individual plungers, all diving into the frigid Chesapeake Bay in late January to raise funds for the Special Olympics of Maryland. But this has been anything but a normal year. In an effort to encourage social distancing this year, the Polar Plunge cancelled its beachside party atmosphere and encouraged participants to find creative ways to plunge -- from homes or offices. Talk about creative, enter heavy duty vehicle lift leader Stertil-Koni, which prides itself at being a terrific problem-solver for a North American customer base that includes some of the largest transit agencies, trucking firms, airlines, pupil transportation providers, municipalities and even the U.S. Military. Its a chilling thought, but this plucky team of 18 plungers wasn't about to let the new normal dampen their spiritsor their fund-raising. And thats why Kevin Hymers, Director of Operations at Stertil-Koni, and CPO (Chief Plunging Officer!), enlisted the help of the Kent Island Volunteer Fire Department. The KIVFD was more than happy to help, arriving at the Stertil-Koni headquarters with a ladder truck, a tanker truck, and a crew of firefighters eagerly awaiting the opportunity to douse the team. As the wind whipped up late on a Friday afternoon while the temperatures dipped, the Stertil-Koni team ran through the water raining down from above. They laughed with glee, or so it seemed. As Hymers noted, Our group loves to go freezing for a reason. A big thanks to the Kent Island Volunteer Fire Department which not only made it possible, they helped keep our Stertil-Koni tradition alive and well. To learn more about the Maryland State Police Polar Plunge and its cause, the Special Olympics of Maryland, visit PlungeMD. About Stertil-Koni Stertil-Koni proud to be a Buy America company -- is the market leader in heavy duty vehicle lifts, notably bus lifts and truck lifts, and proudly serves municipalities, state agencies, school bus fleets, major corporations, the U.S. Military and more. Stertil-Koni is distinguished by its extensive distributor network across the U.S. and Canada delivering world-class engineering combined with dedicated local expertise. The breadth of Stertil-Konis products meets all ranges of lifting needs and includes Mobile Column Lifts, 2-post, 4-post, inground piston lifts, platform lifts, and its axle-engaging, inground, scissor lift configuration, ECOLIFT. The companys innovative, inground telescopic piston DIAMONDLIFT is available with an optional Continuous Recess system, ideal for low clearance vehicles. Stertil-Koni USA is headquartered in Stevensville, Maryland with production facilities in Europe, The Netherlands, and in Streator, IL. Christine McTiernan says she needs to open her beauty salon despite Covid restrictions in order to "survive and put food on the table" Gardai are investigating after a Dublin beauty salon opened to the public today, with the owner arguing she has a constitutional right to earn a living. Christine McTiernan - who runs C&N Beauty Room in Balbriggan - took a stand as she believes small businesses should be allowed to operate despite lockdown restrictions requiring all non-essential retail to remain closed. Ms McTiernan said her salon was inundated with calls and was booked up within hours. Read More I received calls from people in Galway, Wicklow and all over. The reaction has been phenomenal and the support has been great, people have been telling me fair play," she said. "This is for me. I have to do what I have to do to pay my bills. I have to put food on the table, I have to pay my rent. It is for survival. This is the reason why I'm doing this because I have to survive. However, as businesses are currently not allowed to open under Level 5 restrictions, gardai called to the salon to request Ms McTiernan to close. Expand Close A garda standing outside the reopened salon Photo: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A garda standing outside the reopened salon Photo: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin A Garda spokesperson said: Gardai attended a retail premises on Dublin Street in Balbriggan and are investigating alleged breaches of public health regulations. A file will be submitted for the Director of Public Prosecution. A number of Fixed Payment Notices will be issued where appropriate for breaches of travel restrictions for non-essential reasons. Business owners have hit out at the Governments handling of the Covid-19 pandemic after Cabinet agreed to keep the country in lockdown until at least April 5. TV chef Paul Treyvaud said his aunt-in-law passed away after suffering Covid-19 last year - yet hes determined to open his restaurant in July, regardless of public health regulations. Paul (46) whos appeared on Irish TV and hosts Treyvauds Travels on Amazon Prime, took to Twitter yesterday, writing: I have decided I am opening my restaurant July 1, no matter what. That gives them four months to sort out everything. Ive done everything Ive been told to do The problem is no longer us. Its an incompetent Gov. Expand Close Christine McTiernan has reopened C&N Beauty Room in Balbriggan, saying she needs to provide for her family Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Christine McTiernan has reopened C&N Beauty Room in Balbriggan, saying she needs to provide for her family Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin The tweet has gone viral with over 17,000 likes and 1,827 retweets and the businessman, who runs Treyvauds restaurant in Killarney, Co Kerry, says he will open up and is prepared to be arrested. Mr Treyvaud, originally from south Dublin, told the Irish Independent: Im not saying Ill open now - Its not safe but Im giving four months for the Government to get this (virus) under control. And if not, I will open up in July. My wife lost her aunt to Covid-19 last year and my wife got it too, so I know how bad this is. I fully understand and I commiserate with anyone whos lost anyone to Covid-19. But we cant just look at the Covid situation here - we must look at everything Covid has done, destroying livelihoods and we need to address that. Im not an anti vaxxer - but if businesses cant open in rural Ireland to get July and August trade, so many will close. Obviously no one wants to be arrested or anything like that to happen. But Im prepared to put my neck on the line for my business 100pc and to save my livelihood and the livelihoods of my staff. In the last seven days, India has reported nearly 87,000 fresh cases of COVID-19. The highest addition was registered on Sunday when the country saw 14,264 fresh infections within a span of 24 hours. Maharashtra, the worst hit state by the virus in the country, contributed to a chunk of the Covid-19 cases in the last one week, hinting at the re-emergence of the pandemic in the state. BCCL The seven-day average was 11,430 last weekend which rose to 11,825 on February 18. In comparison to the September spike, the rise in cases is negligible. This week, Maharashtra for the first time reported more than 5,000 cases after a gap of 75 days. Similarly, the cases are beginning to increase in Kerala, Punjab and other states too. "In Maharashtra and Kerala, I think the people are taking too much comfort and they may have dropped their guard. Though the gradual decline is encouraging (especially in densely populated hotspots, where maybe 50 per cent have got the infection), but it does not mean the pandemic has gone away," Rakesh Mishra, Director at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), Hyderabad, told news agency IANS. File Photo Possibility of second wave? Experts suggest a possibility of a second wave of Covid-19 emerging in the summer or the monsoon season. Scientists and doctors have unequivocally emphasised on maintaining Covid appropriate behaviour and urged people not to drop their guard against the virus, as the pandemic is far from getting over. We have written about several problematic Biden nominees for high level positions: Neera Tanden (who is probably not going to make it), Xavier Becerra (who might not), and two DOJ nominees, Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clarke (neither of whom should make it). Vivek Murthy, Bidens selection for Surgeon General is another nominee to watch. Murthy, whose hearing is on Thursday, served as Surgeon General under President Obama. Its impossible to claim that hes not qualified to hold that position now. However, Republicans will likely be united, or close to it, in opposing Murthys confirmation because of what he did as surgeon general. Most notably, Murthy advocated treating gun violence as a public health problem. That may well be reason enough to oppose him if, like me, you believe this amounts to straying well outside of the Surgeon Generals lane. But Democrats control the Senate, so the real question is how Senate Dems view Murthy. Some may have concerns about him. Heres why: Murthy was paid millions of dollars last year [actually around $2.6 million, according to the Washington Post article Im quoting from] in coronavirus-related consulting for Carnival Corporations cruise lines, Airbnbs rental properties and other firms, in addition to collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees from dozens of organizations, according to ethics documents that Murthy filed this month. The disclosure caught the attention of longtime health policy hands saying that Murthy has the most financial entanglements of any surgeon general pick in recent history and of watchdogs who raise questions about how credible he would be as a spokesperson on the pandemic response and presidential adviser. My view is that Murthys ability to rake in fees for consulting and speaking is not grounds for nixing his nomination. Theres nothing unethical about what Murthy did. Its true, apparently, that much of the high-paying work Murthy picked up came after Joe Biden, with whom Murthy has a close relationship, all but clinched the nomination. But its still possible that Murthy provided real medical value to Carnival and Airbnb. Stranger things have happened. Regardless, Murthy has pledged that, if confirmed, he will not participate in matters involving his former clients for one year unless authorized to do so, and in the case of certain matters, for two years. This kind of pledge has, until recently at least, been good enough to satisfy Senators from both parties. The problem for some Senate Democrats is their stance on such questions when Trump nominees were before them. The Washington Post observes: On Capitol Hill, Murthys consulting work has created an awkward situation for Senate Democrats who attacked Trumps health nominees for their corporate ties but have been silent on Murthy. For instance, Sen. Elizabeth Warren repeatedly highlighted the financial entanglements of former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, even after he left office and joined Pfizers board. This kind of revolving door influence-peddling smacks of corruption, Warren wrote in July 2019, three months after Gottlieb had resigned from the FDA. Warrens office did not respond to repeated requests for comment about Murthys financial disclosures. In the end, the Post expects Murthy to be confirmed on a strict party line vote, with Kamala Harris breaking the tie. That sounds about right. At one level, this is reassuring. Its good to be reminded that Democrats dont really have anything against an entrepreneurial guy making big bucks. Its just unfortunate that their tolerance for this extends only to fellow Democrats. Posted Monday, February 22, 2021 12:31 pm In a news release from the district on Wednesday, Feb. 17, Woodland Public Schools announced that all students will transition to either hybrid schedules or full in-person learning over the coming weeks. In the release, the district said the transition to in-person learning was made possible thanks to the dedicated efforts of the Woodland and Ariel communities in reducing the spread of COVID-19. We are incredibly grateful to our community members for taking this disease seriously and following recommended safety guidelines to reduce its spread, Woodland Public Schools Superintendent Michael Green said in the release. Thanks to the efforts of our friends, neighbors and colleagues, all of our students will be able to return to school and receive at least some form of in-person learning by the first week of March. Due to the different sizes of each school in the district and the different health and safety guidelines in Clark and Cowlitz counties, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for different age groups, elementary-aged students will be able to return to full in-person education while older students in middle and high school will follow a hybrid schedule. According to the news release the schedules for each age group are as follows: Elementary School (K-4) Woodland Public Schools elementary schools will return to full-in person learning on the following schedule: Kindergarten and first grade students will be invited back to full in-person learning five days-a-week beginning on Tuesday, Feb. 23; Second grade students will transition to five days-a-week beginning Tuesday, March 2; and third and fourth grade students will transition to five days a week beginning Tuesday, March 9. Middle School (grades 5-8) Woodland Middle School will transition to a hybrid schedule starting Tuesday, Feb. 23. All middle school students will attend school remotely on Mondays. Students with last names starting with letters A-L will attend in-person on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and remotely on Thursdays and Fridays. Students with last names starting with letters M-Z will attend in-person on Thursdays and Fridays and remotely on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. High School (9-12) Woodland High School will start the new hybrid learning bell schedule remotely on Monday, March 1, with students returning to in-person school on Tuesday, March 2, on the following schedule: All high school students will attend school remotely on Mondays. Students with last names starting with letters A-L will attend in-person on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and remotely on Thursdays and Fridays. Students with last names starting with letters M-Z will attend in-person on Thursdays and Fridays and remotely on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. More information is available online at woodlandschools.org. Mumbai, Feb 23 : The autopsy report of seven-time MP Mohan S. Delkar, who was found dead in a south Mumbai hotel room, has confimed death by suicide, official sources said here on Tuesday. The post-mortem was conducted at the Sir J. J. Hospital on Monday and his body was taken by his family to Silvassa early on Tuesday for the last rites, said Mumbai Police Spokesperson S. Chaitanya. The cause of death is said to to be 'asphyxia' due to the hanging, and the hospital has preserved the viscera for further analysis if required. The Mumbai Police said that the suicide note was penned on Delkar's letterhead, reportedly in Gujarati language. The police have called experts and others to help understand the content and context of the suicide note running into several pages. Delkar, 58 - an independent MP from the Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu - had arrived in Mumbai by road late on Sunday and was found hanging in the hotel room by his driver on Monday afternoon. The Mumbai Police lodged an accidental death record pending the autopsy report and further investigations, officials added. Taking strong note of the incident, the Maharashtra Congress on Tuesday said it wants a probe into the role of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) concerning the 'suicide' of Delkar. State Congress Spokesperson Sachin Sawant said: "I will soon call on Home Minister Anil Deshmukh with a demand to investigate the role of BJP in the death of MP Mohanbai Delkar." On his part, Deshmukh offered condolences on the passing of Delkar, and termed the incident as 'very shocking.' "The news of the demise of Delkar, 7-time MP from Dadra & Nagar Haveli Lok Sabha constituency, committing suicide at a hotel in Mumbai is very shocking," the state home minister tweeted last night. Renown Jazz maestro Joseph Hellon is giving another shot at the presidency, with the controversial saxophonist and apostle declaring his interest to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2022. The Finger of God church founder first declared his presidential ambitions about 11 years ago. Last Thursday, February 18, Hellon marked the anniversary of his arrest that followed his presidential declaration and used the day to renew his aspirations. Speaking on Radio Jambo, Apostle Hellon said he is now wiser and has had time to restrategise. I have gone through baptism by fire and media scrutiny, and Im now older and wiser, and I have re-strategised on how I will do this. We were 10 years ahead with our manifesto (for the Finger of God political party). We have modified it a bit, he said. Hellon said he is keen to clean up Kenyas political atmosphere with his target audience being millennials. I have been thinking about the process and studying the current political scenario. I have a lot of options of political parties that I can use but I am not going to think of some of these big parties because I am targeting the youth. These are people who are always on the Internet and on social media. There are more than 3 million voters on social media who are not interested in old men kind of politics and they do not even understand it. Millennials do not care about tribe yet most political parties thrive on tribal politics and since I am relatively young, I believe I can make an impact with them, he said. And how will he fund his presidential campaign? Hellon said he is a businessman. We have the money. I have never gotten money from the church. I never take tithe and offering. When you look at our church profile online, we dont take money, but if someone offers, well and good, we will take it. I am a musician and musicians earn their living from how popular they are and I have made millions out this, he noted. Asked why he is going for the top seat instead of working his way up from a lesser seat, the apostle said: When your calling is the tail then wag it. Mine is the head, that is where I will start. I have always been at the top. Hellon also said he is not getting into politics for the money. I am flexible because I am not greedy, a lot of people get into politics to make money. I have already made money, so I want to get into politics to help. But, just anything changes, I do have the right to change my mind and say I will not be running, but as it is right now, my name will be on the ballot box, he said. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-16 21:15:09|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close People buy vegetables at a market in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on Feb. 16, 2021. Slovenia on Tuesday reported 740 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the national tally to 180,507. (Photo by Zeljko Stevanic/Xinhua) LJUBLJANA, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Slovenia on Tuesday reported 740 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the national tally to 180,507. On Monday, 4,402 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests were performed, of which 16.8 percent came back positive, as well as 37,830 rapid antigen tests where all those who tested positive were tested again with PCR tests, the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) said. The national COVID-19 tracker site Sledilnik showed that the country currently has 12,102 active cases. A total of 691 patients are being treated in hospitals, 127 of them in intensive care. Five new deaths, the lowest daily fatalities in nearly four months, took the toll to 3,733. The last time Slovenia had fewer than 700 COVID-19 patients in hospitals was on Oct. 28, at 660 with 109 in intensive care. The last time fewer than five patients died in a single day was on Oct. 19. "The infections are scattered across the country, which means the situation is still not as good as we would want it to be," the government's COVID-19 spokesperson Maja Bratusa said at the daily press briefing. All primary school students and final-year secondary school students from western and central Slovenia returned to school on Monday after a break of over four months. As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in some countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines. Meanwhile, 242 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 63 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on Feb. 9. Enditem COLUMBIA South Carolina's U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn is pushing for one of his home state's federal judges to fill the next U.S. Supreme Court vacancy, arguing that U.S. Circuit Court Judge J. Michelle Childs would be the ideal candidate to fulfill President Joe Biden's promise to nominate a Black woman. In a Feb. 22 interview with The Post and Courier, Clyburn said he has told Biden's staff and people close to the president he believes Childs brings the type of personal and professional background that would help diversify both the identity and life experiences of the high court. "I've made it very clear that I feel very strongly about the need to have a diversity of experiences throughout government and the judicial system," said Clyburn, D-Columbia, whose support for Childs was first reported by The New York Times. "It's not just on the Supreme Court but on subordinate courts, as well." A University of South Carolina law school graduate, Childs spent nine years in the Columbia office of Nexsen Pruet, where she became the law firm's first Black partner. She went on to work at South Carolina's labor agency before becoming a state workers' compensation commissioner. The fact that Childs, a Detroit native, did not attend an Ivy League law school, distinguishing her from most Supreme Court nominees, is partly the point, Clyburn said. Eight of the nine current justices either went to Harvard or Yale. One justice attended Notre Dame. "I hear President Biden talk about being a public college graduate as opposed to an Ivy Leaguer," Clyburn added. "That has some substance with him, and I would hope that would also have substance for those people who are doing the vetting and recommending as to who he ought to consider for the Supreme Court." While Clyburn said he has not spoken directly to Biden about Childs and does not plan to, he said he would continue to lobby both publicly and privately for her ascension, a move he said had been instigated by a concern that other Democrats were pushing for more traditional Supreme Court nominees. "I'm afraid that some in our party are lapsing into this notion that can only result in an elitist court, so that's a problem for me," Clyburn said. "Clarence Thomas is an Ivy League school graduate. Thurgood Marshall was an HBCU graduate. Which would you prefer?" The General Assembly elected Childs as a state circuit judge in 2006. Then-President Barack Obama nominated Childs to serve on South Carolina's U.S. District Court in 2009, and the Senate confirmed her by voice vote in 2010. "Everything I've heard from people at the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals and others is she is an outstanding judge," Clyburn said. That assessment was backed up by state Sen. Dick Harpootlian, another Columbia Democrat and Biden friend who has tried cases in Childs' court and, like Childs, is a USC law graduate. "At every level, she's been extraordinary in terms of how she's handled her job," Harpootlian said. "It would send a message, especially to African American women, that if you work hard and treat people with respect, you too can be on the Supreme Court. She's a role model for every lawyer she comes into contact with." Leighton Lord, now Nexsen Pruet's managing partner, said he tried to talk Childs out of leaving the firm when they worked together in the late 1990s, but he said she was "drawn to public service." "On top of being a great lawyer, she's got a great calm demeanor that makes her very effective," Lord said. "Because she doesn't get riled up, she stays cool, she was able to get things done." The early jockeying for the next Supreme Court vacancy comes amid speculation in legal circles that Justice Stephen Breyer, 82, could soon retire to let Biden pick a younger replacement. Childs is 54, five years older than former President Donald Trump's last Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. Clyburn declined to weigh in on whether he hopes Breyer does make way for a new nominee, saying he would leave that up to him. Instead, Clyburn said he's focused on making sure the next vacancy, "whenever it comes," is filled by "a Black woman, and hopefully a Black woman that has some real experiences in life that would bode well." In the meantime, Clyburn said he would support first elevating Childs to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has traditionally been viewed as a training ground for the Supreme Court due to its jurisdiction over Congress and federal agencies. There is already one vacancy on the D.C. Circuit, and another is expected to open soon if Judge Merrick Garland is confirmed as the new U.S. attorney general. Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! "But there is no timeframe for how long she has to stay at the D.C. Circuit" before getting nominated to the Supreme Court, Clyburn added. Given his close relationship with Biden and prominent role in Congress as the third-ranking House Democrat, Clyburn's voice could carry significant sway in the process. Clyburn's endorsement of Biden days before South Carolina's crucial 2020 Democratic presidential primary helped Biden achieve a landslide victory, propelling him towards the party's nomination after a faltering start in other early states. The night before that endorsement, Clyburn successfully encouraged Biden to commit to nominating a Black woman for the Supreme Court during a debate in Charleston. Clyburn's influence has already played a hand in a few Biden picks, including his longtime friend and mentee Jaime Harrison for chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. At least one of Childs' recent rulings would likely come up if she has another Senate confirmation hearing. Last year, Childs struck down a witness signature requirement for South Carolina absentee ballots, determining that it would increase the risk for voters contracting COVID-19 while doing little to guard against voter fraud. That decision was upheld by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals but ultimately overturned by the Supreme Court. In a concurring opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh pointed to legal precedent that election administration should mostly be left up to state lawmakers and that the rules should not be changed by courts close to an election. That could provide fodder for Republicans, who have complained about courts changing election rules in other states. S.C. GOP chairman Drew McKissick said Childs "taking liberties with the law to strike down the state legislature's ability to make election law, which the Constitution specifically gives state legislatures, is certainly something that people would want to take into account." "Seeing somebody with that philosophy getting elevated to the Supreme Court would not be a good thing for the country," McKissick said, describing Childs' ruling as an example of "judicial activism." But S.C. Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, an Edgefield Republican who also pushed for the witness signature requirement to remain, said he's found Childs to be a good judge, even though he disagreed with her on that particular ruling. "She's bright, she's always struck me as fair and she has the appropriate demeanor as a judge," Massey said. "I think the president could do much worse than Michelle Childs." Clyburn, for his part, fully agreed with Childs' ruling on witness signatures. "I feel very strongly that all of that is a part of voter suppression, and I suspect her life's experiences gave her that same feeling, as well," he said. The 292-article internal bylaws regulating the Senate Egypts consultative second chamber were approved by the House of Representatives on 16 February. The bylaws, expected to be ratified by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and published in the official gazette this week, will allow the newly-elected 300-member Senate to hold its first plenary meetings early next month. Senate Deputy Speaker and Wafd Party head Bahaaeddin Abu Shoka told reporters on Monday he expects the Senate to hold its first plenary meeting on 7 March. Senators were asked to come on Sunday and Monday this week to say which of the Senates 14 committees they wish to join, said Abu Shoka. They are allowed to select two committees. Elections will then be held for the leading posts a chairman, two deputies and one secretary-general of each committee. The Senates General Committee and the Ethics Committee also have to be formed ahead of any plenary meetings. According to Abu Shoka, all these steps will be taken within the coming two weeks so that the Senate can hold its first session on 7 March. Article 155 of the bylaws sets a quorum of 200 senators for meetings to be valid. Article 164 allows the Senate to hold closed meetings at the request of the president, the prime minister, the speaker or a minimum of 20 senators, to discuss issues related to sovereign interests or listen to statements and clarifications on decisions related to significant domestic and foreign policies. Article 234 controversially requires parliamentarians, be they MPs or senators, to secure the speakers approval before travelling abroad, a provision that some argue contravenes the constitution. MP Freddy Al-Bayadi says Article 62 of the constitution clearly states that citizens, including parliamentarians, can be banned from travelling abroad only after a final judicial ruling. Ashraf Rashad, parliamentary spokesperson of the majority Mostaqbal Watan Party, argued it was fully within the rights of the Senate speaker to reject parliamentarians requests to travel to certain countries, a euphemism commonly applied to Turkey and Qatar. This is necessary to prevent senators and MPs from participating in conferences attacking Egypt, said Rashad. House Deputy Speaker Ahmed Saadeddin said the stipulation aimed to prevent parliamentarians from visiting countries hostile to Egypt and that in the past deputies had travelled abroad to illegally obtain money from foreign organisations or give interviews to hostile television channels. Senators who travel abroad on the chambers request or for specific missions are not required to seek a prior approval. MPs voted down a controversial article allowing payments to senators to be tax-exempt. Parliament Speaker Hanafi Gibali had argued that the text of Article 284 exempting senators salaries from tax should be removed. All citizens, including MPs and senators, should be on an equal footing in terms of paying taxes and fees, said Gibali. MPs and senators need to send the message that they are committed to social equality and like ordinary citizens are ready to shoulder their tax burdens. Article 284 now states that senators will receive a basic monthly salary of LE5,000, that the Senate speaker receive a salary on par with the prime minister, and the speakers two deputies on par with cabinet ministers. Mostaqbal Watan Spokesperson Rashad said he will propose an amendment to the House of Representatives bylaws cancelling tax exemptions for MPs. He also announced that MPs affiliated with Mostaqbal Watan will donate half their annual basic salary to a fund set up to compensate the families of soldiers killed on active duty. Article 249 of the constitution states that the Senate review any constitutional amendment, national socio-economic development plans, international treaties and alliances, and draft laws referred by the president or the House of Representatives. Ibrahim Al-Heneidi, chairman of the House of Representatives Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee, said that once sitting the Senate will be of great help to the House of Representatives. Not only will it widen the scope of political participation, it will also help the legislative process in terms of thoroughly vetting laws before they are sent to the House, said Al-Heneidi. *A version of this article appears in print in the 25 February, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Short link: At the turn of the third millennium, this specialist in industrial design had been working at TAG Heuer for three years after an initial experience with a Rolex sub-contractor where he produced 3D models. There, he managed and trained a team of engineers aimed at improving manufacturing processes, before taking charge of product development at TAG Heuer, from design to mass production. At the end of 2004, the adventure called Hautlence (an anagram of Neuchatel) began with two partners. As co-founder and managing director of this new high-end brand with character, Guillaume Tetu used his experience to take the reins of R&D and production. Hautlence immediately stood out for its unique case and movement architecture and for its singular interpretation of time. Collections and partnerships followed one after the other. Guillaume Tetu Ralph Lauren In 2010, Tetu became CEO of Hautlence, developing the brand and its distribution network, then sold the company to Swiss investors MELB Holding (headed by Georges-Henri Meylan, former CEO of Audemars Piguet). In 2016 their paths diverged and he was hired by Ralph Lauren as its Director of Product Development for Watches and Jewellery, where he worked closely with the U.S headquarters and the founder of the eponymous brand. The latter entrusted him with the helm of the ship in the spring of 2018, where he succeeded in anchoring the Ralph Lauren style in their watches. *On the occasion of GMT Magazine and WorldTempus' 20th anniversary, we have embarked on the ambitious project of summarising the last 20 years in watchmaking in The Millennium Watch Book, a big, beautifully laid out coffee table book. This article is an extract. The Millennium Watch Book is available on www.the-watch-book.com, in French and English, with a 10% discount if you use the following code: WT2021. Order now Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 The Civilian Office of Police Accountability reopened an investigation into the shooting in 2017, following a Tribune investigation. Though investigators initially found in 2011 that there wasnt enough evidence to hold Kelly responsible for the shooting, the oversight agency determined in 2019 that Kelly had pulled the trigger and then lied about it for nine years. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Killeen, TX (76540) Today Thunderstorms likely this morning. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. High 84F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Low 67F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Class Technologies Inc. , today announced the general availability and roll out of Class, software that adds teaching and learning tools to Zoom. Class is now available for Mac, with releases for Windows, Chromebook, iPad, and Android Tablet platforms expected in the coming weeks. "As the father of three children still logging in to school from home, I know that by improving the virtual and hybrid learning experience, Class can make a real difference for millions of students and educators around the world," said Michael Chasen, co-founder and CEO of Class. "We fast-tracked the development of Class, which is built on Zoom, because we knew how many people needed our help. I'm pleased that now, in under six months since we've launched, thousands of schools, colleges, and companies around the world can start using Class to improve education." Class Provides Instructors With Tools Needed to Make Virtual Classrooms Feel Like Real Classrooms Class is built on the Zoom Meetings platform and offers educators everything they need to facilitate instruction and improve student engagement in the virtual classroom. The software adds teaching and learning tools to Zoom and enables educators to perform many of the activities that happen in a real classroom, virtually, including the ability to: Present from the front of class Take attendance Track participation Hand out assignments and quizzes Proctor exams Grade work Talk one-on-one with a student And more Software Will Be Delivered Globally To Education Institutions and Corporations Class will be available domestically and internationally, and will begin to roll out next semester to many of the 7,500 institutions who have expressed interest in adopting Class software. Class is sold on an annual subscription basis for K-12, higher education, and corporate learning enterprise licenses. For more information or to request a demo please visit class.com . "Due to the pandemic, millions of students and teachers switched to live remote learning overnight," said Lev Gonick, Chief Information Officer at Arizona State University and board member of Class. "Now, we're seeing a surge in hybrid learning modalities as some students and teachers return to the classroom, while others continue to participate in class online. This is a disruptive moment and the choices for the delivery of learning are more robust, meeting the ever changing needs of learners." "Almost all educators and learners were forced to adopt virtual learning tools without meaningful training, which caused the education space to disrupt itself," said Santi Subotovsky, Class board member from Emergence Capital, a venture capital firm that has invested in companies that change the way we work such as Salesforce, Veeva Systems and Zoom. "Class is part of the next wave of disruption. We will see the tools, training, and cultural adoption address these challenges head on, allowing education to leap forward." Release of Class Follows Robust Beta Testing At K-12 and Higher Education Institutions Over 100 K-12 schools, colleges and universities, and corporations, participated in beta testing to help ensure a fast and smooth roll out. As the software reaches the masses across platforms, Class will work closely with academic institutions and corporations to prioritize new, user friendly functionality for teaching and learning. "We are pleased to participate in the Class beta test program to help fast-track the development of software that is urgently needed by educators around the world," said Ravi Pendse PhD Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at the University of Michigan. "We're working closely with the team at Class, who is paying careful attention to our needs and the quality of their product." "Class has always felt more like a cause than a company," said Jessie Woolley-Wilson, CEO of DreamBox Learning, and board member of Class. "That's because the team knows how important the software can be to address the significant learning opportunity loss most students are experiencing right now. Class has done a great job fast-tracking development while maintaining a focus on quality. The company's software-as-a-service delivery model will allow continuous improvements, while increasing equitable access to education for all learners. This is a game changer for remote learning." About Class Technologies Inc. Class is software developed by Class Technologies Inc., a company founded by education software pioneer Michael Chasen. Class adds teaching and learning tools to Zoom and makes the virtual classroom feel like a real classroom. It helps teachers take attendance, hand out assignments, give a quiz or test, grade work, proctor exams, talk one-on-one with a student, and more. Founded in 2020, Class is headquartered in Washington, DC with staff around the world. Schedule a demo at class.com and follow us on Instagram and Twitter at @WeAreClassTech. Zoom is a trademark of Zoom Video Communications, Inc. Class Technologies Inc. and its product Class are not sponsored, endorsed, or otherwise affiliated with Zoom. SOURCE Class Technologies Inc. Cotonou, Benin PANA) - The Beninese Constitutional Court Monday validated the bids of three pairs of candidates to take part in the 11 April presidential election, an official source told PANA here SAN DIEGO, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ProciseDx Inc. announced today that it has received CE mark for its Fecal Calprotectin (Procise FCP) point of care tests for use on the ProciseDx system. Offering a point of care test for fecal calprotectin will help many physicians expedite their diagnosis of Crohn's Disease or Ulcerative Colitis, as well as other digestive conditions. The test can be completed in under 5 minutes with the ProciseDx platform. The ProciseDx instrument is about the size of a shoe box and can provide diagnostics results in as little as 2 minutes from a finger prick drop of blood. Procise FCP uses stool from our patient home use Stool Collection Device. Typically, a patient must provide a stool sample in a large container and deliver it to their doctor's office or laboratory. That facility must have special areas with special equipment for handling of such samples. The stool sample used for the Procise FCP test can be collected at home by the patient with a simple device which meters the stool into a liquid buffer for direct testing. This eliminates any difficult steps which may require special equipment or lab space for typical stool samples. The test is available now for ProciseDx distributors to sell in their CE regions. This solution should enable GI facilities in Europe to improve and accelerate their patients' care. Geert D'Haens, Professor Gastroenterology at Amsterdam Medical Center, commented "The real benefits of GI Point-of-Care testing are the clinical implications of faster diagnosis and monitoring. For example, with an IBD patient that is flaring, I could confirm a flare with a CRP and Fecal Calpro, and then optimize the treatment right away." ProciseDx VP of International Jacques Cavadenti emphasized how significant this product launch is, "Our Point of Care menu now includes inflammatory markers (Procise CRP and Procise FCP) as well as Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (Procise IFX and Procise ADL). So, the ProciseDx platform empowers the gastroenterology community to start delivering true point of care solutions to their patients." About ProciseDx Inc. ProciseDx is a diagnostics company committed to the development and commercialization of a broad portfolio of point-of-care diagnostic tests for use in physician offices, retail clinics and urgent care. ProciseDx currently has more than 30 employees, 30,000 sq. ft. of laboratory, manufacturing and office space and is ISO13485 certified. ProciseDx is headquartered in San Diego, California. For more information about ProciseDx, please visit us at www.procisedx.com. Contact: Peter Westlake 619-821-0660 [email protected] SOURCE ProciseDx Inc Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. RTHK: UK gives EU more time to ratify post-Brexit pact The UK government agreed on Tuesday to allow the European Union more time to formally ratify the post-Brexit trade deal which came into effect on January 1. "We have agreed to extend the deadline for the EU to ratify the deal until 30 April," a British spokesman said, after Brussels requested a delay. According to the trade agreement under which Britain completed its withdrawal from the EU single market, the EU's ratification was supposed to be done this week. But EU member states have requested more time to prepare legally valid translations of the treaty so it is usable in all 24 official languages of the bloc, and the European Parliament wants to examine it before voting. It is currently in force under provisional authorisation in the EU. Britain already ratified the agreement on December 30. MPs approved the agreement on the same day they received it. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government has been reluctant to allow Brussels more time. "It is disappointing the EU has not completed its internal processes in the agreed timeframe," the British spokesperson said, warning of uncertainty for cross-Channel businesses. "We expect the EU to meet the new timeline." Earlier on Tuesday, Germany's minister for European Affairs Michael Roth said ahead of a meeting of EU ministers that the process would continue. "We are in the process of ratifying the trade and cooperation agreement which has already been provisionally applied since January 1," he said. "We will prolong this provisional application until the end of April in order to allow for the consent of the European Parliament and the conclusion of the legal 'scrubbing' of all language versions." In a letter to EU Vice President Maros Sefkovic, who is representing the bloc in implementation talks, senior UK minister Michael Gove complained about the delay. "Provisionally applying the Agreement was not the United Kingdom's preferred outcome given the uncertainty it creates for individuals and businesses," he said. "Extending the period of provisional application prolongs that uncertainty." British exporters and cross-Channel freight hauliers have encountered severe delays and disruption since Britain departed the EU market. But European leaders see this as the inevitable consequence of the UK government's decision to pursue a clean break from EU rules in the wake of the 2016 Brexit referendum. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2021-02-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Times have changed, and so has what consumers want and expect of brands. When we think about shopping now, our concerns lie a little deeper than whether the item is in stock or not. Now shoppers are thinking about how to get hold of said product while staying safe and avoiding crowded spaces... Mexican drug lord El Chapo's wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, exits the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on Feb. 12, 2019. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Wife of Mexican Drug Kingpin El Chapo Arrested on Drug Trafficking Charges The wife of the notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman Loera was arrested on Monday for her alleged role in international drug trafficking, the Justice Department (DOJ) announced. Emma Coronel Aispuro, 31, a dual U.S.-Mexican citizen, was arrested at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, the department said. Coronel Aispuro has been accused of participating in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and marijuana for the purpose of importing these illicit drugs into the United States, according to court documents (pdf). Prosecutors are also alleging that Coronel Aispuro conspired with others to assist Guzman in his 2015 escape from Altiplano prison in Mexico. They further alleged that she helped plan another escape for her husband prior to his extradition to the United States in January 2017. Prosecutors are also alleging that Coronel Aispuro, who married Guzman as a teenager and whose father is a member of the Sinaloa Cartel, grew up with the knowledge of the drug trafficking industry. They also claim she understood that the drug proceeds that she controlled during her marriage with Guzman were derived from shipments of various narcotics, court documents say. Guzman was sentenced to life plus 30 years three months in prison on July 17, 2019, after being found guilty of operating a continuing criminal enterprise, use of firearms, and various charges of conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine, heroin, and marijuana. He also engaged in multiple murder conspiracies as a top leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, which is known as one of Mexicos largest and most violent drug trafficking organizations. In the trial, which lasted several months, prosecutors used more than 50 witnesses to detail Guzmans involvement in making billions of dollars distributing drugs in the United States. According to the New York Post, which dedicated reporters to cover his trial, 14 former associates were called to testify against him. Coronel Aispuro was seen attending court throughout Guzmans trial. The 31-year-old has been charged with one count criminal complaint with a conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, five kilograms or more of cocaine, 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana, and 500 grams or more of methamphetamines for unlawful importation into the United States. Coronel Aispuro made headlines following Guzmans conviction when it was announced that El Chapo will be launching his own fashion brand from inside prison. He signed a contract from his prison cell in order to launch his name fashion brand, called El Chapo Guzman: JGL LLC. Jack Phillips and Zachary Stieber contributed to this report. (DAC) on Tuesday approved the capital acquisition proposals worth Rs 13,000 crore, the government said in a release. The acquisitions include various weapons, platforms and equipment systems for the armed forces. "Three Acceptance of Necessities (AoNs) for an overall cost of Rs 13,700 crore were accorded. All these AoNs are in the highest priority category of Defence Acquisition," the release noted. All these acquisition proposals will be indigenously designed, developed and manufactured. These will include inter-alia platforms and systems designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The DAC, under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, also approved that all capital acquisition contracts (delegated and non-delegated) other than D&D cases shall be concluded in two years. Accodring to the government, this will meet the Atmanirbhar Bharat vision and the time-bound defence procurement process will reduce the time taken for capital acquisition. The ministry of defence, in consultation with the services and all stakeholders, will come up with detailed plan of action for achieving the same. According to news agency ANI, the also cleared the acquisition of 118 Arjun Mark-1A tanks for the at a cost of more than Rs 6,000 crores. The 58-tonne weight DRDO-developed tanks would be ready for delivery within 30 months of signing the contract. Proposals related to the acquisition of indigenously-developed Nag anti-tank guided missile and Arudhra medium power radar were also approved. By Eva Hill hilleva@grinnell.edu The results are in: Fernando Villatoro 22 will serve as SGA president for the 2021-2022 school year, with Andy Kenley 22 as Vice President of Student Affairs (VPSA) and Ashton Aveling 22 as Vice President of Academic Affairs (VPAA). Loyal Terry 22 and Makaela Burch 22 were the runners-up in the VPSA and VPAA races (Villatoro ran unopposed). As president, Villatoro plans to continue the work he started as VPAA, the role he currently holds, in improving Grinnell Colleges conduct process and creating a new SGA website. But he also wants to take up two tasks started by current SGA members: splitting up the Diversity and Outreach Coordinator role into two new positions in order to make it more realistic for the position holders to perform all the duties of the role and rewriting and implementing a new constitution. Overall, he said, he wants to make SGA more accessible and useful for the students it represents. We need to have a cohesive SGA in order to actually address the issues that the student body are experiencing, he said. The yearly SGA election, which allows students to vote on the president, VPSA and VPAA roles, as well as their representing senators, opened on Feb. 19 and closed at midnight the next day, with a one-day grievance period afterward. Twelve senators were elected, three for each class (a COVID-19-era modification to the Senate system, which is usually based on housing clusters): Ahon Gooptu, Nicolo Mendez Subieta and Marnie Monogue for 21, Lex Baumann, Makaela Burch and Keven Hernandez for 22 (Burch also ran for VPAA against Aveling), Nameera Muhammad Dawood, Zoe Gonzalez and Paddy Haley for 23, and Tess McCain, Anthony Kang and Eli Eichner for 24. All other members of the SGA cabinet will be appointed by the president and vice-presidents. (Natural News) Had China Joe simply signed off on Texas request to up its energy generation maximum from 60 percent to full capacity in anticipation of the recent polar vortex disaster, the Lone Star State never would have suffered any blackouts. This is the claim of the @amuse account on Twitter, the owner of which also runs the news aggregation site Deplatformed. While many of Texas green wind turbines failed upon freezing, the state could have made up for this loss by really pumping out the fossil fuels, which is prohibited under federal regulations, save for an exemption. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott apparently requested such of the Biden regime, only to be rejected despite the impending emergency. Consequently, millions of Texans suffered through days of no power in record-low temperatures, which injured and killed many. Once it was clear that the polar vortex would engulf the entire state of [Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott] declared an emergency and asked President* Biden for an EPA waiver to allow power generation facilities to operate at full capacity until the emergency passed, the @amuse Twitter account explains. Bidens [Department of Energy] refused Governor Abbotts request and instead offered to allow certain power generation facilities a waiver if they raised the prices they charged to Texans to more than $1,500/MWh resulting in massive statewide power outages and a failure of the grid. The federal government controls how much energy Texas is allowed to generate To be fair, Texas did fail to properly winterize its energy grid, which meant that even natural gas pipelines froze and became inoperable. At the same time, there were other routes of energy delivery that, because Xiden refused to sign off on them, were never used. Just as many suspected, Texas independent energy grid is controlled by the feds at the end of the day. Washington, D.C., decides how much energy Texas is allowed to produce, keeping a low cap in order to fight global warming and climate change. Gov. Abbott knew that if the [DoE] would allow our natural gas and coal power plants to operate at peak efficiency they could meet 110% of the demand the state faced last week, @amuse added. The [DoE] refused. Abbott could have told Biden to stick his regulations where the sun dont shine and ramped up fossil fuel energy production regardless. Why he did not do this is unknown. Why didnt @GovAbbott simply order all Texas power generation facilities to operate at peak efficiency and force Biden to send his army to Texas to stop us? asked @amuse. Does anyone think Biden would have sent the army to shut down our natural gas power generation facilities? Immediately following the worst of the disaster, China Joe further refused Abbotts request that Biden sign a major disaster declaration for 177 Texas counties. Beijing Biden has a whole lot of blood on his hands as a result. If President Trump had refused to provide disaster relief for 177 counties the Texas Tribune would be in each county sharing the stories of average Texans struggling to stay warm, feed their families, and pay their bills, @amuse notes. Since Biden refused to provide relief: silence. To be clear, the Biden regime refused all requests from Abbott that would have helped Texans during the worst of the brutal storm. As a result, many suffered, others died, and still others are receiving exorbitant electric bills at rates of $1,500 per Megawatt hour (MWh). The media wont look at evidence that the DoE refused the governors request to allow for additional power generation, @amuse laments towards the end of his Twitter scroll. Sick. More stories like this one can be found at Collapse.news. Sources for this article include: TheRightScoop.com NaturalNews.com Prince Philip Hospitalized Update: Queen Elizabeth II seems to be out of the limelight after Prince Philip's hospitalization. This caused royal watchers to ask whether the Queen will ever visit the royal consort or not. Last week, Queen Elizabeth II's husband went to the King Edward VII Hospital to get himself checked by a physician. A source confirmed to BBC that the royal's admission was not COVID-19-related, adding that he remains in "good spirits." "The Duke's admission is a precautionary measure, on the advice of His Royal Highness's Doctor, after feeling unwell," the insider said. "The Duke is expected to remain in hospital for a few days of observation and rest." A separate source from BAZAAR added that the hospital admission was not urgent. Despite the non-urgency of the admission, royal watchers suggested that Her Majesty should pay her husband a visit. However, Buckingham Palace has not confirmed whether she will be visiting the royal consort soon. She currently stays at Windsor Castle, where she and Prince Philip spent most of their time during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. The same event happened in December 2019 when the Duke of Edinburgh also admitted himself to the same hospital to receive treatment for a "pre-existing condition." During that time, Her Majesty opted to attend the Christmas Day church service in Sandringham instead of visiting her husband. Although her non-visitation stirred criticisms, royal experts defended her and reasoned that royals do not usually visit each other in the hospital. Despite that, royal supporters wish she could visit Prince Philip this time as he has been undergoing treatments over the past years. To recall, his health seemingly deteriorated after receiving countless procedures - from treatments for a blocked coronary artery to his abdomen exploratory surgery. Who Visited Prince Philip? Prince William confirmed that Prince Philip remains in a medical facility in London for observation and rest. On Monday, the Duke of Cambridge visited a coronavirus vaccination center located in eastern England. In one of his quick interviews, he eased away royal watchers' worries by saying that the 99-year-old royal consort is doing okay. "Yes, he's OK, they're keeping an eye on him," he said before giving them a wink, per Associated Press. The first reserve to the throne was royal to update the royal family's supporters regarding the duke's health. However, he was not the first one to see the royal in the hospital. According to express.uk, Prince Philip's son, Prince Charles, already visited him. The Prince of Wales reportedly traveled to the medical facility from his Highgrove home. The Prince of Wales reportedly spent about 40 minutes with his father. Meanwhile, his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, did not accompany Prince Charles. Tune in for more updates on Prince Philip's hospitalization. See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles from left: Cliff Caton, Central States Bus; Jeff Baird, Transportation Director, Liberty School District; and Mark Porth, CHS Inc. and MOPERC Chair. There are now more than 300 propane school buses operating in Missouri. Liberty Public Schools joins other districts across the state not only experiencing the economic benefits, but also improving the health of its students, drivers and community. The Missouri Propane Education & Research Council presented Liberty Public Schools a check for $20,000 for its purchase of 10 new Blue Bird propane autogas school buses. The emissions- and cost-reducing propane school buses are currently in service for the districts daily and activity routes, which have decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. By choosing propane buses, we are seeing dramatic cost savings. Money saved in transportation becomes available for other education expenses related to the classroom, said Jeff Baird, transportation director for Liberty Public Schools. Taking care of our students needs is top priority because theyve sacrificed so much during the pandemic, and our propane buses help us do that. Baird heard about the benefits other school districts in the area experienced after switching to propane school buses. Liberty Public Schools most recent diesel price is $1.86 per gallon, while locked in at $0.79 per gallon for propane. He says the district expects to cut its fuel costs by 35% on propane buses. There are now more than 300 propane school buses operating in Missouri. Liberty Public Schools joins other districts across the state not only experiencing the economic benefits, but also improving the health of its students, drivers and community, said Steve Ahrens, president and CEO of MOPERC. These buses are clean-operating and eliminate strong-smelling fumes and harmful tailpipe emissions found with diesel buses. The rebate presented to the school district is part of MOPERCs Clean Bus Replacement Plan, which has committed $1 million to help Missouri school districts transition from diesel to propane buses. The plan offers rebates of $2,000 per propane bus, up to 10 per district, at the time of delivery. By helping Liberty Public Schools lower its acquisition cost of these propane school buses, the district is lowering its transportation operations costs with lower fuel and maintenance costs, Ahrens added. In addition to its Clean Bus Replacement Plan, MOPERC offers a Zero Percent Financing plan where districts can get 0% interest loans through lease purchase financing up to $300,000. Liberty Public Schools, which received its new buses in early January, is in the process of installing an on-site fuel station with an 18,000-gallon tank. Representatives from Liberty Public Schools, Central States Bus Sales, MOPERC and CHS, Inc. attended the check presentation on Feb. 19 at the districts Support Services building. About MOPERC: The Missouri Propane Education & Research Council is a not-for-profit organization authorized by the Missouri Legislature. Dedicated to propane education and public awareness, MOPERC provides industry training, consumer safety, appliance rebates and market development programs. The council is composed of 15 volunteer directors and administered by an executive staff. Visit http://www.PropaneMissouri.com. Michelle Pfeiffer has insisted she has no secret to looking youthful. The Hollywood actress, 62, appeared on Lorraine on Tuesday to talk about her new film, French Exit, with Lorraine Kelly asking how she retains her ageless looks. 'It's what nobody really wants to hear - you have to eat right, you have to exercise, you have to sleep,' Michelle insisted. 'No secret!' Michelle Pfeiffer has insisted she has no secret to looking youthful 'We're always looking for that cheating magical bullet but it's not right. 'When Im not working, when I'm giving myself leeway, when Im not eating good, Im having too much wine, when Im not on camera, I look like it, that's really it. 'So that's the big secret - there's no secret!' In French Exit, Michelle plays Frances Price - a widow who moves to Paris with her son and cat. The cat also happens to be her reincarnated husband. Flawless: 'It's what nobody really wants to hear - you have to eat right, you have to exercise, you have to sleep,' Michelle insisted Chat: The Hollywood actress, 62, appeared on Lorraine on Tuesday to talk about her new film, French Exit, with Lorraine Kelly asking how she retains her ageless looks Speaking about her role, Michelle said: 'She's very complicated and she's damaged really, and shes very narcissistic and absent for so long. 'She ultimately finds her son and reconnects and finds out she loves him and how much she missed.' On working with the cat, she went on: 'It was one of the first concerns that I had. I loved the script, I was very intrigued by this character, but it was one of those I didnt know how I was going to handle it. She added: 'When Im not working, when I'm giving myself leeway, when Im not eating good, Im having too much wine, when Im not on camera, I look like it, that's really it' Feline fine: In French Exit, Michelle plays Frances Price - a widow who moves to Paris with her son and cat. The cat also happens to be her reincarnated husband 'One of my first questions was "right what about this cat?" and I dont think [the director had] thought about it. 'Who would have thought a cat could be trained. There were two cats they rotated, one was sweeter than the other but I kind of fell in love with them.' It was recently announced that Michelle will play Betty Ford in new Showtime series The First Lady. The anthology series is also set to feature Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt and Viola Davis as Michelle Obama. Casting news: It was recently announced that Michelle will play Betty Ford in new Showtime series The First Lady Of this, Michelle said: 'First of all Im incredibly honoured to be given this responsibility but I dont think these people realise how much these first ladies influence women's issues, social issues. 'A lot of them have really worked hard, they have pushed these issues forward. They didnt talk about cancer, they didnt talk about psychiatry, substance addiction... and [Betty] was so open and honest about it. 'It was shocking but it was what people loved about her.' Bitcoin hit a record high of $US58,000 ($73,000) over the weekend as investors of all ages not just younger, tech-savvy males look to get a piece of the action, fearful of missing out on making some easy money. The latest price surge follows a rise of 30 per cent only a fortnight ago after it was revealed that Tesla, led by tech visionary Elon Musk, had invested $US1.5 billion of the electric carmakers spare cash into Bitcoin earlier this year. Whether investors fully understand cryptocurrencies or not, they are becoming more popular with those other than just tech-savvy young men. Credit: Bloomberg Bitcoin is a virtual currency, most commonly known as a cryptocurrency. As such, despite the name, Bitcoins are not physical, existing instead on a huge publicly accessible digital ledger known as the blockchain. Every transaction made with Bitcoin is viewable and track-able on this database. A survey of more than 2000 people conducted in February on behalf of BTC Markets, a Melbourne-based crypto exchange, shows investing in virtual currencies is becoming more appealing to an ever-widening demographic, particularly since the coronavirus pandemic. A New York man has died in an explosion while making a bomb for his unborn childs gender reveal party. New York State Police said they responded to a report of an explosion in the Sullivan County town of Liberty around noon on Sunday. An investigation determined that 28-year-old Christopher Pekny was killed at his home while building an explosive device to be used at a baby gender-reveal party. State police confirmed Pekny was the father-to-be of the child. Trooper Steven Nevel, Troop F spokesman, told the Times Herald-Record that the device was not being built or made for malicious purposes. Peknys brother, 27-year-old Michael Pekny, also of Liberty in the Catskills/Hudson Valley region, was injured in the blast. He was transported to Garnet Medical Center in Middletown, N.Y., for treatment. This incident remains under investigation by the New York State Police and the NYS Police Bomb Disposal Unit. Addition details have not been disclosed. Peknys death is far from the first tragedy related to a gender reveal party. A smoke-emitting pyrotechnic device, which typically shoots off blue or pink smoke to announce a babys gender, caused a large wildfire in California last year. A Michigan man was killed earlier this month when he was struck by shrapnel from a gender reveal cannon being used at a baby shower, authorities said. In 2019, a grandmother was killed when a homemade explosive device went wrong outside a rural Knoxville, Iowa, home, shooting metal shrapnel toward a pregnant womans family standing 45 feet away. Gender reveal parties first became a social media phenomenon about a decade ago, mostly focusing on couples popping balloons with pink or blue confetti, or cutting into cakes filled with pink or blue icing. However, the trend has grown into more creative, and sometimes dangerous, ways of telling the world the sex of the baby theyre expecting in hopes of going viral online. To the Editor: I rarely respond to letters to the editor, but Mr. Notaros letter in your Feb. 16 edition contains so many uninformed, incorrect and perhaps intentionally misleading assertions about our government, our legal system and the recent happenings in Washington, that l feel compelled to respond. We need to discuss this from a less politically biased standpoint and a more rational and knowledgeable perspective. Our country has always recognized the right to free speech, but that right does not sanction physical actions or acts of violence. The writer fails to recognize the difference between those concepts. He overlooks the fact that free speech includes the right to question our elected officials and to expect them to answer the questions asked. Rather than addressing the question asked of them they responded by following the classic dodge used to avoid answering a question by shifting the focus of the discussion to another subject which is more to their liking, but which has nothing to do with the question asked. ln their responses they choose to shift the subject to violence. Violence was not involved in the question. They intentionally avoided answering the original question. Incidentally, their ploy has worked, because not one of them has ever answered Mr. Reileys question. His question asked them to state who was elected president in last years election. Mr. Notaros letter continues the officials deception and it also avoids the issue. Their actions by doing that can be interpreted as indicating that any answer they could give would embarrass them. Mr. Notaro reveals that he is unfamiliar with our court system. He makes contentions about about some of the court proceedings filed in multiple state and federal courts and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and several times the U.S. Supreme Court, where the decision was based upon procedural grounds and not any substantive ground, and thus they are remain open. He then leaps to quickly imply that those issues remain open and undecided and suggests that they can still be used to challenge the election results. I dont know how he supports that opinion because he doesnt tell us. More importantly, it is completely wrong. The trial courts decisions on procedural grounds are required to be appealed, but without one it is final and binding on all issues raised. The applicable rule is a legal principal called res judicata, which means where there is a final decision in a court proceeding that decision renders all claims that were raised in that case as well as any claims that could have been raised but were not raised may no longer be asserted in any other proceeding. This rule exists because the courts are not interested in relitigating matters that have either been or could have been decided in a prior suit. Where an appeal is taken by the losing party and the appeals court affirms the original decision, it is then final and the case is ended. There were a few cases where Trump won in the trial court. ln each of those cases, appeals were made, and in every one of those appeals, the appellate courts overturned the trial courts decision. The case was dismissed and ended. Trump and his supporters were losers all the way around in every case. There are no valid arguments that can support Mr. Notaros implication that there are still undecided reasons that could be relied upon to support challenging the election results. Since this space is limited and there are other inaccurate assertions made in the letter, I will reserve discussion of them to a future time. Very truly yours, Chester C. Corse Pottsville Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Cloudy skies with a few showers this afternoon. High 52F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 42F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. 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 National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci listens during the daily CCP virus briefing at the White House on April 9, 2020. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Fauci: US Political Divide Contributed to Stunning COVID-19 Death Toll Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci suggested Monday that the intense divisiveness in U.S. politics likely contributed to the nations COVID-19 death toll, which surpassed 500,000 late Monday. The United States surpassed half a million CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus-related deaths on Monday, according to government data collated by Johns Hopkins Universityin a grim milestone that marks almost a year since the outbreak first reached the United States. Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in an interview with Reuters that the political divide in the United States amid the raging pandemic is one of the most compelling reasons why the United States has done worse than we shouldve done. He said he doesnt believe that a rich and sophisticated country such as the United States should have had the most percentage of deaths and be the hardest-hit country in the world. I dont know if this is true but it feels this way to me, as a public health person, that if you ever did not want to have an outbreak of any sort in a certain condition, it would be in the condition where there was intense divisiveness in society, which is what we have, said Fauci, who served on then-President Donald Trumps White House Coronavirus Task Force. Theres Red states and Blue states, that are almost hostile to each other in some respects, because of political differencesI think thats the worst possible ingredients to be able to address an outbreak of an infection that even, under the best of circumstances, would be a formidable challenge. According to Reuters, the United States has just about four percent of the global population but has recorded nearly 20 percent of all COVID-19 deaths. The official figures, however, do not account for governments such as the Chinese Communist Partywhich has incessantly underreported and covered up its CCP virus numbers, numerous investigations by The Epoch Times have found. The United States is also one of the best equipped countries for high levels of community testing for the virus. In his interview on Monday, Fauci placed blame on the recommendations of some U.S. governors, mayors, and Trump to ease parts of the country out of lockdown, despite rising CCP virus cases and deaths nationwide. When the American spirit is so divided, that really, really made me sad, he said. This is the worst thing thats happened to this country with regard to the health of the nation in over 100 years. Former White House deputy national security adviser Matthew Pottinger told CBS News Face the Nation in an Feb. 21 interview that although U.S. officials were deeply seized by the threat presented by the pandemic amid an impeachment, they made the grave misstep of approaching the CCP virus as if it were a flu, which delayed advice for Americans to wear masks due to a fear of shortages. I never encountered anyone at a senior level who was not deeply seized by the major weight of what we were facing. I do think that people did their best, he said. Dr Mike Tildesley warned the Government may delay lockdown easing plans Boris Johnson may have to delay plans to ease lockdown restrictions if coronavirus cases start to spike, a Sage adviser warned today. Dr Mike Tildesley, who was behind one of the gloomy forecasts that warned tens of thousands of Britons could die if No10 eased measures too quickly, said the Government 'needs to be reactive' to further outbreaks. 'If we do see a spike in cases or if we see things not going down as fast as we hoped I think there needs to remain the possibility to hold off for a couple of weeks so we get things in control,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. '[This is] particularly if the government wants to have this one-way route to freedom which I think in itself is potentially a little bit uncertain. 'It may well be that we have to have some measures introduced for a little bit of time in order to prevent these surges in infection occurring so that ultimately we can take virtually a one-way route back to normality.' It comes as the Prime Minister was today forced to defend his four-stage plan for easing lockdown restrictions as 'sensible and prudent' after restrictions-sceptic Tories and scientists said it was too slow. Mr Johnson's four-stage plan will allow schools to be the first place to open their doors to all pupils on March 8, before loosening more measures five weeks later. Ministers insist the long gap is necessary to ensure each step has not triggered a surge in infections that could lead to spiralling hospitalisations and deaths. Department of Health data shows Covid infections have nosedived since the darkest days of January but there are early signs this is beginning to slow. It is hoped the jab roll-out will, however, keep the lid on hospitalisations and deaths, because they help prevent serious cases of the disease. Above is the calendar for when restrictions could be eased. Dr Tildesley warns it is likely that these stages could be delayed Britain's lockdown is one of the toughest in the world, study says Britons are living under the sixth strictest lockdown in the world and the second harshest in Europe according to an analysis by the University of Oxford. Researchers have ranked the pandemic responses of 180 countries on a 'stringency map' by looking at how Covid restrictions have affected schools, offices, social gatherings, international travel and freedom to leave home. Each country was scored on a scale of one to 100, with a higher figure indicating the most severe virus-controlling curbs. The numbers represented an average since the start of the pandemic. The team put Britain's Covid restrictions at 86.11 out of 100 by February 17, using the latest available data. Britain's lockdown was ranked harsher than France (63.89) and the US (68.06), and stricter than Germany's (83.33). The analysis comes after Boris Johnson yesterday unveiled his 'cautious' lockdown exit strategy which could see life in England return to something close to normal by June at the earliest. The PM's plan for easing restrictions will be split into four separate steps and will see the country treated as a whole, with no return to a tier system. Advertisement The Warwick University scientist and mathematician also warned he was concerned by the Government's plans to send all pupils in England back to school at once. Both Scotland and Wales are following a 'phased-return' to schools, with pupils up to the age of eight allowed to return from yesterday. 'To be honest Im a little bit nervous about the schools date,' he said. 'I would very much have favoured something more like say the Scotland model with the devolved administrations who are sending younger children back first. 'I think there is a risk because we cant categorically say with 100 per cent certainty what sending children back to school will do to the R number. 'It is clearly going to go up. Whether it goes above one is yet to be seen. (But) I suspect it will go very close to one and if it does then even if cases start to go down theyre going down in a much slower rate so i think that is a concern.' The R number indicates how quickly the second wave is growing in England, with a figure below the critical threshold of one suggesting it is shrinking. The latest estimates from Sage say the figure is between 0.6 and 0.9 for the UK, indicating the number of infections is shrinking. But it is feared that as schools start to reopen this will inevitably rise. When schools in England reopen the Government is also introducing twice weekly tests for pupils and asking secondary school students to wear masks in class to head off a spike in cases. Defending his four-stage plan today, Mr Johnson said on a visit to a south London school: 'Some people will say we're going to be going too fast, some people will say we're going too slow.' He refused to guarantee that all restrictions would be lifted by June 21 as scheduled, but insisted he was 'hopeful' it could happen. The intervention came after Matt Hancock slapped down Professor Neil Ferguson for suggesting the government's blueprint for England could be speeded up if things go well. Tories and business have been voicing disquiet about the ultra-cautious approach being taken by ministers, even though the vaccination drive has been surging ahead. The PM has been boosted by snap polls showing the public largely backs his stance, with 46 per cent telling YouGov it is about right - and around a fifth suggesting it is too fast. Tories slam 'dodgy assumptions' behind Boris Johnson's lockdown 'roadmap' Tories stepped up their attack on Boris Johnson's 'roadmap' out of lockdown today complaining it is based on 'dodgy assumptions' about vaccine takeup. Former chief whip Mark Harper, head of the 70-strong Covid Recovery Group of sceptical MPs, said the models being used by the government were 'flawed'. He said 'understating' the reach of the vaccine rollout had resulted in the PM coming up with a plan that delays reopening the country two months longer than necessary. 'The biggest flaw is they assume a very low uptake of the vaccine,' he told LBC. 'We know the uptake of the vaccine is over 90 per cent in the top groups that have been vaccinated, above 95 per cent, they've assumed 15 per cent of the population don't take the vaccine. 'I have two problems with that, one is that isn't realistic, that's not what's happening, but secondly there is a real question about whether the rest of the country should be held back for two months because some people choose not to take the vaccine.' He added: 'The Government seems to have looked at some models with dodgy assumptions and have effectively delayed opening the country by two months.' Advertisement Welsh government experts said today that Mr Johnson's timeline is 'risky' and the outbreak could spiral out of control again, while Nicola Sturgeon is expected to unveil her own more cautious exit strategy this afternoon. Professor Neil Ferguson - whose grim modelling triggered the initial lockdown last year - sounded a bright note on Times Radio last night. 'Hopefully what we'll see when each step happens is a very limited resurgence of infections. In which case, there's a chance we can accelerate the schedule,' he said. However, Mr Hancock dismissed the idea of speeding the schedule up in a round of interviews this morning. 'No. We need to see the effects of each step, and that takes five weeks,' he said. Tories stepped up their attack on Mr Johnson's 'roadmap' out of lockdown today, complaining it is based on 'dodgy assumptions' about vaccine take-up. Former chief whip Mark Harper, head of the 70-strong Covid Recovery Group of sceptical MPs, said the models being used by the government were 'flawed'. He said 'understating' the reach of the vaccine rollout had resulted in the PM coming up with a plan that delays reopening the country two months longer than necessary. 'The biggest flaw is they assume a very low uptake of the vaccine,' he told LBC. 'We know the uptake of the vaccine is over 90 per cent in the top groups that have been vaccinated, above 95 per cent, they've assumed 15 per cent of the population don't take the vaccine. 'I have two problems with that, one is that isn't realistic, that's not what's happening, but secondly there is a real question about whether the rest of the country should be held back for two months because some people choose not to take the vaccine.' He added: 'The Government seems to have looked at some models with dodgy assumptions and have effectively delayed opening the country by two months.' This is a story about the history and future of an evil town. Cerro Gordo is a settlement of bloodstained brothels, skeletons and busted up pianos on the wind-battered southern slope of the Inyo Mountains, overlooking Death Valley. It was once the most violent town in America. Into this haunted high desert comes an interloper, an entrepreneur, an adventurer or a TikTok star, depending on who you ask. I dont have an exit plan. Dying here is the exit plan, Brent Underwood tells me from somewhere above the accidental tomb of 30 immigrant miners. Underwood and a partner bought Cerro Gordo two years ago, and despite the pandemic, snowstorms and a historic fire, he wont be leaving, maybe ever. In fact, hes still planning on opening a hotel there this summer. Long before it was a town, Mexican prospectors first explored the mountain they called Cerro Gordo, meaning fat hill, in search of silver in the 1860s, back when California was still a wilderness beset by violent men hunting for treasures. An early group was attacked by Native Americans on the hill, and three of the five prospectors were killed. It would be the first of many, many murders at Cerro Gordo. In 1863, 35 Paiute Indians were chased down the mountain into the now-parched Owens Lake by white soldiers and massacred as they tried to swim away. A silver vein was unearthed in the hills in 1865, and the town soon became the largest producer of the precious metal in California. It would make $50 million in todays money from its rich mines over its brief, fiery history. Miners sent their precious metal from the smelters down the hill on wagon trains with a 20-mule team. The ore would cross Owens Lake via steam boats and travel on to Los Angeles, which at the time was itself not much larger than the mining town. Cerro Gordo brought so much money to the city that the Los Angeles News wrote in 1872, To this city, Cerro Gordo trade is invaluable. What Los Angeles now is, is mainly due to it. It is the silver cord that binds our present existence. Should it be unfortunately severed, we would inevitably collapse. In its heyday, Cerro Gordo had 4,000 residents and 500 buildings, including seven saloons and three brothels, though it never had a church or schoolhouse. I used to watch Gunsmoke as a kid, Underwood says. My grandfather had dementia and would watch it on repeat. Now, Im here in this old mining town. There was a murder a week here and rumors that Butch Cassidy hid out in the hotel, and fortunes were gained and people died, he says. Its like living that childhood fantasy. Brent Underwood / Courtesy It was the closest real-life town to Hollywoods Wild West. Shootouts were common. No one escaped the bloodshed. Two children died after getting trapped in a steamer trunk; and when 30 immigrant miners from China were entombed in a collapsed mine shaft, no one went down to retrieve the bodies. In 1874, the LA Evening Express described it as a disagreeable burg, full of stout, warm-hearted go-ahead men who are tearing fortunes out of the bowels of the earth. By 1880, only a decade after its rowdy peak, the silver ran dry and the smelters were shuttered. A fire ravaged the saloons, brothels and main mineshaft, and the boom turned to bust. By the 1890s, Fat Hill had gone to the ghosts. The last reported gunfight in Cerro Gordo occurred on Dec. 29, 1892. French-Canadian engineer and former postmaster of the town Billy Crapo shot and killed the new postmaster Henry Boland and a friend over an election dispute as they walked by his house next to the American Hotel. A posse left Keeler, the town nine miles down the hill, the next morning to find Crapo and claim the $500 price on his head. In the 1910s, the town enjoyed a brief second boom when zinc was discovered in the hills, but by 1938, the last resident left, and Cerro Gordo sat still on the mountain, uninhabited for more than half a century. Underwood, 32, is a son of schoolteachers, born and raised in Tampa, Florida. While he has become known as a mine shaft explorer, cabin rebuilder and ghost town heir, his background is in marketing, banking and publicity stunts. In 2016, Underwood published a photo of his foot on Amazon to show how few sales it took to become a "#1 Best Seller" on the site. The stunt was widely covered in the press, and Amazon later said they were changing their algorithm because of the publication. He was running a highly rated hostel in Austin, Texas, when the opportunity arose to buy Cerro Gordo. Underwood and his business partner Jon Bier, founder of a boutique PR agency, bought the entire town for $1.4 million. The purchase included 336 acres and 22 buildings, the most historic of which was the towns ornate centerpiece, the American Hotel, said to be the oldest hotel in California east of the Sierra Nevada. CNBC reported that the new owners would likely turn the town into a retreat center for conferences, workshop events and film shoots. Some in the community (the closest town, Lone Pine, an hour down the mountain, has a population of around 2,000) were wary of a millennial outsider with a background in marketing stunts buying up the entire historic town. Social media posts at the time vilified Underwood as a trust-funder hobbyist taking over the town on a whim. Its not a get-rich-quick scheme, Im not flipping the place. Im like, here, he says. When we bought the town we were very much outsiders moving into a very proud part of the country. Everyone in Owens Valley has a history or story about Cerro Gordo. But everyone sat on the sidelines and watched. Underwood traveled to the town at the start of the pandemic, for what was intended to be a short trip, after shutdown forced the closure of the hostel in Austin. He has a knack for making headlines, and his story was told widely after a snowstorm on the mountain isolated him there for months instead of weeks. Brent Underwood, trapped in a town with only ghosts for company, a Guardian headline read. Man forced to quarantine in ghost town with gruesome past, led the New York Post. Im from Florida and Texas, Im not used to snow. I came in my little truck and got stuck, he says, Now its been 10 months and Im still standing in this cabin. Underwood says that the enforced longevity of that first stay enabled him to feel at home in the ghost town. During that time there was a change in myself. Theres no running water here, everything is different, and youre very aware of that for the first week, but then theres a hump and I started getting a little more comfortable, he says. I found all these new passions and interests that I didn't know I had. Those passions include photographing the stars, exploring dangerous long-abandoned mine shafts for treasure, searching for elusive $100,000 original Levis and becoming a YouTube and TikTok star. This post of Underwood rifling through broken bottles before finding a full bottle of whiskey has nearly 12 million views. His first video, I Spent My Life Savings On An Abandoned Ghost Town, has amassed more than 6 million views. Its so creative and fun to connect with everyone. I get to chat with everyone from all over the world about something I love, Brent says. The majority of viewers seem to be families and I love that, its sparking people to explore things with their kids and go down rabbit holes. I ask him if hes monetized his rise to social media stardom. I must have mentioned Levis a hundred times, I tried to get them to sponsor me but it didnt happen. I stood in here in Levis right now that I bought myself, he laughs. Underwood did say that he recently started adding ads to his YouTube channel. Underwood is building a museum in the town to showcase all his finds. Everything I find I add to the museum here, I take that very seriously, he says. I see it as a race against time, these mines will collapse, and everything in them will dissolve and turn to dust. He is also aware that they may collapse while he is in them, though that hasnt stopped him yet. My reminder that I'm going to die every day is the graveyard here and the miners below me, he says, its weirdly motivating. The winding mountain path, known as Yellow Grade Road, from Lone Pine to Cerro Gordo switches back and forth as it climbs the hill, cutting through stacks of rusty rock and sand. From the town its possible to see visitors arriving long before they make it up to the first cabin. These visitors have become more frequent since Underwood started documenting his adventure online. Im the only person living here full time, but we get volunteers to help with certain projects. Theres a man in the high desert with a mobile concrete plant that hes offered to bring over so we can use the sand here, rather than bring it up the mountain, Underwood says. As if getting stuck in a ghost town during a pandemic and becoming a viral hit wasnt enough, Underwoods story took another headline-grabbing turn last summer when Cerro Gordo was met again with fire and fury. On June 15, 2020, the midsummer heat warmed Death Valley to a typical 100 degrees and a fierce wind blew off Mount Inyo peak from the north. And exactly 149 years after it opened, the American Hotel in Cerro Gordo burnt to the ground. It was probably the most devastating day of my life, Underwood recalls. I couldn't even talk about it for the first few weeks. You are literally watching your life savings and hopes and dreams burn in front of you. Underwood woke at 3 a.m. to see the hotel, the ice house and Billy Crapos home all engulfed in flames, fueled by furious winds. The propane tanks in the hotel then exploded, laying waste to the plot. He believes the cause of the fire was likely electrical, with centuries-old wiring running through desert-baked wooden walls insulated with old newspaper. It was a bad combination, he says. Although he also speculated that it may have been caused by a ghost, and reported that a shadowy apparition was seen the night before in the hotel kitchen. The Lone Pine Fire Department did not reveal the conclusion of the investigation into the fire to SFGATE, though it is believed to have not ignited in the American Hotel itself, but in Crapos house next door. Underwood set up a GoFundMe the morning after the fire asking for $500,000 to rebuild the American Hotel. We really need help, the fundraiser pled. ... We have the original plans and blueprints for the hotel and what we are planning on doing with the raised funds is make it better than ever, bring it back to a version of the glory days. No, it wont be original wood, but it will be the original design and up to modern code, so people can actually stay in the American Hotel." The fundraiser also likens the hotels restoration to that of one of the wonders of the world. Many historical relics, like Machu Picchu in Peru, are partly restored and partly original, which makes visiting and celebrating history and culture easier. The GoFundMe is currently at about $86,000. What am I going to do? Go back to Austin with my tail between my legs? Underwood says. I became borderline obsessed with making sure that the American Hotel will stand here again, and that gave me a guiding light and kept me here. Brent Underwood / Courtesy I ask Underwood if, outside of ghost stories, he believes that there is a dark fate looming over people like him who try to make their home in the town. No one is going to escape death. So what are you going to do with the time you are given? Its forced me to confront the question what do I want to do? What do I want to accomplish in my life? Ive become more comfortable over these 10 months with the answer to that being Cerro Gordo. Underwood thinks about dying a lot. Though in his early 30s, he sometimes sounds like an old scarred cowboy entering his final years, reckoning with death. I ask him if the isolation welcomes those existential thoughts before their time. Maybe. When I was in Austin I'd keep busy to avoid sitting with thoughts like that, he says. Id keep busy with random stuff. Up here I don't have that. I cant just go to the store to distract myself, its a three-hour round trip. So I get or have, I don't know if its 'get' or 'have,'" he thinks for a moment, I get to sit with those thoughts. Underwood doesnt have too much time to think over the coming months, after repeatedly telling his millions of viewers and subscribers that he plans on opening the rebuilt American Hotel and the town to visitors in August 2021. Now millions of people know thats my intention, it's holding me accountable, he laughs. A cynical mind may see the last year as nothing more than a perfectly executed marketing campaign. Millions of people across the world are counting down the days to the opening of a very Instagrammable six-room hotel in the middle of nowhere. (Underwood also plans on setting up campsites and smaller cabins for visitors.) Though Underwood has mixed feelings about his town opening to outsiders. Ive grown to love Cerro Gordo and my life up here. Part of that is me being alone, he says, realizing that his goal may end all that. Im striving towards this goal to open it up to everybody and then my life will fundamentally change. So I think about that a lot. Im working towards this thing Ive made public. How will my life change this summer? He says, I will no longer be able to explode dynamite wherever I want on any given Wednesday. Underwood finds it easier to imagine dying in Cerro Gordo than a life after the ghost town. When will Cerro Gordo be done? I dont think it will ever be done. I could do this for the rest of my life. A town forever defined by greed, murder and fire maybe has a way of holding you in its grip. In the shifting sands of the high desert, youre only a hero in Cerro Gordo until you're not. As the posse made their way up the Yellow Grade Road to find murderous Billy Crapo in 1892, the newspapers reported that the fugitive would be a hard man to take. Nothing has been heard of Crapo since he disappeared from Cerro Gordo, the Inyo Independent wrote. He is as completely lost as if he had gone into a tunnel and pulled the hole in after him. CENTENNIAL, Colo., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- AlloSource, one of the largest allograft providers in the U.S., creating innovative cellular and tissue products, today announced the first patients have been enrolled in its clinical study titled, A Randomized, Controlled Study to Evaluate Effectiveness of AlloWrap Amniotic Membrane for the Reduction of Post-Operative Soft Tissue Inflammation in Two-Level Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF) Procedures. There are an estimated 300,000 ACDF procedures performed annually in the United States. Despite the overall positive outcomes of these procedures, one potentially costly and painful complication is inflammation of the surrounding tissue, which can cause painful swallowing and/or loss of language. The primary objective of this study is to obtain evidence of the effectiveness of AlloWrap Amniotic Membrane in the reduction of soft tissue swelling in two-level ACDF procedures. "Though I have performed many successful anterior cervical discectomy and fusion procedures, I am always looking for ways to improve patient outcomes," said Dr. Paul Kim with The Spine Institute of San Diego. "I am looking forward to the impact AlloWrap has on helping me with my ultimate goal of relieving patient pain and returning them to a normal life." AlloSource's AlloWrap is a human amniotic membrane designed to provide a biologic barrier following surgical repair in a multitude of procedures. Regardless of the surgical approach, the product is ideal for spinal procedures because when used as a surgical barrier the dual-sided design provides covering and protection from the surrounding environment to support the body's natural ability to ease potential complications such as inflammation, scarring and adhesion. AlloWrap DS has a moist, hydrated format that is especially suitable for endoscopic and minimally invasive surgical applications, whereas AlloWrap Dry is dehydrated for precision open-surgical placement. "Previous animal studies using AlloWrap showed anti-inflammatory response," said Dr. Ross Wilkins, AlloSource Senior Medical Director. "AlloWrap has been used in other areas of the body for years, and this clinical study will deepen our understanding of its impact in spine applications too." For more information on this study, please visit ClinicalTrials.gov or contact [email protected]. About AlloSource Founded in 1994, AlloSource is a nonprofit leader in providing allografts that maximize tissue donation to help surgeons heal their patients. The company has grown into one of the largest tissue networks in the country creating more than 200 types of precise bone, skin, soft-tissue and custom-machined allografts for use in an array of life-saving and life-enhancing medical procedures. As a world leader in cell-based products, cartilage tissue for joint repair and skin allografts to help heal severe burns, AlloSource's products bridge the proven science of allografts with the advanced technology of cells. The company is accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks and is headquartered in Centennial, CO. For more information, please visit allosource.org . Media Contact Cindy Mason AlloSource 720. 873. 4744 [email protected] SOURCE AlloSource Related Links http://www.allosource.org Shawn M. Galloway Shawn leads us through the five most dangerous perceptions which can become barriers to sustained safety excellence. Shawn M. Galloway, President and COO of ProAct Safety, will speak at the 2021 East Central Iowa Safety and Health Conference hosted by Kirkwood Community College on 25 February at 7:30am CST. Challenging and Changing the Five Dangerous Safety Perceptions Positive perceptions about safety are critical to safety excellence; they harness significant conditioning influence on employees. Shawn leads us through the five most dangerous perceptions which can become barriers to sustained safety excellence. He will provide strategies to neutralize these undesirable beliefs before they become reinforced within the culture. David Hughes, Continuing Education and Kirkwood Community College, says, During a discussion at a recent training session the topic of employees safety perspectives came up and how we all perceive safety differently. After a web search Shawns presentation Challenging and Changing the Five Dangerous Safety Perceptions came up. The presentation hit the point I was looking for this years Kirkwood East Central Iowas Safety & Health Conference hosted by Kirkwood Community College. For more information about ProAct Safety events, visit http://proactsafety.com/events. ABOUT SHAWN M. GALLOWAY Shawn M. Galloway is the President of the global consultancy, ProAct Safety. He is a consultant, professional speaker and author of several bestselling books on safety strategy, culture, leadership and Behavior-Based Safety. He is a monthly columnist for several magazines and one of the most prolific contributors in the industry, having authored over 650 podcasts, 200 articles and 100 videos. Shawns consulting clients include most of the best safety-performing organizations and has worked across every major industry. He has received awards and recognition for his significant contributions from the American Society of Safety Professionals Council on Practices & Standards, National Safety Councils Top 40 Rising Stars, EHS Today Magazines 50 People Who Most Influenced EHS, ISHN Magazines POWER 101 Leaders of the EHS World and their newest list: 50 Leaders for Today and Tomorrow and Pro-Sapiens list of The Top 11 Health and Safety Influencers of 2019. Read more about him and his work at http://www.ShawnGalloway.com. ABOUT PROACT SAFETY ProAct Safety is a global safety excellence consultancy. The company has completed more than 2,000 successful safety strategy, leadership, culture and behavior-based safety projects in nearly every major industry worldwide. Learn more at http://www.ProActSafety.com. Diabetes is on the rise worldwide. It is a permanent condition that requires care over a life time. To help manage it, an artificial pancreas system, which automatically measures blood sugar levels to infuse the appropriate amount of insulin into the blood, has now become smarter thanks to AI learning. A research team, led by Professor Sung-Min Park and Ph.D. candidate Seunghyun Lee and M.S. candidate Jiwon Kim of POSTECH's Department of Convergence IT Engineering and Electrical Engineering, has newly developed a reinforcement learning (RL) based AI algorithm that calculates the amount of insulin needed for a diabetic patient and injects it automatically. These findings were published as a feature article in the latest issue of IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, an international journal on medical information science. Patients with type 1 diabetes must inject insulin daily. One must check the amount of carbohydrates in the food ingested each time, calculate the proper amount of insulin, then inject the correct dosage before each meal. Though artificial pancreas systems on the market help with this process, there is still the hassle of having to input the meal intake in advance each time. To eliminate this inconvenience, the research team added a pharmacological concept to reinforcement learning, widely known as the algorithm of AlphaGo. This method of AI algorithm achieved a mean glucose of 124.72 mg/dL and percentage time in the normal range of 89.56%. Even without inputting the meal intake, the policy showed performance comparable to that of conventional artificial pancreas. "The fully automated artificial pancreas is like autonomous driving for the medical industry," explained Professor Sung-Min Park. "The newly developed AI algorithm enables fully automated blood sugar control without the hassle of inputting meal or exercise information." He added, "We expect this algorithm to be extended to other drug-based treatments." ### This study was conducted with the support from the Mid-career Researcher Program in Basic Research in Science and Engineering of the National Research Foundation of Korea. (CNN) Then-US President Donald Trump in 2019 offered North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a ride home on Air Force One following their Vietnam summit, a former senior administration official who was on the trip confirmed to CNN. The former official said Trump did not ask any of his aides whether there would be any problems in making such an offer. "Just did it for his friend," the former official said, referring to Trump's warm relationship with Kim. The BBC was the first to report the story. Matthew Pottinger, the top Asia expert on Trump's National Security Council, told the BBC, "President Trump offered Kim a lift home on Air Force One. The president knew that Kim had arrived on a multi-day train ride through China into Hanoi and the president said: 'I can get you home in two hours if you want.' Kim declined." The stunning offer made to a brutal dictator came as Trump ended the Hanoi summit with no joint agreement, after Kim insisted all US sanctions on his country be lifted. That was a bridge too far for Trump, who said at the time that Kim had offered to take some steps toward dismantling his nuclear arsenal but not enough to warrant ending the debilitating sanctions regime on the country. "Sometimes you have to walk," Trump said during a news conference following the conclusion of the summit, which had broken up earlier than planned. "This was just one of those times." News of Trump's offer is likely to fuel fresh scrutiny of his chummy personal relationship with Kim, a dictator who has overseen rampant human rights abuses in North Korea. Trump had largely avoided any mention of human rights during his talks with Kim during the summit, instead focusing on the prospects for financial investment if Kim agreed to abandon his nuclear weapons. When a reporter asked Kim whether the topic had been discussed, Trump answered for him. "We're discussing everything," he said. The former President has previously described falling "in love" with Kim and exchanging glowing letters that underscored their unusual relationship. Trump boasted last year about receiving a "nice note" from Kim, stating, "I think we're doing fine." Later, Pyongyang denied that Kim had sent Trump a letter and accused him of evoking the personal relationship for "selfish purposes." Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 17:44:08|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MANILA, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine security forces have recently arrested nine women suspected of being suicide bombers in the southern Philippines' Sulu province, the military said on Tuesday. Lieutenant General Corleto Vinluan, commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Western Mindanao Command, said a team of soldiers and policemen arrested the nine "potential suicide bombers" during simultaneous operations at dawn last Friday in Patikul and Jolo towns in Sulu province. Vinluan said the nine women are undergoing orientation for suicide bombing. "They are still on the orientation stage while the improvised explosives are being assembled," Vinluan said. The suspects include the sister and three daughters of Abu Sayyaf leader Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, who was killed in a clash with troops in July last year. Sawadjaan allegedly masterminded several suicide bombings in the remote province. The military said the troops seized improvised explosive device components from the women, including a battery with snap, a non-electric blasting cap, ammonium nitrate fuel oil, detonating cord, concrete nails, and the like. The nine suspects are facing charges of illegal possession of explosives. The military said it failed to arrest other targets during a separate operation in Indanan town. In 2020, a pair of female suicide bombers blew themselves up in Jolo that killed 15 people. The military has launched on-and-off offensives against the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), a loose band of about 200 militants. The group has carried out deadly bombings and kidnappings in the remote and poor southern Philippine provinces of Sulu and Basilan. The group has been sowing terror in the southern Philippine region since the early 1990s, preying on foreign tourists, small entrepreneurs, farmers, and fisherfolks from the Philippines and neighboring Indonesia and Malaysia. Enditem Organizations throughout the community are continuing their efforts to provide warmth and meals to those affected by the freezing weather. On Friday morning, Texans Recovering Together provided meals and warm blankets in El Cenizo and Rio Bravo. The distribution was held at the Rio Bravo Community Center, where volunteers and employees handed out the items to families who drove by. According to organization representative Jackye Calderon, the event was inspired by the help given throughout the Webb County community who felt that even more should be done in outlying communities. Starting Wednesday, Texans Recovering Together planned to rally volunteers to help counties such as Zapata, Starr and Jim Hogg. By rallying community partners and leaders, there was a surplus of donations. These included a number of blankets, water bottles and hot chicken meals to address the aftermath of the outages, Calderon said. Pulling into the distribution, tables and vehicles could be seen chock full of warm blankets and food items. The organization had estimates of helping approximately 100 families but collaborated with other agencies across the area to help in a multitude of ways. As a state crisis counseling assistance and training program, Calderon and present volunteers worked to not only provide the necessary items during the winter storm but also mental health assistance. With two emergencies overlapping throughout the week, anxiety and stress were at an all-time high. According to the Texas Health and Human Services department, crisis counseling is a strengths-based, outreach-oriented approach to helping people affected by disasters identify and get personal and community resources that will aid the recovery process. The importance of strong and healthy mental health is the key message Calderon and the volunteers hope to relay to the community as the demand for help increased. Between learning new coping skills or just wanting to talk, she said that the program can help. Let me teach you some skills, you just want to vent, you just want someone to talk to, we can do that, Calderon said. You will be prepared for times that may cause extreme anxiety and stress. Despite the freezing weather subsiding, the pandemic continues, and she said that they will still be available to help. However, the program will be following COVID-19 safety guidelines, and all meetings and consults will be transitioned to virtual platforms including video conferences and phone calls. Wearing the mask, following the city guidelines, following the CDC guidelines -- thats how we are going to stand up against this virus, by coming together as a community and doing what we need to do, because we are helping each other in that way, Calderon concluded. cocampo@lmtonline.com The body of Dadra and Nagar Haveli Lok Sabha member Mohan Delkar, who was found dead in a Mumbai hotel, has been handed over to his relatives after postmortem, an official said on Tuesday. Mohan Delkar viscera has been preserved for histopathological examination to ascertain the exact cause of the death, the official said. READ | Lok Sabha MP Mohan Delkar allegedly dies by suicide in Mumbai hotel, suicide note found The body of Delkar (58), Independent MP from Dadra and Nagar Haveli Union Territory, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his hotel room in the Marine Drive area of south Mumbai on Monday, a police official said. A suicide note in Gujarati was also found at the spot, he said. After getting information about the incident, senior police officials and a forensic team had reached the spot. The postmortem was conducted at the government-run J J Hospital following which the body was handed over to his family members, who had come from Dadra and Nagar Haveli, another official said. An assistant commissioner of police from the Colaba division is conducting an inquiry into the case. The police investigation has been intensified after the body was found hanging and as per the first investigation of the postmortem report blocked breath in the throat has been reported. However, specific reasons are expected to be known when the forensic report of this case comes. Delkar's death is being investigated under the leadership of ACP (IPS) of Mumbai Police who will be directly in touch with higher officials. Police are also sceptical about a suicide note found by Mohan about 6 pages during Dalekar's death and is also investigating this suicide note. According to the police, according to this suicide note, Mohan Delkar was upset for a long time. The matter of being a victim of political neglect is mentioned in this suicide note. With apologies to his supporters, family members, many people have been held responsible for him taking this drastic step. In this connection, the names of about 30 to 35 people have also been mentioned. Many officials of Dadra Nagar Haveli, leaders of different political parties have also been named in this suicide note. The Mumbai Police is trying to get information from the local administration about the facts written in Delkar's letter as the matter is serious. Recently, several supporters and activists of Delkar were found guilty in a number of cases in Dadra Nagar Haveli. Delkar was in May 2019 elected to the 17th Lok Sabha, his seventh term in the House. He was also a member of the Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice and a member of the Consultative Committee, Ministry of Home Affairs of the Lower House. Delkar is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. An advocate for tribal rights, Mohan Sanjibhai Delkar began his career as a trade union leader in Silvassa. He was first elected to the 9th Lok Sabha from Dadra and Nagar Haveli constituency in 1989 as a Congress nominee. He won six consecutive elections from the constituency during 1989-2009, failing to retain the seat in the Lok Sabha elections in 2009 and 2014. However, he successfully contested the 17th Lok Sabha as an Independent candidate. Delkar won the 1989, 1991 and 1996 elections as a Congress candidate and the 1998 election as a BJP candidate. He rejoined the Congress and unsuccessfully contested in 2009 and 2014. A Central New York restaurant is apologizing for an offensive social media post. UNFORTUNATE ANNOUNCEMENT, the Patio Drive-In in Utica, N.Y., wrote on Facebook. THE CHINA FLU HAS HIT US WITH A POSITIVE EXPOSURE I FEEL TERRIBLE BUT FOR THE SAFTY (sic) OF OUR STAFF & PATRONS WE WILL BE CLOSED UNTIL MARCH 3rd. The restaurant was criticized online for referring to the coronavirus as China Flu, echoing racist terms that fueled a rise in hate crimes against Asian-Americans since the Covid-19 pandemic began last year. Former President Donald Trump also repeatedly referred to the virus, which originated in China in late 2019, as the Chinese Virus and kung flu. Utica is literally made up of minorities and is one of the biggest melting pots in the country... yet Patio Drive-In thinks its a good idea to use racist language in our community, Utica resident Des Knight wrote on Facebook. Its sickening. As long as there are people like this in our world we arent going to go far. The Patio Drive-In removed the post and apologized. We will be closed until March 2nd. We had exposure to covid so we are taking every precaution to keep our employees and customers safe. We look forward to seeing you all then, the restaurants official Facebook page said Sunday. To those we offended with previous post, we sincerely apologize. The new Facebook post generated more than 400 comments, including from supporters who defended the terms China Flu and China Virus. Other customers, however, left negative reviews and vowed never to return to the business. Ate here only one time and got food poisoning from their soup. Also post racist terms and then delete the original post, one Facebook user wrote. Wow never eating here again, another said. The Patio Drive-In, located at 1401 Oriskany St. in Utica, has been owned by Larry Gurdo since 2018, after the previous owners retired. The longtime eatery, known for its world famous chili dogs, was previously named one of the 15 best drive-in restaurants in Upstate New York for old-fashioned food and fun. Utica is literally made up of minorities and is one of the biggest melting pots in the country... yet Patio Drive-In... Posted by Des Knight on Monday, February 22, 2021 Supplier News 23 February 2021 Travel Tech, the world's largest education-based travel technology conference series, is proud to announce its first event of the 2021 schedule: Travel Tech USA & Canada, taking place online from March 8-12, 2021. Travel Tech USA & Canada is brought to you by HS LATAM - supported by JLNPR, Revenue Hub and with the support of Knowledge Partner, ehotelier - and will feature expert speakers from top travel technology companies, including Expedia Group, Amadeus, Lybra, ReviewPro, The Hotels Network, Infor, BookOnlineNow, BuyZy, Asksuite, eRevMax, YieldPlanet, Amelia, HiJiffy, RM Academy, Hub OS, and many others. Hotels can register for free for the event at https://event.webinarjam.com/register/1/x463mfm. Travel Tech was founded as a passion project by HS LATAM - developer of state-of-the-art online distribution and competitor analysis solutions - at the beginning of the pandemic, to educate hotels about the importance of operational technology in supporting their current survival and, more importantly, to set hotels up for future success. Today, Travel Tech has partnered with other leading hospitality companies to expand the conference series globally and support even more hoteliers worldwide - including our first-ever North American event, on March 8-12, 2021, which will provide hoteliers in the US and Canada with region-specific educational resources and actionable strategies to move, more quickly, toward recovery. North American hotels are facing a much more complex marketplace than many other regions, given the stringent lockdowns in Canada and the huge variations in pandemic response and regulation in different US states. For both countries, international travel has become almost impossible, due to border closures and governmental restrictions, so hotels can only rely on domestic travelers, even further shrinking the already depressed demand caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. According to the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) "State of the Hotel Industry 2021" report, "half of U.S. hotel rooms are projected to remain empty in 2021;" the report concluded that "the impact of COVID-19 on the [American] travel industry so far has been nine times that of 9/11." The Canadian hospitality industry has also been hit very hard by the pandemic; according to a Statistics Canada release, "[t]he number of travellers to Canada from both the United States and overseas countries was down 92.9% in November [2020], compared with November 2019," which obviously has had a significantly negative impact on Canadian hotels. "As vaccines are becoming more readily available worldwide, travelers are starting to plan their "revenge travel" trips and hotels need to take advantage of this slower period to prepare for the deluge of travelers that will come when borders open up again," said Vinicius Geraldo, CEO & Founder of Travel Tech. "As many hotels are currently operating with smaller staff and lower budgets, struggling to maintain guest satisfaction, technology is the best way to remain competitive, ensure a positive guest experience and move towards profitability. During Travel Tech USA & Canada, our industry experts will educate North American hoteliers about the different types of technology - and the recovery strategies - that can be leveraged to set themselves up for success, once borders open up and travel resumes, making attending this event an operational imperative for savvy hoteliers." The Travel Tech USA & Canada conference is comprised of a daily Masterclass, a two-hour panel discussion featuring top tech executives on a specific topic, specifically related to North American tourism, each day. Masterclass session topics include: March 8, 2021, 12pm EST - DIGITAL MARKETING: Who is the post-COVID guest and how does the online booking journey need to change to suit their needs? March 9, 2021, 12pm EST- AI & GUEST COMMUNICATIONS: How can AI technologies improve your guest's travel experience, before, during & after your stay? March 10, 2021, 12pm EST - REVENUE MANAGEMENT: What new RM strategies will help hotels reach financial recovery more quickly? March 11, 2021, 12pm EST - OPERATIONS + TECH TRENDS: How can data help improve day-to-day operations? March 12, 2021, 12pm EST - ONLINE SALES & DISTRIBUTION: What strategies should hoteliers use to manage both direct and indirect sales more effectively, now and post-COVID? After each day's Masterclass, hoteliers will have the chance to learn about the top technological solutions available to improve their operational processes and increase bookings and revenue, during the 25-minute, live-streamed Pitch Sessions. In the Pitch Sessions, leading hospitality technology companies will teach hoteliers how implementing their solutions could help them to reach profitability more quickly, and answer all of hotels' questions. All hoteliers who attend the Masterclasses will receive a Certificate of Excellence from Travel Tech, to recognize the knowledge and expertise that they've been the recipient of during the 5 days of the event - an important recognition to add to your CV/resume or to share on your LinkedIn. All hotels and/or travel technology companies are invited to attend the Travel Tech USA & Canada online conference, from March 8-12, 2021, to learn more about the benefits of investing in operational technology now, to establish a foundation for a stronger financial future tomorrow. Register for all five days of the Travel Tech USA & Canada conference, plus the Pitch Sessions, for FREE, at https://event.webinarjam.com/register/1/x463mfm. Spots are limited so register today! To learn more about the upcoming Travel Tech USA & Canada conference, to obtain a media pass or for an interview with the event organizers, please contact Jennifer Nagy, CMO of Travel Tech, at any time: [email protected] or +1.786.420.1160. [February 23, 2021] Sheppard Mullin Expands Corporate Practice in Los Angeles Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP is pleased to announce that Daniel H. Peters has joined the firm's Los Angeles office as a partner in the Corporate practice group. Peters was most recently a partner at Winston & Strawn. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005941/en/ Partner Dan Peters, Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP (Photo: Business Wire) "Our corporate group had a very active 2020 and 2021 looks like it will be even busier," said Sheppard Mullin vice chairman Jon Newby. "We're helping clients across the country with complex transactional work, and Dan's skillset is an ideal fit for us." Commenting on the addition of Peters, Linda Michaelson, Corporate practice group leader, said, "The current climate for private equity investments and deals is hot and Dan will be a terrific - and much welcomed - addition. We've been focusing on expanding our already considerable private equity capabilities and Dan's broad and deep experience is a terrific complement to our existing team." Peters handles domestic and cross-border transactins in a variety of industries, focusing on M&A, joint ventures, strategic alliances and investments. He regularly represents clients in the purchase and sale of companies and business assets, and has substantial experience advising both strategic investors and issuers in venture capital and similar investment transactions. He also counsels such companies in various legal aspects of their business operations and activities, including corporate governance and compliance matters. He advises emerging companies in various stages of growth, providing legal and strategic guidance in all phases from formation through exit. He received his B.B.A. from Loyola Marymount University and his J.D. from the University of California Berkeley. About Sheppard Mullin's Corporate Practice One of the firm's core strengths, Sheppard Mullin's Corporate practice group assists clients throughout the United States and abroad in maximizing their business opportunities. We represent clients that range from private to public companies and from startups and emerging businesses to international corporations. We are proud to offer CRADLE TO LIQUIDITY services. We provide general business legal advice, assist in structuring and implementing major transactions, prepare agreements to address unique business arrangements and consult with clients to resolve major business and ownership issues. We handle such matters as initial and later stage venture and other financings; leveraged buyouts and recapitalizations; public offerings; mergers and acquisitions; SEC (News - Alert) compliance; private equity transactions; real estate capital markets transactions; corporate, LLC and partnership formation; and corporate partnering, joint venture and other strategic alliance arrangements. Because of our diverse client base, we have experience representing substantial entities in complicated multinational and multi-state transactions, as well as advising smaller and emerging clients on the full spectrum of business matters. About Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP Sheppard Mullin is a full-service Global 100 firm with more than 950 attorneys in 15 offices located in the United States, Europe and Asia. Since 1927, industry-leading companies have turned to Sheppard Mullin to handle corporate and technology matters, high-stakes litigation and complex financial transactions. In the U.S., the firm's clients include almost half of the Fortune 100. For more information, please visit www.sheppardmullin.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005941/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted interim bail on medical grounds to ailing poet-activist in connection with a 2016 Surjagarh iron ore mine arson case. Rao, 82, and advocate Surendra Gadling were arrested by the Gadchiroli police in Maharashtra in February 2019 in connection with the case. Justice Swapna Joshi of the HC's Nagpur bench granted bail to Rao on similar grounds on which the principal bench of the high court on Monday granted bail to him in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case. Rao suffers from a host of ailments, including symptoms of dementia, as per his lawyers. His advocates Firdos Mirza and Nihalsingh Rathod said the activist had sought bail on health and medical grounds and not on merits of the case pertaining to arson at the iron ore mine at Surjagarh in Gadchiroli. "We pointed out to the court here (Nagpur) the order passed by the division bench of Justices S S Shinde and Manish Pitale on Monday, granting Rao interim bail for six months after considering his health condition," Mirza told PTI. Justice Joshi, after perusing the order of the division bench, granted interim bail to Rao for the same period in the arson case too, he said. On December 25, 2016, Naxals allegedly set ablaze least 80 vehicles engaged in transporting iron ore from Surjagarh mines in Etapalli tehsil of Gadchiroli. Rao, who is currently admitted in the Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai, had sought bail on medical grounds in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, which is being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The case pertains to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the 'Elgar Parishad' conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which, the police claimed, triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city. The police have claimed the conclave was organised by people with alleged Maoist links. Rao is accused of serious offences under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in the case. The Bombay High Court on Monday while granting interim bail to Rao for six months imposed several conditions on him, including restricting him from leaving Mumbai and prohibiting him from establishing any contact with co-accused in the case. The high court said after the end of the six-month period, Rao shall either surrender before the special NIA court in Mumbai or file an application before HC seeking extension of the same. (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.) An 88-year-old man from Hanover died as a result of a crash on Tuesday morning in York County. A driver of a 2001 Kenworth truck tractor and trailer combination struck a 2008 Toyota RAV4 operated by the Hanover man. The man was then transported to UPMC Hanover Hospital where he later died. The crash took place around 10:29 a.m. at the intersection of East Middle and York Streets in Hanover. The Hanover Borough Police Department was assisted at the scene by Pennsylvania State Police and Hanover Area Fire and Rescue personnel. The police department is investigating the crash and is asking that anyone that may have witnessed the crash to contact the department through York County 911 or at 717-637-5575. The police department said that no other information is available at this time. Mythical Pink Dolphins of the Amazon River Are Real, but Rare; Heres How You Can Find Them If you spend much time watching underwater nature documentaries, you might come to know the dolphin as an incredibly intelligent ocean mammalits demeanor, often playful; its skin, typically gray. However, one species of dolphin stands out from the norm. Rather than dwelling in the saltwater of the ocean, this dolphin resides in freshwater rivers; rather than having gray skin, this dolphins skin is an incredible pinkish hue. Meet the Amazon river dolphin. This incredible freshwater mammal is technically classified as a toothed whale, though its prolonged snout is distinctly dolphin-like. It is the largest species of river dolphin, and it develops pink skin as it approaches adulthood, making it a colorful addition to the Amazon and Orinoco river basins. The Amazon river dolphin (or boto) it is typically found in the Amazon regions of South America, including in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela. According to Ecuador and Galapagos Insiders (EGI), while adult Amazon river dolphins are pink, infants are actually born gray. Some change color in patches or spots; others turn completely pink, with males usually turning the pinkest. They can grow as large as 9.2 feet long, weighing around 352 pounds (approx. 160 kg), and can live up to 30 years. In fact, Aqua Expeditions reports that pink river dolphins have the largest bodies and brains of all freshwater dolphins. Perhaps due to their albino-like appearance, EGI reports that the species is rumored to be blind; however, this is not the case. Despite having somewhat small eyes, the pink dolphin has fantastic eyesight. Unlike their saltwater cousins, pink dolphins are more solitary, preferring to spend time alone or in small groups. A large food source, however, can bring them together in large groups. Even though they enjoy solitude, pink dolphins are similarly friendly to humans, like their oceanic counterparts. They will interact with people, though unlike marine dolphins, they dont often put on a show by leaping over the waves. But their lack of acrobatics is for a lack of agility. According to Aqua Expeditions, these dolphins have the capability to turn their heads 180 degrees, swim with their flippers paddling in opposite directions, swim upside down, and more. All of these dexterous maneuvers allow them to avoid rocks, tree trunks, and other river obstacles. The pink dolphin is most active during early daytime, so anyone visiting the Amazon River basin is most likely to spot one during the early morning to afternoon hours in places like Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. Unfortunately, the species is also facing threats. Conservation groups have endeavored to raise awareness about the dangers facing pink dolphins, such as getting caught in fishing lines. However, the Amazon river dolphin is considered a mythical creature in many parts of South America, so there is hope that its special status can help it recover from endangerment. Many locals have a deep respect for the animal; in some areas, its even considered bad luck to harm a pink dolphin. An Amazon river dolphin being fed by local villager, Rio Negro, Manaus, in Amazon State, Brazil (GTW/Shutterstock) According to the Amazon River Dolphin Conservation Foundation (ARDCF), the pink dolphin is listed as Endangered under the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The species also faces threats ranging from recent fires in the Amazon to being used as bait and being viewed as competition by fishermen. ARDCF estimates that 1,500 pink river dolphins are hunted and killed by fishermen and poachers each year. Worse, the 2015 memorandum that made it illegal to hunt these beautiful mammals has expired, and it is now legal to kill the Amazon river dolphin and use it as fishing bait. For now though, this animal can still be seen swimming next to tourist lodges in the Galapagos or be found with the help of a local guide in the Peruvian Amazon and in other places. Its even rumored this incredibly intelligent mammal can recognize its local human neighbors! This story was last updated in February 2021. Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Epoch Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter Rada supports law on resumption of competitions for positions in civil service with president's proposals The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has supported the proposals of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky for the law on the resumption of competitions for civil service positions, which were terminated due to the quarantine associated with coronavirus (COVID-19), and on the extension of the term of office of the acting ministers. The relevant decision was supported by 267 MPs at an extraordinary plenary session on Tuesday. Advertisement As state borders continue to reopen, Virgin Australia's unveiling of its ultra luxurious Adelaide Airport Lounge couldn't have come at a better time. The opulent 283-seat 'Lounge of the Future' will welcome travellers from this week, 10 months after the Covid pandemic pushed back its planned launch date. The revamped lounge features a library, dedicated office space with PCs, sunroom, Betty's Burgers station, and a bar and wine cellar where guests can sample or purchase wines from renowned South Australian vineyards. At over 1000sqm, the open-plan space also includes high-definition televisions throughout, complimentary Wi-Fi, and showers with palatial floor-to-ceiling mirrors. WMK Architecture Director Russell Grady said the lounge is unlike anything else in Australian airports, setting the scene for the airline's new artistic direction. The opulent 283-seat 'Lounge of the Future' will welcome travellers from this week, 10 months after the pandemic shut down its planned launch date Falafels, Thai beef salad bowls, protein bowls, crudite plates, cheese boards and muesli will be part of Virgin's 'enhanced' menu for guests At over 1000sqm, the space also includes high-definition televisions throughout, complimentary Wi-Fi, and showers with palatial floor-to-ceiling mirrors 'In true Virgin Australia style, we've really elevated the playful elements in signage, furniture and vibrant lighting features, adding pops of colour and energising moments to enrich the lounge's natural material palette,' Mr Grady said. 'It's a venue that's delightfully Virgin and provides frequent flyers with a warm and relaxing space when they fly. 'The lounge will provide travellers with a sense of informality and ease; a place to pass the time in true comfort.' Sarah Adam, General Manager of Product and Customer Experience, said builders and designers carried on with creating the lounge during the pandemic while the rollout was pushed back. 'We have had to adapt the space, largely making sure we were managing the local regulations around social distancing. That was mainly regarding seating so we had to scale back the number of seats,' she said. But implementing social distancing measures actually has its benefits to guests, making their stay even more convenient. In an Australian airline first, Virgin guests can order food and beverages directly to their lounge or table by scanning a QR code and placing an order on their phone. In an Australian airline first, Virgin guests can order food and beverages directly to their lounge or table by scanning a QR code and placing an order on their phone The revamped lounge offers a library, dedicated office space, sunroom and a bar and wine cellar where guests can sample or purchase wines from renowned South Australian wineries Virgin Australia pilots and air stewardesses at Tuesday's Adelaide Airport lounge opening Separate dining areas have been built to cater to all guests' eating preferences, including large social tables and boutique-style banquet seating for more private dining. 'The advancement will not only provide a seamless table service for guests, but it will reduce movement and further enhance the Covid-safe environment,' Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka said. Virgin also created a space for Australia's top wineries to bring their cellar door to the lounge for seasonal wine tastings for guests. Separate dining areas have been built to cater to all guests' eating preferences, including large social tables and boutique-style banquet seating for more private dining. The Gallery Lounge, which Virgin has dubbed the 'chill-out zone,' is complete with lounge chairs and flat screen televisions. The Long Stay section is tucked away from the main entrance and provides privacy for guests, adorned with canopy ceilings, greenery, on-trend velvet couches and bar-style seating. Falafels, Thai beef salad bowls, protein bowls, crudite plates, cheese boards and muesli will be part of Virgin's 'enhanced' menu for guests. The Long Stay section is tucked away from the main entrance and provides privacy for guests, adorned with canopy ceilings, greenery, on-trend velvet couches and bar-style seating The well-lit bathrooms are in keeping with the ultra luxurious design of the rest of the lounge, complete with marble floors, olive green cubicles and archway-style individual mirrors and vanities For the first week of the lounge's opening, guests will be able to choose from various options of Betty's Burgers. Virgin and the popular burger chain are both owned by Bain Capital The airlines other domestic lounges will adopt the expanded menu in the coming weeks. The well-lit bathrooms are in keeping with the ultra luxurious design of the rest of the space, complete with marble floors, olive green cubicles and archway-style individual mirrors and vanities. Ms Hrdlicka said the lounge represents a new chapter at Virgin Australia. 'We plan to make significant investment in our lounges over the next few years. The new lounge we've unveiled today will be the foundation for the Virgin aesthetic and experience we will roll out across the network,' she said. 'We know our capital city lounges are highly-valued by our frequent flyers and we're reimagining the experience in a very Virgin way. Adelaide Lounge is fun, relaxed and a place that everyone will feel welcome and comfortable.' Virgin's Adelaide lounge still has the same entry requirements as its other domestic locations. Business class passengers, Velocity Gold, Platinum and VIP members, lounge pass holders, and AMEX Platinum Charge Card and Centurion cardholders are able to access the revamped lounge. Virgin Australia is expected to open its seventh and final domestic lounge in Canberra next month. Domestic borders have reopened after weeks of various closures on certain states. South Australia had banned travellers from Victoria during the Holiday Inn outbreak at Melbourne Airport which seeped into the city. The grand opening comes as state leaders put pressure on national cabinet over opening domestic borders following the Australian vaccine rollout. Business class passengers, Velocity Gold, Platinum and VIP members, lounge pass holders, and AMEX Platinum Charge Card and Centurion cardholders are able to access the revamped lounge Virgin Australia is expected to open its seventh and final domestic lounge in Canberra next month NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she will continue to press the issue of internal borders fully opening up. 'We should not shut down borders just because there are a few cases we might be worried about. That is no way to run our nation, internally,' she said on Tuesday. Scott Morrison said it's 'very possible' that Australia could reopen to other nations as more Aussies become vaccinated against Covid. 'But I've never got ahead of myself on this,' he said. The prime minister said vaccines were likely to change Covid risks which could lead premiers to abandon dreaded snap lockdowns between states. 'You only use a tool for as long as you need that tool,' Mr Morrison said. 'If you don't need the tool anymore, you put it back in the box. We are getting to that point.' New Delhi: Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday asserted more than 100 bridges in different parts of the country are on the verge of collapse and they need immediate attention. While replying question in Lok Sabha, Gadkari said his ministry has completed safety audit of 1.6 lakh bridges in the country and discovered over 100 structures in dilapidated condition. 100 bridges can be collapse anytime and they need immediate attention, Gadkari said during Question Hour. He also cited a tragedy where two state-run buses and some private vehicles were swept away after a British-era bridge over the Savitri river in the Konkan region of Maharashtra collapsed last year. Gadakari said his ministry had last year launched a special project to create data of all bridges and culverts in the country as part of the steps to avert mishaps. Also Read: Government has started probe into NHAI bribery case, informs Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari Referring to the delay in works on various road projects, the minister said this has been happening due to issues related to land acquisition, encroachment and environmental clearance. He said road projects worth Rs 3.85 lakh crore were delayed due to various reasons in the past and most of these issues were resolved and their works are in progress. Also Read | 5 Lakh road accidents kill 1.5 lakh Indians every year: Government For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New application of Ukraine against the Russian Federation has submitted to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the press service of the institution said on Tuesday, where four complaints of the Ukrainian government against the Russian Federation are already under consideration. "On 19 February 2021 the Government of Ukraine lodged a new inter-State application against the Russian Federation under Article 33 (Inter-State cases) of the European Convention on Human Rights. This is the ninth inter-State application lodged by Ukraine against the Russian Federation. It has been registered under application No. 10691/21," the court said in a press release. The ECHR said that the application concerns the Ukrainian government's allegations of an ongoing administrative practice by the Russian Federation, consisting of "state-authorized targeted assassination operations against perceived opponents of the Russian Federation in Russia and on the territory of other states, including other member states of the Council of Europe, outside a situation of armed conflict." "The Ukrainian Government also alleges an administrative practice by the Russian Federation of failing to investigate these assassination operations and of deliberately mounting cover-up operations aimed at frustrating efforts to find the persons responsible," the court said in the press release. The ECHR said the government of Ukraine alleges a violation of both the substantive and procedural aspects of Article 2 (right to life) of the Convention. The other inter-State applications lodged by Ukraine against Russia and currently pending before the Court are the following: Ukraine and the Netherlands against Russia, applications No. 8019/16, No. 43800/14 and No. 28525/20 lodged respectively on March 1, 2014, 13 June 2014 and 10 July 2020. These cases concern events in Eastern Ukraine, including the crash of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, which was shot down in July 2014. The complaint is also being considered by Ukraine against the Russian Federation regarding Crimea, complaints No. 20958/14 and 38334/18, lodged on March 13, 2014 and August 10, 2018, which was declared partly admissible by the Grand Chamber on 14 January 2021. In addition, pending consideration is a complaint by Ukraine against the Russian Federation No. 55855/18, which was filed on November 29, 2018 and concerns the naval incident in the Kerch Strait in 2018 which led to the capture of three Ukrainian naval vessels and their crews. Professor Kofi Agyekum, Dean of the School of Performing Arts at the University of Ghana, has urged Ghanaians not to cause chaos after Supreme Court's ruling on the election petition filed by former President John Dramani Mahama. A nine-member Supreme Court (SC) panel on Monday unanimously dismissed a review application by Mr. John Mahama. Mr Mahama filed an application for review of the Supreme Courts ruling that prevented him from reopening his case. According to his motion, the SC made fundamental errors of law including the ruling being per incuriam of constitutional provisions, statutes and previous decisions of the Supreme Court. I am advised by counsel and verily believe the court made fundamental errors of law including the ruling being per incuriam of constitutional provisions, statutes and previous decisions of the Supreme Court...Among these errors, I am advised by counsel and verily believe is an error whereby the courts subordinates a provision in the Evidence Act to a rule in subsidiary legislation by the Rules of Court Committee, portions of the application read. However, a ruling read by Chief Justice Anin Yeboah said the application was not based on law and so dismissed it. "We dismiss the instant application as being wholly without merit," the Chief Justice said. The Supreme Court has set 4th March 2021 to determine the final outcome of election petition. Speaking on Tuesday's edition of Peace FM's "Kokrokoo", Prof. Kofi Agyekum, popularly called Opanyin Agyekum advised the citizerny to let peace prevail after the ruling. "Let's be patient and wait. Whatever direction the verdict goes, we should ensure peace in the nation," he said. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video New Delhi, Feb 23 : The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday confirmed detection of two new variants of novel coronavirus, other than the Brazilian, UK and South African, in at least three Indian states. The variants, AN440K and E484Q have been found circulating in a few districts of Maharashtra, Kerala and Telangana, it said. The ministry's confirmation comes against the backdrop of Maharashtra and Kerala reporting an upsurge in Covid-19 cases, and both states accounting for more than 75 per cent of overall active caseload of the country, as of Tuesday. "The genome sequencing of positive patients has confirmed two variants which are detected in a larger number other than the one dominating in the country. They are found circulating in Maharashtra, Kerala and Telangana," Dr V.K. Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog and head, National Task Force on Covid-19, said. While Paul said that no causal link between them and the outbreak in the two states have been established so far, he did not rule out the possibility in future. "This is a work in progress," he said, adding that the transmissibility and tendency to cause a more severe disease, thereby leading to an increase in deaths, by these variants is being studied. "So far, the variants cannot be attributed to the uptick of the infection a few states have been witnessing in the country. There is no current evidence for us to believe that these are responsible for upsurge of the outbreak in some of the districts of Maharashtra and Kerala despite being found there," Paul said. Indian Council for Medical Research Director General, Dr Balram Bhargava, also clarified that these two virus strains have been detected in other countries as well and are not specific to India. "Moreover, they have been found earlier in some states in India. The E484Q strain was earlier detected in four sequences in Maharashtra as early as March and July 2020. The N440K mutation has been reported on 13 different occasions between May and September 2020 in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Assam. The current upsurge in Maharashtra cannot be attributed to the currently discussed point mutations," he added. Paul assured that the government is constantly monitoring the behaviour of the mutations in the country and all over the world too. Meanwhile, the ministry said that the count of people infected from the South African variant has risen to six, against four last week. However, the number of patients infected by the UK and Brazil variants has not changed in the duration. The tally of patients infected from imported variants of novel coronavirus has reached 194 in the country. Last week, the Indian Council of Medical Research found as many as 192 cases of Covid-19 affected by the new variants of mutated SARS-CoV-2 in the last two months including four from the variant that emerged in South Africa and one from Brazil variant of the virus. The remaining 187 were found infected by the UK variant. Meanwhile, the ministry did not specify the states that reported cases with these foreign variants. While the UK variant is known to spread faster, the South African one is associated with a high severity of disease. The ministry said that the situation is being constantly monitored. "As further scientific evidence emerges, it shall be duly shared," it added. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) WALTHAM, Mass., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO), the world leader in serving science, today announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a quarterly cash dividend of $0.26 per common share, payable on April 16, 2021, to shareholders of record as of March 16, 2021. This reflects an 18% increase over the previous dividend payment of $0.22. About Thermo Fisher Scientific Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with annual revenue exceeding $30 billion. Our Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Whether our customers are accelerating life sciences research, solving complex analytical challenges, improving patient diagnostics and therapies or increasing productivity in their laboratories, we are here to support them. Our global team of more than 80,000 colleagues delivers an unrivaled combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and pharmaceutical services through our industry-leading brands, including Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific, Unity Lab Services and Patheon. For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com. # # # Media Contact Information: Ron O'Brien 781-622-1242 [email protected] www.thermofisher.com Investor Contact Information: Rafael Tejada 781-622-1356 [email protected] SOURCE Thermo Fisher Scientific Related Links http://www.thermofisher.com In 2018, the health care industry surpassed retail and became the largest employment sector in the United States, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with an estimated two million more jobs coming by 2028. Now, officials at an education platform for health care careers called Carrus want to help fill those jobs with veterans and military spouses -- at no cost. "We find that some of our best learners and our most successful learners actually have military background," Carrus CEO Misty Frost told Military.com. "So we've decided as a company to really not only continue our investment in training military personnel and their spouses, but really try to consciously grow that opportunity with them." Misty Frost, CEO of Carrus. Frost says Carrus is particularly interested in veterans and their families because they are well-versed in "soft" skills. Those are skills such as effective communication, interacting with patients and showing up to work on time that make a workplace run well. Everything else can be taught. "Veterans have a somewhat unique advantage over the non-military folks who enter these careers for the first time," Frost says. And health care jobs are uniquely suited to military spouses, she said. That population needs the flexibility to move, but also needs a valuable skill that is marketable anywhere. Health care jobs allow for just that kind of demand and flexibility. Health care doesn't necessarily mean "doctor," although that's also a career in the field. Thanks to the growth of the industry there is an increased demand for the support that doctors and other clinicians need to keep hospitals and practices running, Frost says. Those are jobs like medical assisting, medical transcription, medical coding and billing, dental assistants, pharmacy techs, surgical techs and more. Thanks to a grant from the Army Credentialing Assistance Program (ACA), Carrus officials are looking to expand their training of spouses and military members with its no-cost, short-term training program that has an employment rate of around 80%. Frost says it's a training and certification program anyone can take, even if their day job is turning the wrenches on an F-35. And they've already got a good track record. Even before receiving the grant they had already trained 20,000 military spouses in health care careers. So what's the catch? Anyone entering the training is working on their own initiative, as the training program is self-directed. These skills are real, marketable skills and it takes effort to learn them. Also, while the training can be done in four to six months, most people in the program take up to a year, because life happens -- especially when part of a military family. Senior Airman Philip Fisketjon, 341st Medical Group medical laboratory technician, examines a complete blood count at the laboratory on Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont. (U.S. Air Force/Airman 1st Class Jacob M. Thompson) "You definitely have to put in the effort to get there and finish the program," Frost says. "Not everyone is successful because it sounds like a magical thing. It's a great program but you have to get in and do the work." Just because the training program is funded by an Army grant doesnt mean its limited to Army personnel, officials said. Carrus is offering the program through its CareerStep Division, and all a service member needs to do to qualify is be eligible for their branchs tuition assistance program. Spouses can also receive funding through the My Career Advancement Account Scholarship Program, which provides up to $4,000 of financial assistance to eligible military spouses pursuing a portable career grant. To learn more about the MyCAA grant and how it can fund this training, visit the MyCAA website at MilitaryOneSource. Any military member or spouse interested in free training for a new career in the health care industry should visit CareerStep.com's Military Page to find out more and sign-up for more information in the request info area of the page. -- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. Want to Know More About Veteran Jobs? Be sure to get the latest news about veteran jobs, as well as critical info about veteran jobs and all the benefits of service. Subscribe to Military.com and receive customized updates delivered straight to your inbox. A sex offender convicted of a crime in Okinawa, Japan, will have to go back to prison after he admitted that five children had been staying at his residence in Agat. Bruce Carey Wood, 67, appeared before District Court of Guam Magistrate Judge Michael Bordallo on Tuesday. Wood was on supervised release when he told U.S. Probation that there were no minors living at his residence, court documents state. During a home visit, probation officers noticed childrens shoes and child-sized inflatable armbands used for swimming, as well as a toddler bed in the living room with several hampers of clothes, documents state. Wood later admitted there were children, ranging in ages from 3 to 16, inside the bedroom. The children's mother was also staying with him. Thats when the probation officer told him he was in violation of his supervised release conditions. They are homeless. What was I supposed to do? said Wood in response to probation. He also told probation that he could not throw them out. Wood admitted to the allegations in court on Tuesday and was ordered to self-surrender to U.S. marshals on Wednesday. As part of his conditions of supervised release, the defendant is forbidden from having direct or indirect contact with children under the age of 18, unless approved in advance, in writing, by the probation officer. He is scheduled to appear back in court on March 2. Sex offender conviction Wood was found guilty of sexually abusing a minor boy. On Feb. 16, 2010, he was sentenced to 10 years behind bars with three years of supervised release. Wood had been employed by the military as a civilian employee at the Crow's Nest Club on Camp Shield Naval Base in Okinawa. On July 13, 2009, a boy reported to Naval Criminal Investigative Services officers that Wood had sexually abused him when he was a 13-year-old student at Kadena Middle School in Okinawa, court documents state. Wood admitted he had intentionally engaged in a sexual act with the boy and was brought to Guam where he answered to the charges and was sentenced. The Superior Court of Guam sex offender registry also lists Wood, who's originally from Minnesota, as having been convicted of sexually assaulting a boy. The registry states he was incarcerated on Guam in 2013. Wood has been on supervised release since April 2018. Editor's note: This story contains sensitive language relating to gender and sexuality. For its 13th season, RuPauls Drag Race updated its initial words of encouragement to the contestants. For years, RuPaul started each show by saying, Gentlemen, start your engines, and may the best woman win (with woman emphasized with a winking tone). This season, that became Racers, start your engines, and may the best drag queen win. While seemingly minor, its a reflection of the obvious fact that many competitors are not cisgender gay men, and an acknowledgment that theres more to drag than female impersonation. It wasnt the first time Drag Race producers have zhuzhed the script to reflect changing norms and standards in the LGBTQ+ community since the shows 2008 debut. For the first half of its existence, the show was using Ooh, girl, youve got she-mail! by then a stale reference to AOLs greeting that was itself 20 years past its sell-by date. (Ru later made it clear that that change was not her choice.) That only changed in 2015, long after referring to a trans woman as a she-male had become appallingly unacceptable. A lot of adjustments in nomenclature are much subtler, though, and were in the middle of a series of fascinating shifts in how LGBTQ+ people talk about and understand one another. A lot of this is a simple gesture toward greater inclusiveness, a de-centering of a default maleness in the culture both in the terms themselves and who uses them. Nothing could ever be as radioactive as white people using the N-word, but cis gay men dropping tranny is ugly to see. (Ct is a gray area that could be its own essay.) Calling one another gurl can be affectionate, or hammer home a point youre making, but in the wrong context it creeps uncomfortably close to misgendering someone. Context is everything. I use pronouns interchangeably and Im tickled when straight friends call me gurl, but I cant think of even one instance where I would laugh at a heterosexual man calling me a fag, however playfully. Harder still is the collective reckoning with how seemingly gender-free terminology is in fact gendered. Training yourself not to throw dude or hey, guys around too loosely in mixed company isnt easy, but its good to see people making the effort. LGBTQ+ people get confused, and they get defensive, too. After Chelsea Manning transitioned, GLAAD put out a list of unacceptable terms, including drag queen and cross-dresser. I remember a few people scoffing, What, I cant say drag queen now? But GLAAD is an LGBTQ+ media watchdog, not the word police for everybody, and they were focused on conservative commentators referring to Manning that way as a deliberate strategy of delegitimizing trans people. And while were on it, cross-dresser is neither a synonym for transgender nor a polite descriptor. What were once near-universally called gay bars are increasingly referred to as queer bars, particularly if and The Stud is probably San Franciscos best example the programming and parties are geared toward different subcommunities and interest groups than the standard nightlife spaces. Gay was never going to cover it and, in retrospect, feels almost stunning in the way it erases lesbians or femme-identified people from the scene. Queer bar also subtly acknowledges a more economically urgent form of solidarity. Even pre-pandemic, there were only 15 true lesbian bars left in America, and their clientele should be welcomed if the remaining spaces are to avoid closure, too. Queer itself has shifted a bit, too. Initially a slur, it was later reclaimed by activists and it always had an academic and militant bent, as a badge of early HIV/AIDS die-ins and protests. Its implied rejection of middle-class, heteronormative values has since expanded to include a differentiation from mainstream gays and lesbians who lead lives that are otherwise relatively indistinguishable from straight America. But its brash energy is gone, worn off by "Queer Eye" and by its appearance in New York Times headlines. Linguists have taken note of all this. I think the origin of changes in language are really in line with a development in the understanding of the multiplicity of sexual and gender identities, says Ivy Sichel, undergraduate program director in the department of linguistics at UC Santa Cruz. English is a relatively nongendered language, at least compared to French and Italian. But other languages, such as German, have three genders, and Sichel cites the Bantu languages of East Africa, which can have as many as 10 or 15. That highlights how ridiculous it always was to use gender as a grammatical classification. On both sides, were understanding that binary structures are not enough, and people are going beyond that, Sichel says. So even back when gender was understood to be a male-female, either-or thing, Eurocentric linguists used the term to describe structures in languages that had more, anyway. Now that we know gender is not either-or, the whole thing makes even less sense. But the larger question is whether our understanding of the world is influenced by the words in the language we speak as in the cliche about the 50 Inuit words for snow. Linguists and cognitive psychologists have debated whether its true at all, and to what extent. Its starting to look as though American English has 50 words for non-normative gender identities genderqueer, transfeminine, transmasculine, masculine-of-center that are intended to give voice to and celebrate human differences. At the same time, gender has supplanted sexual orientation as the main cultural flashpoint. Several phenomena are taking place at once, from the emergence of gender-neutral restrooms to the right-wing panic over trans women in sports. Cisgender people (whose gender identity matches that which was assigned at birth) may now think of themselves as cis, just as 30 years ago heterosexuals began to understand themselves as straight, instead of simply as people. That is progress. Young peoples increased understanding that identity is a spectrum has opened up whole new avenues of possibility, particularly during the imposed semi-isolation of the pandemic. It can put some pressure on the acronym, though. LGBT is hardly wrong, but LGBTQ is better. In an effort to include individuals who are questioning, intersex, asexual, agender, or pansexual, you sometimes see LGBTQQIAAP, which feels unwieldy on pages and screens. Personally, I go with LGBTQ+ to signal inclusivity, while recognizing that Im not among the populations whose letter I dropped. And even if you do spell out LGBTQQIAAP, you cant even begin to cover all the nuances, although where identity ends and subculture picks up can get blurry. Gay male culture has broadened a lot in the past few years, and not just because masc 4 masc energy now looks like internalized homophobia in a more liberated world. In what now seems like the brief golden age after the introduction of Truvada the medication that all but prevents exposure to HIV from becoming an HIV infection and before the onset of COVID, sexual adventure roared back to the forefront and with it, a lexicon of its own. Few of these labels are ultra-serious, but worth spelling out. There are still bears (hairy, muscular-to-big guys) and otters (hairy, thin-to-ripped guys). Puppies, those sexually frolicsome little scamps, have overtaken twinks as the marker of faux-innocent youth and they might live a life of structured kink with obedience to an alpha, or they might just be horny on Instagram. You never had to be financially generous to qualify as a daddy, which used to denote a handsome, fit mature man. But now you dont even need silver hair, you just need to be more dominant. Changes happen fast. Some bisexual people whove had cause to feel a bit forgotten have begun leaning toward pansexual, which implies a comfort with or erotic attraction to people whose anatomy may not be male or female, in the strictest terms. You might also be hearing people refer to themselves as an enby, as in N.B., for nonbinary. That was a comparatively obscure term even three or four years ago. Meanwhile, the older catch-all term trans* seems to be on the way out. The asterisk that once denoted inclusiveness meant to encompass people who identify as transgender, genderfluid, the Indigenous-specific Two-Spirit, and the like started to feel redundant or even mildly offensive, since asterisks are often used to indicate a dubious achievement or a factoid that requires a footnote. The clumsy and genitals-first terms MTF and FTM which is to say, male-to-female and female-to-male are disappearing as well, following those now-vanished Craigslist hookup ads that chasers on the DL once patrolled. As a rule, words pertaining to trans-ness evolve away from tabloid prurience. Witness the way sexual reassignment surgery is now gender confirmation surgery. That all seems related to the de-emphasis of the salacious-sounding transsexual for the more accepting transgender (which, incidentally, has never been transgendered). At the same time, the in-your-face honesty of transsexual seems to have staged a small comeback. On Instagram, at least one 20-something trans man with that word in his handle occasionally posts about cis people calling him out over it. Its not polite! they apparently say. The proper term is transgender! We can scoff at their gall, but behind the presumptuous hectoring is at least a nugget of good will. If youre a thoughtful ally, youve probably given at least one clueless person some guidance, after all. I texted a friend who is transgender and who sometimes refers to themself as a transsexual. Why do you like it? I asked. Because Im trans and I have sex? they replied. Because I had surgery that made me trans? Thats a puckish response, but a fair one. When comfort in your own body is that hard-won, you should be free to make it known as defiantly and publicly as you want. Calling yourself a transsexual seems to say, I want you all to know that I did it. It was hard and it took a long time, but here I am. Of course, most LGBTQ+ people are also sensitive to the risks of being deliberately provocative in mixed company. Muddying the water is one thing, but safety if not yours, then that of people with less privilege is often on the line. Its probably most accurate to say that these terms all have a usage and a social acceptability that is highly dependent on context, varying even in private conversation. Listening to what people say about themselves and picking up on those cues will get you pretty far, and politely asking remains as good a way of getting information out of new acquaintances as it ever has. (Hey, what are your pronouns? is better than What are your preferred pronouns? Identities arent preferences.) At the same time, its just true that many LGBTQ+ people are ground to a pulp by the staring and the guffaws and the general unease, so not everyones always in the mood to answer an innocently phrased question about their gender identity for what might be the fifth time that day. That its a queer-phobic world is one of the reasons why we have so many overlapping terms to begin with, and why emotions can occasionally be so raw. Identity is inherently complicated, yes, and the fact that so many different people from so many different cultures arrive at conclusions about who they are at different times of their life increases that complexity exponentially. At heart, that near-infinite possibility of human experience is a wondrous and beautiful thing. And no matter how sensitive we try to be, we are still likely to trample on the feelings of someone who has fought hard to be seen and heard. The trick is to accept this inevitability while maintaining the soft heart required to keep on loving everyone. Peter-Astrid Kane (they/them) is the communications manager for San Francisco Pride and a former editor of SF Weekly. (Reuters) - WeWork co-founder and former Chief Executive Adam Neumann is nearing a settlement with SoftBank Group Corp that could include a nearly $500 million cut in his payout from the office space-sharing company's new owner, according to a person familiar with the matter. The settlement would put to rest a prolonged legal battle between Neumann and Softbank, which dates back to 2019 when WeWork's IPO plans fell apart. It would also clear the decks for WeWork as it pursues a talks to go public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company ... Dozens of people streamed through the revolving doors at the entrance of the Remillard Family Pavillion last week. Others opted for an open, more traditional doorway, just to the right to enter one of the buildings on the campus of UMass Memorial Health Cares during the morning pedestrian commute to the hospital. Like moths to light, regardless of which entrance, they converged near a woman behind a sheet of plexiglass, who offered a mask to anyone that walked by. Only a couple dozen feet to the right in a corner by the entrance, a pair of inconspicuous cardboard boxes sat on a metal cart. Inside the boxes contained about 80 doses of Modernas COVID-19 vaccine. All right, lets load them up, Dr. John Broach said before lifting each box at around 8 a.m. Dr. John Broach carries a pair of boxes that contain Moderna's COVID vaccine. They will be delivered to a clinic in Clinton as part of UMass Memorial Health Care's mobile vaccination program. The eight vials of the vaccine were set to be administered into the arms of about 80 seniors living in Clinton who were all at least 75 years old. Amid the events across Massachusetts that saw seniors waiting hours in frigid temperatures for a vaccine at the Eastfield Mall or the states vaccine website crashing under massive amounts of traffic, the eight vials represented a different way to distribute the vaccine. For three weeks, UMass Memorial Health Care has delivered and administered the vaccine on-site in Clinton through its Mobile Equity Enhancement Program. Staff at the Clinton Senior Center arrange the appointments, avoiding internet issues. The program targets seniors who are unable to travel long distances and brings the long-awaited vaccine to them. MassLive traveled with the vaccines as they thawed at UMass Memorials university campus to the injection in the home of an octogenarian couple in Clinton. Dr. John Broach, of UMass Memorial Health Care, delivers doses of the Moderna vaccines to a clinic in Clinton. Just after 8 a.m., two boxes were loaded into the back seat of an emergency SUV before Broach hopped into the drivers seat. As the Colorado native sat down, beeps sounded from the dispatching system installed between the arm armrests and the dashboard. Broach came to Worcester in 2006 for his residency at UMass Medical School. I just loved the place and decided to stay, he said. Hes now an attending physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine and coordinates care at the field hospital at the DCU Center. Shortly after entering the vehicle, Broach pulls out his phone. Weve got a pretty crazy day in the ER, Broach said before calling into a conference call. To date, the DCU has served 603 patients. Worcester has experienced 20,207 cases of COVID as of Thursdays weekly update. UMass and Saint Vincent have reported 666 deaths in the city since the start of the pandemic. The pair of boxes behind Broach represent hope against the pandemic thats claimed the lives of nearly 500,000 Americans. I was lucky enough to get [the vaccine] in the first phase, Broach said. As Broach drove to Clinton Town Hall last Wednesday, Massachusetts was in the second phase of its vaccine rollout. Health care workers, first responders and seniors over the age of 75 were eligible. Later in the day Gov. Charlie Baker expanded the rollout to include anyone over the age of 65 and people with two or more comorbidities. The vaccines being transported to Clinton were only meant for those 75 and older. Of the 80 doses, 11 would be administered by four mobile teams heading to the home of couples and individuals. The other 69 would be administered in the Town Hall. In the second week of the mobile vaccination program health care workers administered 61 doses. Dr. John Broach travels from Worcester to Clinton to deliver eight vials of the Moderna vaccine. It's part of UMass Memorial Health Care's mobile vaccination program. As the batch of vaccines for the third week made its way down Plantation Street and eventually north along Route 70, the cell service for Broach became spotty. Can you hear me now, he said over the phone to his colleagues. At 8:25, the EMS vehicle entered Clinton and soon parked in the last spot on Church Street. With the Clinton Senior Center to his back, Broach retrieved the two cardboard boxes out of the back seat and walked toward Town Hall. Halfway there, UMass Memorial Health Care CEO Eric Dickson met him. Hey, boss! Broach said. Dr. John Broach delivers Moderna's COVID vaccine to Clinton town hall as part of UMass Memorial Health Care's mobile vaccination program. Dickson relieved Broach of one box and the duo made their way up the stairs of Clintons Town Hall. As they walked through the entrance a sign signaled to residents the building was closed but appointments could be scheduled. A wave of joyous greetings (Whats going on!?, Good morning!) welcomed Broach, Dickson and the vaccines as they entered the large open auditorium. Each made their way to the back of the room near the front of the stage on the left side. Janell Forget, UMass associate vice president of Risk Management, waited at a small table for the eight vials to arrive. Janell Forget, UMass Associate Vice President of Risk Management, prepares Moderna's vaccine for use at Clinton's town hall. Forget mentioned to colleagues that her social media photo memories reminded her a year ago her children attended Monster Jam at the DCU Center. The arena now stands as a field hospital for patients with COVID-19. When the box arrived on the table in front of Forget, she reached inside and removed a small white and red cartridge containing the eight vials. Others around Forget began scribbling tags that would accompany each dose indicating the time each dose had been out in the open. Modernas vaccine has a shelf life of four hours after it is thawed. After the vaccine arrives in Clinton, UMass Memorial Health Care staff members prepare to administer the doses. While there were 80 appointments scheduled, some arriving may not be able to receive the vaccine. Forget said last week two seniors were unable to because they had received vaccines for different diseases recently. Out of caution, experts recommend waiting two weeks between vaccinations. Syringes topped with plastic caps scattered across the table next to the eight vials. Each vial can produce 10 doses, however with precise measurements, Forget said nurses can retrieve 61 doses in every six vials. Dickson sat down at the table, ready to retrieve the first dose into the syringe. Those around him reminded the CEO of the importance of preciseness to ensure the possibility of an extra dose. Im an ER doctor. I do all kinds of crazy things. Its like gold, Dickson said looking at the small vial. Theres a lot of pressure. CEO of UMass Memorial Health Care Dr. Eric Dickson prepares a syringe to administer the COVID vaccine in Clinton. Shortly before 9 a.m., with 11 syringes loaded for residents in homes across the town, four teams -consisting of a doctor, a nurse, an EMT and a medical student - hopped into ambulances and EMS vehicles. Each had three vaccines - two for a couple and another for an individual living alone. A red Clinton Fire department SUV weaved through the tangled Clinton roads and wound up at home within the Ridgefield Condominium community. Piles of snow created mounds about as tall as some of the vehicles parked in the center of the cul-de-sac. As the vaccination team walked up the side of the light gray semi-detached home, Ann Fleury, the daughter of Florence and Jack Leicht, popped her head out of the door. Hello, were so happy to see you, she said. A couple in Clinton prepares to receive the first doses of the COVID vaccine in their home as part of UMass Memorial Health Care's mobile vaccination program. The voices of Ryan Seacrest and Kelly Ripa welcomed the team inside as the morning show Live with Kelly and Ryan broadcast on the large flat-screen television in the back corner of the living room. I think its great that youre doing this, Fleury said. Youre answering prayers. Fleury placed her cell phone near the television to record the moment. An end table topped with a lamp separated Florence Leicht, 80, and her husband Jack, 85, who each sat in recliners covered in a dark brown corduroy fabric. A nurse stood by Florence and joked, The paperwork takes longer than the shot. An EMT knelt by Jack to ask which arm he felt more comfortable with. Florence Leicht, of Clinton, works with a nurse before she receives the first dose of Moderna's COVID vaccine as part of UMass Memorial Health Care's mobile vaccination program. Jack was diagnosed with Alzheimers and suffered a stroke a few years ago. Florence recommended the left arm. She and her daughter signed off on the paperwork. Jack served in the army as a paratrooper. After serving, he introduced skydiving as a sport to areas of the midwest. Thats kind of his claim to fame, Fleury said. He also spent 35 years working as a logistic manager. Standing in the small kitchen on the other side of a wall from her father, Fleury pondered how her father may have been able to help solve the issues plaguing vaccine distribution. It was chuckling to myself, He was a logistics manager, Fleury said. I wonder if hed have ideas on logistics on how to distribute the vaccine. Jack Leicht, of Clinton, receives the first dose of the COVID vaccine in his home as part of UMass Memorial Health Care's mobile vaccination program. UMasss Mobile Equity Enhancement Program has served Clinton over the last several weeks but expects to expand when more vaccines become available. Within the Leicht home last week, Florence received the vaccine first. Im very excited for you, a nurse said to Florence, who sat in a chair next to a window. I am too! the woman responded enthusiastically. A quick motion to Florences left arm completed the first dose of the vaccine. Oh my gosh, there was nothing to it, Florence said. You dont even feel it. Florence Leicht of Clinton looks at an EMT who will provide the first dose of Moderna's COVID vaccine to her husband as part of UMass Memorial Health Care's mobile vaccination program. An EMT leaned over Jack and prepared him for the shot. They are going to give you a shot in the arm, Fleury said. Just like in the arm. Remember that? For Fleury, seeing the moment brought tears to her eyes. Without healthcare workers bringing the vaccine to her parents, she struggled to find a solution. Even if she booked an appointment, it would be difficult to bring both her parents to a site. To have them come into the home is key, Fleury said. With the most vulnerable in our community, the elderly and disabled, to have people come in, its just less risk. Its easier. Its huge. Its huge. This is hope. A pair of small circular band-aids on their left arms acted as the only evidence they had received the vaccine. Fleury held onto the two cards confirming the shots. Soon youll be able to come over for dinner, Fleury said. The vaccination team reminded everyone that the first dose didnt immediately provide immunity and that the vaccine didnt reach 95% effective until two weeks after the second dose. Still, for the Leichts and Fleury, who live only a mile apart, the moment was one of hope in an otherwise desert of despair over the last year. Its about letting go of fear, Fleury said. And seeing, eventually, theres going to be a day when we can step out and hug one another again. Related Content: The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Feb, 2021 ) :Pakistan Navy Operational Commands seminar was held at Bahria Auditorium Karachi here on Tuesday. Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi graced the occasion as Chief Guest, said a news release on Tuesday. While addressing the seminar, Naval Chief emphasized on maintaining highest level of combat readiness. Chief of the Naval Staff further explained to constantly align employment and development strategies with evolving threats to deliver a resolute and strong response to any misadventure by the adversary. The Admiral reiterated PN resolve to ensure seaward defence and to safeguard national maritime interests of the motherland at all costs. He highlighted various development initiatives being undertaken by Pakistan Navy to maintain a balanced and potent force capable to defend Pakistan against maritime threats and challenges. Chief Guest while appreciating quality of the papers commended panel members for presenting well researched papers and organizers for conducting the seminar in a professional manner. Pakistan Navy Operational Command Seminar was a prominent event held annually under the auspices of Operational Commands Fleet and Coastal Command during which selected panels of officers from relevant Commands presented papers on contemporary naval professional issues. From 2008 to 2012, she served as ambassador to Liberia, before moving on to become the director general of the Foreign Service for about a year. From 2013 to 2017, she served as the top United States diplomat for African affairs, where she helped oversee the response to the Ebola epidemic. In 2017, she was among the diplomats pushed out of the department by Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson. Despite the warm response Ms. Thomas-Greenfields nomination received from diplomats and former State Department officials, Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill showed some concern. In her confirmation hearing last month, it quickly became clear that Ms. Thomas-Greenfield would get pointed questions from Senate Republicans about her views on China, based on an optimistic speech she had given in October 2019 on Africas relationship with both China and the United States. In the speech, at Savannah State University, she extolled the benefits of American cooperation with China in cultivating strengthened relations with the developing countries of Africa, one of her main areas of expertise. The speech conspicuously lacked criticism of Chinas human-rights record or pattern of predatory-lending practices in developing countries desperate for investment. It was sponsored by the Confucius Institute, a Chinese government educational organization that American officials have accused of spreading pro-China propaganda in schools throughout the United States and elsewhere. Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida in particular focused on that speech during her confirmation hearing, using it to press the idea that Ms. Thomas-Greenfield was perhaps soft on China, naive about the Confucius Institute or both. Ms. Thomas-Greenfield expressed regret for having agreed to make the speech but contested the insinuation about her record. If you look at what I have done prior to that, she said, there is no question that I am not at all naive about what the Chinese are doing and I have called them out on a regular basis, which included her sharp criticism of China at other points in the hearing. Accra, Ghana (PANA) - Ghana is to receive a no-fault compensation claim of serious side effects for people vaccinated with a coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine acquired from the COVAX facility, official sources said here Tuesday Cairo: Several thousand Algerians demonstrated in the capital against the military-backed ruling elite, in a rekindling of unrest that led to the resignation of the OPEC nations longtime president two years ago. Chants against the military state and independence, independence echoed in downtown Algiers after demonstrators overwhelmed police seeking to block access. Monday is the second anniversary of mass protests that came to be known as the Hirak movement. A man holds an Algerian flag while Algerians demonstrate to mark the second anniversary of the Hirak movement. Credit:AP The resumption of protests came despite efforts by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to allay discontent over the troubled economy by ordering the dissolving of parliament, freeing of some prisoners and a limited cabinet reshuffle announced late Sunday that included changing the energy minister. Tebboune in December 2019 succeeded veteran president Abdelaziz Bouteflika in taking the helm of the North African nation thats dealing with declines in oil and gas exports, its key sources of revenue. The Pines is located on the southeast intersection of Route 167 and Route 165, just over 2.5 miles from Louisiana College, and within 3 miles of major employers. Pineville is known throughout the region as a business-friendly city that continues to experience industry and business growth. Peter Auerbach, Founder and Managing Partner of Auerbach Funds, stated, "This acquisition is another example of the buying power of our Fund as we were able to move quickly and acquire an asset expeditiously even during the COVID 19 pandemic. We are confident that the various strategy scenarios we are contemplating will all create value for our tenants and the Pineville community, while also giving our investors upside potential. The retail asset class requires extensive investment expertise which is why we are pleased to partner with David Thomas and Robert Neely, of TCP Realty Services. This marks the sixth transaction between TCP and Auerbach." "TCP's deal flow tends to come from complicated situations that demand a great deal of creativity to design a successful transaction from contract to closing and throughout the subsequent holding period. Peter Auerbach has a deep understanding of these nuances and is the most responsive and decisive partner we have ever had the pleasure of working with because of it," according to David Thomas, Chief Investment officer of TCP. This marks the fourth acquisition since Auerbach Funds announced its first close in mid-October for Auerbach Opportunity Fund III. The fund has a target size of $100 million and is currently open to new investors. About TCP Realty Services LLC TCP Realty Services LLC is a Texas based asset management firm specializing in real estate investment and property management services. The firm has over 100 years of combined experience in the real estate industry. About Auerbach Funds Auerbach Funds is a Charlotte, North Carolina based real estate private equity fund manager. Founded in 2016, Auerbach Funds manages over $300 million in total asset value, comprising of over 3.9 million square feet, across three close-ended funds. Auerbach's opportunistic funds seek to make real estate investments across the U.S. that are distressed, mismanaged or underperforming assets within the multifamily, retail, senior housing and specialty classes. For more information visit: www.auerbachfunds.com Media Contact: Ryan Mula Director of Investor Relations [email protected] 646.992.4667 SOURCE Auerbach Funds Related Links https://auerbachfunds.com The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company The first batch of 500,000 doses is set to arrive within hours. Ukraine's Health Ministry on February 22 certified the Oxford/AstraZeneca (Covishield) vaccine against COVID-19 for emergency use in the country. "The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, which is produced at the facilities of the Serum Institute (India), has a local (trade) name Covishield. Accordingly, the Covishield vaccine, which is arriving in Ukraine today, is officially registered. Oxford/AstraZeneca (Covishield) filed for registration with the Health Ministry's State Expert Center on February 15. A law is in effect in Ukraine that simplifies the registration procedure for vaccines against COVID-19 and reduces it to five working days," the ministry's press service reported on Facebook. Read alsoUkraine to get 15 mln doses of NovaVax vaccine health ministerIt is noted the vaccine was developed by Oxford University and the British-Swedish AstraZeneca. The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine has already been approved by the World Health Organization, as well as by the UK, the European Union, and India. COVID-19 vaccine for Ukraine Ukraine has received information from COVAX on the supply of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines from 2.2 to 3.7 million doses in the first or second quarter of 2021. In addition, the vaccine will be purchased for public funds directly from manufacturers. At least 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine are expected to arrive in Ukraine in February 2021. Ukraine has signed contacts for the supply of 12 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, which were developed by AstraZeneca (UK-Sweden) and NovaVax (the United States) and are produced at the Serum Institute facilities (India). On February 21, 2021, Ukraine's Health Minister Maksym Stepanov who had recently flown to India to seal the issues of COVID-19 vaccine supply reported on the progress as regards shipment. A total of 500,000 doses of the vaccine are going to Ukraine. Reporting by UNIAN Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-24 06:05:51|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CAIRO, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry received on Tuesday a phone call from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during which they discussed means to advance bilateral relations and exchanged views on issues of mutual concern, said the Egyptian Foreign Ministry in a statement. "Shoukry affirmed the strategic ties binding Egypt and the United States, looking forward to enhancing their prospects in a manner that would serve the two countries' interests," said the statement. The two diplomats also discussed the latest developments in Libya as well as the Palestinian cause, asserting the need to continue joint work to combat terrorism and address other challenges and threats facing the region. The phone talks came a day after Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi met with head of the U.S. Central Command Kenneth McKenzie in Cairo, where they discussed ways to strengthen military and security cooperation. Cairo has been a key regional ally of Washington for decades. Egypt has been receiving military and economic aid from the United States, amounting to 1.5 billion U.S. dollars annually, since it signed the U.S.-sponsored peace treaty with Israel in 1979. Enditem The bank currently employs around 200 people in Luxembourg. Commerzbank, which has been doing business in the Grand Duchy since 1969, will leave Luxembourg definitively by 2024. This was announced by the Luxembourg Association of Bank and Insurance Employees (Aleba) on Tuesday afternoon. The Frankfurt-based bank announced at the end of January that due to last year's billion-euro-losses, it had no other choice but to lay off around 10,000 employees and reduce the number of bank branches from 790 to 450. In its press release, Aleba confirmed that the Luxembourg branch will "unfortunately" also be affected. The trade union stated that due to the already difficult situation regarding the coronavirus pandemic, its efforts are currently focussed on supporting the individual employees. Ten years ago, Commerzbank employed 570 people in two different businesses in Luxembourg. In 2015, the bank sold its international asset management company "Commerzbank International S.A." to the Swiss bank "Julius Bar". Since then, 200 people have been working for Commerzbank in Luxembourg. Two Brooklyn lawyers who were facing life behind bars for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail into an empty NYPD car during a George Floyd protest have been quietly offered a plea deal. On May 29, Urooj Rahman and Colinford Mattis were arrested after a protest in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Cops say that Rahman crafted a Molotov cocktail out of a Bud Light bottle and threw it into an NYPD vehicle, then hopped into a getaway car being driven by Mattis. It was caught on surveillance cameras and she was even photographed in their minivan holding the homemade bomb. They were then hit with a seven-charge indictment which alleged use of explosives, arson, arson conspiracy and use of an explosive to commit a felony. They both pleaded not guilty - not because they claim they didn't do it, but because they don't think the charges are called for. They said all they did was destroy property and attend a protest and that they were being made an example of by the very police they were protesting against. At the very least, they faced five years in prison but at worst, they could have been jailed for life. On February 11, federal prosecutors however filed paperwork which confirmed they'd been offered a plea deal. No details of the deal were included in the papers but the two lawyers are now considering it, according to The New York Daily News. On May 29, Urooj Rahman and Colinford Mattis were pictured at a protest in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. She threw a Molotov cocktail at an empty NYPD van and the pair were later charged with seven counts, including felonies. They say it's disproportionate when all they did was destroy property Two Brooklyn lawyers, Urooj Rahman, 31, left and Colinford Mattis, 32, right, are accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail into an empty NYPD patrol car during the George Floyd protests last year have been offered a plea deal by federal prosecutors. The smoldering remains of a scorched police car pictured above vandalized during riots in Fort Greene in Brooklyn on Friday May 29 Prosecutors have asked for more time before the next status hearing in the case to 'enable defense counsel to review the plea offers with the defendants and for the parties to engage in further plea negotiations.' The pair were among a large crowd of people who protested in the leafy Brooklyn neighborhood on May 29, four days after Floyd's death in Minneapolis. They were seen driving past the NYPD vehicle in a minivan. Rahman rolled down her window and threw the beer bottle at it then they attempted to drive away but were caught. After being arrested and released from jail, she claimed spoke outside the police station to defend her actions. 'What I saw was targeting a property. No property is above a human life. Destruction of property is nothing compared to the murder of a human life. A police officer watches a crowd as a police vehicle burns near Fort Greene Park in the Brooklyn borough of New York after protesters rallied outside Barclays Center over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died Memorial Day while in police custody in Minneapolis Urooj Rahman stands by the side of the sidewalk after being arrested for throwing a Molotov cocktail at an NYPD van in Brooklyn Colinford Mattis stands handcuffed on the street after being arrested for tossing a Molotov cocktail during unrest on Friday night 'I understand why people are doing it. It's a way to show their pain, their anger. I think the mayor should have pulled his police department back, the way that the mayor in Minneapolis did. 'I think that the mayor should have done that because if he really cared about his police officers, he should have realized that it's not worth them getting hurt. 'This is the way people show their anger and frustration. Nothing else works,' she said. The pair were then indicted and held without bond - the dismay of their friends and family. At a virtual court hearing, Rahman was inundated with support from people who yelled over the judge 'we love you Rooj'. She spoke back to them and said at one point: 'I love you mom.' Prosecutors wanted to keep the pair behind bars but the judge released them on a $250,000 bond. They have always claimed they're being treated unfairly and that what cops perceive as privilege - that they are educated attorneys - is being used against them. Rahman is a graduate of Fordham Law School The seven-count indictment against them includes charges of use of explosives, arson and conspiracy. The pair were held in the Metropolitan Detention Center for almost a month before they were released to home confinement. At the time of the alleged acts NYPD Commissioner Dermot F. Shea spoke out about the accusations made against Mattis and Rahman. 'Violence, like that alleged here, not only endangers our NYPD officers but threatens the constitutional right of people to peacefully protest. 'These indictments by our federal partners reflect our joint condemnation of the kind of isolated acts a just society can never tolerate,' stated Shea. Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York said the defendants allegedly threw the homemade explosives at NYPD vehicles 'without regard for the potentially deadly consequences.' 'Such criminal acts should never be confused with legitimate protest. 'Those who carry out attacks on NYPD Officers or vehicles are not protesters, they are criminals, and they will be treated as such.' 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. [February 23, 2021] EnerBank Appoints Allyson Torsak as the Bank's New Chief Strategy Officer EnerBank USA has hired Allyson Torsak as its new senior vice president, chief strategy officer. Ms. Torsak will report directly to President and CEO Charlie Knadler and identify, evaluate and execute on strategic initiatives to support EnerBank's mission to be America's home improvement lender of choice. Ms. Torsak was previously chief operating officer at APiO, a FinTech company focused on accounting data integration for small business financing. She also co-founded ROOT Credit, a start-up focused on SMB lending, decisioning and scoring middleware. Her prior experience includes strategic partnership and business development for WebBank, credit risk reviews and analysis of European Mutual Funds for Goldman Sachs, and credit review analysis of the global market and investment loan portfolios at various business units of Merrill Lynch & Co. "Allyson brings a wealth of experience and a ton of energy to EnerBank," said Charlie Knadler, President and CEO of EnerBank. "Her role is critical to the Bank developing, communicating, executing, and sustaining our strategic initiatives along with adding to our mission of being Amerca's home improvement lender of choice. We are glad to have her as part of the executive team." Ms. Torsak received her bachelor's degree in journalism with a minor in French at the University of Utah and her MBA, International Business, at the Thunderbird School of Global Management. She has volunteered as a course instructor with Junior Achievement of Utah, contributed time to the Utah Arts Council and was a previous Builders Circle Board Member of EDCUtah. "I am very excited to join the tremendous team at EnerBank," said Ms. Torsak. "The Bank has been successful by focusing exclusively on the home improvement market, and delivering market-leading training and tools for contractors to offer the best payment option choices for their customers. I look forward to contributing to this success and leading the future strategy to fulfill this mission." For more information about EnerBank and its services for contractors and program sponsors in the home improvement industry, visit enerbank.com. About EnerBank USA-America's home improvement lender of choice EnerBank USA is the largest specialized home improvement FDIC-insured bank in the country, providing home improvement loans through strategic business partners and independent home improvement contractors. We work hand-in-hand with manufacturers, distributors, franchisors, and major retailers of home improvement, remodeling, and energy-saving products and services. Our mission is to grow contractors' businesses by increasing leads, boosting close rates, and growing average job size, while helping homeowners fulfill their home improvement dreams. We also make receiving lending approvals and funding requests quick and easy through our Mobile Loan App. We're America's home improvement lender of choice. Learn more at enerbank.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005428/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Reliance Industries has proposed to reorganize the company's O2C (oil to chemicals) business. The company has initiated the process of carving-out O2C Business into an independent subsidiary. Rationale for O2C business reorganization - 1. Independent growth company enables focused pursuit of opportunities across O2C value chain 2. Enhanced efficiencies through self-sustaining capital structure and dedicated management team 3. Facilitates value creation through strategic partnerships and attract dedicated pools of investor capital 4. Reorganization will be beneficial to all stakeholders of RIL Management control of O2C continues with RIL Existing O2C operating team moves with transfer of business No dilution of earnings or any restriction on cash flows RIL is expected to retain its investment grade international (BBB+/ Baa2), and domestic AAA credit ratings The O2C subsidiary will comprise the refining and petrochemicals business of Reliance Industries including Reliance BP Mobility (fuel retail subsidiary 51% owned by O2C and 49% by BP); Reliance Global Energy Services (Singapore) and Reliance Global Energy Services (UK) (both 100% trading subsidiaries); Reliance Ethane Pipeline (100% subsidiary Dahej - Nagothane Pipeline); and Reliance Sibur Elastomers (74.9% JV company with Sibur at Jamnagar). O2C to also comprise of following subsidiaries being transferred outside of O2C Scheme - RIL USA, Inc (trading subsidiary) Recron (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. (manufacturers polyesters and textiles in Malaysia) RP Chemicals (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. (Manufactures PTA in Malaysia) Reliance Petro Marketing (Packed LPG and Lubricants business in India) The O2C scheme becomes effective 01 January 2021 (appointed date) subject to approval shareholders, creditors, regulatory authorities, and NCLT Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The approval process has already commenced and is expected to be completed in Q2 FY22. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New Delhi: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan will be using Indian Air space for travel to Sri Lanka. He will be on a 2-day visit to the country from 23 February onwards. This will be his second visit that comes months after his visit to Afghanistan. Pakistan had requested for use of air space, which India granted permission. As per required protocol, whenever heads of state or governments pass through the air space of any other country, that country is alerted and due permission taken. WION reported that permission was sent 10 days ago to New Delhi by Islamabad. India gave permission on Monday (February 22). Important to note, in the aftermath of India removing special status for the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan had denied permission for overflight for President Kovind's plane one time, and PM Modi's plane two times. In September 2019, Pakistan denied the use of its airspace for President Kovind's plane during his Europe visit. In the same month, it denied overflight to PM Modi's plane to attend the UNGA session, followed by no permission to Air India one during PM's Saudi Arabia visit in October 2019. India had taken the matter with the International Civil Aviation Organization. Already in hot water after a trip to Cancun, Mexico, amid a statewide emergency, Sen. Ted Cruz seems to be trying to chill disapproval. In what appeared to others to be a bid to rehab his image, Cruz, R-Texas, posted photos of himself on Saturday passing out pallets of water bottles to Texans struggling without clean water. On Sunday, he expressed outrage about skyrocketing utility bills, calling for regulatory action. But Cruz's tweets in the wake of his trip have further fanned the flames of criticism, putting him under criticism for his response to the winter storms that devastated his state. In photos Cruz posted of himself with the caption #TexasStrong, he is wearing a face mask with the Texas flag on it and distributing water bottles to people, shaking a maskless woman's hand in one picture. He appeared to be in Harris County, posting more photos the next day in close contact with first responders, serving them barbecue. Immediately after his initial posts, responses flooded in, condemning Cruz for disregarding federal guidance, which not only advises against traveling to Mexico because of the number of coronavirus cases there but also recommends that travelers stay home for seven days once they've returned to reduce the spread of the virus. "You should be quarantining right now," the Lincoln Project, group of Republicans who oppose former president Donald Trump, commented in response to Cruz's photos. People who traveled from Mexico should also get tested for the coronavirus three to five days after their trip, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cruz flew back to Texas from Cancun on Thursday after outrage about his tropical travels boiled over. A spokesperson for Cruz told The Washington Post that the senator tested negative before his return flight to Texas and on Sunday before he traveled to Washington. On Sunday, Cruz shared a Dallas Morning News article about people facing skyrocketing electric bills, which were widely blamed on the state's unregulated, independent power grid. "This is WRONG," he wrote. "No power company should get a windfall because of a natural disaster, and Texans shouldn't get hammered by ridiculous rate increases for last week's energy debacle. State and local regulators should act swiftly to prevent this injustice." Critics quickly seized on Cruz's comments, pointing out the contrast between his past defense of private companies over governance. "Success of TX energy is no accident: it was built over many years on principles of free enterprise & low regulation w more jobs & opportunities as the constant goal," he wrote in a 2019 tweet that resurfaced after his Sunday post. "We work to export this recipe for success to more & more states so that all Americans enjoy the same prosperity." "When you think of regulated monopolies, regulated public utilities, what are the adjectives that come to mind? They're not bold, innovative . . ." he said in 2014. "Pleased to see a Republican Senator call for governmental regulation of the market," Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., tweeted in response. "We've learned time and time again that industry in many cases is unable to regulate itself." The Texas Democratic Party said Cruz made his priorities clear when "he ditched Texas during our greatest time of need." "No amount of pandering is going to change that," spokeswoman Abhi Rahman wrote in an emailed statement. "Cruz has a lifetime of comments that have shown to light twenty years of Republican [deficiencies] that led to the crisis we saw last week. We will hold Cruz accountable in 2024." "CIBOs approach combines the latest in science, technology, modeling, and agronomy to produce accurate predictions that when partnered with the WASDE, provide a deeper and more complete understanding of crop yields in the US," said Daniel Ryan, chief executive officer at CIBO Technologies. CIBO, the technology company that accelerates regenerative agriculture with decision-ready insights on U.S. cropland and the first direct-connect agricultural carbon credit marketplace, today published The 2020 WASDE Companion: How CIBO Adds Depth, Speed & Accuracy. The paper can be downloaded at https://www.cibotechnologies.com/blog/the-2020-wasde-companion-how-cibo-adds-depth-speed-accuracy/. The paper examines two different yield estimate methods, The USDA WASDE and CIBO yield prediction. CIBO created monthly crop forecasts for the Grain Belt that were accurate and available near real time, at the push of a button, reporting a deeper understanding of local conditions including an August derecho and dry September. At the end of the growing season, CIBOs national yields reported in November were very close to the USDA WASDE reports released on February 9. CIBOs approach combines the latest in science, technology, modeling, and agronomy to produce fast, accurate predictions that, when partnered with the WASDE, provide a better, deeper and more complete understanding of crop yields in the US, said Daniel Ryan, chief executive officer at CIBO Technologies. Using CIBO, enterprises, commodities traders and any investor in agriculture is able to see yields at a glance and with just the push of a button. This creates more transparency and better decision support at any time a user needs it, not just when the USDA is able to produce a report, continued Ryan. ### About CIBO CIBO was founded by Flagship Pioneering with the idea of using advanced technologies to deliver a deep understanding of land and agricultural systems to help secure the future of agriculture. The companys solution, CIBO Impact, is focused on driving and accelerating the transition to sustainable agriculture by providing a deep understanding of land and agricultural systems, incenting regenerative management practices, and delivering a powerful solution for managing and monitoring large portfolios of land. Learn more at cibotechnologies.com. The agreement with Accendo Banco SA de CV, Empress Royalty Corp, and Endeavour Financial, will help the firm meet debt service obligations The funding package allows Telson to negotiate a potential restructuring its loan debt with Trafigura and Nyrstar ( ) (OTCMKTS:SOHFF) (FRA:TSGN) announced a new US$25 million funding agreement on Tuesday that will see the company complete the construction of its Tahuehueto gold operation in Mexico. The agreement is with Accendo Banco SA de CV, and Endeavour Financial (collectively referred to as the Accendo Syndicate), and will help the company meet debt service obligations, Telson said in a statement. In addition, Telson, Accendo Syndicate and Trafigura Mexico SA de CV have entered into a memorandum of understanding to negotiate a potential definitive agreement to restructure the gold miners debt obligations to Trafigura and Nyrstar Canada (Holdings) Ltd. According to Telson, the remaining amount needed to complete mine construction and commissioning at Tahuehueto is around US$15.4 million, including $12.6 million for equipment and a 15% contingency, plus $2.8 million of working capital to support operations until it reaches positive cash flow. Accendo Syndicate members are investing, by way of debt, a silver stream and equity by way of: A US$12 million loan facility from Accendo Banco expected to close March 2021. US$500,000 was advanced to date; A US$5 million Silver Stream from Telson is to deliver 100% the payable silver production from the mine for the first 1,250,000 payable ounces; thereafter, the Silver Stream Percentage delivery will step-down to 20% of the payable silver production. All Streaming obligations fully terminate after 10 years. The signing of the Stream agreement and the initial deposit of US$2 million is expected to be paid first week of March, subject to standard conditions precedent, with the balance paid upon closing of formal agreements, including the Accendo Banco Loan; The US$5 million Silver Stream will be fully secured with a third-place ranking over Tahuehueto assets; and A US$8 million Equity Private Placement from Endeavour Financial and affiliates, Accendo Banco and affiliates, and third parties, which is expected to close the first week of March. Under the term sheet, Telson will issue up to 50.4 million units, where each unit is priced at C$0.20 per unit with half a warrant at C$0.30 per share exercise price for total proceeds of up to C$10.08 million. The funding package allows Telson to negotiate a potential restructuring of its loan debt with Trafigura and Nyrstar. As part of this debt restructuring, Telson and Nyrstar have agreed to exercise the US$4million option to purchase the Campo Morado royalty in exchange for 14.6 million Telson shares. The exercise price at current exchange rates is equivalent to about C$0.345 per share, around a 64% premium to current trading prices. Additionally, Telson will make payment in cash of US$838,935.85 of past due royalty. New chairman and COO As part of the agreement, Accendo Syndicate will appoint three new directors to Telsons board of directors, as well as a chief operating officer to the executive team. The firm said that David Rhodes, managing director at Endeavour Financial, will be appointed director and chairman, while veteran mining engineer Armando Alexandri will join Telson as COO. After many months of extensive hard work and negotiation, I am delighted on behalf of the Telson Team to deliver to Telson shareholders and investors this excellent news, Telson CEO Ralph Shearing told shareholders. This funding package now allows Telson to immediately re-initiate construction at the Tahuehueto mine site after which we expect to rapidly advance construction targeting to commence initial pre-production within 10 to 12 months and full-scale production 12 to 14 months after funding. I welcome the appointment of Mr Rhodes to our Board of Directors which will further strengthen our Board and am excited to gain the vast mill building and operating experience of Mr Alexandri as the Companys new COO. Shearling added that the firm appreciated the support and confidence of funding partner Accendo Syndicate. 'Excellent upside' Speaking on behalf of the Syndicate, Accendo CEO Javier Reyes commented: Over the past several months, we have partnered with Telson and been able to witness and validate first-hand that Tahuehueto is one of the premier gold assets in Mexico, with an excellent exploration upside. We are excited to be able to provide this full package of growth capital to Telson and look forward to supporting the team as the business grows. Tahuehueto is located in north western Durango State, Mexico. Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas KATHMANDU, Nepal Nepals Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that the countrys Parliament, which was dissolved in December by the countrys prime minister, must be reconvened, pushing the Himalayan nation into another round of political instability. Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli of Nepal dissolved Parliament on Dec. 20 following protracted internal disputes within his ruling Nepal Communist Party, but the court concluded that he had overstepped his powers. The court has termed the house dissolution as an unconstitutional act, said the courts spokesman, Bhadrakali Pokharel, adding that the legislature needed to be reinstated within two weeks. The decision means that Mr. Oli will likely face a no-confidence motion when legislators reconvene. Rajan Bhattarai, a foreign affairs adviser to Mr. Oli said the prime minister would respect the court order. He wont weigh any undemocratic move like imposing an emergency or anything else, he said. [February 23, 2021] Forge Nano Awarded 5-million-dollar Department of Energy Grant for Catalyst Optimization DENVER, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Forge Nano awarded DOE grant to improve chemical manufacturing efficiency using proprietary Atomic Layer Deposition technology. In January, the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) announced grant winners/awardees of the Advanced Manufacturing Office FY20 Multitopic FOA. Forge Nano was awarded $5-million to further understand the specific mechanisms at play with ALD overcoating of catalysts for chemical manufacturing. Forge Nano will leverage its low-cost atomic layer deposition (ALD) processes to overcoat catalysts with protective layers that inhibit sintering and coking, while simultaneously enhancing selectivity. Experiments have shown that we can design a catalyst that is extremely stable, robust and more selective to reduce the energy consumption of chemical manufacturing. Through complimentary modeling and experimental measurements, with Oregon State University and Idaho National Laboratory, the benefits of ALD chemical manufacturing efficiency will be fully validated. One impressive benefit of ALD overcoating is the product selectivity enhancement. Better selectivity means cheaper, more efficient production of consumer goods and fine chemicals. It also means less environmental impact by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Forge Nano will reduce the energy footprint of a wide array of commodity and specialty chemical manufacturing processes using ALD. As part of an AMO supported project with Argonne National Lab and Honeywell UOP (DE-EE0008328), Forge Nano has demonstrated that the benefits of our proprietary ALD overcoated catalysts translate to industrial scale and that the ALD overcoat process can be highly economical. Forge Nano's atomic layer deposition equipment will enable catalysis research and production at the atomic level. Utilizing the Forge Nano platform for atomic layer deposition (ALD), researchers will determine how ALD can be used to engineer catalysts, creating cleaner more precise reactions for chemical transformations.The Neumann Lab at Max Planck Institute in Germany has installed their PANDORA system for studies to tailor catalysts and create order from chaos using ALD. "I applaud your efforts and commitment to the science community. Research and innovative development in the State of Colorado is important for our future. I look forward to hearing about your future accomplishments." -Congressman Ed Perlmutter, 7th District Colorado "Catalysts are essential for our modern society. Using our atomic level engineering helps to create better materials which are more efficient for targeted reactions. The scale of manufacturing that relies on catalytic process represents a huge opportunity to improve efficiency and decrease carbon emissions. Our breakthroughs will have huge societal benefits. We are helping our customers around the world, make their products better and cheaper, by giving them atomic level control. Research solutions like our PANDORA and PROMETHEUS systems enable a whole new wave of materials innovation, unlike anything ever seen before." -Dr. Paul Lichty- CEO Forge Nano. From energy storage materials to pharmaceutical research, Forge Nano's Atomic Layer Deposition platform makes products better from the atoms up. Forge Nano's suite of ALD technologies can be found in various products from Li-ion batteries, high reliability electronics, vaccines and more. About Forge Nano: Based in Denver, CO., Forge Nano is a global leader in surface engineering and precision nano-coating technology, using Atomic Layer Deposition. Forge Nano's proprietary technology and manufacturing processes make angstrom-thick coatings fast, affordable and commercially viable for a wide range of materials, applications and industries. Forge Nano's suite of ALD and PALD products and services covers the full spectrum from lab-scale tools to commercial-scale manufacturing systems. For more information visit www.ForgeNano.com CONTACT Michael Talarico Marketing Director 292118@email4pr.com (720) 259-8579 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/forge-nano-awarded-5-million-dollar-department-of-energy-grant-for-catalyst-optimization-301233386.html SOURCE Forge Nano Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] ST. AUGUSTINE, FL / ACCESSWIRE / February 23, 2021 / The handling and transportation of dangerous goods industry is a highly regulated one, with compliance laws and regulations in a constant state of flux. As an organization dedicated to educating shippers and carriers of dangerous goods, Hazmat University provides world-class hazmat and dangerous goods training, as well as software and consulting services, to ensure safety and compliance throughout the industry. As of February 2021, Hazmat University is proud to announce an update to its renowned Hazmat Training Guide, in addition to highlighting why online training is the preferred method of hazmat education and compliance in 2021. Hazmat University Updated Online Training Guide As a leader in online hazmat training, education and certifications, Hazmat University has its finger on the pulse of the ever-evolving regulatory landscape surrounding the storage, handling, shipping, and transportation of hazardous materials. Hazmat University is constantly updating itsonline training guide and materials to reflect updates to laws, regulations, and compliance requirements. This updated curriculum ensures its students always have access to the most relevant information needed in order to maintain compliance. This quarter's updates include information to reflect new Federal and international training requirements. The Guide Covers Updated Information on Required Training Updates in the guide include but are not limited to those specific to meeting requirements outlined in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Title 49 (49 CFR) and International regulations IATA and IMDG). The Updated Hazmat University Training Guide Helps Those Dealing with Hazardous Materials Learn What is being Required of Them: The definition of hazardous materials Criteria of the nine major hazard classes How to effectively navigate complicated regulatory requirements About meeting standards of packing, labeling, marking and documentation About requirements for provision and availability of Emergency Response Information Regulatory exceptions Hazmat security awareness and risk management How to comply with safety standards The Training Guide also Includes Modules Specific to: General awareness training Function specific training Safety training Security awareness Types of Training Courses Include: 49 CFR (DOT) - shipping by ground IATA - shipping by air IMDG - shipping by vessel Multimodal training covering any combination of air, ground, and vessel transport General awareness training Lithium batteries training Limited quantities training Online Hazmat Training is the Path Forward for 2021 and Beyond Starting in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has and continues to pose significant challenges across virtually every industry, including hazardous materials transport. For those dealing with hazardous materials, maintaining training and compliance standards through in-person educational settings was near impossible. As organizations continue to adapt to the 'new normal,' forward-thinking businesses are leaning into online training and education as a way to ensure compliance without sacrificing the quality of instruction. With new COVID-19 variants and a slower than anticipated vaccine rollout threatening to prolong the pandemic well into 2021 (and perhaps beyond), online training modalities offer a safe, reliable, convenient, and cost-effective way to meet hazmat training compliance required by law. The Benefits of Transitioning to Online Hazmat Training Hazmat University brings clients the flexibility and convenience of self-paced learning. Cost-Effective and Time Saving: Eliminate travel costs to and from traditional classroom settings with a program that is competitively priced and designed to streamline efficiency. Interactive Learning: According to Hazmat University, training and education are only as good as they are effective. With curriculums designed by industry experts and created to the highest standards, graduates of its programs meet or exceed industry standards and regulatory requirements. Instant Proof of Completion (Certificates): Immediate proof of completion and compliance without the wait of traditional snail mail. About Hazmat University and the Bureau of Dangerous Goods Hazmat University's unique online platform enables enterprises and their hazmat employees to partake in specialized hazmat material transportation training for ground, air and vessel modes of transportation. This training covers specialized shipment protocols, processing and handling regulations, and compliance, as well as general awareness training, in order to ensure both public and environmental safety. Those interested in learning more about Hazmat University certification trainings are encouraged to contact them via their official website. Media Contact: Company Name: Hazmat University Contact Person: Sonia Irusta Phone: (609) 493-4971 Address:1093 A1A Beach Blvd, STE 102 City: St. Augustine State: Florida Country: United States Website: www.hazmatuniversity.com/ SOURCE: Hazmat University View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/631360/Hazmat-University-Updated-Training-Guide-Highlighting-the-Benefits-of-Online-Training-in-2021 Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Why it matters: Android feature updates might have become stagnant, gimmicky, or overwhelming lately, depending on who you ask. However, there's no denying the importance of security updates that OEMs now regularly push out to protect users against vulnerabilities. While a majority of Android manufacturers commit to offering just two years of security updates, there are notable exceptions like Google with its three-year support for Pixels, and Samsung, which has now extended its enterprise-level security policy of four years to regular Galaxy owners rocking a Note, S-series, A-series, Foldable, XCover or a Tab series device released in 2019 or later. Although Samsung likes to take its sweet time with delivering Android OS updates, the company is known to fare better when it comes to security patches that are released monthly, quarterly, or when necessary, depending upon the device tier and model year. Galaxy owners have traditionally received three years of security updates, but now Samsung has announced that it's extending that period by another year. The company says that it's worked with over 200 carriers globally to push out timely security updates for over 130 models over the last decade. And while this 4-year program only includes phones and tablets released from 2019 onwards, it's still a sizable list considering all the models in Samsung's Galaxy range. The supported devices are: Galaxy S series : S10, S10+, S10e, S10 5G, S10 Lite, S20 5G, S20+ 5G, S20 Ultra 5G, S20 FE 5G, S21 5G, S21+ 5G, S21 Ultra 5G : S10, S10+, S10e, S10 5G, S10 Lite, S20 5G, S20+ 5G, S20 Ultra 5G, S20 FE 5G, S21 5G, S21+ 5G, S21 Ultra 5G Galaxy Note series : Note10, Note10+, Note10+ 5G, Note20 5G, Note20 Ultra 5G : Note10, Note10+, Note10+ 5G, Note20 5G, Note20 Ultra 5G Galaxy A series : A10e, A20, A50, A11, A21, A51, A51 5G, A71 5G : A10e, A20, A50, A11, A21, A51, A51 5G, A71 5G Galaxy Foldables : Fold, Z Fold2 5G, Z Flip, Z Flip 5G : Fold, Z Fold2 5G, Z Flip, Z Flip 5G Galaxy XCover series : XCover FieldPro, XCover Pro : XCover FieldPro, XCover Pro Galaxy Tab series: Tab Active Pro, Tab Active3, Tab A 8 (2019), Tab A with S Pen, Tab A 8.4 (2020), Tab A7, Tab S5e, Tab S6, Tab S6 5G, Tab S6 Lite, Tab S7, Tab S7+ It's undoubtedly good news for existing and new users of Samsung devices that'll now have better longevity and for those who are increasingly finding it difficult to splurge on the latest flagships considering the lack of innovative and meaningful new features in ever-costlier hardware. An extended security support period could potentially improve Samsung's sales figures as well. Despite being 2020's leading smartphone vendor in terms of sales with an impressive 253 million units, the company recorded a 14.6 percent YoY decline. With consumer-friendly decisions like these, Samsung stands a better chance of retaining existing users for longer and can convince other Android users who normally get half this support period to switch to a Galaxy device. Syracuse, N.Y. As more Central New York parents clamor for in-person instruction and the coronavirus cases decline, some school districts are responding. Two large school districts Liverpool and North Syracuse plan to bring more students back for in-person learning starting in early March. They are adding another day or more of instructional time for junior high or high school students. The Central Square district is looking to transition to a hybrid model starting in April for its middle and high school students. They have been fully remote since the pandemic started in March. The Syracuse schools the regions largest district is exploring the possibility of bringing back students who want to attend for more than two days a week, said Michael Henesey, a spokesman. Whether or not more school districts can bring back more students depends on what happens with the distancing rules, how far apart kids have to stay. Will the districts have to stay at keeping them 6 feet apart, or can that be reduced to 3 or 4 feet? Henesey said if changes to the 6-foot social distancing arent made, it will prove difficult to bring back more students. Onondaga County announced last week it is reviewing the current six-foot social distancing requirement to see if the distance could be reduced. That would allow districts to put more students into classrooms to reduce the days of remote learning. On Monday, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said that review is continuing, but the county wont rush the process. McMahon, who has said he would like to see kids attend classes five days a week, said cases are way down and many school staff have been vaccinated. He said the mental health of students plays a big role when making a public health decision. Liverpool and North Syracuse are already moving ahead with some changes. North Syracuse plans to allow North Syracuse Jr. High students and Cicero North Syracuse High School students to attend in person two days rather than one day as they have in the past. The change is scheduled to begin March 1, according to a letter on the districts web site. Attending school twice a week will benefit our hybrid students by increasing direct contact with teachers, counselors, and peers,' the letter said. The Liverpool district plans to bring back high school students in grades 7-12 back for an additional in-classroom day every other week. That would add Wednesday to each cohort - so each group of kids would attend three days every other week, district officials said. That change is set to take effect with the first cohort on March 3. Students in both districts can remain with remote instruction if they so choose. Liverpool also is studying ways to bring more students in grades K to 6 back into classrooms. A survey was sent out to see how parents feel about their kids attending four days rather than two days each week. Social distancing on school buses also is an issue, as only one rider can be in each seat right now unless they are in the same family, said Liverpool Superintendent Mark Potter. We are hopeful we have space to make the changes, Potter told Syracuse.com | The Post Standard last week. McMahon said Monday the county also will likely review distancing requirements on school buses as well as in classroom. Potter said his district is waiting for the countys decision on social distancing rules before it considers adjusting schedules for elementary students. If distancing requirements are reduced, the district will see if it can offer four or five days a week for in-person learning. One smaller school district, Tully, is giving students in grades 7 and 12 the option to attend school four days a week rather than two, tentatively starting March 1. The district would convert two computer labs to classroom space to bring back more students. In Onondaga County, a few districts offer five days a week in-person learning for those who want it because they have space that allows social distancing. These include LaFayette, Fabius-Pompey and Jordan-Elbridge schools. Other school districts, such as East Syracuse Minoa, Lyncourt, West Genesee and Skaneateles among others, offer five days a week of in-classroom instruction for elementary students. Officials in other school districts such as Baldwinsville, Jamesville-DeWitt and Fayetteville-Manlius say they are waiting for more guidance before making changes at this point. Elizabeth Doran covers education, suburban government and development, breaking news and more. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact her anytime at 315-470-3012 or email edoran@syracuse.com MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources First case of South African Covid-19 variant confirmed in NY resident Track NY Covid-19 vaccinations by county, region and race Who can book Covid-19 vaccine appointments at 3 new NY Upstate sites? Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Press Release February 23, 2021 De Lima thanks US Congresswoman Schakowsky for joining calls for her release Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has thanked US Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky for calling for her immediate release and full exoneration from the fake and trumped-up cases against her just a week before she marks her fourth year of unjust detention on Feb. 24. Schakowsky, a Senior Chief Deputy Whip and Chair of Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee, is the recent addition to the growing number of international leaders expressing concern about De Lima's continued political persecution. "Congresswoman Schakowsky, I am both grateful and humbled for your support and concern for my situation here in the Philippines," she said. "Only through unity and solidarity of fellow undaunted women such as yourself can we stand up against those who still use misogyny and sexism to keep us bowed and afraid," she added. In a statement released last Feb. 18, Schakowsky said the acquittal of De Lima in one of the trumped-up charges filed against her was "a step in the right direction" but maintained that it was "not enough." "The remaining charges against Senator De Lima must be dropped and she must be released immediately. Senator De Lima has been unjustly detained for nearly four years, simply for speaking out against the Duterte Administration and its egregious abuses of power," Schakowsky said. "I stand with Senator De Lima and the people of the Philippines in their quest for human rights, free speech, press, and assembly, and for democracy itself," she added. It may be recalled that Judge Liezel Aquiatan of the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 205 granted De Lima's Demurrer to Evidence in Criminal Case No. 17-166 last Feb. 17; the granting of a Demurrer is tantamount to acquittal. The same court, however, denied her Demurrer and Motion for Bail in Case No. 17-165. She also has a pending bail motion on her third case before the Muntinlupa RTC, Branch 256 (Case No. 17-167). In addition, Schakowsky vowed "to work with my colleagues to continue to hold the Duterte government responsible for its campaign of lies, intimidation, and violence against Senator De Lima, other prisoners of conscience, and the Philippine people." Aside from Schakowsky, US Senators Ed Markey, Richard Durbin, and Patrick Leahy recently renewed their call for De Lima's immediate release and full exoneration in a recent joint statement where they also maintained that the Senator's acquittal in one of the three trumped-up cases against her was "clearly not enough." Likewise, US Senator Marco Rubio on Twitter welcomed the news of De Lima's acquittal saying that he "reaffirms his call in urging the Philippine authorities to respect Sen. De Lima's rights and drop all charges against her." The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company A champagne brand owned by Jay-Z is to be expanded with help from LVMH. The American rapper, who is married to pop star Beyonce, purchased Armand de Brignac seven years ago. And yesterday the 51-year-old, real name Shawn Carter, announced that half the business will be sold to the luxuries brand which already owns champagne brands including Moet & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot and Dom Perignon as part of a tie-up. Expansion plan: Jay-Z said LVMH, which is making the investment through wine and spirits division Moet Hennessy, was a 'natural partner' Jay-Z said LVMH, which is making the investment through wine and spirits division Moet Hennessy, was a 'natural partner'. Armand de Brignac is known as 'Ace of Spades' because of its label and gold bottles. Jay-Z has been involved since 2006, when he bought a 50pc stake. He bought the rest of the business in 2014 and later suggested in one of his songs, What's Free, that it had been valued at $500m (356m). 'I'm 50 per cent of D'Usse and it's debt-free, 100 per cent of Ace of Spades, worth half a B,' the lyricist said. However, Forbes claimed that figure 'seems a bit too bubbly' and valued that business at about 221m in 2019. Kevan Shah '22 Named a 2021 Truman Scholar Finalist The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation received a record number of applications this year. By: Kristine Yahna Todaro Monday, February 22, 2021 04:20 PM Shah, a public health and neuroscience major, is one of 193 students from 129 institutions selected as a 2021 Truman Scholar Finalist. This years competition elicited 845 applications from 328 institutionsa record number of applicants. Finalists will interview virtually with the Truman Scholarship Foundations Regional Review Panels between March 1 and April 6, and the 2021 Truman Scholars will be announced by 5 p.m. ET on April 14. Truman Scholars demonstrate outstanding leadership potential, academic excellence and a commitment to a career in government or the nonprofit sector. Each Scholar receives funding for graduate studies, leadership training, career counseling and special internship and fellowship opportunities within the federal government. During high school, Shah spent time shadowing in an emergency room near his New Jersey home. On his first day, he saw a doctor use the drug naloxone to resuscitate an unconscious young man who had overdosed on opioids. It was the kind of life-saving intervention that I thought only occurs in movies, he says. This led to contributing to a report about opioid addiction in New Jersey that went to state legislators. At Muhlenberg, Shah received a grant from the College to conduct opioid research with Associate Professor and Director of Public Health Chrysan Cronin. The data he found indicated that programs that increase access to Narcan do reduce opioid overdose deaths, but those programs dont always offer training on how to administer it. With that in mind, I founded a nonprofit, End Overdose Together, that recruits, trains and mobilizes students to host workshops in the community to ensure that individuals are aware, able and ready to administer Narcan when confronted with an opioid overdose, Shah says. Last year, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced that Muhlenberg would be one of 13 higher education institutions in the state receiving an Opioid Prevention in Higher Education grant from the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs. The $100,000 grantthe largest amount awarded to any single institutionsupports a program in which Muhlenberg students learn to train members of the Lehigh Valley community to administer Narcan. With Cronin advising, Shah wrote the grant and is working with other Muhlenberg public health students to serve as the programs staff. Established by Congress in 1975 as the living memorial to President Harry S. Truman and national monument to public service, the Truman Scholarship carries the legacy of the countrys 33rd President by supporting and inspiring the next generation of public service leaders. About Muhlenberg College Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg is a highly selective, private, four-year residential, liberal arts college offering baccalaureate and graduate programs. With an enrollment of approximately 2,200 students, Muhlenberg College is dedicated to shaping creative, compassionate, collaborative leaders through rigorous academic programs in the arts, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences; selected preprofessional programs, including accounting, business, education and public health; and progressive workforce-focused post-baccalaureate certificates and masters degrees. Located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, approximately 90 miles west of New York City, Muhlenberg is a member of the Centennial Conference, competing in 22 varsity sports. Muhlenberg is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Railway Minister on Tuesday said his ministry will conduct a study to expand the railway and ropeway network in on the lines of Switzerland. The assurance was given by Goyal at a meeting with Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, who met him in Delhi on Tuesday, an official release here said. At the chief minister's request, the railway minister also gave his approval to the final location survey of the Tanakpur-Bageshwar rail line, it said. Goyal also asked officials to take immediate steps for doubling the single-line on the Haridwar-Raiwala section and introducing direct train service between Dehradun and Rishikesh. He also asked officials to workout an action plan on commercial utilisation of the old Rishikesh railway station as suggested by the chief minister. Goyal also asked officials of the Food and Public Distribution Ministry to release Rs 640 crore of Uttarakhand's subsidy dues under the decentralised procurement system. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As Ronald Reagan liked to say, when politicians feel the heat, they see the light. News item: Looking increasingly likely Gov. Gavin Newsom will have to face a recall election this summer or fall. News item: Gov. Newsom calls for public schools to reopen immediately. Chaser: From a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association back in November: The decision to close US public primary schools in the early months of 2020 may be associated with a decrease in life expectancy for US children. Exit question: Why do Democrats and teachers unions hate children so much? Whats behind the expose of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo? Normally youd expect a tough pol like Cuomo to keep his troops in line, and not get blindsided by state Attorney General Letitia James and his health secretary Melissa DeRosa subsequently blurting out to legislators that Cuomo had falsified the number of COVID deaths in nursing homes, let alone face a firestorm now from his own party. My simple theory is that there are plenty of Democrats in New York who cant stand Cuomo (quite aside from Major Warren De Blasio Wilhelm) and who would like to bring him downeither as a future presidential candidate or even his prospects for re-election to another term as governor next year. In other words, this is an inside job. Maybe Attorney General James wants him out of the way so she can run for governor next year? Couldnt happen to a nastier thug. In a blatant capitulation to leftist demands for censorship, Amazon has stopped selling Ryan Andersons book When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment. You can still buy it directly from Encounter Books, and Ryan reports that the publicity from Amazons deplorable decision has actually given the book a sales bumpit has sold out on Barnes & Noble. (And needless to say, everyone should do their online book shopping from Barnes & Noble and boycott Amazon.) I suspect there was a strong lobbying campaign directed at Amazon, possibly emanating from the Center for American Progress, to de-platform Ryans book. (In case you missed it, you can take in my podcast with Ryan from 2018 about the book here.) For the time being, Amazon is still selling Abigail Shriers book Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters, but you should start your countdown clock to see how long before Amazon removes it, too. UPDATERyan Anderson has written about the matter over at First Things: The residential realty sector is witnessing a K-shaped recovery with large listed players recovering at a much better pace than smaller unorganised players, credit rating agency said on Tuesday. While the broader market remained 24 per cent below pre-Covid levels on a y-o-y basis in Q3 FY21 and 39 per cent below pre-Covid levels in 9M FY21, the top 10 listed realty players witnessed a 61 per cent y-o-y growth in Q3 FY21 and 13 per cent growth in 9M FY21. This disparity in sales growth rates led to accelerated consolidation in the aftermath of COVID-19 and the market share of the top 10 listed realty players has nearly doubled in the current year, increasing from 11 per cent of sales in FY20 to 19 per cent in 9M FY21. Larger developers have been benefitting from demand consolidation and better credit availability. In terms of launches as well, their market share has increased from 11 per cent in FY20 to 22 per cent in 9M FY21. Shubham Jain, Senior Vice President and Group Head at ICRA, said COVID-19 triggered one of the worst demand crashes in recorded history, with housing sales volumes witnessing a y-o-y decline of 62 per cent during Q1FY21 across top eight cities. While the de-growth was limited to 24 per cent by Q3 FY21, larger players recorded a much better recovery, registering y-o-y sales growth of 61 per cent in Q3 FY21. Home-buyers had been leaning towards developers with an established track record of on-time and quality project completion even prior to the onset of pandemic. "This had resulted in large, listed players reporting healthy sales and collections in recent years despite the prevailing liquidity crisis and unfavourable supply-demand dynamics. The implementation of RERA and GST had already been supporting market position of these larger players," said Jain. Post COVID-19, better demand prospects, strong balance sheets and adequate liquidity have enabled larger developers to weather the storm better than smaller players who have been finding it difficult to cope with prevailing market conditions. "A gradual unlocking of the economy and pent-up demand has been supporting housing sales. Moreover, the repo-linked lending rate for home loans has touched a historical low. This has resulted in improved affordability and has been stimulating house purchases," said Jain. Attractive discounts and payment schemes have provided further stimulus. With the onset of pandemic, home and holiday-home ownership has also become more important. (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.) Antibodies that guard against COVID-19 can transfer from mothers to babies while in the womb, according to a new study from Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian researchers published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. This discovery, published Jan. 22, adds to growing evidence that suggests that pregnant women who generate protective antibodies after contracting the coronavirus often convey some of that natural immunity to their fetuses. The findings also lend support to the idea that vaccinating mothers-to-be may also have benefits for their newborns. "Since we can now say that the antibodies pregnant women make against COVID-19 have been shown to be passed down to their babies, we suspect that there's a good chance they could pass down the antibodies the body makes after being vaccinated as well," said Dr. Yawei Jenny Yang, an assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and the study's senior author. Dr. Yang and her team analyzed blood samples from 88 women who gave birth at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center between March and May 2020, a time when New York City was the global epicenter of the pandemic. All of the women had COVID-19 antibodies in their blood, indicating that they had contracted the virus at some point even though 58 percent of those women had no symptoms. Furthermore, while antibodies were detected in both symptomatic and asymptomatic women, the researchers observed that the concentration of antibodies was significantly higher in symptomatic women. They also found that the general pattern of antibody response was similar to the response seen in other patients, confirming that pregnant women have the same kind of immune response to the virus as the larger patient population--something that hadn't previously been known for sure, since a woman's immune system changes throughout pregnancy. In addition, the vast majority of the babies born to these women--78 percent--had detectable antibodies in their umbilical cord blood. There was no evidence that any of the infants had been directly infected with the virus and all were COVID negative at the time of birth, further indicating that the antibodies had crossed the placenta--the organ that provides oxygen and nutrients to a growing baby during pregnancy--into the fetal bloodstream. Newborns with symptomatic mothers also had higher antibody levels than those whose mothers had no COVID symptoms. This data implies that pregnant women could pass along vaccine-generated antibodies in the same way, potentially shielding both mother and child from future infection. However it is not yet known exactly how protective these antibodies might be, or how long that protection might last. Dr. Laura Riley, chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine, obstetrician and gynecologist-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell and one of the study's co-authors, is still advising pregnant patients who decide to get vaccinated to continue to follow current safety guidelines to prevent the spread of the disease. Dr. Riley, Dr. Yang and their colleagues are leading follow-up investigations that are currently enrolling pregnant women who receive the vaccine, as well as vaccinated mothers who are breastfeeding, to assess the antibody response in those groups after vaccination. That information could help guide maternal vaccination strategies moving forward. The $1 million question is: Will the group of women who are now being vaccinated get the same type of protection? We don't know that yet. Getting those answers is going to be really important." Dr. Laura Riley, Chair, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Weill Cornell Medicine It's confirmed! Bollywood actor Sunny Singh is playing a key role in the highly anticipated film Adipurush. The versatile actor shared a picture of a heartfelt note on Instagram sent by the director of the epic drama Om Raut, which reads, "Dear Sunny, Thank you again for being there...First day of our new journey together. God willing many more such. Luv, Om." (sic) Well, the actor has started shooting for the film in Mumbai along with Rebel Star Prabhas. If reports are to be believed, Sunny will be playing Lakshman in the film, which is a screen adaptation of the Hindu epic Ramayana that revolves around the theme of the victory of good over evil. However, there is no official confirmation regarding Sunny's role in the film. Notably, Singh became famous with his Bollywood flick Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (2018) and Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 (2015). On a related note, Prabhas was recently snapped by paparazzi at the airport, where he was seen sporting a twirled moustache that indeed thrilled his innumerable fans and followers, who are now waiting for a big update of Adipurush. Notably, the actor has also started shooting for his other project with Prashanth Neel titled Salaar. Coming back to Adipurush, the epic drama will have a massive release on August 11, 2021, in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada. Bankrolled by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar of T-Series and Om Raut, Prasad Sutar and Rajesh Nair of Retrophiles, the Prabhas-starrer is made on a humongous budget of Rs 400 crore. The Om Raut's multi-lingual magnum opus will have Saif Ali Khan essaying the role of Lankesh (Ravan). The leading lady of the film is yet to be revealed. However, reports are rife that Bollywood diva Kriti Sanon has been roped in for the project. Also Read: Here's How Prabhas Starrer Adipurush Will Help Nag Ashwin's Next Sci-Fi Film With Rebel Star! Also Read: Radhe Shyam: Cost Of Train Set Erected For The Prabhas Starrer Will Make Your Jaw Drop! Australia's government wants tech giants to pay for sharing news content, a move that could change how people worldwide experience the internet Facebook agreed to roll back a ban on news for Australian users after the government made changes to a proposed media law that had sparked the blackout last week. Here is a look at what the proposed rules are, why companies such as Facebook objected at first, and what it might mean for users: What is happening? After two decades of light-touch regulation, tech giants such as Google and Facebook are coming under increased government scrutiny. In Australia, regulators have zeroed in on their online advertising dominance and its impact on struggling news media. According to Australia's competition watchdog, for every $100 spent on online advertising, Google captures $53, Facebook takes $28 and the rest is shared among others. To level the playing field, Australia wants Google and Facebook to pay for using expensive-to-produce news content in their searches and feeds. After much back and forth, the House of Representatives passed slightly amended versions of the proposals and the Senate is ready to do the same. In response, Facebook decided to pull the news plug last week. Over the following days, Australian officials and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg were locked in negotiations. They eventually agreed to end the blackout after changes to the bill were secured Tuesday. Shortly after the compromise was unveiled, Facebook announced its first proposed deal with an Australian media company, Seven West. Why is it getting worldwide attention? Although the rules would only apply in Australia, regulators elsewhere are looking closely at whether the system works and can be applied in other countries. Microsoftwhich could gain market share for its Bing search enginehas backed the proposals and explicitly called for other countries to follow Australia's lead, arguing the tech sector needs to step up to revive independent journalism that "goes to the heart of our democratic freedoms". European legislators have cited the Australian proposals favourably as they draft their own EU-wide digital market legislation. Facebook's decision to roll back the news ban comes after it received widespread criticism for the initial blackout, which also impacted some emergency response pages used to alert the public to fires, floods and other disasters. The company quickly moved to amend that mistake, but the incident left questions about whether social media platforms should be able to unilaterally remove services that are part of crisis response and may even be considered critical infrastructure. Why did Facebook and Google oppose it at first? More broadly, Facebook and Google are pushing back against a slew of potential regulation worldwide that threatens to undermine business models that have allowed them to become some of the biggest and most profitable companies in the world. Concretely, both companies say they do not have a problem paying for newsand, in fact, they already pay some organisations for content. Their main objection is being told how much they have to pay. That goes much further than European legislation, which encourages deals between social media and traditional media companies. Under the Australian rules, an independent arbiter could decide if the deals reached are fair, to ensure the tech firms are not using their online advertising power to dictate terms. But the recent changes suggest Facebook and Google would avoid this process so long as they entered into deals with outletssomething the search giant had already gone ahead with. Opponents have argued the new rules amount to a gift from Australia's conservative government to allies in Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, the country's biggest media group, to prop up his struggling newspapers. What does it mean for me? World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee has warned that introducing the precedent of charging for links could open a Pandora's Box of monetary claims that would break the internet. "Links are fundamental to the web," he told an Australian Senate inquiry. "If this precedent were followed elsewhere, it could make the web unworkable around the world." Facebook's decision to block news will remain as a warning over future attempts to regulate the sector but the unwinding of the ban also shows a willingness to negotiate with lawmakers over funding the journalism carried on tech platforms. Google Australia had made a similar threat to pull its search service in Australia, but pulled back from the brinkinstead making deals to pay several Australian media groups. Explore further Why the world is watching Australia's tussle with Big Tech 2021 AFP Sri Lanka has ordered 13.5 million Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines in addition to the 500,000 doses gifted by India, and the country may not use Chinese vaccines in the second phase of immunisation, a government spokesman said on Tuesday. Ramesh Pathirana, who is also the Minister of Plantations, said Sri Lanka is likely to go only with the AstraZeneca vaccines for the second phase of vaccination as the Chinese and Russian vaccines are not ready yet. "The Chinese vaccine has not submitted the papers relating to phase three trials, said Pathirana. For the first round of vaccinations, the government has placed an order for 10 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute of India at a cost of USD 52.5 million and a further 3.5 million doses directly from AstraZeneca Institute of UK under the COVAX programme, the spokesman said. India gifted 500,000 doses of the same vaccine which kicked off Sri Lanka's vaccine rollout in late January. Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa thanked India last month for its generosity after he received 500,000 doses of Covishield vaccine donated by the country under the ''Neighbourhood First'' policy. The government will be directed by the best medical advice on when the second dose should be given, Pathirana said, adding that although initially it was believed that the booster jab should be given after four weeks. In recent weeks, health experts have said that delaying the second dose by three months could increase the efficacy of the vaccine. Last month, India announced it will send COVID-19 vaccines under grant assistance to Sri Lanka and seven other countries - Bhutan, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles, Afghanistan and Mauritius. India is one of the world's biggest drug-makers and an increasing number of countries have already approached it for procuring vaccines. Sri Lanka has recorded more than 80,500 cases so far with 450 deaths. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) WASHINGTON President Joe Biden plans visit Texas on Friday in the wake of extensive winter storm damage in the state. The president and first lady Jill Biden will travel to Houston, according to a White House announcement. Biden has engaged from afar with state and local officials but stated a reluctance to come to Texas too soon because he didn't want his traveling entourage to pull resources from the crisis at hand. When the president lands in a city in America, it has a long tail, he told reporters Friday. At a briefing soon after the announcement, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that Biden would meet with local leaders to discuss the winter storm, relief efforts, progress toward recovery and the incredible resilience shown by the people of Houston and Texas. While in Texas, the president will also visit a COVID health center where vaccines are being distributed, she said. Psaki said more details of the trip are coming together and that the White House will have further information soon. Over the weekend, Biden approved a major disaster declaration for more than 100 Texas counties. A declaration, requested by Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday, allows for a wide range of federal assistance to support repairs for individuals and infrastructure. (Read how Texans can apply for federal assistance here.) Last week's winter storm caused billions of dollars in damage across the state. Millions of Texans experienced prolonged periods without power or clean water amid freezing temperatures. Dozens of deaths have been reported, though state officials say it could be weeks or months before an official death toll is known. Patrick Svitek contributed reporting. Of all the tax breaks available, the home office tax deduction is among the murkiest and most misunderstood. And the passage of the 2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has made things even more complicated. So if you work at home, what should you do? Allow us to explain exactly who can take the home office tax deduction these daysand who can'tas well as how to do it right. Here's what you need to know before filing this year. Who can claim the home office tax deduction? We've got some good news and bad news. The bad news: In years past, if you worked for a company (and received a W-2) but worked from home occasionally or full time, you could claim a home office tax deduction. But not anymore. "There is a major change to the home office deduction: It is no longer available for company employees," says Bill Abel, tax manager at Sensiba San Filippo in Boulder, CO. "This has many remote employees frustrated." But there is a ray of hope for these W-2 telecommuters. You could see if your employer will allow you to change your work status from an employee to an independent contractor (also discuss this option with a tax adviser), which would allow you to continue taking this deduction. Consider the pros and cons of such a move beyond just the tax benefits, however. Another small loophole also exists, if your employer is willing to play along: Just ask your employer to set up what's called an "accountable plan." For example, instead of being paid $100,000, your employer could pay you $95,000 in wages plus a $5,000 home office expense reimbursement, making your salary the samewhile saving you more on taxes. The good news: If you're one of the 40 million or so people out there who are self-employedfrom business owners to bloggersyou can still continue to take this deduction. How to take a home office deduction if you're self-employed If you're self-employed, you have every right to take a home office tax deduction, but that's not to say it's easy. In a nutshell, you'll be writing off part of your home expenses on your tax return by separating out the costs associated with using your home for personal purposes (making pancakes) and business (answering work email). To claim the deduction, an area of your home has to be designated as your principal place of business, andthe clincherused exclusively for work. Everything in that designated space needs to be only for work purposes. What makes an office an office? To be clear, that room you work in which doubles as a guest room when Mom visits won't pass muster, even if you spend 40 hours a week there, says Abby Eisenkraft, a financial expert and author of "101 Ways to Stay Off the IRS Radar." So if you really want to do things right, have Mom sleep on the couch! If, say, your desk is parked in a corner of your bedroom or part of an open floor plan, simply measure the space you use for your office, whether or not there are walls. The key is that the area must be used only by you, just for worknot to peck out personal email. To make that delineation easier, you can even put up a physical barrier like a partition or shelves. And according to the IRS, an office can also be a "separate free-standing structure, such as a studio, garage, or barn." How to claim a home office tax deduction The IRS offers two ways to calculate a home office tax deductionone simple, the other a bit more involved, says Jeff Morris, accounting partner at Nathaniel Jacobson, serving Maryland and Washington, DC. The simple method: Figure out the square footage of your home that you use for business purposes. Each square foot you use for work is worth $5, and you can claim up to 300 square feet, for a maximum annual claim of $1,500, says Morris. The complicated method: Track all the costs of your home (think maintenance, insurance, repairs, utilities, etc.) and depreciation (normal wear and tear). Next, separate and allocate those expenses based on the percentage of the home you use solely for business purposes. So if your office space breaks down to 10% of your home's total square footage, you can deduct 10% of your home costswhich could add up to a sizable chunk of change. The key to using this deduction is keeping careful records. Isn't the home office tax deduction a red flag for an audit? Nope. In fact, the IRS simplified its method of measuring out your office space to take the audit scare out of the home office tax deduction. "This might surprise some people, given the fear of an audit that the home office deduction used to strike in the hearts of many taxpayers," says Morris. The reality is that the deduction is becoming increasingly common, and it doesn't make a taxpayer any more susceptible to an audit than any other deduction a small-business owner may take. The post How To Take a Home Office Tax Deduction When You Work From Home appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com. New Delhi, Feb 23 : Global PayEx plans to raise Series A funding from strategic investors in the year ahead. Narayan Ramamoorthy, the Chief Revenue Officer of Global PayEX, the cloud-based accounts receivables and account payable management solution provider, said that the company also plans to grow its business both in the Indian and international markets in 2021. "We had our initial funding from JP Morgan and from well know industry veterans like Jerry Rao and Jeroen Tas (MphasiS founders). We have raised a few million dollars as our seed funding round from these initial investors. We intend to raise a Series A round from strategic investors in 2021," he said. He noted that the company expects to continue its growth trajectory of 30-50 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) growth in revenues, and transactions. Currently, the startup has around 14,000 small and medium enterprises on its platform and the number is likely to grow significantly, Ramamoorthy said. "Internationally, we are targeting multi-million dollar revenue in the coming year (FY2021-22). We are in advanced stages of contracting on a few deals and we hope to further increase the pipeline," he said. He noted that 2021 has begun well and the company continues to quarter on quarter growth of 40 per cent in terms of both dealer on boarding and transaction value and volumes. He said that the company is launching an Accounts Payable (AP) financing product which has capabilities like discounting, dynamic discounting, factoring and reverse factoring. "We are also developing ecosystem specific solutions in certain segments like FMCG (seller) with modern trade retail chains (buyers)," he said. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Monday announced a $2.5 million investment in the city's African American Small Business Revolving Loan Fund, expanding the fund to $6.3 million. The fund, created in June 2020 by Breed and the San Francisco African American Chamber of Commerce, aims to help Black-owned and Black-serving businesses that have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, offering zero-interest loans of up to $50,000 for eligible businesses. The new funding was made possible via philanthropic support from the San Francisco Foundation and business executive Aneel Bhusri, according to the mayor's office. "This has been such a difficult year for small businesses across San Francisco, and sadly, Black-owned businesses across the country have been especially hard hit and many have had to close their doors for good," Breed said in a statement. "Small businesses are going to be such a critical part of our city's recovery. As we look to the future of San Francisco, it's critical that our city programs keep focusing on equity and serving those communities that have been historically disadvantaged." Breed added, she hopes the fund can "give businesses the resources that can help them survive this pandemic and come back even stronger." "These restaurants, hair salons, fitness studios, bike shops, and other businesses support and anchor our Black communities as important social and economic hubs," Assessor Joaquin Torres said. "The further expansion of the African American Revolving Loan Fund honors Black History Month by recognizing the racial inequities and adversities that have faced and sadly continue to face Black businesses here, while at the same time lifting them up and valuing their contributions by investing in their futures." AARLF funds have been prioritized for the city's long-standing Black-owned and Black serving businesses, especially those affected most with operations severely limited by the stay-home order like hair salons, barbershops, gyms and restaurants. Business owners can use the funds to pay for things like rent, wages, inventory, improvements, equipment, marketing, and reopening costs. "Being a black business owner, the loan came through at the right time and in the right amount," said owner of Lacy's Barber Shop Lloyd Lacy. "I was able to pay my outstanding debts including my backed-up rent and was able to put in the floor tiles that I had been sitting on for two years. I added new chairs, sinks, mirrors and repainted my cabinets. If I had not received the loan I would be at risk of losing my business," he said. Of the additional $2.5 million in funding, $1.3 million will go toward leveraging additional private sector funding to offer some 30 more businesses zero-interest loans, expanding the number of businesses benefitting from the AARLF to a total of 150. The remaining $1.2 million will be used to cancel the debt, ranging from $5,000 to $50,000, for about 30 longstanding businesses that have already benefited from the funding. Copyright 2021 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. On Tuesday, the Senate Rules and Homeland Security committees held their first hearing on the Jan. 6 insurrection. Four key law enforcement officials testified as senators tried to suss out just how badly law enforcement agencies had failed in responding to the mob that stormed the Capitol to stop Congress from counting the Electoral College results. The hearing wasfor the most partan epic performance of bureaucratic buck-passing by officials who blamed one another for the lack of preparedness and inadequate response to the Capitol riot. The testimony revealed critical disputes over when the National Guard was called to support the undermanned Capitol Police, why they werent requested in advance, and why it took so many hours for them to finally arrive at the scene and help put down the insurrection. The chairwoman of the hearing, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, promised an additional hearing next week looking into the role executive branch officials played in that process. Tuesdays hearing, however, made all too clear the urgent need for a full commission with subpoena power to investigate the entirety of what went wrong that day, as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has called for, rather than through piecemeal Senate hearings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The main conflict of Tuesdays hearing was between former Chief of the U.S. Capitol Police Steven Sund and former House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving, who had competing recollections about who requested National Guard support when and what the response was. (Both officials resigned after the attack.) During an emergency, the House and Senate sergeant-at-arms, as well as the Capitol Police chief, must all agree as a Capitol Police Board to make an emergency declaration to call in the National Guard. Sund insisted that he called Irving at 1:09 p.m. on the day of the attack to request National Guard support and did not receive agreement from Irving and former Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger to ask the Pentagon for that help until a full hour later. He also said that he was advised that Irving needed to run it up the chain of command, indicating Irving needed approval from Pelosi. Irving insisted that he had no recollection or phone record of that 1:09 p.m. call, that when he and Sund did speak at around 1:30 p.m. there was no official request for the National Guard, and that he never said anything about needing to run it up the chain of command. Advertisement The conflict came out in multiple exchanges but was most dramatic (and confusing) in this round of questioning by Senate Rules Committee ranking member Sen. Roy Blunt. Sen. @RoyBlunt asks about request for National Guard assistance. Former Senate House at Arms Paul Irving: "I did not receive a request for approval for National Guard until shortly after 2pm..." Former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund: "It was 1:09, sir." pic.twitter.com/erKktiAplx CSPAN (@cspan) February 23, 2021 Advertisement You can see the two men stick to very different stories. Heres the critical part of the exchange: Blunt: Why would it take an hour to approve National Guard assistance on your part in that moment of crisis? Irving: From my recollection, I did not receive a request for approval of National Guard until shortly after 2 p.m. when I was in Michael Stengers office. Blunt: Chief Sund, do you know when you asked for National Guard assistance? Was it 1:09 or was it 2 p.m.? Sund: It was 1:09, sir. Blunt: Who did you ask for assistance at 1:09? Sund: It was from Mr. Irving, I believe he was in the company of Mr. Stenger at the time as well. Blunt: And Mr. Irving why would you not remember that? Irving: I have no recollection of a conversation with Chief Sund. At that time I was on the floor during the Electoral College session and my conversation with Chief Sund in that timeframe was shortly before 1:30, when I recall he was describing conditions outside as deteriorating, he may in fact be submitting a request, and I carried that forward and that was as much as I can tell you. I have no phone record of a call with Chief Sund. Advertisement Advertisement This was not the only conflict between Sund and Irving on Tuesday. They each had different recollections of a Jan. 4 conversation over whether to call the National Guard in advance of Jan. 6. Sund remembered asking for Irvings agreement to request the National Guard to support his Capitol Police and Irving saying that he did not want to preemptively request the National Guard because of the optics of having armed service members guarding the Capitol. Irving said that any use of the word optics was mischaracterized, that the discussion was entirely about safety concerns, and that the group agreed collectively to request 125 National Guard members be placed on standby in case additional support was needed. Ultimately, 125 unarmed guardsmen were made available to help with traffic control. Advertisement It wasnt until 2:10 p.m. the day of the attack that the group of Irving, Sund, and Stenger requested backup from D.C. National Guard Gen. William Walker. By then it was too late, as the armed rioters had already breached the Capitol, but there would be an additional hourslong delay for Walker to get approval from higher-ups in the Pentagon to send support. Indeed, acting Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee and Sund both testified that they were astonished by the lack of immediate support when the request for help was finally made during a phone call with Pentagon officials. Advertisement At 2:22 p.m. a call was convened withamong othersmyself, leadership of the U.S. Capitol Police, the National Guard, and the Department of the Army. I was surprised at the reluctance to immediately send the National Guard to the Capitol Grounds, Contee said. Advertisement Sund further testified that Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt was hesitant about creating the visual of the National Guard standing a line with the Capitol in the background, instead suggesting more Capitol Police officers be pulled from other posts to help out, which Sund said was not an option given the urgency of the situation. According to Sund, Piatt said he would not support the request but would run it up the chain of command. The first 150 members of the National Guard were not sworn in on Capitol grounds until 5:40 p.m., Sund testified, four and a half hours after I first requested them and three and a half hours after my request was approved by the Capitol Police Board. Advertisement In previous statements to the press, Piatt has denied that he or any DOD officials blocked a request for support. The timeline seems to indicate something else, though, and it would be valuable to have Piatt testify under oath as to his own recollection as both Contee and Sund have doneand to find out who above Piatt in the chain of command may or may not have slowed approval of the National Guard activation on Jan. 6. Advertisement Advertisement All of these questions will probably be further explored in a hearing scheduled for next week with Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI officials, the details of which Klobuchar said she would announce on Wednesday morning. Even with this hearing and next weeks, though, it is very clear we still have much to learn about who knew what and when on the day of the Jan. 6 attack, who failed to act, and ultimately why. Its also clear that the piecemeal nature of these Senate hearingswhere its basically impossible to sort through the sort of conflicting testimony we saw on Tuesdayis inadequate. The best way to get those answers is going to have to be an independent commission with subpoena power. Technology firm First Derivatives is selling the majority of its stake in Quantile Technologies to growth equity firm Spectrum Equity First Derivatives, which is based in Newry, is selling the stake for a cash consideration of 11m (12.7m). This represents a total gain of 10m on the initial cost of the investment, and a 7m gain on the current carrying value. Following the sale First Derivatives will retain a minority stake in Quantile. In a statement on Tuesday First Derivatives said the investment initially occurred as part of its strategy of assisting companies that were adopting KX technology. KX technology enables high-performance, in-memory computing, streaming analytics and operational intelligence services. Quantile utilises KX as the technology that underpins its advanced compression and risk rebalancing services. First Derivatives said that Quantile remains a valuable customer of the group. The investment in Quantile represented First Derivative's largest investment of this type, and accounted for 10m of a total of 16m of other financial assets on the group's consolidated balance sheet at February 28 2020. In the year to December 2019, Quantile reported net profit of 700,000. The money from the sale has been received by First Derivatives and the company said proceeds will be used for general working capital purposes. Commenting on the sale, Gerry Hennigan, analyst at Goodbody, said: While the partial disposal clearly represents a healthy return, the intervening success and growth also serves as an endorsement both of the Quantile platform and indirectly the underlying Kx technology. Seamus Keating-headed First Derivatives saw its revenue increase over the six months to August 31, despite Covid-19 impacting economic activity around the world. The firm reported revenue of 119.6m) for the period, up 3% year-on-year, according to interim results. Gross profit at the Seamus Keating-headed company increased marginally to 48.2m. Headquartered in Newry, First Derivatives has over 2,400 spread across 15 locations on four continents. First Derivatives started out providing services to financial markets firms - in particular big investment banks. Its customers are increasingly drawn from a range of sectors, from Formula One to satellite operators. She recently extended her time on the sunny shores of Tulum, Mexico, after insisting to her Instagram followers it is 'first and foremost a work trip'. And Chloe Sims looked incredible on Sunday as she set pulses racing by sharing a sultry swimwear snap to Instagram. In the photo, the TOWIE star, 38, showcased her washboard abs in a tiny white bikini with a plunging top and high-rise bottoms. Wow: Chloe Sims looked incredible on Sunday as she set pulses racing by sharing a sultry swimwear snap to Instagram from her 'work trip' to Mexico It is not known whether Chloe has since returned to Essex, in the UK, as she tagged her location as Brentwood. Chloe styled her blonde locks into a sweptback hairdo, which she accessorised with a black hat, and added a slick of glamorous make-up. Posing at the Bagatelle restaurant Tulum, Chloe knew how to work her best angles for the snap which she captioned: 'BE LOYAL TO YOUR FUTURE - NOT YOUR PAST .. . HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE ( it is Sunday right?)' 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. Back home? It is not known whether the TOWIE star, 38, has since returned to Essex, in the UK, as she tagged her location as Brentwood Trip: 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 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 earlier this month. Loved-up: 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 Popstar Dua Lipa, and model Lottie Moss are among those that have been pictured in the Central American country in recent weeks. Travel abroad is now banned from the UK without a legally permitted reason, Home Secretary Priti Patel recently announced, as she criticised influencers for 'showing off in sunny parts of the world'. 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. BOSTON, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The new funding round will allow elphi to build out its state-of-the-art mortgage Loan Origination Platform while expanding its client acquisition efforts. elphi is also proud to announce its remarkable Advisory Board. The Board, composed of veterans from the mortgage and technology industries, will enable elphi to achieve its mission of streamlining the mortgage lifecycle. The Advisory Board members are: Mike Williams, Chairman of the Board, Realogy Holdings Corp., and former CEO of Fannie Mae Debbie Matz, Board Member, Stewart Title, and former Chairwoman of the NCUA Brian Handal, SVP Division Sales Manager, Wells Fargo Stephen Wojnar, Principal, Battalion Group Debbie Hoffman, Assistant General Counsel, Western Union John V. Levonick, CEO, Canopy Paige Wisdom, Board Director, Morgan Stanley Bank N.A., and former CRO of Freddie Mac David Wind, COO, Renofi Jamiel Sheikh, CEO, Chainhaus Ben Sherman, President, SYNRGO Dorian Lam, Principal, Cornerstone Land Abstract About elphi elphi is a FinTech startup, working to streamline the mortgage lifecycle. elphi's state-of-the-art mortgage Loan Origination Platform helps lenders originate more loans faster, leveraging machine learning capabilities, real-time database architecture, and smart checklists. www.elphi.io Contact: [email protected] SOURCE elphi Related Links http://www.elphi.io/ Russia has suspended gas transit to Kazakhstan after an explosion has occurred at a federal gas pipeline in the Orenburg Region, the Russian Energy Ministry said on Tuesday. "Gas transit via Alekseyevka measuring station to the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan has been stopped. Gas is being provided to consumers from a tank of the Orenburg-Novopskov gas pipeline," the ministry wrote on its website. "Today, on 23 February, an explosion has occurred at a main federal gas pipeline in Ileksky district. Rescuers, regional services, the specialists from the region's Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, gas engineers, environmental experts have headed to the scene. Now, the mobilization of forces is going on to mitigate the accident," the region's government said. The government noted that, according to the preliminary information, the gas pipeline was operated Gazprom Transgaz Yekaterinburg. "At 13.00 [09:00 GMT] the meeting of the interdepartmental headquarters will be held where necessary measures for the elimination of the emergency will be worked out. The operation of the services is being coordinated by Orenburg Region Governor Denis Pasler," Sputnik cited the government as saying. No one was hurt in the incident, the emergency ministry said. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 22:05:36|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Former Senegalese Prime Minister Souleymane Ndene Ndiaye receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine provided by Chinese firm Sinopharm in Dakar, Senegal on Feb. 23, 2021. Senegal on Tuesday officially began the first phase of COVID-19 vaccination, taking a new step in the crusade against the pandemic. Senegalese Minister of Health and Social Action Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in front of the press at his ministry, which symbolized the starting point of Senegal's vaccination campaign. (Xinhua/Xing Jianqiao) DAKAR, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Senegal on Tuesday officially began the first phase of COVID-19 vaccination, taking a new step in the crusade against the pandemic. Senegalese Minister of Health and Social Action Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in front of the press at his ministry, which symbolized the starting point of Senegal's vaccination campaign. Politicians, such as former Prime Minister Souleymane Ndene Ndiaye, Foreign Minister Aissata Tall Sall, Minister of National Education Mamadou Talla, and members of the health workers were also vaccinated Tuesday morning. The Senegalese health minister said after vaccination that Senegalese President Macky Sall had instructed him to respect two things, "fairness and transparency." According to him, the 200,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine are already distributed in all 14 regions of the country. Sarr invited his compatriots to continue the fight against COVID-19 with respecting barrier gestures, wearing protective masks, washing hands regularly and avoiding gatherings. He also revealed that President Sall is negotiating with Russia for having Sputnik V vaccine. "During the month of March, Senegal will receive its first batch of vaccine from the COVAX initiative. We will continue, so that all Senegalese who must be vaccinated shall be," he added. For the first phase of the nation-wide COVID-19 vaccination campaign, Senegalese health authorities aim to vaccinate 20 percent of the Senegalese population. This phase targets frontline health workers, people over the age of 60 and people with underlying health conditions. The Senegalese health minister also took this opportunity to announce that his country, in order to show "African solidarity," will offer The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau, a total of 20,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, which is 10 percent of its first batch of 200,000 doses, acquired from the Chinese firm Sinopharm. Senegal plans to vaccinate all those who wish to receive COVID-19 jabs by 2022. This Tuesday morning, in an interview with an international radio, Senegalese President Macky Sall pleaded for a massive vaccination which would make it possible to immunize the populations and "reduce the risk of infection" against the spread of coronavirus. Senegal, which reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19 on March 2, 2020, has so far recorded 33,242 positive cases, including 27,694 recoveries and 832 deaths. Enditem Bipasha Basu's husband, Karan Singh Grover, turned a year older on February 23. On this special day, she took to Instagram and penned a heartfelt note for the Kasautii Zindagii Kay actor. Bipasha wrote that this day is her "2nd most favourite day of the year". She went on to wish Karan a very happy birthday and wrote that she loves him. The duo is currently in the Maldives enjoying a holiday. Sophie Choudry and many others wished Karan on his birthday. Bipasha's birthday wish for Karan Also Read | Rangoli Chandel Shows Aksht's Home Designed By Kangana, Calls It 'gorgeous Transformation' Bipasha Basu and Karan Singh Grover have been sharing back-to-back glimpses of their holiday on Instagram. The former posted a picture in which the duo was relaxing on the hammock. She wrote in the caption, "Where the water meets the sky, You and I." Deanne Panday wished Karan on his birthday eve, whereas Yasmin Karachiwala dropped hearts. The duo is accompanied by Karan's friend, Ayaz Khan. The Dill Mill Gayye actor posted photos with Khan in which the duo flaunted their physique. Also Read | Ankita Lokhande 'glows Differently' As She Stuns In Black Jumpsuit, Calls Herself 'happy' On the occasion of Valentine's Day, Bipasha Basu and Karan Singh Grover surprised each other with a beautiful cake at home and remarked that it was the first year that they were together on this special day. Bipasha penned that Karan makes every day like Valentines Day for her and went on to thank him for the surprises, gifts, pampering, cuddles, hugs, kisses, foot massages, happiness, laughter, joy and zillions of more things and feelings. Karan reposted the same video and thanked his wife for being his. Also Read | When Pearl V Puri Fulfilled His Fans' Request And Called It 'something He Loves'; Watch On the work front, the duo teamed up for a web series titled Dangerous which released in 2020. The show revolves around Aditya Dhanraj (Karan Singh Grover), whose life changes after his wife gets kidnapped. To solve this case, Aditya's former lover Neha Singh (Bipasha Basu) digs deeper with the investigation. Suyyash Rai, Sonali Raut, Natasha Suri and Nitin Arora, play pivotal roles in Dangerous, produced by Vikram Bhatt and Mika Singh. Karan is now awaiting the release of his upcoming show, Qubool Hai 2.0 which is all set to release on ZEE5 on March 12, 2021. Also Read | Did You Know Drew Barrymore & Gwyneth Paltrow Have The Same Godfather? 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 New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Boris Johnson has promised the countrys farmers that he will defend British food and farming standards in the UK's trade negotiations. The prime minister made the commitment in a recorded message to the annual conference of the NFU, which was held online this year because of the pandemic. We wont compromise on high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards, he said in his address today. Farm leaders have repeatedly expressed fears that the government may be prepared to allow imports produced to lower standards in order to secure trade agreements with the likes of the US and Australia. Ministers have repeatedly insisted that they would protect UK standards, although they refused to put such assurances into law in the agriculture bill. As we look ahead to the rest of the year, free from the shackles of the Common Agricultural Policy, I hope that this can be the moment when we start to realise the many opportunities we now have," Mr Johnson said. "Not just for the benefit of our fantastic farmers but for our entire country, by making farming more profitable, more productive, more sustainable, more resilient. "Protecting our glorious countryside, our wonderful natural environment, reducing carbon emissions, improving animal health, animal welfare. And bringing together the best of our farming traditions with potentially revolutionary technology such as gene editing. Of course, that goes alongside wanting people to buy more of our unparalleled British produce at home and proudly selling more around the world. He said he was delighted that British produce was back on shelves around the world - citing British beef in the United States, pork trotters in China and cheese in the Gulf. But I can assure you that we are pulling out all the stops while making clear that in all our trade negotiations we wont compromise on high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards, he said. His message was reiterated by Elizabeth Truss, who, as Secretary of State for International Trade is responsible for negotiating new trade deals. The Secretary of State, herself a former Defra Secretary, told the conference she would not weaken standards in talks. What cannot be right is for our farmers to face unfair competition that underlies the high standards way that we produce food," she said. "I want to be very clear. We are not going to lower our food standards in any trade deal we sign. I will never sign a deal that is bad for British farming. We have a range of tools, from tariffs to quotas to safeguards to make sure that farmers are protected from unfair competition and we have kept the agricultural industry close in our negotiating approach. Food and farming standards were mentioned by Sir Keir Starmer, who became the first leader of the Labour Party to address the NFU conference since 2008. Labour voted in parliament to protect UK farming standards in law during the the passage of the governments Agriculture Bill, but the attempt to do so was voted down by the government. We need high quality food at all price ranges. Thats what were aiming for - and food produced to our standards, Sir Keir said. Not seeing high quality and standards as something to be bargained in a trade deal. It is why we did all that work in those amendments to make sure that high food standards were put into law. "Yes, we want high quality at all price ranges, we need to look at the way supermarkets do their deals and keep pushing the government to make sure that... we dont ever breach that principle because once it is breached I think it will be very, very hard to come back from it. "I know the government says we are in broadly the same place but the big distinction was Are you going to put it into law to make sure that this happens or just have it as a principle, which, I think, is not so strong. He said that if Labour were in government it would seek to encourage more people to buy more British food and look at whether more of the 2.4bn public spending on catering could be spent with British farmers. NFU president Minette Batters said in her conference address that panic buying and food hoarding seen during the coronavirus pandemic showed the importance of British food production. We must learn lessons and we must never go back to a time when we became complacent about our food, where we assumed all food is produced to the same standards of safety and quality around the world and where we just expected food to always be there, without investing in the industry and the people who produce it. A survey carried out last year showed that 86 per cent of British people believed Britain should grow more of its own food, she said. There is a real risk, a genuine risk that, without care, without attention, we let Britains food production slowly erode," Mrs Batters added. "Which is why it is critical that government monitors our own food security put simply, the amount of food we produce on our own farms. It was one of our key asks realised in the Agriculture Bill that food security must be reported on this year and every three years from now on." In his speech to the conference, Defra Secretary George Eustice said food security had been improving since the country voted to leave the European Union. The UKs self-sufficiency in food production, is increasing. Its increased for the first time since 2014, as imports from the European Union start to fall and as our domestic production starts to increase, he said. And he said that, although farm gate prices in many sectors were strong, food prices for consumers were stable. In fact, the proportion of household income spent on food by the poorest 20% of households is now the lowest on record thanks to policies that have increased the national living wage to the lowest paid. The vaccination of people over 80 years of age who do not live in care homes in the south of Spain will be severely affected this week as the region receives only half of the planned doses from Pfizer. Some Malaga health centres have had to postpone the vaccination of the elderly and are calling patients to notify them that they will receive the injection on another date, once the supply is normalised next week. Nursing professionals consulted by SUR have said that they are contacting people who had an appointment from Wednesday onwards to inform them that due to the lack of doses they will not be able to give them the vaccine as scheduled and that they will be inoculated next week if enough vials arrive. The Malaga health district alone receives between 1,100 and 1,200 daily doses, which it distributes equally among its health centres. This week the number of vials has been reduced by half. One major obstacle faced by the health centres in Malaga is that they receive very few vaccines (about 30 per centre per day) for the elderly population. Sources consulted by SUR said that in two days, or at most in three, all elderly people could be vaccinated if there were enough doses. Health professionals consulted by SUR said they regret having to postpone the vaccination of the elderly in health centres due to the supply shortage. We do everything we can. We have plenty of capacity to give vaccines, what we lack is doses. The vaccination rate is very slow. The situation will not be expedited until we receive a much higher number of vials," added the source. Please purchase a subscription to continue reading. If you have a subscription, please Log In . Your current subscription does not provide access to this content. If you believe you've gotten this message in error, please Log In. With a zeal keepers might apply to mucking out The Trail of the Elephants at Melbourne Zoo, the state government is cleaning out the Zoos Victoria board. The entire board, in fact. Zoos Victoria board. Credit:John Shakespeare The call has gone out seeking replacements for the chair and all nine members of the Zoological Parks and Gardens Board, the not-for-profit organisation that runs the Healesville Sanctuary, Melbourne Zoo and Werribee Open Range Zoo. Which is a little odd, considering the board is populated by well-respected straight shooters. The chair is Kate Vinot, an executive at the Bureau of Meteorology, and the deputy chair is Geoff Wescott, a former associate professor of environment at Deakin University. Board members include former chair of the Country Fire Authority Greg Smith, former dean of the Faculty of Veterinary and Agriculture Science at the University of Melbourne Kenneth Hinchcliff, executive director of family investment group Wilbow Group Natasha Bowness and managing director of the Treasury Corporation of Victoria, Bill Whitford. CHICO, Calif. - Chico Police Department gathered Monday to honor a fallen hero who died on duty in 1938. Officer Carleton Bruce died on Feb. 22, 1938, when he responded to a disturbance call at a local restaurant. Upon entering the restaurant, an armed man turned, fired and hit Bruce in the stomach. Bruce was transported to Enloe Hospital where he was attended by multiple doctors, including Dr. Enole. He was pronounced dead 30 minutes after being shot. The Chico Police Department Honor Guard, Command Staff, department personnel and members of Bruces extended family attended the gathering to pay their tribute to Officer Bruce. The Chico Police Department said they will never forget Officer Bruce and his devotion to the police department and to the Chico community. A 16-year-old boy was shot in the St. Claude area of New Orleans late Monday, police said. The shooting happened around 10:30 p.m. during an argument at a home in the 2000 block of Congress Street, police said. New Orleans police say Chris Taylor, 47, went to the home and the two got into an argument that turned into a fight. Taylor, police say, pulled out a gun and shot the teen in the lower abdomen. The injured teen was taken via EMS to a hospital, where his condition was not immediately available. Police on Tuesday morning named Taylor as suspect and said a warrant has been issued for his arrest. The shooting was the third reported Monday night. Click here to read more about the other two shootings. Staff writer Ramon Antonio Vargas contributed to this report. Editor's note: This story has been updated with new information from police. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 16:02:50|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BANGKOK, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Thailand on Tuesday recorded 95 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, marking the fourth consecutive day with the number of daily cases below 100, according to its Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA). The new cases included 93 domestic and two imported infections, CCSA spokesperson Taweesin Visanuyothin told a press briefing. The domestic cases included 54 detected in Samut Sakhon province and two in the capital Bangkok, said the spokesperson. Thailand has so far reported 25,599 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 22,885 of which were domestic cases. So far, 24,446 patients have fully recovered from the coronavirus epidemic in the Southeast Asian country. Currently, 1,070 patients are being treated in hospitals, and the COVID-19 death toll stands at 83 in Thailand. Enditem Gov. Ned Lamont on Monday released new guidelines for how the COVID-19 vaccine will now be distributed in Connecticut. The governor shifted away from previous plans to prioritize frontline essential workers and those with underlying medical conditions to focus on age groups and educators. Lamonts plan deviates from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance that other states are following. Among those sticking to the CDC plan is New York, which is continuing to prioritize essential workers and medically compromised individuals. Could this inspire a wave of Connecticut residents coming into New York for vaccine? Maybe, said George Latimer, county executive for Westchester County. But Latimer said he isnt concerned, as long as those seeking vaccine either work or live in New York. As a border county with Connecticut, were very conscious of people crossing the border back and forth very easily, he said. We are already comfortable vaccinating (people employed in New York who live in Connecticut). If, for instance, youre a bus driver who works in Westchester, and you live in Stamford, we want you to be vaccinated because you interact with New Yorkers. Like other officials, Latimer is worried about meeting the demand for vaccine, but hes not as concerned about the effect Connecticut border-crossers will have on the vaccine supply. Were more concerned about meeting the demand than about worrying who gets it, Latimer said. According to Lamonts plan, the following groups can begin registering for COVID vaccines on these dates: March 1: Ages 55 to 64; and educators and child care providers March 22: Ages 45 to 54 April 12: Ages 35 to 44 May 3: Ages 16 to 34 Heres a look at how some nearby states are handling COVID-19 vaccine distribution: New York Like Connecticut, New York focused on older adults, health care workers and first responders in its early vaccination stages. But New York has been quicker to prioritize frontline workers. According to the state website, eligible New Yorkers in Phase 1A and 1B include residents age 65 and older, firefighters, police, school employees, transportation workers, and the staff of hospitals and federally qualified health centers. Also eligible were restaurant workers, restaurant delivery drivers and public facing grocery store workers, including convenience store and bodega workers categories that will not be prioritized in Connecticut. As of Feb. 15, New York also expanded eligibility to those 16 and older with the following conditions: cancer (current or in remission, including 9/11-related cancers); chronic kidney disease; pulmonary disease; 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); obesity and severe obesity; pregnancy; sickle cell disease or Thalassemia; type 1 or 2 diabetes mellitus; cerebrovascular disease (affects blood vessels and blood supply to the brain); neurological conditions, including but not limited to dementia, and liver disease. Jonah Bruno, director of public information for the New York Department of Health, said the state has used about 90 percent of the doses it has received. Different states will of course take different approaches, but we believe our prioritization which includes both the most vulnerable New Yorkers based on age and underlying health conditions and essential workers like health care heroes, police officers, firefighters, teachers, taxi drivers, and grocery and restaurant workers is the right system for New York right now, he said. Currently, over 10 million New Yorkers can get vaccinated, representing roughly two-thirds of all individuals who are potentially eligible. New Jersey Like New York, New Jersey is also prioritizing frontline workers and those with underlying medical conditions. According to its website, New Jersey is already offering vaccines to many in these groups, and is already prioritizing one group that isnt on New Yorks list smokers. Smoking is on the CDC list of underlying conditions that can put people at higher risk for serious illness from COVID, but its garnered criticism for multiple reasons, including that its hard to prove whether someone is a smoker. New Jersey also offers more guidance for pregnant woman and those in an immunocompromised state from solid organ transplant, stating people in those groups are eligible for the vaccine but should follow CDC guidance and first discuss vaccination with their medical provider before receiving the vaccine. New Jersey plans to expand eligibility to more frontline workers and additional groups of high-risk individuals. Rhode Island Rhode Islands model for prioritizing is closer to Connecticuts plan than other nearby states, largely focusing on age. Rhode Island began by vaccinating health care workers and first responders, and moved on to vaccinating people by age group, starting with those 75 and older. Those 65 and older became eligible for vaccination this week and Rhode Island residents 60 to 64 will likely be able to register in mid-March. Vaccination for the younger group, those 16 to 39, is expected to start in June. However, unlike in Connecticut, those will underlying medical conditions are still being prioritized in Rhode Island. Beginning in mid-March, the state is expected to start vaccinating those 16 to 64 with conditions such as diabetes, lung disease, heart disease, and kidney disease. Russian opposition leader quotes Sermon on the Mount in court as prison appeal is rejected Former atheist Alexei Navalny says new faith helps him face challenges Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Russian opposition leader, lawyer and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny paraphrased Jesus Sermon the Mount and made pop culture references during his final argument before a Moscow City Court rejected the appeal of his prison sentence relating to an alleged probation violation on Saturday. Navalny, who was arrested on Jan. 17 upon returning to Russia after recovering at a Berlin hospital from a near-fatal nerve agent poisoning, told the judge he was not guilty of parole violations because he was unable to report to the Moscow prison service last year since he was recovering in Germany, according to reports. In his closing statement before the sentencing, Navalny reportedly quoted the words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount and said he believes those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed, reports The Associated Press. Navalny, who is known by some as the man Vladimir Putin fears most, reportedly told the court that he was once an atheist, but now his belief in God helps him face his challenges. Even though our country is built on injustice and we all constantly face injustice ... we also see that millions of people, tens of millions of people, want righteousness, Navalny was quoted as saying. They want the righteousness and sooner or later they will have it. He said Russia was built on injustice and that tens of millions of people want the truth. He said he did not regret returning to Russia after his hospital release though it brought his arrest. To live is to risk it all, he said, in reference to Rick and Morty, an animated sci-fi sitcom. Otherwise, you're just an inert chunk of randomly assembled molecules drifting wherever the universe blows you. Navalny, who leads the Russia of the Future Party, said the government scares people to persuade them that they are alone. He encouraged Russians to resist authoritarian pressure. Our Voldemort in his palace also wants me to feel cut off, he said in a Harry Potter reference, referring to Putin. The opposition leaders arrest ignited widespread protests across Russia, leading to thousands of arrests. He was sent to the Matrosskaya Tushina prison in Moscow on Jan. 18. On Saturday, the court decreased his prison sentence from two years and eight months to just over two years and six months, AP notes. He will likely be sent to a remote penal colony. Navalny mocked the ruling while standing in a glass cage in the courtroom. They've reduced the sentence by one-and-a-half months. Great! he was quoted as saying. Later in the day, Navalny returned to court and was fined for slandering a World War II veteran. Navalny said this is an effort to disparage him further and has rejected the slander charges. Last Wednesday, the European Court of Human Rights ordered Russia to temporarily release Navalny because it could not provide sufficient safeguards for his life and health. However, Russia called the courts ruling a blatant and gross interference in the judicial affairs of a sovereign state, The Guardian notes. Last August, Navalny became suddenly sick on a plane over Siberia and was rushed to receive treatment in Germany, where he lay in a coma for two weeks. Reports suggest that Navalny was poisoned by a chemical weapon called Novichok, a powder or liquid agent that can only be produced in specialized laboratories. Navalny blames the government for his nearly lethal poisoning. But the Kremlin denies this allegation. According to BBC, Navalny claims to have tracked down a weapons expert behind the poisoning who said the poison was mainly laced in his underwear, but this was also dismissed as false by the Russian government. Tens of thousands have called for his release. AP reported over 5,100 protesters were arrested, and some were beaten. Navalnys wife was among those detained. Navalnys Twitter account has over 2.5 million followers and appeals to a younger audience. His recent video, Putins palace. History of worlds largest bribe, has garnered over 113 million views and details the extravagance of the Black Sea estate allegedly built for Putin. Protestors chanted, Putin, resign! and Putin, thief,"the news agency reports, adding that it is the largest, most widespread wave of demonstrations in Russia for years. The demonstrators believe the truth is on their side, protestor Leonid Martynov said. Navalny has accused Putin of sucking the blood out of Russia through concentrating power in the Kremlin and contends the United Russia Party is full of crooks and thieves, according to BBC. U.S. Secretary of StateAnthony Blinken tweeted on Feb. 2 that the United States is "deeply concerned by Russias actions toward Navalny. We reiterate our call for his immediate and unconditional release as well as the release of all those wrongfully detained for exercising their rights, Blinken stated. Navalny founded the Anti-Corruption Foundation and is known for his investigations of the Russian state and officials, according to the Yale World Fellows program, where he was a world fellow in 2010. Navalny attempted to run for president of Russia in 2018 but was banned by Russias Central Electoral Commission and Supreme Court, according to the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. I believe that one of the main problems in modern Russia is corruption, Navalny said in a statement on the Yale World Fellows website. I focus on combating it using all available methods: conducting investigations, publicizing facts about abuses of power, and organizing peaceful protests. The 44-year-old activist and his wife, Yulia, have two children: Daria and Zakhar. Caroline Flack's family have released previously unseen photos of her as a girl ahead of a new documentary about her life and death. The Love Island presenter took her own life at the age of 40, on February 15 2020. The forthcoming Channel 4 programme promises to "delve beyond the headlines to reveal the complex woman behind the public persona" and will feature never-before-seen footage and childhood home videos, as well as interviews with her twin sister, Jody. One image released by the family shows Flack and Jody wearing matching outfits as they pose in a Norfolk field as girls. Another shows them, again in matching clothes, standing on a country path with their mother Christine's arms wrapped around them. The pair are dressed in striped tops, blue skirts and white socks. Two other images feature Flack as a teenager, and in both she wears red lipstick and smiles broadly at the camera. The second is a school photograph taken in the 1990s and shows her with cropped hair. A final image sees the TV star as an adult with her head tossed back and her hair spread outwards. Flack was born in Enfield, north London, but spent much of her youth living in Norfolk, first in Thetford and then in nearby East Wretham. The documentary will feature tributes from Olly Murs, her co-host on The Xtra Factor, fellow presenter Dermot O'Leary, and family and friends. Coroner Mary Hassell found that Flack killed herself because she knew she was being prosecuted for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend, Lewis Burton, and could not face the press coverage. The documentary is coming soon to Channel 4. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A registered Aboriginal heritage site has been damaged at one of BHPs Pilbara iron ore mines, despite the major miner pledging in June to consult with traditional owners before disturbing sites in the area. In late January, a culturally significant rock shelter was impacted at BHPs Mining Area C project in the Pilbara, causing a rockfall at the site. It is understood neither BHP or the Banjima people are clear on what caused the damage. The blast happened at the companys South Flank iron ore mine. Credit:AP Mining Area C is adjacent to BHPs $US3.06 billion ($4 billion) South Flank project, which is under construction and will be the largest iron ore mining and processing facility ever built in Western Australia. It is located on Banjimas traditional lands in Western Australias Pilbara region, 130 kilometres north-west of Newman. The news comes almost a year after fellow Pilbara miner Rio Tinto drew international condemnation when it destroyed 46,000-year-old Aboriginal rock shelters while blasting at Juukan Gorge in the same region. 32989 Surabhi Madan, Senior Global Legal Counsel, ASM Front-End Mfg (S) Pte Ltd Surabhi Madan, Senior Global Legal Counsel, ASM Front-End Mfg (S) Pte Ltd In Japans first reported case of artificial intelligence (AI) saving someones life, an AI tool succeeded where a team of skilled human doctors did not. A woman with a rare type of leukemia was correctly diagnosed by the AI. Even more remarkable, it took just ten minutes to compare the womans genetic information with 20 million clinical oncology studies to arrive at the life-saving diagnosis. With so many technological advancements in every sphere of our lives, the role of lawyers has also evolved and transformed. Gone are the days when lawyers had to rely on their oratory skills alone. These days, the revolutions in technology has prompted the legal professionals to be equally adept at legal research software, contract management and automation systems and a whole host of other time-saving methods to aid their professional practices. In my capacity as a global counsel of a European SemiConductorequipment manufacturing company, I have faced the usual challenges that are customary to such a role. With a small team of lawyers to advise, draft, negotiate, document all the transactions and policies across all functions ranging from operations, sales, procurement, compliance, HR, IT to name a few, in over 14 countries, it has been a daunting task to say the least. By way of this article, I intend to provide the reader(s) with an overview of how we have introduced the use of technology to circumvent our daily operational requirements such that my team and I are able to concentrate of the high-level managerial decisions while letting the technology take care of the day-to-day commercial requirements of the organization. Introducing technology into the legal function sharing a firsthand experience In law school, I was taught that the very top lawyers are not only logical and analytical, but they display a great deal of creativity in their problem solving. My take has always been that if lawyers can use some that creativity to solve their own problems, it would go a long way in demonstrating their ability to their clients. My work strategy has always been to try and not reinvent the wheel every day, although it can certainly keep me busy and gainfully employed. With so many well researched, published and updated legal research tools available in the market, i find that lawyers can explore new horizons In my career span, I have seen a transition from working out of documents being received and sent through post (snail mail), to having been equally proficient on MS Word, Outlook, Excel etc., to the current phase where we have introduced client-facing portals. The fundamental question has always remained the same - how can the clients requirements be served in the most cost-efficient, timely and competent manner? Would the use of a portal be of any help to the organization as well as to the legal division? The answer has many facets. In our (or any) organization, technology means control and predictability. Our contract management software allows the users (read commercial departments) to populate certain predetermined fields and create their own contracts and route them to us for review, to solicit feedback from the counterparty, to enable the internal approval process, to have it signed electronically, to file it on the data base, to be able to easily access it when they need to refer to it and to be reminded when its time to renew. For the lawyers, it means being able to concentrate on the more strategic affairs of the company, while retaining control and visibility of the more standard agreements. In terms of time spent, sorting my emails early every morning and triaging on what needs to be addressed first, I save at least an hour, if not more, daily, thanks to the contract management software where I can access the dashboard to get a sense of the developments and the urgency in a matter of seconds. For the senior management, it means to finally be able to attempt to measure the productivity of lawyers. We have in-house capability of generating reports on concluded agreements per country, per function, per person or per subject matter. Florence Nightingale used statistics to pioneer sanitary reforms in the UK 200 years ago and its a pity that legal in house teams still consider the use of pie charts reflecting legal documents to drive company strategies as a present day innovation. Other than introduction of contract management software, we also use various technological advancements for legal research and legal training initiatives of the company. With so many well researched, published and updated legal research tools available in the market, I find that lawyers can explore new horizons. The concepts of jurisdictional expertise can very easily transcend into subject matter specialization because of access to case studies, analysis and current news across the globe. As a technology lawyer called to the bar in India, working in Singapore and advising on the EU GDPR has now become possible because of the access to these innovative capabilities which help me stay abreast with the legal developments, almost real time. Also, from a compliance point of view, we find that we, as a company are able to drastically reduce our carbon footprint by not being necessitated to travel extensively for meaningfully educating and trainings our stakeholders. Legal trainings conducted regularly in different languages, attendance recorded and assessments conducted, all without any regular effort on the part of the legal team. Lawyers sitting in different continents can now talk, share documents, negotiate, mark up documents over a cup of coffee (albeit in their own cozy offices respectively). The mammoth contribution that has on the speed of business is perhaps under recognized. We, at ASM, have not stopped at this. Our next plan is to introduce a pioneering procurement and supply chain solution that will help us digitize and simplify our processes end-to-end and will enable us to collaborate better with the various internal teams for supplier engagement. To get to this stage, where I author an article on legal technology for the august readership of this publication, the challenges have been many. For in-house lawyers considering the introduction of technology into their legal function, a word of caution; the time commitment is an important factor because one needs to juggle the daily workload alongside driving this humongous project. But then, thats what bonus targets are for. The time spent to assess the various offerings in the market and to select a solution that is best suited for our industry and within our budget and is user friendly and easily customizable, is time well spent. This will make the subsequent steps like securing management buy-in; effective transition into the system by creating a data base and training and enabling the end user to effectively use the tool, a lot easier. While, some would call technology, disruptive and imply a threat to our livelihood, there are always others like me, who find that these steps we take today, will mean that future lawyers will have all the time and resources to create a new legal landscape. A recent survey in US revealed that as much as 80 per cent of that countrys adult population was experiencing problems associated with prolonged stress. In India too, a similar situation seems to prevail. The pandemic, disasters both natural and man-made, like the Telangana floods and the Vizag gas leak, and evolving discontent, such as the situation that has led to the ongoing farmers protest, have created an overriding atmosphere of gloom. The quality of happiness appears to have been lost. Psychological upheaval Dr K Srinivas, Consultant Neuro-Psychiatrist at KARLA Mind Center, Hyderabad, explains how the pandemic has affected mental well-being, pushing many people towards issues like anxiety and depression. He says, From a psychological perspective, there was a huge paradigm shift. During the pandemic, post the imposition of the lockdown, many patients had relapses of mental conditions for which they had been treated earlier. The mental disturbance people experienced during the initial weeks of the lockdown, and the trauma of the event are being felt even today. According to Dr. Srinivas, mental disorders quadrupled during the lockdown. People had to cope with fear (of death of self or a loved one, of failure, loss of income, of another lockdown, another pandemic, of having to take a lot of medication to manage their mental health, or, in the case of those already battling mental ailments, fear of having to discontinue therapy because of the lockdown). There were also those who set themselves unrealistic problem-solving goals, and had to contend with the prospect of these goals not being met. It even got to the point that we were unable to get the pulse of certain patients, said Dr Srinivas. Most mental problems were fuelled by of loss of jobs, increased free time, uncertain future and career, loss of social interaction and by loneliness. The very first step is to educate people about the state of their mental health. Ideally, we need to make them understand what they are going through before we move on to prescribing medication. We ask patients to observe their symptoms and how these symptoms impede their functionality, the neuro-psychologist says. Long-term ripples Shedding light on post-traumatic effects, he says, Although the pandemic is phasing out, there are clusters of people who are more likely than others to succumb to fear and fear-led depression. These include introverts, anxious people and people with drastic personalities. The post-traumatic effects of the pandemic in such people are likely to continue for a decade from here. Seconding Dr Srinivas opinion, Dr Banda Lakshman Sharma, a senior psychologist at Arogyadham, a Hyderabad-based Psychology Centre, highlights the degree of damage that the pandemic has caused to mental health. He says, People in general have a degree of fear and nervousness, but due to COVID-19 it has increased manifold, and its effects are likely to remain up to 30 years. They may even be carried forward to the upcoming generation. People are slowly losing hope in the future. They are worried about their success. The fear of failure and ill-health are amongst the most dominant fears that have manifested in peoples minds today. Explaining the repercussions of chronic stress and stress-led diseases, he says When people experience fear and nervousness, their thinking capabilities reduce. Because of this, their perception is damaged. Mental illnesses like OCD, Bipolar Disease and Schizophrenia have increased. Saying that happiness has been replaced by worry in peoples minds, leading to loneliness and a hopeless state, he notes that there has been a significant increase in the number of patients at his clinic. Home Remedies In India, where mental problems have begun to gain due recognition only recently, people are still highly sceptical about the efficacy of therapy. Dr Sharma suggests some measures that people can practice from the comfort of their homes to control anxiety, stress, depression etc. to a certain degree. Cultivate EQ: Develop emotional intelligence rather than emotional thinking, which reduces the capacity to cope with difficult situations. To develop emotional intelligence one must take training from a professional. The trainer will give certain practices to the individual seeking the training. These practices have to be followed everyday for an extended period of time before these newly induced thinking patterns replace the old self deteriorating ones. This procedure may be time consuming but can transform a persons life forever. Practice Savasana: When the spinal cord is straight, it leads to a sound body and a sound mind. Practice Savasana for 15 minutes, five days a week. This will result in increased immunity, increased happiness, improved blood circulation, strengthening of the digestive system, and control of diabetes. Steps to do Savasana (Corpse Pose ) l Lie flat on your back keeping legs separated. l Keep your arms at your side and your palms facing upwards and relax. l Close your eyes and breathe deeply and slowly through the nostrils. l Start concentrating on each organ of the body starting from the head, all the way down to the feet. l On each inhale and exhale, let your body feel relaxed. Let your tension, stress, depression and worry slowly fade away as you relax. Benefits of Savasana (Corpse Pose ) l Savasana improves blood circulation. l It helps in reducing stress. l Savasana boosts energy. l Relaxes your muscles. l Savasana helps reduce headaches. Have a head massage with Panchagavya ghee or consume it What is Panchagavya Ghrita | It is an Aruyvedic medicine, in herbal ghee form. It is a concoction of cow dung, cow urine, milk, curd and ghee. Along with the five constituents that come from the cow, it also contains jaggery, banana, tender coconut and water. How to use Panchagavya Ghrita | Continuous worry and stress damages the nervous system. Applying Panchagavya Ghrita on the head will help withstand stress better. Two drops of the ghee can also be placed in each nostril to strengthen the nervous system. The same ghee can be consumed twice a day in the proportion of 15 ml ghee : 50 ml water. Benefits of Panchagavya Ghrita | 1. Its anti-convulsing properties prevent or reduce the severity of epileptic fits or other convulsions. 2. It is especially indicated in psychogenic and neurogenic disorders such as Apasmara (Epilepsy), Unmada (Mania/Psychosis). 3. It gives strength to the brain, nerves, eyes, rectum and other body organs. PRESS RELEASE REGULATED INFORMATION 23 February 2021, 06:00 pm CET Ghent, BELGIUM - 23 February 2021 - Sequana Medical NV (Euronext Brussels: SEQUA) (the "Company" or "SequanaMedical"), an innovator in the treatment of diuretic-resistant fluid overload in liver disease, malignant ascites and heart failure, announces today in accordance with Article 14 of the Belgian Act of 2 May 2007 on the disclosure of major participations in issuers of which shares are admitted to trading on a regulated market and regarding miscellaneous provisions (the "Belgian Transparency Act") that it received transparency notifications from the shareholders listed below, notifying the number of voting rights attached to shares mentioned next to their respective names in the table below. Reason for notification Shares and voting rights held Number % of total outstanding shares(1) NeoMed IV Extension Limited / NeoMed Innovation V Limited(2) Passive crossing of a threshold 4,270,807 23.16% LSP Health Economics Fund Management B.V.(3) Passive crossing of a threshold 1,706,077 9.25% Venture Incubator AG / VI Partners AG(4) Passive crossing of a threshold Downward crossing of the lowest threshold(5) N/A(5) N/A(5) Notes: The total number of outstanding shares of the Company on 15 February 2021 amounts to 18,438,435, each share giving right to one (1) vote (being 18,438,435 voting rights in total). This number takes into account (a) the number of new shares that were issued pursuant to a capital increase that was announced on 9 February 2021 and completed on 15 February 2021 by means of a private placement through an accelerated bookbuilding procedure, and (b) the new shares issued on 15 February 2021 following the exercise of stock options under the "2018 Stock Option Plan" for directors, employees and other staff members of the Company and its subsidiaries. A parent undertaking or the controlling persons of NeoMed IV Extension Limited ("NeoMed IV") and NeoMed Innovation V Limited ("NeoMed V"), informed the Company, by means of a notification dated 19 February 2021, that the aggregate shareholding of NeoMed IV and NeoMed V passively crossed below the threshold of 25% of the outstanding voting rights of the Company on 15 February 2021. The notification furthermore specifies that NeoMed IV and NeoMed V are each a private limited company incorporated in Jersey, and are each controlled by their investment manager NeoMed Management (Jersey) Limited (a private limited company incorporated in Jersey) and that NeoMed Management (Jersey) Limited is controlled by Erik Amble, Claudio Nessi, Dina Chaya and Pal Jensen. The notification also states that NeoMed IV and NeoMed V do not own the securities of the Company but manage partnerships that own the voting rights attached to the securities and that, as general partners to its partnerships, NeoMed IV and NeoMed V can exercise the voting rights attached to the securities at their discretion in the absence of specific instructions. LSP Management Group B.V., a parent undertaking or a controlling person of LSP Health Economics Fund Management B.V. ("LSP"), and LSP, informed the Company, by means of a notification dated 19 February 2021 that LSP's shareholding crossed below the threshold of 10% of the outstanding voting rights of the Company on 15 February 2021. The notification specifies furthermore that LSP is controlled by LSP Management Group B.V. within the meaning of Articles 1:14 and 1:16 of the Belgian Companies and Associations Code and that LSP Management Group B.V. is not a controlled entity. The notification also states that LSP is not an owner of the shares of the Company, but manages the funds which own the shares of the Company, that LSP exercises the voting rights of the shares held by the funds as a management company including the voting rights associated with the Company's shares, that LSP can exercise the voting rights of the funds at its own discretion at the general meeting of shareholders of the Company, and that LSP HEF Sequana Holding B.V. is the fund that owns the shares in the Company as of the date of notification. VI Partners AG (acting as a person that notifies alone) informed the Company, by means of a notification dated 19 February 2021 that the shareholding of VI Partners AG crossed below the lowest threshold of 3% of the outstanding voting rights of the Company on 15 February 2021. The notification specifies furthermore that VI Partners AG is not a controlled entity within the meaning of Articles 1:14 and 1:16 of the Belgian Companies and Associations Code. The notification also states that VI Partners AG is a shareholder and management company of Venture Incubator AG, a multi-investor investment company, and that it is authorised to exercise the voting rights associated with the shares held by Venture Incubator AG at its own discretion, in the absence of specific instructions. The transparency notification does not mention how many voting securities or voting rights are held or exercised by, respectively, VI Partners AG and Venture Incubator AG after the downward crossing of the lowest threshold of 3%. To access copies of the aforementioned transparency notifications, reference is made to Sequana Medical's website). Pursuant to the Belgian Transparency Act and the articles of association of the Company, a notification to the Company and the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) is required by all natural and legal persons in each case where the percentage of voting rights attached to the securities held by such persons in the Company reaches, exceeds or falls below the threshold of 3%, 5%, 10%, and every subsequent multiple of 5%, of the total number of voting rights in the Company. For more information, please contact: Sequana Medical Lies Vanneste Director Investor Relations Tel: +32 498 05 35 79 Email: IR@sequanamedical.com LifeSci Advisors Chris Maggos Tel: +41 79 367 6254 Email: chris@lifesciadvisors.com About Sequana Medical Sequana Medical is a commercial stage medical device company developing the alfapump platform for the treatment of fluid overload in liver disease, malignant ascites and heart failure where diuretics are no longer effective. Fluid overload is a fast growing complication of advanced liver disease driven by NASH (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis) related cirrhosis and a common complication in heart failure with diuretic resistance being widespread in both of these indications. The U.S. market for the alfapump resulting from NASH-related cirrhosis is forecast to exceed 3 billion annually within the next 10-20 years. The heart failure market for the alfapump DSR (Direct Sodium Removal) is estimated to be over 5 billion annually in the U.S. and EU5 by 2026. Both indications leverage Sequana Medical's alfapump, a unique, fully implanted wireless device that automatically pumps fluid from the abdomen into the bladder, where it is naturally eliminated through urination. In the U.S., the Company's key growth market, the alfapump has been granted breakthrough device designation by the FDA for recurrent or refractory ascites due to liver cirrhosis. Interim data from the ongoing North American pivotal study (POSEIDON) showed positive outcomes against all primary endpoints of the study. This study is intended to support a future marketing application of the alfapump in the U.S. and Canada. In Europe, the alfapump is CE-marked for the management of refractory ascites due to liver cirrhosis and malignant ascites and is included in key clinical practice guidelines. Over 800 alfapump systems have been implanted to date. Building on its proven alfapump platform, Sequana Medical is developing the alfapump DSR, a breakthrough, proprietary approach to fluid overload due to heart failure. Clinical proof-of-concept was achieved in a first-in-human single dose DSR study and further supported by strong interim safety and efficacy results from the ongoing repeated dose alfapump DSR study (RED DESERT) in heart failure patients. Sequana Medical is headquartered in Ghent, Belgium. For further information, please visit www.sequanamedical.com . Important Regulatory Disclaimers: The alfapump system is not currently approved in the United States or Canada. In the United States and Canada, the alfapump system is currently under clinical investigation. The DSR therapy is still in development and it should be noted that any statements regarding safety and efficacy arise from ongoing pre-clinical and clinical investigations which have yet to be completed. The DSR therapy is not currently approved for clinical research in the United States or Canada. There is no link between the DSR therapy and ongoing investigations with the alfapump system in Europe, the United States or Canada. Note: alfapump is a registered trademark. DSR and alfapump DSR are registered trademarks in the Benelux. Attachments Puducherry, Feb 23 : Outgoing Chief Minister of Puducherry and senior Congress leader, V Narayanasamy said that tons of money and Central agencies were used by the Union government led by the BJP to topple the secular government led by him in Puducherry. He was speaking to IANS in a telephonic interview. Q: You resigned as the Chief Minister of Puducherry on Monday, what was the reason for that? A: Tons of money and Central agencies were used by the Union government led by the BJP to topple the democratically elected government of Puducherry led by secular forces. This is real subversion of democracy and BJP has proved time and again that it does not have any respect for the people's mandate and democracy. Q: The 2021 assembly elections are around the corner, as a senior Congress leader and former CM, what's your take on the elections? A: The secular combine of Congress and DMK is well poised for a landslide victory in the next assembly elections which are around the corner. BJP and its coalition does not have the grassroots support in this state and people are really angry at the central government for toppling a democratically elected, secular government. The people of Puducherry will teach the murderers of democracy a lesson. Q: If the Congress led combine returns to power in the next elections, will you be the Chief Minister again? A: I am a Congressman first and a Congressman last. I don't think that power is the gelling force for me and I am always a party man and accept any responsibility which is bestowed upon me. My point is that bringing back a Congress-led combine is my first priority and we will comeback to power in right earnest. Q: You were on a collision course with Kiran Bedi, former Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry but when your government was to face the floor test in the House, the Union government removed her and gave charge to the Telangana Governor, why was it so? A: Yes ,we were fighting against the over indulgence of Lieutenant Governor Hon. Kiran Bedi in the affairs of the government and had petitioned the Union government several times. Unfortunately all of that fell on deaf ears and the government at the Centre did not pay heed to our pleas. However ,when the Puducherry government led by myself was about to take the floor test, they suddenly removed Madam Kiran Bedi as the Lt Governor and as the world knows, gave additional charge to Telangana Governor Hon. Tamilsai Soundararajan as the latter will dance to the tune of her masters at the Centre. This was a clear political move and for that they didn't want any hindrances and they might have been apprehensive of Madam Kiran Bedi. Q: Is the predominant Vanniyar community shifting their stance towards the BJP and will that lead to a major surge in the fortunes of the BJP and its electoral allies. A: Of course Vanniyar is a major community of Puducherry and they are around 30% of the population of the state but there are other communities as well which have thrown their weight behind the Congress-led combine. Moreover it's not correct to state that the Vanniyar community is supporting the BJP-led combine as several senior Congress leaders of this state hail from the Vanniyar community and they have their own constituents who are rock solid behind the Congress led combine. Q: What will be your major plank to fight the ensuing assembly elections? A: The backstabbing by the Union government of a democratically elected secular government will be one of our major points to be communicated to the people of the state. The highly communal and hate mongering policies of the BJP government at the Centre and the manner in which that party is trying to bring its nefarious ideology to Puducherry will be highlighted during our campaign. Of course the good governance of my government will also be placed before the people of the state. Q: BJP has been advocating a Congress Mukt Bharat and they are successful in this in south India as the only Congress government in the South was in Puducherry and it has now resigned. Your comments? A: BJP is trying that theory but as you know they are in a fool's paradise. Don't you know that all this drama of "Congress Mukt Bharat" , is their wish which will never become a reality and politics has its own ups and downs. Congress is a political party with a pan-Indian presence and we can be considered as a cross-section of this great nation where people from all classes, creed, religion, caste and language live peacefully. How can a party with its avowed policy of hatemongering, state that it's for a "Congress Multi Bharat". Congress is a cementing force for this nation and people can join and work in our party without any fear and there is no prejudice in the Congress party based on caste, creed, religion or language and such a party can never be eradicated from the soil of this great nation and the same applies to Puducherry also. These are temporary set backs and we will bounce back with renewed vigour. [February 23, 2021] Teledyne LeCroy Enables First-Ever Full Picture of PCIe with Launch of CrossSync PHY Teledyne LeCroy, a business unit of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE: TDY), introduced the CrossSync PHY interposers and software options, enabling the first-ever link between an oscilloscope and a protocol analyzer to allow engineers to get a complete picture when testing the PCI (News - Alert) Express (PCIe) interface standard. When testing and debugging PCIe, engineers use protocol analyzers to view protocol messages between components over a relatively long period of time. Engineers also need to use oscilloscopes to measure PCIe electrical performance at the physical layer with a high degree of resolution. They cannot, however, capture protocol messages with oscilloscopes because they run out of memory before the protocol event occurs. For this reason, engineers need to use the two separate instruments in entirely different set ups when testing an application using PCI Express. By linking the oscilloscope with the protocol analyzer using Teledyne LeCroy's new CrossSync PHY Interposer Probes and Software Options Link, engineers can now test PCIe using one system test. This greatly enhances reliability and accuracy in testing. "PCI Express is rapidly becoming a ubiquitous interconnect technology used in applications including data storage, graphics cards, network interfaces and AI accelerators," said Kevin Prusso, Vice President and General Manager for Teledyne LeCroy. "Engineering managers and engineers trying to integrate PCIe have told us time and gain about the issues related to integrating this complex technology and their frustration from not being able to see and corollate the physical and protocol layers in one view. Our new CrossSync PHY technology does just that, enhancing reliability and performance while also improving time to market." "The event correlation between protocol and electrical events has been a pain point in our debug sessions," said Srajit Singh, Product Validation Architect at Intel (News - Alert) . "This solution is exactly what we need. We believe it will expedite our debug efforts when it comes to dealing with complex PCIe issues that lie at the boundary of electrical and functional domain." About Teledyne LeCroy Teledyne LeCroy is a leading manufacturer of advanced oscilloscopes, protocol analyzers, and other test instruments that verify performance, validate compliance, and debug complex electronic systems quickly and thoroughly. Since its founding in 1964, the Company has focused on incorporating powerful tools into innovative products that enhance "Time-to-Insight". Faster time to insight enables users to rapidly find and fix defects in complex electronic systems, dramatically improving time-to-market for a wide variety of applications and end markets. Teledyne LeCroy is based in Chestnut Ridge, N.Y. For more information, visit Teledyne LeCroy's website at teledynelecroy.com. About Teledyne Technologies Incorporated Teledyne Technologies is a leading provider of sophisticated instrumentation, digital imaging products and software, aerospace and defense electronics, and engineered systems. Teledyne Technologies' operations are primarily located in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Western and Northern Europe. For more information, visit Teledyne Technologies' website at www.teledyne.com. 2021 by Teledyne LeCroy. All rights reserved. Specifications are subject to change without notice. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005390/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] She bought ammunition, camping gear, a water purifier and boxes of canned food. Then, Tyler's mother started wearing a holstered pistol around the house, convinced that 10 days of unrest and mass power outages were coming. The chaos would culminate, she assured her son, in former president Donald Trump's triumphant return to power on March 4, the original Inauguration Day before the passage of the 20th Amendment in 1932. Tyler, 24, had been living with his mother an hour north of Minneapolis since he graduated college in 2019. The paranoia and fear that had engulfed his home had become unbearable in the months since Trump began to falsely claim that the 2020 election had been stolen from him. "Any advice for dealing with a qanon parent who thinks ww3 will happen during the inauguration?" Tyler asked last month on r/QAnonCasualties, a fast-growing Reddit group for those whose loved ones have been consumed by the bizarre and byzantine universe of baseless conspiracy theories known as QAnon. "Do they have weapons?" one of the site's moderators asked. "Yep. A lot of them," Tyler replied. "I would leave, but I don't have anywhere to go." He said he couldn't imagine cutting ties to his mother. In Washington, rioters, inflamed by unfounded allegations of a stolen election, had stormed the Capitol leaving five dead and triggering the impeachment of a president. Far from Washington, the falsehoods that had whipped so many into a frenzy were wreaking a different sort of chaos; one that was tearing families apart. Family members spoke of their loved ones as if they were cult members or drug addicts, sucked in by social media companies and self-serving politicians who warped their views of reality. They begged and bargained with parents and partners to put down their phones for just a few days in the hope that the spell might be interrupted and they might return to their old selves. To some it seemed as if the United States was gripped by an epidemic of conspiracy theories. The anguish was playing out behind closed doors in therapists' offices, where overwhelmed family members were seeking advice. And it was painfully clear on QAnonCasualties, the Reddit group where Tyler had turned for support. The group offered a rough barometer of the growing turmoil. Since last summer it had grown from about 10,000 members to more than 130,000 in the days after Joe Biden's inauguration. Each day there was a flood of new posts: A woman in Chattanooga, Tenn., was just days away from moving out of the house she and her partner bought five years earlier. "I feel like I'm in a twisted black mirror episode that's lasting WAY too long," she wrote. "I feel hopeless that we will ever get back to the beautiful life we shared in our lovely home." A woman in Palm Beach, Fla., had gone two weeks without speaking to her mother and was starting to wonder if the rift was irreparable. "I grieve for her every day as if she is dead," she wrote. A teenager in Annapolis, Md., worried that she no longer "knew" her father. "I've come to the breaking point," she confessed. "My heart goes out to everyone else in this situation. It really sucks." Tyler, alone in his bedroom, read many of the new posts, hoping that they would help him make sense of his mother's beliefs. Sometimes it felt as if every conversation with his mom and her new husband circled back to Trump-related conspiracies. To protect his family's anonymity, The Washington Post is only using Tyler's first name. In an email, she blamed her son for the tension in the house, writing that he was disrespectful and refused to look for work after leaving his job earlier this year. She added that she "never even heard of Qanon until very recently" and doesn't "follow it," but declined to discuss why she had begun purchasing survival gear and whether she believed Trump would return to the White House in March. "My beliefs about Trump are actually none of your business," she wrote. Tyler said he and his mother discussed QAnon one time; a bizarre conversation in which his mother insisted that QAnon prophecies were the product of artificial intelligence. He described an atmosphere of growing conspiracy and fear that pervaded his home. "It started a month before the election," Tyler said in an interview, "and it kept growing until it felt like she was preaching the Bible to me." At first she insisted that Trump, not Biden, would be inaugurated on Jan. 20, and for a while Tyler held out hope that Biden's swearing-in would jolt his mother back into reality. She would put away her gun and life would return to normal. But, the ceremony in Washington seemed to make little difference at his house in Minnesota. "She's waiting for March 4th now," he wrote. "What's March 4th?" asked one of the QAnonCasualties group members. "Trump's inauguration as new world president," Tyler replied, referring to a common belief among some QAnon followers that it represented the true Inauguration Day as set out in the Constitution. Tyler worried that he might not be able to wait that long for his mother to snap out of the spell. The first QAnonCasualties post went up on July 4, 2019, some two years after the conspiracy's unidentified online originator, known as Q, baselessly claimed that Trump was secretly leading a war against an elite cabal of pedophiles who controlled Washington, Hollywood and the world. By that point, QAnon was no longer just an online phenomenon in which the group's most fanatical adherents called for hanging traitors and waited for the "Storm," an awakening that would reveal the true breadth of evil in America. Some followers had begun showing up at Trump rallies wearing T-shirts and holding signs advertising their cause. "My mom has been into QAnon since it got started," wrote the QAnonCasualties founder, who has since deactivated his Reddit account. "The ignorance, bigotry and refusal to question the 'plan' has only gotten worse over time. I'm always torn between stopping communication with her because it only seems to make me feel terrible, and feeling like it's my responsibility to lead her back to reality." The founder described his experience with his mother as "exhausting, sad, scary, demoralizing" and invited members to vent or share coping strategies. Other Reddit groups, such as r/Qult_Headquarters, were dedicated to discrediting and mocking the growing conspiracy. QAnonCasualties, the group's founder wrote, was intended to be a "comforting place." "Thank the fucking stars I found you guys," replied one of the first to join. "Today has been hard." "My mother is a hard-core believer," wrote another. "I found her Twitter account handle and I am horrified and embarrassed. Who is this person?" Like many conspiracy theories, QAnon supplied a good-versus-evil narrative into which complicated world events could be easily incorporated. "Especially during the pandemic, Q provided a structure to explain what was going on," said Mike Rothschild, author of "The Storm Is Upon Us," which documents QAnon's rise. And it offered believers a sense of meaning and purpose. "We want to believe that we matter enough [that someone wants] to crush us," Rothschild said. "It's comforting to think that the New World Order would single us out for destruction." A big part of what made it novel was that it was interactive, allowing its followers to take part in the hunt for clues as if they were playing a video game. Social media algorithms, built to capture and keep consumers' attention, helped expand the pool of hardcore believers by leading curious individuals to online groups of believers and feeding them fresh QAnon conspiracy theories. Unlike other online conspiracy theories, it also had the blessing of some top Republicans, such as Trump, who embraced the movement in the hope that he could channel believers' rabid, and sometimes violent, passions for political gain. "It's a bet that they can control this insurgency and use it to defeat their opposition and retain control," said Lawrence Rosenthal, chair of the Berkeley Center for Right-Wing Studies. "The bet is we can ride this tiger. And sometimes, as in Germany and Italy, you can get eaten by the tiger." The same news events that inflamed QAnon followers' passions often produced simultaneously big spikes in QAnonCasualties's membership rolls. On the day the news media declared Biden the winner of the 2020 election, the online support group added 2,500 new members, according to Reddit. More than 6,000 joined in the days after the Capitol riots, and another 7,300 people signed up in the hours after Biden was inaugurated. Some family members who flocked to the site wondered if they were partially to blame for their loved one's descent into madness. "I know that disengaging with [my sister] as our beliefs began to diverge is why she turned to Q in the first place," a 33-year-old woman from Maryland wrote on QAnonCasualties. "Still I will just never understand." - - - Others sought out advice and coping strategies. "How should I handle my relationship with my Dad after I leave home?" asked an 18-year-old from Tampa, whose father believed that Bill Gates and other globalists were going to use the coronavirus vaccine to implant microchips in unsuspecting Americans. "I still love the man and part of the reason this has me so torn up is that I feel I may lose him for good." The tens of thousands flocking to QAnonCasualties represented only a subset of the pain sweeping the country. A recent NPR/Ipsos poll found that 17 percent of adults believed that "a group of Satan-worshipping elites who run a child sex ring are trying to control our politics and media." Some psychologists likened the spread of QAnon and the increase in conspiratorial thinking to a global pandemic. "I've been practicing for 30 years and this feels very different," said Nancy Molitor, a clinical psychologist in Chicago and assistant professor at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. "There have always been cults, but this one is a doozy." In Nashville, a group of about 200 mental health therapists recently set aside time to discuss how to handle QAnon believers. One therapist said she was fighting the urge to tell a QAnon believer who had come with for marriage counseling that his views were wrong, said Lisa Henderson, a licensed professional counselor and expert with the American Counseling Association, who took part in the discussion. A better approach, the group determined, was to try to figure out why the QAnon spouse was drawn to the conspiracy theory. - - - On QAnonCasualties, family members worried that mental health counselors might dismiss their fears or conclude that they had lost touch with reality. "I am now going to my first therapy appointment to deal with this and I have no idea how to talk to my therapist without sounding like I'm completely crazy," a middle school teacher from Wichita wrote in early February after cutting off contact with her mother. "Has anyone else gone to therapy for this? I'm so broken hearted because I currently have no blood relatives that I can speak to. I'm so tired." The woman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preserve her relationship with family, said in an interview that she met with the therapist the next day. She described her mother's predictions of mass arrests, fears of rampant pedophilia and worries about political violence. And she shared the pain that their estrangement had caused her. Fortunately, she said, the therapist was familiar with QAnon. "She nodded," the woman said in an interview, "and gave me the sign of the cross." In the days after the Capitol riots, Tyler began spending more and more time messaging with people he had met on QAnonCasualties. As a child, Tyler said he was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism. In 2019, he graduated from a local university with a degree in manufacturing engineering. In early January, he quit his job with a local manufacturer, hoping to find something that required a college degree. He was living at home. - - - "Without a way to vent, I would be truly alone on this and it would break me over time," he wrote in a QAnonCasualties discussion group. A few days after the Capitol riots, one of his mother's oldest friends stopped by to deliver a wedding present. Tyler's mother had recently remarried. "Do you plan on shooting someone today?" the friend said she joked when she noticed Tyler's mom was wearing a pistol. "You never know what's going to happen with the Democrats," Tyler's mother replied, according to the friend, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "They stole the election." "We're not going to do anything," replied the friend, who voted for Biden. The argument continued to escalate and the friend said she left. She described Tyler's mother as normally a "wonderful" person, who accompanied her on kayaking trips and invited her over for tea. But she said in an interview that she was stunned by the response. "We're 50 miles north of Minneapolis," she said. "She was concerned for everybody, but in the Republican way. I don't know how to explain it." - - - Tyler held out hope that Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20 might help ease tensions in the house. "It seems like my mom is returning to her old self," he wrote on Jan. 21. "I mean, she's still political, but now it's not in my face 24/7. I'll take that any day." The respite, though, didn't last. Soon she was insisting that Trump would return to the White House in early March. Tyler said he decided to confront her. "I told my mom everything," he texted his biological father's wife, Heather, on the morning of Feb. 3. Tyler's father had lost contact with him when his son was a child, and they had only reconnected in recent years. "Told her what?" Heather asked. "That I don't believe in Trump or any of her theories," Tyler replied. He said his mother had threatened to have her new husband "hurt" him when he returned home from work. Tyler wasn't actually worried for his safety. "I've been dealing with this for years," he texted. "It's normal for me." "That's not love," Heather replied. Tyler wrote back asking if he could stay at his stepmother and biological father's house until his mother cooled off. When Heather pulled up to the house 30 minutes later, Tyler was standing in the front yard, holding an overnight bag. He climbed into the car, exhaled and closed his eyes. Heather, a registered nurse, said she put a hand on Tyler's shoulder and began to cry. These days Tyler is living in his 7-year-old half sister's bedroom, while she sleeps in her parents' room. Recently, his mother's new husband told him that he was no longer welcome at their home. "When your daddy gets sick of you living there (and he will) don't bother calling us," he wrote. Tyler said he still hopes that the rancor and conspiracy theories fueled by the Trump presidency will fade. Maybe then, he said, he'll be able to rebuild a relationship with his mother. About a week after he moved out, he drove by his mother's home to pick up his belongings. His mother was inside. His things had recently been placed on the front lawn and were covered in a light dusting of snow. "I just don't see the humanity in this," he said, "I wanted my family back, not this hatred." When Lansing police arrived at the scene, Mason let Brunson up from the ground and told his colleagues he did not wish to press charges against the teens for trespassing, reports show. He told the responding officers that hed detained the teens because he thought they might have been committing burglaries in the area since both had backpacks and Brunsons friends backpack contained a BB gun, according to reports. Minister of State with responsibility for Disability, Anne Rabbitte TD, has today confirmed funding has been provided which will allow St Gabriels Childrens Centre Respite Service in Mungret to re-open. The 5m funding will see nine additional Respite Houses open nationally including, first to open St Gabriels Childrens Respite House in Mungret. In Budget 2021, I committed to provide funding to the HSE to develop nine additional respite services across the country. I am delighted to announce St Gabriels as the first of these services. I want to thank all those who worked tirelessly to fundraise for this respite house which will provide specialist respite supports to children. I have requested the HSE to give the utmost priority to putting these new facilities and services in place without delay and to provide me with regular reports so I can ensure this additional funding is directly targeted at the people who need it most. Funding has been provided to the HSE to develop and open the additional 9 dedicated centre-based respite services across all Community Healthcare Areas this year. The HSE are engaging with Service Providers to develop these services in each CHO and hope to be in a position to confirm the location of the other facilities in the coming months. I hope that this funding will enable children and adults with disabilities and their families to access this vital support. I look forward to each service coming on stream being developed throughout this year. I am very aware of the pressure on families who are often under tremendous strain to keep going. That is why I secured an additional 5m in Budget 2021 to specifically enhance respite provision for people with a disability and their families. I really believe that respite plays an integral role in the wider provision of disability services and it is an area Im keen to continue developing. The support services such as St Gabriels provide can have a real positive impact and the relief it provides is immeasurable for families, concluded Minister Rabbitte. Local Fine Gael councillor Dan McSweeney says the facility will prove to be "heaven sent" to the families whose kids will be able to avail of the facility. "It is extremely important to acknowledge the work of many volunteers who fundraised to enable the construction of this facility and the JP McManus Benevolent who contributed significantly also to the construction," Cllr McSweeney said, "It is also extremely important to acknowledge the hard work of the team at St Gabriel's who have worked extremely hard to deliver this state of the art facility for children and families of the Mid-West." Cllr Conor Sheehan, Labour, added: "As a member of the fundraising board for the respite centre, this is very welcome news and I sincerely hope that this wonderful centre and service will be able to open as soon as possible. I very much welcome today's announcement from Minister Anne Rabbitte and I thank her for honouring the commitment she made in Budget 2021." NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, London Business School, one of the world's leading business schools, returns with a 10-week consulting style project for MBA students, designed to help an organization address a complex, cross-functional business challenge. Unique to this program, London Business School has joined Hennessy, the world's best-selling Cognac, providing long-term support for small businesses impacted by the pandemic, with a goal of bolstering an equitable recovery for those of culturally diverse backgrounds. Introduced in June 2020, Hennessy's Unfinished Business initiative has provided over $5 million in funds to more than 1,600 Black, Asian and Latinx owned small businesses across the U.S., and remains committed to serving these communities well into the future. "Access to a world-class network as esteemed as London Business School opens doors to transformative growth possibilities for Unfinished Business recipients," said Jasmin Allen, Senior Vice President, Hennessy US. "This influential and highly-engaged program delivers significant value for small businesses, aiding Hennessy's commitment to supporting a more just economic future for Black, Asian and Latinx owned small business communities." In this joint effort, London Business School has selected five small business fund recipients from Hennessy's Unfinished Business initiative to participate in the consulting program. This faculty-led, experiential course facilitated through MBA students, will tackle complex business challenges and develop solutions that have real-world impact. Graduate students assigned to each business will commit upwards of 250 hours towards testing and refining solutions to accelerate each business forward. The students' work will be overseen by world-renowned London Business School Professor of Strategy & Entrepreneurship, Julian Birkinshaw. "The role of Business Schools in creating a just and equitable world is not to be underestimated. London Business School students have a strong track record in working with small businesses to drive lasting and sustainable impact across the globe. We are delighted to be partnering with Hennessy on this initiative to create tangible, actionable and meaningful change," said Professor Birkinshaw. London Business School worked closely with Hennessy's community partners including One Hundred Black Men, the Asian American Business Development Center and the Hispanic Federation to identify small businesses where the students could have the most impact on their pressing, strategic issues. Today's announcement of the esteemed program evolves Hennessy's Unfinished Business initiative, further diversifying resources beyond capital and providing direct professional business development support. To learn more, please visit UnfinishedBusiness.US. ABOUT HENNESSY The leader in Cognac, the Maison Hennessy has shined around the world with its exceptional know-how for more than 250 years. Built on founder Richard Hennessy's spirit of conquest, the brand is present in more than 160 countries. Based in the heart of the Charente region, Hennessy is also a steadfast pillar of the regional economy. The Maison's success and longevity are rooted in the excellence of its cognacs, each of which is born of a unique process of transmission of know-how from generation to generation. The first spirits house to be certified ISO 14001, Hennessy unites its capacity for innovation and the support of all of its partners to protect this exceptional area. As a crown jewel of the LVMH Group, Hennessy is a major contributor to French international trade, with 99% of production sold in export, and a worldwide ambassador for the French art de vivre. ABOUT LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL London Business School's vision is to have a profound impact on the way the world does business and the way business impacts the world. The School is consistently ranked among the best business schools globally* and is widely acknowledged as a centre for outstanding research. As well as its highly ranked degree programmes, the School offers award-winning Executive Education programmes to business leaders from around the world. London Business School has campuses in London and Dubai, and a presence in three additional international cities New York, Hong Kong and Shanghai. The School equips its diverse student body with the tools needed to tackle today's business challenges and connects them with many of the world's leading thinkers. The School has more than 47,000 alumni working in over 155 countries. Together, they are a community defined by a wealth of knowledge, business experience and worldwide networking opportunities. London Business School's leading faculty members come from 28 countries. They cover seven subject areas: accounting, economics, finance, management science and operations, marketing, organisational behaviour, and strategy and entrepreneurship. www.london.edu *The Financial Times (FT) ranked London Business School second in its global MBA rankings in 2021. MEDIA CONTACTS Katherine Espinosa, BCW Global (718) 644-9276, [email protected] Jacqueline Long, Hennessy (917) 596-3871, [email protected] SOURCE Hennessy WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th February, 2021) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed boosting security and commercial bilateral relations with the foreign minister and defense minister of the small Atlantic Ocean archepelago nation of Cabo Verde, Department of State Spokesperson Ned price said in a readout of the conversation on Tuesday. "Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with the Cabo Verdean Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defense Rui Figueiredo today," Price said. "Secretary Blinken and Foreign Minister Figueiredo discussed our planned bilateral dialogue to advance shared priorities, expand commercial relations, and strengthen our security partnership. " Blinken pointed out that the United States was proud to be a friend to Cabo Verde and praised it as a model of democratic governance and human rights in Africa, Price said. The Secretary of State expressed interest in working with the Cabo Verdean government to bring investment opportunities to the attention of US firms, Price said. Blinken also congratulated Cabo Verde for its selection for the US National Guard's State Partnership Program, Price added. Experts suggest Nord Stream 2 implications for Ukraine Expert views on the fate of Ukrainian GTS vary. Reporting by UNIAN If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Washington: With the White House flags flying at half-mast, President Joe Biden addressed the nation on Tuesday (AEDT) to mark what he described as a truly grim, heartbreaking milestone. Half-million Americans dead from the coronavirus. We have to resist becoming numb to the sorrow, Biden said, before attending a candle-lit vigil and participating in a minutes silence. We have to resist viewing each life as a statistic or a blur or on the news. The 500,000 figure, Biden noted, exceeded the American casualties from World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War combined. He could also have noted that the countrys coronavirus death count was as if the population of a city like New Orleans had been wiped off the map. President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Vice-President Kamala Harris, and Doug Emhoff during a candle-lit White House ceremony to honour the 500,000 Americans who died from COVID-19. Credit:AP It took four months from Americas first recorded case of COVID-19 for the nation to reach 100,000 deaths - a figure that then seemed staggering. It took another four months to reach 200,000 and three months after that to reach 300,000. New Delhi, Feb 23 : A Delhi Court on Tuesday granted bail to climate activist Disha Ravi in the Greta Thunberg 'Toolkit' conspiracy case. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana allowed the bail to the accused on the condition of two surety of Rs one lakh each. During the three-hour-long bail hearing on February 20, the police said that the 'Toolkit' was a sinister design to defame India and cause violence. "Poetic Justice Foundation and Sikhs For Justice in order to hide their involvement, used Disha Ravi as a front to carry out nefarious activity," Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju told the court, adding that these organisations are connected to the Khalistani movement. The Delhi Police further told the city court that Ravi covered her track and deleted evidence like contents of the Toolkit and a WhatsApp group, which the public prosecutor emphasized showed her "guilty mind". Ravi's counsel Advocate Siddharth Agarwal, however, claimed there is no evidence linking the Toolkit to the violence during the farmers' march on January 26. Ravi faces charges of conspiracy and sedition in the 'Toolkit' conspiracy case related to the farmers' agitation and was arrested from Bengaluru on February 13. The Delhi Police have contended that the google document tweeted by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg to back the farmers' protest and then deleted, was created by Ravi and two other activists -- Jacob and Muluk. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text NEW YORK CITY (dpa-AFX) - Covid vaccine developers Pfizer and Moderna are planning to boost supply of their respective vaccines to fight against coronavirus. Pfizer plans to increase the weekly shipments of Pfizer-BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine to more than 13 million doses, while Moderna is aiming to supply 40 million doses monthly. According to Pfizer, the latest improvements reflect FDA's recent approval of a 6-dose label for each vial, the doubling of its batch sizes, increased yields per batch, and reduced cycle times, as well as deployment of faster laboratory tests to reduce release times. In a written testimony before a House subcommittee, Pfizer's Chief Business Officer John Young said the company expects to increase the number of doses it makes available for shipment to more than 13 million doses per week by the middle of March. This is compared to around 4 to 5 million doses per week at the beginning of February. Pfizer said it is on track to make 120 million doses available for shipment by the end of March and an additional 80 million doses by the end of May. And, the company anticipates that all 300 million contracted doses will be available for shipment by the end of July, enabling the vaccination of up to 150 million Americans. Pfizer vaccine, which showed vaccine efficacy of 95 percent in trials, was the first to be granted emergency use authorization by the FDA. The company has ramped up production of doses, and has increased projected 2021 global production to at least 2 billion doses from 1.3 billion doses. As of February 17, Pfizer has shipped approximately 40 million doses to points of use as directed by the U.S. government. No serious safety concerns have been identified that have changed the favorable risk-benefit profile of the vaccine to date, Young said. Further, Moderna's President Stephen Hoge, in his testimony before the Committee, said the company doubled its monthly deliveries since late 2020, and are aiming to double them again by April to more than 40 million doses per month. By the end of 2020, Moderna delivered 17.8 million doses to the federal government. So far, the company has delivered 45 million doses of its Covid vaccine, which showed a 94 percent efficacy rate and received FDA's EUA in last December. Tens of millions more doses are at different stages of the production process. The company is on track to meet its commitment to deliver 100 million doses by the end of March. Based on the progress scaling up manufacturing, Moderna said it recently agreed to move up its delivery timeline, and is now aiming to deliver a second hundred million doses by the end of May and a third hundred million doses by the end of July. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX MODERNA-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de Highlights Venus Optics, a Chinese optics manufacturer, has launched two new lenses under its brand name Laowa. The first lens is the Laowa 11mm F4.5 for Canon RF mount camera systems. The second lens is the Laowa 65mm F2.8 2x Ultra-Macro APO to complement Nikon Z mount camera systems. We earlier reported that Venus Optics introduced four new Laowa lenses for Fujifilm and Sony cameras. This time, the company has released two more lenses called Laowa 11mm F4.5 lens, and Laowa 65mm F2.8 2X Macro lens. The former lens is meant for Canon RF mount camera systems and the Laowa 65mm F2.8 2x Ultra-Macro APO will complement Nikon Z mount camera systems. Now it's time to deep dive into the technical specifications of the two lenses: Laowa 11mm F4.5 lens The Laowa 11mm F4.5 FF RL lens comprises of 14 elements in 10 groups. It is a manual lens with an aperture scale of F4.5 through F22. The lens includes a five-blade aperture diaphragm. It has a minimum focusing distance of 19cm and makes use of a 62mm front filter thread. The lens is already available for Leica M, L, Sony FE and Nikon Z mount camera systems. Now, it is obtainable for Leica M mount and new Canon RF mount camera systems as well. Laowa 65mm F2.8 2X Macro lens The Laowa 65mm F2.8 2x Ultra-Macro APO is made of 14 elements in 10 groups with an aperture scale of F2.8 through F22. Similar to the Laowa 11mm F4.5 lens, this one is also a manual lens. It features a nine-blade aperture diaphragm. It has a minimum focusing distance of 17cm and makes use of a 52mm front filter thread. The lens is already available for Canon EF-M, Fujifilm X and Sony E mount camera systems. Venus Optics has now introduced it for the Nikon Z mount camera system. Both the new Laowa lenses are up for grabs on the company's official website. However, the price and availability of the lenses in India is still not known. Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson read en eyewitness account into the record at Tuesday's hearing on Capitol riot security that alleges without specific evidence that it was 'agents provocateur' who turned 'unsuspecting marchers into an invading mob' during on January 6th. Johnson, a Republican Donald Trump loyalist who probed Hunter Biden when he was a committee chairman but who also voted to count electoral votes in states like his own that went for Joe Biden, introduced the conspiracy theory at a Senate hearing Tuesday. He spoke after former Capitol Police chief Steven Sund described his officers being overrun by a MAGA mob armed with flags, poles, and bear spray. Johnson read from a piece by J. Michael Waller, an analyst for the Center for Security Policy who produced his own eyewitness account of the event. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) floated a conspiracy theory by reading from a witness to the Jan. 6th riot who wrote there were agents-provocateur within the crowd that triggered the riot Johnson read from an article published in the Federalist by J. Michael Waller, an analyst for the Center for Security Policy who produced his own eyewitness account of the event. The account concluded that a small group of armed attackers who 'probably' planned the event and led other rioters to take part. It comes after Trump allies put forward theories of a 'false flag' operation rather than a riot by Trump supporters seeking to overturn the election result. Some pointed to the left wing antifa, despite video footage of people decked out in Trump gear and dozens of arrests of people who said they went to the Capitol in support of Trump's claims of a stolen election. Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who co-chaired the hearing, blasted the claim afterwards as 'disinformation.' 'As our hearing concludes, I want to make one thing clear: provocateurs did not storm the Capitol. They were not fake Trump protestors. The mood on January 6th was not festive. That is disinformation.' Sen. Johnson read from an account by J. Michael Waller about what he saw at the Capitol Jan. 6th Johnson read from a piece by J. Michael Waller, an analyst for the Center for Security Policy who produced his own eyewitness account of the event claiming there were 'agents provocateur' behind the Jan. 6 riot Johnson read the statement after other Trump loyaists promoted narratives that left-wing forces infiltrated or caused the MAGA mob riots The account read by Johnson describes different groups within the protests outside the Capitol A protester holds a Trump flag inside the US Capitol Building near the Senate Chamber on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC 'He said the mood of the crowd was positive and festive,' said Johnson, reading from Waller's account as he joined a crowd marching to the Capitol. 'Of the thousands of people I passed or who passed me along Constitution Avenue, some were indignant or contemptuous of Congress, but not one appeared angry or incited to riot,' Waller wrote in the Federalist. He said many were 'families with small children, many were elderly, overweight, or just plain tired or frail, traits not typically attributed to riot prone.' 'Many wore pro police shirts or carried pro police black and blue flags,' according to passages Johnson read. 'A very few didn't share the jovial, friendly, earnest demeanor of the great majority. Some obviously didn't fit in,' he continued. 'He describes four different types of people,' said Johnson: plainclothes militants, agents provocateurs, Trump supporters, and then a disciplined uniform column of attackers. 'I think these are the people that probably planned this,' he said. The statement Johnson read described D.C. police as their 'usually detached selves,' and said he noticed 'no police at all' on Capitol grounds. 'The openness seemed like a courtesy gesture from Congress,' Waller wrote. 'Everyone squeezed closer and closer together with mostly high spirits.' Several times he identified himself as within earshot of flare-ups. 'Some trouble began up in the front' near the inaugural platform, he said, 'but we cannot see what was happening.' Then there was a 'scuffle' and people started chanting 'USA, USA.' He described a group of 'plainclothes militants,' adding they 'fit right in with MAGA people.' Then he said police fired tear gas into the middle of the crowd, which 'changed the crowd's demeanor.' 'The pro police crowd when from disbelief to confusion to anger,' according to the account Johnson read. 'I'll stop right there. The last five pages is titled provocatuers turning unsuspecting marchers into an invading mob,' Johnson added, before asking a few questions of witnesses. The article Johnson read from described the supposed agents-provocatuer as 'scattered groups of men exhorting the marchers to gather closely and tightly toward the center of the outside of the Capitol building and prevent them from leaving.' It claimed there were 'fake Trump protesters,' described as 'a few young men wearing Trump or MAGA hats backwards and who did not fit in with the rest of the crowd in terms of their actions and demeanor, whom I presumed to be Antifa or other leftist agitators.' The passages read by Johnson came as yet another person picked up by the FBI claimed to have Trump sympathies. Thomas Webster, a former NYPD officer, surrender to agents in New York Monday. Prosecutors say Webster, a former Marine, attacked a Capitol Police officer with a pole. His defense lawyer said he wasn't part of any group and that he went at the behest of the former president of the United States. The Souther Policy Law Center describes the center as having 'gone from a respected hawkish think tank focused on foreign affairs to a conspiracy-oriented mouthpiece for the growing anti-Muslim movement in the United States.' Johnson also said he found videos of incident 'sickening' and blasted the 'reprehensible racial slurs' rioters can be heard hurling at police. 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. Anna Vakili has hit out at stigma surrounding women and how they dress, saying a woman can be both sexy and smart. The Love Island star, 30, took to Instagram on Tuesday to share two photos side-by-side that saw her wearing very different looks, as she reflected on how women are judged for what they wear. In one photo she showed off her sensational curves in a semi-sheer black bra and matching underwear, while in the second she donned a white shirt, jumper vest and a mask while at work at her pharmacy. Thoughts: Love Island's Anna Vakili slammed stigma around women being seen as either 'boring' or 's****y' depending on how they dress in a candid post she shared on Tuesday In a lengthy caption, she wrote: 'Stigma and stereotype. Two concepts thats follow women around from the moment they enter the social world. 'Boring, frigid, s****y, dumb. I mean, the list of words used to label women is endless,' she said, comparing how the two photo would be perceived by some men. 'Its unfair, that women feel the need and pressure to conform to one stereotype and please a certain group of people, and in doing so must sacrifice a whole other side of themselves and who they are in the process. 'I have for so long been stuck in a conflicting crisis of which one am I? Who am I? Until now. Now I can finally say I am BOTH. And screw anyone who cant accept that. Hitting out: In her caption, Anna said she struggled with her identity because stigma around women celebrating their sexiness, but said she's realised she can be 'anything she wants to be' 'I wont forget this great scene in Sex & The City, when Miranda sarcastically dismissed a guy she met at the bar who said that women are usually smart OR beautiful and a man can not wish for both. 'The stigma and stereotype attached to a woman who finds self empowerment and confidence in being sexy and therefore feeling sexy, is that she is most likely brain dead. 'This is false and needs to change. A woman can be anything she wants to be and express it in anyway she finds suitable for her.' She concluded: 'And intelligence, education, smart sharp wit and all other intellectual qualities have nothing to do with what a women wears, how she looks and chooses to portray herself.' Stigma: Anna added that 'intelligence, education, smart sharp wit and all other intellectual qualities have nothing to do with what a women wears' Earlier this month, Anna - who battled coronavirus shortly before the new year - posed up a storm in red lace lingerie by Missy Empire for a bedroom shoot. The TV star - who has been dating her mystery boyfriend for over a year - recently lifted the lid on her relationship in an exclusive interview with MailOnline. Anna admitted that while the couple are in a 'serious' romance, they're 'not ready' to get married or have kids just yet. The curvaceous bombshell first rose to prominence during her stint on Love Island, where she embarked on ill-fated flings with Sherif Lanre, Ovie Soko and Jordan Hames. 'Thick, just how he likes it!' Earlier this month, the TV star - who battled coronavirus shortly before the new year - posed up a storm in red lace lingerie by Missy Empire Shortly after leaving the Mallorcan villa, the media personality embarked on a new relationship, but has kept mum on her partner's identity ever since. 'He's a private person who doesn't have Instagram', the TV star, who has teased her beau in her cheeky Instagram captions, told us. 'I think I feel pressured to get married and have kids because of my age. I do want to marry him in the future. Coming from a Middle Eastern background, being married and having kids by 30 is very much pushed onto us. 'I don't care as I'm not going to give in to the pressure, I'm not ready to get married or have kids, I'm having too much fun. F**k society's stereotypical standards!' Kathmandu, Feb 22 (UNI) The Nepalese Army has issued a clarification regarding the alleged statement of Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Purna Chandra Thapa doing the rounds in social media, where he is said to have described Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli as the most fearless PM in the country's history. The statement, attributed to the CoAS, described PM Oli as 'The country has found its most fearless prime minister in history so far, we take pride in this,' The Himalayan Times quoted the fact-checking blog Nepal Fact Check, clarifying that this information was not backed by any evidence whatsoever. (@ChaudhryMAli88) US regulators had been weighing stricter inspection rules prior to the weekend incident involving engine failure on a Boeing 777 in Denver, the Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday New York, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Feb, 2021 ) :US regulators had been weighing stricter inspection rules prior to the weekend incident involving engine failure on a Boeing 777 in Denver, the Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday. The FAA reviewed inspection records and maintenance history after a Japan Airlines fan blade incident on December 4, 2020 "to determine the cause of the fracture and was evaluating whether to adjust blade inspections," an FAA spokesman said Tuesday. The Japan flight landed without injury. On Saturday, a United Airlines Boeing 777 plane quickly returned to Denver after liftoff due to engine failure. No one was injured in the Denver incident. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... PHOENIX Arizonas super-low $240 maximum weekly unemployment benefit would increase to $320 by mid-summer and employers would have a small increase in their premiums under a new proposal unveiled Tuesday by Republican Senate President Karen Fann. Fanns proposal appears to have bipartisan support in the Senate but differs from a plan backed by all House Democrats and some House Republicans. Rep. David Cook, the House sponsor, questioned how Fann can justify an additional $20 per week over his plan without further boosting premiums. The states weekly unemployment pay is the 2nd lowest in the nation, above only Mississippis $235, and would increase to $320 under Fanns proposal. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ It would rise to $400 when the states nearly depleted unemployment trust fund is back at normal levels of about $1.5 billion. At $320 a week, Arizona would still pay the 5th lowest weekly rate in the U.S. In addition, laid-off workers would be able to take more part time work without losing their benefits. Arizona curretly allows workers to earn only $30 a week before benefits are reduced. That amount would rise to $160 under the both proposals. Its keeps the employee engaged in the workforce, Fann told the Senate Appropriations Committee, which advanced the measure on a 9-1 vote. Its kind of like school, she added. If you drop out of school its very difficult to get them to go back in. But if they keep engaged with their workforce colleagues, if they feel like theyre part of that whole work, they are more likely to back to work. Employers who currently pay premiums on the first $7,000 of yearly wages would see that increased to $8,000 on Jan. 1 and $9,000 in wages in January 2023. That would boost the current premium average of about $160 a year by $10 to $15, according to figures Cook provided. Cook said he is optimistic that the Senate and House will come to an agreement of some kind, and believes his proposal boosted the momentum for the Senate to act. But while he wants to boost unemployment pay, it must be paid for, and hes not sure Fanns plan does that. Heres the deal their bill increases benefits more weekly, but the question is are they achievable and are they paid for, Cook said. Cook said he set his new maximum unemployment rate at $300 based on calculations of increased premium revenue and questioned how Fann got to $320 a week. His plan also increases the income disregard to $160. But Fanns plan limits benefits to 20 weeks, down from the standard 26 weeks, when unemployment levels drop below 6%. Above that level, the standard 26 weeks apply. And there are times, such as the current coronavirus pandemic, when that is extended by either federal or state action. Fann said before Januarys legislative session started that an increase in unemployment pay wasnt in the works this year because of concerns it would hurt businesses. But she said Senate Democrats and some Republicans persuaded her to act now. Her proposal phases in both premium and pay increases to limit the impact to businesses. Remember were still in the middle of a COVID crisis and we have a lot of businesses that are still trying to get back on their feet much less survive, Fann said in an interview. This is why we need to phase this in a little bit and take a couple steps both for the people receiving benefits and for the people paying the premiums on this. Fann said the business community and the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry support her plan. But Garrick Taylor, the chambers interim president and CEO, said thats not exactly true. The group wants to work with both parties to modernize the unemployment system, but cant fully back either plan now because of uncertainty about the unemployment trust fund balance and the potential for more federal relief. We want to keep the unemployment insurance trust fund healthy, and we want to limit harm to employers who are responsible for contributing to the trust fund, especially during a soft economy brought on by the pandemic, Taylor said. Arizonas unemployment soared after layoffs triggered by the pandemic in March. The trust fund, which builds up cash during periods of low unemployment, was at $1.1 billion before the pandemic hit a year ago. This week, it is below $90 million, although Republican Gov. Doug Ducey plans to use $134 million in federal virus relief funds to boost that balance. San Francisco police arrested a 19-year-old man who allegedly stabbed and killed another man Monday night near the SoMa West Skatepark, the popular skate spot under the Highway 101 overpass. James Christian Moncrief was booked at San Francisco County Jail and charged with homicide and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, police said in a statement. Moncrief has no fixed address, police said. The San Francisco Police Department responded to a report of the stabbing at Duboce Avenue and Otis Street at 8:30 p.m. Monday and found a 24-year-old man suffering from a stab wound to his torso, the statement said. Police said the victim also had no fixed address. The victim was taken to a local hospital with life threatening injuries and was later pronounced dead, police said. Police said a preliminary investigation revealed that the victim and suspect had been involved in an altercation. A witness who was skating at the SoMa skatepark Monday night told Mission Local he saw the two men fighting on the median underneath the freeway. While an arrest has been made, this remains an active and ongoing investigation, the police department said. Anyone with information can call the SFPD tip line at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with SFPD. You may remain anonymous. Editor's note: This story was updated on Feb. 26 at 3:45 p.m. to include reporting from Mission Local that said the stabbing occurred on the median on Duboce Avenue across the street from the skate park. New Delhi: India has allowed Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's aircraft to use Indian Air Space, according to informed sources. Imran Khan will be travelling to Sri Lanka on his maiden visit on February 23. In 2019, Pakistan had denied opening its airspace for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flights to the US and Saudi Arabia citing alleged human rights violations in Kashmir. India took up the denial of permission to VVIP flight with an International Civil Aviation Organisation. Under normal circumstances, the VVIP aircraft are granted permission by countries. However, Pakistan's denial of permission to VVIP aircraft was an aberration. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Authorities in Hai Duong Province, a coronavirus hotspot, launched a criminal investigation against a woman who failed to comply with pandemic prevention measures, leading to three other infections. The woman, a resident of provincial capital Hai Duong Town, and confirmed infected with the coronavirus on Feb. 15, is being probed for "spreading dangerous infectious diseases to human," police told press Monday. She developed a fever, cough and grew tired on Feb. 3, but still traveled across town, coming in contact with many people en route. On Feb. 8, she visited the provincial Center for Disease Control to be tested for Covid-19. On Feb. 11, health authorities confirmed her to be a suspected infectee. She had her samples taken for a second test on Feb. 14 and was confirmed infected a day later. Police said the patient "didn't declare her specific travel schedule nor information on those whom she had been in close contact with," inhibiting contact tracing and timely prevention measures. As a result, three of her family members were also diagnosed with the coronavirus, Vietnam News Agency reported. She was the third person to be placed under criminal investigation for spreading the virus since Covid-19 broke out in Vietnam in January 2020. The first was a Vietnam Airlines flight attendant who allegedly breached Covid-19 quarantine protocols last December and infected three others and the second a Vinh Long man infected with the coronavirus who had illegally entered the country in January. Earlier, people flouting Covid-19 prevention regulations were let off with mere fines. Since Jan. 28, when community transmissions returned to the nation after almost two months, Vietnam has recorded 803 cases, with Hai Duong accounting for the majority at 620. All of Hai Duong is undergoing social distancing for 15 days starting Feb. 16 as per a government directive on Covid-19 prevention. The report also shows that home networks were a major draw last year for cybercriminals looking to pivot to corporate systems, or compromise and conscript IoT devices into botnets. Trend Micro found attacks on homes surged 210% to reach nearly 2.9 billionamounting to 15.5% of all homes. The vast majority (73%) of attacks on home networks involved brute forcing logins to gain control of a router or smart device. Email-borne threats made up 91% of the 62.6 billion threats blocked by Trend Micro last year, indicating that phishing attacks continued to be hugely popular. The company detected nearly 14 million unique phishing URLs in 2020 as attackers targeted distracted home workers. "In 2020, businesses faced unprecedented threat volumes hitting their extended infrastructure, including the networks of home workers. Familiar tactics such as phishing, brute forcing and vulnerability exploitation are still favored as the primary means of compromise, which should help when developing defenses," said Jon Clay, director of global threat communications for Trend Micro. "Global organizations have now had time to understand the operational and cyber risk impact of the pandemic. The new year is a chance to adjust and improve with comprehensive cloud-based security to protect distributed staff and systems." Other key trends included: Newly detected ransomware families increased 34%, with "double extortion" attacks where attackers steal data before encrypting it to force payment by threatening to release the stolen information and more targeted threats becoming increasingly popular. Government, banking, manufacturing and healthcare were the most targeted sectors. The number of vulnerabilities published by the Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) increased 40% year-on-year, but Trend Micro continues to see flaws from as far back as 2005 being heavily exploited. Many attacks targeted flaws in VPNs used by remote workers. CVE-2019 -11510, a critical arbitrary file disclosure flaw in Pulse Connect Secure, already has nearly 800,000 hits based on Trend Micro customer data. -11510, a critical arbitrary file disclosure flaw in Pulse Connect Secure, already has nearly 800,000 hits based on Trend Micro customer data. Cloud service misconfigurations increasingly had consequences in 2020. Trend Micro observed exploitation of unsecured APIs in several cryptocurrency mining attacks. The ZDI published 1,453 vulnerability advisories, nearly 80% of which were rated as Critical or High severity. On the positive front, there was a 17% fall in detections of BEC attacks, although there's no indication of how many were successful. About Trend Micro Trend Micro, a global leader in cybersecurity, helps make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Leveraging over 30 years of security expertise, global threat research, and continuous innovation, Trend Micro enables resilience for businesses, governments, and consumers with connected solutions across cloud workloads, endpoints, email, IIoT, and networks. Our XGen security strategy powers our solutions with a cross-generational blend of threat-defense techniques that are optimized for key environments and leverage shared threat intelligence for better, faster protection. With over 6,700 employees in 65 countries, and the world's most advanced global threat research and intelligence, Trend Micro enables organizations to secure their connected world. www.trendmicro.com SOURCE Trend Micro Incorporated Related Links https://www.trendmicro.com/ STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Comedian Pete Davidson had some shining moments on NBCs Saturday Night Live last week. The Great Kills native, also known as SNLs resident young person, was involved in several sketches Saturday night, portraying Gov. Andrew Cuomo, spending some time alone on Valentines Day and listening to the song Drivers License. Here are some of the highlights: THE COLD OPEN Davidson gave a spot-on impression of Cuomo on the Britney Spears (Chloe Fineman) talk show Oops, You Did It Again, where guests apologize for controversies theyre in. When asked if he knew why he was on the show, Cuomo asked, Is it because indoor dining is back in New York? Thats exciting, right? He then lowered his head and said, All right its because of the nursing home stuff. When Spears said Mayor Bill de Blasio suggested the governor be investigated, Davidsons character said, I will bury him in the tallest grave this city has ever seen! WEEKEND UPDATE VALENTINES DAY RECAP Davidson went on SNLs Weekend Update, hosted by Michael Che and fellow Staten Islander Colin Jost, to disclose his Valentines Day. I spent the night eating chocolates and watching a movie with my mom, which is why Im officially moving out of the house. One of us has to go, Davidson joked. We were watching that Britney Spears documentary, but I had to turn it off when I realized my mom has way more of a case to take over my finances than Britneys dad ever did. Davidson compared his mother to SNL, saying, No matter what I do, Im never asked to leave. When Jost mentioned his borough upbringing, Davidson joked that his grammar and lack of police records say otherwise. MR. CHICKEN LEGS PAGEANT Davidsons slim figure landed him a spot on the Mr. Chicken Legs Pageant sketch. Davidson dressed as Jack Skellington from Tim Burtons Nightmare Before Christmas. At the end of the skit, Davidsons character, Todd Dodley, was crowned the winner of the fictional contest to find the person with the skinniest legs. INTIMACY COORDINATOR The SNL host was Rege-Jean Page, star of the Netflix series Bridgerton. In a spoof of the show, intimacy coordinators played by Pete Davidson and Mikey Day attempt to instruct a love scene between the Duke played by Page and Daphne played by Chloe Fineman. JAMMING TO DRIVERS LICENSE Davidson and the rest of the SNL crew performed a sketch on the rising popularity of Olivia Rodrigos Drivers License ballad. As the Great Kills native mouthed the lyrics of the track, Rege-Jean Page, Kenan Thompson, Beck Bennett, Alex Moffat, Mikey Day and Bowen Yang joined in a sing along. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... PHOENIX The U.S. Air Force is distributing bottled water to Arizona residents and business owners near Luke Air Force Base whose drinking water showed high levels of contaminants. A statement by the base said water testing detected levels of Perfluorooctanoic Acid and Perfluorooctane Sulfonate above the Environmental Protection Agencys lifetime health advisory for drinking water. The so-called forever chemicals were detected during tests of water from Valley Utilities Water Company. The chemicals impacted the water supply for about 6,000 people in 1,600 residences in Glendale, Litchfield Park and unincorporated Maricopa County, base spokesperson Sean Clements said. Impacted residents began receiving bottled water at a distribution center Tuesday morning. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The Air Force has long roots in Glendale and Maricopa County, and we share community concerns about the potential impact of these compounds on drinking water, Luke Air Force Base commander Brig. Gen. Gregory Kreuder said in a statement. The compounds have been found in numerous locations after their previous widespread use in many industrial and consumer products and in foam used by commercial industries and the armed services to extinguish fuel fires. The EPAs lifetime health advisory concerning the chemicals is not an enforceable regulation, the Air Force said. The University of Alabama at Birmingham may not like a tweet Professor Sarah Parcak sent Wednesday night about a late conservative media host, but theres little it can do to punish the professor. Thats according to legal experts who study the First Amendment, which protects political speech from crackdowns by government agencies. This is not something that was said in the classroom. It wasnt geared or designated towards a particular student or community. Its literally private thoughts about another private individual, said Tish Gotell Faulks, legal director for the ACLU of Alabama. No matter how painful or distasteful that expression was, its her right to partake. Parcak wrote in a since-deleted tweet that when a terrible piece of scum, referring to political commentator Rush Limbaugh, dies, there is no sympathy. Only a desire that they suffered until their last breath. Later that day, UAB President Ray Watts issued a statement condemning Parcak, saying, UAB is disgusted and extremely troubled that Sarah Parcak would tweet something so unprofessional and blindly inhumane and cruel. Watts wrote that UAB would review the incident. The chair of the state GOP has asked for stronger action. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, which advocates for free speech protections on college campuses, put out a statement last week asking UAB to back off from investigating Parcaks constitutionally protected speech. UAB is free to criticize a professor, but once they step over into reviewing or disciplining her for political speech, they are infringing upon her First Amendment rights, said Adam Steinbaugh, a director at FIRE, in an interview, adding that he encourages universities to add more speech, or explain why they find someones statement objectionable and offer options of other ways to respond. On Tuesday, a spokeswoman, Alicia Rohan, added that Watts meant to reinforce UABs values and his own personal belief, as a physician, of the importance of respecting sick and dying people. The thought of wishing a painful death on any person is counter to the values by which the UAB community lives, Rohan said. It is important UAB make it clear that any faculty member wishing suffering and death on anyone does not speak for the university. Read more: Reactions to Rush Limbaughs death pour in from Alabama and beyond Rohan said UAB recognizes Parcaks right to free speech and has not said Parcak has violated any specific policies. Parcak did not respond to a request for comment. The First Amendment does not protect all speech in all situations employees of private businesses can be fired for racist remarks, off-color jokes or online posts at the companys discretion but for the past 50 years, it has been understood to protect most government employees, especially when they express opinions about political or national issues. One caveat is if their speech say a police officer making racist remarks or a teacher making fun of a students assignment undermines public confidence in their ability to do their job fairly. Professors are typically understood to have an extra layer of insulation. Social media may expand their reach, but it doesnt change the basic rules, experts said. College faculty are supposed to be breaking the boundaries of ideas. Theyre supposed to be experimenting at the fringes of social and political thoughts, said Frank LoMonte, director of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida. In 2019, a new law in Alabama added protections for professors, saying faculty at public universities are free to take positions on public controversies. UABs faculty policies also protect professors ability to speak freely as citizens without institutional censorship, as long as they show appropriate restraint and make it clear that they dont speak for the broader university. Historically, hate speech belittling someone based on an unchangeable aspect of their appearance or identity, such as race or religion also has been seen as broadly protected. LoMonte said he did not consider Parcaks tweet offensive. Even if he did, he said, there is no reason to think Parcaks opinion about Limbaugh, who himself mocked the deaths of people with AIDS (though he later apologized) and was known for rude and cruel remarks about liberals and women, affects her ability to teach or do research fairly at UAB. I mean, every single social media account holder in America was weighing in [on Rush Limbaughs death and influence]. Right? Everybody had a take on it, he said. If she says something that is equally sharp, but is directed to somebody on the campus, then you might say, gee, that, that calls your judgment and ability to do your job into question. But because its directed to one of the most famous people on the face of the earth, and somebody who was a lightning rod for controversy, I think theres a lot more latitude to engage in sharply-worded criticism. Faulks agreed, saying that Parcaks criticism was political. If Parcak had chosen to comment specifically on Limbaughs age, or weight, or cancer diagnosis, rather than his political beliefs and career, she said, the speech might have veered into unprotected territory. Certainly, wishing death upon someone in a painful way, because they are in their 70s, seems pretty messed, Faulks said. These other things ... I think that UAB has covered itself when it said that they reject all forms of racism, xenophobia and sexism, as well as bigotry, and all of its forms. When Dr. Parcak did is none of those. I think that the university recognizes that it needs to reject her speech just on Southern niceties. But theres no reason for them to think that they should seek to augment her contract for it. Despite broad free speech protections, professors frequently come under fire for speech inside and outside the classroom. In 2018, a professor at California State University, Fresno, tweeted about death of former first lady Barbara Bush, calling her an amazing racist who, along with her husband, raised a war criminal. California States president said the professor was acting in a private capacity and that her comments, although disgraceful, are protected free speech under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Parcak has been criticized for tweets before, and UAB also has fielded criticism about other grad students and faculty, most notably a graduate student who had been a member of Identity Evropa, a white nationalist group, and an assistant professor of biology who wrote tweets and blog posts that explored ethnonationalism and extreme conservative viewpoints. The professor is still employed at UAB. As we said in 2019, UAB will follow policies, procedures, and state and federal laws, and recognizes individuals constitutionally protected rights to free speech, said Rohan. This responsibility applies even when speech is counter to the vision, mission and values we champion. BEIJING, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- The International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the CPC Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Committee co-hosted the "Stories of CPC" Thematic Briefing on Xinjiang on Monday in Urumqi. A total of over 310 leaders and prominent personages representing more than 190 political parties and organizations from 80 plus countries, among which over 100 are from Islamic countries, have been involved in an in-depth discussion on the theme of "A Better Life for All" and reached broad consensus. Please see the attachment for the full text of the translation of the consensus. The Chronicle A 24-year-old man died and a suspect was arrested Monday after an altercation at a San Francisco skate park ended in stabbing. Police were sent to the SoMa West Skatepark at Duboce Avenue and Otis Street at about 8:30 p.m, after callers reported a stabbing. Bumper pay: Jean-Sebastien Jacques made 7.2m in 2020 Rio Tinto's ousted boss was handed a 20 per cent pay rise last year and could be in line for millions more, despite losing his job after the miner destroyed sacred Aboriginal caves. Jean-Sebastien Jacques made 7.2m in 2020 the most in a single year since he became chief executive in 2016. The bumper pay packet came even as his cash bonus was docked and 1m was taken off a lucrative long-term bonus plan following the blasts in Western Australia. It takes the total amount the French businessman earned during his tenure at Rio to 24m. But campaigners and investors poured scorn on the bonus and the fact that he is still in line to receive up to 28m in the future through share plans saying it 'cast doubt' on the mining giant's apologies for the disaster. Rio sparked global outrage last May after it blew up two 46,000-year-old caves in the Juukan Gorge to expand an iron ore mine giving it access to an extra 103m worth of high-grade material. The two rock shelters showed evidence of being occupied for thousands of years by the local Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) people and archaeologists had told the firm of their value. The PKKP were left devastated by the destruction, describing it as 'soul-destroying'. The explosions were legal under Western Australia's heritage laws and the plans had been made before Jacques, 49, took over. But the decision to go ahead has prompted a wide-ranging re-evaluation of how mining companies interact with Aboriginal communities. Rio also bungled its response, with Jacques (pictured) failing to make a public apology for two weeks after the event. After months of negotiations with communities and shareholders Jacques and two other executives were ousted in September. However, Jacques did not leave until the end of December. He could have earned around 13m last year if Rio had hit all of its performance targets and he had not had any pay docked. But because he stood down in 'mutual agreement' with the board and was deemed a 'good leaver', he is still eligible to receive shares worth another 28m at current prices over the next few years. In addition to the 7.2m, he will also take home 519,000 for his remaining five months of unworked notice period in 2021, and 215,000 for his unused leave. The board defended this move because of his 'considerable achievements' during his time at Rio. The final pay packet was slammed by Australian investor group the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility. James Fitzgerald, its general counsel, said it 'casts doubt over Rio Tinto's various expressions of sorrow and regret'. He added: 'If Jacques had any shame or decency he would donate his payout to an Aboriginal charity.' A continuation of Level 5 restrictions will continue to at least April 5 but a return to school for all children will happen throughout March, Taoiseach Micheal Martin has confirmed. In a nationwide television address, he confirmed that the Government has today decided to facilitate the safe return of in-school education and childcare services on a cautious and phased basis. Acknowledging the toll the pandemic and the restrictions are having on people, Mr Martin said: "I know that people are physically and emotionally exhausted by this pandemic. "It has placed enormous pressure on each of us individually and as a society, businesses and workers are deeply worried about the future. And we are all completely fed up with the impositions on our lives." He confirmed that the Government will start the phased and safe return of in-school education from next Monday, where schools will re-open for junior infants to second class and Leaving Certificate students. This will involve the return of over, 320,000 pupils, he said, and this reopening will be monitored. The plan then will be for all outstanding classes in primary schools, and fifth years in secondary schools to return on March 15, he said. All outstanding classes to return after the Easter break in April. The government will expand the reopening of child care from March 8 and he said the early childhood preschool programme will reopen for all participating children, and from March 29 subject to public health advice other restrictions will be lifted. All other children can return to early learning and childcare services, he said. Thirdly, Mr Martin said the Government will resume non-Covid health and social care services over the coming weeks in advance of April 5. We will then review the situation, he said. Mr Martin said measures to support business and those unable to work due to the pandemic will be extended further with the EWSS, PUP and Covid enhanced illness benefit applicable to June 30. He said an additional 10 million in funding will be made available to meet the increase for mental health services, and a further top-up of 10 million will be made available to enable critical services to continue being delivered to vulnerable groups. He said the decision to extend Level 5 restrictions is difficult and will have considerable impact on all parts of our economy and society. However, we continue to have an unacceptably high level of disease in the community, so we must continue to suppress the disease, the Taoiseach added. The higher transmissibility of new variants requires all other restrictions to remain in place while these initial services reopen. He said if the transmission of the virus reaches acceptable levels, the vaccination programme progresses as planned and public health advice allows, further options that will be considered from April 5 are: Some easing of restrictions on outdoor activities and meetings beyond 1 other household; Consideration of extending the current 5km limit; Staggered start of easing of other areas of restriction with a focus on outdoor activities including sport and some areas of construction. Any further easing of restrictions after April 5 will need a further three to four week period to allow for assessment of the impact of changes, he said. The requirement to work from home will continue throughout this period, unless work is essential health, social care or other essential service or activity that cannot be done from home. The Governments community support and well-being programmes will continue and employment and business supports will be extended, many of them to June. The Government is committed to developing a clear roadmap for a return of activities in the hardest-hit sectors including tourism, culture and sport. As he finished his address, Mr Marin acknowledged the toll the pandemic has taken on people's mental health and wellbeing and the devastation it has had on businesses and livelihoods. But I also know that the end is now truly in sight. We have already shown what a remarkably resilient people we are. "We have drawn on a deep innate sense of community and solidarity to get us this far. "Thats why, I know, that we will get through this." Following the Taoiseach's announcement regarding the return to school, the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) warned officials in the Department of Education that the union expects decisions on the return of further classes to be led by up-to-date public health advice. In a statement, the union said that the Department of Education has informed it that Dr Ronan Glynn, on behalf of Nphet, fully supports the return of the specified junior classes from March 1. "Following a 50% decrease in the 14-day average of infection rates since February 1 and the lower reproduction rate of the virus, Nphet projects that the public health landscape is expected to improve further by next Monday." The union has also secured a number of additional safety measures, including the publication of school-based testing and tracing reports, a public awareness campaign, and arrangements for high-risk and pregnant teachers. "It should be noted that several issues raised by this union were not included in the latest proposals. "Specifically, the provision of air ventilation monitors, face masks for pupils in senior classes and regular antigen testing, which the INTO sought, were not taken on board by the government." Taoiseach to announce revised Living with Covid plan Earlier: Cabinet has agreed to extend the lockdown until April 5 with the Taoiseach set to address the nation this evening. Micheal Martin will also outline the timetable for re-opening schools starting from next week. Leaving Cert students as well as the four youngest years of primary school will return on March 1. Childcare services are set to re-open starting with the ECCE scheme on March 8. It has also been confirmed the commercial rates waiver for businesses will be extended until June for businesses hit by Covid-19. Extensions of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment and Wage Subsidy Scheme are also likely to be announced this evening. Mr Martin will give details of a revised Living with Covid plan this evening, however it won't include dates for the re-opening of many sectors of the economy. Sinn Fein's Health Spokesman David Cullinane believes that is broadly the right approach. "Obviously dates are important. I think what is more important is how we get there and what tools we have to ensure that we keep numbers low," said Mr Cullinane. "Dates are important and they can be a timeframe and something that people can aim towards. "It gives people hope and there will be some dates in this in relation to school reopenings." Social Democrats TD Holly Cairns said there has to be enough in this evening's plan to give people hope. She said that a new strategy and approach would help as the public will is waining. "I know that that would involve redoubling our efforts and understandably people do not want to do that. We have been in lockdown for a year, people are struggling, the next health crisis is a mental health one as a result of this. "But if we have something to work for, I believe that we could and we would." For more than two weeks, thousands of people in villages and towns across Myanmar have come out to peacefully protest or participate in the non-violent civil disobedience movement against the military takeover, calling on the generals to transfer power and release the civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratically elected leaders. The military government tried to stop protests by banning gatherings of more than five people, curfews in certain areas and cutting off the Internet at night. They also sent troops to major cities, including members of elite counterinsurgency forces that allegedly engaged in human rights violations and violent campaigns against minorities. In Yangon, demonstrators marched and waved slogans marked "Help Myanmar". In Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State in northern Myanmar, protesters can be seen chanting and waving flags while riding a motorcycle. In the capital Naypyidaw, a large crowd gathered to attend the funeral of a young woman. The woman died on Friday after being shot in the head during an anti-coup protest. Mya Thweh Thweh Khine was shot and killed just before her 20th birthday. This was the first well-known democracy protester. Protesters gathered to protest the military coup in Yangon on February 22. The video of her funeral shows a hearse with her picture in front and a group of cars driving out of the hospital. As the parade drove through the streets, people saw motorcycle riders and bystanders raising three fingers to salute from the Hunger Games movie used by the protesters. Myanmars Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Sunday that the authorities applied maximum restraint through the use of minimal force when handling protests. It also stated that some foreign remarks and remarks are "equivalent to flagrant interference in Myanmar internal affairs." In a Facebook post, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on diplomats to "respect the laws and regulations of the receiving country" and reiterated that "free and fair elections" will be held. Myanmar has entered a state of emergency for a year, but the military government has not yet given a timetable for holding elections. Affected by Large-scale demonstrations across Myanmar, the 72212c bearing market is changing rapidly. These changes are indicators of market decline. Bearings are an important part of modern machinery and equipment, and its downstream is widely used in industrial automation, high-end equipment, robotics, automobile manufacturing and other fields. In recent years, due to the decline in demand from downstream industries such as automobiles and machine tools, as well as the adjustment of industrial structure, the phase of transformation and upgrading, the phasing out of backward production capacity has changed the relationship between supply and demand. The number of bearing industries has declined. If you are looking for 72212c bearing or get more information about 72212c bearing, please send an email to sales@spark-bearing.com The price of 72212c bearing continues to be affected by factors such as market decline momentum, various opportunities and challenges. However, during the forecast period from 2022 to 2027, the global 72212c bearing sales market is expected to continue to be above average. The growth rate will continue to increase. It is expected that In the second half of this year, the price of 72212c bearing will increase to a certain extent. Due to changes in consumer demand, import and export conditions, and various investigations on the development of 72212c bearing, the cost of 72212c bearing is constantly changing. Taking into account the current market macroeconomic parameters, value chain analysis, channel partners, demand and supply, the cost of 72212c bearing will also be affected to a certain extent. It is estimated that the cost of 72212c bearing will increase slightly from next year. The market trend of 72212c bearing? The cost of raw materials is still the biggest concern for manufacturers. Raw materials account for approximately 60-62% of bearing manufacturers revenue. The price of raw materials for automotive bearings fluctuates continuously according to market economic conditions. Such fluctuations in raw material prices are becoming a real challenge for companies to maintain competitiveness and ensure sustainable profits. As high-grade steel and alloy steel are the main raw materials used to manufacture 72212c bearing, bearing prices are highly correlated with global steel price trends. Therefore, fluctuations in the price of raw materials have brought challenges for bearing manufacturers to compare prices and quality to manufacture automotive bearings. In addition, the bearings require regular maintenance to avoid failures and extend their service life, which further increases maintenance costs. Therefore, factors such as raw material price fluctuations and regular maintenance costs are expected to hinder the growth of the automotive bearing market. The global 72212c bearing market is constantly changing. It is amazingly important research that explores the competitive landscape, segmentation, geographic expansion, and revenue, production and consumption growth of the global 72212c bearing target market. In addition, the 72212c bearing provides a series of different market segments and applications that can promote market development during the forecast period. In-depth information is based on historical milestones and current trends. In addition, the 72212c bearing market also covers development policies and plans, manufacturing processes and cost structures, marketing strategies, and then analyzes top 72212c bearing producers, distributors, marketing channels of 72212c bearing, potential buyers and 72212c bearing history of development. The market demand for 72212c bearing? The global bearing market value in 2020 is 123.34 billion U.S. dollars and is expected to reach 153.62 billion U.S. dollars by 2027, and the compound annual growth rate will also increase steadily. A bearing is a mechanical element that supports relative movement and helps reduce friction caused between moving parts. Bearings are widely used in various industries such as automobiles, wind turbines, construction machinery, mining machinery, agricultural equipment, and machine tools. It is used in automobiles to ensure smooth driving of automobiles, electric vehicles (EV) and other types of vehicles (such as light commercial vehicles and heavy vehicles such as trucks). Due to the increasing utilization of bearing 72212c bearing in various end-use industries, rolling mills and electric vehicles, the global 72212c bearing market has become more and more important. The development of technology has improved the overall efficiency of bearing products in the automotive field and extended the product shelf life. About WSBC bearing Wuxi Spark Bearing Co., Ltd is a complete, one-stop 72212c bearing supplier and manufacturer. All bearings products are qualified and have passed the ISO 9001 certification. We have more than 12 years of experience in bearings, is a modern high-tech professional high-quality roller bearing manufacturer specializing in R&D, manufacturing, sales and service. In order to keep WSBC bearings in sync with the world, we have invested in many advanced CNC equipment and a complete set of precision testing equipment committed to building a high-quality workforce and introducing advanced manufacturing and management technologies. We have strict quality control and environmental protection. If you are looking for 72212c bearing or get more information about 72212c bearing, please send an email to sales@spark-bearing.com Or visit our official website: https://www.spark-bearing.com/ North Korean women participate in a government-led mass rally in Pyongyang in this Feb. 19 photo from the country's state-run Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap By Jung Da-min Working women in North Korea can get 240 days of maternity leave before and after giving birth, according to the Tongil Voice, a pro-North Korea propaganda outlet, Tuesday. The roughly eight-month-long leave is a part of the North's childbirth encouragement policies introduced in recent years as the country faces a low birthrate, estimated at less than two. "Women receive 240 days of maternity leave 60 days before and 180 days after childbirth," according to an article by the outlet. "During this period, female workers receive prenatal and postnatal subsidies equal to 100 percent of their basic living expenses regardless of their length of service at work." In South Korea, female workers can get 90 days of paid maternity leave before and right after giving birth, and can take another block of childcare leave, with a lower subsidy, afterward for up to a year. The North Korean media said the workers could resume their careers at their previous workplace according to the relevant laws. It also said those who give birth to triplets, quadruplets or more are protected by special measures promulgated by the North Korean authorities. "The state provides additional postpartum leave to women who give birth to several children at once, and if triplets or more are born, the parents are provided with clothes, baby blankets and milk products free of charge. The mother and children are provided with healthcare services from medical staffers until the children reach school age," the Tongil Voice said. According to the article, female workers with three or more children under the age of 13 are also allowed to work for six hours a day, two hours less than the eight-hour basic workday in North Korea. Dominic Cooper has reportedly had his fourth car stolen within a year after thieves swiped his rare 83,000 Ferrari. The Mamma Mia actor, 42, is said to be 'devastated' as his 'prized possession', a 1978 Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 was taken from outside his home last week. It's alleged that Dominic is now 'living in fear' that he's being 'targeted' as it's the fourth theft in a number of months. Gutted: Dominic Cooper has reportedly had his fourth car stolen within a year after thieves swiped his rare 83,000 Ferrari (pictured in November) A source told The Sun: 'To say Dom is devastated is an understatement. Its an extremely rare car and it was his prized possession. 'Hes now living in fear as he has had cars taken four times in just a few months and feels like hes being targeted.' Th insider went on to say that with the string of car incidents, Dominic is considering whether it's worth it to own a car at all. They added: 'Hes a bit worried and wondering if having the cars is worth the hassle. Hes a bit of a petrol head so its not just the money, its just how special the car was to him.' Taken: The Mamma Mia actor, 42, is said to be 'devastated' as his 'prized possession', a 1978 Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 was taken from outside his home last week Dominic, who lives in London's Primrose Hill, is said to have asked his neighbours on an online forum to keep a look out for his car and encouraged them to keep their possessions safe amidst the 'rising level of burglaries and theft' in the local area. MailOnline have contacted representatives of Dominic for comment. This is the latest in a run of bad luck for The Preacher star as he's had three other motors stolen in the past year. Back in July 2020 it was reported that his 1950s era Austin Healy car, which retails around 65,000, had been stolen. Devastated: A source said: 'Hes now living in fear as he has had cars taken four times in just a few months and feels like hes being targeted' (pictured in 2019) Shocking: Back in July 2020 it was reported that his 1950s era Austin Healy car, which retails around 65,000, had been stolen Nicked: Dominic then starting to use a sleek red Jaguar F-Type coupe p 300 as his new run around, which was also taken (pictured in August) Dominic then starting to use a sleek red Jaguar F-Type coupe p 300 as his new run around, which was also taken. In another strike of bad luck, Dominic's Range Rover was also stolen in August with the star appealing on social media for any news about it. Dominic had been using the larger drive to deliver meals to NHS staff during the first coronavirus lockdown and it had the initiative's name Cook-19 on the side, reports the Camden New Journal. Too bad: In another strike of bad luck, Dominic's Range Rover was also stolen in August with the star appealing on social media for any news about it (pictured in April) The actor has often spoken about his love of cars, describing them as a form of 'escapism' in an article in Leo Edit last year. He said: 'I understand that some people view these machines merely as objects that fulfill the need of getting from A to Ba term I despise for it is often within these parameters of the A and the B where the best things happen. 'But to me, it meant the ability to escape. To travel and be somewhere whenever you wanted, in the time you wanted, without relying on external forces.' While the Need For Speed star said back in 2014: 'Ive always loved them and sort of obsessed over them. I suppose a majority of boys do. 'I remember, at a very young age, polishing my models of Ferraris in my bedroom. While other kids were out riding their bikes, I was polishing Ferraris. Its very bleak. 'I had loads of books about cars, and for some reason they were the ones I liked best.' High levels of compliance amongst the public are having a positive impact on the levels of the virus in our communities, the Deputy CMO has said. This evening, one additional Covid-related death has been confirmed by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), bringing the death toll in the Republic to 4,137. There have also been 686 cases of the coronavirus confirmed, according to the HPSC. Dr Ronan Glynn welcomed the "positive impact" that efforts to suppress Covid-19 is having on our hospitals. Dr Glynn said there were 269 cases in healthcare workers and four outbreaks in hospitals last week - a "very significant reduction" compared to the week to February 7 when there were 839 cases and 15 outbreaks. As of 8am, there are 726 Covid-19 patients in hospitals across the country with 156 of these in ICU. There have been 33 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours. Of today's cases, the largest number are located in the capital with Dublin accounting for 278 cases. There are 49 cases located in Limerick, 37 in Kildare, 32 in Louth and 31 in Donegal. The remaining 259 cases are spread across all remaining counties. The five-day moving average of new cases stands at 803 and the 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 is 240. Dr Glynn reminded people to continue to rely on the "tried and trusted tools" of keeping our distance, washing our hands, wearing face masks and staying home as much as possible. "In time, vaccination will be our most powerful tool against Covid-19 and over the coming weeks those who are highest risk in our families and communities will get vaccinated," he said. "Our collective efforts move us closer to the continued re-opening of our schools and the resumption of non-Covid healthcare services." Living with Covid plan Today's figures come as the cabinet sub-committee on Covid-19 is meeting to sign off on the revised plan for the re-opening of the country. Senior ministers will also agree a timeline for the phased re-opening of schools from March 1. The broad brush-strokes of the revised plan have been clear for the last week. March will see very little re-opening with the exception of schools on a phased basis, with some students coming back as early as March 1 and some not until closer to the middle of April. Construction is unlikely to fully re-open next month but may be revisited towards the end of March. Level 5 measures will be extended until at least April and likely longer. What the Government really needs to achieve with the plan is an element of certainty for people - something that the situation makes difficult to provide. An update on the vaccination timeline is expected, though this likely won't include specific dates for when sectors can re-open, the hope is to give some certainty around what certain vaccination levels will mean for the wider opening of the country. With ministers set to extend the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) and Wage Subsidy Scheme until June, the only thing that is clear is we are a while away from that yet. 'Ray of hope' as over 100,000 expected to get vaccine dose this week The head of the HSE says a ray of hope is emerging as Covid-19 vaccines ramp up. As of February 19, 340,704 vaccine doses have been administered in Ireland - 214,384 first doses and 126,320 second doses. Over 100,000 people are expected to receive a jab this week. So far, Ireland has been vaccinating around 40,000 people a week but that is to increase in the coming days. Almost 110,000 people are expected to receive a jab this week. Of those, around 12,000 are in nursing homes, 62,000 are frontline health care workers and 36,000 are over the age of 85. Head of the HSE, Paul Reid, says the numbers will increase even further in the coming weeks. "Once we get the supply, we will deliver and we have proven that. We are at 95% levels on any given week. Anything we are getting in is administered," said Mr Reid. "We are mobilising well - centres, GPs, training up our vaccinators. Really what will be a big factor is supply." Mr Reid said it was projected that 1.24 million people would be vaccinated in Quarter One and this would be scaled up in Quarter Two to 3.8 million if the quantities that have been ordered arrive into the country on time. People with underlying conditions may get vaccine earlier than planned Senior ministers will consider changes to the vaccine priority list at Cabinet tomorrow. The Government is finalising changes to the list, which could see thousands of people with underlying conditions, getting vaccinated sooner than originally planned. It is unclear if the country's 500,000 family carers will be moved up the list. Sasha Delaney who has Cystic Fibrosis says receiving the vaccine would be a massive relief. "It would certainly take a lot of the stress off basic situations," said Ms Delaney. "It would just mean that I wouldn't be constantly worried after seeing anybody or when my parents come to deliver medications and stuff to the house. They stay outside but still you have that little bit of concern that something might creep up on you. "It would absolutely make all the difference to that stress level." 473,000 people receiving PUP The total cost of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) to date has topped 6 billion. There is a slight decrease this week in the numbers in receipt of the payment, they are down by just over 4,200. In total, more than 473,000 people will get the PUP this week at a cost of 142 million. 12.49m is being paid in arrears to 38,600 people this week. Sinn Fein TD Louise O'Reilly says this time people also need clarity about when businesses can reasonably expect to open. "I think indicative timeframes have to be given. I know that tying down to dates is very problematic but hopefully we will hear from the Government today - not via a leak but a proper announcement - what the roadmap is going to be like and what the indicative timeframes are like. "Not necessarily dates but I think people can have a reasonable sight of what the next couple of months are going to look like." Four deaths and 187 Covid deaths in NI There have been a further four Covid-19 related deaths in the North. The Department of Health reported 187 people have tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours. There are 386 patients being treated in hospitals for the disease in Northern Ireland, with 51 in ICU. It was announced today that the SSE Arena in Belfast will be used as a vaccination centre. It will open in April as a facility for those 60 and under, not already vaccinated through the health trust or GP programmes. Dr Chellappa has been instrumental in the development of international clinical consultancy activities Moms Belief, Indias premier mental healthcare platform for a child with special needs, has onboarded Dr Mohan Chellappa as a member of the advisory board. Dr Chellappa is a founding member of John Hopkins Medicine International since 1997 and is serving as Executive Vice President. He will focus to accelerate the companys efforts to bring mental health issues to the mainstream. Dr Chellappa has been instrumental in the development of international clinical consultancy activities, in the area of clinical care programme development, utilisation of information technology in healthcare. He has a broad surgical experience, having worked in countries such as India, Malaysia, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States. Commenting on this, Nitin Bindlish, CEO, Moms Belief said. Mohan brings a wealth of experience and expertise in the healthcare space. He has had an inspiring journey and his diverse knowledge and insights will play a pivotal role in shaping the Mom Beliefs journey as we aim to become the worlds largest and affordable mental healthcare platform. Dr Mohan Chellappa, President, Global Ventures, Johns Hopkins Medicine International and Executive Vice President said, I am glad to be associated with the company that is working hard and fast towards catering to mental health and making it accessible to everyone. With intuitive programmes the company have been able to develop over the years, I am looking forward to working with them and take it a notch above. I am very confident that Moms Belief is well placed for the transformation we want to bring within the society, and I look forward to work towards strengthening this further. Pipeline 23 February 2021 Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, the world's largest hotel franchising company by number of properties with over 8,900 hotels across nearly 95 countries, today announced the debut of its La Quinta by Wyndham brand in the Middle East with a new 100-room property in Dubai. Expected to open in March 2021, La Quinta by Wyndham Dubai Bur Dubai will be centrally located in the historic Bur Dubai district. Wyndham continues to expand the La Quinta brand - a leading upper-midscale brand with nearly 940 hotels offering contemporary design, thoughtful amenities and friendly service - throughout the world. This hotel marks the 75th La Quinta property to open since Wyndham acquired the brand in 2018. La Quinta has now expanded to nine countries: Canada, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, Turkey, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. The brand has also announced plans to open eight new La Quinta hotels in the Dominican Republic. The new Dubai property is located in one of the city's bustling commercial hubs offering easy access to leisure attractions, including the Dubai Cruise Terminal at Port Rashid, The Dubai Mall, the Dubai Frame and Jumeirah Mosque, as well as business hotspots such as the Dubai World Trade Centre and the city's financial district. The newly refurbished hotel will boast contemporary guest rooms and elegant interiors, combining Dubai's traditional trading colours with a modern twist that replicates the city's lively scene. La Quinta by Wyndham Dubai Bur Dubai will also offer a 100-square metre event and meeting space and a host of additional amenities, including an outdoor pool with pool deck, a spacious spa with sauna and steam room, and a modern fitness centre. Other features will include all-day dining, a lounge, coffee shop, 24/7 room service, and speciality restaurants serving Indian delicacies and international menus. A 24-hour business centre, children's play area and pool, dedicated retail space, ample parking, and a local shuttle add to the hotel's positioning as ideal for business or leisure. The 100 sq m building on 230 sq m of land sold via expressions of interest for $930,000. Credit: An interstate service station operator has purchased a former fuel stop at 147-151 Devonshire Road for $3 million. CVAs Leo Mancino said the propertys current use could be upgraded or, alternatively, converted to residential units under its favourable NRZ1 Zoning. A small shop at 525 High Street packed a big punch. The 100 sq m building on 230 sq m of land sold via expressions of interest for $930,000. NSL Property Groups Guy Naselli said the vendor was a local family who owned it for 20 years. We got enquiries from owner occupiers, developers and investors looking to rework the asset, given its proximity to the busy Bell Street and bustling High Street retail, he said. Campbellfield An owner-occupier paid $2,075,000 for a brand new industrial property at 44 Metrolink Circuit. Colliers Internationals Mitch Purcell and Corey Vraca negotiated the deal at trend-setting building rate for the area of $1712 sq m. West Footscray An industrial office/warehouse, Unit 18 at 46 Graingers Road, has sold for $538,000 on a building rate of $3000 per sq m. There are genuine buyers out there with specific interest in tightly held areas, CVAs Leo Mancino said. She returned back to Australia with her husband Sam Worthington and their three children last month. And on Tuesday, Lara Worthington (nee Bingle) enjoyed catching up with a friend in Sydney's Bellevue Hill. The 33-year-old model cut a stylish figure in dark blue jeans and a black bodysuit during the outing. Oozing style!Lara Bingle (pictured) looked effortlessly chic in jeans and a black bodysuit as she enjoyed lunch with a friend in Bellevue Hill on Tuesday Accessories: Lara teamed her ensemble with a beige coat and also wore a pair of black boots for the outing Lara teamed her ensemble with a beige coat and also wore a pair of black boots for the outing. The Australian model opted for a neutral palette of makeup consisting of foundation and pink lipstick. She had her blonde bob down and straight around her famous face as she arrived to the cafe. Beauty: The Australian model opted for a neutral palette of makeup consisting of foundation and pink lipstick Style: She had her blonde bob down and straight around her famous face as she arrived to the cafe Back home: Lara returned back to Australia with her husband Sam Worthington and their three children last month Lara's husband Sam returned to Australia to star in the Sydney Theatre Company production of the Wesley Enoch directed comedy, Appropriate. Last year, it was reported that Lara was planning to move back to Australia with her husband-of-seven-years and their family. Lara and Sam have been based in the US with their sons Rocket, five, and Racer for years. Moving back? Last year, it was reported that Lara was planning to move back to Australia with her husband-of-seven-years and their family New role: Lara's husband Sam returned to Australia to star in the Sydney Theatre Company production of the Wesley Enoch directed comedy, Appropriate Home: Lara and Sam have been based in the US with their sons Rocket, five, and Racer for years The pair welcomed their most recent addition, a baby boy, whose name is yet to be revealed, in June last year. The private couple are yet to reveal the baby's name and exactly when their son was born. Lara and Sam began dating in 2013 and married in secret a year later. The doting mother said in an interview with Marie Claire that she thinks her body was 'meant to have kids' and she would 'happily' have more in the future. Growing family: The pair welcomed their most recent addition, a baby boy, whose name is yet to be revealed, in June last year Motherhood: The doting mother said in an interview with Marie Claire that she thinks her body was 'meant to have kids' and she would 'happily' have more in the future March 5 will be the final time San Antonians will see anchor Randy Beamer at the News 4 desk. The legendary news anchor announced his retirement, after more than 30 years, on Monday. Since 1989, Beamer has been a constant in the city, covering everything at the local level to as a far as Iraq, where he produced a documentary on the San Antonians who run the largest hospital there. Beamer stacked nine Emmy Awards in his career, but Sinclair San Antonio News Director Mandi Mendoza touched on his life away from the newsroom and the character that has made him such a beloved figure in the city. RELATED: Spurs legend Tim Duncan giving Black Restaurant Week San Antonio an assist What many people dont know is how devoted he is as a father to four incredible children," Mendoza said in a news release. A lot of our team has looked up to Randy as a leader and proud dad of the newsroom. You know him as Randy. He is and will always be 'Beamer' to us. His humor, kindness and workhorse mentality are going to be missed. Beamer shared some of that humor on Twitter Monday night. "Thanks for the kind words everybody. Yep, after 41 years in news (I started when I was 2) I'm retiring. But not dead," he tweeted. "So no obits, please. And my last day isn't until March 5th, so as they say - stay tuned." RELATED: Veteran news anchor Randy Beamer did the weather. Here's how he did. Fellow local journalists, like KENS 5's Sarah Forgany, celebrated Beamer's iconic career. She told him to "enjoy every minute" of retirement. Mayor Ron Nirenberg also congratulated Beamer. "End of an era. Definitely not an obit, but well miss you on our screens and in our homes," he said. "Look forward to seeing whatever you do next." Sinclair San Antonio Vice President and General Manager Dean Radla also noted Beamer's contributions to San Antonio. After 30 years, Randys credentials and achievements are numerousas are his fans," Radla said in a statement. "Ive had the pleasure of working with Randy for a significant portion of his career and Ill forever be grateful to him for being such a terrific ambassador for News 4 and Sinclair San Antonio.all the best to Randy and his family! Here's to you, Beamer! Madalyn Mendoza covers news and puro pop culture for MySA.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @maddyskye Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing a webinar on effective implementation of Budget provisions in the health sector, said on Tuesday that the year 2020 was an acid test for the Covid-hit sector. The PM said the country established a long chain of Covid-19 labs within a short period and conducted over 21 crore tests in the country. He said the COVID-19 has provided an opportunity to equip the country for any future pandemic by creating an infrastructure for labs, ventilators and hospitals. "In this budget, we have provided an opportunity to develop an ecosystem to strengthen better health services to handle any such future pandemic," he said. Health Issues Holistic Treatment Wellness Prevention Cure Integrated : PM @narendramodi PMO India (@PMOIndia) February 23, 2021 He said the objective of the health budget is to create a similar healthcare system in rural India as well. "World has noticed our efforts during COVID-19. Indian doctors' demand is going to increase globally because of that. India's medicine and vaccination have increased the trust level," he said. The PM said Indians are working together on four fronts to keep India healthy. "The first front is to prevent diseases i.e. prevention of illness and promotion of wellness. The second front is to provide cheap and effective treatment for the poorest of the poor. Schemes like Ayushman Bharat Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Kendra are doing the same. The third front is to increase the quality and quality of health infrastructure and health care professionals. And the fourth front is to work on mission mode to overcome problems. Schemes like Mission Indradhanush, which has been extended to the tribal and far-flung areas, are working towards this," he added. The PM said the Centre has set a target to eradicate TB from the country by 2025. "TB also spreads through droplets of the infected person. Wearing of masks, early diagnosis and treatment are also important in the prevention of TB," he said. He said the private sector can support PPP models in creating a network of public health laboratories. It can also partner with the national digital health mission, digital health records of citizens and other cutting-edge technology, he said. Also read: PM Modi talks to stakeholders to expedite infra creation Also read: PM Modi inaugurates metro, railway projects in Bengal, says will provide new avenues to industries After many months of being closed to the public, the Thumb Octagon Barn Agricultural Museum is still waiting to see when it can open up again. The museums executive committee Acting President Dennis Anderson said the museum has not seen its situation change that much from when it closed over the summer. The Octagon Barn had to cancel its annual school field trips, Fall Family Days, and all of its summer events when the COVID-19 pandemic was going through Huron County last year. This resulted in a great loss of revenue for the museum. Despite being closed, the museum was able to finish the final part of a three-year restoration project where the siding of the barn was replaced. The executive committee was still able to meet outside, but the cold weather and current gathering restrictions prevent them from having in-person meetings, so they meet online, which Anderson said took a few meetings to get used to. To help get through its rough financial situation of the past year, the museum received grants from the Tuscola County Community Foundation and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. It also saw its number of memberships go up during the pandemic, which brought in more money. The committee also moved forward with the stabilize and thrive concept, which worked to only pay for the essential items needed during the pandemic, like heat, electricity, taxes, and bills and consider other ways of creating revenue. Anderson described the measures the committee is taking to playing small ball. We had no other expenses because we had no events, Anderson said. We tried to stabilize our spending, pull it back. Our major projects are already done, so we put everything else on hold. Going into 2021, all the school tours are still canceled, as it would not be feasible to have 1,000 students and 150 volunteers in the same space and maintain capacity restrictions. They are planned to return for May 2022, though the final date has not been set yet. We think the schools have bigger fish to fry than having field trips, Anderson said. We can understand the situation they are in. The executive board is considering opening the museum back up for tours this summer, only for walk-bys, and bringing back Fall Family Days depending on how state COVID regulations stand. The board members are continuing to monitor those regulations for if they are extended or revised. We will make the decisions going forward at the appropriate time, Anderson said. Now, its just wait and see. People can further monitor the Thumb Octagon Barn Agricultural Museums website and Facebook page for any announcements for when operating dates and times are announced. By Trevor Dunnell, The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C. (TNS) A former Camp Lejeune Marine who was convicted in 2014 for the shooting death of his wife was gunned down by police in Pennsylvania after officers say they witnessed him beating a transgender woman, who later died as a result of her injuries. At about 11 a.m. Friday, New Wilmington police were called to a home on South New Castle Street. When officers arrived, they found 33-year-old Juan Carter Hernandez beating 24-year-old Chyna Carrillo with a blunt object. When officers ordered Hernandez to stop, he ignored them and continued beating her, according to Pennsylvania State Police. The officer shot and killed Hernandez at the scene. Carrillo was taken to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Youngstown, where she died. Hernandez was released from prison in North Carolina in 2019 after he pled guilty to second-degree murder in Onslow County Superior Court. He was sentenced to 8-10 years and four months in prison for shooting and killing his 20-year-old wife Kandace Hernandez in their home in Richlands, N.C. on July 20, 2011. At the time of the 2011 shooting, he was wanted on a federal warrant for desertion from the United States Marine Corps. Police havent released a motive for the Pennsylvania attack or if Hernandez and Carrillo knew each other. More: Pa. woman kills 2 daughters by shooting them in the head: police I stabbed my sister: 14-year-old charged with homicide Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Highs today ran 36-42 after lows this morning of 27-32. It will be a windy night from the southwest to west-southwest with gusts 30-40 mph at times. Wind will go to west tomorrow early with gusts 20-30 mph. With that, a brief bout of some light showers & patchy drizzle are possible after midnight to around 5 a.m. This may wetten & damp pavement in areas. Despite temperatures 36-42 as it passes, with some clearing late, temperatures may fall to 29-33. This could cause any moisture to freeze some on roadways. Watch for a few slick spots here & there Tuesday morning. With west to west-southwest winds 15-25 mph, temperatures will surge to 41-52 over the area tomorrow. It will be warmest from Greater Lafayette & south & southwestward at 47-52 due to more sun expected. More clouds are expected northward with deeper snow pack, too. I'd go much warmer if not for the still-deep snow pack. We still have a 7" snow depth here at our station observation site & it is still up to 14" in our north & northeast! Note the impressive warm to out west & southwest with mid 60s in parts of eastern Nebraska & 70 to low 70s in Missouri! This is the kind of mildness I expected in early & late February with cold, icy & snowy mid-February. Thawing will continue the rest of the week, but the rate will be such that no flooding is expected. Only issue would be some freezing fog & heavy frost with some black ice potentially Friday morning (lows 19-26) Some showers are possible later Saturday & showers are possible Sunday with windy, mild 46-53 Saturday & 51-60 Sunday. 53-60 is expected Monday with the most widespread rainfall & even a few t'storms possible. We cool off with strong northwest wind Monday night-Tuesday AM to 28-33. However, as a wave of rain moves back in Tuesday, it may begin as freezing rain or mix of freezing rain & even snow/sleet. We will monitor. At this point, it appears that it would eventually change to rain with highs 37-46 over the area from north to south. 1-2" of total rainfall still can't be ruled out Saturday-Tuesday. Rain & some t'storms with warmth are expected next Friday to the next Saturday (March 5-6). March 8-10 looks wet, too. Could a brief cold shot bite in here for a day or two with snow or ice to as late as mid-March (given lingering effects of SSWE seek up to 60 days after)? Could. However, overall other players on the court are mild, wet ones that may fight against any substantial to significant cold intrusion. The +EPO, La Nina & warm, wet MJO seem to be the player regaining their ground now. They just have to work their magic to melt a massive real estate of deep snow cover in the Midwest to really, really get the ball rolling on warmth. Warm, wet pattern conducive to some severe weather events appears to dominate late March to early April as any vestiges of weakening Polar Vortex wane & warm, wet drivers take over. Flooding risk should go up here with vegetation coming out of dormancy & grass turning deep green. Temperatures may run quite a bit above normal overall. The West look colder than normal. I think some of that colder than normal weather may extend as far east as the Rockies & High Plains with snowfall as big storms track through the Plains & Midwest with storms & heavy rain there & heavy snow on the backside. Note the above normal rainfall zone in the Midwest, Lower Ohio Valley to Ontario to New England. Note the warm, dry upper ridging in the Southeast. March-April-May continues to trend wetter-than-normal. The wet zone with flooding risk will tend to Midwest, Ohio Valley to Ontario. Southeast, West & Texas look dry, warm to hot & droughty. That will serve as the focus for drought to worsen & expand northeastward & northward. Most of our abnormal wetness appears to overall be confined to March & April to early May. There is a continued trend to dry it out more & more in latter May & especially into June. Typically, the wettest time of year is May to June in the area, but the opposite may be occurring in 2021. We will continue to monitor. "Ring of Fire" heavy rains & storm may keep parts of the Plains & Great Lakes to Ontario wetter than normal this summer. Dry, drought early summer should go wetter in the Southeast U.S. with very active tropics. Here, trend continues for below normal rainfall & drought risk. This band would line up from Kansas & New Mexico to Missouri, Illinois, then Ohio to to New York & New England. Best thing that could happen is that we do see "Ring of Fire" pattern line up here & bring timely heavy storms to the area. Also, the tropics pumping deep moisture northward would be helpful to bring very welcome, timely rainfall. Either way, with drought pattern, we have some windows to tap into timely rain if we play our cards right. Canadian long-range model temperature anomalies for summer: Dry, warm fall shows up for 2021, but November is trending colder than normal here & eastern U.S. & much warmer in the West. Note the lower heights in the east & higher heights progged in the West. This indicates colder than normal East, warmer than normal West. This, after a blazing warm November 2020 with near all-time record heat for the month. Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021. The billionaire co-founder of graphic design business Canva has blasted the Australian Government's decision to force Facebook to pay for content as he backs the social media giant's ban on news. Cliff Obrecht, who helps run the $7.6billion software company, said while the ban was 'unfortunate' for Australian consumers, he supported Facebook for standing up to the government. The social media conglomerate blocked Australian users from seeing and sharing local news last Thursday in response to a new law to make tech giants pay media companies for news content on their sites. Facebook, helmed by founder Mark Zuckerberg, also accidentally blocked the pages of domestic violence helplines, charities, government pages, and Covid information - before slowly undoing the accidental shutdown. Cliff Obrecht, (pictured) the billionaire co-founder of graphic design business, Canva, has blasted the Australian government's decision to regulate Facebook as he backs the social media giant's ban on news 'I think what the government was doing was stupid and I think good on Facebook for just saying ''We're not going to put up with your bull***t policies'',' Mr Obrecht told The Age. 'Which unfortunately means Australian consumers, Australian internet users, are going to have a poorer experience.' The move from Facebook outraged many Australians with some boycotting the social media platform altogether. The pages of some health services, charities and emergency services were all wiped - sparking widespread fury across the country. Mr Obrecht said the Australian government needed to have a 'good hard look at themselves' and should have spoken with tech companies before trying to put forward new rules. The pages of some health services, charities and emergency services were all wiped - sparking widespread fury across the country Mr Obrecht said the Australian government needed to have a 'good hard look at themselves' and should have spoken with tech companies before trying to put forward new rules (pictured Scott Morrison in Canberra on Monday) 'I think the Australian government should start a real dialogue with Australian internet companies like Atlassian and us for a start and and not just have these suits, who have no idea about the internet or business in general, because they are career politicians, trying to make policies for society and internet companies,' he said. Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt on Sunday banned the Health Department from advertising on Facebook. When asked by journalist David Speers on ABC Insiders if the Health Department would still advertise the vaccine on Facebook, Mr Hunt said no. 'I spoke to my office to make sure on Thursday that we were not doing that,' he said on Sunday. 'I will check that my department is not, but on my watch, until this issue is resolved, there will not be Facebook advertising.' Mr Hunt said his office had already halted all advertising spend with Facebook, and that no ads had been commissioned or instituted since the government's dispute with the social media giant arose. Nine News was one of many news sites that had their Facebook pages blocked Facebook's news sharing block on Thursday morning also briefly stopped state health department pages from posting including SA Health and Queensland Health. Finance Minister Simon Birmingham is confident media bargaining legislation will sail through parliament without any more amendments to appease Facebook. After the government spent the weekend trying to negotiate a resolution with Mr Zuckerberg, the proposed bargaining code is now being discussed in the Senate. Senator Birmingham said there were some promising signs following the fresh round of talks. The bargaining code is expected to pass the Senate sometime this week. A 13-year-old was allegedly raped multiple times at a Utah school for wayward teens where Paris Hilton also testified she was abused and sexually assaulted. In an exclusive interview with DailyMailTV, Aaron Ross, 33, claimed he was forced to give a staff member oral sex when he was 13, was heavily drugged, denied food and locked in a 6ft-square cement 'isolation room' for days on end at Provo Canyon School, south of Salt Lake City, Utah. DailyMailTV has also obtained a 2013 police report detailing Ross' claims, and data of 911 calls obtained via the Freedom of Information Act which reveal dozens of child abuse and sexual assault reports at the school's two campuses from 2012 to 2019. The teen treatment center, where a 12-month stay reportedly costs up to $300,000, has faced previous accusations of beating, drugging and sexually abusing its clients. Hilton, 39, slammed the institution in her 2020 documentary This Is Paris, and this month gave tearful testimony to Utah lawmakers that she was 'verbally, mentally, and physically abused on a daily basis' there aged 16. Aaron Ross, 33, attended Provo Canyon school in Salt Lake City, Utah as a teen and claimed he was forced to give a staff member oral sex, he tells DailyMailTV Paris Hilton attended the Provo Canyon School as a teen and said she was verbally, physically and mentally abused on a daily basis The teen treatment center, where a 12-month stay costs up to $300,000, has faced previous accusations of beating, drugging and sexually abusing its clients Ross, 33, says he was 13 when he was sent by his parents to the Orem campus of Provo Canyon School for two years in 2001. 'The school markets itself very deceptively as a place where kids will go to heal and get better,' he told DailyMailTV. Ross is pictured at age 13 -two months before he was sent to Provo Canyon. 'The school markets itself very deceptively as a place where kids will go to heal and get better,' Ross told DailyMailTV. 'But it's an abusive locked-down facility' 'But it was an abusive locked-down facility where children are routinely thrown in solitary confinement, deliberately over-medicated, physically beaten and in many cases sexually assaulted.' Ross said he repeatedly tried to get his alleged abuse investigated but was 'cut off' by the school's staff and therapist, and was told by law enforcement in 2004 there was not enough evidence to pursue his claims. After suffering nightmares from his experiences as a child, he filed a second police report with Orem Police Department in 2013. 'I was raped by one of the staff,' he wrote in the report. 'I was in a room called observation. It is a roughly 6 by 6 foot isolation cement room where I was basically kept for many days at a time. Sometimes only getting out to use the bathroom or to sleep on a matress [sic]. 'This is where he forced me to undress and give him a b***job. He would pull down his pants and I had to suck his p**** while he sat on his chair. This happened several times. 'It was vey [sic] disgusting and I felt hopeless. I had no choice. If I did not do it, he would not give me breakfast or lunch or not even let me sleep if he was working the night shift. 'I could be kept awake until 4 in the morning in the observation room. I would be sleep deprived because then I would have to wake up at 6 every morning.' Ross claimed he was drugged in 'extremely high doses' to keep him compliant. 'I remember being in a constant state of sleepiness because all the drugs I was put on. On top of that I was held down and given an injection of [redacted] a few times during the course of my 2 year stay,' the report said. The police report paints a picture of a nightmarish 'prison', where Ross went months without breathing outside air, and every contact with the outside world was monitored and policed. After suffering nightmares from his experiences as a child, Ross filed a police report with Orem Police Department in 2013 - which was shared with DailyMail.com. He detailed his experience 'There were many days or weeks in a row when I had to sit on a desk and face the wall. No exercise. Just get up to go to the bathroom and go to bed. That's it,' he wrote. 'When I tried to tell my therapist [redacted], she did not care to listen to me. She wouldn't believe me. I also told a supervisor She did not take me very seriously either. 'I could not tell anybody. My phone calls were monitered [sic] by [the school's therapist] so I could not have a personal conversation with my parents.' Ross wrote that he had been in anguish over reporting the alleged rape and child abuse, fearing he would not be believed by law enforcement and would affect his parents' health. 'I don't want my parents to know even to this day because my mom has multiple sclerosis and my parents have a lot of stress as it is,' the police report said. 'Also I have been terrified of going back I didn't think anyone would believe me anyways. What pushed me over the edge to report this is my constant nightmares at night and traumatic memories I get from time to time.' The case was investigated at the time by Sergeant B.J. Robinson of Orem Police Department. But when Ross' therapist and a member of Orem Department of Public Safety denied Ross' claims, the officer told the alleged victim 'this case was his word against [their] word' and closed the file. It wasn't until October 2020, when Hilton's documentary prompted new allegations of widespread abuse at the school, that the case was reopened. A 'supplemental report' on Ross' file shows a new detective is now investigating the case after discovering that 'several cases are coming up with the school.' 'Into my teenage years and my 20s I suffered post traumatic stress disorder,' Ross told DailyMailTV. 'It inhibited my ability to communicate and relate to other people. It had a profound effect on me for many years. Even today it's difficult for me to talk about. 'But I feel it's important for me talk about it because I'm very concerned for the children who are still there today.' DailyMail.com has obtained records of crimes reported at Provo Canyon via 911 calls. Two reports show there were a total 429 calls from 2012 through 2019 for alleged crimes at the school's Provo and Springville campuses In a statement released Provo Canyon said it had changed its policies 'some time ago,' but added that it 'cannot comment on individual patient treatment, care or allegations due to HIPAA privacy laws' DailyMail.com has obtained records of crimes reported at Provo Canyon via 911 calls. Two reports show there were a total 429 calls from 2012 through 2019 for alleged crimes at the school's Provo and Springville campuses. The reports include 17 alleged cases of child abuse, 46 reports of sex offenses, 5 sexual assaults and 73 assaults. There were 182 calls from the Provo campus and 239 calls from the Springville campus during the eight-year period. A sex offense was reported as recently as May 2019 on the Springville campus and August 2019 on the Provo campus, as well as a report of child abuse there in March 2019. Ross says his alleged ordeal left him suffering from PTSD and got so frustrated feeling the authorities were not listening to his claims that he sent threats to two Utah legislators. 'I will strangle you with my bare hands,' Ross wrote in an email to Utah Representative Adam Robertson. 'I will tie your legs up with a metal weight. And I will sink your body to the bottom of Utah Lake. Nobody will be able to find you.' Prosecutors charged him with two counts of second-degree felony terroristic threats in December. 'Ross made the threats when his demands that the legislators cause investigations, prosecutions or other legal action against Provo Canyon School did not occur,' the charging documents said. Ross' attorney, Peter Gleason, told DailyMail.com that his alleged abuse 'impacted Aaron's perception of when or how to set boundaries' and that his threats to lawmakers were 'a direct result of the trauma he suffered while at the Provo Canyon School.' 'While some of the language Aaron used in his emails to Utah State Representatives Robertson and Ray may be shocking, it is pale in comparison to the abuse Aaron and numerous others have suffered and reported, while at the Provo Canyon School, only to be ignored,' Gleason said. 'After years of abuse he feels as though he is reliving that abuse by having his pleas for assistance ignored by the very entities designed to protect him.' Hilton shared photos of herself as an 18-year-old after she had come home from Provo Canyon School She claims staff members would beat her, force her to take unknown pills, watch her shower and send her to solitary confinement without clothes as punishment Hilton also said that children in Provo Canyon School were 'restrained, thrown into walls, strangled, and sexually abused regularly' Hilton opened up about the alleged abuse she experienced at Provo Canyon School in her documentary released last year Gleason wrote to Utah Senator Mitt Romney, calling on him to have the senate investigate the school. 'I urge you to hold Senate hearings on this important matter where children from across the nation were apparently trafficked into this institution and systematically abused,' Gleason wrote. Hilton testified to the Utah Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee two weeks ago about the 'traumatizing' abuse she says she suffered years ago at Provo Canyon School. She gave her speech advocating for a bill that would require more government oversight of youth residential treatment centers and require them to document when they use restraints. Gleason wrote to Utah Senator Mitt Romney, calling on him to have the senate investigate the school The socialite and reality TV star was sent to the boarding school by her parents in an attempt to stop her from partying and teenage rebellion. 'Although Provo Canyon School marketed itself as a premier treatment center, it was as if hell itself was on Earth,' Hilton told the committee. 'I cried myself to sleep every single night, praying I would wake up from this nightmare. 'For the past 20 years, I have had a recurring nightmare where I'm kidnapped in the middle of the night by two strangers, strip-searched, and locked in a facility. I wish I could tell you that this haunting nightmare was just a dream, but it is not. 'When I was 16, two transporters woke me up in the middle of the night with handcuffs,' she added. 'They asked me if I wanted to go the easy way or the hard way. They carried me out of my home as I screamed at the top of my lungs for my parents' help.' Hilton claims staff members would beat her, force her to take unknown pills, watch her shower and send her to solitary confinement without clothes as punishment. 'Without a diagnosis, I was forced to consume medication that made me feel numb and exhausted. I didn't breathe fresh air or see the sunlight for 11 months. There was zero privacy. Every time I would use the bathroom or take a shower, it was monitored,' she alleged. 'At 16 years old, as a child,I felt their piercing eyes staring at my naked body. I was just a kid and felt violated every single day.' Hilton also said that children in Provo Canyon School were 'restrained, thrown into walls, strangled, and sexually abused regularly.' She said one staff member would 'brag to other students that she was the one that broke Paris Hilton.' 'This woman was employed by UHS for 20 years. She was let go this October, only after my documentary premiered,' Hilton said. The government oversight measure championed by Hilton passed out of the committee unanimously following her emotional testimony and accounts from several other survivors, and will now be heard on the Utah State Senate floor for a vote. The socialite slammed the institution in her 2020 documentary This Is Paris, and gave tearful testimony to Utah lawmakers In a statement released Provo Canyon said it supports the bill and that it had changed its policies 'some time ago', but added that it 'cannot comment on individual patient treatment, care or allegations due to HIPAA privacy laws.' 'Provo Canyon School does not use 'solitary confinement.' We have not used, and do not use, mechanical restraints. We eliminated the use of seclusion or isolation some time ago,' the statement said. 'Licensed physicians do not prescribe or use any drug or medication as a means of discipline. 'Leadership and staff are highly committed to providing effective treatment, compassionate care and a nurturing environment for the students and families we serve.' Provo Canyon School originally opened in 1971. A statement on the school website says the previous owners sold the school in 2000. The administration has previously said it can't comment on anything that came before the change, including Hilton's time there. The notorious 'Gilgo Beach serial killer' in Long Island could also be responsible for a string of murders 170 miles away in Atlantic City, a new film suggests. The compelling theory was presented in Lifetime's latest movie The Long Island Serial Killer: A Mother's Hunt for Justice, which chronicles the search for the person who murdered at least 10 people whose bodies were found on Gilgo and Oak beaches in Suffolk County, New York, between 2010 and 2011. The film posits that the same assassin could also be behind the murders of four women four years earlier in New Jersey, known as the 'Atlantic City serial killing'. In that case, each of the women were strangled and left in a drainage ditch behind a motel in Egg Harbor Township in 2006. The killer was dubbed the 'Eastbound Strangler' because the victims were all found with their heads facing east. The similarities between the two cases are striking. In the Atlantic City case, all four victims were female sex workers killed by strangling. In the Long Island case, most of the victims were female sex workers, and several of them were strangled. Perhaps the most disturbing similarity is that both cases have yet to be solved many years on. The notorious 'Gilgo Beach serial killer' in Long Island could also be responsible for a string of murders less than 170 miles away in Atlantic City, a new Lifetime movie suggests This map shows the locations where some of the Long Island victims were found, and the distance between the crime scenes The Long Island Serial Killer case began in May 2010 with the disappearance of Shannan Gilbert, a 24-year-old sex worker who vanished after leaving a client's house on foot near Gilgo Beach. A police officer and his cadaver dog were searching for Gilbert's body in a thicket near the beach when they happened upon the remains of a different woman. Within days, three other bodies were found, all within a short walk of one another. By spring 2011, that number had climbed to 10 sets of human remains - eight women, a man and a toddler. Four years before the first Long Island victim was found, Atlantic City police found four women strangled in a drainage ditch behind a motel on November 20, 2006. The victims were (clockwise from top left): Kim Raffo, 35; Tracy Ann Roberts, 23; Molly Jean Dilts, 20; and Barbara V Breidor, 42 The first four bodies found were those of women in their 20s who worked as prostitutes, according to police. Maureen Brainard Barnes, 25, went missing on July 9, 2007. Her remains were found on December 13, 2010. The Long Island Serial Killer case began in May 2010 with the disappearance of Shannan Gilbert (pictured), a 24-year-old sex worker who vanished after leaving a client's house on foot near Gilgo Beach Megan Waterman, 22, who had a daughter, went missing on June 6, 2010. Her body was also found on December 13, 2010. The remains of Melissa Barthelemy, 24, who had been living in the Bronx at the time, and Amber Lynn Costello, 27, were also found on December 13, 2010. Barthelemy's body was the first to be found. She went missing on July 12, 2009. Costello disappeared on September 2, 2010. In March 2011, police discovered the skull of a 20-year-old prostitute identified as Jessica Taylor. Five more remains were discovered at Gilgo Beach over the next two weeks. Gilbert's body was later found in the marsh in the community of Oak Beach in December 2011, about three miles east of where the other 10 sets were discovered. Police have long maintained that Gilbert's death was accidental and excluded her from the 10 other bodies found during the case. They said at the time that she drowned in a drug-induced haze after wandering into the wetland, but her relatives have long disputed that determination. An independent autopsy results commissioned by Gilbert's mother indicated she too may have been strangled like the other victims. Lifetime's latest movie The Long Island Serial Killer: A Mother's Hunt for Justice chronicles the search for the person who murdered at least 10 people whose bodies were found on Gilgo and Oak beaches in Suffolk County, New York, between 2010 and 2011. Pictured: The first four victims found in the Long Island Serial Killer case Jessica Taylor (left) and Valerie Mack (right) were found dead on Suffolk County beaches during the Long Island Serial Killer investigation Police search the beach in Suffolk County in April 2011 after the remains of 10 people were found nearby - launching a hunt for a serial killer that still hasn't been solved 10 years later Suffolk County divers search Hemlock Cove in Babylon amid serial killer case in April 2011 Four years before the first Long Island victim was found, Atlantic City police were faced with their own gruesome mystery. On November 20, 2006, two women came across the body of 35-year-old Kim Raffo in a drainage ditch behind the Golden Key Motel in Egg Harbor Township. Police arrived to discover the bodies of three other women - Barbara V Breidor, 42; Molly Jean Dilts, 20; and Tracy Ann Roberts, 23 - a few yards away from Raffo. The bodies were each in different stages of decomposition, suggesting that they were killed at different times. Their bodies were displayed in the same manner - face down, pointing east, and barefoot. Police believe all four women, who were sex workers in Atlantic City, were strangled. As with the Long Island case, the Eastbound Strangler still hasn't been identified nearly 15 years later. Pictured: The drainage ditch where the four women were found on November 20, 2006 While Lifetime's new flick draws several comparisons between the two mysteries, investigators say they have no reason to believe they're connected. 'We continue to communicate with law enforcement agencies, including Atlantic City Police Department, regarding the Gilgo Beach homicide investigation,' an officer with the Suffolk County Police Department told Oxygen this week. 'At this time, there is no link between our case and the Atlantic City case.' And the families of some of the victims aren't sold on the theory either - including Melissa Cann, whose sister Maureen Brainard Barnes was one of the first women found dead on Long Island. 'I do not believe the Atlantic City murder victims are related to my sister's murder,' Cann told Oxygen. 'It has never been told to me that they are or were linked. From my understanding, they are not.' The Lifetime film leaves open the possibility of a connection, however, and ends with a call for justice for victims in both cases. Three crosses are seen near the site where the four Atlantic City victims were found The Long Island case was also the subject of a new podcast which suggests that a disgraced former police chief in Suffolk County could have something to do with the killings. In Unraveled: Long Island Serial Killer, released last Wednesday, hosts Billy Jensen and Alexis Linkletter put the spotlight on James Burke, who headed the department from 2011 until his resignation in 2015. Burke was jailed for 46 months back in 2016 after pleading guilty to a civil rights violation arising out of an assault on a local man by the name of Christopher Loeb in 2012, while he was serving in the top job. Unraveled puts the spotlight on ex-Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke, who headed the department from 2011 until his resignation in 2015. The disgraced former cop is pictured in 2016 Loeb had stolen a navy duffel bag from the back of Burke's SUV in December of that year, before he was subsequently tracked down police. Loeb says Burke took him back to the station and assaulted him. Loeb is interviewed in the first episode of Unraveled, where he sensationally claims that Burke may have beaten him because he found an incriminating item inside the duffel bag. During the podcast, Loeb tells producers that the duffel bag contained a pink sex toy, handcuffs, a whistle and several pornography DVDs. Loeb alleges that he put one of the DVDs into a player and was stunned by what he saw. 'I put it on for about two minutes, I saw a guy with a mask on torturing a girl, a prostitute. She was tied behind her back, make up was running down her back, she was scared to death,' Leob claims. He says it was a 'snuff film' - otherwise known as a pornographic movie of an actual murder. The producers of Unraveled admit they have no way of verifying Loeb's accusations, but state: 'It's so out there, but so much of this story is out there.' They also alleged that 'just weeks after entering office, Burke shut the FBI out of the investigation into the Gilgo Beach serial killer'. More episodes of the podcast will be released next month, and will further probe the ex- cop. Burke was released from prison in 2019 after completing his sentence for his assault on Loeb. STOCKHOLM, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- TreeToTextile, owned by H&M Group, Inter IKEA Group, Stora Enso, and LSCS Invest, now invests 35 million in constructing a demonstration plant in Sweden. It is a critical next step towards commercializing a new sustainable textile fiber, with scalable technology and low manufacturing cost. The aim is to make sustainable textile fibers available to all. All over the world, sustainable textile fibers are in growing demand. TreeToTextile is committed to enabling brands, companies, and others with a progressive agenda, to have access to sustainable textile fibers. TreeToTextile offers a new technology to produce biobased textile fibers with a low environmental footprint at an attractive cost level. The new fiber is a regenerated cellulosic fiber, produced from renewable and sustainably sourced raw materials from the forest. TreeToTextile's strong sustainability performance is confirmed by a third party verified Life-Cycle-Assessment study1. Looking at the sustainability targets, the new technology would mean less use of energy, chemicals and water when benchmarked to the production of conventional fibers. The novel process is deliberately designed to have low energy demand and low chemical need. It is engineered to suit large scale production and includes a recovery system for reusing chemicals. Our technology has the potential to reduce the environmental footprint of the textile industry significantly. With our owners' support, innovative agendas, know-how, and size, we assess that TreeToTextile can play an important contributing part globally, in enabling the textile industry to become sustainable and circular, says TreeToTextile's CEO Sigrid Barnekow. TreeToTextile is now investing to construct a demonstration plant for upscaling the process technology. The cost is 35 million, which is funded with an investment of 27,4 million from the owners, H&M Group, Inter IKEA Group, Stora Enso, and LSCS Invest, and a grant of 7,6 million from the Swedish Energy Agency. The plant will be established at Stora Enso's Nymolla mill in southern Sweden, and the construction will start in spring 2021. The production capacity will be 1 500 tons fiber per year. The key to creating real change is cooperation. We are a young organization and at the beginning of our operations, but by investing in a demonstration plant, we are finally on the go. With it we are turning years of R&D into reality to increase the biobased share on the textile market to support climate action. That is why this is an important point in time, not only for TreeToTextile, says Roxana Barbieru, Chairwoman of TreeToTextile / Vice President, Emerging Businesses and Alliances Management, Biomaterials at Stora Enso. Sigrid Barnekow, CEO TreeToTextile Maria Starck, Media Officer, Futerra [email protected] [email protected] +46 727216060 +46 760 278294 TreeToTextile - Sustainable textile fibers are in growing demand, and the world is in need for new and better fibers. TreeToTextile offers a new technology to enable a new sustainable man-made cellulosic textile fiber. Its committed owners: H&M Group, Inter IKEA Group, Stora Enso and entrepreneur Lars Stigsson, are united in the aim to make sustainable textile fibers available to all. [1] Hildenbrand & Roos, 2020. 3rd party verified by Quantis Jan 2021 This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/treetotextile-ab/r/treetotextile-builds-demonstration-plant-for-upscaling-new-sustainable-textile-fiber,c3293566 The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/20319/3293566/1377238.pdf Release https://news.cision.com/treetotextile-ab/i/treetotextile-sigridbarnekow-367-highres-amandanilsson,c2880334 TreeToTextile SigridBarnekow 367 HighRes AmandaNilsson SOURCE TreeToTextile AB According to a press release published by Saab, the firm has signed a contract with the UKs Royal Navy to provide a Digital Tower solution at Air Station Culdroses satellite airfield at Predannack. Following a competitive procurement, the Royal Navy has become the fourth UK customer to select Saabs Digital Towers as part of a framework contract. The technology, which enables air traffic services to be conducted remotely, will also enhance the controllers situational awareness, through video, automatic tracking, graphic overlays, and enhanced safety tools. According to a press release published by Saab, the firm has signed a contract with the UKs Royal Navy to provide a Digital Tower solution at Air Station Culdroses satellite airfield at Predannack. Following a competitive procurement, the Royal Navy has become the fourth UK customer to select Saabs Digital Towers as part of a framework contract. The technology, which enables air traffic services to be conducted remotely, will also enhance the controllers situational awareness, through video, automatic tracking, graphic overlays, and enhanced safety tools. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link Digital towers (Picture source: Saab) The Royal Navy follows London City Airport, Cranfield University and the Royal Air Force in adopting the leading edge technology that will be delivered within 2021. Saabs leading air traffic management technologies have a beneficial role to play for both British civilian and military customers. The Royal Navys adoption of digital towers is an example of how the British Armed Forces embrace innovative solutions and Saab is delighted to support their forward looking vision, said Magnus Lewis-Olsson, Chairman of Saab UK. This is an important step in the Royal Navys continued development and exploitation of remote system technology to enhance the way air traffic services are delivered, improving controller efficiency and providing a safe operating environment for air systems, said Cdr Mick Gladwin, Royal Navy. The digital air traffic control solution is a breakthrough in air traffic control and was introduced during 2015 in Sweden when Ornskoldsvik Airport became the first airport in the world with remote air traffic control. In the UK, Cranfield Airport is operating Saabs system and London City will also operate the Saab solution starting later this year. FORT WORTH, Texas, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Job candidates today find that elite companies expect more of their hires, often requiring a master's degree just to be considered for a job. Career-minded adults who want to stay competitive for the most desirable jobsand for whom cost and proximity are key considerationsare increasingly looking to public colleges or universities for their graduate degrees. But which public graduate schools are best? Looking for a superior grad school in the U.S. that offers the cost and proximity advantages of a public institution? AcademicInfluence.com ranks the 50 best public graduate schools for you. AcademicInfluence.com releases its ranking of the leading public schools for graduate degree programs in the United States: 50 Best Public Grad Schools of 2021 The following rank among the best: Arizona State University City College of New York Florida State University George Mason University Georgia Institute Technology Indiana University Bloomington Michigan State University NC State University Ohio State University Pennsylvania State University Purdue University Stony Brook University Temple University Texas A&M University University of Arizona University of Buffalo University of California, Berkeley University of California, Davis University of California, Irvine University of California, Los Angeles University of California, Riverside University of California, San Diego University of California, Santa Barbara University of California, Santa Cruz University of Colorado Boulder University of Connecticut University of Florida University of Georgia University of Houston University of Illinois at Chicago University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign at UrbanaChampaign University of Iowa University of Kansas University of Maryland University of Massachusetts Amherst University of Michigan University of Minnesota University of Missouri University of New Mexico University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University of Oklahoma University of Oregon University of Pittsburgh University of Tennessee University of Texas at Austin University of Utah University of Virginia University of Washington University of WisconsinMadison Virginia Tech To see the final ranking order, state-based results, further rankings beyond the top 50, and to create personalized results, visit the link above. "Many students and working adults are seeking advanced degree programs that balance excellence with affordability. Often, a public grad school is the wisest choice," says Dr. Jed Macosko, academic director of AcademicInfluence.com and professor of physics at Wake Forest University. While some graduate programs offer tuition remission and stipends to students, many do not, especially in fields such as business, law, and medicine. Public universities still retain an advantage over private universities when cost is an issue. "But don't let financial factors obscure the true value of a public grad school degree; alumni and faculty at the top-ranked public grad schools have had a major influence in a diverse spectrum of fields." adds Macosko. "Students attending these schools receive a superior education and earn the credentials to make their own impact on the world." Founded in October 2016, with funding assistance from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Influence Networks created the proprietary InfluenceRanking Engine used by AcademicInfluence.com. Its innovative machine-learning technology generates unbiased rankings that resist manipulation. The InfluenceRanking Engine scours the web's leading data repositories to map and measure the influence of a school's thought leadership. Students can access a superior, trustworthy ranking resource found at no other site. See the AcademicInfluence.com About page for further details on the unique capabilities and advantages of this ranking technology. "AcademicInfluence.com offers peerless ranking tools and proven resources to simplify the graduate school search, test prep, and application processes," says Macosko. "Prospective students who visit our site find thorough answers to their education-related questions, whether at the grad or undergrad level." AcademicInfluence.com is the preeminent technology-driven rankings site dedicated to students, researchers, and inquirers from high school through college and beyond, offering resources that connect learners to leaders. AcademicInfluence.com is a part of the EducationAccess group, a family of sites dedicated to lifelong learning and personal growth, including Influence Networks, InfluencePublishers.com (nonfiction publishing and publishers of Bright Notes), IntelligentEducation.com (instructional video library), AlexandriaLibrary.com (free, online library and reader), and soon, Success Portraits (personalized strengths inventory for college and career). Contact: Jed Macosko, Ph.D. Academic Director AcademicInfluence.com [email protected] (682) 302-4945 SOURCE AcademicInfluence.com Related Links http://AcademicInfluence.com Inferred zinc-equivalent ("Zn-Eq") sulfide resource up 105% from 2017 estimate. Inferred Zn-Eq sulfide-mixed-oxide resource estimate up 64% from 2017 estimate. Total contained metal - Measured and Indicated: 0.65 billion pounds Zn-Eq. Total contained metal - Inferred: 3.39 billion pounds Zn-Eq at 10.9% Zn-Eq. Total contained silver - Inferred: 5.39 million oz.; Meas. & Ind: 1.2 million oz. DENVER, CO / ACCESSWIRE / February 23, 2021 / Solitario Zinc Corp. ("Solitario") (NYSE American:XPL)(TSX:SLR) is pleased to report a significant Mineral Resource increase for its high-grade Florida Canyon zinc project in northern Peru. Solitario's joint venture partner, Nexa Resources S.A. (NYSE: NEXA; TSX: NEXA) ("Nexa"), completed a new resource estimate incorporating the results of the 2018/2019 drilling program and reinterpreting portions of the previous resource model. Solitario, through the work of an independent third-party consultant, has verified Nexa's resource estimate. Solitario will issue a new NI-43-101 compliant resource report before the end of March. Nexa is the world's fourth largest zinc miner and operates three underground zinc mines and a major zinc smelter in Peru and two zinc mines and two zinc smelters in Brazil. The 2021 Mineral Resource Estimate is a mine plan constrained resource that takes into consideration various NSR cutoff grades, depending on mining method. All 2021 additions to the resource were in the Inferred Resource Category. The table below provides summary estimates for all resource categories. 2021 Florida Canyon Mineral Resource Estimate Category Tonnes Millions Zinc % Lead % Silver g/t ZnEq % Contained Metal Zinc-Equivalent Billion Lbs. Contained Silver Million Ozs. Measured 0.81 11.32 1.40 15.4 12.78 0.29 0.40 Indicated 1.63 10.28 1.31 14.9 11.66 0.42 0.78 M + I 2.44 10.63 1.34 15.05 12.04 0.65 1.18 Inferred 14.86 9.63 1.26 11.3 10.89 3.57 5.39 Notes to Mineral Resource Table: CIM (2014) definitions were followed for Mineral Resources. Mineral Resources have an effective date as of February 2, 2021. Mineral Resources are reported using mining cut off values of US$41.40/t NSR for Sub-Level Stoping, US$42.93/t for Cut and Fill and US$40.61/t for Room and Pillar mining methods. Forecast long term metal prices used for the NSR and Zn-Eq calculations are: Zn: US$2,816/t (US$1.27/lb); Pb: US$ 2,249/t (US$1.02/lb) and Ag: US$19.40/oz. Zn-Eq calculations do not take into account metallurgical recoveries. Minimum mining thickness is 3 meters for Sub-Level Stoping and Cut and Fill, and 4 meters for Room and Pillar mining methods. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. Project Resources are reported on a 100% ownership basis. Numbers may not add due to rounding. Overall Inferred Resource Increase, 2021 Mineralization at Florida Canyon consists of zinc, lead and silver contained in sulfide minerals, oxide minerals and mixed sulfide-oxide mineralization. Overall, contained Zn-Eq metal in the 2021 Inferred Resource, including all ore types, increased 64% compared to the 2017 resource estimate - from 8.8 million ore tonnes at 11.8% Zinc Equivalent ("Zn-Eq") to 14.9 million tonnes at 10.9% Zn-Eq, with an expansion of more than 6.0 million tonnes. Inferred Sulfide Resource Doubles The 2018/2019 drilling program was specifically designed to identify new NI-43-101 compliant sulfide resources at Florida Canyon. This objective was achieved with an overall 105% gain in Inferred Zn-Eq contained metal in sulfide resources compared to the 2017 Inferred Zn-Eq sulfide resource estimate. A comparison of the contained Zn-Eq metal in the inferred sulfide resource in the 2017 estimate versus the 2021 estimate, results in the following increase: In the 2017 Inferred Resource Estimate, 59% of the Zn-Eq resources were sulfide In the 2021 Inferred Resource Estimate, 78% of the Zn-Eq resources are sulfide Why is Sulfide Mineralization Important? The 2017 Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA" see SEDAR Filing dated August 8, 2017) demonstrated that mining and processing of Florida Canyon sulfide resources are much more profitable than for oxide and mixed resources. Cash flow estimates in the PEA for its 12.5-year mine life, based on the 2017 resource, illustrated that years 2-7 (mostly sulfide ore) generated approximately $75 million in annual free cash flow, while years 8-12 (mostly oxide+mixed ore) averaged approximately $30 million in annual free cash flow. In addition to an increased mine life and cash flow, the current, larger resource will also provide the opportunity to assess increasing the production rate from the 2,500 tonnes per day assumed in the PEA, further improving project profitability. Chris Herald, President and Chief Executive Officer of Solitario, commented: "The new 2021 Resource Estimate exceeded our most optimistic expectations. With strong zinc demand, a robust $1.30 per pound current zinc price, and future world-wide stimulus infrastructure spending, we view this significant resource addition as providing further underlying asset value to our shareholders. Exceptional potential to significantly expand the Florida Canyon mineralized system still exists, particularly immediately to the south and east of the current drilling footprint, where several new surface prospects have been recently discovered, demonstrating two parallel north-south corridors in excess of four-kilometers in length, with virtually no drilling. Additionally, mineralization is open to the North and potentially to the West where no drill tests have been conducted beyond an offsetting fault. Other important undrilled prospects, defined by geochemistry and geologic setting, are located even further north on the property. The results of the 2018/2019 Florida Canyon drilling program were very successful in achieving our three most important near-term objectives: 1) expanding the steeply dipping San Jorge deposit to the south of previously reported resources and expanding its associated high-grade horizontal mantos to the east; 2) discovering and partially defining the new 1021 Zone in the north central part of the previously drilled footprint over a minimum strike length of 800 meters; and 3) extending a number of horizontal mantos throughout the drilling footprint. We want to congratulate Nexa for their hard work and commitment in advancing the Florida Canyon project. We are impressed with Nexa's strong social commitment to the communities surrounding the property, including a significant program of local employment and ongoing road-building efforts to better connect communities to each other and the greater regional transportation network." Exploration Potential | Planned Activities Several exploratory targets have been identified immediately south, north, east and west of the Florida Canyon deposit with mineralized outcrops, as shown in Figure 1. The targets to the south appear to be extensions to the Florida Canyon mineralized corridor. Drill testing some of these satellite targets is planned as they have the potential to significantly increase the mineral resource at the Florida Canyon Project. Figure 1. Regional Exploration Prospects, Florida Canyon Property All technical information which is included in this statement has been reviewed and approved by Donald E. Hulse, VP Mining of Gustavson Associates LLC. Mr. Hulse is independent of the Company and a qualified person, pursuant to the meaning of such terms in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Information contained within this release is reported under Nexa's quality control program reviewed by Mr. Walt Hunt, COO for Solitario Zinc Corp., who is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Background Information on Florida Canyon The Florida Canyon resource is located within 16 contiguous mining concessions covering approximately 12,600 ha (31,100 acres). All of these concessions are currently titled. Surrounding the Florida Canyon resource area concessions are an additional 37 contiguous concessions covering approximately 27,900 hectares (68,940 acres) that are held within the Chambara joint venture with Nexa. The Florida Canyon deposits are "Mississippi Valley" type where the zinc, lead, silver mineralization is associated with hydrothermal dolomitized zones. High energy facies of the original limestones belonging to the Chambara Formation of Upper Triassic-Lower Jurassic age, are characterized by high porosity and permeability. These lithologies were subsequently altered by dolomitization, further enhancing porosity and permeability, providing a favorable environment for the deposition of zinc mineralization within these preferred stratigraphic horizons (Manto style ore). A second, and potentially more important style of mineralization, are near-vertical ore bodies such as the San Jorge and 1021 zones. These larger zones are controlled by structures and can be high-grade. Figure 2 is a schematic cross section of a vertical replacement zone and associated near-horizonal manto zones. Figure 3 is a simplified map of the Florida Canyon deposits illustrating the distribution of mantos and steeply dipping feeders (replacement deposits). 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. Notice regarding Victor A. Liguori Page Menu Campus Announcements Archive Facebook Twitter YouTube RSS Search This Site Submit Search Provost Peggy Agouris sent the following message to the campus community Feb. 22, 2021. - Ed. Dear Colleagues, I write to share the news that Victor A. Liguori, Professor of Sociology, Emeritus, died on December 7, 2020, surrounded by his family. Victor Armand Liguori was born in 1937 and grew up outside of Philadelphia. He spent his summers in Avalon, New Jersey working on a charter fishing boat. After graduating from Haverford College with an A.B. in Sociology in 1959, he completed his masters and Ph.D. research at Princeton University focusing on stability and change in fisheries. Professor Liguori joined the faculty of William & Mary in 1964 as an Instructor in Sociology and Anthropology. He was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1966 and to Associate Professor in 1970. For several decades, he maintained close ties with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, where he was also an Associate Scientist. Professor Liguori taught sociology and anthropology at William & Mary for almost 40 years. His love for teaching and passion for the subjects he taught nurtured and inspired his students, who came to know and to appreciate him as a professor who cared deeply about them and about their success. He pushed them to think about the unexamined contradictions in their everyday world. His commitment to a liberal arts education for all William & Mary students was one of his enduring passions; it was also a legacy he tried to pass on to newly arrived faculty. Ethnicity, race, cultural diversity and maritime sociology were Professor Liguoris abiding passions in the classroom and beyond. His interest in ethnicity came about partially because of his own European immigrant parents and growing up in a multilingual family. His love of the Chesapeake Bay also led to his involvement in a wide variety of academic and non-academic activities with both graduate and undergraduate students, as well as with colleagues across the university. For 30 years he worked with the watermen and women of Guinea and developed a profound respect and admiration for the community's socio-cultural diversity, language and speech, and work ethic. The Guineamen became his heroes and his friends. Through Professor Liguoris sociological and anthropological insights, his students came to appreciate the complexities of the Gloucester County Guineamen from their myths of origin, to their distinctive language and speech, to their harvesting of marine resources, to their attributed isolation and legendary stand-offishness toward strangers. Within his department, Professor Liguori was a creative and engaged colleague. Over the years, he served on many department committees and he was especially insightful in his work on search committees. Across the university, he was known as a faculty member who cared deeply about the environment. He served on the W&M Environment Committee and repeatedly on the Landscape, Environment and Energy Committee. Issues concerning Lake Matoaka were always been high on his list of concerns. Professor Liguori loved his family and friends beyond measure. He was predeceased by his father and mother, Joseph and Rachelle Liguori, and his brother Richard Liguori. He is survived by his wife Victoria, his daughter, Lisa, his son Robert, his son-in-law Todd, and his grandson Sam. Sincerely, Peggy Our online Paralegal Studies program expands opportunities for students National American University is proud to announce that its undergraduate Paralegal Studies program and Professional Legal Studies program may now be completed online. Both degree programs are offered through NAUs College of Legal Studies. Approved by the American Bar Association since 1994, NAUs Paralegal Studies program, which offers both associate and bachelors degrees, is designed to help professionals start on their path to a career in the expanding paralegal field. Paralegals play an increasingly important role in supporting the legal profession. Our online Paralegal Studies program expands opportunities for students who are interested in the law and working in law-related fields by offering a degree path thats highly relevant to their career plans. said Dr. Cindy Mathena, NAU Provost and Chief Academic Officer. NAUs Paralegal Studies program is designed to provide students with a specialized understanding of the law and legal system, as well as the practical skills needed to assist attorneys in law firms; corporate legal departments; local, state, and federal government offices; and bank and trust departments. Paralegals may also be employed in other offices that require excellent analytical, organizational, and communication skills. Students who earn an associate degree in Paralegal Studies may expand their opportunities by continuing their education at NAU and earn a bachelors degree in Paralegal Studies. All Paralegal Studies classes are offered 100% online, with three legal specialty courses delivered synchronously through online video conferencing to meet ABA Guidelines. Graduates of NAUs Paralegal Studies program who choose to become certified are eligible to voluntarily sit for the Certified Legal Assistant (CLA) exam administered by the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) and earn the designation of Certified Paralegal (CP). Graduates may also choose to seek certification from the National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA) through the Paralegal CORE Competency Exam (PCCE) exam and become a CORE Registered Paralegal (CRP). NAUs Professional Legal Studies program, which also offers associate and bachelors degrees, is designed for career-minded students who are interested in the legal aspects of business and wish to focus on the integration of legal practices and business principles. The bachelors degree in either Professional Legal Studies or Paralegal Studies provides the pre-requisite education needed to seek admission to law school for students who wish to become an attorney. With more than 20 years of experience in developing and providing online education, NAU offers 100% online programs that provide non-traditional students the flexibility to earn a degree at their convenience and on their schedule. About National American University Now celebrating its 80th year, National American University prepares students for careers in technical and professional fields. Regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, NAU offers 100% online doctoral, masters, bachelors associate, diploma, and certificate programs. In addition to Paralegal Studies and Professional Legal Studies, NAU offers programs in Healthcare Management, Business, Accounting, Technology, Criminal Justice, and Strategic Security. For more information visit https://www.national.edu/. Mathura : , Feb 23 (IANS) Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Tuesday that the holy land Mathura is known to break the arrogance of people. "Lord Krishna had broken the arrogance of Lord Indra and had lifted the Govardhan mountain on his finger to save the people here. This government has also become arrogant and will not survive the wrath of the farmers who keep the nation alive," she said. Tuesday's meeting was in continuation of a series of Kisan Panchayats that the Congress is organising in 27 districts in western Uttar Pradesh against the three Central farm laws. Priyanka said that nearly 215 farmers lost their lives during the ongoing agitation but the leaders of the ruling party did not even come to the Delhi borders to meet the agitating farmers though the Prime Minister travels across the globe. "When my brother Rahul Gandhi observed two-minute silence in the Parliament in the memory of the farmers who had died, not a single member of the ruling party stood up in respect," she said, adding that when arrogance keeps leaders away form the people, "you know the end is near". Priyanka said that the BJP had promised to double the income of the farmers and pay their cane dues. "The cane dues amount to about Rs 15,000 crore. But instead of paying this, the government has bought two aircraft worth Rs 16,000 crore for the Prime Minister. This shows where their priority lies," she pointed out. The Congress leader also expressed concern over the condition of gaushalas (cow shelters) in the Braj region, saying even the cows have not been spared by the government. She further said that the new farm laws had been made to benefit the capitalist friends of the government. "You must now save the 'Govardhan parvat' or they will sell it away too," she added. The Congress General Secretary, while addressing a Kisan Mahapanchayat in Muzaffarnagar district on February 20, had lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She had said, "In our old stories, kings and queens became arrogant after they won power. After becoming the Prime Minister twice, Narendra Modi is also showing arrogance." -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 Egypt is making final preparations to inaugurate the first and largest factory of archaeological reproductions in the Middle East. The project helps preserve Egypts archaeological property rights in its archaeological heritage and provide Egyptian reproductions as an alternative to the Chinese-made products. According to archaeologists, this project will have a positive impact in the economic, tourist and archaeological sectors. In December 2020, Mustafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said that the factory will contribute to the protection of intellectual property rights for Egyptian antiquities. Waziri noted that the factory, which is located in the industrial zone of Obour city in Qalyubia governorate, was established in cooperation with the Egyptian Treasures Company for Archaeological Models, as the first of its kind in Egypt and the Middle East. On Feb. 8, Waziri wrote on his Facebook page about his latest visit to the factory site, saying, Today's visit is the archaeological reproductions factory in preparation for its opening soon, God willing the grandchildren are on the path of their grandparents. Al-Monitor tried to contact Waziri several times to inquire about the exact time of the opening, but he did not answer. According to previous statements, it is expected to open in the first quarter of 2021. Forty-four specialized artists and workers in various fields such as sculpture, drawing and painting, metalwork, ceramics, woodwork and inlay will work at the 10,000-square-meter (2.5-acre) factory. The factory, which cost about 100 million Egyptian pounds ($6.38 million), is equipped with the latest technology, and it has manual and mechanized production lines for casting metals to produce and raise the efficiency of products from metalwork. There is also a line for wood and carpentry to produce all woodwork, and a line of moulds, and the required moulds for production lines, sculpture, printing, drawing and coloring. In addition, there is an exhibition hall to display reproductions that are being produced. Magdy Shaker, chief archaeologist at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, told Al-Monitor over the phone that the factory helps confront antique products of Chinese-made models that invade the local and international markets. The Chinese product is of poor quality and lower price. Some tourists buy them as souvenirs and complain that they are broken even before they leave Egypt due to bad quality, he said. If you look at a Chinese-made replica, you will find the products features resembling Chinese people, more than ancient Egyptians, Shaker added, stressing that Egyptian artists should design these souvenirs and not anyone else. Egyptian artists will copy them from the original antiquities, he noted. Shaker said that the reproduction factory will work to monopolize this industry in Egypt. The factorys bazaars will be located inside the tourist attractions in order to achieve great sales. The ministry already had a unit for the production of archaeological models and reproductions, but it provides little production, unlike the presence of a specialized factory, Shaker said. The ministrys unit was established in 2011. Amr al-Tibi, executive director of the Archaeological Models Production Unit at the Ministry of Antiquities, told Akhbar Alyoum back in January last year that the average production of this unit which is still operational reaches between 30,000 to 40,000 pieces per year. Since its establishment, the sales exceeded 25 million Egyptian pounds (about $1.6 million). Tibi said the unit was established as part of the amendments made in 2010 to the Antiquities Protection Law No. 117 of 1983, to include provisions for the protection of intellectual property rights and the trademark of the products of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. The unit aims at protecting intellectual property rights, reviving ancient Egyptian art and developing the resources of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Thus, the factory will expand the unit's production of archaeological reproductions by increasing capacity hundreds of times the current production capacity of the unit. Tibi confirmed that according to the feasibility study for the factory project, the expected profits will reach 10 million pounds (roughly $638,000) annually within less than three years. Archaeologist and historian Francis Amin told Al-Ahram website Feb. 11 that archaeological models are considered one of the most important handicraft and heritage industries, because they are a source of economic income as they generate large financial revenues for the state. He noted that ancient Egyptian sculptors used to have a statue-making workshop such as the workshop of the sculptor Thutmose, where the magnificent statue of Nefertiti's bust was found. In many parts of Egypt, especially in Qurna village, located on the west bank of the Nile opposite Luxor, the industry of counterfeit antiquities is flourishing, especially in the fields of sculptures and small archaeological reproductions. But their products will not be of the same quality as those expected from the factory. According to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities Facebook page, every product produced by the factory will bear a special stamp of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, and a certified certificate stating that it is an original piece, in addition to a barcode for easy identification that contributes to protecting the factorys products from counterfeits. The Bay of Plenty will be receiving 11 new constables. A total of 57 new officers are graduating from the Royal New Zealand Police College on Thursday and will be posted to different regions throughout the country. This is the most ethnically diverse wing to have started their training in 2020 with many of the wing demographics exceeding New Zealands population demographics for ethnicity (as compared to the 2018 census), says a statement from police. Police is aiming for a constabulary workforce diverse in ethnicity and gender that reflects the population we are policing, and we have set ambitious recruitment targets to meet our desired workforce profile. Constable David Manuel (Ngati Porou) says hes passionate about his home and where he comes from Ruatoria and the East Coast, or as he says paradise on Earth. David grew up immersed in te reo Maori and tikanga Maori, and has pursued careers as a builder and more recently as a police authorised officer. David says he became a police officer to be a role model for youth in his home community. I want to challenge myself where I feel I can make a positive change to the community I aspire to be someone my community, iwi, hapu and whanau can rely on. David is being posted to Eastern District. From Iran to New Zealand, Constable Neda Mohammadhasan has travelled across the world with her husband and son to a country where she became determined to be a police officer. Neda has a degree in industrial engineering and has worked in project management. Since moving to New Zealand Neda says she has seen how our police officers treat offenders and victims, so different from the concept of police that I have experienced before. Living in Christchurch at the time of the March 15 terror attacks, many of Nedas work colleagues had family members who were affected. Many of them are refugees and they moved to New Zealand for a safe place to live. Im so proud to be part of this police service, where I can help keep New Zealand safe for all New Zealanders and all migrants and refugees who left their countries and moved here for a better life. Neda is posted to Counties Manukau District. Commissioner Andrew Coster and Police Minister Hon Poto Williams were present at the graduation ceremony. Due to alert level restrictions only some family and friends able to attend the ceremony, while others watched it via livestream. AWARDS Ministers Award recognising top student Constable Michael Baek, Auckland City District Award for Second in Wing, recognising second top student Constable Tane Tuhakaraina, Southern District Commissioners Award for Leadership Constable Michael Baek, Auckland City District Physical Training and Defensive Tactics Award Constable Nathan Kara, Auckland City District Driver Training and Road Policing Practice Award Constable Courtney Walker, Counties Manukau District Firearms Award Constable Shannan May, Auckland City District Deployment information The new constables will have a one-week break before starting duties in their districts. The wing is being dispersed as follows: Northland 3 Waitemata 2 Auckland 8 Counties Manukau 11 Waikato 2 Bay of Plenty 11 Eastern 5 Central 2 Wellington 4 Tasman 5 Southern 4 Wing demographics Female 35.1 per cent; Male 64.9 per cent; NZ European 45.6 per cent; Maori 24.6 per cent; Pacific 17.5 per cent; Asian 10.5 per cent; LAAM 1.8 per cent. (@FahadShabbir) Washington, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Feb, 2021 ) :The wife of jailed Mexican narcotics king Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was ordered held in detention by a Washington judge Tuesday after her arrest for drug trafficking. Emma Coronel Aispuro, 31, faces a minimum of 10 years and maximum of life in prison on US charges that she took part in the notorious Sinaloa cartel boss's narcotics operations, said Federal district judge Robin Meriweather. Coronel, a dual US-Mexican citizen, was arrested Monday at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, two years after her husband was convicted in New York for masterminding a murderous drug operation that shipped tons of cocaine, heroin, and other drugs into the United States over 25 years. While Coronel attended his three-month trial almost daily, she was never threatened with prosecution herself, despite witness hints of her involvement with his business. She now faces one charge of conspiracy to traffic cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana for importation into the United States, and one additional charge of aiding and abetting a crime. In a court filing an FBI investigator said evidence from a cooperating witness and another trafficker showed Coronel knowingly using drug proceeds to help her husband while he was in prison. In addition, the filing said, "From 2012 to 2014, Coronel relayed messages on behalf of Guzman in furtherance of drug trafficking activities while Guzman attempted to avoid capture by Mexican authorities." "Once Guzman was arrested in February 2014, Coronel continued to deliver messages she received from Guzman during her prison visits." The filing also said Coronel took part in two Mexican prison escape plots -- the first one successful -- by her husband. Guzman was extradited to the United States in 2017 to stand trial, and was convicted and sentenced to life in prison two years later. Coronel, the mother of twin daughters by her now 63-year-old husband, will plead innocent to the charges, her lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman -- who also represented Guzman -- told AFP. He told the court Tuesday that he plans to submit a request for her release on bail. Advertisement An Italian cliff-top cemetery has collapsed into the ocean, with dozens of coffins floating off into the Mediterranean and many others feared to have been buried under the rubble. The landslide struck on Monday at around 3pm in Camogli, a tourist resort near the north-west city of Genoa, dragging around 200 coffins down the cliff and destroying two chapels at the burial ground. Pictures from the aftermath showed a large portion of the cliff collapsed into the sea, with coffins among the rubble and debris floating some 160ft below. Efforts are underway to save as many of the coffins as possible, as relatives of those buried in the cemetery face an anxious wait to find out if their loved ones' remains were among those to be swallowed by the landslide. Pictured: The portion of the cliff, on top of which the Camogli was built, that collapsed into the sea on Monday. It is feared that around 200 coffins have been dragged into the ocean with the landslide Pictures from the scene showed coffins in the water among the debris, some 160 feet below the top of the cliff Local reports suggested that the landslide was the result of coastal erosion, exacerbated by recent storms in the Mediterranean region of Liguria, known as the Italian Riviera. Residents reported hearing the landslide from their homes, with some saying that they ran to the cemetery when they heard the cliff falling into the sea. Some expressed their anger at the event, saying they had likely lost the coffins and ashes of loved ones in the disaster, noting that little was done to move people's remains away from the unsafe part of the cemetery. 'My legs are shaking, it's like he's dead again,' one woman named Pamela told Il Secolo XIX, a local newspaper, saying that her fathers ashes were likely lost. Another local, Dimitri Perini, told the newspaper: 'I was at home, a neighbour said to me "Did you hear what happened?" And I ran here. I have my dad, I have my grandfather who rest in the part of the cemetery that collapsed.' Germana Zoppi said he was angry, claiming cemetery officials continued to sell plots to people that have now vanished into the sea. 'I lost my grandmother, I don't even know if we will find her again. And now I try to understand that my father didn't go down too. It's a shame,' he told Il Secolo. Efforts are underway to save as many of the coffins as possible, as relatives of those buried in the cemetery face an anxious wait to find out if their loved ones' remains were among those to be swallowed by the landslide Pictured: Firefighters were among the emergency service workers at the scene of the collapse working to recover as many of the lose coffins as possible while also securing the area The Camogli cemetery built on the side of the cliff is 150 years old, and work to make the cliff stronger 'had been going on for some time', the local mayor said after the collapse. Mayor Francesco Olivar, a geologist by trade, said the landslide was difficult to predict in advance, and that a large part of what collapsed is facing the cliff, meaning that most of the coffins could be buried under the landslide. Thankfully the cemetery was closed to the public - as it always is on Mondays - and there are no reports of anyone being hurt in the coastal collapse. Efforts to return the coffins to dry land continued into the night on Monday and into Tuesday, with 10 coffins recovered on Monday evening, and it will be left to a coroner to identify the recovered bodies. Local authorities have deployed drones as part of the recovery efforts, while videos showed emergency service workers on boats at the foot of the cliff assessing the situation on Monday evening. Another video, filmed from the cemetery at the time of the landslide, showed people assumed to be workers watching from the roof of a mausoleum, as another - whose roof has already partially collapsed - fell into the sea. Pictured: A still from video showing the moment of the collapse from the cemetery. The video, taken by someone believed to be a worker who was at the cemetery at the time, showed the roof one of the mausoleums containing coffins collapsing The video then shows the mausoleum suddenly sink out of sight and fall down the cliff as the land beneath gave way, taking coffins and people's ashes with it Further down the cliff from the cemetery, there are also ten houses, three of which are reportedly inhabited. The residents of the houses were offered temporary accommodation by city officials following the collapse. Creaks had already been heard on Sunday, giving locals a sense of what was coming, with the area that has now collapsed being cordoned off. Rock climbers had also already been surveying the cliff. But despite the signs, the mayor still said the collapse was 'unpredictable, especially in its vastness. 'What happened today I insert it among the darkest moments I experienced as mayor and I am close to all my fellow citizens,' he said. In writer/director Philippe Lacotes astonishing film Night of the Kings, a young man (Bakary Kone) walks into a notorious jungle prison, MACA, with its own systems of law and order. Over the course of one night, he will have to step into his own untapped power to survive, becoming a storyteller at the behest of Blackbeard (Steve Tientcheu), the Dangoro, or leader of the inmates. While the inmates gather, the warden intones that this is the only prison in the world run by an inmate. What unfolds is an event, and a film, wholly singular and unique, a blend of the ancient and the modern, a cinematic snapshot of a nations history within this self-contained film. Theres a delicate balance between food thats convenient to make and also delicious to eat, and its one were trying to achieve pretty much constantly (because who really has time to spend hours cooking dinner on a weeknight?). Unfortunately, a lot of convenience foods, in their boxes, bags, and cans, are pretty lackluster. So when we saw that the maker of culinary star and cookbook author Ina Gartens favorite store-bought pasta sauce had leved up and started selling hearty frozen Italian dinners at Costco, we got excited. Like, load up our cart, pre-heat the oven, and grab a fork while we watch dinner cook through the oven door excited. Our mission at SheKnows is to empower and inspire women, and we only feature products we think youll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale. More from SheKnows This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Raos isnt just Ina Gartens favorite brand of jarred pasta sauce. Its been at the top of store-bought pasta sauce rankings for years, thanks to its depth of flavor and fresh-tasting ingredients. Click here to read the full article. That being said, buying a jar of the sauce itself is a little pricy (unless you get the 40 oz jumbo jar at BJs). So when we saw that Costco was selling Raos Frozen Chicken Parmesan for just $15.99 per three-pound package, it kind of blew our minds. Each box comes with two trays of chicken Parmesan. Each one features breaded chicken breasts topped with Raos famous marinara and mozzarella cheese, along with classic spaghetti marinara. And at the $15.99 price point, its more than worth it between the ingredients and time youd need to make this dish from scratch, the savings are almost unbelievable. Once again, Costco saves the day for its loyal members. We plan on keeping our freezers stocked with Raos frozen Chicken Parmesan, so when were craving Italian after a long day of work, we can just pop it into the oven and wait for our taste buds to be charmed. Story continues Before you go, check out our gallery below: Best of SheKnows Sign up for SheKnows' Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 23, ARMENPRESS. Due to the coronavirus-related restrictions the trade turnover in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) has declined by 11% in January-November 2020, whereas Armenias trade turnover with the Unions member states has dropped by 2%, Foreign Minister of Armenia Ara Aivazian said at the session of the parliamentary standing committee on regional and Eurasian integration affairs. The minister stated that the unblocking of all transportation and economic communications in the region [mentioned in the November 9, 2020 trilateral statement signed by the Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani leaders] will definitely affect the Eurasian region. According to him, the unblocking should be conducted in a comprehensive way which will allow to use the potential of the region without geopolitical preferences. Since joining the Eurasian Economic Union Armenia has actively participated in the economic integration deepening processes, the cooperation between the states, revealing and effectively utilizing the economic potential, the FM said, adding that the COVID-related restrictions negatively affected the EAEU domestic mutual trade volumes, connected also with the transportation communication interruptions, restriction on peoples free movement. Thus, according to the results of January-November 2020, the trade turnover in the EAEU has declined by 11%, comprising 44 billion USD. According to some forecasts, it will decline by another 3.9% by yearend. At the same time, Armenias trade turnover with the EAEU states has dropped by 2% comprising 2.03 billion USD. The minister, however, stated that the further deepening of the economic decline has been greatly mitigated thanks to the assistance measures taken by the states. He added that the EAEU market has great advantages and importance for Armenia from export perspective. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan BEIJING, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- By removing all its national-level poverty-stricken counties from the list, China has made a major victory in fighting poverty. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), nearly 100 million rural residents bid farewell to absolute poverty since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012. This selection of before-and-after photos might shed light upon what improvements have taken place in the lives of people, especially those from ethnic minorities. TOP LEFT (File photo taken by Shen Qiao): A farmer gets water from an artificial water storage pool in Cele County of Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the 1990s. BOTTOM LEFT (Photo taken by Zhao Ge): Abdukerem Turdi, a villager from an officially registered poor household, shows home access to tap water in Qushou Village of Moyu County, Hotan Prefecture in Xinjiang, Nov. 21, 2019. RIGHT (Photo taken by Zhao Ge): A local villager collects tap water diverted from an improved water conservancy project in Jambaz Township of Jiashi County in Xinjiang on June 8, 2020. (Xinhua) TOP: Photo taken on June 15, 2013 shows the Loess Plateau in Zhang Junming's hometown Hongbaiyang Township in Pengyang County, Guyuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region; BOTTOM: Photo taken on June 22, 2015 shows a government-backed poverty-relief relocation site, where Zhang's family lives, in Yinchuan, Ningxia. (Xinhua/Wang Peng) TOP: Ada Niuri (1st L) poses with his family members at their old residence in Abuluoha Village, Butuo County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 12, 2006. BOTTOM: Ada Niuri (1st L), 38, poses for a group photo with his family members on Dec. 25, 2020. Driven by nationwide anti-poverty efforts, great changes have taken place in Abuluoha, a leprosarium-turned mountain village inhabited by people of the Yi ethnic group. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing) TOP: Photo taken in 2016 shows villager Wang Minghua posing with his old house in Baorui Village, Qiongzhong County, south China's Hainan Province. BOTTOM: Photo taken on Dec. 17, 2020 by Zhang Liyun shows villager Wang Minghua (C) and his family members posing with their new home in Baorui Village. (Xinhua) TOP: Li Guozhi poses in front of his old residence in Xiaoluoma, a poverty-stricken village in Nuoshuihe Township, Tongjiang County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Aug. 22, 2016. On the wall behind him, Li wrote down a motto in his fight against poverty: "Better strive than suffer". BOTTOM: Li Guozhi poses in front of his new home at a relocation site in Xiaoluoma Village, April 2, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) LEFT: This file photo taken at a certain time before 1949 shows a Dulong resident climbing a cliff-side ladder in Dulongjiang Township of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. RIGHT: Photo taken by Hu Chao shows Dulong villager Li Yongming accompanying his grandmother Dang Na as they climb up cement steps to reap fodder grass from the mountains in Dulongjiang Township, Oct. 31, 2020. (Xinhua) LEFT: Undated file photo shows a Dulong man, using a pair of machetes, giving haircut to a fellow villager in Dulongjiang Township of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. RIGHT: Photo taken by Hu Chao shows Dulong villager Ken Yinglin (front) getting a haircut at a barber shop in Kongdang Village of Dulongjiang Township, Oct. 31, 2020. (Xinhua) TOP: Photo taken on July 21, 2017 with a drone shows old village houses in Pingliu Village of Baise, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. BOTTOM: Photo taken on Dec. 3, 2019 shows a poverty-relief resettlement site for villagers from Pingliu Village. (Xinhua/Zhang Ailin) Combo photo shows Yunyang County, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality in 2000 (TOP, file photo provided by Chongqing Three Gorges Migrants Memorial) and on Aug. 4, 2020 (BOTTOM, photo taken by Huang Wei), respectively. (Xinhua) TOP: Photo taken on Oct. 11, 2017 shows villager Yu Wanhe making a fire in his former residence in Jianliang Village of Du'an Yao Autonomous County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. BOTTOM: Photo taken on Aug. 19, 2020 shows Yu cooking a dish in the kitchen of his new house inside a poverty-relief resettlement site, in Sanzhiyang Town of Du'an County. (Xinhua/Lu Boan) TOP (undated file photo): Villagers read amid farm fields in Jiajiazhuang Village, Fenyang, north China's Shanxi Province; BOTTOM (photo taken by Cao Yang): A view of a bookstore in Jiajiazhuang Village on July 16, 2020. (Xinhua) TOP (undated file photo): The construction site for the Shenhai wetland park in Dongshentou Village of Shuocheng District, Shuozhou, north China's Shanxi Province; BOTTOM (photo taken by Cao Yang): An aerial view of the wetland park after its construction on July 7, 2020. Dongshentou Village used to rely solely on agriculture to support its economy. The Shenhai wetland park is one of the local efforts to develop tourism and relieve poverty. (Xinhua) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. The Staten Island Young Republicans (SIYR) organization had hoped to launch a speaking series last year, but like most 2020 plans, coronavirus (COVID-19) got in the way. This year, with an improved understanding of virtual technologies, the group of about 40 young conservatives will kick off such a series Thursday night with Janice Dean, a Fox News meteorologist, advocate for nursing home residents, and vocal critic of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, SIYR President Peter Giunta said Tuesday. Most of our members have grandparents that are still alive, he said. With COVID, a lot of families were cut off from their loved ones...I just think its sad and Janices story resonates with them. In large part, the COVID-related deaths of Deans husbands parents in elder-care facilities in New York have spurred her criticism of the governor and his policies on nursing homes. Cuomo has come under fire in recent weeks for those policies, with many calling for a full investigation into COVID deaths related to nursing homes, and some going as far as to call for the governors impeachment. Most recently, the governors office has received criticism for its delayed release of information and death counts related to nursing homes. Cuomo has repeatedly accepted responsibility for creating an information void. A Marist poll published Tuesday found 60% of surveyed New Yorkers perceive some wrongdoing on the part of the governor in his handling of nursing homes. Giunta also works as chief of staff for Assemblyman Michael Reilly (R-South Shore), who has voiced his support for a state commission that would investigate the governors handling of the outbreak in nursing home facilities. While SIYR is explicitly a political organization, Giunta said Deans advocacy for nursing home patients and their families crosses partisan lines. It means a great deal for our members, and I think, Staten Islanders, in general, that Janice is coming to speak to us, he said. Dean is scheduled to give her speech virtually on Thursday at 7 p.m. The event is free for SIYR members, but $10 for non-members wishing to attend. To learn more visit their online event page. New Delhi, Feb 23 : More than 13 lakh healthcare workers, who had received the first dose of vaccines since the launch of Covid immunisation drive last month, have been inoculated with the final dose, with 63,458 of them receiving the second shot on Tuesday, the Union Health Ministry said. The second dose of vaccination has covered 65.12 per cent of those healthcare workers who are eligible to receive their second dose. A total of 13,21,635 healthcare workers have been vaccinated till February 23, the 11th day from the start of the second dose's administration, against 20,29,424 vaccinated till January 26, the 11th day of the first dose of vaccination. A total 1,61,840 vaccine doses were administered through 8,557 sessions to healthcare and frontline workers till 6 p.m. on Tuesday, the 39th day of the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination, as per the provisional report shared by the Health Ministry. "Out of these, 98,382 beneficiaries were vaccinated with the first dose and 63,458 received the second dose of vaccines," it added. Meanwhile, the cumulative figure of vaccine doses has reached 1,19,07,392 through 2,53,434 sessions across the country. "These include 64,71,047 healthcare workers who have taken the 1st dose and 13,21,635 healthcare workers who have taken the second dose, along with 41,14,710 frontline workers who have been vaccinated with the first dose," the ministry said. Five cases of Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI) have been reported related to 1st dose of vaccination and three cases related to the 2nd dose. The vaccination of the healthcare workers started on January 16 while the frontline workers started receiving the vaccine shots from February 2. Just like former president Donald Trump, who committed his impeachable high crimes in broad daylight, Facebook, led by Mark Zuckerberg, mugged its 13 million users in Australia not in an unlit back alley but in full view of the whole continent. If Facebook was trying to shut down a mortal threat here to its business model from metastasising among Big Tech regulators around the world, it made a huge miscalculation. Facebooks atrocity in Australia became thanks to the social networks spectacular success in making a global platform that instantly interconnects everybody everywhere big global news. Notwithstanding its exceptional efforts to bring fair play between Facebook and media companies, Australia does not have the power to break up Facebook. The European Union doesnt either. But the United States does. And nowhere is this more important than in Washington, which is absorbing what happened here last week and why. Facebooks global reach means the whole world is watching as it fights Australias moves to make it pay for news on its platform. Credit: Since President Teddy Roosevelts extraordinarily successful crusades a century ago to break up big monopoly trusts in oil, railroads, tobacco, and meat packing, a fundamental tenet of governance in a democracy is that no company or business interest is more powerful than the rule of law that corporate power can be regulated to serve the public interest. In US telecoms and tech, AT&T and Microsoft succumbed to this imperative of how capitalism must operate. This democratic value has been exported to other developed countries, such as Australia, which has brought competition rules to bear across the economy, including against the biggest domestic tech companies, such as Telstra. The impunity of Facebooks abusive exercise of raw commercial power affecting an entire country has become a public policy point of reference. North Adams Mayor Tom W. Bernard announced Tuesday that he will not seek a third term during 2021s municipal election cycle. I love the City of North Adams, and it has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve as mayor of this wonderful community where I was born and raised. I am grateful to the residents of North Adams who entrusted me with the responsibility to work on their behalf for two terms, and I look forward to continuing this work in the weeks and months ahead in order to ensure an orderly transition to the next city administration, Bernard said Tuesday. Elected mayor of the City of North Adams in November 2017, Bernard began his first, two-year term in office in January 2018. The citys municipal election will be held Nov. 2. If more than two candidates within one party are certified, the city will hold a preliminary election in September to narrow the field to two candidates for the general election. In a post on Facebook, Bernard asserted that he will create space for North Adams residents to consider the opportunity to form campaigns and run for the office. I will work with whomever the voters of North Adams entrust with the responsibility to serve as our next mayor and am committed to helping provide for a smooth transition, Bernard said. In addition to his role as mayor, Bernard serves as chair of the school committee of the North Adams Public Schools and previously served as director of special projects at Smith College in Northampton. Bernard is among a growing list of mayors to announce they will not seek re-election, from Alex Morse and David Narkewicz in Holyoke and Northampton, respectively, to Bostons list of mayoral candidates. Related Content: Credit: CC0 Public Domain Throughout history, people have established new governments for all sorts of reasons: to solidify alliances, or expand empires, or secure individual liberties. Marc Beaulac had a question about sweaters. Specifically, it was about the age-old debate in offices between men who want the air conditioning cranked up and women who want it turned down. "What I was thinking in my mind is, the next stage of this argument should be me saying, 'Why don't you wear a sweater?'" But Beaulac, a New England-based photographer by day, knew it was a touchy subject and was wary of "mansplaining." So in 2013 he took to Reddit, the massive network of interest-based discussion forums, and founded a new group (or "subreddit") to get outside opinions about whether it would be rude to actually ask someone his sweater question. Or, as the name he gave his newfound community put it: "Am I the Asshole?" "I have certain regrets about choosing that term," Beaulac said. But now that "AITA," as it's known, is the size of a small countrywith 2.6 million members, it has a slightly larger population than the United States did in 1776"I really can't rename it." In its early days, the community lacked formal rules, Beaulac said. But as it moved on from sweater ethics to other everyday moral dilemmas, membership grew to several thousand people and Beaulac convened a small team of moderators to keep things running smoothly. Over time, that team crafted an elaborate legal system, adding new rules and tweaking old ones as their vision for the community evolved. Today, 14 basic rules govern behavior on the forum (rule three: accept the judgment your peers give you; rule seven: only post about interpersonal conflicts; rule 14: no coronavirus posts). Meanwhile, 30 or so moderatorsranked in a strict hierarchy, with Beaulac at the topremove posts and ban users in accordance with the forum's custom rules and Reddit's terms of service. Beaulac's is a familiar narrative on Reddit, where much of the rule-making and enforcement happens from the bottom up and varies between subreddits. Corporate administrators occasionally ban forums that let hate speech and violent threats get out of hand, but for the most part, people like Beaulac are free to found and govern new communities as they see fit. This quasi-democratic approach to content moderation sets Reddit apart from most other major social media platforms. Competitors such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok rely on artificial intelligence programs and paid moderators to enforce a single (though often very complicated) set of sitewide corporate policies. Even Facebook's recent efforts to offload some of the toughest decisions onto a third party didn't put users themselves in charge. Reddit's decentralized model offers flexibility, allowing different communities to set their own standards of acceptability, and puts decisions in the hands of people who understand the context and have a stake in the outcome. But it is not without downsides. Don't make the 6 o'clock news Questions of self-governance are woven into the fabric of the internet. An open-access, do-it-yourself "hacker ethos" propelled early technical innovations; John Perry Barlow's influential "Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace" argued for cyber-libertarianism during the '90s dot-com boom; and recent experiments in encryption, crowdsourcing and distributed networks have sought to bake democratic values directly into the architecture of new platforms. But the rise of hegemonic platforms has sapped some of the early internet's anything-goes spirit. A handful of companies oversees large swaths of online communication, giving them power to censor politically charged news, push alternative platforms offline and unilaterally kick userseven presidentsout of America's de facto public forum. Since the Jan. 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol by violent conspiracy theory adherents, calls for the platforms to crack down have grown in volume. Founded in 2005 and recently valued at $6 billion, Reddit has developed around its users' interests and customs, but it hasn't always been able to avoid top-down intervention. Responding to public pressure, it has banned subreddits including one dedicated to "Creepshots," or non-consensual nudity, and participated in Trump's post-Jan. 6 deplatforming by banning the "donaldtrump" subreddit. (The company had also banned an earlier pro-Trump forum, "The-Donald.") But for the most part company administrators are hands-off, instead opting to devolve moderation power to users. "It's kind of a trope or a cliche among Reddit moderators that the admins won't really do anything until it's on the news," said Chris Wenham, who moderates "Aww," a subreddit trafficking in cute pictures of animals and babies. "You have to wait for it to hit the six o'clock news, and then Reddit will do something." That means he and Beaulac can shape wildly different communities within the same Reddit infrastructure. A representative post on "Aww" shows a tiny cocker spaniel licking a spoon with the caption, "This is Baxter. He's 11 weeks old and today he discovered peanut butter." A representative post on "AITA?" asks whether the user is at fault "for threatening to give my daughters puppy up for adoption." Unpaid moderators write rules for each subreddit and then use tiplines, automated filters and manual oversight to help enforce them. While other platforms typically only remove posts that fall into specific categoriesthreats, misinformation, hate speecha subreddit might take something down simply for not meshing with the community's self-selected topics and norms. The degree to which that process is democratic varies by subreddit. Some rules emerge out of backroom discussions and moderator-only votes; others are the product of open referendums. "Every now and then you will get something proposed by the regulars of the sub that sounds like a good idea, and we'll implement it," Wenham said. But that's rare: "We don't want the rules changing all the time. It makes it even harder to enforce what we do have." The selection process for moderators themselves also varies, but looks less like a democracy than a benevolent, self-perpetuating oligarchy. Older moderators choose new ones, for their contributions to the community or other attributes. Wenham didn't even use "Aww" when he got picked to help run it. Instead, while moderating the photography subreddit "Pics," he'd gotten good at identifying fake "sock puppet" accounts whose owners would repost viral photos to drive up engagement before selling the accounts to scammers, who use them to circumvent anti-bot filters. "It's apparently very lucrative," Wenham said. Like Harrison Ford in "Blade Runner," Wenham became a pro at sussing out the real "Pics" users from the "account farmers." He'd use reverse image searches to identify recycled or stock photos, and developed a keen eye for mass-produced usernames (sequences such as "ASDF" or "JKL," for instance, indicated a "keyboard smash" approach to quickly generating legions of new accounts). Despite his lack of ties to the community, "Aww" was impressed by Wenham's work on "Pics" and recruited him to help them deal with similar problems. He's now the forum's highest-ranking member. "I wasn't trained to cope with this" Volunteering as a janitor for a website that describes itself as the "front page of the internet" isn't always pretty. Of the 10 Reddit moderators the Los Angeles Times spoke with for this article, many described their work as rewarding, often speaking about it in the language of public service or emotional support; but the majority also declined to offer their real names, often for fear of being "doxed," or having their personal information distributed online and used to harass them. Those concerns speak to a darker side of Reddit's model. At Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the like, professional contractors are paid to sift through the worst things people post onlinesnuff films, Holocaust denial, animal abuseso they can delete it before too many users see it. The work leaves many of them traumatized. But Reddit's model means that when similarly disturbing content gets posted to a subreddit, it might be an unpaid community moderator who first deals with it. And according to Rob Allam, a moderator on the insult comedy subreddit "RoastMe," they do so without adequate training or support from Reddit. "I had one experience that I think I will die remembering," Allam said. "We ended up receiving some actual child porn and then we got spammed with it everywhere. We had to get the FBI involved." Working as a moderator had meant seeing "gore and death and slurs and sexism and racism" on a daily basis, but this was something else altogether. "That was really destructive for my mental health," Allam said. Before the incident, his had been one of the most prolific accounts on Reddit; by his estimate, he was moderating 60 million users across more than 100 subreddits. But for a month or two afterwards, he stayed off the site. "I did not sign up for this [stuff], dude. I wasn't even trained to cope with this." Reddit eventually stepped in to remove the pictures, and Allam gradually came back online, but he never returned to his earlier level of engagement. Reddit has afforded him valuable opportunitieshe met his partner in a comment thread, and said he owes his career to marketing skills he honed on the platformbut he remains skeptical that moderating the platform is worth it. "Investing so much time into volunteer activity at the expense of your own mental health and actual security it doesn't amount to a logical equation," he said. "You're literally the buffer between all the noiseand usually the noise isn't positiveand the company." Even moderators with a more positive outlook raised concerns about how much support Reddit offers them. Some were frustrated by sexism on the platform or unclear expectations about if and how they should fact-check misinformation. Others complained about the lack of basic security tools. A recent Reddit-spawned run on stock shares in the video game retailer GameStop cast a spotlight on those concerns when the subreddit behind the surge, "WallStreetBets," saw its moderation tools buckle under increased traffic. Asked for comment, a Reddit representative directed The Times to a new report from the company on the state of its work with volunteer moderators; noted recent efforts to equip moderators with mental health support; and cited several additions made to moderators' toolbelts over the past year. But the bigger question, and the one that makes Reddit an important case study in the broader debate over moderation, is whether it's possible to give online communities this level of self-determination without also enabling their worst impulses. That is: Can democracy, or at least something like it, work on the internet? Other collaborative online projectsWikipedia; Creative Commons licensing; crowdsourced scientific research have demonstrated the internet's power to focus large forces of volunteers around shared projects. But social media goes a step further, letting anyone create their own community. Sometimes the results are as fun and innocuous as "AITA." Sometimes they're as toxic as "Creepshots" and "TheDonald." Reddit's decentralized approach to moderation can promote free speech and self-governance, said Sharon Bradford Franklin, policy director at New America's Open Technology Institute. "This approach means that niche communities specific to certain cultures or interests can flourish, but this includes making a space for communities dedicated to hatred, conspiracy theories, and other harmful content," she added via email. Outsourcing moderation responsibility also means the company "may be less accountable to react in real time in situations where there is harmful content proliferating on the platform," Franklin continued. Similar problems can arise on other platforms that let users organize sub-communities; far-right militias and the QAnon conspiracy have used Facebook groups to organize and communicate among themselves, for instance. Of course, under the right (or wrong) circumstances, real-world democracy can also empower white supremacists. That suggests that these problems aren't unique to social media. Rather, they draw on much longer-standing questions of liberty, security and power that political philosophers have been grappling with for millennia. Ultimately, anyone trying to engineer the perfect online society must grapple with the question: AITA? 2021 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. In a phone call on Monday with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, Chinese President Xi Jinping affirmed that his country recognises the "pivotal importance" of Egypt in the Middle East and Africa as well as the "remarkable" developmental and economic improvement the country is witnessing. The Chinese president also affirmed his country's willingness to fulfill Egypt's needs for coronavirus vaccines as well as transfer its expertise in containing the pandemic. The Chinese president reiterated that the cooperation between the two countries in the field of combating the deadly virus reflects their close bilateral relations. President Xi expressed his country's interest in strengthening cooperation between the two countries to contain the coronavirus, Egyptian presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement. President Xi also hailed Egypt for "successfully" containing the repercussions of the pandemic, Rady added. President El-Sisi expressed his appreciation for China's decision to grant coronavirus vaccines to Egypt, stressing on Egypt's hope to strengthen cooperation and coordination between healthcare providers. The Egyptian president highlighted the mutual support between the two countries during the coronavirus pandemic crisis as evidence of the depth of relations between the two friendly countries," the statement said. Egypt depends on the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine, alongside the British-Swedish Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, in its vaccination campaign, which started in late January for medical workers at quarantine hospitals. Egypt officially received the first batch of 50,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine in December. Another batch of 300,000 doses is set to arrive in Cairo soon, according to the Chinese ambassador to Cairo. During the call, El-Sisi added that Egypt is keen to develop cooperation between the two countries, particularly in attracting Chinese investment, transferring Chinese technology and expertise, and cooperating within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), in order to achieve the two countries' common interests in progress and development. The BRI is a multibillion-dollar Chinese infrastructure development programme that includes projects in countries around the world with the aim of improving road and maritime connectivity. He also congratulated the Chinese president on the Chinese New Year celebrations. The Chinese president affirmed his country's "continuous" keenness to promote its "close" partnership with Egypt in all fields in a manner that meets the aspirations of the two peoples. Short link: The University of Kansas has earned funding to launch a center dedicated to connecting researchers, educators and higher education faculty across the country to improve the use of technology in special education. The Center for Innovation, Design & Digital Learning has begun its mission to build collaborative networks, spur innovation and increase understanding of how technology can be harnessed to improve the education of students with disabilities. CIDDL logoThe U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs awarded the five-year, $2.5 million grant to KU's School of Education & Human Sciences and Department of Special Education to establish the center, known as CIDDL. The center's leaders are inviting higher education faculty, researchers, teacher educators and department directors to take part to determine needs, develop research opportunities, offer professional development and secure funding for innovation. A large portion of what we're doing is building networks so we can increase innovation in the field across the nation, especially among those in education who have an impact on students with disabilities. What we've known for decades is technology tends to be a difficult thing for people in education to conceptualize how it can be used in practice. But we believe the field has a lot of great innovative potential and power within it. There is a lot of knowledge and skill. We just have to bring it forward, and I think we can transform the field by empowering people to work together." James Basham, Professor of Special Education CIDDL will be led by Basham, Sean Smith, Yong Zhao, Kathleen Zimmerman and Ling Zhang of KU's School of Education & Health Sciences. They will partner with researchers at the University of Central Florida and CAST, an educational nonprofit and founders of Universal Design for Learning, as well as the Metiri Group, a national leader in educational technology and evaluation. Through its networks, the center will help improve technological understanding of teaching, teacher education and boost educators' skills through professional development and micro credentials and how technology can be used in early intervention as well as in service personnel and leadership personnel preparation. It will also aim to develop new innovations in research and applications of technology in special education, including early intervention/early childhood special education. Networks will be incentivized to present ideas for new opportunities and rewarded for successful innovations. Anyone working in special education, higher education, educational research or technology development is invited to join the center or collaborate with others at ciddl.org. While the COVID-19 pandemic has presented serious challenges to schools and educators around the world, CIDDL directors say it has also shown how limitations can lead to innovation and solving problems. Teachers have been required to use technology in novel ways and opened the door for new ideas. "This can be a great opportunity to improve how technology can be a bigger part of our teaching and how we serve students," Zhao said. "Before the pandemic, many teachers were thinking about it and are now embracing it after seeing how technology can present new ways to serve students." Educators have always found different ways to reach and inspire students, and CIDDL directors plan to harness that ability through collaboration to inspire each other to boost their technological skills and develop new ways to educate students with disabilities. "Technology, by and large, is about solving problems," Basham said. "Getting faculty members, researchers and educators together to improve special education, early intervention and personnel preparation through a better understanding of the potential of technology is something we feel very strongly about, and we really want to help all faculty members at institutions big and small across the country." A drunk patient who smacked a nurse on the bottom in hospital has avoided a prison term after admitting to sexual assault. Andrew Pickup, 38, was taken to Royal Liverpool Hospital after suffering a seizure. While he was being treated, he asked a nurse if she had a boyfriend, before smacking her behind, leaving her 'shocked' and 'upset'. Yesterday he appeared at Liverpool Magistrates' Court, having previously admitted to one count of sexual assault. Pickup was handed a 12-month community order, with 200 hours of unpaid work, he must also pay the nurse 500 in compensation. Andrew Pickup, 38, drunkenly slapped a nurse's bottom while she was treating him at Royal Liverpool Hospital. He has been told to sign the Sex Offenders Register for five years after admitting to one count of sexual assault Tom Hanlon, prosecuting, explained that Pickup was admitted to the Royal Liverpool Hospital last July 'after having a seizure'. Mr Hanlon explained Pickup was 'intoxicated' adding 'the complainant was treating Mr Pickup in a cubicle.' Pickup 'began to become suggestive' and was 'asking if she had a boyfriend,' the court heard. When she responded that she did, Pickup said: 'Well I want you to tell him he isn't good enough for you.' Mr Hanlon said: 'She stood up to leave and he smacked her across her bottom. 'She was shocked and upset. She informed a colleague and they informed police.' The court heard that when Pickup was challenged by a security officer for his behaviour he said: 'I know, I'm sorry it was disgusting, I know I shouldn't have touched her.' In a police interview Pickup said 'he argued with his partner' and admitted he had been drinking, adding that he didn't remember but didn't challenge what was put to him. Pickup, from St Helens, has two previous convictions for non-relevant offences, the court heard. David Achilles, defending, said Pickup is 'ashamed of his behaviour on this particular occasion'. He said: 'He apologises through me to the lady in question. It was out of character.' Mr Achilles said Pickup 'remembers very little if anything' not only because he was 'intoxicated' but also because 'he suffers seizures following a brain injury eight or nine years ago'. He said: 'He doesn't dispute the evidence and has pleaded guilty at the first opportunity. He accepted that in interview.' Mr Achilles told the court Pickup is in full time employment and said his 'partner is standing by him despite the allegation'. He said: 'He is a man who is earning a living and simply wants to put this behind him.' District Judge James Clarke told Pickup: 'Members of NHS staff have a great deal to contend with at the moment. They do not need to have to additionally deal with people who are drunken and behaving in that manner.' Picture: Royal Liverpool Hospital, where the sexual assault took place last July Mr Achilles also asked the judge to consider that Pickup's last conviction took place eight years ago. District Judge James Clarke, sentencing, said: 'This offence is serious to start with. Your solicitor is right to recognise this young lady was working in a vulnerable position. 'Members of NHS staff have a great deal to contend with at the moment. They do not need to have to additionally deal with people who are drunken and behaving in that manner.' The district judge noted Pickup has no similar convictions, shows 'genuine remorse' by way of his plea and has a 'very strong prospect of rehabilitation'. Pickup was handed a 12 month community order and must complete 25 Rehabilitation Activity Requirements and 200 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay his victim 500 in compensation and pay prosecution costs of 85 as well as a 95 victim surcharge. Pickup must also sign the Sex Offenders Register for five years. OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Brown & Toland Physicians announced today the selection of K. Warren Volker, MD, PhD, as chief medical officer. Volker will lead the clinical and quality operations and initiatives throughout the organization and partner with physicians across the network to provide the support necessary to improve care, access, coordination, and value to Brown & Toland's more than 355,000 members and 2,700 physicians. Volker will be reporting directly to chief executive officer Kelly Robison. "Warren's clinical vision and proven leadership, together with his history of innovation and entrepreneurship, will further strengthen our mission to deliver value to our members and physicians," said Robison. "His extensive background in health plan modeling, population health and risk-based managed care will serve us well in this pivotal stage of the company's growth." A researcher, educator, surgeon and innovator, Volker is an internationally recognized pioneer in robotic and minimally invasive surgery and a leader in women's health. He joins Brown & Toland from Intermountain Healthcare, a Nevada multispecialty medical group where he was chief clinical officer. Previously, he founded and served as chief executive officer of WellHealth Quality Care, among the largest multispecialty medical groups in Southern Nevada with more than 100 providers and an accountable care IPA network representing nearly 4,000 physicians. Throughout the last two decades, he has launched and led several companies spanning, and intersecting, the health care, technology and insurance fields. A member of the American Association of Gynecological Laparoscopists, Society for Laparoscopic Surgeons and American Medical Association, Volker is board certified by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, where his focus is on minimally invasive and robotic (MIGS) gynecology/ pelvic reconstruction surgery. He has held faculty positions with the University of Nevada School of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and was chair of the Department of OB-GYN at Summerlin Medical Center. Most recently, he served as chief of staff of Centennial Hills Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas. Volker is licensed in California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida. In addition to being recognized among the top 100 physicians in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, Volker has received numerous honors for his leadership in the areas of business and medicine, including the Arnold P. Gold National Leadership Award and the Healthcare Heroes Entrepreneur of the Year award. Through Volunteers in Medicine of Southern Nevada, he has supported and participated in medical missions to Puerto Rico, Mexico and South America. Volker earned his medical degree and a doctorate from the University of North Dakota and completed a residency in OB-GYN surgery at the University of Nevada School of Medicine. He holds an executive MBA in health care administration/management from Johns Hopkins University and a master's degree in biochemistry and bachelor's degree in finance management from the University of North Dakota. "I am excited to join the Brown & Toland leadership team in supporting our physicians in delivering an enhanced patient experience that increases satisfaction while effectively and efficiently closing gaps in care," said Volker. Volker assumes the chief medical officer role from Brown & Toland president, Joel Klompus, MD, who has been serving in the interim. Klompus, one of Brown & Toland's founding physician members, will officially retire in March after 27 years of dedicated service to advocating and supporting the independent physician practice model. About Brown & Toland Physicians Brown & Toland Physicians is a leading network of independent doctors focused on delivering personalized and high-quality health care to the San Francisco Bay Area. Its network of more than 2,700 physicians, serving more than 355,000 HMO, ACO and PPO patients, is dedicated to improving care and reducing costs through innovative care management and care coordination programs, use of health care technology, and population health management strategies. Brown & Toland, a Bay Area health care beacon since 1993, collaborates with leading hospitals and health plan providers to provide high quality care in the Bay Area. To learn more, visit www.brownandtoland.com. SOURCE Brown & Toland Physicians Related Links http://www.brownandtoland.com New Delhi: The Delhi Police has arrested two people, including a prominent farmer leader, from Jammu for their alleged involvement in the violence at the Red Fort during the farmers tractor parade on January 26, officials said on Tuesday. Jammu and Kashmir United Kisan Front Chairman Mohinder Singh (45), a resident of Chatha area of Jammu city, and Mandeep Singh (23), a resident of Gole Gujral, Jammu, were "active participants" and "key conspirators" in the violence at the historic fort, the Delhi Police said. ArrestThe duo was taken into custody by the Crime Branch of Delhi Police on Monday night and immediately shifted to the national capital for questioning, they said. They were apprehended with the support of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the Delhi Police said. Photo "As per the information received, both the accused are active participants and key conspirators in the riot at Red Fort," Delhi Police Additional PRO Anil Mittal 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. To combat climate change, shifting from fossil fuels to clean and sustainable energy sources is imperative. A popular candidate in this regard is hydrogen, an eco-friendly fuel that produces only water when used. However, the efficient methods of hydrogen production are usually not eco-friendly. The eco-friendly alternative of splitting water with sunlight to produce hydrogen is inefficient and suffers from low stability of the photocatalyst (material that facilitates chemical reactions by absorbing light). How does one address the issue of developing a stable and efficient photocatalyst? In a study recently published in Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, an international group of scientists, led by Assistant Professor Yeonho Kim from Incheon National University in Korea, addressed this question and reported on the performance of polydopamine (PDA)-coated zinc sulfide (ZnS) nanorods as a photocatalyst, which showed an increase in hydrogen production by 220% compared to ZnS catalyst alone! Moreover, it displayed decent stability, retaining almost 79% of its activity after being irradiated for 24 hours. Dr. Kim outlines the motivation behind their research, "ZnS has various photochemical applications because it can rapidly generate electric charge carriers under sunlight. However, sunlight also causes oxidation of sulfide ions leading to photocorrosion of ZnS. Recently, studies showed that controlled-thickness PDA coatings on a photocatalyst can improve conversion efficiency for solar energy and enhance photostability. But, so far, no study has addressed the physico-chemical changes at the interface of ZnS/PDA. Therefore, we wanted to study the effect of PDA binding on the photocatalytic performance of ZnS." The scientists fabricated the PDA-coated ZnS nanocatalysts through polymerization to coat dopamine onto ZnS nanorods, and varied the polymerization period to create samples of three different PDA thicknesses--1.2 nm (ZnS/PDA1), 2.1 nm (ZnS/PDA2), and 3.5 nm (ZnS/PDA3). They then measured the photocatalytic performance of these samples by monitoring their hydrogen production under simulated sunlight illumination. The ZnS/PDA1 catalyst showed the highest hydrogen production rate followed by ZnS/PDA2, uncoated ZnS, and ZnS/PDA3. The team attributed the inferior performance of ZnS/PDA2 and ZnS/PDA3 to more light absorption by the thicker PDA coatings, which reduced the light reaching ZnS and impeded the excited charge carriers to reach the surface; uncoated ZnS, contrarily, underwent photocorrosion. To understand the role of electronic structure in the observed enhancement, the scientists measured emission and extinction spectra of the samples along with density functional theory calculations. The former revealed that the enhanced absorption was due to Zn-O or O-Zn-S shells forming on ZnS and the creation of energy levels near the valence band (highest atomic level filled with electrons) that can accept "holes" (absence of electrons), while the calculations showed that ZnS/PDA has a unique "doubly staggered" electronic structure that facilitates the transport and separation of charge carriers at the surface. The improved durability was due to lowered oxidative capacity of holes in the valence states of PDA. Dr. Kim and his team are hopeful of wider applications of their technique. "The polydopamine coating utilized in our work is also applicable to other groups of selenide, boride, and telluride-based catalysts," comments Dr. Kim. The future might indeed be hydrogen! ### About Incheon National University Incheon National University (INU) is a comprehensive, student-focused university. It was founded in 1979 and given university status in 1988. One of the largest universities in South Korea, it houses nearly 14,000 students and 500 faculty members. In 2010, INU merged with Incheon City College to expand capacity and open more curricula. With its commitment to academic excellence and an unrelenting devotion to innovative research, INU offers its students real-world internship experiences. INU not only focuses on studying and learning but also strives to provide a supportive environment for students to follow their passion, grow, and, as their slogan says, be INspired. Website: http://www. inu. ac. kr/ mbshome/ mbs/ inuengl/ index. html About the author Dr. Yeonho Kim is an Assistant Professor of Research Institute of Basic Sciences at Incheon National University. His research group is developing environmentally-friendly (photo) catalysts of the nanoscale range and studying their reduction/oxidation mechanism during the photocatalytic reaction. His group aims to overcome challenges in present catalysts technologies using alternative oxidation half-reactions to drive the breakdown of waste polymers or chemicals into valuable organic products. President Mahmoud Abbas has guaranteed that at least seven seats of a new legislative council will go to Christians in the next elections in the Palestinian territories. Planned for May 22, the elections are hoped to be the first since the militant Hamas movement won the last vote over Abbass Fatah party in 2006. The measure would give Christians, who make up about 1 percent of the population in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, an outsized representation on the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). Palestinian Christians are ambivalent about the quota, which would allow the seven Christians with the most votes to sit on the 132-member council. Hanan Ashrawi, a Christian who recently resigned her position on the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee, told Religion News Service that she is uneasy about reserving seats for specific communities. "When it comes to Christians, I dont see that they are excluded or marginalized, she said. They have been extremely active in political, social, cultural, and economic life, and many of them would be able to gain seats on merit without the quota. She added that a quota for women members on the council made sense, because they were discriminated against and they have historically faced a huge challenge. Bernard Sabella, another former member of the PLC, said the Palestinian electorate should vote on the basis of geography. We need to have a new vision and a holistic plan that addresses our needs. We need our representatives to represent their nation and not a religion, he said. But Bassem Khoury, a former minister, said there would likely be no Christian representation on the council without a quota. It is hard to win unless there is a serious effort by the factions to put a Christian Palestinian in a safe spot, and therefore the quota is important and necessary, he told RNS. Indeed, Hazem Kawasmi, a Jerusalem resident and head of the Arab World Observatory on Democracy and Elections, told RNS that he would like to see higher representation on the council. I would have preferred that the number was nine seats, because Palestinian Christians have had important contributions in Palestinian life and their presence is important, said Kawasmi. He noted that in the 1996 elections, when the total parliamentary membership was 88, Palestinian Christians had a quota of six members, or 7 percent of the seats. Allam Al Ahmad, a Palestinian lawyer, agreed, saying the percentage on the council historically has been as high as 31 percent. But emigration due to violence amid the Israeli occupation has produced a huge drop in the Palestinian Christian population. The call for elections came in response to a series of crises that Fatah and Hamas face that weakened the standing of the Palestinian cause in the turbulent regional and international spectrum. In the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority (PA) is struggling with financial crisis and failure to reach a peace deal with Israel to create Palestinian statehood. In Gaza, Hamas has held power under a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade meant to isolate it and weaken its weaponry, rendering it unable to deliver the minimum of basic services. On Saturday, Abbas issued a decree ordering the respect of freedom of expression ahead of the May elections. The decree, which bans all police pursuits and detentions for reasons related to freedom of expression and political affiliation, dispels some of the doubts overshadowing what would be the first Palestinian national elections in 15 years, as both the PA and Hamas have a long history of oppressing their critics. Palestinian factions are heading to Cairo next month for another round of talks in a bid to settle thorny issues that have blocked them from mending their rift, including security, employees, judiciary, and expanding the PLO. Jack Sara, president of Bethlehem Bible College, told RNS that elections will provide an important chance for Palestinians of all backgrounds and ages to bring new blood in elected institutions. This is an important and long-awaited opportunity for young Palestinian Christians to participate in this public process, whether as candidates or as voters, he said. Ashrawi said the way to fight emigration is not through political representation but to give them reasons to stay. We need a system that protects people and provides for their rights, Ashrawi told RNS. If we dont want our churches to become museums, our country should ensure that it allows for a vibrantly rich and inclusive pluralistic society. Additional reporting by Fares Akram of The Associated Press The Biden administration views -- an informal grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the US -- as having "essential momentum and important potential", a senior official has said. The is aimed at ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific, a region that witnessed increasing Chinese military assertiveness in recent years. We view the as having essential momentum and important potential. So we'll build on it by deepening cooperation on areas of traditional focus, State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Monday, days after the maiden Quad ministerial meeting under the Biden administration was held last week. It's an example of the United States and some of our closest partners pulling together for the good of a free and open Indo-Pacific, he said. The evolving situation in the Indo-Pacific region in the wake of China's increasing military muscle flexing has become a major talking point among leading global powers. The US has been favouring making Quad a security architecture to check China's growing assertiveness. Deepening cooperation on areas of traditional focus areas includes maritime security, while also working closely with Quad partners to confront some of the defining challenges and even opportunities of our time", Price said, adding that it includes COVID-19, climate change and democratic resilience. "Of course, Secretary (of State, Tony) Blinken had the opportunity last week now it was to confer for the first time with his quad counterparts. I suspect you will be seeing Secretary Blinken continue to do that in the weeks and months ahead, given the central role of the Quad going forward, he said. Responding to a comment made by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Price said it is reflecting of a continued pattern of Beijing's tendency to avert blame for its predatory economic practices, lack of transparency, failure to honour agreements and its repression of universal human rights. In his annual speech at the Lanting Forum, focussing on China-US ties, on Monday, Wang urged the US to stop "smearing" the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) and its one-party political system, lift sanctions on trade and halt Washington's backing of "separatist forces in Taiwan, Tibet, Hong Kong and Xinjiang. We will continue to stand up for our democratic values when human rights are being violated in Xinjiang, Tibet or elsewhere in China or when autonomy is being trampled in Hong Kong, Price said. The Biden administration, he said, will approach China through the prism of competition from a position of strength and it will work closely with allies and partners across the board. That's precisely what we're doing with the Quad. It's precisely what we're doing with our allies and partners in Europe. It's precisely what we're doing with our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific to approach China from a position of strength, Price asserted. During the third Quad ministerial and the first under Biden administration held virtually on February 18, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Japan's Toshimitsu Motegi reiterated their common vision for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. They highlighted their shared attributes as political democracies, market economies and pluralistic societies. They recognised that the changes underway in the world makes a strong case for their countries working closely together. It was important for the community that the direction of changes remains positive and beneficial to all, Ministry of External Affairs had said in a readout of the Quad ministerial. During the meeting, the ministers emphasised their commitment to upholding a rules-based order, underpinned by respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, rule of law, transparency, freedom of navigation in the international seas and peaceful resolution of disputes. Their productive exchange of views on regional issues included a reiteration of their common vision for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region, with clear support for ASEAN cohesion and centrality. It was noted that the Indo-Pacific concept had gathered growing international support, including in Europe, the readout said. China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas. Beijing has also made substantial progress in militarising its man-made islands in the past few years. Beijing claims sovereignty over all of the South China Sea. But Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims. In the East China Sea, China has territorial disputes with Japan. The South China Sea and the East China Sea are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources. They are also vital to global trade. Although the US lays no claims to the disputed waters, it has challenged China's growing territorial claims in the South China Sea by deploying warships and fighter jets to assert freedom of navigation and overflight patrols in the strategically-vital region. 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. Under the amendment, Chicago police no longer will be allowed to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents if arrestees names are in Chicagos gang database, if they have charges or convictions in their background or if they have criminal warrants. (@FahadShabbir) WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th February, 2021) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a call with Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau stressed the importance of bilateral security cooperation, State Department Spokesperson Ned price said on Tuesday. "Secretary Blinken emphasized the importance of Polish-American security cooperation to NATO and the Transatlantic Community and thanked the Foreign Minister for Poland's steadfast partnership," Price said in a readout. Blinken also said he looks forward to working with Poland on a wide range of global and regional challenges. On February 11, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Poland's Minister of National Defense Mariusz Baszczak discussed the bilateral strategic partnership between the two nations in another telephone conversation. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-22 23:51:16|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivers a speech at the opening of the Lanting Forum with the theme of "Promoting Dialogue and Cooperation and Managing Differences: Bringing China-U.S. Relations Back to the Right Track" in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei) BEIJING, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Following the telephone conversation between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden on Feb. 11 ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year, the global community has seen several positive signals on China-U.S. ties. At the Lanting Forum, held in Beijing on Monday, leading figures including high-level officials and experts from the two countries and beyond gave their insights on how to bring the China-U.S. relationship back onto the right track. COMPETITION WITHOUT CONFRONTATION Acknowledging that the China-U.S. relationship is going to be "competitive in every domain," Henry Paulson, former secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department, called for minimizing the likelihood of debilitating conflict while making progress on areas of mutual interest. "The United States and China are going to be locked into strategic competition for a long time. So it is in each of our interests that competition would be as healthy as possible without unnecessary confrontation," he said, adding that the two countries must decide how and where to compete and how to avoid conflicts. Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who is now president and CEO of Asia Society, believes that the years ahead will be "a make-or-break decade" for China-U.S. relations, as the competition between the two countries for global leadership will intensify. "The hard truth is that no relationship can ever be managed unless there is a basic agreement between the parties on the terms of their management," he said. Photo taken in Arlington, Virginia, the United States, on Feb. 19, 2021 shows a screen displaying U.S. President Joe Biden speaking in Washington, D.C. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) Rudd proposed the concept of "managed strategic competition," which involves three pillars: establishing certain hard limits on each country's security policy; accepting the reality of continuing competition for strategic and economic influence; and finding room for continued strategic cooperation on critical global challenges. "For example, the one-China policy as articulated in the joint communiques between the United States and China is critical. Ending the Trump administration's unnecessarily provocative actions on Taiwan will be important," Rudd said when elaborating on "hard limits." COOPERATION BENEFICIAL TO ALL "Both nations need to recognize that cooperation between our two countries is the best way to resolve any differences that exist," said Maurice Greenberg, chairman of C.V. Starr & Co., Inc. and Starr Foundation, founding chairman and former CEO of American International Group. Citing his experiences in doing business in China over the past 40 years, Greenberg said that both sides have benefitted from their companies doing business in the other country, as has the world at large. "I hope that both nations can continue to benefit from each other, not only in their national interests, but benefiting many others as well." Paulson noted that there are problems that the two countries simply cannot mitigate or solve without at least some coordination, if not cooperation. "These are issues from stopping financial contagion to denuclearization, to averting environmental catastrophe," he said, adding that what matters is whether something is good for the two peoples. Given the U.S. pledge to join COVAX, an international initiative aimed at ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines across the world, Paulson called on the two countries to coordinate and work with others, not least Japan, Europe and India, on vaccination distribution. A COVID-19 vaccination spot opens for public in Oakland, California, the United States, Feb. 16, 2021. (Photo by Li Jianguo/Xinhua) In terms of tackling global challenges, Rudd said that climate change, combating the pandemic, improving public health, global economic recovery, green recovery, financial stability, and nuclear arms control are examples of areas where cooperation will be necessary, "not just for the world's interests, but to secure both China's and America's national interests as well." CORRECT STRATEGIC PERCEPTION "There must be a correct strategic perception; otherwise, one mistake would only be replaced by another," said Cui Tiankai, Chinese ambassador to the United States. He called on some people in the United States to get rid of their paranoia about China. "It is time for them to stop creating an imaginary enemy out of China and making any self-fulfilling prophecy. It is time for them to abandon the antiquated mindset of zero-sum game and obsession with the Thucydides Trap." Cui noted that some people in the United States are inclined to use their own definition of "democracy" and other values to draw the line, and label other countries according to their own preferences and standards. "It is hoped that America will have a correct mindset, live up to the principle that all countries 'are created equal', and learn to peacefully coexist with those who have a different history, culture, development path and system," he said. Cui also called on the two countries to have a real knowledge of and respect for each other's history, culture and development path. "A key to understanding an ancient civilization as China is its history and culture, including its deep-rooted belief in 'harmony' and its tradition of establishing both oneself and others." This year marks the centenary of the Communist Party of China. "Knowing about these 100 years is essential to knowing about China's past, present and future," Cui said. He certainly knows how to celebrate his birthday in style. Jonathan Cheban was seen enjoying lunch with friends at Il Pastaio in Beverly Hills, California on Monday, the day after his 47th birthday. The former publicist wore a blue and white jacket decorated with the phrase 'Sex Drive' on the back. B-day boy: Jonathan Cheban was seen enjoying lunch with friends at Il Pastaio in Beverly Hills on Monday Smiling: The former publicist wore a blue and white track suit Jonathan's pants matched his jacket, with white piping down the side. Underneath his track jacket, the television personality wore a simple white t-shirt. He donned dark grey socks and bright white sneakers. The famed Kardashian friend, who also goes by the name Foodgod, wore large black wayfarer sunshades. Bold: His jacket was decorated with the phrase 'Sex Drive' on the back Jonathan's pants matched his jacket, with white piping down the side: Underneath, the television personality wore a simple white t-shirt Protected: The famed Kardashian friend, who also goes by the name Foodgod, sported a black face mask at times, as protection against the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic He also sported a black face mask at times, as protection against the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Later on Monday, Cheban posted to his Instagram Story from celebrity hotspot Craig's in West Hollywood, rounding out his ritzy post-birthday Monday. The sighting comes after Jonathan was feted by his most famous superstar friend in honor of his special day. Cool style: He wore large black wayfarer sunshades Kim Kardashian celebrated her longtime friend Foodgod's trip around the sun on Sunday with a hilarious cake commemorating the time her sister Kourtney slapped him. The 40-year-old Keeping Up With The Kardashians star shared a short video to her Insta Stories as she and some of her family members presented the cake to the Foodgod. Jonathan originally got an open palm to the face from Kourtney during an argument that was broadcast on Kourtney & Kim Take Miami in 2013. Classic: Jonathan 'Foodgod' Cheban celebrated his 47th birthday on Sunday with a cake from Kim Kardashian and family referencing the time Kourtney Kardashian slapped him Kim shared a short closeup of the cake, which was decorated with a blurry still of Foodgob post slap. It had a speech bubble for when Kourtney shouted, 'You're shoved so far up Kim's a**...,' and Kim wrote 'Happy Birthday Food God!' below it. 'Love you forever!' she added in her caption. 'It's Jonathan getting smacked in the face by Kourtney,' Kim can be heard saying off camera. 'You really came up with a good one,' Jonathan adds. Hilarious: The cake had a speech bubble for when Kourtney shouted, 'You're shoved so far up Kim's a**...,' and Kim wrote 'Happy Birthday Food God!' below it; seen together in 2019 in NYC Vicious: The poorly aged fight featured Kim and Jonathan arguing with Kourtney because they thought she wasn't doing enough publicity work because she was focusing on caring for her two young children Let's get physical: Kourtney ended up administering a nasty slap to Jonathan after he shouted, 'Now I know why Scott's never going to marry you. Because you're a b****' The slap occurred when Jonathan joined in a poorly aged argument in which Kim was berating Kourtney for skipping out on publicity work for their Kardashian Kollection in order to care for her two young children. 'Ever since Kourtney has had the two babies, she has tried to bail out of work situations,' Kim said earlier in the episode. Jonathan joined in a later argument, saying, 'Without Kim you'd be nothing. She'd been working 360 days while you've been pregnant and doing nothing [sic].' 'Your entire job is following Kim all the time,' Kourtney replied, furious. 'You are shoved so far up Kim's a**.' Jonathan shouted back: 'Now I know why Scott's never going to marry you. Because you're a b****' That was the line that earned him the slap, though the two had made up by the end of the episode. Halloween fun: Kim also included a 2017 photo of the herself and Jonathan dressed up as Sonny and Cher for Halloween Yum! Her mother Kris Jenner also paid tribute to Foodgod on his birthday with a multiple throwback photos, including one of the two enjoying a kitchen-sink sundae together The whole gang: Another image showed him with all of the KardashianJenner women except for Kendall Sweet: 'Happy Birthday Jonathan!!! You are truly the greatest ride or die and the best friend to my family!!' she gushed in her caption Good times: 'Thank you for all the years of friendship, memories, and the greatest times ever! Sending you so much love on your special day! Xoxox' Kim also included a 2017 photo of the herself and Jonathan dressed up as Sonny and Cher for Halloween. Her mother Kris Jenner also paid tribute to Foodgod on his birthday with a multiple throwback photos, including one of the two enjoying a kitchen-sink sundae together. Another image showed him with all of the KardashianJenner women except for Kendall. 'Happy Birthday Jonathan!!! You are truly the greatest ride or die and the best friend to my family!!' she gushed in her caption. 'Thank you for all the years of friendship, memories, and the greatest times ever! Sending you so much love on your special day! Xoxox.' Those were the days: Khloe Kardashian kept it simple with a sweet collage of photos featuring Jonathan and various members of her family Kourtney Kardashian commemorated her classic slap with another video of the cake presentation, this time with her reading her original quotation aloud. Khloe Kardashian kept it simple with a sweet collage of photos featuring Jonathan and various members of her family. For his own birthday celebration, Jonathan was joined by his friends Marc Anthony and Dave Grutman for a party that was not socially distanced and didn't appear to have a mask in sight, despite the fact that 500,000 Americans have now died from Covid-19. 'Blessed to have another birthday!! Especially when @marcanthony is singing Happy Birthday and the [goat emoji] @davegrutman for always making it perfect!!' he wrote. 'My cake didnt fall this year!! @divinedelicaciescakes always comes thru with the most original and fun cakes (thanks for the abs),' he added Risky business: For his own celebration, Jonathan was joined by Marc Anthony and Dave Grutman for a party that was not socially distanced and didn't have a mask in sight, despite 500,000 Americans having died from Covid-19 Opulent: The giant cake was shaped like a mouth-watering pizza, with a giant frosted Foodgod standing atop it Jonathan was dressed casually in a black T-shirt with slim black jeans and a yellow and black checker shirt as he watched his cake being brought out while Marc and Dave stood at his sides. The opulent cake was shaped like a mouth-watering pizza, with a giant frosted Foodgod standing atop it. He mimed biting off his own arm before taking a slice of the delicious pizza cake. Becoming an Isa millionaire will be twice as easy for the next generation of investors, new research shows. Joining the 1 million club is an impossible dream for many, but investing in Isas might make it easier than you think. There are 579 investors with Isas worth more than 1 million with broker Hargreaves Lansdown. High life: Joining the 1 million club is an impossible dream for many, but investing in Isas might make it easier than you think Their average age is 71, with those in their late 60s and early 70s most likely to be Isa millionaires. Two thirds are men. But it's easier than ever to join them. Today's millionaires have built up their fortunes despite being limited to a maximum 7,000 annual contribution for the nine years following the launch of Isas in 1999. These investors had to achieve an average 14 per cent annual growth on maximum Isa contributions to hit the 1 million mark, according to AJ Bell. But now that investors have a maximum allowance of 20,000, they would need just 7 per cent growth to hit the 1 million jackpot over the same period of 21 years. Laith Khalaf, financial analyst at AJ Bell, says: 'That means the Isa millionaires of the future will be more plentiful, and younger.' How the Isa fat cats invest Shares AstraZeneca Aviva BP GlaxoSmithKline Legal & General Group Lloyds Banking Group National Grid Royal Dutch Shell B Shares Unilever Vodafone Group Funds Artemis Income Fidelity Global Special Situations Fidelity Special Situations Fundsmith Equity Jupiter European LF Lindsell Train UK Equity Lindsell Train Global Equity Marlborough UK Micro-Cap Growth Marlborough Multi Cap Income Stewart Inv Asia Pacific Leaders An Isa is a valuable tax shelter for savings and investments as you don't pay tax on interest for a cash Isa, or on the gains from any investments. Any unused Isa allowance doesn't roll over if you don't use it, you lose it. You have until April 5 to use this year's 20,000 allowance. Sarah Coles, personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says Isa millionaires 'hold the secret' to making a fortune from diligent investment. She says: 'While some people get into investment in the hope of getting rich quick, the vast majority of Isa millionaires have built a fortune through the far more reliable approach of getting rich slow. 'They don't take enormous risks: they've just consistently invested as much as possible of their annual allowance in a diverse and balanced portfolio, every year, for decades.' The top ten shares held by this group are dominated by blue chip companies, including Lloyds, Shell and BP. Mr Khalaf says this could be because the FTSE's big names are popular with older investors as they are regular dividend payers, even if the pandemic saw payments cut back, or missed. And Ms Coles says other investors have shown an appetite for investing in firms 'laid low by the pandemic' in the hope that their share price will rebound. She adds: 'Isa millionaires aren't as interested in this, because they're less prepared to risk holding shares that don't make it through the crisis.' Adrian Lowcock, head of personal investing at Willis Owen, says the top ten shares don't necessarily represent the companies that have performed the best in recent years. He adds: 'It's when they bought the shares that matters most. 'Many of these stocks are cyclical investments that don't have an existential threat posed to them by the pandemic. 'Overall, the list of shares looks to be driven by valuations with a bias towards the less risky areas of the market.' AJ Bell's Isa millionaires have an average of 28 investments each, showing the importance of not putting all your eggs in one basket. Indeed, Mr Khalaf notes that some held the LF Woodford Equity Income when trading was suspended and are still waiting for the final payout. He says it shows one fund that performs poorly 'needn't derail a well-diversified portfolio'. Joining the 1m club is an impossible dream for many, but investing in Isas might make it easier than you think When it comes to funds and other collective investments, Isa millionaires have a broad international mix, which Ms Coles says 'spreads risk across world-class companies'. She adds that the appearance of technology and health funds shows that investors have confidence in these sectors to 'out-perform' the market. A total of 28 investment companies would have made investors millionaires if they had invested the full annual Isa allowance in the same firm each year, according to new data from the Association of Investment Companies. Investing the full Isa allowance annually from 1999 to 2020 - a total of 246,560 - and reinvesting the dividends into Scottish Mortgage would have generated a tax-free pot of 2,541,100 by January 31, 2021 - more than ten times the original investment. Investment trusts account for 54 per cent of the average portfolio of Interactive Investor's Isa millionaires. This could be because they tend to outperform funds over the long term. The most popular are Scottish Mortgage, Alliance Trust and Witan Investment trust. The Equiano Rum Cos Equiano Light white rum Category Spirits, rum, 43% abv Available From this Spring Location Available across Europe and online Price Online in the UK, GBP34.50 (US$48) per 70cl bottle Recent rum entrant The Equiano Rum Co has followed its debut iteration a year ago with a white rum from its namesake brand. Just over 12 months on from the release of an aged expression, the company has lined up the Europe-wide roll-out of Equiano Light. Like its portfolio partner, the new addition is a blend of rums produced at Foursquare Distillery in Barbados and Mauritius Grays Distillery. The company, which takes its name from 18th-Century slave and subsequent slavery-abolitionist Olaudah Equiano, will continue to donate US$2 per bottle sold and 5% of its annual profits to ground-level freedom and equality projects. Earlier this month, Moet Hennessy announced the release in Europe of its Cuban rum brand, Eminente Reserva. The expression is produced by state-owned Cuba Ron Corp, which is the joint-venture partner with Pernod Ricard for Havana Club. Thematic Reports Are you worried about the pace of innovation in your industry? GlobalData's TMT Themes 2021 Report tells you everything you need to know about disruptive tech themes and which companies are best placed to help you digitally transform your business. Find out more Why copying gins template for growth risks doing rum a grave disservice Click here for a just-drinks comment Former Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Lawyer Inusah Fuseini, say the practice of homosexuality and other acts of unnatural carnal knowledge has been in existence for years and it will be difficult for anyone to prevent its activism and the practice. He explained on NEAT FMs morning show, 'Ghana Montie' show that Ghana must recognise the existence of Gay Rights because it is a matter of new rights emerging. I have read books that indicates that this practice was there during the slave era. Slave masters buy same-sex slaves to satisfy themselves, he noted. Mr. Fuseni however said even though his religion is against the practice, the law might permit it to happen. As a Muslim, I cannot be seen to be practising it but that is me as a Muslim, but as a lawyer, new rights are emerging and it is time that we recognize the existence of those new rights, he told host Kwesi Aboagye. I am not endorsing gays and lesbianism. No, that is not the issue. If the law gives the right for that, people should respect that right. But for now, we dont have the right here in Ghana, he added. Watch Video Below Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/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 Dr Chris Brown attended the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! wrap party in Sydney with his girlfriend, model Brooke Meredith. But on Tuesday, the blonde beauty was nowhere to be seen as he stepped out for lunch with two female friends at Sydney restaurant Three Blue Ducks. The 42-year-old was seen making his way to the eatery in the leafy suburb of Bronte, and opted for a relaxed and casual look in a blue T-shirts, ankle-length jeans and white sneakers. Out and about: Dr Chris Brown stepped out for a meeting in Sydney with two female friends on Tuesday, amid speculation he has split from girlfriend Brooke Meredith The TV presenter was joined at the table with two female friends, and the trio appeared to have an animated discussion over a meal. Chris also appeared to be enjoying the lively discussion and jovially laughed at his friend's joke. It's likely the group were in a business meeting to talk about his upcoming ventures and gigs he will take part in later in the year. Keeping it cool: The 42-year-old was seen making his way to the eatery in the leafy suburb of Bronte, and opted for a relaxed and casual look in a blue T-shirts, ankle-length jeans and white sneakers In talks: He was joined at the table with two female friends, and the trio appeared to have an animated discussion over a meal At one point, he presented his notes to the women, showing them a brief outline of a plan. After the meeting Dr Chris donned his aviators and carried his laptop and note book as he crossed the street, likely heading home. His meeting comes after Woman's Day published unfounded speculation he split up with model Brooke Meredith. Chatting: He was joined at the table with two female friends, and the trio appeared to have an animated discussion over a meal Outline: At one point he presented his notes to the women, showing them a brief outline of a plan Fun: Chris also appeared to be enjoying the lively discussion and jovially laughed On Tuesday, the publication reported he was seen on his own and looking glum at another Bronte establishment last week, while Brooke travelled to Byron Bay to attend her friend, Elyse Knowles' baby shower. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Dr Chris Brown and his management for comment. It comes after the notoriously private pair were photographed weeks ago attending the I'm A Celebrity... wrap party in Sydney. Making plans: It's likely the group were in a business meeting to talk about his upcoming ventures and gigs Done for the day: After the meeting, Dr Chris donned his aviators and carried his laptop and note book as he crossed the street, likely headed home Reports first surfaced Chris was dating the model in May last year. According to Woman's Day magazine, the couple all-but-confirmed their romance when they were busted packing on the PDA while shopping for cleaning supplies at Bunnings Warehouse in Randwick, Sydney, in April. 'They looked very much like a couple,' an insider told the publication. New love: Chris and Brooke, who reportedly met through mutual celebrity friends, stayed in his Clovelly home during Sydney's lockdowns Chris and Brooke, who reportedly met through mutual celebrity friends, stayed in his Clovelly home during Sydney's lockdowns. Not only is Brooke's a successful model, she is also the creator of health and wellness magazine, A Conscious Collection. Chris was previously in a relationship with Channel Ten personality, Liv Phyland. [February 23, 2021] Busek Ships First LEO to GEO Capable Electric Propulsion System NATICK, Mass., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Busek confirmed shipment of its first flight BHT-600 Hall effect thruster system, a modular propulsion unit with the capability of raising small satellites from low earth orbit (LEO) to geosynchronous orbit (GEO) and beyond. Hall thrusters are one form of highly efficient spacecraft electric propulsion which utilize solar energy and very small amounts of propellant to create thrust. The undisclosed customer ordered the system roughly twelve months ago for a Government mission launching later this year. The BHT-600 thruster design previously demonstrated a record-breaking 7,000-hour ground test, an activity supported by NASA's Game Changing Development Office and the Space Technology Mission Directorate. The long-duration ground test was performed at NASA Glenn Research Center as part of a NASA Space Act Agreement. There, he thruster was independently tested in the simulated vacuum of space, processing roughly 70 kilograms of xenon propellant before the test was terminated. "The BHT-600 is a highly capable and robust solution that's a perfect fit for many upcoming small satellite missions," said Vlad Hruby, President of Busek. "With this system, ESPA-class satellites, and small satellite constellations, roughly 180 225 kilograms in size, will be able to execute high-velocity maneuvers including orbit-raising, near-earth object rendezvous, and extend the life of GEO, MEO, and LEO spacecraft. The system is also an ideal fit to power electric upper stages on small launch vehicles." The BHT-600 is designed for operation from 400W to 1kW in power, and has been tested for thousands of hours on traditional and next-generation propellants including xenon, krypton, and iodine. The modular flight system features a Busek-designed radiation tolerant power processor with variable output, xenon feed system, and long-life thruster assembly. The BHT-600 joins Busek's family of flight qualified industry-leading propulsion solutions, including Hall effect thrusters, electrospray thrusters, and iodine fueled ion engine systems. About Busek Co. Inc.: Busek is a leader in the development and manufacture of high performance in-space propulsion, sensors, and power systems. The firm's highly efficient designs enable a range of challenging missions for government and commercial customers. From one-off science missions to high-volume constellations, Busek brings decades of design, manufacturing, test, and spaceflight experience to missions which matter. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/busek-ships-first-leo-to-geo-capable-electric-propulsion-system-301233334.html SOURCE Busek Co. Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] pravarag Newbie Join Date: Sep 2020 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 23 Thanked: 109 Times Trip to Kodaikanal | Zen of hill driving And just like always our ride was going to be our beloved Shadowfax, Earlier we had planned to do a 3 days (2 nights) trip only but later on we decided to stretch it for one more day. And I'm glad that we took that decision as we both were visiting for the first time and after seeing the rush over there, especially during the Christmas holidays it was good to have one more day. So, we had no idea of places in and around Kodaikanal plus I did not do much research as we wanted to enjoy and relax for these 4 days, driving in hills, breathe some fresh air and have some good food with scenic view if possible. And just like always on our long road-trips, I had kept below items as well, Thorough check-up of my car and since it completed it's one year service 3-4 days prior, this was all sorted. I had a check-list from my last Gokarna travel which included items like extra coolant(about 1 litre), tyre inflator, tyre-puncture kit, pressure measuring gauge, couple of extra fuses, wiper-washer tank at full, a torchlight. Also some dry food like - chips, dry-fruits, couple of cans of Red Bull etc. Since we were visiting the hills this time so we had in mind to buy fresh-fruits from there and have a taste at those Day 1 : Our plan was to start early as usual, around 5 AM from Bengaluru and try to reach Kodaikanal by 4 or 5 PM after couple of rest and food stops. Just like every other time this past year, we had our breakfast and lunch packed a night before. Though we couldn't find a place with scenic view but a restroom stop at a highway petrol pump led us to unpack our breakfast and we took a short 10-15 minutes break. We soon crossed Salem and then merged onto the awesome Kanyakumari highway. I've always found this route one of the best in our country and I was driving on it this time almost after 3 years, and what a pleasant experience it was. Somewhere on the Kanyakumari highway: While climbing up the Kodai hills: We managed to reach Kodaikanal by 3 PM and our first stop there was at Silver Cascade waterfall. To my surprise, it was a beautiful waterfall and the best part it was right on the way to the main city. We stopped there for a while, had our lunch which we had packed with us and then set-out for our homestay. And finally we reached our homestay and it was quite hard to locate though. Also, the road was in pretty bad shape but, thanks to Shadowfax we scaled it without much difficulty. We didn't plan much to roam out for the day but the view for our place was a delight. I think the last time I saw so much of clouds was in Nandi Hills, near Bangalore. The stay was pretty comfortable and we enjoyed the homemade food very much. Day 2 : After enquiring from our homestay owner, we planned to visit Mannavanur lake the next day. Since, we didn't plan or enquire much about the places to see in Kodaikanal this time we thought it was better to ask any local. Also, we wanted to enjoy our staycation as much as we can so we thought of avoiding any crowded places and better see the ones which aren't much visited. So, after having our breakfast we set-out for Mannavanur lake around 9:30 AM and as soon as we merged from our homestay road to the main Kodaikanal road we were shell-shocked to see huge traffic jam. We then came to know that Kodaikanal every year is a major visit by people of nearby states during Christmas Holidays. We knew, it was going to be a long day with bumper-to-bumper traffic ahead of us. As soon as we kept crawling, the traffic intensity kept on increasing and once we crossed Kodaikanal lake, we were stuck in the jam again for almost 1 hour and we even saw many taxis and older cars giving up on the way. I've had it and I didn't want my car to go through a burn-out at about 500 Kms from my home. We decided to take a u-turn and visit Kodaikanal lake instead. Also, that day was Saturday and it also added to the huge amount of traffic and crowd gathering in huge number. Later that day, we came to know from our friend that almost 10,000 cars of outside registration entered Kodaikanal that very same day . Never mind, we turned back and reached Kodaikanal lake and luckily we found a good parking spot as well. If you'll observe closely, even though it's a man-made lake but, it's very beautiful. Especially the scenery around it is very peaceful. We didn't want to do boating in the lake as there was a huge line for that. Instead, we decided to walk around and the lake covering about 2 KMs in total. And that helped us even in taking more pictures without much crowd. Views from our balcony in morning, Few clicks of the beautiful Kodaikanal Lake, So, we were looking for a place to eat once we finished our around the lake walkathon and it didn't come as a surprise that almost every restaurant in Kodaikanal was either full or out of car parking. We gave up as it was already 3:30 and we decided to head back to our home-stay and enjoy the view from the balcony instead. And again, I must say that it turned out to be a good decision and the view I bet was way better than few of the tourist places in Kodaikanal. Evening again, clouds were back: Day 3: So, this day since it was a Sunday and we were hoping that most of the people would have left maybe after a long weekend. We decided to visit Mannavanur lake early in the morning itself. We started around 7:30 and as we expected, there wasn't much traffic. So far the roads have been good and only bad patches which we have encountered was in the area where our homestay was. But drive to Mannavanur lake, I must say was very scenic and I really enjoyed it. When you are visiting Mannavannur lake, right after we cross forest check-post there is a sharp right turn which takes you down-the-hill towards the lake and Rabbit farms. But we missed that turn unfortunately due to our over-confidence on Google Maps. And instead we reached Pillar rocks thinking that this is the right way forward to the lake as well. But luckily we reached Pillar rocks well before it would have gotten crowded that day and I was awestruck after watching the beauty of those mammoth like structures from the view point, Shadowfax on the way: After spending about 15 mins there, I enquired about the way to Mannavanur lake and somebody suggested me to continue moving ahead as that was the only way. By that time we hadn't realized that we've missed our turn long back and to our surprise we reached Kodaikanal city again after the full whole circle . I didn't realise this until my wife pointed out the place where I stopped last time to check the tyres. Nevermind, we went back the same road, took the right turn and then after completing almost 40 KMs downhill, we reached the lake. The roads were okay and there were few bad patches and there wasn't not much traffic also that day. Before coming here we were thinking that this was going to be one of those man-made lakes with lot of shops around it and someplace like other tourist destinations. But, we were completely wrong as the pictures will do more justice then me putting down words here, I was patting myself by this time that our decision to stay in Kodaikanal for one extra day proved to be of total worth by coming here. This was a very beautiful place and the scenery around, I could never believe that this was in India . Close to lake, there is one sheep and rabbit farm which is the other main attraction. We decided to go straight up there since somebody had suggested the view from there would be much better as compared to the lake itself. By the time we reached there, it wasn't very much crowded since it was early as 11 AM in the morning. The fun part was, by paying 10 Rs. they were allowing visitors to hold cute little bunnies and click photographs with them. We spent almost 2 hours over there as the scenes all around were so beautiful and relaxing. Post that, since we were already hungry we started from the Rabbit farm. While coming, we had spotted one very cool cafe on the way and had decided to stop there for lunch on our return journey. This was "Passiflora Art Cafe" with an artistic vibe and soon as you enter, you'll be greeted by two cute labradors. We ordered tea and some food and I must say if you are in this area, this cafe should be on your must visit list. Not only because of food but also for the view from there. Views from the cafe: So we reached Kodaikanal by 5:30 PM and on the way we purchased few Kodaikanal chocolates and couple of other items for family & friends. Again after reaching the homestay, we followed our daily routine from past 3 days, sitting in the balcony with some hot tea and enjoy the view. Views from our homestay for one last time: One can spot a beautiful waterfall also from here: Night: Day 4: We had planned to leave by 7:30 so that we can reach Bengaluru by 4 or 5 PM max. We decided to meet two of our friends(meeting after a long time) near Theni-Kodaikanal junction followed by some delicious Dosa and filter coffee for breakfast. We then headed straight to Bengaluru without making a major stop except restroom and tea breaks. We managed to be home by 5:30 due to the traffic we found near Electronic city but still we were on-time. These 4 days as we had planned, were pretty relaxing, full of a lot more of driving, enjoying nature at it's best and some good food. This was my first experience with such steep and narrow hill driving(earlier being Wayanad, but that isn't very difficult) and we managed to get through with a trusted partner and it's power. There were couple of instances where we almost came through some good off-roading but Shadowfax is built to tackle such challenges and it has proved it's worth now and then. As it's the case with every traveller, who doesn't like to rest until the next destination - I'll be back with few more of my adventures, Ciao! Below are the Google Maps links for the art cafe and homestay where we visited: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Pa...7!4d77.4096278 https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sy..._BIwD3oECBYQBQ Driving to Kodaikanal in my own car has always been into my bucket list. Though we've tried making our plans earlier too of visiting Kodaikanal when we were in Chennai but, some reason or the other all the plans were cancelled. Last year, we did plan to visit the Queen of hills but then the whole world was brought upside down by Covid-19. Somehow, with great 2020 approaching it's end, I decided that we should try to visit Kodaikanal during the Christmas holidays. And this time we got lucky enough to address this beauty,And just like always our ride was going to be our belovedEarlier we had planned to do a 3 days (2 nights) trip only but later on we decided to stretch it for one more day. And I'm glad that we took that decision as we both were visiting for the first time and after seeing the rush over there, especially during the Christmas holidays it was good to have one more day. So, we had no idea of places in and around Kodaikanal plus I did not do much research as we wanted to enjoy and relax for these 4 days, driving in hills, breathe some fresh air and have some good food with scenic view if possible. And just like always on our long road-trips, I had kept below items as well,Our plan was to start early as usual, around 5 AM from Bengaluru and try to reach Kodaikanal by 4 or 5 PM after couple of rest and food stops. Just like every other time this past year, we had our breakfast and lunch packed a night before. Though we couldn't find a place with scenic view but a restroom stop at a highway petrol pump led us to unpack our breakfast and we took a short 10-15 minutes break. We soon crossed Salem and then merged onto the awesome Kanyakumari highway. I've always found this route one of the best in our country and I was driving on it this time almost after 3 years, and what a pleasant experience it was.Somewhere on the Kanyakumari highway:While climbing up the Kodai hills:We managed to reach Kodaikanal by 3 PM and our first stop there was at Silver Cascade waterfall. To my surprise, it was a beautiful waterfall and the best part it was right on the way to the main city. We stopped there for a while, had our lunch which we had packed with us and then set-out for our homestay.And finally we reached our homestay and it was quite hard to locate though. Also, the road was in pretty bad shape but, thanks to Shadowfax we scaled it without much difficulty. We didn't plan much to roam out for the day but the view for our place was a delight. I think the last time I saw so much of clouds was in Nandi Hills, near Bangalore. The stay was pretty comfortable and we enjoyed the homemade food very much.After enquiring from our homestay owner, we planned to visit Mannavanur lake the next day. Since, we didn't plan or enquire much about the places to see in Kodaikanal this time we thought it was better to ask any local. Also, we wanted to enjoy our staycation as much as we can so we thought of avoiding any crowded places and better see the ones which aren't much visited. So, after having our breakfast we set-out for Mannavanur lake around 9:30 AM and as soon as we merged from our homestay road to the main Kodaikanal road we were shell-shocked to see huge traffic jam. We then came to know that Kodaikanal every year is a major visit by people of nearby states during Christmas Holidays. We knew, it was going to be a long day with bumper-to-bumper traffic ahead of us. As soon as we kept crawling, the traffic intensity kept on increasing and once we crossed Kodaikanal lake, we were stuck in the jam again for almost 1 hour and we even saw many taxis and older cars giving up on the way. I've had it and I didn't want my car to go through a burn-out at about 500 Kms from my home. We decided to take a u-turn and visit Kodaikanal lake instead. Also, that day was Saturday and it also added to the huge amount of traffic and crowd gathering in huge number. Later that day, we came to know from our friend that almost 10,000 cars of outside registration entered Kodaikanal that very same day. Never mind, we turned back and reached Kodaikanal lake and luckily we found a good parking spot as well. If you'll observe closely, even though it's a man-made lake but, it's very beautiful. Especially the scenery around it is very peaceful. We didn't want to do boating in the lake as there was a huge line for that. Instead, we decided to walk around and the lake covering about 2 KMs in total. And that helped us even in taking more pictures without much crowd.Views from our balcony in morning,Few clicks of the beautiful Kodaikanal Lake,So, we were looking for a place to eat once we finished our around the lake walkathon and it didn't come as a surprise that almost every restaurant in Kodaikanal was either full or out of car parking. We gave up as it was already 3:30 and we decided to head back to our home-stay and enjoy the view from the balcony instead. And again, I must say that it turned out to be a good decision and the view I bet was way better than few of the tourist places in Kodaikanal.Evening again, clouds were back:So, this day since it was a Sunday and we were hoping that most of the people would have left maybe after a long weekend. We decided to visit Mannavanur lake early in the morning itself. We started around 7:30 and as we expected, there wasn't much traffic. So far the roads have been good and only bad patches which we have encountered was in the area where our homestay was. But drive to Mannavanur lake, I must say was very scenic and I really enjoyed it. When you are visiting Mannavannur lake, right after we cross forest check-post there is a sharp right turn which takes you down-the-hill towards the lake and Rabbit farms. But we missed that turn unfortunately due to our over-confidence on Google Maps. And instead we reached Pillar rocks thinking that this is the right way forward to the lake as well. But luckily we reached Pillar rocks well before it would have gotten crowded that day and I was awestruck after watching the beauty of those mammoth like structures from the view point,Shadowfax on the way:After spending about 15 mins there, I enquired about the way to Mannavanur lake and somebody suggested me to continue moving ahead as that was the only way. By that time we hadn't realized that we've missed our turn long back and to our surprise we reached Kodaikanal city again after the full whole circle. I didn't realise this until my wife pointed out the place where I stopped last time to check the tyres. Nevermind, we went back the same road, took the right turn and then after completing almost 40 KMs downhill, we reached the lake. The roads were okay and there were few bad patches and there wasn't not much traffic also that day. Before coming here we were thinking that this was going to be one of those man-made lakes with lot of shops around it and someplace like other tourist destinations. But, we were completely wrong as the pictures will do more justice then me putting down words here,I was patting myself by this time that our decision to stay in Kodaikanal for one extra day proved to be of total worth by coming here. This was a very beautiful place and the scenery around, I could never believe that this was in India. Close to lake, there is one sheep and rabbit farm which is the other main attraction. We decided to go straight up there since somebody had suggested the view from there would be much better as compared to the lake itself. By the time we reached there, it wasn't very much crowded since it was early as 11 AM in the morning. The fun part was, by paying 10 Rs. they were allowing visitors to hold cute little bunnies and click photographs with them. We spent almost 2 hours over there as the scenes all around were so beautiful and relaxing. Post that, since we were already hungry we started from the Rabbit farm. While coming, we had spotted one very cool cafe on the way and had decided to stop there for lunch on our return journey. This was "Passiflora Art Cafe" with an artistic vibe and soon as you enter, you'll be greeted by two cute labradors. We ordered tea and some food and I must say if you are in this area, this cafe should be on your must visit list. Not only because of food but also for the view from there.Views from the cafe:So we reached Kodaikanal by 5:30 PM and on the way we purchased few Kodaikanal chocolates and couple of other items for family & friends. Again after reaching the homestay, we followed our daily routine from past 3 days, sitting in the balcony with some hot tea and enjoy the view.Views from our homestay for one last time:One can spot a beautiful waterfall also from here:Night:We had planned to leave by 7:30 so that we can reach Bengaluru by 4 or 5 PM max. We decided to meet two of our friends(meeting after a long time) near Theni-Kodaikanal junction followed by some delicious Dosa and filter coffee for breakfast. We then headed straight to Bengaluru without making a major stop except restroom and tea breaks. We managed to be home by 5:30 due to the traffic we found near Electronic city but still we were on-time.These 4 days as we had planned, were pretty relaxing, full of a lot more of driving, enjoying nature at it's best and some good food. This was my first experience with such steep and narrow hill driving(earlier being Wayanad, but that isn't very difficult) and we managed to get through with a trusted partner and it's power. There were couple of instances where we almost came through some good off-roading but Shadowfax is built to tackle such challenges and it has proved it's worth now and then. As it's the case with every traveller, who doesn't like to rest until the next destination - I'll be back with few more of my adventures, Ciao!Below are the Google Maps links for the art cafe and homestay where we visited: Last edited by pravarag : 22nd February 2021 at 11:52 . Up to 17,000 garment workers in Lao PDR affected by the Covid-19 pandemic are to receive two months emergency income support worth LAK900,000 (US$100). The one-time cash transfers totalling US$1.8m will help mitigate workers lost income and support business continuity while reducing employers staff turnover costs. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is funding the initiative, which has been developed with technical support from the International Labour Organization (ILO). Eligible beneficiaries, of whom 85% are women, will receive the cash transfers by the end of March. This support not only benefits workers and garment factories, it also helps strengthen the administrative capacity and payment mechanism of the social security system, as well as enhancing social dialogue and tripartite collaboration in Lao PDR, said Padeumphone Sonthany, vice minister of Labour and Social Welfare. The Lao PDR garment sector employs some 26,000 workers. It has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic with many factories scaling back production, releasing staff and in some cases closing their doors. We are happy that this support has been channelled to the Lao Social Security Organization (LSSO). A strong social protection system that is adaptive during a crisis and responds to chronic and emerging vulnerabilities is crucial, said Jens Lutkenherm, German Ambassador to Lao PDR. The Association of Lao Garment Industry (ALGI) and the Lao Federation of Trade Unions (LFT) have been involved in the schemes development and will support its operation. The Lao garment industry has been hit hard by Covid-19. Income support will help workers survive this difficult period and businesses maintain their staff so they are in a better position to resume operations when the impact of the pandemic eases, said Graeme Buckley, director of ILO Country Office for Thailand, Cambodia and Lao PDR. Thematic Reports Are you worried about the pace of innovation in your industry? GlobalData's TMT Themes 2021 Report tells you everything you need to know about disruptive tech themes and which companies are best placed to help you digitally transform your business. Find out more The emergency programme will piggyback on LSSOs existing delivery systems, helping reduce administration costs and speed up delivery, whilst easing the financial strain on the national unemployment insurance scheme. New payment methods will also be piloted by LSSO, with electronic payments made via a local mobile network operator, increasing financial inclusion for garment sector workers, especially those without bank accounts. The pandemic has greatly increased demand on Lao PDRs unemployment insurance scheme, with the garment sector alone seeing more than a threefold increase in payments, rising from LAK406.58m in 2019 (US$44,000) to LAK1.33bn (US$143,000) during Covid-19. J. Mitchell is President at NuSachi, Inc., a Nashville-based provider of high-quality hemp products. NuSachi has earned the right to scale our vision and Im honored to have the opportunity to help lead our team in growing the industry and returning hemp to the masses, said J. Mitchell, President, NuSachi. NuSachi, Inc. today announced that J. Mitchell has been named president of the company, which produces high-quality organic hemp extracts and products within a vertically integrated and traceable, medical-grade hemp supply chain. Mitchell assumes his new leadership role at NuSachi following a series of successful commercial formulation and supply deals ranging from specially cultivated flower to custom-blended ingestibles and tinctures for a number of leading regional hemp and wellness brands. J. Mitchell is a battle-tested expert who brings broad perspectives and a shared passion for the power of the plant, said Mark Montgomery, CEO and Co-founder, NuSachi. J. is admired by our team and trusted by our investors. Most importantly, J. runs tight day-to-day operations and continues to surprise and delight our clients from seed to sale. Mitchell is a seasoned professional in propagation, cultivation, extraction, formulation, product design, packaging, manufacturing and distribution. He is an advocate for hemps integrity as both a medicine and natural resource. Recently, Mitchell contributed to seven patents, developed over 50 new formulations for hemp-derived products, built two vertically integrated hemp supply chains, managed a 200,000 hemp clone operation, and conducted high-quality grows in excess of 5,000 pounds of biomass. NuSachi has earned the right to scale our vision and Im honored to have the opportunity to help lead our team in growing the industry and returning hemp to the masses, said Mitchell. NuSachi calls it seed to sale today, but were aiming for seed to script and are committed to serving customers who work everyday to see vital Cannabinoids realize their potential in supplementing progressive therapies or replacing controversial narcotics like opioids. Mitchell was previously director of product development at NuSachi. He joined the company in November 2019 after serving as chief operating officer at Tri-Star Medical LLC, a licensed hemp grower, extractor and retailer in Tennessee. Prior to the hemp industry, Mitchell was a successful chef for more than 12 years including almost four as executive chef for Nashville-based craft brewer, Tennessee Brew Works. He earned a BBA in entrepreneurship from Belmont University and resides in Nashville with his wife. Since the hemp market crash of 2019, NuSachi has preserved through the COVID-19 pandemic and assembled a leading team of experts to create a powerful brand identity. While many in hemp were forced to shutter last year, NuSachi procured critical equipment to establish its commercially viable pilot scale operations and realize its vertically integrated traceable supply chain. Of note, NuSachi co-launched a major consumer product with a leading CBD brand in mid-2020 and has since earned the trust of many other hemp and CBD retailers, as well as physicians and pain therapists. About NuSachi NuSachi, Inc. partners with pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, pet, beauty, food, and beverage leaders to ensure transparency from seed to sale for premium hemp products around the world. NuSachi offers expertise and services spanning genetics, plant material, extracts, custom formulations, white labeling, and comprehensive turnkey solutions. NuSachi is based in Nashville, Tenn. and can be found online at nusachi.com or via social media @nusachihemp. A trio of computer scientists from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York recently published research detailing a potential AI intervention for murder: an ethical lockout. The big idea here is to stop mass shootings and other ethically incorrect uses for firearms through the development of an AI that can recognize intent, judge whether it's ethical use, and ultimately render a firearm inert if a user tries to ready it for improper fire. That sounds like a lofty goal, in fact the researchers themselves refer to it as a "blue sky" idea, but the technology to make it possible is already here. According to the team's research: Predictably, some will object as follows: "The concept you introduce is attractive. But unfortunately it's nothing more than a dream; actually, nothing more than a pipe dream. Is this AI really feasible, science- and engineering-wise?" We answer in the affirmative, confidently. The research goes on to explain how recent breakthroughs involving long-term studies have lead to the development of various AI-powered reasoning systems that could serve to trivialize and implement a fairly simple ethical judgment system for firearms. ..... New Delhi: US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is offering an exciting job opportunity that requires a 'Planetary Protection Officer' who can save our planet Earth from aliens. We are calling it an exciting job opportunity as NASA will pay whopping $187,000 (141,000)) to the selected candidate for this role. However, the job is not easy and comes with a lot of complications which is why NASA is giving away a hefty salary for the post. While the title of the job suggests that the 'Planetary Protection Officer' is supposed to prevent the destruction of the Earth, but the job requires a broader focus. The officer will actually be responsible for helping to prevent NASA from destroying other worlds just as much as they are protecting the Earth. It is a cause of concern to contaminate other planets with organisms or organic material from Earth. In 1956, the members of the International Astronautical Federation had suggested that we might be unintentionally contaminating the moon or other planets as we explore space. Since then spreading organic matter outside the Earth has been a matter of worry. During the human exploration of space, the Office of Planetary Protection maintains the guidelines and quarantine procedures. The Planetary Protection Officer will have the task of ensuring that the NASA members are doing everything in their power to follow those rules. Also, the Planetary Protection Officer will also need to keep NASA compliant with best practices regarding planetary protection. For this, this person will be the main point of contact for other agencies and organizations from around the world involved in performing similar duties. The summary on the job listing in usajobs.gov offers fair idea of why this is so important: NASA maintains policies for planetary protection applicable to all space flight missions that may intentionally or unintentionally carry Earth organisms and organic constituents to the planets or other solar system bodies, and any mission employing spacecraft, which are intended to return to Earth and its biosphere with samples from extraterrestrial targets of exploration. This policy is based on federal requirements and international treaties and agreements. For the Planetary Protection Officer, our Earth will also be a big concern. The officer will not man a laser turret to protect Earth from aliens or alien contamination, but will keep a watch over NASAs exploration missions. This person will also be responsible for ensuring that something much small but potentially just as catastrophic doesnt slip by undetected. Here is all you need to know about NASAs 'Planetary Protection Officer' job: ALSO READ | NASA's 'Men in black' job offer: Protect Earth from aliens for $187,000; qualification, last date and how to apply Open & closing dates: 2017-07-13 to 2017-08-14 Salary: $124,406 to $187,000 / per year Pay scale & grade: SL 00 Series: 1301 General Physical Science Appointment type: Permanent Work schedule: Full Time Job announcement number: HQ17S0010 Control number: 474414000 Locations: NASA - United States Locations, United States For complete job details click here. For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. FLINT, MI -- Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley is taking issue with arguments made by attorneys for Rick Snyder as they prepare to return to court Tuesday, Feb. 23, for the former governors criminal case related to the Flint water crisis. In a filing in Genesee District Court Monday, Feb. 22, Snyder attorney Brian P. Lennon argues that the charges against his client should be dismissed, in part because, Neglecting a city is not a crime -- certainly not one with which Governor Snyder has been charged. Lennon filed a motion in January to quash Snyders indictment on two counts of willful neglect of duty by a one-man grand jury because he said it lacked jurisdiction and asked that the case against him be dismissed because it was filed in the wrong county. His filing Monday takes issue with Flint water prosecutors, who have said Snyder neglected water problems in Flint and that the failure to act led to the willful neglect of duty charges. Neeley issued a statement after reading an account of that filing on Snyders behalf in Crains Detroit Business. To say neglecting a city is not a crime is infuriating, the mayors statement says. This criminal defense goes beyond implicit bias. Moreover, it is explicit bias when communities of color are neglected and they argue it is not a crime. What happened to the children, families, and residents of Flint was absolutely criminal. We as a community deserve justice, not more insulting attempts to defend their actions. Attorneys for both Snyder and former Flint Department of Public Works Director Howard Croft are due to appear for a hearing before Judge William Crawford Tuesday. Snyder and Croft are being prosecuted for the same charges in Genesee District Court because they were indicted on misdemeanors. Seven other current and former city and state officials are being prosecuted for Flint water crimes in Genesee Circuit Court because they are charged with felony crimes. Lennon has said the indictment against Snyder is fatally flawed because the former governor is charged with crimes that allegedly were carried out in Genesee County while Snyder was in his office in the Romney Building in downtown Lansing when the alleged crimes occurred, meaning the case should have been pursued in Ingham County instead. He has also said the grand jury lacked jurisdiction in the case. Flint water prosecutors from the state Department of Attorney General said in response to Lennons motion to dismiss that neither of the objections to the indictments have merit. If Crawford finds that Ingham County is the proper venue for the case, the prosecutors said, the appropriate remedy is transfer, not dismissal. The case does not involve the neglect of a general duty owed to the state of Michigan, but the neglect of a duty owed specifically to the city of Flint, based on events that unfolded in Flint on which defendant (should have) acted, the water prosecutors argued in their response to the motion to dismiss. Snyder, 62, served as the governor from 2011 until 2019, but left office amid demands from many in Flint that he resign for his part in the citys water crisis. The charges against him are misdemeanors that are punishable by up to one year in jail and up to $1,000 in fines. Related: Snyder attorney says he was charged in wrong county, will ask for Flint water charges to be dismissed Former Gov. Snyder, 8 others criminally charged, accused of trampling trust of Flint people Aide says he shared lead worries from Flint with Gov. Snyder in July 2015 A Brisbane police officer is accused of sending 'creepy' messages to a 15-year-old, talking about her nude photos and calling her 'beautiful', a court has been told. Matthew Paul Hockley has denied making sexual and suggestive comments to the teenage girl on Snapchat after interviewing her over the photographs that were being circulated at school. The 33-year-old senior constable was working at the Inala Child Protection and Investigation Unit at the time. Brisbane police officer, Matthew Paul Hockley (pictured), has been accused of sending 'creepy' messages to a 15-year-old schoolgirl The girl told her mother Hockley had been messaging her inappropriately, the Brisbane District Court heard on Tuesday. The teenager's mother said her daughter told her Hockley complemented her a lot, saying things like 'Morning, beautiful'. The teenager said he also 'tries to bring the conversation back to my nudes', the woman told the court. The girl's father said his daughter referred to the officer's messages as a 'bit creepy' and making her feel uneasy. She told him the officer described her naked pictures as the best photos he had seen in the cases he had worked, referring to her backside, and offered to take her away for the weekend, while warning he slept naked, the father added. The 33-year-old senior constable (pictured) denied making sexual comments to the girl He also told the court his daughter said Hockley told her if 'he couldn't have her, he would take the next best thing which is her mother'. The officer is also accused of commenting on sexual interactions between older men and girls, and talking about a 50-year-old man caught indecently touching his daughter, the court has been told. Hockley contacted the girl on the social media app, allegedly telling her he wanted to make sure she was staying safe online, prosecutor Judy Geary said earlier. Over three weeks from July 30, 2019 they sent more than 1000 chat messages and 30 images. During the same period the senior constable also had a consensual 'sexual encounter' with the girl's mother, the court was told. Ms Geary said no messages could be retrieved during the investigation because Snapchat messages - which can include photos or text - are automatically deleted after being viewed. Senders are also notified if someone takes a screenshot of conversations. The girl told the court Hockley (pictured) always tried to bring the conversation back to her nude photos and described her naked pictures as the best he had seen in all his cases But the girl did take pictures of three conversations using another device, the court heard. Defence barrister Matt Black said earlier Hockley admitted communicating with the teenager via Snapchat for several weeks. But the content of messages - aside from those the girl photographed - is in dispute, Mr Black told the court. 'The first issue for you is, can the prosecution prove those disputed messages beyond reasonable doubt?' he told the jury in his opening address. Mr Black asked the jury to also consider whether the prosecution could prove Hockley had an unlawful intention when he sent the messages. Hockley pleaded not guilty on Monday to one count each of grooming a child under 16 with intent to procure engagement in a sexual act, grooming a child under 16 with intent to expose to indecent matter and using the internet to procure a child under 16. The jury trial continues before Judge Bernard Porter. Subscriber content preview BIRKENFELD, Ore. (AP) The state of Oregon has fined Fishhawk Lake Reserve and Community northwest of Portland $439,200 for draining a reservoir and allegedly killing more than 30,000 fish. The homeowners association plans to appeal the fine, The Astorian reported. Fishhawk Lake is a private community around a reservoir formed in the 1960s by an earthen dam. The homeowners association maintains the lake, processes water and treats sewage. . . . Beyond barbecues and ceremonies: Recognizing Memorial Day For many, Memorial Day weekend is about gathering with family and grilling or attending a parade. Some find a more personal way to honor the holiday. Egypt has passed the peak of the second wave of coronavirus that hit the country starting December, Health Affairs Presidential Advisor Mohamed Awad Tag El-Din told the media on Monday evening. Tag El-Din said the rate of infections has declined thanks to the measures introduced by the state, while asserting that all safety measures should be maintained in the coming period. The presidential advisor said that the viral mutations found in the UK, Brazil, and South Africa have not been detected in Egypt, adding that mutations occur normally for all viruses, not only the coronavirus, and that vaccines are able to deal with the matter. Despite Egypt entering the second wave of the pandemic in early December, the country witnessed a decline in the daily infection rate in January before fluctuating up and down since last week. Egypt has a total of 178,151 coronavirus infections, including 10,353 deaths and 137,837 recoveries. Short link: Egypts ministries of international cooperation, local development, agriculture and land reclamation, and social solidarity discussed on Tuesday in a meeting with the Menghestab Haile, the Country Director and Representative of World Food Programme (WFP) in Egypt, the Decent Life initiative and future action plans for expanding WFP projects that aim to achieve agricultural and rural development in the country. The meeting comes on the heel of the success of the first phase implemented in 63 villages across five governorates in Upper Egypt. Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat reviewed during the meeting the successful partnership with the WFP in the countrys strategy from 2018 to 2023, which is based on enhancing food security, developing agricultural and rural communities, and supporting the most vulnerable groups in rural communities, such as girls, women and rural entrepreneurs, and small farmers. The second phase of the projects implemented through the WFP, in collaboration with the government of Egypt, complements the Decent Life presidential initiative, said Al-Mashat. This initiative aims to develop and reform the countrys most vulnerable villages by supporting investment in human capital through enhancing livelihoods, diversifying sources of income via livestock and poultry production projects, loans, handicrafts, improving the efficiency of using water resources, supporting the ability of farmers to adapt to climate change, achieving economic and social empowerment of women and girls, and encouraging creativity and innovation through collaborative digital knowledge platforms. She added that these projects help in achieving a wide range of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 1: No Poverty, SDG 2: Zero Hunger, SDG 4: Quality Education, SDG 5: Gender Equality, SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities. She also noted that a specialised committee will be formed to pinpoint the appropriate villages and centres for the development project expansion, adding that the committee will include representatives from the relevant ministries and the WFP to discuss the precise details of the proposed plan and finalise its implementation framework. Minister of Local Development Mahmoud Shaarawi stressed during the meeting the importance of the projects in coordination with the WFP to support rural communities in Upper Egypt within the framework of the National Program for the Development of Rural Areas, which falls under the Decent Life presidential initiative. This includes ensuring the availability of important services to citizens, particularly in infrastructure and sanitation, drinking water, and job opportunities for residents, especially for youth and women. This is happening alongside other development projects implemented by other ministries: canal lining, and modernising irrigation systems and agricultural processes, said Shaarawi. Nevine El-Qabbaj, the minister of social solidarity, also applauded the strong partnership between the WFP and Egypt in several projects under the social protection framework, adding that the 1,000 days project is an essential collaboration between the ministry and the WFP, which focuses on supporting children, community schools, micro-enterprise training, the provision of loans for mothers of school children to develop their own projects, and employment support for the informal sector during the COVID-19 pandemic. El-Qabbaj explained that the Forsa program aims, as well, to widen agricultural, animal care, and crafts development to cover many villages across Upper Egypt, stressing that this is an opportunity for economic progress and empowerment, especially for women and youth, representing 32 million citizens according to the Ministry of Social Solidaritys database; adding that this is a chance to endorse the Decent Life initiative. Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation El-Sayed El-Quseir said that the ministry had successful experiences with the WFP in developing agricultural and rural communities, asserting the need to identify the villages that will most benefit from the project and a list of their requirements so that an appropriate program suited for the residents can be put into action to achieve the desired results. El-Quseir also stressed the need for projects to include digital agricultural development, as well as value chain development, and cooperative marketing of agricultural products, to ensure the sustainability of achievements in the selected villages. Meanwhile, Haile praised the governments coordination through the Ministry of International Cooperation in implementing the programs framework. He noted that the WFPs national agenda has been laid out in collaboration with the concerned ministries in Egypt, explaining the good outcome and smooth workflow of previous collaborative projects. The villages development expansion project that falls under the WFPs action plan is expected to support rural communities, achieve economic and social empowerment of women, enhance livelihoods, and improve water management in Egypt, according to Haile. Short link: Three former officials of PrivatBank, in particular former head of the board Oleksandr Dubilet, were handed suspicions of embezzlement of other people's property through abuse of office, committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons on an especially large scale, as well as official forgery, which led to embezzlement of UAH 136 million, Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said. "The investigation established that in December 2016 three former officials of the bank, understanding that PJSC PrivatBank, taking into account the position of the owners of its significant participation, will soon be declared insolvent and will come under the control of the government, and realizing that due to with this, from December 19, 2016, they will lose control over the bank's funds, prepared and implemented a criminal plan to waste the financial institution's funds. It consisted in the illegal accrual and payment of additional remuneration, an indexed commission due to the increase in the hryvnia exchange rate against the U.S. dollar in favor of the related bank of a legal entity under the existing deposit agreements with it. At the same time, the payment of such a commission was not provided for by these deposit agreements and additional agreements to them," Venediktova said on her Facebook page on Tuesday. The investigation established that in December 2016 three former officials of the bank, understanding that PJSC PrivatBank, taking into account the position of the owners of its significant participation, will soon be declared insolvent and will come under the control of the government, and realizing that due to with this, from December 19, 2016, they will lose control over the bank's funds, prepared and implemented a criminal plan to waste the financial institution's funds. It consisted in the illegal accrual and payment of additional remuneration, an indexed commission due to the increase in the hryvnia exchange rate against the U.S. dollar in favor of the related bank of a legal entity under the existing deposit agreements with it. At the same time, the payment of such a commission was not provided for by these deposit agreements and additional agreements to them," Venediktova said on her Facebook page on Tuesday. The prosecutor general did not give the names of the former employees of the bank who saw suspicion, but said that among them was the former first deputy head of the board of PrivatBank, who on Monday tried to leave Ukraine on a private jet in the direction of Vienna, but his plane was landed at Boryspil airport, and the former official was detained. Sources in law enforcement agencies told Interfax-Ukraine that they are talking about former first deputy head of PrivatBank Volodymyr Yatsenko. In addition, according to Venediktova, the suspicion was reported to the former head of the bank's board and head of the financial management department, who at the same time held the position of first deputy head of the board of a legal entity associated with the bank. As a source in law enforcement agencies told the agency, it is about Olena Bychykhina, who is indicated as the first deputy head of the board of the Ingosstrakh insurance company (Dnipro). "On February 22, 2021, I agreed on a report on the suspicion of three former officials PJSC PrivatBank of embezzling someone else's property through abuse of office, committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons, on an especially large scale, and of official forgery (Part 5 of Article 191, Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1, 2 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine)." A law enforcement source said that the suspicion was handed over to Yatsenko personally, and to Dubilet and Bychykhina by mail. Garcia and her boyfriend had been together for 4 or 5 years and had two children together, but she had been recently interested in Baylock, eventually admitting to police they were thirsty to talk and be with one another, records show. The first developer preview of Android 12 may not have told us a lot about what to expect from the next version of Google's mobile OS, but we're getting new features sooner than we expected. The company is announcing a set of six updates today that could tide us over as we wait for Android 12 to officially arrive. The changes include a password checkup tool, dark mode for Google Maps, Assistant lock screen cards, revamped TalkBack screen reader and scheduled Messages. Android Auto is also getting custom wallpapers, voice-activated games and a privacy screen. For most people, the most immediately useful update is the ability to schedule Messages. Android users can set a text to send after a certain time (say after your partner has posted your engagement announcement to Instagram, for example). This can be helpful in a variety of scenarios, like when you're talking to someone in a different timezone and don't want to bother them while they're asleep, or if you simply don't want to appear too eager when chatting up a potential new lover. Scheduled send in Messages is starting to roll out and will be available to those using Android 7 or newer. We've heard for months that a dark mode may be coming to Google Maps, and today the feature is finally official. You can go to the app's Settings, select Theme and tap Always in Dark Theme to switch to the new scheme when you're using Maps. Another update that's been a long time coming is the ability to use Assistant when your phone is locked. If you activate the Lock Screen Personal Results in Assistant settings, you can ask the helper to make calls, set timers or play music and a card will appear onscreen to execute your command. This can make your device easier for hands-free use, which should benefit those with mobility impairments too. Google Google is also updating one of its biggest accessibility features the TalkBack screen reader. It's adding a dozen new multi-finger gestures and voice commands to make it easier to interact with your phone if you can't see your display. The new gestures are available on the latest version of TalkBack on Pixel devices and Samsung's One UI 3 onwards. There will also be new reading controls that let you swipe with three fingers to change between reading just the headlines, every word or even every single character. The company also received feedback that TalkBack's menu structure was confusing, so the update integrates them in an effort to make navigation simpler. Google's also adding more customization options and support for Arabic and Spanish in its braille keyboard to cater to more people's needs. This version of TalkBack was co-developed with Samsung, and it's now the default screen reader on all Galaxy devices running One UI 3 and later. One of the new features in today's announcement may sound familiar password checkup. It's been mentioned since 2019, and was initially available on Chrome to alert you if your password has been compromised and posted on the web. With today's update, Google will check your passwords when you enter them into an app using Autofill and walk you through changing it. This will work on devices running Android 9 and later. Google Finally, Android Auto will soon get shortcuts on the launch screen to make it easier to reach your contacts or activate the Assistant. Voice-activated games like Jeopardy! and trivia are also coming, as is a privacy screen that lets you decide when Android Auto appears on your car's display. You'll also be able to pick from a selection of "car-inspired backgrounds" to personalize your dashboard, and those with wider screens can split it to feature Google Maps on one side and media controls on the other. It's not clear when all of these updates will start rolling out, though the ones for Android Auto will be available "in the coming days" on phones with Android 6.0 or later. Google has been releasing new features for its OS more frequently throughout the year lately, instead of saving them for one big release with each major version of Android. While it might lead to every generation of the software feeling like less of an upgrade, it's nice to get these features as they become ready instead of having to wait till later in the year. With help from the federal government, Houston will again work to vaccinate thousands from one location. This time, its NRG Park. On Wednesday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will fund and help operate a mass vaccination site at NRG Park for at least eight weeks. Houston was chosen along with New York City, Dallas-Fort Worth and Los Angeles as part of a pilot mass vaccination site strategy by FEMA. Houston Health Department and Harris County Public Health are FEMAs local partners in the effort to inoculate 126,000 people in that period. Unlike the Minute Maid Park mega vaccination site, this FEMA site will place more focus on equitable access for individuals from high-risk areas and communities of color, Mayor Sylvester Turner said. This is an enormous win for our community, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said. (These) 126,000 people are a lot of people. Harris County normally receives 9,000 doses a week. We must keep fighting for more supplies. Prioritization will go to residents 65 years of age or older from high-risk ZIP codes, which include: 77011, 77012, 77015, 77016, 77020, 77022, 77026, 77028, 77029, 77032, 77033, 77037, 77038, 77039, 77048, 77078, 77086, 77087, 77091, 77093, 77502, 77503, 77504, 77506 and 77587. Further prioritization will go to any individuals 65 or older; then those ages 60-64 with underlying medical conditions who live in a high-risk ZIP code; and finally any people ages 60-64 with underlying medical conditions. Registration is open to those who qualify under Phases 1A and 1B under the Texas Department of State Health Services. Six thousand people who qualify will be vaccinated every day, including Saturday and Sunday, for three weeks. On the fourth week, health care workers will transition to second-dose appointments. Both Harris County and the city will make appointments from current vaccination waiting lists, Turner said. He encouraged people to continue checking the citys website for availability or call 832-927-8787. Senior citizens are encouraged to call the citys Area Agency on Aging at 832-393-4301. No walk-ups will be accepted at the megasite, Hidalgo said. Appointments will go to those registered through the citys or countys websites or by phone at 832-927-8787. NRG Park is the ideal location because of its parking lot size and efficiency, Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen said. Upon arrival, registrants will line up in their vehicles at one of seven registration tents and show their confirmation email, which will contain a QR code. Then the 500- to 600-vehicle queue starts. There will be 11 white vaccination tents with four health care workers administering shots in each. Theoretically, 44 people will be vaccinated at a time, said Tony Robinson, FEMA Region 6 administrator. The process could last between 18 and 40 minutes, Robinson said. Spanish and Vietnamese interpreters will be available at the megasite, and all people are encouraged to register, regardless of immigration status. When city officials rolled out their mass vaccination site at Minute Maid Park earlier this year, they faced several hiccups. When the site first launched, some residents who scheduled appointments were turned away because the city mistakenly overbooked, prompting the Houston Health Department to issue an apology. Those who were vaccinated at the megasite described a logistical nightmare with long wait times inside the stadium and lines for parking that stretched into the street and clogged downtown traffic. Turner admitted at the time it was challenging to provide vaccines on such a massive scale. Its a heavy lift. Its a large operation, the mayor said in January. You may have glitches every now and then. Turner and city health officials decided to stop operating the Minute Maid site in late January because the city was not receiving enough doses of the COVID-19 vaccine each week. At the Minute Maid site, we ended up vaccinating more than 6,400 people in a single day. When it comes to quantity, thats great; when it comes to equity, it is not as great, Turner said Monday. We have learned from that, and now were including vulnerable populations, ZIP codes based on positivity rate. In addition to the 6,000 people a day, equity is built in and part of the equation. Other cities and states have encountered similar hurdles in distributing COVID vaccines. After the state of Massachusetts launched a portal last week to help residents schedule vaccine appointments, the Boston Globe said, residents encountered a maelstrom of website crashes, system errors and notices telling them there were many available appointments but they were out of reach. The mass vaccination site at NRG Park is part of the Biden administrations effort to launch 100 federally supported vaccine centers by the end of February, an effort that will require mobilizing thousands of clinical and nonclinical staff and contractors, the White House said in its national COVID plan. To fully staff and supply megasites such as the one in Houston, experts say, local, state and federal governments will need to coordinate on a scale that has never been done before. Omar Matuk-Villazon, a clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Houston College of Medicine, said vaccination sites including the clinic where he works as a pediatrician typically get bogged down by administrative procedures. The thing that we have struggled with the most is the data entry, Matuk-Villazon said. Im not concerned about actually delivering the shots. Most people who have received the vaccine so far likely have health insurance, Matuk-Villazon said, as they may hear about vaccine opportunities through their primary care provider. In 2019, nearly 1 in 5 people in the Houston metro area lacked health coverage, totaling 1.4 million uninsured residents the highest number in the country. Nationally, 9.2 percent of people were uncovered. That means they will have no access to the vaccine unless they are technologically literate, Matuk-Villazon said. As a medical student at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in Mexico City, Matuk-Villazon said, he and other students would help perform mass vaccinations by literally going door by door. Houston has a number of medical schools that could perform a similar function here, he said. We dont have to wait for the underserved to sign up for the COVID vaccine, Matuk-Villazon said. We just have to go and get them. julie.garcia@chron.com / jasper.scherer@chron.com A 14-year-old girl is accused of stabbing her older wheelchair-bound sister to death at their Pennsylvania home while their parents slept. Claire Miller allegedly knifed 19-year-old Helen in the early hours of Monday. Police say she then called 911 shortly after 1am in a 'hysterical' state, allegedly telling law enforcement she had killed her sibling. They say they then found the teen outside the family home in Manheim Township, covered in blood and trying to wash her hands in the snow. Officers say Claire pointed them to Helen's bedroom where her sister was then discovered with a pillow covering her face and a knife wound to her neck. According to the criminal complaint, Miller repeatedly said: 'I stabbed my sister.' The circumstances of the stabbing are not known. Claire Miller, left, knifed 19-year-old Helen, right, in the early hours of Monday, police say Miller, of Manheim Township, has been charged with criminal homicide as an adult, the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office said. She is being held without bail. Footage shows the teen being led in handcuffs from court after being arraigned to Lancaster County Prison. District Attorney Heather Adams told Fox43: 'This certainly is an incredibly tragic and unusual case. Our sympathies are with this family as they try to cope with the impact of this crime. Investigators will continue to process and analyze evidence to determine the circumstances that led to the victims death.' Police say they then found Claire outside the family home, covered in blood and trying to wash her hands in the snow According to the criminal complaint, Miller repeatedly said: 'I stabbed my sister.' The circumstances of the stabbing are not known. The two are pictured Manheim Township Police Chief Tom Rudzinski told ABC27: 'I don't know that I have ever been a part of something that is quite as sad as this. 'When I heard about this I was almost instantly upset about it myself over the details that had been related to me. 'The investigators are going to be asking those types of questions, conducting those interviews of everybody that was involved, and trying to determine a timeline exactly what that would have lead to this awful event.' The head of Lancaster Country Day School - where Claire attended as a ninth-grade student - issued a statement on the matter. Steve Lisk said: 'We are surprised by the news of this incident and were grieving ourselves even as we look to support the family and ensure support for all our students and families within our tight-knit school community.' Claire will next appear in court for a preliminary hearing Friday. Many small and medium British businesses are becoming more confident about the near future despite the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, a new survey suggests. After a dreadful 2020, two thirds of UK businesses have said they are optimistic about their prospects of growth in 2021, with younger business owners the most upbeat about the immediate future. It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday set a date for the end of all restrictions - the 21st of June, the first day of summer - as he unveiled the Government's 'roadmap' for gradually exiting lockdown in England. Beam of hope? Two thirds of UK SMEs expect to grow their business within the next 12 months Under the plans, non-essential retailers including hairdressers, clothing stores, gyms and outdoor restaurants and pubs could be allowed to reopen on 12 April, with the rest of restaurants and pubs as well as theatres set to reopen on 17 May, and all social restrictions lifted on 21 June. A global survey of 3,000 firms across six countries, including the UK, by digital accounting platform Dext has found that 66 per cent of UK SMEs expect to grow their business within the next 12 months. That rises to 75 per cent of firms owned by younger entrepreneurs aged 18 to 34, with the same percentage of businesses run by 35 to 44 year-olds also looking to grow their firms this year. Older generations were a bit less optimistic than their younger counterparts, with just over half, or 52 per cent, of business owners aged 55 or more believing they will manage to bounce back and thrive this year. The survey is in contrast with recent findings by the Federation of Small Businesses, which in January said confidence was at an all-time low and at least 250,000 small firms could shut up shop for good this year. Small businesses' short-term prospects Percentage of SMEs expecting to grow their business within the next 12 months: South Africa 74% UK 66% Canada 47% Australia 42% US 42% France 28% Source: Dext's global survey of 3,000 firms across six countries Just under 5 per cent of the 1,400 firms surveyed by the FSB said they expect to close within the next 12 months, putting the UK on course to lose more than quarter of a million businesses. Adrian Blair, the chief executive of Dext, which conducted the survey, said he was 'surprised' by the optimism found across small business, but said that had it been done a year ago it would show a much different situation. He added: 'It's clear that while many businesses are optimistic about 2021, this needs to be underpinned by robust financial planning.' Many small firms were battered in 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic gripped the nation and forced people to stay at home and shops to close their doors for a large chunk of the year. However, as restrictions are gradually eased, the Bank of England expects a quick economic recovery as people rush to spend the money saved during lockdown. The Bank's chief economist Andy Haldane estimates that by June, Britons will have amassed 250billion in savings, equivalent to 20 per cent of the amount households spend each year. He believes a 'decisive corner has been turned' thanks to the Covid-19 vaccine rollout and families are ready to fuel a rapid return to prosperity with a multi-billion pound spending spree. Emma Jones, founder of small business community Enterprise Nation, says business need to be ready to make the most of this spending spree in the interview below. Emma Jones of Enterprise Nation is worried about business which have not been able to open, like barber shops and hairdressers She says: 'In the next three months we'll need to pivot again to the great outdoors as everyone will want to be out of their houses. This is about retail and services - online and physical. How are you going to get in front of your customers again?' She says businesses need to think how to make sales until they are allowed to reopen, and adds: 'There's going to be so much opportunity for small businesses - they need to get prepared and ready for the 250billion spend.' Some firms have flourished during lockdown, but others have suffered badly, such as hairdressers, as they could not possibly carry on doing their job online. Jones adds: 'Depending on what and how you've sold you've had a very different pandemic. Online businesses are looking to invest and scale. Businesses we're concerned about are the butchers, barbers, the ones who haven't been able to open.' After hearing about the roadmap to exit lockdown, small businesses are now awaiting to hear if Chancellor Rishi Sunak is going to extend the current VAT cut, business rate relief and other Government help when he unveils his spring Budget on Wednesday next week, 3 March. Business confidence outside the UK Measured globally, UK business optimism is second only to South Africa, according to the survey. Small businesses in France are the most cautious about their short-term prospects, with just over a quarter (28 per cent) of firms expecting things to improve. In the longer term, though, they too are optimistic with 79 per cent saying they are planning to grow. Less than half small businesses in the US, Canada and Australia are expecting to grow over the coming months. UK business owners say they do want better access to available tax relief to help them through the challenging times ahead, with over three-quarters (76 per cent) wanting help with financial planning. Adrian Blair of Dext says:'There is no substitute for a trusted accountant to help small business owners plot their financial future through these turbulent times. Accountants are crying out for tools to help businesses succeed.' BENGALURU: Amazon India on Tuesday said it has partnered Mahindra Electric to strengthen its commitment to electric mobility in the country, as it looks to add 10,000 electric vehicles in its local delivery fleet by 2025. According to the e-commerce major, Mahindras Treo Zor vehicles have been deployed in seven cities--Bengaluru, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Indore, and Lucknow--so far, with Amazon Indias network of delivery service partners. Also Read | India Inc gears up to go back to office These are in addition to Amazon.com Inc.'s commitment of having 100,000 electric vehicles (EVs) in its global delivery fleet by 2030. Rival Flipkart, last year, pledged that it will convert its its entire delivery fleet in India to electric by 2030. The partnership between Amazon India and Mahindra Electric is a welcome step which reaffirms Indias significant progress in the e-mobility industry, and highlights the role of auto-makers and e-commerce companies to achieve our environmental sustainability goals. We are confident that the governments efforts to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles in the country, and steps taken towards setting up of infrastructure backed by policy measures will help more companies adopt e-mobility," said Nitin Gadkari, union minister of road transport and highways. Amazon India, in a statement, said the Indian governments focus on encouraging the adoption of electric mobility, with awareness campaigns such as Go Electric, and steps taken to set up charging infrastructure with the FAME 2 policy, has helped the company accelerate and chart its vision for EVs in India. In September 2019, Amazon became one of the first signatories of the Climate Pledge, which states that the company will be a net zero carbon by 2040 across its businesses. The expansion of our Electric Vehicle fleet to 10,000 vehicles by 2025 is an integral milestone in our journey to become a sustainability leader in the industry. We continue to work with several OEMs to build a fleet of Made in India electric vehicles that ensure sustainable and safe deliveries of customer orders," said Akhil Saxena, VP, Customer Fulfilment Operations, APAC, MENA & LATAM, Amazon. We are proud to partner with Amazon in deploying Mahindra Treo Zor EV in their delivery partners fleet. We believe this will redefine Indias logistics and last-mile delivery needs and at the same time help Mahindra and Amazon to achieve our sustainability goals," said Mahesh Babu, managing director and chief executive, Mahindra Electric Mobility Ltd. Earlier this month, Amazon India announced the commencement of its first manufacturing line in India for making Fire TV Stick devices. It will partner contract manufacturer Cloud Network Technology, a subsidiary of Foxconn, and production will start later this year from Chennai. In the past, Amazon India has pledged to invest $1 billion to digitise 10 million small and medium businesses, help Indian businesses sell worldwide, thereby enabling $10 billion in cumulative exports, and create an additional 1 million jobs by 2025. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. North Adams is marking non-working hydrants after a two fires revealed seized or frozen hydrants. North Adams Auditing Fire Hydrants & 'Bagging' for Out-of-Service NORTH ADAMS, Mass. The Public Works Department will be "bagging" nonfunctioning hydrants to give firefighters an immediate notice of which ones aren't working. That doesn't mean every other hydrant will be in working order, Commissioner of Public Services Timothy Lescarbeau warned the Public Services Committee last Thursday. The condition of the city's hydrant system came into sharp focus after firefighters had to deal with broken or frozen hydrants during two fires a couple weeks apart. Thursday's meeting was the second time a subcommittee had discussed the problem in less than two weeks. The city has 631 fire hydrants of which about 500 are functional. Around 100 need to be fully replaced and another 30 can be repaired, according to earlier reports. The city had been buying five a year since first addressing the issue in 2011, although last year's order was canceled as part of a financial freeze during the pandemic. Lescarbeau said he had met with water foreman Colin Todd, highway foreman Paul Markland and Mayor Thomas Bernard to review the hydrant situation. The decision was to buy the bags and do an audit of the hydrant system to reconcile conflicting numbers of how many fire plugs are of service. The bags are on order but they expected to have the list completed and out-of-service hydrants bagged within the next few weeks. "We actually have some that are old that we don't know if they work or not because they're old. We're afraid to open them especially in the wintertime, because they freeze," Lescarbeau said. Parts of the hydrant system date back 100 years. Todd said he is going through the last flushing log, which documents the conditions of the hydrants and the water, and the amount of time the water was run. "That's all done on pen and paper really. ... it's obviously a lengthy process, there's a lot of hydrants so it's time consuming," Todd said. "But we're also in the process of trying to make it more tech savvy, so to speak, so to speak so that this can all be documented through a program instead of on paper." Lescarbeau thought an automated system would aid in communications between the Fire Department and public works and allow for reports on a more regular basis. That would cost money, he said. Todd and Lescarbeau also explained the terms being used to describe the functioning of the hydrants, and the difference between being "frozen" or "seized up." Todd said hydrants have a 4-inch cap on the front, called a steamer cap, and 2 or 2 1/2 inch caps on the side. These are brass fittings that can accommodate a 2-inch hose or a 4-inch hose. The bolt on top of the hydrant is called an operating knob that turns a shaft inside to open the valve at the bottom of the hydrant and allow water to flow up and through one of the caps. A broken hydrant would be one that cannot be used in a safe manner, it may be broken inside so water leaks out, or the leading on the caps could be old and weak. A frozen plug is literally that: weep holes designed for the water to drain out are plugged or the valve on the bottom doesn't sit right, causing the water remain inside the hydrant. If the ice doesn't give, it can snap the shaft. Seized means the cap won't come off, usually because of rust. "When they are flushed, we use food grade antifreeze on them, but with all the salt and being so close to the road, that usually plays a huge factor," Todd said. All of the caps are removed and greased during flushing but it can be hard to get them off, he said. Replacing the fittings can cost about $2,000 compared to about $3,000 for a complete hydrant, including connections, extensions and settings. In response to questions, Lescarbeau said the city goes by the best practices of the New England Water Works Association, a chapter of the American Water Works Association. Most of the maintenance is during flushing, when all the hydrants are opened and greased and broken ones identified. He also explained the Water Department budget which shows 2 1/2 employees despite Todd being the only worker. The other full-time person is a meter reader who has nothing to do with maintenance except in an emergency and the half-time person is the retired water foreman, who is currently not available because of an injury. An individual has been hired who will start in a couple weeks, said Lescarbeau. "We are the lowest paid employees in the state, basically. I can't hire licensed operators at the rates that we pay." Instead, the city has been hiring people and training them and then they go to the next town for better wages, he said. "I mean licensed operators are hard to get anyways. But our situation doesn't make it any easier." Fire Chief Stephen Meranti pointed out that both Williamstown and Adams had more employees in their water departments than the city did. "They maintain the hydrants in the summertime, they inspect the hydrants and maintain the hydrants in the wintertime," he said. "It's something that is not a laborers' job, it's a profession and we need to treat it like one." Councilor Jason LaForest, who also attended the Zoom meeting, has submitted a communication to the City Council for Tuesday night requesting it consider the creation of a "Fire Hydrant Division." He also asked it be referred to the Public Safety Committee of which he is chairman. Meranti clarified the conditions of the hydrants at the Veazie Street fire: the one on the corner of School and Veazie was frozen, the one at 20 Veazie was missing (Todd said a delivery truck hit and it was never reported or replace) and the caps wouldn't come off the first one attempted on River Street. That last one had been noted in 2018, he said, when the Fire Department had been checking them. He said 28 nonfunctioning hydrants had been added to dispatch's computer system with Todd's help. However, he did not think there was any duplication of hydrants because of street listings, which Todd has suggested earlier in the meeting. "Dispatch has a mapping system so that they can pull up and they can see all the hydrants that we have listed on a map," Meranti said. "So they'd be able to look on Cady Street and see what the closest hydrant is on Cady Street, and we're not seeing any duplicate hydrants." Todd said he hadn't compared lists yet but also thought there may be more than 631 hydrants in the city. No one knew when the last time there had been an audit of the system. An independent panel investigating the death of a 23-year-old Black man who was detained in 2019 by the police in Aurora, Colo., issued a highly critical report on Monday faulting officers for stopping the man without justification and for escalating their use of force, including two applications of a neck hold intended to render him unconscious. The reports authors criticized Fire Department paramedics as slow to help the man, Elijah McClain, before injecting him with an improper dose of ketamine, a tranquilizer. Mr. McClain went into cardiac arrest on the way to a hospital. He died a few days later. The panel also said that an investigation by local police detectives raised serious concerns for failing both to rigorously question the officers involved and to examine the circumstances of Mr. McClains death. In November 2019, three months after Mr. McClains death, the Adams County district attorney announced that criminal charges would not be filed, saying there was not enough evidence that the officers had broken the law when they used force on Mr. McClain. Aurora officials said that the purpose of the report, commissioned in July by the City Council, was to create a timeline of events, and to recommend policy changes in order to avoid further tragedies. It was written by Jonathan M. Smith, a civil rights lawyer in Washington, D.C.; Roberto A Villasenor, a retired police chief from Tucson, Ariz.; and Dr. Melissa W. Costello, an emergency medicine expert in Pascagoula, Miss. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A Liberian women told the Swiss Federal Criminal Court prosecuting Alieu Kosiah for war crimes that the former rebel commander raped her four times in one night in Voinjama, Lofa County. The woman told a harrowing story of her experiences of the ULIMO rebels under Mr Kosiahs command. She said Mr Kosiah and his rebels had raided Botosua town 150 miles northeast of Monroviakilling her father and brother, and forcing civilians to head-carry looted goods. She fled the town and hid in the bush. The womanwhose name and location have been concealed by New Narratives at her lawyers requesttold the court via videoconference from Liberia that a rebel child-soldier had captured her from the bush and taken her to Mr Kosiah. (She is the only witness not to have traveled to the court to testify. She did not come because she had just given birth a week earlier.) He (Kosiah) took me and said I was his wife. We slept together that night, she said, adding she was a virgin and had not seen her period before the incident. He raped me four times that night. The 43-year-old said Mr Kosiah threatened to kill her if she resisted. The witness said she managed to escape the next morning after making Mr Kosiah think she was too afraid to flee. I acted like I never wanted to run away. If I was going to show I wanted run away, he was going to me, she said. I was bleeding when I was running but I never [thought] about that. Shortly after, she said she fled to Guinea where she was treated for her injuries. She has rarely spoken of the incident since it happened. Mr Kosiah is on trial for war crimes committed in Liberia for allegedly including 18 murders, the eating of the heart of a schoolteacher, forced transportation, looting, recruitment of child-soldiers, rape and sexual enslavement. This witness, the last of seven plaintiffs who brought the case against Kosiah is his accuser on the counts of rape and sexual enslavement. The former commander of the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO), faces a maximum 20-year sentence in a Swiss jail. He denies all the offenses and says he was not in Lofa when the alleged crimes were committed. In testimony on Monday Mr Kosiah told the court the plaintiffs and Alain Werner of Civitas Maxima, the Swiss group representing four of the witnesses including the woman, were liars and manipulators. But the woman told the three-judge panel that former ULIMO commander led rebels in Botosu in Lofa County and ravaged the village. Mr Kosiah and his men killed and tortured some villagers, looted rice and palm oil, and forced others to transport the looted goods, she said. Her father and brother were among the dead. I heard them (rebels) calling him (Mr Kosiah) General Kosiah, she said, adding the dawn attack on the village was the first time she heard of Kosiah. [Rebels] were guarding him. When the presiding judge Jean-Luc Bacher asked whether she still recognized Kosiah, the witness said calmly: His eyeballs [are] big, big. Hes sitting over there, she said, pointing to the suspect, who wore an army green, winter jacket and had been ordered to remove his mask so she could see him clearly. He raped me that is why I can recognize the man. Thats him. Even if he [does not] remove the mask, thats him there, she said. Andreas Muller, the prosecution lawyer, tested the womans memory of the event, which she said took place during ULIMOs occupation of Lofa in the mid 1990s. She identified Voinjama and Botosu in two photographs Muller showed her. On cross-examination Mr Kosiahs lawyer Dmitri Gianoli tried unsuccessfully to find contradictions in the womans testimony. She repeated what she had earlier told the court of her first encounter with Kosiah, the torture of civilians, her escapes, civilian captives forced to carry looted goods, her journey to Guinea. ADVERTISEMENT She also said she had known the sixth plaintiff, who had told the court he knew her during the war. Asked earlier by Judge Bacher why she decided to sue Mr Kosiah, the witness said because, He killed my father and my brother, and turned around and raped me. Even today, I can still feel the pain. She broke down in tears as she said those words, forcing the proceedings into an abrupt break. The court had to go for a break so that she could breast-feed her new baby she named Justice. I named her Justice because I need justice, she said. The trial is historic both for Liberia and central European country bordering Austria, France, Germany and Italy. It is the first time a Liberian is prosecuted for war crimes in connection to the countrys civil conflict, which began in 1989 and ended 2003, killing an estimated 250,000 people and leaving a million displaced. It is also the first war crimes trial in a Swiss civilian court in the medieval, mountainous city Bellinzona. Its first other case was held in 2001 when a military court found a former mayor of a Rwandan town Fulgence Niyonteze guilty for his role in the countrys 1994 genocide. He served a 14-year sentence. The womans testimony concludes all seven plaintiffs in this case, which has lifted the lid on one of Africas deadliest armed conflicts. Eight more people are expected to testify this week to conclude all the testimonies, including six defense and two prosecution witnesses. The trial continues on Wednesday with the first defence witness. This story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project. Supreme Court declines $100M Episcopal Church property case, lets breakaway diocese's victory stand Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from The Episcopal Church over a dispute with a breakaway Texas diocese leadership over an estimated $100 million in church property. In orders released Monday, the high court denied certiorari in the combined cases of All Saints Episcopal Church v. Diocese of Fort Worth and The Episcopal Church et al. v. Diocese of Fort Worth. As a result, an earlier ruling awarding the 60 church properties to the breakaway diocese that voted to leave the denomination over theological differences on issues like same-sex marriage and the ordination of women will stand. The breakaway diocese's Bishop Ryan Reed said the court's decision marked "a turning point" for the diocese. "After directing so many resources to this dispute, we can now put our entire focus on Gospel ministry and Kingdom work," Reed said in a statement. "We are nearing completion on a strategic plan that will keep us focused on sharing the transforming love of Jesus Christ and our mission to equip the saints for the work of ministry." The Christian Post reached out to The Episcopal Church for comments on the decision. A response is pending. In 2008, a majority of the Fort Worth Diocese voted to leave The Episcopal Church over the overall liberal theological direction of the mainline Protestant denomination. A prominent example was the ordination of The Episcopal Churchs first openly gay bishop, the Rev. Gene Robinson, which resulted in other churches and dioceses leaving the denomination. The Fort Worth diocesan leadership then decided to join the Anglican Church in North America, a more theologically conservative denomination. Years of litigation followed over who rightfully owned the approximately $100 million in church property the mainline denomination or the departing Texas-based diocese. The Episcopal Church argued that it controlled the property via the Dennis Canon, which labeled all church properties as being held in trust for the denomination's benefit. In 2018, the Fort Worth Court of Appeals ruled in favor of The Episcopal Church. The court noted that the parties agreed that the corporation held legal title to all property in dispute. Individual members of a parish may decide to worship elsewhere; a majority of individual members of a parish or diocese may decide to do so, stated the ruling, in part. But when they leave, they are no longer Episcopalians as identified by TEC; they become something else. And that something else is not entitled to retain property if that property, under the terms of the deed, is held in trust for a TEC-affiliated diocese or congregation. In May 2020, Texas Supreme Court partially reversed the earlier ruling against the breakaway group, citing changes made to the dioceses constitution and canons in 1989. While it is true, as TEC says, that the dioceses organizational documents prohibited the adoption of canons inconsistent with the national churchs constitution and canons, revocation is not inconsistent with a revocable trust, wrote Justice Eva Guzman for the state supreme court. Moreover, in the twenty years between revocation and eruption of a dispute over the property, TEC lodged no objection to the amended canon and does not now contend the 1989 amendment is invalid for any other reason than purported inconsistency. Lifesaver: A survey of 1.1 million vaccinations given in Scotland has returned spectacular results for the Pfizer-BionTech vaccine. Photo: Denis Balibouse/ Reuters One Covid jab is enough to cut the risk of being admitted to hospital by up to 94pc and transmission by 70pc, real world data suggests. Scientists said results from the roll-out of both Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca jabs were spectacular and provided reasons to be optimistic for the future. One study, covering 1.1 million vaccinations given in Scotland, found that one dose of the Pfizer vaccine cut the risk of hospital admission by 85pc, after four weeks. And those given the AstraZeneca jab fared even better, with risk down by 94pc. A number of countries in Europe have refused to supply the AstraZeneca jab to the elderly, claiming it does not offer sufficient protection. Patrick Vallance, the UKs chief scientific adviser, suggested that the new findings should put paid to such claims. The Scottish data, analysed by the University of Edinburgh, found that among over-80s one jab meant an 81pc reduction in the risk of hospital admission four weeks later, when results for both vaccines were combined. Read More Meanwhile, separate data from England suggests that one dose of the Pfizer jab cuts the chance of infection or transmission by around 70pc. Over 23,000 healthcare staff were tested every two weeks, allowing for the detection of infections without symptoms, which Public Health England (PHE) described as an important proxy for measuring transmission. The study of 104 hospitals in England involved healthcare workers aged 65 and under who were given at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Tests found that those given the jab had at least a 70pc lower chance of becoming infected with coronavirus three weeks after vaccination, rising to 85pc after a second dose. The findings released by PHE yesterday relate to the Pfizer vaccine, which began being rolled out in December. But Dr Susan Hopkins, PHE strategic response director, said the really strong effect being seen blocking infections, including those without symptoms, was also seen in early data regarding the AstraZeneca jab, which have yet to be published. Meanwhile, data from 12,000 people aged 80 and over found those given one dose of the jab saw the risk of death fall by 56pc within four weeks. ( Telegraph Media Group Ltd 2021) Visit our Covid-19 vaccine dashboard for updates on the roll out of the vaccination program and the rate of Coronavirus cases Ireland Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] Nepal's Supreme Court on Tuesday reinstated the dissolved House of Representatives, in a major setback to embattled Prime Minister who was preparing for snap polls amidst a tussle for power with his rivals in the ruling communist party. In a landmark ruling, a five-member Constitutional bench led by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher annulled the Oli government's "unconstitutional" decision to dissolve the 275-member lower house of Parliament. The court also ordered the government to summon the House session within the next 13 days. plunged into a political crisis on December 20 after President Bidya Dev Bhandari dissolved the House and announced fresh elections on April 30 and May 10 at the recommendation of Prime Minister Oli, amidst a tussle for power within the ruling Communist Party (NCP). In his letter recommending President Bhandari that the House be dissolved, Oli had argued that he controlled 64 per cent of majority in the House, that there was no possibility of forming a new government and that the country needed a fresh mandate of the people to ensure stability. Oli's move to dissolve the House sparked protests from a large section of the NCP led by his rival Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', also a co-chair of the ruling party. As many as 13 writ petitions including the one by the ruling party's Chief Whip Dev Prasad Gurung were filed in the apex court seeking the restoration of the lower house parliament. The Constitutional bench comprising Bishwombhar Prasad Shrestha, Anil Kumar Sinha, Sapana Malla and Tej Bahadur KC conducted a hearing on the case from January 17 to February 19. Oli, 69, repeatedly defended his move to dissolve the House, saying some leaders of his party were attempting to form a "parallel government". He said that he took the decision as he enjoyed the inherent power as the leader of a majoritarian government. Last month, Prachanda-led faction of the NCP expelled Prime Minister Oli from the general membership of the Communist Party for alleged anti-party activities. Earlier in December, the splinter group Oli, one of the two chairmen of the ruling party, as the co-chair. Former prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal was named as the party's second chairman. Prachanda is the first chairman of the party. The Prachanda-led faction of the NCP and main opposition Nepali Congress had been opposing the dissolution of the House, saying it was unconstitutional and anti-democratic. The Prachanda-led faction had been holding protest rallies and public gatherings in various parts of the country. Oli-led CPN-UML and Prachanda-led NCP (Maoist Centre) merged in May 2018 to form a unified Nepal Communist Party following victory of their alliance in the 2017 general elections. After a vertical split in the ruling party following the dissolution of the House, both the factions, one led by Oli and another led by Prachanda, submitted separate applications at the Election Commission claiming that their faction is the genuine party and asked to provide them the election symbol of the party. Meanwhile, the chairmen duo of the rival faction of the NCP, Prachanda and Nepal celebrated their legal victory over Oli. Prachanda and Nepal have reached Chitwan the hometown of Prachanda to address a mass gathering organised by their faction of the NCP on Wednesday. Highlights Google has finally added privacy labels to the Gmail app on Apple App Store. Google took a very long time to add labels to its major apps. After YouTube, Gmail now becomes the second most important Google app to get a privacy label. Google has finally added privacy labels to the Gmail app on Apple App Store. Google took a very long time to add labels to its major apps. After YouTube, Gmail now becomes the second most important Google app to get a privacy label. Some of the popular Google apps that are widely used by iPhone users including Gmail, Google search, Photos, Docs, and YouTube. The privacy label on Gmail app reveals that the app collects the contact info of users, user content, contacts. The Gmail app also collects your location data for analytics. Talking about adding labels to its apps, Google had said that it would only add labels to the app when the app updates are available, "As Google's iOS apps are updated with new features or to fix bugs, you'll see updates to our app page listings that include the new App Privacy Details. These labels represent the maximum categories of data that could be collectedmeaning if you use every available feature and service in the app. The data you provide to Google products delivers helpful services to you, and you can always control your privacy settings by visiting your Google Account or going directly to the Google products you use on iOS," the company said in a blog. However, Google added label to the Gmail app without rolling out an update like it had said earlier. So far over 12 Google Apps now display privacy labels but they are not as popular as Gmail or YouTube. The list includes Stadia, Google Translate, Google Authenticator, Google Play Movies and TV, Google Classroom, Google Fiber, Google Fiber TV, Wear OS, Onduo for Diabetes, Project Baseline, Google Smart Lock, Motion Stills - GIF, Collage. Apple had announced last year that all app developers are required to add privacy labels to their apps. The labels would let the users know how much data an app is collecting from a user. Although most developers complied with Apple's new guidelines, it surely did not go down well with Facebook. The social-media giant accused Apple of being harming the business of small developers. Facebook even saw iMessage as a threat to its WhatsApp. "We think labels should be consistent across first and third-party apps as well as reflect the strong measures apps may take to protect people's private information. While providing people with easy-to-read information is a good start, we believe it's important people can compare this ' privacy nutrition' labels from apps they download with apps that come pre-installed, like iMessage." Berger said when he read the findings of the first probe, "it was pretty clear to me we needed to do a follow-on... Luxembourg, 23 February 2021 - At an online European Parliament workshop hosted by Deirdre Clune MEP (Ireland), Alzheimer Europe launched a new report "Data Sharing in Dementia Research", which reviews recent changes in EU research policy and sets out recommendations to improve data sharing in dementia research. In this report, Alzheimer Europe evaluates the legal and policy landscapes that dementia researchers have had to navigate since the launch of Horizon 2020 in 2013. The report identifies key barriers and enablers for data sharing. It maps the Horizon 2020 dementia research portfolio, assessing the scale of EU investment in dementia research and the use of clinical research data. Finally, it reviews recent surveys of researchers, research participants and patients, collating their perceptions and concerns regarding data sharing. Key findings: To date, over EUR 570 million has been invested through Horizon 2020 in dementia research projects, many of which involve the use of clinical data Although Open Access principles have been widely adopted, the uptake of Open Data practices varies between sectors and Member States The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has not yet fully delivered on its aim of facilitating research data sharing, due to a perceived lack of clarity and regulatory divergence between Member States Researchers face technical, financial and motivational obstacles to data sharing, with the loss of privacy being the most frequently-cited concern for research participants. Key recommendations to improve data sharing: Developing pathways for faster, secure sharing of research data between sectors and across borders, including GDPR codes of conduct and standard contract clauses Supporting researchers to maintain datasets and platforms after projects end, and embedding academic reward systems that place a greater value on data sharing and transparency Increasing digital literacy in the general population, ensuring that older adults and vulnerable groups are not left behind Involving people with dementia in the design and conduct of research, as well as in data governance. Commenting on the launch of the report, Alzheimer Europe's Executive Director, Jean Georges, stated: "The number of people with dementia in Europe is likely to double by 2050, increasing from 9.78 to 18.8 million in the wider European region. Unfortunately, research on dementia has historically received proportionately less funding than other disease areas. As a result, there is an urgent need to maximise the utility of data from dementia research. Data sharing represents an important step towards meeting this need, and could help increase our understanding of the causes, treatment, prevention and care of dementia. However, there is still much to do to improve data sharing in dementia research. To ensure people with dementia benefit from the progress made in recent years, we need to work together to overcome the remaining obstacles to data sharing, and maintain dementia research as a priority for EU research programmes." ### To download (PDF): https://bit.ly/AE_Data_Sharing For further information, contact: Jean Georges, Executive Director, Alzheimer Europe, 14, rue Dicks, L-1417 Luxembourg, Tel.: +352-29 79 70, Fax: +352-29 79 72, jean.georges@alzheimer-europe.org, http://www. alzheimer-europe. org Alzheimer Europe gratefully acknowledges the support of GatesVentures for its report on "Data sharing in dementia research - the EU landscape". Notes to editors: Alzheimer Europe is the umbrella organisation of national Alzheimer associations and currently has 39 member organisations in 35 European countries. The mission statement of the organisation is to change perceptions, practice and policy to ensure equal access of people with dementia to a high level of care services and treatment options. Gandhinagar Feb 23 : The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) achieved overwhelming support in the municipal corporation elections in six cities of Gujarat, polling for which was held last Sunday. BJP, an already ruling party in these six municipal corporations, got reelected with a larger number of seats this time. Out of the total 576 seats of the six municipal corporations, the BJP secured a whopping 485 seats. The opposition Congress was reduced to 45 seats. The Aam Admy Party (AAP), the debutant in the local body elections in Gujarat, secured 27, while the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) led by Assaduddin Owaisi managed to win two wards in Ahmedabad. Similarly, the Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) managed to clinch three seats in the Jamnagar Municipal Corporation. The BJP won on 159 out of 192 seats in Ahmedabad, far more than the previous 143. The Congress won 24 seats while the AIMIM got 7 seats and there were two independent candidates who got elected. In Vadodara, the BJP captured 66 seats out of the total 76 seats of the VMC, the rest going to the opposition Congress. In Rajkot, the hometown of the Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, the BJP gained all 18 wards, except one, which went to the Congress. The BJP captured 68 seats out of the total 72 seats of the RMC, the rest 4 seats won by the opposition Congress. The Congress had secured 34 seats in the previous elections held in 2015. In Jamnagar, the BJP captured 50 seats out of the total 64 seats of the JMC, while the opposition Congress won 11 seats and the Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) took three seats, opening their accounts in Gujarat. In Bhavnagar, the BJP captured 44 seats out of the total 52 seats of the BMC, the rest going to the opposition Congress. Making a debut in the state by fielding its candidates for the six municipal Corporations, the Aam Aadami Party (AAP) gained 27 seats in the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) against the BJP's 93 seats, becoming the opposition party in the SMC. AAP candidates captured ward numbers 2,3,4,5,16 and 17 of the SMC and won 2 seats in ward 7 and single seat in ward 8. Congress could not even secure a single seat in Surat. The new BJP Gujarat chief CR Patil hails from Surat. Similarly the AIMIM, opening its account in Ahmedabad by winning two wards of Jamalpura and Maktampura, a stronghold of the Congress, sent out a stern warning to the grand old party. The BSP gaining three seats in ward number 6 of the Jamnagar Municipal Corporation elections sent out a similar warning to the Congress. Even after decades of continuous rule in the urban Civic bodies, the BJP overrode the anti-incumbency factor. BJP chief CR Patil, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel addressed huge public meetings marking the victory of party in civic polls in various parts of the state. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. 2021 Honda Ridgeline Unibody Pickup Truck The 2021 Honda Ridgeline unibody pickup truck was recently released as a complete redesign over its previous model year. Changes present in the 2021 Honda Ridgeline over its previous iteration are extensive, including a new exterior and interior style and materials, upgraded performance features and newly available editions and packages. Drivers in the Long Island area can now test drive and buy the redesigned 2021 Honda Ridgeline model as it is now available for financing and leasing at the Atlantic Honda dealership in Bay Shore, New York. The 2021 Honda Ridgeline model is equipped with a 3.5L inline 4 engine that is rated at 280 horsepower and 262 pound-foots of torque. This provides the 2021 Honda Ridgeline with a maximum towing capacity of 5,000 pounds. This engine option is paired with a 9-speed automatic transmission and standard all-wheel drive. Additional feature highlights of the 2021 Honda Ridgeline include the dual-action tailgate with an In-Bed Trunk, the Honda Satellite-Linked Navigation System, Honda Sensing safety technologies, an Intelligent Traction Dynamics System, a truck-bed audio system and twin exhaust outlets. The current 2021 Honda Ridgeline model available in the Atlantic Honda vehicle inventory is the 2021 Honda Ridgeline Sport trim with the brand-new Radiant Red Metallic II paint color option. The Atlantic Honda dealership expects to have more 2021 Honda Ridgeline models in stock over the coming weeks. For additional information on the redesigned 2021 Honda Ridgeline unibody pickup truck model, interested car shoppers and drivers in the Long Island area are encouraged to contact the staff at Atlantic Honda. The dealership team can be reached at 631-665-0005. Additional means of communication include online messages, emails and in-person visits to the store. The Atlantic Honda dealership is located at 1375 Sunshine Hwy., Bay Shore, New York 11706. New to Canada? You can start your job search online. Here are some tips to help you find the right job opportunity for you. How to get a job in Canada as a newcomer New to Canada? You can start your job search online. Here are some tips to help you find the right job opportunity for you. How to get a job in Canada as a newcomer New to Canada? You can start your job search online. Here are some tips to help you find the right job opportunity for you. How to get a job in Canada as a newcomer New to Canada? You can start your job search online. Here are some tips to help you find the right job opportunity for you. Scotiabank Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif Sans Font Size A A New job opportunities await! If youre ready to call Canada home, then finding a suitable job for your experience and passions should be your next step. If you are new to the area, gaining employment might look a little different than what you are used to. The pandemic has made searching for a job more challenging, so its especially important that you stay up to date on whats happening in the labour market, so youre prepared for the upswing. However, there are many useful resources available to help you navigate through this difficult time and Scotiabank is also here to help. This guide will help you discover how to get a job in Canada as a newcomer, especially during the pandemic. Moving to Canada? Subscribe to Scotiabanks newsletter to stay connected! Polish your resume Your resume is the key to getting interviews and job opportunities as a newcomer. However, Canadian resumes are formatted in a traditional way and employers prefer to read highlights of your work experience rather than longer lists of the jobs you have done. Consider tailoring your resume for each job opportunity you want to apply for rather than sending out the same generic resume to every listing you see. Should you send a cover letter with your resume? The use of cover letters is still debated for its effectiveness across Canada, but a well-written letter can solidify your experience and desire to work with an employer. Narrow your search Thousands of jobs are posted to popular Canadian job sites daily. It can be extremely time-consuming to comb through all of them for your perfect fit. Instead, target opportunities that best fit your experience and excite you. It might take you longer to find a specific career in your field, but there is also a greater chance that you will be more qualified and satisfied when an opportunity is posted. If you havent settled on a province to roll out your welcome mat, consider which area has the most opportunities in your field. For example, if you are an IT expert, settling near the big cities like Toronto or Vancouver can provide you more job options. Moving to Canada? Subscribe to Scotiabanks newsletter to stay connected! Essential websites and more There are several free Canadian resources to use to better your job search success. Here are the top sites to use. Government of Canada Job Bank: official Canadian job listing site. Plus, search essential positions in the Job Banks COVID-19 listings. Immigration Resources: The Government of Canada has all of the immigration resources you need on one page to get your Social Insurance Number (SIN) and get your credentials assessed. Job search sites Along with official Canadian job resources, you can also access job listing sites such as: Learn how to network Sites that list employment opportunities arent the only place to get a job offer. Social media sites like LinkedIn and Facebook can also help you expand your network and connect with opportunities. LinkedIn is full of recruiters so start with an engaging profile. Dont just dump your resume into LinkedIn and consider it complete. Instead, write your experience in a way that highlights your accomplishments briefly. Keep postings professional and connect with others in your field and potential Canadian employers. Networking during the pandemic is possible as long as you have a strong internet connection. Reach out to individuals in your field for a one-on-one Zoom or Google Meet. Not everyone will be available to network in this way, but if you can connect with fellow Canadians in your field, you can get a better idea of the current work culture. Additionally, Google search virtual networking events in your desired city or search LinkedIn for advertised events for your career niche. Moving to Canada? Subscribe to Scotiabanks newsletter to stay connected! Related podcasts To really dive into the know-how of Canadian work experience, listen to podcasts from individuals who know the Canadian immigration process firsthand. Here are a few note-worthy listens: Get strong endorsements If you have a good relationship with your past employers, ask for a letter of recommendation. If your company or employer has ties to recruiters in Canada, even better. Dont forget to ask family members and friends if they have any connections to potential employers in Canada. While they cannot guarantee you a job, if they can get your resume in front of the right person, you will have a better chance of moving on to the job interview. Brush up on your interview skills While you are doing your initial job search, its a good idea to brush up on the top tips for a best interview. Remember a good interview is about knowing powerful communication tips along with professional body language tips. An interview starts with your dress code. Choose professional attire that says you take yourself and this company seriously. Dont stress too much about which colors to wear or if you should complete your outfit with a jacket. If you have to rely on a virtual interview, make sure you wear professional attire and angle your computer to show the top half of your body rather than just your head. Stay engaged in the conversation and try not to spend too much of your time thinking about what you will say next. Recruiters can tell when you have tuned out of the conversation. Recruiters arent looking for an employee with the perfect answers. Instead, they are looking for personable individuals that are highly skilled in their field and willing to grow with the company. Moving to Canada? Subscribe to Scotiabanks newsletter to stay connected! Get accredited For many immigrant career-seekers, you will have to get your past education, certificates, and work experience certified. This process is to ensure that your education and experience are equivalent to Canadian education and experience. Here are the exact steps to get accredited. Note that if your documents are in a language other than English or French, you will need to get them translated before submitting. Applying during the pandemic While the pandemic has put a challenge on job searching last year, Indeeds Hiring Lab blog says that there is reason for career optimism. Job postings are returning to normal across a growing range of positions, and an eventual end to the pandemic will provide a welcome boost to struggling sectors, the site reports. Finding a job during the pandemic might require a little more creativity. See which other fields can use your skillset and experience. For example, if you have been a hospital nurse for the past five years, you might have success applying for nursing roles in education or senior wellness settings. Now is also a good time to strengthen your teleworking skills and prove to future employers that you are an amazing asset to their company both in-person and via telecommuting. Employers want to know that telecommuting employees can stay productive and organized even when working from home. Keep at it Your new job awaits you, but it might take some time to secure the position of your dreams. Dont get discouraged. It can take several hours a day to polish your resume, network and apply for new positions. Treat your job search as your full-time job and devote yourself to learning as much about Canadian work culture as possible. While securing new employment in Canada can be a long process, it is a worthwhile one. Canada is full of amazing opportunities and individuals; you will love calling it your dream home too. Moving to Canada? Subscribe to Scotiabanks newsletter to stay connected! About Scotiabank Scotiabank is one of the top Canadian banks and a leading bank in the Americas. Guided by our purpose for every future, we help our customers, their families and their communities achieve success through a broad range of advice, products and services. Launched in 2008, the Scotiabank StartRight Program is designed to simplify banking for Canadian Permanent residents, International Students and Foreign Workers who have recently landed in Canada. We can help ease your transition to Canada by getting you started with a Scotiabank International Account that allows you to transfer up to $50,000 before you arrive to help you feel more prepared knowing you have proof of funds ready. We can even help fast track your study permit with the Scotiabank Student GIC Program. Our Scotiabank StartRight program can also help you start banking in Canada with 12 months of free banking, access to credit with no credit history, unlimited no-fee international money transfers, and expert help from Financial Advisors. We also launched ScotiaRISE our new, 10-year, $500 million community investment program designed to help promote economic resilience among disadvantaged people and communities. In particular, the program is centred on using funding and partnerships to increase graduation rates and postsecondary enrolment, help newcomers feel at home faster and secure meaningful employment and senior opportunities for underrepresented groups. Its all part of why Scotiabank is the bank for newcomers. Legal Disclaimer: This article is provided for information purposes only. It is not to be relied upon as financial, tax or investment advice or guarantees about the future, nor should it be considered a recommendation to buy or sell. Information contained in this article, including information relating to interest rates, market conditions, tax rules, and other investment factors are subject to change without notice and The Bank of Nova Scotia is not responsible to update this information. All third party sources are believed to be accurate and reliable as of the date of publication and The Bank of Nova Scotia does not guarantee its accuracy or reliability. Readers should consult their own professional advisor for specific financial, investment and/or tax advice tailored to their needs to ensure that individual circumstances are considered properly and action is taken based on the latest available information. Only one location remained under lockdown in Ho Chi Minh City as of Monday afternoon, for the city has not recorded any community-based COVID-19 cases since February 11. The location is Block F of the Carillon apartment building at 1 Tran Van Danh Street in Ward 13, Tan Binh District. Ho Chi Minh City authorities announced multiple isolated locations in Thu Duc City and its other districts between February 8 and 15. Eighteen lockdown areas were declared on February 8 alone. Until that day, the citys authorities had identified up to 29 local COVID-19 infections, all related to the infection cluster at Tan Son Nhat International Airport. The total number of infections that can be traced back to the airport cluster stopped at 35 as of February 11. The municipal health sector also called on people who had been to sites where COVID-19 patients had visited to promptly make health declarations. The Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC) said on Monday that the city had gone 11 days without any community-based COVID-19 cases detected since February 11. However, the HCDC is still continuing to receive medical declarations and conduct sampling on people coming from localities subject to social distancing codes or with COVD-19 outbreaks. The center encouraged people to stay alert, not neglectful, and honest in medical declarations. As of Monday morning, the city had received a total of 154,276 medical declarations, 256 cases of which have been sent to centralized quarantine facilities, 23 have been requested to home-isolate, and the rest must self-monitor their health. As many as 8,111 cases were also randomly tested at the citys airport, bus stations, and railway stations. Of that, 8,055 returned negative for the novel coronavirus, while 156 are pending results. At 3:00 pm on Monday, after the Ministry of Health confirmed a new community case of COVID-19 at Village 4 in Hoang Dong Commune, Thuy Nguyen District, Hai Phong, the HCDC issued an announcement asking people coming to Ho Chi Minh City from that location within the past 14 days to self-quarantine at home for 14 days. Those who have a travel history in the aforementioned location in the past 14 days should closely monitor their health. Vietnam had spent almost two months detecting no domestic infection before it found the first local case on January 27 and confirmed it one day later, the health ministry said. A total of 803 local cases have been detected in 13 provinces and cities since then, making it the most serious wave to have struck Vietnam after the first-ever COVID-19 patient was recorded in the country on January 23, 2020. In this latest wave, 620 cases were logged in Hai Duong Province, 60 in Quang Ninh Province, 27 in Gia Lai Province, 35 in Hanoi, five in Bac Ninh Province, two in Bac Giang Province, 36 in Ho Chi Minh City, two in Hoa Binh Province, one in Ha Giang Province, three in Dien Bien Province, six in Binh Duong Province, four in Hai Phong, and two in Hung Yen Province. The national tally stood at 2,395 coronavirus cases, including 1,496 local infections, as of Tuesday morning, with 1,717 recoveries and 35 virus-related deaths, according to the Ministry of Healths data. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Mark Lewis was desperate to find monkeys. Millions of human lives, all over the world, were at stake. Mr. Lewis, the chief executive of Bioqual, was responsible for providing lab monkeys to pharmaceutical companies like Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, which needed the animals to develop their Covid-19 vaccines. But as the coronavirus swept across the United States last year, there were few of the specially bred monkeys to be found anywhere in the world. Unable to furnish scientists with monkeys, which can cost more than $10,000 each, about a dozen companies were left scrambling for research animals at the height of the pandemic. We lost work because we couldnt supply the animals in the time frame, Mr. Lewis said. The world needs monkeys, whose DNA closely resembles that of humans, to develop Covid-19 vaccines. But a global shortage, resulting from the unexpected demand caused by the pandemic, has been exacerbated by a recent ban on the sale of wildlife from China, the leading supplier of the lab animals. Kolkata: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rakesh Singh has been arrested on Tuesday (February 23, 2021) from Galsi in West Bengal's Purba Burdwan district in connection with the Pamela Goswami drug case. Pamela Goswami, the arrested state secretary of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), had named Rakesh Singh in the case. Earlier in the day, the Calcutta High Court dismissed Rakesh Singh's petition against the summons issued by Kolkata Police on him in connection with Pamela Goswami's drug case. Singh had sought direction for no coercive action against him by police. He had moved the HC through his lawyers seeking a stay on and quashing of the notice by the police to appear before it on Tuesday as a witness in the case. Singh's lawyers reportedly submitted that at least 26 cases have been lodged against him after he joined the BJP and claimed that he was being hounded because of his political affiliation. Appearing for the state of West Bengal, Advocate General Kishore Datta submitted that 56 cases were pending against Rakesh Singh before he joined the said political party and that there was no political connection in the matter. Hearing both the parties, Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya dismissed Singh's petition. Singh has told the police that he was travelling to Delhi for some work and would appear before them on February 26 after his return to the city. Meanwhile, as per recent reports, the Kolkata Police officials conducted raids at the BJP leader's residence in connection with the drug case. His family members allegedly obstructed the police from entering the house stating that they are not showing the papers necessary to conduct raids, following which, the police got a search warrant and conducted the raids. On Saturday, Pamela Goswami was sent to police remand till February 25 by an NDPS court. Goswami, a former fashion model and small-time actress, was arrested along with a friend, Prabir Kumar Dey, and her personal security guard from south Kolkata's New Alipore area on Friday after nearly 90 gm of cocaine valuing lakhs of rupees was allegedly found from her handbag and car. (With inputs from agencies) Live TV VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 23, 2021 / Bitterroot Resources Ltd.'s (TSXV:BTT)(OTC PINK:BITTF) Michigan subsidiary ("Bitterroot") has entered into a minerals lease and purchase option with a privately-held corporation ("MPC") covering 80 acres of mineral rights at the LM Project in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The MPC mineral rights host magnetic targets adjacent to the area of the LM Project currently being drilled for magmatic nickel-copper sulphides. Following receipt of acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange, Bitterroot will pay US$15,000 and issue 100,000 common shares to MPC. On the first anniversary, Bitterroot will pay US$15,000 and issue an additional 100,000 shares. On the second anniversary, Bitterroot will issue a final tranche of 100,000 shares and pay US$16,000. Subsequent rental payments will escalate by US$20/acre/year. Bitterroot will also retain the exclusive right and option to purchase the mineral rights for US$1,000/acre for the first five years of the agreement, US$2,500/acre in years 6 through 10, then escalating US$2,500/acre for each subsequent five years for the first 20 years, and remaining unchanged at US$10,000/acre thereafter. MPC will also retain a 2% NSR royalty on underground mining and a 3% NSR on open pit mining. Bitterroot can reduce both royalties to 1% NSRs through payment of US$1,000,000 per 1%. Exploration of the LM Project is being funded by Bitterroot Resources Ltd. (51%) and privately-owned joint venture partner Below Exploration Inc. (49%). Bitterroot and Below plan to drill-test the MPC lands in mid-2021, following completion of surface use agreements and spring breakup. Bitterroot and Below are currently drilling the fourth hole of the 2021 winter drill program at the LM Property, which is planned to comprise up to 2,400 meters of core drilling in 6 to 8 holes, before March 15, 2021. Mr. Glenn W. Scott, CPG, is the Qualified Person responsible for the technical content of this release. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Michael S. Carr Director Contact: Suite 206-B, 1571 Bellevue Avenue, West Vancouver, BC, V7V 1A6 (604) 922-1351 www.bitterrootresources.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements under Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects" or "it is expected", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. This document contains statements about expected or anticipated future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and as a result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, such as general economic, market and business conditions, regulatory processes and actions, technical issues, new legislation, competitive conditions, the uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans, the occurrence of unexpected events and the company's ability to execute and implement its future plans. Actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. When relying on forward-looking statements to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except as may be required by applicable securities laws. For such forward-looking statements, we claim the safe harbour for forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Legislation Reform Act of 1995. SOURCE: Bitterroot Resources Ltd. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/631407/Bitterroot-Resources-Options-Additional-80-Acres-at-the-LM-Nickel-Copper-PGM-Project-in-Michigan New Delhi: Disha Ravi and Shatanu Muluck, accused in the Greta Thunberg toolkit case, were brought to the Delhi Police Cyber Cell office in the national capital for interrogation on Tuesday (February 23). Disha was arrested from Bengaluru on February 15 for her alleged connection with the toolkit case related to the ongoing farmers' protests and has been in police custody since then. Shantanu, who is also allegedly involved in creating the toolkit, was earlier granted transit anticipatory bail by the Bombay High Court. 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. In 2013, the playwright Tom Stoppard chose his biographer: Hermione Lee, an esteemed scholar whod previously written on Virginia Woolf, Edith Wharton, and Penelope Fitzgerald. Whats the first thing you remember? she asked hima fine place to start. That same year, perhaps as a warning, the 76-year-old Stoppard gave a speech in which he noted that biographers are forced to stay truthful to irrefutable facts. But the imaginative writer, Stoppard added with relishthe one who makes things upcan create a more persuasive story out of history. Theres a relative instability of truth in history, he said, as opposed to the unchallengeable truth of fiction. Advertisement Stoppard has long been suspicious of biography, Lee writes in Tom Stoppard: A Life. Thats evident in his plays; in Arcadia, the audience cheers the comeuppance of the peacocking literary scholar Bernard Nightingale, whos humiliated when his spectacular theory about Lord Byron comes up against the hard wall of evidence. In Stoppards view, what gets left out when a biographer sifts through the record is the fallibility of the person producing this evidence. Lee does her best to scour Stoppards life and 50-year career for that human fallibility, and while at 750 pages (plus notes) Tom Stoppard can feel as daunting as one of the masters more vexing theatrical works, it never treats (as so many biographies do) the fame and accomplishment of its subject as foregone conclusions. Instead, Tom Stoppard remains alive to the unlikeliness of Tom Stoppards career from the very beginning, when little Tomas Straussler escapes Czechoslovakia just ahead of the Nazis and becomes a happy English schoolboy. (Much of his extended family died in the Holocaust.) Though the playwright long downplayed his origins, wryly calling himself a blank Czech, he came to realize later in life that his homeland and his long-hidden Jewishness were, in fact, ineradicable. Lee makes it clear that even when Stoppard didnt think of himself as Tomas Straussler, Tomas Straussler was waiting for him. Advertisement Advertisement 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. Stoppard was an overnight success after a decade and a half of scribbling and dreaming. He worked as a journalist and critic in Bristol and London, jealous of other writers fame, trying to find the fastest way to his own. It was much easier and more exciting to start out as a playwright than as a novelist, Lee writes in one of the many moments where she seems to be channeling Stoppards consciousness directly. A playwright could write a hundred pages in a few weeks, most of which were white space, and it would last two hours on stage, and on Sunday Kenneth Tynan would devote a quarter of a page of the Observer to it, even if you were a completely unknown person and the play had no scenery. There you would be, with one bound, in the posh Sunday papers and literary weeklies. Advertisement Essentially, thats what happened. Stoppard burst on the scene in 1966 when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, his witty, gloomy, absurdist spin on two minor characters in Hamlet, took the Edinburgh Festival Fringe by storm. It was a different Observer writer who delivered a rave of the play because by then Tynan, the legendary critic, was the literary manager for the National Theatre in London. In 1967 Stoppard became the youngest playwright yet produced at the National with Ros and Guil, which would run for over three years. (Tynan partly persuaded a dubious Sir Laurence Olivier, director of the National, to put it on by reminding him the theatre could reuse costumes from Peter OTooles Hamlet.) Advertisement By the 1970s, Stoppard was writing feverishly for television, theater, radio, and film, and was already a flashpoint for political and aesthetic argument. William Gaskill, artistic director for the left-leaning Royal Court, told David Hare that the theatres ethos and policy could be summed up as Never put on a play by Tom Stoppard. Some of the most vivid chapters of Lees book paint a picture of that decades battles and Stoppards complicated place within his intellectual cohort. Much later, Stoppard would write The Coast of Utopia, a mammoth trilogy about 19th century Russian dissidents, and Lee, in her discussion of the plays, quotes Isaiah Berlin on the specifically Russian notion of the intelligentsia: They thought of themselves as united by something more than mere interest in ideas; they conceived of themselves as being a dedicated order, almost a secular priesthood. What they were devoted to was not ideas but ideals, and thus they argued endlessly with one another. Through Lees telling its impossible not to view Utopia as a kind of skewed memoir of Stoppards experience in the London intelligentsia of the 1970s. Advertisement The book encourages the reader to return to Stoppards work in ways that are richly rewarding. The richness of this ideological stew is reflected in Stoppards plays, where science bumps up against philosophy and each side of a debate gets its own eloquent mouthpieceoften so eloquent that the audience walks away convinced of a point opposite the one Stoppard holds. Though his politics at the time trended conservative, Stoppard did his best to present himself as an apolitical artist, his view being that the only goal of the playwright was to keep butts in seats til the end. He was great friends both with eventual Thatcher adviser Paul Johnson and the ultra-left-wing Harold Pinter. The books asides on Pinter, a fiercely competitive cricketer who organized matches against the Guardian team with Stoppard as his wicketkeeper, are worth the price of admission. (After his death, Pinters wife Antonia Fraser found saved among his possessions a note shed written to him during some dinner party imbroglio: DarlingYou are right. So SHUT UP.) Advertisement Advertisement For a certain kind of reader, knowing that you never got to see Tom Stoppard, in huge red gloves, keeping Harold Pinters teams wicket in a West London park will be almost unbearable, and Tom Stoppard is full of such regret-over-missing-out moments. There are the productions, of course: Im bereft at Ian McKellen and John Wood in Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, with Andre Previn directing a full orchestra, in 1977, or the jaw-dropping 1984 Broadway cast of The Real Thing, directed by Mike Nichols: Glenn Close, Jeremy Irons, Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon, and Peter Gallagher. Did you know there was a Daniel Radcliffeled Ros & Guil revival at the National in 2017? I missed it by a month. I reserve my greatest regret for the legendary garden parties Stoppard has hosted biennially since 1997, at which Mick Jagger rubs elbows with Stoppards hairdresser, stilt-walkers roam, and children run wild across the Chelsea Physic Garden. According to Lee, Stoppard spent 118,000 pounds on the 2013 festivities, and boy do I wish Id been there, eating barbecue and chatting up Michael Gambon. Advertisement But for all the ROMO Tom Stoppard induces, it also encourages the reader to return to Stoppards work in ways that are richly rewarding. Lee gives wise, learned readings to each major play (and a number of minor ones), teasing apart their themes, interpreting their theatrical gestures, and placing them cleverly in the context of their authors life and work. While reading Tom Stoppard I found myself going back to plays I hadnt read in years, seeing them anew thanks to Lees critical acumen. Im a renewed fan of The Real Inspector Hound and Indian Ink, and a new fan of Professional Foul, a grimly entertaining television play about dissidents in Czechoslovakia that someone should reboot in 2021. From Ros & Guil to LeopoldstadtStoppards modest masterpiece about Czech Jews before and after the war, the London premiere of which was cut short by COVIDLees book expertly tracks Stoppards work, the actual written record. Shes as sharp on the successes as she is on the failures, like Hapgood, a perhaps-overcomplicated play that fell flat on its premiere in 1988. Im not trying to make the plays difficult, God help me, Stoppard said. Lee counters, He was a playwright of ideas who also wanted his audiences to love him. Advertisement Advertisement Lee is particularly brilliant on Stoppards 1974 Travesties, a smorgasbord of historical farce Ive never warmed to, explaining its myriad references and connecting it to Stoppards odd mix of elan and aloof. I was writing the play, Stoppard said, to make the kind of exhibition of myself I was too shy to make in real life. Lee helped me see the way that the plays travesty of history, of Zurich in 1917, finds its mirrors in Lenins Moscow and James Joyces Dublin. She quotes the plays hero, real-life minor functionary Henry Carr, in an invented exchange with Joyce: JOYCE: Dublin, dont tell me you know it? CARR: Only from the guidebook, and I gather you are in the process of revising that. JOYCE: Yes. Advertisement This, Lee sums up, is what writers do with history. I thought often of Stoppards distrust of biography during some of the books dry stretches, when Lee seemed a prisoner of comprehensiveness: long disquisitions on Stoppards work on the board of the London Library or a dull run of pages about his speaking career. Shes much better on applying just the right amount of attention to Stoppards screenwriting, which involves triumphs like Shakespeare in Love but also plenty of well-paid uncredited script doctoring, including on Beethoven and 102 Dalmatians. His agents view was that he was pragmatic about his film work and idealistic about his plays, Lee writes, and explores the intersections between them fruitfully. (Sometimes those intersections are literal, as when he wrote his first drafts of Shakespeare on the backs of Arcadia typescripts he had lying around the house.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I want some future Oscar Wilde to turn the tables and write Tom Stoppard into a play. But the body of work Stoppard already has behind him is voluminous, and the mass can obscure the man. It is hard even for long acquaintances and friends to get a handle on Stoppard. One tells Lee, Ive known him for forty-five years and I dont know him at all. At times Stoppards unwillingness to share, and the lack of material in the record, creates odd blank patches: The playwright was romantically involved for nearly a decade with the Irish actress Sinead Cusack, though Cusack remained married to her husband, Jeremy Irons, throughout. Lee is at a loss to explain much about this amicable odd throuple of sorts, offering what she can using Cusacks appearances in Stoppards appointment diaries. Lee does make terrific use of the hundreds of letters Stoppard wrote to his mother over his adult life. At Martas death in 1996, those letters dry up, and so do their candid, funny, revealing details in Lees account. A telling aside during Stoppards boarding school days reads like the lament of the exasperated biographer: From school Tom wrote Vera lots of funny letters, which she hugely enjoyed, and then threw away. Advertisement Advertisement This is fitting, for a writer whose work has grappled playfully with the lost letter, the forgotten work, the ellipsis in the biography. Lenin and Joyce are brought to life in 1917 Zurich; Rock n Roll is suffused with fragments of Sappho; in Arcadia Septimus burns a letter from Lord Byron, even as the historians in our present dig through the archives, certain there will always be another letter to learn from. Thomasina in Arcadia, herself about to disappear from history, laments the great works of Sophocles and Aeschylus lost in the fire at Alexandria. Stoppard, like Thomasina, is inclined to grieve the loss, yet he gives Septimus a typically convincing rebuttal, one of the most moving speeches in all his work: Advertisement We shed as we pick up, like travelers who must carry everything in their arms, and what we let fall will be picked up by those behind. The procession is very long and life is very short. We die on the march. But there is nothing outside the march so nothing can be lost to it. The missing plays of Sophocles will turn up piece by piece, or be written again in another language. Ancient cures for diseases will reveal themselves once more. Mathematical discoveries glimpsed and lost to view will have their time again. Advertisement Lee is scrupulous and fair toward her subject, but I must admit that Stoppards view of the biographers shortcomings makes me hope that some playwright, somewhere in the future, might be less scrupulous and less fair. Perhaps hell be a diaspora writer drafting a comedy about Stoppards exploration of India, or maybe a woman writing a sharp satire of the meetings Stoppard must have spent casting the secretary in Jumpers, who never speaks but does perform a striptease on a swing. Biography is the mesh through which our real life escapes, Oscar Wilde says in Stoppards The Invention of Lovean imagined Oscar Wilde, speaking Tom Stoppards words. I want some future Oscar Wilde to turn the tables and write Tom Stoppard into a play, to make full use of the delicious quote Stoppard gives Lee toward the end of the book about himself: He is good at performing niceness, but he is not as nice as people think. Advertisement Yet I came to the end of Tom Stoppard as impressed by the biographers craft as Stoppard has always made me of the playwrights art. Much as the drawing of Septimus and Plautus is like a little emotional bulb planted near the beginning of Arcadia, blooming only at the very end, so Lee finds vivid details in Stoppards life and lets them grow quietly over decades. When they flower, the effect is startling. The book opens with Lee asking Stoppard the first thing he remembers, an echo of a line played to comic effect in Ros & Guil. Hundreds of pages later, in 1999, Stoppard meets a woman who shows him the scar on her hand where his father, a doctor at a Czech hospital before the war, stitched a cut when she was only sixone of her first memories. And then those ideas come together, like a magic trick, in Lees description of Leopoldstadt. In its climactic moment, a manwho like Stoppard escaped the Nazis and became a happy English schoolboy with no memory of the pastis asked, Whats the first thing you can remember? On his hand he bears a childhood scar, from the last day he spent with the relatives who would eventually be devoured by the Holocaust. I expect its a moving moment onstage, but its even more moving at the end of this monumental biography, where life and artTomas Straussler, Tom Stoppard, his unknown past, his first great play, his last one (maybe)come together beautifully. This is what biographers do with history. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (February 23) hailed the enhanced budget allocated for the health sector by the Centre for this financial year. "The budget allocated for the health sector now is extraordinary. It shows our commitment to this sector. COVID19 pandemic has taught us a lesson to be prepared to fight similar challenges in the future," said PM Modi during a webinar on budget implementation to the health sector. The budget allocated for the health sector now is extraordinary. It shows our commitment towards this sector. COVID19 pandemic has taught us a lesson to be prepared to fight similar challenges in future: PM Modi during a webinar on budget implementation relating to Health Sector pic.twitter.com/J23ukV01TP ANI (@ANI) February 23, 2021 The prime minister said that the world has noted very closely the strength that India's health sector has shown during the pandemic. "India's health sector's reputation and trust are at a new level all over the world," said Modi. "From medical equipment to medicines, from ventilators to vaccines, from scientific research to surveillance infrastructure, from doctors to epidemiologists, we have to focus on everything and be better prepared for any health disaster in the future," he added. Modi said that the government is working on four fronts to maintain the health and well-being of the people. "The first front is to prevent diseases - Prevention of illness and Promotion of Wellness. The second front is to provide cheap and effective treatment to the poorest of the poor. Schemes like Ayushman Bharat Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Kendra are working on it. The third front is to increase the quantity and quality of health infrastructure and health care professionals. And the fourth front is to work on mission mode to overcome problems," said Modi. Modi further said that the government has set a target to eradicate tuberculosis from the country by 2025. Live TV 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 Qinxuan Pan, who is wanted for questioning in connection to the killing of Kevin Jiang, is also a suspect in the theft of a vehicle from a dealership in Mansfield, according to authorities. The Mansfield Police Department released details on Tuesday regarding the theft on Feb. 6, of a vehicle parked at the Mansfield dealership, Station Buick GMC. On Feb. 16, Mansfield police said they received a call about a stolen vehicle from the dealership and identified the Massachusetts Institute of Technology student as a suspect. New Haven Police said they believe Pan may have visited dealerships before the Feb. 6 killing of Jiang, 26, who was shot multiple times and found lying outside his car on a New Haven street. A warrant for larceny of a motor vehicle was issued by Attleboro District Court. The U.S. Marshals Service is offering up to $5,000 for information that could lead to the location and arrest of a 29-year-old Malden native, who was named as a person of interest in the fatal shooting of Jiang, a Yale graduate student on Feb. 6 in Connecticut. According to officials, Pan could be staying with friends or family in the Duluth or Brookhaven areas of Georgia, the agency said in a news release. Pan was last seen driving in that area, near Atlanta, with family members early Thursday. Related Content: ALBANY Adam Blake Jr. is one of the most extraordinary entrepreneurial success stories of 19th-century Albany a man whose rags-to-riches rise is often likened to a Horatio Alger tale. He built the landmark Kenmore Hotel on North Pearl Street, owned a string of restaurants and hotels, hobnobbed with governors and when he died in 1881 had a net worth estimated at more than $10 million in todays dollars. Adam Blake Jr. was a Black man whose father was enslaved, which makes his ascent in a white-dominated economy even more remarkable and makes his omission from history somewhat more understandable as a residue of racism. No known portrait or photograph of Blake exists, and elements of his life remain shrouded in mystery. No monuments or historic plaques memorialize him. A stained-glass rose window above the entrance to Israel AME Church on Hamilton Street in the citys Center Square neighborhood commemorates Blake with these words: He loved liberty and abhorred slavery. He believed in the equality of all. Adam Blake was the top of the heap as a businessman, and he deserves to be better known, said local historian Julie OConnor, who manages a Facebook group, Friends of Albany History, and posts as Albany Muskrat on Twitter. She contributed extensive research on Blake as part of an emphasis on documenting Albanys Black history. There was clearly racial prejudice in that era, OConnor said. I dont think Blake was forgotten strictly because he was Black. Many important stories of both Blacks and whites in Albany have been lost to the mists of time. Donald Hyman, a Black historical re-enactor, premiered a one-man show about Blakes life on Feb. 9 at the Sand Lake Historical Society as part of a Black History Month program. It was streamed online due to COVID-19 restrictions. Hyman, a local actor, director and educator, tried to understand what made Blake tick by undertaking historical research. He also purchased vintage top hats, vests and a pocket watch for the shows costume changes. Those tangible items helped me find a way into Adam Blakes character, Hyman said. He was elegant and sophisticated, and knew how to wheel and deal. When opportunity knocked, he took advantage. Hyman used short scenes to depict Blake learning how to excel amid power brokers and a wealthy white clientele. He displayed charm and was obsequious and loquacious in equal measure. He had a bit of swagger, which helped his ascent in the hospitality industry. He worked his way up to head waiter at the bustling Delavan House and became steward at the exclusive Albany Club solidifying connections to Albanys aristocracy. Blake parlayed his savings into a down payment on the rundown Congress Hall Hotel adjacent to the Old Capitol. He transformed it into an elegant destination for lawmakers and business travelers. It was famous for fine French cuisine, an extensive wine list and luxurious accommodations. No less a celebrity than Charles Dickens chose to stay at Blakes hotel while in Albany on a speaking tour. The state purchased Congress Hall Hotel from Blake for $190,000 (about $5 million today) and demolished it in 1878 to make way for the new Capitol. Blake rolled that cash into the construction of his elegant Kenmore Hotel after negotiating a deal with the McNaughtons, a prominent Scottish family who owned the North Pearl Street property where the Kenmore was built. Blake also managed the Averill Park Hotel and owned several other commercial properties. The Kenmore was his apogee. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is undergoing a renaissance as Redburn Development completes a $28 million renovation. The building, which had been vacant and in disrepair, is being reconfigured into 93 apartments. The renovation also reclaims the elegance of the famous Rainbo Room, where jazz greats like Louis Armstrong and the gangster Jack Legs Diamond burnished its legend. Its popularity spanned from the Roaring '20s to the mid-'50s, with live band broadcasts on WGY radio. The grand ballroom will be operated as a wedding and event space. Adam Blake built upon each business success to reach greater heights. He used his fathers connections, but also developed incredible people skills, said Paula Lemire, historian for the Friends of the Albany Rural Cemetery, where Blake is buried in a family plot. Blakes father, Adam Blake Sr., was an enslaved servant at Van Rensselaer Manor, the estate of the patroon Stephen Van Rensselaer III, who eventually freed Blake. His son, whom he adopted, benefited from studying alongside the Van Rensselaer children. Blake inherited his fathers flamboyance. He was known as the Beau Brummel of his day, William Kennedy wrote in his book, O Albany! Blakes father served as master of ceremonies for the citys annual Pinksterfest, a weeklong spring celebration during which wealthy Dutch merchants gave time off for their enslaved Black servants to join free Black citizens in revelries. Blake and his father supported the work of their Arbor Hill neighbors, the abolitionists Stephen and Harriet Myers. Hyman first heard about Blake 15 years ago on a downtown tour with Paul and Mary Liz Stewart, directors of the Underground Railroad Education Center at the historic Myers house on Livingston Avenue. In the 1870s, Blake Jr. worked with Judge James Matthews, Albany Law Schools first Black graduate and the first Black judge in New York state. They helped desegregate Albanys public schools by suing the Albany Board of Education. Adam Blake Jr.s son, Adam Blake III, died on July 28, 1881, at age 11. His father died less than two months later, on Sept. 7, 1881 at age 51. Their names are chiseled next to each other on the face of a granite marker. After burying his young son, I think Adam died of a broken heart, Hyman said. After portraying Blakes remarkable life, Hyman offered a modest proposal: Why doesnt the city name a street after Adam Blake Jr.? Paul Grondahl is director of the New York State Writers Institute at the University at Albany and a former Times Union reporter. He can be reached at grondahlpual@gmail.com ISTANBUL Turkeys third-largest opposition party, the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), is under mounting pressure amid a slew of legal proceedings and rising calls for its closure by nationalist politicians in Ankara. Government officials have long accused the party of fostering links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and HDP members are being increasingly targeted after the deaths of 13 Turkish hostages in Iraqi Kurdistan earlier this month, who Ankara claims were executed by PKK militants during an attempted rescue operation. In the fallout from the event, Turkish police detained 718 people on Feb. 15, including HDP officials, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has since vowed to step up a campaign against the party. This comes as ongoing legal proceedings may lead to the lifting of immunities for nine HDP lawmakers to be prosecuted on terror-related charges, while a separate court decision could see one HDP official removed from parliament, possibly this week. At the same time, Erdogan ally and chair of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Devlet Bahceli, has reiterated calls to close the HDP, saying his party would soon apply to begin the process in a Feb. 16 speech. "Is there a sturdy democrat who knows another formula to cut the PKK's leg in the parliament other than closing the HDP?" Bahceli asked during an MHP parliamentary group meeting that day. Taken together, recent political rhetoric and court actions involving the HDP have raised concerns among human rights advocates over democratic backsliding in Turkey. The developments come after the partys former co-chairs, Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, were imprisoned in 2016 on terror charges and more than 50 of 65 HDP mayors elected in 2019 municipal elections have been replaced with state-appointed trustees. Bahceli demanded that [Erdogan] take a harder stance on the HDP; hes asking for a crackdown if not closure, and Erdogan is right now caving to that demand, Merve Tahiroglu, Turkey program coordinator at Washington-based Project on Middle East Democracy, told Al-Monitor. Tahiroglu added, The closure of the party would be a whole new level of repression. Amid Ankara officials responses to the deaths in Iraqi Kurdistan, Turkish authorities Sunday launched an investigation into HDP lawmaker Dirayet Dilan Tasdemir over suspected links to the PKK. Speaking on Saturday to Turkish broadcaster A Haber, Turkeys Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu claimed the deputy had recently visited Gara, the area where the rescue operation took place. Tasdemir denied the allegation in a press event Monday, saying she would file a criminal complaint against Soylu. He gave my name but did not present any evidence, Tasdemir said in Ankara Monday. He committed a character assassination based on rumors." Separately, a Turkish court Friday upheld a jail sentence against HDP deputy Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu for spreading terrorism propaganda. The ruling could lead to the revocation of Gergerlioglus status as a member of parliament as soon as the court decision is read in the chamber. Gergerlioglu would join two other HDP lawmakers who were stripped of their parliamentary seats and jailed last year along with the main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP) Enis Berberoglu, who was later released and reinstated into his role earlier this month. Parliamentary Speaker Mustafa Sentop Monday shot down comparisons between Gergerlioglus case and that of Berberoglu in a message interpreted by observers to mean the HDP deputy would soon be removed from the body. Its going to happen soon; thats why they did it, Hisyar Ozsoy, co-spokesperson of foreign affairs and Diyarbakir deputy for the HDP, told Al-Monitor. The reason I think hes being targeted is the debates on strip searches and discussions he introduced, Ozsoy continued, referring to increased scrutiny in Ankara over tactics used by security forces. He was very effective, I would say, in publicizing those kinds of human rights violations. Meanwhile, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutors Office prepared legal proceedings for nine HDP lawmakers Friday, requesting their parliamentary immunities be lifted so they can be tried for allegedly organizing the violent 2014 Kobani protests that left 43 people dead. Along with nearly 100 defendants, the HDP officials charged in the case include Garo Paylan, Huda Kaya, Sezai Temelli, Pero Dundar, Fatma Kurtulan, Serpil Kemalbay, Meral Danis Bestas. Hakk Saruhan Oluc and party co-chair Pervin Buldan. Ozsoy said efforts to lift lawmakers immunities were an attempt to weaken the HDP ahead of elections scheduled for 2023 and he expected pressure on the party to grow in the interim. In the months to come, definitely there will be more criminalization and smear campaigns, Ozsoy told Al-Monitor. The media and some politicians will be very aggressive toward the HDP. Tahiroglu said recent developments were worrying and Bahcelis repeated calls to close the party coupled with recent allegations tying HDP deputies to the hostage deaths in Iraqi Kurdistan could evolve into a full-blown campaign against party lawmakers. Most people shape their understanding based on what is reported in the media, Tahiroglu told Al-Monitor. Much of the [domestic] media just ignores the HDP but theres a whole strong faction of it thats actively slandering the HDP. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 23, 2021) - Silver Sands Resources Corp. (CSE: SAND) (OTCQB: SSRSF) ("Silver Sands" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the remaining results from the Phase I Drilling Program completed in December 2020. The drilling program exceeded management's expectations as it has extended known mineralization along strike at Julia South, Martina SE and Ely Central; added new zones of mineralization along known vein structures and identified new zones of mineralization within previously untested veins. The results from Phase I drilling support management's belief that the global silver resource of the Virginia vein field can be increased significantly. Highlights include: Extension of known mineralization at Julia South Julia South - 124.43 g/t silver over 8.5m, including 168.34 g/t silver of 3.9m Extension of known mineralization at Ely Central Ely Central - 50.14 g/t silver over 3.00m New zones of mineralization along strike Martina SE - 70.8 g/t silver over 13.05m, including 149.54 g/t silver over 3.13m and 596.54 g/t silver over 0.3m New zones of mineralization in previously untested veins Julia South Extension - 140.27 g/t silver over 4.2m, including 483 g/t silver over 0.35m 7 of the 18 drill holes intersected zones in excess of 100 g/t silver, with a further 5 returning values of 30 g/t to 100 g/t silver, that's 12 of 18 holes in total; Shallow high-grade silver mineralization identified in 6 new zones As previously reported, surface mapping and sampling, IP, trenching and previous drilling in the southern and eastern parts of the project are all suggesting that the vein systems on the south and east part of the project are at higher levels in the local volcanic system which require deeper drilling to test the mineralized zones. Our geologists are adjusting the location and angle of the Phase II drill holes accordingly. "The 2020 drilling campaign exceeded our expectations and supports our firm belief in the project," commented Silver Sands CEO Keith Anderson. "The goal of our exploration campaigns remains building and significantly increasing the global silver resource at Virginia leading to an updated resource estimate in H2 2021. The IP, trenching and drilling is therefore focussed on strike extensions, new mineralization along known veins and mineralization in new veins, not redrilling previously known mineralization," he continued. "The current fully funded Phase II program is well underway with 1507 metres in 10 holes completed as of February 19. Samples from some of the first holes have been dispatched to the assay lab," he concluded. Summary A total of 2,831 metres was completed in 18 holes during Phase I, testing and confirming the presence of new well-mineralized structures not captured in the initial NI 43-101 resource, clearly demonstrating the potential to significantly grow the existing silver resource. Figure 1: Plan map with the Phase I drill hole locations and conceptual pit shells related to the current resource To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6972/75161_72b17f2014fa0949_001full.jpg The drilling has indicated structure is going to be key going forward, as expected in epithermal vein fields. Down dropped blocks and post mineralization displacement (faulting) appear to be playing an important role, with new structural interpretations incorporated into the current Phase II program targeting. In Julia South for example, drilling intersected the upper levels of the system as defined by low temperature silica species and lower silver values, suggesting the Julia South block is down-dropped relative to Julia Central and North, and high-grade mineralized shoots similar to Julia Central and North may exist at depth. Additionally, several holes intercepted hematite matrix breccia containing silica clasts; these breccias, typically occurring at higher levels in the mineralized system, commonly contain mineralized clasts from deeper parts of the system, suggesting mineralized shoots may be intersected deeper, again suggesting faulting has dropped the mineralized portion of the vein deeper. Again, this new structural interpretation is incorporated into the current Phase II program targeting. As previously disclosed, surface mapping and sampling, IP, trenching and previous drilling in the southern and eastern parts of the project are all suggesting these areas represent higher levels in the local volcanic stratigraphy and epithermal column, deeper drilling to test the targets for preserved and mineralized zones. Drill Results Review Julia South Target: JS-DDH-001 The Julia South hole JS-DDH-001 was collared 100m south of the previous drill holes incorporated in the conceptual pit resource and intersected a 8.5m thick brecciated structure grading 123.43 g/t Ag, including 3.90m at 168.34 g/t Ag. Colloform to crustiform banded crypto crystalline vein fragments with sulfides returned a peak result of 271 g/t Ag over 0.33m. This intercept is hosted in low temperature late cross-cutting chalcedonic silica with a latter and final manganese oxide (MnOx) rich pulse. Minor hydrothermal breccia structures with Ag anomalies exist throughout the hole. It is interpreted that this hole sits within a downthrown structural block that is less eroded than the area to the north, which hosts a significant part of the Virginia Ag resource. Phase II drilling will test beneath this intercept to confirm this concept. Figure 2: Cross Section looking north on IP chargeability PDP geophysics To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6972/75161_72b17f2014fa0949_002full.jpg Julia South Target: JS-DDH-002 The Julia South hole JS-DDH-002 intersected hydrothermal polymictic breccia with quartz vein fragments in hematite silica matrix. The existence of quartz vein fragments suggests that a potential target may exist at depth below the silica-hematite matrix breccia. Julia SE Target: JSE-DDH-001 The Julia SE hole JSE-DDH-001 intersected a strongly oxidized hydrothermal polymictic breccia with wall rock and vein fragments, grading 140.27 g/t Ag over 4.20m at 70m downhole. Quartz vein fragments display colloform banding and also fine crystalline quartz textures. Some of the fragments show low temperature silica species with breccias and veinlets cutting the structure hosting a peak sample of 483 g/t Ag over 0.35m. The presence of banded vein fragments mixed with polymictic wall rock breccia suggests that these mineralized fragments have been sourced from deeper in the structure, which requires deeper drilling. Figure 3: Cross Section looking north on IP chargeability PDP geophysics To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6972/75161_72b17f2014fa0949_003full.jpg Martina SE Target: MSE-DDH-002 The Martina SE hole MSE-DDH-002 intercepted 4m at 48.62 g/t Ag and 2.45m at 65.7 g/t Ag including 0.85m at 111.03 g/t Ag, which was hosted in a zone of strong brecciation (fault breccia?) crosscut by channels of hydrothermal polymictic breccias and massive cryptocrystalline quartz veinlets, returning a highlight value of 135 g/t Ag over 0.55m. Figure 4: Cross Section looking North on IP chargeability PDP geophysics To view an enhanced version of Figure 4, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6972/75161_72b17f2014fa0949_004full.jpg Martina SE Target: MSE-DDH-003 The Martina SE hole MSE-DDH-003 hosts a 1m weakly banded sulfide rich (galena) vein, with micro crystalline quartz and MnOx cavity infilling discrete fractures with a highlight value of 596.54 g/t Ag over 0.3m. This banded vein with hematite/limonite seams hosts values of 16.05m at 63.97 g/t Ag including 0.9m at 352.32 g/t Ag. Figure 5: Cross Section looking north on IP chargeability PDP geophysics To view an enhanced version of Figure 5, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6972/75161_72b17f2014fa0949_005full.jpg Ely Central Target: EC-DDH-002 The Ely Central hole EC-DDH-002 intercepted hydrothermal breccia with wall rock fragments returning up to 60 g/t Ag and outward halos of crackle hydrothermal breccias with silica hematite cement with up to 30 g/t Ag. As mentioned above, these hematite cemented breccias are generally believed to be high up in the vein system or represent weaker mineralized sections of the hosting structure between the mineralized shoots. A lower grade, anomalous intersect of 3.00m at 50.14 g/t Ag was returned from this hole. Figure 6: Cross Section looking north on IP chargeability PDP geophysics To view an enhanced version of Figure 6, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6972/75161_72b17f2014fa0949_006full.jpg Martina SW Target: MSW-DDH-001 The Martina SW hole MSW-DDH-001 intercepted hydrothermal polymictic breccia with quartz vein fragments in hematite silica matrix (fault zone?). The structure hosts stockworks and crackle brecciation, with a low grade, but anomalous intersect of 1.10m at 33.61 g/t Ag. Table 1: Virginia Final Phase I Significant Intercepts Hole ID From To Interval (m)1 Ag g/t2 Ag x Interval3 Cut-off4 JS-DDH-001 71.10 79.60 8.50 123.43 1049 30 g/t Including 71.10 79.00 7.90 130.41 1030 63 g/t Including 75.10 79.00 3.90 168.34 657 150 g/t MSE-DDH-003 39.00 41.00 2.00 40.43 81 30 g/t 48.95 65.00 16.05 63.97 1027 30 g/t Including 49.57 54.41 4.84 119.03 576 63 g/t Including 49.87 50.77 0.90 352.32 317 150 g/t 62.90 65.00 2.10 37.39 79 30 g/t 68.35 70.23 1.88 45.31 85 30 g/t Including 69.93 70.23 0.30 85.88 26 63 g/t 78.10 79.74 1.64 35.67 58 30 g/t 97.30 103.00 5.70 36.66 209 30 g/t 105.70 107.20 1.50 33.69 51 30 g/t JSE-DDH-001 67.00 68.00 1.00 98.82 99 63 g/t 71.35 75.55 4.20 140.27 589 63 g/t Including 72.35 72.65 0.30 212.53 64 150 g/t and 73.65 74.35 0.70 377.45 264 150 g/t MSE-DDH-002 103.80 104.40 0.60 64.69 39 30 g/t Including 103.80 104.10 0.30 79.74 24 63 g/t 118.35 121.00 2.65 60.10 159 30 g/t Including 119.15 120.00 0.85 82.65 70 63 g/t 128.00 130.45 2.45 65.73 161 30 g/t Including 128.50 129.35 0.85 111.03 94 63 g/t 134.00 138.00 4.00 48.62 194 30 g/t 141.00 142.40 1.40 36.39 51 30 g/t 144.50 145.50 1.00 30.44 30 30 g/t 146.45 147.40 0.95 37.78 36 30 g/t EC-DDH-002 74.00 77.00 3.00 50.14 150 30 g/t JS-DDH-002 60.05 61.00 0.95 64.44 61 30 g/t 90.00 92.20 2.20 50.12 110 30 g/t Including 91.20 91.50 0.30 68.59 21 63 g/t MSW-DDH-001 103.45 104.10 0.65 33.49 22 30 g/t 107.00 108.10 1.10 33.61 37 30 g/t JC-DDH-001 no interval to report 30 g/t JC-DDH-002 no interval to report 30 g/t MaJo-DDH-001 no interval to report 30 g/t MG-DDH-002 no interval to report 30 g/t NE-DDH-002 no interval to report 30 g/t Notes: 1 Reported interval length are down hole widths and not true widths. 2 Reported intervals are at the stated a cut-off grade of 30 g/t Ag (with a minimum width of 0.5m), 63 g/t Ag and 150 g/t Ag. Reported intervals may include up to a maximum of 1m individual section below cut-off grade. 3 Ag Gram Meter interval is calculated using: Ag (g/t) x down hole intersection length (m). 4 The higher-grade intervals were selected using the 63 g/t cut-off grade used in the NI 43-101 resource estimate. Table 2: Virginia Final Phase I Collar Location Hole Id Easting Northing Elevation (m) Azimuth Dip Depth (m) EC-DDH-001 2428800 4739907 1006.8 100 -45 124 EC-DDH-002 2428828 4739515 990.1 280 -45 184 JC-DDH-001 2428103 4739354 1033.8 258 -45 196 JC-DDH-002 2427901 4739394 1043.6 270 -45 133 JS-DDH-001 2428512 4738196 969.7 270 -45 117 JS-DDH-002 2428506 4738123 961.3 270 -45 130 JSE-DDH-001 2428512 4738010 938.3 270 -45 142 MaJo-DDH-001 2431136 4741324 919.8 250 -45 230 MG-DDH-001 2430978 4739873 926 49 -52 302 MG-DDH-002 2431298 4739764 928.6 49 -45 120 MR-DDH-001 2428812 4738612 968.7 55 -45 90 MSE-DDH-001 2429912 4739566 973.1 65 -45 134 MSE-DDH-002 2430006 4739469 966 65 -45 180 MSE-DDH-003 2429907 4739649 972.8 65 -45 178 MSW-DDH-001 2429918 4739110 945.2 100 -45 175 NE-DDH-001 2427149 4740599 1041.9 90 -45 127 NE-DDH-002 2427094 4740598 1036.9 90 -45 160 RO-DDH-001 2428505 4739521 1007 240 -45 126 About Silver Sands Resources Corp. Silver Sands is a well-financed, Canada-based company engaged in the business of mineral exploration and the acquisition of mineral property assets in mining-friendly jurisdictions. Its objective is to locate and develop economic precious and base metal properties of merit. Its key asset is the Virginia silver project, located in the mining-friendly Santa Cruz state of Argentina. On Behalf of the Board of Directors Keith Anderson Chief Executive Officer, Director For further information, please contact: Keith Anderson Chief Executive Officer, Director (604) 786-7774 Qualified Person Statement: Silver Sand's disclosure of technical and scientific information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by R. Tim Henneberry, P.Eng., a director of the Company, who serves as a Qualified Person under the definition of National Instrument 43-101. QAQC: Silver Sands applies industry standard exploration sampling methodologies and techniques. All geochemical rock and drill samples are collected under the supervision of the company's geologists in accordance with industry practice. Geochemical assays are obtained and reported under a quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) program. Samples are dispatched to an ISO 9001:2008 accredited laboratory in Argentina for analysis. Assay results from channel, trench, and drill core samples may be higher, lower or similar to results obtained from surface samples due to surficial oxidation and enrichment processes or due to natural geological grade variations in the primary mineralization. Forward Looking Statements: The information in this news release contains forward looking statements that are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause such differences include: changes in world commodity markets, equity markets, costs and supply of materials relevant to the mining industry, change in government and changes to regulations affecting the mining industry and to policies linked to pandemics, social and environmental related matters. Forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding future exploration programs, operation plans, geological interpretations, mineral tenure issues and mineral recovery processes. Although we believe the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, results may vary, and we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Silver Sands disclaims any obligations to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable law. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75161 Kathmandu, Feb 23 : Former Prime Minister of Nepal Baburam Bhattarai, who is currently in the New Delhi seeking medical treatment, has begun consultation with doctors on Tuesday at Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences. The senior leader of Janata Samajwadi Party had left for India on February 21 citing that he will be in consultation with the health professionals at the Institute for gastrointestinal issues, he had been receiving treatment for which in Nepal's Lalitpur based Nidan Hospital for a while, the Himalayan Times reported. "He had an appointment with the doctors at 1.30 p.m. wherein discussions regarding how to take the treatment forward were held," Central Committee Member of the JSP and Bhattarai's Press Advisor Bishwadeep Pandey said. According to Bhattarai's secretariat, the doctors involved in his treatment in Nepal have advised him to rule out whether or not he has developed a neuroendocrine tumor, suspecting the same, and he is travelling to India in line with the doctors' advice. He will be staying at the Nepali Embassy in New Delhi for the duration of his treatment. Meanwhile, speculations are rife regarding the possibility of Bhattarai making a political visit or two during his stay in New Delhi. Subscriber content preview KENMORE Sunrise Senior Living, at 7221 N.E. 182nd St. in Kenmore , sold for $4.5 million, according to King County records. The seller was an LLC associated with Healthpeak Properties, the Irvine, California-based REIT previously known as Health Care Property Investors. It has recently been selling off senior communities. Healthpeak acquired the Kenmore property in 2012 for $20.7 million. . . . 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. WAYNE, Pa., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cipperman Compliance Services (CCS), a leading provider of chief compliance officer services to money managers, registered funds, family offices, private equity firms, broker-dealers, and regulated fintech companies, today announced the addition of three senior compliance professionals to the firm's staff. Dianne Descoteaux, Denise Adamczyk, and Adrea Scaramucci will lead client engagements and further bolster a deep and experienced CCS leadership team, allowing the firm to meet increasing demand for its compliance outsourcing services and maintain its commitment to protecting the reputation of investment management clients. Dianne Descoteaux has more than 18 years of experience as an attorney in the investment management industry and in private law practice, advising clients on compliance matters pertaining to the Investment Advisers and Investment Company Acts of 1940. Prior to joining CCS, Dianne was in-house counsel at SEI Investments, where she worked with a wide range of investment advisers in connection with SEI's $70 Billion Mutual Fund Series Trusts family. She has also practiced law in the Investment Management Practice groups of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, Morrison & Foerster LLP and Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP. Denise Adamczyk has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining CCS, Denise worked at institutional investment manager AJO, where she held positions in accounting, portfolio implementation and compliance. In addition, she has worked in various roles at PFPC, Delaware Investments and Mondrian Investment Partners. Adrea Scaramucci has over 27 years of experience in the financial services industry working in dedicated compliance roles for asset managers. Prior to joining CCS, she served as chief compliance officer of Drexel Morgan Capital Advisers, where she was also a member of the firm's Investment and Management Committees. Prior to her role at Drexel Morgan, Adrea worked at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, serving as Vice President of Compliance. "The addition of Dianne, Denise and Adrea is a win for our clients, who rely on us to implement best-in-class compliance programs, including serving as Chief Compliance Officer," said Todd Cipperman, CCS's Founding Principal. "Each has a deep background in both the regulatory requirements and the practical implications of implementing compliance programs at investment firms." Jon Wowak, CCS's Chief Operating Officer, added "As our reputation and industry influence has grown, we have attracted top-tier compliance professionals. Our hiring goal remains to attract those professionals looking for the opportunity to practice with confidence, integrity, and support, on a team of like-minded co-workers dedicated to compliance." About Cipperman Compliance Services LLC Cipperman Compliance Services is a leading provider of chief compliance officer services to money managers, registered funds, family offices, private equity firms, broker-dealers, and regulated fintech companies. Our compliance professionals have significant industry experience with a wide variety of industry backgrounds. Our team includes lawyers, non-lawyers, internal and external auditors, operations professionals, product specialists, client service specialists, and of course former in-house chief compliance officers. We believe that this diversity allows us to answer nearly any question a client can ask. For more information, visit our website at www.cipperman.com. Firm Contact: Todd Cipperman Cipperman Compliance Services 610.687.5320 [email protected] Media Contact: Ryan Dicovitsky Dukas Linden Public Relations 646-808-3646 [email protected] SOURCE Cipperman Compliance Services Related Links https://cipperman.com The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has announced a probe into CenturyLink after a nationwide outage that has been disrupting 911 lines, on Dec. 27, 2018. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images) FCC Commissioners Denounce House Democrats Attempt to Censor Newsrooms Based on Politics Two top Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officials on Feb. 22 said an attempt by House Democrats to pressure television carriers to deplatform Fox News and two other cable news channels is troubling because it seeks to stifle political speech and independent news judgment. FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington in separate statements responded to letters from two Democratic members on the House Energy and Commerce Committee that were sent to 12 cable, satellite, and streaming companies. To the House Democrats that used their official letterhead to launch this inquiry, I would say this: Your demand to know the moral principles that guide a private entitys decision about what news to carry cannot be reconciled with bedrock principles of free speech and journalistic freedom, Carr said (pdf). In their letters, the Democratic House members urged the companies to take steps they asserted would combat the spread of misinformation. Reps. Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.) and Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.) claim that right-leaning Fox, Newsmax, and One America News had spread misinformation after the November 2020 elections and about COVID-19. Their letters also demanded answers to why carriers were carrying these television outlets. The carriers were asked questions such as what moral or ethical principles they apply in deciding which channels to carry, how many subscribers tuned into the networks in the weeks preceding the presidential election, and whether theyve taken adverse actions against any channel in the wake of the election or the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol. Carr said that the two House Democrats had selectively targeted several news media outlets for their coverage of political events, saying that such actions send a clear and troubling message of these regulated entities will pay a price if the targeted newsrooms do not conform to Democrats preferred political narratives. This is a chilling transgression of the free speech rights that every media outlet in this country enjoys, he said. The commissioner reminded Americans that discourse on matters of public interest should be robust, uninhibited, and wide open. More speech is better than less. Yet the concerted effort by Democrats to drive political dissent from the public square represents a marked departure from these First Amendment norms. A newsrooms decision about what stories to cover and how to frame them should be beyond the reach of any government official, not targeted by them, he said. Simington echoed Carrs concerns, characterizing the two House Democrats conduct as worrying. He said the lawmakers were applying overbroad and vague label of misinformation to any media reportage that calls into question their preferred political narratives, and have sought to intimidate into silence those who would distribute on their platforms disfavored points of view. This is particularly concerning because the House Energy and Commerce Committee supervises the Communications Act, and their statement could be read to imply that action will be taken under the Communications Act should the recipients not agree in advance to chill their speech, he said (pdf). I trust the American people to make up their own minds regarding to whom they choose to listen. Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and her staff didnt immediately respond to a request from The Epoch Times for comment on the letters. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) is scheduled to lead an online subcommittee hearing on Feb. 24. In separate statements to The Epoch Times, spokespeople from Fox News and Newsmax decried the lawmakers conduct, saying that their actions set a terrible precedent. Last month, left-leaning CNN made a similar move in attempting to pressure cable carriers into removing competitors such as Newsmax. Newsmax responded, saying that CNN was trying to eliminate Newsmax as a competitor, while noting that the liberal cable channel has a history of misreporting and peddling conspiracy theories about Christopher Steeles dossier and Russian collusion. McNerneys and Eshoos offices didnt immediately respond to a request to comment from The Epoch Times. Zachary Stieber contributed to this report. Massachusetts education officials say they want to see all elementary students back in the classroom by April and older students back before the end of the school year. If students return to the classroom in the spring, they will have to space out at least 3 feet apart, not 6 feet apart, under the states guidelines. Pushing for schools to send all their students back to the classroom, Commissioner Jeff Riley said Massachusetts public schools will face a 3 to 6 feet social distancing requirement. I would just remind people that in Europe and Asia and in fact in many states of this country, people are at 3 feet or less, Riley said. Were sticking with our guidance, which is 3 feet. If schools cannot fit their students in their classrooms without violating social distancing requirements, Riley said, well work with individual districts that are challenged by the 3-foot mark. The social distancing requirement falls below the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions definition of social distancing, which calls for a 6-foot minimum when feasible. The states own social distancing requirements for the public call for spacing out at least 6 feet apart. The social distancing requirement is just one component of Rileys plan to bring all K-12 students back into the classroom as the coronavirus continues to infect Massachusetts residents. Citing concerns about student achievement and mental health, Riley said he hopes to bring all elementary school students back to the classroom by April and older students back before the end of the school year. Parents would have the option to opt their children out of in-person learning for the rest of the school year, Riley said. Massachusetts Teachers Association President Merrie Najimy said the school reopening plan shows callous disregard for the health and safety of school employees, students and families and rides roughshod over the rights and interests of local communities. Governor Charlie Baker and Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley should go back to the drawing board, Najimy said. This time they must actually talk to the educators, educators unions, parents, school committee members and other community leaders most impacted by their surprise and unwelcome announcement. Rileys 3-foot minimum aligns more closely to threshold used by the World Health Organization. When explaining the 3-foot minimum, he said schools in parts of Asia and Europe had done well with that guideline. Some schools in Indiana have also adopted a 3-foot minimum. Indiana health officials earlier this month said students and teachers who are exposed to COVID-19 in a classroom will no longer be required to quarantine if everyone was masked and spaced out at least 3 feet apart. The American Academy of Pediatrics states physical distancing of 6 feet apart is ideal, but not always feasible in schools without smaller class sizes. Schools should weigh the benefits of strict adherence to a 6-feet spacing rule between students with the potential downside if remote learning is the only alternative, the academy states. Massachusetts has seen fewer new COVID-19 cases since the holidays, but the state is still reporting at least 1,000 new cases daily. State health officials reported on Monday another 1,150 new COVID-19 cases and 26 deaths from complications due to the coronavirus. As of Monday, the states death toll is 15,534. Teachers have called to get vaccinated sooner since those teaching in-person could be exposed to COVID-19. When asked why teachers werent moved up, Riley said teachers are in the next category set to be vaccinated. Gov. Charlie Baker said teachers were not allowed to get vaccinated sooner because the states priority was preservation of life, from residents in long-term care facilities to doctors treating COVID-19 patients to residents ages 75 and up. As of Feb. 19, the state saw 157 districts and schools signed up to participate in pooled COVID-19 testing through the state, which represents more than half the states public schools. Riley called the program an additional layer of mitigation strategy, like mask-wearing. Riley told members of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on Tuesday that DESE is working with schools and districts to address student isolation caused by the pandemic. MassLive reporter Melissa Hanson contributed reporting to this article. Related Content: [February 23, 2021] Experience Matters: Indiana Gateway Digital Academy Now Accepting Enrollments for 2021-2022 School Year After an academic year like no other, Indiana Gateway (News - Alert) Digital Academy (INGDA), a full-time online public-school academy serving students throughout the state, is welcoming K-12 students to enroll for the 2021-2022 school year starting 2/25. INGDA is the state leader in providing safe, alternative education options, while giving your student a personalized experience and providing them with what they need to succeed. INGDA is a tuition-free to all students who reside in Indiana, staffed by state-licensed teachers, and is an authorized online public-school programs of the Clarksville Community School Corporation. They offer a personalized approach to learning, delivering rich, engaging curriculum designed to assist students who seek alternative pathways to education. "One of the biggest things this pandemic showed us is that students, and parents, need consistency in their education," said Brearn Wright, Jr., head of school. "Our world-class technology and student-focused curriculum will give your children a reliable advantage they need to succeed throughout high school, and beyond." Students choose online school for a variety of reasons including advanced learning, a bullying-free environment, and the ability to support extracurricular pursuits or medical needs. INGDA's online platorm gives students the opportunity to pursue their academic goals in a supportive environment and at an appropriate pace for their learning style. "If there was one constant in my kids' lives, it's their school. The academy's commitment to education makes these abrupt changes in our lives much easier to cope with," said INGDA parent Jessica Mahon, in the Indy Star. "From all the technology equipment provided, to the personal support students and parents receive, we're so relieved to have found an option we trust where our kids can thrive." INGDA is now accepting enrollments for the 2021-2022 school year. Families are encouraged to attend an online information session hosted by the school. More information, how to enroll, and a schedule of upcoming events can be found at https://ingda.k12.com/. About Indiana Gateway Digital Academy Indiana Gateway Digital Academy (INGDA) is an online public-school program of the Clarksville Community School Corporation that serves students in grades K-12. INGDA is tuition-free and provides families the choice to access the curriculum and tools provided by K12, a Stride Company (NYSE: LRN). Stride offers learners of all ages a more effective way to learn and build skills for their future. INGDA's individualized approach gives Indiana students the chance to learn in the ways that are right for them. For more about INGDA, visit ingda.k12.com/. About Clarksville Community Schools Clarksville Community Schools Corp. has been working to meet the needs of every student since its 1955 founding. Situated in the heart of Clarksville, CCSC is a district that embraces its neighborhood identity while bringing all the resources and amenities common in larger school districts to all students. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005009/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Spanish government have officially announced that starting from January 25, 2021, Chinese has formally become an official language of UNWTO. Chinese joins English, Spanish, French, Arabic and Russian, bringing the number of official languages for the body to six. UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili produced a special video to deliver the congratulatory message. In the video, he wrote the Chinese character fu, or blessing, with a calligraphy brush and sent Chinese New Year greetings. The UNWTO is the world's most influential intergovernmental international tourism organization. It currently has 159 member states and is headquartered in Madrid, Spain, with Spain as its depositary government. China joined the UNWTO in 1983. It proposed to include Chinese as one of the body's official languages, during the 17th session of the UNWTO General Assembly in November 2007. The general assembly adopted the proposal and passed an amendment to Article 38 of the "Constitution of the World Tourism Organization," which says the organization's official languages are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. According to the UNWTO statutes, after the general assembly passes the amendment, more than two-thirds of the member states must complete the approval procedures before it can take effect. Since the passage of the amendment in 2007, China has done a lot of work in cooperation with UNWTO to encourage member states to fulfill the approval procedures and make Chinese an official language of the UNWTO as soon as possible. In January 2021, 106 member states approved the amendment, which meets the statutory number, and the amendment has formally entered into force. According to China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Chinese becoming an official language of UNWTO has enhanced the integrity and authority of UNWTO as a specialized agency of the United Nations and improves the status and proportion of the use of Chinese in international organizations. It helps China play a more active role in global international tourism affairs, share China's tourism development experience and opportunities, as well as to make positive contributions to building a community with a shared future for humankind, the ministry said. A former deputy leader of the Ulster Unionist Party has called on the Executive to help the Republic ramp up its Covid vaccination programme. Lord Kilclooney, a life peer who is no longer a member of the UUP, was speaking after it emerged that close to 25% of our population have received their first dose of a vaccine compared with less than 4% across the border. Latest figures show that just over 468,000 people here have had their first jab and more than 31,000 have received their second. However, in the Republic some 310,900 vaccines - 113,291 of them second jabs - have been administered, according to data up to February 20 compiled by the Irish Times. In a tweet Lord Kilclooney said the Executive should ask the Irish Government how it could help increase its vaccination levels. Expand Close Lord Kilclooney / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lord Kilclooney Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, he said: "Some 96% of the population in the Republic have not been vaccinated and we have freedom of movement on this island. So, it is important for the health of people in Northern Ireland also to help as many people get vaccinated as we can. "It hasn't dawned on anyone that I live near the border, so I am very conscious of this issue. I just hope [the Executive] investigates the possibility of assisting the Republic's vaccination programme... but of course the decision at Stormont depends on the availability of extra vaccine doses, and I do not know whether we have that or not." SDLP's health spokeswoman Cara Hunter said it had always advocated a whole-island approach to tackling the pandemic. "There is no screen at the border that prevents transmission of the virus so it's important that we work steadily to vaccinate everyone in Ireland," she said. "Closer coordination is clearly needed to eradicate the threat we're facing. That should involve vaccination cooperation and a mass testing and tracing initiative to prevent recurrence." Alliance's health spokeswoman Paula Bradshaw said: "Alliance is already on record as being supportive in principle of the UK and Ireland working together to deliver completion of the vaccination programme as quickly as possible across the entire Common Travel Area." The vaccine rate in Britain is 25.4% for England, 25.7% for Scotland and 26.8% for Wales. Meanwhile, Taoiseach Micheal Martin has confirmed that the highest level of coronavirus restrictions will continue in the Republic until April 5 at least. He made the announcement in a live address outlining the revised Living With Covid plan. Level 5 measures are to remain in place until after Easter. The plan includes the phased reopening of schools and childcare, with some pupils set to return to the classroom on March 1. Leaving Certificate students are also to return to the classroom next week. The Taoiseach said the situation will be reviewed on April 5. He said they aim to have administered first doses to 40% of people over the age of 18 by the end of April, 64% by the end of May, and up to 82% of adults by the end of June. Mr Martin said the Republic is "driving down the levels of infection", but said the emergence of the UK variant had made the situation very different to what it was several months ago. 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. Morocco temporarily suspended flights with Turkey as part of COVID-19 measures, according to the Turkish Embassy in Rabat on Monday. The embassy said in a written statement that the Moroccan government decided to suspend flights with some countries, including Turkey, for 15 days as of Monday midnight. The decision was taken as part of COVID-19 measures and the criteria set by the Health Ministry of Morocco. It said the embassy will continue to share developments on the issue. Image Credit: AA ADVERTISEMENT The Nigerian government has explained why children in the country will not be receiving the approved COVID-19 vaccines when it finally arrives. The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, while speaking at Mondays weekly briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, said the vaccines have not been proven to be safe for children. What the evidence has shown is that the vaccines have been tried in individuals above 16 years of age for the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine and above 18 years in the Oxford- AstraZeneca vaccine, Mr Shuaib said. The guidance is that these are the only individuals that it is safe to try the vaccines on. He noted that data is being gathered on the effects of COVID-19 on children. However, from the data that has been shared by the NCDC, people who are most affected by COVID-19 are those that are adults or those that have co-morbidity, especially the elderly, he said. Nigeria is set to receive four million doses of the approved Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines as the first batch of vaccines expected in the country. The government had said it aims to vaccinate about 109 million of its population against COVID-19 over a period of two years. It, however, said only eligible population from 18 years and above, including pregnant women, will be vaccinated. The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) recently approved the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for use in Nigeria with vaccination expected to begin by the end of February. Nigeria has recorded over 150,000 COVID-19 cases and over 1,800 deaths from the virus. Vaccine storage Mr Shuaib reiterated that the country has the capacity to store and manage the expected vaccines, with the cold chain requirements of +2 C to +8C. He said this aligns with the agencys cold chain equipment used during the fight against poliovirus. The vaccines will be stored in Walk-in Cold Rooms (WICR) at the National, Zonal and state levels. At the LGA level, the vaccines will be stored in vaccine refrigerators and at Health facilities with Solar Direct Drive Cold Chain Equipment, he said. He said approximately 7,500 political wards in the country have Solar Direct Drive (SDD) refrigerators to store vaccines even where there is no electricity supply. The remaining political wards that do not have these in their facilities are currently been fed by installation agents that have assured us that the process will be completed by the end of this year. With the trend in the rate of installations, we have no reason to doubt their ability to deliver on this task. In the meantime, those wards without SDDs will be supported from neighbouring health facilities, Mr Shuaib noted. Nobody is ever fully prepared for natural disaster. When hurricanes, blizzards or tsunamis strike they always reveal weaknesses failure to plan, failure to invest in precautions. The disaster in Texas, however, was different. The collapse of the Texas power grid didnt just reveal a few shortcomings. It showed that the entire philosophy behind the states energy policy is wrong. And it also showed that the state is run by people who will resort to blatant lies rather than admit their mistakes. Texas isnt the only state with a largely deregulated electricity market. It has, however, pushed deregulation further than anyone else. There is an upper limit on wholesale electricity prices, but its stratospherically high. And there is essentially no prudential regulation no requirements that utilities maintain reserve capacity or invest in things like insulation to limit the effects of extreme weather. The theory was that no such regulation was necessary, because the magic of the market would take care of everything. After all, a surge in demand or a disruption of supply both of which happened in the deep freeze will lead to high prices, and hence to big profits for any power supplier that manages to keep operating. So there should be incentives to invest in robust systems, precisely to take advantage of events like those Texas just experienced. In his address at the 17th Ministerial Meeting of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) held on 21 January 2021 under the theme New Normal and Safe and Healthy Tourism, Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena stated that Sri Lanka opened its borders after much consultation, preparation following best practices, keeping safety and security of its citizens as paramount and that of the visitors. The Ministerial meeting was preceded by a Senior Officials Meeting held on 19 January 2021. Commending the Government of the Republic of Turkey for hosting the ACD Ministerial Meeting virtually, Minister Gunawardena stated that Sri Lanka is committed to the ambitious work plan of the ACD in line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to promote inclusive growth in the region. Commenting further, the Minister stated that in line with President Gotabaya Rajapaksas policy framework Vistas of Prosperity and Splendor Sri Lanka is focusing on a friendly and non-aligned foreign policy with special focus on Asia. As a Co-prime mover of the pillar of Science, Technology and Innovation, Minister Gunawardena stated that Sri Lanka is aware of the transformative impact Science, Technology and Innovation could contribute to the 2030 Agenda and that the importance of this pillar was amply demonstrated as the world embraced in various degrees the new normal from the beginning of 2020, with a view to adapting the disruption that the pandemic created in all aspects of human activities. He insisted that all Member States need to invest more in this important pillar, by creating platforms of knowledge sharing in order to recover collectively as it is a global issue. He also welcomed the initiative of Turkey for organizing the first virtual Conference of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue member countries on the sidelines of the ACD meeting on 20 January 2021. With a view to boost trade and to keep supply chains moving, a delegation of Sri Lanka Chamber members and officials of the Export Development Board of Sri Lanka participated at the Conference. The meeting adopted the Ankara Declaration on mitigating the adverse effects of the pandemic and recovery efforts focusing on tourism. Minister Gunawardena stated that the Government of Sri Lanka made special provisions and granted concessions to the services sector affected severely by global restrictions on travel. With a view to revive the travel industry, Sri Lanka took positive steps to open up gradually while being cautious. He stated that Member States whose economies are also dependent to a greater part on tourism will understand the burden placed on Governments to ensure the safety and security of all those involved in the industry and therefore there is need to collaborate with all States transparently and support each other in finding solutions collectively. The Senior Officials meeting was led by Additional Secretary Economic Affairs Division P M Amza. Acting Director General Multilateral Anzul Jhan and Development Officer of the Economic Affairs Division Inoka Dharmadasa of the Foreign Ministry also participated in the meetings. Foreign Ministry Colombo 22 January 2021 Read more: www.mfa.gov.lk Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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| 2021-02-24 01:34:53|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NAIROBI, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Environment ministers and representatives of civil society organizations on Tuesday called for fair and efficient use of natural resources. Addressing a leadership dialogue during the just ended fifth session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5), the ministers called for increased forest cover in all UN Environment members. "We have to give special attention to increasing forest cover to help manage greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the spread of diseases from animals to humans," said the ministers. Noting that the year 2020 was a challenging year, they put emphasis on the use of green growth, solar energy and renewable energy to build back a sustainable society better after the outbreak of COVID-19. The ministers called for resource allocation and enhanced capacity building to make the programs sustainable. "It is important that we strengthen the management of protected areas, forestry and national parks to help mitigate climate change and contain animal diseases from spreading into the environment," said the ministers. Afroz Shah, champion of the Earth 2016, called on environmentalists to do more than just talk to make the world a healthy place to live in. Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) urged countries to seek science-based solutions in managing their environment. "Trust science and apply science in your bid to meeting the United Nations sustainable development goals," said Andersen. Saying that COVID-19 has brought greater damage to the environment, Andersen urged nations to build a resilient and inclusive post-pandemic world. Enditem Israel keeps sending mixed signals on vaccinating Palestinians. There have been positive signs as the country advances on vaccinating the 120,000 West Bank residents who work in Israel. It has also offered some vaccine doses to the Palestinian Authority to vaccinate health workers. However, there is still no comprehensive policy on the matter. Israeli health authorities have advocated vaccinating Palestinians working in Israel, especially now that the country has started easing nationwide lockdown restrictions. Many health experts also recommend assisting the Palestinian Authority in its vaccination campaign for the greater good. The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced today it is offering what it called a symbolic number of doses for medical staff in the Palestinian Authority and Honduras. This morning, Israel started vaccinating Palestinians in east Jerusalem who have Israeli residency cards but live beyond the security barrier. Magen David Adom (the Israeli Red Cross) handled the vaccination drive, which took place at the Qalandiya crossing. Magen David Adom reportedly chose the site for its accessibility to those who live beyond the barrier. Previously, on Feb. 11, Magen David Adom vaccinated some 400 east Jerusalem Palestinians and Palestinian workers at the same location. The Feb. 11 vaccination campaign was hailed in the Israeli press as a first step toward vaccinating all the West Bank Palestinians who work in Israel. Palestinian Authority officials said Feb. 19 that Israel had agreed to vaccinate 100,000 Palestinian workers, but Israels Health Ministry did not confirm the news. The Palestinian announcement came after an unusual event earlier in the day in Ramallah. Seniors from Israels Health Ministry met with their Palestinian counterparts and visited a coronavirus ward in the city. The Israeli delegation included the ministrys director Chezy Levy, head of Public Health Services Sharon Alroy-Preis and coronavirus commissioner Nachman Ash. The visit was organized by Israels Coordinator Of Government Activities in the Territories and made in secret. It was only after the encounter that the ministry said in a statement, Understanding that Israel and the Palestinians live in one area and that an outbreak of COVID-19 among the Palestinian Authority may also affect the infection rate among Israeli residents, senior ministry officials visited with the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry and received a briefing on the coronavirus situation in the PA, morbidity data and the epidemiological investigations that are taking place. Israel is under international pressure to both vaccinate Palestinian workers in Israel and assist the Palestinian Authority in its vaccination drive. Pressure has grown in recent days over revelations that Israel had received a shipment of around 100,000 Moderna vaccine doses earlier this year but has yet to distribute them. The Health Ministry explained that because the administration of the Moderna vaccines is different from the Pfizer ones, it chose to wait to prevent confusion. Later, Israeli health authorities recommended that the Moderna doses be administered to a specific group by a specially trained staff. Israel has too few doses of the Moderna vaccine to use it for the Israel Defense Forces, and more than are needed to vaccinate all prisoners in Israel. It corresponds more or less to the number of Palestinian workers in Israel. Also, it requires less rigorous temperature control than the Pfizer vaccines and could be easily transferred to West Bank border crossings, should vaccination centers be set up there. On Feb. 18, seniors at the Health Ministry said that Israel is considering using the Moderna doses to vaccinate Palestinians working in Israel. There has been speculation that the Feb. 19 Ramallah meeting was part of this internal discussion in Israel. Pressure to vaccinate Palestinian workers grew following reports on the vaccination drive for undocumented workers in Israel, a population without health insurance and often reluctant to engage with official Israel. At the beginning of February, the Tel Aviv municipality opened a vaccination center for foreign workers, but Palestinians with temporary or permanent residence permits were reportedly turned away. Some of them had received permits after assisting Israeli security agencies in different ways. Others include Palestinians who fear for their lives in the West Bank for one reason or another. An encouraging sign came Feb. 20. Magen David Adom and the Jerusalem municipality opened a pop-up vaccination center in the Palestinian Issawiya neighborhood where Palestinians, their spouses and family members who live there but are not necessarily permanent residents could get vaccinated. Some 150 people were vaccinated in what was dubbed a family-unification vaccination drive. A similar vaccination center was set up Feb. 21 in the Jerusalem Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina. Again, those vaccinated were not West Bank Palestinian workers, but people residing in Jerusalem. Israeli authorities had said they would enable the transfer of 5,000 vaccine doses to the PA for Palestinian health workers, but so far only a first shipment of 2,000 doses was delivered on Feb. 1. On Feb. 21, the World Bank called on Israel to consider donating its vaccine surplus to the Palestinians so that vaccination drives in the West bank and in Gaza could be accelerated. "In order to ensure there is an effective vaccination campaign, Palestinian and Israeli authorities should coordinate in the financing, purchase and distribution of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines," read the report. (Newser) The wife of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin El Chapo Guzman was arrested Monday in the United States and accused of helping her husband run his multibillion-dollar cartel and plot his audacious escape from a Mexican prison in 2015. Emma Coronel Aispuro, a 31-year-old former beauty queen, was arrested at Dulles International Airport in Virginia and is expected to appear in federal court in Washington on Tuesday, the AP reports. She is a dual citizen of the United States and Mexico. Her arrest is the latest twist in the bloody, multinational saga involving Guzman, the longtime head of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Guzman, whose two dramatic prison escapes in Mexico fed into a legend that he and his family were all but untouchable, was extradited to the United States in 2017 and is serving life in prison. story continues below And now his wife, with whom he has two young daughters, has been charged with helping him run his criminal empire. In a single-count criminal complaint, Coronel was charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and marijuana in the US. The Justice Department also accused her of helping her husband escape from a Mexican prison in 2015 and participating in the planning of a second prison escape before Guzman was extradited to the US. Court papers charge that Coronel worked with Guzmans sons and a witness, who is now cooperating with the US government, to organize the construction of the underground tunnel that Guzman used to escape from the Altiplano prison to prevent his extradition to the US. The plot included purchasing a piece of land near the prison, firearms and an armored truck and smuggling him a GPS watch so they could pinpoint his exact whereabouts so as to construct the tunnel with an entry point accessible to him, the court papers say. (Read more Emma Coronel stories.) [February 23, 2021] DATA Communications Management Corp. Announces Management Change DATA Communications Management Corp. (" DCM (News - Alert)" or the "Company")(TSX:DCM), a leading provider of marketing and business communications solutions to companies across North America, announces today that Michael Cote, President of DCM, has left the Company effective immediately. Gregory J. Cochrane, Chief Executive Officer of DCM, will assume Mr. Cote's responsibilities as President and continue as President and CEO. "Over the past three and a half years, Mike has been a valued contributor to the business, helping to transform our sales force and sales culture, and has helped navigate us through our ERP remediation efforts and the impact of the COVID pandemic on our business. We thank him for his contributions during his time with DCM, and wish him all the best in his future endeavours," said Mr. Cochrane. About DCM DCM is a communication solutions partner that adds value for major companies across North America by creating more meaningful connections with their customers. DCM pairs customer insights and thought leadership with cutting edge products, modular enabling technology and services to power its clients' go to market strategies. DCM helps its clients manage how their brands come to life, determine which channels are right for them, manage multimedia campaigns, deploy location specific and 1:1 marketing, execute custom loyalty programs, and fulfill their commercial printing needs all in one place. DCM's extensive experience has positioned it as an expert at providing communication solutions across many verticals, including the financial, retail, healthcare, consumer health, energy, and not for profit sectors. As a result of its locations throughout Canada and in the United States (Chicago, Illinois), it is able to meet its clients' varying needs with scale, speed, and efficiency - no matter how large or complex theask. DCM is able to deliver advanced data security, regulatory compliance, and bilingual communications, both in print and/or digital formats. Additional information relating to DATA Communications Management Corp. is available on www.datacm.com, and in the disclosure documents filed by DATA Communications Management Corp. on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward looking" statements that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, objectives or achievements of DCM or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance, objectives or achievements expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. When used in this press release, words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "believe", "intend", "plan", and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements. These statements reflect DCM's current views regarding future events and operating performance, are based on information currently available to DCM, and speak only as of the date of this press release. These forward looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions and should not be read as guarantees that future performance or results will be achieved. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance, objectives or achievements of DCM to be materially different from any future results, performance, objectives or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward looking statements, including the changes in the Company's senior management and other factors discussed elsewhere in this press release and under the headings "Liquidity and capital resources" and "Risks and Uncertainties" in DCM's management's discussion and analysis and other publicly available disclosure documents, as filed by DCM on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in this press release as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Unless required by applicable securities law, DCM does not intend and does not assume any obligation to update these forward looking statements. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005724/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 23, 2021] Bank Iowa Selects Newgen for Streamlining its Account Opening Process MCLEAN, Va., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Newgen Software, a global provider of low code digital automation platform, announced that Bank Iowa has selected Newgen to digitize its account opening process. Bank Iowa is looking to leverage Newgen's online account opening software to enable omnichannel onboarding, augmenting both online and in-branch channels, and intuitively guiding customers through the process for a delightful experience. With Newgen's solution, built on a low code platform, the bank can accelerate customer acquisition, reduce abandonment rates, facilitate account maintenance, and rapidly respond to dynamic business needs. Furthermore, the solution seamlessly integrates with third-party systems, enables frictionless processing with user-friendly workflows, and bridges silos between front and back offices. "We consistently aspire to be the bank of choice for our clients, and enhancing our accountopening process through Newgen's software is a further reflection of that vision," said Jim Plagge, Bank Iowa, President and CEO. "With rising customer expectations, banks need to automate their processes with speed and agility. We are excited to help Bank Iowa build a connected bank foundation that can not only transform their onboarding process today, but also automate other customer-facing processes in future," said Anand Raman, EVP and COO, Newgen Software Inc. Newgen's purpose-built connected banking solutions continue to help leading financial institutions globally achieve their business goals and enable end-to-end customers' journeys. About Bank Iowa With more than $1.6 billion in assets, Bank Iowa ranks as one of the leading independent ag banks and the second-largest family owned bank in the state. Farmers, families and businesses access Bank Iowa's products and services through 26 locations in 23 communities, as well as online and on mobile devices. To learn more, visit bankiowa.bank. Member FDIC. About Newgen Software Inc. Newgen is a leading provider of low code digital automation platform. Globally, successful financial institutions, insurance, government, and shared services organizations rely on Newgen's industry-recognized products and applicationsto manage their processes (BPM), content (ECM), and communications (CCM)for connected operations. From customer onboarding to service requests, from loans and deposits to underwriting, and many more, Newgen's industry applications transform business-critical operations with agility. Newgen's cloud-based platform enables digital transformation initiatives for superior customer experience, optimized costs, and improved efficiencies. For more details, visit www.newgensoft.com Media contact: Asif Khan asif.khan@newgensoft.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bank-iowa-selects-newgen-for-streamlining-its-account-opening-process-301233493.html SOURCE Newgen Software Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Its nearly two months since turbulence erupted around China Huarong Asset Management Co.At the end of March, its 4% perpetual dollar bond was trading at 102 cents on the dollar as investors figured the January execution of former chairman Lai Xiaomin for bribery put a line under past wayward behavior. But the failure of the company to release 2020 results by a March 31 deadline, and a subsequent report by mainland media Caixin that the firm will restructure, sparked weeks of turmoil. The same bond is now at 57 cents.The heart of the matter is whether the central government will rescue a state-owned company thats integral to the smooth running of the financial system. While there are signs Beijing wants to ensure China Huarong can repay its debts on time, uncertainty prevails.Heres a look at the key events for China Huarong:May 28The company has wired funds to repay $978 million of notes maturing within the following week, according to Bloomberg News, the biggest bond payment since the 2020 results delay.May 27Liang Qiang, who currently heads another bad-debt manager, is on track to become president of China Huarong, reports Bloomberg News.May 24China Huarong dollar bonds climb after the managing editor of Caixin Media wrote in an opinion piece that the asset manager is nowhere near defaulting on its more than $20 billion of offshore notes.May 21Some of China Huarongs thinly traded onshore bonds slump after having held up better than the companys dollar-denominated notes, signaling broadening concern about the firms financial health.May 18China Huarong has transferred funds to repay a $300 million note maturing May 20, Bloomberg News reports, the first dollar bond to come due since the delayed 2020 results. Prices for the firms dollar bonds slump earlier in the day after the New York Times reports China is planning an overhaul that would inflict significant losses on both domestic and foreign China Huarong bondholders.May 17The company has reached funding agreements with state-owned banks to ensure it can repay debt through at least the end of August, by which time China Huarong aims to have completed its 2020 financial statements, according to a Bloomberg News report. That as at least two of its onshore bonds see big price declines in recent days, worrying some investors.May 13The firm says its prepared to make future bond payments and has seen no change in the level of government support, seeking to ease investor concerns after a local media report that regulators balked at China Hurarongs restructuring plan.May 6The company says it transferred funds to pay five offshore bond coupons due the following day, its latest move to meet debt obligations amid persistent doubts about its financial health.April 30China Huarong breaks its silence, with an executive telling media it is prepared to make its bond payments and state backing remains intact. The official also says the weeks rating downgrades have no factual basis and are too pessimistic.April 29Moodys Investor Service downgrades China Huarong by one notch to Baa1, adding the firm remains on watch for further downgrade. The cut reflects the companys weakened funding ability due to market volatility and increased uncertainty over its future, according to the statement.April 27China Huarong units repay bonds maturing that day. The S$600 million ($450 million) bond was repaid with funds provided by Chinas biggest state-owned bank, according to a Bloomberg News report.April 26Fitch Ratings downgrades China Huarong by three notches to BBB while dropping the companys perpetual bonds into junk territory. The lack of transparency over government support for the firm may hamper its ability to refinance debt in offshore markets, Fitch said.April 25China Huarong says it wont meet an April 30 deadline to file its 2020 report with Hong Kongs stock exchange because auditors needed more time to finalize a transaction the company first flagged on April 1. Securities and asset-management units said in the days before that they wouldnt release 2020 results by months end.April 22The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission asks lenders to extend China Huarongs upcoming loans by at least six months, according to REDD, citing two bankers from large Chinese commercial lenders.April 21China is considering a plan that would see its central bank assume more than 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) of China Huarong assets to help clean up the firms balance sheet, according to a Bloomberg News report. Peer China Cinda Asset Management Co. was said to be planning the sale of perpetual bonds in the second quarter.April 20China Huarongs key offshore financing unit says it returned to profitability in the first quarter and laid a solid foundation for transformation. Reorg Research reports that regulators are considering options including a debt restructuring of the unit, China Huarong International Holdings Ltd.April 19Huarong Securities Co. says it wired funds to repay a 2.5 billion yuan local note.April 16The CBIRC says China Huarongs operations are normal and that the firm has ample liquidity. These are the first official comments about the companys troubles. Reuters reports Chinese banks have been asked not to withhold loans to Huarong.April 13Fitch and Moodys both put the company on watch for downgrade. The finance ministry, which owns a majority of Huarong, is considering the transfer of its stake to a unit of the countrys sovereign wealth fund, Bloomberg News reports. Chinese officials signal they want failing local government financing vehicles to restructure or go bust if debts cant be repaid.April 9China Huarong says it has been making debt payments on time and its operations are normal. Bloomberg News reports the company intends to keep Huarong International as part of a potential overhaul that would avoid the need of a debt restructuring or government recapitalization. S&P Global Ratings puts China Huarongs credit ratings on watch for possible downgrade.April 8China Huarong is preparing to offload non-core and loss-making units as part of a broad plan to revive profitability that would avoid the need for a debt restructuring or government recapitalization, Bloomberg News reports.April 6Selling gains steam in China Huarongs dollar bonds, following a holiday in China. Huarong Securities says there has been no major change to its operations, in response to a price plunge for its 3 billion yuan local bond.April 1China Huarong announces a delay in releasing 2020 results, saying its auditor is unable to finalize a transaction. Stock trading is suspended and spreads jump on the firms dollar bonds while China Huarong tells investors its business is running as usual. Caixin reports the company submitted restructuring and other major reform plans to government officials and shareholders.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. The Alabama House of Representatives has passed legislation intended to give judges more authority to deny bail, a move that comes in response to the murder of college student Aniah Blanchard of Homewood in 2019. The man charged in Blanchards death was out on bond after being charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, and robbery. Lawmakers named the bill Aniahs law. Blanchards mother, father, stepfather and stepmother all came to the State House last year to speak in favor of the bills. The House passed the two bills today by votes of 101-0 and 102-0. One is a constitutional amendment. The Alabama Constitution says defendants have a right to bail unless they are charged with capital murder. The amendment, if approved by voters, would add exceptions to that. Related: Its hard to live without her: Aniah Blanchards mother on anniversary of kidnapping, murder Blanchard, 19, was a former junior high cheerleader and high school softball player from Homewood. She was a student at Southern Union State Community College when she was abducted from an Auburn convenience store in October 2019. Her body was found in woods off a rural Macon County road in November 2019. Ibraheem Yazeed is charged with capital murder in her death. The bills, by Rep. Chip Brown, R-Mobile, move to the Senate. If the Legislature approves the bills and voters approve the constitutional amendment, prosecutors could request a hearing to ask judges to deny bail for people charged with certain crimes. Those include murder, assault, kidnapping, rape, sodomy, sexual torture, domestic violence, human trafficking, burglary, arson, robbery, terrorism, and aggravated child abuse. The defendant would have the right to be represented by a lawyer, testify, present witnesses and evidence and cross-examine witnesses. For a judge to deny bail, the prosecutor would have to prove to the court by clear and convincing evidence that no conditions could ensure the defendants appearance in court or the safety of the community or a person. Rep. John Rogers, D-Birmingham, said he would support the bills and understood the effort to respond to Blanchards murder. But Rogers questioned the need for the legislation, saying judges could already deny bail. Vote for it because its a nice gesture, Rogers said. Any judge worth his salt is going to do the same thing anyway. This bill does exactly whats already being done. But Brown said judges interpret the right to bond differently. This sets a standard across the board that isnt up to the determination of the judge, Brown said. Updated at 4:19 p.m. to add list of crimes that could lead to a denial of bail. Ghislaine Maxwell has filed a third application for bail, this time offering to renounce her British and French citizenship so she cannot seek refuge in either country. In a new court filing on Tuesday, the alleged chief recruiter for Jeffrey Epstein said she would 'immediately' give up her citizenship from the UK, the country where she grew up, in exchange for her release. Giving up her citizenship with France, which has no extradition treaty with the US, would be 'expedited', her lawyers said. Maxwell would also put all the money and assets she owns into an account supervised by an asset manager who would sign off on any spending. Maxwell's lawyers said the measures were 'sufficient to address the hypothetical risk of flight and secure Ms. Maxwell's presence at trial.' But they face a high bar against a judge who has twice ruled already that Maxwell should remain behind bars until her trial in July. Jeffrey Epstein's alleged madam Ghislaine Maxwell has applied for bail for a third time, by offering to give up her UK and French citizenship so that she won't be considered a flight risk, according to new a court filing The 59-year-old British socialite (pictured in a court sketch last year) was arrested last July on child sex trafficking charges and has remained jailed on grounds she might flee New York federal court judge Alison Nathan has said that 'no combination of conditions' would ensure Maxwell attends court. The filing comes after Maxwell's lawyers have bitterly complained to the court about her treatment at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. They have said she is 'withering to a shell of her former self', losing her hair and is being abused by the guards. In a nine-page filing, Maxwell's lawyer Bobbi Sternheim said that the 59-year-old socialite 'will renounce her French and British citizenship to eliminate any opportunity for her to seek refuge in those countries.' Maxwell currently has British, French and American citizenship. 'The requisite paperwork is in the process of being completed. Renunciation of UK citizenship can be accomplished immediately upon granting of bail,' Sternheim wrote. 'The process of renouncing her French citizenship, while not immediate, may be expedited.' Sternheim called citizenship a 'priceless asset' and Maxwell's offer to give up citizenship from 'the county of her birth and the country of her upbringing demonstrates her earnestness to abide by the conditions of her release.' She wrote that doing this 'should satisfy any concerns the court may have that Ms. Maxwell may try to seek a safe haven in France or the United Kingdom.' The letter said that Maxwell would be prepared to put all assets she and her husband Scott Borgerson own into a new account to be overseen by an asset manager. Maxwell has repeatedly complained about the conditions inside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn (pictured) where she is being held until her trial in July The account will contain all of the couple's cash and liquid assets and anything from the 'pending sale' of her $2million home in London, revealing for the first time that the home is being sold. Maxwell offered a retired federal judge, William Duffey, as the asset manager and said he will have to approve any expenditure from the account apart from legal fees and taxes. The only funds in the account will be money held in escrow for lawyers - her previous disclosures said she has $7.6million in legal retainers - and $450,000 for Mr Borgerson's living expenses. Sternheim said that Maxwell's motions filed in recent months 'significantly call into question the strength of the government's case against Ms. Maxwell and the underlying justification for continued detention'. She complained about how Maxwell has been 'depicted as a cartoon-character villain' to turn her into a 'substitute replacement for Jeffrey Epstein.' Sternheim wrote: 'Ms. Maxwell is determined - and welcomes the opportunity - to face her accusers at trial and clear her name', Maxwell's second bail application had offered a $28.5million package with an emotional letter from Mr Borgerson. Ghislaine was a wealthy socialite, moving in elite circles until she virtually disappeared from public view in 2016 after Virginia Roberts - Epstein's main accuser - filed a lawsuit against her (pictured, Epstein and Ghislaine in New York in 2015) That included $22.5million in assets she owns with Mr Borgerson and another $5million from friends and family. Maxwell had offered to give up her passports and submit to home confinement and electronic monitoring, but Judge Nathan rejected it. In the third bail application, Sternheim said that the new measures enhance the already extraordinarily restrictive bail conditions' they have put forward. Maxwell, the daughter of disgraced newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell, is accused of enticing girls as young as 14 to Epstein to abuse and perjury. She has pleaded not guilty. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Pennsylvania Department of Health reported on Tuesday an increase of 2,830 new cases of coronavirus across the state. Those new cases brought the states case count up to 917,848 total cases since March 6. There were also 97 new deaths reported on Tuesday, bringing Pennsylvanias death toll to 23,711 coronavirus-related deaths. Pennsylvania crossed the 2,000,000-dose mark in its ongoing distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. The states hospitals and other healthcare facilities have distributed 2,034,123 total doses of the vaccine as of Tuesday. Of that total, 559,644 residents have received the full vaccine of two doses, and there are 914,835 residents who have received the first of two doses. The state has received a total of 3,172,900 doses of the vaccine, so with 2,034,123 of those in the arms of Pennsylvanians, there are 1,138,777 vaccines allocated for first and second doses. However, given the Moderna shortage due to both internal mishaps and winter weather, there have been a number of shakeups and rescheduled appointments among healthcare providers. (Cant see the map? Click here.) COVID vaccine distribution continues Pennsylvania began receiving vaccine doses on Dec. 14 the first to reach arms was the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and the Moderna vaccine followed on Dec. 21. With 2,034,123 doses of those vaccines distributed to Pennsylvanians in the roughly two months the production process has been in place, the state has reached about a quarter of the needed vaccine supply for Phase 1A, which has been reported is an estimated 4 million eligible Pennsylvanians, therefore requiring 8 million vaccine doses. The vaccine rollout has been slow across the country. And in Pennsylvania, that was exacerbated by a screw-up with allocated Moderna vaccines last week followed by winter weather delays, causing a shortage among providers. Providers have been scrambling to reschedule appointments across the state, including here in the Lehigh Valley, though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that while 21 (Pfizer) and 28 (Moderna) days are the recommended timeframes between the shots, up to 42 days is allowable. (Cant see the map? Click here.) As Pennsylvania healthcare providers right the ship over the next couple of weeks, vaccine appointments may be hard to come by. Many appointments that needed to be rescheduled are being moved to the following week at the same time and place. However, more help could be on the way. On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration is expected to recommend the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for emergency use authorization. The vaccine, the third to be approved in the United States, requires only a single dose, unlike Pfizer and Moderna, which require two. Johnson & Johnson has said that the company is able to distribute 20 million vaccines by the end of March. The states Federal Pharmacy Partnership reached a notable milestone last week, Gov. Tom Wolf announced on Tuesday. More than 600 skilled nursing facilities, which are being vaccinated by Walgreens and CVS, have received their first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. More than 315,000 doses of the vaccine have been administered. The first round of vaccinations at personal care and assisted living facilities will be done by the end of February, according to a state briefing on Tuesday. CVS is on track to complete second doses in 1,800 assisted living facilities by mid-March. In Phase 1A, anyone over the age of 65 is eligible for the vaccine, as well as those who have underlying conditions that put them at higher risk for COVID-19. Cases, deaths, hospitalizations all continuing to drop The states COVID-19 numbers are all in the midst of a steady downtrend thats been occurring over the last month. The 2,830 new cases reported on Tuesday are a bit higher than the slow reporting totals from Sunday and Monday, but it has the states seven-day rolling average sitting at 2,659. Exactly a week ago, on Feb. 16, the average was 500 cases higher. (Cant see the chart? Click here.) On Monday, the states testing average dipped below 10,000 new tests per day for the first time since June 15 on Tuesday, it calculated to 9,997 new tests per day over the last week. However, the seven-day positivity rate, which is currently at 26.6%, has been lowering slowly and steadily. The states deaths have also continued to see a general downtrend, though its day-to-day movement fluctuates heavily Sundays and Mondays see minor jumps in the death toll while the end of the week has consistently higher increases. The middle of the week is often a mixed bag on Tuesday, there were 97 new deaths reported, while exactly one week prior, there were only seven. Death reports can often be delayed, causing inconsistent increases of the 97 new deaths reported Tuesday, the majority, 81, were from February, but there were also seven from December, three from January, two from June and one each from April, May, July and November. Tuesday also saw a slight jump in the states seven-day death average, currently at 84 per day. (Cant see the chart? Click here.) Hospitalizations have also continued to decrease. There are currently 1,963 patients hospitalized due to COVID-19, 418 of them in the Intensive Care Unit and 240 on a ventilator. Its a marked improvement from even just a couple of weeks ago. Today, the hospitalization numbers are lower than they were during the first wave of the pandemic in April and May. And while theyre still not close to the lows the state saw over the summer and early fall, things are trending that direction. COVID in the Lehigh Valley There were 233 new cases of COVID-19 reported on the Lehigh Valley on Tuesday 85 in Lehigh County and 148 in Northampton County. That brings the regions combined case count to 56,671 cases. Lehigh County has 30,315 total cases, while Northampton County has 26,356. Lehigh County also reported two more deaths, while Northampton County reported one, bringing the Lehigh Valley death toll to 1,380 748 in Lehigh County and 632 in Northampton County. (Cant see the chart? Click here.) 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. This seems an odd statement to make since most persons view public debt as a monster to be confined and slain. However, reasonable enquiry reveals the opposite to be true. Once a community, that is a town, city, state, province or nation incurs a public debt, simple cost and benefit analysis confirms that it should never reduce or erase that debt. One should bear in mind that I distinguish the act of reducing ones debts from that of repaying one's lenders; For they are not the same. Before we begin one thing must be made plain. Most people, especially economists, have a very poor understanding of public finances owing to a grand blunder made long ago and still persisting in this enlightened age. It is a glaring and mostly ignored fact that government does not furnish any of the funds or rather the resources with which to fund public expenditures or settle public debts. Government has no money or resources. Its deficit is the full amount of public expenditures regardless of whether funds are taxed by fines or penalties or borrowed by financial inducement. The important task of funding government, i.e. public expenditures, has always fallen wholly upon taxpayers or rather resident citizens, and, specifically, the collective of their assets, incomes, and property. Thus, one should always assess the transactions of public finance through this Collective to determine facts and arrive at truth. Doing so changes everything. One should always repay lenders. This commandment is never in dispute. But repaying creditors is not the same as reducing ones debts or liabilities. A bank in its often long history invariably repays lenders, but it rarely if ever reduces debts or liabilities. The long practice in banking is the exchange of one lender or depositor for another, transferring an outstanding obligation from an initial lender to a subsequent lender after reimbursement of all interest and principle with the bank as intermediary. Corporations and individuals operate similarly in that their liabilities generally rise through the years, meaning the sums borrowed only ever increase. Of course, an individual person, being a finite being, tends to reduce liabilities as he nears the end of his existence, but he needn't as his estate should settle all debts. The issue is whether one should reduce ones debts or outstanding liabilities. Simple cost and benefit analysis supplies an easy answer. Let us say that I have an outstanding debt with an interest charge annually of 5%. I later come into some money. I may invest it at 10%. Should I reduce my debt or invest the money? I should invest it, clearly, using half of the proceeds to pay my loan interest and the rest for some other worthy use, perhaps reducing part of my debt in absence of better returns. If the initial lender seeks repayment, then I should seek another lender as long as he is willing to accept less than 10%. If not, I should reduce or pay off my debt. Therefore, I should reduce my debt only if the cost of interest on my loan rises above the return to be derived from an investment. With the public finances of a community the analysis is much the same. The community should only reduce its public debts as long as the financial benefit to the collective of assets, property, and incomes of resident citizens exceeds the cost. Let us say the government of a certain community requires $100 funds for a public investment. It decides to borrow the funds, but only from resident lenders, that is solely from the collective of assets of that community. The Collective incurs a public debt or claim of $100. An equivalent asset of $100 is also added to the Collective as resident lenders, their assets comprising part of the Collective, hold the note. The rise of $100 in the assets of the Collective negates the $100 rise in liabilities, leaving the finances of the Collective effectively unaltered. Let us say the government allots interest on the public debt, say $10. The interest increases the public debt of or claim against the Collective by $10 to $110. But as the public debt is held by resident citizens, specifically lenders in receipt of interest, the assets of the Collective rise by the same $10 to $110. With the interest allotment the rise in public debt claimed against the Collective matches exactly the rise in assets held by it, leaving the finances of the Collective again effectively unaltered. If the community seeks to ease its financial burden, should it extinguish the debt or should continue to carry it? If the community continues to carry the debt, perpetually exchanging lenders as banks do, the initial debt plus increases in allotted interest leave the finances of the Collective effectively unaltered as the years pass. If the community decides to extinguish the debt, it must do so by taxation. The government recalls the outstanding bonds. The public debt of $110 in principle and interest claimed against the Collective is extinguished along with the matching asset of $110 held within the Collective. Funds of $110 transfer from resident taxpayers to resident lenders, moving from one part of the Collective of assets to another. With equivalent asset and liability of $110 erased and the funds transfer of $110 kept within the bounds of the Collective, its finances are unaltered in the transaction. The result for the collective of assets of the community is the same regardless of whether the debt endures through perpetual public borrowing or is extinguished through Taxation. If carrying public debt effectively yields the same financial result as reducing or erasing the public debt, what is the benefit of erasing the public debt? There is no benefit to a community ever reducing its public debt. However, Taxation is a costly method of raising funds to pay for public expenditures or to settle debts, far more costly than borrowing and carrying the debt into perpetuity. Taxation bears immense costs for a nation in deterrence: taxes being fines or penalties that discourage people from doing what they normally would do were there no taxation; and in squander: government being free to take and spend as it please. Such costs disappear with full public borrowing, that an interminable begging for funds from the residents of a community. Thus, it is always best that a community have its government borrow instead of tax to fund public expenditures, and never reduce the accruing interest and principle owed to citizens as bizarre as it seems. But that is another article. In an open letter to President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and members of their national healthcare team, leaders of the American Diabetes Association, Black Women's Health Imperative, Easterseals and March of Dimes said the four service organizations' programs bear witness to the healthcare challenges Black Americans receive starting at birth. "We urge you to prioritize solutions to remedy these persistent health care inequities within the Black community that have only worsened during the pandemic," the CEOs write in the open letter, published in The Hill, Politico, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. The full text is available at easterseals.com. Racial Equity Concern Spans Health Conditions The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the nation's health equity shortcomings. The coronavirus death rate among Blacks is 1.9 times that of whites, the CDC reported last week. The nonprofit leaders applaud Biden's plans to strengthen the Affordable Care Act and to protect Medicaid. Access to affordable, quality health care, plus intervention and prevention programs, they say, "promise to change the trajectory for communities of color." "We believe it is critical to raise health equity as a shared concern as the Biden administration addresses issues within the healthcare system," said Easterseals President and CEO Angela F. Williams, who organized the statement. "Blacks often experience life and negotiate the healthcare system with greater challenges. We are all too familiar with this given that we lead organizations with similar missions and are regularly called on to use our positions to support the Black community and help shape a more equitable society. "As one of the nation's largest nonprofit healthcare organizations, Easterseals provides a range of services for children and adults with disabilities, seniors and veterans," she continued. "One in 4 Americans today are living with disability, and of these individuals, 1 in 4 is Black. That gives us a wide and diverse view of health equity. "With such a broad perspective, we see disturbing trends in healthcare parity that must be addressed," Williams continued. Black children are diagnosed later than their peers with developmental or intellectual disabilities. Black adults with disabilities find it harder to afford, access or advocate for care and, as they age, experience worse outcomes from a range of chronic diseases. COVID-19 has compounded these health inequities across generations of Black Americans." COVID Crisis Puts Blacks at Greater Risk The CEOs believe that political action can better the state of the Black community's social determinants of health -- unfair and avoidable conditions the World Health Organization cites as mostly responsible for health inequities -- and remove systemic barriers to racial equity. This year, Easterseals established its Black Child Fund, supporting philanthropic giving to close gaps in childcare, education and healthcare equity that have widened in the pandemic. It also introduced a new advocacy program, All In, to guide employer progress on equity in the workplace, where lower wages contribute to health insecurity for workers with disabilities. Biden and Harris campaigned on pledges to advance affordable health insurance, quality care and a less complex system that ensures healthcare rights. Biden's Nov. 7 victory speech made a callout to equity issues: "We must make the promise of the country real for everybody -- no matter their race, their ethnicity, their faith, their identity or their disability." Williams was joined in signing the open letter by Tracey D. Brown, CEO of the American Diabetes Association; Linda Goler Blount, president and CEO of the Black Women's Health Imperative; and Stacey D. Stewart, president and CEO of the March of Dimes. About Easterseals Easterseals has served as an indispensable resource for individuals with disabilities, veterans, seniors and their families for more than 100 years. Together, its 67 affiliates in communities nationwide serve 1.5 million people annually through high-quality programs, including autism services, early intervention, workforce development and adult day services. Driven by its purpose to change the way the world defines and views disability, Easterseals makes profound, positive differences in people's lives every day. Learn more at easterseals.com. For more information contact: Kelley Quinn Purpose Brand [email protected] (773) 879-3809 SOURCE Easterseals Metairie, LA: May 22, 2021 Pressure washing your home and drive can be a messy business but All Clean Pressure Washing has been providing the right solution for clients for the past four years. With an eye for detail, customer care, and quality services guaranteed, the All Clean Pressure Washing team provides a host of services for residential and commercial clients. The company offers complete washing solutions for Lahore, Feb 23 : The election appellate tribunal court of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday dismissed an appeal by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's (PML-N) former Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid against the rejection of his nomination papers for Senate elections by the Returning Officer. Last week, Rashid challenged the impugned order at the Punjab Election Appellate Tribunal of the LHC, saying that he was ready to address the objections raised by the returning officer, the Express Tribune reported. One of the objections pertained to a purported demand raised by Comptroller Punjab House, Islamabad through a notice on January 17, 2019, for an amount of Rs 6.9 million and another notice for an amount of Rs 2.65 million, making a total of over Rs 9.5 million. The Punjab government had released a list of people, including Rashid, who had not cleared their bills for staying and having meals at the Punjab House. During the hearing, Rashid's counsels cited several judgments in support of his client, establishing that the RO's order was against the norms of the law. The counsel added that not clearing the dues had not been the intention of their client, adding their client wanted to deposit the money but neither any officer was ready to hear him nor any account details were provided for the purpose. The respondent side strongly opposed the stance, imploring that the RO, accepting the stance of Pervaiz Rashid, had given him 24 hours to submit the dues, but he failed to do so. On the occasion, Comptroller Punjab House informed the court that his office was operational and the staff was also present there but no one contacted them for getting the dues deposited. Justice Sahid Waheed asked the comptroller where the audit was carried out, at which he replied that it was carried out at Punjab House, Islamabad. The comptroller further said that the notices were received at Rashid's residence in Defense Housing Authority. The counsels implored the court that their client had not received any notice from the Punjab House relating to his outstanding dues and their client had also submitted an application before the Returning Officer for clearing all dues but his application was rejected. During the hearing, Advocate General Punjab argued that the petitioner submitted his declaration on oath but astonishingly enough, he did not mention the dues anywhere in his nomination papers. He added that the said room was allotted to Rashid and he himself had to clear his dues. The respondent's counsel further said that the Supreme Court had ordered recovery from Rashid in the Ataul Haq Qasmi case. At this, the judge asked whether the counsel wanted to raise another objection. Shehzad Shaukat argued, "I'm raising objection on the nomination papers of Pervaiz Rashid in light of the verdict of the top court," saying the top court had maintained that the petitioner appointed Qasmi illegally. The petitioner's counsels responded, saying that an appeal is still pending with the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on the case. Petitioner's counsels argued that the dues could be deposited before the election adding several verdicts of Supreme Court of Pakistan are available. Justice Waheed noted, "you mentioned the bank account on page 40 of your appeal. And you did not deny anywhere in your appeal that you had not used the room of the Punjab House." Pervaiz Rashid, he added, should have cleared the dues at the time when he left the room. At this, the counsel maintained that Punjab House could get the dues cleared by issuing notices to the Senate chairman. He prayed to the court to issue directions for depositing of the dues and direct the RO to accept the nomination papers of the petitioner and include his name in the final list of the candidates. Soon after the appeal's dismissal, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz reacted to the development, saying, "Pervaiz Rashid is the name of a narrative, an ideology, and democracy. He is and will continue to be Nawaz Sharif's reliable acquaintance and an asset of the party and the national politics." YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 23, ARMENPRESS. Members of Armenias parliamentary delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly met on February 23 with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Sweden to the Republic of Armenia Patrik Svensson, the Armenian Parliament told Armenpress. The Head of the Armenian delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Hayk Konjoryan presented the situation created as a consequence of war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh. He particularly voiced the issue of the Armenian prisoners of war being in Azerbaijan, noting that Azerbaijan, refusing to return the Armenian prisoners of war, violated the tripartite statement signed on November 9, as well as the rules of the international humanitarian law. The members of the Armenian Delegation highlighted that the international community would make targeted and addressed pressures against Azerbaijan, so they would fulfil the obligations assumed by the tripartite statement. It was noted that the right to free self-determination of Artsakh people should be laid down on the basis of the final settlement of the Artsakh issue, and it should be in the format of the OSCE Minsk Group three Co-Chairs. The humanitarian problems should be settled on the basis of the international humanitarian law, as well as on the tripartite statement. The peace has no alternative, and we should make all efforts to have it stable, the Ambassador said. For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. Amazon has for years given preferential treatment to a small group of sellers on its India platform, publicly misrepresented its ties with the sellers and used them to circumvent increasingly tough foreign investment rules that affect e-commerce, internal company documents reviewed by Reuters show. The documents, dated between 2012 and 2019, are reported here for the first time. They provide an inside look at the cat-and-mouse game Amazon has played with India's government, adjusting its corporate structures each time the government imposed new restrictions aimed at protecting small traders. Here's a full special report on the Amazon strategy. With Amazon facing increasing scrutiny by Indian regulators, news of the strategy detailed in the documents could deepen the risks for the company in one of its key growth markets. Indian traders, who are a crucial part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's support base, have long alleged that Amazon's platform largely benefits a few big sellers and that the e-commerce giant engages in predatory pricing that harms their businesses. Also read: Mahindra electric vehicles to power Amazon India deliveries In a written statement, Amazon said that it "has always complied with the law" in India and that "as government policies have continued to evolve, we have consistently made the necessary changes to ensure compliance at all times." Amazon also said it "does not give preferential treatment to any seller on its marketplace," and that it "treats all sellers in a fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory manner, with each seller responsible for independently determining prices and managing their inventory." Here are more key findings from the special report: - The documents reveal that the American e-commerce giant helped a small number of sellers prosper and gave them discounted fees, using them to bypass India's regulatory restrictions on foreign investment aimed at protecting small traders. - Some 33 Amazon sellers accounted for about a third of the value of all goods sold on the company's website in early 2019, the documents show. Another two big sellers merchants in which Amazon had indirect equity stakes accounted for around 35% of the platform's sales revenue in early 2019. That meant some 35 of Amazon's more than 400,000 sellers in India at the time accounted for around two-thirds of its online sales. - Amazon exercised significant control over the inventory of some of the biggest sellers on Amazon.in, the documents show, even though it says publicly that all sellers operate independently on its platform. - Amazon helped Cloudtail, a seller in which it has an indirect equity stake, cut special deals with big tech manufacturers such as Apple Inc, the documents show. - One document contains a frank appraisal of Modi. "PM Modi is not an intellectual or an academic but believes that strong administration and governance is the key to running a successful government," it said. Amazon says it is helping small and medium businesses in India grow and that it now has over 700,000 sellers on its platform. During a visit to India in January last year, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced that the company would spend $1 billion to bring small businesses online in the country. That would take Amazon's total committed India investment to $6.5 billion. Amazon had close to $10 billion in India sales in 2019, according to Forrester Research. Reporting by Aditya Kalra. A 16-year-old boy is fighting for his life after being stabbed in Brixton, south London earlier this evening. Police were called to Henry Road in SW9 at 6.15pm following reports of a stabbing. Officers and paramedics found the victim - who is believed to be 16 - suffering from a stab wound. A 16-year-old boy is fighting for his life after being stabbed in Brixon, south London earlier this evening. The victim has been rushed to a south London hospital where he is described as being in a 'critical condition' He was raced to a south London hospital where he is believed to be in a critical condition. Forensics officers have secured the crime scene and are searching for clues to track down the attackers. Nobody has yet been arrested in connection with the crime. Police are appealing for information and ask anyone who knows anything to come forward by calling 101 or tweeting @MetCC and quote CAD 6277/23Feb. Alternatively, call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Following the stabbing, a senior officer has authorised a section 60 order for an area including Brixton Road, Camberwell New Road, Denmark Hill and Coldharbour Lane. The section 60 order will expire at 6.45am tomorrow. 75 Republican Members of Congress Urge Biden to Withdraw Xavier Becerras HHS Nomination Eleven Republican senators and 64 Republican House members are urging President Joe Biden to withdraw his nomination of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to serve as the next Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). The members of Congress, led by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), sent a letter (pdf) to Biden on Monday to express grave concerns over the nomination, arguing that Becerra was not qualified for the role given his record in public service revealing extremism and contempt for those who take a different view. Mr. Becerras lack of healthcare experience, enthusiasm for replacing private health insurance with government-run Medicare-for-all, and embrace of radical policies on immigration, abortion, and religious liberty, render him unfit for any position of public trust, and especially for HHS Secretary, the senators wrote. Becerra needs 51 votes in the Senate to be confirmed. Becerras office did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times request for comment. California attorney General Xavier Becerra (C) speaks during a news conference with California Gov. Gavin Newsom (R) at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., on Aug. 16, 2019. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) The other senators who co-signed the letter were Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), John Kennedy (R-La.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) led the House effort. Becerra, who has an economics and law background, has previously served 12 terms in Congress as a House of Representative member, where he took on leadership roles in several committees and served as Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. He also served in the California Legislature for one term. The lawmakers argued in their letter that Becerra has no meaningful experience in healthcare, public health, large-scale logistics, or any other areas critical to meeting our present challenges. Mr. Becerras lack of qualifications is particularly alarming given the important role the HHS Secretary will play in efforts to develop and distribute vaccines, coordinate research efforts, and draft critical regulations to carry out recovery legislation, they wrote. The Republicans also took issue with Becerras support for radical leftist policies that they argue would inflict great harm on millions of Americans. They told Biden that the appointment would contradict your calls for unity. At a time when Americans can least afford it, Mr. Becerra enthusiastically supports eliminating the private health insurance market for 160 million Americans, only to replace it with a government takeover branded as Medicare-for-all, they wrote. The resulting reimbursement cuts would devastate rural health care providers working to stay solvent during the pandemic and would be a slap in the face to the doctors, nurses and other health care workers keeping our communities healthy and safe. A number of religious liberty groups and pro-life advocates have similarly expressed concern over Becerras nomination, arguing that his record as California attorney general demonstrates his hostility toward pro-life and religious causes. When Becerra was serving as a U.S. House member, he voted against a bill that aims to protect minors from driving across state borders to get an abortion without parental consent. He had also voted against a law aimed at prohibiting a form of late termination of pregnancy called partial-birth abortion. Becerra also voted against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act that protects unborn children by recognizing an embryo or fetus in utero as a legal victim. Xavier Becerra is particularly concerning for his extreme positions on abortion. While a majority of Americans support at least some restrictions on abortion, Xavier Becerra has a record of expanding abortion access, challenging laws that protect women, and consistently voting against bills that would protect women and unborn children, Matt Sharp, senior counsel and state government relations national director at the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), previously told The Epoch Times. Becerra also indicated a lack of respect for the freedom of religious institutions in society during his 2017 confirmation hearing in California. [In] regards to religious protections, the protection for religion is for the individual, and so I think its important to distinguish between protections that you are affording to the individual to exercise his or her religion freely, versus protections you are giving to some institution or entity whos essentially bootstrapping the First Amendment protections on behalf of somebody else, Becerra responded to Assemblyman James Gallagher at the time when asked about religious liberties. Not only has Xavier Becerra sued the Little Sisters of the Poor to coerce them to abandon their religious commitments that conflicted with Obama Administration policies concerning contraception and abortion, but he has also been a vocal and supportive ally of Planned Parenthood, professor Edward A. Morse, who is a member of the board of directors of the Thomas More Society, previously told The Epoch Times. He has been instrumental in focusing the states prosecutorial powers on members of the pro-life cause, including David Daleiden, who have shined light on the business practices of Planned Parenthood and others in the abortion industry. The White House did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times request for comment. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Monday that Biden backed Becerra for his decades of healthcare policy experience. She pointed in particular to his role in leading the defense of the Affordable Care Act in the Supreme Court in November last year. The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you, we are excited to offer 4 weeks FREE Digital & Print access to all subscribers new and returning alike. We are dedicated to continuing providing reliable, high quality journalism. This is possible with the trust and support of our subscribers in the community we are proud to serve. Former Deputy Prime Minister, Thokozani Khupe, says she does not recognize Douglas Mwonzoras leadership of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change following his election at an Extraordinary Congress (EOC) last December to replace the last partys founding president, Morgan Tsvangirai. In a letter addressed to the press, Khupe confirmed that she met with Senator Douglas Mwonzora in Harare on 18 February, 2021, for the first time after the December 2020 Extraordinary Congress. The following issues were discussed violence, illegitimate voters roll as well as inquorate EOC among others, illegal appointments in the Standing Committee which are a violation of the party constitution; that the National Council held on 6 February 2021 had no mandate to alter or amend the constitution. Khupe and other contestants walked out of the EOC venue following violence, which was allegedly perpetrated by Mzonworas supporters. She claims that the EOC presidential election was rigged by Mwonzora, who says he beat all the candidates, including Khupe, vice president Elias Mudzuri and chairperson Morgen Komichi. Khupe boycotted Tuesdays press conference held at the partys headquarters in Harare claiming that she wanted Mwonzora to first address all outstanding issues before appearing together in public. She said, My absence in todays press conference held at MRT was informed by the need to address the aforementioned important issues to enhance the smooth running of our great movement. Mwonzora nominated Khupe as one of his deputies following a National Council meeting this year. The Supreme Court declared Khupe the legitimate interim leader of the MDC-T and urged the party to hold an EOC before the end of 2020. The court declared as null and void Nelson Chamisas leadership of the party. Chamisa got over two million votes in the 2018 presidential election and still claims that he beat the ultimate winner President Emmerson Mnangagwa. You have to ask: Why wasnt this location upgraded? Zalmezak said. When we talked to Cinemark about it, all we got was a lot of hedging and grumbling about the landlord not participating in more of the costs. Sen. Ted Cruz wasn't the only elected official who wasn't in Texas last week. The Dallas Morning News' Lauren McGaughy and Allie Morris broke the news that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton traveled to Utah last week as the state faced unprecedented freezing temperatures that caused millions to lose power. AFTER THE FREEZE: Anger toward Texas governor grows in deadly storm's wake According to McGaughy and Morris, Paxton was in Utah by Wednesday afternoon to meet with Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes regarding an antitrust lawsuit against Google that several states are pursuing. The meeting was planned before the statewide emergency, but it is unclear why it was not rescheduled. Paxton's campaign spokesperson Ian Prior would not confirm when Paxton left for Utah or when he returned. Paxtons spokesperson confirmed the attorney general's house also lost power, but said Paxton did not leave the state until after power had returned to most of the state, including his own home," McGaughy and Morris report. However, Paxton posted a tweet Wednesday evening criticizing the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, and announcing that his office would investigate the blackouts. Nearly 3 million customers were without power on Wednesday, the day Paxton was in Utah. "ERCOT & other energy cos have slipped & fallen on their faces & its not the ices fault. They have left 3+ million homes w/o power for days, including my own," Paxton wrote. LAWSUITS COMING FOR ERCOT: Conroe family files $100 million lawsuit after son's death during winter storm ERCOT is a private nonprofit corporation, not an energy company. It is subject to oversight by the Texas Legislature and the Public Utility Commission, a state agency whose commissioners are appointed by the Texas governor. The attorney general also represents the Public Utility Commission in state and federal court. The Attorney Generals Consumer Protection Division is also responsible for investigating price gouging reports in the state. Harris County saw more than 500 cases of price gouging during the winter storm as of Friday. Paxton is currently under investigation by the FBI after several staffers alleged Paxton helped a campaign donor, the Houston Chronicle's Taylor Goldenstein reports. He has also been under indictment for felony securities fraud for five years. [February 23, 2021] Mechanical Technology, Incorporated and subsidiary, EcoChain, Inc. Announce Appointment of Will Hazelip to Board of Directors ALBANY, N.Y., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mechanical Technology, Incorporated ("MTI" or the "Company"), (OTCQB: MKTY), the parent company of MTI Instruments, Inc. and EcoChain, Inc. ("EcoChain"), a cryptocurrency mining business powered by renewable energy, announced today that its Board of Directors has appointed William Hazelip ("Will" or "Mr. Hazelip") as a member of the Board, effective immediately. MTI's Board of Directors now has seven members, including Mr. Hazelip. Mr. Hazelip will be placed in the class of directors with a term that will expire in 2023. To support our rapidly growing EcoChain business, the Company intends to bolster the Boards' expertise. Knowledge of the power generation and transmission business, as well as project finance, will be vital to the Company as it continues to scale EcoChain. Will is an accomplished leader in the energy industry, with deep experience in utility project development, financing, regulation, and operations. He currently serves as President, Global Transmission (US) and Strategic Growth, for National Grid Ventures ("NGV"). In this role Will develops new business opportunities in electric transmission, energy storage, and renewable energy. Previously, he was the Managing Director, Business Development at Duke Energy Corporation and the President of Path 15 Transmission, an independent electric transmission company in California, where he led the acquisition for Duke Energy Corporation. Mr. Hazelip also provides extensive Board experience having served as the Chairman of the Board of a multi-billion dollar natural gas pipeline company, the Vice-Chairman of the Board of a growing electric transmission company, and a Board Representative of a renewable energy and battery storage joint venture with NextEra Energy Resources. Michael Toporek, CEO of MTI, commented, "Mr. Hazelip's extensive knowledge of electric and gas transmission systems across the U.S. and Europe are a good fit to assist us in scaling the Company's rapidly growing EcoChain business. Will's experience willbe invaluable to the Company. We are delighted to welcome him to the Board." Will added, "I am excited to lend my power generation and transmission expertise and insight to the Board and the Company's innovative subsidiary, EcoChain. With multiple projects underway and the business poised to scale, EcoChain is on the cusp of meaningful growth, and I look forward to working with my fellow Board members to achieve the Company's strategic goals." As the senior executive leader of NGV in the U.S., Will oversees business units with existing partnerships worth approximately $750 million, that produce approximately $50 million in annual operating profit with $700 million of secured growth and expected future growth to $3 billion over the next decade. He is responsible for delivering financial returns, establishing new businesses and partnerships, and identifying new opportunities to lead the clean energy transition. Mr. Hazelip began his career as an Area Director for CWL Investments, LLC, a Michigan investor group, that owns and operates restaurant franchises including Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwich Shops. Will earned a Bachelor of Arts, from Emory University, Atlanta, GA, and an International Master of Business Administration (IMBA), from the Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC. About MTI MTI is the parent company of MTI Instruments, Inc. and EcoChain, Inc. Through MTI Instruments, MTI is engaged in the design, manufacture and sale of test and measurement instruments and systems that use a comprehensive array of technologies to solve complex, real world applications in numerous industries, including manufacturing, electronics, semiconductor, solar, commercial and military aviation, automotive and data storage. Through EcoChain, MTI is developing cryptocurrency mining facilities powered by renewable energy that integrate with the blockchain network. For more information about MTI, please visit https://www.mechtech.com . Forward Looking Statement This communication contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current expectations, as of the date of this communication, and involve certain risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include statements herein with respect to the successful execution of the Company's business strategy. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Such risks and uncertainties include, among other things, our ability to establish and maintain the proprietary nature of our technology through the patent process, as well as our ability to possibly license from others patents and patent applications necessary to develop products; the availability of financing; the Company's ability to implement its long range business plan for various applications of its technology; the Company's ability to enter into agreements with any necessary partners; the impact of competition, the obtaining and maintenance of any necessary regulatory clearances applicable to applications of the Company's technology; and management of growth and other risks and uncertainties that may be detailed from time to time in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Contact Information: Jess Olszowy jolszowy@mtiinstruments.com Investor Relations: Kirin Smith, President PCG Advisory, Inc. 646.823.8656 Ksmith@pcgadvisory.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mechanical-technology-incorporated-and-subsidiary-ecochain-inc-announce-appointment-of-will-hazelip-to-board-of-directors-301233741.html SOURCE Mechanical Technology, Incorporated [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Laredo police said they need assistance from the community to locate two alleged serial thieves. Authorities identified the women as Maria del Socorro Jimenez, 30, and Ana Gabriel Martinez, 22. Each has arrest warrants out of LPD for theft of property and engaging in organized criminal activity. BEIRUT - For the first time since massive protests began in Lebanon against the political system in the autumn of 2019, dozens of protestors arrested in recent days have been charged with terrorism-related crimes, some of which carry a possible death sentence. Lebanese dailies on Tuesday focused a great deal on the fact that the military prosecutor's office in the Lebanese capital had on Monday issued indictments for 35 activists and protestors arrested in late January in Tripoli, in the northern part of the country, during violent clashes between security forces and protestors. The violence in Tripoli occurred amid high social and economic tension. For the past year and a half, Lebanon has been experiencing its worst economic crisis in the past 30 years. Restrictions to limit the pandemic has also aggravated the crisis. The protests in late January in Tripoli, a city that for decades has been described as the poorest and most marginalized in the country, broke out as a form of popular protest due to a lengthy absence of state aid to the categories of people hit worst by the crisis and anti-COVID measures. A group of protestors had at that time attacked the Tripoli town council, the only government building that did not have a massive security force presence outside of it. The attack was condemned by the entire Lebanese political and institutional class, which explicitly spoke of ''elements that had infiltrated'' into the Tripoli protests, calling it a ''plot'' and urging the police and judiciary to come down hard on those arrested. The 35 people, who spent over two weeks in jail prior to being charged, will now have to stand trial before a military court on charges that carry a possible death sentence. In recent days, civil society activists had protested for several days in front of the Beirut military court to demand the release of the Tripoli protestors. There is more bad news for Neera Tanden, Joe Bidens nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget. Susan Collins says she wont vote to confirm Tanden. On Friday, Joe Manchin broke ranks with the Democrats, saying he will not support Tanden. That means the nominee needs the backing of a Republican Senator. Collins was the most likely candidate, or would have been if Tanden hadnt previously attacked her. But Tanden lacked the self-restraint to avoid shooting at even the least conservative of Republican Senators. Mitt Romney also says he wont support Tanden. That leaves Lisa Murkowski. To my knowledge, Sen. Murkowski hasnt publicly taken a position. At this point, Im not sure Id put anything beyond Murkowski when it comes to siding with Democrats. However, it seems unlikely that, with Collins and Romney in opposition, she will rally to aid a nasty hyper-partisan Democrat like Neera Tanden. Are any other Biden nominees in trouble? Maybe. Reportedly, Joe Manchin isnt sold on Xavier Becerra, Bidens pick to run the Department of Health and Human Services. Becerra is an awful selection, considerably worse than Tanden. As I noted here, Becerra has no experience working at HHS, no medical background, and has never been chief executive of a state or any entity other than an attorney generals shop. How Becerra can be considered qualified to run HHS is beyond me. It may also be beyond Sen. Collins. She has noted his lack of relevant credentials. Becerra is also terrible on policy. Becerra is a progressive activist whose experience in health and human services consists mainly in bullying nuns. As Rich Lowry reminds us, Becerra went out of his way to target an exemption [from the Obamacare mandate] for the Little Sisters of the Poor. His lawsuit against them is still caught up in the courts even after it got rebuked by the U.S. Supreme Court last year. Becerra. . .chose to pursue this litigation even though it is completely meritless; even though it would, if successful, punish nuns who simply want to carry out their calling to care for the indigent elderly; and even though only ideological zealots intolerant of moral views different from their own can take any pleasure in its continuation. What a guy. And what a moderate Biden is for nominating him. The Little Sisters of the Poor litigation isnt the only manifestation of Becerras extremism and bullying. The editors of National Review cite others: In 2017, Becerra filed felony charges against the pro-life activists and citizen-journalists who had gone undercover to expose Planned Parenthoods gruesome practice of selling the body parts of aborted babies to biotech companies. Becerra had not gone after animal-rights activists for similar investigative tactics. In response to Becerras actions, one writer at the left-wing magazine Mother Jones called the Planned Parenthood videos a legitimate investigation, and no level of government should be in the business of chilling it. Becerra was rebuked by the liberal editorial page of the Los Angeles Times for his disturbing overreach. In 2018, Becerra and the State of California were smacked down by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case NIFLA v. Becerra over a state law forcing pro-life pregnancy centers to advertise abortion. In 2019, Becerra aggressively opposed the merger of two religiously affiliated hospital chains in California because the resulting consolidated chain could reduce access to both abortion and gender-reassignment surgeries. In 2020, Becerra was rebuked for his zealous defense of a California law requiring abortion coverage in insurance plans offered by churches. The Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services ruled that Californias abortion mandate violated a federal law known as the Weldon amendment, which prohibits federal funding of states and localities that force health providers and insurers to participate in or cover abortion. Becerra refused to comply. Between Becerras lack of relevant experience and his pro-abortion extremism, it may be possible to pick up 51 no votes on his nomination. Lets hope so. I agree with Yuval Levin: A federal judge tossed out a first-of-its-kind lawsuit that sought to hold an employer responsible for a workers spouse getting sick with Covid-19. U.S. District Judge Maxine M. Chesney in San Francisco on Monday dismissed the complaint filed by Corby Kuciemba and her husband, Robert Kuciemba. The judge gave the couple an opportunity to revise their complaint to try to resurrect the case. The judge ruled that most of the claims in the lawsuit are barred due to the exclusive remedy provisions of workers compensation, under which the husband is precluded from suing his company directly. Martin Zurada, a lawyer for the Kuciembas, had no immediate comment. Chesney also ruled that the couples suit doesnt meet the required threshold, or standing, to hold Robert Kuciembas employer, Victory Woodworks Inc., liable for creating a public nuisance. The couple alleged that Victory Woodworks violated local and federal virus-safety guidelines when it moved workers from one site to another in the San Francisco region. The companys failure to take basic precautions caused Robert Kuciemba to contract the virus and unknowingly bring it home and infect his wife, according to the complaint, which stated that both husband and wife required extended hospital stays and suffer from after-effects. Chesneys decision upheld precedent prohibiting claims against an employer by any outsider allegedly hurt by an employees on-the-job injury, William Bogdan, a lawyer for Victory Woodworks, said in an email. Regardless of revisions to the lawsuit that the Kuciembas may advance, the outcome should remain the same, he said. The case is Kuciemba v. Victory Woodworks, 20-cv-09355, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco). Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. Topics COVID-19 Lawsuits Legislation Commercial Lines Business Insurance The Dalton Public Safety Commission began Tuesday's meeting with a pair of promotions of veteran Dalton firefighters. Dan Hudson was promoted from the rank of lieutenant to the rank of captain and Jeremy Phillips was promoted from the rank of firefighter III to the rank of lieutenant. Captain Hudson joined the fire department in 2003 and has served as an officer since his promotion to lieutenant in the summer of 2017. Chief Todd Pangle noted that Captain Hudson has grown in his leadership role, taking an active role in the departments succession planning as he mentored his subordinates and took an active role in training and development of the agencys firefighters. Battalion Chief Brandon Bray, Captain Hudsons supervisor, noted that he is self-motivated and often sends leadership articles and other materials to the members of his shift to continue their development and has also instituted several changes to the operation of his shift to make things work better for his team. Lt. Phillips is being promoted to fill the role vacated by the promotion of Captain Hudson. Lt. Phillips joined the DFD in September 2002 after serving as a volunteer with Catoosa County Fire & Rescue and also as an emergency medical technician with several ambulance services. Lt. Phillips has put his medical training to use while serving in Dalton, not only in emergency situations but also while serving as one of the agencys CPR instructors. He has also been developing as one of the leaders of his shift, having taken the opportunity to serve as officer in charge during multiple calls and demonstrated excellent ability while supervising firefighters on scene. Battalion Chief Alan Ridley praised Phillips leadership abilities and also his ability as a mentor. Also at the Tuesday morning monthly meeting of the PSC, Dalton Police Chief Cliff Cason presented the agencys Officer of the Year for 2020 with his award. Detective Charles Williams was honored as the departments Top Cop last year in part for his excellent work in solving a series of industrial burglaries that plagued businesses in the south district of the city and also impacted businesses located in unincorporated areas of Whitfield County. Detective Williams work led to the arrest of Bryan Keith Shoopman and Gregory Henry Scott Dale in May on charges related to at least six burglaries in the city. The burglaries occurred in the overnight hours in the area of Callahan Road and Brickyard Road when those areas were deserted. The burglars broke through cinder block building walls to make entry, most likely with a sledge hammer, or by peeling back metal siding walls to get into metal buildings. Once inside, the burglars stole tools, and also broke into vending machines to steal not just the money inside, but also the drinks or snacks. Investigators believe that the burglars got more than $1,000 in cash and change from the machines they destroyed. During the course of the investigation, Dalton detectives recovered exterior surveillance video that showed the burglars using a Dodge Ram truck. While studying the video, an investigator noticed that one of the tail lights on the vehicle appeared to be dimmer than the other one as if it was damaged. While following up on another burglary in the area on Tuesday afternoon, Detective Williams happened to spot a Dodge Ram driving in the area with a damaged tail light covered by tape. After checking the trucks license plate number, investigators traced the vehicles registered address back to Bryan Keith Shoopman and Gregory Henry Scott Dale. Investigators were then able to determine that Shoopman was one of the men seen on video committing the burglaries. Police made contact with Shoopman and Dale at their residence on Hill Circle and arrested them on burglary charges as well as other charges connected to the cases. New Delhi, Feb 23 : Amid the hearing of contempt plea filed by CBI against former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar and others in Saradha chit fund scam, the West Bengal government told the Supreme Court that such cases become alive during elections. Assembly election in West Bengal is likely scheduled April/May. Senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, representing the West Bengal government, submitted before a bench comprising Justices S. Abdul Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna that the investigating agency was "reviving something which is age old". Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, said that "the contempt always remains alive". Singhvi rebutted that it becomes alive during elections. The CBI has alleged the senior officials are not cooperating in the probe into the multi-crore-rupee scam. After a brief hearing in the matter, the top court deferred the hearing by two weeks on CBI's contempt plea against Kumar and others. Deferring the case, the bench cited final hearing in the winding up of six mutual fund schemes of Franklin Templeton as the reason. The CBI in February 2019 had filed a contempt plea against Kumar, former Chief Secretary Malay Kumar De and state's DGP. The CBI had sought cancellation of bail granted to Kumar. Seeking custodial interrogation of Kumar, the CBI had said the investigation has revealed that evidence, which connected the ruling dispensation of West Bengal, financially and otherwise with Saradha group of ponzi companies was concealed by the Bidhannagar police under stewardship of Kumar, in order to shield and save everyone concerned. The scam was unearthed in 2013, during Kumar's tenure as the Bidhannagar police commissioner. Kumar was part of the SIT set up by state government to probe the scam, before the top court handed over the investigation to the CBI in 2014. The top court, in November 2019, had sought the response of the IPS officer on the CBI's appeal against the anticipatory bail granted to him in the scam by the Calcutta High Court. The Saradha group of companies allegedly duped thousands of people of around Rs 2,500 crore, promising higher rates of return on investments. is not after nuclear weapons, but its nuclear enrichment will not be limited to 20 percent, said Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei on Monday. Taking to Twitter, Khamenei said, " is not after nuclear weapons, but its nuclear enrichment will not be limited to 20 percent either. It will enrich uranium to any extent that is necessary for the country. Iran's enrichment level may reach 60 percent to meet the country's needs." Khamenei also commented about Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) commitments with the US and the 3 European countries. "Over the past few days, the US and the 3 European countries have used arrogant, unjust rhetoric regarding They keep asking why Iran has stopped carrying out its #JCPOA commitments, but they don't mention that they never carried out their own commitments," he tweeted. Khamenei further said that if Iran had any intention to produce nuclear weapons then no one can stop. Taking to Twitter, he wrote, "That Zionist clown has said they won't allow Iran to produce nuclear weapons. First of all, if we had any such intention, even those more powerful than him wouldn't be able to stop us." "Second, we are not after nuclear weapons. This is based on Islamic fundamentals and commands that prohibit weapons that are used for killing ordinary people. The one that massacres 220,000 people with nuclear weapons is the US." Khamenei tweeted. The JCPOA was signed in 2015 by Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union, stipulating the removal of sanctions from Tehran in exchange for it scaling down its nuclear program. In 2018, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the deal and reimposed sanctions on Iran. Tehran responded by gradually abandoning its own commitments. This past December, the Iranian government passed a law aimed at achieving a full removal of sanctions via a boost of nuclear activities, specifically by increasing the levels of uranium enrichment and limiting the access of the Atomic Energy Agency to its facilities, reported Sputnik. In January, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US would reciprocate Iran's resumed compliance with the nuclear deal, but would seek a broader agreement that also covers its missile program. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West remain silent regarding the end of their seven-year marriage, that hasnt stopped other celebrities from commentating. Kim filed divorce documents on Feb. 19 seeking joint legal and physical custody of their four children, but not much else is confirmed from the estranged pair. Regardless of what happens, Kims former brother-in-law Lamar Odom wishes both she and Kanye the best outcome. Kanye West and Lamar Odom | JP Yim/Getty Images for Yeezy Season 3 Lamar Odom credits Kanye West with saving his life while Odom was recovering from a coma Fans of Odom will never forget the fateful news of Odom being found unconscious in a Nevada brothel in 2015. Per reports, Odom suffered an overdose and was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. While there, the Kardashian family rallied around him in an attempt to save the then 35-year-olds life. It was later revealed that Odom suffered several strokes and kidney failure during the ordeal. He had to re-learn basic functions, including how to walk and talk again. His estranged wife Khloe Kardashian took charge of all medical decisions, which contributed to Odoms miraculous recovery. But Odom says he also has Kanye West to thank for getting him through. Source: YouTube Related: RHOP Star, Candiace Dillard, Blasts Kim Kardashian West After Kanyes Latest Rant Kim recalled how Kanye helped Odom amid his recovery during a 2016 episode oof Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Kanyes music helped me so much, Kim explained Odoom told her. Thats when I realized I could start thinking again and things were coming back to me and I could start articulating it. Kim further explained Kanyes thought process through playing music for Odom while he was still sedated and coming to. Kanye really felt we can cure him through music, we can get him to talk. He would go to the hospital and he would rap and sing and I think Lamar started to get his function back and started to talk once he started to listen to a lot of musicHes always like that. Hes like Kanye he saved me.' Odom confirmed such during a recent interview on The Wendy Williams Show. Lamar Odom gives his thoughts on Kim Kardashian West and Kanye Wests divorce As the world waits for Kim and Kanye to publicly speak on the dissolution of their marriage, many are wondering what their inner circle feels about the split. People are also interested in what anyone previously connected to the pair feel. For Odom, he just wishes for both Kim and Kanye to move forward in peace. I think its very important to do the best thing for your mental health and our mental space, Odom told Us Weekly. If thats the best thing for them, then they have my blessings. Source: YouTube Related: Damon Dash Slams Kim Kardashian West for Speaking About Kanye Wests Mental Health Though Odom and Khloe officially divorced in 2016, he still holds the Kardashian family dear to his heart and praises them for not just being there when he was hospitalized, but for also being a great extended family throughout his entire relationship with his ex-wife. Odom told Us Weekly that he has not had any communication with Kanye recently but hopes thatll change in the near future. I havent been able to speak to him, he said. I would love to though [after] what he did for me. The divorce will allegedly play out on the final season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. At long last, Bobby Shmurda is a free man. The Brooklyn rapper was released from prison this morning after having served a little over six years behind bars. Shmurda was originally set to be released in December of 2021 but was granted early conditional release due to good behavior according to the New York Times. A statement from the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision confirmed Shmurda's release saying "At approximately 8:30 this morning, Ackquille Pollard was conditionally released from Clinton Correctional Facility. Mr. Pollard will be under community supervision in Kings County until he completes his sentence on February 23, 2026." Prior to his release, Shmurda wrote on his Instagram Story, "Thank you for remaining loyal and for riding this six year sentence out with me. I love you all and look forward to seeing you soon." He also shared a clip of Christopher Walken's character in King of New York being released from prison with the caption "How the fucc y'all forget about me " Shmurda was originally arrested in 2014 on conspiracy charges in relation to the rapper's affiliation with the East Flatbush, Brooklyn gang, GS9. In 2016, Shmurda accepted a seven year sentence as a part of a plea deal. The rapper later told Complex in an interview that he took the deal in an effort to help reduce the sentence of his friend, Rowdy Rebel, who was also indicted. Shmurda's indictment has been widely criticized for how quickly it coincided with the rapper's rise to fame with his hit single "Hot N***a" and the viral Shmoney Dance that same year. Concerns that Shmurda was being targeted because of his fame and the NYPD's weaponization of his own music as evidence caused many to rally behind the calls to "Free Bobby Shmurda" to the point where the phrase achieved meme status. Migos member Quavo said Monday that he intended to personally go pick up Bobby Shmurda from prison. "I'm bout to go get him. I'm gonna let him show you how I'm gonna pick him up, yessir." India and Mauritius signed a USD 100 million Defence Line of Credit agreement on Monday. It was a part of several understandings, including the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) that was signed between the two countries during the ongoing visit by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. India decided to change its trading relationship with Mauritius after it found that the earlier double taxation avoidance (DTA) treaty with the island nation was being misused for routing illegal money into India. The new CECPA was signed by Indian Commerce secretary Anup Wadhawan and Ambassador Haymandoyal Dillum, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Government of Mauritius in Port Louis on Monday in the presence of Prime Minister of Mauritius and Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. In fact, tax advantage that India gave made Mauritius the supplier of largest foreign direct investment into the country. Even since then, various loopholes in the earlier trading system have been plugged. CECPA is the first trade agreement signed by India with a country in Africa. The pact is a limited agreement, which will cover Trade in Goods, Rules of Origin, Trade in Services, Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, Dispute Settlement, Movement of Natural Persons, Telecom, Financial services, Customs Procedures and Cooperation in other Areas. The trade agreement provides for an institutional mechanism to encourage and improve trade between the two countries. Elon Musk Loses $15.2 billion after a tweet, now no longer the world's richest man Kathmandu: 25 Indian priests in Kathmandu for forgiveness worship Former Nepal PM seeks consultation with doctors in Delhi The 346-unit public housing complex opened in 1972, atop land of a former lead smelter dating back to 1906. Decades prior, the former Anaconda Lead Products site made lead, while the International Lead Refining Company was a metal refining facility, which housed lead storage areas and had a lead refinery. The area is part of the U.S.S. Lead Superfund site. The U.S.S. Lead property is just south of where the housing complex was later built. Chaotic scenes and furious protests rocked the city of Saravan, in Irans impoverished southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, Feb. 23. Videos inundated social media showing protesters storming the governors office. Outside the building, police cars were set ablaze as security forces tear gassed the crowds. Roads to the city were closed off and internet connections were down in most areas. The turmoil came after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) opened fire at a number of local Baluchis trying to smuggle fuel across the border to Pakistan. According to activist groups, up to 10 people were killed and scores of others were injured in the shooting. Eyewitness accounts heard on the videos put the death toll at over three dozen. Iranian officials have so far confirmed at least two deaths. Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with the IRGC, offered a different narrative, saying the rounds were fired from the Pakistani side of the border and that Iranian forces were not responsible. Human rights monitors campaigning for the rights of the Baluchi ethnic group said the deadly shooting began after the fuel traders, stuck for two days at the border, attempted to make their way over IRGC trenches. Locally known as sookhtbars, the fuel carriers take untaxed fuel into Pakistan as their only option in the face of extreme unemployment. The province has one of the highest rates nationwide. Fears are now growing that the accumulated rage may spill over to other cities in Sistan-Baluchistan. The province witnessed an iron-fist response from security forces back in November 2019, when Iran was rocked with discontent over a government plan to increase fuel prices. Sistan-Baluchistan has for decades been Irans most restive region. The Islamic Republics crackdown on the Sunni minority has also served as a breeding ground for radical groups that every now and then launch violent attacks against security forces. Iran accuses neighboring Pakistan of harboring the militants, a charge that Islamabad denies. Irans judiciary has also intensified its clampdown on Sunni Baluchi activists. At least five of them have been executed in local prisons since January. Over 120 other inmates are also on death row in the central prison of the provincial capital Zahedan. Despite the overall state of neglect, Sistan-Baluchistan has in various presidential elections posted significantly high voter turnout, likely in hope of the minimum development and equal rights promised by moderate candidates, including President Hassan Rouhani. However, the Rouhani administrations perceived failure to live up to those promises seems to have further added to the disillusionment of the locals. The Rouhani government has not met the satisfaction of the Sunni minority, Mowlawi Abdul-Hamid, a top local Sunni cleric and Friday prayer leader, said in August. Nowhere in the Iranian constitution is there any mention that Sunnis cannot be appointed as ministers, presidential deputies or governors, he complained, echoing a recurring demand from Iranian Sunnis, who argue that they are being systematically sidelined by the ruling Shiite government. Recent graduate Asuka Law, 23, poses with her British National (Overseas), or BN(O), in her favourite part of the city and the place she would miss the most if she leaves, near a shopping mall, in Kwai Chung, Hong Kong, on June 3, 2020. (Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images) Hong Kong Residents Now Able to Apply for UK Visas via Smartphone App Hong Kong British National (Overseas) status holders can now apply for UK visas using a smartphone app, the UK Home Office said on Tuesday. The UK government opened a new visa scheme last month designed to offer BN(O) status holders in Hong Kong a path to citizenship at a time when freedom and human rights in the former British colony are under unprecedented threat from the Chinese regime. Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa applicants can now apply for the visa using a fully digital process. Read more about the digital application process: https://t.co/XsOkFFCwxa pic.twitter.com/6POohxODEq Home Office (@ukhomeoffice) February 23, 2021 Since then, thousands of Hongkongers have already applied for the new visa to live, work, and study in the UK, the Home Office said in a press release. A new smartphone app launched on Tuesday allows applicants who have biometric passports to submit their biometrics and validate their identity in a fully digital process, without needing to visit a UK visa office. I am pleased we have not only managed to launch this new route, enabling those with BN(O) status and their households to settle in the UK, but have now enhanced it with this new wholly digital application process, Immigration Minister Kevin Foster said. This process marks a major step forward in our move to digitise the UKs Immigration system, with it allowing the first group of non-EEA [European Economic Area] nationals to complete the process of applying for a visa from home. The visa scheme, first announced last July after Beijings imposition of a draconian national security law for Hong Kong, allows BN(O) status holders to live, study, and work in the UK for five years and eventually apply for citizenship. Riot police detain a man as they clear protesters taking part in a rally against a new national security law in Hong Kong on the 23rd anniversary of the citys handover from Britain to China on July 1, 2020. (Dale de la Rey/AFP via Getty Images) Launching the visa at the end of last month, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was immensely proud of having introduced the new scheme. The Chinese regime retaliated by derecognising BN(O) passports as travel and identity documents. But Hong Kong Watch, a British NGO, said that while Beijings move was alarming it also appears largely symbolic. Despite Chinas announcement, BN(O)s and their families will be able to use documentation other than BN(O) passports to take up this visa, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) said. The national security law, which went into effect on June 30, 2020, criminalizes individuals for any acts of subversion, secession, and collusion with foreign forces against the Chinese Communist Party, with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Johnson made the visa offer to Hong Kong residents on July 1 after declaring the law constitutes a clear and serious breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration as it violates Hong Kongs high degree of autonomy and is in direct conflict with Hong Kong basic law. Benedict Rogers talks to The Epoch Timess American Thought Leaders program in July 2019. (The Epoch Times) Benedict Rogers, chief executive of Hong Kong Watch, said last month that the British visa scheme will not only help Hongkongers, but also benefit Britain. Hong Kong people are, as a generalisation, entrepreneurial, dynamic, creative, very educated people with a lot of initiative, Rogers told NTD. They are people who share the same values as us in the UK, the values of democracy, and human rights, and the rule of law. Although they will need some help with settling down, he believes Hongkongers will bring a boost to Britains economy in the long run. Jeff Zhang of NTD and Lily Zhou contributed to this report. will begin to produce a Covid-19 vaccine in the first half of 2021, a state-run biological sciences institution has said. With a technology transfer agreement with British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation based in Rio de Janeiro will be able to start making the vaccine in in April, said Marco Aurelio Krieger, the vice president of production and innovation in health with the foundation, in an interview with the UOL internet portal on Monday, Xinhua reported. "That has always been our goal. By incorporating production technology to the maximum, we hope to have 100 percent national production in the first half (of this year). We are very confident," Krieger said. He stressed the importance to of producing its own Covid-19 vaccine to reduce dependence on other manufacturers amid a high global demand for vaccines. "If today we wanted to buy more vaccines, we would not be able to ... It is time to think about the strategic production of some products, because we have seen global competition throughout the pandemic," he said. Brazil is set to receive more than 2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Tuesday, according to Krieger. The AstraZeneca vaccine and the CoronaVac vaccine developed by Chinese pharma company Sinovac are the two vaccines being applied in the country. "I am convinced that in April, May or June, we will be very close to having distributed 100 million doses," he added. --IANS int/pgh (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 casket of Dwight Morgan (52) who died from complications from the coronavirus disease is wheeled to a plot in Earthman Resthaven Cemetery in Houston, Texas. Photo: Callaghan O'Hare/ Reuters The top infectious diseases specialist in the US says the country isnt out of the stunning coronavirus pandemic even as cases fall sharply and vaccinations expand, although normality may be at hand by year-end. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, spoke as the US stands on the verge of a milestone few imagined when the first Covid-19 cases were diagnosed a year ago: 500,000 deaths. That mark is likely to be reached in the next few days, depending on whose count is used. Half a million deaths. Its just its terrible. It is historic. We havent seen anything even close to this for well over a hundred years, since the 1918 pandemic of influenza, Dr Fauci said on NBCs Meet the Press. Its something that is stunning when you look at the numbers, almost unbelievable, but its true. President Joe Biden marked the moment, followed by a moment of silence and a candle-lighting ceremony at sundown, the White House said. Rhode Island Democratic Senator Jack Reed said on Sunday that reaching a half-million deaths was unfathomable. There will be a time to look back at what could have and should have been done better and hold elected officials accountable, Mr Reed said. Today, we take a moment to mourn those we lost. On CNNs State of the Union, Dr Fauci said the US could be approaching a degree of normality by end of the year, although its still possible Americans will be wearing face masks into 2022. Read More When it goes way down and the overwhelming majority of the people in the population are vaccinated, then I would feel comfortable in saying, you know, We need to pull back on the masks, he said. Covid-19 cases, hospitalisations and deaths have fallen sharply since peaking in early January. The pace of vaccinations is on the rise, with more than 61 million doses given so far, according to a state-by-state tally. Close to 13pc of the US population has had at least the first of two doses, although the roll-out has been criticised for leaving much of the minority population behind. The pace of vaccinations dipped over the past week as freezing weather gridlocked much of the southern US and in some cases prevented the movement of supplies. The number was six million doses delayed, Dr Fauci said on NBC. When you just, you know, put your foot to the accelerator and really push, well get it up to where we need to be by the middle of the week. At the current pace it would take nine months or more to cover 75pc of Americans with a two-dose vaccine. But a one-dose version, from Johnson & Johnson, could be approved in the US within weeks, which may start to break the logjam. By July we will have in hand enough vaccine to be able to vaccinate virtually anybody and everybody. It will be 600 million doses for 300 million people, Dr Fauci said on Fox News. Discussing the recent decline in US Covid cases, Dr Fauci said it was the natural peaking and coming down, but also very good and very impressive. I dont think weve vaccinated enough people yet to get the herd immunity, he said on NBC. What I dont and none of my colleagues want to see is when you look at that slope to come down and to say, Wow, were out of the woods now. Were in good shape. Dr Fauci also said on CNN that the two vaccines currently being used in the US, from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, work very well against the UK variant of the virus. Separately, senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi has called on the Biden administration to work with Beijing to reopen dialogue between the two countries to restore a bilateral relationship damaged under the presidency of Donald Trump. Wang said the Trump administrations actions to suppress and contain China inflicted immeasurable harm, and called on Washington to remove tariffs on Chinese goods and abandon what he said was an irrational suppression of the Chinese tech sector. If Dave Ball of Washington County were just another internet crank, his benighted comments about Sen. Pat Toomeys well-considered vote to convict impeached former President Donald Trump wouldnt be so much noise. But Ball is chairman of his countys Republican Party, and now a living example of how elements of the party have been degraded into a mere Trump cult. After Toomey joined 50 Democrats and six of his fellow Republicans in voting for Trumps conviction, heres what Ball had to say Feb. 15 in an interview with KDKA TV in Pittsburgh: We did not send him there to vote his conscience. We did not send him to do the right thing, whatever he said he was doing. We sent him there to represent us, and we feel very strongly that he did not represent us. That clearly is the view of many people on the Republican state committee, which is considering whether to censure Toomey for doing the right thing. That would follow the lead of state parties in several other states. The North Carolina GOP censured Sen. Richard Burr for his conviction vote, and the Utah state party appears committed to censuring Sen. Mitt Romney. The Utah petition to do so says Romney appears to be an agent for the Establishment Deep State. Toomey already has announced that he will not seek reelection in 2022, and that he will not seek other office. So he did not have to ponder his political future when he voted his conscience, based on the evidence before his eyes and in the chamber where he and the rest of the Senate came under attack from the Trump mob. Given his partys direction as voiced by Ball, Toomeys decision to leave is understandable. Airlines and travel firms are experiencing a surge in demand following Boris Johnsons road map for how coronavirus restrictions will be eased in England (Matt Alexander/PA) Airlines and travel firms are experiencing a surge in demand following Boris Johnsons road map for how coronavirus restrictions will be eased. The Prime Minister said on Monday that a Government taskforce will produce a report by April 12 recommending how international trips can resume for people in England. Foreign holidays could be permitted from May 17. In the hours after the announcement, easyJet said bookings by UK customers for the summer season were more than four times higher compared with the same period during the previous week. The Luton-based firms holiday division saw an even larger rise, with demand up seven-fold. The most popular destinations for this summer are beach resorts including Malaga, Alicante and Palma in Spain, Faro in Portugal and the Greek island of Crete. August is the most booked month, followed by July and September. EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said: We have consistently seen that there is pent-up demand for travel and this surge in bookings shows that this signal from the Government that it plans to reopen travel has been what UK consumers have been waiting for. The Prime Ministers address has provided a much-needed boost in confidence for so many of our customers in the UK, with demand for flights up 337% and holidays up 630% already compared to last week and beach destinations proving most popular for this summer. He added: While the summer may be a little while off, we will be working around the clock to ensure we will be ready to ramp up our flights to reconnect friends and family or take them on a long-awaited holiday to remember. EasyJet insists that customers can book with confidence as it has a flexible policy for allowing changes to itineraries. Tui, the UKs largest tour operator, recorded a six-fold increase in bookings, making Monday its busiest day in more than a month. The hotspots of Greece, Spain and Turkey from July onwards are the most in-demand locations. Managing director Andrew Flintham said the Government can work with the travel industry to develop a risk-based framework that will give holidaymakers the opportunity to travel abroad this summer. He added that there is huge demand to travel and people can look forward to a well-deserved break away after what has been a very difficult year for many. Airline Jet2.com and its package holiday arm Jet2holidays said total bookings were seven times higher following the announcement, with strong demand for Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. Online travel firm Thomas Cook said traffic to its website was up 75% on Monday as people rushed to book holidays for this summer and 2022. Chief executive Alan French described the announcement as good news for those of us desperate to get away on holiday. Staycations are also proving popular after Mr Johnson revealed that self-catering accommodation which does not involve shared indoor facilities could reopen from April 12. Awaze, whose brands include cottages.com and Hoseasons, sold more than 10,000 UK breaks on Monday at a record rate of up to one per second. We do have to protect against these new variants, and that is a big challenge Health Secretary Matt Hancock Group chief commercial officer Simon Altham said: Last year, following similar announcements, we saw bookings peak at one every 11 seconds, but this time demand has exceeded our expectations and comfortably broken that record. It is clear that Brits are desperate to get away, and now have the clarity and confidence to book. This will be welcome news for many businesses that rely on tourism across England and will allow them to plan their reopening carefully and considerately. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the effectiveness of vaccines against coronavirus strains will play a major part in the international travel review. We do have to protect against these new variants, and that is a big challenge, he told Sky News. He added that we can be much more relaxed about international travel if vaccines work well against strains of the virus from South Africa and Brazil. If the vaccine doesnt work against them, then that will be much, much more difficult, he said. YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 23, ARMENPRESS. New Ambassador of Argentina to Armenia Mariano Vergara presented his credentials to President Armen Sarkissian on February 23, the Armenian Presidents Office told Armenpress. President Sarkissian congratulated the Ambassador on assuming office and wished success in his mission. He stated that the new Ambassador is starting his activity in Armenia at a difficult period for the country, expressing confidence that Mr. Vergara will contribute to the further development and strengthening of the relations between the two countries. Mr. Sarkissian stated that Armenia and Argentina traditionally have warm and friendly relations and highlighted the expansion of bilateral mutual partnership in different areas. The sides agreed that the Armenian-Argentine community plays a major role in strengthening and preserving the friendship and warm relations between the two peoples. The Ambassador said he is happy to represent his country in Armenia and expressed readiness to do the utmost to deepen the cultural, economic ties between the two states. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan 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. Ashok Leyland on Tuesday said that company's digital initiatives have helped the consumers to save 'significantly'. With a host of solutions, the Hinduja Group flagship group has started digital integration across the business in 2017. The services include iALERT, Service Mandi, Leykart and eDiagnostics. The company has added other digital solutions like iALERT 3.0 an advanced connected vehicle platform, uptime solution centre and AL Care a one-stop app for customers to manage customers' vehicle needs. These transformational initiatives have increased the proliferation of connected digital solutions towards the total cost of ownership (TCO) reduction, the company said. "As a leading player in the commercial vehicle space, our focus has always been to deliver the lowest total cost of operation (TCO) and thereby the highest profit to our customers. Our Digital Nxt Solutions consisting of iALERT 3.0, Uptime Solution Center & AL Care, helps us to deliver on this promise," Ashok Leyland managing director and chief executive officer Vipin Sondhi said in a statement. The company's customers using these digital platforms have achieved significant cost savings, and on average, the commercial vehicle maker facilitated 15% overall savings, which includes 5-10% of fuel savings and 15% improvement in fleet utilisation, he added. At present, more than 60,000 customers owning over 1.5 lakh vehicles have boarded onto the iALERT connected vehicles platform. Besides numerous cases of critical vehicle breakdowns have been prevented until date, through proactive intervention through the uptime solutions platform. "These solutions have helped our customers reap rich dividends by deriving more out of our products. For example, iALERT has transformed the way our customers do their business it lets them optimise their order book based on vehicle availability and vehicle uptime. We are the first OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) to provide our connected vehicle solution, iALERT, as a standard offering with every M&HCV vehicle sold since 2017," Ashok Leyland Chief Digital Officer Venkatesh Natarajan said. The company's connected digital platforms monitor more than 40 million km of vehicle run and 1 million hours of engine running every day, he added. (With agency inputs) Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Taiwan's newly appointed Mainland Affairs Council, Minister Chiu Tai-san, stressed that Taiwanese society's bottom line is based on national sovereignty and democracy when dealing with China. The appointment of Chiu was made public on February 19. Chiu, who was chosen for the pragmatism he brings in his work, said he aims at enhancing relations with China in the fields of economy, society and culture via unofficial ways so as to accumulate trust. With Chiu's appointment, Chen Ming-tong, the former minister who recently stepped down will take a new job as director-general at the National Security Bureau. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) WESTMEATH woman Olive Leavy, who grew up on a dairy farm just outside Kinnegad, has worked with the some of the foremost scientific and medical thinkers of modern times. The list includes Dr Anthony Fauci, the doctor and immunologist who is chief medical advisor to US President Joe Biden, and director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Shes also collaborated with the acclaimed Trinity College Dublin immunology professors Kingston Mills and Luke ONeill, who have become frontline communicators during Irelands battle against Covid-19. Having spent much of her professional career figuring out exactly how the immune system works in order to identify ways of treating disease, Olive is now channelling her problem-solving acumen into an entirely different field the Irish forestry sector. After 11 years based in London where she led the team on the most prestigious global journals for immunology Nature Reviews Immunology she says she wanted a change of pace. Her father Dermot, a well-known figure in IFA circles, had retired from dairying and had started to plant some woodlands over the years. On a trip home in 2016, Olive says she rediscovered her love of the land. Dad had been leasing the land for quite a while and Id been over and back, but one day I went up to the forest and I got the biggest shock. I had no idea what we had there, the out-farm is a little away from the house so Id never gone up to there all the time Id been away. I didnt expect this beautiful forest to be there. I was completely lost, I couldnt figure out what way I was going, even though I would have known those fields like the back of my hand as a child. It was the sheer simplicity of woodlands, the slower pace, it was a huge draw. Olive moved home that year and, within a matter of months, took over the management of the familys 20ha plantation which is a mix of Norway Spruce, sycamore, ash, beech and some birch. She also trained as a chainsaw operator to thin and fell the woodlands. This led her to setting up a firewood business. The rest of the Leavys extensive holding is leased out. Stability Part of the reason I fell in love with forestry is because its the just the best place for clearing your head. You can go up there anytime youre feeling a little anxious about something and the trees have this incredible way making you slow down, slow your breathing. There is a stability in forestry compared to other agricultural sectors because the trees are working away at their own pace. And theres a whole circle of life in there. In spring, under the sycamores it is covered in dandelions, its like a yellow carpet. The primroses and bluebells bloom during springtime too and a canopy closes over with the colours of autumn. I did a chainsaw course, it took about a year to become proficient and the following summer I set up my firewood business. I thin my hardwoods and Ive got a firewood processor which was a big investment. I dry the timber through the processor and finish drying in the shed. Expand Close Olive Leavy has set up a firewood business after training as a chainsaw operator to fell and thin trees on her own plantation. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Olive Leavy has set up a firewood business after training as a chainsaw operator to fell and thin trees on her own plantation. Its a small business for now, but Ive built up a really nice set of customers in Westmeath, Dublin and Longford. They are happy with the product. Before I started I had never held a chainsaw so it was very entertaining because I was with a group of guys and I really didnt know what I was doing. I didnt realise you needed to put chain oil in and I put the chain on backwards once too, she laughed. While there arent many female chainsaw operators in traditional forestry, Olive has been pleasantly surprised at how people have responded, particularly her colleagues in the Westmeath Farm Forestry Group. The forestry group are the most non-judgemental, progressive people. It wasnt an issue at all. She says forestry has brought flexibility back into her working life. I choose the days I need to go up, its not like with animals that have to be fed and managed everyday. The trees are working away themselves. That gave huge flexibility to get the business up and running. As she prepares to start thinning her conifers, Olives says she intends to continue managing her woodlands under continuous cover forestry rather than working towards clearfell. It will be a small and regular income, but that income will grow as the trees get bigger and every couple of years we will do thinnings out of it. I love the idea of there always being woodlands here and trying to create a really beautiful woodland for the next generation. Olive believes such farm diversification is the perfect companion to part-time farming. With forestry, people think you plant your trees, close the gate, come back in 30/40 years, clear your crop and get money in your pocket but you are not going to get the most out of your crop if youre not managing it and thinning. Thats what I would really like to see, farmers getting involved more in their forest and understanding what is going on because every forest is different. And while Olive stays attuned to her former colleagues as they advise global leaders on the Covid-19 pandemic, she doesnt miss the cut and thrust of science and medical journalism. Ive never once looked back, regretted or questioned my decision because it has been such a positive experience despite the crisis that has engulfed the forestry sector. I love the work, its very rewarding and its home to a really fantastic network and community. Forestry has its own rhythm and Ive really plugged into to that. It moves at its own stride irrespective of whats happening in the world. And in addition to getting her own business off the ground, Olive is also getting involved in wider forestry issues through her involvement with the Irish Forest Owners (IFO) organisation. Shes the IFO secretary and says farmers have been overlooked in decisions on the development of Irish forestry. The national umbrella body, comprising nine forest owner producer groups, has been established to ensure the voice of forest owners is heard in planning a way forward for the sector which remains rocked by a deepening licensing crisis. Ash dieback In addition to resolving the crisis, IFO also aims to action a clear plan for the implementation of a more meaningful Ash dieback support plan. The organisation will also shortly start a programme of engagement with key stakeholders. On the formation of the group the Westmeath forest farmer says: There has been huge frustration in recent months that sparked forward momentum to establish IFO. Weve great people on board with huge experience. We intend to harness that and help with education, training, the mobilisation of timber, economies of scale, plus to be that voice for forest owners. Farmers are often overlooked in decisions being made, but Government must remember that, without forest owners, there wont be a industry. We are the people whose land is going to be planted. Olive believes peer-to-peer learning is vital. Most of Europes forest industry is run through producer groups. As a model it works really well, we need to adopt that here. IFO will support anyone that wants to get into forestry and we absolutely wont stand by and let the sector fall apart. Despite the Department of Agriculture efforts to clear the backlog, the latest figures indicate 4,500 licences still need to be processed. Of these, 1,090 are afforestation applications, 730 are roads applications and 2,700 are for felling. In 2020, just 2,433 new hectares of forestry were planted, far short of the annual 8,000ha target. In addition to growing timber imports, there are fears millions of nursery trees will be dumped too without planting licences. This crisis has been going on since I joined forestry. It has been slowly building which is most frustrating. Everyone saw it coming its crazy at a time of climate emergency. We must resolve the backlog and Ash dieback scheme, but we need to understand how we got here too. A broader conversation on the design of forestry, the types of forests were planting and how we manage them must happen. We must engage the research and see how we can implement it, so the owner is getting money in their pocket, not the middle man. That will keep our industry alive. Once you know how things work, you can figure out what happens with a disease and how to treat and prevent it Olive Leavy always loved farming growing up. We were milking about 80 cows back then which was a fairly extensive herd. My parents were very focused on education too, so we all went to university. At that time, young girls werent really encouraged down the agriculture route. I did a science degree at NUI Maynooth and I went to Trinity to do my PhD with professor Kingston Mills in the Department of Biochemistry and Immunology. I just loved immunology, it fascinated me trying to figure out how the basic mechanisms of our immune system works. Once you know how things work, you can figure out what happens with a disease and how to treat and prevent it. After completing her doctorate, Olive moved to London to work for the prestigious academic journal Nature Reviews Immunology. I got offered a six-month contract, then I became permanent, then I was made associate editor, senior editor and eventually chief editor and team leader within the reviews department. It wasnt just immunology we focused on, there was genetics, biochemistry and virology and how it all linked with the immune system. All the content was commissioned, so we travelled around the world to top scientific conferences to see what research was happening, who is doing what, and to chat to the top scientists on the planet. We would invite them to write a review which we would then edit. It was all peer-reviewed to ensure it was scientifically accurate and of merit. Read More Nobel Prize laureates Olives work involved collaborating with some of the leading global experts in immunology, including Nobel Prize laureates Dr Bruce Beutler and Dr Jules Hoffman. Expand Close Olive with American immunologist Dr Max Cooper who discovered B cells one of the most important cells in the human body. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Olive with American immunologist Dr Max Cooper who discovered B cells one of the most important cells in the human body. One particularly high-profile name that comes to mind for Olive given that he has become a global figure during the pandemic is Dr Anthony Fauci. I vividly remember at a conference Tony running towards me in the yard calling Olive, Olive, Olive! A lot of scientists wanted to know the editors of journals to get a broader picture of the research field and what was happening. With Tony we talked a lot about where funding in the US was going, as that would help predict where new research would be coming from. And vice versa, hed ask me where I thought future research should be going and that could potentially influence funding down the line. Because of his position in the NIAID, and his world-class research on influenza and HIV vaccines, he was the key person for us to know. He is also a really good guy. I was really disappointed that, under the Trump administration, people werent listening to him or appreciating his insight after years and years of studying viruses. You couldnt have a better person in the US advising on Covid-19. Likewise, we are very lucky here too. Kingston is truly exceptional and Luke is a fantastic communicator of science. We are very fortunate to have people like that speaking in Ireland. The groups include health professionals, the pandemic prevention and fight task force (members of steering committees, people working in quarantining areas, reporters and others), diplomats, and customs and immigration staffs, military personnel, police force, teachers, and the elderly aged over 65. Others include those working to maintain the supply of essential services such as aviation, transportation, tourism, electricity and water supply, as well as people with chronic diseases,people going abroad on a mission, to work, or study, and those in pandemic-hit areas. The Ministry of Health (MoH) has announced the plan on the reception, preservation, distribution, and use of COVID-19 vaccines during 2021-2022 with the support of the COVAX Facility the global procurement mechanism of COVAX. Vietnam aims to have 80 per cent of its population get vaccinated against COVID-19. However, due to the limited supply, the rate can hit 20 per cent in 2021-2022. COVAX is co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), GAVI the Vaccine Alliance, and the World Health Organization (WHO), alongside key delivery partner UNICEF. Its aim is to accelerate the development and manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world. The COVAX Facility aims to supply COVID-19 vaccines to 190 countries worldwide. On December 10, 2020, GAVI named Vietnam as a member nation. GAVI and COVAX Facility expect to provide COVID-19 vaccines for 20 per cent of the population of member nations. In spite of this, it is currently estimated that the COVAX Facility will provide the vaccine and materials for vaccination free of charge for 15-16 per cent of the population of 92 countries, including Vietnam. On January 29, the COVAX Facility said that more than 4.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine produced by AstraZenecca will be delivered to Vietnam in the first half of this year, while the next delivery will be announced later. As planned, around 600,000 Vietnamese people, comprising healthcare and COVID-19 combat workers, will be given shots in the first quarter. Meanwhile, 1.8 million customs officers, diplomats, army and police personnel, and teachers will be injected in the second quarter. During the second half, over 16 million teachers and people above 65 will access 33 million doses of vaccines to be provided by the COVAX Facility later. At a recent online meeting with cities and provinces, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said that in 2021 Vietnam will 150 million doses of the vaccine to ensure sufficient supply. The COVAX Facility has committed to supply 30 million doses for Vietnam this year, mainly used for the remaining six months of the year. AstraZeneca also committed to supply the same doses. Vietnam stepping up vaccine activities While pushing ahead with locally-made vaccine trials and production, Vietnam is calling on private involvement and resources to quickly increase COVID-19 vaccine supply amid the ... Vietnam to import first batch of Covid-19 vaccine (Infographics) The Drug Administration of Vietnam has approved the import of the first 204,000 doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. The federal governments new plan to make the Novavax vaccine at a government-run facility in Montreal by the end of this year is seen by some as tragically late though better late than never. Others counter that, alongside Canada being the only rich nation to claim doses from COVAX, the global vaccine-sharing initiative meant to help poor countries, a renewed focus on domestic production only aggravates the harmful phenomenon of vaccine nationalism. Opinion The federal governments new plan to make the Novavax vaccine at a government-run facility in Montreal by the end of this year is seen by some as tragically late though better late than never. Others counter that, alongside Canada being the only rich nation to claim doses from COVAX, the global vaccine-sharing initiative meant to help poor countries, a renewed focus on domestic production only aggravates the harmful phenomenon of vaccine nationalism. Either way, the countrys partial economic and social paralysis is set drag on into 2022. The repeated missteps in obtaining vaccines and never-ending difficulties getting them into Canadians arms are just the latest example underlining how outdated our dominant paradigm of national security has become. But Canada is hardly alone. Within 12 months, a relatively mild contagion compared to the lethality of SARS or Ebola has crippled the global economy and sown political division within societies nearly everywhere. Pandemics, climate breakdown, social polarization, surging distrust in facts and institutions, labour being replaced by automation, and gaping inequality these are all emergent threats to social stability and economic well-being that traditional security approaches are ill-suited to endure. They are, however, issues which Canadian research centres are already actively addressing. Ian Bremmer, head of political risk firm the Eurasia Group, has argued that national security in the 21st century is no longer rooted in factories of war and sheer military might. Rather, it stems from competencies in the areas of technology and cybersecurity, and on managing supply chains, rare earth mineral supplies, intellectual property, pharmaceuticals and labour protections. Adds Bremer, "When you think about all our institutions, both international and domestically, the fact is that todays environment has changed a lot, but institutions have not." Instead, what underpins security and prosperity now is public trust in government and the application of knowledge and data to drive technological innovation, power economic growth, ensure public health and reduce inequalities both at home and abroad. Here, Canadas research centres could be key. They could also bolster a new era of Canadian soft power via technology transfers and engagement with developing nations around mitigating climate change, improving education, increasing food security and eliminating new diseases. By doing so, Canada could fill the middle-power, humanitarian void left after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson dismantled the U.K.s globally admired and highly effective Department for International Development last June. For instance: the University of British Columbias BioProducts Institute is unlocking the potential of organic compounds to solve climate and environmental challenges. The University of Alberta is advancing the field of nanotechnology. The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto is arguably the worlds foremost voice pushing back against disinformation, cyber intrusion and digital surveillance. Meanwhile, since 2018 the University of Manitoba has been a designated research hub for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6, working on ways to achieve universal access to clean water and sanitation, a problem the UN estimates one in three people suffer from worldwide. These are only a few examples, among dozens that are ongoing across the country. Enabled by a well-structured immigration system, Canada has also quietly become home to the worlds third-highest concentration of PhD-educated researchers specializing in artificial intelligence, and remains among the most desirable landing spots for talent in high-demand STEM fields. Furthering Canadian research efforts, however, requires the political will to reverse flagging support for the countrys research-intensive universities. Government funding comprised 81 per cent of operating revenue for Canadas colleges and universities in 1985, but has now dipped below 50 per cent. Of course, any new financial support for these knowledge centres should come with a much more serious focus on commercialization than the Innovative Superclusters Initiative has done thus far. Announced in 2017, this brainchild of the Trudeau government a "made-in-Canada Silicon Valley" was meant to create 50,000 new jobs and add $50 billion to Canadas GDP by bringing together researchers, investors, government and the private sector. The goal was to foster collaboration on the development and commercialization of cutting-edge technologies in agriculture, advanced manufacturing, marine science and artificial intelligence. Yet three years and $1 billion in spending later, reports indicate that the superclusters initiative has so far been underwhelming. However, academics involved in the initiative have cautioned against premature judgment of its effectiveness. The pandemic has been a reckoning for governments, economies and societies worldwide. To achieve safety and prosperity in our new reality will require a massive rethink of what both of those mean in the 21st century. Thanks to its research centres, Canada is well positioned to help. Kyle Hiebert is a research and policy analyst based in Winnipeg and the former deputy editor of the Africa Conflict Monitor. One of the main takeaways from Kelles' visit is the size of the cells. The prison has what's formally called a special housing unit, but more commonly known as solitary confinement. While it may be assumed that there is a difference in size between the cells in the general population and the special housing unit, Kelles said the 1,700 cells in Auburn prison are "the same tiny size." She compared them to the size of an elevator. If there is a difference between the cells, it's the features afforded to those who aren't in the special housing unit. In the regular cells, she said there is a shelf where incarcerated people can store more personal possessions. But there are also differences in what's available to inmates in the general population, such as access to programs and when they can leave their cells. Inmates who are in the special housing unit there were 65 at the time of Kelles' visit are allowed to leave their cell for one hour a day. She said they are taken to the roof of the prison where there are "pens." That's how they were described to her when she visited the facility. "There was an attempt to figure out another word for it but I was told 'for the lack of a better word we call them pens,'" she said. Guwahati, Feb 23 : In a significant development ahead of the Assembly elections in Assam, 1,040 militants belonging to five extremist outfits led by wanted terrorist leader Ingti Kathar Songbijit surrendered on Tuesday at a ceremony here in the presence of Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. Songbijit, the self-styled commander-in-chief of the outlawed People's Democratic Council of Karbi Longri (PDCK), along with 1,039 tribal guerillas deposited 338 arms and a large cache of ammunition at a function held at the Srimanta Sankardev Kalashetra International Auditorium in Guwahati. According to the officials, Songbijit was earlier the commander-in-chief of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB-S) faction. As many as 1,615 cadres belonging to four NDFB factions had laid down their arms on January 30 last year after the signing of the tripartite accord, but Songbijit and his followers did not surrender at that time. The militants belonging to five outfits -- PDCK, Karbi Longri NC Hills Liberation Front, Karbi People's Liberation Tiger, Kuki Liberation Front and United People's Liberation Army -- were active in the Karbi Anglong areas in central Assam. Welcoming the surrendered extremists, Sonowal said that with the laying down of arms and ammunition by the militants, peace and development would be further expedited in the tribal dominated Karbi Anglong and adjoining areas. The Chief Minister also appreciated the role of the Chief Executive Minister of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council, Tuliram Ronghang, for ushering peace and prosperity in the area, besides commending the unified command structure comprising Assam police, Indian Army, and various paramilitary and intelligence agencies for their efforts and success in bringing peace to the state. Officials said that rehabilitation of these surrendered extremists would be done under the revised rehabilitation package for northeast militants as introduced by the Central government. Under this package, each member would receive Rs 6,000 per month as allowance and one-time grant of Rs 4 lakh at the end of three years, subject to good and normal behaviour and activities. So far, 1,515 surrendered militants in Assam have received the one-time grant of Rs 4 lakh, while 3,702 former extremists are getting Rs 6,000 per month as allowance. Under the 'Swabalamban Scheme' of the state government, 1,800 persons have been imparted training under various skill development schemes. Of the 1,800 trained cadres, 1,192 have received Rs 1 lakh each to start small businesses like fishery, piggery, poultry, farming and various other small trades. The officials said that with the introduction of the 'Santrashmukt Asom' (terror-free Assam) policy by the Assam government, the three pronged strategies -- persistent counter insurgency operation by the unified command structure, peace initiative and diverse process and surrender-cum-rehabilitation -- were earlier adopted, resulting in a drop in extremists related violence in Assam to a large extent during the past few years. Officials said that since 2016, when the BJP-led government came to power, the security forces have arrested 1,914 extremists and killed 70 militants of different outfits in different parts of Assam. The State Commission on Manmade Disaster, Emergency Response has introduced a "red" level of epidemic danger in Ivano-Frankivsk region since February 26. "Today, an extraordinary meeting of the State Commission on Manmade Disaster, Emergency Response has been held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal. By the decision of the commission, a red level of epidemic danger has been introduced in Ivano-Frankivsk region from 24:00 on February 26, 2021," wrote Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers Oleh Nemchinov on the Telegram channel. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Press Release February 23, 2021 GORDON WANTS PROPOSED LAW ON COVID VACCINATION PROGRAM CLEAR ON PRC ROLE IN VACCINE PROCUREMENT, INOCULATION Senator Richard J. Gordon on Monday suggested amendments to Senate Bill No 2057 or the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021 to allow procurement by international humanitarian organizations of vaccines to ensure that the most vulnerable could be inoculated. Gordon wanted the bill to include a provision that states that the international organizations such as the Red Cross Movement, particularly the Philippine Red Cross may procure vaccines unt for the use of individuals consistent with the priority list set. "The idea is for them to get it from the Red Cross if we can get it, but they will have to donate one is to one. If they get one vaccine, they will donate one vaccine to the most vulnerable. So, if they get 2,000 vaccines, they give us 2,000, which we can now distribute in accordance with the government plan to add to those who need it. This will now add more depth to our supply of vaccines and at the same time, expand it and make it faster," he said in proposing Section 5 of the law. Gordon also proposed that the Department of Health, the National Task Force, local government units, and private entities procuring COVID-19 vaccines may partner with the PRC in the administration or distribution, and inoculation of the vaccines. Subject to certain conditions, the current Section 5 allows private entities to procure only in cooperation with the DOH and NTF through a multiparty agreement with the said agencies and the vaccine supplier. Vaccines procured by private entities shall be for the sole and exclusive use of such companies, without prejudice to the multiparty agreement. Senator Angara, author and sponsor of the bill, agreed to study the amendments. We can be a strange, perplexing little country at times. On the one hand, we like to pride ourselves on the notion of being the fighting Irish. Thats not just our perception of ourselves, its an international phenomenon. We have a reputation abroad of being rebellious, independent and stubborn. For instance, it wasnt until I first went to America that I heard the phrase dont bring out the Irish in me. In a way, its actually quite flattering. After all, I dont think other countries have as defined a national identity as we do. Nobody says dont bring out the Welsh in me, or dont bring out the Scottish in me. But Ive never really believed this myth that we have so successfully managed to sell to both ourselves and our international friends. Joe Biden has made great hay out of the fact of his Irish heritage and thats fair enough all of us, regardless of our political affiliations, realise that an American president who wants to be a friend of this country is the kind of friend who should be welcomed with open arms. But while Biden and many other American politicians like to wear their Irish heritage as a badge of honour and a sign that by dint of their ethnic background they wont be pushed around, Im not so sure the reality matches the mirage (speaking of Irish American politicians, I reckon the senator from Texas, Pat Fallon, will make a run for the White House in a few years time. Keep an eye out for him, hes an interesting guy). While GK Chesterton may have famously remarked that all our wars are merry and all our songs are sad, the truth is that we seem to be more inclined to tug the forelock than engage in open dissent. Its a well-oiled trope at this stage that we seem to have spent our history under the yoke of foreign influence and were grateful for it. First, obviously, there was perfidious Albion. Then we had nearly a century of Rome Rule, which has only recently receded into the darker corners of our national history. Now? Well, now we seem to tug our forelocks in the direction of the EU and are happy for whatever crumbs of comfort they throw our way. Read More Opinion poll after opinion poll has consistently placed the Irish as among the happiest, most loyal members of the EU. We are, as many Irish diplomats have ruefully noted, seen as the best boys in the class. Were grateful for the roads, for the grants, for the subsidies, for the sense that we finally have a place at the grown-ups table. But how long will that attitude prevail? Those of us who have consistently pointed out that the EU is a genuinely wonderful and inspirational concept which has now, sadly, grown far too big for its boots are used to being insulted and dismissed. But were now seeing the first sign of serious rumblings and grumblings about our relationship with Brussels. There was a broad sense of pro-EU solidarity during Brexit, when many Irish people decided that if the likes of Nigel Farage was against something, then the obvious choice was for us to be for it. Understandable, for sure, but that was more instinctive than analytical. Now, however, as the vast disparity between the efficiency of the UK vaccination programme compared to the hapless confusion of the EU model becomes increasingly stark, even the most committed Europhile will admit that this vast institution has been left floundering in the British wake. Were due an announcement today about further details of vaccine roll-out, which will be interesting, to say the least. It is pure folly to suggest, as some have done, that this fiasco has sounded the death knell for the EU but the omens arent great, either. Many of us thought that Brexit would be the greatest test of the EU. But we have learned in recent weeks that, ultimately, it is the response to Covid that poses the gravest threat to the future of the institution. The triggering of Article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol, which would have effectively installed a border between the Republic and the North was quickly rolled back on by EU president Ursula von der Leyen, who issued profuse apologies for the mistakes that were made but the fact that such a decision was even taken in the first place put the cat amongst the pigeons. Is the EU our friend or are we just seen as a relatively minor vassal state on the far end of their western border? The idea that this country could ever leave the EU is just a fever dream for Eurosceptics. Frankly, if we were ever to make the self-destructive decision to leave, a la UK, then the next order of business might as well be applying to become the 51st state of the USA. Fault lines are opening all across the EU. France and Germany are currently at each others throats about the distribution and production of the vaccines. The Italians are furious with the Germans following Angela Merkels decision to block the exportation of ventilators from her country to her southern neighbours. Hungary and Poland must wonder why they ever bothered to sign up to the EU, seeing as their leaders seem to hate the idea of even being in the club of 27. What this pandemic has proven to many sceptics is that its not really a club at all, but a vast, bureaucratic octopus which is run by the northern European countries of France and Germany with all other countries seen as little more than an afterthought. The EU is a wonderful concept that, for all its faults, has been a power for good. But the next few months will see it face its greatest threat since the first founding of the Council of Europe in 1949. The EU is simply too big to fail but the growing sense of division between the member states may require a complete recalibration of how it operates. After all, few things can concentrate the national mind quite like a global pandemic. New Delhi, Feb 23 : In a daring incident, Chinese cybercriminals managed to steal, clone and use nation-grade cyber tools from none other than the US' National Security Agency (NSA) to attack US targets. The tool called "Jian" was actually a clone of software developed by the US National Security Agency (NSA)'s Equation Group, described as "one of the most sophisticated cyberattack groups in the world", according to a report by Check Point Research. "The caught-in-the-wild exploit of CVE-2017-0005, a 0-Day attributed by Microsoft to the Chinese APT31 (Zirconium), is in fact a replica of an Equation Group exploit code-named EpMe," the researchers said. Chinese bad actors had access to EpMe's files, both their 32-bits and 64-bits versions, more than two years before the infamous Shadow Brokers leak. In the Shadow Brokers leak, a mysterious group decided to publicly publish a wide range of cyber weapons allegedly developed by the Tailored Access Operations (TAO) unit of the NSA -- also referred to as the 'Equation Group'. The Shadow Brokers leak led to some of the biggest cyber outbreaks in history -- the most famous of which was the WannaCry attack causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to organisations across the globe - and which its implications are still relevant even three years after it happened. According to the researchers, Jian which is a clone of "EpMe" and was also included in the Shadow Brokers leak has been "repurposed" by Chinese threat actors to attack US targets. "Cyber weapons are digital and volatile by nature. Stealing them and transferring from one continent to another can be as simple as sending an email. They are also very obscure, and their mere existence is a closely guarded secret," said Check Point researchers in a statement on Monday. The APT31 exploit was reported to Microsoft by Lockheed Martin's Computer Incident Response Team, hinting at a possible attack against an American target. A Lockheed Martin spokesperson told ZDNet that their cybersecurity team routinely evaluates third-party software and technologies to identify vulnerabilities and responsibly reports them to developers and other interested parties. The interesting thing is, both EpMe and the Jian use the exact same hardcoded constants. The fact that all of these constants are shared between the two samples, even the weird looking Unicode string above, just shows that one of the exploits was most probably copied from the other. "One of the 0-Days in the framework, code-named EpMo, was never publicly discussed, and was patched by Microsoft with no apparent CVE-ID in May 2017. This was seemingly in response to the Shadow Brokers leak," the cyber security team mentioned. Posted Tuesday, February 23, 2021 11:07 am The Freedom Foundation failed to meet a deadline in several campaign finance lawsuits it brought against unions, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled in a recent 5-4 decision. The conservative nonprofit think tank alleged to the attorney general and prosecutors that the unions had violated Washington's Fair Campaign Practices Act by not reporting money spent on political activity. After the government didn't take enforcement action, the Freedom Foundation filed so-called "citizen actions," in Superior Court, but not within a deadline required by state law at the time, a majority of the state's high court ruled. "... the FCPA allows private citizens to alert the government of potential violations and, in limited circumstances, to bring enforcement actions known as 'citizen's actions' against suspected violators in court," Justice Debra L. Stephens wrote for the majority in the Thursday opinion. "These consolidated appeals have one central question in common: whether the Freedom Foundation satisfied the FCPA's prerequisites before filing these citizen's actions. In each case, the superior courts ruled the Foundation failed to meet a 10-day deadline required by the FCPA and, accordingly, entered judgment for respondents. We agree and affirm." The court was dealing with an old version of the law. The citizen actions were filed in 2017 and 2018, before changes the Legislature made to the Fair Campaign Practices Act. Those changes require the Public Disclosure Commission to have a chance to review the complaint before a member of the public can bring a lawsuit, among other things. The high court's opinion explains the foundation "developed a 'Union Transparency and Reform Plan,' which seeks to 'enforce campaign finance laws against unions through investigations, complaints, and lawsuits.'" It filed citizen actions against Teamsters Local 117 and the Service Employees International Union Political Education and Action Fund. It also filed a citizen action against Gov. Jay Inslee and the Department of Social and Health Services, and Service Employees International Union 775. Teamsters 117 secretary-treasurer John Scearcy said in a statement Monday: "We agree with the Court's ruling in the case. But ultimately the issue is not whether the Freedom Foundation adhered to statutory timelines. They clearly did not. Instead, the case represents another failed attempt by an anti-union organization to strip away the rights of workers and deprive working families of a voice." The Freedom Foundation argued in a press release that it filed two citizen actions "against labor unions in Washington state and one against a national union for failure to disclose millions of dollars in political spending, and one against the state of Washington for illegally assisting in union political fundraising." The news release said "the justices threw out the Freedom Foundation's remaining citizen action cases on a technicality based on an unprecedented and indefensible interpretation of the decades-old process, effectively letting the state and unions off the hook for their violations." The Freedom Foundation sent two notices of the alleged violations in each case to the Attorney General and prosecutors. There's an enforcement period after each notice during which the government can start an enforcement action. The high court found that the law required the Freedom Foundation to file its citizen's action within 10 days of the second enforcement period if the government hadn't acted. In the Teamsters Local 117 case it took 74 days, in the SEIU PEAF case it took 16 days, and in the Inslee case it took more than a year and a half. "We interpret the FCPA's former citizen's action provisions to require a person to file their citizen's action within 10 days after the government's second enforcement period has passed without the government taking action on the person's allegations," Stephens wrote in the opinion signed by Justices Charles W. Johnson, Susan Owens, Mary I. Yu and Raquel Montoya-Lewis. "This interpretation gives meaning and purpose to every part of the law. The Foundation's proposed alternatives render some text superfluous, strain the natural meaning of words and phrases, and undermine legislative intent as expressed in the plain words of the statute." Justices Steven C. Gonzalez, Barbara A. Madsen, Sheryl Gordon McCloud and G. Helen Whitener dissented. "I can barely figure out what that notice provision means," Gordon McCloud wrote. "It is almost impossible to tell the subject to which its 'ten days' applies or the day those 10 days start to run. It's not fair to force plaintiffs to comply with that kind of indecipherable notice provision on pain of losing their right to come to court at all." Gordon McCloud's dissent continued in part: "I would interpret the notice provision in a different, more commonsense manner: one providing a deadline for the proposed plaintiff to send a second notice, which gives the government a second chance to act on the private citizen's complaint and thereby preempt the citizen's proposed action, and which preserves the two-year statute of limitations as the only deadline for the filing of a private citizen's action." ___ (c)2021 The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.) Visit The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.) at www.TheNewsTribune.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. [February 23, 2021] Raptor Technologies Expands Partnership with the School District of Palm Beach County Florida HOUSTON, Feb. 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Raptor Technologies, the nations leading provider of K-12 integrated school safety software, today announced an expanded partnership with the School District of Palm Beach County (Palm Beach) to add Raptor Emergency Management software to its security measures. The district is the tenth largest in the nation and fifth largest in Florida, serving nearly 200,000 students with over 22,000 staff members in 179 schools. Palm Beach currently uses Raptor Visitor Management to screen and track visitors in its schools. Raptor Emergency Management enables district administrators and security personnel to maintain real-time visibility during drills, active incidents, and reunification events to ensure that they remain in complete control and have line of sight into everyone and every incident at every school. The collaboration with Palm Beach and the District Police Department has been ideal as we have worked together to integrate Raptor emergency management software with the Palm Beach security protocols, stated Gray Hall, CEO of Raptor Technologies. This partnership provides a great example of Raptors ability to assist even the most progressve and sophisticated school districts in the U.S. with the challenge of protecting their communities during a crisis. Raptor has successfully implemented their school safety solutions in nearly 50 percent of the nations top 100 largest school districts, including Miami-Dade County Public Schools (Florida), Houston Independent School District (Texas), Broward County Public Schools (Florida), Shelby County Schools (Tennessee), and Brevard Public Schools (Florida). Recently, the Florida Department of Education named Raptor Technologies as an approved partner for the states Alyssas Law mandate, which requires Florida schools to have silent panic alarms linked to law enforcement and first responder services by August 1, 2021. Built in collaboration with safety experts and schools across the country, Raptor provides a trusted system exceeding state requirements that can be seamlessly implemented by the mandated deadline. To learn more about Raptor Technologies and Raptor Emergency Management, visit RaptorTech.com. About Raptor Technologies Raptor Technologies is the nations leading provider of integrated school safety software for K-12 schools. Founded in 2002 with the mission to protect every child, every school, every day, Raptor solutions include: Raptor Visitor Management, Raptor Emergency Management and Raptor Volunteer Management. Currently, the Raptor system is being used by schools nationwide to screen students, staff, and visitors for COVID-19 via customized health screening questions and to run detailed contact tracing reports. Over 35,000 U.S. schools trust Raptor to help protect their students and staff. Raptor Technologies is a privately held corporation based in Houston, Texas. For more information, visit www.raptortech.com. Media Contact Ida Yenney, KCPR for Raptor Technologies 818-419-0516 idayenney@gmail.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] SHERMAN OAKS, CA / ACCESSWIRE / February 23, 2021 / "I Don't Want to Make History," the title and lyrics of the song by Leo Robin, describes the checkered history of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce in regard to the star awarded to lyricist Leo Robin on the Hollywood Walk of Fame more than 30 years ago but never installed. This controversy arises because the Hollywood Chamber is not honoring the decision made by the 1990 Walk of Fame Committee to award a star to Leo Robin. Leo's long-lost star clock, which began running on July 18, 1990 when the star was awarded to Leo Robin on the Hollywood Walk of Fame but never installed, continues to count. Time began running on June 18, 1990 when the star was awarded to Leo Robin on the Hollywood Walk of Fame but never installed Frances Langford starred and introduced the song "I Don't Want to Make History (I Just Want to Make Love)" in the 1936 film Palm Springs. It was recorded by Frances Langford, Eddie Cantor and many of the orchestras and bands in its heyday including Hal Kemp & His Orchestra, Stuff Smith & His Onyx Boys Club, Bob Crosby & His Orchestra and Carroll Gibbons & The Savoy Orchestra. They all recorded the song "I Don't Want to Make History," which could describe the strange history of an honoree who was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame but never installed. A Max Fleischer Screen Song with the famous bouncing ball to "I Don't Want to Make History," which was composed by Ralph Rainger with lyrics by Leo Robin, performed by Vincent Lopez and his Orchestra in 1936 Ashley Lee from the Los Angeles Times first broke on May 23, 2019 this intriguing story, Leo Robin never got his Walk of Fame star. Now his grandson is fighting for it, about the grandson's serendipitous discovery on July 6, 2017 of Leo's long-lost star which he believe got lost because "[The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce]...made this 30-year-old mistake," Ms. Lee quoting him. In 1988, both Robin's wife, Cherie Robin, and actor, Bob Hope, sponsored Leo for a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They followed the instructions and mailed in the application approximately five years after Robin's passing so that he would be eligible to be nominated for a star as soon as possible. But all too soon after that, Cherie, herself, already grief-stricken, was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Tragically, Cherie Robin never received the good news about Robin's star because she passed away on May 28, 1989, a little over one year before the letter from the Hollywood Chamber was sent out on June 18, 1990 announcing that her husband had been awarded the star. As a result of these ill-fated circumstances, Leo's star was never installed. "I do think it was meant to be," said the grandson of discovering the star. "It's important to me because it was important to my grandmother to pay tribute to Leo's career in this way. And she took the time, she followed all the rules. My grandmother did everything right except live long enough." In the wake of the release of this story last year by The Times, Leo Robin Music was outraged to learn that the Hollywood Chamber made a mistake with handling their own mail more than 30 years ago. Ms. Lee reported, "The envelope was returned to its sender and has since remained in the Chamber of Commerce's records." She also tweeted, "at first I didn't believe that Leo Robin's star had really slipped through the cracks" with a photo of that acceptance letter and the envelope stamped "RETURN TO SENDER." Ms. Lee explained the Chamber's view, "A mistake it was not, noted (Ana) Martinez to The Times. Back in 1989, before the ease of email and cell phones, honorees were not as repeatedly and actively pursued to secure their star as they are today. That means no follow-up letters and no calls to co-signers, even if Robin's application was co-signed by (Bob) Hope, who has four stars on the Walk." Max Fleischer, who was an animator, inventor, film director and producer, was a pioneer in the development of the animated cartoon and served as the head of Fleischer Studios. He brought such animated characters as Koko the Clown, Betty Boop, Popeye, Superman and Gulliver to the movie screen and was responsible for a number of technological innovations including the Rotoscope, the "Bouncing Ball" song films, and "The Stereoptical Process." Screen Songs is the name of a series of animated cartoons produced by the Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures between 1929 and 1938. They are sing-along shorts featuring the famous "bouncing ball", a sort of precursor to modern karaoke videos. They often featured popular melodies of the day, which included a great many of the songs composed by Ralph Rainger with lyrics by Leo Robin including "Blue Hawaii," "I Can't Escape from You," "I Don't Want to Make History," "Talking through My Heart," "Thanks for the Memory," "Whispers in the Dark" and "You Took the Words Right Out of My Heart." Meanwhile, in contradiction to its mission, the Hollywood Chamber is not doing justice to the nomination of Robin. Instead we are witness to the injustice of Leo's long-lost star and the Hollywood Chamber's refusal to honor their commitment to Robin's memory. It has always been true when a letter has been "Return to Sender," the sender will verify the address and resend it. In 1990, the Hollywood Chamber obstructed installation of the star when it placed the acceptance letter that was returned to sender in its files and made no attempt to resend it. The Hollywood Chamber made no attempt to notify the sponsor, Bob Hope, who was one of the most famous entertainers in the world at the time. The Hollywood Chamber must have had Bob Hope's number from their own dealings with him. "I Don't Want to Make History" captures the strange history of what the Hollywood Chamber did after the letter was "Return to Sender," which was not customary practice but smacks of disregard for the individuals honored by the Walk of Fame Committee. What happened after the grandson spoke to the Hollywood Chamber over the past three years - where it obstructed installation by ignoring emails from him for a whole year and failing to honor its promise for the Walk of Fame Committee to consider his request for the star to be placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and toying with him - is just plain wrong. What happened 30 years ago - when the acceptance letter was returned to sender and there was no follow-up letters and no calls to notify co-sponsor Bob Hope - is wrong as wrong can be. The 1990 Walk of Fame Committee awarded a star to a deserved honoree and then the Hollywood Chamber and subsequent Walk of Fame Committees would take it back. "I Don't Want to Make History" succinctly describes the history of the conduct by the Hollywood Chamber over the past 30 years that resulted in the failure to install the star awarded to Leo Robin. Throughout the past sixty years, the Hollywood Chamber has successfully kept track of 2,693 honorees and has seen to it that each and every one of them received a star, which was then successfully installed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame - except for Leo Robin. One would think that today's Hollywood Walk of Fame would honor the decisions made by those who served before them. At this point, one can't help but conclude that Robin, his sponsors, his family and the 1990 Walk of Fame Committee, itself, have been treated unjustly by the Hollywood Chamber. "I Don't Want to Make History" pithily sums the Hollywood Chamber's dubious history of the past 30 years but it's now time for the Hollywood Chamber to clean up their past and honor the decision made by the 1990 Walk of Fame Committee and its obligation to put Leo's long-lost star in its rightful place on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. For more information, visit the official website of Leo Robin at http://leorobin.com/ CONTACT: Scott D. Ora President - Leo Robin Music thanks4thememory@icloud.com (818) 618-2572 Leo Robin (@LeoRobinMusic) / Twitter SOURCE: Leo Robin Media View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/625428/I-Dont-Want-to-Make-History-The-Hollywood-Chamber-of-Commerces-Failure-to-Install-the-Star-Leosloststar-Awarded-to-the-Thanks-For-The-Memory-Oscar-Winning-Lyricist-on-the-Hollywood-Walk-of-Fame-More-Than-30-Years-Ago : A Sibyllic Fragrance by Gerakinis & Matos Fragrance Reviews The news about Omen Eau de Parfum reached me during the end of 2020, a fragrance birthed via the collaboration of our own Miguel Matos and Greek fragrance entrepreneur Manos Gerakinis, whose fragrances have graced our pages many times before. Yet a bout with a head cold (which scared me, due to the pandemic, but thankfully proved to be innocuous) kept me from reviewing this in full until now. In hindsight, this was necessary. This fragrance is one which keeps on making me reflect and ponder. It's not easily decipherable, just like an...omen. The word omen is charged with a double meaning in Greek. On the one hand, it means a symbolic portent of good or evil, as incarnated by the ancient word , which means the interpretation of the flight of carnivorous birds of prey by augurs. On the other hand, it means a forewarning, something which prepares you for shaping your own future; although gods and fate interfere with human will in classical mythology, there is always the element of choice and shouldering one's own responsibilities. Hence comes the Homeric phrase in the Iliad: (i.e. "Fight for your countrythat is the best, the only omen!"). he phrase is uttered by Hector addressing his lieutenant and friend Polydamas in rhapsody , when the latter tells him of an eagle's flight that might bring bad luck to their attempt to attack the Greek ships. Hector Admonishes Paris for His Softness and Exhorts Him to Go to War by J. H. W. Tischbein (17511828) via Wikipedia But the core value of the scene is that Hector did not advocate the war between the Greeks and the Trojans in the first place. Further, the shaping of one's future, guided by one's core values, is best reflected in the Oracle of Delphi, the center of the Earth, according to classical mythology, and a holy place mid-center in Greece, where the oracle of Apollo, god of light and prophecy, laid for a thousand years. Ruins of the ancient temple of Apollo at Delphi, overlooking the valley of Phocis via Wikipedia Delphi became the site of a major temple to Phoebus Apollo, as well as the Pythian Games and the prehistoric oracle, the greatest one of ancient times. There, the Delphic sibyl (called in Greek, pytheia) professed her enigmatic double-entendres for pilgrims from all over the known world, who wanted to know the best path into their future in times of need and turbulence, from war decisions to family affairs. Painting of the Delphic Sibyl by Michelangelo at Capella Sistina, photo Jorg Bittner Unna - via Wikipedia Carved into the temple were three phrases: (gnothi seauton = "know thyself"); (meden agan = "nothing in excess"), and ' (engya para d'ate = "make a pledge and mischief is nigh"). Although Greek writers such as the philosopher Plato and the traveling author Pausanias attribute these to one or more of the Seven Sages of Greece, modern scholars tend to think that they're popular proverbs, which undoubtedly coined the very essence of classical antiquity with its ideal of temperance in everything, and were attributed to sages in an effort to instill further authority. Know thyself such a powerful phrase, such a powerful concept was therefore at the core of the concept of Omen Eau de Parfum. For quite a long testing period, I was not sure whether I could do it justice, because one's self is an unfolding mystery, to be revealed time and again, as the vagaries of life rise and fall, not something carved in stone, like a phrase at the oracle, but a dynamic condition, ever-evolving. But I believe this is what prompted Miguel with the idea in the first place. Constantly evolving, he has been examining various styles and ideals for his own projects and for other patrons and seems to be on a constant move in search of himself and of our very human signature. Omen is a fruity-spicy-oriental fragrance that is sweet and juicy, deep yet fun. It is a multi-faceted fragrance where perfumer Miguel Matos meets Manos Gerakinis in an olfactory journey to Delphi, where lies the greatest oracle of ancient times. Embracing one of the mottos of the temple Know Thyself, Omen is a powerful fragrance for those men and women who form their own future. a note from the brand Upon first investigating the concept and pyramid of the fragrance, I was struck by the presence of oudh, which is so foreign from the landscape I know so well, and was a bit hesitant, but to interpret Omen as an Arabian-inspired perfume of oudh is to misunderstand it. In fact, upon initial spraying, the terpenic qualities of fir and pine seem to dominate a very peculiar sort of freshness with a resinous undercurrent, totally invigorating, and at the same time energizing in a spiritual way; it's a scent to keep you alert and aiming high. The inclusion of bay leaf, which is the ingredient responsible for the spicy description in the presentation (though it does not resemble the spicy orientals you know from the mega-busters reigning during the1980s, such as Opium, KL, Cinnabar, et al.), is of paramount importance in the formula. It's the tie with the sibylla, with the oracle, the woman who munched on bay leaves and inhaled smoky air to get in a trance and prophesy one's future. I can't really put my finger on which note dominates: It's sometimes intense on the pine-fir clarity; I also smell something like iodine, but fresh and intriguing, not the usual oudh-and-safraleine blend we tend to associate with a freshly opened pack of Band Aids; other times there's the minty, leafy quality of botanicals, a cooling note that balances the sweet and bitter elements; and I even get a whiff of apple if I stress myself to catch it, which I never imagined I'd be able to in such an oriental composition. It's neither too masculine, nor too feminine, but beautifully unisex. I will profess to liking it very much! Although on paper Omen Eau de Parfum sounds like an intensely potent mixture that would clear a room, I find that its balance of sweet (Veltol?) and bitter facets make a very pleasing and unexpectedly tempered mix. Apart from knowing thyself, Miguel and Manos definitely supplied a good dose of nothing in excess. As such, there is no doubt in my mind that the concept was aptly incarnated into a beautiful...well, omen for the future. In the very best sense, that is. . Manos Gerakinis Parfums OMEN Edition 2020 Perfumer: Miguel Matos Top notes: Apple, Saffron, and Bay Leaf; Middle Notes: Balsam Fir, Jasmine, and Buchu or Agathosma Base Notes: Amber, Leather, Tonka Bean, Musk, Agarwood (Oud), and Ambergris. The Omen Eau de Parfum is presented in the luxurious yet architecturally streamlined beautiful and heavy glass bottles of the Manos Gerakinis line, with a heavy gold lid and a fiery red label on the front with Omen Athens. The concentration is Eau de Parfum, presented in 100ml and retailing for 200 euros on the official Gerakinis website. Physical points of sale in Europe, UK, Turkey, Russia, and the USA can be found here. Five suspected armed robbers have been arrested by the Ashanti Regional Police Command. They are said to be part of the suspects who attacked a bullion van at Fomena in January and killed a police man. According to the police, two of the suspects were also involved in the ambulance attack which led to the death of the ambulance driver at Aseseeso in the Eastern Region, reports Graphic Online's correspondent in Kumasi, Daniel Kenu. In all, the police said there are a total of 10 suspects they have been looking for in those incidents out of which five have been arrested 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 Finnish Origami Artist Creates Incredibly Detailed Samurai Warriors That Take 3 Months to Complete Origami is an awe-inspiring Japanese artform that uses a single square piece of paper to create everything from paper cranes to little boats that float. But one artist from Finland is taking his origami creations to the next level with incredibly intricate figurines created from just a single sheet of paper. Juho Konkkola, from Jyvaskyla, spends an astounding three months planning and folding his origami pieces, usually fantasy figures (such as the knight shown below), which are so striking, many people cannot believe he doesnt use any cutting whatsoever. His newest piece is an intricate samurai warrior in full armor (below), headdress and all, brandishing a katana (a Japanese curved sword, worn by aristocracy). The work has garnered international attention for its incredible detail. I got the idea for the character from my previous origami samurai warrior, which I did almost a year ago, Juho told My Modern Net in January. The artwork was a success on its own, it pushed my style in a direction that I didnt expect, but I knew it was something that needed to be explored more. But it still left me thinking that I could fold a better samurai. In an endeavor most wouldnt even dream of taking on, he decided to perfect his samurai-folding art, and started remaking the figurine in the fall of last year. I used the previous samurai as my starting point and I began to redesign its features one by one, he said. I ended up redesigning all the parts, and I constantly found new ways to add more detail to the character. According to the artist, the figurine uses a square sheet of Wenzhou rice paper, approximately 37.4 inches (95 centimeters) long. To achieve the detailed folds of the samurais armor, Juho had to pre-crease much of the paper, a process which alone took him two whole days. Juhos original Samurai Warrior (2020), which was the template for the latest version. (Courtesy of Juho Konkkola) The pre-creased paper has [a] huge amount of folds, and even after folding those, he wrote on Instagram, there is still a lot of work before it is finished. You can see how each of the parts develop in the folding process. To shape and finish the figurine took roughly a month. He then used binder clips and folds of decreasing size to make the samurai appear more three-dimensional. The final product took three months to complete, from the planning stage to the finishing touches. My Modern Met reports that it took the artist four rounds of folding before he completed the final figurine, which stands on its own squarely, a proud warrior with his shoulders back, ready to engage any who would challenge him. Among Juhos other works are figurines of a winged Valkyrie (from Norse mythology), a hunter shooting a bow and arrow, and a running assassin reminiscent of Ezio from the popular video game Assassins Creed. His Instagram followers cant wait to see what else he has in store. Wow!!! These are incredible! one commenter wrote. So amazing, said another. You are a real artist! Its unclear what Juho might have up his sleeve next, but if his recent work is any indication, we know his next project wont disappoint. Here are a few more of Juhos intricately detailed origami fantasy figures: Herne the Hunter (2020) (Courtesy of Juho Konkkola) The Lord of the Dragon (December, 2020) (Courtesy of Juho Konkkola) Spear Warrior (2020) (Courtesy of Juho Konkkola) Helmet variation of the knight (2020) (Courtesy of Juho Konkkola) Finnish Maiden (2020) (Courtesy of Juho Konkkola) This story was last updated in February 2021. Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Epoch Inspired Newsletter here: TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter New Delhi: The number of blind people across the world is set to triple from about 36 million to 115 million by 2050, due to growing ageing population, according to the new study published in The Lancet Journal. It is the first journal who published this astonishing figures on presbyopia, an age-related process. These age-related changes occur within the proteins in the lens, making the lens harder and less elastic over time. Presbyopia is generally is believed to stem from a gradual thickening and loss of flexibility of the natural lens inside eyes. Researchers spearheaded by Anglia Ruskin University in the UK collected the data from 188 countries to study the extensiveness of blindness and vision impairment between 1990 and 2015. The result showed that worldwide, there are an estimated 36 million blind people and the greatest onus is on developing Asian and Sub-Saharan African countries. According to reserachers global blindness declined from 0.75 percent in 1990 to 0.48 per cent in 2015, while the rate of moderate to severe vision impairment reduced from 3.83 per cent to 2.90 per cent. These figures are result of socio-economic development, targeted public health programs, and greater access to eye-health services. Also read: Love coffee but worried about caffeine intake? Its time to switch to green coffee Numbers of blind people rose from 30.6 million in 1990 to 36 million in 2015 and moderate to severe vision impairement rose from 160 million to 217 million people. Also the study warned further increase in the number of cases by 2050 if the quality of traetment is not improved with almost 115 million cases of blindness and 588 million people with moderate to severe vision impairment. Even mild visual impairment can significantly impact a persons life, for example reducing their independence in many countries as it often means people are barred from driving, as well as reducing educational and economic opportunities, said professor Rupert Bourne, of Anglia Ruskins Vision and Eye Research Unit. With the number of people with vision impairment accelerating, we must take action to increase our current treatment efforts at global, regional and country levels, he said. Investing in these treatments has previously reaped considerable benefits, including improved quality of life, and economic benefits as people remain in work, said Bourne. [February 22, 2021] Intelligent Office Named a 2021 Top Franchise by Franchise Business Review BOULDER, Colo., Feb. 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Intelligent Office the leader in business services and rentable office space - was recently named a Top Franchise for 2021 by Franchise Business Review. This is the 16th annual ranking of the 200 best franchise opportunities as rated by franchise business owners and Intelligent Office was among over 300 brands that participated in Franchise Business Review's research. "We are excited and honored to be named a Top Franchise for 2021 as we are poised for growth in 2021 thanks to the leadership team and the support of our franchisee network," said Brian Farris, Brand President of Intelligent Office. "This award shows us that we are heading in the right direction and we will continue to invest in Intelligent Office so we can help even more entrepreneurs and small business owners across North America." Lynx Franchising brought Farris onboard to lead Intelligent Office in July 2019. Together with the leadership of the Franchise Advisory Council and support of the Intelligent Office franchisee network, the brand has leveraged its internal strengths and adapted its offerings through the pandemic to become a Top Franchise for 2021. Another team member, Tricia Deschenes, Director of Franchise Development, was also elevated to a new role leading franchise development to help take Intelligent Office to new heights. The survey data collected from franchisees shows Intelligent Office's ranchise system places leadership and core values at the top. Plus, the general satisfaction of the franchisees and the number of engaged franchisees increased significantly in 2020, highlighting the success of the leadership team. Intelligent Office's goal is to provide members virtual services, phone reception, customer service, dedicated offices and conference room rentals so small business owners and entrepreneurs can spend less on fixed costs like leases, administrative and IT related support staff. With a variety of virtual services that include appointment scheduling services and CRM database management, Intelligent Office aims to help solopreneurs, micro-enterprises and SME's exceed their goals. About Intelligent Office Founded in 1995 and franchising since 1999, Intelligent Office provides private and productive offices and meeting space along with customized virtual administrative and phone answering services so small business owners and entrepreneurs can spend less on fixed costs like leases, administrative and IT related support staff. With 57 locations open, Intelligent Office offers a variety of virtual services including phone answering services, appointment scheduling services, and a virtual address. Intelligent office currently operates in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario as well as 20 US states, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Idaho, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania. For More information, please visit https://www.intelligentoffice.com. About Franchise Business Review Franchise Business Review (FBR) is a leading market research firm serving the franchise sector. FBR measures the satisfaction and engagement of franchisees and publishes various guides and reports for entrepreneurs considering an investment in a franchise business. Since 2005, FBR has surveyed hundreds of thousands of franchise owners and over 1,100 leading franchise companies. FBR publishes free and unbiased franchisee satisfaction research reports throughout the year online at http://www.FranchiseBusinessReview.com. To read our publications, visit https://franchisebusinessreview.com/page/publications/. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/intelligent-office-named-a-2021-top-franchise-by-franchise-business-review-301232824.html SOURCE Intelligent Office [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Beyond barbecues and ceremonies: Recognizing Memorial Day For many, Memorial Day weekend is about gathering with family and grilling or attending a parade. Some find a more personal way to honor the holiday. Police are searching for a man accused of verbally abusing a woman on a Sydney street before following her into a cafe, hurling her bike onto the street and smashing her mobile phone. Officers were called to Wattle Street in Ultimo following reports a woman had been assaulted about 1.45pm on Sunday. Police released CCTV images of a man they want to speak to about the incident. Credit:NSW Police They were told the woman, 37, was crossing the road when the driver of a black SUV beeped the horn and verbally abused her. The man then allegedly followed her into a nearby cafe where he physically assaulted her before throwing her bike and breaking her phone. A former UPS driver turned philanthropist and his wife have made history by donating $20million to Morgan State University - the largest gift any historically black college or university has ever received from a former student. On Monday Calvin Tyler Jr and his wife Tina pledged the money, which will fund scholarships that were established under the Tylers' name in 2002. The gift is the second largest private donation the school in Baltimore has received following a $40million donation in December from MacKenzie Scott, a philanthropist and the former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Tyler said the donation was personal to him as he grew up in a low-income family and was forced to drop out of Morgan State in 1963 because he could no longer afford to study. 'I didn't have a scholarship, so I was struggling to pay tuition and working and trying to take care of myself at the same time,' Tyler told The Associated Press. 'So I stayed there as long as I could and learned as much as I could, but I had to drop out and go to work.' A former UPS driver turned philanthropist and his wife have made history by donating $20million to Morgan State University - the largest gift any historically black college or university has ever received from a former student. On Monday Calvin Tyler Jr (left) and his wife Tina (right) pledged the money, which will fund scholarships that were established under the Tylers' name in 2002 The following year, Tyler saw a job advertisement in a Baltimore newspaper from United Parcel Service and got a job with the company as a driver. He rose through the ranks during his 34-year career at the global shipping company to become its senior vice president of US operations and a member of the board of directors before retiring in 1998. Tyler and his wife, also a Baltimore native, have lived all across the country but he said they have never forgotten their humble beginnings. The couple were 'keenly aware of the effect' of the pandemic on students, Tyler said, and expanded their giving to offer more full scholarships so students 'can graduate from college and enter the next stage of their life debt free.' Pictured: The Calvin and Tina Tyler Hall at Morgan State University Their latest pledge follows a $5million commitment they made in 2016 for the fund, which to date has supported 222 students with full or partial scholarships. These gifts are critical to the school, which said 90 per cent of its students receive financial aid. The couple were 'keenly aware of the effect' of the pandemic on students, Tyler said, and expanded their giving to offer more full scholarships so students 'can graduate from college and enter the next stage of their life debt free.' Marybeth Gasman, a professor at Rutgers University who studies HBCUs, said the gift is significant because public HBCU's like Morgan State University tend to have a lower alumni giving rate compared to private ones. 'For a long time, they weren't asking alumni to give,' she said. But that has changed in the past couple of decades she added, and the schools have 'started asking alumni to give and creating a culture of philanthropy on campus.' Their latest pledge follows a $5million commitment they made in 2016 for the fund, which to date has supported 222 students with full or partial scholarships. Pictured: Tina Tyler (center) and Calvin Tyler (third from left in tie) with recipients of the scholarships [File photo] Gasman said black people tend to donate a higher percentage of their discretionary income but she said this might be the largest give from an alum because HBCU graduates have not had access 'to build assets in the same way' as others with four-year degrees. 'Systematic racism is a part of that,' she added. The scholarship fund, which was originally set up to provide need-based scholarships to students from Baltimore, will now be offered to students from across the United States, the school said. David K. Wilson, the president of Morgan State University, said the money will help students for years to come. 'Morgan is so proud to call this song and daughter of the great city of Baltimore our own,' he said in a statement. 'Through their historic giving, the doors of higher education will most certainly be kept open for generations of aspiring leaders whose financial shortfalls may have kept them from realizing their academic dreams.' 'We are forever indebted to the Tylers'. [February 23, 2021] Harris Williams Advises Altasciences on its Pending Sale to Novo Holdings A/S Harris Williams, a global investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, announces it is the lead advisor to Altasciences, a portfolio company of Audax Private Equity, on its pending sale to Novo Holdings A/S (Novo Holdings). Founded in 1992, Altasciences is a fully integrated, early drug development services platform, providing the pharma and biotech industries with a trusted partner for drug development, from preclinical safety testing through to clinical proof-of-concept studies. The transaction is being led by Paul Hepper, Geoffrey Smith, Tyler Bradshaw, Miles Annin and Bill Whitaker of the Harris Williams Healthcare & Life Sciences (HCLS) Group and Daniel Wang, a managing director leading the firm's efforts in Asia. "Altasciences' full-service, integrated offering is uniquely tailored to the demand o small and medium-sized biopharma sponsors, which are expected to account for an increasing share of the growing pipeline of drugs in development," said Paul Hepper, a managing director at Harris Williams. "It was a pleasure working with the teams at Altasciences and Audax Private Equity on this transaction and we believe the company has found a fantastic new partner in Novo Holdings." Altasciences is a forward-thinking, mid-size contract research organization offering pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies a flexible approach to preclinical and clinical pharmacology studies, including formulation, manufacturing and analytical services. For over 25 years, Altasciences has been partnering with sponsors to help support educated, faster and more complete early drug development decisions. Altasciences' integrated, full-service solutions include preclinical safety testing, clinical pharmacology and proof of concept, bioanalysis, program management, medical writing, and biostatistics, all customizable to specific sponsor requirements. Altasciences helps sponsors get drugs to the people who need them, faster. Audax Group is a leading alternative investment manager with offices in Boston, New York and San Francisco. Since its founding in 1999, the firm has raised over $27 billion in capital across its private equity and private debt businesses. Audax Private Equity has invested over $6 billion in more than 135 platforms and over 925 add-on companies, and is currently investing out of its $3.5 billion, sixth private equity fund. Through its disciplined Buy & Build approach, Audax Group seeks to help platform companies execute add-on acquisitions that fuel revenue growth, optimize operations and significantly increase equity value. With more than 250 employees and over 100 investment professionals, the firm is a leading capital partner for North American middle market companies. Novo Holdings is recognized as a world-leading life sciences investor with a focus on creating long-term value. As a life sciences investor, Novo Holdings provides seed and venture capital to development-stage companies and takes significant ownership positions in growth and well-established companies. Novo Holdings also manages a broad portfolio of diversified financial assets. Harris Williams, an investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, advocates for sellers and buyers of companies worldwide through critical milestones and provides thoughtful advice during the lives of their businesses. By collaborating as one firm across industry groups and geographies, the firm helps its clients achieve outcomes that support their objectives and strategically create value. Harris Williams is committed to execution excellence and to building enduring, valued relationships that are based on mutual trust. Harris Williams is a subsidiary of the PNC (News - Alert) Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC). The Harris Williams HCLS Group has experience across a broad range of sectors, including healthcare providers; payors and payor services; outsourced pharmaceutical services; medical device supply chain; healthcare IT; and pharmacy. For more information on the HCLS Group and other recent transactions, visit the HCLS Group's section of the Harris Williams website. Harris Williams LLC is a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is a private limited company incorporated under English law with its registered office at 8th Floor, 20 Farringdon Street, London EC4A 4AB, UK, registered with the Registrar of Companies for England and Wales (registration number 07078852). Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH is registered in the commercial register of the local court of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, under HRB 107540. The registered address is Bockenheimer Landstrasse 33-35, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany (email address: hwgermany@harriswilliams.com). Geschaftsfuhrer/Directors: Jeffery H. Perkins, Paul Poggi. (VAT No. DE321666994). Harris Williams is a trade name under which Harris Williams LLC, Harris Williams & Co. Ltd and Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH conduct business. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005721/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] While I consider it completely outdated and also immoral to purchase products using animal fur, the fact remains that I have many fur coats in my closet, all left to me by my mother or aunt. They are very beautiful and in perfect conditions. And where I live, in Sweden, a warm coat is quite an asset. But is there any way in our modern lives that we are able to use these pieces without being considered supporters of animal cruelty or just heartless killers? If yes, how should they be worn? Jarna, Stockholm The evolution of the social contract and shared morality can have unexpected repercussions on fashion, relegating garments once considered essentials like clothes cut to restrict womens movements or cordon off social status to the dustbin of history. Fur, especially new fur, is now teetering on this precipice in many countries. There is a school of thought that argues for the continued use of vintage fur, like those coats you inherited from your mother and aunt. In part, this is because fur is often passed down from generation to generation, with all of the family stories that implies. Moreover, to destroy a pelt already in circulation devalues its history and is worse for the environment than treating it with respect. There is also a rise in awareness of the problems with our disposability culture. The problem is, the only person who really knows a fur is vintage is the person wearing it especially as fakes have gotten better and real fur has become ever more creatively odd. Even if you know you are acting responsibly, you still risk the opprobrium and anger of the crowd. A long time ago, when I first moved to London, I had a fake fur coat that looked, honestly, like no animal ever seen in nature. I was wearing it one day as I walked past Parliament when an anti-hunting demonstration was going on, and I came very close to be being doused in paint by a protester who was convinced I was wearing an animal and only refrained when I shouted that it was a man-made fiber. A Chimpanzee costume worn by Oscar-winning actress Kim Hunter in the original Planet of the Apes film series has been put up for auction. The outfit is for sale with auctioneers Ewbanks, of Woking, Surrey, who are expecting offers of up to 5,000. The costume is believed to date to around 1968 when the hit science fiction film series was first released with Hunter as female lead Dr Zira. Fewer than 20 similar costumes were made for the entire season and only a handful remain in existence with this one, which currently belongs to a collector, still in remarkable original condition. A Chimpanzee costume worn by Oscar winning actress Kim Hunter in the original Planet of the Apes series has been put up for auction The Planet of the Apes costume comprises of a tunic with inner cuffs extending beyond sleeves, an elasticated skirt and five-toed boots. It comes with a realistic custom-made female ape mannequin with a silicon head which even includes hand-punched hair and glass eyes. Hunter won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Stella Kowalski in the 1951 film A Streetcar Named Desire. By the time Planet of the Apes came around she was a household name despite a period of being blacklisted from film and television in the 1950s amid suspicions of Communism in Hollywood. It comes with a realistic custom-made female ape mannequin with a silicon head which even includes hand-punched hair and glass eyes The costume is believed to date to around 1968 when the hit science fiction film series was first released with Hunter as female lead Dr Zira Ewbanks are also selling a rare rifle that was used in the production. The modified M1 Carbine is painted in a wood effect with a leather strap and is 35 inches long. It is being offered from the same collection as the suit and has an estimate of 6,000. Both are expected to be sold to collectors in the US. Fewer than 20 similar costumes were made for the entire season and only a handful remain in existence (Kim Hunter pictured during make up) By the time Planet of the Apes came around Kim (in character in 1968, far left) was a household name Alistair McCrea, from Ewbanks, said: 'There is always a market for items relating to the early Planet of the Apes films, especially in America. 'We have sold a few similar things in the past and would expect these to be sold and sent back over there. 'These probably would have featured in the first two films, which were released very closely together, meaning props were reused. 'They are in pretty good condition, with just a few signs of ageing, and we're expecting them to do very well.' The sale is set to take place on Thursday. A 2-m- (6.6-foot) long painting of a kangaroo in a rock shelter in the north-eastern Kimberley region of Western Australia is dated to between 17,500 and 17,100 years on the basis of the ages of three overlying and three underlying wasp nests. Throughout the world, rock art records some of the earliest attempts at complex human communication. In regions in which conditions dont favor the preservation of organic material, evidence of past human activity is largely limited to micromorphological evidence, stone tools and rock art. Stone tool usage is placed on the absolute timescale of human development using radiometric dating of the context in which such material is found in the layers of an archaeological excavation. Unfortunately, radiometric dating techniques are only rarely applicable to older rock art, so the age of this aspect of human creative expression is not as well constrained. With rare exceptions for example, in France, where charcoal pigmented art is preserved in deep caves the remaining pigment in paintings from the Pleistocene period (older than around 11,500 years) contains no materials that can be dated directly. In the new research, University of Melbournes Dr. Damien Finch and colleagues relied on the fortuitous occurrence of dateable mud wasp nests overlying or underlying rock art to provide minimum or maximum age limits for individual motifs in eight separate sandstone rock shelters in the Australian Kimberley region. They radiocarbon-dated 27 mud wasp nests from 16 motifs to between 17,000 and 13,000 years ago. Notably, one painting of a kangaroo was between 17,500 and 17,100 years old. It was rare to find mud wasp nests both overlying and underlying a single painting, Dr. Finch said. We radiocarbon-dated three wasp nests underlying the painting and three nests built over it to determine, confidently, that the painting is between 17,500 and 17,100 years old; most likely 17,300 years old. The kangaroo is painted on the sloping ceiling of a rock shelter on the Unghango clan estate in Balanggarra country, above the Drysdale River in the north-eastern Kimberley region of Western Australia. This makes the painting Australias oldest known in-situ painting, Dr. Finch said. This is a significant find as through these initial estimates, we can understand something of the world these ancient artists lived in. We can never know what was in the mind of the artist when he/she painted this piece of work more than 600 generations ago, but we do know that the Naturalistic period extended back into the last Ice Age, so the environment was cooler and dryer than today. The rock painting would unlock further understanding of Indigenous cultural history, said Dr. Sven Ouzman, a researcher at the University Western Australia. This iconic kangaroo image is visually similar to rock paintings from islands in South East Asia dated to more than 40,000 years ago, suggesting a cultural link and hinting at still older rock art in Australia. The painting holds great significance, said Professor Peter Veth, a researcher at the University Western Australia and the University of Wollongong. The preservation of Kimberley rock art in open contexts for such extraordinary periods of time is remarkable, confirming that this is one of our most significant cultural estates one actively curated by Traditional Owners until the present. The results are published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour. _____ D. Finch et al. Ages for Australias oldest rock paintings. Nat Hum Behav, published online February 22, 2021; doi: 10.1038/s41562-020-01041-0 An Ohio bomb squad called to investigate a suspicious package outside a church ended up discovering the contents were more adorable than dangerous -- a cat and her six newborn kittens. ADVERTISEMENT The Butler County Sheriff's Office said deputies from the bomb unit were summoned to the church in New Miami on a report of a "suspicious package" left outside a door, but when they approached the object, "they didn't hear ticking, they heard purring." The package, a large gym bag, turned out to contain a cat and six kittens. A note inside the bag said the mother cat, Sprinkles, had given birth to the kittens the previous day. The felines were taken to the Animal Friends Humane Society in Hamilton, where they were found to be in good health and were placed with a foster family. The shelter said it will provide updates on Sprinkles and her kittens as the babies continue to grow and develop over the next two months. RTHK: Man admits murder of Malta journalist, gets 15 years One of three men accused of planting a car bomb that killed Maltese anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017 dramatically pleaded guilty on Tuesday and was swiftly sentenced to 15 years in jail. Vincent Muscat received a relatively lenient sentence after the judge said he had been cooperating with police for years, in a case that rocked the Mediterranean island nation. The murder of Caruana Galizia, who exposed cronyism and sleaze within Malta's political and business elite, sparked international outrage and protests that forced prime minister Joseph Muscat to resign. Two alleged co-conspirators are still awaiting trial over the attack on October 16, 2017, while a businessman, Yorgen Fenech, has been charged with masterminding the murder. In a statement read out by their lawyer, Jason Azzopardi, the victim's family expressed their "hope that this development will begin the road for total justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia". The murder of the 53-year-old robbed her of "her right to enjoy her family and grandchildren," he said. "I say all this because if Daphne's family were to respond today with all the emotions, it would be obvious as to what their reply would be," the lawyer said. Vincent Muscat and brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio, all in their fifties at the time, were arrested in December 2017 for carrying out the murder, and charged in July 2019. In a pre-trial hearing on Tuesday, Muscat's lawyer Marc Sant informed the court that his client wanted to register an admission. When asked how he wanted to plead, Muscat replied: "Guilty." Judge Edwina Grima told the lawyer: "These are grave accusations. Murder, conspiracy... he (Muscat) possibly faces a life term." But Muscat repeated that he pleaded guilty to the charges, which include murder, possession of explosives, placing the bomb, and criminal conspiracy. He was sentenced just hours later to 15 years in prison, in a deal with the prosecution in which he renounced his right to appeal. He must also pay 42,930 euros (around US$52,000) in court expenses. The judge said that, according to testimony by lead murder investigator Keith Arnaud, Muscat had been cooperating since 2018. "This assistance may also result in the start of prosecution against third parties," she said. Caruana Galizia, who has been described as a "one-woman WikiLeaks", was known for investigating high-level corruption, and contributed to the 2016 Panama Papers data leak. She was killed in a car bomb targeting her vehicle not far from her home in the north of the island. One of her sons accused Prime Minister Muscat of being complicit and turning Malta, a former British colony that joined the European Union in 2004, into a "mafia island". Muscat stepped down in January 2020 following widespread anger and mass protests over his perceived efforts to protect friends and allies from the investigation. Muscat's chief of staff, Keith Schembri, who was accused by Caruana Galizia of being involved in corruption - which he denied - is among those alleged to be implicated. Businessman Yorgen Fenech is currently awaiting trial for being the mastermind. The owner of a Dubai company, 17 Black, on which Caruana Galizia had reported, Fenech was arrested in November 2019 as he was sailing away from Malta on his yacht. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2021-02-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. When police protests erupted in the wake of the fatal shooting of 27-year-old Ricardo Munoz by police in Lancaster last September, a newly expanded Pennsylvania State Police minority outreach program may have helped head off a much more destructive situation, officials say. The program is called HALO, short for PSPs Heritage Affairs Liaison Officers. The goal is improving relationships and communication between state police and minority communities, groups and leaders. The initiative was piloted before last springs wave of police protests touched off by George Floyds death under the knee of a cop in Minneapolis, but it was expanded shortly thereafter. As police protests spread to Pennsylvania, the lines of communication and trust established by HALO officers proved extremely valuable in preventing more volatile outcomes, the officers say. Cpl. Timothy Greene, HALO officer for Area IV, covering southeastern Pennsylvania, said he was called in by Lancaster police to help with the growing unrest sparked by Ricardo Munozs police shooting death. The 16-year PSP veteran credited his various community contacts established as part of his HALO outreach work provided vital back-channel lines of communication with stakeholders outraged over the shooting. Greene said this helped facilitate ongoing dialogue between community leaders and local police throughout the crisis. He also provided ongoing advice to local police based on his tactical training and de-escalation techniques. For Lancaster, I was there, Greene said. They (the city department) reached out and said they would like our services. Its a line of communication. We open up a line of communication. We also provide training internally and externally to other departments. In instances such as culturally sensitive protests, the real-time intelligence and situational insight provided by HALO can help head off a widespread violent civil disturbance, Greene said. What we want to do is make sure the protest is peaceful and everyone is safe, he said. This can be as simple as relaying information from protest groups about where they plan to march in order to close roads to traffic and prevent confrontations. Or it can be as specific as having the cellphone numbers of protest organizers and community leaders, maintaining contact and communication as a potentially volatile situation unfolds, hour-by-hour. It could be something like, Hey lets block this road (to traffic), or lets try to talk to this individual, Greene said. Trooper Ismail El-Guemra is a Heritage Affairs liaison officer with the Pennsylvania state police. February 12, 2021. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com Beyond Lancaster, HALO officers played behind-the-scenes roles during police protests in other parts of the state, according to Trooper Ismail El-Guemra, HALO officer for portions of central and western Pennsylvania. Youd be surprised how much we got involved, he said, but declined to cite specific situations. We make sure the events are done as safe as we can. Its a lot. We have been responding constantly and monitoring all these events throughout the state. We communicate with leaders to ease tension, he added. Establishing these community contacts and building that trust takes many hours of laying the groundwork through ongoing outreach. Theres no substitute for simply showing up, the HALO officers said. In practice, this means attending lots of community meetings to build those ties, one at a time. Most of police interaction with citizens it is at the worst time, El-Guemra said. We meet community members during positive times to learn about each other. That kind of mutual learning is more important than ever. So in mid-2020, with police protests raging across America, the state police expanded HALO to four full-time officers, one for each quadrant of the state. The mission is to build relationships with historically underserved communities throughout the commonwealth and to work with local law enforcement agencies to prevent and investigate hate and bias-related crimes. HALO troopers also lead the departments training on implicit bias awareness and de-escalation techniques. Establishing lines of communication to facilitate meaningful collaboration with local leaders is an important part of community policing, which is why we have dedicated additional resources to the Heritage Affairs Section, Col. Robert Evanchick, PSP commissioner, said in announcing the HALO expansion. Troopers were hand-picked to fill these roles. Their backgrounds reflect the diversity of Pennsylvania, and they will continue to be at the forefront of the departments efforts to make meaningful connections within the communities we serve, he said. From there, its a matter of putting in the hours to become a constant presence in the community. Col. Robert Evanchick, commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, said the HALO troopers help establish lines of communication with local leaders. Evanchick is shown in a 2019 photo at the state police cadet graduation ceremony. | Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com Many of the community contacts made by HALO officers begin in black and Latino churches, along with similar faith-based organizations. Its the same approach Chief Taro Landis said he used upon becoming the first Black man to head Carlisles police department in 2017. Thats where you find out everything, Landis said of his many connections made in Carlisles Black churches. (Read more here.) Only now, PSPs HALO program is attempting to adapt the proven tactic statewide. Church groups are able to reach a lot of people, Greene said. Theres many different ways. The main thing is getting out into the community. Were working together to see what we can do to make policing better. It is making a huge impact. Some of the community has a better understanding of what we are doing as police officers, and we are getting a better understanding of the community issues. All the legwork can pay big dividends in a crisis. Every emergency situation is different. Often, a safe, successful outcome comes down to trusted dialogue between police and community members. Each protest, you have to handle it individually, Greene said. It all depends on the situation at the time. We feel it is good to establish a working relationship ahead of time. In this regard alone, the opportunity for improving police-community relations is unlimited. We are trying to be prepared so we are able to serve the citizens of the community to the best of our ability, Greene said. Where thats going to be a year from now, I dont know. We cant give up, and we have to all work together. We want everything to be peaceful and move forward. All law enforcement, we hope everything will be better. More from PennLive Hate and extremist groups emboldened across Pa. last year The 8th Council of State at its maiden meeting on Tuesday, 23rd February 2021, pursuant to Article 89(3) has unanimously elected Nana Otuo Siriboe II, Omanhene of Asante Juaben as its Chairman. Nana Otuo Siriboe II who was the Chairman of the 7th Council had previously served as a member of the Council of State between 2001 and 2009 during the Presidency of His Excellency John Agyekum Kuffour. The Chairman of the 8th Council of State is an Electrical Engineering by profession. He graduated from the then University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in 1969 with a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering. As the Chairman of the 7th Council, Nana Otuo Siriboe II led the re-engineering of the operations of the Council of State which culminated in the passage of the Council of State Act, 2020 (Act 1037) to which the President gave his assent on 23rd December 2020. The Act among other things provides for the establishment of a Secretariat and other relevant structures for the attainment of the mandate of the Council. Nana Otuo Siriboe II has a record of long service to the nation. He was a key member of the Constituent Assembly of 1979 and the Consultative Assembly of 1992 which drafted the 1979 and 1992 Republican Constitutions respectively. He once chaired the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital Board, and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Council. He also served as a member of several other Boards including the Lands Commission, the Ghana Trade Fair Authority, the Prisons Service Council and Anglogold Ashanti. In private life, Nana has been a farmer and an industrialist. In 2015, he was adjudged the best large scale oil palm farmer in Ghana. His agro-processing company, Juaben Oil Mills Limited, employing about four hundred (400) people is the largest indigenously owned oil processing facility in the country. Its operations span from processing of raw palm fruit bunches into crude palm oil and palm kernel oil and further refining same into refined, bleached, deodorised cooking oil, palm stearin and palm fatty acid distillate. The waste products of the operations, viz palm fibre, empty fruit bunches and palm shells are converted into electricity for the factorys operations. In 2003, Nanas alma mater, KNUST, awarded him an honorary Doctorate Degree D.Sc (Honoris Causa) for outstanding leadership in traditional governance and contributions to agriculture and agro-industrial development. Again, in 2007, the Government of Ghana conferred on him the Order of the Star of Ghana, the highest award the nation bestows on its citizens who have distinguished themselves in their respective fields of endeavour and have made profound contributions to the progress of the nation. Nana Otuo Siriboe II is celebrating his 50th Anniversary as Omanhene of the Asante Juaben Traditional Area this year, having been enstooled in 1971 Source: Daniel Adu Darko/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 Boeing is back in the headlines following a scary incident on a plane in Colorado that has led to airlines to ground some 777 planes Boeing is back in the headlines following a scary incident on a weekend flight in Colorado. The latest issuewhich involves a fraction of the Boeing 777s in serviceresulted in grounding of some planes worldwide. However, the situation has major differences from the crisis over the 737 MAX, which was grounded for 20 months following two fatal crashes. What happened? A United Airlines flight bound for Hawaii quickly returned to Denver soon after takeoff Saturday after one of the engines caught fire and began breaking apart, scattering debris over a nearby suburb. The incident badly shook passengers, but nobody was harmeda huge difference from the two tragic crashes of Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines MAX planes that together claimed 346 lives and led to the aircraft being banned from the skies for 20 months. In the aftermath of the Denver incident, US and Japanese aviation authorities grounded the planes, and Britain banned them from its airspace. In addition, about a half dozen carriers around the world removed from service 69 planes that had the same Pratt & Whitney PW 4000 engine involved in the incident. Federal Aviation Administrator Steve Dickson ordered "immediate or stepped-up" inspections on 777 planes with the same engines. What is the nature of the problem? Investigations are ongoing, but Dickson said the probe would center on "hollow fan blades" unique to these Pratt & Whitney engines. The vast majority of the more than 1,600 777 aircraft that have been delivered over the years do not have this type of engine. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which also is investigating the incident, said an initial examination showed two fan blades were fractured. Michel Merluzeau, an expert at consultancy AIR, said the problem with the engine could stem from an issue with metallurgy, fabrication, maintenance or operations. "It's not really a problem for Boeing," he said. "It's more an issue of maintenancehow United or Pratt & Whitney is maintaining engines that have been in use for a while." Teal Group aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia said the inspection probably would only require a matter of days, but even so airlines may not rush to return the jets to service because of the overcapacity of widebody planes and the COVID-19 pandemic. How will the incident affect Boeing's business? Again the situation differs from the MAX, which had been Boeing's most popular plane. The lengthy grounding meant Boeing could not deliver aircraft during that period, badly denting revenues. By contrast, the 777 models have been in service for years, and Pratt & Whitney has not manufactured this engine for 15 years, Aboulafia said. Moreover, "after all those years of service, it is unlikely to be a design issue with the engine," said Aboulafia, adding that the problem seems to lie with maintenance. What does this latest issue say about Boeing? While the particulars of this 777 problem do not appear to relate to Boeing's manufacturing, the issue comes at a "bad moment" for the aviation giant, Merluzeau said. Besides the MAX debacle, Boeing's deliveries of the 787 Dreamliner were delayed after problems were unearthed during inspections. Boeing also pushed back the timing for its new 777X amid the downturn in commercial plane travel. Boeing's operational problems in recent years dwarf those at rival Airbus, which also is struggling with reduced plane demand amid the coronavirus. Merluzeau expects a major rethink of Boeing production systems in the coming years, with "big changes" in plane development and manufacturing. Explore further Boeing grounds 777s after engine fire in Colorado 2021 AFP 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. 11 of 183 people at venue of Puducherry CM's swearing-in test positive for COVID-19 Puducherry CM Rangasamy tests positive for COVID; to be treated in Chennai Kovind accepts resignation of Puducherry CM V Narayanasamy and his cabinet India oi-Madhuri Adnal Puducherry, Feb 23: President Ram Nath Kovind accepted the resignation of V Narayanasamy as Puducherry CM along with his Council of Ministers. After staging a walkout from the Assembly before the motion seeking confidence vote was put up for voting in the House, Narayanasamy proceeded to the Raj Nivas and submitted his resignation to Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan. President's Rule imminent in Puducherry? AIADMK says won't stake claim to form govt The Lieutenant Governor forwarded the letter by mail to the President, official sources told PTI. Narayanasamy, accompanied by the remaining Ministers of his cabinet - R Kamalakannan, M O H F Shah Jahan and M Kandasamy - and legislators belonging to the Congress and DMK and the lone Independent member, had called on the Lieutenant Governor at Raj Nivas in the forenoon and handed over the letter. The lone member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) V Vaithilingam and PCC leader A V Subramanian too accompanied the Chief Minister. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, February 23, 2021, 19:38 [IST] While many people assume it is already required, Senate Education Committee Chairman Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, has filed legislation that would make kindergarten mandatory in Louisiana. The proposal, Senate Bill 10, will be debated during the 2021 regular legislative session, which begins April 12. State law requires school districts to offer kindergarten but attendance is not mandatory. Fields' bill would mandate kindergarten for children who turn 5 on or before Sept. 30 of the year when classes begin. Starting with the 2022-23 school year, children would have to have attended a full-day kindergarten for a school year and passed an academic readiness exam to enter the first grade. "As Louisiana continues to focus on the improvement of, and access to, early childhood education there has never been a time of more importance to address the issue of kindergarten enrollment," Fields said in a statement. "In fact, we can't firmly address the issue of early childhood education if we're not actively taking steps to ensure there is no gap between a Pre-K and kindergarten education," he said. 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 Early childhood education is one of the focal points of the latest effort to boost education achievement after generations of students have trailed most of the rest of the nation. There is also a new push to improve reading skills by the time students finish the third grade to avoid reading-related problems throughout a child's education. Louisiana schools leader decries plunge in reading scores: 'I am alarmed' A new report shows reading scores for Louisianas youngest students have plunged for three consecutive years, raising red flags over arguably Under current rules, students are required to attend school from the ages of 7-18 unless they graduate from high school before their 18th birthday. Kindergarten already appeals to most families for a variety of reasons, including the fact it is less expensive than day care. However, barely half of children who enter kindergarten are prepared to learn, according to state statistics. Russias United Aviation Corporation and Mubadala, the investment fund of the United Arab Emirates, will create a joint venture for developing and manufacturing a supersonic business-passenger jet, Russias Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said. The conceptual design of the new aircraft could be revealed as soon as at the end of the current year, according to Manturov, who stressed that the issue of equity participation hasnt so far been discussed. The jet is expected to come in two versions, one with a passenger seat configuration of up to eight and the other of up to 30. "So far, we are optimistic [about the time frame for delivery being], until the end of 2021, but maybe the beginning of 2022," the minister told journalists during his visit to UAE. "The key parameters have mostly been set: the speed will be Mach 1.5 to 1.8, taking into consideration that the flight time at a speed of Mach 1.8 is limited to four hours," RT cited Manturov as saying. Supersonic speeds range from Mach 1 to Mach 5. As a comparison, the Airbus A350 a long-range wide-body jet airliner developed by European multinational aerospace giant Airbus can attain a top speed of Mach 0.89, or 945km/ph at an altitude of around 12,000 meters. The project was first announced in 2019. Back then, Manturov said initial investments might total $100 million. United Aviation Corporation President Yury Slyusar noted that the aircraft is oriented to global markets in particular, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. OROVILLE, Calif. - After an incident that led to an injury at the Barry R. Kirshner Wildlife Foundation on Saturday, there is some controversy about what happened. "She is more concerned about the cat than herself. She will be home sometime today," Roberta Kirshner, director of the Barry R. Kirshner Wildlife Foundation, explained. The incident happened with an Amur Leopard. Kirshner said she has had the park in Butte County for about 30 years and never had anyone injured. "It was an incident because the girl was leaving the enclosure and she stumbled and the cat got confused and tried to get on her and it was just an excitement for him," Kirshner explained. "Different things can bring out the wild in them. It is like your home cat, if you step on its tail it will try and bite you and that is your pet that sleeps with you half the time," she said. Kirshner said she is still piecing together what happened because she wasn't there, but adds, they have plenty of protocols in place. "We are really safety conscious we follow routines," Kirshner said. "She evidently stumbled a little bit and the girl went to assist her and the cat got out into the enclosed area." RELATED: KIRSHNER FOUNDATION DIRECTOR EXPLAINS WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN LEOPARD AND VOLUNTEER ON SATURDAY Kirshner explained they have two parts to the enclosure, so when the leopard got out, it was never a danger to the public. However, Kirshner said they still added some new safety methods with him. "We put new protocols with him also, so nobody has to go in with him. He has a lockout, most of our animals have lockouts, so he is calm and content," Kirshner said. Since the incident, the leopard has been moved to an enclosure that has a lockout. That means nobody will ever be inside the enclosure while the animal is. Kirshner said they plan to add lockouts to about four to five more enclosures. "We have foxes that weigh about six or seven pounds so we do not have lockouts on all the animals. But now he will definitely have a lockout and all the cats will have lockouts regardless of their age," Kirshner said. PETA also put out a statement about the incident, claiming the Foundation is not safe for the animals there or the workers. PETA said they want to close down the sanctuary. They also claim Roberta Kirshner has purchased animals. However, when Action News Now took these claims to Kirshner she said they are not true. "We get contacted a lot on animals that have challenges. Most of our animals, about 70%, have special needs or challenges. A lot of times we may go to Oregon or Washington the volunteers may go to get them to give them another chance," Kirshner explained. "Sometimes people can't afford to keep them when they are older, they don't realize what it costs," Kirshner said. "Sometimes they are not able to have their permits for them because they have moved to a different area and are trying to place them. Not all of them stay with us. We take them and if we can place them and feel it is a good match for them then we place them also." To see the original article from the day of the injury you can click HERE. Dozens of Armenian opposition supporters were detained on February 23 as they tried to stop Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian from entering a government building in Yerevan. Members of the Homeland Salvation Movement are demanding Pashinian's resignation over last year's conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Opposition demonstrators later scuffled with reporters for RFE/RL's Armenian Service and blocked them from filming the protest. ADVERTISEMENT A member of the House of Representatives, Peters Makinde, on Tuesday, defected from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to the All Progressives Congress (APC). The Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, read a letter on the floor announcing the defection of Mr Makinde, who represents Ondo East/Ondo West federal constituency of Ondo State. In the letter, Mr Makinde cited leadership crisis as the reason for his defection. He stated that the crisis has created factions and divisions within the party. Due to the absence of the Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu and Deputy Minority Leader, Toby Okechukwu, Nicholas Ossai (PDP, Delta) raised a point of order, objecting to the defection. Citing Section 68 subsection 2 of the 1999 constitution as amended, he read: A member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member if The President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, as the case may be, shall give effect to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, so however that the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives or a member shall first present evidence satisfactory to the House concerned that any of the provisions of that subsection has become applicable in respect of that member. Mr Ossai called on Mr Gbajabiamila to declare the defection invalid because the lawmaker had not provided proof of division within his party. He is to provide evidence to the entire House, not to the Presiding officer. None of us have received the copy of the proof. Since this House has not received a copy of the proof. It is on this ground that I urge the Speaker to void his defection, Mr Ossai said. READ ALSO: Two Reps defect to APC Responding to the point of order, the Speaker said Mr Ossai who is a member of the PDP, has no jurisdiction to challenge the claim of division. I am sure you know that evidence could be documentary or verbal. In the last 20 years, we have relied on verbal evidence, even when people are defecting to the PDP. Do you know the party chairman of ADC? Can you tell us the name of the chairman? Mr Gbajabiamila asked Ossai. Mr Ossai, however could not provide the answer, prompting the Speaker to describe him as a meddlesome interloper. The Speaker stated further that it is only a member of the ADC that can challenge the claim of division stated by Mr Makinde. Five years ago, I was asked to testify before a House Committee considering legislation to consolidate precincts in Lake County. Prior to the hearing, I met with Representative Smith, who had arranged a meeting with the Republican Chairman of the Committee. The three of us met for approximately 15 to 20 minutes while I provided an overview of my testimony to the chairman, who was very respectful and thoughtful. At the conclusion of our meeting, the Chairman shook my hand and essentially said the following: I dont always meet with folks prior to the hearings; However, Representative Smith asked if would do so and knowing Representative Smith as well as I do, and the respect I have for him, I agreed to the meeting. You are fortunate to have a representative of Vernons character representing you. Got a question or tip? Contact us at bizmojoidaho@gmail.com. Sitel Group Joins BPO Organizations to Support Venezuelan Refugees CX solution provider Sitel Group has officially joined the Tent Partnership for Refugees initiative with eight other BPO organizations to support Venezuelan refugees in Colombia. Due to the political, financial, and social complications that have plagued Venezuela over the last few years, citizens have migrated to neighboring South American countries in search of better opportunities for living and employment. More than 15% of Venezuelans have left the country since 2017, and a large portion have settled in countries such as Brazil, Peru, and Colombia. This has led to global tech companies like Tent, IAOP, BPrO (the Colombian BPO association), and now Sitel Group to offer employment assistance to refugees. "Since 2017, our teams in Colombia have hired nearly 500 Venezuelan refugees," said Eduardo Endo, Country Manager of Sitel Colombia. "We are honored to support this vulnerable population with growing career opportunities and education programs as they build a new life here in Colombia. The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the refugee crisis in Venezuela, and we're proud to be able to do our part for many of these immigrants." Sitel plans to increase its hiring rate by 66% by adding 300 new employees over the next 3 years. The pandemic has caused additional complications for Venezuelan refugees, and the incoming support from Sitel will help bring new opportunities for faster economic growth. "We're excited to welcome Sitel to the Tent family, and we are so proud of their efforts to hire Venezuelans in Colombia," said Yaron Schwartz, Head of Impact Sourcing at the Tent Partnership for Refugees. "Integrating refugees into a company's workforce isn't just good for society - refugees are hard-working, motivated employees who tend to stay longer with their employers. Companies stand a lot to gain by integrating this talented group of people." Edited by Maurice Nagle [February 22, 2021] UTOPIA Fiber Announces Completion of $52.5 Million Funding Round UIA (Utah Infrastructure Agency) has just completed its latest round of funding that will infuse the UTOPIA/UIA network with $52.5 million for the expansion of its network. Utah Infrastructure Agency (UIA) is a sister agency to UTOPIA Fiber. Although legally separate entities, UTOPIA and UIA functionally operate as one integrated system and both are marketed as UTOPIA Fiber. This is the third round of financing UIA has secured recently, attracting $113 million in the last 14 months. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210222005956/en/ UTOPIA Fiber crews install fiber conduit in West Point, Utah. The network announced it had successfully closed on a $525 million round in February 2021. (Photo: Business Wire) UIA secured the latest round of funding in partnership with Lewis Young Robertson & Burningham, Inc. (Financial Advisor), KeyBanc Capital Markets, Inc. (Senior Managing Underwriter), and Gilmore & Bell (Bond and Disclosure Counsel). Since 2011, the majority of UTOPIA Fiber's growth has come from its synergistic relationship with UIA, designing, financing, building, and operating state-of-the-art ultra-high-speed fiber-broadband networks, firmly securing its position as the largest publicly-owned Open Access fiber network in the United States. "What we're seeing with this latest round of funding is stronger-than-ever demand for high-speed fiber networks," said Roger Timmerman, UTOPIA Fiber's executive director. "The $52.5 million provides the capital to build out the remaining areas of our original 11 cities and to add customers throughout our coverage area. We continue to have the best partners in the business, who have worked tirelessly to get us to this point," he added. UTOPIA Fiber provides fiber-to-the-home services in 15 cities and business services in 50. They serve as operational parter for Idaho Falls Fiber in Idaho and are in talks with additional municipalities to bring the network to their communities. UTOPIA Fiber is available to 130,000 homes and businesses, offers the fastest internet speeds in the United States (10 Gbps residential and 100 Gbps commercial), and enjoys being ranked as the highest-rated internet option in Utah. UTOPIA Fiber's Open Access model enables communities to have access to a free and open internet without throttling, paid prioritization, or other provider interference. UTOPIA Fiber continues to bring competitive services from 14 internet service providers (ISPs) at the fastest speeds and best value. "The pandemic has shown us just how important fast, affordable, and reliable broadband service is. We believe publicly-owned Open Access fiber networks are the future of American internet connectivity and are excited to be at the forefront of that movement," Timmerman said. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210222005956/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Hong Kong: Vaccination healthcare services set With the Sinovac vaccine's debut arrival in Hong Kong, the public who are in the priority groups can make bookings for the jabs online starting today through the Governments COVID-19 Vaccination Programme (Vaccination Programme). The Government made the announcement while releasing the latest information regarding arrangements of healthcare services of the Vaccination Programme. It explained that such priority groups can receive the Sinovac vaccine at five community vaccination centres and the Hospital Authority's 18 general out-patient clinics from February 26. To tie in with the arrival of the Fosun Pharma/BioNTech vaccine, which will arrive shortly in end-February, more community vaccination centres will gradually commence operations. The Government stated that a doctor in charge and a registered nurse with emergency care training will be present at each community vaccination centre to provide overall supervision and emergency management. A community vaccination centre with 15 booths is expected to provide around 2,500 doses of vaccines on a daily basis at maximum throughput. The Government will also provide the Sinovac vaccine to the public at more than 1,500 clinics operated by more than 1,200 private doctors who participate in the Vaccination Programme before mid-March. The public can choose a private doctor or clinic under the programme and make an appointment for vaccination directly without going through the Governments online booking system. The Department of Health will host a briefing today for participating private doctors on the details of the Vaccination Programme. After the first batch of doses are used, private doctors may make orders according to their needs. The department will co-ordinate the delivery of the vaccines and follow up on the usage situation. The department noted that it will reserve the second dose for citizens at the same clinic where they receive their first dose. Private doctors should remind and follow up with their patients to receive the second dose on schedule. The department will also provide the Sinovac vaccine to patients or citizens receiving services at its designated clinics. Such clinics include elderly health centres, chest clinics, social hygiene clinics, dermatological clinics, education and training centres in family medicine and integrated treatment centres. Those who are in the priority groups and receiving services at such clinics can make an appointment to receive vaccination there. Booking for vaccination services at such clinics is not opened to the public. In addition to a hard copy, citizens' vaccination records will also be kept in an electronic format to enable people to view their vaccination records online. The Government also encourages the public to join the Electronic Health Record Sharing System where the medical and vaccination records of its participants will be saved in encrypted files. This story has been published on: 2021-02-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. This saw MINISO staff delicately pack and customize gift boxes for the partners of winning participants, who were then able to pick up the mystery gift box at their nearest MINISO outlet, helping them to celebrate a difficult Valentine's Day 2021, while also echoing the brand's mission of "enabling everyone to enjoy life's little surprises." The campaign engaged over 11,000 participants globally and delivered 100 MINISO gift boxes to winners from 16 countries, including the United States, Canada, India, Singapore, Spain, Vietnam, United Arab Emirates, and Oman. Participants from across the world shared their long-distance relationship stories with MINISO, like Sonika, an Indian doctor on the frontlines of the pandemic. "I'm a doctor working in COVID ICU. I was busy treating patients and not able to see my boyfriend because of quarantine, and unable to comfort him after his family tested positive, even though we are in the same city. I hope to surprise him with a MINISO gift box, as I cannot be physically there due to work." "It has been an extremely tough year for my family. Despite being stuck in Paris, my boyfriend made every effort to lift my spirits. Never failing to make me feel his love from afar, I feel like he deserves to feel special with a little surprise," said Cara from Ireland. "Amid COVID-19 lockdowns, people across the world have been discouraged from meeting each other on this special day, especially couples who are in long-distance relationships," said Robin Liu, Chief Marketing Officer at MINISO. "This pandemic made us realize that there are no boundaries or distance when it comes to love." By Valentine's Day, the campaign had reached over 930-thousand people globally and was endorsed by various Instagram KOLs, such as Cindy T. Dinh and Andrea Rivas. The campaign also earned significant organic engagement on Instagram, with a total of 545 comments and 28,791 likes. Check out a recap of MINISO's #LoveWithoutDistance Valentine's Day 2021 Campaign at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=newgUzpVKYo&feature=youtu.be About MINISO: MINISO (NYSE: MNSO) is a lifestyle product retailer, offering high quality household goods, cosmetics, and food at affordable prices. Since its first store opened in Guangzhou in 2013, MINISO has opened more than 4,330 stores in over 80 countries and regions in 7 years. With a focus on sleek design and fun trends, its mission is to assure through its products that a better life has nothing to do with the price. SOURCE Miniso Group Psaki is a Cardinal who graduated in the Class of 1996 from Greenwich High School. In Old Greenwich on July 2, 2003, a group of teens including Katie Brandstetter, 18, Elly Truesdell, 18, Kristen Psaki, 18, and Laura Bernstein, 17, look up at the fire works at Binney Park. Psaki was born in Stamford, the oldest of three daughters of James R. Psaki, a retired real estate developer, and Eileen Dolan Medvey, a psychotherapist. According to her father, she attended the Early Learning Center, a Stamford Montessori school now known as the Childrens School, then Sacred Heart Greenwich and Greenwich Country Day School, whose alumni include former President George H.W. Bush and Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin. Psaki attended Greenwich High, earning her diploma in 1996 as an all-state swimmer. After graduating, Psaki went to the College of William & Mary in Virginia, where she majored in English and sociology, swam the backstroke competitively for two years and showed her penchant for leadership by becoming president of the schools Chi Omega sorority. Psaki returned to Cardinal Stadium in June 2009 to give the commencement address at Greenwich High School. On a personal level, she and her husband, Gregory Mecher, have two young children. The action by the F.D.A. to clarify the OxyContin tablets labeling has created enormous opportunities, the company wrote in a 2002 budget plan. This is a positive action which helps to combat the negative reports perpetuated by the media. A week after his sons death, Ed Bisch created a message board to connect similarly grieving families across the nation. He used vacation time to lead them in rallies outside conferences in which Purdue participated. In 2002, when OxyContin began making headlines across the country, the F.D.A. convened an advisory panel to help the agency re-evaluate its policy on opioids and discuss the safety of prescribing opioids to patients with chronic non-cancer-related pain. Eight of the 10 panelists had been paid speakers or consultants for Purdue or other opioid makers; the panelists did not recommend any changes to OxyContins label. In a recent letter to Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Dr. Woodcock wrote that the 2001 label change narrowed the use indication and that it does not appear that there was any notable increase in the overall number of oxycodone E.R. prescriptions dispensed as a result of the 2001 change. (Purdue has also denied that the 2001 label broadened the drugs use indication.) Around that time, pharmaceutical makers like Purdue began paying entrance fees as high as $35,000 to attend invitation-only conferences, organized by a drug-company-funded group called IMMPACT, with F.D.A. and National Institutes of Health representatives, elbow-rubbing affairs held at posh hotels that raised concerns about a possible pay-for-play arrangement. (IMMPACT and the F.D.A. have said that there were no improprieties.) One idea discussed in the meetings was enriched enrollment randomized withdrawal, a drug trial design that has been accused of tilting the process in favor of F.D.A. approval. Enriched enrollment meant that people who didnt respond well to the drugs were excluded from clinical trials an omission, many experts believe, that makes it far more likely for a drug to appear to be effective while concealing, obscuring or overlooking what might happen after the drug reaches the general population. Prescription opioid deaths had more than doubled between 1999 and 2006 when the F.D.A. approved a painkiller manufactured by Endo, Opana ER, using the questionable enriched enrollment testing methods. More than a decade later, and only after IV use of Opana was linked to an H.I.V. outbreak in rural Indiana and a hepatitis C surge across Appalachia, did the F.D.A request a halt to sales of Endos reformulated Opana ER. With the Indian passenger vehicles market moving further towards the SUV segment, homegrown auto major Tata Motors is gearing up to cast a wider net in the segment targeting first time buyers to premium-end customers while driving strength from its synergies with JLR, according to a top company official. The firm, which on Monday launched the all-new Safari SUV with introductory prices ranging from Rs 14.69 lakh to Rs 21.45 lakh, is seeking to build on the legacy of the Safari brand which "has played a leading role in shaping the Indian SUV market". Speaking at the launch event, Tata Motors chairman N Chandrasekaran said that over the years the company has introduced various iconic brands like Sierra, Estate, Indica and Nano. The recent launches of Nexon, Alroz and Harrier with their distinctive attributes and features have brought in best in class standards of safety, design and performance, he added. Also read: Tata Motors rolls back the years, launches the Safari at Rs 14.69-21.45 lakh LONDON - In the first study to describe the nationwide effectiveness of two vaccines, researchers in Scotland reported Monday that both the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca shots greatly reduced hospital admissions from covid-19 among the elderly - by up to 85% and 94%, respectively. British public health officials hailed the results from the "real-world" studies showing that the vaccines are beginning to have a positive impact in the coronavirus pandemic. Arne Akbar, president of the British Society for Immunology, called the initial data "extremely promising." The Scottish researchers analyzed a data set covering the entire Scottish population of 5.4 million, of which 1.1 million people - about 20% of the population - have received a first dose of the Pfizer or Oxford vaccine. Then they compared the vaccinated against the unvaccinated, and they saw strong evidence of protection. From December until the middle of February, more than 8,000 people ended up in the hospital with covid-19 in Scotland, but only 58 of those patients came from the vaccinated group. Combining results for both vaccines for people 80 and older, there was an overall 81% reduction in hospital admission by the fourth week, said Aziz Sheikh, professor of primary care research and development at the University of Edinburgh and one of the principal investigators. Sheikh cautioned that the immunity offered by the first doses of the vaccines could wane. But more will be known as researchers follow the vaccinated after their second doses. Josie Murray of Public Health Scotland, another leader in the study, told science journalists "the other fantastic news" is that the vaccines should already be helping reduce the covid burden on National Health Service hospitals. In its initial rollout, the U.K. vaccine campaign prioritized nursing home residents, health workers and all those over 70, who are most at risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death from covid-19. Britain is now asking all those over 65 to roll up their sleeves. Previous results about vaccine efficacy have come almost exclusively from clinical trials. The first population-level studies have been reported from Israel. They looked at the effectiveness of just one vaccine, Pfizer-BioNTech, which has been shown to be 96% effective in preventing hospitalizations and death. Israel has vaccinated almost half its adult population. The Scottish research was released in a preprint Monday and is not yet peer-reviewed. In a statement, the co-developer of the Oxford vaccine, Sarah Gilbert, said the high effectiveness in protecting those over 80 after a single dose increases "confidence in using this vaccine in adults of all ages." In a second study, also released Monday, Public Health England (PHE) scientists presented preliminary data showing that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine appears to provide high levels of protection not only against symptomatic covid-19 but against coronavirus infection. Researchers have been examining a cohort of vaccinated health care workers every two weeks - whether or not they have covid-19 symptoms - and they found that one dose reduced the risk of infection by more than 70%, rising to 85% after the second dose. "This suggests the vaccine may also help to interrupt virus transmission, as you cannot spread the virus if you do not have infection," the PHE researchers said in a statement. Alongside these encouraging results, Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlined the next steps Monday in lifting the country's third national lockdown, a "road map" that he said he hopes will be "cautious but also irreversible." It will be a slow march, Johnson warned. He outlined detailed plans in Parliament, telling lawmakers that there would be four stages, with a minimum of five weeks between each stage. The earliest possible date that most of the restrictions could be lifted is June 21, the prime minister said. The first big changes will occur March 8, when all schools in England will reopen, two people from different households will be able to meet outdoors, and nursing home residents in England can receive one regular visitor. In April, hair salons, barbers, gyms and nonessential shops may open. In May, pubs and restaurants. In June, foreign holiday travel could resume. The British government is being far more tentative about easing restrictions this time, even as its vaccination rollout is going astonishingly well - over a quarter of the population has had at least one shot of the vaccine. The new changes will be rolled out slowly. At each stage, the government says its decisions will be driven by data - figures on the vaccine rollout program, hospital admissions and deaths, infection rates and impact of any new variants. The semiautonomous governments in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales have their own timetables. Story Highlights 35% of U.S. adults approve of the job Congress is doing Democrats largely responsible for the latest increase Last time Congress' rating was higher was early in Obama administration WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Thirty-five percent of Americans currently approve of the way Congress is handling its job, a 10-percentage-point increase since January and the highest Gallup has measured in nearly 12 years. Line graph. Congressional job approval recent trend. The current job approval rating of 35% is up from 25% in January and 15% in December. Congress' approval rating was last higher in February 2009. It has rarely been at 30% or above since 2008. The low was 9% in November 2013. The current results are from a Feb. 3-18 Gallup poll. Americans have generally given Congress relatively low ratings historically, with an average 30% job approval rating since Gallup first measured it in 1974. Since 2005, Congress' ratings have rarely met the historical norm, averaging 21%. Congress did register ratings of 30% or higher twice last spring, after passage of the $2 trillion CARES Act addressed the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Congress' approval rating also rose significantly after lawmakers passed a second major COVID-19 relief bill in late December, improving from 15% approval earlier that month to 25% in January. The Biden administration and Congress have made additional COVID relief a top priority. The latest survey was conducted as the Senate tried former President Donald Trump on an impeachment charge. Though a majority of senators found Trump guilty of inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the 57 votes for conviction fell short of the 67 needed to render that judgment. More Americans thought Trump should be convicted than acquitted. While COVID-19 legislation and impeachment could be two factors behind the rise in congressional job approval, it may be more fundamentally related to the change in the Washington power structure. After Joe Biden's inauguration as president and the seating of two Democratic senators from Georgia in late January, the Democratic Party now has the presidency and majority control in both houses of Congress. Currently, 61% of Democrats approve of the job Congress is doing, along with 33% of independents and 8% of Republicans. Democrats' approval of Congress has surged 31 points in the past month and a total of 50 points since December. Independents' approval has increased by a total of 17 points in the past two months, including an eight-point increase this month. After holding steady in January, Republicans' approval of Congress dipped nine points in the past month. Line graph. Congressional job approval by party. Sixty one percent of Democrats approve of the job Congress is doing, up from 30% in January and 11% in December. Thirty three percent of independents approve of the job Congress is doing, up from 25% in January and 16% in December. Eight percent of Republicans approve of Congress, down from 17% in January and 18% in December. The last time Congress' approval rating was as high as it is now was early in the Barack Obama administration, when Democrats also had control of the presidency and both houses of Congress. At that time, Democrats' approval went from 18% in January to 43% in February and 57% in March, eventually peaking at 63% in May. Gallup observed a similar dynamic after Trump was inaugurated in 2017 and Republicans held both houses of Congress. Republicans' approval of Congress more than doubled from 20% in January to 50% in February, a level of GOP support for the legislative branch not seen since. That Republican surge pushed overall congressional approval to 28%, its high-water mark between October 2009 and March 2020. In 2001, congressional job approval changed little after George W. Bush was inaugurated and the GOP gained control of the presidency and both houses of Congress, moving from 50% in January to 53% in February. Republicans' approval of Congress was already high before Bush was inaugurated -- 55% -- but increased to 69%. Independents' approval was unchanged at 49% after Bush took office, while Democrats' approval declined slightly, from 48% to 44%. Bottom Line Congress is enjoying its highest level of public support in more than a decade, largely because Democrats appear pleased with its ability to carry out a Democratic agenda. But independents are also more approving of Congress than they typically are, while Republican approval has fallen to levels similar to that of Democrats when the GOP controlled the federal government in 2017 and 2018. As Gallup continues to track congressional job approval in the coming months, the key will be whether approval goes even higher, as it did in the first few months of the Obama administration, or if it has already reached its peak, as it did in February 2017 during the Trump administration. Its future course may be determined by how successfully coronavirus legislation addresses the issues caused by the pandemic, and by Congress' ability to work with the Biden administration to enact other parts of their agendas. View complete question responses and trends (PDF download). Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works. A COVID-19 testing clinic in Auburn this week is open to people with or without symptoms of the virus. The Cayuga County Health Department and Auburn Community Hospital are hosting the no-cost drive-thru clinic from 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Feb. 24, at the hospital. Visitors should use the helipad entrance on Lansing Street and will be given instructions on how to get results from an online portal. The clinic is for people who are symptomatic or asymptomatic (not experiencing symptoms) and an appointment is required. To schedule an appointment, go to cayugacounty.us/health and click on "COVID-19 Clinics." When making the appointment, you must provide your legal name, email address, home address, phone number and insurance information. If the insurance policy is in someone else's name, you should provide their name and date of birth. If you don't have insurance, write "no insurance" in the relevant fields. Please purchase a subscription to continue reading. If you have a subscription, please Log In . Your current subscription does not provide access to this content. If you believe you've gotten this message in error, please Log In. Las Vegas, Nevada--(Newsfile Corp. - February 23, 2021) - ISW Holdings, Inc. (OTC: ISWH) ("ISW Holdings" or the "Company"), a global brand management holdings company with commercial operations in Telehealth and Cryptocurrency Mining, is pleased to announce that, prior to going online with its new ASIC s17 miners, the Company has signed a comprehensive Hosting and Maintenance Agreement (the "Agreement"). "As we continue to bring our miners online, we want our shareholders to be able to track the expansion and profitability of the Company's mining activity given the sharp rising trend in Bitcoin prices," commented Alonzo Pierce, President and Chairman of ISW Holdings. According to the Agreement, Scrubgrass Generating Company, LLP, based in Kennerdell, PA, will provide electricity and Bit5ive, LLC ("Bit5ive"), will serve as the official provider of mine uploading services. Management notes that this is a critical factor as the Company prepares to bring another 840 ASIC miners online as part of its next three Pod5 datacenter mining units. The initial power demand for the additional three Pod5 mining pod units, equipped with a total of 840 additional miners, is approximately 4 MW. At current prices, these units will produce approximately $9.9 million in annualized revenues from mining activity. "It currently costs about $11K in computing power to mine a single Bitcoin," added Pierce. "Bitcoin is pricing at over five times that level, making this is an exceptional ROI opportunity, and our responsibility to our shareholders is clear: continue to invest, expand, and execute." About ISW Holdings ISW Holdings, Inc. (ISWH), based in Nevada, is a diversified portfolio company comprised of essential business lines that serve consumer product demands. Our expertise lies in strategic brand development, early growth facilitation, as well as brand identity through our proprietary procurement process. Together, with our partners, we seek to provide a structure that meets large scalability demands, as well as anticipated marketplace needs. We are able to meet these needs through a variety of strategic innovative processes. ISWH is creating and managing brands across a spectrum of disruptive industries. It maneuvers its proprietary companies through critical stages of market development, which includes conceptualization, go-to-market strategies, engineering, product integration, and distribution efficiency. The company has also partnered with a well-known software development and consulting company, Bengala Technologies LLC, which is developing significant enhancements in the supply chain management space; and the partnership has a vitally needed patent now pending. For more information, visit www.iswholdings.com Forward Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology including "could", "may", "will", "should", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict", "potential" and the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. While these forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith and reflect our current judgment regarding the direction of our business, actual results will almost always vary, sometimes materially, from any estimates, predictions, projections, assumptions or other future performance suggested in this report. Except as required by applicable law, we do not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements so as to conform these statements to actual results. Investors should refer to the risks disclosed in the Company's reports filed from time to time with OTC Markets (www.otcmarkets.com). Company Contact: info@ISWHoldings.com Public Relations EDM Media, LLC https://edm.media (800) 301-7883 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75189 Mumbai, Feb 23 : In an unprecedented move, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday directed the state administration to explore the possibility of Mantralaya - the state government headquarters - working in two shifts in view of the rise in Covid-19 cases. Chief Secretary Sanjay Kumar will prepare the action plan to implement two shifts for all the staff and officers. Besides, the government will also examine the feasibility of Work From Home for certain departments to ensure work at full capacity without the risk of coronavirus. "We support this move... It's good for the safety of the 7,000-plus staffers working in Mantralaya," G.D. Kulthe, Founder-Advisor of the Federation of Maharashtra Gazetted Officers (FMGO) told IANS. He said the move will be initiated from Mantralaya and later percolate down to all the government offices across the state. As per tentative plans, the shifts will be from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. At a meeting of all departments heads, FMGO, and other top officials, Thackeray urged the need to shed the "11 to 5" work mentality and adapt to the changing times. In the past one year, many Mantralaya staffers have been afflicted by Covid-19 and a few have even succumbed to the contagion. The CM also asked the Chief Secretary to plan out priority vaccination for all government officers and employees as frontline workers to ensure the smooth running of the administration. There will be health checks for all employees and the number of visitors will be reduced to Mantralaya and other government offices in view of the pandemic with stress on online methods to deal with various public problems. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) In a network of rock shelters along the Kimberley, right at the tip of Western Australia, there are paintings thousands of years old. A gallery of echidnas, goannas, fish, yams, hand prints, silhouettes, stencilled boomerangs and lots of kangaroos. They share a style: life-sized and realistic recreations of the things the artist saw in their day-to-day lives on the land of the Balanggarra traditional owners. Traditional owner Ian Waina inspects a painting of a kangaroo that is more than 12,700 years old. Credit:Peter Veth and the Balanggarra Aboriginal Corporation The depictions often sit behind layers of other paintings, peeking out from the past. Thats partially how scientists know they are the oldest rock paintings by Indigenous Australians. But how old, exactly? Ten thousand years? Fifty thousand? The paintings have resisted every dating technique thrown at them. They, and the lives of the people who once painted them, seemed destined to remain just out of our reach. But then a team of scientists hit on a new idea: stop focusing on the painting, and start focussing on what lies beneath. Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Cloudy skies with a few showers this afternoon. High 52F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 42F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. The Union Home Ministry has directed a phased closure of two special and temporary COVID care centres in the city in view of "continuous decline" in coronavirus cases, officials said on Tuesday. While the Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel COVID hospital located in the Delhi Cantonment area is managed by the DRDO, the Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre operational in south Delhi's Chhattarpur area is managed by the ITBP. As per a directive accessed by PTI, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked the Defence Research and Development Organisation to "close down" the facility run by it and directed the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) to withdraw their health professionals manning this centre and ordered the same with "immediate effect" to the ITBP for the Chhattarpur facility. The two facilities will be closed in phases. Those admitted will be discharged gradually and no new admissions will be made now, a senior home ministry official said. The decision to close down the two temporary facilities, which began operations in June-July last year, was taken after a review meeting was held by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla earlier this month along with officials of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, AFMS, ITBP and the DRDO, the officials said. The MHA said the two centres are being closed "due to continuous decline in the number of COVID-19 cases in the National Capital Territory of Delhi vis-a-vis adequate availability of medical facilities". As per the last updated data on Monday, Delhi recorded 128 new COVID-19 cases and one death and the positivity rate stood at 0.30 per cent. The number of active cases stands at 1,041, the data stated. It was also formulated in the meeting that the medical manpower of various Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) working in the ITBP-run centre should now be deployed to their respective locations after they were brought here under special circumstances to manage the spiralling cases of the pandemic. The Chhattarpur centre, which was also called the world's largest COVID care centre with over 10,000 beds, has no patients in critical care at present while about 60 coronavirus patients are admitted in the ward, according to official data. This centre, established in the campus of the Radha Soami Beas, has treated over 12,000 patients till now, including some who returned from abroad. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police has deployed a special team of its doctors and paramedics to treat COVID-19 patients here. As per data, the Chhattarpur centre reported no deaths while over 300 patients were referred to other hospitals during its entire duration of operation. The two centres were created as a special temporary measure as Delhi was witnessing a spike in COVID-19 cases in the middle of last year and Home Minister Amit Shah subsequently chaired a number of review meetings and declared operalisation of these facilities with assistance from the DRDO and the ITBP with the Delhi government pitching in with its resources. Also Read: Uttarakhand flash floods: 136 missing persons to be declared dead for early compensation Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Photo: The Canadian Press The Estee Lauder Cos Inc. says it has struck a deal to buy Canadian skincare company Deciem Beauty Group Inc. at a valuation of US$2.2 billion The agreement will see Estee Lauder purchase the Toronto-based company behind the popular skin care brand The Ordinary in two phases. Estee Lauder says the first phase of the deal, which is expected to close by June 30, will see the company increase its stake in Deciem to 76 per cent from 29 per cent for US$1 billion. The American multinational manufacturer of skincare, makeup, fragrance and hair care products says it has agreed to buy the remaining interests after a three-year period at an amount to be determined based on Deciem's future performance. Deciem, which calls itself The Abnormal Beauty Company, was founded in 2013 by the late Brandon Truaxe, a computer scientist and cosmetics entrepreneur. Nicola Kilner, CEO of Deciem, says Truaxe dreamed Estee Lauder would be the "forever home" for the Canadian skincare company. Fabrizio Freda, president and CEO of New York-based Estee Lauder, says Deciem has cultivated authentic brands with highly effective, must-have products and a uniquely transparent and engaging communication style. Mr. Yandai Wang, Chairman of SOS, commented, " As institutional investors are also jumping on the bandwagon of cryptocurrencies like BTC, we expect the price momentum of crypto currencies like BTC and ETH will increase further and we will do our best to capture this opportunity by creating more cloud crypto mining pools in the near term." About SOS Limited SOS is an emerging blockchain-based and big data-driven marketing and solution provider, with a nationwide membership base of approximately 20 million in China. In July 2020, the headquarters of the company was moved from Gui 'An New Area to Qingdao West Coast New Area. Recently, SOS has outlined its strategy in blockchain and cryptocurrencies, which include a series of initiatives to expand its business into cryptocurrency mining as well as cryptocurrency security and insurance. The core infrastructure of SOS' marketing data, technology and solutions to insurance and emergency rescue services is built on big data, blockchain-based technology, cloud computing, AI, satellite, and 5G network, etc. SOS has created a cloud "software as a service (SaaS)" platform for emergency rescue services, with three major product categories: basic cloud, cooperative cloud, and information. This system provides innovative marketing solutions to clients such as insurance companies, financial institutions, medical institutions, healthcare providers, auto manufacturers, security providers, senior living assistance providers, and other service providers in the emergency rescue services industry. SOS has obtained a national high-tech enterprise certification and the title of "Big Data Star Enterprise," awarded by Gui'an New District Government. Staying on the forefront of digital technology innovation, the Company has registered 99 software copyrights and 2 patents. For more information, please visit: http://www.sosyun.com/ . Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements made herein are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "believe," "expect," "estimate," "plan," "outlook," and "project" and other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. Such forward-looking statements include timing of the proposed transaction; the business plans, objectives, expectations and intentions of the parties;, SOS's estimated and future results of operations, business strategies, competitive position, industry environment and potential growth opportunities market acceptance of our products; the ultimate impact of the current Coronavirus pandemic, or any other health epidemic, on our business, our research programs, healthcare systems or the global economy as a whole; our intellectual property; our reliance on third party organizations; our anticipated financial and operating results, including anticipated sources of revenues; our assumptions regarding the size of the available market, benefits of our product offering, product pricing, timing of product launches; management's expectation with respect to future acquisitions; statements regarding our goals, intentions, plans and expectations, including the introduction of new products and markets; and our cash needs and financing plans and etc. These forward-looking statements reflect the current analysis of existing information and are subject to various risks and uncertainties. As a result, caution must be exercised in relying on forward-looking statements. SOS may not realize its expectations, and its beliefs may not prove correct. Due to known and unknown risks, our actual results may differ materially from our expectations or projections. All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors. Other than as required under the securities laws, the Company does not assume a duty to update these forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning these and other factors that may impact our expectations and projections can be found in our periodic filings with the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019. SOS's SEC filings are available publicly on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. SOS disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. SOURCE SOS Limited Related Links http://www.sosyun.com/ .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal New Mexico is starting off this week with warm weather and high winds, before temperatures drop Wednesday and Thursday as a cold front moves south through the state. The unseasonable warmth and high winds could fuel critical fire weather Tuesday afternoon, said National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Overpeck. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Strong, gusty winds will get up in the 40- to 50-mph range across I-40, mostly eastern New Mexico, Overpeck said. Well also have low relative humidities. Right now, vegetation and fuels are pretty dead, so just how much of a (fire) threat it will be depends on those factors. Albuquerque is expected to have a high temperature of 60 degrees and low of 31 Tuesday. A high of 62 degrees is forecast for Wednesday. A cold air mass moves into New Mexico on Wednesday night. Albuquerque will have a low of 28 degrees Thursday and a high of 47 degrees, with a 10% chance of precipitation. One to 3 inches of snow could fall in the northern mountains and northeastern plains by Thursday night. But the rest of New Mexico will likely receive little moisture from the midweek storm. As that front pushes through the early morning hours, we should keep an eye on those gap winds for Santa Fe and Albuquerque, Overpeck said. Temperatures will rebound by Friday. The Albuquerque area will be mostly sunny with a high of 57 degrees on Friday, and 62 on Saturday. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. A man was experiencing Othello syndrome, the baseless belief that his wife was having an affair, when he stabbed her to death on the grounds of a hospital in Sydneys east, a court has heard. Mourad Kerollos is on trial by judge alone in the NSW Supreme Court accused of murdering his wife Gihan Kerollos known as Gigi as she left work at Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick about 8.30pm on May 18, 2019. Mourad Kerollos (right) is on trial accused of murdering his wife Gihan. Credit:Facebook When the charge was read out to Mr Kerollos on Tuesday, he responded that he is not guilty by reason of mental illness. Mrs Kerollos was found with stab wounds to her neck after Mr Kerollos called triple zero at 8.39pm and said I kill my wife. He was arrested in his car nearby, with a knife on the seat beside him. EAST HAVEN For a couple of months, fans of Papas Wings & Seafood, the tasty new chicken wing, fried seafood and barbecue joint that opened at 420 Main St. in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, were left to wonder what happened Owner James Green closed Papas abruptly on Dec. 6, just a couple of days past its six-month anniversary. Then people in East Haven and the Annex and Morris Cove sections of New Haven were asking and in many cases posting questions on social media whether the closure was a temporary thing, or whether Papas would ever come back. Well, guess what, folks? It did. As of Feb. 8, Papas is back and as good as ever. Theres a story behind why Green, a native of Waterbury who now lives in Meriden, closed the doors for two months. Basically it comes down to a combination of personal issues, including the unfortunate death of a key employee and Greens own health issues once he was faced with the extra burden of doing more himself to keep the place running. In short, I just wasnt feeling well and I needed a break, he said. Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media Green made the decision to close temporarily following the November heart attack and subsequent death of Ronald Gibbs, the employee who was helping Green doing the frying and primary cooking in back. After a while, the extra burden of doing more at a place that already was open seven days a week wears you down, Green said. Youve got to balance your time and your health. Yet throughout the two-month hiatus, I never gave a thought to not reopening, Green said during a free few moments this week. The (primarily takeout and delivery) business model that we have is great for the times, he said. Green felt badly about not being there for his customers especially the few times when he came in and found that the delivery services that he uses, and thought he had paused, in some cases had kept taking orders even though the place was closed. Now, hes taking extra care to get up in the morning and stretch before he has breakfast, sees his family and goes to work. Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media His new effort to bring some balance to his life has Green, who currently seasons every item and batter by hand, re-examining how he does some things. Now hes working with a supplier to pre-spice and preseason some of his batter mixes to his exacting specifications, among other changes. Ultimately, when he finds the right person, hell bring back another cook to help out in the kitchen. Right now, everything is cooked as the order comes in, he said. In order to go a little easier on himself, I need a system that just works whether Im here or not, Green said. Since reopening earlier this month, business has been decent, Green said. It hasnt been super crazy and it hasnt been horrible. 5 1 of 5 Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 2 of 5 Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 5 of 5 As soon as Green put the word out on social media that Papas Wings & Seafood was back, folks started sharing that information and coming back. I was not happy about the fact of them closing, not knowing if was from COVID or whether they were coming back, said East Haven resident and regular customer Omar Medina. Once I drove by and saw that it was occupied again, I made a point of ordering as soon as I could, Medina said. Why does he like Papas so much? Theyve got those fried garlic Parmesan wings and the owners a nice guy, Medina said. Asked whether theres anywhere else he can get wings he likes as much, Medina said, Not around East Haven, let alone New Haven. He said he discovered Papas Wings when I just happened to drive by ... and I was a fan, instantly. If Papas wasnt there, I would have to go all the way to West Haven or a far corner of New Haven to get them, Medina said. This right here is local. I can go just up the street. Beyond that, The food is great! he said. Theres nothing like that in East Haven. For Green, it felt good to be missed ... because it could easily be the opposite, he said. At Papas, the food is very personal to me. It kind of makes you feel good when people say theyre glad to have you back, he said. Its no easy matter cooking delicious stuff for East Haveners, as well as neighbors over the nearby border in New Haven, Green said. Theres big families in East Haven you dont get two or three things in an order. Sometimes you get 12 things! Green had help opening Papas from his wife, Ernestine, and daughter, Brittany, among others, although his wife no longer works there on a daily basis. Papas is on a busy stetch of Main Street, just two doors down from East Haven s nationally-acclaimed Sugar Bakery and three doors up from the venerable Tollis Apizza. From the start, East Haven has been very welcoming, Green has said. Greens cooking is influenced by his travels around the south Papas also serves ribs and grilled pork chop and chicken sandwiches and the Caribbean. Green has said that what makes his chicken and seafood batters sing is the blend of herbs and spices. In addition to wings that are battered and fried, then sauced, Papas serves a variety of fried seafood, including fillets (whiting, flounder, catfish or tilapia), calamari, snow crab, shrimp, clam strips, whole bellies, scallops and even fried lobster tails, as well as an array of New Orleans-style po boys including a hot buttered lobster po boy. The menu also includes hush puppies, a full line of salads, burgers, nachos and grilled sandwiches and wraps. mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com Canadas House of Commons voted to label Beijing's treatment of Uyghurs as genocide hours after China claimed its treatment of the minority group was a "shining example" of progressive policies. The motion saying Uyghurs in China "have been and are being subject to genocide" passed unanimously on February 22. The Canadian parliament also voted to adopt an amendment calling for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics to be moved if the brutal treatment of the Uyghurs continues. Relations between China and Canada have been strained in recent years, and the move is likely to further anger Beijing. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week that there were significant reports of abuses coming out of Xinjiang, where rights groups believe at least 1 million Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim minorities have been incarcerated in camps. The growing calls for action in Canada echo complaints from other Western countries about China's human rights record. The United States has already used the word genocide to describe the treatment of the Uyghurs. China has bristled at such comments, describing Xinjiang as an internal matter and rejecting abuse allegations. Beijing claims the camps provide vocational training and help fight Islamic extremism. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on February 23 that the motion "disregards facts and common sense," adding that Beijing had "lodged stern representations" with Canada. Cong Peiwu, the Chinese ambassador to Ottawa, denied accusations of genocide. "Western countries are in no position to say what the human rights situation in China looks like," Cong said in an interview before the vote. "There is no so-called genocide in Xinjiang at all." On February 22, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on February 22 that Uyghurs and other minorities living in Xinjiang enjoy freedom of religion and labor rights. He described the treatment of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang as a "shining example" of China's human rights progress. Wang said Xinjiang is now experiencing "social stability and sound development" after four years without any "terrorist case." He also said that 24,000 mosques are allowed to operate in Xinjiang. "These basic facts show that there has never been so-called genocide, forced labor, or religious oppression in Xinjiang," Wang said. Based on reporting by AFP and The Globe and Mail Azizi Developments, a leading private developer in the UAE, has appointed Light Concept, a major lighting consultant, to incorporate facade lighting as a distinct feature for its key developemnts - Aura, Mina, Royal Bay, Aliyah, and Berton. The artistic lighting will emphasise the stunning architecture of the developments, elevating their aesthetic presence and giving them a distinctive look, said the developer. The six-digit contract comprises lighting concepts that aim to complement the surrounding environment, illuminate the buildings exceptional architectural features, and provide striking projections that make it beautifully unique to both see and reside in, it added. Chief Development Officer Mohamed Ragheb Hussein said: "We are delighted to have contracted Light Concept, the very reputable, high-calibre lighting consultant, who will now support us in adding state-of-the-art, awe-inspiring facade lighting to our prized developments." "Light Concept has consistently maintained the highest standards in quality lighting and has worked on several world-renowned projects. We look forward to the upcoming beautifications, which will add further touches of prestige to our already-spectacular developments," he stated. "The visual impact that tailor-made, artistic and well-thought-out facade lighting can have should not be underestimated it is what sets a development apart from others and contributes significantly to making the building and its design more noticeable, memorable and iconic. This benefits owners, as well as investors who want to attract tenants," he added. Spanning nearly 38,500 sq m of built-up area, Mina, one of the iconic Palm Jumeirahs most architecturally interesting, luxurious developments, features 178 units, comprising 120 one- and 54 two-bedroom residences, as well as four spacious, lavishly designed penthouses. The project also comprises several retail units across 1,847 square metres, and over 69 percent of its total area is allocated for lifestyle-enhancing amenities, including a childrens play area, a jogging track, and green outdoor spaces, private beach access, two swimming pools, a fully equipped gym and a comprehensive health club. Immaculately designed to leverage its waterfront location and overlooking the Arabian Gulf with stunning views of the citys spectacular skyline, Mina offers residents seaside serenity at its finest. Berton, another building that will benefit from the new lighting consultancy contract, brings together masterful craftsmanship and interior artistry with gracefully furnished homes that come with high-end parquet flooring, state-of-the-art decor, and generous spaces. The property offers customers the opportunity to live in one of the most up-and-coming locations in the emirate situated in Al Furjan, near Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road, Sheikh Zayed Road, and the new Expo 2020 Route metro line, Berton is remarkably well-connected to the entirety of Dubais major points of interest, said the statement. With its ease of access to the vibrant Expo 2020 site as well as the Al Maktoum International Airport, the development is at the forefront of global interconnectedness, it added. If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom. BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The pound appreciated against its major counterparts in the European session on Tuesday, as U.K. wage growth improved in December and Prime Minister Boris Johnson's four-step reopening plan raised hopes of a return to normalcy. Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that U.K. average earnings including bonuses rose 4.7 percent in three months to December, which was well above the expected rate of 4.1 percent. Excluding bonus, average earnings grew 4.1 percent versus the forecast of 4 percent. Claimant count also decreased by 20,000 in January from the previous month. Nonetheless, the jobless rate came in at 5.1 percent in three months to December, which was 0.4 percentage points higher than the previous quarter. The rate matched economists' expectations. The employment rate dropped 0.3 percentage points from the prior quarter to 75.0 percent. On Monday, Boris Johnson outlined a roadmap to take England out of its Covid-19 lockdown. The plan allows schools to reopen on March 8 and functioning of non-essential shops and hospitality for outdoor service from April 12. Under the four-step plan, all restrictions will be removed by late June. The pound spiked higher to near a 1-year high of 0.8630 against the euro and near a 3-year high of 1.4098 against the greenback, after falling to 0.8654 and 1.4056, respectively in early deals. If the pound continues its rise, 0.85 and 1.45 are possibly seen as its next resistance levels against the euro and the greenback, respectively. The pound reversed from an early low of 147.64 against the yen, with the pair trading at 148.20. The pound is likely to find resistance around the 153.00 level. The pound climbed to a 1-year high of 1.2666 against the franc, after having fallen to 1.2586 at 5:00 pm ET. The pound is seen finding resistance around the 1.30 level. Looking ahead, Eurozone CPI for January will be featured in the European session. U.S. consumer confidence index for February, FHFA's house price index and S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for December are due out in the New York session. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is due to testify on the Semiannual Monetary Policy Report before the Senate Banking Committee, via satellite at 10:00 am ET. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de The writer is a media educator and observer, who has edited magazines and newspapers in both India and the United States. He is currently the chief storytelling officer at a Bengaluru-based multinational company. The social media has two broad roles the organisational and the dialogic, and it is the former that is spooking nervous governments By threatening Twitter officials with jail and publicly contemplating the application of media laws to the social media, the government is putting on public display how spooked, rather than concerned, it is. (Photo: AFP) An Editors Guild of India webinar on February 12 on reporting from the Naxalite badlands featured song videos, pornography and abusive language. Now, why would an organised group of unknown persons like to cyber-bomb a seminar? Perhaps the theme was inconvenient? As the guild pointed out later, the seminar would talk about the excesses of the government and the struggles of the tribals or Adivasis at the hands of the left-wing extremists. Open webinars are vulnerable to mischief anyway, and this writer has himself faced tough, disruptive questions during them. But such is the nature of free speech. Where does free speech end? Would we consider the disruption of the guilds webinar also free speech, or would we find it unreasonable enough to be restricted? Should the guild be held responsible for those who misused the platform? Gatherings, virtual or physical, promote mobilisation of thought, and that can be problematic. That is why the recent spat between the Centre and Twitter has rich meanings for a researcher. The Twitter-government conflict is a fight for survival. In Twitters constitutional framework, economic survival is founded on a business model of big numbers and a systematic process of ensuring openness and diversity of voices. Let us remember, to be fair, that Twitters understanding of freedom of speech is rather American. The courts there allow restrictions posed only from a clear and explicit call to violence or breach of national security. A landmark judgment in the 2014 Elonis vs US case stated that an explicit threat includes one where reasonable people hearing it will perceive it to be a threat. No amendments were made, however, in what free speech meant on the social media. Of course, national security is a reasonable restriction in American law too. But the courts relentlessly uphold the free speech rights of an individual. Most courts also rule in favour of protecting the voices of min-ority groups, unless there is an explicit threat, but Twitter usually watch groups with historical problems more carefully. Twitters country-specific censorship has disabled accounts that were clearly neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic. The site does not usually block accounts that are critical of regimes, whether or not a country is authoritarian. Governments then tend to take action against individuals who may use disagreeable or inconvenient language against a regime about its majority religion. Instances are replete from Turkey, Bahrain, Thailand, and several other countries not exactly stellar examples of individual freedom-granters. The social media has two broad roles the organisational and the dialogic, and it is the former that is spooking nervous governments. By threatening Twitter officials with jail and publicly contemplating the application of media laws to the social media, the government is putting on public display how spooked, rather than concerned, it is. For the Indian government, in particular, irrespective of party, there are several historical precedents most glaringly so over the last six years. To cry conspiracy on groups of like-minded people who use a convenient technological tool the hashtag to galvanise support and make claims is extremely thin-skinned. People and political parties many on Twitter, such is the delicious irony of the social media have raised doubts about whether the Delhi police wittingly or unwittingly facilitated the Republic Day drama. Should we therefore assume that our government liberally allowed the virtual mobilisation to brew on Twitter, and then failed to protect a public monument where the real action was? Certainly, history has shown us that mobilisation topples governments even through rhetorical intent. Organisational power can often translate into transactional power and from Indira Gandhi to Narendra Modi, it poses a human challenge to professed development goals. The social media is just the latest galvanising force that transcends geography. But can the social media enable a coup in India? But is it possible to argue that it can? Similarly, can a group of people hoist a private flag atop a public building as the police watch? But can the Cent-re argue that the breach was a security problem? Thats what matters. And the public display of anger is a warning to the rest of us not to rub the government the wrong way. Consider the potent words of BJP leader Anil Vij in Disha Ravis context: Those who even think in anti-national terms must be eradicated. Lets flip a question: Would the flag be hoisted atop Red Fort on Republic Day if the social media had not existed? This sounds like a rhetorical question. Like during the Arab Spring, hashtag mobilisation can indeed take on unimaginable, real proportions. But which political leader has not used it to campaign and discredit, proclaim and decry, often using clever but false equivalence? But false narratives cannot be confused with fake news. It should worry us that instead of seeking to protect its citizens privacy (it took the Supreme Court to state recently that privacy is paramount), or protect conventional media businesses like Australia, Spain and several other countries are now doing, the Indian government and its agencies are seeking to use the social media to identify inconvenient people to fit into its narratives that can fuel pseudo-nationalistic frenzy. Disha Ravis arrest is only the latest example. As a former SC judge noted on a prominent news channel, it seems the new tendency is to arrest in a hurry, ask questions later no wonder a judge has questioned the police on its conjectures. Any government should be responsible for creating an ecosystem that enables its citizens to feel involved but secure, responsible but free. Knee-jerk reactions from the State and highly publicised arrests of people who are merely practising their rights tend to inhibit citizens from speaking up. As a medium, the social media does not represent it merely amplifies. Meanwhile, the homegrown Twitter, Koo (I understand the onomatopoeic word is a call that people in coastal Karnataka use to catch someones attention) has deftly built a base of political support and is a perfect platform for mobilisation. And as expected, the BJP government has taken the lead. Sure, Koo is no less dialogic, but fair dialogue depends on whether the government indeed ends up painting social media in the same brush as the editorial media and if Koo can adopt editorial interventions that are fair and just to all. WASHINGTON Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz has a message for whoever leaked his wifes text messages about the Cruz familys trip to Cancun during the Texas freeze. Its a sign of how ridiculously politicized and nasty and just Just treat each other as human beings, have some degree, some modicum of respect, Cruz said on an episode of Ruthless, a popular conservative podcast published on Tuesday. Cruz talked at length about his decision to hit the beach while millions of Texans were left without power or running water for the first time since returning to Houston last week. Marie D. De Jesus, MBO / Associated Press ICYMI: Sen. Ted Cruz, back in Houston, calls controversial Cancun getaway a mistake I havent had this much negative press coverage since Northern California in the 1960s, Cruz said, alluding to a meme that went viral during his presidential run that claimed Cruz was the Zodiac Killer. Cruz has said the Cancun trip was obviously a mistake, but that he was trying to be a good dad and caved as his daughters asked him to get away from their freezing home, which was without power like much of Houston. But the firestorm that developed after pictures of him boarding a plane from Houston went viral Thursday wasnt the only repercussion of his decision to go. Text messages Cruzs wife, Heidi, sent to a group of friends in which she complained their house was FREEZING and invited them to a getaway at the Ritz-Carlton were leaked to the New York Times. Cruz said they dont know who gave the texts to the media. We have a number of Republicans who are neighbors, but also a number of Democrats. We have a number of folks who put up Beto (ORourke) signs, which I thought was a little rude, Cruz said of his River Oaks neighborhood, before joking: I didnt, like, hold a victory party in the front yard when we won. Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox Cruz called a viral photo of his dog, Snowflake, looking forlornly out the front door of his home while he was gone a little bit absurd and creepy. He said the family had a dogsitter and power was back on at that point, but apparently I literally fed Snowflake to the wolves. Even more creepy, Cruz said, was paparazzi followed his family around the beach in Mexico, even after the senator returned home to Texas. Heidi, he said, was also upset about that. I dont think there are many women that would be thrilled to have reporters following them around and taking pictures of them in their bikinis and sticking them in the pages of the New York Post, Cruz said. ben.wermund@chron.com Standing guard: US giant Allied Universal is poised to buy British security company G4S G4S looks set to fall into American hands after a fierce bidding war ended sparking huge payouts for bosses. US giant Allied Universal is poised to buy the British security company for 245p-per-share, or 3.8billion, pending shareholder approval. Allied's victory followed a three-month bidding war with rival suitor Garda World, which had come down to a head-to-head auction this week. But Canadian security group Garda effectively threw in the towel as its bosses announced they would not increase their 235p-per-share bid leaving the path clear for Allied. G4S shares fell 9.8 per cent, or 26.4p, to 242.6p as the possibility of higher bids evaporated. It is a humiliating defeat for Garda boss Stephan Cretier, who had staked his firm's reputation as a global leader on the deal. The acquisition by Allied, which is backed by private equity firm Warburg Pincus, will create a global organisation with 750,000 staff and annual revenues of 13.4billion. G4S chief executive Ashley Almanza and chairman John Connolly will scoop millions if shareholders accept the bid. Almanza, 57, holds 2.2m shares, worth around 5.3m, while Connolly and his family hold 611,000 shares, worth 1.5m. But Almanza's payout could reach 15m if long-term targets are hit. The deal also means the Government will be forced to re-do its contract for four major British prisons, which it awarded to G4S. Allied has already said it does not wish to take it on, meaning it will likely go to Hampshire-based Serco, potentially creating competition issues. The US firm last year sought to allay fears that the shift of control abroad will impact its London headquarters and UK operations. It said it was 'committed to the UK market having doubled its activities in the UK in the last two years', and it will maintain the UK base to act as its headquarters for international operations outside of America. President Biden's election in the US could also raise problems, if he takes a different view to his predecessor Donald Trump. A source said: 'The Biden administration has been phoning customers and competitors asking what they make of it. ' The fight to take over G4S began last June when Cretier made an informal approach of 145p, when the share price was just 103p. Garda's interest became public when it made a third bid of 190p on September 1, when G4S's share price was 142p. The G4S board held firm, rebuffing a series of offers until Allied made a 245pper-share bid in December. Allied previously had a 210p offer rejected. Analysts predicted Allied had an edge as it was bigger and had more geographic overlap with G4S, giving it greater cost savings in a merger. G4S had said Garda was too small to be a global leader and would rely on G4S's balance sheet to finance the deal. The Allied bid was 'fair and reasonable', G4S said. Sources claimed the race for the company had ended because Cretier had been unable to raise the necessary financial firepower to increase his bid. He denied the claim saying in a statement that Garda 'will not overpay' and that 'there are better and less risky opportunities available'. G4S is the latest British business with a bombed-out share price to fall into foreign hands. Bookmaker William Hill and RSA Insurance were also snapped up by overseas rivals at the end of last year. As the counting for the local body in six Municipal Corporations in progresses on Tuesday, the trending figures show that the BJP is leading in majority of the seats, but it is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which is giving surprising results in Surat. The AAP party secured wins in two wards of the Surat Municipal Corporation in ward numbers 4 and 16. All its eight candidates won with huge margins over the BJP and Congress. The BJP is leading in 141 seats, Congress in 40 seats, AAP in 16 seats and All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) in four seats out of the 201 trending seats in the initial rounds. Results for the total 576 seats will be declared on Tuesday evening. In Rajkot, BJP has won all the 24 seats of six wards. In Ahmedabad, the BJP won the Sardarnagar, Jodhpur, Thaltej, Gota and eastern Ahmedabad wards winning all 20 seats. The Dariyapur ward was captured by the Congress and it is also leading in Danilimda and Behrampura wards. In Bhavnagar, out of the total 52 seats, the BJP is leading in 32 seats. A skirmish was reported between the Congress workers, candidates and the police at the counting centre in Ahmedabad. The Congress complained against the police that it was facilitating and letting the BJP workers to have their cellphones inside the counting centre. In Surat, out of the total 120 seats, the BJP is leading in 40 seats, Congress 4 and AAP 19, and the counting in rest of the seats was being taken up. In Vadodara, the BJP is leading in 33, Congress 7 and in Ahmedabad the BJP is leading in 71 and the Congress in 13 seats. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has won three seats in the Ward 6 of the Jamnagar Municipal Corporation. --IANS amc/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.) A Brazilian woman who swallowed 88 pellets of cocaine before travelling to Ireland because she was desperate for money has been jailed for two years. Raynessa De Sousa (27) pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to having the drugs, worth an estimated 55,447, for sale or supply at Dublin Airport on September 20, 2020. Garda Patrick Duffy told Katherine McGillicuddy BL, prosecuting, that De Sousa had travelled from Sao Paulo to Lisbon to Dublin, along with two other men. Authorities in Portugal had contacted officers in Dublin and alerted them to the trio as it was suspected that they were transporting drugs. De Sousa had no visa and was refused entry to the State. She was taken to Kevin Street Garda Station during which she pointed to her stomach and said the word cocaine. She was taken to Beaumont Hospital where she was x-rayed and ultimately passed 88 pellets of cocaine over a few days. Gda Duffy agreed with Ms McGillicuddy that the drugs were analysed and confirmed to be 792 grammes of cocaine with an estimated street value of 55,447. De Sousa explained, with the assistance of an interpreter, that she had been promised 1,200 to bring the drugs into the country by swallowing the pellets. She said when it came to the point of actually ingesting the pellets, she changed her mind but she was threatened by others and forced to swallow them. She told gardai that she was a mother of a 12-year-old son and her own mother was caring for him. De Sousa described it as the worst mistake of my life. Gda Duffy agreed with Anne-Marie Lawlor SC, defending, that in his experience only the most desperate would traffic drugs in this way due to the high risk to their own health. He accepted De Sousa had no previous convictions and had never come to the attention of the authorities in Brazil. Ms Lawlor said her client had come to Ireland in a desperate state and she has struggled with her mental health for most of her life. She found herself unable to care for her son and was susceptible to earning money in the way she did because of her financial situation. She was prevailed upon to engage in this with the promise of money. She didnt want to do this when it came to the point she was being asked to ingest the drugs but there was no return from the enterprise at that point, Ms Lawlor submitted. Counsel said that her clients family and girlfriend are under real and proper bona fide threats in Brazil. Judge Martin Nolan said De Sousa was desperate for money and agreed to transport the drugs. He said she wanted to back out at the last minute but couldnt because of threats made to her. The court can accept that a person would want to be very desperate to transport drugs in this way, Judge Nolan said before he jailed De Sousa for two years, commenting that it was unlikely that she will re-offend. ANN ARBOR, MI The University of Michigans Shapiro Undergraduate Library was temporarily closed after venomous spiders were found in the building. Three Mediterranean recluse spiders were found in the librarys basement storage areas in late January, university spokeswoman Kim Broekhuizen said. The spiders were not in any public spaces, Broekhuizen said, and the library was closed on Sunday, Feb. 21, and Monday, Feb. 22. A misunderstanding led the library to close for two days, and based on what the university knows now, it was a mistake to close the building, Broekhuizen said. The university consulted with spider experts at Michigan State University and University of Michigan-Dearborn to determine the type of spider found, Broekhuizen said. Pest management has been working to treat the areas of the building where the spiders were seen, she said. The library was expected to reopen at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23, Broekhuizen said. Recluse spiders spend daylight hours in dark, secluded places indoors and outdoors, and are more abundant in warm, dry places, according to the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center. Recluse spiders are shy and prone to retreat when threatened, according to LSU. The Mediterranean recluse is native to central Europe and has been introduced to many areas of the U.S., presumably by human transport, according to LSU. It is commonly mistaken for the brown recluse spider, which it closely resembles. Bites are extremely rare and can cause cases of loxoscelism, which causes skin lesions. Symptoms can start anywhere from two to six hours after the bite and include fever, rash, nausea, vomiting and, in severe cases, death. Broekhuizen did not say whether there have been other instances of the spider being on campus in the past. READ MORE: When a senior citizens wife died of COVID, University of Michigan students helped him grieve STEM at home: University of Michigan alum creates learning kit during pandemic University of Michigan leaders remain optimistic for much more normal fall 2021 semester A New York assemblyman who accused Andrew Cuomo of berating him during a phone call, has penned an op-ed calling for the governor to be impeached over the COVID-19 nursing home scandal. Earlier this month, Melissa DeRosa, Cuomo's secretary, unleashed a political firestorm when she admitted to state Democrats that the administration had deliberately hid data on the number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes. Days after that revelation, Assemblyman Ron Kim claimed that the governor made threats as part of an effort to get him to 'cover up' for DeRosa's admission. Now, Kim is standing up to the governor and even wrote an op-ed for Newsweek calling for his impeachment. 'We cannot be numb to the fact that 15,000 people died in nursing homes under Governor Cuomo's watch,' Kim wrote. New York Assemblyman Ron Kim (right) who accused Andrew Cuomo (left) of berating him during a phone call, has penned an op-ed calling for the governor to be impeached over the COVID-19 nursing home scandal Earlier this month, Melissa DeRosa (left), Cuomo's secretary, unleashed a political firestorm when she admitted to state Democrats that the administration had deliberately hid data on the number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes Kim wrote that Cuomo 'snuck a toxic corporate immunity clause in the 2020 budget on behalf of his top campaign donor, the Greater New York Hospital Association'. 'You don't need a PhD to understand that handing out get-out-of-jail-free cards to for-profit nursing homes in the middle of a pandemic will lead to more deaths,' Kim said. He then questioned: 'If the corporate immunity was omitted from the budget, how many lives would have been saved? Ten percent? Twenty percent? That is 1,500 to 3,000 families who could be sitting across from a loved one at dinner tonight. That's an entire 9/11 tragedy that we could have prevented.' Kim wrote: 'We must hold the governor accountable and restore the integrity of the Senate and Assembly as co-equal branches of government. We must put all options on the table, in order to get to the truth. 'It is time to be brave, to hold him accountable, to investigate his cover-up of nursing home information. It is time to undo the bad policies that led to unnecessary deaths. And it is time to start the impeachment process.' The nursing home issue exploded onto the political scene with two recent revelations. First, the state's Democratic attorney general chastised the Cuomo administration for minimizing the death toll at nursing homes by excluding certain fatalities from the count. Cuomo's administration then revealed at least 15,000 people living in long-term care facilities have died of COVID-19, nearly double the number Cuomo had initially disclosed. Days after that revelation, Kim claimed that the governor made threats as part of an effort to get him to 'cover up' for DeRosa's admission. Now, Kim is standing up to the governor and even wrote an op-ed calling for his impeachment The New York Post first reported that DeRosa told lawmakers the Cuomo administration had withheld the numbers for fear of them being 'used against us'. A furious Cuomo at a press conference later accused Ron Kim, a Democratic state legislator who spoke to the Post, about corruption. Kim said Cuomo had called him and threatened to 'destroy' him. While Cuomo's team has claimed that Kim is a liar, the New York Times released an article about Cuomo's alleged bullying in which others reported similar verbal abuse. 'His primary tool for governing is to create fear,' Karen Hinton, a communications consultant who previously worked with Cuomo, told the newspaper. According to two people who wished to remain anonymous, Cuomo likened a leader of the Working Families Party to a 'child rapist'. The party apparently told Cuomo that it would endorse him in the general election because he was better than a Republican. 'If you ever say, "Well hes better than a Republican" again, then Im going to say, "Youre better than a child rapist,"' the governor allegedly said. Eric Phillips, a former spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio, told the Times: 'The governor understands the political value of taking action and creating the perception of strength, even if it occasionally seems cocksure or bullying.' He said the governor is 'a master of brutalist political theater'. Meanwhile, legal experts warned Sunday that Cuomo's nursing home deaths cover-up could lead to federal level criminal offenses. According to a Wall Street Journal op-ed written by John B. Daukas, who served as acting US attorney general for the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division, 'numerous federal criminal statutes could apply'. Daukas then pointed to DeRosa's admission, saying: 'Ms. DeRosas reported admissions indicate the Cuomo administrations conduct wasnt merely negligent, but intentional and perhaps criminal,' Daukas wrote. He continued: 'Its a crime to make false statements to the federal government. Its also a crime to conceal information and otherwise obstruct government investigations. 'New York may have engaged in a conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and its agencies and possibly obstruct justice, among other crimes.' Daukas added that 'even if it cannot be proved that the Cuomo administration knowingly provided false information to Justice and the (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services), New Yorks willful failure to provide information may itself constitute a criminal offenseparticularly if the intent was to thwart a federal investigationwhich, after all, is exactly what Ms. DeRosa reportedly said the administration did'. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Sportswear giant increases productivity and streamlines communications with smooth remote PLM implementation in the midst of a global pandemic CAMPBELL, Calif., February 23, 2021 - Leading UK fitness apparel and accessories brand Gymshark successfully implemented Centric Softwares Product Lifestyle Management (PLM) system 100% remotely during a national lockdown. Centric Software provides the most innovative enterprise solutions to plan, design, develop, source and sell products such as apparel, footwear, sporting goods, furniture, home decor, cosmetics, food & beverage and luxury to achieve strategic and operational digital transformation goals. Founded in Birmingham in 2012 by then-teenager Ben Francis and a group of his high-school friends, Gymshark has developed from a small screen-printing operation, to one of the fastest-growing and most recognisable brands in fitness. Selling directly to customers via 15 international online stores, the company currently has over 4 million customers in over 180 countries, and its social media content reaches an audience of over 12.5M. Named the UKs fastest growing company 2016 in The Sunday Times Fast Track 100, Gymsharks product team scaled up massively from 44 to 125 people across the UK, Hong Kong and Mauritius in just two years. As such, the company began to struggle with managing complex product data, and was at risk of delays and errors due to multiple working documents being used simultaneously across teams. Gymshark started its Global Analysis with Centric Software in January 2020, with the UK then going into lockdown in March just as PLM workshops had commenced. Consequently, all training, testing and implementation of Phase 1 working was 100% remote. Justine McCarthy, Development Director at Gymshark comments on how PLM technology helps the business to react to marketplace challenges, If we enter into another lockdown, and need to work remotely our PLM will definitely facilitate the ease in which we share information. In this early stage, we are seeing huge benefits in our Materials process, with an estimated 30% increase in productivity. Admin and communication between teams is seamless, and human error has been greatly reduced. We are able to create more accurate Tech Packs, in a much more efficient way. Gymsharks Head of Development and Primary Superuser, Annalisa Savio, reflects on how her teams found comfort out of PLM in pandemic times. They all found it useful to work on the same platform while working from home, she says. Our first Go Live was in May 2020, in line with our Critical Path. It was tight, and we never expected to be able to do all of this remotely but the huge commitment and motivation from the whole team made it happen. The thought of another season with multiple Excel docs was just too painful! According to Justine, what set Centric apart from other vendors was its real understanding of Gymsharks business challenges, its sensible best practice solutions and its support at every step. Annalisa also explains how Centrics out of the box features provided Gymshark with an excellent foundation to build from, with the exciting prospect of combining the ambition of a young business with the depth of experience that Centric could offer. We are very successful, yet still only 10 years old. We felt being able to lean on the experience of Centric would set our young company on a better path. We are delighted to be supporting Gymshark with its digital transformation goals, comments Chris Groves, President and CEO of Centric Software. The partnership has already achieved remarkable results and we are excited to continue this exciting journey with such a dynamic, innovative company. Request a Demo Gymshark (uk.gymshark.com) Gymshark is a conditioning brand dedicated to creating functional training apparel, designing innovative performance technologies and building passionate, empowered conditioning communities. Formed in 2012 in a garage in Birmingham, UK, it is now a leading brand in the sportswear industry and it is still growing. The company currently has offices in four different regions and over 500 employees. Its GSHQ headquarters operates out of a central hub in Solihull, UK and it recently opened its first US office in Downtown Denver, Colorado. The Gymshark family consists of over 4 million customers in over 180 countries. It only sells directly to customers, via 15 international online stores and occasional pop-up stores, to provide everyone with the best possible experience. Renowned for its ever-growing community of athletes and followers, its social media content reaches an audience of over 12.5M in over 55 countries. Always driven by progress, and after being named the UKs fastest growing company in 2016 in The Sunday Times Fast Track 100, Gymshark turned over approximately 200M in 2018/19. Centric Software (www.centricsoftware.com) From its headquarters in Silicon Valley, Centric Software provides a Digital Transformation Platform for the most prestigious names in fashion, retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor and consumer goods including cosmetics, beauty, food and beverage. Centrics flagship Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) platform, Centric 8, delivers enterprise-class merchandise planning, product development, sourcing, quality and collection management functionality tailored for fast-moving consumer industries. Centric SMB provides innovative PLM technology and key industry learnings for emerging brands. Centric Visual Innovation Platform (VIP) offers a new fully visual and digital experience for collaboration and decision-making and includes the Centric Buying Board to transform internal buying sessions and maximize retail value and the Centric Concept Board for driving creativity and evolving product concepts. All Centric innovations shorten time to market, boost product innovation and reduce costs. Centric Software is majority-owned by Dassault Systemes (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), the world leader in 3D design software, 3D Digital Mock Up and PLM solutions. Centric Software has received multiple industry awards and recognition, including being named by Red Herring to its Top 100 Global list in 2013, 2015 and 2016. Centric also received various excellence awards from Frost & Sullivan in 2012, 2016, 2018 and 2021. Centric Software is a registered trademark of Centric Software Inc. All other brands and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Media Contacts: Centric Software Americas: Jennifer Forsythe, jforsythe@centricsoftware.com EMEA: Kristen Salaun-Batby, ksalaun-batby@centricsoftware.com APAC: Lily Dong, lily.dong@centricsoftware.com New Delhi: Lakha Sidhana who is accused of the Republic Day violence in Delhi, was spotted at a farmers' rally in Punjab's Bathinda, according to the ANI news agency. The January 26 violence accused Lakha Sidhana reportedly attended a public meeting in Bathinda and was seen seated on the dais in a video clip. Punjab: Lakha Sidhana (in white shirt and sweater), an accused in Jan 26 Delhi violence, was seen at a farmers' rally in Bathinda. Earlier this month, Delhi Police announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information leading to his arrest. pic.twitter.com/Wq4Wc57olx ANI (@ANI) February 23, 2021 Lakha Sidhana is seen in a white shirt and sweater in the picture. According to reports, he had also given a call for the public meeting in Bathinda's Mehraj village last week. Lakha Sidhana is wanted by the Delhi Police for his alleged role in the violence that took place during a tractor parade called by the farmer unions on January 26 against the Centre's three farm laws. Earlier in the day, the Delhi Police Crime Branch arrested two key accused from Jammu in connection with the Republic Day violence at the Red Fort. One of the two accused arrested by the Delhi Police is Mohinder Singh, 45, from Satbari, Jammu. On Monday, Delhi Police had also arrested Jaspreet Singh, who was seen climbing one of the tombs located at the Red Fort during the violence on Republic Day. This is to be noted that the farmer unions had called a tractor rally on Republic Day in Delhi, which had turned violent when the protesters and police personnel clashed. The protestors had also entered the Red Fort and some of them even hoisted religious flags on historic monument's domes and the flagstaff at the ramparts. Thousands of farmers have been protesting on the borders of the national capital since late November 2020, against the three newly enacted agricultural laws. Farmers have been protesting against these three 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. Food delivery apps pay more to publicize their charity work than their actual charity work, and these companies dont care if local restaurants live or die because theyve never even spoken to the owners, or been to Athens. Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux waits to appear before the Commons Finance committee on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on March 10, 2020. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld) Jordans Principle Order May Cost Feds $15 Billion in Compensation, PBO Says OTTAWAThe parliamentary budget office says it could cost the federal government up to $15 billion to compensate First Nations families and children impacted by the child welfare system, as well as denials or delays of essential services. The figure updates the budget offices initial estimate to include thousands more children, parents and grandparents who would qualify for the $40,000 payments under recent developments in the case. Jordans Principle requires governments to cover the cost of services for First Nations children, and work out any disputes over jurisdiction afterwards. The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has ordered the government to compensate children and families who had been denied service, or faced delays. The updated report adds roughly 100,000 more First Nations children, along with their parents and grandparents, whose compensation would alone be about $10 billion. The new estimate of about $15 billion includes the 13,000 children originally expected to be eligible for compensation, mostly related to delayed approval of claims, as well as those taken into care unnecessarily, and their families. The tribunal ordered the government in September 2019 to pay $40,000 to every First Nations child who since 2006 was inappropriately removed from their home, and pay the same amount to their parents or caregiver. The same amount, which is the maximum the tribunal can award, was also ordered for children who faced denials or delays of basic services like medical care. At the time, the Assembly of First Nations estimated that 54,000 children and their parents could receive compensation, for a bill of at least $2 billion. Budget officer Yves Girouxs report pegs those figures far higher, but warns of estimates are uncertain because of data limitations. In November, a tribunal ruling expanded the scope of its order to allow First Nations to decide whether a particular child is entitled to federally funded services, not just the federal government under the Indian Act. Ottawa announced before Christmas it would seek a judicial review of the decision. The recent developments flow back to a 2016 ruling from the tribunal that found the federal government at fault for not providing funding on-reserve for child welfare services equal to provincial payments for those living in urban and rural settings. The government subsequently broadened its definition of Jordans Principle, named for Jordan River Anderson, a boy Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba. He spent five years of life in hospital while the Manitoba and federal government argued over which level of government needed to pay for his care in a special home. The PBO report notes that more than 594,000 claims under Jordans Principle were approved between July 2016 and April 2020. Crunching the numbers, the budget office said that amounts to one claim per person for each of the approximately 375,000 First Nations children living on- and off-reserve, as well as those who became adults over that almost four-year period. CAIRO While negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) have been brought to a standstill, Cairo is channeling its efforts to preserve the waters of the Nile by supporting local initiatives, such as VeryNile to remove plastic waste from the river, the main source of fresh water in arid Egypt. With the support of Egypts Ministry of Environment and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), VeryNile started its activities in 2018 under the slogan Cleaning the Nile, one kilo at a time. In recent weeks, the media has praised the initiative after removing tons of medical and plastic waste from the water and employing fishermen, who have been hit hard as pollution kills the fish. The co-founder of VeryNile, Mostafa Habib, told Al-Monitor over the phone that they have managed to collect 52 tons of solid garbage, including 15 tons of plastic waste, from the Nile River so far. He said that they are about to get a boat from donors to sail the Nile from south to north to collect plastic waste. To achieve the campaign's goal of making the Nile River 100% free of plastic, the initiative's founders also launched a project to improve the lives of fishermen by providing them with additional income from garbage collection and recycling operations. In addition, they established a campaign to raise awareness among Egyptians about the risks of throwing plastic garbage into the river, including the Nile Environmental Education Program for school students to reduce the use of single-use plastic bags. Despite our continuous cleaning of the Nile, this is still not sufficient to get rid of waste. So we also started a campaign to encourage cafes and shops in the areas surrounding the river to stop using single-use plastic bags. So far 150 stores have joined us in this initiative, Habib noted. Not only are Habib and his colleagues working on the thorough cleaning of the Nile River within Egyptian territory, but they are also in contact with initiatives in Uganda and Rwanda to clean up the river, which passes through 11 African countries. The campaign states, The Nile is one of 10 rivers that contribute 90% of the plastic that ends up in the oceans." Habib added, Fish in the river are also affected by plastic waste. The fishermen who have joined our initiative told us that in the past the amount of fish caught in the Nile was much more than it is now." Last year, a study published by the University of Oslo showed that many Nile fish had ingested microplastic particles. Fish were purchased from local sellers in Cairo, and then their gastrointestinal tracts were dissected and examined for microplastics over 75% of the fish sampled contained microplastics in their digestive tract, the research found. Egypt depends entirely on its 55.5 billion cubic meters share of the Nile water that it receives annually an amount that does not meet the needs of 100 million citizens. According to the United Nations, the water poverty line is 1,000 cubic meters of water per person per year, while the percentage of water per person in Egypt is currently 600 cubic meters per year. It is also likely that Cairo's share of water will decrease once the GERD, which Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile, is operational. Despite Egypt's attempts for years to reach an agreement with Addis Ababa to ensure an adequate water quota for its residents, negotiations have not resulted in any settlement yet. Egypt's media coverage of the uncertainty surrounding the waters of the Nile drew Egyptians' attention to the GERD negotiations. When we felt the danger of being exposed to water scarcity, citizens' awareness has begun to increase dramatically, and the state is still working to educate all individuals at all levels, Ali Abu Senah, assistant to the Egyptian Minister of Environment for Projects, told Al-Monitor. Abu Senah said, Plastic waste does not directly affect the quality of the water according to the results of the monitoring. But it causes damage due to the accumulation of garbage in dams and bridges on the course of the Nile, which puts a great financial burden on the state in the cleansing work. He added, The ministry is currently working on issuing a national strategy to limit the use of single-use plastic bags and planning to form a technical committee to discuss alternatives to plastic materials. In addition to the awareness campaigns that VeryNile carries out among Egyptians, the Egyptian Ministry of Environment is also working to engage universities in raising awareness about the harmful effects of plastics and to support NGOs and initiatives that implement Nile cleanup operations. The ministry is working intensively with NGOs to complete the plan of making the Nile 100% plastic free, Abu Senha concluded. Amazon India and Mahindra Electric on Tuesday announced a partnership under which the e-commerce major has deployed the latter's electric vehicles in its delivery network as part of a commitment towards strengthening electric mobility in the country. Under the partnership, Amazon India has deployed close to hundred Mahindra Treo Zor EVs in seven major cities, the companies said in a joint statement. The cities where the electric three-wheeler, Mahindra Treo Zor have been deployed so far include Bengaluru, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Indore and Lucknow. These have been deployed with Amazon India's network of delivery service partners, it added. In 2020, Amazon India had announced that its fleet of delivery vehicles will include 10,000 electric vehicles (EVs) by 2025 in India. These EVs are in addition to the global commitment of 1,00,000 electric vehicles in the delivery fleet by 2030 announced in the Climate Pledge signed by Amazon. "This partnership with Mahindra Electric is an important step towards India's progress in the e-mobility industry to achieve its environmental sustainability goals," Amazon India said. Commenting on the partnership, Amazon APAC, MENA & LATAM, Vice President, Customer Fulfilment Operations Akhil Saxena said, the company is committed to building a supply chain that will minimize the environmental impact of our operations. "The expansion of our Electric Vehicle fleet to 10,000 vehicles by 2025 is an integral milestone in our journey to become a sustainability leader in the industry," he said. Saxena further said, "we continue to work with several OEMs to build a fleet of 'Made in India' electric vehicles that ensure sustainable and safe deliveries of customer orders, and this partnership with Mahindra Electric is a testament of our commitment." Mahindra Electric Mobility Ltd Managing Director and CEO Mahesh Babu said, "We believe this will redefine India's logistics and last-mile delivery needs and at the same time help Mahindra and Amazon to achieve our sustainability goals." Treo Zor offers a unique customer value proposition with best-in-industry power of 8 kW, and highest-in-class payload of 550 kg, he added. "We are happy that this made-in-India electric cargo will contribute towards Amazon's delivery partner fleet transformation towards EVs in the country," Babu added. The success of the Treo range of three-wheelers has proved that electric vehicles in the last mile segment is a win-win solution for our customers as well as the larger society, he said. Mahindra Treo Zor was launched in October 2020 and is powered by an advanced Lithium-ion Battery. Amazon rival, Flipkart too has announced transitioning completely to the usage of electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030 as part of its sustainability efforts. In August last year, the Walmart-owned company had committed to a phased integration of electric vehicles into the entire fleet (directly owned or leased corporate fleets) by 2030. Flipkart has already deployed EVs in Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Pune, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Lucknow. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 12:28:52|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese students will enjoy a return to normal school life after their last spring semester was disrupted by the COVID-19 outbreak, according to the Ministry of Education. To minimize the risk of any potential cross-infection, the ministry asked schools to stagger the return of students at a press conference held on Tuesday. Key locations and groups will be targeted for COVID-19 tests and key venues should be disinfected on a regular basis, the ministry said. Enditem With its resort-like lagoons, warm sunny weather and gateway to the majestic Great Barrier Reef, it's no surprise Cairns has been crowned the number one town in Australia. Travel website Wotif has announced the top 10 winners of the 2021 Aussie Town of the Year Awards based on their accommodation quality, affordability, traveller satisfaction and appealing activities and attractions. While the idyllic city in tropical Far North Queensland took out the top spot, New South Wales dominated the list with the likes of Pokolbin, Mudgee, Port Macquarie and The Entrance. Victoria's Apollo Bay and Lakes Entrance were named among the winning destinations, along with South Australia's McLaren Vale, Queensland's Hervey Bay and Western Australia's Exmouth. 1. Cairns, Queensland: Cairns has been crowned the number one town in Australia of 2021 2. Pokolbin, New South Wales: If it's indulgence and relaxation you're after, then the rolling hills and picturesque vistas of Pokolbin is the ideal setting for some R&R Top 10 Australian towns revealed 1. Cairns, Queensland: Spend some time exploring the Great Barrier Reef and the world's oldest rainforest - and you'll ask yourself why you didn't visit this stunning part of Australia sooner 2. Pokolbin, New South Wales: If it's indulgence and relaxation you're after, then the rolling hills and picturesque vistas of Pokolbin and the Hunter Valley region are the ideal setting for some R&R, just a short drive from Sydney 3. Apollo Bay, Victoria: Come for the great outdoors but stay for the delicious fresh produce. Surrounded by endless beaches, walking trails and the Great Otway National Park, Apollo Bay is a top place to base yourself while exploring the Great Ocean Road 4. Mudgee, New South Wales: Country hospitality at its finest. Swirl and sip your way around Mudgee, visit a farm, a neighbouring heritage village or just sit back and admire the sense of community in this humble regional town 5. Lakes Entrance, Victoria: The water is where you want to be when visiting Lake Entrance - where the Gippsland Lakes meets the Southern Ocean. Spend your day kayaking, fishing, swimming or go on an unforgettable camel ride along the stunning 90 Mile Beach and enjoy your evenings dining at one of the many great restaurants in and around town 6. McLaren Vale, South Australia: Cheesemaking, wine blending, a Shiraz trail, 31 kilometres of pristine coastline and over 70 cellar doors, just 40 minutes out of Adelaide 7. Hervey Bay, Queensland: What the locals describe as the best address on earth. Visit Hervey Bay for its reliable sunshine, whale watching, incredible diving experiences and Fraser Island, just a short ferry away 8. Exmouth, Western Australia: You know Exmouth for its diving experiences on Ningaloo Reef, but there's even more to discover about this stunning part of Australia. It's the perfect base for an adventure getaway both in and out of the water. Head to Cape Range National Park and you'll find breathtaking canyons and the most incredible wildflowers 9. Port Macquarie, New South Wales: The ultimate all-rounder. Home to some of NSW's best beaches, excellent eateries, a buzzing city centre and plenty of surrounding adventure - Port Macquarie is always an excellent choice 10. The Entrance, New South Wales: A relaxing family favourite on the Central Coast, where the lake meets ocean, this town has plenty of water activities, from fishing, hiring a boat or exploring one of the many local beaches on offer Advertisement With such a diverse mix of experiences and attractions in Australia, this year's top destinations highlight the travel possibilities available in one's own backyard. Following an incredibly challenging year for the Tropical North Queensland tourism community, Cairns has been voted as the standout destination. 'Not only is it the gateway to one of Australia's most treasured natural beauties - the Great Barrier Reef, but the city itself offers the ideal laid-back tropical lifestyle,' Wotif managing director Daniel Finch said. 3. Apollo Bay, Victoria: Surrounded by endless beaches, walking trails and the Great Otway National Park, Apollo Bay is a top place to base yourself while exploring the Great Ocean Road 4. Mudgee, New South Wales: It's known as one of the country's finest wine towns in Australia 5. Lakes Entrance, Victoria: Spend your day kayaking, fishing, swimming or go on an unforgettable 60 minute camel ride along the stunning 90 Mile Beach 6. McLaren Vale, South Australia: The town is known for its cheesemaking, wine blending, a Shiraz trail, and more than 70 cellar doors 'To think that this humble city, which does so much for Australian tourism on an international scale suffered a loss of more than $50 million a week during the height of COVID-19 is incomprehensible. 'With an average nightly accommodation rate of $155 in 2020, it's time Aussies consider visiting this incredible part of Australia that people from all over the world come to see.' Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive officer Mark Olsen said the the city was excited to have Cairns tale out first prize. 'Here in the state's tropical north we have been fortunate to have very few cases of COVID-19 allowing us to move about more freely,' he said. 'However, the economic impact of closed borders has decimated our economy which relies on tourism. Australians are desperate for a holiday and Cairns is the ideal destination.' 7. Hervey Bay, Queensland: Visit Hervey Bay for its reliable sunshine, whale watching, incredible diving experiences and Fraser Island, just a short ferry away 8. Exmouth, Western Australia: Head to the Ningaloo Lighthouse Holiday Park and you'll find breathtaking views 9. Port Macquarie, New South Wales: Home to some of the best beaches, excellent eateries and plenty of surrounding adventure - Port Macquarie is always an excellent choice 10. The Entrance, New South Wales: A relaxing family favourite on the Central Coast, where the lake meets ocean, this town has plenty of water activities, from fishing, hiring a boat or exploring one of the many local beaches on offer With so many places to visit, where to travel next in Australia is one decision every Australian can look forward to making. 'While the last 12 months have been less than ideal, this time has given Aussies the chance to re-valuate how they live, work and play - a change of perspective that many now appreciate,' Mr Finch said. 'While an overseas getaway will always have its purpose and appeal, many Aussies do not realise the unique opportunity they have in front of them - to take advantage of having this enormous playground called Australia, all to themselves. 'Be it in Tropical North Queensland or along The Great Ocean Road, as the summer season for many regions begins to subside, now is the time Aussie travellers need to make a conscious decision to holiday here this year. 'With the overall loss to Australian tourism due to COVID-19 now totalling over $59 billion, there is a huge job ahead to get the industry back on its feet.' The third metro train of the Nhon-Hanoi station urban railway project has arrived at Hai Phong Port in the northern city of Hai Phong, according to the Hanoi Urban Railway Management Board (MRB). The train will be transported by super-long and super-heavy vehicles to Hanoi, where it will be assembled and run on a trial basis before being put it into operation. The remaining seven trains are being manufactured in France. It is expected that they will be transported to Vietnam in July 2021. The Nhon-Hanoi Station urban railway project uses 10 trains, designed by French manufacturer Alstom. The new train is painted in green, pink, red and white. The locomotive is decorated with the image of Khue Van pavilion, the symbol of Hanoi. The train is designed in standard size (1,435 mm), and made by aluminum alloy with light weight, has a long life, and is environmentally friendly. It meets the latest European standards with luxurious style, and is modern and fully equipped. It uses the communication-based train control solution called URBALIS, which is Alstom's most advanced solution. The train is capable of carrying 944-1,124 people, with a density of about 6.6 - 8 people/m2 and can run at a commercial speed of 35km/h, a design speed of 80km/h. The arrival of the carriages marks the completion of the third train which has been specifically produced for the line. Indeed, a total of ten trains are set to be used on routes throughout the capital. The metro train will be then transported to Hanoi, due to arrive at Nhon depot on February 23. The train, originally manufactured in France, consists of four carriages. Most notably, it has been fully equipped to feature an array of modern facilities. At present, the other seven trains are now in the process of being manufactured in France and are scheduled to arrive in the nation by July. The first and second metro trains were transported to Vietnam on October 18, 2020 and February 5, 2021, respectively. The first trials to test both the trains and the tracks took place along a 10-km long route on January 22. Photos: VTC Vu Diep Opposition MPs urged the government to endorse the designation following the unanimous vote. People rally to encourage Canada to label China's treatment of its Uyghur population as genocide, outside the Canadian Embassy in Washington, Feb. 19, 2021. Canadas House of Commons on Monday passed a motion designating rights abuses in northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) as genocide, making it the second nation to do so following the U.S. last month. Parliament unanimously adopted the non-binding motion266 in favor and zero againstbrought forward by the countrys opposition Conservative Party, although 37 lawmakers in Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus cabinet from the ruling Liberal Party abstained from the vote. While several Liberal MPs did vote in favor, Trudeau last week said that the label of genocide is something the international community must ensure that when it is used, it is clearly and properly justified and called for a United Nations investigation of the situation. Trudeaus Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau made a show of abstaining Monday on the behalf of the government of Canada. Lawmakers, including from the Liberal Party, also voted 229-29 to adopt an amendment that Canada urge the International Olympic Committee to move the 2022 Olympic Games from Beijing if it continues to violate the rights of Uyghurs in the XUAR, although they did not call for a boycott. Authorities in the region are believed to have held up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in a vast network of internment camps since early 2017. Chinese officials have said the camps are centers for vocational training, but reporting by RFAs Uyghur Service and other media outlets shows that detainees are mostly held against their will in cramped and unsanitary conditions, where they are forced to endure inhumane treatment and political indoctrination. Dolkun Isa, president of the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress (WUC) exile group, told RFAs Uyghur Service that the unanimous support of Mondays motion is of historical significance. This giant step taken by the Canadian Parliament should encourage parliaments in other democratic countries and the U.N. to formally recognize the Uyghur genocide, he said. In a press release by the WUC, Isa called the decision by Trudeau and his cabinet to abstain disappointing and urged the Canadian government to lead the way with like-minded countries in a coordinated effort. The passage was also welcomed by the Washington-based Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), whose executive director Omer Kanat said that Chinas atrocity crimes demand a worldwide response. We are now in the fifth year of unimaginable hell, he added. Kanat called on Canadas government to develop a plan of action to follow-up on the vote, encourage allies to make similar designations, and work through the U.N. Human Rights Council to establish an independent mechanism to evaluate the Uyghur situation. On Feb. 11 lawmakers in Belgiums Chamber of Representatives submitted a resolution on the XUAR similar to Canadas. Washingtons Campaign For Uyghurs (CFU) also commended the vote, urging Trudeaus government to endorse the designation and enact tougher restrictions on consumer goods and materials imported from the XUAR to prevent the flow of goods made with Uyghur forced labor. Earlier actions While Mondays motion is non-binding, it marks the first time a legislative body has labeled the situation in the XUAR genocide, and members of the Conservative Party have called on Trudeaus government to officially endorse the designation. In October, a House of Commons subcommittee on human rights also voted to designate Chinas policies in the XUAR as genocide. In one of his last acts in office, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last month said he had determined China is committing genocide and crimes against humanity in the XUAR against Uyghurs and other ethnic groups, and that Beijing and the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) must be held to account. The new U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has backed the label, suggesting that President Joe Bidens administration will pursue a more forceful approach in holding China accountable for its abuses in the region. Emily Horne, the spokesperson for Bidens National Security Council, recently told the Washington Examiner that President Biden has called the oppression of the Uyghurs a genocide, and he stands against it in the strongest possible terms. Mondays vote in Ottawa came after a scolding from Chinas ambassador to Canada Cong Peiwu over the weekend, who denied reports of the camps, as well as of connected forced labor schemes, forced sterilization, and systemic rape and sexual assault. We urge the Canadian side to take seriously Chinas solemn position, respect the facts, discard prejudice, and correct mistakes stop interfering in Chinas internal affairs by any means, so as not to cause further damages to China-Canada relations, Cong told The Canadian Press. Observers suggest that Trudeaus government is playing it safe while China continues to hold Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor in detention. The pair were taken into custody in December 2018 following Canadas arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of the technology firms founder. Canadian police detained Meng in Vancouver on a U.S. extradition request for charges of fraud. Her extradition case is pending in Canada. Making genocide our business Ahead of the vote on Monday, Canadian shadow foreign minister and Conservative Party MP for the House of Commons Michael Chong told RFAs Uyghur Service that his party had introduced the motion because the evidence is now clear that China is committing genocide, based on media reports, accounts by former detainees, and satellite imagery. He noted that the debate over the proposal in the House was quite intense, but said he expected it to pass because Canada has long had a strong tradition of standing up for human rights and the dignity of all peoples, including during the apartheid era in South Africa. We're not pretending that the official recognition by the government of Canada of the genocide will lead to its immediate cessation tomorrow, he said. That said, we believe it's a call to action for the world community to rally around so that action can be taken to put an end to this genocide. He urged Trudeau to no longer turn a blind eye to the abuses in the XUAR and dismissed Ambassador Congs warnings against proceeding with the motion, saying that China gave up its claims to sovereignty after entering international treatiessuch as the 1948 Genocide Conventionand joining multilateral organizations like the United Nations. At the same time, he said, the same things obligate Canada to make this genocide our business. Every step along the way, when new evidence has come to light, China has denied this evidence and their denials are not believable, he said. The current Canadian government often said that it wants to work multilaterally and here's an opportunity to work multilaterally. The United States has already recognized the Uyghur genocide. We should join with our ally in recognizing this genocide and then work to convince other allies to recognize this genocide. Call for access Mondays vote came as the U.K. called for the U.N. to be given urgent and unfettered access to the XUAR to investigate reports of abuses in the region, on the same day it returned to the U.N. Human Rights Council as a voting member. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab slammed China in an address to the council in Geneva, noting that there are now daily reports on Chinas systematic human rights violations in the XUAR. The situation in Xinjiang is beyond the pale. The reported abuseswhich include torture, forced labor and forced sterilization of womenare extreme and they are extensive," he said. Earlier on Monday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivered a speech at the Lanting Forum in Beijing dismissing slanderous attacks against Beijing for its policies in the region, which he said was an example of human rights progress in China. Wang said the government has implemented counter-terrorism measures that had led to social stability and sound development in the XUAR. China in 2019 organized two visits to monitor internment camps in the XUARone for a small group of foreign journalists, and another for diplomats from non-Western countries, including Russia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, and Thailandduring which officials dismissed claims about mistreatment and poor conditions in the facilities as slanderous lies. During the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September last year, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan told the gathering that these trips and the China-friendly accounts they produced were Potemkin tours in a failed attempt to prove that the camps were humane training centers. In July 2019, after Chinas ambassador to the U.N. invited its human rights czar Michelle Bachelet to visit the XUAR to see for herself what he called education training centers in the region, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) told RFA that she would not accept unless given access to the camps on her own terms. Reported by Jilil Kashgary for RFAs Uyghur Service. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Agents are bracing for errors and omissions (E&O) claims stemming from the pandemic when insureds discover they carry inadequate coverage or none at all. Regrettably, agents likely face a similar scenario in cyber coverage unless they take steps to prevent it. Make no mistake, cybercrime is on the rise, sharply, says Lisa Doherty, a founder and CEO of Business Risk Partners. We have not yet seen E&O claims stemming from cybercrime, but we certainly expect it soon and have taken steps to address it, including new standalone coverage now in development that meets this serious need. Understandably, the pandemic has dominated the headlines for some time, however mitigating cybercrime, including making adequate coverages available, is absolutely critical. Cybercrime has been well-publicized as has many attack techniques, including ransomware, funds transfer fraud, spoofing and phishing. What is new are two challenges agents must address to protect themselves and their clients. First, consumers distrust how businesses protect data and are more than willing to penalize those same businesses when they fail to do so. Second, agencies must better understand the rapidly growing cybercrime threats and the need to alert clients to take these threats seriously and guide them to better mitigate them. Put simply, insureds who are hacked or whose data is otherwise compromised will file claims if they discover they are either seriously underinsured or not insured at all. Pew Research Center conducted a major survey in 2019 on online privacy and security and reported that 52% of U.S. adults said they decided recently not to use a product or service because they were worried about how much personal information would be collected about them. Responses varied based on whether they experienced a data breach. Sixty-four percent of respondents who said someone attempted to open a line of credit or apply for a loan using their name were more likely to decline using a product or service as compared with 51% who would decline otherwise. Similarly, 63% of respondents who said someone took over their social media or email account without their permission would decline using a product or service while only 51% of those who did not experience a hack would decline. Agents have told me many of their clients do not ask about cyber insurance coverage, and they do not push the issue. Business owners, regardless of size, should understand the consequences of a data breach to accurately assess their risk. Small businesses especially believe that they are too small to be a target. Small businesses are not immune to cyber attacks and data breaches and are often targeted specifically because they often fail to prioritize security. says Paul Lipman, CEO of Bullguard, a cybersecurity firm. Many small business owners may be inclined to skip cybersecurity. It only takes one attack, however, to bring a business to its knees. Dara Gibson, a cybersecurity consultant whos worked with insurers and agents, says cyber coverages are no longer a luxury, but a necessity for small business owners. She points out that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) suggest that coverage should include both first-party and third-party protection. She cautions, however, that coverage is no substitute for the best cyber protection practices, including strong cybersecurity strategies and tools to mitigate the risk. Wetzel is CEO of Thomas H. Wetzel & Associates, an insurance marketing firm for independent agents whose signature services include the Wetzel Digital Roadmap, website design and content creation. Website: www.wetzelandassociates.com. Email: twetzel@wetzelandassociates.com. Topics Agencies Cyber Professional Liability The Gujarat municipal election results 2021 were declared on Tuesday. The counting of votes to six municipal corporations of Gujarat - Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Bhavnagar, and Jamnagar - began this morning at 9 am. Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) appeared on course to retain power in six municipal corporations, winning 409 of the 474 seats where results were declared till evening. "BJP has got an overwhelming majority in elections to all six municipal corporations in Gujarat. I thank the voters of all the six municipal corporations, chief minister Vijay Rupani, state BJP chief CR Patil & party workers for this success," said BJP chief JP Nadda. Polling for 576 seats in Ahmedabad and five other civic corporations was held on February 21. The counting of votes began on Tuesday morning and is still underway. While Congress has won 43 of the declared seats so far, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), a new entrant in these elections, made impressive inroads by winning 18 seats so far. A total of 192 seats in Ahmedabad, 72 in Rajkot, 64 in Jamnagar, 52 in Bhavnagar, 76 in Vadodara and 120 in Surat were up for grabs in the elections. The AAP had fielded 470 candidates across the six corporations. The State Election Commission (SEC) has said an average 46.08% turnout was registered during voting for 576 seats in 144 wards across six municipal corporations, which was held between 7 am and 6 pm on 21 February. Ahmedabad recorded the lowest turnout of 42.51%, while Jamnagar saw the highest turnout of 53.38%, followed by 50.72% in Rajkot, 49.46% in Bhavnagar, 47.84% in Vadodara and 47.14% in Surat. Of the total 1.14 crore voters registered in these major cities of Gujarat, 52.83 lakh had cast their ballots, the SEC said in a release. Elections to 81 municipalities, 31 district panchayats and 231 taluka panchayats are scheduled on February 28. "The results for six municipal corporations will be declared on February 23, while results of 81 municipalities, 31 district panchayats and 231 taluka panchayats results are scheduled to be declared on March 2," the SEC had said. With agency inputs Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE Legislation intended to make it easier to prosecute cases of human trafficking and sexual exploitation won overwhelming approval Monday in the state House and now heads to the Senate. Supporters of the measure, House Bill 56, said it would help prosecutors hold adults accountable if they force teenagers or other young victims into prostitution, in addition to increasing the penalties for human trafficking. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The proposal would bar the defense from arguing that a human trafficking suspects intended victim was an undercover officer posing as a child, that a young victim had consented or that the defendant didnt realize how young the victim was. A person convicted of human trafficking would also owe restitution to the victim equal to value of the victims forced labor. The measure also includes extra protections for victims of human trafficking, supporters said, to ensure they arent charged as accessories to the crime if they were forced to participate. It takes criminalization of the victim out of the process, said Rep. Elizabeth Thomson, an Albuquerque Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill. We dont want victims to be further traumatized. Rep. Georgene Louis, an Albuquerque Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill, said human trafficking victims cut across demographic lines and that cases surface across the state. Some victims, she said, are lured by false promises of work, only to be trapped in forced labor. Human traffickers, Louis said, may threaten their victims with deportation or engage in violence to keep them in line. Human trafficking can happen in any community, she said. The House passed the bill 63-3, sending it to the Senate with 3 weeks left in the session. Rep. Antonio Moe Maestas, an Albuquerque Democrat who voted against the bill, raised a variety of technical questions about how the proposal would interact with other laws, such as kidnapping, and whether it would conflict with the Constitution. Its important that we get it right, Maestas said. Orange County City Looks to Recoup Lost Revenue Through Cannabis Sales Costa Mesa is moving forward with its cannabis retail plans as it tries to offset revenue lost amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. During a Feb. 23 special study session, city council will discuss a staffing plan for implementing Costa Mesas retail cannabis tax. The move comes after voters last November passed a ballot measure that will allow the city to permit storefront sales of the drug. Measure Q is Costa Mesas retail cannabis tax and regulation measure. It allows for recreational cannabis dispensaries and deliveries to operate within the guidelines adopted by city council. The city can generate up to $3 million annually based on a seven percent tax rate and six retail establishments, a staff report says. Meanwhile, Costa Mesa is facing a $29.8 million revenue loss amid the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, according to its website. The city is looking at options to help offset these revenue losses, and securing the citys financial future so it can continue to provide the high-quality services residents deserve and depend on, its website says. So far, Costa Mesa has resorted to furloughing five percent of its employees, postponing capital projects, implementing a hiring freeze, and more to reduce the projected deficit. Without additional funding, the city may be forced to make additional cuts to local services, including 911 emergency response, road repairs, and support for small businesses and other core services, the city says. Cannabis tax revenue would be allocated to the citys general fund and would go toward public safety and essential services, according to staff. Transparency and accountability are an important part of this measure, by requiring annual independent financial audits and public disclosure of all funds, the citys website states. Cannabis sales must occur within commercially-zoned properties, or dispensaries. Dispensaries are not allowed to be located within 1,000 feet of schools, playgrounds, child care centers, or homeless shelters. They are required to have exterior building lighting, video monitoring, and security guards. Prior to Measure Q, retail sales of cannabis for recreational use were prohibited in Costa Mesa. As Costa Mesa moves forward with its marijuana plans, the City of Fullerton on Feb. 16 rescinded an ordinance that would have allowed commercial cannabis sales within city limits. Fullerton Mayor Bruce Whitaker told The Epoch Times he felt relieved, adding that the process was flawed from the beginning. It was pushed a little bit too fast for the public, Whitaker said. In the end, its about government by consent, and I believe the prior council really didnt listen to the public that much. Fullertons controversial commercial cannabis ordinance was originally adopted Nov. 17, 2020, with support from councilmembers Ahmad Zahra, Jesus Silva, and then-Mayor Pro Tem Jan Flory. But the composition of the council changed following the November election, with a majority now against supporting the ordinance as written, due mainly to outcry from residents. Foreign ministers from the G7 nations have condemned the intimidation and oppression of protesters in Myanmar following the countrys military coup. The group, which includes Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and counterparts from countries including the US, France and Germany, warned that anyone responding to peaceful protests with violence must be held to account. The move follows clashes in which two protesters were shot dead over the weekend. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. Protests against the junta continued on Tuesday and the G7 foreign ministers called for the security forces to exercise utmost restraint and respect human rights. The UK holds the presidency of the G7, which also includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US, plus the European Union. The joint statement said: Use of live ammunition against unarmed people is unacceptable. Anyone responding to peaceful protests with violence must be held to account. We condemn the intimidation and oppression of those opposing the coup. We raise our concern at the crackdown on freedom of expression, including through the internet blackout and draconian changes to the law that repress free speech. The systematic targeting of protesters, doctors, civil society and journalists must stop and the state of emergency must be revoked. The G7 again called for the release of Myanmars civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and President Win Myint. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. On Monday, Myanmars ambassador to the UK was summoned to the Foreign Office for the second time this month. Minister for Asia Nigel Adams told Kyaw Zwar Minn that the use of force against protesters is completely reprehensible and must stop. One of the constants in Chicago is the escalating crime rate over the past year, with many of the crimes committed by people who are out on bail, including "affordable" bail. This concept is meant to give poor people the same ability as rich people to be free while awaiting trial. Illinois is now set to follow suit: starting in 2023, there won't be any bail in Illinois at all thanks to a new crime bill that will, among other things, end cash bail. Since affordable bail has already given carte blanche to Chicago's criminals, we can pretty much guess how this will end. A Chicago-based friend of mine routinely sends me emails about crimes in Chicago committed by people out on bail. Here are just the ones from 2021: The deadliest affordable bail disasters of 2020 are summed up in this article: So far, CWB reporters have identified 32 people who were charged with committing murder, attempted murder, or aggravated battery with a firearm while free on bail for serious felonies in 2020. Four of the accused men are charged with shooting, and sometimes killing, more than one person. But the actual number of killings and shootings committed by persons on bail is almost certainly much higher. As of the new year, arrests have been made in just 27% of Chicago's 2020 murders and 2.7% (Yes. Two point seven percent) of non-fatal shootings, according to CPD data. It's in this landscape of violence that the Illinois Legislature passed and Governor J.B. Pritzker just signed a new criminal justice law that, among other things, ends cash bail, all in the name of racial "equity": The end of cash bail won't go into effect until January 2023, and municipalities will be on a rolling compliance schedule to use body cameras with complete compliance by 2025, Slaughter has said. Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton said it's "time to look at criminal justice policy through an equity lens and tell the truth about how systemic racism" has disproportionately effected [sic] Black people. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle echoed Stratton's remarks, saying "today we're taking another step toward achieving a more fair and equitable criminal justice system, one that for far too long has protected the wealthy, and has too often leaned on punitive practices against people whose only crime was being poor." While Democrats are thrilled that there will be no limitations placed on people accused of a crime, Republicans and people in the law enforcement community are less excited: House Republican Leader Jim Durkin said the governor's decision to sign the bill shows he's "turned his back" on the "good men and women of law enforcement." "The governor's support of House Bill 3653 is an insult to our first responders, law enforcement and the law-abiding citizens of Illinois who want to live free of violence and destruction from the criminal element," the Western Springs Republican said in a statement. [snip] A coalition of Illinois law enforcement leadership said in a January statement the "so-called 'reforms'" in the bill "would destroy law enforcement's ability to keep communities safe." Leftists dismiss these concerns, which are already supported by the rash of crimes those on affordable bail committed, as "fear-mongering." Think about this: Chicago, which is the hub of Illinois's criminal activity, has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation and some of the highest gun crime. Its politicians try to blame other states with less strict gun laws for Chicago's deadly problems, but the reality is that Chicago's criminal culture is robust all on its own. Going forward, it may well be a criminal culture on steroids: unlimited illegal guns, citizens unable to defend themselves, and no cash bail. Image: Gov. Pritzker signs a new criminal justice bill. YouTube screen grab. Britain's lagging vaccine roll-out could derail plans to drastically ease lockdown over the next few months, a leading infectious disease expert warned today. Ministers are in a race against time to vaccinate as many people as possible over the next few weeks before millions of second doses have to be dished out. But Professor Paul Hunter, from the University of East Anglia, said Britain will 'struggle' to get enough people immunised to stick to ambitious plans to end lockdown by June unless rates 'pick up very soon'. He said: 'This could lead to more potentially vulnerable individuals being unprotected for a lot longer than we had expected as we try to relax restrictions further. This would have the real potential to derail the UKs road plan for coming out of lockdown.' Boris Johnson put a successful vaccine roll-out at the heart of his lockdown-easing plan yesterday. As long as the operation continues successfully, all restrictions could be dropped in England by June 21, but any hiccups along the way could threaten that target. Almost 18million Britons have already received a first dose of a Covid vaccine but the roll-out appears to have slowed drastically over the weekend. Just 210,000 vaccines were dished out yesterday, down a quarter on last Tuesday. And Sunday was the worst daily performance since the NHS operation began to gather speed last month, with just 150,000 doses administered. Matt Hancock today claimed a delay in the supply schedule would lead to a quieter week. But the Health Secretary also said there would be some 'bumper weeks in March' to make up for the lag. However, when asked to comment on Mr Hancocks claims that supply was to blame for the drive slowing down, Pfizer insisted its vaccine deliveries are on track. The pharmaceutical giant which manufactures one of the two vaccines being administered in Britain told MailOnline there were 'no supply challenges' and deliveries were arriving as planned. AstraZeneca which makes the other jab currently deployed in the UK yesterday admitted there were 'fluctuations' in supply at plants but that it was still 'on track' with orders. With a rapid inoculation drive crucial to Britain's hopes of lockdown being eased in the next few months, critics say there is 'no excuse' for the rollout slowing down. Health Secretary Matt Hancock has warned that the vaccine rollout is going to suffer a dip this week but there will be a bump in March to compensate But Department of Health statistics show just 360,000 doses were dished out every day last week, on average. This is down 17 per cent on the rolling average of nearly 435,000 last Sunday. It is the lowest rate since January 22 Britain is still jabbing more people for the size of its population every day than other major European nations, even though its drive has slowed Falling demand may be a result of the Government being too 'rigid' about its priority list, said the Francis Crick Institute's Sir Paul Nurse, with only people in the top four priority groups eligible for vaccines so far - although the NHS today widened it to over-65s in group five With the UK anxious to rattle through its vaccination programme to stem the flow of Covid deaths and allow lockdown rules to be loosened, ministers have been forced to defend the pace of the rollout as its speed goes through peaks and troughs. The Government has repeatedly blamed 'lumpy supply' and the need to wait for manufacturers for holding back the UK's rollout as both Pfizer and AstraZeneca had to reorganise their factories in January to scale up their plans. Ministers have yet to receive any supplies of the other jab approved for use in Britain, made by Moderna, although this is expected to come within the next couple of weeks. But there are also issues with the rollout process which is also holding the NHS back from hitting its maximum pace, with it already proving it can do almost 600,000 per day. 'Compelling' real-world data from Scotland shows one dose of either jab cuts risk of being hospitalised by up to 95% Covid vaccines being used in Britain are working 'spectacularly well' and cutting hospital admissions caused by the virus by as much as 95 per cent, according to the first real-world evidence of the roll-out. Researchers yesterday called the results 'very encouraging' and claimed they provided 'compelling evidence' that they can prevent severe illness. Scientists counted Covid hospital admissions in Scotland among people who had had their first dose of a jab and compared them to those who had not yet received a dose of either the Pfizer or Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. In a ray of hope for Britain's lockdown-easing plans, results showed the jabs slashed the risk of being admitted to hospital with Covid by up to 85 and 94 per cent, respectively, four weeks after a single dose. The study carried out by academics from the universities of Edinburgh and Strathclyde, as well as Public Health Scotland was the first of its kind. But it currently doesn't have enough data to analyse how well the jabs prevent death or stop transmission of the virus. Lead researcher Professor Aziz Sheikh said: 'These results are very encouraging and have given us great reasons to be optimistic for the future. We now have national evidence that vaccination provides protection against Covid hospitalisations. 'Roll-out of the first vaccine dose now needs to be accelerated globally to help overcome this terrible disease.' Advertisement Some GP surgeries are not offering jabs on Sundays, potentially because they lack a proper incentive on top of spending all week working as normal, critics say. And some centres have been forced to shorten their opening hours because of a lack of demand for appointments. Mr Hancock today claimed vaccine roll-out figures will continue to stay low for the rest of this week in an interview with LBC's Nick Ferrari. He said it will be a 'quieter week' for the vaccine rollout because of a drop in stockpiles, warning that the success of the drive was 'all about supply'. Mr Hancock added: 'We have got a quieter week this week and then we're going to have some really bumper weeks in March.' Pointing the blame at vaccine manufacturers, he also claimed there has been 'ups and downs' in the delivery schedule. A spokesman for AstraZeneca said yesterday that although there had been 'fluctuations' in supply at plants, they were still 'on track' with orders. Pfizer also confirmed to MailOnline today there were 'no UK supply challenges' and deliveries were arriving as planned. The drug firm did see delays to deliveries in Europe last month because of upgrades to its production plant in Belgium, to ensure it could deliver more doses this year. A spokesman said at the time they could confirm the 'overall projected volumes of delivery to the UK remain the same for quarter one (January to March)'. Professor Hunter today warned that if the slowdown in the vaccine rollout becomes a pattern it could start to eat into the optimistic timescale laid out by Boris Johnson last night. Mr Johnson said at a Downing Street press conference that the Rule of Six on socialising could return as soon as March 29, with shops then reopening on April 12 and indoor mixing and large outdoor gatherings from May 17. But the timeline is heavily contingent on the NHS getting jabs to tens of millions of people who are at risk of dying if they catch Covid-19. Lockdown may not be totally lifted until every adult in the UK has been offered a coronavirus vaccine. Professor Hunter pointed out that the rapid decline in positive coronavirus tests seen earlier in the lockdown appears to be levelling off now, and the number of people being vaccinated each day are dropping lower at the same time. He warned: 'Taken together, these two observations are concerning... 'If more of our vulnerable people were protected from severe disease through immunisation, then we could allow some increase in numbers without posing a substantial extra risk of severe disease and hospitalisation. 'However, a lot of people admitted to hospital with Covid are still not in the groups where vaccination has been completed. 'If vaccination rates do not pick up very soon, then we will struggle to give enough people their first dose before we have to allocate more and more of our available doses to peoples second injections. 'This could lead to more potentially vulnerable individuals being unprotected for a lot longer than we had expected as we try to relax restrictions further. This would have the real potential to derail the UKs road plan for coming out of lockdown.' Is supply really to blame for the slowing down? Ministers have repeatedly said the supply of vaccines is the 'rate-limiting factor' of Britain's mission to vaccinate every adult by the end of July. Although they have refused to say how many doses are being delivered, Boris Johnson, Matt Hancock and vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi have said the NHS is giving out the jabs as fast as it is getting them. The AstraZeneca and Pfizer jabs are the only ones available in the UK at the moment, and both faced manufacturing hiccups last month. Pfizer had to reconfigure machines at its factory in Belgium, to cope with the huge demands of manufacturing, and AstraZeneca had to wait for its naturally grown vaccines to mature. AstraZeneca, which manufactures in the UK, became embroiled in a bitter row with the EU over cutting back the continent's supplies. Although both the company and the UK Government insisted this hasn't hit British stockpiles. The company is now believed to be providing 2million doses per week to Britain. A third vaccine is expected to become available from next month - the jab made by US company Moderna, which is almost identical to Pfizer's. Britain has ordered 17million doses of Moderna's. Advertisement Both companies have refused to reveal how many of these doses have already been delivered to the UK. However, a Pfizer spokesman said it had delivered 21 shipments by early January. It is not clear how many doses were in each shipment. But Department of Health statistics show just 360,000 doses were dished out every day last week, on average. This is down 17 per cent on the daily average of nearly 435,000 last Sunday. It is the lowest rate since January 22. A total of 18.2million Covid vaccine doses have been given out so far, with 17.7million having received their first jab. Figures reveal there has been an increase in the number of second doses dished out but not at levels high enough to spark any slowdown. Critics have urged No10 to publish more detailed data on deliveries across the UK, so 'pinch points' in the drive can be identified and smoothed out. James Lawson, a business strategist and fellow at the Adam Smith Institute, said the Government must stop the weekly fluctuations in the roll-out. 'What we've spotted is there seems to be a persistent problem with the number of doses dropping over weekends,' he told MailOnline. 'And, while the Government has made huge progress in accelerating the vaccine rollout, there's no excuse for this variability. 'The virus doesn't rest, the virus doesn't sleep, the virus doesn't stop at 6pm on a Friday and neither should the vaccine roll-out.' Mr Lawson, who has written a paper on speeding up the rollout, said it was unclear what was sparking the fall inoculations because of the lack of data. It was likely that both supply and distribution were playing a role in slowing down the rollout, he added, and that as soon as problems were solved in one area they tended to arise in another. Jon Bernthal has taken on a few action-packed roles in his career. And the Punisher star is preparing to step into the shoes of a familiar character with his next project. He showed off his ripped physique Monday, as he stripped off his shirt for an impromptu wardrobe change, on the Malibu set of Showtime's TV reboot of the 1980 erotic thriller American Gigolo. Hubba hubba: Jon Bernthal showed off his ripped physique Monday, as he stripped off his shirt for an impromptu wardrobe change, on the Malibu set of Showtime's TV reboot of the 1980 erotic thriller American Gigolo The 44-year-old changed into a chic button-down dress shirt as he got dressed next to a classic convertible, with the ocean in the background. He performed opposite an unidentified female costar, who donned an avant-garde long-sleeve red printed dress with puffy shoulders. Bernthal stars in the upcoming series as sex worker Julian Kaye, who was originally played by Richard Gere in the neo-noir classic. Gere starred as the male escort, who walks out of a session with a husband and wife after their violent requests make him nervous, only to become the prime suspect when the wife ends up murdered. On location: The 44-year-old changed into a chic button-down dress shirt, as he got dressed next to a classic convertible, with the ocean in the background Iconic role: Bernthal stars in the upcoming series as sex worker Julian Kaye, who was originally played by Richard Gere in the neo-noir classic. Gere starred as the male escort, who walks out of a session with a husband and wife after their violent requests make him nervous, only to become the prime suspect when the wife ends up murdered Modern update: The TV series follows Julian 18 years after he gets out of prison, as he attempts to adjust to the modern sex work industry, while trying to find out who framed him Love story: He tries to reconnect with Michelle Stratton (Gretchen Mol), the love of his life, who was portrayed by Lauren Hutton in the movie The TV series follows Julian 18 years after he gets out of prison, as he attempts to adjust to the modern sex work industry, while trying to find out who framed him. He tries to reconnect with Michelle Stratton (Gretchen Mol), the love of his life, who was portrayed by Lauren Hutton in the movie. Bernthal is also rumored to be returning to his Marvel comic book character Frank Castle (AKA The Punisher) for a potential standalone MCU movie or TV series, after Netflix's exclusive rights to the character recently expired. Rumor mill: Bernthal is also rumored to be returning to his Marvel comic book character Frank Castle (AKA The Punisher) for a potential standalone MCU movie or TV series, after Netflix's exclusive rights to the character recently expired (pictured in July, 2017) Binge-worthy: He first appeared as the gun-toting antihero in 2016 on season two of Netflix's Daredevil, before reviving the role in a solo series, which ran for two seasons from 2017 to 2019 He first appeared as the gun-toting antihero in 2016 on season two of Netflix's Daredevil, before reviving the role in a solo series, which ran for two seasons from 2017 to 2019. The Walking Dead star recently spoke out against the rioters who stormed the US Capitol last month, as many were sporting the Punisher's iconic skull logo. Bernthal wrote on Twitter: 'These people are misguided, lost, and afraid. They have nothing to do with what Frank stands for or is about. Big love. J.' In a small cabin in Broken Hill, Sofia Nolan propped her phone up on a cereal box and was preparing to audition over Zoom for her first lead mainstage theatre role. It was really dark and I really struggled to get the light in, because the sun kept moving, she recalls. And I was like, In what universe is this going to go well? Catherine Van-Davies (left) and Sofia Nolan tap into their natural chemistry for their lead roles in Playing Beatie Bow. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Its fair to say, it went pretty well. Nolan landed the title role in Kate Mulvanys adaptation of Ruth Parks classic coming-of-age story Playing Beatie Bow for Sydney Theatre Company. All of us afterwards were like, Shes amazing, says Catherine Van-Davies, who read with Nolan over Zoom for two callback auditions. 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. Sorry! This content is not available in your region Continued high-grade intercepts including 18m at 1.0% Cu eq, 6m at 2.44% Cu eq, 10.6m at 1.55% Cu eq and 10.35m at 1.23% Cu eq Exceptionally high-grade massive sulfide with up to 17.05% Cu, 0.16% Co, 42.7g/t Ag, 0.22g/t Au (18.7% Cu eq) over 0.43m Thick copper, tin, silver intervals to within 0.5m from surface, including 67.5m at 0.54% Cu eq and 50.1m at 0.50% Cu eq extending the open pit target which remains open in several directions Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 23, 2021) - Pan Global Resources Inc. (TSXV: PGZ) (OTC: PGNRF) (the "Company") is pleased to report results for an additional five drill holes (LRD21, LRD22, LRD24, LRD25 and LRD27) from the Phase 3 drill program completed in 2020 at the La Romana target, in the Escacena Project. The Phase 4 drill program is also underway, with six additional holes completed and results pending. La Romana is located approximately 6km southwest of the former Aznalcollar open pit mine and approximately 15km west of the Las Cruces copper mine, in the Iberian Pyrite Belt, southern Spain. Tim Moody, Pan Global President and CEO states: "The new results confirm continuity of the near surface copper mineralization to within 0.5m depth from surface and increasing in thickness to the east. This near surface thick mineralization has now been intercepted over a strike extent of over approximately 500m and is still wide open. "The results also provide continued confirmation of extensions of the deeper high-grade massive chalcopyrite mineralization in the northeast, including the highest copper assays reported to-date at La Romana with assay values up to 17.05% Cu, 0.16% Co, 42.7g/t Ag, 0.22g/t Au. The copper mineralization corresponds strongly with the IP and down-hole EM geophysics and indicates excellent potential to significantly extend the mineralization in all directions." Mr. Moody added: "Assay results are pending for drill holes LRD26 and LRD28 from Phase 3 and the Phase 4 drill program is advancing quickly with an additional six drill holes already completed (LRD29 to LRD34) and showing visible copper mineralization." Drill highlights: LRD22 intersected 18.0m at 1.0% Cu eq (0.87% Cu, 2.6 g/t Ag, 0.02g/t Au) from 259m, including; 6m at 2.44% Cu eq (2.19% Cu, 0.02% Co, 5.7 g/t Ag, 0.03g/t Au) from 259m including; 0.43m at 18.7% Cu eq (17.05% Cu, 0.16% Co, 42.7g/t Ag, 0.22g/t Au) from 260.8m ( massive chalcopyrite ) LRD24 intersected 50.1m at 0.50% Cu eq (0.35% Cu, 2.1g/t Ag, 0.03% Sn) from 15.5m and an additional 25.9m at 0.41% Cu eq (0.25% Cu, 1.5g/t Ag, 0.03% Sn) from 77.5m, including; 30.0m at 0.64% Cu eq (0.45% Cu, 2.6g/t Ag, 0.04% Sn) from 26m; 7m at 1.18% Cu eq (0.83% Cu, 4.4g/t Ag, 0.08% Sn) from 26m 1.5m at 1.12% Cu eq (0.82% Cu, 3.4g/t Ag, 0.07% Sn) from 54.5m LRD25 intersected 67.5m at 0.54% Cu eq (0.34% Cu, 3.0 g/t Ag, 0.04% Sn) from 0.5m, including; 37.25m at 0.73% Cu eq (0.46% Cu, 3.2g/t Ag, 0.06% Sn) from 26.7m 1.1m at 1.42% Cu eq (1.14% Cu, 13.8g/t Ag, 0.02% Sn) from 48.2m 10.35m at 1.23% Cu eq (0.67% Cu, 4.1g/t Ag, 0.16% Sn) from 53.6m 2m at 3.05% Cu eq (1.46% Cu, 7.9g/t Ag, 0.49% Sn) from 53.6m 0.2m at 4.77% Cu eq (3.45% Cu, 15g/t Ag, 0.35% Sn) from 84.3m LRD27 intersected 23.5m at 0.32% Cu eq (0.21% Cu, 2.6g/t Ag) from 5.5m followed by 30.2m at 0.85% Cu eq (0.62% Cu, 3.7g/t Ag, 0.05% Sn) from 65.8m, including; 10.6m at 1.55% Cu eq (1.19% Cu, 6.5g/t Ag, 0.08% Sn) from 65.8m 7m at 2.03% Cu eq (1.59% Cu, 8.7g/t Ag, 0.09% Sn) from 65.8m Drill results The new drill results are from holes completed in late 2020 as part of Pan Global's Phase 3 drill program targeting extensions of the volcanic hosted massive sulphide associated mineralization at the La Romana discovery. The program included a mix of 50 x 50m pattern drilling for dimension and grade continuity in the west and larger step-out holes in the east testing large downhole electromagnetic (DHEM) conductor and IP chargeability anomalies. Drill hole collar information for holes LRD21, LRD22, LRD24, LRD25 and LRD27 is provided in Table 1 below. Assay results are summarized in Table 2. Drill hole locations are shown in Figure 1. Summary cross sections with holes LRD24, 25 and 27 are provided in Figure 2. The drill holes were all inclined towards the south and all reported drill intervals are approximately true width. Table 1 Escacena Project, La Romana drill hole collar information (Total 1109.35m) Hole ID Easting1 Northing1 Azimuth () Dip () Depth (m) LRD21 736837 4152836 180 -45 301.8 LRD22 736934 4152905 180 -50 314.1 LRD24 736535 4152651 180 -55 132.2 LRD25 736588 4152655 180 -55 161.1 LRD27 736582 4152697 180 -55 200.15 1 Coordinates are in ERTS89 datum UTM29N Table 2 - Escacena Project, La Romana drill results summary Hole Fr To Int Cu eq1 Cu% Sn Ag Co Au Pb Zn m % % ppm g/t ppm g/t ppm ppm LRD21 167.3 167.7 0.4 5.03 4.44 287 14.0 449 0.11 143 513 194.6 222.0 27.4 0.27 0.20 58 1.2 49 0.01 101 362 194.6 195.6 1.0 1.53 1.33 80 5.3 151 0.05 109 2130 226.2 235.0 8.8 0.38 0.25 81 2.1 99 0.02 200 607 226.2 226.8 0.6 2.09 1.72 130 7.3 348 0.06 118 767 LRD22 238.5 239.0 0.5 2.86 2.57 75 12.0 153 0.04 54 205 253.3 253.7 0.4 1.76 1.59 48 4.7 154 0.02 20 91 259.0 277.0 18.0 1.00 0.87 70 2.6 111 0.02 84 194 259.0 265.0 6.0 2.44 2.20 74 5.7 233 0.03 27 151 260.8 261.23 0.43 18.68 17.05 267 42.7 1550 0.22 107 656 312.1 313.1 1.0 1.04 0.66 59 19.6 127 0.04 224 175 LRD24 15.5 103.4 87.9 0.42 0.28 281 1.7 64 0.00 134 303 15.5 65.6 50.1 0.50 0.35 317 2.1 62 0.00 92 309 26.0 56.0 30.0 0.64 0.45 416 2.6 70 0.00 93 295 26.0 33.0 7.0 1.18 0.83 783 4.4 122 0.01 124 413 77.5 103.4 25.9 0.41 0.25 325 1.5 76 0.01 272 284 94.0 95.1 1.1 1.14 0.77 745 2.7 219 0.01 360 313 LRD25 0.5 68.0 67.5 0.54 0.34 385 3.0 64 0.01 180 373 0.5 8.5 8.0 0.47 0.31 76 6.8 47 0.03 784 406 26.7 63.95 37.25 0.73 0.46 620 3.2 75 0.01 118 369 48.2 63.95 15.75 0.98 0.56 1098 4.1 68 0.01 137 461 48.2 49.3 1.1 1.42 1.14 154 13.8 84 0.02 517 597 53.6 63.95 10.35 1.23 0.67 1574 4.1 76 0.01 111 460 53.6 55.6 2.0 3.05 1.46 4932 7.9 99 0.01 159 361 84.3 84.5 0.2 4.77 3.45 3460 15.0 187 0.03 97 437 141.9 142.1 0.2 1.69 0.54 3090 3.1 149 0.15 88 77 LRD27 5.5 29.0 23.5 0.32 0.21 78 2.6 62 0.02 199 436 19.0 29.0 10.0 0.47 0.33 76 3.3 86 0.04 121 426 65.8 96.0 30.2 0.85 0.62 460 3.7 74 0.00 72 560 65.8 83.0 17.2 1.06 0.81 491 4.7 79 0.01 81 742 65.8 76.4 10.6 1.55 1.19 758 6.5 95 0.01 76 863 65.8 72.8 7.0 2.04 1.59 943 8.7 108 0.01 95 1152 68.9 70.3 1.4 4.18 3.23 2120 18.1 167 0.01 232 1880 92.0 94.0 2.0 1.12 0.70 1135 3.7 78 0.01 24 333 1 Metal prices used: Copper US$6,200 per tonne, Silver USD22.50 per ounce, Gold US$1,500 per ounce, Cobalt US$32,800 per tonne and Tin US$18,000 per tonne. The copper equivalent (Cu eq) values are for exploration purposes only and include no assumptions for metal recovery. The new results show the high-grade massive chalcopyrite associated copper mineralization continues to the east and remains wide open in most directions coincident with a large down-hole EM conductor plate. The near surface copper mineralization has also been extended on consecutive 50m-spaced sections to the east, including the widest copper intervals reported to date and remains open down-dip and along strike. The mineralization includes mainly stockwork, semi-massive and bands of massive sulphides, including chalcopyrite and pyrite associated with chlorite alteration. The mineralization also includes elevated levels of tin, silver, cobalt and locally anomalous gold. The tin occurs as cassiterite and mainly in the west and center of the area drilled to date. Drill hole LRD21 tested a downhole EM conductor approximately 50m west and 30m up-dip from hole LRD14. The hole intersected 27.4m at 0.27% Cu eq from 194.6m downhole and several narrow copper intervals, including 1m at 1.33% Cu eq approximately coincident with the conductor target, 5.03% Cu eq over 0.4m from 167.3m and 2.09% Cu equivalent over 0.6m from 226.2m. Drill hole LRD22 was designed to extend the high-grade copper mineralization associated with a large downhole EM conductor anomaly. The hole intersected 18m at 1.0% Cu eq from 259m downhole, including 6m at 2.44% Cu eq and assays up to 17.05% Cu, 0.16% Co, 18.7g/t Ag and 0.22g/t Ag associated with a 0.43m thick massive chalcopyrite interval. The results confirm the continuation and increasing thickness of the high-grade mineralization to the east and down-dip from previous drill holes LRD14, 15 and 19 at approx. 200m vertical depth. The massive chalcopyrite associated mineralization remains open down-dip, up-dip and laterally coincident with the downhole EM conductor anomaly. The hole also intersected additional narrow high-grade intervals, including 2.86% Cu eq over 0.5m from 238.5m and 1.76% Cu eq over 0.4m from 253.3m downhole. Drill hole LRD24 tested 50m up-dip of previous hole LRD10 and 50m east of hole LRD11. The results show a thick zone of copper mineralization almost from surface, including 50.1m at 0.5% Cu eq (0.35% Cu, 2.1g/t Ag, 0.03% Sn) from 15.5m downhole, which includes 30m at 0.64% Cu eq from 26m and higher-grade interval of 7m at 1.18% Cu eq from 26m downhole (approx. 20m vertical). A deeper low grade copper zone includes 25.9m at 0.41% Cu eq from 77.9m downhole. Drill hole LRD25 tested 50m east of LRD24. The hole confirmed continuation of the near surface copper mineralization and increasing thickness to the east. The results show a 67.5m interval averaging 0.54% Cu eq (0.34% Cu, 3g/t Ag, 0.04% Sn) from 0.5m downhole. This includes 8m at 0.47% Cu eq from 0.5m immediately beneath a thin soil cover, followed by 37.25m at 0.73% Cu eq from 26.7m downhole with higher grade intervals of 1.1m at 1.42% Cu eq and 10.35m at 1.23% Cu eq and locally significant tin grades (up to 0.89% Sn). Additional narrow high-grade intersections include 4.77% Cu eq over 0.2m from 84.3m and 1.69% Cu eq over 2m from 141.9m. Drill hole LRD27 tested approximately 50m down-dip from LRD25. The hole shows a low-grade copper interval commencing immediately beneath the cover sediments, including 23.5m at 0.32% Cu eq, including 10m at 0.47% Cu eq, followed by 30.2m of higher grade at 0.85% Cu eq from 65.8m, including10.6m at 1.55% Cu eq from 65.8m downhole. Copper grade is increasing down-dip on this section. Assay results for drill holes LRD26 and LRD28, completed in late 2020, are expected within the next two weeks. The 2021 Phase 4 drill program is advancing quickly with an additional six drill holes completed (LRD29 to LRD34) and results awaited. The drill holes continue to show intervals with visible copper mineralization from near surface. Figure 1 - La Romana drill hole locations and geophysics targets To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5190/75140_b525439fc4a1488b_001full.jpg Figure 2 - Summary drill sections (736535 E and 736585 E) To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5190/75140_b525439fc4a1488b_002full.jpg QA/QC Core size was HQ (63mm) and all samples were core. Nominal sample size was 1m core length and ranged from 0.4 to 2m. Sample intervals were defined using geological contacts with the start and end of each sample physically marked on the core. Diamond blade core cutting and sampling was supervised at all times by Company staff. Duplicate samples of core were taken approximately every 30 samples and Certified Reference materials inserted every 25 samples in each batch. All samples were crushed and split (method CRU-31, SPL22Y), and pulverized using (method PUL-31). Gold analysis was by 50gm Fire assay with ICP finish (method Au-ICP22) and multi element analysis was undertaken using a 4-acid digest with ICP AES finish (method ME-ICP61). Tin was analyzed in selected intervals using Lithium borate fusion and ICP MS finish (method ME-MS81). Over grade base metal results were assayed using a 4-acid digest ICP AES (method OG-62). Over grade tin was determined using peroxide fusion with ICP finish (method Sn-ICP81x). Qualified Person Patrick Downey, a Director of Pan Global Resources and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release. Mr. Downey is not independent of the Company. About Pan Global Resources Pan Global Resources Inc. is actively engaged in base and precious metal exploration in southern Spain and is pursuing opportunities from exploration through to mine development. The Company is committed to operating safely and with respect to the communities and environment where we operate. On behalf of the Board of Directors www.panglobalresources.com. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: info@panglobalresources.com Statements which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. It is important to note that actual outcomes and the Company's actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, economic, competitive, governmental, environmental and technological factors that may affect the Company's operations, markets, products and prices. Readers should refer to the risk disclosures outlined in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis of its audited financial statements filed with the British Columbia Securities Commission. NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75140 George Clooney continues to use Massachusetts as the backdrop for his latest film The Tender Bar. It appears Clooney had a busy Friday last week as the award-winning actor and director filmed a scene for his new movie in Watertown and was later spotted filming in Lowell as well, the Lowell Sun reports. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Clooneys latest film is a movie adaptation of J.R. Moehringers memoir, which recalls the writers life growing up on Long Island and searching for a father figure among patrons of his uncles bar. In addition to Watertown, Clooney and his crew visited Lowells Belvedere neighborhood Friday to film a scene on Parkview Avenue. Lowell resident Peter Aucella told the Sun he and his wife Rosemary live across the street from where filming took place on Parkview Ave. The couple had the opportunity to meet and chat with Clooney on Friday. The Aucellas stepped outside with their dog Friday to watch Clooney and crew film when the popular actor approached them, greeting their dog, according to The Sun. He said, Who do we have here? and he came over and pet our dog, Aucella told The Sun. The actor took out his phone to show the couple photos of his dog, Rosie, a St. Bernard, The Sun reports. According to the paper, several vintage cars were brought in on Friday for the filming of the scene. They did one take of a car driving down the street, and then they immediately moved on and did four takes of five or six family members getting out of the car, taking their suitcases out of the trunk and walking into the house, as the lead character played by Tye Sheridan came out of the house and made his way down the driveway with the trash can, Aucella told the paper. American Horror Storys Lily Rabe, Tye Sheridan, who was on set in Lowell Friday, and Ben Affleck are among those expected to star in the Amazon Studio film, according to The Reporter. The movies script was written by Dorchester native William Monahan, who won an Oscar for The Departed. Related Content: Eddie Clouder, Rathcline, Lanesboro, Longford / Newcastle, Dublin The death occurred, in the loving care of the staff of Tallaght Hospital, on Tuesday, February 16 of Eddie Clouder, Rathcline, Lanesboro, Co Longford and late of Peamount Hospital, Newcastle, Co Dublin. Deeply regretted and sadly missed by his loving family Carmel, Pat, Marian, Dolores and Seamus (Reilly) extended family, friends and the wonderful staff of Peamount Hospital. May he rest in Peace. Funeral Mass on Thursday, February 25 at 12 noon in St Marys Church, Lanesboro, burial afterwards in Rathcline Cemetery. Due to government and HSE restrictions Eddies Funeral Mass will be private to family only. Those of you who would like to attend Eddies funeral but due to current restrictions cannot, please leave a personal message in his memory in the condolences section on RIP.ie. Eileen Wright (nee Grealy), Gurteenorna, Newtownforbes, Longford The death occurred, peacefully, on Sunday, February 21 of Eileen Wright (nee Grealy), Gurteenorna, Newtownforbes, Longford. Predeceased by her beloved husband William. Eileen will be sadly missed and remembered with love by her family, son John, daughters Olive and Louise, grandchildren Allison, Sarah, Emma, Celine, Killian, Laura, Nathan, Cathal and Clodagh, daughter-in-law Margaret, nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. May she rest in peace. Eileens funeral cortege will leave Glennons Funeral Home on Wednesday, February 24 at 12.30pm to arrive at St Marys Church, Newtownforbes for Mass of the Resurrection at 1pm, interment afterwards in Newtownforbes Cemetery. Given the exceptional circumstances and in accordance with government guidelines and social distancing protocols and to protect everyone dear to Eileen and her family, the Mass will be restricted to 10 people only. The Mass will be streamed live please click here. Those who would have liked to attend but due to the current restrictions are unable to, may leave their personal messages in the condolences section on RIP.ie. The family very much appreciates your support and consideration at this time. Emma Lannon (nee Lannon), Tully, Strokestown, Roscommon The death occurred, peacefully at Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe, in her 97th year, on Saturday, February 20 of Emma Lannon (nee Lannon), Tully, Strokestown, Roscommon. Predeceased by her husband Hubert and daughter Vera. Loving mother of Mary and Gerard. She will be sadly missed by her sorrowing daughter, son, son-in-law Michael, grandchildren Lorraine, Paul and Annabell, great-grandchildren Fiadh and Roisin, nephews, nieces, relatives, neighbours and friends. Rest In Peace. Removal from McHugh's Funeral Home, on Tuesday, February 23 to St. Brigid's Church, Four Mile House, to arrive for Funeral Mass at 11am. Burial afterwards in Ballinderry Cemetery. Owing to current restrictions, Emma's Funeral Mass is private to family only, limited to 10 people. Condolences may be left on RIP.ie. Thank you for your cooperation. Robert (Bob) Maguire, Ballysallagh, Ballynacargy, Westmeath The death occurred, peacefully, at home surrounded by his loving and devoted family, aged 77 years, on Saturday, February 20 of Robert (Bob) Maguire, Ballysallagh, Ballynacargy, Mullingar, Co Westmeath. Predeceased by his wife Maureen and brothers Jim and Pat. Bob will be very sadly missed and lovingly remembered by his sons Robert and Kevin, daughters Caroline and Lorraine, daughters-in-law Margaret and Bridget, sons-in-law Tony and Martin, sister Mary, brothers Ned and Tom, his adored grandchildren, great-grandchildren, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, relatives, kind neighbours and friends. May his gentle soul rest in peace. In keeping with current government guidelines, a private family funeral will take place on Tuesday, February 23 at 11am in the Church of the Nativity, Ballynacargy, followed by burial in Sonna Cemetery. Friends and neighbours are welcome to stand along the route to the church and to the cemetery while following social distancing rules. House private, please. Bobs funeral Mass will be streamed live on 'Midlands Funerals Live' Youtube channel. Family flowers only. Donations, if desired, to Palliative Care, Mullingar Primary Care Centre, who provided wonderful care to Bob in his final days. Those wishing to send messages of condolence to the family may do so in the Condolence section on RIP.ie. The family would like to thank you for your understanding and support at this sad time. If you wish to have a death notice published on www.longfordleader.ie you can email it to newsroom@longfordleader.ie And if you wish to submit an obituary for publication in the Longford Leader, you can submit it along with a photograph of the deceased to newsroom@longfordleader.ie To sign up for the FREE Longford Leader daily newsletter CLICK HERE or on the image below; Chief Minister on Tuesday sought the urgent intervention of the Centre on the new COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the Karnataka government on the entry of people from the state. However, Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar clarified it has not prohibited inter-state travel between it and "Karnataka has not prohibited inter-state travel between Karnataka and " "However, as a precautionary measure, guidelines have been issued that travellers entering Karnataka from Kerala must mandatorily possess a negative RT-PCR test report not older than 72 hours," Sudhakar said in a tweet with the copy of the Kerala CM's letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and circular issued by the state government. In a letter to Modi, Vijayan said said many people including students, trucks carrying essential commodities and patients going for medical treatment were put to "undue hardship" at the state borders due to the new restrictions. He also brought to the PM's notice that imposing restrictions of inter-state movement of people by states is contrary to the instructions of the government of India. "I request your urgent intervention in this matter so that hardship of people from Kerala travelling to the neighbouring state of Karnataka can be avoided," Vijayan said. Karnataka had last week mandated a negative RT-PCR certificate that is not older than 72 hours for those arriving in the state by flights, buses, trains, personal transport from neighboring Maharashtra and Kerala, following the recent spike in COVID cases there. Sudhakar on Monday too had clarified that Karnataka had not imposed any restrictions on inter-state travel, but mandated RT-PCR certificates not older than 72 hours for those arriving in the state from neighbouring Kerala and Maharashtra. Clarifying that no restrictions had been imposed, he said checking negative test reports could have caused some inconvenience to travellers. With the Karnataka government reinstating stricter control of transit passengers from Kerala in view of increasing COVID-19 positive cases, people bound to Mangaluru and other parts of Dakshina Kannada from here for various purposes, including medical needs and studies, were in a fix. Long queues of vehicles could be seen in the border areas since Monday as Karnataka authorities sealed many roads, including national highways and restricted entry only for those with COVID-19 negative certificates. Health and police personnel are on duty at the four border points-- Talapady in Mangalore taluk, Saradka in Bantwal, Nettanige-Mudnuru in Puttur taluk and Jalsoor in Sullia, to verify and allow people's entry into Karnataka. In an ideal world, all members of a small rescue squad in Hunterdon County would be Emergency Medical Technicians, according to its chief. That may not currently be the case, but this past year five female members of the Tewksbury First Aid & Rescue Squad passed their National Registry exams to receive their EMT certifications bringing the organization a huge step closer towards turning this dream into a reality. Astrid Hoffman, Angelina Fomina, Laura Cannon, Abby LaPointe and Emily Woodruff all became nationally certified EMTs over the course of the last year, an accomplishment former squad chief and current member Bryan Richards said is practically unheard of. Just for this year alone, from January 1 up until a couple weeks ago, to have five members ... all pass their National Registry exam, not only for Tewksbury Rescue is that huge, but for EMTs in general, Richards said. Especially because its hard to get people that want to not only volunteer their time in general, but volunteer their time in the medical field during the pandemic. Five members of the Tewksbury First Aid & Rescue Squad become cerified EMTs in the past year. Front row, from left, Emily Woodruff of Tewksbury and Abby LaPointe of Tewksbury. Second row, from left, Laura Cannon of Whitehouse Station, Astrid Hoffman of Tewksbury and Angelina Fomina of Califon. Keith A. Muccilli | For NJ Advan Having more people who are medically trained and licensed on the scene, thats where the benefit will always lie, Brad Carr, current chief for the squad, echoed. But it is a tough course, a long course, and people really need to be 120% invested in doing it. At present day, over 30 members serve on the all-volunteer Tewksbury First Aid & Rescue Squad, roughly half of whom are EMT-certified. However, in the past year quite a few people particularly older members exited the organization due to COVID-19-related reasons, according to Carr. Still, this last year the squad managed to gather 18 new recruits which Carr also partially credited to the epidemic. Especially around the time of the pandemic, weve had people in the community really step up and say, I know whats going on out there, Im willing to give it a go, I want to be a first responder, Carr said. And the beauty of the squad is that they can join the squad, we can train them to a certain level, and then (their role) is really up to their own decisions. If they want to go on and do their EMT which weve had five fantastic people do (this past year) its there. Over the last year, four of these five people, all women, enrolled in vigorous programs requiring 200-plus hours of classroom learning, practicals, testing, and hospital-based clinical learning. The exception is Astrid Hoffman, who served as an EMT for a rescue squad in Chester in 2004 and instead completed refresher courses prior to taking and passing the National Registry exam. I wanted to get involved in the community, give back, and help out, especially during the pandemic, Hoffman said. I had been bitten by the EMS bug many years ago, and I wanted to get back into it. Astrid Hoffman of Tewksbury. Keith A. Muccilli | For NJ Advan Hoffman lived in Germany for 10 years while earning her medical degree, moving back to the United States in 2019. Reflecting upon her decision to receive her EMT certification at the national level, she emphasized her nostalgia for the camaraderie cultivated by serving on a squad. Its just one big team and everybody has their different jobs they have to do, and when youre responding to a call, not everybody does the same thing at once but its just working together as a team. Its great, Hoffman said. And its just so rewarding to be with people who are like-minded. You get into that flow and everything just sort of works together and everyone works together, and the outcome is oftentimes good. Laura Cannon joined the squad as a driver in December 2019, but decided to enroll in courses to become an EMT after realizing that she could do more. Laura Cannon of Whitehouse Station. Keith A. Muccilli | For NJ Advan For me, its much more rewarding, Cannon said. Just wanting to give back and having a little bit more time in my life now to do that and I wanted to join a community as well that thought like me and who I wanted to be with. And these people are amazing to be with. Angelina Fomina, a senior and member of the rowing team at Rutgers University, also initially served as a driver for the squad upon joining in August of last year. A biochemistry major, she originally pursued the EMT certification to expand her knowledge in the field of medicine. But, as her time on the squad increased, she realized that her interest in the service was more closely connected to the fellowship of the team a piece of her life she lost after the pandemic temporarily put the brakes on her college sport. I kind of lost the (rowing) community I used to spend so much time with, and being part of something thats bigger than yourself always brought me joy, Fomina said. And then I thought, I would like to give back to my community and find a community that I would connect with and spend time with. Angelina Fomina of Califon. Keith A. Muccilli | For NJ Advan As soon as I started doing it here it really clicked, and Im just so grateful for the all the people on the squad and all the resources and all the support. Its been the best experience, she added. The two other female members who received their EMT certifications over the last year dually enrolled in their courses because of their shared love for the medical sciences. However, LaPointe and Woodruff both juniors at Voorhees High School in Glen Gardner have since become fully engrossed in their roles on the squad for reasons extending beyond their interest in medicine. Ive been on a couple calls since I received my national certification last month, and its interesting. Your pager goes off and you get that adrenaline rush and you start planning in your head things that could happen and what you need to do, Woodruff said. And I just wanted to be able to help out as much as I could. Emily Woodruff of Tewksbury. Keith A. Muccilli | For NJ Advan Being an EMT, you have a lot more responsibilities on a call, LaPointe said. If you want to help someone and youre serious about helping people ... Actions are louder than words. Echoing LaPointe, Hoffman, Cannon and Carr each emphasized the power of serving the community in detailing their commitment to the rescue squad. To get involved in a community and be able to do what is best, to really give back and help in your immediate environment as much as you can and in any way, is a wonderful thing, Hoffman said. Youre part of something bigger it sounds so silly but thats really what it is. And thats what I got out of it. If everybody in the world would just do a little bit, it would become a better place. And Im just trying to do my part, and maybe it will hit that spark in somebody else too, she added. Ive only been on (the team) for a bit over a year, but there are members on our squad who have given 20 years, many, many years, to this, day in and day out. And its amazing that those people are volunteering and never getting paid, Cannon added. Maybe people can stop for a minute and have a little appreciation for those people that give that way. Its amazing to think that people are getting out of bed at 3:30 in the morning to go and help somebody in a location theyve never been to before, Carr echoed. So, when you really break it down, these people are highly motivated, highly enthused and extremely intelligent ... and Im over the moon with the caliber of the people joining our squad. This caliber is particularly apparent when it comes to these five female EMTs, according to Richards. Having five females that are doing this and doing it as a group, its really good, Richards said. Youre joining your community, and youre doing a big part in your community. And the immense significance of females EMTs presence on the squad is not lost to the female members themselves. I think incorporating more women into this field is something that definitely needs to be done, Woodruff said. You have people who call 911 because theyve had an experience with a male, and if a male EMT shows up and all of a sudden youre surrounded by men in an ambulance, thats not exactly a calming experience that youre going to have. But women in EMS theyre badass, she added. Sometimes it can get very overwhelming being in the back of an an ambulance with only men. And having a female there, especially a woman EMT who is there to help you and hold your hand its just a different type of bond ... especially in a male-dominated field, LaPointe said. Its 2021 girl power! Abby LaPointe of Tewksbury. Keith A. Muccilli | For NJ Advan Its empowering, she added. Theres no other way to put it. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Caroline Fassett may be reached at cfassett@njadvancemedia.com. NFIs expansive drayage and transload network opens up creative opportunities for shippers around the country. Our tight relationships with the port complexes, coupled with an end-to-end suite of 3PL services, provides shippers capacity and flexibility, even while ports experience surges. Aaron Brown, Senior Vice President, NFI California Cartage, and Mark McKendry, Vice President, North America Intermodal at NFI, will speak at the Journal of Commerces Trans-Pacific Maritime 2021 Conference in virtually recorded sessions available to conference attendees from Thursday, February 25 to Wednesday, March 2, 2021. Both of the sessions will be available in TPMs On-Demand Library. Browns session titled, Managing Drayage Through the Top U.S. Ports, features insight on how ports across North America have handled the cargo influx. Brown will address how drayage providers are handling the surge of containers, the chassis shortage, and navigating appointment schedules at the terminals. McKendrys session, titled The Intermodal Outlook: Will Stability Return in 2021?, will evaluate the North American intermodal outlook and inform shippers what to expect in the coming year. McKendry will answer questions geared toward the future of the intermodal industry and how to better handle volume surges. As an end-to-end supply chain solutions provider, NFI is one of the largest and uniquely positioned drayage providers. With a prominent presence across major ports in North America and an integrated suite of port services that span drayage, transloading, consolidation, deconsolidation, and customs exams, NFI assists shippers to navigate port challenges and improve the connection between their domestic and international supply chains. Investments in technology within the companys fleets offer real-time supply chain visibility, giving customers improved access to information for more efficient and cost-effective decision-making on their import and export freight. Intermodal capabilities leverage NFIs industry-leading asset and non-asset based network to deliver capacity for all transportation needs. Deep relationships with Class 1 railroads and a large presence in the marketplace affords the company an ability to maximize utilization and efficiency. Coupled with dry and refrigerated containers, intermodal solutions with NFI provide a viable option to ensure a seamless supply chain network. With NFI Cal Cartages scale in operating at all major marine terminals and inland ports across the country, we have a really good feel for the varying levels of efficiency at different port complexes, said Brown. NFIs expansive drayage and transload network opens up creative opportunities for shippers around the country. Our tight relationships with the port complexes, coupled with an end-to-end suite of 3PL services, provides shippers capacity and flexibility, even while ports experience surges. We welcome the opportunity to work with shippers to help develop a strategy to efficiently bring freight through the terminals by leveraging these relationships. Shippers should create diversity in their routing guide and make sure that they have multiple modes to rely upon, said McKendry. Mid-2020 saw unprecedented peak season surcharges, which typically arent applied to customers who have consistent repeatable freight with the rails. I would encourage everyone to consider diversifying their supply chain by implementing an intermodal strategy if they dont already have one. Founded in 1932, NFI has grown to be one of the oldest and largest privately-held 3PLs in North America, operating a drayage fleet of over 1,700 tractors with more than 5,300 chassis. Today, the company serves customers throughout a variety of industries including food and beverage, retail, ecommerce, consumer packaged goods, and manufacturing. NFIs full suite of end-to-end services allows its customers unrivaled flexibility within its business lines, which include dedicated transportation, distribution, transportation management, port drayage, brokerage, global logistics, and commercial real estate. Learn more about registration for the JOC TPM 2021 Conference here # # # About NFI -- NFI is a fully integrated North American supply chain solutions provider headquartered in Camden, N.J. Privately held by the Brown family since its inception in 1932, NFI generates more than $2.6 billion in annual revenue and employs more than 14,500 associates. NFI owns facilities globally and operates approximately 53 million square feet of warehouse and distribution space. Its dedicated fleet consists of over 4,500 tractors and 12,500 trailers operated by 3,900 company drivers and leveraging partnerships with 1,700 owner operators. NFI has a significant drayage presence at nearly every major U.S. port, leveraging the services of an additional 1,200 owner operators. The companys business lines include dedicated transportation, distribution, brokerage, transportation management, port drayage, intermodal, global logistics, and real estate. For more information about NFI, visit http://www.nfiindustries.com or call 1-877-NFI-3777. Pro-life groups warn believers that having Xavier Becerra as the new HHS secretary is a "worse-case scenario." Pro-life groups and Republican senators have expressed their concerns over Biden's choice of a new Health and Human Services secretary, The Christian Post reported. On Feb. 18, over 60 pro-life advocates including Susan B. Anthony List, Southern Baptist Convention Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and Ethics and Public Policy Center, to name a few, wrote to the Senate urging them to reject Becerra who has a record of using and abusing his power and who is a known to be against "every pro-life policy and law." "As organizations committed to the protection of unborn children and their mothers from abortion and representing millions of pro-life Americans, we write to you in opposition to the nomination of Xavier Becerra to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. Mr. Becerra is an enemy to every pro-life policy and law and has demonstrated complete disregard for the religious and moral convictions of those opposed to the brutal act of abortion," the letter read. The letter further explained that "Becerra has a decades-old track record of siding with the abortion lobby whenever possible and using the power of whatever office he is in to try and force others to share his enthusiastic support of abortion." It was not the first time that pro-life groups warned against Becerra becoming the new HHS secretary. In December, pro-lifers called Becerra an "extremist on abortion" saying that he "spent his career attacking pro-life Americans and tried to force crisis pregnancy centers to advertise abortions," Christianity Daily reported. With Becerra's installment as a the new HHS secretary, Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, said that every pro-lifer has now something to be concerned about. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony List added that while every other state in the U.S. did something bold to pass pro-life measures, Becerra would do the opposite by leading attorney generals "to shut down every pro-life measure that every other state was doing." To prove a point, Hawkins expressed disgust over Becerra's act of "uniting 20 other attorney generals across the country to sue the FDA to dispense the abortion pills without a doctor ever seeing a woman, without a woman ever getting a blood test because that was his number one priority amidst the COVID pandemic." With all his actions to advocate for abortion and killing unborn babies even to full-term, Dannenfelser called Becerra as the "worst-case scenario" for "any nominee to HHS." Republican Sen. Tom Cotton from Arkansas agreed that America is "not going to get a great secretary of Health and Human Services out of Joe Biden." In January, Biden received major backlash when he announced the nomination of Becerra as the new HHS secretary who was without any medical background, without work experience with the HHS and is known to be an abortion extremist with a 100 percent rating for eight voting records from NARAL Pro Choice America. Right now, Sen. Cotton together with other pro-life senators are pushing to reject Becerra's nomination especially with his extreme views on abortion. "There are ample grounds to oppose Xavier Becerra's nomination. We don't need 51 senators to all agree on why they say no; we just need 51 senators to say no," Cotton said. Ryan T. Anderson, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, warned against Becerra's nomination. "Xavier Becerra is simply unqualified to be Secretary of HHS. He has no relevant medical expertise, rendering him particularly unsuited to assume this position amid a pandemic. "Indeed, his only health care qualifications seem to be his attacks on pro-life medicine, his persecution of the Little Sisters of the Poor, and his defense of an unlawful California abortion mandate. President Biden promised to heal and unify the country, but his nomination of an ideological culture warrior like Becerra will only drive us further apart," Anderson stated. Over 100 Congress members urge Biden admin. to strengthen US ties with Armenia Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A bipartisan group of over 100 members of Congress is urging the Biden administration to hold Azerbaijan, Russia and Turkey accountable for the recent fighting with Armenia that displaced thousands and killed hundreds. The United States cannot allow Russia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan to solely dictate and dominate the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, reads a bipartisan Armenian Caucus letter co-signed by 101 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. The conflict started in the 1980s when the Soviet Union began to fall apart. The Nagorno-Karabakh region is recognized internationally as part of Muslim-majority Azerbaijan even though it has a majority Armenian population and is controlled by ethnic Armenians. While Russia brokered a ceasefire in 1994, clashes reignited last September, with both sides accusing each other of targeting civilian communities. The fighting ended in November with Armenia agreeing to a peace deal brokered by Russia. This agreement brought an end to the fierce combat, but it has done little to address the immediate and significant problems of feeding, sheltering, and ensuring the safety of thousands of displaced families during the COVID-19 pandemic, the lawmakers contend in the letter dated last Friday. In violation of the ceasefire, Azerbaijan also refuses to free dozens of Armenian prisoners of war and apprehended civilians, which illustrates how this agreement fails to address the structural issues that have caused uncertainty and fueled the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for decades. There remain several important issues that must be resolved and many critical questions that must be answered before a binding and durable peace settlement can be reached. Armenians recognize the region as the Republic of Artsakh, which Armenians say is part of their ancestral homeland. We urge you to identify ways we can provide additional economic assistance to Armenia to support its democracy and development as well as respond to the significant number of displaced people who have fled the conflict in Artsakh, the letter reads. We also request that your Administration identify ways in which our economic, cultural, and other ties to Armenia can be improved to benefit Armenia and the large Armenian American diaspora in the United States. According to the legislators, those steps should include the formal recognition of the Armenian Genocide by President Biden on April 24 to follow in the footsteps of both the House and Senate who passed resolutions recognizing the fact of the Genocide during the 116th Congress. The Armenian genocide refers to the Ottoman Empires alleged systematic extermination of its minority Armenian subjects in their historic homeland within Ottoman Turkey and of those who lived in other parts of the territory constituting present-day Turkey. According to estimates, about 1.5 million people were killed in the genocide, which lasted from 1913 to 1923. Some historians see the genocide as a precursor of genocides the world witnessed later, including the Holocaust. According to The Wall Street Journal, about 2,855 Azeri soldiers were killed in the recent six-weeks fighting, which also reported that Armenia said more than 3,000 of their troops died. The total number of civilian casualties is reportedly around 150. Armenian Caucus founding Co-Chair Frank Pallone, D-N.J. New Jersey, who spearheaded the letter, said he appreciates the overwhelming bipartisan support we received for this letter. It shows how important these issues are to the U.S. Congress, especially in the aftermath of the unprovoked Azerbaijani and Turkish attacks on Artsakh last fall, Pallone added. The U.S. can and must do more to help the thousands of displaced families from Artsakh that fled to Armenia because of the war and to pressure the Azerbaijani government to release the dozens of prisoners of war it continues to hold. All of this has caused a great deal of uncertainty in the region and continues to threaten Armenias young democracy. The Armenian Council of America welcomed the letter. We applaud Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Frank Pallone for his steadfast leadership, as well as Caucus leaders Reps. David Valadao, Jackie Speier, Gus Bilirakis, Adam Schiff, and all of the signatories for coming together in this important effort to urge the Bidens administration to work closely with Americas democratic allies Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, as they face an existential threat from the Islamist armies of Turkey and Azerbaijan, the council said in a statement. This month, a bipartisan coalition of 54 Senators also sent a letter to President Joe Biden, expressing their concern over a deteriorating human rights record in Turkey. However, the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern noted that the letter failed to mention the domestic crackdown on Christianity, by which the government has systematically deported Christians from Turkey. Last October, an estimated 100,000 people marched through the streets of Los Angeles, California, to call for an end to the fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia. We stand with our brothers and sisters in Armenia & Artsakh, & the diaspora in L.A., Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti tweeted at the time. We need our national leadership to step up & help bring peace to the region. Turkey must disengage. On Oct. 8, Schiff, who was at the protest, spoke with Armenian Ambassador Varuzhan Nersesyan about the military campaign that was being aided and abetted by Turkey and the foreign fighters it is bringing in from Syria. They also discussed the deliberate bombing of a historic Armenian Church, the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral, in the city of Shushi. Schiff vowed that not one dime more of U.S. aid will be sent to Azerbaijan or Turkey. For decades, through the OSCE Minsk Group, the United States has supported a peaceful, democratic, and negotiated resolution to the dispute surrounding Nagorno Karabakh, Schiff said. We have persisted in this policy even as Azerbaijan launched countless assaults and as their leadership frequently threatened war to redraw the line of contact by force. Denton, TX (76205) Today Thunderstorms - a few could contain very heavy rain, especially this afternoon. High 79F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 2 to 3 inches of rain expected. Locally heavier rainfall possible.. Tonight Thunderstorms this evening will give way to steady rain overnight. Low 64F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. Locally heavier rainfall possible. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 19:01:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Ghulam Tuniyaz (2nd L) and his family show just-collected donkey milk at Jiayi Nagute Village, Koxtag Township, Pishan County, in Hotan of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Feb. 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhao Ge) China urges Britain and other countries to "look into their own human rights problems, stop politicizing human rights, halt using misinformation and lies to stigmatize other countries, and make a real effort for the sound development of global human rights cause, instead of manipulating human rights issues to advance their own political agenda," said the spokesperson of the Chinese mission to the UN. GENEVA, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mission to the United Nations (UN) at Geneva on Monday refuted the erroneous remarks related to China by British Foreign Secretary at the 46th regular session of the Human Rights Council, which kicked off Monday and is expected to last until March 23. Chinese Mission Spokesperson Liu Yuyin said in a press release that human rights should not be used to serve political ends, still less a tool to smear other countries and contain their development. "The Human Rights Council has no place for lies and deception," Liu said. The Chinese diplomat said that officials from Britain, Germany, Demark, Finland and a handful of other countries abused the platform of the UN rights body to spread false information, smear China and interfere in China's internal affairs. "China firmly opposes and categorically rejects their remarks," he said. Family members paste couplets to celebrate the Tibetan New Year and Chinese Lunar New Year, which coincided this year, in Medog, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Feb. 11, 2021. (Xinhua/Sun Fei) Xinjiang and Tibet, inhabited largely by ethnic minorities, are actually fine examples of human rights progress in China, Liu said, adding that China pursues an ethnic policy featuring equality, unity, ethnic regional autonomy and common prosperity. Today, Xinjiang enjoys social stability, economic growth, ethnic unity, religious harmony, cultural advancement as well as improvement of people's livelihood, and people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang enjoy extensive rights and freedoms in accordance with the law, he said. The Chinese diplomat added that the so-called "forced labor" and "forced sterilization" accusations against Xinjiang are outright slanders and "lies of the century" fabricated by Western politicians. China welcomes people from around the world to visit Xinjiang, and see with their own eyes prosperity and happy life of the people in Xinjiang, but at the same time, China firmly opposes any so-called "investigation" based on the presumption of guilt, he said. Taxis hanging Chinese national flags participate in a peace rally in Hong Kong, south China, Aug. 23, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Dawei) Since the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region came into force, Hong Kong has embarked on a transition from chaos to peace, the diplomat said. He explained that Hong Kong citizens no longer feel threatened by turmoil and violence, and can better exercise their legitimate rights and freedoms in a safer environment. "Hong Kong is a society under the rule of law and no one stands above the law. We firmly support the law enforcement agency in Hong Kong in strictly executing the law," he said, noting that the Sino-British Joint Declaration "has never given any external force the right to interfere in Hong Kong affairs." China urges Britain and other countries to "look into their own human rights problems, stop politicizing human rights, halt using misinformation and lies to stigmatize other countries, and make a real effort for the sound development of global human rights cause, instead of manipulating human rights issues to advance their own political agenda," stressed Liu. An additional 25,122 Pennsylvania properties will be at risk of flooding by 2051 because of climate change, according to new research from First Street Foundation. A report released on Monday The Cost of Climate: Americas Growing Floor Risk projected that the number of properties in Pennsylvania at risk of flooding will grow from about 732,736 today to 757,858 in 30 years. The report was developed as the Federal Emergency Management Agency has launched the Risk Rating 2.0 initiative to better price flood risk at the individual property level to more accurately reflect the risk of todays climate rather than climate trends of the past. Nationally the foundation projects that changes in the environment that have already increased flooding across the United States, particularly in coastal and low-lying areas will continue, putting 1.7 million more American properties will be at risk. First Street Foundation also developed Flood Factor, a free online tool that allows anyone in the U.S. to find their propertys risk of flooding and understand how flood risks are changing because of a changing environment by entering an address. For example, entering our office address of 1900 Patriot Drive, Mechanicsburg, returned a report that we face a minimal risk less than 3 percent of flooding within the next 30 years. It also reported that 14 percent of properties in Cumberland County are at risk of flooding. The website also will provide information for towns. For example, it showed Harrisburg with 7.406 properties already at risk of flooding increasing by 3.9 percent to 7,695 properties in 30 years, Carlisle with 1,061 properties at risk increasing by 3.3 percent to 1,096 in 30 years and Lebanon with 1,290 properties at risk increasing by 2.6 percent to 1,324 in 30 years. According to the report, as the atmosphere warms, there is more evaporation and more water available for rain, which contributes to changing weather patterns and flood risks. Extreme rain events are increasing in duration, intensity and frequency, which causes more urban and flash floods, and more flooding from overflowing rivers and streams. Non-environmental factors like development patterns and structural failures of dams and levees are also exacerbating flood risks. Expanded development in coastal areas and floodplains simultaneously puts more people and community assets at risk, increases the amount of impervious (non-absorbent) surfaces like concrete, and destroys natural flood protections like wetlands. Flood control measures like levees, seawalls, gates, and pumps also pose a serious threat if not regularly maintained and upgraded. The foundations Flood Model is a nationwide probabilistic flood model that shows the risk of flooding at any location in the contiguous 48 states due to rainfall, riverine flooding and coastal surge. Working with more than 80 scientists, technologists and experts, the foundation has built on decades of peer-reviewed research and models from climatology, hydrology and statistics to create an unprecedented flood model of the entire country. Flood models are typically only produced under existing conditions using historic environmental data as a representation for current risk. The foundations model takes changing environmental factors assembled from 21 global climate models into account by applying global climate model projections to forecast how flood risk will change over the next 30 years. A trio of recent studies highlights the need to incorporate behavioral and social science alongside the study of biological mechanisms in order to slow aging. The three papers, published in concert in Ageing Research Reviews, emphasized how behavioral and social factors are intrinsic to aging. This means they are causal drivers of biological aging. In fact, the influence of behavioral and social factors on how fast people age are large and meaningful. However, geroscience--the study of how to slow biological aging to extend healthspan and longevity--has traditionally not incorporated behavioral or social science research. These papers are by three pioneers in aging research and members of the National Academy of Medicine who study different aspects of the intersection of biology and social factors in shaping healthy aging through the lifespan. Improving translation of aging research from mice to humans Exciting biological discoveries about rate of aging in non-human species are sometimes not applicable or lost when we apply them to humans. Including behavioral and social research can support translation of geroscience findings from animal models to benefit humans, said Terrie Moffitt, the Nannerl O. Keohane University Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. The move from slowing fundamental processes of aging in laboratory animals to slowing aging in humans will not be as simple as prescribing a pill and watching it work. Compared to aging in laboratory animals, human aging has many behavioral/social in addition to cellular origins and influences. These influences include potential intervention targets that are uniquely human, and therefore are not easily investigated in animal research." Terrie Moffitt, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University Several of these human factors have big impacts on health and mortality: stress and early life adversity, psychiatric history, personality traits, intelligence, loneliness and social connection, and purpose in life are connected to a variety of late-life health outcomes, she explained. These important factors need to be taken into account to get a meaningful prediction of human biological aging. "Geroscience can be augmented through collaboration with behavioral and social science to accomplish translation from animal models to humans, and improve the design of clinical trials of anti-aging therapies," Moffitt said. "It's vital that geroscience advances be delivered to everyone, not just the well-to-do, because individuals who experience low education, low incomes, adverse early-life experiences, and prejudice are the people who age fastest and die youngest." Social factors associated with poor aging outcomes "Social hallmarks of aging" can be strongly predictive of age-related health outcomes - in many cases, even more so than biological factors, said USC University Professor and AARP Chair in Gerontology Eileen Crimmins. While the aging field commonly discusses the biological hallmarks of aging, we don't tend to include the social and behavioral factors that lead to premature aging. Crimmins has called the main five factors below "the Social Hallmarks of aging" and poses that these should not be ignored in any sample of humans and the concepts should be incorporated where possible into non-human studies. Crimmins examined data that was collected in 2016 from the Health and Retirement Study, a large, nationally representative study of Americans over the age of 56 that incorporates both surveys regarding social factors and biological measurements, including a blood sample for genetic analysis. For the study, she focused the five social hallmarks for poor health outcomes: low lifetime socioeconomic status, including lower levels of education adversity in childhood and adulthood, including trauma and other hardships being a member of a minority group adverse health behaviors, including smoking, obesity and problem drinking adverse psychological states, such as depression, negative psychological outlook and chronic stress The presence of these five factors were strongly associated with older adults having difficulty with activities of daily living, experiencing problems with cognition, and multimorbidity (having five or more diseases). Even when controlling for biological measurements - including blood pressure, genetic risk factors, mitochondrial DNA copy number and more - the social differences, as well as demographic factors such as age and gender, explained most of the differences in aging outcomes between study subjects, she said. However, biological and social factors aren't completely independent from one another, Crimmins added, which is why she advocates for further incorporation of social and behavioral factors in aging biology research. "Variability in human aging is strongly related to the social determinants of aging; and it remains so when extensive biology is introduced as mediating factors. This means that the social variability in the aging process is only partly explained by the biological measures researchers currently use," she said. "Our hypothesis is that if we could fully capture the basic biological mechanisms of aging, they would even more strongly explain the social variability in the process of aging, as social factors need to 'get under the skin' through biology." Understanding stress and stress resilience Elissa Epel, professor and vice chair in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at UC San Francisco, detailed how research on stress and resilience needs to incorporate psychosocial factors in order to understand how different kinds of stress affect aging. Not all types of stress are equal and in fact some are salutary. The social hallmarks of aging can shape the rate of aging in part through toxic stress responses, she said. While acute responses to minor or moderate stressors, including infection or injury, is critical to survival, chronic exposure to high amounts of stress--including long-term psychological stressors such as abuse--can prove toxic and result in poor health outcomes. "Brief, intermittent, low-dose stressors can lead to positive biological responses, improving resistance to damage, which is called hormesis," Epel explained. For example, physiological hormetic stressors include short term exposure to cold, heat, exercise, or hypoxia. Hormetic stress turns on mechanisms of cell repair and rejuvenation. "In contrast, a high dose of a chronic exposure can override these mechanisms, resulting in damage or death," she added. Thus, toxic stress can accelerate biological aging processes, whereas hormetic stress can slow aging. However, the types, timing, and frequency of hormetic stress need to be better delineated in order to be useful to human aging research and interventions, Epel said. "Stress resilience, an umbrella term including hormetic stress, can be measured across cellular, physiological, and psychosocial functioning," she said. "Developing a deeper understanding of stress resilience will lead to more targeted innovative interventions." Stress resilience can also include social interventions that protect from the malleable social hallmarks of aging, including safe neighborhoods to reduce trauma and violence, and social support programs to combat loneliness and depression. Geroscience is now more important than ever, both to our aging global demography but also to the health challenges we face going forward, and stress resilience is an especially important topic at the moment, Epel added. "In our new era, we have dramatically increasing temperature extremes, wildfires and small particle pollution, and new zoonotic viruses to contend with intermittently," she said. "Reducing social disparities, improving stress resilience and bolstering immune function have become critical public health goals." In sum, the three papers together point to a promising decade ahead for aging research. Humans, as complex social mammals, age together in response to social conditions and behavioral factors that are partly malleable. Epel explains "As we discover and test biological processes of aging that we can manipulate, we can do this in tandem with capitalizing on the natural levers of healthy aging that are powerful, interactive, and cannot be ignored. In this way, the fountain of youth becomes more attainable." [February 22, 2021] AsiaPay and Atome partner to enable seamless 'buy now pay later' acceptance at merchants across Asia SINGAPORE, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- AsiaPay, a leading digital payment solution and technology vendor in Asia, and Asia's leading buy now pay later platform Atome today announce a joint partnership that will enable seamless, flexible instalment payment options online and offline retail businesses across the APAC region. Through this strategic partnership together will remove the complexity for merchants and retailers of all sizes to benefit from this seamless integration that enables greater buy now pay later payment convenience and acceptance at thousands of point-of-sale checkouts across both offline and online channels in Asia. Atome, a leading "buy now pay later" technology company headquartered in Singapore, has grown to become Asia's largest buy now pay later platform since its launch in December 2019. Atome partners over 2,000 online and offline retailers in six markets (Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Vietnam and mainland China). Key merchant partners and e-commerce platforms include Sephora, Agoda, Zara, Marks & Spencer, Charles & Keith, Yoho, JD.ID and Sendo in verticals such as beauty, fashion, electronics, home decor and lifestyle services. As a premier integrated digital payment solution and payment service provider in Asia, AsiaPay' s platform connects to over 100 banks and alternative payment methods, including credit and debit cards, bank account/net banking, pre-paid cards, digital wallets and now buy-now-pay-later product in 11 country locations, acoss Mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Macau, Philippines, Singapore, Australia, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam. "The move towards digital payments across Asia is accelerating and there is increasing merchant demand for a complete integrated payment acceptance solution to optimize sales and business conversion." AsiaPay CEO, Joseph Chan, said: "Buy now, pay later plans are growing in popularity among customers in Asia who are seeking more financial flexibility when shopping either in-store or online. We are thrilled to partner with Atome who can enhance the sales conversion of merchants in Asia with BNPL convenience and provide merchants with a flexible payment alternative that boosts customer experience." David Chen, CEO of Atome, said: "Now, more than ever, consumers want flexibility, transparency and a better, more personalised shopping and payment experience. This exciting partnership with AsiaPay will support thousands of businesses across the region in enabling a superior, seamless checkout experience for consumers, both in store and online websites. This in turn will optimize customer conversion, increase average orders and repeat usage." Atome is available on the App Store and on Google Play . Media kit is available here . About AsiaPay Founded in 2000, AsiaPay, a premier electronic payment service, and technology player strive to bring advanced, secure, integrated, and cost-effective electronic payment processing solutions and services to banks, corporate and e-Businesses in the worldwide market, covering an array of international credit card, debit card, prepaid card, netbanking, eWallet, and QR, as well as cash collection. AsiaPay is an accredited payment processor and payment gateway solution vendor for banks certified ISO and PF for serving merchants, certified international 3-D Secure vendors for Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and JCB. AsiaPay offers its variety of award-winning payment solutions that are multi-currency, multi-lingual, multi-card, and multi-channel, together with its advanced fraud detection, payment analytic, and management solutions. Headquartered in Hong Kong, AsiaPay offers its professional ePayment solution consultancy and quality local service support across its other 15 offices in Asia including Australia, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Mainland China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia and India. For more information, please visit www.asiapay.com and www.paydollar.com About Atome Atome is Asia's leading buy now pay later platform, partnering online and offline retailers to increase conversions and grow average orders and customer segments. For consumers, Atome offers choice, convenience and flexibility in how they choose to shop and pay. Atome is part of Advance Intelligence Group, a Series-C AI-driven technology company in Asia-Pacific. Founded in 2016, it leverages innovative technology and partnerships to build an ecosystem of products and services serving consumers, enterprises and merchants. The Group is headquartered in Singapore and has presence across Southeast Asia, India and Greater China. It was recently ranked No.5 on LinkedIn's 2020 Top Startups List in Singapore. For further information, please contact: Ernest Lo Executive Director AsiaPay Tel +(65) 6653 1930 e-mail: ernest.lo@asiapay.com William Yang Vice President, Regional Partnership & Project Management Tel +(65) 8588 8176 e-mail: william.yang@atomefin.com SOURCE AsiaPay [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices rose further on Tuesday amid a tight global supply outlook after reports suggested that shale oil producers in the southern United States could take at least two weeks to restart the more than 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude output that shut down because of a deep freeze. An improving outlook for global oil demand on the back of Covid-19 vaccine rollouts also supported prices. Benchmark Brent crude climbed 63 cents, or 1 percent, to $64.99 a barrel, after earlier hitting a high of $66.38. U.S. crude futures were up 43 cents, or 0.7 percent, at $62.13. Both benchmarks have jumped around 4 percent in the previous session. Goldman Sachs Commodities Research raised its Brent crude oil price forecasts by $10 for the second and third quarters of 2021. Consumption will get back to pre-virus levels by late July, while output from major producers is likely to remain 'highly inelastic' to the rising prices, the investment bank said in a note. Morgan Stanley expects Brent crude prices to climb to $70 per barrel in the third quarter on 'signs of a much improved market' including prospects of a pick-up in demand. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Pfizer Inc expects to deliver more than 13 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine per week to the United States by the middle of March, more than doubling its shipments from early February, a top Pfizer executive said in prepared testimony ahead of a Tuesday congressional hearing. Pfizer has shipped around 40 million doses to locations across the United States so far and is on track to deliver 120 million doses of its two-dose regimen by the end of March, said John Young, Pfizer's chief business officer. He added that Pfizer is also prepared to provide a total of 300 million shots to the United States by the end of July and has raised global production expectations for 2021 to at least 2 billion doses. In his own prepared remarks, Moderna Inc President Stephen Hoge said the drugmaker plans to deliver 100 million doses of its two-dose shot by the end of March, and 300 million by the end of July. Johnson & Johnson believes it will be able to ship at least 20 million doses of its single-dose shot to the United States by the end of March after receiving US regulatory authorization, said Vice President of Medical Affairs Richard Nettles. It expects to ship 100 million doses by mid-year 2021, it said. The drugmakers' remarks put the United States on track to receive 240 million doses by the end of March, enough to inoculate 130 million Americans, and 700 million doses by mid-year, more than enough to dose the entire US population. The comments were prepared ahead of a US congressional hearing on vaccine availability to be held by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Tuesday. Also read: Pfizer plans to test coronavirus vaccine booster engineered for South African variant Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Commercial pressure is growing on the giant coal-fired power stations supplying most of Victorias electricity, as experts warn of the increased likelihood of early closure at some Latrobe Valley mines and stations. A surge of renewables into the power market has driven prices to a seven-year low and is increasingly undercutting the profitability of the Loy Yang and Yallourn plants, which the state government has described as unreliable and ageing. Steam billows from the cooling towers at the Loy Yang A coal-fired power station in the Latrobe Valley. Credit:Bloomberg The state government plans to push ahead with the modernisation of Victorias 20th-century grid to allow more wind and solar projects to connect, and the announcement of state interim emissions reductions targets, delayed by the COVID-19 crisis, is expected to further reduce coals capacity to compete. But the companies that run Loy Yang A, Loy Yang B and Yallourn, which together employ up to 1200 workers and contractors, said their long-term plans for the plant have not changed despite one senior executive referring to a changing operating environment. Pedestrians on a London street were shocked to see a naked man streaking down the pavement with three police officers chasing after him. The scenes, captured in Notting Hill, west London, at around 8am yesterday show the man sprint along the high street with three officers in hot pursuit in temperatures of around 8C. He was arrested by police and taken into custody at a central London police station. Ross Springham, 29, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court later the same day charged with indecent exposure. The man sprints along the high street near the Westway, west London, with officers chasing after him During the footage, the man runs past a police car as two members of the force chase after him in front of stunned bystanders. Moments later, a third officer jumps out of his police car and joins his colleagues in pursuit of the naked man. The man then crosses the road as one of the officer's follows close behind. The man was first seen walking along the busy main road of Westway, police said. Pedro Lula, 39, who witnessed the chase, said: 'I was out making a delivery on my bike when I looked up and a naked man ran past. 'I was checking an address on my phone and just started filming.' The footage, which was widely shared on social media, has since gathered an array of comical responses. One user wrote: 'Loved barefoot running so much he decided to go the whole hog and start doing some naked running.' While another added: 'And all because the man had no mask on when he went into Boots.' Another person commented: 'Head up chest out, relaxed arms, looks like decent running form over there, well played sir.' At Westminster Magistrates' Court Springham pleaded guilty and was remanded in custody. He will be sentenced next month after a pre-sentence report is produced by probation. A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: 'Police were called to the Westway, W2, at around 08:00hrs on Sunday, 21 February following reports that a man was walking naked in the street. Officers continue to run after the naked man as he runs past shops and stunned bystanders on the street The man crosses the road and continues to run as the officers follow close behind him Social media users poked fun at the scenes, with one saying the streaker was struggling without live sporting events 'Officers and the London Ambulance Service (LAS) attended. 'The man was arrested after being seen and assessed by LAS and was taken into custody at a central London police station. 'Ross Springham, 29, of no fixed abode, was charged on Monday, 22 February with indecent exposure. 'He appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court later the same day and we await an update on the outcome.' LEHI, Utah, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Carrus , one of the nation's most trusted online healthcare training and professional development providers, today announced it has been recognized by Equality Utah as a Business Equality Leader. The certification program provides companies with the opportunity to promote diversity and enhance workplace performance by modeling and encouraging more inclusive behaviors at work. The certification process involves a culture and policy assessment, an inclusivity survey, and several custom diversity and inclusion training sessions. "Our company's primary focus is to help people improve their lives and advance their careers through exceptional learning, so it makes perfect sense that we would look inward and ensure we learn as a company how to build and sustain a more equitable and inclusive culture," said Misty Frost, CEO of Carrus. "This is an area our leadership is deeply committed to and we will continue to seek out opportunities to advance diversity and inclusion at work." The Business Equality Leader certification process includes consultation with the organization's human resources team, executive training, management training, and workplace culture training sessions. The program is tailored to meet specific company goals and offers educational resources that help all employees learn about building more inclusive environments for all employees. "Now more than ever, we need companies to step up for equality and do the work to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion for all employees," said Troy Williams, executive director of Equality Utah. "Our state has come so far, and it starts when companies like Carrus and their employees make the commitment to learn, to address bias, and to create workplaces committed to inclusion." To learn more about becoming a Business Equality Leader, visit https://www.equalityutah.org/bizleaders . About Carrus Carrus delivers quality, trusted healthcare learning content, continuing education, and certification management to new learners, healthcare professionals, and institutions through an integrated technology platform that provides the most seamless healthcare learning experience possible. In 25+ years, Carrus through its CareerStep and CareerCert divisions has trained over 140,000 learners for new careers, partnered with more than 150 colleges and universities nationwide, and trained over 100,000 healthcare professionals. More information can be found at carruslearn.com or 844-854-1160. Contact Becky Frost [email protected] SOURCE Carrus Related Links https://www.carruslearn.com/ The Myanmar soldiers descended before dawn on Feb. 1, bearing rifles and wire cutters. At gunpoint, they ordered technicians at telecom operators to switch off the internet. For good measure, the soldiers snipped wires without knowing what they were severing, according to an eyewitness and a person briefed on the events. The data center raids in Yangon and other cities in Myanmar were part of a coordinated strike in which the military seized power, locked up the countrys elected leaders and took most of its internet users offline. Since the coup, the military has repeatedly shut off the internet and cut access to major social media sites, isolating a country that had only in the past few years linked to the outside world. The military regime has also floated legislation that could criminalize the mildest opinions expressed online. So far, the Tatmadaw, as the Myanmar military is known, has depended on cruder forms of control to restrict the flow of information. But the army seems serious about setting up a digital fence to more aggressively filter what people see and do online. Developing such a system could take years and would likely require outside help from Beijing or Moscow, according to experts. [February 23, 2021] Government of Canada now closer than ever to Industry 4.0 in Chaudiere-Appalaches region Minister Melanie Joly announces $520,000 in support from Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions to a regional innovation centre in mechatronics and industrial mechanics. SAINT-GEORGES, QC, Feb. 23, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED) The vitality and dynamism of communitiesfounded on strong, resilient, innovative SMEsensure sustainable economic growth for all and quality jobs for Canadians. Keen to understand clearly the particular realities of Quebec's regions and to support the businesses that make them strong, the Government of Canada, listening now more than ever, is investing in projects that will be promising for the economic recovery. In the Chaudiere-Appalaches region, several dynamic businesses are turning to digital technology and, through their innovative ideas, are contributing to the region's reputation across the country. Tested by the challenges posed by COVID-19, these SMEs are now ready to rebound. And as Quebec's regional prosperity relies on strong local economic fabric, where businesses are able to innovate and lead promising projects, the Government of Canada is signalling its presence to support them as they pursue their activities and to foster their growth. College centre for technology transfer (CCTT) receives over $500,000 to foster technological innovation With this in mind, the Honourable Melanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages, today announced financial support totalling $520,000 for MECANIUM. The nonrepayable assistance being granted will enable the organization to strengthen its technology transfer capabilities by acquiring digital equiment and advanced software that will be made available to Chaudiere-Appalaches manufacturing businesses. These SMEs make use of this CCTT's services to develop new Industry 4.0-inspired production processes. Through this project, MECANIUM is also aiming to develop its expertise and enhance its reputation in the region as a centre of excellence for applied research, in particular in mechatronics. The Government of Canada is proud to recognize and support businesses and organizations working in sectors of activity that are a source of pride in their communities. Quebec's future and economic recovery are founded on the flagship industries of regional economies. They contribute significantly to Quebec's economic growth and will be key assets to rebuild a stronger, more resilient and more just economy for all. Quote "The Government of Canada has a mission to accompany the country's businesses and regions into tomorrow's economy and to help them seize the business opportunities that will arise. That is why we are providing our support to the specific assets of Quebec's different regions, such as here in the Chaudiere-Appalaches region; they will be essential elements in ensuring an inclusive recovery and in creating good jobs in all of our communities." The Honourable Melanie Joly, Member of Parliament for Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages and Minister responsible for CED Quick facts The Honourable Melanie Joly is the minister responsible for the six regional development agencies (RDAs), including CED. is the minister responsible for the six regional development agencies (RDAs), including CED. CED is a key federal partner in Quebec's regional economic development. With its 12 regional business offices, CED accompanies businesses, supporting organizations and all regions across Quebec into tomorrow's economy. regional economic development. With its 12 regional business offices, CED accompanies businesses, supporting organizations and all regions across into tomorrow's economy. The contribution given to this organization has been granted under the Regional Economic Growth through Innovation program, which aims to support Quebec SMEs as they develop through innovation, among other things. Associated links Canada's COVID-19 Economic Response Plan COVID-19 Economic Response Plan Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Stay connected Follow CED on social media Consult CED's news SOURCE Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate Judiciary Committees new Democratic leader, is retaining a Republican rule that allowed President Donald Trumps judicial nominees to be confirmed to federal appeals courts over home-state senators objections. Under a longtime Judiciary Committee policy, senators from the home state of a presidents judicial nominees are given blue slips of paper that they can return to the committee if they approve of the nominee. Some committee chairs, including the most recent Democratic chairmen, have allowed senators to veto a nominee by withholding a blue slip, while others have allowed the nominations to proceed, sometimes requiring the president to consult with the home-state senators. During Trumps presidency, committee Chairmen Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., eliminated the blue-slip process for appeals court nominees while retaining it for U.S. District Courts. The Republican-controlled Senate confirmed 54 of Trumps appeals court selections in four years one fewer than President Barack Obama appointed in eight years including 10 to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, the nations largest federal appellate court. Four of the Ninth Circuit appointees Daniel Bress, Patrick Bumatay, Daniel Collins and Kenneth Lee were from California and might have been blocked by one of the states Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, under the former policy. Altogether, 18 Trump appointees to appeals courts came from states with at least one Democratic senator who could have objected to their nomination, the committee said. The Senate confirmed 174 Trump nominees to U.S. District Courts, including 85 approved by Democrats who returned their blue slips. With Democrats now in control of the Senate and the White House, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Durbin, D-Ill., has decided to follow the same policy and allow President Bidens appeals court nominees to be considered by the committee regardless of a home-state senators objections. Nominees to the trial-level District Courts will remain subject to blue slips. Chair Durbin has said on a number of occasions that there cannot be one set of rules for Republican nominees and another set of rules for Democratic nominees, said a committee staff aide, who asked not to be identified. Theres no reason for Senate Democrats to revert back to the old rules just to make it more difficult on themselves, said Nan Aron, president of Alliance for Justice, a liberal nonprofit. There is a shocking lack of diversity on several of our circuit courts including panels without a single judge of color that the Biden administration has a real opportunity to rectify. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Lahore, Feb 23 : The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) of Pakistan decided to seek the record from a known private laboratory about procuring Covid-19 vaccine from Russia and its proposed plan to charge over $100 [per head] profit. The NAB Lahore has initiated a probe into a complaint that the private laboratory plans to charge over $100 profit from per person for Covid-19 vaccine after procuring it from Russia, the Dawn reported. "The NAB is seeking record from the laboratory regarding procuring Covid-19 vaccine from Russia against $20 (two doses) and its proposed plan to charge $125 per person," an official source said on Monday. "The Russian Sovereign Wealth Fund which invested in developing the Sputnik Covid vaccine said they would sell it for $10 per dose ($20 for two doses). The laboratory [here] plans to sell it at Rs 20,000 ($125) for two doses and under awareness and prevention, regime excessive profiteering or loss to public money should be checked according to the sections 33 C and 27 of the NAB Ordinance," he said and added the bureau would see who would get how much, and how many million doses would be procured and sold. The government has allowed private companies to import coronavirus vaccines and has reportedly agreed to exempt such imports from price caps. Pakistan has yet to secure substantive volumes of vaccines from any company and it this month launched a vaccination drive with 500,000 doses of Sinopharm's vaccine donated by China. Those shots are first being given out to frontline health workers on a priority basis. Last month, Pakistan Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said the federal government would not hold a monopoly on the import of vaccines. "The provinces and the private sector are free to import vaccines subject to approval of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap)," he said. The Drap has so far approved three vaccines for use in Pakistan - China's Sinopharm, Russia's Sputnik V and the Oxford University-AstraZeneca. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) The U.S. Department of the Treasury is seen in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 30, 2020. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters) US Sanctions 2 Burmese Generals Over Violence Against Protesters: Treasury Department WASHINGTONThe United States on Monday imposed sanctions on two members of Burmas military junta over the countrys Feb. 1 coup. The Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control said the move took aim at Lieutenant General Moe Myint Tun and General Maung Maung Kyaw. The military must reverse its actions and urgently restore the democratically elected government in Burma, or the Treasury Department will not hesitate to take further action, the department said in a statement. Police use water cannon to disperse demonstrators during a protest in Mandalay, Burma, on Feb. 9, 2021. (AP Photo) The United States will continue to work with partners throughout the region and the world to press the Burmese military and police to cease all violence against peaceful protestors, to support the restoration of democracy and the rule of law in Burma, to urge for the immediate release of political prisoners, including State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, and to promote accountability for those responsible for attempting to reverse Burmas progress toward democracy. The move freezes any U.S. assets of those blacklisted and generally bars Americans from dealing with them. Young men in Deir ez-Zor province, one of the poorest and most volatile areas of Syria, are contending with a fresh challenge to their livelihoods heaped on top of widespread unemployment, inflation and violence: conscription into military units affiliated with the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). In WhatsApp interviews with Al-Monitor over the past three weeks, eight Deir ez-Zor residents, from day laborers to white-collar professionals, described how the prospect of arrest for service had threatened, reduced or cut off their incomes. They say conscription is an undue burden on youth who in many cases are barely keeping their families afloat. The paltry salary offered to conscripts, a fraction of what is given to volunteer soldiers, has fueled resentment. We cant find work or provide for our families, and now theyre demanding we enlist. If I wanted to be conscripted, I wouldve stayed with the Assad regime, a defected Syrian government soldier in Deir ez-Zors eastern countryside told Al-Monitor on Feb. 3. Deir ez-Zor is home to large oil reserves, but ordinary residents do not benefit from the natural riches that surround them. Protests against poor municipal services and poverty conditions are frequent. Year after year, fuel shortages ensure that people shiver through the desert winters, as smugglers ship oil out of the province. Conscription severs livelihoods and keeps people awake at night, said Amer, the pseudonym of a middle-aged citizen journalist from the village of Izba. Like the other residents interviewed for this article, he did not want his real name printed so that he could express himself freely on a sensitive topic. The majority of youth wanted for military service are 18 to 30 years old, he said. Most of these guys are married. The Kurdish-led authorities in northeast Syria passed their first Conscription Law in mid-2014. At the time, the Kurdish People and Womens Protection Units, which later formed the core of the SDF, were battling the Islamic State (IS) at the peak of the extremist organizations power. As the SDF cleared IS out of the northeast with American support over the next five years, conscription followed into its new Arab-majority territories, including parts of Aleppo, Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor provinces. After a three-month pause due to the coronavirus pandemic, checkpoints and patrols resumed detaining young men for service last summer. The office responsible for self defense duty, as compulsory service is called, is part of the SDF-affiliated Autonomous Administration rather than the SDF itself. But several residents who spoke to Al-Monitor ignored this distinction. They are not alone in doing so: Official SDF media promotes self-defense material, and graduating classes of conscripts march under the SDF flag in the presence of SDF leaders; troops from both groups sometimes fight on the same fronts. Depending on the day, Ahmed passes one to three checkpoints on his commute inside Deir ez-Zor province from Kasrah to Zughayir, where he works for a local humanitarian organization. When the checkpoints are manned by military police, who might detain him for service, he turns around and forfeits his daily wage, he told Al-Monitor Feb. 10. Sometimes I miss work two days of the week; sometimes more, sometimes less. If Im able to avoid the checkpoints, enter a nearby village and bypass them, I can get to work. Occasionally I can work the entire week, said Ahmed. But when the checkpoints are very frequent, Ill be out of work for a whole week. How has he dealt with his lost wages? We dont eat as much, Ahmed said, referring to his wife and child. We prioritize cheap food, and I borrowed money from friends. Hopefully, I can pay them back. I cant enlist as a conscript. Ive got a family that I need to support, and the conscripts salary is next to nothing. The salary is 50,000 Syrian pounds a month, or roughly $17 as on the black market exchange rate last month. Until this past January, Tareq ran deliveries and carried passengers on his motorbike; his brother made sweets in the village market. Our third brother was killed in an airstrike, and his children live with us under one roof. Our parents are deceased, Tareq told Al-Monitor Feb. 3 from the northern Deir al-Zour countryside. Last month my brother was opening the shop when a patrol made the rounds in the market and took him away for conscription. He had put the sweets in the oven and left everything in its place. The sweets spoiled. I threw away what couldnt be saved and closed the shop down because I dont know how to make sweets like my brother. Were taking care of orphans, and together we were barely covering a portion of our households expenses before the arrest, Tareq said. Facing the loss of his brothers income, Tareq was unable to compensate with motorcycle deliveries, as local authorities recently banned the vehicles due to their use in assassinations. Now Im making deliveries on foot, hauling goods in the market, he said. On Jan. 26, the Autonomous Administration gave youths a 30-day grace period to report to a conscription center and determine their eligibility. As of this articles writing, the pace of arrests appears to have slowed in Deir ez-Zor. Theres been no decision to stop the conscription campaign, said a worker at a nongovernmental organization (NGO) who lives on the east bank of the Euphrates River. Starting 14 days ago, [authorities] havent been taking people and the conscription patrols have stopped. I dont know why, and were afraid of what comes after the calm, he told Al-Monitor Feb. 13. The 2019 Conscription Law contains items intended to cushion its economic impact, including exemptions for some breadwinners. In practice, the young men who spoke to Al-Monitor said a lack of financial resources, uncertainty about who qualifies for an exemption and fear of arrest prevent them from applying. Getting an exemption is definitely not a guaranteed thing, said Mahmoud, an NGO employee from the eastern countryside. Its difficult and costs a lot of money. People here are poor. And were afraid that if we go to apply, theyll grab us, he added. I heard that internally displaced persons from areas outside SDF control can get an arrivee card that exempts them from service, said Ahmed, the checkpoint-dodging humanitarian worker who lives in Kasrah. I dont know if it will work for me or not. The problem is I cant afford the risk. Im afraid theyll take me away and then its game over. It is unclear why northeast Syrias authorities insist on mandatory service. Is it intended to fill manpower gaps, build a shared political identity or meet other goals? Zaydan al-Asi, co-chair of the Autonomous Administrations Defense Bureau, did not respond to Al-Monitors requests for comments via WhatsApp. The original 2014 law portrayed conscription as a duty to protect the honor, freedom and existence of the areas peoples. It was passed when Kurdish forces were mounting a valiant, last-ditch defense against IS in the town of Kobani. Now the SDF controls most of northeast Syria and has shown resilience in the face of repeated Turkish assaults, a simmering IS insurgency and destabilizing actions by the Syrian regime. Faced with a threat to their economic survival, several young men who spoke to Al-Monitor offered a cynical explanation as to why conscription persists: The authorities are trying to save money. Most people say the arrest campaign [to net conscripts] is about the salary, said Waleed, a day laborer in Deir ez-Zors western countryside. Theres a difference between 300,000 Syrian pounds and 50,000 Syrian pounds the monthly salaries offered to volunteers and conscripts, respectively, he told Al-Monitor Feb. 3. Omar, a schoolteacher from the eastern countryside, echoed this sentiment. If you opened up enlistment today to everyone, three-quarters of people who are out of work would join, he told Al-Monitor Feb. 4. Of course they would; they want to live however they can. Omar is now eligible for conscription following a controversial December 2020 decision requiring educators to serve. Its totally unreasonable to make everyone carry weapons; for example, the doctor, the mechanic, the electrician, the teacher, he told Al-Monitor. Last year a former spokesman for the US-led International Coalition to fight IS tweeted a video of what appears to be American service members at a celebration for a graduating class of self-defense recruits in Deir ez-Zor. Current spokesman Col. Wayne Marotto declined to comment on the International Coalitions stance on compulsory service, noting to Al-Monitor, We work by, with and through our partner forces the Iraqi Security Forces, the peshmerga forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces to ensure the enduring defeat of [IS]. Having lived through nearly a decade of war, some young men want nothing more than to sit on the sidelines. During the revolution, we experienced a ton of brigades, said Waleed. The Free Syrian Army (FSA) punished those with the regime. IS punished those with the FSA. The SDF punished those with IS. And those who are with the SDF today could be punished tomorrow by the regime or the FSA. Im not an opponent of the local administration; on the contrary, theyre good, he added. The issue is that people are struggling to get by. Conscription is crushing us." Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 23, 2021) -Aion Therapeutic Inc. (CSE: AION) ("Aion Therapeutic" or the "Company") announced today the opening of the Aion International Center for Psychedelic Psychiatry in Jamaica. The Center will initially specialize in the use of psilocybin for the treatment of addiction (tobacco, alcohol, and other drug misuse), depression and anxiety associated with life-threatening illnesses, treatment-resistant depression, and major depressive disorder (MDD). In addition, the Center will be studying the effectiveness of psilocybin as a new therapy for opioid addiction, Alzheimer's disease, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and anorexia nervosa. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently designated psilocybin therapy as a "breakthrough therapy" for the treatment of MDD. "MDD is a substantial public health concern, affecting more than 300 million individuals worldwide. Depression is the number one cause of disability, and the relative risk of all-cause mortality for those with depression is 1.7 times greater than the risk for the general public. In the United States, approximately 10% of the adult population has been diagnosed with MDD in the past 12 months, and the yearly economic burden of MDD is estimated to be $210 billion."[1] "Across the 36 largest countries in the world, in the absence of scaled-up treatment, it is projected that more than 12 billion days of lost productivity (equivalent to more than 50 million years of work) are attributable to depression and anxiety disorders every year, at an estimated cost of US $925 billion. Assuming the same distribution of costs across lower-income and higher-income countries holds for all other countries (representing 20% of the world's population), the global cost per year is $1.15 trillion."[2] The Medical Director of the Aion International Center for Psychedelic Psychiatry is Winston De La Haye, M.D., M.P.H, D.M., I.C.A.P. Dr. De La Haye is Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, Jamaica and a Consultant General and Addiction Psychiatrist at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI). He completed his MD (Cum Laude) at the University of Pecs in Hungary, his Postgraduate Degree in Psychiatry at the UWI, his Masters in Public Health (Cum Laude) and a Fulbright Fellowship in Substance Abuse at the Johns Hopkins University (JHU). He is an Internationally Certified Addiction Professional and a Global Master Trainer of Trainers in the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders. Dr. De La Haye is a Past Chief Medical Officer in the Ministry of Health and Wellness in Jamaica, Member of the Medical Council of Jamaica, Member of the International Society for Substance Use Professionals (ISSUP), Past President of the Medical Association of Jamaica, Past President of the Jamaica Psychiatric Association, Past President of the Jamaica Fulbright Alumni Association, Past Chairman of the Bellevue Hospital Board of Management, and Past Deputy Chairman of the National Council on Drug Abuse in Jamaica. Dr. De La Haye established the Medicinal Cannabis Unit in the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) in July 2017, supervising the registration of over 80 medicinal cannabis products in Jamaica. He is also a former Captain in the Jamaica Defense Force. Dr. De La Haye stated, "We need all available and effective products for the treatment of patients with mental illness. Psychedelic Psychiatry has the potential to change the lives of millions of patients, reducing their disability and improving their quality of life." Dr. De La Haye continued, "As a Johns Hopkins Alumnus, it is our intention to follow the best treatment protocols like those being established at Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research." Aion International Center for Psychedelic Psychiatry, in addition to treating patients, looks forward to collaborating with The UWI and other Tertiary Institutions in Jamaica in the research and development of cutting edge, effective and safe products for treating patients with mental illness. We also recognize the importance of regulating the Psychedelic Industry and look forward to working closely with the MOHW in Jamaica as they move towards setting up this very important regulatory body. Dr. Stephen Barnhill, Executive Chairman of Aion Therapeutic, stated, "We're very excited to be opening the first International Center for Psychedelic Psychiatry in Jamaica. The Center is unique in our ability to treat patients with both psilocybin and medical cannabis combination therapies currently being produced at Aion Therapeutic in conjunction with our licensed medical cannabis partner Apollon Therapeutics Jamaica, Ltd. We are establishing treatment protocols and dosing schedules for international expansion and export when and where the legal use of these products continues to expand globally." Dr. Barnhill continued, "We are honored to have Dr. Winston De La Haye, with his significant expertise in addiction medicine as the Medical Director for the treatment facility." Mr. Graham Simmonds, Executive Vice Chair and CEO of Aion Therapeutic, stated, "This is a very exciting time for the Company as we now embark on treating patients and further advancing our science and research with another excellent doctor added to our team." He added, "Our team, led by Dr. Barnhill, has been working tirelessly over the past six months in advancing our research, developing our formulations, patent protecting these formulations and preparing an operating plan for treating patients with additional medical conditions including cancer, inflammatory conditions, viral disorders and obesity. We will have updates with further details on our approach to expanding our treatment markets and managing our intellectual property portfolio released shortly. I commend them for this important milestone and we look forward to seeing further advancements from this world-class team we now have in place." The offices of Aion International Center for Psychedelic Psychiatry will soon be opened for seeing both Jamaican and international patients. In addition, we are planning a grand opening celebration in the very near future. The grand opening date will be based on the lifting of the COVID-19 restrictions. About Aion Therapeutic Inc. Aion Therapeutic Inc. (formerly, Osoyoos Cannabis Inc.) has a joint-venture agreement with a private, vertically-integrated licensed producer under the Cannabis Act (Canada) to offer contract tolling extraction services to third-party businesses. Additionally, the Company recently acquired 1196691 B.C. Ltd. d/b/a "PCAI Pharma" (www.pcai.ca) and its wholly-owned subsidiary AI Pharmaceuticals Jamaica Limited, a private corporation incorporated and operating under the laws of Jamaica. The business of AI Pharma involves, research and development, treatment, data mining and state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (machine learning) techniques, focused on the development of combinatorial pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals utilizing compounds from cannabis (cannabinoids), psychedelic mushrooms (psilocybin), fungi (edible mushroom), natural psychedelic formulations (Ayahuasca), and other medicinal plants in a legal environment for this type of discovery. In addition, the Company is creating a strong international intellectual property portfolio related to their discoveries. For further information, please contact: Investor Relations & Financial Media Integrity Media Inc. team@integritymedia.com Toll Free: (888) 216-3595 www.IntegrityMedia.com Aion Therapeutic Inc. Graham Simmonds Executive Vice Chair & CEO (416) 843-2881 DISCLAIMER & READER ADVISORY Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "may", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, this release contains forward-looking information relating to the business of the Company. Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to the parties. The material factors and assumptions include regulatory and other third-party approvals; licensing and other risks. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and the parties are not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein. [1]The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 2015;76(2):155-162 [2] Lancet Psychiatry 3: 415-24 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75204 Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknicks Mother: He Wasnt Hit on the Head on Jan. 6 Update: Sicknick died of natural causes, according to the chief medical examiner for Washington. The mother of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick said her son was not beaten with a fire extinguisher by a mob on Jan. 6, saying he likely suffered a stroke insteadrefuting reports from the New York Times and other outlets claiming otherwise. He wasnt hit on the head, no. We think he had a stroke, but we dont know anything for sure, Gladys Sicknick told the Daily Mail in an exclusive interview on Feb. 22. Wed love to know what happened. The NY Times, CNN, and NBC updated their reports weeks after the Jan. 6 breach to assert that Sicknick was not killed by a fire extinguisher. Originally, the NY Times reported, based on anonymous sources, that Sicknick was beaten to death. According to the NY Times update in February, New information has emerged regarding the death of the Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick that questions the initial cause of his death provided by officials close to the Capitol Police. However, there were reports of new information emerging about the circumstances of Sicknicks death around the same time the NY Times published its report on Jan. 8. The allegation Sicknick was killed by a protester was cited during the House impeachment managers presentations and arguments that former President Donald Trump should be convicted in the Senate impeachment trial over his speech on Jan. 6. Since the Capitol breach, some pundits and elected officials have cited Sicknicks death while pushing claims that new domestic terrorism laws are needed. Sicknicks brother also disputed the reports about his death in early January. [Officer Sicknick] texted me last night and said, I got pepper-sprayed twice, and he was in good shape, his brother, Ken Sicknick, said to news outlets last month, appearing to dispute key details of the original NY Times report. Medical examiners have not released an official report on Sicknicks cause of death. An autopsy report also was not released. Meanwhile, there have been no arrests related to the officers death, and officials have not released details about a potential suspect. And while the breach was captured via live-streaming video, there is no footage that surfaced of demonstrators hitting Sicknick with a fire extinguisher. An official Capitol Police statement said that officer Brian D. Sicknick passed away due to injuries sustained while on duty, continuing to say, Officer Sicknick was responding to the riots on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, at the US Capitol and was injured while physically engaging with protesters. He returned to his division office and collapsed. He was taken to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald noted last week that Sicknicks death was referenced so much because it is the only example the media had of the pro-Trump mob deliberately killing anyone, adding that none of the other four deaths during the riots were at the hands of the protesters: the only other person killed with deliberate violence was a pro-Trump protester, Ashli Babbitt, unarmed when shot in the neck by a police officer at close range. Two other protesters, according to officials, died of medical-related causes while another died allegedly due to a crush of fellow protesters. The Epoch Times has reached out to the U.S. Capitol Police for comment. Amnesty International has withdrawn its recent designation of Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's as a "prisoner of conscience" over his alleged advocacy of violence and discrimination and comments that included hate speech, but reiterated its determination to keep fighting for his release. Some of these comments, which Navalny has not publicly denounced, reach the threshold of advocacy of hatred." Denis Krivosheev, deputy director of Amnesty's Europe and Central Asia office, confirmed to RFE/RL in an e-mailed response on February 24 that the "internal decision" was made "in relation to comments [Navalny] made in the past" and that the decision "does not change our resolve to fight for his immediate release, and for an end to his politically motivated persecution by the Russian authorities. "Some of these comments, which Navalny has not publicly denounced, reach the threshold of advocacy of hatred, and this is at odds with Amnesty's definition of a prisoner of conscience," Krivosheev said, without specifying which comments he was referring to. Navalny was arrested at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport after he arrived on January 17 from Berlin, where he had been recovering from a poisoning with a Soviet-era nerve agent in August that the 44-year-old lawyer says was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin and carried out by Russian intelligence. Krivosheev added that Navalny, whom the group named a prisoner of conscience after his arrest in Moscow last month, "has committed no crime" and that in spite of its decision regarding his status as a prisoner of conscience, "Amnesty delivered 200,000 signatures to the Russian authorities demanding Navalny's immediate release." Navalny's anti-corruption organization has targeted many high-profile Russians, including high-ranking government officials. In the course of his political career, Navalny has also come under criticism for his association with ethnic Russian nationalists and about statements seen as racist and dangerously inflammatory. Still, Amnesty came under immediate criticism by political analysts and Navalny allies, who accused the rights group of caving to a pressure campaign by journalists connected to state-controlled media. "It's shocking and shameful.... Navalny is deemed no longer to be a 'prisoner of conscience' because his views are now deemed 'hate speech'? I forgot that only woke pacifists can experience persecution," said Mark Galeotti, an expert and author on Russia. The rights group's decision was first reported by U.S. journalist Aaron Mate on February 23 and was confirmed to Mediazona and The Insider by Aleksandr Artemyev, the rights watchdog's media manager for Russia and Eurasia. Artemyev wrote that Amnesty decided to retract the designation "in light of new information" stemming from "old videos and social-media posts in which Navalny made controversial pronouncements." The comments attributed to Navalny in the mid-2000s were not specified, but Artemyev said they were made as Navalny's activism and challenge to Putin was gaining momentum and that their reemergence "appears to be another tactic to delegitimize Navalny's work and criticism and to weaken public outcry about his detention." But, he added, while it could have been part of a coordinated campaign "done not out of goodwill, but maliciously," Amnesty couldn't disregard "the fact that this time the arrow hit the target," Artemyev said. Ivan Zhdanov, the director of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), said the "procedure for assigning and depriving AI status turned out to be extremely shameful. "In 2018, Amnesty International called me a prisoner of conscience. I declare that I am giving up this status now and in the future since it can be deprived under the pressure of Putin's state propaganda," added Aleksandr Golovach, a lawyer with the FBK who Amnesty said at the time was detained on "spurious charges of breaking a repressive law on public gatherings." Navalny's arrest for failing to report to the Moscow prison service -- a violation of a suspended sentence related to a 2014 conviction for embezzlement that he and critics say was politically motivated -- sparked anti-government protests in hundreds of cities and led to thousands of arrests. On February 2, Navalny's 3 1/2-year suspended sentence was converted to real jail time. His appeal was rejected on February 20, ensuring that Putin's biggest political rival will spend about 2 1/2 years in prison, considering time already spent in detention. In a separate case heard the same day, Navalny was fined 850,000 rubles ($11,500) on charges of slandering a World War II veteran who had participated in a Kremlin-organized promotional video. After Amnesty recognized Navalny as a prisoner of conscience on January 17, saying his arrest was "further evidence that Russian authorities are seeking to silence him," the rights watchdog reportedly began receiving letters of complaint from unknown sources. Putin on February 24 signed into law bills that beef up fines for the financing of rallies and disobeying police in the wake of what the Kremlin has called "unsanctioned" protests in support of Navalny. The new laws set fines for individuals found guilty of illegally financing a rally at up to 15,000 rubles ($200), while officials and organizations guilty of such actions will be fined up to 30,000 rubles ($400) and 100,000 rubles ($1,345), respectively. Putin also signed a law that significantly increases fines for disobeying police and security forces. With reporting by Mike Eckel, RFE/RL's Russian Service, Current Time, Meduza, and Mediazona A 60-year-old man who threatened to shoot a Criminal Asset Bureau (CAB) officer during an investigation has been sentenced to two years in prison with the final year suspended. Andrew Moorehouse, of 1 Drumgoold Villas, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, came before Judge Cormac Quinn at Wexford Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday having pleaded guilty to two charges of threatening a CAB official on May 31, 2019, at the agency's Harcourt Square premises in Dublin. He also pleaded guilty to threatening a CAB official on July 11, 2019. Prosecuting Counsel, Ms Sinead Gleeson told the court of CAB officers investigating organised crime locally, in which they targeted one criminal group across the district. She said he told one CAB officer he would shoot her and the other that he would 'die roaring'. The Criminal Assets Bureau had been investigating the assets of a criminal gang in the south-east since 2016, and as part of that investigation they served a tax bill on the proceeds of crime to Moorehouse. CAB served notices on the defendant in relation to estimated arrears in income tax with the final demand in the region of 210,000. Only 12,000 had been paid when a Revenue Officer rang Moorehouse in May 2019. Read More The following month, CAB officers raided Moorehouse's home and seized trailers, cars, and a mobile phone. A month later, Moorehouse rang a detective sergeant in CAB in Dublin and told him "you will die roaring" and made further threats against the female CAB Revenue Officer. Det. O'Farrell said the defendant was contacted on mobile phone, when he became very hostile, with the defendant saying, "the next time they come down here I will get the gun out and shoot them." He said a search warrant was obtained in relation to 1 Drumgoold Villas. On visiting the house, the Sheriff was present at the time. The defendant was generally co-operative during the search but no gun was found. Defence Counsel, Mark Murphy said Moorehouse was a married man, a father and grandfather with limited schooling. He apologised for his behaviour with, he said, no firearm being found. He further added that Moorehouse might have been under the influence of alcohol and that the call to the Revenue Officer occurred shortly after the death of his sister. Judge Quinn described it as a serious offence with serious threats and serious intimidation being shown towards the investigating officers. He sentenced Moorehouse to two years in prison on each of the two charges, to run concurrently, with one year suspended. The defendant, entered a bond of 200 to keep the peace for one year on his release. Major John Bolton is a U.S. Army officer and doctoral candidate at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He previously commanded Bravo Company, 209th Aviation Support Battalion, served as the Executive Officer for 2-25 Assault Helicopter Battalion, and the Brigade Aviation Officer for 4/25 IBCT (Airborne). He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff Colleges Art of War Scholars Program and holds degrees in military history and mechanical engineering. An AH-64D/E Aviator, he has deployed multiple times with Engineer, Aviation, and Infantry units. Divergent Options content does not contain information of an official nature nor does the content represent the official position of any government, any organization, or any group. Title: Assessing Early Cold War Overestimations of Soviet Capabilities and Intent and its Applicability to Current U.S.- China Relations Date Originally Written: January 5, 2021. Date Originally Published: February 22, 2021. Author and / or Article Point of View: The author is an Active Duty U.S. Army Officer attending a PhD program focused on American Foreign Policy. The author believes America tends to overestimate threat capabilities and too quickly resorts to military analysis or responses without considering better Whole of Government approaches. Summary: Though it can illuminate adversaries worldview, when predicting actions, analyzing ideology is less effective than traditional balance of power frameworks. During the Cold War, American assumptions about a monolithic Communist block controlled by Moscow blinded American policymakers to opportunities (and challenges) from China to Vietnam. Even in ideological conflicts, states tend to act rationally in the international sphere. Text: When it comes to predicting the nature and location of our next military engagements, since Vietnam, our record has been perfect. We have never once gotten it right[1]. Robert Gates, former Secretary of Defense A paramount transferable Cold War lesson is the need to disconnect ideology from assessment of state behavior. During the initial stages of the Cold War (1947-1953), American administrations habitually overestimated Soviet military capability and viewed Soviet and Chinese actions through an East vs. West ideological lens that was often inaccurate. Moreover, American policymakers assumed ideological agreement easily translated into operational coordination, even when America and its allies could hardly manage to do so. As a result of this ideological focus, the United States expended resources and energy building far more nuclear weapons than balance required and unnecessarily shunned Communist China for over 20 years. Today this pattern is repeating as scholars and defense planners increasingly ascribe Chinas actions to ideological, rather than geopolitical factors[2]. Or, failing to see the obvious, policymakers have coined new monikers such as revisionist toward normal, if aggressive, behavior. Ideology does far better in explaining a states domestic rather than international actions. Viewed using Waltzs 3rd image (interstate interactions), states consider their interests and the balance of power, rather than what their domestic ideology demands[3]. As a result, interstate behavior is remarkably consistent with the balance of power. To be sure, some states are more aggressive than others due to ideology, governmental structure, or individual leaders. However, according to defense analysis geopolitical factors remain predominant as they have since the Peloponnesian War[4]. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlains capitulation to Adolph Hitlers demand at Munich in 1938 is widely considered to have contributed to the German invasion of Poland the following year. However, Chamberlains acquiesce to Hitlers demands came as much from balance of power analysis based on British and French weakness as a desire for peace or pacifist leanings at home[5]. Had the Allies been better prepared for war; a more stable balance of power could have preempted, or at least stalled, Nazi aggression. American policy during the Cold War drew heavily from George Kennans 1946 Long Telegram and 1947 X article. Kennan, based on extensive personal experience, depicted the insular, paranoid nature of Soviet Stalinism. Such a state could not be changed but would eventually collapse as a result of a defunct government and sclerotic body politic[6]. As a result, Kennan recommended that the United States contain the Soviets within their current sphere of influence in Eastern Europe. Though he stood by his description of Soviet society and his prognosis for the eventual demise of the Soviet System, Kennan would later distance himself from the aggressive form of containment adopted in his name[7]. Two brief examples illustrate the perils of assuming too much regarding an opponents ideology: the U.S.-Soviet Missile Gap and the American failure to foresee the Sino-Soviet Spilt. The Missile Gap was the alleged insufficiency of American nuclear forces relative to Soviet missiles that became a major talking point after the 1957 Soviet launch of Sputnik. Despite officials under U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower repeatedly providing intelligence demonstrating U.S.-Soviet parity, and a general qualitative and quantitative American superiority, then-senator John F. Kennedy and defense hawks lambasted the Eisenhower Administration as weak for the supposed failure to match Soviet arms[8]. The gap, however, never existed. Robert McNamara, President Kennedys Secretary of Defense later called the missile gap a myth[created] by emotionally guided but nonetheless patriotic individuals in the Pentagon[9]. Likewise, American policy toward Communist China took a hard turn toward the ideological, isolating Communist China even more so than the Soviet Russia. Though a dedicated Marxist-Leninist, Chinese leader Chairman Mao Tse-tung was foremost a patriot, focused on restoring a strong, independent China. Soviet influence, much less command and control, was limited, especially when compared to communist movements in Europe. From the Chinese Communist (CCP) takeover in 1949 until the Korean War, many State Department officials believed that after 2-3 years the U.S. and China could renew relations that Mao could function as an Asian counterpart to Titos relatively moderate communism in Yugoslavia[10]. After the Korean War, however, with Cold War frameworks hardened, American policymakers failed to see clear indications of the forthcoming Sino-Soviet split, despite ample evidence from as early as the end of WWII[11]. The net result was delaying for nearly forestalling for 20 years what became a highlight of American diplomacy, the U.S.-China rapprochement under Nixon. For a nation so heavily committed to freedom, Americans have shown a strange persistent tendency to simplify other states to ideological stereotypes we discount for ourselves. This has terribly clouded the contemporary China debate. China as a competitor is a function of geopolitics, namely structural and geographic factors, more so than ideology[12]. This conclusion does not discount the importance of CCP ideology, but provides context. While Chinese President Xi Jinping and the CCP have espoused the China Dream and embraced a particularly aggressive form of Chinese Nationalism, this has not necessarily translated into Chinas international actions, which are much better explained by balance of power analysis. As a growing state in a competitive environment, Chinas actions make sense as it seeks to flex its power and establish regional supremacy. Chinas history of foreign intrusion and suffering during the Century of Humiliation of course color its contemporary maneuvers, but they are not substantially different from what we would expect any emerging power to do. It is also worth considering that Xis use of nationalism is largely focused on domestic audiences as a means to consolidate CCP power[13]. Nothing in the previous paragraph discounts the very real challenge China presents to the United States and smaller states of Southeast Asia, two of which are American allies. However, Xis development of a Chinese sphere of influence, largely built on bilateral trade agreements is not necessarily about freezing out the United States. In short, China is not a Communist state focused on world domination; in fact, its xenophobic nationalism of late is detrimental to that end. China is focused on its own exceptionalism, not ending Americas[14]. A clear lesson of the Cold War is the danger of oversimplification. Doing so makes caricatures of real conflicts and leads to poor policy. In the examples above the United States lost 20 years of exploiting the Sino-Soviet Split and spent billions on arguably useless extra nuclear weapons. Moreover, a presumption that ideological coherence between disparate adversaries leads operational coordination is foolhardy without evidence. Even in the midst of an ideological conflict, it is best the United States detaches an overly simplistic ideological lens to properly respond with the most effective means at our disposal[15]. Analysis requires rationality. This article appeared originally at Divergent Options. Endnotes: [1] Zenko, Micah (October 12, 2012). 110% Right 0% of the Time, from https://foreignpolicy.com/2012/10/16/100-right-0-of-the-time. [2] Huang, Yanzhong. (September 8, 2020). Americas Political Immune System Is Overreacting to China. From https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/09/08/america-overreacting-to-china-political-immune-system; Colby, Elbridge, discussion regarding State Departments May 2020 China Policy Paper, from https://youtu.be/KyBVmSaua5I. [3] Waltz, K. N. (2018). Man, the State and War: A Theoretical Analysis. New York: Columbia University Press.159-170. [4] Kaplan, R. D. (2013). The Revenge Of Geography: What The Map Tells Us About Coming Conflicts And The Battle Against Fate. [5] Munich Agreement, Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/event/Munich-Agreement. [6] See https://www.trumanlibraryinstitute.org/this-day-in-history-2/; Kennan, (July 1947). The Sources of Soviet Conduct, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russian-federation/1947-07-01/sources-soviet-conduct. [7] Hogan, M. J. (1998). A Cross of Iron: Harry S. Truman and the Origins of the National Security State, 19451954. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511664984 [8] Preble, Christopher (December 2003). Who Ever Believed in the Missile Gap?: John F. Kennedy and the Politics of National Security. Presidential Studies Quarterly 33, no. 4. [9] McNamara quoted in Ibid. [10] See Foreign Relations of the United States, 1947, The Far East: China, Volume VII, Documents 6, 270, 708, 617; Finkelstein, D. M. (1993). Washingtons Taiwan Dilemma, 1949-1950: From Abandonment to Salvation. George Mason University Press. https://books.google.com/books?id=8RW7AAAAIAAJ [11] Butterworth, Walton. (May 1950). China in Mid-Revolution, Speech at Lawrenteville, NJ, May 1950, Butterworth Papers, George Marshall Library, Lexington, VA. Box 3, Folder 13. [12] Lester, Simon. (January 6, 2019). Talking Ourselves into a Cold War with China. From https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/talking-ourselves-cold-war-china; Wang, Z. (2012). Never Forget National Humiliation: Historical Memory in Chinese Politics and Foreign Relations. Columbia University Press. [13] Colby, Elbridge, discussion regarding State Departments May 2020 China Policy Paper, from https://youtu.be/KyBVmSaua5I. [14] Bacevich, Andrew. (January 4, 2021). Americas Defining Problem In 2021 Isnt China: Its America, from https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/americas-defining-problem-in-2021-isnt-china-its-america. [15] Herring, George. (2002). Americas Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975. McGraw-Hill, 225-235. ITBP to close its COVID-19 care centre within a week India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Feb 23: The Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) said that it will close it 10,000 bed COVID-19 care centre in south Delhi's Chhatarpur. ITBP Director General SS Deswal said, "the Sardar Patel Covid Care Centre and Hospital, Radha Soami Satsang Beas in Chhatarpur will be closed within a week once patients currently admitted are discharged. No new patients will be admitted. The city's hospitals are equipped to handle the current numbers." Ladakh: ITBP gets new commander Gujarat civic polls: BJP makes big gains | Celebrations begin | Oneindia News The Centre had started the Sardar Paten Covid Centre as an measure by the ITBP in July last year when Delhi was witnessing a huge surge in cases. In November the ITBP had announced increasing the capacity of the COVID-19 beds from 2,000 to 3,000. The new beds were equipped with a proper supply of medical oxygen. While the ITBP operated the centre, the Delhi government was providing the administration. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, February 23, 2021, 16:40 [IST] London, Feb 24 : The Duke of Edinburgh is being treated for an infection and is not expected to leave hospital for several days, Buckingham Palace has said. Prince Philip was admitted to London's King Edward VII's Hospital on last Tuesday as a precaution after feeling unwell, the BBC reported. The 99-year-old husband of the Queen is "comfortable and responding to treatment", the palace said. The Earl of Wessex said that his father was feeling "a lot better" and appreciated "lovely messages" from the public. Prince Edward said: "He's looking forward to getting out, which is the most positive thing, so we keep our fingers crossed." Both the duke and the Queen, 94, received Covid-19 vaccinations last month. Prince Philip's admission to hospital was not related to coronavirus. The couple, who celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary last November, have been spending lockdown at Windsor Castle with a small household staff. A palace source previously said that the duke, who turns 100 in June, had walked into the hospital in Marylebone unaided. Prince Charles visited his father for around 30 minutes on Saturday afternoon. A Clarence House spokesman said Prince Charles returned to his Highgrove residence in Gloucestershire after the visit. Speaking on Monday, the Duke of Cambridge said his grandfather was "OK" and that doctors were "keeping an eye" on him. Members of the Royal Family have continued with their official duties, with the Queen knighting a royal aide during a private socially-distanced ceremony at Windsor on Thursday. Prince Philip retired from royal duties in 2017 in a move supported by the Queen. Known for off-the-cuff remarks at public events, Prince Philip joked at the time that he was the "world's most experienced plaque unveiler". In his time as a working royal, he attended over 22,000 solo engagements and gave more than 5,000 speeches. The duke has received treatment for various health conditions over the years, including a blocked coronary artery in 2011, a bladder infection in 2012 and exploratory surgery on his abdomen in June 2013. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday asked the state's chief secretary to draw up a plan to implement two working shifts at Mantralaya, the government's administrative headquarters. At the NITI Aayog meeting last week, Thackeray had talked about the need to adopt staggered office timings to lessen crowding in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Amid rising COVID-19 cases in the state, Thackeray also asked chief secretary Sanjay Kumar to explore which government departments can run at full capacity with employees working from home, an official statement said. The chief minister was speaking at a meeting with representatives of the gazetted officers' association at his official residence 'Varsha' here. Mantralaya is located in south Mumbai. should take the initiative and start a new work culture, the chief minister said. "We should start this new work style where work can be completed with full capacity and properly and there will be less COVID-19 threat too. "The officers' association should take initiative and see how office timings at Mantralaya can be planned in two shifts, taking everybody into confidence," the statement quoted the CM as saying. Thackeray also asked the chief secretary to plan vaccination for all officers and staff at Mantralaya as frontline workers on priority. Steps should be taken in a day or two to restrict the number of outside visitors at Mantralaya, he said. Also, body temperatures of staff at Mantralaya should be checked every day, the chief minister said. An arrangement should be made to conduct antigen tests so that infected individuals do not enter Mantralaya, he instructed. (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.) Maldives Police attacked a Channel 13 camera operator and harassed the channels chief operating officer and station deputy in two separate incidents during opposition-led protests in Male on February 19. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) call on the Maldives police to respect press freedom and ensure journalists are able to freely and safely report. Channel13 cameraperson Mohamed Shaheem was tackled to the ground and injured by police as he attempted to cover the protests in the Alimas Carnival area of Male on Februrary 20. Channel13 was only the network with live coverage of the protests. Following the incident, Shaheem was admitted to a local hospital for treatment. Organized by both the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and the People's National Congress (PNC), the protest called on the government to nullify the states phase two distribution of its flats under "Hiyaa" public housing scheme project of Hulhumale in North Male, saying the distribution was unjust. The public housing project included development of 7,000 flats. The protesters also demanded authorities to release disgraced former president Abdulla Yameen, who is currently serving a jail term for money laundering. The same day, police used force to move Channel-13s chief operating officer, Mohamed Samah, and the stations deputy-in-charge, Hussain Ihsan, from a restaurant near the protest, despite both of them wearing media passes. Video footage of the incident shows police barging in to the restaurant and forcefully manhandling the journalists out of the restaurant. Maldivian journalists and reporters rallied on February 21 in front of the Maldives Media Council (MMC) and the Maldives Broadcasting Commission (MBC). Journalists carried posters and placards calling on the government to stop attacks on the press and journalists. The media community noted the incident as one in a series of actions from the Maldivian authorities, by which intimidation is used as a means to silence independent or critical reporting. The Maldives Journalist Association said: We believe that all journalists and media should receive an equal opportunity to cover and report on protests and demonstrations. Timely investigations and firm actions against such incidents remain imperative to create a safe environment where journalism would thrive. The IFJ said: We urge the Maldivian authorities, including police, to respect press freedom. Intimidation and attacks on media worker attempting to do their jobs is not acceptable. NEW DELHI : Agritech startup DeHaat said it has acquired FarmGuide, a business-to-business (B2B) Software as a Service (SaaS) platform. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. DeHaats co-founder and chief executive Shashank Kumar said the company will use its existing digital tech and physical platform with FarmGuides spatial technology and data science platform to create a full-stack platform for farmers and agri-businesses in India. Also Read | India Inc gears up to go back to office The founding team of FarmGuide has already joined DeHaat and the core database and tech platform will be integrated with DeHaats full-stack technology, Kumar said. We will be able to provide more precise and customized solutions in a real time, scalable manner to farmers using FarmGuides tech advisory solutions which are based on satellite imagery," said Kumar. FarmGuide was started four years ago by IIT Delhi alumni Nikhil Toshniwal and Ankit Gupta. It has developed a SaaS-based platform using satellite data to detect farm boundaries and data-driven customised crop advisory services. The tech platform developed by FarmGuide complements our vision of bringing efficiency and transparency in agri supply chain. Its GIS technology and ability to use satellite data for crop monitoring and analysis will help DeHaat to provide super-customized crop advisory solution to farmers and relevant insights to businesses transacting on DeHaat platfrom for agri input as well as agri output," said Shyam Sundar Singh, co-founder, DeHaat. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. New Delhi, Feb 23 : Although fresh Covid-19 cases have been showing an upward trend over the past one week, it came down by at least 3,600 cases as the country reported 10,584 new cases in the last 24 hours on Tuesday. The overall tally mounted to 1,10,16,434, the Health Ministry officials said. India has been recording less than 15,000 new infections daily with the toll not crossing the 200-mark over the last one month. However, the number spiked possibly owing to "mutations and new strains" as has been studied by the laboratories involved in Covid detection across the country. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that there were 78 more deaths, taking the overall toll to 1,56,463. Last week, officials said that the average daily new infections for the last 15 days were oscillating between 9,000 to 12,000 while the deaths were between 78 to 120. On Monday, 14,199 cases were reported; on February 21, 14,264 cases; on February 20, 13,993. On February 9, India had reported 9,110 new cases, the lowest this year so far. Last year, the lowest 9,633 cases were recorded on June 3. As per the Ministry's data, there are 1,47,306 active cases at present after 13,255 patients were discharged in a day. Till now, 1,07,12,665 persons have been discharged so far. The recovery rate has remained to 97.24 per cent, while the fatality rate is 1.42 per cent. At least 86.3 per cent of the new cases are from five states -- Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Punjab. Five states account for 78.31 per cent of the new deaths including Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The Ministry also informed that 6,78,685 samples were tested on Monday. The cumulative tests done by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) so far stands at 21,22,30,431 More than 1,17,45,550 doses of corona vaccine have been administered in the country since the drive began on January 16 after approval for 'Covishield' and 'Covaxin'. As per the Union Health Ministry, India has become the fastest nation in terms of the vaccine doses administered, even though many countries had launched their vaccination campaigns much earlier. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text China has again emerged as India's biggest trade partner in 2020 despite a bloody conflict along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the rising anti-China sentiment. In 2020, the two-way trade between the countries stood at $77.7 billion, which, however, is lower than the previous year's mark of $85.5 billion, as per the provisional data from the commerce ministry. China had also emerged as India's biggest trade partner in the first half of the financial year 2020-21, pipping the US, which had held that position since 2018-19. In the previous calendar year too, China replaced the US as India's biggest trading partner. The two-way trade between India and the US stood at $75.9 billion as the coronavirus-led restrictions hurt the trade between the two countries. UAE remains the third biggest trading partner of the country. Notably, after a major border confrontation between Indian soldiers and the Chinese at Galwan valley in June, in which 20 Indian soldiers died, the government had indirectly hit out at China by taking a series of measures to curb trade. Among the initiatives taken to hit China economically, the Centre had banned hundreds of Chinese mobile apps, including popular ones like TikTok, increased scrutiny on Chinese investments in India, and increased duty on certain products. India's long-standing dependence on Chinese heavy machinery, telecom equipment and other products has led to the ballooning of trade deficit with China at $40 billion. At $58.7 billion, India's imports from China were more than collective purchases from the US and the UAE together. In terms of exports, India's shipments to China grew 11 per cent YoY to $19 billion in 2020. However, experts say the increase in exports to China could also be a threat to India amid increasing tensions along the border. The slight decline in imports from China is attributed to the rising geopolitical tensions. Trade organisations like the Confederation of All India Traders have been campaigning against Chinese goods vowing to boycott as many as 3,000 items. It has set a target of reducing imports from China by as much as $13.3 billion by next December. That said, the government has also taken several steps to curb imports from mainland China, including ban on import of colour televisions and a complete ban on the import of ACs and refrigerants. Safeguard duties on import of solar panels and modules have also been extended for a third year in July, while anti-dumping duty has been imposed on a range of goods imported from China. Also read: What an irony! Mainland China beats US to be India's biggest trade partner in H1FY21 MBABANE The Republic of China (Taiwan) has continued to show the country its generous side, especially in the fight against COVID-19. This time around, Taiwan donated sanitisers and personal protective equipment (PPE) worth E535 000. The donation to government was made yesterday at the Taiwan Embassy in Mbabane, in the presence of the Minister of Health, Lizzie Nkosi, and her Principal Secretary, Dr Simon Zwane. According to Taiwan Ambassador to Eswatini Jeremy Liang, as an ally with Eswatini, Taiwan has been committed to providing medical assistance in many ways, hand-in-hand to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the request from the Ministry of Health last year, we fully understand there is urgency to strengthen the protection of the community health workers to face the COVID-19. We immediately allocated the resources from the Maternal and Infant Health Care Improvement Project (Phase II) to prepare the sanitisers and we hope it would help to reduce the risks of COVID-19 infections among the community health workers and their clients, especially mothers and children, said Liang. alcohol The ambassador revealed that they were donating 10 000 bottles (200ml per bottle) of alcohol-based hand sanitisers. The sanitisers have been prepared to support 4 700 rural health motivators (bagcugcuteli) and 300 community mentor mothers in the country, which are valued at USD17 000 (about E245 000), said Liang. Moreover, we recognise that not only community health workers need PPE, but also, the health personnel on the frontline need more resources for this difficult battle, said the ambassador. He further went on to reveal that they donated 2 000 pieces of protective clothing for strengthening the protection of health personnel, which are valued at USD20 000 (about E290 000). Liang said the worldwide spread of COVID-19 has, once again, shown that the disease knows no borders and that no gaps should exist in the global epidemic prevention network. Working on the frontline against COVID-19, Taiwan has been widely recognised by the international community for its advanced preparations and actions. Therefore, as long as the global pandemic does not slow down, Taiwan will continue to contribute to the kingdom and the world to face the threat coming from COVID-19. believe Taiwan can help and Taiwan is helping. We firmly believe Taiwan could well play her role as a force for good in the world, said the ambassador. The minister of Health said since the beginning of the pandemic, Taiwan had held their hand and assisted them in every step. Since the beginning of this pandemic, the Government of Eswatini and its development partners have supported our community health volunteers towards increasing their capacity to respond rapidly and efficiently to COVID-19 basic preventative measures. capacity Todays donation aligns with the Ministrys mission of investing in the capacity of our community health volunteers and ensuring that their environment enables them to serve in the best way they can, said Nkosi. She further said the ministry expressed their profound gratitude for their (Taiwan) support towards the provision of the necessary resources during the COVID-19 fight. New Delhi, Feb 23 : Twitter appears to be serious about expanding its reach in the Indian market and the microblogging platform reportedly even considered buying homegrown social networking platform ShareChat. One of the key reasons for eyeing ShareChat is Twitter's ambition to build a global rival to TikTok through the Moj short video platform, TechCrunch reported. Twitter offered $1.1 billion, besides a commitment of an additional investment of $900 million, for the acquisition, said the report, citing unnamed sources. There is no official confirmation from either Twitter or ShareChat on the talks which did not result in a deal, said the report. ShareChat-owned Moj already claims to have over 80 million monthly active users. The rise of Moj and other homegrown short video platform comes in the backdrop of ban on TikTok in India in June 2020. However, Twitter's interest in ShareChat is not new. It is already an investor in the Bengaluru-based startup which is also backed by Elevation Capital, Lightspeed Partners India, and India Quotient, among others. ShareChat, which has raised about $260 million to date, is in talks with other investors including Google and Snap for its new funding round, TechCrunch reported. Moj earlier this month said it was integrating Snap's Camera Kit to make Snapchat's augmented reality (AR) capabilities available to its growing community. ShareChat, which has over 160 million users in India, is especially popular among regional language users. The development comes at a time when Koo, a homegrown rival to Twitter, is fast gaining traction in the backdrop of a fortnight-long deadlock between Twitter and the Indian government over actions on some accounts. The issue now appears to have resolved after Twitter either withheld or suspended at least 90-95 per cent accounts earlier this month as directed by the IT Ministry in two separate notices. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 23) Residents in select parts of the Visayas and Mindanao may sign up as Dito Telecommunity's first subscribers by March 8, with nationwide services not expected until a couple of months later. The telecommunications network owned by Davao businessman Dennis Uy announced it is ready to onboard new users of its mobile network in two weeks, but SIM cards will be made available to Davao, Cebu, and 15 other towns and cities. "There's a sentimental reason to that, because if you recall, before Dito became Dito, we were the Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company," Dito chief administrative officer Adel Tamano said in a Tuesday briefing, referring to the parent firm prior to the joint venture with China Telecom. "It's a launch that will move in waves," he added. "Actually, before June, we will already be available throughout the country." The rollout was initially scheduled in July 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 lockdowns. At least 10 physical stores will be opened within southern Philippines before offering in other points of sale. Dito cell numbers will start with these digits: 0991, 0992, 0993, 0994, 0895, 0896, 0897, and 0898. Brand ambassadors Tamano said the commercial launch set two Mondays from now would be more of a "CSR" event, adding there won't be any celebrity endorsers to carry the brand. "We'd rather spend on towers and network than on K-Pop stars," he said.. Its rivals Globe and Smart have hired top acts like Blackpink and BTS to get more subscribers ahead of Dito's launch. RELATED: Third telco's March commercial launch fuels investors' appetite for DITO CME The third telco passed its first technical audit on Monday. The company committed mobile internet speeds of at least 27 Megabits per second or Mbps on its first year of operation, but the independent audit revealed that the average connectivity is at 85.9 Mbps for 4G and a whopping 507.5 Mbps for 5G. Network coverage is already at 45% of the population, according to Rodolfo Santago, chief administrative officer of Dito and a retired military general. Additional towers will be built to hit the five-year goal of providing mobile internet speeds of at least 55 Mbps under a 5G network. Dito officials refused to disclose its service offerings, saying they need to keep it under wraps to leap ahead of the Smart and Globe duopoly. Santiago admitted, however, that Dito is unlikely to turn profitable in the next year as it starts commercial operations. The company will invest an additional 26 billion this year after spending 150 billion in 2020. Cell towers Dito's controversial plan to put up cell sites inside military camps have not yet pushed through. The firm wants to put up five cell towers inside Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City the headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and in other military camps in the country. Santiago said they are still waiting for the final go-ahead from authorities before they start building. READ: Dito taps ex-military officials to head security units Both Dito and AFP earlier denied that the infrastructure will be used by China Telecom, a state-owned mobile network in the mainland, to spy on the military and compromise national security. Tamano said their Chinese counterparts are "very enthusiastic" about the launch. Meanwhile, the company said it is on track to construct over 2,000 cell towers nationwide to meet its second audit requirements. In five years, connection speeds must be at least 55 Mbps to 84% of the population. Average mobile internet speed in the Philippines is at 25.77 Mbps as of January 2021, according to the Ookla Speedtest Global Index. READ: As COVID-19 forces life to move online, who is left behind? If you think that you are entirely safe at your home, you are wrong. You are still susceptible to hackers who could exploit your data and install malware on your computer through your webcam. Before it happens, it is better to know how to tell if your webcam has been hacked. How To Tell If Your Webcam Was Hacked? According to Digital Trends, here are the signs that you should observe, which could tell that your webcam is hacked. Look at its light Your webcam could be hacked by looking in its light. When you turn it on for a video call with your friend, you will notice its indication that it is already in use. There are times that you might find it strange, and it could be possible that when that happens, an unknown person could be controlling your webcam. Maybe he/she is just watching from afar to spy on your activity. If you observe that your apps are opening your webcam, this might be the reason. Immediately delete them for a suspected attack. However, in some cases, it could be because of the issues with your applications. Browser Extensions Extensions in your typical browser could also be an indicator of a webcam hack. If your webcam opens every time you click your Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Safari, this could be the key. If an add-on keeps on popping and your webcam turns on, find all the extensions. For example, if you are using Chrome, On your computer, open Chrome, simply go to the top right and click More, then go to More Tools and to the Extensions. Now, you can remove the extensions that you want to get rid of, then click Remove to confirm, then, Restart your browser after you do it. Unwanted Webcam Files There are some cases that when you search on your computer drive, you can see some files which should not be there. What you saw could be a malware attack inserted into your driver. If you are sure that a video file is misplaced there, it could be that a hacker might put it there to store. Additionally, if you notice a weird file name, check its content to assure what's in it. Go to your webcam folder and search for your video files. Continue looking in another video folder to check if there are still unwanted video files that are put in a folder. Read Also: TikTok Silhouette Challenge No Filter Tutorial: How to Remove Red Filter Change in Security Settings It's also good to regularly check your webcam settings if they are tweaked at the very least. Chances are those small changes might show some signs of a suspicious hack or virus attack. If you feel some undesirable activity is going on, go to your webcam settings and change your password. If there are apps that are using your webcam, disable them immediately. Moreover, check for your anti-virus software if it is enabled. Look for its webcam settings to see if there are changes that might take place. You might also want to check your firewall settings. Suspicious Apps Appear Through Anti-Virus Software This is one of the most common problems that is often overlooked. When you run a virus scanner, reports of malicious files are shown on the screen. Quickly go to the folder of the files and look for suspicious content. In some cases, a RAT (remote administration tool) can be installed via malware. This will infect your webcam, hence the so-called "camfecting." Examples of these attacks include specific names like Mirai, InvisiMole, and BlackShades. Hacker Messages You It's obvious that the hacker wants something from you. It could be in the form of money or a precious file. If a hacker instructed you to give money, do not send anything. Most likely, he/she is only baiting you through blackmail. Simply ignore the message and do not click anything on what the hacker sent to you. Do not fall on the antics of that person. Change your password to secure your safety and install an anti-malware app that blocks phishing links. Related Article: New Canon Software Turns EOS Camera and Canon DSLR into Webcam; Here's How This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Joen Coronel 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Xzibit's wife Krista Joiner has filed for divorce from the rapper at Los Angeles Superior Court. Krista, 48, put in the filing for a split from the Detroit-born rapper, 46, on Monday, according to TMZ. The couple, who have been together since 2001, married in November 2014 near Laguna Beach, with a reception at the St. Regis Monarch Beach in Dana Point. All over: Xzibit's wife Krista Joiner, 48, filed for divorce from the rapper, real name Alvin Nathaniel Joiner, 46, at LA Superior Court on Monday, (pictured together in June 2017) Xzibit, real name Alvin Nathaniel Joiner, was arrested in connection with a DUI the following day. He pleaded guilty to driving under the influence, as his Blood Alcohol Level was .14, almost double what was allowed by the law. Laguna beach LAPD told MailOnline at the time that the rapper was driving in his Range Rover at a 'high rate of speed' along the highway and was pulled over. History: The Pimp My Ride star and Joiner who have been linked since 2001 and married six years ago, (pictured in 2015) Xzibit and Krista are parents to two sons together, but tragically losing baby Xavier in May 2008 11 days after he was born premature; and son Gatlyn, 10. The star is also father to a son named Tremaine Joiner from a previous romance. Krista wore a mermaid staples gown featuring a sweetheart neckline when she married the musician, with a black ribbon with a brooch detail as a belt. The rapper meanwhile wore a classic black Louis Vuitton suit with a streamline bowtie Happier times: The rapper pictured on his wedding day to Krista six years ago While most couple's exchange rings, the pair added some serious bling by getting matching his and hers diamond encrusted Rolex's. The Hey Now star wrote at the time: 'Yesterday was our wedding day. It was nothing short of amazing. We were surrounded by friends and family and had an outstanding ceremony. It was not tainted by negative energy and I made sure it stayed that way.' He confessed he never thought he would walk down the aisle: 'There was a time I thought I would NEVER get married A look back: For her walk down the aisle, Krista wore a mermaid staples gown featuring a sweetheart neckline and a voluminous textured skirt and train Impressive bling: While most couple's exchange rings, the pair added some serious bling by getting matching his and hers diamond encrusted Rolex's 'I had to do a LOT of growing up and over time came the maturity I needed to be able to make a commitment stronger than anything that I have done in my life outside of being a father to my two beautiful sons. 'Yesterday, I made my family complete. I had to realize that I am not perfect and I don't always do the right thing, but when I was standing there, watching it all unfold, the only thing I could think about was, I am worthy of being a husband and she deserves the world and the security that comes from being a wife. 'I have no regrets about my past, the good and the bad. 'But now, this is my future. My sons needed to see that. They now have an example to reference in life when it comes to being a man and how to treat a real woman when you find her, or in my case where she puts up with your bulls**t until you come around... lol.' The rapper's earlier career was built on hits such as Paparazzi, What U See Is What U Get and X, and his profile raised when he hosted the MTV hit Pimp My Ride, which saw the restoration of vehicles in innovative, expensive ways. 'It was kind of a tough thing for me because it was taking up so much time,' he told REVOLT TV. 'I wasn't able to tour, I wasn't able to records albums. I was there filming, filming, filming.' The split is the latest in a series of high-profile breakups in the music industry, with Kim Kardashian filing to divorce Kanye West earlier in the week. Dr. Dre and estranged wife Nicole Young continue battling in court over how their assets will be divided after she filed for a split last summer. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to staff at the State Department during the first visit of President Joe Biden(L) in Washington on Feb. 4, 2021. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) Biden Foreign Policy a Mystery So Far Commentary After little over month in office it remains a mystery whether the president and his senior collaborators are earnestly baring their innermost thoughts about the foreign and strategic policy the new administration intends to pursue, or are pursuing the authentic interests of the United States, while taking advantage of the abrasions caused by the previous administration to try to put a more conciliatory facade on a policy that is only marginally different. Because of the surrealistically nasty presidential campaign and the even more fraught post-election interregnum, the Biden administration tried to sell itself to the American public as a government that could pursue Americas legitimate ambitions in the world much more successfully than its predecessor by a more emollient approach to other countries. There is plenty of precedent for this sort of transition. The Eisenhower administration came to office in 1953 promising the liberation of all of Eastern Europe. A New Look was attached to defense policy which meant that the United States demobilized hundreds of thousands of conscripted servicemen and increased its nuclear strike capability, with the implication that almost any trespass on the worldwide boundaries of what the United States regarded as its national security interest would be greeted with an overwhelming deluge of hydrogen bombs. The nuclear threat by Eisenhower secured the cease-fire that still is in effect in the Korean Peninsula after two years of fruitless negotiation by the preceding Truman administration. Yet when the leaders of the worlds great powers met at Geneva in 1955 for the first time since the Potsdam conference between Truman, Stalin, and Churchill and Atlee in 1945, despite all the Republican posturing about Roosevelt and Truman having given away too much to Stalin, Eisenhower began the session by demanding that the USSR abide by the joint pledge to withdraw from the liberated European states after free elections in each country. The Western Allies did so within a few months of the end of the war in Europe in all of the countries they liberated. (The small Baltic countries that had been governed by Russia from Peter the Greats time until 1918 were left to Stalin and Germany were a special case with demarcated Allied occupation zones.) When John F. Kennedy was inaugurated in 1961, it was a new generation, and clear nuclear superiority gave way to a concept of agreed Mutual Assured Destruction: the United States would sit still while the USSR achieved rough nuclear parity to facilitate an agreed permanent status quo. The possibility of conventional wars was implicitly accepted and entry into the Vietnam War eventually resulted. It involved 500,000 American conscripts in jungles as far away from America as it was possible to be, fighting for an objective short of victory in a struggle that was not adequately explained to be in the national interest. When Richard Nixon was elected in 1968 it was on an undisclosed plan to leave Vietnam without being defeated and to regain nuclear superiority. He strengthened South Vietnamese forces sufficiently that they were able to defeat the North Vietnamese and Vietcong in April 1972 without ground support from the United States, though with heavy air support. Nixon triangulated great power relations and gained Chinese and Soviet support for the peace that he had designed and regained what he diplomatically called nuclear sufficiency by negotiating a Strategic Arms Limitations Agreement (SALT 1), in which American multi-warhead intercontinental ballistic missiles were counted as single weapons. In a script no Greek tragedian could have imagined, the Democrats, who had pushed the United States into Vietnam and then abandoned their own leader, Lyndon Johnson, exploited Nixons mismanagement of the Watergate affair to vaporize his executive authority and ended all aid to South Vietnam, ensuring its defeat in the war for which Nixon had produced a formula for survival of a non-Communist regime in Saigon and an honorable withdrawal of the United States. President Reagan cleaned up the resulting shambles. His advocacy of a conventional antimissile comprehensive defense system (SDI) shattered the nerves of the Kremlin leadership and the Soviet Union and international communism disintegrated. The Cold War was satisfactorily over without a shot being fired or triumphalist noises being made. The American political parties zigzagged back-and-forth over 40 years but without irreconcilable contradictions and towards a satisfactory outcome to which 10 presidents of both parties had contributed (FDR to George Bush 1). In the seven terms between Reagan and Trump, Americas enemies settled upon terrorist outrages not easily traceable to individual nations as a method of getting under Americas guard and inflicting violence on the United States without provoking a declaration of war against an individual offending country such as after Pearl Harbor. And China produced a new form of rivalry, undeclared and much subtler than the Nazi and Japanese and Soviet threats. President Trump was elected to counter that threat, shape up the Western alliance, most of whose 26 professed allies were complacently allowing the Americans to carry the burden of collective security, and to stop the drainage of American jobs to lower wage economies in the name of egalitarian economic globalization. Though his policies were generally approved by voters last year, his combative personality and his declared animosity to the entire political establishment including all factions of both parties led to his (contested) defeat last year. The question to be determined is to what extent the new president and his senior collaborators believe this bunk about cooperating with China on climate change and with Iran in accepting its incipient status as a nuclear military power and an exporter of terrorism, as part of a benign plan to reintegrate that country into the civilized world; and to what extent the Democrats are merely putting a friendly face and vocabulary onto the continued pursuit of Americas national self-interest. The key is whether they will relinquish their confected fear of Russia and avoid pushing that country into the arms of China. Joe Biden has always appeared to be a traditional American patriot and not someone who buys into the Obama line that the United States is part of the worlds problems, as well as the potential source of the solution. While he is resurrecting the policies and personnel of his former chief, if it is up to him, he can probably be relied upon to defend the West and the broader concepts of human rights and the market economy eventually, however compromised they are at home by the socialist platform Biden theoretically stands on. But the period of waiting for the Biden administration to show its teeth, like the three years before the Carter administration came to its senses with the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, will probably be very agonizing. Conrad Black has been one of Canadas most prominent financiers for 40 years, and was one of the leading newspaper publishers in the world. Hes the author of authoritative biographies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Richard Nixon, and, most recently, Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other, which has been republished in updated form. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. TikTok star Zoe LaVerne has revealed she is pregnant. The 19-year-old announced she is expecting her first child with 20-year-old boyfriend Dawson Day on her Instagram account on Monday. 'You are going to be such a great daddy!! i love you so much!' she captioned the post, which included a photo of the happy pair and a snap of two positive pregnancy tests. Expecting: TikTiok star Zoe LaVerne announced she is expecting her first child with boyfriend Dawson Day on her Instagram account on Monday Double check: The 19-year-old revealed the news on her Instagram account, posting this shot of two positive pregnancy tests 'Thank you for changing my life so much and making me the happiest girl on earth,' she added. The black and white photo of the young pair featured them sticking out their tongues with 'I love you' written across it. The father-to-be also posted about the announcement on his own Instagram account alongside an adorable shot of the couple. 'Well... were expecting! we couldnt be happier. & for the idiots talking s*** I am the father. Zoe and Connor didnt do anything to have a baby. Thats impossible,' Dawson wrote in the caption, referencing Zoe's controversial November 2020 kiss with a 13-year-old. 'And if you have nothing nice to say, dont say anything at all. Thats disgusting and a real low blow to talk s*** ab an unborn child. Its sickening. Please send positive vibes only!,' he added to shut down any naysayers. 'I love you': 'you are going to be such a great daddy!! i love you so much!,' Zoe captioned the post, which included a photo of the happy pair with 'I love you' written over it Happy couple: Dawson, 20, also shared his excitement on Instagram, posting this photo of the pair with the caption: 'we couldnt be happier' Documenting: Zoe posted on her Instagram stories that she will keep fans updated as her pregnancy evolves Zoe discussed the pregnancy further on her Instagram stories, posting the same pregnancy test photo with the caption: 'Really excited to have y'all watch my baby grow.' She was also quick to dispel any rumors that the baby isn't Dawson's. 'This is the father of my child. stop saying other wise. how would that even make any kind of since,' she captioned a photo of the happy couple. 'Connor is 13. nothing else happened besides a kiss. stay in ur own business!!,' she added. Rumors: The social media star was also quick to dispel any rumors that the baby isn't Dawson's. 'this is the father of my child. stop saying other wise,' she captioned a photo of the happy couple Bye haters: The Greenwood, Indiana, native also called out people sending her negative messages about the pregnancy news LaVerne apologized during a November livestream to her 18 million TikTok followers for kissing the 13-year-old fan after a video of the incident leaked on social media late last year. She said she and Connor - whose last name DailyMail.com is not disclosing on account of his age - became best friends and 'caught feelings' for each other. 'I didn't groom Connor, I wouldn't do that. He's a kid and I'm aware of that. It just happened,' Zoe said during the live stream. Hot water: LaVerne (seen here with Day in January) apologized in November for kissing a 13-year-old fan after a video of the incident leaked on social media Proof: Zoe also posted a video zooming in on the tests, responding to anyone who thought the news was a fake stunt The Greenwood, Indiana, native called out people sending her negative messages about the pregnancy news. 'The amount of people that have the guts to talk s*** about an unborn child is so upsetting and heartbreaking,' she captioned a dark snap of her hand on her Instagram stories. 'Really shows the generation we are in... and how a lot of you weren't raised very right!!' she added along with three teary-eyed emojis. Zoe also posted a video zooming in on the tests, responding to anyone who thought the news was a fake stunt. 'They're very much real. if y'all want me to piss on another one while live lmk since ur so interested,' she wrote with two crying with laughter emojis. Body of evidence: 'they're very much real. if y'all want me to piss on another one while live lmk since ur so interested,' she wrote with two crying with laughter emojis Public pair: Dawson and Zoe have put their romance on full display all over their respective social media account, regularly posting sweet PDA-filled moments like this December image The expectant parents recently celebrated a romantic Valentine's Day that they expectedly shared all over social media. Day posted a pair of snaps showing the lovebirds covered in red kissing lip emojis on Instagram. 'Happy Valentines Day babe! ,' he wrote on the post, clad in a white shirt and pink tie, while LaVerne sported a heart-chained earring. Dawson also shared his gift for Zoe, which was a decorated box filled with intimate photos of the pair as well as her favorite candy. True love: Dawson also shared his gift for Zoe, which was a decorated box filled with intimate photos of the pair as well as her favorite candy The viral sensations recently hit their three month mark as a couple. Naturally, Dawson posted all about the benchmark, praising his girlfriend with a pair of adorable selfies of the duo. 'Happy 3 months baby. Thank you for being the most amazing girlfriend any guy could ever dream of having,' he captioned the sweet snaps. 'Youre perfect in every possible way. I love you so much,' he added. In recent years, China has continuously improved its democratic institutions, diversified its forms of democracy, and established more democratic channels, pushing forward with the development of its socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics constantly. The country has upheld and improved the system of peoples congresses and the system of multiparty cooperation and political consultation under its leadership, and bettered the system of self-governance at the primary level of society to make it full of vitality. On Jan. 1, 2021, Chinas first civil code, the Civil Code of the Peoples Republic of China, officially took effect. The draft civil code went through ten deliberations at the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress (NPC), Chinas top legislature, which solicited a total of over 1.02 million pieces of comments and suggestions on ten occasions and held special symposiums on issues with concentrated advice and major controversies during the compilation of the civil code. China has 275 laws in effect. The country has ensured that every law is enacted, amended, or repealed in a scientific, democratic, and legally-compliant way. Last year, the country solicited public opinion on a total of 33 draft laws via the official website of the NPC, and collected ideas from more than 300,000 people. In May 2020, NPC deputies submitted a record high of 9,180 proposals to the third session of the 13th NPC, with the number of proposals on epidemic prevention logging a 179-percent increase from 2019. All these proposals have been handled and answered, and 71.28 percent of the problems raised in these proposals have been either solved or will be addressed step by step. In an effort to make it easier for residents to express their views, the NPC established grassroots-level legislation contact points in many cities across the country. Residents opinions and suggestions expressed via these grassroots-level legislation contact points can be submitted to the countrys legislative bodies and even be adopted and written into laws, said Hou Xiaoyan, deputy leader of a detachment of Changning branch of Shanghai municipal public security bureau. A legislation contact point in Changning district of Shanghai helps the NPC solicit public opinion on more than ten draft laws a year, according to Hou. The main purpose of developing socialist democracy is to give full expression to the will of the people, protect their rights and interests, spark their creativity, and provides systemic and institutional guarantees to ensure the people run the country. In recent years, peoples congresses at various levels in China have established extensive mechanisms that facilitate communication between deputies and residents. So far, the country has more than 230,000 centers and contact points helping deputies to peoples congresses communicate with residents. The number of legislation contact points set up by the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee has reached ten, further smoothening channels for reflecting opinions and suggestions from the grassroots level. As an important form of peoples democracy in China, the system of socialist consultative democracy has been further improved in recent years. On Aug. 19, 2018, China launched a mobile platform that allows members of the National Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Chinas top political advisory body, to conduct consultations and deliberations online. The platform has been used by more than 2,100 political advisers, accounting for over 97 percent of the countrys members of the CPPCC National Committee. These CPPCC members have contributed more than 130,000 pieces of opinions and suggestions via the platform. On Jan. 21, the 13th CPPCC National Committee kicked off its 46th biweekly consultation session in Beijing, during which 11 CPPCC members and specially invited representatives contributed their suggestions on the subject of continuously improving Chinas business environment from different perspectives, and more than 100 CPPCC members expressed their opinions via the CPPCC National Committees mobile platform. The biweekly consultation session is one of the important forms of democratic consultation of the CPPCC. It takes place every two weeks and has been held for over 120 times, becoming a regular platform and key brand of the CPPCCs efforts to promote consultative democracy. Last year, the 13th National Committee of the CPPCC identified a total of 73 key proposals. (Newser) It wasn't just Ted Cruz who escaped his state during Texas' devastating freeze last week. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, along with his wife state Sen. Angela Paxton, left on the same day as Cruz, just not for Cancun. Rather, they traveled to Utah on Wednesday, where the Republican AG had work meetings, Business Insider reports. "Attorney General Paxton attended a previously planned meeting with the attorney general of Utah to discuss several matters," including the Google antitrust lawsuit and a police training program, his rep tells CNN. But, he added, the AG "did not leave Texas until after power had returned to most of the state, including his own home." More than 2 million Texans were still without power Wednesday night, the Hill reports. story continues below As for state Sen. Paxton, she joined her husband "on a previously planned trip to Utah which included meetings that benefit her efforts to promote human dignity and support law enforcement," her rep says. Democratic officials in Texas were nonetheless livid. "Texas Republicans do not give a damn about the people they were elected to represent, and they continue to focus on issues that don't affect the lives of everyday Texans to gaslight them into thinking they are doing their jobs," Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said in a statement. Texas State Rep. Gary Gates, also a Republican, flew to Florida in a private jet Wednesday; he said he did so after his home lost power, his pipes burst, and 30% of the house flooded. (Read more Texas stories.) ROME, FEB 23 - Milan police shot dead a man armed with a big knife who had attacked them and several passers-by overnight, sources said on Tuesday. The assailant attacked a food-delivery rider and a man who was leaving his apartment building. Both managed to get away, the sources said. He then repeatedly attacked the police who had arrived on the scene and tried to contain him, prompting one officer to shoot. The attacker was a 45-year Filipino with a criminal record for crimes against persons and drug dealing, the sources said. (ANSA). New research from George DuPaul and colleagues is the first to examine the long-term academic outcomes of college students with ADHD, finding students with ADHD receive lower grades and are at higher risk of dropping out According to a 2017 UCLA study, students with ADHD make up about 6% of the college student population and represent the most common type of disability supported by college disability offices. But are these students receiving enough academic support from their institutions? Despite ADHD being prevalent among college students, there has been little research focused on how having ADHD impacts the transition to college and ongoing academic success. Until now. New research from George DuPaul, professor of school psychology and associate dean for research in Lehigh University's College of Education, and colleagues confirms students with ADHD face consequential challenges in succeeding and completing college and predicts ways academic success can be improved. The paper, "Academic Trajectories of College Students with and without ADHD: Predictors of Four-Year Outcomes," by DuPaul and colleagues from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, University of Rhode Island, and University of Nebraska-Lincoln, was published in the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology. The study, which is one of largest and most comprehensive investigations of college students with ADHD ever conducted, is the first to systematically examine the functioning of ADHD students across four years of college. "College students with ADHD are likely to experience significant academic difficulties throughout their college years, are at higher than average risk for dropping out of college and require academic support prior to and throughout their college years," said DuPaul. Through annual psychological and educational evaluations of more than 400 college students, half of whom were identified with ADHD, the researchers assessed multiple academic outcomes including GPA by semester, progress toward graduation by academic year, self-reported study skills by academic year and college drop-out status. The four-year study involved student participants from colleges in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, including Lehigh University, and Rhode Island. The researchers found that on average, college students with ADHD received grades that were half a grade level below their peers and that this deficit was present across all four years. Additionally, results showed that college students with ADHD were significantly less likely to stay enrolled across semesters. "It was somewhat surprising to see the magnitude of the academic deficits experienced by college students with ADHD because these were students who had the skills to successfully graduate from high school and matriculate in a four-year college or university," explained DuPaul. "We expected smaller declines in their educational performance in college." Although medication did not substantially improve academic outcomes, the researchers found that there were several variables that predicted academic success for students with ADHD, including having fewer depression symptoms, possessing better executive functioning skills like planning and time management, and having received educational accommodations in high school as well as academic support services in college. DuPaul hopes the findings will be of interest to college disabilities offices, health care and mental health professionals who work with college-aged students, higher education faculty and administrators, as well as individuals with ADHD and their families. "Our findings highlight the importance of providing academic support services for students with ADHD prior to college matriculation, the vital need to improve executive functioning skills in these students, and necessity to screen for and treat depressive symptoms experienced by college students with ADHD," said DuPaul. ### Why Your Network is the secret to the Hybrid Workplace Recent events have fundamentally changed the way we work. This has created new challenges for keeping employees connected, productive from home, and safe when they return to the office. Join Ensign on Thursday the 4th of March for the Why Your Network is the Secret to Thriving in the Hybrid Workplace webinar, that will show you how Aruba ESP?s intelligent cloud-managed networking can help your business with: ? Secure, business-class connectivity at home ? Staff safety management ? Flexible financing models This webinar will also include a demonstration of the new features available from Aruba Central, the cloud-managed networking solution. Register today! Why Your Network is the Secret to the Hybrid Workplace | Ensign (livestorm.co) New Delhi, Feb 23 : When Naresh Tikait, the national president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, reached the Ghazipur border to meet farmers agitating against the three farm laws on Tuesday, he was given a traditional welcome with drum beats. While talking to IANS, Tikait said, "If this is government remains, our land will not remain with us. The Prime Minister and the Home Minister should change their advisors and seek their opinion." Over the last three months, the dialogue between the government and the farmers has stopped, but the agitation refuses to die down. "It is our compulsion to sit in protest. More than 200 people have sacrificed their lives. Our elderly have been sitting here in harsh winter. We will not allow all this to go waste." Why is there no dialogue between the government and the people any longer? In response to this question, Tikait said, "This is the responsibility of the government, it is in their hands. If they have made such a bill, why didn't they do it after consulting farmers? What will happen if the farmer is on the verge of ruination?" Tikait expressed concern over farmers losing their land, "We are trying to save our land. If this is the government, we will not have our land. What will we do then? The issue of contract farming is very dirty. Everything is in writing. The farmer will be ruined and become a pauper." What is the problem with amendments and the proposal of a 18-month moratorium? In response to this question, Tikait said, "We are saying that instead of 18 months they should repeal the law completely. If the guarantee on MSP becomes a law, everything will be resolved." Will the farmers' anger spill over in the elections to be held this year? "Absolutely. The government will have to do a lot to persuade those angry with it. " Tikait sees this as a battle of self-esteem. Recently, farmers had to destroy their own crop. "This kind of a step is taken in a very difficult situation. It is a suicide-like step for a farmer to destroy something he has nurtured like a child," says Tikait. Tikait described Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah as important and responsible people. "Both of them are running the government. We would say that a good advisor should advise them on agricultural law. However, if the defence minister has talks with farmers on behalf of the government, the issue can be resolved. He is a good person and will find a way out of the stalemate." 11 rounds of talks held between the government and farmers ' organisations have not made any headway so far. Farmers have been protesting on the borders of the national capital since November 26 last year against three newly enacted farm laws. ICW Groups strong financial position, reputation, and strategic growth vision drew me to the company. I look forward to partnering with such a dynamic team and bringing forth my digital insurance product experience to help elevate our product in the commercial sector," said Yuan. Iva Yuan joins ICW Group Insurance Companies, a leading group of property and casualty carriers, as Vice President, Product and Pricing the company announced today. Yuan brings more than 20 years of P&C insurance industry experience to ICW Group and will oversee the strategic direction of its product lines across the companys various businesses. Prior to joining ICW Group, Yuan served as Vice President of Product Management as well as Chief Actuary at the Allstate direct-to-consumer company Esurance. Yuan also previously served as a Principal and Consulting Actuary at the worlds largest independent actuarial consulting firm Milliman, Inc. Were excited to have Iva on board. Her extensive product management and actuarial experience will be an asset to the team, said Richard Manship, Senior Vice President, Chief Actuary. ICW Group continues to expand at a rapid pace and Ivas deep knowledge of product pricing, regulatory nuances and compliance across multiple states will further support our aggressive growth strategy. Yuan will partner with ICW Groups underwriting team to offer competitive products to ICW Group policyholders and looks forward to helping the company deliver on ICW Groups mission to create the best insurance experience possible for its customers while achieving its revenue and performance targets. ICW Groups strong financial position, reputation, and strategic growth vision drew me to the company, said Yuan. I look forward to partnering with such a dynamic team and bringing forth my digital insurance product experience to help elevate our product in the commercial sector. Yuan holds a Master of Science degree in Applied Mathematics from California Polytechnical University, Pomona and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from University of California, Los Angeles. Yuan is also a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society. About ICW Group Based in San Diego, ICW Group Insurance Companies is the largest privately held insurance company domiciled in California. Quoting more than $3 billion annually, ICW Group represents a group of Workers Compensation, Assumed Reinsurance and Catastrophe insurance carriers, including Insurance Company of the West and Explorer Insurance Company. ICW Group is recognized nationally as an industry leader in helping policyholders achieve fewer and less costly claims while elevating the trusted agents who advise them. More information is available at http://www.icwgroup.com, http://www.twitter.com/ICWGroup, http://www.linkedin.com/companies/icw-group and http://www.facebook.com/ICWGroup. CALGARY - A formalized takeover bid for Inter Pipeline Ltd. that matches an informal offer made about two weeks ago suggests that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. doesn't expect a white knight to drive up the price, an analyst said Tuesday. Inter Pipeline's Heartland Petrochemical Complex is shown under construction in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., on Thursday, January 10, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson CALGARY - A formalized takeover bid for Inter Pipeline Ltd. that matches an informal offer made about two weeks ago suggests that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. doesn't expect a white knight to drive up the price, an analyst said Tuesday. On Monday after markets closed, Brookfield said its $16.50 per share offer to buy stock in Inter Pipeline it doesn't already own had been filed with Canadian securities regulators. In a news release late Monday, the Calgary-based company asked investors to take no action, reminding them that it has launched a review process that could include a corporate sale. "Given the takeover circular being offered at the original offer price, (Brookfield) is showing confidence that a white knight opportunity may be unlikely," said analyst Nate Heywood of ATB Capital Markets in a report. "However, this does not mean a competing bid does not exist ... Though this formal bid is the first step towards a corporate transaction, there are likely many developments to come as the process is in early stages." Analysts with Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. said in a note to investors that they expect a "sweetener" will be required to persuade Inter Pipeline investors to tender their shares. Inter Pipeline said its board has 15 days to provide a recommendation on the bid. Brookfield is offering $16.50 per share in cash or 0.206 of a Brookfield Infrastructure Corp. class A exchangeable share, with the maximum cash available set at $4.9 billion. The offer, which expires on June 7, implies a value for Inter Pipeline of $7.1 billion. Brookfield has said it previously discussed prices with Inter Pipeline "in the range of $17 to $18.25'' per share but would need to study its books to "substantiate'' the growth potential and commercialization objectives for its $4-billion Heartland Petrochemical Complex before increasing its offer. Last week, Inter Pipeline CEO Christian Bayle said the company would release details on Heartland's contracts and earnings potential before its first quarter 2021 reporting date. The facility under construction northeast of Edmonton is expected to be placed in service in 2022. He said profitability prospects of the project designed to convert propane into polypropylene plastic pellets for export to manufacturers have improved, making it more attractive to potential customers and partners. "Inter Pipeline is a high-quality energy infrastructure business with a diversified asset portfolio that generates long-term predictable cash flows, all of which understandably make it attractive, Margaret McKenzie, chair of the board committee conducting Inter Pipeline's review, said Tuesday. It is the boards duty to not only review this offer, but to pursue all available opportunities to unlock maximum value for our shareholders. Inter Pipeline said it is continuing to seek a partner for the Heartland complex. It said late last year it expected to conclude that process in the first half of 2021. Last spring, due in part to effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Inter hiked the expected cost of the complex by $500 million from the original $3.5 billion. About $3.2 billion had been spent on the Heartland project as of the end of 2020, Inter reported. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 23, 2021. Companies in this story: (TSX:IPL, TSX:BIP. UN, TSX:BIPC) Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version gave the wrong timing for Inter Pipeline's news release and misstated the amount spent on the Heartland project in the final paragraph. High court overturns murder conviction in bystanders death By MARK PRATT Associated Press A Boston man found guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of an innocent bystander during a 2014 street festival even though he did not fire the fatal shot had his conviction overturned by the states highest court on Monday. Wesson Colas was convicted in December 2018 in the death of 26-year-old Dawnn Jaffier during the Caribbean Carnival in the citys Dorchester neighborhood. Prosecutors said Colas and another man, Keith Williams, were rivals who confronted each other with guns and that Williams fired the fatal shot while Colas did not fire at all. The men were tried together on first-degree murder charges under the theory that although he did not fire the shot that killed Jaffier, Colas initiated a gunfight with the intent to kill Williams and therefore was liable for harm to bystanders. The court disagreed. There is no evidence that the defendant possessed a loaded firearm or fired the gun either before or after Williams fired at him, the court wrote in its decision. The fact that, in the midst of an argument, the defendant pointed a firearm at an opponent is not enough to carry the Commonwealths burden. The court ordered a new trial for Colas on the lesser charge of second-degree murder, which would give him a chance at parole if convicted. A first-degree murder conviction comes with a mandatory life sentence with no parole. Williams was also convicted of first-degree murder and given a life sentence. Jaffier worked in a city elementary school and a Boys & Girls Club. Friends and coworkers described her as dedicated to helping young people. Esther Horwich, Colas appeals attorney, called Jaffiers death tragic but added that convicting the wrong person doesnt make it any better. The evidence against him was incredibly weak, she said, noting that witness testimony contained multiple discrepancies. A voicemail seeking comment on the courts decision and whether Colas will be released pending a new trial was left with the Suffolk district attorneys office. The transaction value of approximately $32,000,000 will significantly improve Lobe's balance sheet with non-dilutive capital and will provide immediate shareholder value Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 23, 2021) - Lobe Sciences Ltd. (CSE: LOBE) (OTC Pink: GTSIF) ("Lobe" or the "Company") and Ionic Brands Corp. ("Ionic Brands") are pleased to announce that, further to their press releases dated December 1, 2020, Lobe's wholly owned subsidiary Green Star Biosciences Inc. has signed a definitive binding asset purchase agreement dated February 22, 2021 (the "Agreement") with Ionic Brands with respect to the sale to Ionic Brands of certain assets held by Lobe's subsidiary vendor relating to Washington-based Cowlitz County Cannabis Cultivation Inc. ("Cowlitz"), for total consideration valued at approximately $32,000,000 (the "Transaction"), based on the cash value in respect of the cash portion of the consideration and the previous closing price of the common shares of Ionic Brands (the "Ionic Brands Shares") on the Canadian Securities Exchange in respect of the share-based consideration. Transaction Highlights for Lobe Sciences: Total $32,000,000 in sale proceeds to be received including a combination of cash, secured promissory note, and preferred shares of Ionic Brands Corp.; Provides Lobe with two director representatives on Ionic's board of directors; Provides Lobe with equity ownership in Ionic Brands Corp. Philip Young, CEO of Lobe states "We are extremely pleased with this transaction as we believe it is accretive to both parties. The share ownership we will have in Ionic Brands will allow Lobe to continue to benefit from Cowlitz's growth and Ionic Brands' entire operations in the Pacific Northwest under the experienced leadership of John Gorst. This transaction will also provide Lobe with significant non-dilutive capital which will allow the Company to continue to pursue its business objectives and other M&A initiatives in the transformative medicine industry." John Gorst, CEO of Ionic Brands Corp. states "This transaction will allow our shareholders to benefit from the continued growth of the Cowlitz brands. Meantime, we look forward to integrating the full suite of the Cowlitz brand assets into our portfolio offered in the Washington and Oregon markets. We look forward to strategically working with the Cowlitz operating team to bring even greater value to our shareholders in the months and years ahead as we expand our brands across the country." Terms of the Agreement: Pursuant to the Agreement, on the closing date of the Transaction (the "Closing Date"), Lobe's subsidiary vendor will receive consideration payable through a combination of: the payment of Cdn$1,750,000 in cash; the issuance 100,406,701 series E non-voting preferred shares of Ionic (each an " Ionic Brands Pref Share "). Each Ionic Brands Pref Share is exchangeable into one Ionic Brands Share on a one-for-one basis (subject to adjustment, and provided that the Company's share ownership of Ionic Brands remains below 10% at the time of conversion) and carries an annual dividend equal to 13% for a period of two years from the Closing Date, with Ionic Brands Pref Shares automatically converting to Ionic Brands Shares four years from the issuance date; "). Each Ionic Brands Pref Share is exchangeable into one Ionic Brands Share on a one-for-one basis (subject to adjustment, and provided that the Company's share ownership of Ionic Brands remains below 10% at the time of conversion) and carries an annual dividend equal to 13% for a period of two years from the Closing Date, with Ionic Brands Pref Shares automatically converting to Ionic Brands Shares four years from the issuance date; Lobe's subsidiary vendor shall, immediately upon receipt of the Ionic Brands Pref Shares, convert the lesser of: (a) 9.99% of the total number of Ionic Brands Pref Shares; and (b) that number of Ionic Brands Pref Shares that would, upon conversion, result in Lobe's subsidiary vendor holding not more than 9.99% of the outstanding Ionic Brands Share, on a post-closing basis; the issuance of 4,000,000 Ionic Brands warrants (each an " Ionic Brands Warrant "), with each Ionic Brands Warrant exercisable into one Ionic Brands Share at a price of $0.30 per Ionic Brands Share for a period of five (5) years from the Closing Date (and containing a term which prevents the exercise of Ionic Brands Warrants if, as a result of such exercise, Lobe's subsidiary vendor would own more than 9.99% of the outstanding Ionic Brands Shares); and "), with each Ionic Brands Warrant exercisable into one Ionic Brands Share at a price of $0.30 per Ionic Brands Share for a period of five (5) years from the Closing Date (and containing a term which prevents the exercise of Ionic Brands Warrants if, as a result of such exercise, Lobe's subsidiary vendor would own more than 9.99% of the outstanding Ionic Brands Shares); and a secured promissory note in the principal amount of USD$50,000 maturing two (2) years from the date of issue and bearing interest at a rate of 7%, secured by the Assets (as defined below). All Ionic Brands Pref Shares and Ionic Brands Shares to be issued will be subject to contractual restrictions on transfer, pursuant to which 20% of the Ionic Brands Shares issued will be restricted from trading for a period of seven (7) months from the Closing Date, and further 20% releases will occur on the date that is ten (10), thirteen (13), fifteen (15) and eighteen (18) months from the Closing Date (subject to compliance with all applicable securities laws). The assets being sold to Ionic Brands include the assignment of all property leases relating exclusively to Cowlitz's business, the assignment of Lobe's option agreement to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Cowlitz, certain trademarks and intellectual property related to Cowlitz, and the assignment of other contracts and rights related exclusively to Cowlitz including service contracts and equipment leases (the "Assets"). The Transaction is subject to standard closing conditions, including receipt of applicable corporate and regulatory approvals. In addition, the Transaction is subject to Ionic Brands arranging at least 90% of their outstanding 10% debentures being converted into preferred voting shares of Ionic Brands at a price of $0.30 per share prior to the Closing Date, such that no more than $1,800,000 in debentures (including principal and accrued interest) will be outstanding on the Closing Date. Following the closing of the Transaction, Ionic Brands' board of directors is expected to be comprised of seven (7) members and Lobe will have the right to appoint two (2) directors to the Ionic Brands board. There can be no assurances the Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. The Company anticipates closing the Transaction prior to March 5, 2021. About Ionic Brands Corp. Ionic Brands is dedicated to building a regionally based multi-state consumer-focused cannabis concentrate brand portfolio with strong roots in the premium and luxury segments of vape concentrates and edibles. The cornerstone brand of the portfolio, IONIC, is a top vaporizer brand in Washington State and has aggressively expanded throughout the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The brand is currently operating in Washington State and Oregon. Ionic Brands' strategy is to be the leader of the highest-value segments of the cannabis market. About Lobe Sciences Ltd. Lobe Sciences is a life sciences company focused on psychedelic medicines. The Company, through collaborations with industry leading partners, is engaged in drug research and development using psychedelic compounds and the development of innovative devices and delivery mechanisms to improve mental health and wellness. For further information please contact: Lobe Sciences Ltd. Philip Young, CEO info@lobesciences.com Tel: (949) 505-5623 THE CSE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS RELEASE. Disclaimer for Forward Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the future operations of the Company and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including statements regarding the future plans and objectives of the Company, the proposed Transaction and terms with Ionic and estimated value to Lobe, the benefits of the Transaction, including leveraging Cowlitz's growth and Ionic's entire operations and providing immediate shareholder value to Lobe, the pursuit of M&A initiatives, development of effective delivery methods and commercialization potential of the nasal mist device, research and development using NAC and psilocybin and growth of the business, are forward looking statements that are based on assumptions considered to be reasonable by management of the Company at the time such statements are made, and which involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are risks detailed from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulations. Readers are cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of the forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including changes to the regulatory environment; counterparty risk, including counterparty credit risk, risks relating to ownership of the Ionic Shares and Pref Shares, and the risks relating to the business of Ionic and that the current board of directors of Lobe and its management may not be able to attain the Company's corporate goals and objectives. As a result, the Company cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will materialize and the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made only as of the date of this news release and the Company does not intend to update any of the included forward-looking statements except as expressly required by applicable Canadian securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75175 Syracuse, N.Y. Nursing homes will provide visitors free rapid on-site Covid-19 tests under new state rules designed to make it a little easier for people to visit loved ones. Visitor testing will be required in counties with Covid-19 positivity rates between 5% and 10%. Visitor testing is not required in counties with positivity rates below 5%, but the state Health Department is strongly encouraging people visiting nursing homes in those counties to get tested anyway. The state Health Department will provide rapid tests to nursing homes so they can provide the tests at no cost to visitors. The state, however, will continue to ban visits at any nursing homes that have had Covid-19 cases in the past 14 days or are conducting outbreak testing. Some nursing homes have not been able to meet the 14-day rule. Many New Yorkers have been pleading with state officials to let visitors back into nursing homes, which have been mostly off limits since the coronavirus pandemic began a year ago. Under the new rules that take effect Feb. 26, visitors in counties with positivity rates over 5% must either test negative within 72 hours of their visit or get a rapid test upon arrival at the nursing home. Visits can take place in resident rooms, dedicated visitation spaces and outdoors. The number of visitors cannot exceed 20% of a nursing homes total number of residents. In counties where the positivity rate is more than 10%, nursing homes can only allow visits for compassionate care situations. Those situations could include a resident grieving the recent loss of a friend or exhibiting abnormal levels of emotional distress. The new rules are based on guidelines from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. James T. Mulder covers health and higher education. Have a news tip? Contact him at (315) 470-2245 or jmulder@syracuse.com Republicans: White House Wont Negotiate on $1.9 Trillion Relief Package Republicans are willing to support a stimulus package that costs more than the $618 billion package they proposed on Feb. 1, but the White House is not willing to come down from $1.9 trillion, Republican senators said Tuesday. We are looking at amendments but they pretty much stalled. The administration has not indicated a willingness to come down from its $1.9 trillion figure and thats a major obstacle, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. We have indicated a willingness to come up from our $618 billion, but unfortunately the White House seems wedded to a figure that really cant be justified given the hundreds of billions of dollars that are still in the pipeline from the December bill. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told reporters separately that theres been very little effort on the part of the White House to meet with us and to see if we can find a middle ground, a common ground of some kind. Collins and Romney are part of a group of 10 Republicans who offered a counterproposal that comes in around a third of the package Democrats are pushing. Republicans want to cut out a federal minimum wage hike, a lower round of direct payments, and an unemployment supplement that would last until June, as opposed to September. Democrats cleared the way for partisan approval of the package earlier this month, using a budget process that enables them to pass it without any Republican support. Democrats have claimed they want a bipartisan proposal but will not wait because the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. Democrats control both chambers of Congress. To pass an amendment in the upper chamber, Republicans would need at least one Democrat senator to side with them. Republicans are currently targeting a lower cap on who will be eligible for the next round of stimulus checks, Collins said. President Joe Biden is doing well with outreach to Republicans but apparently productive talks keep getting countermanded by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), she added. Biden told reporters in the White House on Tuesday that he believes his COVID-19 package will pass Congress, but its not going to pass by a lot. Schumer told reporters on Capitol Hill that the package will be a robust, strong billjust as we asked for, not exactly the same, but very close to the bill that President Biden proposed. He blamed Republicans for the lack of bipartisanship. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a separate briefing that Democrats have continued to try to move ahead with a partisan COVID package. You know the history, but its worth recounting that every COVID package we passed last year there was almost no opposition to those bills, he added. And I was hoping the new administration, particularly given the president, particularly with the president discussing so frequently being a moderate, would choose to take a different path. Particularly when you look at the numbers, a 50/50 Senate, a narrow majority in the House, I would think looking at that, your conclusion would be maybe we ought to start on a bipartisan basis. But alas that is not the case. Several Democrats, meanwhile, are also attempting to alter Bidens proposal. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said Monday that he wants to change the proposed minimum wage hike. Biden wants it raised to $15 an hour; Manchin would like it raised, but only to $11 an hour. Therell be an opportunity for Sen. Manchin and others to put forward ideas and proposals, and well see where that process lands, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters during a briefing Tuesday. But he proposed the $15 increase for a reason and he stands by it. Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Chinese investors are paying little heed to the governments biggest crackdown on cryptocurrency trading since 2017, underscoring the challenge for Beijing as it tries to rein in a speculative boom in digital assets.Knee-jerk selling has given way to a steady recovery on over-the-counter platforms that Chinese crypto traders have used since domestic exchanges were banned in 2017. One key gauge of local sentiment -- the exchange rate between Chinas yuan and the stablecoin Tether -- fell as much as 4.4% after the governments warning earlier this month but has since recouped more than half the loss, according to crypto data platform Feixiaohao, a Chinese equivalent of CoinMarketCap.China escalated its crackdown after a frenzied surge in Bitcoin and other tokens over the past six months heightened longstanding Communist Party concerns about the potential for fraud, money laundering and trading losses by individual investors. Yet the hard-to-trace nature of transactions on local OTC platforms and peer-to-peer networks means it will be extremely difficult for authorities to enforce a wholesale ban.That may come as a relief to global crypto enthusiasts after worries about a plunge in Chinese buying power contributed to the nearly $1 trillion selloff in digital assets from record highs in mid-May.As to the losses and the crackdown, I dont care, said Charles, a 35-year-old real estate consultant in Shanghai who asked to be identified only by his English first name. Hes been buying cryptocurrencies since 2017 and claims to have lost $11 million over three days in the recent pullback. To me its giving back the profits I made in the past few months, he said. Im looking at the 10- to 20-year horizon.Before China outlawed crypto exchanges in 2017, local investors owned an estimated 7% of the worlds Bitcoin and accounted for about 80% of trading, according to state media. The exchange ban has made it impossible to gauge those figures today, but Chinese investors are still widely believed to have a major presence in the crypto world via domestic OTC platforms and offshore venues that they access using virtual private networks.Domestic trades involving yuan and digital coins are difficult for Chinas government to track because they typically take place in two separate steps.The first happens on OTC platforms operated by firms including Huobi and OKEx, which allow traders to post bids and offers. Once both sides agree on a price, the buyer will use a separate payments platform -- operated by their bank or a fintech company like Ant Group Co. -- to send yuan to the seller. The digital coins, usually held in escrow by the OTC platform until the yuan payment clears, are then transferred to the buyer. Chinese regulators often have no way to connect one step of the transaction to the other.Because the yuan leg of the trades take place entirely within Chinas domestic financial system, the risk of large-scale capital outflows is low. But that hasnt stopped the government from warning financial firms and individual investors to stay away from crypto.Regulators this month reminded Chinese banks and payments firms of the requirement to identify and block suspicious transactions, and pointed out that facilitating cryptocurrency trades often violates banking rules. Chinas State Council called for a clamp down on Bitcoin trading and mining, vowing to resolutely prevent financial risks.Policy makers may be keen to avoid any major market disruptions around the politically sensitive 100th anniversary of the ruling Communist Party on July 1.After the governments statement, Huobi said it stopped its miner hosting services in mainland China and is scaling back futures contracts and leveraged investment products in some markets. Its unclear whether the firm plans to shut its OTC platform.Chinese regulators have so far stopped short of labeling individual trading illegal, but the crackdown will involve the public security department as some of the activities were suspected to have facilitated money laundering and terror financing, according to a person familiar with the matter.Police in Beijing have distributed printed warnings about potential risks associated with cryptocurrencies. Virtual currencies are among popular means for latest scams, and anyone in a panic, having a hard time distinguishing or not sure what to do should call the local police contact listed, according to one notice seen by Bloomberg.On social media, some crypto investors have made unverified claims that they were summoned by local police recently and warned against the risk of investing in cryptocurrencies. One investor said local authorities required him to sell his holdings. Another said police asked him to delete the trading app from his phone.Chinese officials see their success cleaning up the peer-to-peer lending industry two years ago as a model for its cryptocurrency crackdown, said the person familiar, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. The country purged the P2P industry after frauds and defaults became rampant, in some cases leading to suicide and street protests. In its heyday the sector had more than 50 million users and $150 billion in outstanding loans.The extreme price swings of cryptocurrencies have already left a mark. In one high-profile case, a Chinese man from the eastern city of Dalian killed his three-year-old daughter and tried to commit suicide with his wife after losing 20 million yuan ($3.1 million) on a leveraged bet on Bitcoin last June, according to local media reports.Peter, a Beijing tech worker, piled 20,000 yuan into cryptocurrencies three weeks ago, just in time for latest round of volatility. Within days, his portfolio grew to nearly 100,000 yuan, then quickly fell back down to 14,000 yuan. He echoed the carpe diem philosophy of crypto traders globally: It doesnt matter if it all goes to zero. But what if it brings me sudden wealth one day?More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. FinMkt and Persistent will provide banks and credit unions with the technology to compete in point of sale financing. Tweet this Luan Cox, Chief Executive Officer at FinMkt "The combination of FinMkt and Persistent will provide banks and credit unions with the much-needed technology to compete in the point of sale financing space and to stay relevant. Persistent's world-class systems integration expertise coupled with FinMkt's best-of-breed point of sale digital lending technology platform will empower consumers with more and better financing options. So, a win-win for all." In 2020, FinMkt launched its award-winning multi-lender point of sale financing platform with second and third look waterfall capabilities in home improvement, healthcare and retail. The technology has since been modularized to meet the varied needs of financial institutions and enterprise partners. FinMkt's proprietary and fully customizable Fintech as a Service offers end-to-end loan origination technology including automated underwriting, compliance elements including KYC/AML and FCRA, loan allocation and credit optimization engines as well as configurable risk models. FinMkt will also be ramping up its artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) capabilities to provide financial institutions with valuable insights to better shape their credit policies. In 2019, Persistent Systems launched the Persistent Digital Bank & Credit Union solution which enables financial institutions of all sizes to enhance their digital capabilities and rapidly launch new offerings. Integrating FinMkt's leading POS lending capabilities complement the existing capabilities offered in the Persistent Digital Bank & Credit Union solution, enabling small and mid-sized institutions to serve new market segments. Bipin Sahni, Chief Strategy Officer, BFSI at Persistent "We are excited to strengthen our partner ecosystem with FinMkt's lending technology platform which will now enable us to empower banks and credit unions to offer point of sale digital lending solutions at scale, and accelerate their digital transformation journey rapidly." About Persistent Systems: Persistent Systems (BSE & NSE: PERSISTENT) is a global solutions company delivering digital business acceleration, enterprise modernization and digital product engineering for businesses across all industries and geographies. About FinMkt FinMkt is passionate about delivering best-in-class technology to improve the way consumers access competitive financing. FinMkt has developed a state-of-the-art multi-lender platform to facilitate point-of-sale financing for the home improvement, retail and medical verticals. FinMkt's scalable, patent-pending SaaS platform includes seamless APIs and fully hosted white-label solutions. To learn more, please visit FinMkt.io or reach us by email at [email protected]. SOURCE FinMkt, Inc. Study on 4,000 children monitored over four years, finds children who felt their parents were empathic were less likely to commit serious crime A new study of nearly 4,000 school children has found that youngsters who feel they have empathic support from their parents and caregivers are verging away from a wide range of delinquent behavior, such as committing crimes. Published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Moral Education, the research, which drew on data surveying children over a four year period from when they were aged 12 to 17, also shows that those who received empathy were less likely to execute acts of serious delinquent behavior, compared to those who simply felt they had supportive parents. In addition, the new findings - out today - demonstrate that parents/caregivers who display greater empathy enhance their teenagers' own development of empathy, or the ability to acknowledge and understand the feelings of others. The results follow an investigation of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children data source, which features a series of interviews with 3,865 boys and girls across Australia over the period when delinquent behavior first tends to appear. Author of the paper, Professor Glenn Walters from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, USA, states his findings demonstrate that parental support, as perceived by the child, plays a "small but significant role" in the development of empathy in early adolescent youth. The Associate Professor of Criminal Justice adds: "Empathy in youth also appears to have the power to mediate the negative association between perceived parental support and future juvenile delinquency." The study was launched to expand on results of several previous articles which investigated the relationship between parental support and delinquent behavior in teenagers. The proposition is that strong parental support reduces the propensity for such behavior. However, the results have been mixed. Forensic psychologist Professor Walters wanted further clarification. Could parental support and delinquent behavior include an indirect relationship, rather than direct, and be mediated by another factor: high levels of empathy? To find out, he first scrutinized two interview sessions where the children were asked about their level of parental support as they perceived it, and their development of empathy. To determine parental support, they were asked to rate statements such as "I trust my parents" and "I talk to my parents". To assess empathy, they were asked to rate statements such as "I try to empathize with friends", and "I try to make others feel better". In the final session, when they were 16 or 17, they were asked how often they had engaged in 17 delinquent acts in the past year. These acts varied in their seriousness, from drawing graffiti in a public place to purposely damaging or destroying property to using force or the threat of force to get money or things from someone. Using a variety of statistical techniques, Professor Walters found that empathy did indeed appear to mediate the relationship between parental support and delinquent behavior. Children who reported more parental support tended to have higher levels of empathy, and these children were less likely to engage in delinquent behavior. "What the current study adds to the literature on the parental support-delinquency relationship is a mechanism capable of further clarifying this relationship," Walters says. "The mechanism, according to the results of the present study, is empathy." He does concede, however, that other factors such as social interest and self-esteem may also play a role in mediating the relationship between parental support and teenage delinquency, and says these factors should be explored in future research. Walters also suggests, in future research, empathy should be measured from a younger age and that new criminalities such as cybercrime - not included in this data set - should be assessed. ### She recently enjoyed a trip to Miami with her partner amid the coronavirus pandemic. And Victoria Silvstedt continued to have fun in the sun as she returned to the Nikki Beach resort in St. Barts on Tuesday. The supermodel, 46, caught the eye as she displayed her toned figure in a floral print bikini while enjoying a dip in the sea. Beach babe: Victoria Silvstedt continued to have fun in the sun as she returned to St. Barts on Tuesday following a brief trip to Miami Showcasing her tanned complexion, the catwalk star stunned in her tiny two-piece, which featured a classic triangle bikini and matching briefs. The Playboy icon added a touch of glamour to her look by accessorising with a chunky gold chain and cat-eye shades. With her tresses worn in a curly bun, Victoria complemented her beauty with neutral-toned make-up. Wow-factor: The supermodel, 46, caught the eye as she displayed her toned figure in a floral print bikini while enjoying a dip in the sea Watch her glow: Showcasing her tanned complexion, the catwalk star stunned in her tiny two-piece, which featured a classic triangle bikini and matching briefs In the romance department, the Swedish beauty is dating businessman Maurice Dabbah. The blonde - who was previously married to Chris Wragge - has been in a relationship with real estate expert Maurice since 2011 and the couple are often seen enjoying vacations on his yacht together. Like a number of other stars, the media personality is among the set who faithfully travel to the Caribbean island annually to ring in the New Year in glamorous style. The former E! star has enjoyed a lengthy stint in the spotlight after being chosen to represent her country in the Miss World pageant in 1993. After her pageant days, the Scandinavian stunner was spotted by Hugh Hefner and went on to become a Playboy Playmate. Since her career rocketed, Victoria has modelled for some of the world's most prestigious fashion houses, including Chanel, Dior and Valentino. Despite the glamorous veneer to her lifestyle as a young model, the former musician revealed there was a dark side in a recent interview with Female First. She said: 'I started very young to model in Paris when I was 18, I remember like starving myself to fit into the clothes and it was an amazing experience but you know I did shows for Valentino, Chanel, so it was really prestigious.' We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Chip giant Qualcomm is joining forces with haptics specialist Lofelt to make good on the promise of advanced haptics in Android 12. The partnership is aimed at bringing the type of sensory touch experiences offered on iPhones to Google's operating system by breaking down some of the barriers erected by the latter's open ecosystem. In 2019, Apple began offering developers more advanced tools to simulate touch and clicks through vibrations, which could be paired with audio and in-game actions for immersive feedback, via its proprietary API. Now, Qualcomm and Lofelt want to do the same for Android by creating a "universal haptic software framework" that runs natively on the the chip maker's Snapdragon mobile platform. Android device makers will be able to license the software and API to incorporate advanced haptics for mobile gaming and other immersive experiences into their products, and even device accessories, Lofelt notes in its announcement blog posts. Of course, it helps that Qualcomm's huge supply of Snapdragon processors are featured in millions of Android phones. And Lofelt's specialist knowledge of haptics and audio, partly gleaned through its co-founders' stints at music software companies Ableton and Native Instruments, should also aid their cause. But challenges still remain: Lofelt says to close the gap between Apple and Android it needs to work on framework enhancements that can enable on-the-fly haptic playback, consistent transient playback and better synchronization between audio and haptics. If they manage to pull off the feat, it could push Qualcomm ahead of its chip rivals and boost Android's app experiences in the process. Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - February 23, 2021) -Mobi724 Global Solutions Inc. (TSXV: MOS) ("Mobi724" or the "Company"), a fintech enabler of AI-enhanced payment card-linked incentives, announces that on February 22, 2021, its wholly owned subsidiary, Mobi724 Smart Transactions Inc. ("Mobi724 Smart"), entered into a strategic alliance agreement (the "Strategic Alliance Agreement"), with Compania de Procesamiento de Medios de Pago de Guatemala, S.A., a Central American credit & debit payment network which operates, in multiple countries, under the name "VisaNet Guatemala" (and its subsidiary "IONet"), to jointly market Mobi724's card-linked offers and rewards platform to card issuing banks & merchants in the region. The Strategic Alliance Agreement seeks to drive business expansion and generate incremental revenue for all stakeholders: Compania de Procesamiento de Medios de Pago de Guatemala, S.A, Mobi724, card issuing banks and merchants, through the deployment of Mobi724's card-linked offers and rewards platform, thereby fostering innovation across a rapidly developing electronic payment economy in Central America. Through real-time connectivity to Compania de Procesamiento de Medios de Pago de Guatemala's payment network, Mobi724 will enable and process AI-enhanced payment card-linked incentives in Guatemala and other countries where Compania de Procesamiento de Medios de Pago de Guatemala operates. This will allow cardholders of participating banks to redeem personalized benefits directly at a point-of-sale, both online and at brick-and-mortar stores in a single seamless transaction. Mobi724's data analytics capabilities will empower offer providers (banks, merchants or other contracting parties) to leverage the actionable insights derived from transactional data, thereby providing cardholders with compelling offers, while achieving business objectives identified through transactional data analysis. Core revenues from the Strategic Alliance Agreement are to be generated on a per-transaction basis. Compania de Procesamiento de Medios de Pago de Guatemala and Mobi724 are presently working with prospects towards the commercialization of the Strategic Alliance Agreement. Compania de Procesamiento de Medios de Pago de Guatemala's Managing Director, Mario Castrillo said: ""We are very pleased to be signing this strategic alliance with Mobi724 in order to continue offering innovative products that add value and enhance the customer experience through personalized and timely incentives for cardholders." Marcel Vienneau, CEO of Mobi724 said: "We continue executing our strategy in the region by partnering with leading key partners in the payment card industry. This Strategic Alliance Agreement is an important step for Mobi724, and we are very excited to be working with Compania de Procesamiento de Medios de Pago de Guatemala's team to enhance our value proposition by leveraging their connectivity and market leadership, to further monetize our portfolio of solutions and introduce new and engaging consumer experiences into the ecosystem." About VisaNet Guatemala: VisaNet Guatemala is an acquiring company dedicated to electronic payments and enabling merchants to process Visa and Mastercard through innovative payment solutions. For more information, visit https://www.visanet.com.gt About Mobi724 Global Solutions Inc. Mobi724 Global Solutions Inc. (TSXV: MOS) is a fintech company which provides a platform that enables banks and merchants to offer their customers real-time payment card-linked incentives in a white-label format. Mobi724's objective is to add a layer of AI-driven actionable intelligence to every payment transaction, creating engaging consumer experiences & generating incremental commercial opportunities to its clients. Legal Disclaimer Mobi724 cautions investors that any forward-looking statements or projections made by Mobi724 are subject to risks and uncertainties, that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Such factors include, but are not limited to, those described under Item 'Risk Factors and Uncertainties' in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis, available on SEDAR. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release does not constitute a solicitation to buy or sell any securities in the United States. Investor Relations: For further information, please visit www.MOBI724.com or contact: Marcel Vienneau, CEO Mobi724 Global Solutions Inc. T: 514-394-5200 ir@mobi724.com Eli Rozhansky, Investor Relations Coordinator Mobi724 Global Solutions Inc. T: 514-394-5200 ir@mobi724.com NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO US NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75118 Close On Monday, rescuers raced to rescue 49 long-finned pilot whales that were trapped in the notorious New Zealand bay of Farewell Spit, about 55 miles (90 kilometers) north of the South Island tourist town of Nelson. Wildlife officials said that the area is known for mass strandings, Phys.org reported. Sadly, the Department of Conservation (DOC) said that some of the whales did not survive by mid-afternoon even with 60 people working together to keep the survivors alive to refloat them at high tide. Refloating Rescued Whales for the Second Time Volunteers were able to refloat some of the trapped whales at night during the high tide, but sometime overnight they beached themselves again. They had to refloat the whales again the next day. A recent report from Phys.org said that volunteers refloated 28 whales again after refloating them for the second time in two days. According to Louisa Hawkes, a spokesperson for the nonprofit whale rescue group Project Jonah, they hope that the whales would not beach themselves again this time after going much deeper in the ocean than the first attempt on Monday. "They've gone much further out than yesterday," she said. "We're cautiously optimistic they won't come back." She added that it is fairly common for pilot whales to beach themselves again after being rescued before finally swimming away again. According to a previous report from Science Times, whales sometimes beached themselves when one or two wonder away fro the pod and then end up following them. These mammals indeed have close bonds with each other. About 200 volunteers helped in the efforts of rescuing the whales to keep them healthy and calm while they are beached at the coast of Farewell Spit in New Zealand. Project Jonah and the Department of Conservation rangers led the efforts of rescuing the whales and guided volunteers to drench the whales with buckets of water and keep them upright to make sure the whales do not put too much pressure on their fins. ALSO READ: Around 270 Stranded Whales Continue to be Rescued in a Mass Beaching Keeping the Whales Away From the Shore The volunteers then formed human chains in the water to try to stop the whales from swimming back to the island after being refloated. Hawkes said that they have used an inflatable pontoon to help one whale swim into the deeper sea in hopes that it would call its pod mates and follow. After ensuring that the whales have swum deeper, boats replaced the humans in forming a barrier to the shore. The Farewell Spit is sometimes described as the whale trap because of its gently sloping beaches that make it difficult for whales to navigate away from once they were trapped, ABC News reported. Like what happened four years ago when 650 pilot whales beached themselves in the same location. There were two separate mass strandings in the area wherein 350 of the whales died and 300 were saved. RELATED ARTICLE: Why are Australian Rescuers Forced to Euthanize the Trapped Whales in Tasmania Check out more news and information on Whales on Science Times. It has been a long time since the buying and selling of real estate between individuals started in Nepal. However, it has been only about three decades since this sector has evolved as a business industry. Who started this, when, how and for what purpose? Lets get into the details of the history of the real estate business in Nepal. 1. Land within the ambit of law As mentioned by the Department of Land Management and Archive, in the Muluki Ain issued in 1853/54 under the Prime Minister Junga Bahadur Rana, there were provisions about renting land and related affairs. This is said to be the first instance of the real state sectors regulation in Nepal. 2. Record keeping During the Rana era, land tax was the main source of income of the country. According to the Department of Land Management and Archive, the practice of keeping systematic records of the land (their status and area) in the plains and hilly areas started in 1873/74. 3. Establishment of the land revenue office The Maal Adda (land revenue office) was established in 1896 as an institution for land administration. Likewise, Tahasil Karyalaya (finance office), initially set up to pay salaries to the staff and collect the bills, was merged into the Maal Adda in 1902. 4. Land classification and survey Chandra Shamsher, who ruled Nepal from 1901 to 1929, classified the land into four categories: awal, doyam, seem, and chahar. Meanwhile, a land survey was conducted in 1907 with the help of chains. After that, the land was taxed according to the type. Photo: Snappy Goat 5. Beginning of ownership transfer The process of transferring the rights of the real estate (houses and land) in a written form started after the establishment of the Pota Registration Adda in 1921. Also, the practice of passing the registration of real estate at the Maal Adda started on April 13, 1922. 6. Commencement of plot (kitta) survey In 1923, the system of keeping the land records on the basis of maps started with the introduction of the plot survey in Bhaktapur. 7. Promulgation of acts The Immovable Property Requisition Act was promulgated in the 1950s which was the first law in the form of an act to govern the sector. Likewise, the Land Reform Act, 1957 was brought to protect the rights of tenants. In 1960, the Birta Abolition Act was enacted. Similarly, the Land Survey and Measurement Act, 1962 was introduced followed by the Lands Act, 1964. In the meantime, the Land Administration Act, 1966 was also promulgated. 8. Reorganisation of the land revenue office Initially, the Land Administration Office was established under the Ministry of Land Reforms in nine districts, including three districts of the Kathmandu valley, to look after the administration of land and the map prepared as per the Land Survey and Measurement Act, 1962. In 1967, the Land Administration Office was renamed into the Land Reform Office. Meanwhile, the then Revenue Office and Funds and Collection Offices were also converted into the Land Revenue Office, established in 1969 under the Land Revenue Department of the then Ministry of Finance. Again, the name of the Land Revenue Office was changed to the Revenue Office and Funds and Collection Offices in 1971. After the Land Revenue Act, 1978, was issued, the Land Revenue Office was established separately under the Ministry of Finance the next year. It made the process of buying and selling the real estate easier. File 9. Path to commercialisation Min Man Shrestha, a central member of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries and the president of the Urban Development Committee under the FNCCI, says that the sector has moved ahead commercially only after the 1990s. Since then, the attraction of the businesspersons in this area has been increasing, adds Shrestha. After the legal recognition of the real estate business in 1990, many businesspersons registered their own companies and started real estate businesses in the Kathmandu valley. Subsequently, the real estate business has gradually become wider. As of now, this business has taken a commercial form not only in the Kathmandu valley but also in many districts. FORT WAYNE, Ind., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Since its founding in 1917, Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company has remained steadfast in its mission of serving the needs of Christian ministries. Today, the national property and casualty insurer announced strong financial results for 2020. The company ended the year with gains in both net income and surplus. Net income was $3.2 million, and surplus rose to $298 million, led by strong growth in premiums earned and investments. Brotherhood Mutual has an A- Rating (Excellent) from A.M. Best. The company also is a 2020 recipient of the Best Places to Work in Indiana. As a leader in the industry, Brotherhood Mutual serves more than 65,000 churches, schools, colleges, camps, and mission organizations. Over the past 12 years the company has nearly doubled both its customer base and its employee base. There is also strong growth in demand for its MinistryWorks service, which is America's largest payroll and payroll tax filing service that specializes in Christian ministries. And as it prepares for future growth, Brotherhood Mutual will continue to benefit its home community by adding new jobs. Through the Brotherhood Mutual Foundation, the company gave back nearly $1.3 million to 120 organizations in 2020, including $375,000 to Full Strength Network to help with outreach to denominations, churches, and pastors to educate them about pastor wellbeing and to connect them with tools and resources to prevent burnout. "Our 2020 results could not have been achieved without the dedication and focus of our 500+ employees here in northeast Indiana and our 476 independent agents nationwide," said Mark Robison, chairman and president, Brotherhood Mutual. "Even though we had to pivot with remote work at times during the pandemic, we were fully engaged in serving our customers and operating at full capacity. Customer care still remains a high priority." The pandemic affected ministries throughout 2020, and Brotherhood Mutual sought ways to alleviate the added burden by providing a high level of customer care and financial relief. The company returned $3.7 million to policyholders on their liability premium for their auto policy and commercial multi-peril policy. Additionally, the company released more than $1.3 million in annual dividends to policyholders earlier than usual. Throughout 2020 to the present, Brotherhood Mutual provided timely information to help ministries manage the emerging risk presented by the pandemic. The company dedicated a section of its website to house more than 60 pages of coronavirus resources that were created, including articles, videos, checklists, special publications, and webinars. Other company initiatives throughout 2020 helped serve customers and the broader community, including a full day virtual summit for K-12 schools. More than 500 school leaders from 41 states registered to attend The Christian School Financial Summit, which focused on sustainability. Broader outreach efforts throughout 2020 included employee funding drives for United Way, Full Strength Network, and by sending teams for local Habitat for Humanity build days. In April, Brotherhood Mutual will complete construction on the $25.5 million expansion to its corporate headquarters in Fort Wayne, IN, which began July 2019. This is the company's fourth building expansion since it moved in 1980. The latest expansion will help house the 300 additional employees planned for the next decade. This allows the company to continue to provide excellent customer care and focus on the growing needs of its customers in not only property and casualty insurance, but also in other service offerings such as ministry payroll, workers compensation, mission travel services, and commercial auto insurance. About Brotherhood Mutual Celebrating more than 100 years in business, Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company is one of the nation's leading property and casualty insurers of Christian ministries. The company serves more than 65,000 churches, schools, colleges, camps, and related ministries in 47 states and the District of Columbia. Headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Brotherhood Mutual is staffed by 500+ employees and works with 476 independent agents in 111 agencies nationwide. www.brotherhoodmutual.com SOURCE Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company Related Links https://www.brotherhoodmutual.com In one in 2018, Ramirez was charged with misdemeanor domestic battery, and the victim in that case was the same woman from the latest case, records show. But that 2018 misdemeanor charge was thrown out a few weeks after his arrest. Two Indian American women have filed a lawsuit against the Subway Corporation, claiming the substance it uses in its tuna fish sandwich is not tuna, or any fish at all. Subway has denied the allegations, saying they are baseless. (Subway Web site photo) We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form W.E.B. Du Bois, the co-founder of the NAACP, was born in Great Barrington. His birthday, Feb. 23, will be celebrated as Du Bois Legacy Day in town this year. HERE Technologies announced the appointment of Gino Ferru as Senior Vice President (SVP) and EMEAR General Manager. In his new role, Ferru will be responsible for identifying opportunities for customers, partners and developers, across industries, and will leverage the power of location intelligence to solve business problems. Ferru is replacing Fred Hessabi who has been promoted to Chief Customer Officer. Fred Hessabi, HERE Chief Customer Officer, said, I am very pleased to welcome Gino to our team leading the EMEAR region. Gino brings with him a wealth of Software- and Platform-as-a-Service sales expertise that he will use to enable customers to access advanced digital mapping technology and create innovative, location-driven applications. Ferru joins HERE from The Netherlands Salesforce team where he was Area Vice President since 2019. In that role, he was focused on strategic accounts and solution integrator partners for the CRM platform giant in many industries including Transportation & Logistics and Technology. Prior to Salesforce, Ferru worked at C3.ai and SAP. At C3.ai, he secured landmark wins with Royal Dutch Shell and international insulation manufacture, Knauf Insulation. While at SAP, he held several senior sales leadership roles, most recently as Regional Vice President for Strategic Customers in Northern Europe. In this position, he was responsible for 60 accounts across France, UKI, Nordics and Benelux. Ferru holds an undergraduate degree from Tilburg University in Business Management and an MBA from NIMBAS, Bradford Graduate School of Management. Ferru will be based in Amsterdam. Theres an old rule in PR that if youre explaining, youre losing. By this measure, the dairy sector has been losing for some time. Farmers have themselves and their leaders to blame for this. There has often been an attitude of total denial about accepting the impact of dairying on the environment. The latest example was the IFAs dismissal of suggestions that large dairy farms should be subjected to the same licensing that pig farms have worked with for decades. Pollution Remember when pig farming had a terrible reputation for polluting lakes and waterways? Not if youre under 30 you wont, because the EPA licencing regime tightened up everybodys act in the sector. All the messers were identified and faced an ultimatum: fix it or pack it in. Its only 20 years ago when the average dairy farm was 44 cows. Today its double that and the average is heading north of 100 cows. Expand Close Darragh Mc Cullough on his farm in Co. Meath / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Darragh Mc Cullough on his farm in Co. Meath Herds of 300, 400 and 500 cows arent that unusual anymore. These units generate a concentrated nutrient load that will wreck any local environment if managed incorrectly. The IFAs stance on licensing is just one example of the poor leadership that is leaving dairy farming wide open for an onslaught of criticism and abuse. The next thorny issue to be addressed is whether the sector should be limited in its future growth. The answer is an unequivocal yes, for a whole host of reasons. Water quality Water quality is the most black and white issue. We cant keep concentrating tens of thousands of cows into regions suited to intensive grazing and expect no negative impact on the environment. The evidence is already piling up on this from both Irish and New Zealand research. Even when a farm is stocked at a reasonable 2.5 cows per hectare, management and facilities need to be very good. Constant run-off from a dirty lane or yard is all it takes for a stream to become heavily polluted. Thats going to be the first limit that hits dairy expansion here. The next layer of restrictions will be our national targets to cut greenhouse gas emission (GHG). The only hope for those still aspiring to develop dairy herds over the coming decade is that beef herd numbers decline. Read More But a lot of beef farming is more of a hobby than a business these days. That will delay any decline in the beef herd, which in turn will limit scope for more growth in the dairy herd. However, never under-estimate the power of money to move the goalposts on this. As galling as it might be for a beef farmer to look out their window at a shed full of dairy stock, the blow would be softened significantly if a dairy farmer was paying them handsomely for the privilege. Suckler farmers Could it also be possible that some of the exchequer millions that are currently used to subsidise the 800,000 suckler cows be reassigned to allow these farmers to switch to dairy stock? There is one undeniable fact about the explosion of Irelands dairy output in the last decade. The 60pc increase in milk output has probably been the biggest source of economic growth in rural Ireland in recent times. There is no other farm enterprise that will generate the same level of profitability for so many. Pigs, poultry, and some horticulture operations might have made as much or more, but dairying has done it on nearly 18,000 individual farms, and on more marginal land. Contrast that with the 300 pig farms that remain, the 34 mushroom farms, or handful of lettuce growers left in the horticultural sector. Milks basic profitability is the second half of the sustainability story. Its no good having a sector with zero emissions and zero profit. So we have to figure out a way to make dairying work for both profit and for the environment. The good news is that Ireland can produce milk as sustainably from both an environmental and profit point of view as anywhere on the planet. But farmers will also have to accept that they do not have an automatic licence to milk as many cows as they like. You wont hear this from a farm leader, so its going to be up to farmers themselves to speak up. The alternative is that they spend the rest of their working days explaining and losing. February 23 : Actor Kartik Aaryan gets nostalgic as his first massive hit, Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety clocks three years, and the actor calls it a life-changing film. Released in 2018, Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety directed and co-produced by Luv Ranjan starred Kartik Aaryan, Nushrat Bharucha, Sunny Singh Nijjar, Alok Nath, and Ishita Raj Sharma. The film marks the fourth collaboration between Ranjan, Aaryan, and Bharucha as well as the third time Singh and Sharma collaborate with them. The film went onto becoming commercially successful racking almost 150 crores at the box-office and catapulted Kartik into a superstar. As the movie clocks three years, Kartik took to his social media and dropped a teaser from the film, and wrote, Exactly 3 years ago, my life changed!! Thank you Luv sir for #SonuKeTituKiSweety #3YearsOfSKTKS Meanwhile, on the work front, Aaryan's first and upcoming thriller film Dhamaka which is currently in the post-production stage will release on Netflix, post which he will be seen in the standalone sequels Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and Dostana 2 as well as the follow-ups Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety 2, Luka Chuppi Phir Se and Pyaar Ka Punchnama 3. He has also signed a three-film deal contract with Eros for a whopping amount of 75 crores, thus becoming the highest-paid young generation actor of Bollywood. Additionally, he will feature in Rohit Dhawan's Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, the Hindi remake of Allu Arjun's Telugu film of the same name, and an action film set in Hong Kong directed by Om Raut. This is a story about the history and future of an evil town. Cerro Gordo is a settlement of bloodstained brothels, skeletons and busted up pianos on the wind-battered southern slope of the Inyo Mountains, overlooking Death Valley. It was once the most violent town in America. Into this haunted high desert comes an interloper, an entrepreneur, an adventurer or a TikTok star, depending on who you ask. I dont have an exit plan. Dying here is the exit plan, Brent Underwood tells me from somewhere above the accidental tomb of 30 immigrant miners. Underwood and a partner bought Cerro Gordo two years ago, and despite the pandemic, snowstorms and a historic fire, he wont be leaving, maybe ever. In fact, hes still planning on opening a hotel there this summer. Long before it was a town, Mexican prospectors first explored the mountain they called Cerro Gordo, meaning fat hill, in search of silver in the 1860s, back when California was still a wilderness beset by violent men hunting for treasures. An early group was attacked by Native Americans on the hill, and three of the five prospectors were killed. It would be the first of many, many murders at Cerro Gordo. In 1863, 35 Paiute Indians were chased down the mountain into the now-parched Owens Lake by white soldiers and massacred as they tried to swim away. A silver vein was unearthed in the hills in 1865, and the town soon became the largest producer of the precious metal in California. It would make $50 million in todays money from its rich mines over its brief, fiery history. Miners sent their precious metal from the smelters down the hill on wagon trains with a 20-mule team. The ore would cross Owens Lake via steam boats and travel on to Los Angeles, which at the time was itself not much larger than the mining town. Cerro Gordo brought so much money to the city that the Los Angeles News wrote in 1872, To this city, Cerro Gordo trade is invaluable. What Los Angeles now is, is mainly due to it. It is the silver cord that binds our present existence. Should it be unfortunately severed, we would inevitably collapse. In its heyday, Cerro Gordo had 4,000 residents and 500 buildings, including seven saloons and three brothels, though it never had a church or schoolhouse. I used to watch Gunsmoke as a kid, Underwood says. My grandfather had dementia and would watch it on repeat. Now, Im here in this old mining town. There was a murder a week here and rumors that Butch Cassidy hid out in the hotel, and fortunes were gained and people died, he says. Its like living that childhood fantasy. Brent Underwood / Courtesy It was the closest real-life town to Hollywoods Wild West. Shootouts were common. No one escaped the bloodshed. Two children died after getting trapped in a steamer trunk; and when 30 immigrant miners from China were entombed in a collapsed mine shaft, no one went down to retrieve the bodies. In 1874, the LA Evening Express described it as a disagreeable burg, full of stout, warm-hearted go-ahead men who are tearing fortunes out of the bowels of the earth. By 1880, only a decade after its rowdy peak, the silver ran dry and the smelters were shuttered. A fire ravaged the saloons, brothels and main mineshaft, and the boom turned to bust. By the 1890s, Fat Hill had gone to the ghosts. The last reported gunfight in Cerro Gordo occurred on Dec. 29, 1892. French-Canadian engineer and former postmaster of the town Billy Crapo shot and killed the new postmaster Henry Boland and a friend over an election dispute as they walked by his house next to the American Hotel. A posse left Keeler, the town nine miles down the hill, the next morning to find Crapo and claim the $500 price on his head. In the 1910s, the town enjoyed a brief second boom when zinc was discovered in the hills, but by 1938, the last resident left, and Cerro Gordo sat still on the mountain, uninhabited for more than half a century. Underwood, 32, is a son of schoolteachers, born and raised in Tampa, Florida. While he has become known as a mine shaft explorer, cabin rebuilder and ghost town heir, his background is in marketing, banking and publicity stunts. In 2016, Underwood published a photo of his foot on Amazon to show how few sales it took to become a "#1 Best Seller" on the site. The stunt was widely covered in the press, and Amazon later said they were changing their algorithm because of the publication. He was running a highly rated hostel in Austin, Texas, when the opportunity arose to buy Cerro Gordo. Underwood and his business partner Jon Bier, founder of a boutique PR agency, bought the entire town for $1.4 million. The purchase included 336 acres and 22 buildings, the most historic of which was the towns ornate centerpiece, the American Hotel, said to be the oldest hotel in California east of the Sierra Nevada. CNBC reported that the new owners would likely turn the town into a retreat center for conferences, workshop events and film shoots. Some in the community (the closest town, Lone Pine, an hour down the mountain, has a population of around 2,000) were wary of a millennial outsider with a background in marketing stunts buying up the entire historic town. Social media posts at the time vilified Underwood as a trust-funder hobbyist taking over the town on a whim. Its not a get-rich-quick scheme, Im not flipping the place. Im like, here, he says. When we bought the town we were very much outsiders moving into a very proud part of the country. Everyone in Owens Valley has a history or story about Cerro Gordo. But everyone sat on the sidelines and watched. Underwood traveled to the town at the start of the pandemic, for what was intended to be a short trip, after shutdown forced the closure of the hostel in Austin. He has a knack for making headlines, and his story was told widely after a snowstorm on the mountain isolated him there for months instead of weeks. Brent Underwood, trapped in a town with only ghosts for company, a Guardian headline read. Man forced to quarantine in ghost town with gruesome past, led the New York Post. Im from Florida and Texas, Im not used to snow. I came in my little truck and got stuck, he says, Now its been 10 months and Im still standing in this cabin. Underwood says that the enforced longevity of that first stay enabled him to feel at home in the ghost town. During that time there was a change in myself. Theres no running water here, everything is different, and youre very aware of that for the first week, but then theres a hump and I started getting a little more comfortable, he says. I found all these new passions and interests that I didn't know I had. Those passions include photographing the stars, exploring dangerous long-abandoned mine shafts for treasure, searching for elusive $100,000 original Levis and becoming a YouTube and TikTok star. This post of Underwood rifling through broken bottles before finding a full bottle of whiskey has nearly 12 million views. His first video, I Spent My Life Savings On An Abandoned Ghost Town, has amassed more than 6 million views. Its so creative and fun to connect with everyone. I get to chat with everyone from all over the world about something I love, Brent says. The majority of viewers seem to be families and I love that, its sparking people to explore things with their kids and go down rabbit holes. I ask him if hes monetized his rise to social media stardom. I must have mentioned Levis a hundred times, I tried to get them to sponsor me but it didnt happen. I stood in here in Levis right now that I bought myself, he laughs. Underwood did say that he recently started adding ads to his YouTube channel. Underwood is building a museum in the town to showcase all his finds. Everything I find I add to the museum here, I take that very seriously, he says. I see it as a race against time, these mines will collapse, and everything in them will dissolve and turn to dust. He is also aware that they may collapse while he is in them, though that hasnt stopped him yet. My reminder that I'm going to die every day is the graveyard here and the miners below me, he says, its weirdly motivating. The winding mountain path, known as Yellow Grade Road, from Lone Pine to Cerro Gordo switches back and forth as it climbs the hill, cutting through stacks of rusty rock and sand. From the town its possible to see visitors arriving long before they make it up to the first cabin. These visitors have become more frequent since Underwood started documenting his adventure online. Im the only person living here full time, but we get volunteers to help with certain projects. Theres a man in the high desert with a mobile concrete plant that hes offered to bring over so we can use the sand here, rather than bring it up the mountain, Underwood says. As if getting stuck in a ghost town during a pandemic and becoming a viral hit wasnt enough, Underwoods story took another headline-grabbing turn last summer when Cerro Gordo was met again with fire and fury. On June 15, 2020, the midsummer heat warmed Death Valley to a typical 100 degrees and a fierce wind blew off Mount Inyo peak from the north. And exactly 149 years after it opened, the American Hotel in Cerro Gordo burnt to the ground. It was probably the most devastating day of my life, Underwood recalls. I couldn't even talk about it for the first few weeks. You are literally watching your life savings and hopes and dreams burn in front of you. Underwood woke at 3 a.m. to see the hotel, the ice house and Billy Crapos home all engulfed in flames, fueled by furious winds. The propane tanks in the hotel then exploded, laying waste to the plot. He believes the cause of the fire was likely electrical, with centuries-old wiring running through desert-baked wooden walls insulated with old newspaper. It was a bad combination, he says. Although he also speculated that it may have been caused by a ghost, and reported that a shadowy apparition was seen the night before in the hotel kitchen. The Lone Pine Fire Department did not reveal the conclusion of the investigation into the fire to SFGATE, though it is believed to have not ignited in the American Hotel itself, but in Crapos house next door. Underwood set up a GoFundMe the morning after the fire asking for $500,000 to rebuild the American Hotel. We really need help, the fundraiser pled. ... We have the original plans and blueprints for the hotel and what we are planning on doing with the raised funds is make it better than ever, bring it back to a version of the glory days. No, it wont be original wood, but it will be the original design and up to modern code, so people can actually stay in the American Hotel." The fundraiser also likens the hotels restoration to that of one of the wonders of the world. Many historical relics, like Machu Picchu in Peru, are partly restored and partly original, which makes visiting and celebrating history and culture easier. The GoFundMe is currently at about $86,000. What am I going to do? Go back to Austin with my tail between my legs? Underwood says. I became borderline obsessed with making sure that the American Hotel will stand here again, and that gave me a guiding light and kept me here. Brent Underwood / Courtesy I ask Underwood if, outside of ghost stories, he believes that there is a dark fate looming over people like him who try to make their home in the town. No one is going to escape death. So what are you going to do with the time you are given? Its forced me to confront the question what do I want to do? What do I want to accomplish in my life? Ive become more comfortable over these 10 months with the answer to that being Cerro Gordo. Underwood thinks about dying a lot. Though in his early 30s, he sometimes sounds like an old scarred cowboy entering his final years, reckoning with death. I ask him if the isolation welcomes those existential thoughts before their time. Maybe. When I was in Austin I'd keep busy to avoid sitting with thoughts like that, he says. Id keep busy with random stuff. Up here I don't have that. I cant just go to the store to distract myself, its a three-hour round trip. So I get or have, I don't know if its 'get' or 'have,'" he thinks for a moment, I get to sit with those thoughts. Underwood doesnt have too much time to think over the coming months, after repeatedly telling his millions of viewers and subscribers that he plans on opening the rebuilt American Hotel and the town to visitors in August 2021. Now millions of people know thats my intention, it's holding me accountable, he laughs. A cynical mind may see the last year as nothing more than a perfectly executed marketing campaign. Millions of people across the world are counting down the days to the opening of a very Instagrammable six-room hotel in the middle of nowhere. (Underwood also plans on setting up campsites and smaller cabins for visitors.) Though Underwood has mixed feelings about his town opening to outsiders. Ive grown to love Cerro Gordo and my life up here. Part of that is me being alone, he says, realizing that his goal may end all that. Im striving towards this goal to open it up to everybody and then my life will fundamentally change. So I think about that a lot. Im working towards this thing Ive made public. How will my life change this summer? He says, I will no longer be able to explode dynamite wherever I want on any given Wednesday. Underwood finds it easier to imagine dying in Cerro Gordo than a life after the ghost town. When will Cerro Gordo be done? I dont think it will ever be done. I could do this for the rest of my life. A town forever defined by greed, murder and fire maybe has a way of holding you in its grip. In the shifting sands of the high desert, youre only a hero in Cerro Gordo until you're not. As the posse made their way up the Yellow Grade Road to find murderous Billy Crapo in 1892, the newspapers reported that the fugitive would be a hard man to take. Nothing has been heard of Crapo since he disappeared from Cerro Gordo, the Inyo Independent wrote. He is as completely lost as if he had gone into a tunnel and pulled the hole in after him. Property Deeds Must Ensure Protection for Senior Citizen Parents: Madras HC In a significant judgement, the Madras High Court has ruled that property deeds must have a clause to take care of senior citizen parents. This means that if senior citizen parents are bequeathing their property to their children by way of gift or as settlement, a clause has to be included in the deed. The clause should state that the transferee will provide basic and physical needs to their parents. And if the transferee fails to provide or refuses basic amenities, the transfer of property should be deemed to be made by fraud, coercion or undue influence, the HC says. The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court passed this order while hearing a batch of petitions regarding cancellation of deeds, some filed by senior citizen parents. The HC told officials from the registration department to ensure that the conditions stipulated in Section 23 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 are incorporated in conveyance deeds. The court took serious note of how after settlement of properties, several senior citizens are thrown on the street. According to the HC, Section 23 of the Act makes it clear that when the transferor, a senior citizen, conveyed the property by means of gift or settlement, there should be a clause in the deed to ensure that the transferee provided the basic and physical needs to the transferor. Despite these provisions under the Act for prosecuting those abandoning senior citizens, several of senior citizen parents find themselves left in the lurch by children once they bequeath their properties. The court said that the sub-registrar and registrar, who registers a deed of conveyance must ensure that the conditions stipulated in Section 23 of the Act were incorporated in the deed, leaving the transferee not in a position to sell the property. In case of sale, the buyer would be at risk. Justice S Vaidyanathan noted that those who were responsible for the care of senior citizens but abandoned them, should be imprisoned as per Section 24 of the Act, and imposition of fine was only secondary. Even though the word used is 'either' in Section 24 of the Act, the imprisonment should be made mandatory. The cases filed by senior citizens would have to be heard on a day-to-day basis without adjournment for beyond seven working days. He further added that the officials should also ensure that when the children try to sell the properties received from their parents, the signature of their parents (senior citizens) is obtained. Justice Vaidyanathan said in his order Even though the discretion is given to the Magistrates to try the offence and impose punishment, unless the sword of Damocles is hanging on the youngsters, there will be lots of old age homes mushrooming. The judge has also directed the registry of the court to place the matter before the Chief Justice for constitution of a larger bench. Meridian Energy interim net profit higher, cash earnings lower Meridian Energy has reported a 19% increase in net profit for the six months ended 31 December 2020, which includes positive changes in the value of hedge instruments. Excluding these hedge value movements, Meridian has reported a 9% decrease in its EBITDAF. Customer growth continued, however lower New Zealand hydro generation and lower market prices in Australia negatively impacted EBITDAF from last years record level. Chief Executive Neal Barclay says Meridians performance partly reflected less than favourable conditions compared to the prior year. Overall, our generation volumes were down 7% on the prior period due to lower starting storage and lower inflows into our catchments since October 2020. Customer numbers across New Zealand and Australia now exceed half a million and have grown 3% since June 2020. It is pleasing to see continued customer growth, demonstrating that our commitment to excellent service and support is delivering, Mr Barclay says. Meridian announced in January 2021, that it had reached an agreement with its largest customer, Rio Tinto. Rio Tinto, who operate the Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter in Southland will extend the planned closure period from August 2021 to December 2024. The additional four years of smelter operation will be invaluable to the Southland region as it allows time to create new business opportunities and new jobs for Southlanders. Meridian is committed to working with a range of parties who are progressing some exciting new opportunities in Southland, from mega scale data centres to hydrogen production at scale. The availability of large amounts of renewable energy in Southland is a point of difference for the region and our country, says Barclay. As a 100% renewable energy generator who is committed to protecting our environment, were supportive of the Climate Change Commissions advice. We believe that the electricity sector is a huge part of the solution to decarbonise our economy and support New Zealand businesses and individuals to make the changes they need. Our decision to build the new Harapaki wind farm is our next step towards that solution. We know that we will play a part in supporting our customers, from large businesses who need to invest in technology and transition from fossil fuels, to every day New Zealanders. Everyone in our country has the opportunity to prosper and thrive as we lock in net zero by 2050, says Barclay. Please see the links below for details: Media Announcement Condensed Interim Financial Statements Investor Presentation Investor Letter Financial Commentary NZX Results Announcement NZX Distribution Notice - Ordinary Interim Dividend Source: Meridian Energy Limited Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: Me Today Limited (NZX: MEE) Full Year Results to 31 March 2021 31st May 2021 Morning Report The a2 Milk Company Limited (NZX: ATM) Media Reporting Regarding Potential Class Action Synlait Milk Limited (NZX: SML) Forecast Milk Price Update General Capital Limited (NZX: GEN) Continues on Its Strong Growth Path Third Age Health Services Limited (NZX: TAH) Announces Preliminary Full Year Result EROAD Limited (NZX: ERD) Better Positioned for Future Growth Green Cross Health Limited (NZX: GXH) Full Year Results to 31 March 2021 28th May 2021 Morning Report Radius Residential Care Limited (NZX: RAD) Announces First FY Results as a Listed Company Peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government have resumed in Qatar after a delay of more than a month amid escalating violence in the war-wracked country as the United Nations called again for an immediate cease-fire to curb civilian casualties. Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem tweeted late on February 22 night that talks had resumed. TOLOnews quoted Naeem as saying that a meeting was held between the delegation heads and some members of the negotiating teams in Doha and the continuation of the negotiations was discussed. Naeem said the working groups would continue their meetings on the agenda. Talks ended abruptly last month, just days after beginning. The reduction in violence that would lead to a cease-fire is the top priority for the Afghan government, the United States, and NATO. The Taliban has said it is negotiable, but until now has resisted any immediate cease-fire. The UN said in a report released on February 23 that while the number of Afghan civilians killed and wounded in violence fell 15 percent last year compared to 2019, violence increased during the last months of 2020. The report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the UN Human Rights Office said the drop in civilian casualties was due in part to what looked like a tactical change by militants to targeted killings, fewer suicide bombings, and a stark drop in casualties attributed to international military forces. But the report noted with alarm the sharp uptick and historically high civilian casualties in the final three months of last year, when the peace talks began. The overall number of civilian casualties last year was 8,820 -- including 3,035 killed and 5,785 wounded -- a figure that fell below 10,000 for the first time since 2013. Afghan women and children make up 43 percent of all casualties. Washington is reviewing peace agreement the previous Trump administration signed with the Taliban in February last year, a deal that calls for the final withdrawal of international forces by May 1. There is growing consensus in Washington for a delay in the withdrawal deadline, but the militants have resisted suggestions of even a brief extension. Both the United States and NATO have yet to announce a decision on the fate of an estimated 10,000 troops, including 2,500 U.S. soldiers, still in Afghanistan. The Biden administration has emphasized a political solution to the protracted Afghan conflict and retained top negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad. In an open letter to the American people last week, Taliban lead negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar urged compliance with the deal. But the UN report warned in its report that a cease-fire should be the top priority for the militants. Last year "could have been the year of peace in Afghanistan. Instead, thousands of Afghan civilians perished," said Deborah Lyons, head of UNAMA. "Parties refusing to consider a cease-fire must recognize the devastating consequences." With reporting by AP and Reuters [February 23, 2021] Wolters Kluwer Lien Solutions Earns Three Major Product Innovation Awards Wolters Kluwer Lien Solutions has won three major industry accolades for excellence in product innovation. Two of its solutions-iLien Motor Vehicle and Portfolio Sync-have earned "Product of the Year" distinctions in Finance Monthly magazine's hotly contested 2021 FinTech Awards, while its iLien for Main Street offering won a 2021 BIG Innovation Award in the "Banking Innovations" category. The three awards were decided by independent editorial panels and recognize Wolters Kluwer Lien Solutions' ongoing leadership in developing expert solutions. Finance Monthly is a global publication within the Universal Media group, providing news, commentary and analysis, and distributed to more than 195,000 people each month. The Business Intelligence Group's (BIG) Innovation Awards recognize organizations, products, and people that are "bringing new ideas to life in innovative ways." "These honors reinforce Wolters Kluwer Lien Solutions' ongoing commitment to bringing innovative solutions in lien and title management services to the financial services market," said Raja Sengupta, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Wolters Kluwer Lien Solutions. "More importantly, these three solutions share a common inspiration in that their development and successful implementation are largely due to the critical, sustained input of our customers on what matters the most to them as the environment changes-and the increasingly important role that technological innovation plays in helping solve complex customer challenges." iLien Motor Vehicle, a cloud-based SaaS (News - Alert) solution that serves as a single source for processing and managing motor vehicle titles and liens, helps solve the most unique and complicated challenges in title perfection. Portfolio Sync is a first-of-its-kind UCC lien management product that combines all of a lender's existing liens into one view, no matter how or where they were filed. It provides greater visibility into the entire lending portfolio, so issues that could effect a lender's secured interests can be identified and managed across all liens from one dashboard. iLien for Main Street helps lenders optimize their due diligence and lien management efforts when securing loans for small and medium-sized businesses under the Main Street Lending Program. Wolters Kluwer Lien Solutions, part of the Wolters Kluwer's Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) division, provides comprehensive lien management, debtor due diligence, monitoring, and risk management solutions to financial professionals. Its iLien suite of products delivers solutions for asset-backed loan, real-estate and vehicle title processing and management to help reduce complexity in lien lifecycle management and promote more confident lending decisions. Wolters Kluwer's GRC division provides an array of expert solutions to help U.S. financial institutions manage regulatory and risk obligations. Lien Solutions' UCC Manage solution enables lenders to manage and address risks in their entire UCC lien portfolio with analytics, visibility and automation. Wolters Kluwer Compliance Solutions' Paycheck Protection Program Supported by TSoftPlus, meanwhile, helps U.S. lenders' small business customers access critical stimulus funding. In addition, CT Corporation has launched a Covid-19 resource center to provide businesses and law firms with international, federal and state legislative updates. About Wolters Kluwer Governance, Risk & Compliance Governance, Risk & Compliance is a division of Wolters Kluwer, which provides legal and banking professionals with solutions to help ensure compliance with ever-changing regulatory and legal obligations, manage risk, increase efficiency, and produce better business outcomes. GRC offers a portfolio of technology-enabled expert services and solutions focused on legal entity compliance, legal operations management, banking product compliance, and banking regulatory compliance. Wolters Kluwer (AEX: WKL) is a global leader in information services and solutions for professionals in the health, tax and accounting, risk and compliance, finance and legal sectors. Wolters Kluwer reported 2019 annual revenues of 4.6 billion. The company, headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands, serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries and employs 19,000 people worldwide. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005094/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A woman has been rushed to hospital after being seriously assaulted with what police believe was a hammer in a hotel in Sydney's CBD. Police rushed to the hotel in Pitt Street at 11pm on Tuesday night to reports the woman had been brutally bashed at the Primus Hotel. She was stabilised by NSW Ambulance paramedics and taken to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Camperdown. The woman was seriously injured in the hotel assault and was rushed to hospital by ambulance crews Disturbing images showed the woman hooked up to machines by paramedics and being wheeled into an ambulance. It remains unknown if the woman knew her attacker. Forensic detectives were spotted at the 1930s style hotel on Wednesday morning just after 8am searching for clues in a bid to ascertain the motive of the horrific incident. Officers from the Sydney City Police Area Command also attended and established a crime scene. Police have urged anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 23, ARMENPRESS. A stable operational situation with no incidents has been maintained along the Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact of the Armenian state border overnight February 22-23, the Defense Ministry of Armenia told Armenpress. According to the information provided by the Armenian National Security Service, no border incidents were registered in Vorotan-Davit Bek section of the Goris-Kapan inter-state road which is under the responsibility of the NSS border troops. The Armed Forces of Armenia and the NSS border troops confidently control the border situation along the entire length of the border zone. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan Alex Salmond has accused Nicola Sturgeon's husband of attempting to have him 'imprisoned' as part of conspiracy at the top of the SNP. The former First Minister claims Peter Murrell led a 'deliberate, prolonged, malicious and concerted effort' to damage his reputation and remove him from public life. Mr Salmond also implicates Miss Sturgeon's chief of staff Liz Lloyd in the alleged plot to bring him down. In a submission last night to the Holyrood inquiry looking into the botched investigation of himself, Mr Salmond levelled serious allegations against other senior SNP figures, including compliance officer Ian McCann and chief operating officer Sue Ruddick. He said others who cannot be named for legal reasons were also involved. In a different submission, Ms Lloyd ardently rejected being part of a conspiracy and said this was 'not substantiated by any evidence'. She also denied leaking details of a Scottish Government inquiry into the allegations to the Daily Record newspaper. Alex Salmond has accused Nicola Sturgeon's husband and other senior figures in the SNP of attempting to have him 'imprisoned' as part of a conspiracy around the investigation into claims against the former First Minister The former First Minister claims Peter Murrell led a 'deliberate, prolonged, malicious and concerted effort' to damage his reputation and remove him from public life But Mr Salmond gave in a signed statement from a senior SNP official at Westminster who claimed senior figures within the party were engaged in a 'witch hunt' against Mr Salmond. Mr Salmond said he had come to the 'inescapable conclusion' in his evidence, in which he also launched a fierce attack on senior civil servants and the Crown Office. Last night, it was confirmed that the former SNP leader will appear before MSPs tomorrow as they examine the Government's botched handling of harassment complaints against him. The exercise was set aside after it was found to be unlawful and tainted by apparent bias. Mr Salmond was awarded more than 512,000 to cover his legal fees. Last night Miss Sturgeon claimed there was 'not a shred of evidence' of a conspiracy. Miss Sturgeon previously saw Mr Salmond as a 'mentor' to her during his time as First Minister, but the pair have drifted apart in recent years He was charged with 13 counts of sexual assault, including attempted rape. Mr Salmond was acquitted of all charges in March 2020. And in his submission to the inquiry, Mr Salmond said that had it not been for the jury system in Scotland, a campaign to remove him from public life might have 'succeeded'. 'However, underlying all of this and perhaps the most serious issue of all is the complete breakdown of the necessary barriers which should exist between Government, political party and indeed the prosecution authorities in any country which abides by the rule of law.' He states says he has never before used the word 'conspiracy' to describe his situation, but he added: 'The evidence supports a deliberate, prolonged, malicious and concerted effort amongst a range of individuals within the Scottish Government and the SNP to damage my reputation, even to the extent of having me imprisoned.' He went on to say: 'That includes, for the avoidance of doubt, Peter Murrell (chief executive), Ian McCann (compliance officer) and Sue Ruddick (chief operating officer) of the SNP together with Liz Lloyd, the First Minister's chief of staff. 'There are others who, for legal reasons, I am not allowed to name.' He added: 'It has been a matter of public interest whether there was "a conspiracy". I have never adopted the term but note the Cambridge English Dictionary defines it as "the activity of secretly planning with other people to do something bad or illegal".' According to Mr Salmond, the 'most obvious and compelling evidence of such conduct' is contained in materials the Crown Office 'refuses to release'. He said: 'That decision is disgraceful.' Mr Salmond has called for evidence he obtained ahead of his criminal trial but was not used in court to be released by prosecutors, however they have refused to do so. He said such a move 'makes it impossible for the Committee to complete its task; and that the 'only beneficiaries of that decision to withhold evidence are those involved in conduct to damage (and indeed imprison) me'. Nationalist says party requires time out to heal The SNP is so divided it needs a period in opposition to 'sort itself out', a nationalist academic said. Professor James Mitchell raised concerns about the impact fundamental splits over Alex Salmond, policy and the independence strategy have had on the party. He said the divisions have caused 'internal bloodletting' which is only normally seen in parties after a major election defeat. On his Sceptical Scot blog, Professor Mitchell, chair of public policy at Edinburgh University, said: 'The SNP needs a period in opposition to sort itself out. It has no credible road map to anywhere other than victory at the next elections. 'It hopes a big win will restore Nicola Sturgeon's authority. If that happens, it is likely to be short-lived.' Scottish Conservative chief whip Miles Briggs said: 'The SNP are so divisive that they are now splitting apart their own party too.' Advertisement Mr Salmond also accuses Mr Murrell of deploying 'his senior staff to recruit and persuade staff and ex-staff members to submit police complaints'. He said: 'This activity was being co-ordinated with special advisers and was occurring after the police investigation had started and after I ceased to be a member of the SNP.' Mr Murrell has previously denied there was a conspiracy against Mr Salmond. Mr Salmond has also used his final submission before appearing at Holyrood to demand resignations over the affair, hitting out at the 'real cost' to the Scottish people which he believes to be 'many millions' of pounds. He said: 'No one in this process has uttered the simple words necessary on occasions to renew and refresh democratic institutions "I resign".' But last night Miss Sturgeon claimed there was 'not a shred of evidence' of a conspiracy. She told STV News: 'He has made claims, or he appears to be making claims or suggestions there was some kind of conspiracy against him or concerted campaign against him. 'There is not a shred of evidence about that, so this is the opportunity for him to replace insinuation and assertion with evidence. I don't believe he can because I know what he is saying is not true. 'If he can't provide that evidence he should stop making these claims about people because they're not fair.' She refutes Mr Salmond's claims that she did breach the ministerial code. She added: 'The Scottish Government, of course, made a mistake in this. But this week it's an opportunity for Alex Salmond I hope he will come to the committee on Wednesday. An SNP spokesman said: 'This is just more assertion without a shred of credible evidence.' Yesterday, Rape Crisis Scotland demanded that the Scottish parliament should convene an 'emergency' meeting to rethink the decision to publish Mr Salmond's submission. Chief executive Sandy Brindley warned it was 'inexplicable' Holyrood chiefs would 'knowingly publish' material which could risk identifying someone who had complained about Mr Salmond. Last night a spokesman for Mr Salmond said: 'We have now reached agreement with the parliamentary clerks on the publication of Mr Salmond's evidence. 'This clears the way for Mr Salmond to attend an oral hearing on Wednesday.' The reason I went public about my vaccination was to encourage all of our residents to educate themselves and do the same, Sussman said. This vaccine provides hope that we will be able to combat the disease and resume our normal lives with family and friends. I want Buffalo Grove to be able to continue with all of the activities that make it a great place to live, work and raise a family. EUGENE, Ore. Former Home Improvement actor Zachery Ty Bryan will spend three years on probation after pleading guilty Tuesday morning to one count of menacing and one count of fourth-degree assault. Bryan, 39, also agreed to have no further contact with the victim in the case. The other six counts against him were dismissed as part of a plea agreement. Bryan is best known for the role he played on the Home Improvement television sitcom. The show aired for eight seasons from 1991 to 1999. Bryan was arrested in Eugene on Oct. 16, 2020, following an incident at a northeast Eugene apartment involving a woman he was living with at the time. He was accused of assaulting her and impeding her breathing. The charges constituted domestic violence. The prosecutor on Tuesday said that when the incident occurred, Bryan and the victim were in a relationship and were living together part-time in Oregon and part-time in California. Bryans attorney said that at the time of his arrest Bryan was separated from his wife, but he is attempting to reconcile with her. The couple has four children. Bryan is currently a film and television producer and has his own production company in Los Angeles, the attorney said. Tuesdays sentencing was a video conference conducted by Lane County Circuit Court. Northern Ireland could be hit by the worst Covid-19 wave yet if all pupils return to school at once, it has been warned. The chief medical officer (CMO) has said he cannot rule out the possibility of another lockdown, including further school closures, if measures currently in place are lifted too quickly. Dr Michael McBride was speaking after the Education Minister questioned the advice the Executive received from medical experts over the reopening of schools. Peter Weir has said there is a "strong case" for all pupils to go back to class on March 8, while stating he believes health officials at Stormont had been "over-cautious" in recommending a phased return. However, speaking yesterday afternoon, Dr McBride said: "There is a significant risk at this point in time, if we move back from the current restrictions too quickly or too rapidly, that we will see a resurgence in cases and that could result in a further wave of infection that could be even greater than the numbers we saw back in January. Expand Close Dr Michael McBride / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dr Michael McBride "That's why it's very important that the decision by the Executive, in terms of returning to a degree of normality are carefully taken, informed by all of the evidence and one step at a time. And that one step at a time will allow us to assess the impact on transmission and the R number and then will inform the Executive's decision as to whether it is safe to move into the next step. "Therefore, it is important that in the return to school that that is phased and planned in a way, a step wise process, so that each phase we can estimate the impact to ensure we can keep community transmission down, the R number down, before we then open up the next phase of return to school. "That way, we will get schools back in a sustainable way. I think the worst thing would be that we have children all back in school potentially and see a very significant rise in community transmission and that puts the whole thing back again. We all want children back in school, children need to be back in school and my advice is we just do that cautiously and carefully, but ultimately those are decisions for the Education Minister and for the Executive." Dr Tom Black, from the British Medical Association, said: "We have to follow the science, which is being watched very closely by the Department of Health and the CMO. The R rate is still quite high and lifting restrictions too quickly could result in it going over one." Read More Teaching unions have reacted angrily to the suggestion that the dates for the reopening of schools should be revisited by the Executive. First Minister Arlene Foster wants to put the dates - which would see those in pre-school and primary one to three pupils returning on March 8 - back on the agenda ahead of the Executive's review of lockdown restrictions. "On Thursday the Executive made a decision based on advice from the Health Minister and the CMO," said NASUWT national official Justin McCamphill. "It is irresponsible for the First Minister to publicly undermine the Executive's heath advisers in this way. A plan was put in place last Thursday that can provide a basis for a safe return to school, ditching this plan simply to match the position in England would be a mistake. While there isn't a consensus in the profession in relation to the current plan, the focus now has to be on making that plan operable and as safe as possible. "Teachers have many questions around workload and safe working practices which must be answered in the coming days, but only a staged approach will allow for proper monitoring of the impact of reopening. We cannot repeat the mistakes that were made before, our children and young people deserve better than a boom-and-bust approach to Covid." Dr Graham Gault, president of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), said that school leaders remain very eager to see all children and young people back at school. "If the comments by the First Minister are more than just political gesturing, we require the medical evidence to demonstrate that it will be safe, details on how school leaders will be supported, particularly with regards to their workload," he said. "Then we need details on what further workable safety measures will be put in place, details of the prioritisation for all front-line education staff for vaccination and a clear explanation of what serious restrictions are going to be imposed on wider society to enable our schools to be opened for all children in a sustainable way. "Our young people do not need to come back to on-site learning, just to be sent off again, and they do not need to come back just to return to the endless cycle of isolations that they endured prior to Christmas." Diamond drilling is testing for nickel sulphides at an EM anomaly at Wattle Dam East deposit, which occurs within prospective stratigraphy along strike from other regional players. Resources Limited ( ) (FRA:M5F) has begun drilling at the highly prospective Wattle Dam East nickel target within its Spargoville tenements, 25 kilometres from BHP Group Ltds (ASX:BHP) (NYSE:BHP) Kambalda Nickel Concentrator. A large conductor in the order of 6000-8000 Siemens has been modelled from 150 metres below surface and dipping moderately to the west. This conductor occurs within prospective stratigraphy along strike from other regional players. Highly prospective stratigraphy The company is encouraged by the discrete conductor occurring within laterally continuous prospective stratigraphy. Ultramafic rocks that host sulphide nickel mineralisation in the Spargoville-Mt Edwards corridor characteristically have north-northwest strike and dip west at 55-75 degrees, as observed at s ( ) (OTCMKTS:RRSSF) (FRA:9R9) Zabel nickel deposit which is around 900 metres to the south, and at ( ) Andrews Shaft nickel mine, around 1,300 metres to the north. The modelled conductance of the Wattle Dam East anomaly can be typical of sulphide occurrences; but this is dependent on sulphide abundance, mineralogy and texture. Regional nickel sulphide mineralisation The presence of a late-time conductor and discrete spatial extent of the EM anomaly is encouraging for a blind nickel-sulphide target. Nickel sulphide mineralisation in the Kambalda area is related to ultramafic komatiite lava extrusion and mineralisation is hosted both within komatiite and at the basal contact with underlying basalts. Recent greenfield nickel discoveries in the area include ( ) (OTCMKTS:MCRZF) (FRA:MV3) Cassini Nickel Deposit with an ore reserve of 1.05 million tonnes grading 3.3% nickel. Diamond drill program The EM anomaly will be tested by a single diamond drill hole at the centre of the modelled conductor, at around 400 metres below surface. Drilling at Wattle Dam East is expected to be completed by late February 2021 with assay results provided as received. TymeBank has announced that it has secured an investment of R1.6 billion from new investors in the UK and Philippines. It said the investment is one of the largest foreign investments any fintech company has secured in South Africa, and will be used to boost TymeBanks growth and accelerate it on its path to commercial success. The new investors in TymeBank are Apis Growth Fund II, a private equity fund managed by Apis Partners, and JG Summit Holdings, which is one of the largest and renowned conglomerates in the Philippines. Along with TymeBanks existing shareholders, which includes majority shareholder African Rainbow Capital, the new investors are committed to growing TymeBank into a top tier retail bank in South Africa, the bank said. They have also entered into an agreement to launch a digital bank in the Philippines, testament to the innovation and digital banking capabilities TymeBank has built. Both these investors are experienced in financial services in emerging markets. Apis is a private equity asset manager that supports growth-stage financial services and financial infrastructure businesses, it added. Big growth for TymeBank TymeBank currently has 2.8 million customers and is expected to reach a milestone of 3 million customers by the end of March 2021. The bank is celebrating its second anniversary this month, having officially launched on 26 February 2019. TymeBank said it adds an average of 110,000 new customers per month, adding that the pandemic has increased demand for its services. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased demand across all customer income groups in South Africa for digital banking options, TymeBank said. This supports TymeBanks goal to grow its customer base to 4 million by 2022. The bank said it plans to greatly expand its product offering, a plan which will be enabled by this new investment. It aims to launch insurance products, credit cards, and other value-added services to customers in future. As the controlling shareholder in TymeBank, African Rainbow Capital is delighted to have our new co-investors onboard, said African Rainbow Capital chairman Dr Patrice Motsepe. The invested amount of R1.6 billion is no small feat both in terms of drawing investment into South Africas financial services sector as well as investing into a fledgeling part of the sector in our country. We look forward to a long-term partnership with Apis and the Gokongwei family, he said. All the parties involved in the R1.6-billion investment are pictured below. Now read: Problems with Discovery Bank credit card charges The Oregon Health Authority reported 324 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday and no additional deaths. The numbers come as Portland-area seniors 70 and older became eligible for a COVID-19 vaccination Monday. Many reported a slow-moving website and major glitches as they tried unsuccessfully to schedule a vaccination appointment starting 9 a.m. at one of the areas two mass vaccination sites at the Portland International Airport and the Oregon Convention Center. All available online appointments were gone well within the first hour. The competition for appointments is expected to intensify further next Monday when more than 200,000 seniors 65 to 69 years old become eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. Where the new cases are by county: Baker (5), Benton (8), Clackamas (25), Columbia (3), Coos (18), Curry (10), Deschutes (11), Douglas (14), Harney (2), Hood River (1), Jackson (43), Jefferson (4), Lane (12), Linn (2), Marion (26), Morrow (1), Multnomah (83), Polk (12), Tillamook (1), Union (1), Washington (32) and Yamhill (10). Who died: The state health authority did not report any new deaths Monday. The prevalence of infections: On Monday, the state reported 730 new positive tests out of 21,031 tests performed, equaling a 3.5% positivity rate. Who got infected: State officials had not disclosed detailed information since Friday. Since then, new confirmed or presumed infections grew among the following age groups: 0-9 (42); 10-19 (148); 20-29 (191); 30-39 (150); 40-49 (134); 50-59 (120); 60-69 (78); 70-79 (39); 80 and older (38). Whos in the hospital: The state reported 167 Oregonians with confirmed coronavirus infections were hospitalized Monday, one more than Sunday. Of those, 47 coronavirus patients were in intensive care units, three more than Sunday. Vaccines administered: Oregon has administered 821,311 first and second doses out of 924,575 received, which is about 88.8% of its supply. Oregon reported 18,907 newly administered doses, which includes 13,790 on Sunday and the remainder from previous days. Since it began: Oregon has reported 153,134 confirmed or presumed infections and 2,155 deaths, among the lowest per capita numbers in the nation. To date, the state has reported over 3,498,165 lab reports from tests. -- Jaimie Ding jding@oregonian.com; 503-221-4395; @j_dingdingding 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 Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) on Monday took steps such as relaxation in conditions for insured women to avail sickness benefit and decision to establish more hospitals to improve its service delivery mechanism. The decisions were taken during ESIC's 184th meeting held under the chairmanship of Minister of State for Labour and Employment Santosh Kumar Gangwar, the ministry said in a release. "After the enhancement in duration of maternity benefit from earlier 12 weeks to 26 weeks, in some cases insured women were not eligible to avail sickness benefit in the corresponding benefit period after availing maternity benefit as the mandatory contributory conditions of minimum 78 days were not met...," it said. Also read: Workers to get 50% wage after 30 days of unemployment; rules eased for ESIC members In such cases, it has been now decided that an insured woman will be qualified to claim sickness benefit in the corresponding benefit period if the contribution in her respect were paid or payable for not less than half the number of days available for working in such shorter contribution period, the ministry said. Besides, the closure of factories during the lockdown period resulted in non-entitlement to avail sickness and maternity benefits for many insured persons (IPs) and women as the mandatory days of contribution couldn't be met. "Considering the hardship being faced by insured persons, ESIC has now decided to extend the relief to the IPs by relaxing the contributory conditions for availing sickness and maternity benefits for the benefit period of 01.01.2021 to 30.06.2021." It was also decided in the meeting to construct a 300-bedded hospital, including 50 super-specialty beds, in Haridwar. ESIC also approved construction of a 350-bed hospital with an additional 50-bed super-specialty wing at Sheelanagar in Vishakhapatnam. Besides, around 25 other agenda items pertaining to improvement in service delivery mechanism were also considered and approved, the release said. Also read: Labour Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar to launch software for five 'All India' surveys Also read: New labour codes to affect employees' in-hand salary, companies wage bill VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 23, 2021 / Golden Lake Exploration Inc. (CSE:GLM)(OTCQB:GOLXF) ("GLM" or the "Company") reported today the discovery of a high-grade (gold-silver-lead-zinc) mineralized oxide zone in diamond drill hole JR-20-DD12 completed in November 2020 on the Northeast Eureka Target on the company's keystone Jewel Ridge gold property located near the town of Eureka, Nevada. From surface an intercept of 24.54 meters was intersected returning 9.16 grams gold per tonne (g/t Au), 65.8 grams silver per tonne (g/t Ag), 1.03 percentage lead (% Pb), and 1.90 percentage zinc (% Zn). This intercept is hosted in Hamburg Dolomite and comprises both Carlin-type and CRD -type ("Carbonate Replacement Deposits") oxide mineralization. A higher "bonanza" grade portion from 15.21 meters to 18.44 meters returned 3.23 meters averaging 57.16 g/t Au, 452.0 g/t Ag, 7.23 % Pb, and 11.99% Zn. This "bonanza" intercept is interpreted by the Company geologists as similar to the historic Ruby Hill mines and can be described as an oxidized carbonate-hosted, structurally and lithologically controlled gold-silver (with associated lead-zinc) mineralization. The Jewel Ridge property hosts over a dozen past producing mines and prospects over a 4-kilometer strike on the Dunderberg-Windfall Belt, most worked in the late 1800's for gold, silver and lead, from shallow oxide deposits. Recently announced surface sampling of the South Eureka target area returned very similar mineralization averaging 3.43 Au, 196.3 g/t Ag, 8.8% Zn and 0.88% Pb (see Company PR dated Feb 1, 2021) and will become a focus of an upcoming diamond drill program. This sample area is located approximately 125 meters from the collar of hole JR-20-DD12, and on-trend, and interpreted as the south-west extension of the Northeast Eureka Zone. "Given our successful efforts to date we anticipated positive results, but this hole has definitely exceeded our highest expectations. We are excited to aggressively continue our work program to define and expand the targets identified in 2020 by drilling, rock and soil geochemistry, magnetics and Induced Polarization geophysics and structural mapping. Congratulations to our first-rate team of geologists and project managers." stated Mike England, CEO and President of Golden Lake. "The discovery of a high-grade "bonanza" zone is a great success and a "game-changer" for the property and the Company, and we await assays from one remaining core hole." DRILL HOLE JR-20-DD12 HIGHLIGHT SUMMARY Hole JR-20-DD12 was a vertical diamond core hole drilled close to reverse circulation ("RC") hole JR-20-06 which returned 22.86 meters from surface averaging 2.80 g/t Au and 5.9 g/t Ag. Three other RC holes have defined the tabular, oxide Northeast Eureka Zone with the average of four holes (including JR-20-06) over 21.34 meters returning 1.45 g/t Au and 4.8 g/t Ag. RC hole JR-20-06 lost circulation from 36.58 to 60.96 meters and the core hole JR-20-DD12 was successful in testing this interval, but also encountered drilling difficulty and was lost at 69.59 meters. A recently discovered Lower Mineralized Zone ("LMZ") intersected in hole RC-20-09 at depth of 160.02 meters, averaging 1.48 g/t Au and 1.3 g/t Ag over 10.67 meters, has not yet been tested by core drilling. The multiple stacked nature of the oxide gold mineralized horizons significantly enhances the tonnage potential of the Northeast Eureka Zone.in hole JR-20-09. The Company is awaiting assay results from one remaining diamond drill core hole completed in November on the Eureka Tunnel area. Drilling on the Jewel Ridge property during 2020 comprised 10 RC holes 5,200 feet (1,585 meters), and three diamond drill holes 1,236 feet (376.6 meters). Planning is in progress for a spring 2021 drill program on multiple target areas on Federal (BLM) and patented lands. Drilling Quality assurance and quality control statement Procedures have been implemented to assure QA/QC of drill hole assaying being done at an ISO accredited assay laboratory. All intervals of drill holes are being assayed and samples have been securely shipped and received by ALS Labs in Reno, Nevada, with chain-of-custody documentation through delivery. Mineralized commercial reference standards and coarse blank standards are inserted every 20th sample in sequence. All results will be analyzed for consistency. DRILL HOLE JR-20-DD12 DETAILED ASSAY RESULTS TO 34.66 METERS About the Jewel Ridge Property The Jewel Ridge property is located on the south end of Nevada's prolific Battle Mountain - Eureka trend, along strike and contiguous to Barrick Gold's Archimedes/Ruby Hill gold mine to the north and Timberline Resources' advanced-stage Lookout Mountain project to the south. The property comprises 96 unpatented lode mining claims and 30 patented claims covering approximately 728 hectares (1,800 acres). The Jewel Ridge property contains several historic small gold mines. The Company's focus is on Carlin-style disseminated gold deposits, the primary focus in the area since the late 1970s. Nevada Carlin-type gold deposits (CTGD) have a combined endowment of more than 250 million ounces, which are concentrated (85 per cent) in only four trends or camps of deposits: Carlin, Cortez (Battle Mountain-Eureka), Getchell and Jerritt Canyon. The Company cautions that results on adjacent and/or nearby projects are not necessarily indicative of results on the Company's property. Qualified person Golden Lake Exploration's disclosure of a technical or scientific nature in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Garry Clark, P.Geo., who serves as a qualified person under the definition of National Instrument 43-101. About Golden Lake Exploration Inc. Golden Lake Exploration is a junior public mining exploration company engaged in the business of mineral exploration and the acquisition of mineral property assets. Its objective is to acquire, explore and develop economic precious and base metal properties of merit and to aggressively advance its exploration program on the Jewel Ridge property. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Mike England" _________________________________ Mike England, CEO & DIRECTOR FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Telephone: 1-604-683-3995 TollFree:1-888-945-4770 Neither the Canadian Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Investors are cautioned that these forward looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. These forward -looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings with SEDAR in Canada (available at WWW.SEDAR.COM). SOURCE: Golden Lake Exploration Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/631335/Golden-Lake-Reports-Bonanza-Grade-Discovery-in-Hole-Jr-20-DD12-from-Jewel-Ridge-Property-Nevada-Including-2454-Meters-Averaging-916-gt-Gold-and-658-gt-Silver-Including-323-Meters-Averaging-5716-gt-Gold-and-4520-gt-Ag Oak Brook, IL - The Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) is pleased to announce a collaboration with the Pistoia Alliance to support and promote innovative life sciences start-ups and emerging companies. The SLAS Ignite Program is a multi-pronged initiative to promote innovation, pioneering research, start-up and emerging companies and their products, and commercialization and collaboration opportunities for all involved. Through Innovation AveNEW and the Ignite Award, Ignite Academic Collaborations and other activities, SLAS underscores its foundational commitment to enabling scientists, academic researchers and business development professionals to build relationships as potential strategic partners. The Pistoia Alliance is a global organization made up of life science companies, technology and service providers, publishers, and academic groups working together to lower barriers to innovation in life science and healthcare R&D. Its President's Startup Challenge provides the opportunity for start-ups to pitch their company to the Alliance's annual conference audience, with the winners gaining access to prize funds and long-term support through an ecosystem dedicated to fostering innovation. Through the new collaboration, SLAS's Innovation AveNEW participants will now have the opportunity to apply for inclusion in the Pistoia President's Startup Challenge to gain visibility and recognition in addition to potential award monies. Earlier this year, the Pistoia Alliance participated in a parallel judging process for the SLAS2021 Ignite Award, which resulted in the award of an additional $5,000 Pistoia Alliance sponsored prize to Artificial Inc., the SLAS2021 Ignite Award winner. Innovation AveNEW participants at the SLAS International Conference and Exhibition and the SLAS Europe 2021 Conference and Exhibition will have the opportunity to apply for consideration in the Pistoia Alliance's President's Startup Challenge final in October 2021. "We're looking forward to this collaboration with the Pistoia Alliance and the potential that it brings to both of our organizations in furthering our support for life sciences start-up companies," says SLAS CEO Vicki Loise. "It's a win-win for the participants and brings additional awareness of Innovation AveNEW, the Ignite Award and the President's Startup Challenge to the life sciences community." "Life sciences innovation requires the whole industry to work together and support the start-up community, which is crucial to driving innovation in our industry. We are pleased to be joining forces with SLAS's flagship competition and look forward to helping amplify awareness of new innovation in our industry," added Dr. Steve Arlington, President of the Pistoia Alliance. The SLAS2021 Digital Ignite Award winner, Artificial, Inc. (Palo Alto, CA, USA) will give a brief presentation at the new SLAS Ignite Showcase virtual event, March 2, 2021, 9:00 - 11:30 a.m. CST. Several panel discussions featuring academic and industry entrepreneurs will participate in the program focused on launching and building successful life science start-up companies. ### SLAS (Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening) is an international professional society of academic, industry and government life sciences researchers and the developers and providers of laboratory automation technology. The SLAS mission is to bring together researchers in academia, industry and government to advance life sciences discovery and technology via education, knowledge exchange and global community building. The Pistoia Alliance is a global, not-for-profit members' organization made up of life science companies, technology and service providers, publishers, and academic groups working to lower barriers to innovation in life science and healthcare R&D. It was conceived in 2007 and incorporated in 2009 by representatives of AstraZeneca, GSK, Novartis and Pfizer who met at a conference in Pistoia, Italy. Its projects transform R&D through pre-competitive collaboration. It overcomes common R&D obstacles by identifying the root causes, developing standards and best practices, sharing pre-competitive data and knowledge, and implementing technology pilots. There are currently over 150 member companies; members collaborate on projects that generate significant value for the worldwide life sciences R&D community, using The Pistoia Alliance's proven framework for open innovation. For further information visit http://www. pistoiaalliance. org Contact Information: Jill Hronek, Director of Marketing Communications Telephone: +1.630.256.7527, ext. 103 E-mail: jhronek@slas.org The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV. A team of seven students from H.H. Dow High School in Midland is among 13 teams nationwide awarded the prestigious Lemelsom-MIT InvenTeams grant to invent solutions that solve real-world problems. Since the announcement of their award on Oct. 27, the team has been hard at work on their invention of a drain cover which opens in the presence of moisture. "Inspiration for our innovation transpired when of our team members reflected on his experience with sewer gas emissions and pesky mosquito presence," said team representative Abigail Ahn. "We realized both issues could be addressed at drainage entry points with a smart drain cover. Looking locally, we discovered that a similar issue existed in nearby Bay City due to the 100-year-old drainage system. Due to this local need, we decided to pursue the invention of a Moisture-Actuated Drain Cover." Up to two-thirds of gas industry job losses reported last year were in Western Australia due to cuts by Woodside and Chevron, a new analysis by The Australia Institute claims. The industry cut 10.5 per cent of its workforce nationally totalling at least 2615 workers during the 12 months to December 2020, the think tank said, citing the Australian Bureau of Statistics. It remains unknown exactly how many jobs were lost at Woodsides Karratha gas plant in the early days of the pandemic. Credit:Aaron Bunch Woodside and Chevron, which only have projects in WA, were the companies that reportedly carried out the largest cuts, said TAI principal adviser Mark Ogge: 1200 at Woodside, or one-third of its workforce, and 510 at Chevron, a quarter of its workforce. It is particularly concerning given the serious defects at Chevrons troubled Gorgon project that they are laying off over 500 workers. Surely if they were concerned about safety and fixing their defective [carbon capture and storage] operation they would be putting on more staff not less, Mr Ogge said. The chairman of a city in northern Vietnam has demanded that police launch investigate two nurses at a local hospital for allegedly causing COVID-19 infections in the community. N.V.Q., 27, living in Le Chan District, Hai Phong and D.T.Ph., 26, dwelling in the city's Thuy Nguyen District, who were confirmed as two COVID-19 patients on Monday, showed signs of violations of disease prevention and control, according to the reports of the municipal Department of Health and Peoples Committee. Ph. was found carrying the virus after Hai Phongs health sector had conducted mass COVID-19 testing at medical facilities and in the community on Sunday. In contact with Ph., her younger sister and Q. also tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Q. and Ph. are in a relationship and both working as nurses at Hai Phong Transport Hospital. According to contact-tracing results, Q. traveled to his hometown in Cam Giang District, Hai Duong Province, currently a COVID-19 hotspot, on February 3. But Q. dodged health declaration as required upon his return to Hai Phong. On February 7, Q. and Ph. had meals at an eatery and went to a supermarket, a gold shop, a cafe, and acquaintances houses. The couple visited a total of 19 locations in the city. Hai Phong chairman Nguyen Van Tung has ordered an investigation into the case while demanding that relevant agencies strictly deal with the couple and related people in accordance with Vietnamese law. In light of new local infections, Hai Phong authorities have sealed off an entire village and a hospital since Monday. The secretary of the municipal Party Committee has also requested all residents to avoid going outside and leaving their houses after 10:00 pm every day after a new COVID-19 cluster was recently detected in the locality. Hai Phong has documented four local COVID-19 cases since January 28, when the Ministry of Health confirmed the first domestic transmission after Vietnam had spent almost two months detecting zero community-based infections. A total of 803 local cases have been detected in 13 provinces and cities since then, making it the most serious outbreak to have struck Vietnam after the first-ever COVID-19 patient was recorded in the country on January 23, 2020. In this latest wave, 620 cases were logged in Hai Duong Province, 60 in Quang Ninh Province, 27 in Gia Lai Province, 35 in Hanoi, 36 in Ho Chi Minh City, five in Bac Ninh Province, two in Bac Giang Province, two in Hoa Binh Province, one in Ha Giang Province, three in Dien Bien Province, six in Binh Duong Province, and two in Hung Yen Province. The national tally stood at 2,395 coronavirus cases, including 1,496 local infections, as of Tuesday morning, with 1,717 recoveries and 35 virus-related deaths, according to the Ministry of Healths data. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Kolkata, Feb 23 : The Indian Navy and Coast Guard personnel have been feeding and providing medical attention to a group of 90 Rohingya refugees and three Bangladesh crewmen on a boat that was stranded on high seas after it drifted into India's territorial waters on Monday. Humanitarian groups monitoring the plight of the sea-stranded Rohingyas say the Indian sailors have given them some food and water and doctors have attended to the sick on the boat off India's Andamans islands. "The navy doctors are on the Rohingya boat to treat the sick. "Eight of them have died since Saturday and many are suffering acute dehydration and diarohhea. But we learn that the Indians are not rescuing the Rohingyas," said Chris Lewa of the Bangkok-based 'Arakan Project'. "The last we heard from the Rohingyas was on Monday night when the one sat-phone on the boat was still working. Now that contact is lost. Nobody is taking our call on that sat-phone," said Chris Lewa, who has a long association with the Rohingyas through her humanitarian project providing relief to the hapless refugees often stranded in hostile host countries or at sea. She welcomed the Indian supplies and medical treatment but appeared worried by unconfirmed reports that Indian technicians were trying to repair the boat's engine. If that was true, she said, it would mean the Indians would not mount a full-fledged rescue mission, rather leave the boat inmates pursue their perilous journey to South-east Asia. "We would welcome an Indian rescue effort followed by repatriation of these Rohingyas to Bangladesh, from where they boarded this boat on 11 February at a point south of Cox's Bazar. Or else many Rohingyas will die, " said Chris Lewa. The 'Arakan Project' has confirmed the presence of 65 Rohingya women and girls, five children below the age of 2 and 20 men on the boat. Since the boat's engines stopped functioning six days ago, it has been drifting towards India's Andaman islands from its course. But Indian navy sources said they were 'trying to ascertain the identity of a boat that seems to have drifted into Indian waters off the Andaman coast'. They promised details later, understandably tight-lipped because the Indian government, strongly opposed to any Rohingya presence in the country, has not yet cleared a rescue mission by the sailors. The BJP has blamed West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress for harbouring illegal Rohingya migrants ahead of the state polls due this summer and demanded 'zero tolerance' to illegal infiltration from Bangladesh. So Lewa said she was directly appealing to the Indian government, especially the Indian Navy and Coast Guard deployed in Andamans to intervene. "Indian coast guard patrols have traced the Rohingya boat 40 km east of Rangat in the Andamans. They should save the inmates by taking them to safe shelter with food, water and medical treatment," Chris Lewa said. "They told me that 3 inmates of the boat died on Saturday and 5 on Monday -- all victims of acute diarohhea after consuming sea water," said Chris Lewa. UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has also appealed for immediate rescue of the Rohingya refugees on this boat. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees or UNHCR says it received reports of an "unconfirmed number of Rohingya refugees aboard a vessel in distress as of the evening of Saturday 20th February." "Saving lives must be the priority," said Indrika Ratwatte, the director of the UNHCR Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific said in a statement. "In line with international obligations under the law of the sea and longstanding maritime traditions, the duty to rescue persons in distress at sea should be upheld, irrespective of nationality or legal status. We appeal to all governments to deploy their search and rescue capacities and promptly disembark those in distress." "Many are in a highly vulnerable condition and are apparently suffering from extreme dehydration," Ratwatte added. "We understand that a number (of) refugees have already lost their lives and that fatalities have risen over the past 24 hours." UNHCR has said it would provide humanitarian assistance and quarantine measures for those who were rescued, in line with public health protocols. "The fact that refugees and migrants continue to undertake fatal journeys accentuates the need for immediate and collective regional response to search, rescue and disembarkation," the agency said in a statement. But now a furore has erupted over Malaysia's plans to repatriate 1,200 Rohingya refugees detained in special camps to Myanmar. Three Myanmar navy ships have arrived in Malaysia to pick up the 1,200 Rohingyas. But global rights groups and Western governments, including the US, have opposed the Malaysian plans on grounds this was an act of forced deportation that could endanger the Rohingyas on their return to Myanmar. Myanmar's democratic government has agreed to take back more than 40,000 Rohingyas from their camps in Bangladesh before the military takeover in the country. But Bangladesh officials said they were yet to hear from the Myanmar military-led government whether the commitment would be honoured. Bangladesh is trying to shift tens of thousand of Rohingyas to a new facility on a river island called Bhasan Char, saying it provided better living conditions than the cramped overcrowded camps around Cox's Bazar. Former Bangladesh information Minister Tarana Halim says this is the best that a poor, overcrowded nation could do for the hapless Rohingyas. Chris Lewa agreed. "Many Rohingyas are signing up for Bhasan Char, it is a better option than jumping on a boat and then dying for lack of food and water," she said. The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Twenty-one people were detained earlier today when special unit servicemen stormed the United National Movement office to arrest party chair Nika Melia, announces Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs. One of the leaders of the UNM Giorgi Baramidze is also among the detainees. In addition 17 citizens were given first aid and two of them were taken to a clinic. One hospitalised patient has already left the clinic and one other will leave the medical facility later today, announced the Ministry of Health of Georgia. Police used tear gas in the room where Melia was gathered with his supporters, however before starting the special operation they evacuated the UNM office, where party leaders and opposition parties' representatives had been protecting Melia for several days. Large Explosion Reported After Train Carrying Petroleum Collides With 18-wheeler in Texas A train carrying petroleum collided with an 18-wheeler truck in Texas, officials said on Tuesday. The collision caused an explosion and fire. Officials labeled the crash and apparent oil spill as a HAZMAT situation, according to the Cameron Police Department, reported Fox News. Elaborating, Milam County Judge Steve Young told KBTX that the crash occurred before 7 a.m. local time and several agencies are on the scene. Young said that 14 train cars derailed due to the collision but stated that it is not a HAZMAT situation. The truck driver and train conductor both survived the crash without major injuries, officials told KXXV. According to a local radio station, Cameron Fire Chief Henry Horelica stated that no residences have caught fire, adding that at least two structures were close to caching on fire. Evacuations are mostly complete and fire crews expect to remain on site the rest of today and into the night. HAZMAT teams are on their way from College Station and Temple, the station wrote on Facebook, citing Horelica. Photos and video footage show a significant fire with billowing black smoke following the incident. Other details were not provided about the crash. Cameron is located about 70 miles northeast of Austin. Advertisement Euro Outlook: EUR/JPY rates are holding above key technical thresholds that would suggest a longer-term bullish outlook is appropriate. EUR/USD rates have broken their intrayearly downtrend and are pointing higher. But e ach major EUR -cross has its own story to tell. EUR/GBP rates have lost ground for eight consecutive sessions, and nine of the past ten overall. According to the IG Client Sentiment Index , EUR/ GBP has a mixed bias, EUR/ JPY has a bearish bias, and EUR/ USD has a bullish bias. Euro Not in Drivers Seat The Euro does not have a compelling narrative driving its price action at present time, and as a result it has ceded the role of lead player to other major currencies themes. For EUR/JPY, it has meant following the prevailing move in risk assets, mainly stock markets. For EUR/GBP, it has been about differentials in vaccination rates and expected rates of growth. For EUR/USD, all attention has been on the Feds balance sheet and the Biden fiscal stimulus package. The rising yields narrative is non-existent when it comes to a point of support for the Euro. GERMAN BUND, JGB, UK GILT, & US TREASURY 10-YEAR YIELDS: WEEKLY CHART (February 2014 to February 2021) (CHART 1) In recent weeks, weve seen developed markets bond yields surge higher. But the gains seen off the 2021 lows by the German Bund 10-year yield (+58-bps) have been smaller compared to upward movements by the UK Gilt 10-year yield (+65-bps) and the US Treasury 10-year yield (+99-bps). The lack of relative yield advantage offered by the Euro, and the deterioration in this profile as yield differentials have moved in favor of other major currencies, may be part of the reason why the Euro hasnt been viewed as favorably as other currencies in recent weeks. EUR/USD RATE TECHNICAL ANALYSIS: DAILY CHART (February 2020 to February 2021) (CHART 2) Even as US Treasury yields have outpaced various European sovereign debt (German Bunds, French OATs, Italian BTPs, among others), EUR/USD has been able to maintain its elevation. A reconstituted trendline from the June and November 2020 lows saw the early-February selloff come into said trendline as support. Recently, the pair has broken the intrayearly downtrend from the January and February swing highs. This turn higher comes above a cluster of key technical supports: the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement of the 2019 low/2020 high range at 1.1945; the August and September 2020 highs at 1.1967 and 1.2011, respectively; and the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement of the 2017 low/2018 high range at 1.2033. Maintaining elevation above these levels has thus far warded off a significant bearish technical development; focus should be on bullish outcomes in the near-term. IG Client Sentiment Index: EUR/USD Rate Forecast (February 23, 2021) (Chart 3) EUR/USD: Retail trader data shows 41.32% of traders are net-long with the ratio of traders short to long at 1.42 to 1. The number of traders net-long is 0.42% lower than yesterday and 4.86% lower from last week, while the number of traders net-short is 1.70% higher than yesterday and 6.05% higher from last week. We typically take a contrarian view to crowd sentiment, and the fact traders are net-short suggests EUR/USD prices may continue to rise. Traders are further net-short than yesterday and last week, and the combination of current sentiment and recent changes gives us a stronger EUR/USD-bullish contrarian trading bias. EUR/JPY RATE TECHNICAL ANALYSIS: DAILY CHART (February 2020 to February 2021) (CHART 4) In the last Euro forecast update it was noted that EUR/JPY rates have broken out to the topside, trading above the rising trendline dating back to the 2012, 2016, and 2018 lows. In fact, by returning into this decade-plus symmetrical triangle, EUR/JPY rates have setup the technical posture to trade higher into 130.00 in the near-term, before attempting to break the downtrend from the 2008 (all-time high) and 2014 highs. The pair has proved itself resilient by maintaining its gains in the face of weakness in equity markets, leaving EUR/JPY well-positioned. Holding above the early-2021 high at 127.49 during this period of consolidation would also mean EUR/JPY was able to maintain its return above the ascending trendline from the 2012, 2016, and 2018 lows, a good omen for the future. IG Client Sentiment Index: EUR/JPY Rate Forecast (February 23, 2021) (Chart 5) EUR/JPY: Retail trader data shows 43.65% of traders are net-long with the ratio of traders short to long at 1.29 to 1. The number of traders net-long is 2.61% higher than yesterday and 22.77% higher from last week, while the number of traders net-short is 1.39% lower than yesterday and 15.07% lower from last week. We typically take a contrarian view to crowd sentiment, and the fact traders are net-short suggests EUR/JPY prices may continue to rise. Yet traders are less net-short than yesterday and compared with last week. Recent changes in sentiment warn that the current EUR/JPY price trend may soon reverse lower despite the fact traders remain net-short. EUR/GBP RATE TECHNICAL ANALYSIS: DAILY CHART (February 2020 to February 2021) (CHART 6) When we last reviewed EUR/GBP rates, it was noted that in bearish breakout territory indeed we are, with EUR/GBP rates moving below 0.8865. Likewise, EUR/GBP finds itself below the descending trendline from the 2007 and 2016 highs as well as the 2008 and 2016 highs. Its worth noting that EUR/GBP rates have not recovered despite the indicators working off their stretched bearish readings, suggesting that there is still an inherent downward bias among traders. Nearly two weeks later, EUR/GBP rates have continued their losing ways, down eight days in a row and nine out of the last ten overall en route to fresh yearly lows. EUR/GBP rates remain below the daily 5-, 8-, 13-, and 21-EMA envelope, which is in bearish sequential order. Daily MACD remains deep in bearish territory and daily Slow Stochastics are nestled in oversold territory. A test of the March 2020 low at 0.8593 seems likely in the days ahead. IG Client Sentiment Index: EUR/GBP Rate Forecast (February 23, 2021) (Chart 7) EUR/GBP: Retail trader data shows 61.29% of traders are net-long with the ratio of traders long to short at 1.58 to 1. The number of traders net-long is 4.36% lower than yesterday and 3.50% higher from last week, while the number of traders net-short is 1.25% higher than yesterday and 3.39% lower from last week. We typically take a contrarian view to crowd sentiment, and the fact traders are net-long suggests EUR/GBP prices may continue to fall. Positioning is less net-long than yesterday but more net-long from last week. The combination of current sentiment and recent changes gives us a further mixed EUR/GBP trading bias. --- Written by Christopher Vecchio, CFA, Senior Currency Strategist Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Purchasing and transporting of agricultural products from Hai Duong province Vietnams largest Covid-19 hotspot to other localities has been stalled for a few days due to epidemic prevention regulations applied in many neighboring provinces. Hanoians support sales of agro-products from Covid-19 hotspots. On February 21 the Ministry of Industry and Trade reported to the Prime Minister on measures to clear away difficulties for commodity circulation and promote agricultural product sales and purchases in Hai Duong province. The Ministry had discussions about the purchase and delivery of products with major distribution systems in the North, including the Central Group, which runs supermarket chains BigC and Go!, Vincommerce, the owner of Vinmart and Vinmart + chains, BRG Retail, which operates the BRG Mart supermarket chain, and the MM Mega Market chain. Central Group purchased about 100 tons of vegetables, tubers and fruits from Hai Duong province last week and the volume is expected to increase to 200 tons per week. MM Mega Market Vietnam has committed to support purchase of agricultural products for Hai Duong province. This firm has ordered 24.3 tons of vegetables per day and will increase output in the coming days. The Vinmart system has also ordered a number of safe agricultural products. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has also worked with relevant agencies of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, provinces and enterprises to discuss solutions to deal with consumers' hesitancy in using agricultural products and foodstuffs originating from epidemic-hit areas. However, the biggest problems come from the regulations set by local governments in epidemic prevention. Most of the Covid-19 control stations at the gateways to and from neighboring provinces and cities restrict or ban vehicles entering and leaving Hai Duong. It is also reported that the request for Covid-19 testing in the Ministry of Healths dispatch dated February 7 on the transport of goods, which is said to have many inappropriate points, has resulted in difficulty for sales of agricultural products at home and abroad. This directly affects Hai Duong province and other localities because Hai Duong is at the center of the development triangle of Hanoi - Hai Phong - Quang Ninh. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has asked the Prime Minister to direct the Ministry of Health to provide unified guidance on the circulation of people, goods and vehicles between epidemic-hit areas and other localities. The Ministry also asked Prime Minister to direct the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to work with the Ministry of Health to issue unified guidance on agricultural, forestry and fishery production processes to ensure disease prevention and sufficient conditions for distribution to domestic and export markets. Luong Bang Hanoi supports sales of agro-products from Covid-19 hotspots The trade ministry has urged provincial authorities across the country to boost the circulation of essential goods and the consumption of agricultural products in the context of the impact of Covid-19. The Tuesday cautioned a law student not to address the judges as Your honour as it was not the US When you call us Your Honour' it appears that you have the US in mind, a bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian told the law student. He immediately apologised to the bench and said that he would address the court as Your Lordship. To this, CJI Bobde said: Whatever, but don't use inappropriate terms. The bench told him that in the US Supreme Court and in magisterial court here, the court can be addressed as Your honour but not in Indian Supreme Court. The bench then asked him what his case was, to which the student, who appeared in-person, said that his plea seeks that infrastructure of the judiciary on the criminal jurisdiction side be strengthened. The bench told him that does he know that there is already a matter pending in the Supreme Court in which directions have been passed to strengthen the infrastructure of judiciary right up to subordinate judiciary level in a phased wise manner. The law student feigned ignorance after which the bench said that it appears that he has not done his homework before approaching the court. It told the petitioner that there is a pending case titled as Malik Mazhar Sultan versus UPSC in which directions have been issued to the Centre, different state governments and High Courts for strengthening of infrastructure right up to subordinate judiciary level. The bench adjourned the matter for four weeks and asked the student to come prepared on the next date of hearing. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 23) At least one person was reported dead while two are missing in Caraga region due to the onslaught of Tropical Storm Auring (international name: Dujuan), the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported Tuesday. The NDRRMC has not yet disclosed full details surrounding the casualties from Caraga as of writing. But Auring, which weakened into a low pressure area on Monday, has already dissipated on Tuesday morning, state weather bureau PAGASA said. Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said in a virtual briefing that President Rodrigo Duterte will visit affected residents in Caraga later in the day. Prior to landfall over Batag Island in Northern Samar on Monday, Auring brought heavy rains that triggered floods, and strong winds that damaged houses in parts of Visayas and Mindanao, prompting tens of thousands of affected residents to seek refuge in shelters. It also flooded villages in low-lying communities in some areas, including Surigao del Sur. Caraga recorded the highest number of affected evacuees due to Auring to date. Of the 18,996 families that underwent preemptive evacuation, 13,744 were from the region. The other evacuees were from Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga Peninsula. Meanwhile, 31,292 families from Caraga were from the 31,884 total population affected by the weather system. The other affected residents were from Bicol Region, Northern Mindanao and Zamboanga Peninsula. At least 240 houses were also damaged in Caraga and Zamboanga Peninsula as of Tuesday. This is a developing story. Today, 57 citizens demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan were apprehended in Yerevan during Tuesdays protest rally near the third building of the government of Armenia, according to the police department. They were apprehended under Article 182 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. The aforesaid article stipulates the failure to comply with the lawful requirements of police officers or servicemen of the police troops while carrying out their duties of maintaining public order, ensuring public safety, or guarding facilities. As reported earlier, a large number of police forces have been concentrated in front of the government buildings since Tuesday morning, as the opposition had announced Monday that they would hold a protest outside the third building of the government because PM Nikol Pashinyan was to come to that building. [February 23, 2021] Ynvisible & SpotSee Announce Collaboration to Bring New Temperature Indication Solutions To Market Ynvisible Interactive Inc. (the "Company" or "Ynvisible") (TSX-V: YNV, FSE: 1XNA, OTCQB: YNVYF) announces its first customer collaboration to bring new temperature indication solutions to market with SpotSee, the global leader in shock, vibration and temperature monitoring through low-cost connectivity and data. Both companies are partners in the CHARISMA project, funded by The European Union, Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions program. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005158/en/ TEMPSAFE Electrocard (Photo: Business Wire) "The global demand for temperature tracking and indicators is increasing and has been further highlighted with the global impacts of COVID-19. SpotSee is a global leader at providing solutions to deter, detect and diagnose adverse conditions in supply chain and operations through our wide range of smart-label solutions. We're looking forward to expanding our solutions offering." says Tony Fonk, CEO SpotSee. Cold-chain and temperature-controlled shipment for monitoring the storage of goods such as blood bags, premium foods, biomaterials, and medicines use temperature indication smart-label solutions. Ynvisible's displays are integrated into those smart-labels and then applied on the surface of or inside logistics packaging, allowing users to observe signals with their naked eye. "Our collaboration will help us realize real synergies between SpotSee's expertise and leadership in the cold-chain and monitoring supply chain and Ynvisible's ultra-low power, thin and flexible display technology." Says Michael Robinson, CEO Ynvisible Interactive. "Through our Roll-to-Roll manufacturing capability, technology know-how, and networks, we make it easy for our customers to unlock rvenue-enhancing opportunities. The CHARISMA project is co-ordinated by the Institute of Organic Chemistry, Vienna University (Austria), includes Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal), Tampere University (Finland), plus other partner companies, Science Made Simple, Packdesign ID Oy, and Trelic Oy. ABOUT SPOTSEE SpotSee is an internet of things end-to-end solution provider that enables customers to spot damage in their operations and see it in real time. SpotSee's mission is to help customers deter, detect and diagnose changing conditions and deliver that data to customers' fingertips from anywhere in the world. SpotSee devices monitor shock, vibration, temperature and other environmental conditions through its market-leading brands such as ShockWatch, ShockLog, SpotBot, OpsWatch, WarmMark, Thermax, TempSafe, TMC (News - Alert) Hallcrest and LCR Hallcrest. The company has a global network of over 1,800 sales and technical service partners in 62 countries. SpotSee is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with operations in Brazil, Netherlands, United Kingdom, China, Mexico, Illinois, and Texas. For more information, visit www.spotsee.io ABOUT YNVISIBLE INTERACTIVE INC. Ynvisible aims to be a leading company in the emerging printed and flexible electronics sector. Given the cost and power-consumption advantages over conventional electronics, printed electronics are a key enabler of mass adoption of the Internet of Things ("IoT") and smart objects. Ynvisible has the experience, know-how and intellectual property in electrochromic materials, inks, and systems. Ynvisible's interactive printed graphics solutions solve the need for ultra-low power, mass deployable, & easy-to-use electronic displays and indicators for everyday smart objects, IoT devices, and ambient intelligence (intelligent surfaces). Ynvisible offers a mix of services, materials and technology to brand owners developing smart objects and IoT products. Additional information on Ynvisible is available at www.ynvisible.com ON (News - Alert) BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS "Micheal Robinson", CEO, Ynvisible Interactive 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. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking" statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although Ynvisible Interactive Inc. believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of Ynvisible Interactive Inc. management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, Ynvisible Interactive Inc. undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005158/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Enterprises that make popular products for export have been at risk of collapse due to restrictions. Photo: Le Toan On February 17, hundreds of workers of Chinas Delancey Street Furniture Vietnam Co., Ltd. in the southern province of Binh Duongs Ben Cat district went to work as usual only to find that the company had shut down without notifying them. Nearly 350 workers became unemployed in an instant right after the national Lunar New Year holiday, following the companys dissolution decision. A Delancey representative said that the company had announced the dissolution on February 6. However, workers were off for the holidays so the company could not notify all of them. As the incident affected many people, Binh Duong Labour Confederation required the company to follow proper dissolution procedures in accordance with the law. The company should pay wages to all workers until there was an official decision to terminate their contracts according to the regulations. The leader of Binh Duong Labour Confederation added that local authorities have also instructed Delancey to follow the dissolution procedures. The company pledged to pay wages and other benefits for employees during the time of work suspension. Fortunately for some, Dai Loc Shoe Corporation in the same locality has declared itself willing to hire Delanceys workers. The case has raised concerns about the sudden disappearance of owners of foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) while still owing wages and social insurance to their workers, which has plagued some localities in recent years. In 2018, the owner of KaiYang Vietnam Co., Ltd., based in the northern city of Haiphong, ran away from a bank debt of more than VND150 billion ($6.5 million) and caused more than 2,000 workers to suddenly lose their jobs after just one day. In the same year, the leader of Metacor VN Co., Ltd. went away from its factory in Phu My I Industrial Park in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, leaving workers with unpaid social insurance and tax and bank debts of nearly VND150 billion ($6.5 million). Other cases involving Lifepro Vietnam, Kenmark, Ado Vina, Amanda, and Quatron Steel all left labourers tens of billions of VND in debt. According to Ho Chi Minh City Labour Confederation, during 2013-2018 a dozen FIEs went bankrupt and their owners fled, affecting 3,500 workers, mainly concentrated in textile and garment enterprises funded by South Korean, Taiwanese, and Japanese investors. Vo Van Hoan, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee, said that due to shrinking orders, many businesses have had to scale down production activities. He said that the city has so far recorded two labour disputes related to one FIE and one domestic enterprise in Cu Chi Industrial Zone with a total of 570 participants due to lower Lunar New Year bonuses. The employees requested the enterprise to pay an equal bonus to 2020. The city addressed the disputes through negotiation before the national holiday. Financial analysis by the Ministry of Finance by the end of 2020 showed that almost 55 per cent of FIEs recorded losses in 2019. Some in sectors like metallurgy, gas and oil, telecommunications, and software development have recorded losses for two consecutive years. Tran Thi Thanh Ha, deputy head of the Labour Relation Department under the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour, said that the government has issued a circular guiding these issues but it has yet to come to life. Above all, the Law on Enterprises does not include a concept of runaway business owners. It is necessary to simplify administrative procedures when enterprises carry out dissolution dossiers, as well as improve the efficiency of investment supervision, Ha said. Defence Minister Linda Reynolds will warn Australia needs to upgrade its defence forces to respond to a rapid military build-up in the region, accelerating technological advances and the growing use of coercive tactics from other countries. In a speech at the National Press Club in Canberra, Senator Reynolds will flag a further deepening of military ties with India and a strengthening of Australias munitions supply chains with the United States to boost the nations security. Defence Minister Linda Reynolds will tell the National Press Club Australia needs to prepare for threats in the region. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Without naming any particular country, Senator Reynolds will on Wednesday sound the alarm on tactics such as cyber-attacks and disinformation campaigns that are increasingly exploiting the grey area between peace and war and challenging Australias interests in new ways. She has previously warned Chinas actions have deeply unsettled the Indo-Pacific region and put at risk the security of Australia and its neighbours. SAN DIEGO, Feb. 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Non-alcoholic craft beer brewing pioneer Two Roots Brewing Co. announced today its continued expansion across the United States with product now sold in Massachusetts. The company has signed an agreement with local wholesalers Craft Beer Guild, L. Knife & Sons, and Seaboard Products, to cover the entire State. Retailers are currently placing orders and will have product on shelf before the end of the month. Two Roots is the only non-alcoholic craft brewer to win back-to-back medals at the Great American Beer Festival. In 2019, their Enough Said Lager won the Gold Medal and in 2020 Straight Drank IPA won bronze in the Session Beer or Non-Alcoholic Beer category. The launch includes three non-alcoholic craft beers. Enough Said, a crisp lager brewed in the German Helles style, New West is an East meets West style IPA that is well-balanced with fruit forward hop flavor, and Straight Drank, a hoppy, dank, West Coast-style IPA. All three styles will be available packaged in six-packs of 12 oz. cans. "Entering the Massachusetts market with the combined drive of our organizations will result in a successful partnership and marks a key step in our strategic expansion plan," said Ron Goodson, President and CEO of Two Roots Brewing Co. "As the popularity of non-alcoholic beer continues to accelerate, we are strongly positioned to meet consumer demand that will exceed our customer's expectations." "The non-alcoholic craft beer category is quickly emerging as consumers continue to seek alternative adult beverage options," said Michael Bernfeld, General Manager, Craft Brewers Guild. "Craft Brewers Guild of MA and The Sheehan Family Companies are excited to partner with Two Roots, bringing their non-alcoholic beer line to thirsty consumers across the great State of Massachusetts." Retailers looking to add Two Roots can contact Mark DeFrank, Sales Director at: [email protected] . About Two Roots Brewing Co.: Two Roots Brewing Co. is unwavering in its dedication to quality, using only the finest hops and malts, unique brewing process, and dealcoholization technology, resulting in an award-winning non-alcoholic craft beer. The company operates breweries in San Diego, CA, and Auburn Hills, MI. For more information, please visit www.tworootsbrewingco.com SOURCE Two Roots Brewing www.NAELA.org The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), a professional association for elder and special needs law attorneys, will host the NAELA Annual Conference from March 24-26, 2021, online. NAELA members and speakers have helped define this area of law and at this years Annual Conference, attendees from across the country will participate in engaging, interactive sessions led by experts in the field to sharpen their skills and knowledge on these topics. This year's event includes the following general and breakout sessions: Paying for Long-Term Care Without Public Benefits Protecting Clients - Keeping Lay Fiduciaries and You Out of Hot Water Recovering Assets Stolen Through Exploitation Building a Virtual Marketing Strategy The Uses of Medical Marijuana in Older Adults and People with Disabilities View the conference schedule. This event will coincide with the announcement of the 2021 NAELA awards. Members of the media are welcome to attend the NAELA Annual Conference online. For information, contact Communications Manager Abby Matienzo by email at amatienzo@naela.org or phone at 703-349-1923. About NAELA Members of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) are attorneys who are experienced and trained in working with the legal problems of aging Americans and individuals of all ages with disabilities. Upon joining, NAELA member attorneys agree to adhere to the NAELA Aspirational Standards. Established in 1987, NAELA is a non-profit association that assists lawyers, bar organizations, and others. The mission of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys is to educate, inspire, serve, and provide community to attorneys with practices in elder and special needs law. NAELA currently has members across the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit NAELA.org, or to locate a NAELA member attorney in your area, visit http://www.NAELA.org/findlawyer. National Research Foundation A-rates four Wits scientists again The NRF has re-awarded A-ratings to four Wits scientists, a grading which confirms that they are recognised as leading international scholars in their fields. The A-ratings of Professor Christopher Henshilwood, Professor Bruce Rubidge, Professor Bob Scholes, and Professor Roger Smith apply from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2026. According to the National Research Foundation (NRF), an A-rating indicates researchers who are unequivocally recognised by their peers as leading international scholars in their field for the high quality and impact of their recent research outputs. Furthermore, Henshilwood and Smith, who previously held A2 ratings, are now A1-rated. A researcher in the A1 group is recognised by all reviewers as a leading scholar in his/her field internationally for the high quality and wide impact, i.e., beyond a narrow field of specialisation, of his/her recent research outputs, according to the NRF. Dr Robin Drennan, Director of Research Development at Wits, says: The NRF rating system is a peer review system that examines the contribution and impact made by individual researchers on their chosen research community through their publications and other scholarly activities over the last eight years. The A-rating indicates the recognition as a global leader in the specific research field and is clearly a great honour. There are about 4 000 rated researchers in South Africa and only about 123 A-rated researchers. Wits is therefore extremely proud of its latest cohort of four awards of A-ratings, says Professor Joao Rodrigues, acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Postgraduate Affairs at Wits. We send our sincere congratulations to Professors Christopher Henshilwood, Bruce Rubidge, Bob Scholes and Roger Smith. They are all re-appointments and so re-join the total of 27 A-rated researchers at our University. Understanding early human behavior Professor Christopher Henshilwood is a Distinguished Professor and the SARChI (South African Research Chairs Initiative) Chair in Modern Human Origins at the Evolutionary Studies Institute (ESI) at Wits (2008-2022) and Director of the SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE) (2017-2026) at the University of Bergen, Norway. His research focus is the development of complex technology, social systems, subsistence patterns, environmental change, syntactic language, and material culture associated with early Homo sapiens, especially the people who evolved in southern Africa between 120 00050 000 years ago. He concentrates on finding archaeological sites that were occupied by Homo sapiens during the Later- and Middle Stone Age and has excavated 20 of these sites in southern Africa. I am humbled and honoured to be awarded an A1 rating by the National Research Foundation. Without the backing of an outstanding research team at Wits and in Bergen, this would not have been possible, says Henshilwood. We will continue using innovative methods to unravel the behavioural origins of our common ancestors, Homo sapiens, who inhabited southern Africa between 120 000-50 000 years ago. I am grateful for the financial support of the National Research Foundation, Wits University, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Bergen. Henshilwood has published two books and co/authored more than 120 papers and chapters on the origins of language and symbolism, the effects of climatic variation on human demographics, and on the theory of human behavioural evolution. He currently leads research involving more than 40 scientists in diverse fields in Africa, Europe, the UK, and USA. What rocks the Karoo? Professor Roger Smith is a Distinguished Professor in the School of Geosciences at Wits and Emeritus Research Associate at Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town. He is currently working on several projects under the general title of Palaeoecology of Gondwana. Smiths field-based research integrates palaeontological and sedimentological data [the science that deals with the description, classification, and origin of sediments such as sand, silt, and clay and the processes that result in their formation] into palaeo-environmental reconstructions of ancient landscapes especially concerning the dramatic changes that took place in the Karoo Basin during the End-Permian mass extinction event. Over the past 20 years and currently Smith has participated in numerous collaborative research expeditions to study Karoo-aged basins of other parts of Africa (Niger, Madagascar, Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Lesotho and Namibia) as well as Antarctica (three summer seasons) and South America (southern Argentina and northeast Brazil). The news that I have improved my A-rating was a pleasant surprise and very reassuring in that I appear to be doing things right, says Smith. It is a strong incentive for me to carry on with my field-based research in the Karoo and I will attempt to live up to the expectations this award has placed upon me. Smith was born in Cambridge, England and immigrated to South Africa in 1976 after graduating in Geology and Zoology from Manchester University. He holds a masters degree from Wits and a PhD from the University of Cape Town. Excavating fossil treasures for rural advancement Professor Bruce Rubidge has led palaeontological research and teaching at Wits for more than three decades. He arrived at Wits in 1990 when he was appointed Director of the Bernard Price Institute (BPI) and Head of the Palaeontology Department at the University. When the BPI and the Institute of Human Evolution merged in 2013 to form the ESI, he served as interim Director. He was simultaneously Director of the newly established Department of Science and Innovation/NRF Centre of Excellence for Palaeosciences, a post he held until December 2020. Rubidge now leads the Karoo Palaeodiversity Studies for Rural Advancement project in the ESI. His multidisciplinary research focuses on biodiversity change during the Middle Permian period, which culminated in the end Capitanian global mass extinction 260 million years ago. His current speciality is a transdisciplinary study using the rocks and fossils of the lowermost Beaufort Group (Abrahamskraal Formation) of South Africa as his study system, to understand the causes of this biodiversity change. I have been privileged to undertake fieldwork and research the fossil riches of the entire Karoo Supergroup [300-180 million years old], which is an international icon of palaeontological heritage showcasing the early evolution of reptiles and mammals during a time when all continents of the world were united to form the supercontinent Pangaea. My dream is to inform South Africans about this Karoo treasure and utilize its remarkable world class fossil storyline to create employment opportunities in the impoverished rural Karoo through tourism, says Rubidge. He established the Kitching Fossil Exploration Centre in Nieu Bethesda in the Karoo as a sustainable palaeotourism business to employ and empower local residents. He also helped develop the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage site and the Golden Gate Dinosaur exhibition Centre. He was instrumental in establishing Wits palaeosciences museum, the James Kitching Gallery, which forms the core of an active curriculum-based palaeoscience outreach programme. Noticing connections in complex ecosystems Distinguished Professor Robert (Bob) Scholes is an internationally-renowned systems ecologist; in other words, one who looks at the ecosystem level consequences of the interactions between organisms (including people) and their environment. He is the Director of the Global Change Institute (GCI) at Wits University. In addition to the renewal of his NRF A-rating in 2021, Scholes was named one the most highly cited scientists in the world in 2020 he is among the top 1% of environmental scientists worldwide based on citation frequency, having published widely in the fields of savannah ecology, global change, and earth observation. Scholes currently co-chairs the first ever joint IPCC-IPBES (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change- Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) workshop on climate and biodiversity interactions. He was a section lead on a major report, Making Peace with Nature, released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in February 2021. This report provides a blueprint of how the world can transform its relationship with nature and tackle the climate, biodiversity, and pollution crises together to secure a sustainable future and prevent future pandemics. Scholes was previously an author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change during the third, fourth and fifth assessments. He co-chaired the Conditions Working Group of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem services Global Assessment of Land Degradation and Restoration. He has led several high profile studies including the South African national assessments of Elephant Management and of Shale Gas Development, and major research campaigns such as SAFARI 2000 and the Southern African Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. What strikes me in reviewing my thirty year career is how it mirrors what we know about change in complex systems. There are many feasible outcomes, separated by quite unpredictable forks in the road. The demands of working in South Africa are not necessarily an impediment; they can be an opportunity. We are forced to be multi-skilled. I have made a niche out of seeing the connections between things and that has made all the difference, Scholes said in his inaugural lecture delivered on 21 June 2016. Wits A-team Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, Wits Vice-Chancellor, commended the A-rated scientists and said that conducting world-class research and fostering innovation are core areas for Wits as the University approaches its centenary in 2022: Wits is home to some of the best scholars in the world who lead globally respected research entities. I congratulate these four scientists on retaining and improving their A-ratings and acknowledge their significant contribution to advancing Wits research agenda, says Vilakazi, adding that Wits is the only University in South Africa that boasts two NRF A-rated scientists on its Senior Executive Team. Professor Shabir Madhi, the Dean of Health Sciences, and Professor Lynn Morris, the incoming Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Postgraduate Affairs [April 2021] are members of the Senior Executive Team and amongst Wits 27 A-rated researchers, all of whom contribute towards Wits being one of the leading research-intensive universities on the continent. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Tuesday stated that he is hoping for the establishment of global regulation on safety and privacy of data. Describing privacy as a human right, Nadella said he believes this would make tech products and services safe for users. Nadella participated in a virtual interaction session with Telangana IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao on Tuesday as part of BioAsia 2021. During the session, the Microsoft CEO stated COVID-19 outbreak has accelerated digital transformation across the world. Replying to a question on whether security and privacy concerns can be regulated, Nadella said, "...after all we have food safety laws, we have drug safety laws, there will be similarly I think rules and regulations (on data). Hopefully there is a global norm around." "One thing that I would hope for is that we don't fragment. We are able to whether on privacy or safety, bring together a set of global rules that will allow all of us to both comply and make sure that we know what we build is safe to use," Nadella added. The Microsoft CEO further added that some regulations are already in place. He said that initiatives such as the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) are spreading across the world. Nadella explained that companies should design products keeping in mind the privacy concerns of their users. He added that the lackadaisical attitudes of firms in this aspect should not be tolerated. Nadella also discussed post-pandemic working conditions. He added that the situation arising out of the COVID-19 outbreak has pushed for more flexibility in relation to work sites and collaborations. "I think collaboration, learning and well-being are fundamentally the things that are going to transform how we think about work while giving people lot more flexibility," he said. Nadella added that the start-up industry has already showcased immense potential in bringing digital enablement to the medical sector. He added that it is not just benefiting any specific segment but every single individual in the nation. Also read: Microsoft joins EU publishers amid Facebook's spat with Australian lawmakers Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday strongly defended his government against accusations of maladministration and berated the opposition for its allegations but making itself scarce whenever it was countered with facts. Observations to the effect were made repeatedly by the chief minister on the floor of the Assembly while replying to the debate on the motion of thanks to the governors address. The 70-year-old leader spoke for more than an hour and the last 30 minutes were spent with the opposition in abstentia as MLAs of the RJD, Congress and the Left staged a walkout expressing dissatisfaction with the chief ministers reply. You all are free to go wherever you wish. But please make it a point to watch my speech on TV. I am responding to the very points you all had raised, Kumar said sarcastically after the Leader of the Opposition signaled to his flock that it was time to leave the House. The chief minister kept his cool while reacting to barbs of the opposition leaders, but responded with righteous anger when a CPI-ML member sought to disparage his governments efforts at environmental preservation. Do not become enemies of the environment contending that the poor have nothing to do with it. You have been lucky to win 12 seats for the first time. Do not waste your opportunity in this fashion, Kumar shot back at the leader of CPI-ML with which he had allied in the 1995 assembly polls. He also came down heavily on suggestions made by various leaders of the Congress that his governments decision to ban alcohol be reviewed and some liquor shops be allowed to do business. Prohibition law was unanimously passed by this House, Kumar said referring to the development of April, 2016 when Congress was his alliance partner. He also whipped out a bundle of papers, saying this is the form which everyone signs while taking primary membership of the Congress party. There is a column wherein the aspirant has to declare that he will consume no intoxicants. And the members of the very party have the temerity to speak in favour of liquor consumption. Prohibition is an idea inspired from Gandhian ideals, Kumar fumed. The chief minister was at his paternalistic best when he was interrupted by 31-year-old Yadav number of times. I did not interrupt you when you were delivering your speech. It gives me delight when the younger generation takes interest. We are not here for eternity. But being attentive to what is being said now will be of benefit to you and your generation, Kumar said disarmingly. Speaking with his face mask at his chin, Kumar also remarked smiling pointing to the opposition, You all seem to be less careful. This is not proper. If you have forgotten to bring your masks along, please contact the Speaker who has made arrangements for such situations. Asserting that the state has made giant strides in power consumption, he agreed that the rates were quite high. is paying Rs 4.50 per unit, highest for any state, a reason why I had suggested one nation one rate for power. He had made the suggestion at a meeting of Niti Ayog chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week. When Yadav interrupted again blaming the states power woes on policies formulated two decades ago by the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee government at the Centre, Kumar, who has been an old associate of the formers father Lalu Prasad, remarked You were a child at that time. I am one of those on whose lap you used to play. You seem to know a lot about what took place back then. Come to me with the material you have. I can say only about the portfolios I held, said Kumar who had served as the Minister for Railways, Surface Transport and Agriculture in the Vajpayee government. He fondly recalled the work done by Vajpayee government which paved the way for the rapid progress has witnessed in the past decade and a half. We would like to know about you experience with the current regime, quipped Yadav in a snide reference to Kumars not so comfortable equation with Modi, whose elevation in the BJP he had strongly opposed in 2013 and exited the NDA. To this Kumar retorted If you insist on that I would ask you to speak about your experience of the year and eight months you worked with me. Yadav had served as Kumars deputy, the post to which he was appointed soon after his electoral debut in 2015 and which he held until the JD(U) leader returned to the NDA in 2017. The RJD leader had in his speech sought to put the government on the mat on the issue of law and order and claimed that as per NCRB figures cognizable offences have seen a more than 100 per cent rise since Kumar took over. Kumar countered Bihar has slipped to the 25th position in the country in terms of the number of cognizable offences and added more on that later when the Home department reels out statistics in due course. AIMIM state president and MLA Akhtarul Iman, who stayed back after the Grand Alliance members had walked out, tried to interrupt Kumar and raise the demand for making Purnea in north Bihar the states up-rajdhani (second capital). This is unnecessary. Patna is now well connected to the farthest corners of Bihar, Kumar asserted. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- OUTFRONT Media Inc. (NYSE: OUT) announced today that Jeremy Male, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, is scheduled to present at the 2021 Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom on Wednesday, March 3, 2021 at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time. A live and replay audio webcast will be available on the investor relations section of the Company's website at www.OUTFRONTmedia.com. About OUTFRONT Media Inc. OUTFRONT leverages the power of technology, location and creativity to connect brands with consumers outside of their homes through one of the largest and most diverse sets of billboard, transit, and mobile assets in North America. Through its technology platform, OUTFRONT will fundamentally change the ways advertisers engage audiences on-the-go. Contacts: Investors Media Gregory Lundberg Courtney Richards Senior Vice President, Investor Relations PR & Events Specialist (212) 297-6441 (646) 876-9404 [email protected] [email protected] SOURCE OUTFRONT Media Inc. Related Links http://www.outfrontmedia.com CMG recently released a feature television series "Poverty Alleviation", recounting how China has lifted millions out of poverty. The first episode features an overview of how the Chinese leadership fulfilled its solemn promise of lifting all rural residents living below the current poverty line out of poverty by 2020. 'Up and Out of Poverty' China launched large-scale poverty relief programs in 1982. Xi Jinping was sent down to work in the county of Zhengding, Hebei Province at that point in time. From March 1982 to May 1985, Xi worked as deputy secretary and then secretary of the CPC Zhengding County Committee. Some of his speeches and articles from this period were published in his book "Up and Out of Poverty." As Xi wrote: "I worked hard during the two years in Ningde Prefecture, along with the people and Party members there. I always felt a sense of unease. Poverty alleviation is an immense undertaking that requires the efforts of several generations." He then brought his dream of poverty reduction to the center of China's political life. Targeted poverty alleviation, a new strategy The number of poor people recognized by the Chinese government counted 99.89 million at the end of 2012 a population larger than all but a few countries. In November 2013, during an inspection tour of Hunan, President Xi first raised the concept of "targeted poverty alleviation." This concept of tailoring relief policies to different local conditions became a guiding principle in China's fight against poverty. In November 2015, at the Central Conference on Poverty Alleviation and Development, Xi further pointed out that poverty alleviation should focus on four issues who exactly needs help, who should implement poverty alleviation initiatives, how poverty alleviation should be carried out, and what standards and procedures should be adopted for exiting poverty. To address these issues while carrying out targeted poverty alleviation, about 800,000 officials were sent on frontline poverty-relief missions, working at local levels. 'No one will be left behind' By the end of 2016, there were more than 43 million people, or about 3 percent of China's population, living in poverty. However, to lift up the remaining poor population, many of whom lived in areas without roads, clean drinking water or power, would be the toughest. "Eradicating poverty has always been a tough battle, while eradicating poverty in extremely poor areas is the hardest fight of all," Xi said. The country in 2017 demarcated three regions and three prefectures, including the Tibet Autonomous Region and the Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province, as the poorest areas in the country. More resources were allocated to these areas. "On the march towards common prosperity, no one will be left behind," Xi had promised. 'Two assurances and three guarantees' At the end of 2018, the nation's impoverished population was reduced to 16.6 million, taking the poverty alleviation journey to the "last mile." But poverty alleviation work in China still faced many challenges. Some local authorities and departments fudged or exaggerated their poverty alleviation statistics to score political points. Speaking at a symposium on the fight against poverty in April of 2019, the Chinese president called for efforts to resolve prominent problems in assuring the food and clothing needs of the rural poor population are met and guarantee they have access to compulsory education, basic medical services and safe housing, referred to as the "two assurances and three guarantees." The ministries then launched an extensive campaign to resolve outstanding problems and at the end of 2019, 5.2 million people's "two assurances and three guarantees" issues were solved. Reached anti-poverty goals despite COVID-19 The year 2020 was no ordinary year for China and the world. The COVID-19 pandemic coupled with floods in southern China posed daunting challenges to the national fight against penury. According to the World Bank, the COVID-19 pandemic is estimated to have pushed an additional 88-115 million people into extreme poverty in 2020, which means global extreme poverty is expected to rise for the first time in over 20 years. President Xi stressed at a symposium on securing a decisive victory in poverty alleviation in March 2020 that lifting all rural residents living below the current poverty line out of poverty by 2020 is a solemn promise made by the CPC Central Committee, and it must be fulfilled on time. The country took stronger and more effective measures to ensure the full eradication of poverty on schedule. More efforts were made to minimize losses caused by natural disasters, and speed up the restoration of production and living orders in disaster-stricken poor areas. Ministers also stepped up monitoring and gave timely assistance to prevent people from falling back into poverty. In December 2020, President Xi announced that after eight years of unremitting efforts, all rural poor population have been lifted out of poverty and nearly 100 million poor people have shaken off poverty. Original articlehere. Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saxD4PtyH9M SOURCE CGTN The Supreme Court did not sustain stormy Daniels's Defamation lawsuit. The former actress filed the case against then-President Trump. In 2018, then President Trump was sued by the ex-steamy film star for defamation. However, her claims were denied as untrue after the biased media went after Trump. None of the charges were proven, and Daniels never got her damages. Fast-forward to 2021 On February 22, the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of the now ex-president in the defamation case. Some Trump critics ask if the Supreme Court took such a decision on the case, reported the Epoch Times. The actress's real name is Stephanie Clifford, who filed the case against Trump. She said that he made fun of a sketch of a man who attempted to threaten her in 2011. She added that the reason she was threatened was because of her claims about Trump. Trump allegedly reposted her tweet in 2018. Sources say that Trump made a post of the drawing beside her husband, identified as Glendon Crain. She said that the sketch looks like her spouse later. He posted that sketch from years back about some imaginary man, adding it's a con job, and the fake news media will fall for it. Based on the court filing, Stormy Daniels's Defamation lawsuit centered on the tweet that she claimed is the defamation source. However, the tweet was deleted as Twitter banned him for life from their platform. He was banned from Facebook as well; whatever proof there has now been purged from both platforms. She hoped that her lawsuit's rejection would have traction in the higher court, she ended up thrown from court. A judge threw out Stormy Daniels defamation lawsuit and ruled that she would be responsible for covering the legal costs of the Trump team. https://t.co/vMY4CJ1NNp Twitter Moments (@TwitterMoments) October 15, 2018 Also read: 'Lockdowner Biden' Receives Criticism from Ron De Santis over Immigration Policy amid Pandemic More details on the Daniels lawsuit According to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judge, what led to the inevitable dismissal as the main proof is the tweet. The judge said the tweet, as a basis, was not applicable if Daniels was guilty of any crime. At the same time, defamation is not applicable. At this point, any claims by the actress were moot and useless. The 9th Circuit panel said the post by Trump is an opinion and that cannot be used for the basis of the defamation lawsuit. Before that, the court noted that the tweet is what Trump thought of the ex-husband of Ms. Clifford and the sketch she made. One of the allegations of Daniels that was not accepted was that the con job meant she was accused of Fraud. Many aspects of her suit did not pan out well, so the court rejected it altogether. Another opinion of the court is that the actress was never explicitly accused of committing any criminal act. The use of the word con job was never meant for any negative connotation, only just for hyperbole and Trump's expression. Daniels now She is now 41, whose former lawyer was Michael Avenatti, who claimed he would run for president in 2020. Stormy Daniels's Defamation lawsuit is effectively dead, and her case is lost. Related article: Former Adult Film Star Mistakenly Hires Undercover Cop as Hitman to Kill Her Ex-Lover @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. ROME, FEB 23 - Fausto Gresini has died at the age of 60 after a two-month battle with COVID-19, his Gresini Racing team said on Tuesday. The former Grand Prix motorcycle racer was world champion in the 125cc class in 1985 and 1987. After retiring from racing in 1994, he went into management and founded Gresini Racing in 1997. The team won the Moto2 world title in 2001 and 2010 with Daijiro Kato and Toni Elias respectively, the 2018 Moto3 title with Jorge Martin and the 2019 MotoE crown with Matteo Ferrari. "A much loved member of the MotoGP family has sadly left us," the MotoGP series said via Twitter. "Fausto Gresini was a colleague to many, a friend to all and will be sorely, sorely missed. "Our thoughts go out to his family and loved ones "Rest in peace Fausto". (ANSA). Human rights will feature significantly in the Biden administration's relationship with Egypt, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his Egyptian counterpart on Tuesday, a week after Washington greenlit the potential sale of missiles to Cairo. During his phone call with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Blinken raised concerns over human rights, which he emphasized would be central to the US-Egypt bilateral relationship, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. Blinken also expressed concern over Egypts planned procurement of Su-35 fighter aircraft from Russia, which the Trump administration had warned put Cairo at risk of US sanctions under the Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). President Joe Biden has pledged to hold rights-abusing countries accountable, including Egypt, where security forces have reportedly jailed tens of thousands of government critics since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power in 2013. A number of US citizens and permanent residents have been arbitrarily arrested and detained in Egypt, and last week, a coalition of human rights groups accused the Egyptian government of intimidating and harassing the family members of prominent activists living in the United States. Our shared security interests must align with respect for democracy and human rights, including the importance of a strong civil society, Blinken said in a tweet on Tuesday. Blinken and Shoukry also discussed on Tuesday the UN-facilitated peace negotiations in Libya, the Middle East peace process and ongoing counterterrorism cooperation in the Sinai Peninsula, Price said. Why it matters: The call Blinkens first with his Egyptian counterpart comes one week after the Biden administration announced it had approved the sale of nearly $200 million worth of naval surface-to-air missiles to Cairo, which the State Department justified as bolstering the security of an ally that continues to be an important strategic partner in the Middle East. Human rights groups were quick to condemn the timing of the proposed sale, which the Biden administration unveiled the same day US-Egyptian activist Mohamed Soltan revealed that Egypt had once again arrested his relatives in what he said was a campaign to silence him. Whats next: As a candidate, Biden vowed no more blank checks for Egypt, a country that receives roughly $1.3 billion in US military assistance per year making it the second-largest recipient of US aid dollars after Israel. It remains to be seen whether Biden will use any of the annual assistance as leverage on rights reforms, but there is growing momentum in Congress to do so. In January, Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA) and Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) announced the formation of the Egypt Human Rights Caucus, coinciding with the anniversary of the 2011 Egyptian revolution. The lawmakers called on the Biden administration to engage with Congress on plans for expanded human rights due diligence before supplying the Egyptian military with further weapons. Know more: Elizabeth Hagedorn has the latest on Soltans lawsuit against Egypts former prime minister and takes a closer look at how US-Egypt relations could change under Biden. NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- illycaffe S.p.A., a global coffee industry leader in sustainable quality, has been recognized by Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, as one of the 2021 World's Most Ethical Companies. This year marks the Company's ninth consecutive honor. illycaffe regards upholding the highest ethical standards as fundamental to its operations. The Company maintains a longstanding commitment to improving the quality of life for all of its stakeholders, from farmers to consumers. Recognition by Ethisphere as one of the 2021 World's Most Ethical Companies strongly validates the Company's efforts to help create a more sustainable world for many generations to come. illycaffe is the only Italian company to receive this honor and is one of only six recipients in the Food, Beverage & Agriculture category. In total, 135 honorees were recognized spanning 22 countries and 47 industries for 2021. "Maintaining and promoting strong ethics and values are essential to affecting positive change throughout our global society, as is recognizing the private sector's essential role in creating a world that is more socially, economically and environmentally sustainable now and for generations to come," said Andrea Illy, Chairman of illycaffe S.p.A. "One of our current major focus is reducing our environmental impact throughout the entire supply chain, one meaningful, measurable step at a time, with the ultimate goal to be carbon neutral by 2033. We are proud to be recognized by the Ethisphere Institute for our stewardship and commitment to ethical business practices and thank them for their continued role in inspiring companies to be and do their best for the world." "While addressing the tough challenges of 2020, we saw companies lead above all other institutions on earning the trust of stakeholders through resilience and a commitment to ethics and integrity," said Ethisphere CEO, Timothy Erblich. "The World's Most Ethical Companies honorees continue to demonstrate an unwavering commitment to the highest values and positively impacting the communities they serve. Congratulations to everyone at illycaffe for earning the World's Most Ethical Companies designation." Methodology & Scoring Grounded in Ethisphere's proprietary Ethics Quotient, the World's Most Ethical Companies assessment process includes more than 200 questions on culture, environmental and social practices, ethics and compliance activities, governance, diversity and initiatives to support a strong value chain. The process serves as an operating framework to capture and codify the leading practices of organizations across industries and around the globe. This year, the process was streamlined and question set expanded to gauge how applicants are adapting and responding to the global health pandemic, environmental, social, and governance factors, safety, equity, and inclusion and social justice. Honorees The full list of the 2021 World's Most Ethical Companies can be found at https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/honorees. About illycaffe illycaffe is a family-owned Italian company founded in Trieste in 1933, whose goal from the onset has been to offer the world's best coffee. illycaffe makes a unique 100% Arabica blend that combines 9 of the world's best coffees according to illycaffe. Every day, over 8 million cups of illy coffee are enjoyed worldwide in over 140 countries, in the best coffee bars, restaurants, and hotels, in our illy brand stores, and of course at home. Thanks to its innovations, illy is contributing to technological advancement in the coffee sector. Thanks to its "Ernesto Illy Quality Award for Espresso Coffee", which was established in Brazil in 1991, illy has helped disseminate know-how, achieved higher prices for growers of high-quality illy coffee, and established partnerships on the basis of the principles of sustainable development. The company has also founded its own University of Coffee, with the goal of promoting coffee culture at all levels. The university provided comprehensive and practical training for growers, baristas, and coffee lovers covering all aspects of this product. Anything 'made in illy' is made more valuable through beauty and art, two of the brand's core values, starting with the logo designed by the artist James Rosenquist and encompassing the illy Art Collection cups, decorated by over 100 international artists. In 2019 the company employed 1405 people and had a consolidated turnover of 520.5. There are about 269 single-brand illy stores in over 40 countries worldwide. About the Ethisphere Institute The Ethisphere Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character and measure and improve culture. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World's Most Ethical Companies recognition program and provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA). More information about Ethisphere can be found at: https://ethisphere.com. SOURCE illy [February 23, 2021] ZEDEDA Announces Integration with Microsoft Azure IoT to Seamlessly and Securely Orchestrate Distributed Edge Computing Workloads at Scale ZEDEDA, a leader in orchestration for the distributed edge, today announced an integration with Microsoft (News - Alert) Azure IoT services that provides customers with full lifecycle management capabilities (edge hardware, OS, Azure IoT Edge Runtime, Azure IoT Edge modules and additional apps), single-click bulk provisioning, risk-free updates and a built-in app marketplace. With Azure Device Provisioning Service (DPS) integration, the solution also enables instant, automated device onboarding and connection to Azure IoT Hub. The diversity of hardware and software cluttering the distributed edge landscape keeps many edge projects from scaling effectively. ZEDEDA's open orchestration solution supports any combination of Docker containers, Kubernetes clusters and virtual machines (VMs) deployed on any edge computing node while connecting to any cloud. This solution enables customers to run existing legacy applications in VMs alongside cloud-native containerized applications while harnessing the power of Azure IoT hyperscale cloud to organize, monitor, query and orchestrate changes across massive fleets of edge computing nodes. "The cloud-based ZEDEDA dashboard provides customers with a bird's-eye view into their entire distributed edge infrastructure, including the status of all computing nodes and applications," said Said Ouissal, ZEDEDA's CEO and founder. "With scale and security, they can instantly deploy all Azure IoT Edge services on large fleets of nodes with a single click and manage the full lifecycle of both the software and hardware." ZEDEDA, from this collaboration, also secured co-sell ready status as part of Microsoft's One Commercial Partner program. ZEDEDA, Microsoft and their partners go to market together to increase IoT and edge technology adoption in industries including oil and gas, manufacturing, energy, retail, healthcare and transportation. ZEDEDA Edge Orchestration for Azure IoT is now available for purchase through Azure Marketplace. It is eligible for Azure benefits, allowing qualifying customers to apply the marketplace purchase toward their Azure consumption commitment. Built On a Secure Foundation ZEDEDA's Zero Trust security model and optimizations for deployment and management at scale provide the ideal foundation for Azure IoT Edge. Features include support for hardware root of trust (e.g., TPM), measured boot, remote attestation, encryption, I/O port blocking to prevent tampering in the field and distributed firewall to govern data flow from edge to cloud. This policy-based, per-app firewall can segment field assets from upstream networks and data systems to protect critical operations. Deep Integration Reduces Costs and Provides Flexibility to Adapt "We are shaping the future of the packaging world where every phase in the production process is connected, digitized and automated," said Serge Morisod, Head of IoT Lab at BOBST. "With ZEDEDA, we sped up our production readiness in the area of device management by six months, and we received a first working proof of concept within a few days, while becoming production-ready in less than two months." "Azure IoT Edge offers customers the opportunity to transform their operations by bringing analytics and other workloads from the cloud to the edge, but customers often have complex computing environments that can pose challenges for scaling," said Tony Shakib, General Manager, Azure IoT at Microsoft Corp. "ZEDEDA enables businesses to easily deploy Azure IoT Edge solutions and manage them in a single pane with their other edge workloads." The open-source edge component of ZEDEDA's solution (EVE-OS from Project EVE within the Linux Foundation's (News - Alert) LF Edge organization) provides customers with long-term flexibility for orchestrating heterogeneous edge hardware and applications in the field. This ensures that they don't have to worry about vendor lock-in and obsolescence as their needs adapt. EVE-OS can be thought of as "the Android (News - Alert) of the Distributed Edge", serving to unify a diverse hardware and software ecosystem, spanning the broader market and open source community, ZEDEDA's own Open Edge Ecosystem and long-standing Microsoft partners. "PTC is proud to count Microsoft and ZEDEDA among the members of our robust customer and partner network," said Abby Eon, General Manager, Kepware, PTC. "Together, we're able to deliver a universal remote orchestration foundation that enables customers to quickly scale their projects from pilot to production. We look forward to innovating upon these industry-leading technologies as we remain committed to helping our customers achieve their digital transformation initiatives." Additional Partnerships Further Simplify Deployment at Scale To further help customers accelerate time to value, ZEDEDA is actively working with the majority of leading hardware OEMs to qualify and pre-install EVE-OS on edge hardware in their factories. This enables customers to drop ship hardware to the field, and once power and networking are connected, the technician can leave the site and perform all lifecycle management functions remotely. ZEDEDA and Microsoft are also working with leading system integrators and distributors to simplify all phases of scaling distributed edge computing projects for customers. This includes integration services, distribution and deployment. To learn more about ZEDEDA Edge Orchestration for Azure IoT, visit the Azure Marketplace. ZEDEDA's distributed edge orchestration solution is sold and consumed as a service with a subscription-based enterprise license, including 24/7 support. For pricing, contact ZEDEDA. To discover more about the ZEDEDA Azure IoT integration solution for the distributed edge, register here to join a March 30 webinar (10 am PT). The webinar will feature a customer case study (BOBST) and an Azure IoT keynote presentation from Microsoft. About ZEDEDA ZEDEDA, the leader in orchestration for the distributed edge, delivers visibility, control and security for edge computing deployments. ZEDEDA enables customers the freedom of deploying and managing any app on any hardware? ?at scale? ?and connecting to any cloud or on-premises systems. Distributed edge solutions require a diverse mix of technologies and domain expertise, and ZEDEDA provides customers with an open, vendor-agnostic orchestration framework that breaks down silos and provides the needed agility and futureproofing as they evolve their connected operations. Customers can now seamlessly orchestrate intelligent applications at the distributed edge to gain access to critical insights, make real-time decisions and maximize operational efficiency. ZEDEDA is a venture-backed Silicon Valley company, headquartered in San Jose, CA (News - Alert) , with offices in Bangalore and Pune, India. For more information, contact info@zededa.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005252/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 23, 2021] Y Soft Announces COVID-Safe And Secure MFX Mobile Reader For User Authentication BRNO, Czech Republic, and DALLAS, Feb. 23, 2021 /CNW/ -- Y Soft Corporation, the leading enterprise workflow solutions provider, announced a new mobile-based authentication solution for secure identity verification for networked printers. The new YSoft MFX Mobile Reader is part of Y Soft's family of USB readers that provide secure, accurate, and convenient identity verification. "COVID-19 has made businesses aware of how they need to keep their employees safe at the office," said Wouter Koelewijn, Chief of Products, Y Soft. "MFX Mobile Reader addresses the need for better physical safety by allowing their employees to use their mobile devices to identify themselves instead of physically touching the networked printer." The new solution has three components: a reader, a mobile app, and digital credentials, which together expand on the security and accurate access that Y Soft card readers are renowned for. The new MFX Mobile Reader also provides YSoft SAFEQ partners with a cost-effective, touchless mobile alternative that customers are asking for in today's hygienic office environment. YSoft MFX Mobile Reader accurately reads the user's credentials from the user's mobile phone. Employees only need to touch their own mobile phones to print all the jobs in their print queue, eliminating the need to touch the networked printer and reducing the number of times the MFD must be wiped down per day. MFX Mobile Reader also supports the use of identity cards supporting over 100 access card technologies. With the YSoft Mobile Connect mobile app (Android or iOS), users can securely and conveniently authenticate access to print management services by simply holding their phone close to the MFX Mobile. YSoft Connect ID provides a simple enrollment process, and the credentials can be sent electronically to each user. The YSoft Mobile Connect app stores the digital credentials and uses those credentials to securely authenticate the user on any printer equipped with the MFX Mobile Reader. This provides secure two-factor authentication, and the user's private data is stored only on their personal device. Unlike an identity card, a misplaced or stolen smartphone can't be used to access users' print jobs since the phone's native security features (PIN, fingerprint, facial recognition) act as the 2nd-factor authentication. MFX Mobile Reader is a more affordable solution than a traditional biometric system. The business doesn't have to worry about GDPR compliance since they aren't storing employees' biometric data they are only stored on the smartphone. The YSoft Mobile Connect application is available in Google Play and the App Store for iPhone as a free download. The app is based on the Legic Connect SDK and can use BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) or NFC authentication. Y Soft has a 20-year history of designing and manufacturing companion hardware devices for printers. This experience and logistical know-how are key differentiators and go beyond hardware solutions developed for YSoft SAFEQ and improve our processes and deliver hardware that organizations can depend on. About Y Soft Y Soft develops intelligent Digital Transformation office solutions for enterprise, SMB, and Education that empower employees to be more productive and creative. Our YSoft SAFEQ workflow solutions platform in the CLOUD (native) and on-premises enable businesses to manage, optimize, and secure their print and digital workflows. Our YSoft OMNI Series, consisting of YSoft OMNI Bridge and YSoft OMNI Apps, instantly and cost-effectively connects in-market printers to the Cloud and Universal Print. Our YSoft BE3D 3D print solution is focused on the Education sector, where they provide exceptional ease of use and safety benefits while utilizing YSoft SAFEQ software for seamless 3D print management. Y Soft was founded in Brno, Czech Republic, and is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary. With offices in Europe, North and Latin America, the Middle East/Africa, and the Asia Pacific region, we presently support 42% of the Global Fortune 500 companies. For more information, please http://www.ysoft.com. Y Soft, YSoft SAFEQ, YSoft BE3D, OMNI Series, OMNI Bridge, OMNI Apps, YSoft MFX Mobile, YSoft Mobile Connect, and YSoft Connect ID are trademarks or registered trademarks of Y Soft Corporation a.s. in the European Union and other countries. Contacts for media: Global: Czech Republic: Steven Knuff Jiri Kocourek steven.knuff@ysoft.com jiri@parco.cz +1 512 810 3207 +420 775 630 414 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/y-soft-announces-covid-safe-and-secure-mfx-mobile-reader-for-user-authentication-301233222.html SOURCE Y Soft [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] KYODO NEWS - Feb 23, 2021 - 21:47 | All, Coronavirus, Japan Japan is considering lifting the state of emergency declared in six prefectures over the coronavirus pandemic ahead of its scheduled end date on March 7, government sources said Tuesday. The declaration is likely to be lifted by this weekend in the six prefectures of Aichi, Gifu, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo and Fukuoka due to sufficient improvement in their situations. Tokyo and its three nearby prefectures, however, are set to remain under the virus emergency until the original end date as their situation has not substantially improved. Earlier in the day, the governors of Kyoto, Osaka and Hyogo had made a joint request to economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is leading the country's response to the pandemic, citing improvements in the number of hospital beds available for COVID-19 patients and the slowing pace of infections. Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura also made a similar request, while Gifu Gov. Hajime Furuta indicated that the declaration would ideally be lifted in his prefecture at the same time as Aichi. Related coverage: 3 Japan prefectures looking to end coronavirus emergency early COVID vaccine for elderly to be distributed based on population U.S. death toll from coronavirus surpasses 500,000 The four governors of Tokyo, which remains the hardest-hit among Japan's 47 prefectures, and the three surrounding prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa agreed in a teleconference not to request the lifting of the declaration ahead of schedule. The metropolitan area has been seeing a slowdown in the decline of coronavirus cases. But Chiba and Kanagawa are now seeing a rise in new daily COVID-19 cases. Suga is expected to make a decision on the early lifting for the six prefectures at a meeting Wednesday of relevant ministers including Nishimura and health minister Norihisa Tamura based on the latest expert analysis. If they decide to move forward with lifting the declaration early, they will consult with a panel of health experts on Friday before finalizing the decision at a government taskforce meeting, the sources said. Suga may also announce at the taskforce meeting his intention to lift the emergency for Tokyo and its three nearby prefectures on March 7 as scheduled. As a prerequisite for lifting the virus emergency, the situation must have improved from Stage 4, the worst level on the government's four-point scale. The stages are based on six key indicators, including the weekly number of infections per 100,000 people and the percentage of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients currently available. As of Sunday, five of the six prefectures have improved to Stage 3 or better in all six metrics. The percentage of hospital beds occupied remains high only in Fukuoka. While a top government official has said that there should be no reason to oppose lifting the emergency declaration based on the indicators, some Cabinet members are wary of people becoming complacent once it is lifted. The state of emergency, Japan's second over the pandemic, was initially declared on Jan. 7 for one month, covering Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures. On Jan. 13, it was expanded to seven other prefectures including the three western areas and later extended through March 7 for 10 of the 11 prefectures. Under the virus emergency, people are asked to refrain from unnecessary outings and restaurants and bars to close early. Kyoto Gov. Takatoshi Nishiwaki has said that even if the state of emergency is lifted, the prefecture would continue to ask restaurants and bars to shorten business hours to prevent a resurgence of infections. (CNN) -- Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, is being treated for an infection and is not expected to leave the hospital for several days, according to an update from Buckingham Palace on Tuesday. "The Duke of Edinburgh remains at King Edward VII's Hospital where he is receiving medical attention for an infection. He is comfortable and responding to treatment but is not expected to leave hospital for several days," the palace said in a statement. Prince Philip was taken to the hospital last Tuesday after "feeling unwell," Buckingham Palace said. On Monday, his grandson, Prince William, said the 99-year-old was doing "OK" and hospital staff were "keeping an eye on him." Prince William made the remarks during a visit to a vaccination center in Norfolk, England, on Monday. On Tuesday, Prince Philip's youngest son, Prince Edward, told the UK's Sky News that he recently spoke to his father, who is doing "a lot better" and is looking forward to returning home. Prince Edward said the family was still keeping their "fingers crossed" for his father. "We've had some brilliant and lovely messages from all sorts of people. And we really appreciate that and so does he. I've been passing them on," said Prince Edward. Prince Philip, who turns 100 in June, stepped back from public life in 2017 and has been taken to the hospital several times in recent years. In December 2019, he received hospital treatment for a pre-existing condition. His latest admission was not an emergency, according to a royal source, who said he traveled to King Edward VII Hospital by car and walked in unaided. The source added that the illness was not COVID-19 related. Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth have both received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The couple spent most of the past year at Windsor Castle, having moved away from Buckingham Palace during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Prince Philip has infection and will stay in London hospital for several days, palace says" Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 Secretary of State Antony Blinken addresses reporters during his first press briefing at the State Department in Washington on Jan. 27, 2021. (Carlos Barria/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Blinken Urges China to Come Clean on Pandemic U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized China for its continued failure to be transparent about COVID-19, in a recent interview with BBC World News. It requires countries to be transparent; it requires them to share information; it requires them to give access to international experts at the beginning of an outbreakthings that, unfortunately, we havent seen from China, Blinken said. He added, My hope is going forward that China becomes a full participant in these efforts to make sure that we can prevent the next pandemic even as were dealing with the current one. Chinas cover-up of COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, started during the initial stage of the outbreak. In late December 2019, Chinese authorities silenced eight whistleblowers, including ophthalmologist Li Wenliang, when they tried to warn on Chinese social media about an unknown pneumonia outbreak in the city of Wuhan. Most recently, Beijing was accused of refusing to provide raw data on early infection cases to members of the World Health Organization (WHO), according to Australian infectious disease expert Dominic Dwyer, who was part of a WHO team probing the origins of the pandemic in Wuhan. The team arrived in Wuhan in mid-January before leaving earlier this month. The Epoch Times recently obtained several internal documents issued by Chinas center for disease control and health departments in 2019 and 2020. The documents revealed that Beijing did not publicly reveal a large amount of data on people infected with influenza and other diseases that have similar symptoms to COVID-19. In the same interview, Blinken also condemned Beijings decision to ban BBC World News in China, saying that the Chinese people were the biggest losers as China has one of the least open information spaces in the world. They want free and open sharing of information. Thats being denied to them by their own government, Blinken added. Beijings decision to ban the BBC came just days after the UKs broadcasting regulator on Feb. 4 revoked the license of Chinese state broadcaster CGTN, the international arm of Chinas state-run outlet CCTV. The regulator found the Chinese broadcaster violated UK broadcasting laws. Two days prior, the BBC reported that Chinese men engaged in mass rape, sexual abuse, and torture against Uyghur women detained inside internment camps in Chinas far-western Xinjiang region, based on interviews with several former detainees and a guard. Beijing has detained (pdf) more than a million ethnic minorities, including Uyghurs, Kazakh, and Kyrgyz people, in the camps. Beijing claims the camps are vocational training centers. In January, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared that Beijing had committed genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghur Muslims. [China] takes advantage of the fact that many of our countries have fully free and open information spaces, and China uses that to spread misinformation and propaganda, Blinken said. In 2020, the State Department under the Trump administration named nine Chinese media outlets, including CCTV, CGTN, and Peoples Daily, as foreign missions, identifying them as propaganda organs of the CCP. These media are required to register their employees and U.S. properties with the State Department. When asked whether the United States would boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Blinken declined to comment. Well come to that question at the appropriate time, but the main thing is across all of these issues its really important that we consult closely and we work closely together with like-minded countries and our partners, he explained. Earlier this month, a coalition of over 180 groups, including the International Tibet Network and World Uyghur Congress, signed a joint letter urging governments to boycott the 2022 Games. The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV. Jessica Plummer has revealed she felt as though one of her friends was 'terminally ill' when she was told her EastEnders character was going to be killed off. The actress, 28, said she went through a period of mourning for her character Chantelle Atkins, who died at the hands of her domestic abuser husband Gray Atkins (Toby-Alexander Smith) in September, but admits it was a 'really odd' feeling. Speaking on Netmums' Sweat, Snot and Tears podcast on Tuesday, she said: 'It kind of felt like Id just been given the news that a friend had become terminally ill or something. 'I felt like I had to mourn her': EastEnders star Jessica Plummer said on Tuesday that learning her character Chantelle was going to be killed off was like hearing a friend was 'terminally ill' 'Its my character, I should know more than anybody that its not real. I felt like all of a sudden I had to mourn my character, say goodbye to my character. 'I would get dressed in the morning in the months leading up to it and I would do things like put on Chantelles wedding ring and think oh my goodness is this the last time she is going to wear it sort of thing. It was weird.' Jessica learned of her character's journey in Christmas 2019, and thought the UK's lockdown amid the Covid-19 crisis might have meant the storyline would have been prolonged, but she realised it was better the plot happened the way it did. Dramatic: Chantelle Atkins died at the hands of her domestic abuser husband Gray Atkins (Toby-Alexander Smith, pictured) in September Candid: Of getting the news in Christmas 2019, she said 'It kind of felt like Id just been given the news that a friend had become terminally ill or something' Jessica - who went on to appear on 'I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!' late last year - admitted she felt her Walford departure would be 'worth it' if it results in one woman escaping an abusive relationship in real life. She added: 'I was sad to leave EastEnders, but if it means one woman escapes her domestic abusive relationship, it was worth it.' Jessica recently admitted she would return to the BBC One soap, despite Chantelle being dead. She said: 'I love 'EastEnders' and if they called tomorrow and said, "Come back," I wouldn't be able to turn it down.' Helping others: Jessica admitted she felt her Walford departure would be 'worth it' if it results in one woman escaping an abusive relationship in real life What's more, shortly after her Albert Square exit, the star admitted she was 'in absolute bits' about leaving the show. She wrote on Instagram: 'Now that the dust has slightly settled, I'd just like to say.. On a personal note, I am in absolute bits to be leaving the show. 'I miss even this bits I thought I hated (that dodgy outside toilet near the police station with 20 million spiders) 'All of it has been a dream come true. Without getting speechy, I owe SO many people my thanks for believing in me on my journey. (sic)' A woman 'living in fear' called police just hours before she was killed in a suspected murder-suicide alongside her ex-boyfriend. Doreen Langham, 49, died when a blaze ripped through her townhouse, in Browns Plains, south of Brisbane, in the early hours of Monday morning. Investigations are underway to determine exactly how her violent ex Gary Hely, also 49, managed to get inside the high security estate called the The Promenade and allegedly set the property on fire. Now it has emerged officers attended Ms Langham's home a 'couple of hours' before the inferno after she called them for help. Doreen Langham (pictured) is understood to have lived in fear of her partner before the terrifying fire on Monday Investigations are underway to determine exactly how a 49-year-old man managed to get inside the estate, where two bodies were found in the rubble Forensic police are seen sifting through remains of a townhouse that was destroyed by fire at Browns Plains Chief Superintendent Brian Swan said the incident is being investigated as 'deaths in relation to a police operation', meaning the fatalities occurred during an active report to police. 'Inquiries indicate that on the night before the fire there was a phone call made to police. Police did attend the unit at least a couple of hours before the fire,' he said, the Courier Mail reports. On February 9, just two weeks before the fire, Ms Langham was granted a temporary protection order against Hely. And just days before the home was torched, Ms Langham had the locks changed in a desperate attempt to keep her ex out. But it is understood Ms Langham called police about 9.30pm on Sunday night, six and a half hours before the house went up flames. She reportedly told officers Hely was outside of her home, but according to a police source, cops did not arrive until 1.30am. 'The coppers went around and knocked on the door, but when there was no answer they left. [Hely] came back and set fire to the unit three hours later,' the source said. The source said Hely was wanted at the time for breaching a previous DVO Ms Langham had taken out against him and raised concern over why it had taken police so long to attend the premises. 'I couldnt imagine anything being more urgent than an aggrieved calling up that night saying (the man), who is a respondent, is outside my house.' Her former partner Gary Hely, 49, was also recovered from the blaze on Monday night, 12 hours after emergency services scrambled to the scene Police have spent hours combing through the rubble searching for clues in the investigation The state coroner will now investigate the matter- including why Ms Langham's call was allegedly not taken more seriously. Chief Supt Swan said he was not sure how many time Hely had breached the domestic violence order since February 9. Just a day earlier, on February 8, Queensland Police introduced the Service Delivery Redesign Project - designed to streamline how police prioritise matters based on the details given at the time of a call. Ms Langham's death, and desperate call for help, have now raised questions about the efficiency of the redesigned system. The two bodies were pulled from the wreckage of the Myola street townhouse inferno 12 hours after it started, and although they are yet to be identified, police are treating the deaths as a murder-suicide. As investigators work to piece together their final moments, neighbours told Daily Mail Australia security is strict and visitors must be buzzed in via one of the two front gates leading into the community. 'There's one way in, and one way out', a female staff member said. Investigators combed through dirt and rubble for any clues as to how the fire started - and paid close attention to a yellow canister with a flute sticking out of it that they found in the ground. The neighbouring property was also impacted during the blaze Officers appeared to test if another item, which was also pulled from the wreckage, fit inside the canister, which had a lengthy serial number on the side. A young neighbour said she and her best friend were horrified to learn of their neighbour's death. 'I couldn't even get my car out to get to work, I had to get a friend to pick me up and drop me home because there were so many cops and other cars blocking me in.' The young woman said she'd come across several 'interesting people with colourful backgrounds' living in the complex, but always felt safe given the strict security measures. A staff member in the complex agreed that the community was 'extremely secure'. 'This is a super secure estate. One way in, and one way out,' the woman, who did not want to be named, insisted. Hely's car was found across the road shortly after officers arrived on the scene. Detectives honed in on a metal fence which backs onto the property from a side street, indicating it could be a potential entry point for the offender. A burnt out car was parked across the street from the wreckage on Tuesday afternoon The stench of smoke continues to set off smoke alarms in neighbouring houses more than 24 hours after firefighters were able to put out the blaze. A neighbour said the sound of a smoke alarm woke her in the middle of the night on Monday and gave her 'quite a fright'. 'It was definitely nerve-wracking,' she said of hearing the alarm. 'I really didn't know what to think.' At least two more houses had scares on Tuesday morning. Detectives were on the scene on Tuesday morning and had cordoned off much of the quiet street. Detectives were joined by fire inspectors on Tuesday, who assessed the rubble Detectives spent hours sifting through the rubble on Tuesday morning. The investigation is expected to take days Police were pictured at the scene sifting through the rubble to attempt to piece together the events The house next door has also been significantly damaged in the blaze. The side of the light-brick home was painted black from soot. Emergency services were called to the townhouse engulfed in flames in Browns Plains south of Brisbane about 4am Monday after neighbours heard a woman's terrified screams. She was reportedly shouting a man's name as her home burned to the ground. Preliminary investigations indicate the blaze was deliberately lit, with neighbours telling police the huge fire spread within minutes. Fire inspectors are assisting police at the scene. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk addressed the incident during her Tuesday morning press conference. 'It's an absolute tragedy, I understand the police are doing a thorough investigation there and look I just have to wait to see what the police say,' Ms Palaszczuk said. 'It's just unbelievable this is happening in this day and age.' An autopsy will be conducted to verify the identity of the remains, though it is understood Ms Langham and Hely remain missing. Mr OBrien took over the party at one of its lowest points after the 2018 election trouncing. He has faced internal criticism for his approach during the pandemic, through which he has struggled to take advantage of the prolonged lockdown caused by COVID-19 seeping from quarantine hotels. Opposition leaders across the country have faced similar difficulty making political headway, and Mr OBriens approach reflected his belief that partisan attacks would cause a public backlash during a health crisis. The May timeline is based on the parliamentary calendar, with dissatisfied MPs believing any new leader would need at least 18 months to make an impression on voters. That means any MP willing to bring on a leadership spill would need to do so at one of the three party room meetings before the budget on May 20. Those MPs backing Mr OBrien believe the latest leadership tensions are aimed at destabilising the Opposition Leader, who they claim is gaining ground on Premier Daniel Andrews as the health crisis eases and people begin focusing on ideas for economic recovery. There is a risk that the polls will move back our way, one shadow cabinet minister said. That must have given them a new sense of urgency. Former opposition leader Matthew Guy, pictured conceding defeat in the 2018 election, has been touted as a contender. Credit:Chris Hopkins The disaffected Liberals have not settled on whom the challenger to Mr OBrien will be. Liberals in and outside Parliament are urging former leader Matthew Guy to reclaim the leadership, but he said on 3AW last week he was not interested in the job. Some Liberals close to Mr Guy, who declined to comment on this story, claim the MP is remaining tight-lipped as others actively work to destabilise the leadership. I think he is keen but cautious, said one of his supporters. Mr Guy led the party to a resounding 2018 election loss, including in the once blue-ribbon seats of Hawthorn and Nepean. One option being canvassed, if a challenger cannot be agreed on, is to move an empty chair spill motion at a party room meeting. This would force MPs to vote on whether Mr OBriens position should be declared vacant and a subsequent vote held to determine who should hold the position. Another option is to continue intensifying internal pressure on Mr OBrien to the point where he feels obliged to hand over the leadership in the best interests of the party. This happened in 2013 when then-premier Ted Baillieu resigned. Hes on borrowed time unless theres a road to Damascus type change All the party does is whinge. Anonymous Liberal MP Four members of the Liberal Partys shadow cabinet who back Mr OBrien, and who spoke to The Age on the condition of anonymity, said while unwilling to bring on a spill they would be willing to switch leaders if Mr OBrien were to stand aside. Mr OBriens backers are generally longer-serving MPs from the faction of the party aligned to state president Robert Clark. Mr OBriens opponents include MPs Tim Smith, James Newbury, Beverley MacArthur and Neale Burgess, who are generally aligned with federal minister Michael Sukkar and his grouping. The Opposition Leaders office was contacted for comment. Loading A recent poll result in Western Australia before the March 13 election pointed to a Labor victory that would all but wipe out the Liberals. The result prompted restlessness in the Victorian party over concerns the opposition could lose more seats than it currently holds 27 of 88 in the lower house. In the past two weeks something has changed, one Melbourne-based Liberal MP said. People realise he [OBrien] could hurt them. An Ipsos poll published in The Age in October showed 15 per cent of Victorians surveyed approved of the Opposition Leaders performance during the pandemic. The finding compared with 52 per cent for the Premier, but was similar to the level of support for other opposition leaders around the country who have struggled to draw attention away from incumbents during the health and economic crises. State Liberal MPs recently attended a three-day strategy meeting on the Mornington Peninsula and established four campaign policy groups to develop ideas before next years election. In a departure from the 2018 election, the party is likely to focus on the economy and improving liveability rather than social policies and a tough law-and-order agenda. One MP said Mr OBrien had improved his political position in recent months. Those who are agitating need to put up or shut up, the MP said. Another MP, not regarded as an opponent of Mr OBrien, said the party had alienated many voters, including women and multicultural communities. He said Mr OBriens leadership was the elephant in the room in conversations between MPs. Hes on borrowed time unless theres a road to Damascus type change All the party does is whinge, he said. KABUL Ministry of Foreign Affairs of IRoA has learned with deep regret about the killing of the Italian Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Luca Attanasio, along with one of his colleagues and a World Food Program driver on Monday during a visit to the eastern part of the African country of Congo. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Mohammad Haneef Atmar conveys his deepest condolences to his Italian counterpart, Mr. Luigi Di Maio, expressing his grief at the tragic killing of the late ambassador and his colleagues. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims families and loved ones. She's a single mom to daughters Frankie and Olive. And on Monday, Drew Barrymore was moved to tears when her little girls wished her a happy birthday during a very special episode of her daytime chat show. As guest host Savannah Guthrie announced Olive, eight, and Frankie, six, had taped a message for their mom, Drew gasped, put her hands up to her face and teared up. Emotional: She's a single mom to daughters Frankie and Olive. And on Monday, Drew Barrymore was moved to tears when her little girls wished her a happy birthday during a very special episode of her daytime chat show The girls narrated a short animated clip in which they appeared as cats. 'Hi, Mom! Olive and I wanted to send you a special message on your birthday, so here it goes,' Frankie began. They then recited their tribute to the former child star and actress who turned 46 on Monday. 'We love you more than squirrels and pearls, or eating cheese in the breeze,' the girls said. Surprise: As guest host Savannah Guthrie announced Olive, eight, and Frankie, six, had taped a message for their mom, Drew gasped, put her hands up to her face and teared up Sweet: The girls narrated a short animated clip in which they appeared as cats. 'Hi, Mom! Olive and I wanted to send you a special message on your birthday, so here it goes,' Frankie began Cute poem: 'We love you more than squirrels and pearls, or eating cheese in the breeze,' the girls said. 'We love you more than holding hands, or swinging on the trapeze 'We love you more than holding hands, or swinging on the trapeze,' they said. 'We love you so much it makes us nuts, we love you so much with all our guts.' Frankie then concluded: 'There's only one thing left to say. You're the best mom in the world. Happy birthday!' Drew shares her daughters with ex-husband Will Kopelman from whom she split in 2016 after four years of marriage. The two have been amicably co-parenting Olive and Frankie ever since. So much love: Frankie concluded: 'There's only one thing left to say. You're the best mom in the world. Happy birthday!' Family: Drew shares her daughters with ex-husband Will Kopelman from whom she split in 2016 after four years of marriage. The two have been amicably co-parenting Olive and Frankie ever since It wasn't the only time Drew got emotional during the special episode of The Drew Barrymore Show. Several of her very famous friends from her four-decade Hollywood career also sent birthday greetings or stopped by the taping. Cameron Diaz, Steven Spielberg and David Letterman all surprised Drew on the show, dropping in to reminds her of some of her most unforgettable moments. 'Let's get the party started,' shouted Diaz as she kicked off the celebrations. Letterman appeared in the studio in-person, shocking the 40 First Dates actress and, a little overwhelmed, she hid her hand behind her face. Others taking part in the show airing Monday included Jimmy Fallon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chelsea Handler, Henry Winkler, Tyra Banks, Molly Shannon, Tom Green, Nicole Richie, Keith Morrison, DJ D-Nice, Gordon Ramsay and Chloe Fineman. Overcome: It wasn't the only time Drew got emotional during the special episode of The Drew Barrymore Show. Several of her very famous friends from her four-decade Hollywood career also sent birthday greetings or stopped by the taping Bestie: 'Let's get the party started,' shouted Drew's close friend and Charlie's Angels co-star Cameron Diaz as she kicked off the celebrations Community News Editor / Librarian Jeannie Maschino is community news editor and librarian for The Berkshire Eagle. She has worked for the newspaper in various capacities since 1982 and joined the newsroom in 1989. She can be reached at jmaschino@berkshireeagle.com. COLUMBIA South Carolina's public health agency is withholding additional COVID-19 first-dose vaccine vials from Horry County Fire Rescue, at least temporarily, after it gave shots to people not yet eligible for them. The Feb. 23 decision by the state Department of Health and Environmental Control represents the first time it has punished a vaccine provider for not following eligibility rules. The move comes days after Dr. Linda Bell, the state's chief epidemiologist, publicly warned that DHEC will be cracking down on vaccine providers who break the rules. Future first-dose allocations that would have gone to Horry County Fire Rescue will instead go to other providers in the area, a DHEC spokeswoman said. Horry County Fire Rescue released a statement on Feb. 23, saying it had been working on a solution with DHEC "before misinformation being conveyed to the public by media and others" increased. The simple fact is that Horry County has at all times complied with SCDHECs guidance, and if SCDHEC was better able to satisfy its current supply challenges, we would not be having this discussion, Horry County Fire Rescue said in its statement. The public safety department is one of three county governments in South Carolina receiving doses as a vaccine provider. As of Feb. 22, it had received 5,400 doses of the Moderna vaccine 70 percent of them for the first of two shots needed for full immunity, according to DHEC's data. Just under half of those 5,400 doses received since mid-January have been put in arms, according to the data. Horry County can finish doling out its stock but it won't get any more first-dose shipments for the foreseeable future, Louis Eubank, DHEC's deputy branch chief for immunization, wrote to the local agency. She also warned those doses should go only to people who are among the 1.3 million South Carolinians on the eligibility list. The public safety department will still receive second doses when needed for anyone given a first shot, Eubank wrote in the email to Randy Webster, the county's assistant administrator for public safety. The penalty is not necessarily permanent, she told Webster, as DHEC "may schedule time to discuss this with you further" after his department's supply is completely gone. Horry County Fire Rescue said it will distribute its remaining first doses per DHEC guidance and has enough second doses on hand. Assuming SCDHEC does not change their guidance to us again, we expect to release information to the public about how they can schedule an appointment with us in the near future, its release said. South Carolina remains in the initial Phase 1A eligibility phase, which includes anyone 65 and older, health care workers and medical first responders. As of Feb. 22, about 552,500 South Carolinians had received at least a first shot, and nearly 490,000 doses were reserved by appointment. While some Horry County Fire Rescue employees and volunteers might qualify, any officer or firefighter not directly involved in emergency medical care is supposed to wait until the next phase, along with teachers, day care workers and other "front-line essential workers." DHEC officials have acknowledged there's been confusion across the state on which first responders are currently eligible. But Horry County Fire Rescue went further in opening up access to any employee or volunteer. DHEC wanted answers after a note went out to all Horry County employees offering shots "to full-time, part-time, and temporary employees as well as volunteers and interns who work within the capacity of county departments. In his Feb. 15 reply, EMS Manager Ben Lawson explained that county employees are "essential to maintaining function of government and mission-critical efforts of COVID-19 vaccination and testing." But while Phase 1A does include government employees deemed "mission critical" for giving shots and testing for COVID-19, it does not extend to public workers needed to generally keep government operating. If it did, then there would be no need for public school teachers to be fighting for prioritization into Phase 1A, or for other state agency leaders to ask that their workers get bumped up, too. People representing tens of thousands of government employees were among a parade of advocates who went before a House Ways and Means panel on Feb. 16 seeking eligibility. The ruling came after a Feb. 22 meeting between DHEC and Horry County officials. "As we discussed, law enforcement officers, public safety officers, county administrative staff, or other similar individuals are not Phase 1A eligible, and instead fall to Phase 1B, Phase 1C, or even Phase 2," Eubank wrote in the follow-up email. New Delhi, Feb 23 : United Spirits Ltd (USL) is initiating a strategic review of selected popular brands, continuing the strategy towards long-term profitable growth through premiumising the companys portfolio. USL's popular portfolio comprises around 30 brands and the strategic review will focus on approximately half of this portfolio by volume. This review will not include the McDowell's or Director's Special trademarks. The strategic review is expected to be completed by the end of the 2021 calendar year. Anand Kripalu, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, United Spirits Ltd, said, "This review reinforces USL's and Diageo's commitment to deliver sustainable long-term growth and improved profitability, through a sharpened focus on core popular and prestige and above brands, including international brands." Diageo India is the country's leading beverage alcohol company and a subsidiary of global leader Diageo plc. The company manufactures, sells and distributes a portfolio of premium brands such as Johnnie Walker, Black Dog, Black & White, VAT 69, Antiquity, Signature, Royal Challenge, McDowell's No.1, Smirnoff and Captain Morgan. Headquartered in Bengaluru, the company's wide footprint is supported by a committed team of over 3300 employees, 49 manufacturing facilities across states and union territories in India, a strong distribution network and a state-of-the-art technical centre. Incorporated in India as United Spirits Limited (USL), the company is listed on both the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Whistleblowers from within the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) shared that "hundreds" of Arizona inmates are being kept behind bars despite their eligibility for release under an Arizona law due to a software bug plaguing the inmate software. Early Release Arizona Law Explained In a report by Gizmodo, under an Arizona state law, people who have been convicted of drug-related crimes can earn early release, aiming to help them get back on their feet. The early release program was first introduced in 2019 under the Arizona Senate Bill 1310 and was also signed the same year, making it law and effective as soon as possible, stating that prison convicts of certain drug-related charges only need to serve 70% of their sentences, as long as they are actively joining in self-improvement programs such high-school diploma programs, or drug treatments that are being offered by the state. Unfortunately, the law is apparently being ignored due to a flaw in the state's inmate software, which has become incapable of factoring in the inmates' early release credits, keeping many of them behind bars for much longer. The news was initially reported by KJZZ, an NPR member station. Read Also: Is Tor Browser Safe? Brave Browser Blames 'Ad-Blocking' Component for Leaking User Activity on Dark Web Prolonged Sentences Due to Software Bug? According to the Phoenix-area radio station, whistleblowers from the ADC said that the department is trying to calculate the credits manually, but this has significantly slowed down the process. With the law, around 7,000 individuals may have been eligible for release back in 2019, as per a past article by the Arizona Mirror. However, the bug that is now plaguing the software called the Arizona Correctional Information system (ACIS) has made it currently impossible to identify who has been qualified for release under the law, based on the reports of unnamed state employees who the KJZZ radio station granted anonymity. In response to the report, the ADC has indeed confirmed to Gizmodo that the ACIS software is indeed bugged, but they have denied that any of the inmates have prolonged sentences due to the issue and that employees are accurately performing the calculations for these thousands of inmates, albeit manually. "Release eligibility data is constantly monitored and [Arizona Department of Corrections] updates the calculation multiple times daily to ensure appropriate release times are calculated and acted upon," an ADC spokesperson told the media outlet. Bug Confirmed, But Not Affecting Release Dates Furthermore, the spokesperson said that aside from automated calculations, it is also part of the department's standard practice to manually re-check the data to verify and certify the release dates. "ADCRR has a record of accurate sentence calculations based on our current manual method. This has been the subject of litigation in the past and our method has been consistently upheld by Arizona courts," they said. "We can read CNN, Fox, local ABC news, but not KJZZ all of a sudden" pic.twitter.com/wNXYCrLqxa Jimmy Jenkins (@JimmyJenkins) February 22, 2021 After the news has been reported, criminal justice reporter Jimmy Jenkins, who first broke the story, has tweeted an update, saying that the KJZZ website has been blocked for all Arizona Department of Corrections employees. The ACIS is a customized version of the Mi-Case Offender Management System software, which is developed by Business & Decision North America (BNDNA). Related Article: Suspecting Over Your Webcam Security? Here's How to Tell if it Has Been Hacked This article is owned by Tech Times Written by: Nhx Tingson 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Almost 24 years after India got its first guidelines to prevent at the workplace and eight years after the government enacted a law for it, there are few publicly available data on how efficient these mechanisms are, an IndiaSpend review found. In fact, the government maintains no centralised data relating to cases of harassment of women at workplaces, the Parliament was told in July 2019. Also, 95 per cent of India's women workers are employed in the informal sector and find it difficult to access legal mechanisms to report at workplace, experts told IndiaSpend. On February 17, a Delhi court acquitted journalist Priya Ramani in a defamation lawsuit filed by former editor and sitting member of parliament for accusing him of in 1993. "The woman has a right to put her grievance at any platform of her choice and even after decades," said Judge Ravindra Kumar Pandey in his judgment acquitting Ramani of defamation. He also noted that, at the time in 1993, she had no avenues to seek redressal for her alleged harassment, as India formulated the Vishaka Guidelines to prevent sexual harassment at the workplace, and provide women a forum to complain to, only in 1997. The guidelines evolved, 16 years later, into the Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, commonly known as the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) Act. However, eight years since its enactment, the government has still not published any information on how effectively this law and its committees function. While Ramani's acquittal in the defamation case is a victory for women trying to report sexual harassment, it is not the norm. Often, women are not able to access the law. Those who can access the law face several institutional and cultural challenges. Hundreds of thousands of women, such as informal sector workers, are largely excluded institutionally from accessing the PoSH Act. Also, no government body tracks the law's implementation. Meanwhile, independent research has found low overall compliance. The majority (56 per cent) of 655 districts did not respond to requests to provide data on the functioning of local committees to look into workplace sexual harassment and 31 per cent of companies surveyed in 2015 were not compliant with the law. "Of course, there is a huge pushback against women's truths," Ramani told IndiaSpend. Many women excluded from the law The PoSH Act requires that any company with more than 10 employees set up an internal complaints committee including a senior woman employee, at least two other employees and a member from a non-governmental organisation familiar with issues of sexual harassment. Every district also ought to create a local complaints committee to receive complaints from companies with fewer than 10 employees and from informal workers, including domestic workers, street vendors, construction workers, home-based workers such as those involved in weaving, accredited social health activists (ASHAs) and community health workers. As many as 95 per cent of India's working women (195 million) are in the informal sector. Under the law, any woman can file a written complaint either to the internal or local complaints committee within three to six months of the incident of sexual harassment. The issue could be resolved between the woman and the respondent "through conciliation" or complaints committees could initiate an inquiry and suggest appropriate action based on the findings. Women can also file complaints through the Women and Child Development Ministry's Sexual Harassment electronicBox (SHeBox), an online complaint platform for all women workers, launched in November 2017. Complaints filed through this platform are then passed on to either the internal or local complaints committee. The majority of India's women workers find it difficult to access these redressal methods, especially SHeBox, given that the number of women who use the internet in India is low. Women's internet use varies widely across states, with 77 per cent women in Sikkim reporting that they had used the internet compared to 21 per cent women in Bihar, according to data from India's latest Family Health Survey. "The existing legal frameworks so far offer protection to women who already have some privilege... for example, if they work in the formal sector," said Nikita Sonawane, a lawyer and founder of the Criminal Justice and Police Accountability Project. "However, women in the informal sector are largely also from marginalised communities of class and caste. They do not find space in the law or the women's movement." Sometimes institutional processes are unclear even for women in the formal sector. In 2019, when a woman working in the office of the then Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi tried to lodge a sexual harassment complaint against him, it caused a dilemma for those who had to look into the matter. The case revealed a blind spot in India's existing rules--while a Supreme Court employee could complain about sexual harassment against her co-workers and seniors (including judges), there is no mechanism for someone to lodge a sexual harassment complaint against the Chief Justice of India. All existing civil and criminal guidelines are a deadend for such a victim. District complaint committees do not function well District local complaints committees are not functioning meaningfully, found a series of Right to Information requests by the Martha Farrell Foundation, a New-Delhi based organisation working on gender issues, in 2016 and 2017. The foundation had asked how many local committees are constituted in each state and their members, contact details, timings of the committees and how many cases they had received and resolved. But 56 per cent of the 655 districts they reached out to did not respond to the requests. Only 29 per cent said they had local committees to look into workplace sexual harassment and 15 per cent said they had not set up a committee yet. Although the law requires that these committees should be headed by a woman, and should have at least five members including one from an NGO, this was not followed on the ground, found the Martha Farrell Foundation. How the law is supposed to be monitored Every year, internal and local committees have to file a report to the district officer with details on the number of cases filed and their disposal, as per the PoSH Act. "The appropriate Government shall monitor the implementation of this Act and maintain data on the number of cases filed and disposed of in respect of all cases of sexual harassment at workplace," the Act says. The district officer should also forward a brief on all annual reports of companies with details on compliance to the law to the state government so that they can maintain a record of the data, according to the Ministry of Women and Child Development. "The responsibility to maintain data on the number of cases filed and disposed of in respect of all cases of sexual harassment at workplace, which are established, owned, controlled or wholly or substantially financed by funds provided directly or indirectly by the State at District and State levels rests with the concerned State Governments," Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani told the Parliament this February. What data are available? Central or state governments do not publicly compile and release data on how many companies and districts comply with the guidelines and have committees, the number of complaints filed and the outcome of these complaints. Data exist in disparate and scattered public sources. The Centre has provided information only when asked questions on sexual harassment at the workplace in Parliament, but these data are piecemeal and difficult to find, an IndiaSpend investigation found. The replies also do not specify how many districts and/or companies the data are compiled from. SHeBox had received 612 complaints--196 from the central government, 103 from state governments and 313 from private organisations, as per a government response to the Rajya Sabha in July 2019. But there is no method to track the complaints year-on-year. For instance, another government response to Parliament last February mentioned that nearly 70 per cent of the 539 complaints filed between November 2017 and February 2020 were pending. The Commission for Women (NCW), an autonomous body constituted by the Indian government, also receives complaints of sexual harassment against women in the workplace. In 2018-19, the NCW received 88 complaints of sexual harassment at the workplace. Crime records data on sexual harassment Under the PoSH Act, neither the woman nor the accused has legal representation, the courts are not involved in the inquiry or to take cognisance of any crime. But women can separately file police cases. In 2019, 505 cases of "insult to modesty of women at the work or in office premises" were recorded by the Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), an increase of 5 per cent from 2017 and of nearly 800 per cent from 57 cases in 2014. Lack of data on sexual harassment in the police Even after a parliamentary committee was constituted to examine the working conditions of policewomen, including sexual harassment at the workplace, in India in 2013 and 2014, there is little data on the issue. The committee's 2013 report said that the government was asked to collect and submit data on whether policewomens' sexual harassment complaints were resolved. At that time, the government had responded that complaints were being heard well but had not provided any data. The government also said that they had been unable to set up sexual harassment cells well enough. The committee asked the government to start collecting more data around sexual harassment but the report on actions taken does not confirm that data collection was initiated by the police. The government had issued an advisory to states to deal with sexual harassment strictly, but did not ask for any new data or information to be gathered or submitted. The only data submitted to parliament on sexual harassment came from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which reported 19 complaints of sexual harassment in 2012. Further, four CISF personnel were dismissed from service between 2007 and 2014, two were compulsorily retired and 20 received reduction in rank or pay, after allegations of sexual harassment against them. Despite the lack of data, the parliamentary panel concluded that all guidelines related to sexual harassment are "being scrupulously implemented in police organisations." How better data could help Private companies collect data by looking through annual reports of companies that are publicly listed. For instance, Complykaro, a company that helps organisations implement the PoSH Act, found that cases reported to the internal committees of 44 NIFTY companies reduced by 2.6 per cent to 657 in 2019-20, as compared to 675 in 2018-19, Mint reported in September 2020. But these data are not accessible to the larger public. In 2015, 31 per cent of the companies surveyed by the trade association Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the consultancy Ernst and Young were not compliant with the PoSH Act, while 35 per cent were not aware that non-compliance could result in penalty and 40 per cent had not trained the members of the internal committee. Even with companies that comply with the law, there will be different levels of compliance, said Meghana Srinivas, CEO of TrustIn, a Bengaluru-based company that helps businesses implement PoSH legislation. "Only 9-12 per cent of companies must be fully compliant," she estimated. "Even companies that have good intentions do not know how to go about complying with the law, how to train their employees on the committee and how to decide in cases of sexual harassment. A larger company with resources could have a dedicated person on PoSH legislation, but a smaller company is unlikely to," she said. Even the qualifications of the external member on the internal committee vary as there is no certification or empanelment to become a member. Further, different local committees require companies to file information on PoSH compliance in different formats and ask for different information. "There is no standardisation," which makes it harder for companies to comply, said Srinivas. The government should publish data on the number of sexual harassment cases received and resolved by local district committees and also conduct a nationwide audit on how effective these committees have been, recommends Human Rights Watch, a New-York based nonprofit, that published a report in 2020 on how informal sector women in India are left without redressal for sexual harassment. Better quality data would help analyse trends and inform standard operating procedures for such cases, which would help better implement the law, Srinivas said. Data could also inform district level policies on sexual harassment as well as help governments decide where more resources should be allocated, she added. For instance, if there is a greater need for a district committee than an internal committee, more money could be allocated to that. The judgement in the Priya Ramani case is likely to have ripple effects across India by giving more legitimacy to women who speak out on any platform," and hopefully by making the law more aware of a woman's trauma and therefore extending the time given to a woman to report the case, Srinivas said. A jealous lover stabbed his girlfriend to death before taking a fatal overdose, a coroner has heard. John Lee Morris, 32, killed Niki Campbell, 30, by stabbing her multiple times at his flat in Harphurhey, Manchester, just five days before Christmas in 2017. The couple, who both had drug and mental health problems, had argued in a pub the night before because Morris wrongly suspected Miss Campbell was cheating on him. Afterwards, as Miss Campbell lay dying, Morris took a lethal amount of paracetamol before collapsing beside the victim. John Lee Morris (left), 32, killed Niki Campbell (right), 30, by stabbing her multiple times at his flat in Harphurhey, Manchester, just five days before Christmas in 2017 Two days later their bodies were found by a neighbour who had asked for the return of his iron. Police investigating the tragedy found texts sent by Morris where he accused Miss Campbell of being unfaithful. He had a history of beating his girlfriend and relatives said she was often seen sporting a black eye. Miss Campbell tried to keep her ordeal a secret but told her mother: 'If I don't kill myself I'll end up killing someone else.' An inquest heard the couple's relationship began in 2011 but was 'extremely volatile'. In the months before the killing on December 22, 2017, they had briefly broken up and she moved to Ayrshire in Scotland. Five months later she returned to Manchester and moved in with Morris. In a statement Miss Campbell's mother, Jayne Ferguson, told the Manchester hearing: 'She started a relationship with John Lee Morris in 2011 and this relationship was extremely volatile. She was on anti-anxiety medication and anti-depressants for a long time. 'She had her own tenancy until May 2017 but got into difficulties with rent and I began to think she was being subject to domestic abuse by him. The couple had argued in a pub the night before because Morris wrongly suspected Miss Campbell (pictured) was cheating on him 'Quite a few times I saw she had injuries, and encouraged her to report these to the police, but she was reluctant to do so. I can't remember exactly when I last saw her with injuries but I have seen her with a big black eye and with her flat smashed up. 'At the beginning of 2017 I thought her relationship with him had come to an end. She briefly went to live in Scotland and on our way up she told me "if I don't kill myself I'll end up killing someone else". I never knew or realised their relationship had resumed later. 'The last time I had contact with her was on December 15. I asked her if she was coming home for her Sunday dinner. She told me that she was and that shed like a jacket spud and cheesy beans. 'She was a fabulous daughter with a great sense of humour. She was very close to her sisters and was a fantastic aunt to her sister's children. I am not sure reality of her death has sunk in. I still feel in shock and we miss her utterly.' The court heard that Miss Campbell had been staying at Mr Kirwins bedsit at Step N Stones, an accommodation facility for men with learning difficulties and mental health problems in Harpurhey. Housing manager Pauline Ferguson was the last person to see Miss Campbell alive. She said: 'I was in the pub with them that evening and witnessed an argument between them. In the months before the killing on December 22, 2017, they had briefly broken up and Miss Campbell (pictured with Morris) moved to Ayrshire in Scotland. She later returned to Manchester and moved in with Morris 'He suspected she was with another man and I last saw her the next morning at around 7.30am when she said he would not let her in. I told her to get a taxi home.' Greater Manchester Polices senior investigating officer, Duncan Thorp, confirmed that witnesses had seen the couple having an argument in a nearby pub on December 19. Miss Campbell was last seen alive on the morning of December 20 when she told a manager at Step N Stones that Mr Kirwin had locked her out of his room. The couples bodies were discovered inside the bedsit at around 10.10am on 22 December 2017. The review found that Mr Kirwin had a problem with illicit drug abuse, specifically cocaine, as well as a history of domestic violence against previous partners and children. Housing manager Pauline Ferguson, who lived near the couple, was the last person to see Miss Campbell alive. She said: 'I was in the pub with them that evening and witnessed an argument between them.' Pictured, Miss Campbell (left) and Morris (right) The inquest heard that Miss Campbell had attended A&E at Salford Royal Hospital in February 2017 and seen a GP four times in the year of her death. Mr Thorpe said: 'Niki was found to have suffered numerous stab wounds and he was found to have died of paracetamol toxicity. 'The murder weapon was found next to her body and his fingerprints were on the knife used. The premises were secure. Windows were secure and the door, which had had a wedge pushed under it, was the only entrance and exit point in the flat. 'Mobile phones were later analysed and suggest that he suspected Niki may have been seeing another man. It appeared they had had an argument at a local pub the night before. The last messages were sent on 20 December and the bodies were found two days later.' A safeguarding board review found Miss Campbell never complained of domestic abuse to the police but on three occasions had turned up for medical appointments sporting physical injuries. She saw the same GP for a mental health review in October 2017 where she said her head was like a messy drawer, and that she felt irritable and paranoid that her boyfriend was cheating on her. Fiona Borrill, area coroner for Manchester, said that despite Miss Campbells references to domestic abuse to healthcare professionals, she did not believe that the death could have been foreseen. Recording a conclusion of unlawful killing, Ms Borrill said: 'I can only sympathise with you all for this tragic loss in these awful and appalling circumstances. 'I am sure it is something you will never fully be able to to get over.' A safeguarding board review found Miss Campbell never complained of domestic abuse to the police but on three occasions had turned up for medical appointments sporting physical injuries. Pictured, Morris GP Dr Ashish Chaudhry said: 'She reported being a victim of domestic violence and said had been in an abusive relationship which had ended five months before. But she told me she was staying with her mother and felt safe. 'She said she was still anxious when she went out alone and said she felt low motivation, could get irritable and had panic attacks. 'She said she had moved to Scotland for a few months but had since moved back, and said she wanted a nice job and a nice house. 'On 28 September she said her mood had improved but then deteriorated again.. On October 9 she mentioned domestic abuse again and my impression was that this involved a new partner. 'The last time I saw her was on 14 December when she said someone was helping her but she was very vague.' Ms Borrill recorded a conclusion of unlawful killing. It is thought an inquest into Morris' death will be held later. Paying tribute after the hearing, Miss Campbell's family said: 'Niki was an amazing woman. Everyone knew who she was, she was very popular and had lots of friends. She was absolutely stunning and had the most infectious laugh too. She was one in a million and there was no one else like her out there. 'More should be done to help people like her. This has been a nightmare for us and the long wait for today has made things even worse. He murdered her and we want people to know that.' For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details Amanda Redman has accused the British TV industry of taking an 'ageist' approach to older actresses and claims there is a shortage of good roles for females in their 50s and 60s. The New Tricks star, 63, from Brighton, claims the UK fails to represent women of her age group on screen and argues it 'doesn't make any sense'. Speaking to Platinum magazine, she said: 'There really aren't very many good roles for women in their 50s and 60s. When you get a bit older, once you get to the bonnet brigade, you're fine, but the years in between are the worst. 'It seems it's just us in the UK who don't represent my age group on screen and I really don't know why, because 52 per cent of people watching television are women and there are so many interesting life experiences to explore as we get older. It doesn't make any sense. Amanda Redman (pictured in April 2018) has accused the British TV industry of taking an 'ageist' approach to older actresses and claims there is a shortage of good roles for females in their 50s and 60s 'In Madam Secretary the two leads are in their late 50s and have a really healthy sexual relationship. 'We in Britain tend to shy away from that. There's ageism involved there. And - I'm going to get on my soapbox here - I believe that exists in this industry in our country.' Amanda also discussed her burn scars and said connecting them to her character in The Good Karma Hospital made filming a very emotional process. The actress was pronounced 'clinically dead' as an 18-month-old child after suffering 90 per cent burns to her body when she pulled a vat of turkey and sauce over her at Christmas. Amanda also discussed her burn scars and said connecting them to her character in The Good Karma Hospital (pictured) made filming a very emotional process She previously revealed she doesn't remember the harrowing incident, but it has left permanent scarring on her arm. '[The scars] made me who I am today,' she told Platinum. 'I simply don't see them. It wouldn't even cross my mind to wear a long-sleeved dress. 'They call scars on horses "proud flesh" and I like to think of mine that way.' ITV's medical drama Good Karma Hospital tells the story of a disillusioned doctor, Ruby Walker, who heads for South India hoping to make a fresh start in Sri Lanka. Amanda stars as Dr Lydia Fonseca, and she suggested last year's acid attack plotline to the show's writers, according to the Radio Times. In the second episode of the third series, one of the hospital's new nurses, Jyoti (Sayani Gupta), became the victim of an acid attack by a spurned lover that left her with terrible burns. Amanda conducted her research at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, a specialist reconstructive surgery centre where she spent most of her astonishing three and a half years of intensive treatment following her accident. ITV's medical drama Good Karma Hospital tells the story of a disillusioned doctor, Ruby Walker, who heads for South India hoping to make a fresh start in Sri Lanka. Amanda (pictured on This Morning) stars as Dr Lydia Fonseca, and she suggested an acid attack plotline to the show's writers, according to the Radio Times 'We connected my burns to the character's, so that makes it more emotional, as Lydia relates to the victim,' Amanda explained. 'Filming the scenes where we treat the victim was difficult for all of us. We did a showering scene and it was incredibly realistic. 'Bits of hair and flesh were peeling off and it was quite disturbing. Normally film crews don't show any emotion but they really did react to this.' Read the full interview with Amanda in the April issue of Platinum - out February 24 Amanda added that the character is 'probably the closest to her that she's ever played', describing her as 'witty, passionate and strong' as well as being compassionate without 'putting up with any s***'. She said filming in Sri Lanka has brought out a spiritual side to her. 'It is so beautiful, it honestly makes me want to cry,' she said. 'I've never been particularly spiritual. 'I have had moments when I've felt certain things, but there I feel it. 'I feel a quiet and a calm there, despite long hours filming, the noise and the hectic way of life. I can't explain it but it's really true. 'There's a fantastic acceptance and positivity surrounding illness and death. It just is what it is. 'Death is always around the corner and these people accept that and just say, "You've got to get on with life". 'That's a wonderful attitude to have. We're too spoilt in the UK. In Sri Lanka you can't take it for granted that you'll live a long life and be entitled to good healthcare.' Read the full interview in the April issue of Platinum - out February 24. In a major setback to the Modi administration and the fans of Narendra Modi worldwide, 22-year-old Disha Ravi, dubbed as domestic terrorist by her political enemies, was granted bail by a Delhi court on Tuesday that, according to some BJP supporters on the social media, could spell disaster for the nation. Ravi, a self-proclaimed climate activist who joined hands with young Greta Thunberg of Sweden in her crusade against climate change and global warming, was arrested ten days ago on February 13 on charges of sedition and conspiring against India when she was found to have edited two lines of a shared Google Docs kind of document publicized as toolkit apparently someone's idea of an insurrection or military attack on the country. The activist, who has been the target of millions of attacks on the social media with many making direct threat to her while Modi supporters hurling insults at her with all sorts of derogatory names including terrorist, seditionist, a morally corrupt woman, a Christian, among others, was granted bail after she posted two bonds of Rs. 1 lakh each. Enraged by the way she was treated by the Delhi police and later by her fellow Indians on the social media, Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana scolded the authorities for arresting her and said, "considering scanty and sketchy evidence on record, I do not find any palpable reason to breach rule of bail for a 22-year-old girl who has absolutely no criminal antecedent," adding "sedition cannot be invoked to minister to wounded vanity of the government". In a dressing down of the authorities that is very rare in the Indian judicial system, Judge Rana went on, "Even our founding fathers accorded due respect to divergence of opinion by recognizing the freedom of speech and expression as an inviolable fundamental right. The right to dissent is firmly enshrined under Article 19 of The Constitution of India." The judge also issued severe reprimand to the Delhi police saying sharing toolkit with Greta Thunberg did not amount to conspiracy against the country. Dismissing allegations of conspiring with the Poetic Justice Foundation (PJF), a Canadian outfit that claims to fight for social justice worldwide, Judge Rana threw out arguments by the Delhi police that Ravi had conspired with it in order to create chaos in the farmers movement in Punjab. "... in the absence of any evidence (that) the accused shared a common purpose to cause violence (on January 26) with the founders of PJF, it cannot be presumed by resorting to surmises or conjectures that she also supported secessionist tendencies," he said adding there is not even an iota of evidence brought to his notice connecting Ravi to the violence in Delhi on January 26, Indias Republic Day. Meanwhile, another 23-year old activist from Punjab's Muktsar district, Nodeep Kaur, a labor rights activist, fights to get a bail after Haryana police arrested her in Sonipat on January 12 for 'inciting riots'. She remains incarcerated in Karnal jail in Haryana. Across Litchfield County Monday, many leaders praised Gov. Ned Lamonts decision to expand COVID-19 vaccination eligibility next month, though questions remain about the rollout. Warren First Selectman Timothy Angevine said he is pleased to hear the governor is optimistic the state will continue to acquire good supply of the vaccine. The governors office has set an aggressive schedule of three weeks to try and vaccinate the 55 to 64 age group starting March 1, Angevine said. I appreciate the thought given to the decision to go with an age- based approach. The complexities of sorting through pre-existing conditions seems daunting. Lamonts decision means the expansion will be done through defined age groups and teachers, shifting priority away from essential workers and those with underlying medical conditions Robert Rubbo, the director of the Torrington Area Health District, said he wasnt sure of the details of the shift Monday afternoon, as he and other officials there were going to be briefed on the specifics of the rollout later in the day. Everything will depend on vaccine availability, said Rubbo. In Norfolk, First Selectman Matthew Riiska, said, I suppose the way we have to look at it is we need to get everyone vaccinated. If theres a change in direction, and its not the group that they originally planned on is going to get it but eventually theyll get it, I think we have to move forward and do whatever we can, Riiska, said. In Roxbury, First Selectwoman Barbara Henry noted essential workers were already taken care of. I do think that people with underlying conditions should be next in line but I know the teachers have also been waiting quite awhile, she said. In Washington, First Selectman Jim Brinton said he understands, the difficulties in allocating this thing, but its a little disappointing that weve got, in addition to the teachers, tons of essential workers here in Washington alone. These people are on the front lines every day, and I get the difficulties in prioritizing but I think once you get below your 65 age group, you are reaching people who are still working, so youve got a lot of essential workers out there, he said. Previously under Phase 1B of the plan, essential workers and those with preexisiting medical conditions that put them at greater risk of COVID-19 complications were supposed to be next in line for vaccines. Ben Lambert contributed to this story. TOKYO, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Terumo Corporation (TSE: 4543), a global leader in medical technology, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire all assets of Health Outcomes Sciences, Inc. (HOS). HOS specializes in predictive analytics and clinical decision support that enable healthcare organizations to deliver personalized, predictive insights at the point of care, resulting in significant and measurable improvements in clinical, patient and financial outcomes. "The acquisition of Health Outcomes Sciences and the ePRISM platform expands Terumo's presence in the digital healthcare arena and represents a compelling growth opportunity for our company. It further allows Terumo to deliver innovative digital solutions, providing healthcare systems with critical data needed to lower the cost of healthcare delivery while substantially improving patient outcomes," said Toshi Osada, President of Terumo Corporation's Cardiac and Vascular Company. Rather than relying on broader, generalized population data, ePRISM delivers each patient's unique risks to physicians prior to treatment. By calculating and assembling a patient's actual procedural risk, that includes their unique disease severity, co-morbidities and demographics, ePRISM provides valuable data to enable providers to tailor the intensity of treatment to patients' unique risks. The use of validated predictive models in routine care has the capacity to improve the consistency, outcomes and cost-effectiveness of care across various cardiac procedures and care pathways. "When combined with Terumo's 100-year history and commitment to transforming global healthcare, our ePRISM technology will enable healthcare providers to deliver uniquely focused patient care; improving patient satisfaction, decreasing variability, optimizing outcomes and minimizing costs. This acquisition provides Terumo with a digital solutions platform that can be scaled globally across multiple healthcare segments," said John Spertus, MD, MPH, FACC, FAHA and Founder of Health Outcomes Sciences. The acquisition is expected to close in February 2021. Following the close, the ePRISM platform will be integrated into Terumo Business Edge, a business unit of Terumo Medical Corporation that provides healthcare systems with solutions designed to reduce care variation, improve quality metrics, minimize cost and maximize revenue. About Terumo Terumo (TSE:4543) is a global leader in medical technology and has been committed to "Contributing to Society through Healthcare" for 100 years. Based in Tokyo and operating globally, Terumo employs more than 25,000 associates worldwide to provide innovative medical solutions in more than 160 countries and regions. The company started as a Japanese thermometer manufacturer and has been supporting healthcare ever since. Now, its extensive business portfolio ranges from vascular intervention and cardio-surgical solutions, blood transfusion and cell therapy technology, to medical products essential for daily clinical practice such as transfusion systems, diabetes care, and peritoneal dialysis treatments. Terumo will further strive to be of value to patients, medical professionals, and society at large. More information can be found at www.terumo.com. About Terumo Medical Corporation Terumo Medical Corporation (TMC) is a subsidiary of Terumo Corporation, founded in 1972 as the United States expansion of our larger Tokyo-based parent. For nearly 50 years, TMC has continued the Terumo mission of offering the best possible solutions to healthcare providers and the people they serve. TMC provides products and services across four divisions: Terumo Business Edge, which provides healthcare systems with solutions designed to reduce care variation, improve quality metrics, minimize cost and maximize revenue; Terumo Interventional Systems (TIS), which offers solutions for entry site management and lesion access; Terumo Medical Products (TMP), which provides devices for injection and infusion therapy; and Terumo Pharmaceutical Solutions (TPS), which develops drug delivery devices. About Health Outcomes Sciences, Inc. Health Outcomes Sciences is driving the practice of precision medicine through its patented content enablement platform, ePRISM, which translates scientific models into automated evidence-based decision support solutions. By helping health and life science organizations -- as well as allied technology partners -- deliver the power of personalized predictive science at the point of care, the company facilitates significant and measurable improvements in clinical and financial outcomes, variations in care, appropriate use and rational consumption of resources. The company's solutions are specialty agnostic, scalable at the enterprise level and employ a cloud-hosted software-as-a-service (SaaS) business model. More information can be found at www.h-outcomes.com. SOURCE Terumo Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 06:27:12|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A memorial service for people who lost lives to COVID-19 is held in New Orleans, Louisiana, the United States, Jan. 19, 2021. (Photo by Lan Wei/Xinhua) The United States remains the nation worst hit by the pandemic, with the world's highest caseload and death toll, accounting for more than 25 percent of the global cases and over 20 percent of the global deaths. NEW YORK, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- The United States reached the grim milestone of half a million coronavirus deaths on Monday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University. With the national case count topping 28.1 million, the death toll across the United States rose to 500,071 as of 4:24 p.m. local time (2124 GMT), according to the CSSE data. California replaced New York to become the U.S. state with the most fatalities, standing at 49,439. New York reported the country's second largest death toll of 46,917, followed by Texas with 42,291 deaths and Florida with 30,065 deaths, the CSSE tally showed. States with more than 15,000 fatalities also include Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, Michigan, Massachusetts and Arizona. The United States remains the nation worst hit by the pandemic, with the world's highest caseload and death toll, accounting for more than 25 percent of the global cases and over 20 percent of the global deaths. People wearing face masks visit the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 24, 2021. (Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Xinhua) Last year, U.S. COVID-19 deaths hit 100,000 on May 27, topped 200,000 on Sept. 22, and reached 300,000 on Dec. 14. The number surged to 400,000 on Jan. 19, 2021. It took nearly four months for the national death toll to climb from 100,000 to 200,000, less than three months to jump from 200,000 to 300,000 and only more than one month to soar from 300,000 to 400,000 and from 400,000 to half a million, respectively. An updated model forecast by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington projected a total of 589,197 COVID-19 deaths in the United States by June 1, 2021, based on the current projection scenario. Joe Biden still believes there is a 'good shot' that Neera Tanden, his pick for head of the Office of Management and Budget, will be confirmed despite Joe Manchin effectively sinking her chances by announcing he will vote against the nominee. 'We're going to push. We still think there's a shot, a good shot,' Biden said at the end of a round table at the White House on Tuesday when asked about his confidence in Tanden's nomination. West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito became the latest Republican moderate to announce Tuesday that she will not cross the party line to help get Tanden confirmed in the midst of controversy surrounding her previous tweets attacking lawmakers. Capito joined her West Virginia Democratic colleague Manchin as well as Republican Senators Mitt Romney and Susan Collins in coming out against the budget nominee. Tanden's nomination is expected to move out of committee on Wednesday and a subsequent vote will be held on her confirmation, which, as it stands, will almost assuredly fail. With Manchin's opposition, Democrats need one Republican to vote in favor of Tanden's nomination to get her on Biden's cabinet as a permanent fixture. Joe Biden is still optimistic that his Office of Management and Budget pick Neera Tanden can get confirmed. 'We're going to push. We still think there's a shot, a good shot,' Biden said at the conclusion of a round table at the White House on Tuesday Tanden's confirmation will likely fail as another moderate Republican came out against her Tuesday after Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin said Friday he would not support her nomination One last hope could be Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowkski, a moderate who voted for Trump's impeachment conviction earlier this month along with fellow Republicans Romney, Collins and four others. But the senator has remained undecided or at least kept her thinking on the matter to herself. 'When do you expect to make a decision on the Tanden nomination,' a reporter asked Murkowski at the Capitol Tuesday. 'Well, she's supposed to move out of committee today, is that right?' the Alaska Republican posed. 'Tomorrow.' 'Well, I've got time then,' she shot back. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden has been working those on Capitol Hill to try and garner some Republican support for Tanden. She said he has held talks with dozens of senators on Tanden's nomination. Psaki also said Biden's confidence in Tanden to run the OMB has not changed despite revelations of transparency and unity issues related to her deleting more than 1,000 tweets personally attacking lawmakers before she was nominated to a cabinet post. Tanden, during her confirmation hearing earlier this month, apologized for her previous tweets. In her tenure, Tanden has served as a staffer to Hillary Clinton since her 2000 election to the Senate and later in her 2008 presidential run, and again in 2016 when Clinton defeated Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination and was ultimately bested by Donald Trump. Tanden also helped draft the Affordable Care Act during Barack Obama's presidency. Earlier this month, Tanden appeared before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and Senate Budget Committee the next day. During those hearings, she repeatedly expressed remorse for her Twitter activity. She said she deleted the tweets because she did not agree with the tone. Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito said Tuesday that she will vote against Tanden's nomination joining fellow West Virginia centrist Manchin in backlash following revelations of a slew of tweets from Tanden attacking fellow lawmakers Female Democratic lawmakers are accusing Manchin of a 'double standard' after coming out against Tanden and separately expressing doubt Monday over Interior secretary nominee Deb Haaland yet supporting Donald Trump's cabinet nominees. 'There's a double standard going on,' California Representative Judy Chu told Politico Monday. 'Her nomination is very significant for us Asian American and Pacific Islanders.' 'I do believe that this double standard has to do with the fact that she would be a pioneer in that position,' the head of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus continued of Tanden, the daughter of immigrants from India. Joe Biden nominated New Mexico Representative Deb Haaland to head the Department of the Interior. A confirmation hearing for the Native American Democratic lawmaker will be held Tuesday. Manchin expressed Monday he is undecided on whether he will vote to confirm Haaland to the ire of progressive female lawmakers. 'Jeff Sessions was so openly racist that even Reagan couldn't appoint him,' Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter Monday. 'Manchin voted to confirm him. Sessions then targeted immigrant children for wide-scale human rights abuses w/ family separation.' She added: 'Yet the 1st Native woman to be Cabinet Sec is where Manchin finds unease?' Manchin's hesitancy toward Haaland came after he announced Friday he would vote against Tanden's nomination to head the White House Office of Management and Budget. Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii listed Tanden, Haaland and Health and Human Services pick Xavier Becerra as nominees 'being scrutinized more heavily.' 'There seems to be a pattern here,' Hirono said of the minority picks for cabinet positions, adding that if Tanden's nomination falls, Biden's nominee for trade representative, Katherine Tai, would be the 'the only Asian woman in the Cabinet.' Female Democratic lawmakers are lashing out at their male colleagues, including Manchin, for a 'double standard' in opposing Joe Biden's female, minority picks for his cabinet but voting in favor of some of Trump's controversial nominees Manchin expressed Monday he has doubt about confirming Rep. Deb Haaland (pictured), a Native American representative for New Mexico, as secretary of the Interior Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed Manchin for voting to confirm 'openly racist' Jeff Sessions as Trump's attorney general, but now saying he could object the nomination of the '1st Native woman to be Cabinet Sec' Manchin, a centrist Democrat, wields a lot of power in the 50-50 split Senate where he essentially has 'veto power' Following Manchin's opposition to Tanden's nomination, which effectively killed her chances of confirmation, two key Republican senators, who often skirt the party line, followed suit Senators Mitt Romney of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine. Many of the lawmakers, including Manchin, who object to Tanden's slew of objectionable tweets toward lawmakers, voted to confirm Trump's pick for ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, among others with a history of harsh rhetoric and personal attacks. Conservative media figure who served as chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle in the George H. W. Bush administration Bill Kristol told the Washington Post: 'I feel like there's a little bit of sexism going on here.' 'It just seems like these tweets sound harsher to these old guys because they're coming from a woman,' he continued. 'We can disagree with her tweets, but in the past, Trump nominees that they've confirmed and supported had much more serious issues and conflicts than just something that was written on Twitter,' Democratic Representative Grace Mengof New York said. 'This is not just about any one nominee like Neera, or whoever else it's just about this pattern that is happening and increasingly hard to ignore,' she added. Manchin announced on Friday that he would oppose Tanden running OMB, citing the 'toxic' impact of her tweets insulting fellow lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Then on Monday the West Virginia centrist Democrat revealed he is undecided about Haalan, who will appear before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which Manchin chairs, for her confirmation hearing Tuesday. A spokesperson for Manchin said Monday that the senator and Haaland met over Zoom to discuss her nomination. Manchin's opposition to Tanden could sink her nomination unless Biden can find a Republican to support Tanden, who Manchin faulted for overly partisan statements. It was the first major party defection of the young Biden administration, although it notably came from a centrist lawmaker who voted with his party on convicting Trump of inciting the Capitol riot and plans to vote for Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill. The Office of Management and Budget touches on nearly every aspect of major policy. Mitt Romney and Susan Collins, both moderate Republican senators, announced Monday they will vote against Tanden's nomination. 'The OMB needs steady, experienced, responsive leadership. I will vote against confirming Ms. Tanden,' Collins, who represents Maine, released in a statement Monday morning. A spokesperson for Romney released a statement Monday saying: 'Senator Romney has been critical of extreme rhetoric from prior nominees, and this is consistent with that position. He believes it's hard to return to comity and respect with a nominee who has issued a thousand mean tweets.' Tanden in a now-deleted tweet called Collins 'the worst' and attacked her in another tweet for her questioning of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford during Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing. 'Susan Collins' terrible treatment of Dr. Ford should haunt Collins the rest of her days,' Tanden tweeted during Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings, when Blasey Ford raised allegations against him. She also deleted a slew of other offensive tweets aimed at lawmakers from both parties. The White House, however, is not backing down on Tanden's nomination instead bolstering support for her confirmation. 'Neera Tanden is an accomplished policy expert who would be an excellent Budget Director and we look forward to the committee votes this week and to continuing to work toward her confirmation through engagement with both parties,' White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Monday. With a 50-50 split Senate, Manchin defecting means Democrats now need one Republican senator to cross the line. But they won't be able to count on Collins or Romney for that. Moderate Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine (left) and Mitt Romney of Utah (right) said Monday they will vote against confirming Tanden Tanden deleted more than 1,000 tweets with harsh messages for Republican lawmakers, including calling Collins 'the worst' in the midst of the contentious confirmation hearing for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kvanaugh In a now-deleted tweet, Tanden attacked the Maine senator for her questioning of Kavanaugh's accuser Collins and Romney are two of the few Republican senators who occasionally voted with Democrats most recently both voted in favor of Donald Trump's impeachment conviction. No other Democrats have said if they plan to vote against Tanden's nomination. Her best hope for a successful confirmation lies with gaining support from Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, both moderate Republicans who also voted for Trump's conviction earlier this month. Manchin and Collins are close. In 2020, the West Virginia senator endorsed Collins' reelection and they also worked together on the most recent COVID-19 relief package. Manchin has also entertained moderates, including Collins, on 'Almost Heaven' his houseboat docked in the Potomac. In the 2020 election, the Senate became split down the middle giving any Democratic defector veto power over legislation they don't like and effectively making moderate Manchin the most influential lawmaker in the upper chamber. The White House is sticking by Tanden despite revelations of her deleting a slew of tweets attacking Republican lawmakers. Biden does not plan to withdraw her nomination. 'Congress has to be able to trust the OMB director to make countless decisions in an impartial manner, carrying out the letter of the law and congressional intent,' Collins wrote in her statement denouncing Biden's pick. 'Neera Tanden has neither the experience nor the temperament to lead this critical agency. Her past actions have demonstrated exactly the kind of animosity that President Biden has pledged to transcend.' 'In addition, Ms. Tanden's decision to delete more than a thousand tweets in the days before her nomination was announced raises concerns about her commitment to transparency,' she continued. 'Should Congress need to review documents or actions taken by OMB, we must have confidence that the Director will be forthcoming.' Tanden, Biden's nominee for Director of the OMB was revealed to delete harmful tweets upon news of her nomination In announcing his opposition to Tanden's nomination, Manchin cited the 'toxic' impact of her tweets insulting fellow lawmakers. Biden told reporters as he returned to Washington from a trip to Michigan Thursday he was not pulling her nomination. 'I think we are going to find the votes and get her confirmed,' he said. Tanden has been criticized by Republicans over her past harsh comments on social media, such as calling Mitch McConnell, the party's leader in the Senate, 'Moscow Mitch' and saying 'vampires have more heart than (Senator) Ted Cruz.' 'I have carefully reviewed Neera Tanden's public statements and tweets that were personally directed towards my colleagues on both sides of the aisle from Senator Sanders to Senator McConnell and others,' Manchin said in a statement. Tanden has tangled with Democratic socialist Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who chairs the Budget Committee Tanden's comments have made adversaries on the right and the left 'I believe her overtly partisan statements will have a toxic and detrimental impact on the important working relationship between members of Congress and the next director of the Office of Management and Budget,' he said. Many Democrats scoffed at such concerns, noting near-unanimous Republican support for former President Donald Trump, who was accused of inciting a deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol partly via inflammatory comments on Twitter and was known for blasting those he saw as opponents - particularly women - as 'nasty' or criminals who should be locked up. Manchin cited Tanden's 'public statements and tweets' in his decision not to confirm. If every Senate Democrat supported Tanden, she could have been confirmed without Republican votes since Democrats control 50 seats in the chamber and Vice President Kamala Harris can break a tie. Tanden has a limited number of Republicans who might bail out her nomination. Just seven GOP senators voted to convict President Trump in his impeachment trial. She already burned a bridge with Collins. 'I recognize the concern. I deeply regret and apologize for my language, and some of my past language,' Tanden said at her confirmation hearing. When Biden picked Tanden, chief executive of the left-leaning Center for American Progress think tank in Washington, Republicans pointed to her past strong comments on Twitter, such as referring to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell as 'Moscow Mitch' and saying 'vampires have more heart than (Senator) Ted Cruz.' Tanden referred to GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as 'Voldemort' in one tweet Following reports that she regretted 1,000 tweets, Tanden said she did so 'because I regretted the tone.' As OMB head she will interact with Senate Budget chair Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who reminded her of their past at her hearing. 'Your attacks were not just made against Republicans. There were vicious attacks made against progressives, people who I have worked with, me personally,' he told her. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina read one of them, which referenced the bitter 2016 nomination fight between Hillary Clinton and Sanders. 'Russia did a lot more to help Bernie than the DNC's random internal e-mails did to help Hillary,' Tanden wrote, siding with Clinton. In addition to calling Cruz a vampire, she once referred to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell 'Voldemort' from the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling. Moscow: Police stormed the party offices of Georgian opposition leader Nika Melia and detained him early on Tuesday, deepening a political crisis that prompted the prime minister to resign last week. Seventeen people were hurt in clashes at the partys offices, the health ministry was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying. Melias supporters used furniture to barricade themselves inside, prompting police to spray gas before officers led Melia away. Nika Melia, head of the United National Movement. Credit:AP Melia, chairman of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party, has been accused of inciting violence at street protests in June 2019, a charge he dismisses as politically motivated. The Interior Ministry said it had no option but to use coercive measures as activists had ignored numerous warnings not to obstruct their work and had declined to leave the building. Empress Royalty (CVE: EMPR- OTCQB: EMPYF) CEO Alexandra Woodyer Sherron joined Steve Darling from Proactive with news the company has added value for shareholders by exercising a 2.25% royalty on a Gold Project in Mozambique. Woodyer Sherron telling Proactive that deal is the first investment in an African royalty. She also told Proactive, the company is now trading on the OTCQB exchange under the ticker EMPYF. South Africa: MTN rewards matric top achievers with laptops The MTN Foundation has rewarded South Africas top 183 matriculants with laptops for their hard work and dedication displayed in the 2020 National Senior Certificate examinations. As a reward for their efforts and stellar results, MTN Foundation is handing over laptop computers to the top 33 achievers nationally, as well as providing laptops to the top 15 achievers in each province. The top 15 learners in Computer Application Technology (CAT) and Information Technology (IT) subjects, and special needs category, will also receive laptops. Each of the 183 achievers will also receive an MTN backpack filled with stationery, MTN SA Foundation General Manager, Kusile Mtunzi-Hairwadzi said on Tuesday. The matric results were announced on Monday, 22 February 2021, by the Department of Basic Education. This past year truly tested the mettle of our matriculants, with leaners facing unprecedented challenges ahead of the biggest exams of their school careers. We congratulate them on achieving an outstanding national result despite the challenges. Together with our partners in the national and provincial departments of education, we wish them the very best in their future endeavours they will no doubt become the leaders of tomorrow, the General Manager said. As part of its broader national Back-to-School Campaign, Mtunzi-Hairwadzi announced that MTN will also distribute 100 tablet computers to each province from 1 to 5 March 2021. The tablets will be made available to Grade 10 to 12 Mathematics and Science learners, including learners taking Information and Communications Technology (ICT) related subjects. Mtunzi-Hairwadzi said the foundation believes that the devices will assist learners to tackle difficult concepts in the subjects and enhance their academic performance. She added that MTN Foundation supports the use of technology to address the socio-economic challenges experienced in disadvantaged communities. She is hopeful that the handover of tablets will provide access to eLearning and increase digital skills within disadvantaged communities. Another MTN major drive is to enhance access to learning and opportunity, is an initiative to provide 1 700 pairs of school shoes, backpacks, stationery, water bottles and lunchboxes, to disadvantaged learners in Limpopo. Mtunzi-Hairwadzi noted that the Back-to-School Programme is aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aim to provide children and young people with quality and easily accessible education, plus other learning opportunities, such as e-Learning platforms. The majority of our interventions are therefore ICT-driven. MTN Foundations numerous school support programmes aim to make vulnerable learners lives brighter with the view of affording them an increased ability to focus on their classroom performance and much-needed access to multimedia centres in their schools. MTN Foundation embraces a vision for corporate citizenship that seeks to digitally enhance the capacity of communities to achieve self-reliance and success. We believe education holds the key to a better life for all South Africans, Mtunzi-Hairwadzi said. In his tribute, President Cyril Ramaphosa described the Class of 2020 as scholars of courage. In the face of great difficulties brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, our learners have been resilient, they have done themselves, their families and their country proud, said the President. - SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-02-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Sorry! This content is not available in your region The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Mitchell Kukulka. Sunday, Feb. 21 11:25 p.m. Officers responded to a report of domestic violence in the 5200 block of Hedgewood Drive. 11:17 p.m. A deputy and Michigan State Police trooper responded to a Jerome Township residence for a report of a 16-year-old male who was being disorderly. The parents of the teen allowed him to go with a friend to a home in Harrison for a few days to cool off. 3:39 p.m. Deputies responded to a vehicle crash in Jerome Township. 2:03 p.m. Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the area of Hemlock and Beech streets. 1:13 p.m. An unknown woman mistakenly attempted to pay for automotive supplies at a Jerome Township business with a counterfeit $20 bill. There was no loss of money or product. The counterfeit bill was placed into evidence pending follow-up. 11:39 a.m. A 58-year-old Lincoln Township woman reported her prescription medications stolen from her residence. 9:02 a.m. Deputies responded to a car-deer crash in Homer Township. 1:26 a.m. Deputies responded to a vehicle crash in Hope Township. Saturday, Feb. 20 8:55 p.m. Deputies responded to a car-deer crash in Greendale Township. 8:51 p.m. A deputy responded to a report of a 44-year-old Grand Rapids woman that assaulted a corrections deputy at the jail. The deputy sustained minor injuries. 4:24 p.m. Bay County Central Dispatch requested a Midland County deputy make contact at a Hope Township house in reference to a death notification. The deputy spoke with family and relayed the necessary information. 12:36 p.m. Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the 900 block of Joe Mann Boulevard. Friday, Feb. 19 9:43 p.m. Officers responded to an intoxicated driver in the area of east U.S.-10 and eastbound Business U.S.-10. 9:29 p.m. An 18-year-old woman said she was assaulted by her 19-year-old boyfriend. 8:10 p.m. Deputies responded to a car-deer crash in Midland Township. 7:16 p.m. A 61-year-old Larkin Township man reported an unknown vehicle had struck his mailbox worth about $40. 7:02 p.m. A 47-year-old man and his 17-year-old son both received a scam phone call. Both said a foreign man called them saying they owed money and that if they did not send them money they would come find them. The deputy tried calling the number, but no one answered. 7:14 p.m. Officers responded to a report of property damage and an assault in the 3700 block of Isabella Street. 3 p.m. Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the area of Cronkright and East Buttles streets. 7:46 a.m. Deputies were dispatched to an Ingersoll Township residence for a 60-year-old Ingersoll Township woman reporting her 62-year-old husband was arguing with her and did not want her leaving the residence. The man claimed the woman had kicked him during the argument, and the woman said he had pushed her. The subjects were separated and a report was forwarded to the court for review. 6:40 a.m. Deputies responded to a car-deer crash in Hope Township. 3:54 a.m. Deputies assisted EMS with a 29-year-old man having seizures in Lee Township. 2:34 a.m. Officers responded to a suicide attempt in the 100 block of Ripley Street. The Nagol is Back! VTOs guide to this years Nagol, plus where to stay and play in south, central and north Pentecost. A large display showing the Goddess of Democracy (top C) and lettering that reads 'Free HK' is seen a stall on a pavement near Victoria Park in Hong Kong on June 4, 2020, after an annual vigil that traditionally takes place in the park to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown was banned on public health grounds because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Anthony Wallace /AFP via Getty Images) Top Beijing Official Says Hong Kong Should be Ruled by Patriots The recent speech of Beijings highest-level official in charge of Hong Kong affairs signals that the Chinese regime may be planning on revising the citys election law to support pro-China candidates. Critics are concerned that his move could rule out candidates from the pro-democracy camp, and that Beijing will pass new election rules to tighten its grip over Hong Kong. Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), delivered a speech on patriots ruling Hong Kong on Feb. 22, stating that Hong Kong should be governed by patriots, according to mainland Chinese media outlets. Xia described people who are not patriotsthose who are anti-China and disrupt Hong Kong. He said unpatriotic individuals commit the following acts: hysterically attack the central government by various means; publicly promote Hong Kong independence; beg foreign countries to pressure and sanction China and Hong Kong; violate Hong Kongs national security law, challenge the fundamental system of the country; and refuse to accept or deliberately distort Hong Kongs constitutional order. Xia borrowed the term patriots governing Hong Kong from former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping who put it out in the 1980s with regards to the citys one country, two systems framework. Deng said that patriots should be the main body to govern Hong KongHong Kong people ruling Hong Kong. According to Deng, patriots abide by three standards: respect ones own nation, sincerely support the motherland to resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong, and not harm Hong Kong. Xias criteria for patriotism are stricter than Dengs standards, according to Radio Free Asia (RFA). In his speech, Xia stressed that the election in Hong Kong should prevent anti-China individuals in Hong Kong and political agents of international anti-China forces from entering Hong Kongs political organs. He also emphasized that improving the electoral system must be carried out under Beijings leadership and that Hong Kong must never simply copy or apply foreign election systems. RFA also reported that Xias speech indicates that Beijing plans to change Hong Kongs election law in order to eliminate the possibility of a potential candidate from the pro-democracy camp to be elected before the election of the Legislative Council in September and the election of the Chief Executives Election Committee in December this year. It is expected that Beijing will formally propose specific measures during the Two Sessions, the main annual political gathering of Chinas political elite, which will start on March 4, the report said. Chinas rubber-stamp legislaturethe National Peoples Congress and its advisory bodythe Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conferencewill convene to enact policies and agendas. More than 5,000 delegates from around the country typically participate. According to pro-Beijing media HK01, a new Hong Kong electoral system would include the establishment of a candidate patriot review mechanism to ensure that all candidates are patriots. In other words, candidates would be pre-screened to ensure that they are pro-China. Hong Kong politician Fergus Leung, a member of the Central and Western District Council, told RFA that the democrats have a slim chance of taking part in future elections. A woman (center L) uses her phone while waiting to vote during primary elections in Hong Kong on July 12, 2020. (Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images) RFA quoted Leung as saying, They will come up with more reasons to prevent those Hong Kong people who support democracy and freedom from participating in politics. Therefore, I think that regardless of whether there is a Legislative Council election this year, the chances of democratic camp to get in any election are very slim. Leung, along with other pro-democracy activists, former lawmakers, and politicians, were arrested in January for their roles in a primary election held by the pan-democracy camp ahead of the Legislative Council (LegCo) elections in September last year. The primary election was organized by local political association Power for Democracy, with the aim of selecting the most promising pro-democracy candidates to run for legislative office. Leung was one of the candidates. It was the largest mass arrest so far since the national security law went into effect on June 30, 2020. Leung was released soon after the arrest. Leung told RFA that he did not plan to run for legislative office because he does not have any faith in Hong Kongs electoral system. Farming businesses with a minimum of 50 employees have been reminded to register for government-funded Covid-19 tests available until the end of March. The free lateral flow device (LFD) test kits allows for rapid workplace testing of workers who are unable to work from home. The NFU has been pushing for testing for farmers and workers in agriculture to help the smooth flow of the UK's food supplies. Defra is now inviting employers with more than 50 employees to establish asymptomatic testing sites (ATSs) in the workplace. The sites allow both farming employees and contractors to access LFDs and receive rapid Covid-19 results. NFU Deputy President Stuart Roberts said the union strongly welcomed the government's move. It has always been important during times of crisis to keep workers safe and our shops and fridges full," he said. "Its great that Defra and DHSC have secured this testing for those food businesses, including farmers and growers where they have over 50 employees. We will continue to work with government on reducing the need for those workers testing negative to self-isolate, and for smaller businesses to access mass testing facilities. The free lateral flow device (LFD) test kits will be available until 31 March 2021. What support is provided? The government provides support in a number of ways for businesses interested: A limited period of free LFDs shipped to one location A clinically approved protocol (standard operating procedures) A guidebook to explain how to set up and run a safe and effective testing site On-demand training for the operatives that will process tests and run the site A GDPR-compliant digital solution to report results to Public Health England. This photo illustration shows reports on Facebook's news ban on Australian and International content in Sydney, Australia, on Feb. 18, 2021. (Brendon Thorne/Getty Images) Facebook Reverses News Ban on Australia Facebook has decided to reverse its sweeping ban on news content in Australia after the tech giant and the federal government agreed to amendments to the impending media payment law. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and the Australian government have been engaged in 11th-hour discussions since the ban came into place last Thursday. By Tuesday Eastern Standard Time, a deal was finally brokered. The government has been advised by Facebook that it intends to restore Australian news pages in the coming days, according to a statement by Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher. These amendments will provide further clarity to digital platforms and news media businesses about the way the Code is intended to operate they said. In this photo illustration, a message is seen on Facebook mobile, in Melbourne, Australia, on Feb. 18, 2021. (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) Some amendments include giving companies one month notice before they were designated as coming under the ambit of the News Media Bargaining Code and extending the amount of time for mediation between parties. Last week, Facebook made good on a threat to pull news content from its platform in response to the Australian governments News Media Bargaining Code. The Code legislates a framework for news companies to enter negotiations with Google and Facebook for payment of content. Parties are given a three-month period to negotiate. However, if negotiations stall, the matter can be taken to an independent arbitrator. The arbitrator has the authority to mandate an agreement via baseball arbitration. This means both parties submit their best offers, and one will be selected. Google Australia was critical of the clause, among other issues, saying it doesnt provide a level playing field. Despite initial resistance and public lobbying, Google eventually came to the table and spent the last week signing off deals with several media outlets. However, Facebook decided to execute its nuclear option, surprising government ministers with its news ban. The ban removed all news-related content from its platform in Australia and prevented users from sharing it. Facebook has restricted Queensland Healths Facebook page in its move to restrict sharing Australian news on its platform. (The Epoch Times) The Facebook pages of mainstream media outlets were also shut down, including the ABC, The Australian, Sydney Morning Herald, and The Epoch Times. Campbell Brown, Facebooks VP of Global News Partnerships, said the tech giant was pleased to have reached an agreement with the Australian government. We have consistently supported a framework that would encourage innovation and collaboration between online platforms and publishers, Brown said in a blog. As a result of these changes, we can now work to further our investment in public interest journalism and restore news on Facebook for Australians in the coming days, he added. The ban caused major disruption across Australia with the accounts of several non-media Facebook pages, including non-profit organisations, unions, businesses, emergency services, the weather bureau, and government departments. Traffic to Australian news sites also took a tumble, with an estimated 16 percent drop in web visitation once the ban set in. Australia has been at the forefront of the world push on how to regulate Big Tech better. Currently, Canada has announced that it is now considering similar legislation to Australia, while Microsoft has encouraged European and U.S. regulators to adopt the law. She sparked plastic surgery rumors last month after she walked the Fendi runway with a very dramatic new look But Demi Moore was covering up for complexion as she stepped out for a spot of shopping in West Hollywood on Sunday. The superstar, 58, completely concealed what had been the subject of so much speculation as she hung out with her girlfriends, and a puppy in her arms. Covered up! Demi Moore concealed her face on Sunday after sparking plastic surgery speculation a month ago The pup lay snug inside a sling Demi wore across her body, poking his adorable head out to admire the scenery. Aside from her stylish pink mask, Demi kept the remainder of her look very casual as she ventured out into the sunshine with pals. The actress wore loose jeans, a long-sleeve black top, and a pair of fashionable shades to protect her vision. Walking about the sidewalk at a leisurely pace, the strut was of course a far cry from the one she worked on the Fendi runway a month ago. Infamous look: The Ghost actress sparked speculation she had undergone plastic surgery as she walked the catwalk, looking unreconizable Laid-back: Aside from her stylish pink mask, Demi kept the remainder of her look very casual as she ventured out into the sunshine with pals The Ghost actress sparked speculation she had undergone plastic surgery as she walked the catwalk, looking unreconizable. Within minutes of her couture catwalk appearance, Twitter users began wondering whether her transformation had come as a result of cosmetic enhancements or 'terrible' makeup. Several days after her appearance, she spoke about her walking the runway - but failed to address the speculation she had any work done. During an interview with supermodel Naomi Campbell, she did briefly address her appearance, describing it as 'special' and 'very magical'. Puppy love: Moore affectionately carried the pooch about 'Truly it didn't hit me until afterwards that it really was a teenage fantasy fulfilled,' Demi said of her surprise appearance in the show. 'I took a moment where I thought, "Oh my God, I literally just walked a runway show with some of the biggest models ever." For me, I literally felt like a little kid.' The Striptease star, who sat down in-person with fellow Fendi model Naomi in Paris shortly after the show, went on to gush about the 'very special' catwalk event, which was hosted without an audience and saw its stars walking down the runway before posing in acrylic boxes. However, mere minutes after she made her debut, social media was flooded with questions about her face - with many asking why she looked so different, with dozens suggesting that her transformation may well have come as the result of plastic surgery. Hmmm: Mere minutes after she made her debut, social media was flooded with questions about her face - with many asking why she looked so different, with dozens suggesting that her transformation may well have come as the result of plastic surgery Several cosmetic experts agreed with the claims, with board certified dermatologist Dr. Corey L Hartman, founder of Skin Wellness Dermatology in Birmingham, Alabama, telling DailyMail.com that it appeared as though Demi had undergone more than one procedure to alter her face. Noting that he 'did not treat Demi personally', Dr. Hartman disagreed with suggestions that the actress's drastic transformation was done with makeup alone, stating: 'While a lot of this look may be attributed to makeup and lighting, it also appears that perhaps she has had too much fat removed from her buccal fat pads. 'This appears to have caused dermal filler in the cheek to appear too augmented resulting in this dramatically different appearance.' Four other doctors told OK Magazine that Demi's appearance could have been down to her having 'gone overboard with injectable fillers.' Plastic surgeon Ryan Neinstein, who doesn't treat Demi said: Moore was sucking in her cheeks. 'Many young women seek high cheekbones, hollow cheeks and a cross-cheek shadow, which is a popular look on social media and often duplicated with makeup. 'One of the most obvious signs of facelift surgery is the cross-cheek depression or "joker line," certain surgical maneuvers in a facelift can give this appearance.' The Minister-designate for Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah has said a total of GHC 840 million was spent on the free water supply system introduced by the President as part of measures to cushion Ghanaians for the Covid-19 period. She made the statement when she appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament for vetting on Tuesday, February 23. She said about ten million people in urban areas benefitted from the intervention but could not readily provide the figure for beneficiaries of the intervention in rural areas. President Akufo-Addo announced the extension of the free provision of water and electricity for lifeline customers by three more months. According to him, the extension has become necessary to reduce the continued ravaging impact the Covid-19 pandemic has brought on Ghanaians. He made the announcement in his 21st COVID-19 update to the nation on Sunday, January 3, 2021. He said lifeline electricity consumers and households whose water usage do not exceed five cubic meters per month will not pay for the utilities in January, February, and March 2021. You will recall that, in our quest to help shield you from the effects of the virus, Government took the decision to provide relief to Ghanaians, which included the absorption of electricity and water bills. This relief package ended in December. However, with the continuing difficulties occasioned by the pandemic, I want to state that the Government intends to continue to support the most vulnerable in our society. Source: Emmanuel Akorli/Parliamentary Correspondent/Peace Fm Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Considerable consternation was occasioned in Melbourne yesterday morning in consequence of a rumor to the effect that Messrs. MMeckan, Blackwood and Co.s steamer, the Gothenburg, had been wrecked on Flinders Island, and that a large number of the passengers and crew had perished. One of the earliest to receive official information on the matter was the Premier, to whom a telegram was sent from Queensland, stating the steamer had been wrecked on Flinders Island in a cyclone, on the night of the 25th, and adding that from a reliable source it had been ascertained that two of the boats had been picked up filled with passengers. Three boats, with ninety passengers, were still adrift. Another statement was made that four persons had been picked up, and that 107 had perished. Mr Kerford at once sent a special messenger to Messrs. MMeckan, Blackwood and Co., not knowing precise locality where the wreck had occurred, offering, if necessary, to place the Victoria steamer at the service of the firm, with a view to relieving sufferers. Loading For a time it was believed that the scene of the wreck was Flinders Island, in Basss Straits. It was found, however, that Messrs. MMeckan, Blackwood and Co. had received a telegram also, informing them of the disaster, and reiterating the statement that only four men out of the passengers and crew had been rescued. As soon as the news became generally known the utmost anxiety prevailed amongst those who had friends and relations on board, and during the day the telegraph office and the offices of Messrs. MMeckan and Co. were besieged with persons desirous of obtaining information. Welcome to Morningstar.co.uk! You have been redirected here from Hemscott.com as we are merging our websites to provide you with a one-stop shop for all your investment research needs.To search for a security, type the name or ticker in the search box at the top of the page and select from the dropdown results.Registered Hemscott users can log in to Morningstar using the same login details. Similarly, if you are a Hemscott Premium user, you now have a Morningstar Premium account which you can access using the same login details. The "Fortuna" pipelayer involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, as well as its owner, "KBT-Rus", have been added to another U.S. sanctions list, according to the statement published on the website of the U.S. Treasury. Earlier, on January 19, the Donald Trump administration announced that sanctions will imposed on "Fortune" and "KBT-Rus" in accordance with the law "On Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions" (CAATSA). The Ministry of Finance clarifies that "Fortuna" and "KVT-Rus" were blacklisted under the Protecting European Energy Security Act (PEESA), TASS writes. Soon after his colleagues denounced his prior moves, the undaunted Gascon responded with another radical order. He told his deputies to halt their previously routine appearances at state hearings to oppose parole for prisoners with life sentences who have served their legal minimum prison time. So, for example, when Charles Manson family member Bruce Davis, the vicious murderer of musician Gary Hinman, came up for a hearing the other day, only the 81-year-old cousin of his victim was present to protest on the video conference. She is not a lawyer. For decades, appearances by deputy district attorneys especially those who originally prosecuted the lifers helped keep major offenders imprisoned, where they could do no further harm to people whose lives their misdeeds already wrecked. Gascon did this to fulfill a campaign promise to relieve crowding in jails and prisons. Essentially, he placed convicts comfort above victims well-being. Almost all of his actions so far have been more in the interest of criminals than their victims, much the same as Boudins, which have not been quite as extreme. New Delhi, Feb 23 : Samsung has started rolling out support for electrocardiogram readings and blood pressure monitoring on its Galaxy Watch Active 2 and Galaxy Watch 3 devices in more countries. The full list of countries are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, and UK, reports SamMobile. The Samsung Health Monitor app, which is used for blood pressure and ECG measurement is now available for download from the Galaxy Store in these new markets. Earlier, the features were restricted to owners of one of those two devices in South Korea and US only. A user would still need a Samsung phone paired to the watch for ECG monitoring, even though all of the required hardware and software is contained in the watch. The ECG feature uses advanced sensor technology on the smartwatch and will enable users to measure and analyze their heart rhythm for irregularities indicating Atrial Fibrillation (AFib). To measure the ECG, a user just needs to open the app and place his smartwatch arm on a flat surface, and then place his fingertip of the other hand on the top button of the smartwatch for about 30 seconds. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text At a time when Americans are starting to suspect a COVID-industrial complex with an entrenched interest in permanent lockdowns, out comes Joe Biden with a very bizarre video tweet from his newly appointed CDC director: I know folks have a lot of questions about COVID-19 mutations, our vaccination progress, and much more. @CDCDirector Dr. Walensky sat down to provide answers. pic.twitter.com/K0Rlkc4Ti2 President Biden (@POTUS) February 22, 2021 The unmasked woman with the strange, smirking, mirthless grin, making that grim message about COVID having no end in sight and calling for everyone to wear a mask is Biden's appointment to the Centers for Disease Control, Dr. Rochelle Walensky. Who the heck delivers news like that with that bizarre kind of extended smile? And worse still, the head bobbing, and that flippant giggly ending? That's the image she wants to project as the calm, knowledgable, trustworthy top doctor? Even Dr. Anthony Fauci was pretty good at putting that act on. Her strange smile suggests that apparently she thinks her audience is stupid. Instead of seeming like someone medically trustworthy, she comes off as kind of a screwball commercial actor, insincere but grinning, or else a lowly customer service representative spouting the company line, or worst of all, maybe someone who likes the sort of situation she's touting with a commercial interest in permanent lockdowns. That's bad, because it's what the public already is suspecting. It's fine and dandy to mouth well-known platitudes about wearing masks for a public service video. But it's also late to the party, given that the public already doing it, suggesting someone just a little out of touch. After all, Americans are bombarded with these messages, every billboard near a hospital has one and every television set blares them, but to do it once more, this time with that huge grin, that bobbing head, and that long, continuous unstopping wide open smile, as if this were the happiest thing in the world instead of a failure of public health, is kind of clown-creepy. At a minimum, it's different. Perhaps she has bad public relations skills, perhaps it's her first moment in public, and she doesn't know how to communicate persuasively. Perhaps the public relations spin team was unable to train her. But the smile in her video is obviously fake, which makes it corrosive to winning public trust. And given that she's a doctor, with Harvard credentials no less, it's also strikingly unprofessional. In her acceptance statement to the press for her CDC job, she did want you to know she was serious: I am proud to join this agency, and I recognize the seriousness of the moment. The toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on America is truly heartbreaking for the loss of our loved ones and our beloved ways of life. At Massachusetts General Hospital, I saw firsthand the many difficulties this pandemic brings to our frontline workers and first responders, hospitals and public health systems, communities, and loved ones. Which kind of sounds like the lady doth protest too much. It reminds me of an incident from 1998, when I lived in Singapore, and the news of the day was the great Asian multi-state economic crisis triggered reputedly by George Soros. Indonesia at the time was forced to sign a very bitter IMF agreement for a government bailout that impoverished Indonesian voters and carried a heavy price to the country's prized sovereignty (Indonesia, recall, post-World War II, fought a war for its independence). IMF Managing Director, Michel Camdessus, an arrogant French socialist, stood over the bowed head of Indonesia's then-president, Suharto, and made a big Cheshire cat grin. I found one Getty image of picture, of Suharto bowed and Camdessus with his armed folded above looking somber. It's possible the big Cheshire cat images have since been scrubbed, because that grinning smile as Camdessus towered over Suharto was a huge public relations liability. It certainly didn't endear Indonesians to the IMF. And yes, those gargantuan toothy 'smile' images of Camdessus triumphing over Suharto were all over the press at the time. The same happened in South Korea with that country's 1998 IMF bailout package. Camdessus smiled over Korea's leaders as they signed, and that too didn't go over well with the public. Smiling in such a way is looked on as a kind of scorn and that was how the South Korean public interpreted it. It looks like maybe retweeter Biden, who was around in 1998, took that as a model, not a warning. Image: Twitter video screen shot. Industry Update Appointment 23 February 2021 Melissa Gan Appointed Chief Commercial Officer APAC At Worldhotels in Perth, Australia Melissa Gan, who has been with the company since 2005, will assume increased responsibilities in the newly created role of WorldHotels Chief Commercial Officer APAC. Best Western International, Inc. Best Western Hotels & Resorts headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, is a privately held hotel brand within the BWH Hotel GroupSM global network. With 17 brands and approximately 4,700 hotels in over 100 countries and territories worldwide*, BWH Hotel Group suits the needs of developers and guests in every market. more information Recent Appointments at Best Western Jay Hubbs - Vice President of Advertising, Marketing, Innovation and Analytics 9 April 2021 Best Western Hotels & Resorts today announced that Jay Hubbs has been appointed Vice President of Advertising, Marketing, Innovation and Analytics. In the newly created role, Hubbs will leverage his extensive experience to lead the brand's digital advertising, media buying and co-op marketing efforts. read more Erwann Mahe - Managing Director - Asia 2 April 2021 Best Western Hotels & Resorts today announced that Erwann Mahe has been appointed Managing Director - Asia. His extensive industry knowledge and experience make Mahe the ideal candidate to drive Best Western Hotels & Resorts' future growth in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. read more A whitetail deer with hair growing out of its eyeballs was discovered wandering in a Tennessee suburb. Residents of Farragut, a suburb about 20 minutes outside Knoxville, reported the buck to authorities, telling them it was circling the street, with visible bleeding, no awareness of the people around it, and 'something on its eyes.' Concerned the deer had chronic wasting disease, a contagious and fatal prion disease, agents with Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) had to put it down. They then discovered the buck had hairy tumors, known as dermoids, completely covering both corneas and rendering it virtually blind. Scroll down for video A whitetail deer found wandering the street in suburban Tennessee had hairy cysts, known as corneal dermoids, covering both of its corneas and rendering it virtually blind Chronic wasting (CW) disease, also known as 'zombie deer' disease, is a fatal and highly contagious illness related to 'mad cow disease.' Its affects deer, elk and moose, causing severe weight loss, tremors, salivation, confusion and, eventually, violent aggression and death. CWD hasn't been identified in East Tennessee yet, according to the National Deer Association, which shared the incident report last week. The buck was negative for CWD but tested positive for epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD), another virus characterized by high fevers and extensive hemorrhaging. Congenital and usually benign, dermoids can be composed of hair follicles, sweat glands, fat and other elements of normal skin. They can affects cats, dogs, and even humans, but have rarely been reported in deer It's likely the deer was born with the condition, but veterinarians believe the tumors grew over time, allowing it to adapt to an ever-decreasing field of vision Post-mortem testing at the University of Georgia's Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study revealed the buck's hairy eyeballs were due to a condition known as corneal dermoids, described as 'skin-like tissue occurring on the body in a location other than on the skin,' according to a report by veterinary medicine professor Nicole Nemeth. Congenital and usually benign, corneal dermoids can be composed of hair follicles, sweat glands, fat and other elements of normal skin. WHAT IS 'ZOMBIE DEER DISEASE'? As of August 2020, chronic wasting disease (CWD), also known as 'zombie deer disease' has been reported in 24 states. Believed to be caused by misfolded proteins called prions, it's related to mad cow disease in cattle and Creutzfeldth-Jakob disease in humans. The infection attacks the brain, spinal cord, and other tissues in deer, elk, and moose, resulting in dramatic weight loss, lack of coordination, and even aggression before they eventually die. There is no evidence yet that it can infect humans, according to the CDC. But has been transmitted in the lab to squirrel monkeys and mice and macaques that consumed infected meat. Advertisement They've been reported in dogs and cats, but rarely in deer. According to the NDA, there's only been one other case in a whitetail a doe killed by a hunter in 2007 that had a dermoid in one eye. The buck encountered in Tennessee had skin and dense hair completely covering both corneas making it virtually blind, TWRA wildlife biologist Sterling Daniels told NDA. 'It maybe could tell day from dark, but I wouldn't think it would be able to see where it was going,' Daniels said. 'I'd compare it to covering your eyes with a washcloth. You could tell day from night, but that's about it.' Nemeth said she thought the dermoids developed over time, allowing the buck to adapt to a decreasing field of vision. According to the National Deer Association, the incident took place in late August 2020. Though rare, humans can suffer from cornal demoids, too: In 2013, an Iranian teenager underwent eye surgery to remove the hairy growth in his right cornea. He had been born with the mass, but it had gradually been growing until it was a quarter-inch in size, twice as big as most dermoids 'He did not have pain, but the mass caused vision defects, mild discomfort on blinking, and the intermittent sensation of the presence of a foreign body,' according to a report in The New England Journal of Medicine. NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The School of Fashion at The New School's Parsons School of Design, in collaboration WWD, the leading source of news and analysis for the fashion, beauty, and retail industries, and the New York-based education platform Yellowbrick, today announced Fashion Business Essentials, a program that offers a deep exploration into the innovation and changes happening across the Fashion business; including effective uses of information technology, strategic business planning, decision-making, planning management, brand development, and effective communications within organizations. Learners who complete the program will earn a non-credit Completion Certificate from Parsons and will gain a full understanding of key roles, skills, and functions to be successful in the fashion industry. All course materials and instruction will be provided online, enabling students to complete lessons at their own pace and fit the course into their daily lives. The program offers more than 15 hours of instruction and project time offered across five modules titled, "Entrepreneurship and the Fashion System," "Managing Fashion Production," "Fashion Branding," "Marketing Strategies," and "Retailing and Distribution." Instruction will come from Parsons faculty, along with fashion insiders and experts. Instructors include Keanan Duffty, Director of Fashion Programs, Parsons; Khary Simon, Vice President at The Premiere Group, Parsons Faculty; Jasmine S. Young, Vice President of Operations at Ami Cole; Sydney Price, Founder & CEO, The Knew Purpose, Parsons Faculty; Rick Helfenbein, Retail & Fashion Industry Consultant, Former Chairman, President & CEO of the American Apparel & Footwear Association; and many more. "The fashion industry has endured many challenges over the past year and we see its recovery as an opportunity to bring more diverse voices into the ranks," said Ben Barry, Dean of the School of Fashion at The New School's Parsons School of Design. "In this program, we're building opportunities for talent who hail from non-traditional backgrounds in the fashion industry, and we're furthering our mission to change the fashion education experience for the better." "WWD has been covering the Fashion industry since 1910, and few if any years have been more disruptive to the industry than 2020 was. However, where there's disruption, there's opportunity," added Amanda Smith, President of Fairchild Media. "This is a chance for a whole new generation of talent to join us in reimagining the industry in bigger and better ways. By partnering with Parsons and Yellowbrick, we're helping educate the next generation and we're excited to tap our staff's extensive knowledge in providing that education." "Fashion occupies a special place among creative industries, as expressed to us by the thousands of learners who have come through our Fashion and Streetwear programs," said Rob Kingyens, President and CEO of Yellowbrick. "For learners who are dedicated to learning all they can, we wanted to create a next-level educational experience that highlights the intricacies of this massive and inspiring industry. By tapping the passion and expertise of Parsons and WWD staff, we're now able to help fashion professionals and businesses advance in this exciting industry." Beginning today, visitors to www.yellowbrick.co/FashionBusiness can sign up for an exclusive preview of the program. The first group of students will be admitted to Fashion Business Essentials later this month. About Parsons School of Design Parsons School of Design is one of the leading institutions for art and design education in the world. Based in New York but active around the world, the school offers undergraduate and graduate programs in the full spectrum of art and design disciplines. Critical thinking and collaboration are at the heart of a Parsons education. Parsons graduates are leaders in their respective fields, with a shared commitment to creatively and critically addressing the WWDities of life in the 21st century. For more information, please visit www.newschool.edu/parsons . About WWD WWD, a Fairchild Fashion Media brand, is the media of record and the industry's voice of authority for senior executives in the global fashion, retail and beauty communities and the consumer media that cover the market. About Yellowbrick Yellowbrick is a global leader in online education and career exploration for the Arts, Media, Entertainment, and Sports industries. The company develops exciting, accessible online programs in collaboration with top brands and influencers in media and culture and with world-renowned universities. Their mission is to help a new generation of talent discover, pursue, and advance career paths that are aligned with the things they love. Find out more at www.yellowbrick.co . SOURCE Yellowbrick Telecom operator Bharti on Tuesday announced that it had collaborated with for accelerating in India. Through Airtels network vendors and device partners, the company would utilise the RAN Platforms to roll out virtualised and Open RAN-based networks, said the company in a statement. has been a pioneer of new technologies and our networks are fully ready for 5G. We are delighted to have Technologies as a key technology provider in our journey to roll-out world-class 5G in India. With Airtels integrated service portfolio and Qualcomm Technologies 5G leadership, we will be well placed to usher India into the next era of hyper-fast and ultra-low latency digital connectivity, said Randeep Sekhon, CTO, Bharti Airtel is also looking to collaborate with Qualcomm for 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) to deliver broadband connectivity at Gigabit speeds to homes and businesses. Through this collaboration, Airtel and Qualcomm aim to allow a faster rollout of broadband services in a cost effective and expeditious manner across India. There is a compelling case to accelerate the roll-out of 5G networks in India, as it will help fast-track the countrys socio-economic growth and development. We are pleased to be working with Airtel, and we are excited by the opportunity ahead. This collaboration is expected to play a critical role in Airtels plans to add 5G network coverage and capacity where and when it is needed the most, said Rajen Vagadia, Vice President, QUALCOMM India Private Limited and President, Qualcomm India. Airtel said its 5G solutions, including FWA services, will be able to deliver multi-gigabit internet speeds wirelessly to customers and open up a wide range of innovations. For customers, the ultra-fast and low latency of 5G will unlock a digital world of limitless possibilities gigabit size file downloads in seconds and 4K video streaming on the go across smartphones and computing devices, Immersive Technologies such as Virtual Reality and SMART Homes with connected things. Conservative MP Michael Chong speaks to reporters as he arrives for a Conservative caucus retreat on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. Chong, the Conservative foreign affairs critic and Garnett Genuis, the party's human rights critic, were joined by Uighur community members at a teleconference today to discuss the Conservative genocide motion against China that was expected to reach Parliament for a vote later today. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang New Delhi: Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan has got a big relief from Modi's government. According to the media report, the government has allowed the flight of Imran Khan to fly in India's airspace. Imran is going to visit Sri Lanka on 23 February. If his flight was not allowed to go through the airspace of India, then he would have to travel long. Imran Khan is going to Sri Lanka for the first time. In the year 2019, the Government of Pakistan did not allow PM Modi to use its airspace. PM Modi was going to visit America and Saudi Arabia. Pakistan had made excuses for alleged human rights violations in Kashmir. VVIP aircraft are usually allowed to fly in other countries' airspace but Pakistan refused. Later, India complained to the International Civil Aviation Organization. This time if India wanted, it would have refused to give permission to Imran Khan. But with a big heart, the Modi government allowed him to fly through the territory of India. He will hold talks with Pakistan PM Imran Khan, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, PM Mahinda Rajapaksa and Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardana. During Imran Khan's visit to Colombo, the proposed program to address Parliament has been canceled. Pakistan's Dawn newspaper had said that on the request of the Government of Pakistan, the program of addressing the Parliament by Khan was included but now it has been canceled. Also Read- Train Services recommence In Kashmir Valley After 11 Months Indore-Gandhidham special train starts from February 28 Bhima Koregaon case: Bombay High Court grants bail to poet Varavara Rao on medical grounds A recent article in The Atlantic (The Pandemic Has Erased Entire Categories of Friendship) focuses on the decline of interactions among weak social ties during the COVID-19 pandemic. This refers to the people we know casually the people we see regularly in our lives the barista, the clerk at the dry cleaners, the guy who invariably is on the elevator every morning on the way up to the office but who have virtually disappeared from our daily interactions. We smile at and greet them and occasionally exchange a few words. These people are not our closest intimates, but these interactions are vital to our sense of community and mental health. This brings to mind one of the underlying themes of the Scroll of Esther and the celebration of Purim especially in the age of COVID-19. In the Scroll of Esther, the wicked Haman describes the Jewish people as a certain people scattered and separate among the peoples throughout all the provinces of your kingdom The key words in this verse are scattered and separate. ADVERTISEMENT By contrast, at the beginning of the miracle of redemption of Purim, Queen Esther instructs Mordechai: Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan and fast on my behalf Then she enters the kings chamber unannounced where she pleads for her life and the lives of the Jewish people. The key word here is gather. This parallel structure is intentional. Scattered and separate is more than just a description of the physical dispersal of the Jewish population in the lands of Ahashverosh, it is also a metaphor for their weak social ties with each other. Similarly, gathering the Jews isnt merely a tactic to enable them to fast, but it highlights the value of unity. The Megillah reminds us at the beginning of the story that the Jewish people were scattered, and at the beginning of the resolution in what seems to be a precondition for their redemption they are to gather together. These lessons in the necessity for Jewish unity to fight off existential threats are not only reflected in the narrative of the holiday but are also built into the observances and celebrations of Purim every year throughout the ages into the present day. There are four central Mitzvos of the holiday of Purim. In the words of Esther: Mordechai wrote these things and sent letters to command them to make the fourteenth day of the month of Adar days of feasting and gladness, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor. We interpret this verse quite literally: We hear the Scroll of Esther (Megillah) read during the evening and again during the day of Purim. Then, there are three social mitzvot: To eat a celebratory meal (Mishteh) To give gifts of food to a friend (Mishloach Manos) And, to give charity (Matanos Leevyonim) These latter three mitzvot are about bringing people together and strengthening a sense of shared community. It follows that these mitzvot are a direct repudiation of Hamans claim that the Jewish people are scattered and separate from each other. I encourage people to participate in all these wonderful once-a-year mitzvot in ways that meet both the letter of the law and also fulfill the spirit of the law during the holiday of Purim (this year, Thursday night Feb. 25 and Friday, Feb. 26). Though we are compelled to remain physically vigilant to assure everyones good health in the face of this Pandemic, we need to transcend distance sometimes creatively to celebrate safely. There is a wonderful Hasidic teaching that deserves to be shared widely. Each holiday is designed to be celebrated at a specific time, but the positive energy of the holiday is to continue with us after the holiday and illuminate the rest of the year. Let us reimagine ways to strengthen weak social ties and explore ways to support people in a safe manner, during the Purim and always. Rabbi Hershey Novack is co-director of the Chabad on Campus Rohr Center for Jewish Life at Washington University. The United States on February 22 announced sanctions against two more leaders of the Myanmar military and warned further action as hundreds of anti-coup protesters defiantly demonstrated for the restoration of the elected-civilian government. The US announced that it was blocking any American property and suspending the entry into the country of two junta members of the new ruling State Administrative Council, General Maung Maung Kyaw, who commands the air force, and Lieutenant General Moe Myint Tun. While announcing the additional sanctions on Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated that the US will not hesitate to elevate its opposition to the crisis and used the former name of Myanmar. Washingtons move came just hours after the European Union (EU) also approved sanctions on Myanmars junta and ramped up global pressure over the militarys toppling of the government in power on February 1. "We will not hesitate to take further action against those who perpetrate violence and suppress the will of the people. We will not waver in our support for the people of Burma," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. "We call on the military and police to cease all attacks on peaceful protesters, immediately release all those unjustly detained, stop attacks on and intimidation of journalists and activists and restore the democratically elected government," he said in a statement. Earlier, US President Joe Biden had approved the sanctions on Southeast Asian nation on those responsible for the crisis and the ouster of Myanmars civilian-led government including the defence minister and three companies in the jade and gems sector. Further, even the US Treasury Department updated the sanctions on Myanmars top two military officials and accused them of playing a significant role in the coup. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had cautioned on February 11, at the time of announcing the sanctions, If there is more violence against peaceful protesters, the Burmese military will find that todays sanctions are just the first. Read - Myanmar Coup: CRPH Appoints A Special Representative And A Special Envoy To UN Read - 'No Place For Coups': UN Chief Asks Myanmar Military To Release Civilian Leaders UN Chief military to Release Civilian Leaders UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday asked Myanmars military to restore the democratically elected government in the Southeast Asian country, saying that the coups have no place in our modern world. Meanwhile, as per the BBC report, at least two anti-coup protesters have been killed as of Sunday when the worst violence was witnessed in several days of demonstrations. The law enforcement officers used live ammunition to disperse the protesters in Mandalay and at least 20 people were injured. UN Human Rights Chief @mbachelet calls for stronger support for social protections, free press and public participation in decisions in her opening speech at @UN_HRC. Learn more: https://t.co/AT8Wo243ZV#StandUp4HumanRights #HRC46 pic.twitter.com/kAZgBd6WcP UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) February 22, 2021 Read - Malaysian Court Halts Deportation Of 1,200 Myanmar Migrants Read - Funeral Held For Protester Killed In Demonstration In Myanmar 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. Rogue MP Craig Kelly has resigned from the Liberal Party but will remain in Parliament as an independent. Mr Kelly, who represents Hughes in south Sydney, has caused outrage over the past few months by promoting unproven drugs to treat Covid-19 and calling into the question the safety of vaccines. He also denies climate change. The 57-year-old announced his resignation at a party room meeting on Tuesday morning, telling colleagues he would still support the government to pass crucial laws. Member for Hughes Craig Kelly and Member for Sydney Tanya Plibersek clashed in Parliament earlier this week There is speculation that Mr Kelly's decision was linked to a disagreement with Scott Morrison over one of the MP's staffers who is being investigated by NSW police over an alleged assault of a female staffer. Mr Kelly has refused to sack the man, who has an AVO against him, because no allegations have been proven. 'I have long expressed to Mr Kelly my concerns about that staff member and he has long understood what my expectations were about how he would deal with that matter,' Mr Morrison told reporters on Tuesday. But Mr Kelly said that he resigned because he wanted to speak freely about treatment drugs hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin which have not been approved in Australia. 'The two are not connected. The Ivermectin issue, the issue of speaking out on these Covid treatments is my main reason for making the decision that I have,' he told the ABC. Mr Kelly, who intends to run at the next election, earlier said his decision was not personal. 'I have the greatest respect for Scott Morrison,' he told Sky News. 'I hope he goes on to be one of our longest serving and greatest Prime Ministers. 'I'll support the government, naturally of course, on all matters of supply, confidence.' Mr Morrison previously told Mr Kelly to stop touting unproven treatments Mr Morrison, who previously told Mr Kelly to stop touting unproven treatments, said he only learned about his resignation during Tuesday's meeting. 'I set out very clear expectations on a range of matters that I expected Craig to follow through on. 'He'd given me a number of commitments in relation to that. He no longer felt that he could meet those commitments and, as a result, he's made his decision today,' he said. Mr Kelly told the New Daily that he has not spoke to any other parties amid speculation he could join the Nationals. Nationals Senator Matt Canavan said he has tried to get Mr Kelly to join the party. 'I did say to him that I had always wanted him to join,' Senator Canavan told news.com.au. 'I am absolutely serious.' Earlier this month, Mr Kelly clashed with Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek in the corridors of Parliament. 'My mum lives in your electorate and I don't want her exposed to people who are not going to be vaccinated because of these crazy conspiracy theories that you're spreading,' she told him. Ms Plibersek called him a 'taxpayer-funded nong' and urged Scott Morrison to 'tell him to shut up'. The Prime Minister then hauled Mr Kelly into his office, gave him a dressing down and told him to stop promoting unproven drugs on his popular Facebook page which has 100,000 followers. Mr Kelly has insisted he is not an anti-vaxer but has cast doubt on the safety of Covid-19 vaccines and previously said 'I'm waiting for all the evidence to come in' before taking one. In early February he was interviewed on a podcast with former celebrity chef Pete Evans, who has been banned from Facebook for spreading anti-vax theories. Mr Kelly has repeatedly endorsed the use of drugs hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin to treat Covid-19, even though reputable global studies have found them to be ineffective and potentially harmful. He has also claimed that making children wear masks was akin to child abuse. Mr Kelly (left) has insisted he is not an anti-vaxer but has cast doubt on the safety of Covid-19 vaccines Last week, the MP was banned for a week from posting on his Facebook page and three of his posts were removed. A Facebook spokesperson said: 'We don't allow anyone to share misinformation about Covid-19 that could lead to imminent physical harm. 'We have clear policies against this type of content and will remove it when we become aware of it.' Mr Morrison originally refused to condemn Mr Kelly, saying 'he's doing a fantastic job for Hughes', before publicly distancing himself from the rogue MP's views. The Prime Minister told Parliament: 'The views expressed by the member for Hughes do not align with my views or the views of the advice that has been provided to me by the chief medical officer.' Labor leader Anthony Albanese said the MP's actions were undermining the vaccination effort and endangering people's health. The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company A recent genetic study at the University of Helsinki provides new information on the occurrence of a DVL2 gene defect associated with a screw tail and its relevance to canine constitution and health. The variant was found in several Bulldog and Pit Bull type breeds, and it was shown to result in caudal vertebral anomalies and shortening of the muzzle. The DLV2 variant may also affect the development of the heart. Dog breeding is often focused on appearance. In some breeds, the ideal body shape is bulky, with a broad head and short muzzle, short legs and a very short and kinked tail, also known as a "screw tail". In a previous study in the United States, screw tail was linked to a variant in the DVL2 gene. The variant has become enriched in English Bulldogs, French Bulldogs and Boston Terriers due to inbreeding. In addition to the shape of the tail, the DVL2 variant was suggested to contribute to other features typical of the above breeds, as well as what is known as the Robinow-like syndrome. However, its specific effects on body shape and health remained unclear at the time. "In this study, we wanted to further investigate the frequency of the DVL2 variant in different dog breeds and determine its effects on skeletal development. The variant was identified in several Bulldog and Pit Bull type breeds, some of which had both the normal form and the genetic variant. This made it possible to investigate the consequences of the variant," says doctoral researcher Julia Niskanen from the University of Helsinki and the Folkhalsan Research Center. The prevalence of the DVL2 variant varied greatly between breeds. All of the English Bulldogs, French Bulldogs and Boston Terriers in the study were homozygous for the variant, that is, they had inherited the variant from both parents. In other words, the normal form of the gene was not found in these breeds. Both the variant and the normal form were found in the American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Dogues de Bordeaux, Olde English Bulldogges and American Bulldogs. To determine the effect of the variant on body shape, the researchers analysed the skeletal anatomy of American Staffordshire Bull Terriers of different genotypes through computed tomography scans carried out at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital. The results clearly showed that the DVL2 gene defect results in caudal vertebrae anomalies in homozygous state. "However, tail abnormalities in the American Staffordshire Terriers were less severe than the screw tails typically seen in English Bulldogs, French Bulldogs and Boston Terriers. In contrast to the previous study, we did not find an association between the DVL2 variant and thoracic vertebral anomalies," says veterinarian and Clinical Instructor Vilma Reunanen from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki. Another main finding in the study was that the gene defect affects muzzle length in varying degrees. In homozygous dogs, the muzzle is significantly shorter than in heterozygous dogs, who only carry one copy of the gene defect. Similarly, heterozygous dogs have shorter muzzles than dogs that don't have any copies of the gene defect. "In addition to the effects on the skeletal system, we discovered that several dogs homozygous for the DVL2 variant had a congenital heart defect. However, this is a preliminary finding that requires further study. If confirmed, it could partially explain the prevalence of congenital heart defects in certain breeds," doctoral researcher Niskanen adds. "Besides the DVL2 gene defect, many breeds also have other genetic variants that affect body shape. Their combined effects may result in serious health problems. For example, a short muzzle predisposes dogs to brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS), whose symptoms include breathing difficulties and low exercise tolerance. The prevalence of the gene defect demonstrates that in certain breeds, DVL2-related health problems can be prevented with gene tests. In some breeds, there is no longer any variation, which makes it impossible to improve the situation with current breeding programmes," explains Docent Marjo Hytonen from the University of Helsinki and the Folkhalsan Research Center. ### Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Stocks to watch today: Here is a list of top stocks that are likely to be in focus in Tuesday's trading session based on latest developments. Share Market Live: Sensex rises 250 points, Nifty at 14,755, ONGC, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance top gainers Reliance Industries: The company said on February 23 that it is carving out its Oil-to-Chemicals (O2C) business into an independent subsidiary. RIL said it will retain 100 percent management control of the new subsidiary. In a notification to exchanges, RIL said that the promoter group will continue to hold a 49.14 percent stake in the O2C business after the reorganisation and that the process will result in no change in shareholding of the company. Future Retail, RIL: The Supreme Court has asked the NCLT not to pass the final order on amalgamation of Future Retail Ltd (FRL) with Reliance Retail as it agreed to hear Amazon's plea against the Delhi High Court verdict staying its single judge directive to maintain status quo on the deal. HDFC Bank: The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has stayed a Sebi order which imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore on HDFC Bank for invoking securities pledged by stock broker BRH Wealth Kreators, till further orders. Tata Communications: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved acquisition of shares of Tata Communications Ltd (TCL) by Panatone Finvest Ltd. The proposed deal envisages acquisition of shareholding not exceeding 26.12% by Panatone Finvest Ltd in Tata Communications Ltd (erstwhile VSNL). APL Apollo: Company allots commercial paper worth Rs 75 crore to ICICI Prudential Ultra Short Term Fund. Bharti Airtel: The telecom operator will meet global fixed income investors on or after February 23, 2021 to take decision on issuance of foreign currency bonds/ notes. Vedanta: GR Arun Kumar resigns as whole-time director & chief financial officer of the company Indian Overseas Bank: Brickwork Ratings India assigned its rating of 'BWR AA-/Stable' for the proposed issue of Rs 500 crore Basel III Tier II bonds. Page Industries: V S Ganesh was appointed as Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer of the company w.e.f. Jun 01, 2021. Bharat Forge: The company has inked a pact with global aerospace and technology firm Paramount Group to manufacture armoured vehicles in the country. Info Edge: Online food delivery firm Zomato has raised $250 million (over Rs 1,800 crore) in funding from Tiger Global, Kora and others, valuing the online food ordering platform at $5.4 billion. Info Edge holds a 19% stake in Zomato. Rane Brake Lining: ICRA reaffirmed its ratings on the company's rated bank facilities of Rs 165.32 crore. DB Realty: The board of directors approved the issuance of 4 crore convertible warrants. UPL: The company said a fire broke out at Jagadia unit and is in shutdown condition; no fatality reported. Vimta Labs: The company appointed Narahai Naidu as its Chief Financial Officer of the company w.e.f. February 22, 2021. IRB Infrastructure Developers: The board of directors approved the allotment of unlisted, unrated, secured, redeemable, nonconvertible debentures aggregating to Rs 2,184.55 crore on a private placement basis to India Toll Roads. Pharma stocks: Alkem Labs, Ajanta Pharma and Sun Pharma received US FDA nod for generic of Northera. Merrick Garland, the man Obama wanted to put on the SCOTUS, is now President Biden's choice to be his attorney general. Based on what we heard Monday, we can breathe a sigh of relief that he never made it onto the Supreme Court. But then again, those whom Trump did get confirmed for the court have thoroughly abdicated their responsibility, betrayed the oath they took as justices. With the exception of Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch, it appears there are no other actual constitutionalists seated there. YouTube screen grab (cropped). But back to Garland. He evaded answering most questions posed by Republicans. He compared the January 6 events at the Capitol to the Oklahoma City bombing (168 killed)! He refused to condemn the billions of dollars in damage done by Antifa and BLM as domestic terrorism but vowed to prosecute all who were involved in the January 6 breach, even though the only person with a gun was the person who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt. It should be clear to every sentient American that what happened that day was carefully planned, not by Trump-supporters, but by their opponents, who strategized that a conflagration would be the perfect stunt with which to impugn the president. Garland's evasive non-answers were truly shocking. Why didn't the Republicans in the room get up and walk out? Why do the Republicans always cave in collective knee-jerk fashion to the authoritarian pretenses of the left? It is a question for the ages, for it has so long been true. Trump's brash courage to fight back showed us who the good guys are and who the cowards are. Sadly, those with the courage of their conservative pro-American convictions are too few. Unlike the power-mad Democrats, who stick together like glue no matter how immoral the issue (like abortion up to and just after birth), the Republicans vacillate; they always vacillate. So the question is, will they stand up and vote against Garland, the man who gives Antifa and BLM a pass for their domestic terrorism but not the actually mostly peaceful protestors of January 6? Will they vote against the truly odious Neera Tanden and Xavier Becerra, both of whom are completely unqualified for the positions to which they've been nominated. And aside from being unqualified, both are well known far-left radicals. Neither of them, nor Garland, is remotely representative of America. Not even close. They each embrace the transformation of America from a democratic republic to globalist/communist regime reminiscent of Stalin and Mao. Democrats like AOC speak of "re-education," "re-programming," and "struggle sessions" to punish and control Trump-supporters. She's not alone; the media is right there with her. The media are well and truly the enemy of the American people. They know they control how millions of Americans think about any issue and they relish that power; they wallow in it with pride. The Democrats always overplay their hand, but the Republicans always cave to their united front. If any Republican votes to confirm Garland, Becerra, or Tanden, we will know who never to trust again. We've already learned who betrayed Trump and his supporters: McConnell, Romney, Collins, Murkowski, Cassidy, Toomey, Burr, and Sasse. We will soon learn whom else we cannot trust to support the founding principles that all Trump-supporters revere. Sure, McConnell voted to acquit and then defamed him on the floor of the Senate; he wanted to have it both ways, but he revealed himself to be the scoundrel most of us have known he was for years. Like Schumer, he thinks he's the boss. Like the rest of the hardcore establishment denizens, they believe they are entitled to dictate how all of us will live. We are expected to obey. We are not to question their rules lockdowns, mask mandates, quarantines, vaccines, and thoroughly misguided treatment recommendations. Their hysteria over Trump's mild recommendation of HCQ probably cost thousands of lives that might have been saved with HCQ as an early therapy and prophylactic. Their censorship of any and all vaccine skepticism is very likely doing tremendous damage; an uniformed public is a public in grave danger. We all know who the good guys are, but they are too few. They need a legion of intrepid, like-minded cohorts if this nation is to be saved from the globalist/communist takeover that is now in process. Biden is an addled cipher, a non-entity. After only a month, it is clear that he is a tool of China, Iran, and the anti-American left. Will enough of the Republicans stand up and fight? Let's see how the confirmation votes go. That will tell the story. That will signal the fate of America. In this photo provided by Project Jonah, rescuers work to save pilot whales beached at Farewell Spit at the top of the South Island of New Zealand, Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. Department of Conservation reported that a pod of 49 long-finned pilot whales had beached themselves on Farewell Spit, a remote beach on the South Island that has been the site of many previous whale strandings. (Project Jonah via AP) Volunteers in New Zealand were optimistic they could save the 28 whales that remain from a mass-stranding after refloating them Tuesday for the second time in two days. A pod of 49 long-finned pilot whales was first found stranded early Monday on Farewell Spit, a remote beach on the South Island. Twenty-one of the whales have since died. Volunteers first managed to refloat the whales on Monday evening's high tide. But sometime overnight, the whales beached themselves again. So the volunteers refloated them again on Tuesday. Louisa Hawkes, a spokesperson for nonprofit whale rescue group Project Jonah, said the whales had moved into deeper ocean than on the first attempt, giving them more hope. "They've gone much further out than yesterday," she said. "We're cautiously optimistic they won't come back." She said it's fairly common for pilot whales to restrand themselves once or twice before swimming away. Up to 200 volunteers helped keep the whales healthy and calm while they were beached. With guidance from Project Jonah and Department of Conservation rangers, the volunteers drenched the whales with buckets of water and kept them upright to ensure the creatures didn't put too much pressure on their fins. After refloating the whales, the volunteers then formed human chains in the water to try to stop them swimming back to shore. Hawkes said that on Tuesday they used an inflatable pontoon to transport one whale out into deeper sea in the hopes it would call to its pod mates to follow. Once the whales had swum out a little ways, she said, boats replaced humans in forming a barrier to the shore. "It has been a huge community effort," she said. The stranded whales were first noticed by a tour operator early Monday in an area that has been the site of previous mass strandings. Sometimes described as a whale trap, Farewell Spit's long coastline and gently sloping beaches seem to make it difficult for whales to navigate away from once they get close. There are different theories as to why whales strand themselves, from chasing prey too far inshore to trying to protect a sick member of the group or escaping a predator. Four years ago, more than 650 pilot whales beached themselves on Farewell Spit in two separate mass strandings. More than 350 died while about 300 were saved. Pilot whales are relatively small but can grow to over 6 meters (20 feet). Explore further Dozens of whales strand at notorious New Zealand bay 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. The GovX Auto Buying Program, powered by TrueCar Military, will give GovX members the ability to see what others paid for the same vehicle of interest, receive upfront transactable price offers on new and used vehicle inventory, and use TrueCar's leading digital deal building capabilities. "TrueCar is the gold standard when it comes to ease and transparency in the car buying experience, as well as customer service and support. These are extremely meaningful value propositions for us and our members who have the responsibility and honor of protecting and serving our great country," said Chris Bohnert, Senior Vice President at GovX, Inc. "TrueCar shares our same deep commitment to providing service members with the value and benefits they deserve. We are excited for our members to experience this new and improved way to buy a car." Last year, TrueCar launched, TrueCar Military, a dedicated vehicle purchase program that provides exclusive Military incentives and exclusive benefits, on top of TrueCar's existing benefits, to those who have served our country's armed forces and their families. TrueCar has dedicated more than fourteen years to servicing the men and women of the military through affinity car buying partnerships with leading military service organizations. "We are thrilled to partner with GovX to provide a more transparent and more efficient way for our servicemembers, first responders and law enforcement to purchase a vehicle," said Mike Darrow, President & CEO of TrueCar. "Through our partnership, GovX members will receive a first-class car buying experience and competitive pricing that they can trust." GovX Auto Buying Program Key Benefits: Price Context. See what others paid for your new vehicle of interest in a local area and view price ratings on used vehicles See what others paid for your new vehicle of interest in a local area and view price ratings on used vehicles Savings. Save on average over $3,500 off MSRP** on new vehicles and receive discounts on used vehicles* Save on average over off MSRP** on new vehicles and receive discounts on used vehicles* Real Price Offers. Receive real transactable price offers on actual inventory on the dealer's lot Receive real transactable price offers on actual inventory on the dealer's lot Trade-In or Sell. Get a value on your existing vehicle and receive a real cash offer in minutes Get a value on your existing vehicle and receive a real cash offer in minutes Build your Deal Online . Build a comprehensive deal online, inclusive of trade-in value and preferred terms and save time at the dealership . Build a comprehensive deal online, inclusive of trade-in value and preferred terms and save time at the dealership Buy from Home . Identify TrueCar Certified Dealers that offer remote paperwork, vehicle delivery and vehicle sanitization Identify TrueCar Certified Dealers that offer remote paperwork, vehicle delivery and vehicle sanitization Extensive Dealer Network. Access TrueCar's Certified Dealer Network, which includes dealers nationwide *Used car discounts not available in all states. *Between 1/1/20 and 12/31/20, the average savings off MSRP experienced by consumers who connected with a TrueCar Certified Dealer through a TrueCar-powered Auto Buying Program and who were identified as buying a new vehicle from that Certified Dealer was $3,552. Your actual savings may vary based on multiple factors, including the vehicle you select, region, dealer, and applicable vehicle-specific manufacturer incentives, which are subject to change. The MSRP is determined by the manufacturer and may not reflect the price at which vehicles are generally sold in the dealer's trade area, as many vehicles are sold below MSRP. Each dealer sets its own pricing. About TrueCar TrueCar is a leading automotive digital marketplace that enables car buyers to connect to our nationwide network of Certified Dealers. We are building the industry's most personalized and efficient car buying experience as we seek to bring more of the purchasing process online. Consumers who visit our marketplace will find a suite of vehicle discovery tools, price ratings, and market context on new and used cars -- all with a clear view of what's a great deal. When they are ready, TrueCar will enable them to connect with a local Certified Dealer who shares in our belief that truth, transparency, and fairness are the foundation of a great car buying experience. As part of our marketplace, TrueCar powers car-buying programs for over 250 leading brands, including AARP, Sam's Club, and American Express. Nearly half of all new-car buyers engage with TrueCar powered sites, where they buy smarter and drive happier. TrueCar is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, with offices in Austin, Texas, and Boston, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit www.truecar.com, and follow us on Facebook or Twitter. TrueCar media line: +1-844-469-8442 (US toll-free) | Email: [email protected] About GovX GovX.com is for men and women of service. A members-only online destination for military and first responders, the site offers thousands of products from hundreds of brands at exclusive, below-retail pricing. Members include active and veteran U.S. military, firefighters, law enforcement officers, federal agents, healthcare workers and personnel from related government agencies. For more information, visit www.govx.com. SOURCE TrueCar, Inc. Moldova's Constitutional Court on February 23 has blocked pro-EU President Maia Sandu's second attempt to nominate a prime minister, extending a standoff with pro-Russia legislators and hindering her effort to force early parliamentary elections. Sandu had nominated Natalia Gavrilita unsuccessfully for a second time on February 11 despite parliament's earlier rejection of Gavrilita. Moldova's legislature is dominated by lawmakers allied with Sandu's pro-Moscow predecessor, Igor Dodon. The second nomination appeared intended to clear a path for Sandu to dissolve parliament and call early elections. Sandu's former party, the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), hopes a new vote would leave them stronger relative to Dodon's Socialists. A U.S.-educated former adviser with the World Bank, Sandu defeated Dodon in November 2020 on a pledge to fight entrenched corruption and improve relations with the European Union. Moldova is one of Europes poorest countries and is sharply divided between those who support closer ties with Russia and those who advocate stronger links to Brussels and neighboring EU member Romania. Sandu has accused parliament of attempting to sabotage her presidency and says the current parliament cannot carry out her agenda. Sandu has called for the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Moscow-backed separatist region of Transdniester, prompting the Kremlin to warn it could lead to "serious destabilization. Following their initial rejection of Gavrilita, Sandu rejected a Socialist attempt to nominate a rival candidate, Mariana Durlesteanu, as prime minister. Socialist deputies appealed to the Constitutional Court after Sandu again put Gavrilita forward. In its ruling, the Constitutional Court said Sandu should have consulted with parliamentary factions before nominating a new candidate. Dodon has responded with a call for Sandu to "immediately" nominate a new candidate for prime minister, saying in a statement on Telegram that deputies are ready to "do whatever it takes to get out of the crisis quickly." With reporting by Reuters and Interfax Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. During glacial periods, the sea level falls, because vast quantities of water are stored in the massive inland glaciers. To date, however, computer models have been unable to reconcile sea-level height with the thickness of the glaciers. Using innovative new calculations, a team of climate researchers led by the Alfred Wegener Institute has now managed to explain this discrepancy. The study, which was recently published in the journal Nature Communications, could significantly advance research into our planet's climate history. During transitions from glacials to interglacials, the glaciers on Greenland and in North America and Europe wax and wane over tens of thousands of years. The more water that is stored in the mighty glaciers, the less there is in the oceans - and the lower the sea level is. Climate researchers are now investigating to what extent the glaciers could melt in the coming centuries due to anthropogenic climate change, and how much the sea level would rise as a result. To do so, they're look back into the past. If they can understand the ice growth and melting during past glacials and interglacials, they'll be able to draw valuable conclusions about the future. The 'missing ice problem' However, reconstructing the distant past is no mean feat, because the glaciers' thickness and sea level can't be measured directly. Accordingly, climate researchers have to painstakingly gather evidence that they can then use to form a picture of the past. The problem: different pictures emerge, depending on the types of evidence collected. We can't say with absolute certainty what the situation was actually like ten thousand years ago. This 'missing ice problem' remained unsolved for many years. It describes the incongruity of two different scientific approaches that sought to reconcile sea-level height and glacier thickness at the peak of the last glacial, ca. 20,000 years ago. A team of climate experts led by Evan Gowan from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in Bremerhaven has now solved the problem using a new method. "It looks like we've found a new way to reconstruct the past as far back as 80,000 years," says Dr Gowan, who has been investigating the problem for roughly a decade. These findings have now been published in the journal Nature Communications. Sediment analysis versus global climate modelling The 'missing ice problem' is based, on the one hand, on an analysis of sediments from core samples collected from the seafloor in the tropics. These contain traces of corals that can still tell us today to what extent the sea level rose or fell over the millennia. Why? Because corals only live in well-lit waters near the ocean's surface. The sediment cores indicate that 20,000 years ago, the sea level in the tropics implied that sea level was roughly 130 metres lower than it is today. On the other hand, previous models have suggested that the glacial masses weren't large enough 20,000 years ago to explain such a low sea level. To be more precise, for the sea level to be that low, on a global scale an additional volume of water with twice the mass of the Greenland Ice Sheet would have to have been frozen; hence the 'missing ice problem'. Understanding glacial behaviour With his new method, Gowan has now reconciled sea level and glacier mass: according to his calculations, the sea level at the time was ca. 116 metres lower than it is today. Based on his approach, there is no discrepancy in terms of glacier mass. Unlike the previous global model, Gowan closely examined the geological conditions in the glaciated regions: how steep was the ice surface? Where did glaciers flow? How much did the rocks and sediment at the base of the ice resist ice flow? His model considers all of these aspects. It also takes into account to what extent the ice sheet pressed down on the Earth's crust in the respective areas. "That depends on how viscous the underlying mantle was," Gowan explains. "We base our calculations on different mantle viscosities, and therefore arrive at different ice masses." The resulting ice masses can now be reconciled with the sea level without any discrepancy. The established model is flawed The recent article by Gowan and his team critically re-examines the long-established scientific method used to estimate glacier masses: the oxygen isotope method. Isotopes are atoms of the same element that have different numbers of neutrons and therefore different masses. Oxygen, for example, has a lighter 16O isotope, and a heavier 18O isotope. According to conventional theory, the lighter 16O evaporates from the oceans, while the heavier 18O remains in the water. Accordingly, during glacials, when large inland glaciers form and the volume of water in the oceans decreases, the 18O concentration in the oceans should increase. However, as has been shown, this established model produces discrepancies when it comes to reconciling sea-level height and glacier masses for the period 20,000 years ago and earlier. "For many years, the isotope model has been frequently used to determine the ice volume of glaciers up to several million years ago. Our study calls into question the reliability of this method," says Gowan. His aim is to now use his new method to improve the traditional oxygen isotope method. ### Original article: Evan J. Gowan Xu Zhang, Sara Khosravi, Alessio Rovere, Paolo Stocchi, Anna L. C Hughes, Richard Gyllencreutz, Jan Mangerud, John-Inge Svendsen, Gerrit Lohmann: A new global ice sheet reconstruction for the past 80,000 years. Nature Communications (2021); DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21469-w The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company In an interim order in favour of e-commerce giant Amazon, the top court made it clear that the NCLTs Mumbai bench will not pave the way for the FRL-RIL deal even if Future Group holds a meeting of its creditors and shareholders to clear the proposed amalgamation. The SC bench comprising Justices Rohinton F. Nariman and B.R. Gavai, also issued notices to Future firms and the Biyanis. The matter will be heard after three weeks. After FRLs proposed merger with RIL was approved by the Competition Commission of India and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had issued a no-objection certificate, the company had approached the Mumbai bench of the NCLT on 26 January. Mondays SC order comes as a shot in the arm for Amazon, which seeks to stop the FRL-RIL deal, citing the Singapore International Arbitration Centres (SIAC) interim award in October barring Future Retail from taking any step to sell its assets or issuing any securities from a restricted party to secure funding. Future Group is caught in a fight between Amazon and Mukesh Ambanis RIL for domination of the Indian retail market, which is set to reach $1.3 trillion by 2025. An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment, citing that the matter was sub-judice. The SC bench also observed that the division bench of the Delhi high court shall not proceed with this case since it has already admitted Amazons appeal. The case is listed before the high court on Friday. According to us, this order (of the high court) seems to have decided the main appeal let alone be just the maintainability at the interim stage itself. At the interim stage, you cant vacate a stay order without giving adequate reasons... It is obvious they (high court) cannot hear it. You (Amazons lawyers) show them our order," the SC said. The SC bench was also critical of the high courts 8 February order overturning a previous directive to halt the FRL-RIL deal. Senior advocates Gopal Subramanium and Ranjit Kumar, appearing for Amazon, sought restoration of status quo on the FRL-RIL deal till all the legal issues are addressed by the apex court. They also pointed out that the scheme of arrangement for the FRL-RIL deal was now awaiting a nod from the NCLT and shareholders, and therefore, an interim order of restraint was imperative. While the SC bench was inclined to stay all proceedings at the NCLT, senior advocate Harish Salve, representing FRL, argued that there was no possibility of the NCLT passing any final order of approval under the present circumstances. He said even if the meeting to consider the amalgamation was to be convened, it will not happen before six weeks and, hence, proceedings before the NCLT were not required to be stayed. The bench agreed and passed an interim order to the effect that the NCLT proceedings will be allowed to go on, but will not culminate in a final order on sanction of scheme" till the matter is decided by the SC. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. A central Pennsylvania police officer burst out of his house and cursed at and verbally confronted his chief and FBI agents when he was arrested on charges tied to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, an FBI agent told a federal judge Tuesday afternoon. He stormed around (his) porch very belligerentlyObscenities were yelled. He called us names, Special Agent Joshua Ford said of Fridays arrest of North Cornwall Township Officer Joseph Fischer at Fischers Jonestown home. I think we exercised incredible restraint in taking him into custody. Ford said agents were concerned as they waited for Fischer to come out of the house in response to the repeated requests of township Police Chief John Leahy. They heard clicking noises coming from the other side of the door and feared Fischer was assembling a firearm, the agent said. Actually, Fischer was putting together a device to treat his asthma, Ford said. Fischer went nose to nose with Leahy, telling the chief, I have no regrets to what I did, then spun around and harangued another agent at close quarters, Ford testified. North Cornwall Township police officer Joseph Fischer was arrested Friday for participating it the U.S. Capitol Riot. Photo: Provided Ford was the only witness Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Consiglio called during Tuesdays 3 -hour hearing before U.S. Middle District Magistrate Judge Susan Schwab. At the end of the hearing, Schwab ordered the 54-year-old Fischer to be tried on charges of obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder, knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, violent entry, and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. Schwab also ordered that Fischer, who has been in Dauphin County Prison since his arrest, be released to the custody of his wife of 36 years pending trial. The judge barred Fischer from possessing firearms and told him to stay off social media as he awaits prosecution on charges that theoretically could send him to prison for decades. Consiglio argued that Fischer should have been kept behind bars because he might try to obstruct the case or intimidate witnesses if allowed to remain free. Federal Public Defender Lori Ulrich contended that prosecutors only sought Fischers continued imprisonment because he is a cop. The judge sent the case to trial despite Ulrichs claims that prosecutors are vastly overstating Fischers actions when a pro-Trump mob overran the seat of the nations government as Congress prepared to confirm the election of President Joseph Biden. As Ulrich described it, Fischer was more intent on filming what he regarded as an important moment in American history. She said he entered the Capitol at a time when police werent trying to evict any protesters. At the most, Fischer committed a 4-minute trespass, the defense attorney argued. He was more interested in recording with his phone than anything elseThere is no probable cause for these charges. She said the videos even show Fischer chatting with Capitol Police officers and handing a set of handcuffs to an officer who had dropped them. Video taken by a police body camera, Capitol surveillance cameras and Fischer himself were used both for and against him during the hearing at the federal building in Harrisburg that was attended by about two dozen members of Fischers family. Consiglio had Ford narrate sections of that video, including clips Fischer had posted on Facebook the day after the riot. The videos placed Fischer near the Capitol Rotunda about an hour after the mob breached the buildings security, Ford said. On the Facebook video, shot by a cell phone, someone could be heard yelling Charge! and the mob could be heard chanting U.S.A! Ford said Fischer posted comments on Facebook that there was some minor destruction and a few things were stolen, but 98 percent peaceful, and Not near as bad as the media was making it out. Fischer also wrote that the riot sent the message that we the people hold the real power, the agent said. On cross examination, Ulrich asked if a section of video shows Fischer being shoved into a police cordon by the press of the crowd. I think the video speaks for itself, Ford replied. The agent said the FBI team reached out to Leahy to assist in Fischers arrest. The chief accompanied the agents to Fischers home when Fischer didnt after repeated phone calls from Leahy, Ford said. He said Fischer took a long time to answer the door when Leahy knocked and yelled, Joe, its John. Come downstairsWe need to talk. Fischer yelled back that he was getting dressed, Ford said. Ford said Fischer refused to divulge the pass code to his cell phone after his arrest. He said agents seized another cell phone found under a bed, six rifles and two pistols from Fischers home during a search, along with clothing he was wearing at the Capitol and a blue Trump flag. A police-issue ballistics vest Fischer is believed to have worn to Washington, D.C., was seized at the police department, he said. Before Schwab made her ruling, Ulrich argued that those really responsible for the riot havent been charged with any crimes. They include former President Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican, the defense attorney said. Their words instigated the riot, Ulrich said. Those elected leaders were cheering them on and hoping they would be successful. Fischers next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday before a magistrate judge in Washington, D.C., where his case will be be prosecuted. Officials of the Lebanon County township suspended Fischer, an 18-year veteran, from the police force without pay after his arrest. On Monday, they placed Leahy on paid leave pending a township investigation into the events surrounding Officer Fischers actions on Jan. 6, 2021 and afterwards. Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Cloudy skies with a few showers this afternoon. High 52F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 42F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. DALLAS, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- OLS Payments, an InComm Payments company, today announced a new partnership with Intelligent Clearing Network (ICN), a software-as-a-service coupon clearing company, to provide retailers with a solution addressing multiple issues related to paper coupon fraud, processing, and clearing. The solution, which is built upon existing InComm Payments technology and software and supported by its Enhanced Payment Platform (EPP), provides retailers with a cloud-based solution to paper coupon fraud, paper coupon validation processing, electronic clearing of paper coupons, and mobile redemption of nationally distributed coupons. Retailers with existing integrations to OLS Payments or InComm Payments can deploy the new service with minimal impact to current payments infrastructure and internal resources. The solution is already being made available to these retailers. "Leveraging our existing technology to have a positive impact on a problem that's costing retailers hundreds of millions per year fits perfectly in with our mission to help our partners reduce costs," said Matt Fitzgerald, OLS Payments Director of Offer Product Strategy. "With more than 98% of nationally distributed coupons being paper, it's a big deal to give merchants the security of knowing that once accepted, those coupons will be reimbursed." The solution will allow retailers to scan paper or digital coupons then verify or deny their authenticity using positive and negative offer files. Verified coupons would be electronically submitted for reimbursement, significantly decreasing the time required for retailers to receive their funds and eliminating the uncertainty found in the typical clearing and reimbursement system. "We're excited that this new partnership with InComm Payments will extend ICN's impact on the industry, making it very easy for InComm Payments-connected retailers to access our services," said Richard Thibedeau, COO of Intelligent Clearing Network. "Our patented solution has been live for almost 10 years, with countless improvements that have led to a 95% reduction in coupon fraud through our prior implementations." Solving paper coupon fraud enables the industry to accept an e-clearing model for paper coupons and provides an organic approach to enabling nationally distributed mobile coupons. Current paper coupon clearing models require an inefficient and costly physical clearing process, are unable to accommodate redemption of mobile coupons, and provide significant opportunities for fraud. About InComm Payments InComm Payments is a global leader in innovative payments technology. Leveraging dynamic technology and proven expertise, InComm Payments delivers enhanced end-to-end payment platforms and emerging financial technology solutions that help businesses grow across a wide range of industries including retail, healthcare, tolling & transit, incentives, mobile payments and financial services. By enabling omnichannel connections to an ever-expanding consumer base in an increasingly digital ecosystem, InComm Payments creates seamless and valuable commerce experiences across the globe. With more than 27 years of experience, over 500,000 points of distribution, 386 global patents and a presence in more than 30 countries, InComm Payments leads the payments industry from its headquarters in Atlanta, Ga. Learn more at www.InCommPayments.com . About OLS Payments OLS Payments, an InComm Payments company, is a global payments technology company with a focus on helping merchants enhance payment security, increase their flexibility, quickly deploy new payment offerings and lower their overall cost of payment acceptance. We provide a wide array of payment and payment adjacent functionality including payment orchestration, tokenization and vaulting, encryption, scan-based payments, settlement and funding, and coupon fraud mitigation and electronic clearing. All within a consolidated environment with a heightened focus on continuous uptime and security. While providing access to most major card processors and acquirers through a single integration point, our expanded feature ensures rapid adaptability for merchants to an ever-changing payments landscape. About ICN ICN is a software-as-a-service company that provides retailers with patented, cloud-based promotion solutions. ICN's paper coupon processing solution eliminates coupon fraud, validates coupon via cloud-based validation (inclusive of family code validation), coupon serialization, and e-clearing services of paper coupons. ICN's promotion management solution provides retail marketing business teams with the power to run trade promotions, points programs, load to card digital coupon programs, and to clear/invoice manufacturers who participate in these promotional programs. Media Contacts: Rich Thibedeau COO, ICN 860.517.9111 [email protected] Kirsty Goodlett Ketner Group 512.794.8876 [email protected] Nilce Piccinini InComm Payments 404-935-0377 [email protected] SOURCE InComm Payments Related Links https://www.incomm.com/ Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 An investigation into drug-dealing out of a Secaucus hotel room led to the arrest of six people, including a Jersey City man who was using the room as a drug lab, authorities said. A Secaucus police officer was conducting park and walk in the Harmon Meadow hotel area on Feb. 16 and he was informed of possible illegal activity in a room at one of the hotels. Secaucus police declined to name the hotel, citing ongoing police investigations. Five days later, detectives from the Secaucus Anti-Crime Unit conducted a search of the hotel room and caught two people, Ana Roman and Tracy Eayres, discarding suspected cocaine into a sink drain, Police Chief Dennis Miller said Police recovered suspected liquid MDMA, heroin, suboxone, cocaine, narcotics paraphernalia, cutting agents, a digital scale, packaging materials, heat sources, as well as paraphernalia for the manufacturing of crack and pre-packaging the cocaine for street sale, Miller said. Carlos Burgos, 44, of Jersey City, believed to be the leader of the operation, was in possession of $2,295, believed to be proceeds from drug sales. He was charged with numerous drug offenses, including maintaining/operating a CDS production facility, and money laundering. As I stated when I was sworn in as chief, one of the main focuses of the Anti-Crime Unit will be to address vice crimes within our hotels, Miller said. This is another great example how our departments different units continue to work together toward the common goal, public safety. Roman, 44, of Takoma, Maryland, and Eayres, 49, of Howell, were each charged with tampering, drug possession and conspiracy to maintain/operate a drug production facility. Roman also had an active warrant from North Bergen with a bail in the amount of $2,500. Heather Ives, 30, of South Hackensack, was arrested in the room and charged with possessing suspected heroin. Two others at the scene, Brian Kelly, 60, of Hoboken, and Roxanne Gillette, 35, of Little Ferry, were each arrested on two active warrants from municipalities across the state. Due to the sheer volume of hotel rooms in Secaucus, some vice activity is expected, but that is not representative of our overall hotel industry, Miller said. We will not allow this type of activity to operate with impunity. Tips can be made by calling (201)330-2049, emailed to spdtips@secaucus.net or submitted anonymously through the departments website at www.secaucuspolice.org. The state of California updated county tier levels Tuesday, and San Mateo and Marin counties will both move from the purple to the red tier effective Wednesday as case numbers in these jurisdictions have dropped dramatically. This allows counties to reopen new activities and business sectors, including indoor dining at 25% capacity. San Mateo and Marin released statements Tuesday afternoon that they will move forward with openings allowed by the state in the red tier, including the following: -Restaurants indoors (max 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer) -All retail indoors (max 50% capacity) -Shopping centers, swap meets indoors (max 50% capacity, closed common areas, reduced capacity food courts) -Personal care services hair and nail salons, barbershops (open with modifications) -Museums, zoos and aquariums (max 25% capacity) -Places of worship (max 25% capacity) -Movie theaters indoors (max 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer) -Gyms and fitness centers indoors (max 10% capacity) -Family entertainment centers (kart racing, mini-golf, batting cages) outdoors only with modifications Amusement parks, bars without meal service, bowling alleys, indoor playgrounds, live theater, saunas and steam rooms, nightclubs and festivals are not permitted in the red tier. San Francisco has also seen a significant decline in cases, but the S.F. COVID Command Center said in a statement the earliest the city could advance to red is March 2. "Currently San Francisco is in the Purple Tier on the State's Blueprint for a Safer Economy," the center said in a statement. "We have to qualify for the Red Tier for two consecutive weeks before moving into that tier." Three other California counties Humboldt, Shasta and Yolo jumped from purple to red. One county, Trinity, moved to a more restrictive tier, from orange to red. Forty-seven counties are now in the purple tier, nine in the red, and two in orange, according to the state dashboard. State of California Last Tuesday, only one California county, Plumas, moved from the purple to red tier, but Gov. Gavin Newsom said he expected a substantial number to make a jump to less-stringent tiers this week and in the weeks beyond if cases continue to plummet as they have in recent weeks. "Well see counties move, not just from purple to red, but more and more red to orange, and I anticipate based on the number that are already in orange, youll see many more in that yellow tier as well, which is the most permissive of the tiers we put out 24 weeks ago in our blueprint for a safer reopening," Newsom said. It has been nearly a month since Newsom lifted the regional stay-at-home order, allowing Bay Area counties to reopen several business sectors including outdoor dining and some indoor personal services such as haircuts. When the order ended Jan. 25, all nine counties in the region moved into the purple tier in the governor's color-coded reopening framework and they have remained in this most-strict zone ever since. The state's system sorts counties into four tiers "purple" (widespread), "red" (substantial), "orange" (moderate) or "yellow" (minimal) that measure the spread of COVID-19 and dictate what types of businesses and activities are allowed to open. The structure allows counties to be more restrictive and move more slowly than the state in reopening, if they wish. A county's tier assignment is based on three metrics: the adjusted case rate (number of new cases per 100,000 residents, adjusted based on testing volume); the positivity rate (percentage of people who test positive for the virus of all individuals who are tested); and a health equity metric. Counties in the purple category are reporting more than seven new daily cases per 100,000 residents and have positivity rates above 8%. For a county to move into the red tier, it must report an average of four to seven daily cases per 100,000 residents and a test positivity of 5% to 8% for 14 consecutive days. The orange tier requires one to 3.9 cases per 100,000 and a test positivity of 2% to 4.9%, and the yellow less than one case per 100,000 and lower than 2% positivity. When a county jumps from the purple to the red tier, it can opt to increase retail capacity and allow several sectors to open indoors with modifications and capacity limits including museums, zoos, aquariums, gyms, movie theaters, restaurants and places of worship. While elementary schools can operate with in-person learning in the purple tier, high schools and middle schools can also open in the red. Four days after receiving a detailed list of questions about the deal, a representative for Gucci called to say that a statement was on its way within the hour. A little more than an hour later, the representative called back to say the statement would not actually be arriving after all. The Trump Organization did not respond to two requests for comment. One possible reason: According to the person who has seen the new lease, Gucci required people at the Trump Organization to sign confidentiality agreements regarding its terms. Still, the deal was worth it to the Trumps for reasons that extend beyond symbolism. Numerous luxury brands occupying prime Manhattan retail spaces have renegotiated leases during the coronavirus pandemic as foot traffic dropped off. Others have simply subleased their spaces. That was what Ralph Lauren did at its Fifth Avenue location last November, renting 28,300 square feet to the fast fashion retailer Mango for what the Real Deal reported was $5 million which is $22 million less than Ralph Lauren pays for it. In recent years, revenue from The Apprentice, Mr. Trumps former reality show on NBC, dried up. Debt payments across the Trump business are coming due. That has turned the retail space in and around Trump Tower into a lifeline, becoming what Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner wrote in The New York Times last January is likely his empires most dependable and greatest long-term money producer. Berger said when he read the findings of the first probe, "it was pretty clear to me we needed to do a follow-on... Przepraszamy! Ogoszenie na stanowisku: Assistant / Service Operations Officer in Securities Transfer Services wygaso z dniem 2021-03-15 Ta propozycja bya zozona przez Nordea Bank Abp SA Oddzia w Polsce Mozliwe przyczyny wygasniecia oferty to: oferta zozona przez pracodawce zostaa usunieta z serwisu praca.egospodarka.pl rekruter zakonczy proces rekrutacji uzyskujac odpowiednia ilosc pracownikow firma zmodyfikowaa tresc zlecenia i jest ono dostepne pod innym adresem WWW dostawca tresci usuna ogoszenie z bazy danych nieprawidowy adres url ogoszenia Jezeli poszukujesz pracy w branzy Administracja biurowa, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Administracja biurowa Jezeli poszukujesz pracy na stanowisku Assistant / Service Operations Officer in Securities Transfer Services, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Assistant / Service Operations Officer in Securities Transfer Services Jezeli poszukujesz pracy w miescie: odz, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca odz Pamietaj, ze mozesz takze rozpoczac poszukiwanie pracy od strony gownej, kliknij tutaj. Inne oferty, ktore mogy byc w kregu Twoich zainteresowan: 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 35-year-old New Jersey man was one of two people killed in Houston when a speeding vehicle illegally street racing struck another car and sent it careening into a crowd on Sunday night, authorities said. Roger Glover was hit by a parked Chevrolet Malibu that was pushed into a group of spectators after it was slammed by a Chevrolet Camaro traveling more than 100 mph, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said. Glover, of Maple Shade, was pronounced dead at the scene. One of the other people hit a teenage boy was brought to a local hospital and later pronounced dead while a second teenage boy was critically injured, Gonzalez said. Hundreds of people were standing on sidewalks along on both sides of the U.S Route 90 service road for what the sheriff described as a car meet/hot-rod type of event. The 22-year-old driver of the car Andrew Mock was charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault reckless driving with serious bodily Injury after crashing while performing a flyby. Both occupants of the Malibu suffered injuries that police said were not life-threatening. Glover was in Houston to celebrate a friends birthday and planned to fly home on Monday, according to KHOU.com. My younger brother Roc was a ray of sunshine to anyone he came across, his sister Kimberly Glover told NJ Advance Media. His smile could light up a whole room. If you were having a bad day he was the man you wanted to see because he would be sure to make you smile with a joke or doing something humorous. He had an humongous heart and would help anyone even if he did not know you. He was my real life teddy bear and the heartbeat of our family. We love him and miss him so very much. But his spirit and his love will live forever and always. Glover grew up in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York where he attended Acorn Community High School before moving to South Jersey. A GoFundMe.com page established to cover Glovers funeral expenses has raised $8,000. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JGoldmanNJ. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com The wife of Mexican drug cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was arrested and charged in the United States on Monday with helping her husband continue to run his drug trafficking cartel while he was behind bars. Emma Coronel Aispuro, 31, a regular attendee at her husband's high-profile U.S. trial two years ago where he was convicted of trafficking tons of drugs into the United States, was arrested at Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia. Her arrest is the highest profile U.S. capture of a Mexican on drug charges since former Mexican Defense Minister Salvador Cienfuegos was detained in October, and experts said it indicated a deterioration in bilateral security relations. Coronel was charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with conspiring to distribute heroin, cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamines for unlawful importation into the United States. She is expected to appear in a federal court in Washington on Tuesday. An affidavit attached to the charges also details Coronel's alleged involvement in her husband's escape from a Mexican prison in 2015 and a second attempted prison break in 2016 before the 63-year-old was extradited to the United States. A lawyer for Coronel could not immediately be identified, and lawyers in Mexico linked to the Guzman family did not respond to a request for comment. A Mexican official familiar with the situation, who asked not to be identified, said Coronel's arrest appeared to be solely a U.S. initiative and that Coronel was not wanted in Mexico. "[It's] a sign of what's likely ahead," former Mexican ambassador to the United States Arturo Sarukhan said, describing it as an example of U.S. agencies acting with little coordination with Mexican counterparts. Joint efforts to fight drug trafficking were strained by Cienfuegos' arrest, with Mexico's government moving to restrict U.S. agents' activities in Mexico in retaliation for what it called a breach of trust. The Justice Department unexpectedly dropped the Cienfuegos case the following month and let him return to Mexico, a move Mexico welcomed as restoring trust between the two countries. Two months later, Mexico dropped its own case against Cienfuegos. The investigation into Coronel was handled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), rather than the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The charges relate to alleged trafficking activity between 2014-2017 prior to the high-profile Brooklyn trial where Guzman was convicted on drug trafficking offenses. The indictment documents said Coronel relayed messages on behalf of Guzman to facilitate drug trafficking after his arrest in 2014. Prosecutors said Coronel also conspired to aid her husband in his July 2015 escape from the Altiplano prison in Mexico through a mile-long tunnel from his cell. An unnamed cooperating witness was paid $1 million to help facilitate a failed second escape a year later, according to the affidavit. POTENTIAL PRESSURE STRATEGY Coronel, who married Guzman as an 18-year-old beauty queen in 2017, is a dual U.S.-Mexico citizen who lives in Mexico. It was unclear why she was in the Washington area at the time of her arrest. Prosecutors at Guzman's trial two years ago said he amassed power through murders and wars with rival cartels. Guzman was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years, which the sentencing judge said reflected Guzman's "overwhelmingly evil" actions. Guzman was sent to ADX Florence in Colorado, the nation's most secure "Supermax" prison. Tomas Guevara, an investigator in security issues at the Autonomous University of Sinaloa, said Coronel's arrest might be part of a "pressure strategy" to prompt cooperation from Guzman. Also read: German Prince sues 'ungrateful' son for selling family castle worth millions for Rs 87.98 NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Award winning market research company Fact.MR's global cervical dysplasia diagnostics market projects a positive expansion outlook for 2021, as the drive towards eradicating cervical cancer continues gathering momentum. The report forecasts an optimistic outlook for the long-run, exhibiting a 7% CAGR through 2031. The World Health Organization proposed its Global Strategy to Accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer initiative in November 2020, outlining three key steps: vaccination, screening and treatment. It estimates that effective implementation of all three initiatives could reduce the burden of new cases by over 40% and 5 million deaths by 2050. Furthermore, an estimated US$ 3.2 will be returned to the economy for every dollar invested through 2050 and beyond. Consequently, countries are aligning their cervical cancer prevention programs with the aforementioned initiative, providing a wide berth for cervical dysplasia diagnostics market expansion. Prominent players are concentrating on introducing a broad spectrum of technologically advanced diagnostics to facilitate effective treatment cycles. QIAGEN NV, for instance, offers the digene Female Swab Specimen Collection Kit for use with digene HC2 CT-ID DNA, the HC2 GC-ID DNA and HC2 CT-GC DNA Tests respectively. The kit is capable of collecting 50 swab samples. Recently, in February 2021, Hologic Inc. completed the acquisition of Biotheranostics Inc. to deepen its foray into molecular oncology. The acquisition was valued at US$ 230 million, and is expected to augment cancer treatment in women, including cervical dysplasia. "Prolific advancements in oncology are prompting clinicians to opt for targeted therapeutic approaches, promoting development of highly advanced precision-based medicine. This is encouraging prominent cervical dysplasia diagnostics providers to introduce highly sophisticated diagnostic approaches to aid practitioners in medicine and vaccination prescription," says a Fact.MR analyst. For More Valuable Information on Regional Market Dynamics, Request a Report Sample https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=5564 Key Takeaways from Fact.MR's Cervical Dysplasia Diagnostics Market Study Early detection and prevention of cervical dysplasia to widen the scope for diagnostic tests Demand for hospital-based cervical dysplasia diagnostics to remain sustained, diagnostic centers popularity to heighten US to receive significant nudge in cervical dysplasia diagnostics, with nearly 1 million women afflicted annually Rising prevalence of in-situ cervical carcinoma to spike diagnostics services across the UK Prolific developments are on the cards for Germany , attributed to burgeoning research for discovering advanced screening techniques , attributed to burgeoning research for discovering advanced screening techniques China to emerge as a focal point in the Asia-Pacific , India to receive massive tailwinds Competitive Landscape Prominent cervical dysplasia diagnostics solutions providers profiled by Fact.MR include Becton Dickinson & Company, F. Hoffmann La-Roche Ltd., Hologic Inc., QIAGEN GmbH, Quest Diagnostics Inc., Cooper Surgical, Micromedic Technologies Ltd. and Karl Kaps GmbH & Co. KG among others. The aforementioned players rely on regulatory approvals from government entities to widen their market footprints. In 2018, the US FDA granted a pre-market approval to Becton Dickinson & Company's BD Onclarity HPV assay which is capable of detecting 14 types of high risk human papillomavirus from specimens collected for cervical cancer screening. The assay is also capable of identifying HPV genotypes 16, 18 and 45, responsible for 94% of glandular cervical cancer cases. In September 2020, F. Hoffmann La-Roche Ltd. received FDA approval for expanded use of the CINtec PLUS Cytology test to aid clinicians in preventing cervical cancer. This new generation biomarker test supports the World Health Organization's goal to eliminate cervical cancer which is fully preventable with proper screening, vaccination and treatment. Get Customization on this Report as Per Your Requirement https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=RC&rep_id=5564 Micromedic Technologies Ltd. is an important player offering the CellDetect Cervical diagnostic solution. The solution is available across Europe, Israel, China and India. The technology relies on color and morphology to differentiate between normal cells and cancerous ones. It does so by using a proprietary plant extract and generic dyes, detecting neoplastic nuclei in reddish-purple and normal cells in green. More Insights on the Cervical Dysplasia Diagnostics Market In its latest report, Fact.MR offers unbiased analysis of the global cervical dysplasia diagnostics market, providing historical data for the period of 2016-2020 and forecast statistics for the period of 2021-2031. In order to understand the global market potential, its growth, and scope, the market is segmented on the basis of product type (diagnostic tests and diagnostic devices) and end user (hospitals, diagnostic centers, private gynecologist offices, research & academic institutes, and ambulatory surgical centers), across seven major regions of the world (North America, Latin America, Europe, East Asia, South Asia, Oceania, and MEA). Key Questions Covered in the Report How will the cervical dysplasia diagnostics market grow in 2021? Why are manufacturers increasingly venturing into the United States market? market? What growth prospects are likely to present themselves across Germany ? ? How are the UK, Indian and Chinese markets anticipated to widen growth prospects for cervical dysplasia diagnostics providers? How are global cancer eradication initiatives providing traction to the market? Which prominent players operate in the global cervical dysplasia diagnostics landscape? Need more information about Report Methodology? Ask here https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=RM&rep_id=5564 Explore Fact.MR's Coverage on the Healthcare Domain Prepackaged Medical Kits Market: Fact.MR's extensive study on the prepackaged medical kits market brings to fore important insights concerning prominent growth dynamics, including the drivers, restraints and opportunities across key regions. The report provides a holistic overview of the expected trends and shares of prominent manufacturers associated with producing prepackaged medical kits. Cables and Leads for Medical Equipment Market: A recent study by Fact.MR on the cables and leads for medical equipment market offers a 10-year forecast. The study analyzes crucial trends that are currently determining the growth of the cables and leads for medical equipment market. This report explicates on vital dynamics, such as the drivers, restraints, and opportunities for key market players along with key stakeholders. Gamma Probe Devices Market: The gamma probe devices market study published by Fact.MR offers a bird's eye view of the major trends expected to provide shape to future growth prospects. The report incorporates detailed analyses of the prominent drivers, trends and opportunities prevailing for the forthcoming decade across key geographies and segments. About Fact.MR Market research and consulting agency with a difference! That's why 80% of Fortune 1,000 companies trust us for making their most critical decisions. We have offices in US and Dublin, whereas our global headquarter is in Dubai. While our experienced consultants employ the latest technologies to extract hard-to-find insights, we believe our USP is the trust clients have on our expertise. Spanning a wide range from automotive & industry 4.0 to healthcare & retail, our coverage is expansive, but we ensure even the most niche categories are analyzed. Reach out to us with your goals, and we'll be an able research partner. Contact: Sudip Saha US Sales Office: 11140 Rockville Pike Suite 400 Rockville, MD 20852 United States Tel: +1 (628) 251-1583 E: [email protected] Corporate Headquarter: Unit No: AU-01-H Gold Tower (AU), Plot No: JLT-PH1-I3A, Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai, United Arab Emirates SOURCE Fact.MR ROTTERDAM, Netherlands and SAN DIEGO, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, SkylineDx announces to have signed a license agreement with Oncode Institute and Utrecht Holdings on a shared patent covering the innovative algorithm RAINFOREST. This algorithm is based on Random Forest, a specific machine learning method, and is able to identify subgroups of patients that will benefit more than the population as a whole from a certain treatment [2]. The performance of this algorithm is demonstrated on a dataset from a phase III (last phase of medicine research) colorectal cancer study. This study did not show any benefit for the drug (Cetuximab) under investigation, meaning that patients had the same risk of progressing whether they would have received Cetuximab or not. RAINFOREST, however, was able to identify a subgroup of patients (27.7%) that did significantly benefit and had a lower risk of progression if they would have been treated with the new drug. RAINFOREST follows the manuscript describing the innovative algorithm GESTURE [3] and both show, although based on different methodology and input information, the importance of subgroup analysis in clinical trials where oncological drugs have been investigated. More than half of the clinical trials fail because the new drug is not able to show enough efficacy in the entire patient population it is being tested on. RAINFOREST and GESTURE demonstrate that these resources are not wasted if you can find the specific patients that do benefit and develop a biomarker that is able to identify these patients upfront in routine clinical practice. These algorithms can be applied to study results concerning different types of cancer as well as different treatment regimes. "RAINFOREST and GESTURE are very important additions to cancer research and the fantastic result of the research conducted by Jeroen de Ridder's lab at UMCU with the support of Oncode Institute," comments Dharminder Chahal, CEO SkylineDx. "As we really share the same goal: improve the lives of cancer patients, we are very eager to apply these tools in support of (bio)pharmaceutical development to tailor cancer research to specific patient needs through our Strix biomarker discovery service [4]." "Oncode is proud to have facilitated the transfer of this novel algorithm developed in the lab of Oncode Investigator Jeroen de Ridder to SkylineDx," continues Ian Bell, Interim Valorization Director at Oncode. "This agreement not only supports Oncode's mission of advancing opportunities that impact the treatment and health of cancer patients, but also confirms our support of the Dutch biotech industry, through licensing to homegrown companies. We look forward to seeing the success SkylineDx can achieve with RAINFOREST." "Science is teamwork, but making science actually benefit the patient requires Teamwork with a capital T. It is therefore fantastic to see that with the support of Oncode Institute and Utrecht Holdings, the basic research we do at the UMCU now finds its way to SkylineDx, where it will be used as a foundation for further development of products that improve the diagnosis of cancer patients," concludes Jeroen de Ridder, UMCU & Oncode PI on behalf of Utrecht Holdings. About SkylineDx SkylineDx is a biotechnology company, focused on research & development of molecular diagnostics in oncology and inflammatory diseases. The company is headquartered in Rotterdam (the Netherlands) and complemented with a field medical and scientific affairs team in the US and a CAP/CLIA certified laboratory in San Diego (California). SkylineDx uses its expertise to bridge the gap between academically discovered gene expression signatures and commercially available diagnostic products with high clinical utility, assisting healthcare professionals in accurately determining the type or status of disease or predict a patient's response to treatment. Based on test results, healthcare professionals can tailor the treatment approach to the individual patient. To learn more, please visit www.skylinedx.com. About Oncode Institute At Oncode Institute we accelerate breakthrough discoveries and speed up their translation into new diagnostics and treatments for cancer patients. We unite over 900 oncology researchers at 12 Dutch institutes and we actively invest in scientific excellence, collaboration and valorization. A dedicated team of business development experts proactively identifies new inventions and facilitates their development into novel therapeutic and diagnostic approaches. With earmarked funding we invest in translational and clinical research, public-private partnerships and establishing new ventures. This accelerates the translation of breakthrough discoveries into tangible benefits for patients and society at large. For more information, please visit www.oncode.nl. About Utrecht Holdings Utrecht Holdings consists of UMCU Holding BV and UU Holding BV, 100% subsidiaries of the University Medical Center in Utrecht and Utrecht University respectively. Utrecht Holdings facilitates the commercialization of UU and UMCU innovations and intellectual property (IP) and invests in promising spin-offs based on scientific discovery from or related to both institutions. Since 2000, Utrecht Holdings invested in over 40 spinoffs. For more information, please visit www.utrechtholdings.nl. Footnotes 1. Link to this press release on website SkylineDx (click here) 2. Ubels et al. RAINFOREST: a random forest approach to predict treatment benefit in data from (failed) clinical drug trials. Bioinformatics, volume 36, issue supplement_2, December 2020, pages i601-i609. Link to manuscript. 3. Ubels et al. Predicting treatment benefit in multiple myeloma through simulation of alternative treatment effects. Nature Communications, 9, 2943 (2018). Link to manuscript. 4. For more information on Strix biomarker discovery services, please visit www.strixservices.com. SOURCE SkylineDx Democratic Party lawmakers in the United States Congress introduced immigration legislation last Thursday. The proposed law would create an eight-year path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants in the United States. The legislation would also provide a faster path to citizenship for those brought to the country illegally as children. What does the bill say? Under the bill, immigrants who are not legally in the country can apply to become legal if they were in the United States on or before January 1, 2021. They must pay all required costs and, in most cases, must not have a criminal record. There are special requirements for Temporary Protected Status holders, agricultural workers and those who arrived in the United States as children. Such children are known as Dreamers. Hassan Ahmad is an immigration lawyer in the state of Virginia. He told VOA, "Having a criminal record or certain types of crimes on your record, or if you're a national security concernwould serve to prevent you...from getting relief under the bill. The first step for applicants would be to secure lawful prospective immigrant status, or LPI. That is a way to have legal permanent residence in the United States. LPI status would be effective for six years. But immigrants would have to wait at least five years to apply for legal permanent residence, also known as green card status. They would be required to pass security investigations and pay all taxes required by U.S. law. After three years of green card status, an immigrant would be able to apply for U.S. citizenship. Someone with LPI status could legally work and travel outside the U.S. and be lawfully admitted back into the country. Those going through the LPI process would be protected from being expelled from the country while the government is deciding their applications. Those living temporarily in the United States or visiting the country with a visa would not be covered under the bill. Which groups do not have to apply for LPI? Those who can be or already are a part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program will be able to apply directly for a green card. Other groups that may apply directly include Temporary Protected Status holders and those who have been agricultural workers for at least five years. These groups must then wait five years to be eligible for U.S. citizenship. Under current immigration law, those who stay in the U.S. illegally for more than 180 days but less than one year are banned for three years from returning to the U.S. Those who are unlawfully present for more than one year are banned for 10 years. The bill calls for ending the three- and 10-year bans on people who lived in the United States illegally and then left. Increased number of refugees admitted The United States is also preparing to admit up to 125,000 refugees each year beginning in October. That is an increase from a 15,000-refugee limit at the end of the administration of former President Donald Trump. The announcement could change the lives of people like Abdirizak Noor Ibrahim. Ibrahim is originally from Somalia. He left the country in 2004 and became a refugee in Nairobi, Kenya. Ibrahim and his family were approved to travel to the U.S. for resettlement in early 2017. However, then President Trump signed orders restricting travel from several countries including Somalia. Ibrahim told VOA that he felt bad hearing about the ban. But now, I am so hopeful since there is a change of administrations, I will be accepted and taken to the country, he said. The president decides the upper limit of admitted refugees in October and sends the plans to Congress. Yael Schacher is with Refugee International. She said over 35,000 refugees had been approved by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services as of December 2020. The U.S. State Department says about 11,814 refugees arrived in the United States in 2020. Schacher said, People who are resettled in the United States already, who came as refugees, have the ability to apply to have their family members to resettle as refugees, as well. Security policies Supporters of Trumps immigration plan warn against undoing policies they consider important to Americas safety. Lora Ries is a researcher at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative research group. She said there was a study of the program for security investigations of refugees at the beginning of the Trump administration. She said that policy should be repeated by future administrations. It should not be thrown out [by the new administration] just because Trump's name was attached to it, she told VOA. Im Jonathan Evans. Aline Barros reported on this story for VOA News. Jonathan Evans adapted this story for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story apply v. to formally ask for a service, documentation or status usually in writing type n. a particular king or group of things or people relief n. (legal) help that is provided for by law or by a court prospective adj. likely to become something specified in the future status n. the official position of a person under the law of a country residence n. (legal) legal permission to live in a country eligible adj. able to do or receive something Members of the German Bundestag who belong to underrepresented groups are more active in the legislative process and, early on, typically tend to advocate more for the interests of their groups. However, a current study by the universities in Konstanz, Basel, Geneva and Stuttgart indicates that, after a few years, most of them do move on to other political fields. This is tied to the career-related incentives these elected representatives face: At first, their careers in parliament benefit from their ability to speak for underrepresented groups. As their careers progress, however, they are required to demonstrate expertise in areas beyond the interests of these groups, the researchers conclude. The study was led by Professor Christian Breunig, professor of comparative politics at the University of Konstanz and principal investigator in the Cluster of Excellence "The Politics of Inequality". It was completed in collaboration with three colleagues from the universities of Basel, Geneva and Stuttgart, and the results were published yesterday in the British Journal of Political Science. "The German Bundestag embodies both democracy and politics in Germany like few other institutions", Christian Breunig finds. "Nonetheless, the discussion of its composition arises time and again: Critics often cite its lack of certain groups who are disadvantaged in society: young people, women, migrants and members with blue-collar backgrounds. At the same time, there is an overabundance of 'old white men', lawyers and teachers. We wanted to know: to what extent do these approximately 700 people really represent the country's diverse society?" For a representative democracy like the Federal Republic of Germany, this issue cuts to the core of its identity. Breunig and his colleagues have now examined how exactly the representation of underrepresented groups works in the Bundestag. How members of the Bundestag represent groups Even the concept of 'representation' itself is complicated: "A group can be represented in two different ways. When members who are from a specific group are elected to the Bundestag, we call that 'descriptive representation' of that group. 'Substantive representation', on the other hand, is when members of the Bundestag actively represent the interests of a given group in the parliamentary process", Breunig explains. Descriptively, the Bundestag only represents society to a certain degree, as evidenced by only about a third of its members being women. The same is true to a greater extent for other criteria like social class, age groups or migrant background. The researchers wanted to find out: Do members of the Bundestag who are from underrepresented groups also advocate for the interests of these groups? And how does their role in representing these interests change over time? To answer these questions, the researchers analyzed the written questions (large and small inquiries) submitted in the Bundestag that were signed personally by the members. In contrast to voting behaviour, the submission of written questions is less tied to a representative's party membership. At the same time, submitting written questions allows members of the Bundestag to bring content to the political agenda and to formally force the recipients to give an official answer. The researchers used this information to investigate which issues individual members are involved with. They analyzed a total of 40,000 personally signed written parliamentary questions (so-called 'Groe' and 'Kleine Anfragen') submitted during a period of 15 years by a total of 1,277 members of the Bundestag in underrepresented groups. Advantages and drawbacks of representing a group In their research, Breunig and his colleagues determined that the behaviour of individual members changed substantially over time. "The typical development of political careers means that, early on, individual members can profit greatly from being seen as a representative of an underrepresented group", Breunig explains. It is difficult for such members not to be perceived in this way, anyway. The descriptive representation of underrepresented groups is also often the reason why an up-and-coming politician is able to play a role on the large political stage in the first place. Such members then have the opportunity to substantively represent their group and thereby establish their own political profile. On the whole, the study finds, members of underrepresented groups - e.g. who are young or female or have a migrant background - are often more actively involved in the parliamentary process. Over time, however, the strategy of simply representing the interests of a group is less advantageous for individual members. "Reducing your work to simply representing the interests of women, migrants or young people will get you politically sidelined after a few years", says co-author Stefanie Bailer. "The interesting question is: who will continue to represent the issues important to underrepresented groups, and who will focus instead on topics offering greater power and broader political appeal - such as finance or international politics?" The study shows that, on average, after one to two legislative periods (4-8 years), members' substantive representation of their respective groups wanes significantly. This is especially true for members with a migrant or blue-collar background and for young members (who grow older with time). However, female members often remain very active on equal opportunity issues even in later career stages. The research of Breunig and his colleagues shows that a more diverse parliament leads to better representation of voter interests. At the same time, representation is a dynamic concept that is also influenced by individual career considerations and political strategies. ### Key facts: - New open access publication: Stefanie Bailer, Christian Breunig, Nathalie Giger, Andreas M. Wust (2021): The Diminishing Value of Representing the Disadvantaged: Between Group Representation and Individual Career Paths. 22 February 2021. https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1017/ S0007123420000642 - Professor Christian Breunig is professor of comparative politics at the University of Konstanz and principal investigator in the Cluster of Excellence "The Politics of Inequality". His research interests include public policy in advanced democracies, comparative political economy, political methodology, and budgetary politics. He directs the "German Policy Agendas" project in the context of the "Comparative Agendas Project", a collaboration of ten international universities which provides data on the political processes in various countries. - Professor Stefanie Bailer is professor of political science in the Department of Social Sciences at the University of Basel. - Professor Nathalie Giger is associate professor in the Department for Political Science and International Relations at the University of Geneva. - Dr Andreas M. Wust is a political scientist and lecturer at the University of Stuttgart. Note to editors: With one of his Cabinet nominees increasingly likely to be defeated by the Senate, US President Joe Biden is on the edge of suffering his first electoral defeat since taking office. Biden's Cabinet nominee received backlash Presidents appoint people to serve in Cabinet positions under the American political system, and then the Senate decides whether to confirm them or not. It requires a clear vote by the majority, NZ Herald reported. All Biden wants is unity from his side in the new Senate, divided 50/50, with Vice-President Kamala Harris capable of casting the tie-breaking vote if necessary. But the dilemma remains therein. Neera Tanden, a longtime Democratic Party operative, has been nominated by Biden to serve as head of the Management and Budget Office. Tanden is now working as President of a left-leaning think tank, the Centre for American Progress. She also has a history of making partisan remarks about some senators whose votes she is now pursuing, primarily online. Tanden told Sanders she felt "badly" about her previous comments and, if accepted to Biden's Cabinet, would take a "radically different" approach. From the moment Tanden was nominated, several senators made it clear that they would not be endorsing her. Read also: Is President Biden Set to Repeat the Obama Administration's Failures? Manchin, with two senators, oppose Biden budget pick On Monday, two moderate Republican senators said they would oppose Neera Tanden, the White House Office of Management and Budget candidate for President Joe Biden, further jeopardizing her confirmation. Sen. Mitt Romney's spokesperson said that the Utah Republican would oppose the nomination of Tanden, noting his criticism of "extreme rhetoric from prior nominees." Arielle Mueller, Romney's spokesperson, said the Senator has been critical of extreme rhetoric from the prior nominees. He believes it is hard to return the respect and comity with a nominee who issued thousands of mean tweets. Romney sits on both the Senate Budget and the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committees, both of which are due to vote this week to advance the appointment of Tanden to the whole Senate floor. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., said Friday he would oppose Tanden, implying that for her to win approval, at least one Republican would vote for Tanden. Biden said they had the votes to confirm her last week, although it is unclear which Republicans will support Tanden. Asked Monday if Democrats had the votes to confirm Tanden, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the second-ranking Senate Democrat, told reporters that he did not know. A source familiar with the nomination said they did not expect that the nomination would be pulled by Biden's team, as per USA Today on MSN. The insider added that no senator could be counted out and that it would be a surprise to come out in favor of Tanden. Read also: More Than Half of Americans Favorably Approve Biden's First Month as President 'Unfit' Xavier Becerra becomes Biden's Cabinet Nominee Meanwhile, in his first month in office, President Joe Biden has seated almost half of his Cabinet with little opposition, but his health secretary pick has been the latest to get in the crosshairs of the GOP. Since 2017, Xavier Becerra has been California's attorney general. According to Newsweek via MSN, he was once a Democratic member of the US House, and in that role, held high Democratic political posts. Several Republicans have now signed a scathing letter opposing his nomination and calling on Biden to revoke the planned appointment immediately, claiming that Becerra "would sow more discord" in the government. It is the most serious pushback faced by Biden in his appointments. Becerra will be the first Latino head of Health and Human Services if appointed. He was recently speculated to substitute Vice President Kamala Harris as a potential nominee from the Senate. But the Republicans who signed the letter, including the Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton and many other senators as well as GOP representatives, say that Becerra has "contempt for anyone who doesn't agree with his radical leftist agenda." Read also: Stimulus Bill May Be Delayed Over Fury That Undocumented Immigrants Will Receive $1400 Checks @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Only eight persons remain on the sanctions list. Brussels-based RFE/RL journalist Rikard Jozwiak says the European Union will lift sanctions against two more allies of now-disgraced Ukrainian ex-president Viktor Yanukovych. In particular, the Committee of the Permanent Representatives of the Governments of the Member States to the European Union (COREPER) next week will lift sanctions against former acting prime minister of Ukraine, first deputy prime minister Serhiy Arbuzov and former education minister Dmytro Tabachnyk. Read alsoLawyer: Ivanyushchenko has nothing to do with money confiscated in Latvia"Only eight people remain on the list now, including Yanukovych and his son. If you wonder why EU doesn't go after oligarchs in Russia due to [opposition leader Alexei] Navalny, just look at this dwindling list," Jozwiak wrote on Twitter on February 23. If sanctions are lifted, the ban on entry into the EU and the asset freeze will only apply to Yanukovych, former prosecutor general Viktor Pshonka, former interior minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko, former deputy interior minister Viktor Ratushniak, the ex-president's son Oleksandr Yanukovych, former prosecutor general's son Artem Pshonka, energy tycoon Serhiy Kurchenko, and former tax minister Oleksandr Klymenko. Sanctions against Yanukovych's allies Former officials have been hit with sanctions for being identified as responsible for the misuse of Ukraine's public finances or accused of abuse of power, which led to budget losses. Sanctions expire on March 6, 2021. Reporting by UNIAN Rubenstein tackles the complicated foundations of the medical fields professional stance on overpopulation. In 1972, an organization of doctors tackled overpopulation in their mission statement, saying, in part: It is right that we as doctors should be especially concerned about the world population crisis. Since that time, doctors have generally taken a more passive stance on overpopulation. Rarely quick to highlight the dangers of overpopulation or the connection between overpopulation and access to healthcare, female education, and environmental degradation, doctors are typically in the hot seat with population activists to do more. Countering the prevailing narrative, a cohort of medical professionals recently co-authored a new commentary dissecting population growth under a new light. A new Forum paper, published by Negative Population Growth, Inc. serves to highlight this new statement and delves deeper into the divisive mindsets that continue to suppress the overpopulation conversation. Titled Doctors Take Responsibility for Overpopulation, Again and written by Edwin S. Rubenstein, this work covers the recent doctors statement as well as revisits the archaic narratives that keep overpopulation under the rug. Rubenstein immediately leads readers to the popular theory that overpopulation will likely self-correct. Known as the Demographic Transition Theory (DTT) by professional demographers, Rubenstein describes DTT as the general idea that as high mortality rates fell, birth rates were expected to follow suit, as couples realize large families are no longer needed to replicate themselves. Rubenstein further describes DTT, saying: There are several variants, but the classic theory invokes the notion of couples opting for smaller families, young women putting education and jobs before motherhood, modern contraceptives becoming increasingly available, and poverty rates declining in developing countries. Last October, the new statement, Doctors and Overpopulation 48 Years Later: A Second Notice, details the phenomenon of a population bulge, i.e., when the population does not grow because people are reproducing more, but because more people are present to reproduce. There are other reasons to doubt DTTs stance on population growth. Rubenstein includes reasons such as: the suggestion that fertility rates may be inherited (large families beget large families) and the complete omission of immigration as it relates to population growth. However, those that support DTT are undeterred and remain steadfast in their belief that overpopulation will fix itself. DTT is far from the only thing that stands in contrast with understanding overpopulation. Rubenstein also discusses unwanted pregnancies and the science behind accessible contraceptives around the world and end of life care. Noting that contraceptives to curb unwanted pregnancies may not be popular, Rubenstein urges consideration by quoting economist Kenneth Boulding (on the topic of mandatory contraceptive care), when he said: The fact that it seems absurd, however, is merely a reflection of the total unwillingness of mankind to face up to what is perhaps its most serious long-run problem. Adding another voice to the conversation, Rubenstein quotes Dr. Ross Walker, an expert in preventive cardiology, on the topic of doctors and end of life treatment. Dr. Walker said, It is my very strong opinion that doctors should be prolonging everyones life, but no ones deathWhen a person has entered the death phase, I believe it is the responsibility of the medical profession to ensure that persons death occurs as quickly, painlessly, and with as much dignity as possible. Unfortunately, many relatives and members of the medical profession believe it is their responsibility to pull out all the stops and do everything possible to maintain someones existence, regardless of the quality of that existenceUnless someone with a public profile is brave enough to make these comments, we will continue to see an exponential rise in the population, wars fought over food and water and a continually rising divide between the haves and have nots. In this paper, Rubenstein tackles the complicated foundations of the medical fields professional stance on overpopulation. After stating the need for medical guidance Rubenstein ends on a hopeful note: There are millions of women who want to control their fertility but do not have access to reliable contraception. Even more live in societies where men are the sole deciders of family size, and even gender. Women are forced to become mothers because that is the only role open to themPhysicians have been slow to recognize the dangers of overpopulation, and the relationship between medical care, womens education, and environmental degradation. The 2020 Doctors and Overpopulation notice could change that. Founded in 1972, NPG is a national nonprofit membership organization dedicated to educating the American public and political leaders regarding the damaging effects of population growth. We believe that our nation is already vastly overpopulated in terms of the long-range carrying capacity of its resources and environment. NPG advocates the adoption of its Proposed National Population Policy, with the goal of eventually stabilizing U.S. population at a sustainable level far lower than todays. We do not simply identify the problems we propose solutions. For more information, visit our website at NPG.org, follow us on Facebook @NegativePopulationGrowth or follow us on Twitter @npg_org. This article is part of our new series, Currents, which examines how rapid advances in technology are transforming our lives. I wake up in the middle of the night. Its cold. Hey, Google, whats the temperature in Zone 2, I say into the darkness. A disembodied voice responds: The temperature in Zone 2 is 52 degrees. Set the heat to 68, I say, and then I ask the gods of artificial intelligence to turn on the light. Many of us already live with A.I., an array of unseen algorithms that control our Internet-connected devices, from smartphones to security cameras and cars that heat the seats before youve even stepped out of the house on a frigid morning. But, while weve seen the A.I. sun, we have yet to see it truly shine. Researchers liken the current state of the technology to cellphones of the 1990s: useful, but crude and cumbersome. They are working on distilling the largest, most powerful machine-learning models into lightweight software that can run on the edge, meaning small devices such as kitchen appliances or wearables. Our lives will gradually be interwoven with brilliant threads of A.I. When he got a job as a researcher at Cornell University, she moved to central New York so they could be together. In non-pandemic times, she and her husband enjoy traveling and trying new restaurants, especially eating dishes from around the world. Its such to privilege to experience different cultures. Shes volunteered in many of the communities shes served, and has been on multiple medical missions in Haiti. Its important to give back, especially if I can take my training and skills and give back to less developed countries or regions where resources are limited, she said. Working at Summit Pediatrics three days a week, she is excited to work with local families. Childhood is an important time, so its vital that parents bring their children in for annual well visits. This allows for tracking of milestones, which then gives the clinical team the chance to offer support or referrals. Regular checkups and the support they provide to families put children on the path to lead long, happy lives. Primary care for children is a unique opportunity to instill healthy habits, Dr. Manu-Boateng said, and Im excited to guide families on their journey to impact their childrens health habits. To learn more Contact Dr. Manu Boateng by calling Summit Pediatrics, (315) 253-8477, and hit prompt No. 3. Appointments may also be made through the patient portal. For more information, visit easthillmedical.com. Jessica Soule, MPH, is the director of strategic partnerships for East Hill Medical Center, 144 Genesee St., Auburn, a community health center that offers adult medicine, addiction, dental, reproductive health and pediatric services. She can be reached at (315) 253-8477 ext. 509 or email jsoule@easthillmedical.com. To reach East Hill for services, call (315) 253-8477 and hit prompt 1 for adult medicine, 2 for behavioral health, 3 for the pediatric offices or 4 for the dental office. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Campus News UB among top military-friendly research institutions ROTC members held a special flag ceremony that was shared virtually with the UB community last Veteran's Day. Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki By SUE WUETCHER This designation is an indication of the great work that so many on our campus do to help these students find success at UB. UB has been rated among the top military-friendly Tier 1 research institutions in the U.S. for 2021-22 by MilitaryFriendly.com. The designation honors institutions that provide the best opportunities for veterans and their spouses by evaluating the many factors that help make colleges, universities and other institutions a good fit for military veterans and their families. In addition to being considered a military-friendly school, institutions can be designated as being in the Top 10 or a gold, silver or bronze institution. UB received a gold designation, coming within 10% of the 10th-ranked Tier 1 research institution. Those institutions considered military-friendly were evaluated using public data sources and a survey completed by the school, as well as student survey data. Student retention, graduation, job placement, loan repayment, persistence and loan default rates also were taken into account. More than 1,200 schools participated in the survey, which is open to all post-secondary schools that wish to participate. Tier 1 research institutions are doctoral degree-granting universities that engage in the highest research activity. This designation is an indication of the great work that so many on our campus do to help these students find success at UB, says Dan Ryan, director of veteran services. From the folks in Financial Aid who certify their GI Bill benefits, to the faculty who demonstrate flexibility as our veteran students are activated to serve their country, and the countless student support units that help students make meaningful connections to our campus and each other it is gratifying to see the work of so many validated in this way. UBs Office of Veteran Services is charged with helping student veterans and their dependents shift into civilian life, make the transition to college and be successful at UB. Office staff assists students with the paperwork necessary to obtain benefits and connects them to local and national groups that support veterans. There are about 482 military-connected students at UB, which includes students who are veterans and those who remain in active service, as well as their dependents. The 2021-2022 Military Friendly Schools list will be published in the May issue of G.I. Jobs magazine and can be found online at MilitaryFriendly.com. MilitaryFriendly.com is a part of Victory Media, which offers private-sector resources for the approximately 250,000 people who leave military service each year. House Democrats forced television carriers to take out Fox News, OAN, and Newsmax as they gain traction over biased media. DEMS are trying to convince the people the Trump media are spreading lies to lessen the ex-president's reach. Many anti-Trump media outlets like CNN are alleged by sources to be losing against pro-Trump media that is hitting more viewers. The DEMS is primarily creating narratives to lessen the reach by trying to stop their hosting. Democrats, Biden administration to disenfranchise legitimate news Reports of alleged DEMS' attempts to take away and remove platform Oan, Newsmax, and Fox news channels on cable is another assault on news media. They are creating a narrative that fake pandemic news is peddled. On CNN Townhall, where Biden allegedly says that there were no vaccines, it was ignored. In contrast to Biden's statement, Pro-Trump networks are called spreading "misinformation," reported the Epoch Times. Several DEMS, Reps. Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.) and Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.) used their office to mail 12 cables, satellite, and streaming companies to 'control' their content. The DEMs attempt to curb channels with fake news, but it was a veiled attempt muzzling pro-Trump media in reality. Failing in the second impeachment with Trump acquitted, the House Democrats have now gone after cable, satellite, and streaming companies to continue going after the ex-president. His acquittal was ballyhooed by unbiased networks and leaving CNN in the rating dust, said sources. Also read: Trump Lawyer Says Video of Rep. Maxine Waters Inciting Violence to Be Used Only Pro-Trump media reported the real election The Democrats criticize Fox, Newsmax, and One America News for their right to report the news as is. Lawmakers say these pro-media spread lies about the 2020 election and added COVID-19 to that. Now their carriers are allegedly under pressure to let go of them. Last March 8, lawmakers asked the news carriers questions that were subjectively framed, like asking morality and ethics on how they choose what to carry. Overall, the DEMs asked questions that weren't in the scope of their job. One of the letters addressed to AT&T mentioned if the carrier will still support Fox News, Newsmax, and OANN on U-verse and the details of their contracts. For many observers, this is a slant on the questions to foster a Democrat narrative. According to an email sent to the Epoch Times, it is the highest-rated and watched cable news channel throughout 2020 with complete media coverage. Fox said that the House Democrats are forcing the cable carriers to say what they want. They are against views that are not favorable to their questionable actions, misusing their positions to influence news as a bad precedent. Newsmax calls the direct move assault on free speech and fundamental First Amendment rights by the Democrats that all Americans should not ignore, saying they balanced the biased media like CNN and MSNBC that peddled false news disproven later. These networks are now free-falling due to four years of biased reports, but One America News was not answering. The Republican Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr said that House Democrats would make these carriers pay if they don't follow as CNN is allegedly supporting their suppression as well. Related article: Trump Doubts Biden Saying He Must Be Dishonest, or Forgot Vaccines Were Ready Before December @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A motion calling on the government to legislate on the difficult issue of parental alienation was withdrawn at Offaly County Councils recent meeting following a contribution by Offalys only female councillor, Clare Claffey. Parental alienation is when one parent causes a child to be alienated from their other parent, either by their words, attitudes or behaviour. Speaking at last weeks meeting, the Social Democrats Councillor said: At face value, this motion looks credible and our first reaction would be to agree with it but we have to look at the hidden impact this will have for victims of domestic abuse. "After months of research myself and communicating with people who understand all sides of the issue, I can tell you that while there of course are some genuine and difficult cases of parental alienation, the potential impact of this proposal on victims of domestic abuse - especially where coercive control is prominent in the abusive relationship - would be horrific. She continued: I have concerns at how this law would be used as a tool and a tactic to silence the victim - meaning further abuse, further control and Im concerned this will prevent victims coming forward. In cases of domestic violence, where one parent is accused of parental alienation, the focus is now on that issue and not on the violence. The abuse is pushed aside and now the victim is forced to defend themselves. Speaking at the Council meeting, Cllr Claffey said that many people dont realise the hidden impact of the motion proposed, but that several local services including Offaly Domestic Violence Support Service, Barnardos, Arden Community and Family Resource Centre and Mens Aid had submitted their concerns through a joint submission to council members. She said We have been made aware of the possible negative impacts of supporting this motion, by groups who are dealing with family issues on a daily basis, so I believe it would be negligent on our behalf to pass this motion without consideration of the concerns of these agencies. They are the ones dealing with it on a daily basis. We cant ignore their concerns. Cllr Claffey was supported in the Chamber by Cllr Mark Hackett and Cllr Sean OBrien. Other Councillors also recommended caution and the motion was eventually withdrawn by its proposer Cllr Peter Ormond pending an independent review by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee. Speaking after the meeting, Anne Clarke Manager of Offaly Domestic Violence Support Service expressed relief that the motion had been withdrawn, pending review by the Department of Justice. We must be mindful that perpetrators of violence will use whatever tactics they can to dominate and control the protective parent - Parental Alienation could be a tactic weaponised by the perpetrator," she said. A high number of other Irish councils have passed motions seeking action on parental alienation legislation while Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys TD, recently announced the launch of the Consultation Process under the review of Child Maintenance Arrangements. As part of the six-week consultation, stakeholders and members of the public are invited to submit their views on the current treatment of child maintenance payments and the obligations of liable relatives within the social protection system. 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. Vietnamese Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy yesterday condemned violence and attacks targeting civilians in Somalia during a UN Security Council videoconference on the Somalia situation and activities of the UN Assistance Mission in the African country. Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN. Photo: VNA Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and head of the UNSOM James Swan, Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission for Somalia and head of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) Francisco Caetano Jose Madeira, and Managing Director of the EUs European External Action Service Rita Laranjinha presented reports at the event. Somali Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdirizak Mohamud Abubakar also delivered remarks. Speakers noted that the Government and federal member states of Somalia have made dialogue efforts to resolve disagreements over election processes, but expressed regret that these dialogues havent reached any agreements recently. They appealed to relevant sides to soon resume negotiations and hold elections in accordance with the deal secured on September 17, 2020. Some participants also voiced concern over the Al-Shabaab militant groups terrorist attacks using improvised explosive devices and suicide bombings targeting civilians and security and international forces there. They held that Somalia has continued to face a humanitarian crisis caused by impacts of floods, locusts, and COVID-19, asking the international community to keep assisting its government and people to weather this challenge. In his speech, Ambassador Quy, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN, called on the Somalia Government and federal member states to promptly resume talks and set aside differences to achieve a political agreement about the time and plan for elections. The diplomat also showed his concern over and condemned the Al-Shabaabs violence and attacks against civilians, urging the Somali Government to work closely with AMISOM to carry out security ensuring measures. Quy recommended the UN, as well as regional and international organisations, boost aid for the country via humanitarian programmes and economic development projects, while reiterating Vietnams support for Somalia in its efforts towards peace, stability, and development. The UNSOM was set up in 2013 with a view to assisting the peace and reconciliation process and the capacity building for the Somali Government. Since then, the UN Security Council has maintained meetings every three months to listen to reports on the missions activities. VNA Opalesque Industry Update - U.S. Bank has hired David Kubilus in the newly created role of chief commercial officer for Global Fund Services. Kubilus is located in London and will be responsible for connecting with investment managers about U.S. Bank's newly launched Luxembourg capabilities. He will also contribute to the strategic development of Global Fund Services in the U.S. and Europe. Kubilus is an experienced senior executive who brings more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. Most recently, Kubilus was global head of business development, client management and marketing at Maitland. Prior to that, he was head of business development and marketing for State Street Luxembourg. "Our team continues to grow as we develop and enhance our product offerings for a growing global fund services market. David has extensive product and business development expertise and understands the needs and demands of both the U.S. and European markets. Adding an experienced and tenured professional like David is tremendous for both our team and our global client base. We are thrilled to welcome him to U.S. Bank," said Luxembourg Country Head Didier Delvaux. Kubilus said, "Europe is a key growth area for our Global Fund Services business line. U.S. Bank's commitment to providing the highest level of client service, combined with their financial strength, positions us extremely well for future growth. I'm excited to work with our team to expand our brand, globally, and drive new business opportunities." Kubilus holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland and an MBA from Boston University. U.S. Bank has had a presence in Europe for more than 14 years and has 10 offices housing more than 2,800 employees. U.S. Bank's investment services division has more than $8.2 trillion in assets under custody and administration, globally. In addition to offering alternative investment and fund administration services, they also offer investment services products such as custody, full depositary and global corporate trust products, including structured finance, conventional debt and collateralized loan obligations. Guest Column Indias Muted Response to Myanmar Military Coup Seen as a Strategic Move Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (left) and Indian Prime Minister Modi in India in July, 2019. / seniorgeneralminaunghlaing.com.mm It may seem quite odd that India, the worlds largest democracy, has not been very forthcoming about its position vis-a-vis Myanmar ever since the countrys military seized power on Feb. 1. The United States and Europe have expressed strong reactions against the arrest of countrys de facto leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and President U Win Myint Turning up the heat on Myanmars junta, Washington has already imposed sanctions on the military generals by blocking their access to $1 billion in the US. In contrast, New Delhis reaction seems far more muted. During the 3rd Quad Ministerial Meeting on Feb. 18, India reiterated upholding of rule of law and the democratic transition in the Southeast Asian nation. India is part of the US-led Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), with Australia and Japan being the other two members. Earlier, on Feb. 5, Indias foreign ministry spokesperson said at the weekly media briefing: India and Myanmar are neighbors. We have close cultural and people-to-people ties. These ties have been bolstered by trade, economic, security and defense related exchanges. So we are therefore monitoring the situation very closely in that country. We are also engaged on the issue as a member of the UN Security Council. On both occasions, New Delhi avoided making any comment on the Tatmadaws large-scale crackdown on pro-democracy elements, nor did it appeal to the top military brass to release civilian leaders. So, what does Indias measured response to the developments in its neighboring nation indicate? One answer could be that the Narendra Modi government does not want to ruffle the feathers of Myanmars junta given the fact that current military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has maintained a good rapport with New Delhi in the past. In July 2019, Min Aung Hlaing visited India and the two countries signed a defense cooperation pact. The two sides also discussed joint exercises and training provided to Myanmar Defense Services, strengthening maritime security by joint surveillance and capacity building, medical co-operation, pollution response and developing new infrastructure, a statement from Indias defense ministry had said. Another factor that works in Indias favor is Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaings anti-China stance. Despite the friendly ties between China and Myanmar, the latter is aware of Beijings tacit support to Rohingya militants fighting against the Tatmadaw in Rakhine state. There were reports of China providing funds and weapons to the Rohingya militant outfits Arakan Army (AA) and Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) both of which have been designated as terrorist organizations by Myanmar. In June 2020, Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing sought international cooperation in the fight against terrorism. He stopped short of naming China as external forces that support them (the Rohingya militancy). Indias Long-Term Strategic Interest When Myanmar faced the 1988 democracy uprising movement, known as 8-8-88, the Indian Embassy in Yangon actively assisted pro-democracy activists and offered shelter to students and refugees in New Delhi and Indo-Burma border. At that time, New Delhi strongly voiced its support for restoration of democracy in Burma and demanded that the military government recognize the 1990 parliamentary election results where Daw Aung San Su Kyis National League for Democracy won 392 out of 492 contested seats. However, New Delhi changed its policy in 1993 and forged closer relations with the junta for fear of growing Chinese influence in Myanmar Now, at the root of Indias muted response to the Myanmars military coup is the formers long-term strategic interest. It goes without saying that Myanmar is key to the Modi governments Act East policy, aimed at countering Chinas growing influence in the Asia Pacific region. Indias growing defense ties with Myanmar are aimed at making the largest Southeast Asian country a strategic partner of New Delhi. One of the key projects that India has initiated in Myanmar is the Kaladan Multi Modal Transit Transport Project. The multi-million-dollar project is aimed at linking Southeast Asia through Myanmar. Under the project, a sea route will be established between Indias Kolkata and Myanmars Sittwe Port in Rakhine state. It will be further augmented to Paletwa in Chin State via the Kaladan river route, followed by a road to Mizoram state in landlocked Northeast India. In October, the two countries had agreed to have the strategic Sittwe port operational by early 2021. Even if the port becomes operational, another challenge facing India is the fact that a portion of the road passes through the Rohingya rebel-infested region. In November 2019, five Indian nationals engaged in the Kaladan road project, along with a Member of Myanmar Parliament, two local transporters and two speedboat operators were abducted by the Arakan Army. Later, they were released because of Indias timely intervention, according to a statement by Indias foreign ministry. Going forward, India would definitely need Myanmar armys support for a smooth completion of the Kaladan project, especially to keep the Rohingya militants at bay. And the fact that Myanmar is fully aware of Chinas back-channel dealings with the Arakan Army is something India would like to use to its advantage. It is likely that India would provide all necessary assistance to the Myanmar military in its fight against the Rohingya militants. In addition, New Delhi depends on the Tatmadaw to flush out Northeast Indias rebels operating from Myanmars Sagaing division and Chin state. In April and May last year, as many as 22 Indian rebels were handed over to India by Myanmar following their arrest in Taga in Hukwang Valley. There could be more crackdowns on the rebels in the coming days if India continues to maintain friendly ties with the Junta. Apart from its defense ties, India has used its vaccine diplomacy to help Myanmar overcome the COVID-19 crisis. As part of Modi governments Neighborhood First Policy, We have extended assistance to Myanmar and its fight against COVID-19 by providing medicines, test kits and vaccines. We remain committed to continuing our humanitarian support for the people in Myanmar in mitigating the health and economic impact of the pandemic, the foreign ministry spokesperson said on Feb. 5. (Jayanta Kalita is a senior journalist and author based in New Delhi. He writes on issues relating to Indias northeast and its immediate neighborhood. The views expressed are his own.) You may also like these stories: US Citizen Among the Advisers to Myanmar Military Regime Despite Sanctions Imposed by US Myanmar Medics in Hiding as Regime Targets Hospital-Led Disobedience Movement Myanmar Military Targets Striking Civil Servants The provocatively titled I Hate Mens explosive bestseller status is in part fueled by public outrage from French government officials (men, naturally) when it was published. But the hype surrounding its publication amid calls from male bureaucrats for it to be banned risks it being written off simply as a bit of provocative literary theatre. In fact, the slim, manifesto-like essay in praise of misandry released in English translation last month is well worth a read not for the controversy its generated but for the clearly-articulated and important arguments that it makes. Misandry, observes author Pauline Harmange, isnt just a cathartic response to a deeply frustrating situation it has a social utility as well. Its important for women to exercise a sustained suspicion of men to avoid the pitfalls that come from simply trusting men to do the right thing. Harmange argues for a unity of women that is rooted in a shared and mutual suspicion and distrust of men. Ultimately, perhaps, its what feminism has always been about. And yet, how often has that unity been disrupted by uncertainty over how to respond to mens claims that theyve changed? Or disrupted by arguments mostly from men that there are bigger fish than misogyny to fry? I Hate Men is essentially an argument about the intractable nature of privilege. No matter how much men try to learn to recognize their privilege and do better, it is simply impossible to fully move past the ways one has been socialized into it. Masculine privilege is one of the most deeply rooted and most destructive forms of privilege in human society. Even the most woke feminist-professed man will have days when for reasons of frustration, exhaustion, ignorance, or self-gain his privilege will shine through. And were talking here about the good men, without even considering the many others who dont even make an effort. Harmanges argument has a broader application than just gender. Part of its importance lies in the fact shes articulated so clearly a problem that manifests across multiple identity experiences: the intractable nature of privilege. Just as its healthy for women to exercise a sustained suspicion of men based on the privileges they are socialized into, so would it be healthy for poorer classes to exercise a similarly sustained suspicion of the wealthy (or even middle class). How often do the oppressed in any sphere fall into the trap of trusting the privileged when they make the slightest gesture hinting at compromise? Just because one elects a Democrat (in the US) or a Socialist (in Europe) doesnt mean one can then turn away and trust them to act in the poors best interests. Invariably, fighting privilege means a sustained effort to educate and advocate and mobilize, even against those who claim to be your allies. Likewise on the anti-racist front as Utegha Uwagba articulates so powerfully in her brilliant essay Whites: On Race and Other Falsehoods (4th Estate, 2020), its simply not enough to claim to be an ally to Black communities. Being a true ally means putting yourself on the line and actively surrendering your privileges while continuing to acknowledge the ever partial and incomplete nature of your effort to rise above that privilege. Constant suspicion and vigilance on the part of the oppressed, and constant striving and humility on the part of the privileged, are needed to move closer to equality and improve the state of things. Calls for compromise, unity, or coming together ought always to be distrusted, as they convey a clear lack of intent to really change on the part of the privileged. Harmange defines misandry as a negative feeling towards the entirety of the male sex. This negative feeling might be understood as a spectrum that ranges from simple suspicion to outright loathingUltimately, misandry is a principle of precaution. Harmange is not categorically opposed to men shes married to one, but she mistrusts them for a good reason. The counter-claim often articulated by men that misandry is just as bad as misogyny is absolutely ridiculous, she explains. Misandry is nowhere near as bad suspicion and hostility toward men are not comparable in the least to the emotional abuse and physical violence including assault, rape, and murder that men enact toward women. Misogyny is a far bigger problem in todays world, and misandry simply one form of defense against it. Fundamental to this is taking woke men such as Harmanges husband with a grain of salt: his probation period will last forever: nothing against him personally, its just that its hard to give up privilegeWe need to be vigilant, we have to keep our eye on even the genuinely decent ones because anyone can stray off course, and all the more so if hes cis, white, wealthy, able-bodied and heterosexual. The sum of his privilege is so great that it makes him very resistant to changeWe simply cant afford to let them get away with doing things half-heartedly. The false equivalency of misandry and misogyny is fundamental here. Misandry, Harmange explains, is a response to misogyny (much like Black power movements were formed in response to white supremacists, perhaps). Lets not get lost in abstractions: the hard fact, she observes, is that misogyny is far worse than misandry. Misandry on womens part is usually expressed in mistrust and skepticism toward men, at most hostile separatism. On the other hand, misogyny coming from men expresses itself in violence physical assault, sexual assault, murder. Gender-based violence is overwhelmingly a product of the male sphere. Misandry is merely a defensive response. The false equivalency perspective is demonstrated by arguments like that of UK law professor Andrew Tettenborn, who argues in The Critic against designating misogyny as a hate crime: There is no social problem of sex hatred equivalent to that of racial or religious hatred, he writes, admitting that women may be discriminated against, and may still end up short-changed. Its typical of a man to brush off the scale of gender-based violence, given that its overwhelmingly women who are on the receiving end of it. The World Health Organization estimates that around the globe, one in three women experience physical or sexual violence in their lives; male intimate partners commit nearly 40 percent of all murders of women. It is estimated that 137 women are killed by a family member every day. The statistics go on Harmange shares a few but doesnt get bogged down in the crisis statistical dimension. Her response to the problem is to articulate the need for a broader, more paradigmatic shift in the way women relate to men as a precautionary measure, if nothing else. And yet it can be more than just precautionary, she observes, offering a heartfelt paean to womens relationships and friendships. Insofar as women-only gatherings are still treated by many men with derision at best, and suspicion at worst, she notes that female solidarity is never frivolous; its always political and urges women to, if not cut off their relationships with men, at least prioritise their relationships with women. Even the socialization of compulsory heterosexuality in childhood, she observes, is rooted not just in homophobia but also in convincing young women and girls that they cannot be happy or successful without mens presence in their lives. After all, men have plenty of their own spaces, which still include many of the professional spaces that have proven so resistant to equity measures. On the topic of professionalism, Harmange offers homage to Sarah Hagis acclaimed Daily Prayer to Combat Imposter Syndrome God give me the confidence of a mediocre white dude in a chapter emphasizing the propensity of men to grab for positions and roles for which they are unqualified. The lesson, she writes, is not just for women to exercise greater confidence but also to learn to be kinder to themselves in the face of adversity or setbacks. I would be interested in hearing from Harmange how to respond to those who argue that positive messaging is better than negative messaging. This is a popular idea right now, at least in liberal activist circles. Cathartic though blunt hostility can be, many activists argue that retaining positive messaging can help achieve social change (love is love, and all that). Harmange does address this briefly if our misandry alienates us from men who cant cope with our anger, are they really worth our time? Do they deserve our efforts? she writes. Good men who get it will try to listen and work to deconstruct their privilege; do we actually need the approval of men who shut off at the sound of an angry woman? Unfortunately, political power is disproportionately vested in such men. In a quasi-democracy such as ours, we even find women allying with these men (witness the contradiction of any woman in America who votes Republican, so clearly undermining her own interests). On a certain level, I think Harmange is right far too much time and energy are wasted on seeking the approval of men who will never really get it, and often dont even want to. The fact that even activist circles shy away from negative attitudes in fighting for change reinforces, in a very clear sense, Harmanges point that society still operates with a conviction that women should not express anger or hostility. Megan Rapinoe makes a similar point in her excellent memoir One Life, which has helped me personally to rethink when and how I speak critically: When I say something rude, I think about who I am saying it for, not who I am saying it to, Rapinoe writes. Still, the notion that you achieve more by being nice than being nasty has undeniably taken hold in many activist circles, and Im sure theres an essay or book to be written analyzing the causes and implications of this rejection of anger and hostility. There are organizations that are not afraid to express their anger. When the Toronto branch of No One Is Illegal which conducts activism in support of refugees and immigrants and is not afraid to use hostile and negative messaging in calling out governments and institutions unexpectedly won a Toronto Now peoples choice award for Best Activist Group in 2012, the organization issued a statement awkwardly rejecting the notion there was any such thing. But the fact that the organizations predominantly middle-class supporters acknowledged the effectiveness of the groups in-your-face, aggressive tactics over those of nicer groups that collaborate politely with the establishment reveals that perhaps theres a greater appetite for targeted hostility in the pursuit of justice than wed like to admit. Perhaps, that is the topic for another book (which I dearly hope Harmange will write). Harmanges argument in this book is refreshing: clear, straightforward, without the common prevarications produced by other feminist writing that struggles to critique men without offending them. Some have criticized the manifesto for its brevity and for re-hashing arguments laid out in greater depth elsewhere. Indeed, it was originally a blog post before Harmange was commissioned to expand it into book form. But this criticism is unfair theres a need for short, succinct, to-the-point manifestos and think-pieces like this, accessible and easily digestible in a single sitting. The fact that it sparked such national controversy in France is evidence enough that it offers a perspective that has yet to filter through intellectual and public discourse on a broad scale. Theres a need for books like this, and for clear thinkers like Harmange to speak the words we need to hear, and consider. Although Nigeria has bitumen reserves worth up to $1.5 trillion, the country spends over N300 billion importing the product, Akinwunmi Adesina, the President of the African Development Bank Group, has said. Mr Adesina was the guest speaker at the Second Term Inauguration Lecture of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu in Akure on Tuesday. Speaking virtually on the theme Towards A New Nigeria: From Federal Fatherism To a Commonwealth, the AfDB boss said there is a need for an urgent review of the current federal system practised by the country if it hopes to grow out of her economic woes. Nigerias federalism does not grow its constituent entities. It simply makes them perpetually dependent, said Mr Adesina, a former minister of Agriculture. The total value of bitumen reserves in Nigeria could be worth up to $1.5 trillion, with an estimated 16 billion barrels in Ondo State, he said. The potential state wealth from bitumen alone could be worth $657 billion. The paradox however is that Nigeria spends over N300 billion importing bitumen. Ondos wealth He said given its vast resources in bitumen, Ondo State should have the best roads in Nigeria. But its roads are barely tarred with bitumen. That is the irony of Nigeria; it imports what it has in abundance and leaves its own resources untapped. He noted that the states wealth is locked under the ground and therefore, not visible, adding that Ondo State ranked number 13 of the Top 20 states in Nigeria in terms of its GDP, estimated at $8.4 billion. Thats the irony of Nigerias states: they are poor in the midst of plenty. Mr Adesina called for a review of the entire system run in the country, arguing that the union would be stronger when restructured. With the magnetic field of federal revenue allocations, states are constantly pulled, powerlessly into perennial dependency. The Nigerian system is therefore not federalism, but fatherism, he said. The resources found in each state or state groupings should belong to them. The constituent entities should pay federal taxes or royalties for the resources. The stronger the states, or regions, the stronger the federated units. In the process, our union would be stronger. Mr Akeredolu and his deputy-elect, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, would take their oaths of office on Wednesday to begin a second term of four years in office, after being declared the winners of the October 2020 governorship election. He defeated his rivals: Eyitayo Jegede of the Peoples Democratic Party, and Agboola Ajayi, his erstwhile deputy who defected to contest on the platform of the Zenith Labour Party. Wednesdays inauguration comes is in spite of his election being challenged by Mr Jegede at the governorship election tribunal. Meanwhile, in his remarks at the lecture, Mr Akeredolu lamented the present inclination to ethnic nationalism and clannish satisfaction in place of nation-building. He said that Nigerians, including highly revered citizens, were gradually and unconsciously replacing national patriotism with sectional activism. ADVERTISEMENT Regrettably, even those with palpable national passion and patriotism are today, gradually tilting to the unintended ethnic nationality cabin, he said. Most Nigerians are losing faith in our Unity in Diversity sloganeering, but there is an opportunity to restore national consciousness through True Federalism. It hurts none, it pays all. Mr Akeredolu said the most potent threat to national belief is insecurity, adding that the consequences had become increasingly daring because the issues had been allowed to persist for too long. As leaders, the choices we make create the path to our desires, he said. We cannot pretend that all is well when indeed, more things are going wrong, he said. What we have set out to do in the south-western states is not targeted at any ethnic nationality or business. But we are against criminality and we shall fight criminality with every legal means. It is in the interest of our collective wellbeing. All we require is the support and understanding of all federating units, including the Federal Government. The simple truth is that we have lived in self-denial amid an excruciating pain that is almost cancerous now. He said he desired a more united Nigeria with every ingredient of freedom, rule of law, patriotism, love, mutual respect and harmony, adding: and I am prepared to fight for it legitimately for the benefit of all. Lets all be convinced that these disturbing moments are surmountable if only we can be patriotic and courageous enough to confront them through the lens of dynamism. We shall overcome as a nation, Mr Akeredolu added. Mr Akeredolu recently gave an ultimatum to herders to vacate the forest reserves in the state due to the activities of criminals in their midst. His directive was condemned by some northern leaders. Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill has said she believes the Executive has taken a "responsible approach" to phasing the return of school. She made the comments after First Minister Arlene Foster said she hoped the Executive could revisit the issue after Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to reopen schools for all in England on March 8. Mrs O'Neill said advice from Health Minister Robin Swann and Chief Medical Officer Michael McBride was "very clear" on the need for a staged approach rather than the full reopening of schools. "I think our priority very much is focused on making sure we get maximum return to school as quickly as possible. I think it's in the best interest of our children. It needs to be done in conjunction with teaching staff, strong communication with parents," she said. "I think we've taken a sensible approach." Some primary school pupils will return to class in Northern Ireland on March 8 with some older post-primary school children returning on March 22. Arlene Foster said on Monday she hoped the subject of a date for school reopening for all pupils could be revisited. She said Education Minister Peter Weirs preferred option was to have all children back at school on March 8. Unfortunately, our health advisers didnt think that that was the right way forward and I understand that we have to take a safe and sustainable way forward, but I hope we can now revisit that again because I know full well from my own personal experience that the kitchen table is no substitute for a classroom, she told the BBC. The Sinn Fein vice president said the Executive was focused on what was right for Northern Ireland rather than being guided by Prime Minister Boris Johnson's four-stage plan for exiting lockdown. "He's working on behalf of England and our job is to work on behalf of people here. All the decisions we take are based on the medical advice," she said. Next Monday, the Executive is expected to set out a pathway to recovery, something Mrs O'Neill said would be a "slow and steady reversal out of the current situation" amid "excellent" developments in the vaccine rollout. Mrs O'Neill said Covid fatigue was an issue and she appealed for the public to continue to be patient over the next few months. "We want to avoid us going into endless cycles of lockdown," she said. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Korean seeks fortune in Shanghais clothing market By:Zheng Qian | From:english.eastday.com | 2021-02-23 09:31 The fast development in China in the past decades has provided many foreigners with lots of business opportunities. Liu Junmou, a native South Korean, is one of those joining in the gold rush to seek their fortune in Shanghai. Liu Junmou, a korean wholesaler.[Photo/ shanghai.xinmin.cn] Almost 15 years ago, Liu was dispatched to Shanghai by a Korean foreign trade company. Eyeing business opportunities in Shanghais Qipu Road Clothing Wholesale market, he decided to start his own business there. Since at that time Chinese individuals were not allowed to make wholesale purchases of clothing from the Dongdaemun Market, one of South Koreas largest wholesale and retail shopping districts, Liu as a native Korean had an advantage in obtaining goods from there. In the Korean Clothing Hall in Shanghais Qipu market, Liu opened his store with a friends help. He still remembers that Korean fashion became a hit in China in 2008 around the Summer Olympics, and by 2015, half of the items from the Korean Dongdaemun market had been sold to Chinese wholesalers. "When it comes to South Korea, the two most famous markets are Dongdaemun and Namdaemun. But there are too many clothing markets in China, such as markets in Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Wuhan... Chinese peoples huge demand attracts wholesalers like me." In Lius view, over the past decade, the biggest change in Qipu market is that the low prices have been replaced by stickers for hundreds or even thousands of yuan. China's clothing industry has been developing rapidly with design, styles and fabrics almost surpassing those of Korean clothing. However, the Qipu road business district has its own agglomeration effect since experienced wholesalers know that the Korean Clothing Hall has piles of authentic Korean goods.They all come here to take goods, said Liu. The coronavirus pandemic has instead brought more sales to sellers having sound goods sources like him, since individuals are currently blocked from flying to South Korea in person to buy fashionable clothes. In the post-pandemic era, Lius goal is to expand his online sales on the basis of his Qipu road physical store. Thousands of opposition supporters have gathered in downtown Yerevan for the latest protest demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian's resignation following Armenians' bitter defeat to Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. The march blocked a number of nearby streets in the city center before participants dispersed as "nonstop" opposition protests and civil disobedience continue in the Caucasus state of around 3 million people. It was organized by the Homeland Salvation Movement, an umbrella alliance of more than a dozen opposition groups calling for an interim government and new elections. The same group mobilized protesters earlier in the day in an effort to prevent Pashinian from entering the government building, which was surrounded by police forces. More than 50 people were reportedly detained, including Homeland Salvation Movement members. They have held at least three protests over the past week and have called for another demonstration on February 23. Protests broke out in Armenia in November after Pashinian signed a Russian-brokered cease-fire that brought an end to 44 days of fierce fighting over Azerbaijan's breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian forces had been largely defeated by Azerbaijan's Turkish-backed military in the recent fighting. Under the terms of the cease-fire, Pashinian ceded control over some territory in Nagorno-Karabakh and all seven surrounding districts of Azerbaijan that had been occupied by ethnic Armenian forces since the early 1990s. Pashinian has rebuffed the pressure to step down and defended the cease-fire as the only way to prevent Armenians from losing all of Nagorno-Karabakh as well. With reporting by AP Many Portland-area seniors ages 70 and older encountered a very slow-moving website and major glitches Monday as they tried unsuccessfully to schedule COVID-19 vaccination appointments at one of the areas two mass vaccination sites. Some elderly residents reported that it took anywhere from a few minutes to more than a half hour for scheduling pages to load. And that when they got to those pages and clicked on available appointment times, they were told the appointments were already taken. That meant they would have to begin the time-consuming process of reloading pages and starting the booking process again. All available online appointments for the Oregon Convention Center and the Portland International Airports drive-through clinic were taken well within the first hour, frustrating seniors who in some instances took complaints straight to state lawmakers. Tamara Hargens-Bradley, a spokeswoman for the vaccination sites, acknowledged various challenges Monday -- including a mistake that allowed people to book appointments early and left others empty-handed. The appointment scheduling tools did not crash this morning; however, they did slow down as they approached maximum capacity: 4,800 concurrent users each, she said in an email Monday afternoon. Hargens-Bradley said technicians have fixes either in place or underway to improve site stability and user experience moving forward on days appointments are open for booking in the future. Health care providers operating the Portland-areas mass vaccination sites said late last week that 2,400 appointments would be available at the airport and 4,900 at the Convention Center starting at 9 a.m. Monday for both seniors and members of phase 1a, which mostly includes healthcare workers. But Oregonians who went online early were rewarded -- and those who didnt got left out. Hargens-Bradley said Oregon Health & Science Universitys website mistakenly opened the 2,400 appointments at the airport for booking at 8:45 a.m. The appointments all were gone by 9:20 a.m., if not sooner. OHSU apologizes for the error and has taken steps to ensure the appointments are released at 9 a.m. Mondays and Thursdays, as scheduled, Hargens-Bradley said. The two mass vaccination sites are operated through a joint effort by OHSU, Legacy Health, Kaiser Permanente and Providence Health & Services. Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Portland and a medical doctor, led a legislative meeting Monday exploring how to improve Oregons vaccination rollout. Today was a challenging day for Oregon seniors who had access to the internet and even harder for those who do not who are over 70 years old, Dexter said, starting off the meeting. The sites were confusing, the systems lagging and the phone lines overwhelmed. Im hearing from many of you today. This was the fifth morning the two sites opened appointments for booking since seniors 80 and older became eligible Feb. 8. Monday was the first day residents ages 70 and older were given the green light to try to schedule appointments -- and that created a colossal traffic jam. Demand far outstrips supply. The number of Portland-area seniors who are vying for appointments is unclear, but statewide about 300,000 elderly Oregonians were eligible before Monday and the pool grew by about 212,000 with the inclusion of people age 70 to 74. Each week, the competition for appointments grows more fierce. Its expected to intensify further when next Monday more than 255,000 seniors 65 to 69 years old become eligible. As of last week, state officials said 146,000 Oregonians 65 and older -- many of them living in congregate settings and already eligible -- had received at least one shot. Bill Edwards, 74, said he tried Monday three times to book an appointment online, but every time he attempted to schedule the next web page wouldnt load. Did that three times and gave up, said Edwards, who lives in unincorporated Washington County. He checked area pharmacies and called 211, but again came up empty, he said. He plans to go online again Thursday, the next Monday and so on until he secures an appointment. If I got an appointment for a month from now I would be OK, Edwards said. But he knows that next week, the group will only grow and his chances will lessen. Its like pouring more water into a little funnel, he said. State public health officials have said that based on recent vaccine shipment allocations from the federal government, they expect 75% of Oregonians 65 and older will have been able to receive a first dose by early April. They estimate 75% will have been able to receive a second dose by early May. Stephanie Hooper, representing the non-profit group Age+, which advocates for seniors, testified before the legislative committee Monday. She referenced Oregons lowly status in administering vaccines to seniors -- third from last, according to an analysis by The Oregonian/OregonLive last week. She offered a list of suggestions for improvement. That includes fixing the problems created by so rapidly opening eligibility to new age groups of seniors each week before that previous age groups have had a chance to schedule. Hooper said the state should pause seniors who are younger than 75 from scheduling appointments until the older seniors get access to the vaccines. But Hooper expressed little hope that the state will listen. Honestly, we and other advocates for older adults have been offering to help and warning officials about these potential challenges since the beginning of the pandemic, Hooper said, yet virtually none of our suggestions have been acted upon. Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter -- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 A private jet flying at 250mph came within seconds of smashing into a glider as it prepared to land at Cambridge City Airport, a report has revealed. The Falcon 2000 jet was on a flight from Athens when it came within 320ft of a glider at a height of 4,000ft just north of Haverhill in Suffolk last September. It was rated a Category A incident where there was a serious risk of collision in a report by the UK Airprox Board which investigates near misses. A crash with the Glasflugel Mosquito glider was avoided only because of a 'serendipitous' gap between the aircraft, it said. It found the glider had no electronic collision avoidance system, meaning its pilot and the crew of the Falcon had no warning of each other's presence. The Falcon 2000 jet was on a flight from Athens when it came within 320ft of a glider at a height of 4,000ft just north of Haverhill in Suffolk last September It was rated a Category A incident where there was a serious risk of collision in a report by the UK Airprox Board which investigates near misses The Falcon pilot emerged from a cloud and suddenly spotted the glider flying in the same direction at around 60mph in a '10 o'clock' position. The report said the jet pilot rated the chances of a collision as 'high'. It added: 'There was no time, nor need, to take any avoiding action; their speed meant that the threat was gone within seconds.' The glider pilot was in a slight climb when they saw 'in the corner of their eye, an aircraft passing to their right, coming from behind them and travelling very quickly' at around the same height. The pilot then watched the jet roar ahead for another four or five seconds on its flight path to Cambridge. The Falcon 2000 jet (stock image) was on a flight from Athens when it came within 320ft of a glider at a height of 4,000ft just north of Haverhill in Suffolk last September A crash with the Glasflugel Mosquito glider (stock image) was avoided only because of a 'serendipitous' gap between the aircraft The incident happened moments after the Falcon pilot heard air traffic controllers giving instructions to another glider in the area. The glider only became visible on air traffic control radar screens after the near miss had happened. It meant that London controllers did not know it was there before handing over responsibility for the landing of the Falcon to Cambridge controllers. The British Gliding Association stated that the near miss would have probably been avoided if the glider had been fitted with compatible collision avoidance equipment, The glider pilot was in a slight climb when they saw 'in the corner of their eye, an aircraft passing to their right, coming from behind them and travelling very quickly' at around the same height UKAB investigators noted that the glider was 'operating relatively close to the cloudbase, thus reducing the time available to the Falcon pilot to see and avoid the glider'. The report said: 'The Board concluded that a serious risk of collision had existed because the separation that had been present had been entirely serendipitous.' It is not known who was on board the private jet at the time. Maureen Cary, a native of California who has spent twenty years teaching college-bound seniors in the Bay Area, has completed her new book Winters Fire: an evocative book that shares the fascinating moments of Englands finest nobility that involve secrets, murder, revolution, and their own wants. In the England of James I, it is better to keep ones own counsel, especially when the Gunpowder Plot is afoot. Lady Elizabeth Cary has been invited for a stay at Baynards Castle by her friend and mentor Countess Mary Herbert. The two are attending a play at the Globe when Countess Marys son Philip appears and tells his mother of the plot against the king. When the play ends, Countess Marys party returns to Baynards, where all await news of the nights events. The residents of Baynards Castle have their secrets, and when she visits her friends, Lady Elizabeth has secrets too. There is a well-known late-night visitor in the castle whose presence might bring scandal. Lady Elizabeth is keeping money that belongs to her fathers servingman, Toby Jones, in an arrangement that could anger her husbands family. Sir Henry Cary is being held for ransom by the Spanish, and it has been over two years since Elizabeth has seen him. The one secret Elizabeth is considering confiding to Countess Mary has to do with her growing desire to write her own play. When she attends the theater with her friend, she sometimes imagines that they are watching a play written by herself rather than Master Will Shakespeare. Published by Page Publishing, Maureen Carys tale shows the reality of what ones passion and selfish dreams can do to the best of people, regardless of status or being. A historical drama, Winters Fire will surely captivate the readers interest in the lives of lords and ladies of England past and their circumstances that drive their lives to a web of power struggle and personal desires. Readers who wish to experience this work can purchase Winters Fire at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes Store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708. About Page Publishing: Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create, not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Pages accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com. Advertisement James Argent was pictured arriving at his GP surgery in Essex on Tuesday to receive his first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine. At 26 stone, the former TOWIE star, 33, is in a priority group due to being severely overweight and asthmatic. He previously said he could be in 'serious trouble' if he caught the deadly virus. James, who is planning to have life-saving gastric surgery after his doctor called his weight 'danger territory', drove to his appointment on his blue Vespa. Getting his jab: James Argent was pictured arriving at his GP surgery in Essex on Tuesday to receive his first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine The vaccine roll out last week moved onto the next phase, with over-65s and younger people with underlying health conditions in England being offered the vaccine as the programme moves down through the priority list. A BMI of 40 or above and severe asthma are among the underlying conditions listed that make patients eligible for a vaccine. Last month, James spoke about his plans to have life-saving gastric surgery after his weight ballooned to 26 stone. He also revealed how being obese has 'serious implications on my heart'- something which is of concern to him because both of his parents suffer from heart problems. Scary: Arg was no doubt relieved to get the jab as he previously said he could be in 'serious trouble' if he caught the deadly virus Transformed: In 2015, James was the slimmest he'd ever been after losing four stone, but has since seen his weight creep back up (left in 2015 and right in 2021) Priority: At 26 stone, the former TOWIE star, 33, is in a priority group due being severely overweight and asthmatic Vaccinated: The reality star was pictured heading out of the surgery clutching his appointment card and leaflet which provided information about the jab Rocker: James cut a casual figure for his appointment in a black Rolling Stones hoodie of their song 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' Speaking on Loose Women, he told the panel: 'My doctor said the weight I am right now, 26 stone, that is danger territory. My mum and my dad both suffer from heart problems and my dad has got a pacemaker so there could be serious implications for my heart. 'People even say to me, with my weight as it is at the moment, if I catch Covid, I could be one of the people that could be in serious trouble.' He added: 'It is difficult as it is intense and serious. It's nothing to be taken lightly. I know that if I just work hard then I can do it. It's just about maintaining it. I've always struggled finding a happy medium. 'I believe from the research I've done, it can potentially really help me in terms of portion control. It'll help me long-term. Health is number one. 'I'm rotating three different clothes as that's all that fits me at the moment. All my friends and family haven't said it's too drastic - I think I have to go for it.' James cut a casual figure for his appointment in a black Rolling Stones hoodie of their song 'You Can't Always Get What You Want'. He teamed the look with orange trainers and black joggers. Priority: The vaccine roll out last week moved onto the next phase, with over-65s and younger people with underlying health conditions in England being offered the vaccine as the programme moves down through the priority list Vaccine roll out: Number 10 aims to offer a jab to 17million more people in priority groups five to nine- over-50s - by Easter Health scare: James, who last month said he is planning to have gastric surgery after his doctor called his weight 'danger territory', drove to the surgery on his blue Vespa Danger zone: James previously revealed how being obese has 'serious implications on my heart'- something which is of concern to him because both of his parents suffer from heart problems Health conditions that make patients in Priority Group Six eligible for a vaccine A blood cancer (such as leukaemia, lymphoma or myeloma) Diabetes Dementia A heart problem A chest complaint or breathing difficulties, including bronchitis, emphysema or severe asthma A kidney disease A liver disease Lowered immunity due to disease or treatment (such as HIV infection, steroid medication, chemotherapy or radiotherapy) Rheumatoid arthritis, lupus or psoriasis (who may require long term immunosuppressive treatments) Have had an organ transplant Had a stroke or a transient ischaemic attack (TIA) A neurological or muscle wasting condition A severe or profound learning disability A problem with your spleen, example sickle cell disease, or you have had your spleen removed Are seriously overweight (BMI of 40 and above) Are severely mentally ill Advertisement James recently confessed that while he's now marking a year of sobriety after overcoming his drug addiction, his weight has left him too embarrassed to leave the house and he spends hours alone comfort eating. He told The Sun: 'I don't want to die. An op is the only way I can lose weight. I see pictures of myself and it's too upsetting. The other day I had to ask my manager to put my shoes on for me because I just couldn't do it my belly is too big. I can't do up my own shoe laces. 'I don't want to die, it's as simple as that. I've been told by doctors that I am morbidly obese and need to lose weight, but I have an eating disorder, so I can't do it.' James said he's now agonising over which form of stomach surgery to have with both operations costing around 10,000 each. He's deciding between a gastric bypass, which sees part of the stomach stapled to make it smaller, and sleeve gastrectomy, which is a more permanent procedure which sees a large section of the stomach removed. Both operations will dramatically reduced the amount of food James can eat, meaning he will lose weight, and the star said he's due to decide in the coming weeks which procedure he'll have. The media personality has faced a much-publicised battle with his weight, which has drastically fluctuated since he rose to fame in 2010. In 2015, the musician was the slimmest he'd ever been, after transforming his physique by losing a whopping four stone. But since then, James' weight has crept back up, and he confessed he's now too ashamed to leave his home during the day, and waits until it's dark to go out in the hope he won't be recognised. The Essex native said that even his close friend Mark Wright has been moved to tears with concern about his size, and finally convinced him to face it by stepping on the scales. James admitted they were stunned to see he weighed nearly 27 stone, and warned him he needed to take his size seriously as it was having a serious effect on his health. Speaking of his close friendship with Mark, he said: 'I speak to him every day. He's seriously concerned. He wants to help me.' Please purchase a subscription to continue reading. If you have a subscription, please Log In . Your current subscription does not provide access to this content. If you believe you've gotten this message in error, please Log In. The western Arad border police have found, within the last 24 hours, 28 immigrants who were trying to illegally get out of Romania, hidden in trucks or walking in the field, all being from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia, according to AGERPRES. In a truck driven by a Romanian, verified at the Nadlac II Border Crossing, there were six immigrants found. They were hidden among the soda packaging, which was being transported to the Netherlands, according to a press release sent on Tuesday by the Arad Border Point Police. The immigrants are from Afghanistan, with ages between 16 and 21 and are asylum seekers. At the same border point, the police have searched two trucks which were being driven by a Bulgarian and an Ukrainian, which were transporting metallic groupings, boilers and glasses for companies in Germany and France. Among the goods there were 14 people from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia, with ages between 15 and 23. Tuesday morning, in the vicinity of the city of Nadlac, a Police crew noticed, at approximately 100 meters from the border line, eight people who were going on foot. "Because these people could not justify their presence in the area, they were taken to the Check Point headquarters for further verification. After being checked, it was established that they are 6 citizens from Afghanistan, aged between 15 and 20 and two citizens from Pakistan, aged 21, and 24, respectively," according to the press release. According to the Arad Border Police, the number of immigrants that are trying to cross the border in order to reach other European countries has gone up. Furthermore, in 2020, the number was 2.5 times higher than the previous year. 2,011 people were apprehended, from 945 in 2019, half of them being hidden in freight trucks which were trying to reach the Schengen Area. The Chronicle A 24-year-old man died and a suspect was arrested Monday after an altercation at a San Francisco skate park ended in stabbing. Police were sent to the SoMa West Skatepark at Duboce Avenue and Otis Street at about 8:30 p.m, after callers reported a stabbing. Taoiseach Micheal Martin will address the nation and announce a further extension to the current Level 5 lockdown in Ireland this evening, Tuesday, February 23. It's understood the government's Living with Covid plan has been revised and details will be shared with the public shortly after 6pm on Tuesday. This announcement comes after huge public and political anger over the leaking of restriction details to the media. The government's communication with regard to Covid-19 has come in for fierce criticism. Level 5 will be extended in a form substantially similar to current restrictions until April 5. It's likely the Taoiseach will focus on schools in his address to the nation with the education and childcare sectors the only ones likely to significantly re-open in March. This partial reopening will begin on March 1 and progress on a phased basis. Junior and senior infants, first and second class, as well as Leaving Cert students in secondary school will return first. After two weeks, its planned all other primary classes and 5th year students in secondary will return to the classroom. All other secondary students will return in early April. All dates are subject to change depending on the track of the virus, with a particular focus on the effect of the UK variant on the spread of Covid-19. Micheal Martin is also likely to announce an extension of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment and Employment Wage Subsidy Schemes to June with hundreds of thousands of people still out of work due to the current shutdown of the economy. An update is also likely on the vaccine rollout with 100,000 people expected to be vaccinated this week. The government aims to be vaccinating 250,000 people per day at some point next month. There is no indication that any other easing of restriction will be announced, be that on travel, other sectors of the economy or outdoor meetings or exercise. Government are prioritising the return of the education sector while these measures will be reviewed next month. Non-essential retail and a ban on travel beyond 5km of your home will remain in place until after Easter at the earliest. High on the list of topics will be mandatory quarantine for those entering the country, a topic of much political debate in recent days. Minister for Justice Helen McEntee indicated on Tuesday morning that she would finalise legislation on this in early March. Micheal Martin is likely to finish is address with a further call to action to the public to stick with restrictions. This comes amid growing concerns that 'restriction fatigue' is setting in with people breaking a number of restrictions. A study on Monday showed more than 30% of people are not staying within 10km of their homes, double the allowed limit under current measures. A day after Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited Prayagraj to meet fishermen whose boats were allegedly damaged by the police, she on Tuesday announced that the party will take out a "Nadi Adhikar Yatra" in support of the community's cause. She also announced a sum of Rs 10 lakh to the affected fishermen whose boats were damaged. In a series of tweets in Hindi, she said that the rights of river resources are of the fishermen community and the Congress will be taking out a Yatra to fight for the rights. She demanded that the government investigate the illegal sand mining and the mining being done by big companies. She also has sought a white paper from the government detailing the river where mining was being done. Earlier on Sunday, the Congress General Secretary visited Prayagraj to support the boatmen who were allegedly harassed by the local police. She was informed by a boatman named Sujit Nishad about the issues that the boatmen belonging to the Nishad community were facing, including brutality against them, by police whom he alleged had destroyed their boats. Nishad is one of the largest communities of OBCs after Yadavs, Maurya and Kurmi in Uttar Pradesh and have been with Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party. The BJP and the Congress, both are eyeing to make inroads and galvanize support from the community said sources. Reporter Debra Pressey is a reporter covering health care at The News-Gazette. Her email is dpressey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@DLPressey). SCHENECTADY If contract negotiations go well, a veteran school administrator who cut his teeth in the Schenectady school district as a special education teacher and principal could become its next superintendent. Anita Murphy with Capital Region BOCES, which presided over the search for a new superintendent, said school board members decided to move forward with the search process and offer the candidate the job after meeting Wednesday evening in executive session to discuss the matter. That person, after talking it over with family, informed the district through BOCES Friday that they were still interested in the position, added Murphy. Citing impending contract negotiations, she declined to identify the educator, but noted that contract negotiations with attorneys involved could take upwards of a month. The Times Union has learned that Pedro Roman, currently an assistant superintendent in the Newburgh Enlarged City School district in Orange County, is the candidate the district is negotiating with, according to sources who confirmed Roman's candidacy, but said they were not authorized to provide the information publicly. Roman did not respond Monday to a message left on a work and personal email listed under his name. He could not be reached at his office number; Newburgh schools on Monday switched to a "remote synchronous day for faculty and scholars" because of the expected snowstorm, its Twitter account said. Asked Monday about Roman, School Board President John Foley declined comment. He did, however, confirm that the district would soon begin contract negotiations with "the remaining candidate." Board Member Andy Chestnut on Monday also refused to comment on Roman. Fellow Board members Ann Reilly, Cathy Lewis and Bernice Rivera, did not return a message left on their cell phones. Roman is no stranger to the Electric City or Capital Region. Before going to Newburgh, Roman worked in the Schenectady school district as principal at the Lincoln Elementary Community School from 2009-2016, dean of students at Oneida Middle School, and served for nearly eight years as a special education teacher at Oneida and Schenectady High School, according to his Linkedin page. That online resume also shows that Roman studied at Sage Colleges, where he earned his doctoral degree in education with a focus on educational leadership and administration. Roman also attended The College of Saint Rose, where he obtained his Masters Degree in special education and teaching and then later earned a certificate of advanced study in educational leadership and administration. Roman, who speaks Spanish, received the Hispanic Heritage Unsung Hero Award from the Hispanic Heritage Committee in 2014 and is CEO of Roman Educational Consulting firm, according to Linkedin. The web site describes the 42-year-old Roman as a experienced educational leader with a demonstrated history of working in the education management industry. Roman would succeed Larry Spring, who abruptly resigned on March 25, the same night, the Board of Education appointed Aaron Bochniak as acting superintendent. The Times Union later reported exclusively that an internal investigation prompted by a sexual harassment complaint triggered Spring's departure from the $204,064-a-year post, which he had held since June 2012. Spring has maintained his innocence. On the day his resignation was announced, Spring and the school district reached a separation agreement that stipulated Spring would not take legal action against the district, and neither party would speak or write negative or disparaging comments about the other. The five-page agreement, which includes Spring's one-sentence resignation letter, also includes a confidentiality clause. An OnlyFans model has slammed parents in her conservative community after her children were kicked out of their Catholic school following complaints from outraged mothers after they discovered her risque online account. Crystal Jackson, 44, who is known as Tiffany Pointdexter on OnlyFans - where she earns a whopping $150,000 a month - says she and her husband Chris were given less than 24 hours notice that their kids, aged eight, 10 and 12, were no longer welcome at Sacramentos Sacred Heart Parish School, a decision that left all three of her sons in tears. 'We are incredibly shocked, upset, and unsettled,' Crystal, from Northern California, said of the news. 'We received an email at 8pm [on Sunday, February 21] saying our kids were no longer welcome at the school and they should not return from Monday. Under fire: OnlyFans model and mother-of-three Crystal Jackson, 44, claims her children have been kicked out of their Catholic school because of her raunchy online account Risque: The California mom began posting sexy photos on the website in 2019 to spice up her marriage with husband Chris - who fully supports her lucrative OnlyFans career 'We thought, "What are we supposed to do now?"' In an email sent to the parents by principal Theresa Sparks - which was obtained by CBS13 - Crystal and her husband Chris, 49, were told that their sons' expulsion was due in part to the couple's decision to speak out about the 'bullying' they had faced over the OnlyFans account. 'Your apparent quest for high profile controversy in support of your adult website is in direct conflict with what we hope to impart to our students,' the email read. 'We, therefore, require that you find another school for your children and have no further association with ours.' Most devastating for Crystal and Chris - who fully supports his wife's lucrative OnlyFans career - is the distress and upset caused to their three sons, all of whom were 'confused and shocked' when their parents shared the school's decision. 'We sat the kids down and said, "Hey we can't go back to school,"' Crystal recalled. 'They were very confused and shocked we told them it was us the school didn't want there, not them. 'We said it's nothing to do with you at all, they just don't like mom's online modelling but they don't really know what that is. 'They were very upset and cried over losing their friends. We were close to tears ourselves but you have to keep it together for them. 'Our youngest didn't understand why he couldn't continue to go to school we had to explain that we are all not allowed back, which was heartbreaking. 'Our children still have work in their desks and homework they needed to hand in it's just awful. 'It is not the children's fault what we do has nothing to do with them. 'Do you punish kids for the sins of their parents? If a parent commits a crime does their child get kicked out of school? No, they don't. We haven't even committed a crime!' On its website, the school - which charges $19,750 in fees for three students - makes clear the responsibilities placed on the parents of its pupils, explaining: 'We believe that parents are the primary educators of their children. 'We support parents in this role by creating a Catholic educational environment that blends learning and believing in the context of community. Together with parents we create a safe, disciplined atmosphere of understanding and acceptance where students are encouraged to grow and are guided in all aspects of their lives.' Outrage: Last week, Crystal spoke out against local parents in her conservative community who she claimed were 'bullying' her family over her OnlyFans success Devastated: Crystal, who makes $150,000 a month on OnlyFans, says her three young sons were left in tears after learning that they could not return to school Upsetting: 'We are incredibly shocked, upset, and unsettled,' Crystal said of the news, which she received at 8pm on Sunday night - hours before her kids were supposed to go to school To add insult to injury, both Crystal and Chris say that they have always gone above and beyond to help out at the school - and the teachers have always praised their sons for being 'really good kids' - which makes the decision all the more painful. 'It is so unfair to our children our kids are really good kids, the teachers say they are,' Crystal said. 'And we volunteer at least 100 hours at that school every year, a lot of the teachers really like us, we got on really well with them. 'It's disturbing in the sense that we have always supported the school and gone above and beyond for them we've gone from best friends to "blood enemies."' Her husband Chris also blasted the school for giving them no notice, insisting that they should have had at least a week to allow their children to say goodbye and finish up any outstanding work. 'It was a very strategic move from them,' he insisted. 'They should have given us at least a week to break the news to our kids and let them collect their things and say goodbye. 'The school's decision has just ripped the kids up from their roots and given them no time to adjust. 'They could have told us to stay away, have someone else come to collect the kids from school until the end of the year and then we leave.' The news comes just days after Crystal spoke out against the 'bullying' she and her family have faced at the hands of parents in their conservative Catholic community. Last week, the mom claimed that local mothers had called her names, and even printed out some of her photos and emailed them to the principal. 'Someone came across my account and suddenly I had moms from school texting me and leaving voicemails saying I had to leave the school,' she said. Hitting back: Chris slammed the school for throwing their three sons out with less than 24 hours notice, insisting that the principal could have found another solution Shock: Crystal claims that parents from her sons' school sent pictures from her account to the principal and demanded that her children be kicked out Betrayal: 'It was just so intrusive, it was something that was supposed to be a secret in our marriage,' she admitted 'Some women from my area actually printed out pictures I posted on my OnlyFans and mailed them to the principal of my children's school. 'We were called a load of names; apparently it was "disturbing, disgusting, horrifying" and "my children should be kicked out."' At the time, Crystal said the principal of the Catholic school didn't take any action against her children - although that has now changed - however she claimed she was removed as the second grade 'room mother' because of the complaints. 'I was taken aback by this, as the implications are offensive as much as they are ironic, and it does make me sad,' she said. And according to Crystal, it wasn't just the children's education that the moms tried to hinder. They reportedly also wrote to the local priest and bishop, and even made a secret Facebook group to gossip about the family. Crystal said: 'It hit me in the gut every time I heard something new. In the very beginning, I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown.' Despite posting her images on a public site, Crystal says her OnlyFans account was meant to be something 'secret' between her and her husband, who first launched the site in 2019 in an attempt to spice up their marriage. 'It was just so intrusive, it was something that was supposed to be a secret in our marriage,' Crystal continued. '[These mothers] think I must be having sex with all these men and I'm not! It's just a hot sexy wife fantasy.' The parents are now left with few schooling options for their children, because they believe that any other Catholic-run institutions are likely to reject the family as a result of the widespread scandal that has run throughout the community. Jealousy? Chris believes that local mothers are so angry about Crystal's OnlyFans because their husbands have all looked at it Branching out: Crystal says her OnlyFans account was meant to remain a private secret for her and her husband Chris Hitting back: 'The judgement towards us is so offensive and really isn't worth all this drama,' Chris said of the backlash over his wife's account Normal life: Despite raking in a fortune from her OnlyFans account, Crystal says she only considers it a hobby 'I'm not sure that any catholic school in the area will have us now, they've made sure every school knows about us,' Chris said. 'We are looking into homeschooling and potential public schools that's how far we've gotten with the notice they gave us.' The couple also noted that the behavior being displayed by the school and the other parents goes against the religious teachings that they so heavily prioritize. 'They teach these kids not to judge and yet they are so quick to do it without asking any questions,' Crystal pointed out. 'This isn't in line with the teachings of Jesus they're all about judgment.' Despite the outrage, the couple admits that they are 'somewhat relieved' to have made a break from the school and its judgmental parents. 'Aside from being so upset, we are somewhat relieved we never have to go back,' the mom continued. 'For us, the school was a toxic environment, plus there's nothing more they can do to us now.' Crystal and Chris will be telling their children the 'truth' about why they had to leave their school but not yet. 'We will be telling our kids the truth about what happened in the future,' Crystal said. 'I will always be honest with them and once they are old enough to understand, then they will know. 'There's nothing wrong with what we are doing, I'm not ashamed or worried about what my children would think. It's not raunchy porn!' Two members of the so-called Freshwater Five, who were jailed for trying to smuggle 250kg of cocaine into the UK in a 53 million plot, will challenge their convictions at the Court of Appeal. Jonathan Beere, 51, and Daniel Payne, 46, were sentenced in 2011 to 24 and 18 years respectively for conspiracy to import the huge cocaine haul into the UK. At trial, prosecutors said Payne and his three co-defendants collected the drugs out of the English Channel in a fishing boat, the Galwad-Y-Mor, before depositing them in the water by Freshwater Bay, off the coast of the Isle of Wight. Beere was said to have acted as a liaison between Jamie Green, the skipper of the Galwad who was also jailed for 24 years, and those organising the smuggling. Kingston Crown Court heard the Galwad crossed the path of a container ship sailing from Brazil, the Oriane, and slowed down to collect the cocaine in May 2010. But Beere and Payne's lawyers will argue that new radar evidence 'shows that the Galwad never crossed behind the Oriane' and renders their convictions unsafe. Jonathan Beere, 51 (left), and Daniel Payne, 46 (right), were sentenced in 2011 to 24 and 18 years respectively for conspiracy to import the 53 million cocaine haul into the UK At a three-day hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London starting on Tuesday, the two men will also say that 'another suspect boat' travelled near to where the cocaine was recovered shortly after the Galwad sailed nearby. Their lawyers will tell the court that this third boat was 'an alternative suspect for depositing the drugs', which was not known to the defence at the time of their trial. In a statement before the hearing, Beere and Payne's solicitor Emily Bolton, director of the charity Appeal, said: 'This will be the first time a court has had an opportunity to consider this new radar data, which undermines the prosecution case on several fronts. 'Had the jury been told about this evidence it is highly unlikely these men, who have always protested their innocence, would have been convicted. Police mugshots released of the 'Freshwater Five' after the trial show, from top-left: Daniel Payne, Zoran Dresic, Jonathan Beere, Scott Birtwistle, Jamie Green 'We are hopeful that the Court of Appeal will recognise this by quashing the convictions. 'After years of wrongful imprisonment, the Freshwater Five deserve to finally be reunited with their families.' The hearing before Sir Julian Flaux, Mr Justice Andrew Baker and Mr Justice Calver is expected to conclude on Thursday afternoon or Friday morning. Ritesh Ramesh, CTO, Hayes Going forward, increased oversight and optimal revenue capture will be crucial themes for healthcare organizations. Cloud, data, and augmented intelligence (AI) have critical roles to play in solving key business problems around operational and financial areas for healthcare organizations as we enter 2021 and beyond. That was the message shared by Hayes CTO Ritesh Ramesh during a rapid-fire panel focused on Patient Care in the Era of COVID Data and Systems during the virtual 2021 Health Datapalooza and National Health Policy Conference, hosted by AcademyHealth. During his presentation, Empowering Better COVID-19 Billing Compliance With AI-Enabled Revenue Integrity, Ramesh focused on the application of AI to claims and billing data to boost compliance and strengthen revenue integrity at a time when COVID-19 has left many healthcare organizations in dire financial straits. Noting that, by the end of January 2021, a cohort of Hayes customers using its flagship MDaudit Enterprise platform had submitted nearly 9 million COVID-19-related claims encompassing nearly 4.5 million unique lives and totaling more than $68 billion in gross charges, Ramesh illustrated use cases around the critical importance of AI in enabling real time insights and forecasts around compliance risks, denials and cost of care. The key is not to chase down the technology, but rather to focus on good problem statements and align with business stakeholders on clear outcomes that can be measured and iterated, he said. Be sure to use impactful visualization and storytelling to turn data into actionable insights that can deliver on those outcomes. The rapid-fire session, which took place on February 17, 2021, focused on the challenges and opportunities around sharing clinical, social, and operational data and insights in a timely manner that can impact care during the pandemic across various patient settings and communities. It was moderated by Daniel Kurowski, MPH, a senior researcher with the Health Care Cost Institute. Joining Ramesh as session presenters were: Tianna Fallgatter, MPH, Assistant Director, Rural Programs, for the Association of Washington Public Hospital Districts in Seattle, who presented A Technology Roadmap to Improve Clinical Data Sharing Among Rural Facilities. Joel Gurin, President and Founder of the Center for Open Data Enterprise (CODE) in Washington, DC, who presented Using Data on Social Determinants of Health to Fight the Pandemic. Jayson Marwaha, MD, General Surgery Resident and Postdoctoral Fellow in Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School in Boston, who presented Temporal Characteristics of Codes in EHR and Billing Data Used to Identify COVID-19 Patients. Concludes Ramesh: Going forward, increased oversight and optimal revenue capture will be crucial themes for healthcare organizations. That is why Hayes is laser-focused on ensuring MDaudit Enterprise drives the operational productivity, actionable insights and revenue outcomes our customers need to not just survive, but to thrive. Hayes, makers of the industrys leading integrated compliance and revenue integrity platform for the nations premier healthcare organizations, moved quickly to respond to the shifting regulatory and reimbursement landscape created by the COVID-19 pandemic. It repositioned MDaudit Enterprise to help organizations alleviate current and future integrity risks caused by evolving guidance, achieve and maintain billing compliance, avoid revenue cycle bottlenecks, and offset devastating financial losses by capitalizing on all appropriate revenue opportunities. This included the addition of new billing codes to enable searches for services related to COVID-19, risk area telehealth worksheets to facilitate auditing, and curated Ad Hoc reports to track COVID-19 related denials. Our recent investments in technology and analytics are resonating with the overall market and our customer base, said Hayes CEO Peter Butler. They exemplify our ongoing commitment to the continuous innovation of MDaudit Enterprise to serve the industry as it turns the corner in 2021 and beyond. Follow Hayes via Twitter and LinkedIn. About Hayes and MDaudit Hayes is a leading healthcare technology provider that partners with the nations premier healthcare organizations to improve revenue, mitigate risk and reduce operating costs to succeed in an evolving healthcare landscape. MDaudit Enterprise, our flagship revenue integrity SaaS platform, enables organizations to reduce compliance risk, improve efficiency and retain more of their revenue stream by providing workflow automation, risk monitoring, and built-in analytics and benchmarking capabilities all in a single, integrated cloud-based platform. To learn more visit http://www.hayesmanagement.com. The Philippines much-anticipated newcomer DITO Telecommunity has passed its technical audit, paving the way for a commercial launch in March. The NTC (National Telecommunications Commission clocked minimum broadband speeds of 85.9Mbps on DITOs 4G network and 507.5Mbps for its upcoming 5G network. Elaborating further, the regulator confirmed that the peak speeds achieved for 4G and 5G respectively were 102.4Mbps and 769.1Mbps, although it noted that these were registered near base stations and that at longer range the figures stood at 64.4Mbps and 316.5Mbps, again respectively. Average speeds were around 91.0Mbps for 4G and 437.1Mbps for 5G. To conduct the audit, the regulator tested sites at random from DITOs installed base of 1602 sites. While these technically cover 37.5% of the Philippines population, the NTC noted that there are still no subscribers in the network at this time as the operator has not yet launched. Ahead of its planned launch, TeleGeography reports that DITO has reached a cooperation agreement with PLDT to build an interconnection point for subscribers, scheduled for completion by the end of March. PLDT will manage the facility, while DITO CTO Rodolfo Santiago has confirmed that an equivalent interconnection with Globe Telecom is also being established. For its part, Globe has stepped up its 5G deployment, increasing the number of live sites from 1045 at the end of 2020 to 1069 at the end of January 2021. Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu said: We want our customers to unlock the many possibilities and potential that 5G technology brings. Getting the 5G service to more customers supports our vision of empowering Filipinos to create the quality of lives they want. With 848 sites live across Metro Manila and Rizal together with 221 sites in Visayas and Mindanao, Globes 5G network also provides services in additional regions such as Aklan, Bulacan, Cebu, Davao del Sur, Iloilo, Laguna, Misamis Oriental and Negros Occidental. Egyptians are to be allowed to reserve doses of coronavirus vaccines as of Sunday via a designated website, with the priority to be given to those who suffer chronic diseases and those who are above 40, stated Health Minister Hala Zayed. The citizens who can't get access to the website, which the ministry launched recently, can head to the nearest hospital to register their data so that they can be administered the shots, Minister Zayed told a press conference on Tuesday. Zayed's statements came hours after Egypt received a gift shipment carrying 300,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccines from Beijing, raising its supply of the Chinese vaccine to 350,000 doses. No further details were provided by the Egyptian minister on the anticipated date of vaccinating the newly announced segments, who come second in the countrys vaccination priority list topped by frontline healthcare workers. Egypt has already vaccinated hundreds of medical workers at isolation and triage hospitals nationwide as a first step of its vaccination campaign began mid-January. The campaign depends on the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine, alongside the British-Swedish Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Egypt received the first batch of 50,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine in December as a gift from the UAE, and the same quantities of the British-Swedish AstraZeneca vaccine in January. The EDA approved the emergency use of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine and the AstraZeneca vaccine in January. Zayed thanked the Chinese Ambassador to Cairo Liao Liqiang, who attended the briefing for the Chinese gift. Liqiang said that the shipment is a symbolic gift that expresses china's support to Egypt, adding that "we are returning a favour to Egypt." In February 2020, Egypt provided China - along with other countries - tons of preventive medical items and equipment to help deal with the coronavirus outbreak. During the conference, Zayed promised that numbers of the targeted vaccination priority groups will increase as soon as the country receives more doses from the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisations (GAVI). GAVI, an international scheme aiming to ensure equal access to new and under-used vaccines, is expected to grant Egypt a total of 40 million doses of one type of the coronavirus vaccine during the course of 2021. Short link: The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved 179 COVID-19 testing kits until mid-February. These testing kits include those produced by 30-40 Indian companies. In the early days of COVID-19 outbreak last year, India relied on imports from leading medical companies like Roche Diagnostic, Korea's S.D Biosensor, Siemens Healthcare, Thermofisher, Abbott Healthcare, apart from Chinese and South Korean manufacturers. Pune's Mylab was among the first to commercialise an indigenous testing kit in March, 2020. According to sources, now the majority of testing solutions are procured from domestic companies, as they are cost-competitive. According to a Market Research report, the global Covid testing kit market will generate revenue of $97,903.2 million by 2027, growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.58%. The indigeneous RT-PCR (Real-time polymerase chain reaction) kits developed in India include companies like Trivitron Healthcare, Tata Medical and Diagnostic, Genes2Me, Karwa Enterprises, Medipol Pharmaceutical India, Wrig Nanosystems, Aspen Laboratories, Bhatt Biotech India, Mylab, GCC Biotech India, POCTServices, Helini Biomolecules, Achira Labs, Nucleus Diagnosys, Molbio Diagnostics, Affigenix Biosolutions, Biosystems Diag, Athenes Dx, NeoDx Biotech Labs, Cepheid India, Pontika Aerotech, Cosara Diagnostics, Genetix Biotech Asia, AB Diagnopath, Invitrogen Bioservices India etc. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a simple and widely used molecular biology technique to amplify and detect DNA and RNA sequences in cells. Compared to traditional methods like DNA cloning and amplification which require many days for results, PCR and RT-PCR results are available within a few hours. Thermo Fisher Scientific, one of the leading global medical devices manufacturers, had announced to produce Covid-19 testing kits and diagnostic solutions at its manufacturing facility in Bengaluru for the Indian market, with a capacity to manufacture up to 10 million tests every month. Also Read: Families of govt employees who succumbed to COVID-19 to get Rs 50 lakh ex-gratia in UP Also Read: Sanitation worker succumbs to health complications days after getting COVID-19 vaccine 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. Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 We still have challenges of the phenomenon of illegal mining, popularly referred to as galamsey, corruption in public life, and we need to enhance the efficiency of the States administrative machinery. In all these, I expect you to be proactive partners in our common efforts to find solutions that will improve the lives of our people, and safeguard the integrity of our nation and its heritage. These were the words of the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Tuesday, 23rd February 2021, when he swore into office members of the Council of State, at a ceremony at Jubilee House, the seat of the nations presidency. Addressing members of the Council at the ceremony, President Akufo-Addo stated that I look forward to working with a Council that will help deepen our democracy, and help enhance the quality of our governance, and I look forward to working with a Council that will help us deliver a prosperous Ghana. To this end, he was hopeful that the Council of State will continue to offer him honest advice, based on unvarnished truth, reiterating that the Council should not, however, seek to give advice to a President, the effect of which is to undermine the independence of any of the other arms of government, especially the Judiciary. With Article 91(3) of the Constitution giving the Council an unfettered remit to advise other bodies like Parliament or any other public authority, the President underscored that this is not meant to be a busybodys charter, but, on matters of significant national importance, the Council can let its views be known. The President urged the Council of State to recollect at all times the changed nature of the political environment in which the country is currently operating. According to President Akufo-Addo, the decision of the Ghanaian people, on 7th December 2020, to create virtual equality of representation in Parliament imposes on the principal actors of the State, an obligation to seek consciously and deliberately consensus in public undertakings. The Council of State is well-positioned to contribute to this development, he added. The President, thus, welcomed a vigorous exchange of ideas between the Presidency and the Council, adding that it is my fervent wish and hope that this Council will help enrich the second term of my presidency for the benefit of the Ghanaian people so that, together, we can help realise the dreams of the founders of our nation to build, under God, a free, democratic, united, prosperous and happy Ghana, the Black Star of Africa, on the principles of democratic accountability, respect for human rights, the rule of law, and the dictates of social justice. With the Council having a broad scope of advisory functions in counselling the President, including in the sensitive exercise of creating new regions, President Akufo-Addo was expectant that the Council will get to work rapidly and efficiently to enable government function satisfactorily. Members of the Council, you have been sworn into office at a difficult time in the history of our nation, and indeed, of the world. We are confronted with the ravages of COVID-19, which have affected the lives and livelihoods of all Ghanaians. Through proactive measures put in place by Government, we have seen a rebound in economic activities, he said. The President continued, However, these gains are now being threatened by the rising number of active cases in the so-called second wave that is sweeping the world. Winning the fight against the pandemic remains a collective duty and responsibility, so I appeal to you to help in this endeavour. Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 In light of the rise in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, the Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Tuesday directed in the city to reserve around 2,000 to 3,000 beds for infected patients. In a virtual meeting with private hospitals, PMC commissioner Vikram Kumar and civic health officials instructed hospitals to reserve maximum beds for COVID-19 patients and not to turn any patient away. "We have instructed hospitals to keep at least 2,000 to 3,000 beds for COVID-19 patients and also asked them not return anyone away," civic health chief Dr Ashish Bharati, said. will notify the civic body about the number of beds they have reserved and accordingly, the dashboard will be updated, he said. Currently, the PMC has over 1,200 to 1,500 beds available at civic and government-run hospitals, the official said. Apart from this, COVID-19 care centres in are also being readied. As many as 661 new cases and four casualties were reported in city on Tuesday, a civic official 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.) Minister of Justice Stelian Ion met on Tuesday with the German Ambassador to Romania, Cord Meier-Klodt, a context in which they discussed, among other things, the abolition of the Justice Crimes Investigation Section (SIIJ). According to a Ministry of Justice's release sent to AGERPRES, the two officials spoke about topics of interest on the domestic and European agenda, as well as about bilateral cooperation in the field of justice. "You are in a very important period for Romania, in which you can correct what has happened in recent years. All the steps taken in the right direction are long-term gains for the rule of law and democracy in Romania and at the same time for our common Europe," said Cord Meier-Klodt.The quoted source mentions that there were discussions also about the process of correcting the laws of justice and abolishing the SIIJ, another topic of interest being the consolidation of the fight against corruption."We have the opportunity to repair and build the normative and institutional framework on justice in Romania. We must prove that we are on the right track and that changes are taking place in real terms. The dialogue with the member states of the European Union, both bilaterally and in the context of the Rule of Law Mechanism, provides us with the opportunity to identify existing good practices that will generate initiatives at national level. Thus, the Rule of Law Pact, adopted by the German authorities in January 2019, would be such an example," Minister of Justice Stelian Ion said. Business in the Community Northern Ireland (BITC) is asking companies to help its appeal for resources like hardware and digital skills support to benefit young people learning from home. The digital donation appeal is aimed at assisting the tens of thousands of children here who do not have adequate provision in broadband and equipment for home learning. Ofcom estimates that about 9% of children in the UK - between 1.1 million and 1.8 million - do not have access to a laptop, desktop or tablet at home. In Northern Ireland, this could amount to as many as 30,000 young people. Last week, an assistant principal at Belfast Model School for Girls in north Belfast said around 30% of its pupils were accessing lessons by phone. ww, managing director of BITC, said: "We are asking for businesses to help young people, the workforce of our future, to get the digital access they deserve. By donating devices, data usage or volunteering their time for digital skills support, businesses are making learning from home less of a struggle for families going through a challenging time." Many firms had already pledged their support but he said more help was needed. Business can donate cash and devices or encourage staff to volunteer. Mr Harding added: "The impacts of this time will affect children, families and the economy for years to come, but we can all do something to help now." TEXAS, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Matica Biotechnology, Inc. (Matica Bio), a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specializing in the clinical and commercial production of cell and gene therapies, ceremonially broke ground today on its new 25,000 ft2 facility which will house its GMP virus production suites, development laboratories and company offices. The new building will be located in Providence Park at 2501 Earl Rudder Freeway in College Station. The groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday, February 23 at 10:00 am. College Station Mayor Karl Mooney attended the event, along with members of the College Station City Council, Bryan Mayor Andrew Nelson, Bryan-College Station Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Glen Brewer, Brazos Valley EDC Board Chair Mike Gentry, and Brazos Valley EDC President/CEO Matt Prochaska. "The global demand for virus products continues to outpace the capacity for production under the stringent Good Manufacturing Practices or GMPs required by regulatory agencies for human use", stated Matica Bio CEO Dr. Byung Se So. "Our new facility will help to close that gap by establishing state-of-the-art, modular virus production cleanrooms integrated with the latest vector technologies to maximize speed, flexibility and efficiency throughout our clients' product development cycle." Dr. So continued, "The Brazos Valley area, including College Station, is rapidly becoming one of the most important centers of biotechnology in the country, and it was an easy decision for our company to locate here. The availability of a skilled workforce along with the influence of the Texas A&M University System, will support the level of rapid job growth that we expect throughout the next few years." Mr. Timothy Lutz, Matica Bio's Chief Manufacturing Officer, commented, "Matica Biotechnology is excited to be setting up our operations here in College Station. We look to be active part of our community and are excited to hire a number of local professionals, both for the construction as well as the operational phases. We are planning on utilizing state-of-the-art equipment, processes, and materials to be in a new class of CDMO's" "We are honored to welcome Matica Biotechnology to the Brazos Valley as they strive to manufacture solutions for the health challenges of today and tomorrow," said Brazos Valley Economic Development Corporation President/CEO Matt Prochaska. "A hallmark of our region is its legacy of solving problems facing the world, and Matica Bio's arrival advances that again. Working with their team in the United States and South Korea has been a pleasure, and we offer the resources and expertise of our community to help them succeed and grow." Matica Bio's GMP facility is scheduled to open in Q3 2021 utilizing a bioreactor-based platform, with access to GMP production slots beginning in early 2022. About Matica Biotechnology, Inc. Matica Bio, an affiliate of CHA Biotech, provides viral vector GMP manufacturing services for cell and gene therapies, vaccines, oncolytic vectors and other advanced therapy products. Our GMP facility in College Station, TX is designed for the rapid development, scale-up and production of Lentivirus and AAV products for clinical supply. Matica Bio offers process development, production, product release and stability assessment of viral vector products; together with the quality oversight and regulatory guidance necessary to ensure our clients' success. For more information on our company, or to inquire about our services, please contact us at [email protected], or visit www.maticabio.com. About CHA Biotech CHA Biotech is a global biotechnology company with subsidiaries in Korea and abroad. We develop cell therapy products including stem cells, umbilical cord blood, and NK cells. The CHA Biotech network develops and produces critical medicines for incurable diseases and includes CMG Pharmaceutical, CHA Vaccine Institute, CHA Meditech, Seoul CRO, Solidus Investment, and Matica Biotechnology. CHA Biotech along with CHA University, CHA Comprehensive Research Institute, and hospitals at 61 sites in 7 countries, develops and expands a unique model integrating research institutes, commercial biotech and hospital systems to provide intensive basic research, prompt and effective clinical trials together with global development and manufacturing capacity. SOURCE Matica Biotechnology, Inc. Related Links https://www.maticabio.com MALTA The town councilman who was chastised for thanking a former town official for her role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is now contending with what he has described as a threat to his life. Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo said his investigators are looking into a threatening phone call that Craig Warner received on his cell phone after he thanked Sharon Pineo at a Feb. 1 Town Board meeting. Neither Warner nor Zurlo provided further information about the content of the call. At Monday night's Town Board meeting, he reeled his comments back and apologized for any confusion that my statement might have caused" with hopes that the hate and threats on my life and my family end here. Words dont always come out the way you want them to, said town councilman Warner, who stutters. It has taken me many years to able to speak in public. I do a pretty good job most of the time. That being said, let me clarify. I oppose violence of any kind. And I do not condone violence that happened at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Previously: Calls for resignation of Malta town official after Capitol siege Malta official resigns after involvement in U.S. Capitol siege Malta board member praises former town official who was at Capitol siege Warner said he received a menacing call after his Feb. 1 statement of gratitude for former Zoning Board of Appeals member Pineo who organized a bus to attend the Jan. 6 rally that resulted in five deaths. In Warner's initial statement, he said Pineo was standing up for everybody in town and in the country for our freedom of speech and our right to protest" when she protested the certification of the 2020 presidential election. When I said she stood up for our rights, I was referring to our right to free speech and the right to peacefully protest, which is in our First Amendment, Warner said in his second statement on Monday. This right has been exercised for a good part of the summer. Most people attend marches to peacefully protest. Unfortunately, many times there are bad people who commit violent acts which is very unfortunate. Many chose to peacefully protest. I see this as two separate things, violence vs. peaceful protest. The 70-year-old Pineo has never publicly discussed what her involvement was in the Jan. 6 insurrection, but the New York Times reported that she was detained after she "made it past barricades surrounding the building." She was also photographed being led away from the Capitol by police with her hands behind her back. After her return to Round Lake, where she lives, she stepped down from her town role. Warner concluded that everyone harbors their own political views. Thats what makes this county so great, Warner said. Were able to debate freely and openly. A remote part of Kerry is being used by the worlds richest man, Elon Musk, as a location for a pilot project in the roll-out of a new satellite broadband system. Musk, founder of SpaceX and electric car-maker Tesla, is creating a network of thousands of Starlink satellites to create a new global broadband system. A pilot project involving the installation of antennae in the MacGillycuddy Reeks is due to begin in the coming weeks. Strict non-disclosure agreements surround the approach by Musks representatives to Kerry County Council last December. However, sources have confirmed that Starlink antennae will be located in the Black Valley, 20 miles from Killarney. The valley was one of the last places in Ireland to get a telephone connection and is still reliant on patchy mobile phone connection. A community broadband project unveiled at the local school last year had to be ringfenced for school purposes only. The Starlink pilot link is likely to initially involve just a single household, it is understood. Almost one third of all Kerry addresses have no access to high-speed broadband, a meeting of Kerry County Council was told last week. Even areas close to the large towns have hit-and-miss connections, and many houses are paying for two or more internet and mobile signals. Its understood Musks corporation approached the Department of Rural and Community Development late last year before beginning negotiations with Kerry County Council. Its also understood that council officials are mindful that concerns about Musks new technology may be raised in Kerry. Last year Cllr Norma Foley, now Education minister, led calls for an independent review of all facts prior to 5G being permitted in Kerry. Ms Foley said she had been approached by people the length and breadth of Kerry and the key issue was intensification where thousands of tiny antennae would be in use. At least one French village has already rejected the tech billionaires approaches. The council in the small village of Saint-Senier-de-Beuvron, with a population of 350, near Mont Saint-Michel said non to Musk amid what they said was a precaution amid lack of clarity about the new technology. [February 23, 2021] HanesBrands Named One of the 2021 World's Most Ethical Companies HanesBrands (NYSE:HBI), a socially responsible, leading global marketer of branded everyday basic apparel, has been recognized as one of the 2021 World's Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005687/en/ HanesBrands is one of only two apparel manufacturers being recognized among 135 companies spanning 22 countries and representing 47 industries. Ethisphere's assessment process includes more than 200 questions on culture, environmental and social practices, ethics and compliance activities, governance, diversity and initiatives to support a strong value chain. This year, Ethisphere also gauged how applicants adapted and responded to the global health pandemic, safety, equity and inclusion and social justice. "We have a strong commitment to acting responsibly, and we're very proud to be recognized by Ethisphere," said CEO Steve Bratspies. "This honor is the result of 61,000 employees around the world committed to operating our business in the right way. Consumers can be proud that when they choose our apparel they are choosing a company deeply committed to sustainability." HBI has a longstanding commitment to leadership in ethical business practices. The company was recently named one of the 100 most sustainable companies in the nation for the second year by Barron's and earned a leadership level A score, following two years at A-, in the CDP 2020 Climate Change Report. HBI is also the only apparel company in history to earn the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Energy Star Sustained Excellence Award. In October 2020, HBI announced wide-ranging 2030 global sustainability goals that include a commitment to science-based environmental targets, a goal of improving the lives of at least 10 million people, and addressing the use of plastics and sustainable raw materials in products and packaging. The goals were launched via a new sustainability website, designed to increase company transparency and reporting on key metics, including diversity, human rights benchmarks and risk assessments for investors. "While addressing the tough challenges of 2020, we saw companies lead - above all other institutions - on earning the trust of stakeholders through resilience and a commitment to ethics and integrity," said Ethisphere CEO, Timothy Erblich. "The World's Most Ethical Companies honorees continue to demonstrate an unwavering commitment to the highest values and positively impacting the communities they serve. Congratulations to everyone at HanesBrands for earning the World's Most Ethical Companies designation." Learn more about the World's Most Ethical Companies and HanesBrand's commitment to responsibility. Ethisphere Institute The Ethisphere Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character and measure and improve culture. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World's Most Ethical Companies recognition program and provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA). More information about Ethisphere can be found at: https://ethisphere.com. HanesBrands HanesBrands, based in Winston-Salem, N.C., is a socially responsible leading marketer of everyday basic innerwear and activewear apparel in the Americas, Europe, Australia and Asia-Pacific. The company sells its products under some of the world's strongest apparel brands, including Hanes, Champion, Bonds, Maidenform, DIM, Bali, Playtex, Bras N Things, Nur Die/Nur Der, Alternative, L'eggs, JMS/Just My Size, Lovable, Wonderbra, Berlei and Gear for Sports. The company sells T-shirts, bras, panties, shapewear, underwear, socks, hosiery, and activewear produced in the company's low-cost global supply chain. A Fortune 500 company and member of the S&P 500 stock Index (NYSE: HBI), Hanes has approximately 61,000 employees in more than 40 countries. For more information, visit the company's corporate website at www.Hanes.com/corporate and newsroom at https://newsroom.hanesbrands.com/. Connect with the company via social media: Twitter (News - Alert) (@hanesbrands), Facebook (News - Alert) (www.facebook.com/hanesbrandsinc), Instagram (@hanesbrands), and LinkedIn (News - Alert) (@Hanesbrandsinc). View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005687/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form [February 23, 2021] Michael Borts Joins Trascent as Managing Director, APAC SOMERVILLE, N.J., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Trascent Management Consulting, LLC ("Trascent"), trascent.com, a global management consulting firm focused on performance improvements in Real Estate and Facilities Management (RE/FM), today announced Michael Borts has joined the firm as Managing Director, Asia Pacific ("APAC"). Mr. Borts brings substantial consulting, finance, business and technology transformation experience to Trascent. Michael Borts Joins Trascent to Lead APAC and Develop Technology Real Estate & Facilities Management Practice Based in Singapore, Michael will be responsible for spearheading and growing the firm's APAC consulting practice, where he will provide leadership for client engagements focused on RE/FM transformation, digitization of RE/FM and structuring complex outsourcin arrangements. In addition, Michael will lead the development of a new technology focused consulting practice within Trascent that aims to define how technology can disrupt and transform RE/FM. Throughout his consulting career, Michael's focus has been on business transformation, business process optimization ("BPO") and customer experience enhancement through the use of technology. As part of this, Michael has conducted BPO and Shared Services engagements across a broad range of financial support functions. Prior to joining Trascent, Michael was Senior Executive at Capgemini, the global technology transformation firm, where he led the business transformation practice out of New York City. Prior to that, Michael held senior roles at Ernst & Young, Accenture and Citibank. "We are pleased to have Michael join Trascent as Managing Director, APAC to further strengthen our client solutions in the region and globally. Michael's background in technology-led transformation and user experience is well suited as RE/FM leaders are facing a broad range of challenges in a pandemic environment to digitize and transform the workplace. Michael is part of our global leadership team and will be working closely with our Managing Directors in Europe and the Americas," said Rakesh Kishan, Managing Principal, Trascent. "I am excited to join the Trascent leadership team and for the opportunity to leverage my extensive experience in business transformation to lead the firm's APAC division and develop strategies for leveraging technology in RE/FM for business transformation and workplace experience enhancement. I look forward to supporting growth of the firm and further enhancing our value proposition to leaders in this industry," said Michael Borts. Trascent, a global management consulting firm, drives measurable performance improvements and generates quantifiable results in Real Estate and Facilities Management (RE/FM). The firm's clients span over 20 diverse industries including life sciences, fast-moving consumer goods, diversified industrials, financial services and technology. Areas of focus include a broad range of services on how corporations can better structure and deliver RE/FM services through novel technology and high-performance outsourcing relationships. (trascent.com) CONTACT: Yvonne Liu, Global Marketing Director, Trascent, yliu@trascent.com, +1 (646) 295-4299 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/michael-borts-joins-trascent-as-managing-director-apac-301231797.html SOURCE Trascent Management Consulting [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Washington: The wife of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin El Chapo Guzman has been arrested at an airport in Virginia, US, on international drug trafficking charges, the Justice Department said. Emma Coronel Aispuro, 31, who is a dual citizen of the US and Mexico, was arrested at Dulles International Airport on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) and is expected to appear in federal court in Washington the next day. Emma Coronel Aispuro, wife of Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, leaves federal court in New York in 2019. Credit:AP She is charged in a single-count criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana in the US. The Justice Department also accuses her of helping her husband escape from a Mexican prison in 2015 and participating in the planning of a second prison escape before Guzman was extradited to the US in January 2017. While the world grapples with the Covid-19 pandemic many new lessons are being learned every day by nations all over the globe. For example, Brazil and the US have learned that having a leader who does not believe that the virus is a serious threat to life certainly doesnt augur well for the population. 7 time MP from Dadra and Nagar Haveli Mohan Delkar has reportedly committed suicide in Mumbai's Marine Drive area. According to sources a 16-page suicide note written in Gujarati has been recovered. Disturbing news coming from Mumbai as 7 time MP from Dadra and Nagar Haveli Mohan Delkar has reportedly committed suicide. According to sources a 16-page suicide note written in Gujarati has been recovered. Born in December 1962 in Silvassa in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, the body of the 58-year-old leader was found at a hotel in South Mumbai and has been sent for a postmortem. Mohan Delkar was earlier in Congress. Congress has demanded probe in MP Mohan Delkars death accusing BJP. Several reactions have come from politicians and all corners of the country. Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh condoled his death and said that the news of Delkars demise is very shocking. The leader is survived by his wife and two children. Police have started a probe and investigations are underway. The official said a suicide note in Gujarati was recovered along with the body. The cause of death will be ascertained after the autopsy. Delkar had represented Dadra and Nagar Haveli in parliament since 2004. He also served as a member of the Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice and also a member of the Consultative Committee, Ministry of Home Affairs. Delkar won the 1989, 1991 and 1996 elections as a Congress candidate and the 1998 election as a BJP candidate. Known as an advocate of tribal rights, Delkar successfully contested the 17th Lok Sabha as an Independent candidate. The property was a four-bedroom semi-detached house and available to rent for 550 per month An advertisement for a property in Co Tyrone has been reported to police after it said "foreign nationals need not apply". The advert, which was posted on Gumtree yesterday, was later removed and reposted again without the racist wording. However, that too was later removed. The property was a four-bedroom semi-detached house and available to rent for 550 per month. It said the house would have been available on March 12, by its owner, whose contact details were removed from Gumtree. The post read: "Four-bed semi situated in Moygashel on the outskirts of Dungannon. Two single bedrooms, two double bedrooms. Separate basement. Unfurnished. Does include gas oven, fridge freezer, table and chairs. "Would ideally suit a local family who knows the area. Foreign nationals need not apply. Viewings from March 10." Expand Close The advert for a property which has been reported to the PSNI / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The advert for a property which has been reported to the PSNI SDLP councillor Malachy Quinn said he was "disgusted" at the advertisement and reported it to the PSNI immediately. "This is the 21st century, this type of discrimination has no place within our society and for someone to think they have the right to place such criteria is outrageous," Mr Quinn said. "This is the type of language that Irish people used to endure in America when they were discriminated against along with other minorities, and now for it to happen in our own country is unacceptable. "During the pandemic our health service, which includes many foreign nationals, have gone beyond the call of duty to help heal our sick and look after our most vulnerable. "Without their hard work and dedication, the NHS would collapse, as would many of the local businesses in the Dungannon and south Tyrone areas. "We always need to stand against discrimination, no matter what form it takes." Geraldine McGahey, Chief Commissioner of the Equality Commission, said she found the wording of the advert to be "shocking": "The law as regards racial discrimination in selling or letting houses or any other premises is quite clear. Under the Race Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 it is unlawful to discriminate on racial grounds in selling or letting any premises through an advertisement or through an estate agent. "Anyone who has been subject to such discrimination may take an action in the County Court and the Commission can advise anyone who believes they have been subject to such discrimination. It is also unlawful to publish an advertisement indicating an intention to discriminate on racial grounds. Police in Dungannon said it had been reported that "the original wording of the post has since been modified". Even as global billionaires take vows to make the earth better and propose climate change solutions, several studies say that a rich person contributes more to the climate crisis than a poor person. Recently, two US-based anthropologists from Indiana University conducted a study to understand how the wealth of the world's richest business tycoons resulted in higher carbon footprints. The report published in 'The Conversation' revealed that "billionaires have carbon footprints which can be thousands of times higher than those of average American". Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates, who is currently the world's fourth-richest person has stood as a 'modest' polluter by billionaire standards, the study claimed. Citing the plush assets of the richest, like yachts, planes, mansions, the study said all of these contribute extensively to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. For instance, a superyacht with a permanent crew, helicopter pad, submarines, and pools emit about 7,020 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year, according to a calculation done by anthropologists. Therefore, having such assets is by far the worst asset to own from an environmental standpoint, the study claimed. However, Bill Gates does not own a giant yacht but his private jets, luxurious mansions, and a seaplane have majorly contributed to the higher carbon footprints, the study added. Gates in the 1990s built a vast fictional estate in Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane"- at a cost of $127 million in Medina, Washington. The giant home covers 6,131 square metres, with a 23-car garage, a 20-person cinema, and 24 bathrooms. He also owns at least five other dwellings in Southern California, the San Juan Islands in Washington state, North Salem, New York, and New York City, as well as a horse farm, four private jets, a seaplane, and "a collection" of helicopters. According to the study, Gates' annual footprint is at 7,493 metric tons of carbon, mostly from a lot of flying. Further, the anthropologists found that Roman Abramovich, who made most of his $19 billion fortune trading oil and gas, was the biggest polluter as per their list. Roman was responsible for at least 33,859 metric tons of CO2 emissions in 2018 - more than two-thirds from his yacht, the study claimed. Interestingly, the world's top-2 richest persons - Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk - have recorded relatively small carbon footprints, as per the study. Bezos with a $191 billion net worth had an estimated carbon footprint of 2,224.2 tonnes in 2018. Whereas Musk's estimated footprint was 2,084 tonnes in the same period. Musk in 2020 sold all of his mansions and promised to divest the rest of his worldly possessions. Musk does not own a superyacht and says he does not even take vacations. While both Musk and Bezos' personal carbon footprints are still hundreds of times higher than that of an average person, they are one of the examples of eco-friendly billionaires who have demonstrated that the superrich have a choice to lower their environmental impact. The study analysed 2,095 billionaires listed in the Forbes list 2020. It revealed that yachts make up most of the emissions, while mansions and other dwellings make up a very minor share of their carbon footprints. However, the research did not include most of the super-rich in Asia and the Middle East. Last year, the UN's Environment Programme also claimed that the world's wealthiest one per cent account for more than twice the combined carbon emissions of the poorest 50 per cent. Also read: Heranba IPO opens today: Key things to know before you subscribe Also read: Health budget reflects govt's commitment to provide better healthcare: PM Modi SAT Stays SEBI Order against HDFC Bank in BMA Wealth Case The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has stayed an order passed by market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) against HDFC Bank Ltd in the BRH Wealth Kreators Ltd (BRH) (formerly BMA Wealth Creators Ltd) and BRH Commodities Private Ltd (formerly BMA Commodities Pvt Ltd) matter. Last month, SEBI had asked the lender to deposit Rs158.68 crore along with interest in an escrow account and pay a penalty of Rs1 crore in this case. In an order, the SAT bench of justice Tarun Agarwala and justice MT Joshi pointed out that HDFC Bank is one of the largest private sector banks, and as per balance sheet it has assets of Rs16.54 lakh crore and, therefore, has sufficient financial strength and ability to furnish the amount as per the impugned order. "It is not a case where the bank will run away or will become insolvent. We accordingly stay the effect and operation of the impugned order till further orders of the Tribunal subject to the condition that appellant will give an undertaking to SEBI that they will abide by the result of the appeal and the directions given therein within four weeks from the date of the disposal of the appeal. Such undertaking shall be given by a responsible officer of the appellant to be filed before SEBI within two weeks from today," the Tribunal says. SEBI found HDFC Bank violated its interim order and unilaterally invoked securities pledged by BRH and BRH Commodities worth Rs158.68 crore. In the order, G Mahalingam, whole-time member (WTM) of SEBI, had said, "Given the unilateral action of HDFC Bank to avoid SEBIs interim order, I am of the view that the alleged violations of SEBI circulars as also the failure to conduct due diligence by HDFC Bank to verify the ownership of securities pledged at the time of creation of the pledge, are not relevant for consideration at this point in time. As stated earlier, the validity of the pledge at the time of creation does not justify the subsequent act of invocation by HDFC Bank on 14 October 2019, post the interim order." "I find the invocation of pledge of client securities available in the two demat accounts of BRH by HDFC Bank, was not in conformity with the directions contained in the interim order. I find that HDFC Bank had unilaterally invoked securities pledged by BRH to the extent of Rs158.68 crore. I am therefore, of the considered view that HDFC Bank be directed to deposit an equivalent amount of Rs158.68 crore along with interest from 14 October 2019 till date, at the rate of 7% per annum (being the marginal cost of fund-based lending rate (MCLR) notified by the Reserve Bank of India-RBI) in a separate interest bearing escrow account (in any nationalised bank by marking a lien in favour of SEBI), till the issue of settlement of clients securities is reconciled," the order says. HDFC had granted credit facilities to BRH worth Rs191.16 crore and to BRH Commodities worth Rs26.61 crore, out of which Rs87.75 crore was granted as loan against securities (LAS). On 14 October 2019, HDFC Bank invoked securities pledged by BRH to the extent of Rs158.68 crore. SEBI, in its order on 7 October 2017, had barred BRH Wealth Kreators, Shiv Kumar Damani, Anubhav Bhatter, Murgesh Devashrayi, BRH Commodities, Prosperous Vyapaar Pvt Ltd, Polo-Setco Tie Up Pvt Ltd and Parton Commercial Pvt Ltd from markets. However, on 7 November 2019, HDFC Bank informed SEBI about recalling its credit facilities from BRH and BRH Commodities. HDFC Bank says it had granted credit facilities to BRH and BRH Commodities aggregating to Rs191.16 crore and Rs26.61 crore, respectively. Responding to this, SEBI told HDFC Bank that the lender's action is against the directions given by the market regulator under its interim order. "It is observed from your letter that HDFC had granted overdraft or loan against securities (LAS) for Rs87.75 crore. However, it is observed from the information provided by National Stock Exchange (NSE) that the HDFC Bank has invoked securities pledged by BRH to the tune of Rs158.7 crore as on 14 October 2019," SEBI says. 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. "Johatsu" means "Evaporated People" and it is the term the Japanese use for when people disappear without a trace. The number of missing persons cases in Japan has been rising steadily from under 80,000 in 2015 to close to 90,000 in 2019, while the Missing Persons Search Support Association in Japan estimates this number to be a lot higher. Although these disappearances are on the increase in recent times, the problem isn't a new one. "Kamikakushi" means "Spirited away" and is an old word used for people who disappeared without trace, for they used to believe that they had literally been hidden by the Gods. Why Do They Disappear? Business troubles, Family problems, diseases, and domestic violence are the official causes, but the need to disappear seems to stem from a more profound source, deep in the roots of Japanese culture. Japanese culture is "Sekentei" which basically means it's a culture obsessed with keeping up appearances, "pride and honor" rule above all, and "shame" is a very heavy burden. If your business fails or you cannot provide for your family, or you're ill and know you will become a burden to your loved ones, all these things can lead to you feeling so much shame that you cannot look your loved ones in the eye, your embarrassment for your shortcomings becomes much that you just want to disappear, and so, you do. How Do They Disappear? In general, people keep their shame hidden, no family member knows about it. One day it justs gets too much and instead of going to work, they just up a leave. There are however agencies that are dedicated to helping the "Johatsu". These agencies are known as "Yonige-Ya" which means "Fly-by-Night shops", originally dedicated to helping people escape loan-sharks, nowaways their cause is far more noble, the Majority of their clients are victims of domestic violence, who with nowhere left to turn, chose to flee. Unlike your traditional moving agency, the Yonige-ya prepare your next residence for you, they apply to the government to keep your new address and contact info private, they prepare school and nursery paperwork for your children, and meticulously prepare your escape, all in complete secrecy. On the day of escape, they arrive at the house shortly after the abusive spouse has left and rapidly box up all your belongings, they then transport you along with your children and belongings to your new home. The service doesn't end here though, they continue to give their clients advice on how to remain hidden and help clients with any separation or divorce paperwork that may be needed. But Is It Really Possible To Stay Invisible In The 21st Century? Well, the short answer is, that in Japan, it is! The police won't even look for the "Johatsu" because there is no legal requirement to look for missing people if those people left of their own free will. So the only option to find them is through a private investigator. But the Japanese have very strict privacy laws coupled with "The Personal Data Protection Act" this means that your personal data can't be accessed even by the police unless you've committed a crime, access is still restricted even after you are dead. Immigration authorities and banks will release no client data to anyone, even family members, under no circumstances, so the Private investigator is extremely limited in where and what he can look for. Personal Freedom is very much respected in japan and personal freedom dictates that a person is free to leave and to come back as they please or to not come back if they so please. Catch 22. Quite a large percentage of the "Johatsu" miss their families and would like to return, but feel that they could face the shame of having been selfish enough to have left them. So we end where we started, In shame, we flee and In shame, we remain. A 24-year-old man has received a four-year suspended sentence after a one-punch attack that left his innocent victim with a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain. Liam Stoneham, from Bewley Drive in Lucan, Dublin, pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm to father-of-three Adam Ward (42), from Knocklyon in Dublin, outside Sinnotts pub on King Street close to St Stephens Green on the night of February 3, 2019. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Mr Ward suffered serious injuries when he fell to the ground after being punched from behind by Stoneham, who was being thrown out of the pub along with his friend after causing a nuisance earlier at the table where Mr Ward had been sitting with friends. Mr Ward was in the smoking area outside when he was attacked. On Monday Judge Martin Nolan heard from Garda Jemma Holmes that she had collected CCTV footage of the attack and when it was shown to Stoneham after his arrest he accepted it was him in the footage and made admissions to his involvement in the attack. Expand Close Assault victim Adam Ward. Photo: Mark Condren / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Assault victim Adam Ward. Photo: Mark Condren The court heard that Stoneham had been drinking pints and vodka at the pub. After the attack staff sought medical attention for Mr Ward while Stoneham left the scene in the direction of Grafton Street and went to another pub. Mr Ward was treated for a traumatic brain injury and, although he has made a good recovery, a victim impact statement handed to the court said he still has a future risk of epileptic seizures, poor senses of smell and taste, suffers reduced balance and dexterity, feels nervous in crowds and also has less trust in strangers. Counsel for Stoneham, John Fitzgerald SC, told the court that his client was co-operative with gardai, expressed remorse, and was very ashamed of his actions. The court heard Stoneham became emotional when told of the extent of the injuries to Mr Ward. Mr Fitzgerald said the attack was a moment of madness from a man with an otherwise unblemished record. He said Stoneham had studied law and economics at UCD and was now doing a Masters degree. As well as receiving the four-year suspended sentence Stoneham was ordered to offer his victim 10,000 by way of compensation now, and a further 10,000 in the future. If this is not accepted by the victim, who is pursuing a civil claim, the first 10,000 is to be donated to a charity chosen by Garda Holmes. Speaking after the sentencing, Mr Ward said he hoped Stoneham had learned a valuable lesson. I was prepared to let the justice system run its course and I accept the sentence for what it is. The judge has made his call and Im sure he listened to all the facts, he said. The result is still significant for Mr Stoneham. I hope he realises what he has done and makes use of his chances in the future. In his victim impact statement he said a major effect the assault had on him was that he was left with a lot of anger which affected his mood for a long time. My wife had a lot to deal with during my recovery and carried the burden of a lot of the psychological trauma in helping me through the difficult times, he said. I suffered a lot of upset over the fact that my young daughters, who were under two years of age at the time, could have been left without a father due to this cowardly attack. It led to a lot of what ifs and what could have been, not only for myself but for my family. It has had a significant and lasting effect on my life. The main impact on life has been the long recovery period which has been challenging. Having prolonged symptoms such as issues around balance and dexterity has taken a toll on how I interact with my young children. Mr Wards solicitor, John McCabe from Maguire Bardon Solicitors, described the attack on his client as a reckless and cowardly act of violence. The message from todays sentence is people that engage in these random and reckless acts of violence will be identified and brought before the courts and held accountable, he said. The consequences of these actions are severe not only for the victim and their families but the attacker as well. Coleg Cambria amongst only three colleges in UK to receive gold cyber teaching award This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Feb 23rd, 2021 Coleg Cambria has been awarded the gold standard in cyber security teaching for its work inspiring the next generation of cyber security experts. The North East Wales based college received the award as part of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) CyberFirst Schools initiative, which aims to address the UKs cyber skills gap. The college was one of only three institutions in the UK to receive the gold cyber teaching award. We are delighted to have achieved the CyberFirst Gold Award in conjunction with the National Cyber Security Centre, said Cambrias Principal Sue Price. This is a significant achievement for Coleg Cambria, recognising the great work the team are doing in a critical area that is growing in strategic significance and importance to the economy. Having this award will give employers and our learners confidence the qualifications they are achieving are robust and will support them in their future careers. Overall, 14 schools and colleges received gold, silver and bronze awards having demonstrated a range of work aimed at engaging pupils, including lunchtime coding clubs, sessions where pupils could pitch Internet of Things concepts, and running projects linking computing to medical sciences. Chris Ensor, NCSC Deputy Director for Cyber Growth, said: Congratulations to all the schools and colleges that have been awarded CyberFirst Schools status for their first-rate approaches to teaching cyber security skills. It is inspiring to see the wide range of opportunities being offered to pupils and Im delighted to welcome the schools to our growing community from around the UK. Through the CyberFirst Schools initiative, the NCSC continues to work with schools and local communities to inspire the next generation of cyber security experts. Minister for Digital Infrastructure Matt Warman added: The country needs a new generation of talented tech experts to protect our online spaces. Ensuring everyone has the digital skills they need to thrive in an increasingly tech-fuelled economy is central to our efforts to build back better from the pandemic. The next call for recognition is now open for secondary schools and colleges interested in gaining CyberFirst Schools certification. It closes on Friday June 18. For schools and colleges in Wales considering an application, the National Digital Exploitation Centre (NDEC) has pledged to offer extra support, saying it wants as many Welsh schools and colleges to benefit from this brilliant scheme. For more information, visit the NCSC website. Visit www.cambria.ac.uk for the latest news and information from Coleg Cambria. Patna, Feb 23 : The Minimum Support Price (MSP) for paddy became a contentious subject in the Bihar Assembly on Tuesday with the opposition parties, including the RJD and the Congress, raising the issue on the floor of the House. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav alleged that the state Agriculture Minister (Amrendra Prasad Singh) had denied MSP to the farmers for paddy in Bihar. "The minister in the Nitish Kumar government is saying in the House that the government will not purchase paddy against MSP. This is akin to cheating the farmers. It was his poll promise, which the NDA governments at the Centre and the state repeated during the ongoing farmers' agitation. There is a huge difference between what they say and what they do. Due to their cheating, the farmers are weak in Bihar," Tejashwi said. "I want CM Nitish Kumar to answer in this matter on the floor of the House and take resignation from the minister," Tejashwi added. Retaliating to Tejashwi's charge, Amrendra Pratap Singh said: "Tejashwi Yadav is the Leader of the Opposition who demands resignation from every minister. He should first analyse before making public statements." RJD leader Sudhakar Singh pointed out that the state government is not purchasing paddy against MSP. He further said that the announcement made by the Agriculture Minister about not extending the time limit is extremely unfortunate. The last date for purchasing paddy on MSP ended on February 21. The RJD leaders had demanded to extend the deadline till March 25 this year. Amrendra Pratap Singh said: "The state government had already purchased 35.5 lakh metric tonnes of paddy till February 21, the highest ever purchase when compared to the previous years. There was a chance for middlemen to take advantage of the situation, hence it the date will not be extended any further." As the Nitish Kumar government refused to extend the time limit, opposition leaders walked out of the House and raised slogans against Nitish Kumar and his government in the Vidhan Sabha premises. [February 22, 2021] KILDE, a Singaporean private debt investment platform, has raised US$450,000 led by Purple Ventures in pre-seed funding round, supported by Startupbootcamp Dubai. SINGAPORE, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- KILDE was licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore lately to raise debt capital for digital lending companies from institutional and accredited investors. Securing a sustainable source of debt funding is a number one challenge for digital lenders. Despite the investment boom in alternatives, digital lending is too opaque and non-transparent for most investors. KILDE lifts the opaque veil offering access to an extensive range of deal-ready private debt investments. For digital lending firms, it provides flexiblefunding at competitive costs. "Digital lenders allow underbanked consumers and SMEs to get sustainable loans and build their credit history. Transforming these loans into investable assets provides a unique market opportunity. We are here to streamline this process," said Radek Jezbera, co-founder of KILDE. KILDE has already opened credit facilities to 8 digital lenders with the overall credit limit of more than US$30m. It will further expand to include more digital lenders from the SEA, MENA, and Eastern Europe. Purple Ventures is a European private venture capital fund investing smart seed money into early-stage fintech startups with a proven business model expanding their business globally. KILDE is also backed by the Startupbootcamp Fintech Dubai. "We are extremely excited about KILDE, as we see the enormous potential that the undisrupted private debt market has to offer. We believe KILDE has the right team to execute and grow to become a central player between investors and lenders, and we look forward to working with them over the coming years," said Mohamad Sabouneh, Managing Director of Startupbootcamp Fintech Dubai. Singapore with its progressive regulatory regime and easy access to liquidity is preferred headquarters to many Fintech businesses. Fintech investment in Singapore reached US$346 million in 2020, representing 6.2% of all that was raised in Asia according to Singapore Fintech Report 2021. Dubai, on the other hand, is the leading financial hub in the MENA and South Asia, with DIFC being the largest fintech hub in the MENA region. Exposure to both markets creates outstanding opportunities for KILDE and its clients. SOURCE KILDE [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 20:39:27|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Han Yi (1st R, front), a medical staff member from Jiangsu Province, works at an ICU ward of the First Hospital of Wuhan City in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 22, 2020. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu) "There was a lot of data ready when we arrived," Thea Kolsen Fischer, professor of virus epidemics and infections at the University of Copenhagen, said in an interview published by the Danish newspaper Politiken. COPENHAGEN, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- A Danish professor on a World Health Organization team on the COVID-19 origin-tracing mission in Wuhan has criticized Western media outlets for distorting information about cooperation with Chinese authorities, local news reported Monday. "There was a lot of data ready when we arrived," Thea Kolsen Fischer, professor of virus epidemics and infections at the University of Copenhagen, said in an interview published by the Danish newspaper Politiken. A misguiding report published by The New York Times on Feb. 12 accused Chinese scientists of refusing to share important data about the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, citing independent investigators for the WHO. "We had mutual respect for each other's views and competencies," Fischer said, praising the cooperation between the WHO team and the Chinese experts on data and hypotheses during their month-long research. The expert commended both the WHO team and the Chinese experts for managing to stay free of any major political interests. Staff members do nucleic acid testing work at a novel coronavirus detection lab in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 22, 2020. (Xinhua/Cheng Min) "I can't stress enough how rewarding a process the trip has been. It went beyond all expectations in many ways. When we have had discussions in the expert team, it has only been based on data and documentation," she said. The international team arrived in Wuhan on Jan. 14 and formed a joint body with Chinese experts for the Chinese part of the global study on the novel coronavirus origins. At a press conference on Feb. 9, the joint study team said that a laboratory incident is "extremely unlikely" as the cause of COVID-19. It said introduction through an intermediary host species is "the most likely" passway. Direct transmission or introduction through cold-chain food is also likely. Rare manuscript on Mariana Islands history to be turned over to University of Guam by Spanish delegation Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Trung Nam Group has started construction of five factories at the Information Technology and Communication (ICT) Service Zone in the central city of Da Nang to host the moves of global supply chains. The general director of Trung Nam Group, Nguyen Tam Tien, said the factory chain would be built on 9.3ha at Da Nang Information Technology Park with an investment of 1.5 trillion VND (65.2 million USD). The group would also develop an apartment and villa zone for expert and engineers and an eco-park project on 26ha with a total of 2.1 trillion VND (91.3 million USD) for accommodation facilities for investors and their families in the near future, he said. Tien said the group planned to build 23 more ICT factories and R&D zones to meet increasing demand from global partners. We debuted the first surface-mount technology (SMT) factory with a capacity of 6.2 million electronic products per year at the Da Nang Hi-tech Park last year after three months of research, he said. He said the operation of the SMT factories chain will be a key step in building the Da Nang IT Park as central Vietnams 'Silicon Valley, and call for investors from Silicon Valley and the US to invest in high-tech industries, artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation. Trung Nam completed the first investment phase on 131ha at Da Nang IT Park with an investment of 47 million USD. It plans to develop the second phase on another 210ha with estimated funds of 74 million USD. Universal Alloy Corporation a leading global manufacturer of aircraft components for aerospace companies from the US launched its factory for aircraft components worth 170 million USD, at the citys Hi-Tech Park last March. Alton Industry from the US also plans to build a robot manufacturing project in the citys Hi-tech Park. In 2019, two of the first Silicon Valley-based businesses Meritronics AMT Inc and Ai20X Silicon Valley agreed with Trung Nam Group to develop the Da Nang IT Park. Last year, South Koreas LG Electronics and Trung Nam Land JSC inked an agreement with a vision to transform Da Nang into the centre of technology and R&D in Vietnam. VNA Dean of the School of Performing Arts at the University of Ghana, Professor Kofi Agyekum has appealed to human rights activists not to defend Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Transgender and queer Intersex (LGBTQI) in Ghana. Professor Kofi Agyekum, popularly known as Opanyin Agyekum, asked the human rights activists to stay clear off the issue of homosexuality but called on the government to, as a matter of urgency, take necessary actions against the activities of homosexuals. There are ongoing heated arguments about the LGBTQI community regarding whether or not their sexual orientation should be accepted in Ghana. The Christian and Islamic community together with many Ghanaians have spoken against the advocacy of homosexual rights and practice in the nation. Criticisms Spokesperson for National Chief Imam, Sheikh Aremeyaw Shaibu revealing the position of the Islamic body said; ''According to the various schools of Islamic thought, they have all accepted that the death penalty is the most deserving because the sin is so grave that such people don't deserve to live''. Member of Parliament for Assin South, John Ntim Fordjour has also called for legislation on homosexuality. "We should propose legislation to ban advocacy of LGBT matters. If we can't stay on radio to make advert and promote cocaine, theft, armed robbery and so forth which are against the law, we shouldn't allow people to promote issues like LGBT. We plead with all Ghanaians to support us. Just as we have galamsey fight and corruption fight or fight against corruption, this is a fight against fundamental values and customs and beliefs of the people of Ghana. We shouldn't politicize the issue. If we make it NDC/NPP issue, we will lose the fight. If we make it Christians vrs Muslims, we will lose the fight. We must all unite," he said. Sheikh Aremeyaw Shaibu and Hon. Ntim Fordjour made their submissions on Peace FM's morning show ''Kokrokoo'' on Monday, February 22, 2021. Opanyin Agyekum also shared his views saying ''the government must address this. We plead with the human rights activists not to involve themselves in this issue...All Ghanaians say it's an abomination, madness and nation-wrecking for a man to marry a man and a woman to marry a woman''. "Let the laws take its course. We should all condemn this act. Christians and Muslims dislike it. Our traditional leaders and ancestors have spoken against this practice a long time ago," he added. Opanyin Agyekum made these remarks on the same programme ''Kokrokoo'' on Tuesday, February 23. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A day after Rahul Gandhi took out a tractor rally in Wayanad in solidarity with protesting farmers, Union Minister on Tuesday lashed out at the Congress leader, saying he was trying to become an "actor on tractor". He also hit out at the poll-bound state's two rival fronts, ruling CPI(M)-led LDF and opposition Congress-led UDF, saying they were "fighting 'Kushti" in Kerala but have 'Dosti' in Delhi" and described it as "hypocricy". " is trying to become an actor on tractor," Joshi, the BJP's Kerala Assembly election incharge, told a press conference here. After taking out a tractor rally in his constituency on Monday in solidarity with the agitating farmers, Gandhi had said agriculture is the only business that belongs to "Bharat Mata" and called upon the people to "force" the government to take back the three farm laws. He alleged that the laws were designed to destroy the agriculture system in India and give the entire business to two to three friends of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Hitting out at the anti-BJP alliances at the centre and various states including poll-bound Kerala and West Bengal, Joshi said Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, who is supporting the Congress in Delhi, was not ready to accommodate that party in her state as it was becoming a "liability" for her. "LDF and UDF are fighting 'Kushti' in Kerala but have 'Dosti' in Delhi." "Mamata Banerjee is supporting Congress party in Delhi and she is not ready to accommodate that party (in West Bengal) because Congress party is becoming a liability in the whole country for various regional parties," he said. "Do you believe in democracy or do you believe in hypocrisy.You are trying to mislead the people," Joshi said. Later, addressing a party meeting here, he alleged that both the LDF and the UDF have ruined Kerala with corruption, nepotism, scam and favouritism. "LDF is lying Democratic Front.UDF is Ulta-pulta Democratic Front", he said, taking a jibe at both the alliances in the state. Joshi also interacted with leaders of NDA in the state and discussed the BJP-led front's strategy in the upcoming elections. In a tweet, he said Kerala and its people should benefit from the "double engine government" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (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.) Lucknow: Amazon Prime Video's India Originals Head Aparna Purohit Tuesday visited a police station here to record her statement in connection with an FIR registered against her and others over the alleged derogatory depiction of Hindu deities in web series "Tandav". "Purohit got her statements recorded at the Hazratganj Police Station as per the courts direction. Some questions were asked and if need be she will be called again. The probe is on in the case related to the 'Tandav' web series," Deputy Commissioner of Police Somen Barma told PTI. The Allahabad High Court had earlier this month ordered no coercive action against Purohit in the case. In January, an FIR was lodged at the police station against Purohit, "Tandav" series director Ali Abbas, producer Himanshu Krishna Mehra, writer Gaurav Solanki, and an unidentified person. The nine-episode political thriller starring Bollywood A-listers Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia and Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, started streaming on the platform in January. In Uttar Pradesh, FIRs have been registered against the show in Greater Noida and Shahjahanpur also, besides Lucknow. 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!! Long criticized by opponents for his control of the legislative process and party campaign funds, the 78-year-old Madigans firm grip on the levers of power began to loosen in 2018 when he faced a backlash over his handling of sexual harassment and intimidation within his governmental and political organizations. He was forced to cut ties with longtime aides, including his chief of staff, who also had been executive director of the state party. According to The British Stammering Association, 8% of children will stammer at some point, but most will go on to talk fluently. However, for up to 3% of adults, it will be a lifelong condition. Ed Sheeran, Bruce Willis, Tiger Woods, Julia Roberts, Samuel L Jackson and US President Joe Biden are just a few famous people who stammer. Despite this, there is very little understanding of the condition among non-stammerers and little support for young people who stammer. "In school, I used to think that if I didn't stammer, I could be prime minister," says firefighter Peter Bradley. "I thought it was the cause of all my problems and imagined all the things I could do if only I wasn't a stammerer. "Many people think that it's a nervous thing (I thought that myself as a child), but it's not. It's a neuro-developmental condition that can sometimes be hereditary. "I started to stammer when I was around seven," adds Peter, 32, who lives in Carryduff with wife Lisa and baby son, Finn. "My brother stammered in school and my dad stammered until he was in his early 20s, and I've got lots of cousins and relatives on my dad's side that would have stammered in school and beyond. They had speech therapy and that worked for them, but it didn't for me." In October 2019, Peter was interviewed on television, talking about stammering and working as a firefighter. "Shortly after, a young guy visited me in the fire station with his mum," he recalls. "He had never met anyone before who stammered and told me that before seeing me on TV, he never thought that he could become a firefighter. He said that it would be great if he could meet other young people who stammer so that he wouldn't feel so isolated. "Around the same time, Jamie got in touch and we decided to co-found the Belfast Stammer Support group. "During my schooldays, apart from my family, I didn't know anyone else who stammered and for me personally, engaging with other people who stammer has been the best therapy." Peter agrees that school can be a very traumatic experience for children who stammer. "In class, when we had to read out passages and things like that, I just couldn't do it. I used to wish that I could trade in my voice for a Stephen Hawking-type computerised voice box implantation to communicate for me. "Teachers have a big part to play when it comes to acceptance of stammering," says Peter. "When Covid restrictions are lifted, Jamie and I will be facilitating workshops with Stranmillis College to make student teachers aware of stammering, what it is and how it can affect children. "Also the practical measures they can take to help nurture and support children who stammer and develop their confidence. "The perception that because you struggle with vocal communication you are less intelligent, can cause a child to really doubt themselves and their self-worth. "When I was young, I never thought that I could be a firefighter. I thought I'd be working in an office or in a position where you didn't have to speak." Despite feeling like this, Peter finished school and went on to university. Having always wanted to work in the emergency services, he loves working as a firefighter and is very grateful to his employers for funding his attendance at the Starfish Project - a private, non-profit, adult speech therapy course in Eastbourne. "You are taught different techniques to help and the big thing for me was dealing with issues under the surface such as lack of confidence and the opinions of others," he says. "Support is unique to each person. Starfish helped me, yoga might help someone else. A major aim of Belfast Stammer Support is to raise funds to help young people access whatever support mechanism works for them." Peter insists that stammering should not be a barrier to career or personal success. "We've seen with Joe Biden that people who stammer make great leaders. My stammer has made me into an empathetic person, a good listener and a more compassionate person. Just because you are a stammerer it doesn't make you a poor communicator. "I think it's made me a better communicator." 'I became apologetic for having a stammer' Support group co-founder Jamie Wilson (32) began to stammer from around the age of four. Expand Close Forward thinking: Jamie Wilson wants more awareness around stammering / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Forward thinking: Jamie Wilson wants more awareness around stammering "It was quite significant well into adolescence and it had a terrible effect on my confidence," says the physiotherapist who lives in Bangor with wife Miriam. "I actually became apologetic for having a stammer. "At school things such as not being able to answer a teacher when they asked you a question, I found made them assume you were an idiot. "And because I wasn't answering, but my written work was good, sometimes teachers thought that I had copied things from other pupils. "All the way through childhood, I couldn't ask for a bus ticket to where I wanted to go, I had to pick a destination beyond or before that I could say. "I also had to learn how to like foods that I could say rather than ones I liked. "I tried traditional speech therapy when I was younger, but it didn't help." Despite his experiences, Jamie was determined that his stammer would not hold him back and after grammar school went on to university and a post-grad. "My parents were very supportive," he says. "I was also very stubborn," he laughs. "I know I could very easily have gone the other way - gone into myself and given up on education. "However, there are a lot of children who maybe don't come from stable homes who are struggling and if they can't put their hand up in school and ask a question, this can have a huge impact on their life and education. "A lot of people who stammer don't achieve their full potential." Jamie studied physiotherapy, a course and a career that requires a lot of verbal communication, wasn't that daunting? "It was when I was a student that I started to learn about stammering, accept my stammer and start to investigate and find my own way to manage it," he says. "I actually think that speaking to people regularly has helped my stammer more than anything else. "I know that stammering can seem very trivial, but despite Joe Biden becoming America's President and films such as The King's Speech, nothing has really changed for stammerers. "These days it's abhorrent to laugh at a disability, but cartoon and comedy characters still stammer to make you laugh, or stammering is used as a flippant description - a stuttering finish for example. "Why is it okay to laugh at stammering?" Jamie hopes that the Belfast Stammer Support group will help change attitudes and also encourage confidence and pride in young people who stammer. "Acceptance is important - accepting that you stammer and not apologising for it is vital," says Jamie. "We want to get kids to realise their strengths and work on their strengths, because whilst in utopian society they might be able to argue that speech shouldn't matter, in reality, it does. "Your stammer should not hold you back but it very easily can do." For info about Belfast Stammer Support, email: belfaststammer@gmail.com; Twitter: @BelfastSupport. Information on stammering and a helpline service is available from The British Stammering Association. Go to: www.stamma.org Raising awareness is so important Stammering is statistically more common among males than females and affects men four times more than it affects women. Expand Close Dr Anna OBrien / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dr Anna OBrien Dr Anna O'Brien (27) from Belfast works at Altnagelvin Hospital in Londonderry. "I've always stammered, but more so when I went to secondary school," she says. "I wouldn't say I had a hard time at school. I think for me, the stress came from not understanding what stammering was. And like a lot of young people, I thought it was my fault, or I was doing something wrong. "Someone would say, 'Slow down, or take your time' and I would think to myself, 'If only I could relax, I wouldn't stammer'. "When you're young, if you don't know anyone else who stammers, it can be very distressing and isolating. Many people try to hide it and in my experience, this can sometimes make it worse. "My parents and family were very supportive in getting me speech therapy, but also didn't force me to do anything I didn't want to do. My school teachers and university tutors were also very supportive." Working as a doctor, where verbal communication is key, must be difficult at times? "It definitely was during my first year," admits Anna. "It's a baptism of fire starting any new job and then worrying about your speech on top of that. "But the majority of people I come across are understanding. You do get the odd person who laughs, or an offhand remark if you are struggling to say your name and things like that. "However, when you explain that you have a stammer, the majority of the time, people are very understanding. "That's why raising awareness is so important. People who stammer naturally listen more than they speak. "And in a way it's helped me better understand people who have similar problems and disabilities. "I'll always have a stammer, but you can't let it hold you back from doing what you want to do in life." 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 (CNN) Shannon was used to her socially awkward son being bullied by other boys at the private school he attends in Atlanta. But when she picked him up from school in mid-January and her eighth grader told her he was being called a "simp," Shannon, who's only using her first name to protect her son's identity, didn't know what to think. "He's telling me this and I'm driving and I'm trying to make sense of it," she said. "I'd never heard the word." "He told me, 'It basically means that I'm just being nice to girls because I like them,'" she said. "I was like, wait, my kid is being picked on for being nice to girls?" Her son had told her he'd recently been put in the "friend zone" by one of the girls, who made it clear she wasn't interested in dating him. They had continued to be friendly. "You do all these things as a parent to raise your kid right, to be nice to everyone, especially kids without many friends," Shannon said. "And you never think that by making your kid the nice one you could be making them a target for bullies." What is a simp? While many parents might be unfamiliar with the word "simp," chances are your tween or teen has used or at least heard the term. Simp hashtags are rampant on TikTok. Instagram has over 350,000 posts tagged #simp and there are Facebook groups devoted to simps and simping (it can be a verb, too). Depending on who you talk to, there is some debate on the word's current usage and how much (if at all) it has evolved over time. While simp's way-back origins are connected to the word "simpleton," its current usage is linked to West Coast American rappers like Too Short, who first used it in the mid-1980s in a way that denotes the opposite of "pimp" in his song "Pimpology." In 1992, Boyz II Men released a song called "Sympin' Ain't Easy," using a different spelling of the word and evoking frustrated yearning. Urban Dictionary's top definition of a simp is "someone who does way too much for a person they like." Other definitions on the crowdsourced online dictionary include "a man who puts the hoes before the bros," and "a guy that is overly desperate for women, especially if she is a bad person, or has expressed her disinterest in him whom which he continues to obsess over." "'Simp' is slang for a person (typically a man) who is desperate for the attention and affection of someone else (typically a woman)," said Connor Howlett, 23, a digital strategist for Turner PR in New York City, in an email to CNN. "Think the energy of puppy dog eyes but manifested in a romantic, human form," Howlett said. "It's used in an insulting manner. Though typically playful, there are definitely undertones of toxic masculinity since it's related to showing too much emotion." Florida mother Karen McClung first encountered the word in group chats she closely monitors with her 11-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son. "I saw the word and quickly looked it up," said McClung, who lives in Tampa. "I asked my kids what they thought it meant and my son said, 'It's basically if you had $1,000 and you could do anything with it, you'd use it to get the attention of a girl then everyone would make fun of you." "I blocked the thread," McClung said. While she said her son wasn't being called a simp in the thread, McClung said she's "curious to see how it impacts my son because he's very chivalrous by nature." A definition that's evolving A word that emerged into Gen Z vernacular from social media usage, as simp is thought to have arrived, is bound to get muddled and continue to evolve. And simp can have different contexts depending on the age group using it, said Laura Capinas, a clinical social worker in Sonoma County, California. "Depending on if it's a middle schooler or a high schooler using it, it could be different," she said, and it's not just boys talking about simps and simping either. "Girls in high school sometimes throw out the term to their high school girlfriends," Capinas said. "Some kids I've talked to have said it's not a derogatory term. It's sort of like teasing someone, like 'You've left us to go hang out with your friends, you're simping us.'" "If you have someone saying it who's used to being a bully, it will be received as a bully comment," she said. While she hasn't heard kids or parents in her practice be overly concerned about the word, Capinas often hears kids use it in describing their day or their peer groups. Myra Fortson said she has discussed the word with her 15-year-old daughter and thinks words like this often "spread more quickly than their meaning." "Kids will also own their language by refusing to go back to its original meaning," said the Tampa, Florida, mother of three. "They will say things like, 'Maybe that's where it comes from, but it doesn't mean that anymore.' And they keep using the term the way they want." Tactics for defusing a tense simp-tuation One way to think of a simp, said Sean Davis, a marriage and family therapist in Sacramento, California, is "simply someone who is ahead of their time." "Though it hurts in the moment, in the big picture, a boy who is called a 'simp' can wear it as a badge of honor," Davis said. "Today's boys are being raised in the middle of the biggest redefinition of male gender roles in recent history," Davis said. "Should I be kind and sensitive or distant and aloof when trying to win a partner over?" As with all bullying, teens and tweens should first tell their parents or a trusted adult who may be able to intervene on their behalf, he said. "Otherwise, simply owning it and refusing to be ashamed can help." It's important for parents to remember that there have always been new slang terms to navigate for kids and parents alike, Capinas said, and the goal is to "make sure it's being received in a playful manner and used playfully." "I think we are always looking to stop our kids from being hurt," she said. "We don't like language that's slang and has potential for negative connotation." One tactic she teaches kids in her therapy sessions, she said, is the "humor tool." "It's comic relief. You practice not putting down the other person, you put down the situation," she said. If someone is being called out for always "simping the girls," Capinas said, "he could turn it around and say 'It's tough being the lone soldier simp nice guy, who wants to join me?'" "You can turn it and make it into comedy," she said. Davis pointed to a similar approach. "Telling the bully, 'That's right,' while holding your head up high and walking away can help, as bullies usually give up if they don't succeed in tearing the other person down," he said. "And you can tell yourself that being bullied is simply the price a revolutionary has to pay for standing up for what's right." Shannon said her son's therapist advised similar tactics, but the boy said he only comes up with the perfect retort three hours later. "It's just been really heartbreaking, especially because I know a lot of these boys bullying him. He's been at the school since second grade," Shannon said. "If their moms knew, they'd be horrified. But my son doesn't want me to tell them because it will just get worse." This story was first published on CNN.com 'The new slang teens use to insult boys who are 'too nice' to girls' Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 SISKIYOU COUNTY, Calif. - The name of the inmate who died in the Officer-Involved shooting at Fairchild Medical Center has been released, according to Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office. Chad Curtis Loynachan, 29, was from Tigard, Oregon. He was booked into the Siskiyou County Jail on Feb. 5. RELATED: SHERIFF: INMATE SHOT AND KILLED BY DEPUTY AFTER STRUGGLE AT FAIRCHILD MEDICAL CENTER IN YREKA Loynachan was charged for possession of drugs for sale, felon in possession of multiple loaded firearms, and possession of an improvised explosive device. On Friday, a corrections deputy was bringing Loynachan out of a medical clearance when a scuffle between the deputy and Loynachan broke out. Loynachan tried to take the deputys gun and escape but the deputy fired a shot and hit the inmate. Loynachan died receiving medical treatment. The bottom line For now, youre unlikely to have a choice. Medical experts say its important to take whichever vaccine is offered to you, and both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines that are currently authorized in the U.S. have been shown to be highly effective at preventing disease. As vaccine supply increases and more options become available in the coming months and years, there may be more scope for doctors to recommend different types of shots for different populations. The details Currently, there is a little bit of wiggle room for people who are determined to get one vaccine over another. People who have registered for vaccination can try to call vaccine sites directly to find out whether they have Pfizer or Moderna shots. But many places dont inform people ahead of time about which vaccine they will get during the appointment. In the early stages of the rollout, Pfizers vaccine has been more likely to be offered in hospitals, medical centers or large vaccine sites that have the ultracold storage that it was initially believed to need. Modernas shots, by contrast, have had less-extreme cold-storage requirements, making them more accessible for smaller pharmacies or offices in addition to larger venues. But now a new study has indicated that Pfizers vaccine can be stored and transported at temperatures similar to what a consumer freezer provides. If the FDA approves the change, that should make Pfizers vaccine more accessible. If and when the FDA authorizes the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, its also likely to help serve areas without access to high-grade cold storage, says Kathleen Neuzil, director of the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. For now, vaccine providers in various settings dont generally have a choice in which vaccine arrives to inoculate their patients, says Jonathan Temte, an associate dean at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Later on, it will be up to the healthcare systems to express preference for one or the other, just as they do for many other vaccines, he says. Eventually, Covid vaccination may be similar to flu vaccination, with recommendations for different subgroups. With the flu vaccine, people over 65 are often advised to take a high-dose version or an adjuvanted option, for instance. With more data, it will be easier for doctors to understand whether certain Covid-19 vaccines are better suited for different populations or health conditions. We will look at the subgroups and look at the bulk of the evidence to see whether there is a certain group that will benefit," Dr. Neuzil says, adding that both Pfizer and Moderna are expected to share additional subgroup data later this year. National policy bodies will then make recommendations based on the data, she adds. But those kinds of choices and recommendations on which type of Covid-19 vaccine to get are still many months away," says Dr. Neuzil. My initial advice is to get the first vaccine that you can get." (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. (Natural News) The new Republican governor of Montana lifted a statewide mask mandate in place since July 2020. Gov. Greg Gianforte rescinded the mandate on Feb. 12, fulfilling a promise he made the previous month. He stated that he would continue wearing a face mask despite the mandates repeal. But some cities are not planning to lift their local mask-wearing requirements as they consider Gianfortes repeal premature. Former Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, Gianfortes predecessor, ordered the mask mandate back in July of last year. It originally applied to counties with four or more active COVID-19 cases but was eventually expanded to cover the entire state in November 2020 when the number of Wuhan coronavirus cases and hospitalizations shot up. The number of confirmed cases in Montana has declined significantly ever since. Gianforte promised he would lift the mask mandate provided that liability protections were in place for businesses and health care providers and that enough vulnerable Montana residents were vaccinated against COVID-19. The governor made the promise a day after assuming office in January 2021. He made good on his promise through the Feb. 12 pronouncement, saying that both requirements had been met. Despite the lifting of the mask mandate, Gianforte said he would continue wearing a face mask and urged others to do so. Four GOP lawmakers with masks on including Montana Senate President Mark Blasdel and Montana House Speaker Wylie Galt were with the governor when he announced the mask mandates lifting. Gianforte said during the announcement: To combat the virus, providing incentives and promoting personal responsibility are more effective than imposing impractical government mandates. However, some public health officials in Montana have insisted that the state has not vaccinated enough vulnerable residents. According to state figures, less than 47,000 people in the whole of Montana have received both doses of the Wuhan coronavirus vaccines as of Feb. 12. Gallatin County Health Officer Matt Kelley called Gianfortes decision to lift the mask mandate confusing and concerning. He said: Weve got thousands of Montanans who cant get a vaccine and theyre vulnerable because theyre seniors or have underlying health conditions. Id like everybody to have a chance at that vaccine before we take the mask mandate down: Were not even close to that yet. Because of this, a number of counties have opted to retain local mask-wearing rules. These include the Gallatin, Lewis and Clark, Butte and Missoula counties. The city of Whitefish joins the four counties who have elected to keep mask-wearing mandates in place at the local level. Montana joins other states in repealing mandatory mask-wearing orders Aside from Montana, other states have overturned mandatory mask-wearing orders instituted to curb the spread of COVID-19. Wisconsin is one such state that overturned a mask mandate ordered by its Democratic governor. In January, the Wisconsin State Senate voted 18-13 to repeal a mask mandate put in place by Democrat Gov. Tony Evers. His order took effect in August 2020 and was set to expire in March 2021. The state legislatures vote prematurely ended the mandate. GOP lawmakers in Wisconsin had been fighting Evers measure for a number of months, calling it an overreach of his powers. State Sen. Steve Nass said the vote overturning Evers orders was not about whether face masks are good or bad [but] about repeatedly issuing emergency orders contrary to what the law allows. Evers defended himself by saying that the ongoing pandemic justified new emergency declarations along the way. (Related: West Virginians reject Gov. Jim Justices ultra mandatory mask mandate.) More than 20 health groups, including the Wisconsin Medical Society, had lobbied against scrapping the mask-wearing order. They argued that masks were a necessity until such time that the COVID-19 vaccine is widely administered. Despite their lobby and two GOP lawmakers joining state Democrats in favor of mask mandates, the order was eventually overturned. Just like in Montana, mask-wearing orders mask-wearing orders are still in place at the local level even though the statewide mandate is repealed. The Milwaukee and Dane counties have their own mask orders in effect, and so do several rural counties. Major cities in the state such as Green Bay, Beloit, Racine, Superior and Whitewater also have their own face mask mandates. Meanwhile, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds lifted mask-wearing mandates in the state Feb. 5 alongside limits on the number of people in bars and restaurants. The Republican governor lifted the orders against federal advice and without consulting with public health experts. She later defended her decision to lift the mandates without public health input, saying that Iowans have no need of a government order to protect themselves from the Wuhan coronavirus. Reynolds said during a news conference: Iowans know what to do. Weve been telling them for a year what they need to do. And theyre doing it. MedicalTyranny.com has more about mask-wearing mandates in different states amid the ongoing pandemic. Sources include: USNews.com SFGate.com FoxNews.com ABCNews.go.com DesMoinesRegister.com Paris: The prosecutors office says French actor Gerard Depardieu was charged last December with rape and sexual assault after authorities revived a 2018 investigation that was initially dropped. The French actor was not detained when he was handed the preliminary charges on December 16, the Paris prosecutors office told the Associated Press on Tuesday (Paris time). French film star Gerard Depardieu in Russia. Credit:AP The office addressed the charges after the case was leaked to French media. French media reports said the charges related to allegations made by an actor in her 20s that dated back to 2018. An initial inquiry against the star was dropped in 2019 because of a lack of evidence, but was later revived. Queenslands chief health officer said there was probably no community transmission circulating in Australia on Tuesday as more than 200 people received their first COVID jab in the state, allowing life to rapidly return to normal. Anzac Day dawn services and marches will return to Queensland on April 25 after commemorations were disrupted last year because of pandemic restrictions. Explaining why she had decided to recommended Anzac Day marches were safe to go ahead this year, Jeannette Young said Queensland had seven active cases, compared with more than 270 on April 25 last year. We do not have community transmission here in Queensland today, and we probably do not have community transmission anywhere in the country today, she said. [February 22, 2021] Enochian BioSciences to Present to Investors at the H.C. Wainwright Global Life Sciences Conference LOS ANGELES, Feb. 22, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Enochian BioSciences, a company focused on gene-modified cellular and immune therapies in infectious diseases and cancer, today announced that it will be making a company presentation to investors at the upcoming H.C. Wainwright Global Life Sciences Conference. Executive Vice Chair Dr. Mark Dybul will provide an overview of the companys progress, including its innovative HIV, Hepatitis B and Oncology platforms. The presentation will be available on-demand for conference attendees beginning at 7 am Eastern on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, and also will be available on the Enochian BioSciences website under the Investors/Media section in Events and Presentations. On March 10, Dr. Dybul and Chief Financial Officer Luisa Puche will be participating inlive, virtual one-on-one meetings with investors who are registered to attend the conference. More information on the conference may be found at H.C. Wainwrights conference website. About Enochian BioSciences Inc. Enochian BioSciences is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to identifying, developing, manufacturing, and commercializing gene-modified cell therapy. Our gene-modified cell therapy platform can be applied to multiple indications including HIV/AIDS, HBV and Oncology. Forward-Looking Statements Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical in nature are forward-looking statements. These statements are only predictions based on current information and expectations and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to the success or efficacy of our pipeline. All statements other than historical facts are forward-looking statements, which can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as believes, plans, expects, aims, intends potential, or similar expressions. Actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in any of such statements due to various uncertainties, including as set forth in Enochians most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, and Enochian undertakes no obligation to revise or update this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. Contact: ir@enochianbio.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Doctors have revealed the most common locations and types of skin rash found in children with a rare coronavirus-related hyperinflammation condition. Named MIS-C, patients were first diagnosed in 2020 after doctors noticed some children developed inflammation in a range of organs after exposure to SARS-CoV-2, with the Centre for Disease Control saying it can be fatal, but most children survive. Experts from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia say diagnosing MIS-C has proved difficult as many of its symptoms, including rash, fever and gastrointestinal distress, are similar to other childhood conditions. The team found that while there was no single location for rashes to appear - they commonly occurred on the lower limbs, inner thigh, chest and upper extremities. In more than half of the seven patients examined, they usually presented as small to medium circles the size of a 5p coin with tiny red spots in the centre. Authors hope that by highlighting common coronavirus rashes in children, their findings may help doctors and parents know when a rash needs further study. Small 5p sized plaques appear on the back of a child with MIS-C with tiny red spots inside There was no single place where the rashes appeared, and no single style for the rash - but researchers found they were common on arms and legs COMMON RASH LOCATIONS AND TYPES IN MIS-C Researchers found that while there was no single location for rashes in children with MIS-C, there were some common placements and types. A study of seven children with the condition helped researchers spot some common trends. All patients developed a rash on their lower body, and five had a rash on their inner thighs, the team found. Rashes on the chest and upper extremities were also common, occurring in four out of seven patients. More than half had small-to-medium annular plaques - circles the size of a UK 5p on the chest and back. More than half developed purpura - tiny red spots, often in the centre of the small circular annular plaques. While some did develop a cherry-red rash on the bottoms of their feet and palms, this sort of rash was seen in less than half of the patients. Rashes on the face were uncommon, and the rashes rarely itched. Advertisement In April 2020, doctors began recognising a syndrome in children involving hyperinflammation that results in an array of symptoms. These symptoms included the usual Covid-19 issues including fever, but also added gastrointestinal distress and a rash. The syndrome, thought to be a post-infectious complication of Covid-19, was given the name Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome Children, or MIS-C. However, diagnosing the condition has posed challenges, as many of its symptoms, including rash, are common in many other childhood infections. Philadelphia researchers say there also wasn't a single type of rash, or rash placement common among all cases of MISH-C in the children they examined. In a study published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases, researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) describe the array of rashes seen in MIS-C patients. They say these are all seen within children with the condition and could hope the photos they share in the paper could help doctors diagnose future cases. 'We hope the information provided in this research letter will help general paediatricians and emergency department physicians who may wonder if a patient with a fever requires a more extensive examination,' said author Audrey Odom John. 'Given that some rashes associated with MIS-C are distinctive, we also imagine these images could help many parents who are looking for signs that their child needs prompt evaluation,' the infectious disease expert from CHOP explained. All of the patients showed some degree of rash on their lower limbs, according to the team One patient had a rash along the hairline - this was uncommon, with lower and upper limbs most common locations for a rash A patient saw a rash develop on the neck (left) and another saw a much larger rash on their shoulder (right) but both were uncommon and not found in all children In terms of rash location, all patients in the study developed a rash on their lower body, and five of the seven patients had a rash on their inner thighs. Rashes on the chest and upper extremities were also common, occurring in four out of seven patients, according to the doctors. More than half of the patients presented with small-to-medium annular plaques - circles the size of a UK 5p or US dime on the chest and back. More than half of the patients in the study also developed purpura - tiny red spots, often in the centre of the small circular annular plaques mentioned above. Researchers found a number of locations for the rash, including the stomach and legs No two rashes were identical, with some showing as multiple tiny dots and others as a few larger dots littered across the stomach, bag, legs and arms While some patients did develop a cherry-red rash on the bottoms of their feet and palms of their hands, this sort of rash was seen in less than half of the patients. Rashes on the face were uncommon, and the rashes rarely itched. 'Depending on the age of the child, parents may not regularly look at the child's chest, back or thighs, but this is where the rashes associated with MIS-C tend to appear,' said John. 'Given that MIS-C is still largely a diagnosis of exclusion, parents and health care providers should look for rashes in these locations if the child has a fever that seems suspicious.' The findings have been published in the journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases. The threat of a second wave of the novel coronavirus pandemic in India is looming large as the country has started recording a spike in daily Covid-19 infections. India on Monday reported a surge in active cases of coronavirus infections for the fifth consecutive day. The total Covid-19 active cases have crossed the 1.5-lakh mark for the first time in 17 days. Also Read | India Inc gears up to go back to office Also, there are over 7,000 coronavirus mutations in the country of which some could pose a serious risk, a senior scientist has said. 86.3% of new cases are from 5 states According to an official release by the Union Health Ministry, 86.3% of the new cases are from five states. The majority of the new infections were reported from -- Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Punjab. Maharashtra continues to report the highest daily new cases at 5,210. It is followed by Kerala with 2,212 while Tamil Nadu reported 449 new cases. Seven states/UTs haven't reported any new cases in the last 24 hours, the health ministry said. These are -- Uttarakhand, Ladakh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, D&D and D&N, A&N Islands. 5 states account for 78.31% of new deaths Maharashtra also topped the charts in the majority of deaths due to the killer virus. Of the 83 deaths reported in a span of 24 hours, Maharashtra reported 35, Kerala 15, Punjab six, Chattisgarh five, and Madhya Pradesh registered four fatalities. These five states account for 78.31% of the new Covid-related fatalities. The health ministry data also stated that 19 states/UTs have not reported any coronavirus deaths in the last 24 hours. These are Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, J&K, Rajasthan, Odisha, Goa, Chandigarh, Assam, Manipur, Sikkim, Lakshadweep, Tripura, Nagaland, Ladakh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Daman and Diu and Dadar and Nagar Haveli and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. India Covid-19 update Meanwhile, daily new Covid-19 cases in India climbed to over 14,000, taking the country's overall tally of positive cases to 1,10,05,850 on Monday. Maharashtra reported 5,210 new coronavirus infections, after logging more than 6,000 cases for three days in a row, the health department has said. Kerala saw 2,212 fresh cases of coronavirus, including two who returned from the UK and 16 deaths, taking the total caseload to 10,37,218 and the toll to 4,105. Recoveries at 5,037 outnumbered the new infections. Tamil Nadu logged 449 new Covid-19 cases and six fatalities, taking the tally to 8,48,724 and death toll to 12,466, the health department has said. Recoveries outnumbered fresh infections with 461 people being discharged, taking the cumulative number to 8,32,167 leaving 4,091 active cases. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. With international borders still closed in Australia due to the coronavirus pandemic, holidaymakers are having to look towards home this year to get their tropical fix. Look no further than White on Whitehaven, a tempting new long weekend deal that offers guests the opportunity to be privately chartered from Sydney to the Whitsundays for a luxurious weekend stay this May. For $2,499, you and your friends will be flown to The Whitsundays and enjoy a three night package in Airlie Beach. You will then be swiftly whisked away to Whitehaven Beach for a delicious long lunch on the beach with seafood, cocktails upon arrival and French champagne, a swim and then taken back to your accommodation. White on Whitehaven is a tempting new long weekend deal that offers guests the opportunity to be privately chartered from Sydney to the Whitsundays for a luxurious weekend stay (Whitehaven Beach pictured) For $2,499, you and your friends will be flown to the luxurious Water's Edge Resort at Airlie Beach, before you later enjoy a long lunch You will also be transported back to the airport on the Monday, with a mid-morning Private Charter Flight to Sydney. Frequently voted the best beach in the world, guests will get to enjoy a long lunch by renowned restaurant Fish D'vine while they overlook the turquoise blue waters of the coral sea and Whitsunday Islands. You can expect the 'freshest seafood, tender meats and refreshing salads', all washed down with bottomless Australian wines, premium beer and Laurenti Champagne at the long lunch on the Sunday. There will also be sharing dessert platters at the event. You can expect the 'freshest seafood, tender meats and refreshing salads', all washed down with bottomless Australian wines, premium beer and Laurenti Champagne (pictured) What will the weekend of festivities look like? Friday 28 May: Depart Sydney by Private Charter Flight at 9am with a transfer to the hotel. Spend the day at leisure, and then attend a welcome two hour VIP cocktail event poolside at Water's Edge Pool with canapes and drinks in the evening. Saturday 29 May: Breakfast at Fish D'vine for the early risers followed by a delectable lunch on the private jetty at The Rocks, Coral Sea Resort. Later, enjoy a relaxed afternoon by the sea. Sunday 30 May: Spend the morning at your own leisure, and then attend the featured White on Whitehaven Long Lunch featuring local seafood, cocktails, French champagne and transfers from Airlie Beach. Monday 31 May: Morning transfer to the airport with a mid-morning Private Charter Flight to Sydney. Source: White on Whitehaven Advertisement You and your friends or family will be able to enjoy swimming and snorkelling in some of the world's most pristine waters (pictured) Elsewhere during the lavish weekend, you and your friends or family will be able to enjoy swims and leisure time at Water's Edge Resort in Airlie Beach, swimming and snorkelling on the Whitsundays and a private charter to and from Whitehaven Beach. The weekend will take place between Friday 28 May and Monday 31 May 2021, and costs $2,499 per person in total. If you live close to Whitehaven Beach, you can also book tickets to the long lunch only, for between $349 and $399 per person. Over the years, Whitehaven Beach has frequently been named the best beach in the world, from everyone from Tripadvisor guests to Instagram users (pictured) Over the years, Whitehaven Beach has frequently been named the best beach in the world, from everyone from Tripadvisor guests to Instagram users. The largest island in Queensland's Whitsundays, Whitehaven is a popular tourist destination in Queensland that offers pristine white silica sand and azure blue waters, as well as access to the iconic Great Barrier Reef. According to tourism company Awesome Whitsundays, the sand at Whitehaven is made from quartz as well as silica, which explains its pure, soft quality. Because of the silica, the sand doesn't retain heat, so it's a fantastic place to walk barefoot, even on a hot day. For more information about the White on Whitehaven long weekend, please click here. [February 22, 2021] Family receives $3.19 million verdict in case against Alaska Airlines for injuries suffered by their elderly mother at airport that led to her death, according to Luvera Law Firm A jury rendered a $3.19 million verdict in favor of the family of Bernice Kekona. The elderly and disabled passenger suffered fatal injuries when she fell down an escalator while in her wheelchair after Alaska Airlines failed to provide gate-to-gate transportation-which had been requested and confirmed five times-to a connecting flight in 2017. The verdict against Alaska was handed down Monday, February 22, 2021 in King County Superior Court. "Bernice Kekona was the victim of a tragic failure by Alaska to provide basic services between their flights," said Robert Gellatly of Luvera Law Firm, who represented the Kekona family. "Alaska failed Bernice miserably, and the company has continued to wield the legal system like a weapon to blame Bernice, evade responsibility, and undermine her grieving family in the most hurtful ways." The jury sided with the relatives of 75-year-old Kekona, an amputee and disabled passenger, who was traveling home from Hawaii to Spokane, and had scheduled assistance traveling between gates at the Portland International Airport. When the escorts her family arranged left Kekona alone due to miscommunications between Alaska and its contractor, she attempted to make the trip herself, ultimately falling down 21 steps on an airport escalator in hr wheelchair - a horrific incident captured on surveillance video. Kekona's injuries included trauma to her head and chest and escalator marks on her face, but the most significant was an Achilles tendon injury that led to septic infection. After three months of a painful and ultimately unsuccessful recovery process, doctors finally amputated her remaining leg, and she died the day after the surgery from overwhelming infection. "Passenger consumers trust that airlines will provide basic services in keeping with safety regulations, and Alaska really dropped the ball in taking simple steps to ensure Mrs. Kekona's well-being," said Brook Cunningham of Randall Danskin, co-counsel for the Kekona family. "We're honored to help hold the airline accountable and ensure safety for other passengers." The court rejected an earlier move by Alaska to dismiss the case. Throughout legal proceedings, the airline repeatedly tried to lay blame solely on Kekona herself, despite the fact that employees disregarded the family's arrangements and the company's own safety protocols in allowing a disabled septuagenarian to venture off, alone. In its verdict, the jury found the airline 90 percent responsible for the injuries that led to Kekona's death, which Gellatly said he hopes will bring a measure of closure to the Kekona family. "For the past four years, this grieving family has asked Alaska for transparency and accountability to ensure this wouldn't happen to another vulnerable passenger," Gellatly said. "We admire this family's bravery in continuing to fight in Mrs. Kekona's memory, and we thank the jury for their time and thoughtfulness in holding Alaska responsible for passenger safety." About Luvera Law Firm: Luvera Law Firm is a nationally recognized firm, with high standards of ethical conduct. The firm specializes in medical malpractice, brain injury, death and other major damage cases, and seeks justice for clients as well as positive changes in corporate and governmental behavior. Find more at www.luveralawfirm.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210222005997/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Video: 27 killed after huge explosions in Beirut; All officials at Indian Mission in Lebanon safe Six dead as gelatin sticks explode in Karnataka's Chikkaballapur; PM Modi expresses grief India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P Bengaluru, Feb 23: As many as six people lost their lives after a bunch of gelatin sticks exploded on Tuesday. The blast occurred in Chikkaballapur district of Karnataka. One person has reportedly sustained injuries. According to reports, the explosion happened when they were trying to dispose of the gelatin sticks that were used for quarrying. BKU leader Rakesh Tikait urges farmers to force 'king of looters' out of Delhi The deceased and the person injured had kept the gelatin sticks illegally. Fearing police raids, they were trying to dispose of the gelatin sticks when they exploded. Six of them died, while one has sustained injuries. Karnataka Minister Sudhakar said, "The dead bodies are seen in different directions...These are illegally held explosives. This will be dealt with law, strict action will be taken." Taking to Twitter, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too has expressed grief over the incident. Gujarat civic polls: BJP makes big gains | Celebrations begin | Oneindia News "Pained by the loss of lives due to a mishap at Chikkaballapur in Karnataka. Condolences to the bereaved families. Praying that the injured recover quickly," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) wrote on Twitter. These officers were simply following orders from Deputy Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia to clear the square," PBA President John Evans said at the time. "It doesn't specify clear the square of men, 50 and under or 15 to 40. They were simply doing their job. The lawyers use these responses to bolster their argument that Gugino's rights were intentionally violated. The statement that Gugino tripped and fell was part of a decision-making process communicated through the chain of command to avoid responsibility for the unlawful assault, the lawsuit says. And the reaction by the police union and its members, the lawsuit says, displayed the city's concealing, excusing and/or condoning the unlawful use of unnecessary and/or excessive force. The lawyers spent several paragraphs attacking the Brown-imposed curfew, arguing, among other things, that it was unfairly applied to peaceful protesters. The police were not enforcing the curfew with people around the city who were out after 8 p.m. enjoying their own pursuits, it says. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 22:51:22|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MUSCAT, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Oman has suspended flights and banned travelers from 10 countries as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus, the official Oman News Agency reported on Tuesday. The country's Supreme Committee tasked with the COVID-19 pandemic imposed a ban on travelers from Sudan, Lebanon, South Africa, Brazil, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia. The restriction measures, which will last at least two weeks, will take effect as of Thursday. The Omani Health Ministry on Tuesday announced 297 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Sultanate to 139,989. Meanwhile, 295 people recovered during the past 24 hours, taking the overall recoveries to 131,143, while two deaths were reported. The ministry urged everyone to adhere to social distancing instructions issued by the government. Enditem Canada's House of Commons has voted to declare that is committing genocide against more than 1 million Uighurs in the western region but Prime Minister and his Cabinet abstained from the vote. The non-binding motion passed 266-0 on Monday as virtually all but Trudeau and his Cabinet voted for the measure that also called on the Olympic Committee to move the 2022 Winter Olympics from Beijing. A senior government official told The Associated Press that Canada's foreign minister will make the government's position clear but said declaring something in Parliament is not going to adequately get results in and that work with allies and partners is needed. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak publicly about the matter. The main opposition parties supported the motion and control the majority of seats in the House of Commons. Trudeau's Cabinet is made up of 37 Liberal lawmakers, including the prime minister. There are 154 lawmakers from Trudeau's Liberal party in the House of Commons and the rest of the Liberal lawmakers voted freely on the motion. Opposition Conservative Party leader Erin O'Toole has said a signal must be sent to the Chinese regime. Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared before he left office that China's policies against Xinjiang's Muslims and ethnic minorities constituted crimes against humanity and genocide. His successor, Antony Blinken, reiterated the statement on his first day in office. Researchers and rights groups estimate that since 2016, has rounded up a million or more Uighurs and other minorities into prisons and vast indoctrination camps that the state calls training centres. Pompeo cited widespread forced birth control and forced labour among Uighurs. The Associated Press reported last year that the Chinese government was systematically forcing sterilisation and abortion on Uighur and other Muslim women and sent many to camps simply for having too many children. The vote is the latest attempt to hold China accountable for its treatment of the Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim and ethnic Turkic minorities, who have been subjected to an unprecedented crackdown that is increasingly drawing concern. China denies any abuses and insists the steps it has taken are necessary to combat terrorism and a separatist movement. China's envoy to Canada told Canadian parliamentarians over the weekend to butt out of China's internal affairs. After the leader of the Conservative party urged the government last week to press the International Olympic Committee to move the 2022 Winter Olympics out of Beijing, Trudeau hesitated at using the word genocide, which he called an extremely loaded term. When it comes to the application of the very specific word genocide, we simply need to ensure that all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed before a determination like that is made, Trudeau said last week. O'Toole has also said China is imposing a police state on Hong Kong and arbitrarily detaining two Canadians in Chinese prisons. He said if the Olympics are not moved, a boycott could be considered. Canada continues to press Beijing to release Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, both detained since December 2018 following Canada's arrest of Meng Wanzhou, a top executive at the Chinese technology company Huawei and the daughter of the company's founder. Canadian police detained Meng in Vancouver on a US extradition request nine days before Kovrig and Spavor were arrested. The US is seeking Meng's extradition on fraud charges, and her extradition case is before the Canadian courts. Her arrest severely damaged relations between China and Canada. China has also sentenced two other Canadians to death and suspended canola imports. (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.) Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 11:36:47|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close PHNOM PENH, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Tuesday reported 25 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections in the kingdom to 593, said a Ministry of Health (MoH) statement. The new infections included 23 locally-transmitted cases, including three cases of the variant first found in Britain, and two imported cases, the statement said. It said the two imported cases were found on Cambodian UN peacekeepers who returned to the kingdom on Sunday from the Central African Republic with a connecting flight in India. Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on Monday ordered the closure of all schools in capital Phnom Penh and southern Kandal province for two weeks in a bid to curb the spread of the virus into schools. He called on all people who had connections to the Feb. 20 community outbreak to go for COVID-19 tests and to undergo a 14-day quarantine at their houses. "I'd like to urge people not to leave home if unnecessary; it can be said that the outbreak this time is bigger than the Nov. 3 and Nov. 28 outbreaks," he said. The prime minister also appealed to people to wear face masks when they go out, to maintain a social distancing of at least 1.5 meters from each other, and to avoid gatherings. The Southeast Asian nation has registered a total of 593 confirmed COVID-19 cases to date, with zero deaths and 475 recoveries, the MoH said. Enditem Acclaimed AVIE! Medspa and Laser Center is the first in Loudoun County, Virginia to provide EMTONE, a non-invasive technology that simultaneously treats all major contributing factors to cellulite. Until now, there has never been one true solution to all of the factors that lead to cellulite. AVIE! Medspa and Laser Center is excited and honored to be the first in Loudoun County, Virginia to provide EMTONE the first comprehensive cellulite-busting technology. This non-invasive, FDA-approved procedure uses radiofrequency and targeted pressure energy to tone skin, remove cellulite and improve skin laxity without any incisions, scars or recovery time. EMTONEs unique combination of thermal and mechanical energy simultaneously addresses all major contributing factors to cellulite a condition that affects 90% of women. For optimal results, a series of four treatments is recommended over the course of two weeks. This treatment allows us to do even more to help our patients achieve their best body, says AVIE! owner, registered nurse and Master Aesthetician Kim Marinetto. The AVIE! team added EMTONE to its body sculpting services with the patient in mind, to further enhance full-body treatment and wellness. As the only medspa in Loudoun County that provides EMTONE, AVIE! is proud to be an industry leader, bringing on new and innovative technology to better serve every patient. EMTONE is the finishing touch to AVIE!s leading range of body contouring treatments, which includes the clinically proven, breakthrough treatments EMSCULPT Classic for muscle toning and EMSCULPT NEO for muscle toning and fat reduction. AVIE! is actually a training center for the BTL industrys EMSCULPT, EMSCULPT NEO and EMTONE technologies. Please call (703) 870-3844 or request a consultation online today! Toned, Not Textured. EMTONE delivers thermal and mechanical energy simultaneously to treat all major contributing factors to cellulite. This is revolutionary in the aesthetics industry because cellulite is often caused by a combination of factors including sun damage, body fat, skin laxity and more. Ultimately, fibrous bands run from skin to muscle through the fat, pulling the bands downward on the skin, which pushes the fat upward. Until now, there has never been one true solution to all of the factors that lead to cellulite. EMTONE is designed to simultaneously emit both radiofrequency and targeted pressure energy, resulting in a synergistic effect that neither technology could achieve on its own. Best of all, it results in notably smoother, toned and cellulite-free skin! EMTONE can treat cellulite in the following areas: Abdomen Buttocks Underarms Thighs AVIE! Medspa and Laser Center is the premiere destination in Northern Virginia for all body contouring needs. To learn more about EMTONE or our other treatments, please call (703) 870-3844 or request a consultation online today! About AVIE! Medspa & Laser Center AVIE! Medspa & Laser Center has been offering the latest in cosmetic medical spa treatments in a relaxing spa environment in Leesburg, Virginia since opening in March 2009. Owner and Master Aesthetician Kim Marinetto, RN, in conjunction with Medical Director Khalique Zahir, MD, and their highly skilled team of nurses, nurse practitioners and aestheticians, provide specialized cosmetic and aesthetic programs so each of their clients needs are addressed on an individual basis with personalized follow-ups. Aesthetic treatments at AVIE! have minimal to no downtime. In addition to EMTONE, services include EMSCULPT, EMSCULPT NEO, Halo, microneedling, Vivace Microneedle RF, CoolSculpting, Ultherapy, Botox, Juvederm Ultra XC, Juvederm Ultra Plus XC, Vollure XC, Voluma XC, Volbella XC, chemical peels, MicroLaserPeel, BBL photofacials, HydraFacial MD, dermaplaning, skin tightening, ProFractional Skin Resurfacing, laser hair removal, professional skin analysis, PRP, PRFM, vitamin B12 shots and blepharoplasty by Dr. Zahir. AVIE! has performed over 315,000 Botox and dermal filler treatments since 2009. AVIE! also carries physician-level skin care and makeup. Consultations are complimentary and financing is available. For more information, please call 703-870-3844 or visit http://www.aviemedspa.com. About Kim Marinetto, RN & Master Aesthetician Kim Marinetto has over 33 years of experience as a registered nurse. In the past 15 years, she has focused her practice on cosmetic medicine, adding to her credentials a Medical Aesthetician Certification in 2006, along with additional certifications in Botox Cosmetic, facial fillers, sclerotherapy and various advanced laser systems. Kim is a Master Aesthetician in the state of Virginia. Additionally, Kim is an Aesthetic Provider Council member for Alastin Skincare USA. She has done extensive training on laser technology and her coursework is recognized by the AMA. About Khalique Zahir, MD Dr. Khalique Zahir, medical director of AVIE! Medspa and Laser Center, graduated from West Virginia School of Medicine and is board-certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and The American Board of Surgery. Dr. Zahir practiced general surgery from 19921999 at West Virginia University and St. Marys Hospital, then cosmetic, plastic and reconstructive surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center from 19992001. Dr. Zahir also holds a Virginia Medical License and a Maryland Medical License. He has written over 20 articles published in national health journals and is an assistant clinical professor of surgery at VCU School of Medicine. The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company 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 Photo: Pixabay It may come as no surprise to locals, but Vancouver is one of the most unaffordable cities in the world for homeownership, according to a new survey. Vancouver was the second most unaffordable city in the 2021 Demographia International Housing Affordability survey, well behind Hong Kong and just ahead of Sydney (Australia). The survey uses a median multiplier method, which compares housing prices to median income in any given city. This survey included the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Singapore and Hong Kong and determined only four cities of the 92 surveyed were affordable: Pittsburgh, Rochester, Buffalo, and St. Louis. They each scored ratings of between 2.6 and 3. Canada's average lay at 5.4; anything above a 5 is considered severely unaffordable. Vancouver scored a 13. The two major Albertan cities, Edmonton (3.8 or moderately unaffordable) and Calgary (4.1 or seriously unaffordable) were the most affordable cities in Canada for homeownership. Ottawa-Gatineau (5.2) and Montreal (5.6) were both near the Canadian average. Toronto (9.9) joined Vancouver in the top five. "The number of housing markets that have become severely unaffordable in the United States and Canada has grown steadily since 2004," writes Wendell Cox, the author of the survey. "Housing affordability deteriorated the equivalent of six years of annual household incomes in Toronto, between two and three years in Montreal, Portland and Ottawa-Gatineau and by 1.5 to 2.0 points in Seattle and Denver." The survey was released by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, an independent Canadian think-tank that's often described as neoliberal or right-wing; they've also been involved in controversies regarding climate change denial and a radio ad about residential schools. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Not so much a call to "dig for victory" as a call to "dig for recovery" Rising metal prices in 2020 and early-2021 have led to the resumption of exploration and development activities all over the globe, including many projects located closer to home than you might expect. Within the UK right now there is an incredible, sixteen companies, actively seeking to explore for metals and/or develop mines. These projects are in a range of metals that can broadly be separated into four main groups: speciality and base metals projects focused in the Southwest of England (Figure 1) and North Wales (Figure 2); battery metals projects, which are also focused on Cornwall; precious metals projects focused in Northern Ireland and Scotland (Figure 2) and agri-minerals, located in North Yorkshire. Figure 1: Speciality and Base Metals Projects (shown in blue) and Battery Metals Projects (shown in green) in the Southwest Source Mining and Metals Research Corporation Figure 2: Precious Metal Projects (shown in yellow) and Agri-Mineral Projects (shown in red) in the North Source Mining and Metals Research Corporation These projects are being developed at a critical time for the UKs economy, which is suffering from rising unemployment and spiralling national debt. While mining has an unquestionable impact on the immediate environment around an orebody during the period that the mine is operational, it is a temporary use of land. Rehabilitation management and conservation measures that can be taken before production even commences can actually have a net positive effect on the local environment around a mine. Mines also create skilled and high-paying direct jobs and secondary indirect and supply chain jobs, as well as providing the raw materials that are essential to every sector of our economy, while also generating taxes and royalties for local, regional and national governments. A well-regulated mining industry can provide a country with huge economic benefits from a relatively small and temporary environmental footprint, so let us take a closer look at some of these projects. Speciality Metals (TWL) (TWL) is a UK private company that is planning to resume operations at the Hemerdon Tungsten-Tin Mine, located in South Devon. The Hemerdon Mine, also known as Drakelands was formerly operated by Wolf Minerals who went into receivership in 2018 after having invested over 200 million into the project. Tungsten West acquired the project in December 2019 for 10 million, and since acquiring the operation, the company has focused on gaining a greater understanding of the mineralogy and metallurgy of the deposit to avoid the processing plant issues faced by the former operator. Following its initial assessment, the company believes that the ore sorting and the front end of the plant need redesigning and initial estimates suggest that this might cost around 40 million. While the company needs to complete additional metallurgical and processing studies before the operation can resume, once it does Tungsten West is confident it will be at the lower end of the cost curve and be able to generate significant levels of cash flow for the company, which mean taxes for the government, as well as high levels of employment for the local area. ( ) ( ) recently completed a dual listing on the AIM market, in addition to its TSX-V listing, raising 8.2 million. The company plans to use the funds raised to undertake a drilling programme at its United Downs Copper-Tin Project, located in Cornwall, to determine the resource potential of a 1,000-metre-long target. United Downs is located immediately adjacent to four former copper and tin producing mines: Consolidated Mines and United Mines to the west; and Mount Wellington and Wheal Jane Mines to the east. Initial drilling of the area in April 2020 resulted in the discovery of new zones of high-grade copper-tin mineralisation in a previously unmined area between the historic United Mine and Consolidated Mines. In addition to the United Downs Project, Cornish Metals also owns the South Crofty Tin Project, located close to United Downs. South Crofty is one of the highest-grade undeveloped tin resources globally with a long history of mining, from 1592 until the most recent operation stopped in 1998. The project has an active mine permit valid until 2071 and importantly planning permission to build a new process plant, as well as an environmental permit to dewater the mine. South Crofty could form a processing hub for United Downs and other projects within reasonable transport distance. s ( ) s ( ) is developing the Redmoor Tungsten-Tin Project, located in northeastern Cornwall. The original Redmoor Mine was first operated in the 18th century continuing until 1892 when it was forced to close due to low tin prices, with operations resuming between 1907 and 1914 and again in 1934. Strategic Minerals completed a scoping study at the project in 2020, which returned a post-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 28.6% and a post-tax net present value using an 8% discount rate (NPV8) of US$128 million assuming a production rate of 600,000 tonnes per annum, over a potential mine life of 10 years. The company is currently assessing targets to the west of the current resource estimate to increase the scale of the potential operation at Redmoor. is a private exploration company focused on advancing the Great Wheal Vor Copper-Tin Project, located in Cornwall. Underground mining first started at the Great Wheal Vor Mine in the 15th-century and continued until 1715 producing mainly copper. Operations resumed intermittently between 1854 and 1910 producing both copper and tin. Cornish Tin has completed an extensive desktop research programme that has resulted in the definition of several exploration targets within the project area. These targets are associated with the known lodes of the old mines based on historic mine plans. Cornish Tin is planning a three-phase drilling programme to define a mineral resource estimate at the project. Phase 1 is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2021 (Q221), consisting of 30-40 relatively shallow holes (7,500 metres). ( ) ( ) is advancing the Parys Mountain Copper-Zinc-Lead-Gold-Silver Project, located on the island of Anglesey in North Wales. A recently completed preliminary economic assessment at the project returned a post-tax NPV10 of US$92.1 million and a post-tax IRR of 23.6%. The operation is expected to extract 11.5 million tonnes over a twelve-year mine life producing zinc, copper, lead and gold concentrates. Anglesey has identified several areas for further improvement and will continue to evaluate and optimise the alternative cases and initiate the necessary work to move towards completing a preliminary or a definitive feasibility study. Battery Metals (PRIVATE:CORN) (PRIVATE:CORN) is a private exploration company exploring for geothermal lithium brines within Cornwall to create a new high-tech, environmentally responsible mining industry in the region. The company has the rights to explore for lithium over a vast area of 300km2, the largest unified exploration effort ever conducted in Cornwall. The companys most advanced project at the United Downs Geothermal Power Project is in collaboration with Geothermal Engineering Ltd. The partners were recently awarded 4 million in funding from the UK Government's 'Getting Building Fund to build a pilot direct lithium extraction plant at the United Downs site to extract lithium from the geothermal waters, which circulate naturally at depth in the granite rock that underlies Cornwall. is also evaluating the potential for extracting lithium from a recently operational china clay pit at Trelavour Downs, St Austell. In 2020 the company completed a 41-hole drill programme and extensive metallurgical testing, successfully producing nominal battery-grade lithium hydroxide. A second drill programme is now underway with 1,500 metres of diamond and 2,500 metres of reverse circulation drilling planned to produce a maiden mineral resource estimate. The company also plans to commence bulk metallurgical testing, as well as the construction of a pilot plant at the project. is a private UK company developing the Project, located in Roche, Cornwall. The company has completed two drilling programmes at the project and has made a significant discovery of hard rock lithium mineralisation from the surface. The company commenced pilot grinding and screening of an 11-tonne bulk sample of -mica granite in December 2020. British Lithium is now further developing its metallurgical laboratory in Cornwall with the addition of beneficiation, pyro-metallurgical and hydro-metallurgical equipment - a first of its kind in the UK Precious Metals ( ) ( ) is ramping up production at its newly commissioned Cononish Gold-Silver Mine, located in Scotland. The mine is expected to produce between 8,700 oz Au (gold) and 7,800 oz in 2021 and has created over 60 jobs. A fully funded expansion of the operation is planned to be completed by May 2022, which will see production levels double to 23,500 oz gold per annum. Scotgold is also ramping up its regional exploration programme, as well as completing additional data modelling on three targets close to the mine to establish the best sites to test these targets in future drilling programmes. Galantas Gold Corporation ( ) Galantas Gold Corporation ( ) owns the Cavanacaw Gold Mine, located in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. The former open pit operation has, after a lengthy delay, secured the planning permits to resume mining activities at the site by making the transition to an underground operation. About a kilometre of underground development has been completed so far and the company is actively working with third parties on the financing arrangements required to recommence and expand blasting underground. is a private company developing the Curraghinalt Gold Project, also located in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Dalradian has spent 130 million in Northern Ireland since 2009 and has been seeking the required permissions to mine the project since 2017. In 2020 Infrastructure Minister, Nichola Mallon, ordered a public inquiry into the application for planning permission and at present the future of the project remains uncertain. Koza Limited Koza Limited is a private Turkish company that has an 80/20 joint venture with GreenOre Gold at its Aberdeenshire and Ayrshire Gold Projects, located in Scotland. At the Aberdeenshire project gold-bearing anomalies, trending northeast-southwest, have been defined over a strike length of 5 kilometres (km) with four magnetic anomalies defined. Drilling has confirmed the presence of gold-bearing veins. A follow-up exploration programme for 2021 is currently being designed and will include deep overburden sampling and drilling. Work will commence as soon as lockdown restrictions allow and permitting has been secured. is a private exploration company with interests in four projects, located in Scotland. Two projects are part of a joint venture with Koza Gold, while one is part of a joint venture with . GreenOre Gold also owns 100% of the Kerry Road Gold deposit, located within the Gairloch Gold Project, in northwest Scotland. In the late-1970s early-1980s over 9,000 metres of drilling was conducted at the project defining a horizon rich in gold, copper and zinc. GreenOre is confident that the deposit is now of economic interest and the surrounding area could contain further discoveries. Greenore is planning to undertake metallurgical test work of the ore and will continue to explore for additional mineralisation along the trend. is a private exploration company that has the option to earn up to 80% of the Loch Tay Gold Project, located in Perthshire, Scotland, with GreenOre Gold holding the balance. Erris has received encouraging initial results at the Corrie Buidhe Silver Mine area, discovering gold in the dump of the old mine. At the Lead Trial Prospect, the company has outlined an extensive area of well-developed quartz vein stockworks and localised hydrothermal breccias over a distance of at least 400 metres. A work programme including systematic soil sampling has commenced that will aim to link the two areas into a coherent major target area extending over 3 km. ( ) ( ) is developing the Knapdale Gold Project, located 50km south of Oban in West Scotland. Knapdale is an early exploration stage project prospective for orogenic quartz-gold-silver mineralisation with a 15km2 zone of anomalous gold-silver-copper-lead-zinc-arsenic-antimony-bismuth in drainage and rock chip geochemical samples extending south-southwest from the historic Stronchullin Gold Mine to the abandoned Abhainn Strathainn Copper Mine. Deep overburden geochemical sampling has delineated four new anomalous zones of quartz-gold-silver vein mineralisation at the Stronchullin and Gossan Burn Prospects, which will be drill tested in Q221. ( ) ( ) is advancing the Clay Lake Gold Project, located in County Down, Northern Ireland. Conroy has recently reinterpreted the geology of the Clay Lake Project using the new geophysical data that has improved its understanding of the subsurface geology and gold mineralisation in the area. The company now believes it has identified parallel structures at the project increasing the potential for additional gold mineralisation. Exploration at the project already generated significant results from drilling (6.6 metres at 6.2 g/t Au) and trenching (12 metres at 2.2 g/t Au) and Conroy is now planning a follow-up drill programme for 2021. AgriMinerals ( ) ( ) is currently developing the 2.69 billion tonnes Woodsmith Polyhalite Project, located in North Yorkshire. It is targeting the completion of a technical review of the project in mid-2021; once in production, the mine is expected to operate for the next 100 years. Summary Today, mining forms a minor component of the UKs gross domestic product, c. 0.71% in 2020, but this is changing as can be seen by the wealth of exploration and development companies operating in the UK. When Anglo Americans Woodsmith Polyhalite Project comes on stream, it is expected to create nearly 2,000 direct and indirect jobs, as well as generating around 200 million per annum in taxes for the government. Smaller projects such as Scotgold Resources Cononish Mine are also doing their bit, with around 60 jobs created. With the current unemployment rate rising to 5.1% (Oct-Dec 2020) - its highest level in five tears - as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit, minings potential importance to our economy is increasing. Can the UK afford to be delaying projects such as s Curraghinalt Gold Project, which could generate 1,000 direct and indirect jobs, as well as generating significant levels of taxes that will boot the UK economy, at a time when we have rising unemployment and spiralling national debt? The delays at projects like Curraghinalt can also have a knock-on effect, putting investors and other exploration companies off investing in mining and exploration projects within the UK. With a resurgence in UK based metal and mineral exploration, now is the time for local and the national government to step-up support and being nurturing the resurgence of the UKs mining industry with more initiatives like the 4 million in funding granted to from the UK Governments Getting Building Fund. At the Medical University of South Carolina, insufficient vaccine supplies mean the Charleston hospital system isn't penciling anyone new into the appointment calendar. "We do not have enough vaccine being received to schedule any new appointments," said Dr. Danielle Scheurer, chief quality officer for MUSC Health. Similar issues are being reported at other South Carolina hospitals. According to data reported to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, the amount of vaccine included in shipments this week were lower for both MUSC and Prisma Health, the largest health systems in the state, than at any point since early January. "It's just harder to plan," Scheurer said. "We didn't expect to be getting so much less." Scheurer said some first-dose appointments are being rescheduled so that vials can be used for second-dose appointments. The hospital isn't canceling on patients altogether, she said, but second doses have to be prioritized because patients can't wait too long after the first round. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the best course is to get the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine three weeks after the first. The agency has said people can wait up to six weeks if necessary, but after that period, there isn't evidence to support getting the second shot. Statewide numbers New cases reported: 718 confirmed, 156 probable. Total cases in S.C.: 437,806 confirmed, 69,106 probable. Percent positive: 6.6 percent. New deaths reported: 21 confirmed, six probable. Total deaths in S.C.: 7,436 confirmed, 921 probable. Percent of ICU beds filled: 73 percent. How does S.C. rank in vaccines administered per 100,000 people? 42nd as of Feb. 22, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sign up for our new health newsletter The best of health, hospital and science coverage in South Carolina, delivered to your inbox weekly. Email Sign Up! Hardest-hit areas In the total number of newly confirmed cases, Greenville (83), Charleston (56) and Spartanburg (53) counties saw the highest totals. What about the tri-county? Charleston County had 56 new cases on Feb. 23, while Berkeley counted 16 and Dorchester had 14. Deaths All of the new confirmed deaths reported were among people age 65 and older. Hospitalizations Of the 977 COVID-19 patients hospitalized as of Feb. 23, 232 were in the ICU and 126 were using ventilators. What do experts say? The CDC studied a school district in Georgia over a month of in-person instruction and found teachers seemed to be more likely spreaders of the virus than students. The finding is relevant to plans to fully reopen schools, given educators are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine while most students are not. Researchers with the nations public health authority wrote it is possible to keep COVID-19 out of schools, even when the disease is spreading in the community. The CDC and local health officials studied eight elementary schools in the same Georgia school district. In each case of COVID-19 spread, physical distancing and mask-wearing werent always done properly. Lunchtime, when kids arent required to wear masks, was thought to be a likely culprit in the spread of the virus. But the key finding in the research was that educators play an important role in in-school transmission. Jefferson Parish authorities are still trying to figure out precisely what sparked Saturday's bloodbath at Jefferson Gun Outlet where a gunman killed two and shot two more before being slain by employees in the parking lot. At a Tuesday press conference, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto said detectives might never know why Joshua Jamal Williams fired at customers and employees after he was told to unload his pistol before walking into the business. But by using store footage and other evidence, Lopinto said they could retrace Williams' steps in his final moments. The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate also used a graphic to illustrate what happened as shots rang out in and around the building. Williams enters the business with a pistol and an extended magazine. He is told he must take the weapon outside and unload it, according to store rules. Williams steps just outside the door and fires a shot toward Airline Drive. Williams turns, re-enters the store and shoots and kills customer Veronica Billiot. He also exchanges gunfire with three employees. Williams leaves the store briefly. When he returns, employees take cover. He fatally shoots Noah Fischbach in the back before walking down the hallway, turning around and going back outside. Once outside, Williams is confronted by four armed store employees, and they exchange gunfire. An employee is hit in the leg. Williams is then shot dead. For the latest coverage on the Jefferson Gun Outlet shooting from staff writers Michelle Hunter, Ramon Antonio Vargas and Della Hasselle, click here. Speculation continues to swirl about Season 25 of The Bachelor, with host Chris Harrison saying hes stepping away from the show temporarily after he made comments that seemed to excuse racist behavior. Making that controversy even more awkward is the possibility that Matt James, who made history as the first Black star in Bachelor history, might give the final rose to Rachael Kirkconnell. She may be a frontrunner to win James favor, but Kirkconnell has been criticized for her social media posts, and photos of her attending an Old South antebellum college party in 2018. While all thats going on, the show keeps chugging ahead. Tonights Episode 8 is a pandemic-altered version of what used to be called the hometown dates. In the quarantine world, the remaining four women James has chosen will be joined by members of their family and loved ones. Instead of hometowns, the family members will come to Pennsylvanias Nemacolin resort, where this season is based. (How to watch: The Bachelor airs at 8 p.m. Mondays on ABC. No cable or antenna? Live stream The Bachelor on fuboTV, which offers a 7-day free trial or Hulu + Live TV; you can stream episodes the following day on Hulu) According to the episode description, the final womens loved ones arrive at the resort to meet Matt; over the course of four intense and emotional dates, they experience tough conversations, heartfelt moments and touching surprises. If nothing else, that sounds like a change in tone from the endless talk of mean girl behavior and a toxic atmosphere among the women. For Oregonians, though, it means we wont be seeing our local contestants, Pieper James, a graduate student from Happy Valley, Oregon, and Abigail Heringer, a client financial manager from Beaverton, who were both sent home in the episode that aired last week. In a development Monday, James posted a response to the racism controversy to his Instagram page. James wrote, in part, The past few weeks have been some of the most challenging of my life, and while there are several episodes left of the season, it is important that I take the time to address the troubling information that has come to light since we wrapped filming, including the incredibly disappointing photos of Rachael Kirkconnell and the interview between Rachel Lindsay and Chris Harrison. The reality is that Im learning about these situations in real time, and it has been devastating and heartbreaking to put it bluntly. James went on: Chris failure to receive and understand the emotional labor that my friend Rachel Lindsay was taking on by graciously and patiently explaining the racist history of the Antebellum South, a painful history that every American should understand intimately, was troubling and painful to watch. As Black people and allies immediately knew and understood, it was a clear reflection of a much larger issue that The Bachelor franchise has fallen short on addressing adequately for years. Between Lindsays reaction to the interview with Harrison, and group statement by women from Season 25 of The Bachelor expressing support for Lindsay, the conversation has been heated and ongoing. James appeared to address that, writing that the public conversations and reporting have also pushed me to reevaluate and process what my experience on The Bachelor represents, not just for me but for all of the contestants of color, especially the Black contestants of this season and seasons past, and for you, the viewers at home. James ended the post by noting that people will hear more from him about these issues, adding, My greatest prayer is that this is an inflection point that results in real and institutional change for the better. More of our coverage: The Bachelor Episode 7: The Oregon women learn their fates before Matt meets the families The Bachelor resumes, amid Chris Harrisons comments on woke police: How to watch online Subscribe to our free weekly What to Watch newsletter. Email: -- Kristi Turnquist kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist More than 600 Pennsylvania nursing homes have fully vaccinated residents and staff and all long-term care facilities participating in a federal vaccine program will have received first doses by the end of February. Gov. Tom Wolf announced in a Tuesday news conference that more than 315,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered by CVS and Walgreens through the federal pharmacy partnership. More than 150,000 doses went to residents, with more than 140,000 going to staff. This is an important milestone for Pennsylvania and marks key progress ensuring that our most vulnerable residents get the vaccines soon and quickly, Wolf said. ... Skilled nursing, personal care and assisted living facilities have been hit very, very hard by this pandemic. And thats why this milestone is such an important one. The Federal Pharmacy Partnership is saving lives. About half of the 23,711 Pennsylvanians who have died from the coronavirus lived in long-term care facilities. And 66,173 residents and 12,838 long-term care staff have been sickened. Pennsylvania is in Phase 1A of its vaccination plan, which prioritizes residents and staff of long-term care facilities, frontline healthcare workers, people over 65 and those with certain medical conditions. The states been allocating 64% of its weekly Pfizer vaccine distribution to the pharmacy partnership. Pennsylvania has about 133,000 people living in nursing homes, long-term care and assisted facilities, staffed by about 122,000 workers. The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services has contracted with Rite Aid to vaccinate older residents who live in care facilities that dont meet the federal programs criteria. State officials did not provide data on vaccine uptake amongst residents or staff. Wolf acknowledged vaccination is a personal health decision, but emphasized the vaccine protects you from death and serious illness and slows the spread of the virus. A recent study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that in the first month of the federal pharmacy partnership, 77.8% of residents and 37.5% of workers received the vaccine in the average skilled nursing facility with at least one vaccination clinic. CVS Health district leader Andreas Chandra said the pharmacy giant has administered more than 200,000 first-and-second-dose vaccines at 500 nursing facilities and is on track to deliver second doses in more than 1,800 long-term care facilities by mid-March. Pennsylvania has the most facilities in the nation working with CVS, Wolf said. All senior care facilities will have at least three vaccination clinics and the state has a plan to get new staff and residents vaccinated quickly to maintain that level of vaccine protection, said Alison Beam, acting secretary of health. This way, if someone declined the vaccine in the first or second opportunity, theyll have another chance, she said. (Cant see this chart? Click here.) Pennsylvanias vaccinated almost 1.5 million people to date, administering 80% of its first dose allocation and 42% of its second doses. Almost 600,00 people are fully vaccinated. The states weekly federal allotment of first-dose vaccines hit an all-time high this week of 225,890, an increase of more than 42,000 doses. (These figures do not include Philadelphia, which receives a separate vaccine allotment.) The federal government is also sending tens of thousands of vaccine doses directly to pharmacies and federally-qualified health centers, said Lindsey Mauldin, senior advisor for the states COVID response. There are about 4.5 million Pennsylvanians eligible in Phase 1A, which requires 9 million doses, Wolf said. Thus far, Pennsylvanias received 3.17 million doses. I know that we have a lot more work to do. I know that tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians are getting vaccinated every day, but we are not satisfied, Beam said. Because of the extremely limited supply so many people are having a difficult time getting the vaccine. We hear it. We feel your frustration. And I can tell you that every single day, our department of health is making improvements to help increase access to the vaccine. Pennsylvania does not want to open up new vaccine phases without enough vaccines on hand, Beam said in response to reporter questions about when the next phase may begin. The department is improving communication with vaccine providers to help them manage and distribute their allocation swiftly, she said. Pennsylvania last week rolled out a plan to cover a a shortfall of Moderna coronavirus vaccines after some providers over the last month and a half mistakenly gave out some 200,000 shots that should have been set aside for second doses. The states plan could delay 100,000 vaccine appointment over the next few weeks, but Beam sought to put a positive spin on the fix on Tuesday saying the temporary adjustment will solve the structural issue in the coming weeks. Vaccine delivery delays due to winter weather should not worsen the problem, officials said. I can assure you that if you have received a first dose of Moderna, you will be able to get the second dose from that same provider, Beam said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the second Moderna dose can be scheduled up to 42 days after the first. Vaccine providers are receiving daily updates on the status of deliveries and guidance, Beam said. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. FREMONT, Calif., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The premium market intelligence report published by BIS Research on the title Global Single-Cell Multi-Omics Market highlights that the market is projected to reach $3.18 billion by 2025. The study also highlights that the market is set to witness a CAGR of 21.16% during the period between 2020 and 2025. The growth is aided by factors including increasing utilization of single-cell RNA sequencing for various cancer research. BIS Research Logo The single-cell multi-omics approach enables integrating different molecules and analyzing different types of molecules from a same cell. This helps in accessing multi-faceted information and insights on the characteristics of molecular layers of several individual cells. The information derived is further beneficial in diagnosing and modifying the drugs being developed. Through the advances in single-cell analysis assays, information on the genotypic and phenotypic traits could be revealed along with the regulatory mechanism of the cell at a single-cell resolution. Browse 14 Market Data Tables and 167 Figures spread through 228 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Global Single-Cell Multi-Omics Market" The comprehensive study covers the following: Market numbers on micro-segments that are influencing the market More than 300 products present in the market Market share analysis for more than 15 companies End-user preference data for over 20 end users Detailed global and regional market share analysis including the scrutiny of more than 15 countries Study of data of more than 30 companies Who Should Buy This Report? Manufacturers of sequencing instruments, kits, assays, and consumables Manufacturers of imaging instruments, kits, assays, and consumables Companies involved in drug manufacturing and diagnostics development Companies in the services market such as contract research organization Companies involved in developing bioinformatics tools for single-cell data analysis, visualization, sharing, and storage To gain a holistic view of the market, data from different segments of the market has been analyzed minutely. These segments include end user and market share analysis, types of products offered, type of omics, sample type, application, and region. Each of these segments is further categorized into sub-segments and micro-segments to compile an in-depth study. Story continues View the Report from BIS Research: https://bisresearch.com/industry-report/global-single-cell-multi-omics-market.html The premium market intelligence by BIS Research additionally throws a spotlight on the opportunities existing in the market, including the high scope for adoption of genomic-based medicine in emerging nations, increased use of single-cell technology solutions for the development of therapeutics drugs and comprehensive treatment plan, and requirement for the development of advanced solutions based on single-cell technology, among others. The end user and pricing analysis of the global market includes data analysis on the satisfaction level of different instruments (by brand), pricing analysis of preferred instruments, accessories & components, and consumables. The study is majorly centered on the sub-segments and micro-segments of the different product markets, such as consumables and instruments. The consumables are further categorized into kits and reagents. To emphasize the dominance of the consumable segment over the instruments segment under the product category of single-cell multi-omics market in 2020 and 2025, Nitish Kumar Singh, Principal Analyst BIS Research, states, "The reason for market growth can be attributed to the large-scale research and development and recent advancement in sequencing technologies aiding researchers to unravel translational and transcription events at a single-cell resolution, attracting many molecular diagnostics and pharma giants to expand their portfolios in this sector ." Request for a Sample: https://bisresearch.com/requestsample?id=1061&type=download Key insights are drawn from in-depth interviews with the key opinion leaders of more than 15 leading companies, market participants, and vendors. The key players profiled in the report include NanoString Technologies, Inc., RareCyte, Inc., Fluidigm Corporation, 10x Genomics, Inc., Becton, Dickinson and Company, Thermo Fisher Sciences, Fluxion Biosciences, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Namocell, Inc., 1Cell Bio, Inc., Mission Bio, Berkeley Lights, Takara Bio, Inc., Dolomite Bio, and Bio-Techne Corporation. The report also contains company profiles of five emerging players, namely Proteona, BioTuring Inc., Scipio Biosciences SAS, Parse Biosciences, Inc., and Shilps Sciences. The study also offers strategic recommendations that can help organizations in tracking various products, trends, and technologies that are changing the dynamics of the market. The recommendations by BIS Research also offer bespoke research services to help organizations meet their objectives. For Custom Research, please visit https://bisresearch.com/our-offerings/custom-research How can market intelligence on single-cell multi-omics add value to an organization's decision-making process? Aid in product development Help in targeting a segment for launching a new product Offer detailed information on the future perspective of the emerging as well as established players Offer go-to-market strategies for the different source type Support in diversifying the product portfolio based on risk and progression of technology (DNA, RNA, and Analyte) Help in analyzing technological substitutes and compare the specification Offer tailor-made solutions based on the throughput of different consumers Aid in understanding the technology requirement Assist in exploring the newer application Support in analyzing the competitors' funding scenario Support in understanding the involvement of government health organizations such as the National Institute of Health (NIH) Aid in understanding the new trends in the industry Insightful Questions Covered to Enable Companies take Strategic Decisions What are the major market drivers, challenges, and opportunities in the global single-cell multi omics market? What is the potential impact of biotechnological advancements in the diagnostic industry among end users such as researchers, pathologists, and laboratory technicians? What is the current market demand along with future expected demand for the global single-cell multi-omics market? What are the key development strategies that are implemented by the major players in order to sustain the competitive market? How is each segment of the market expected to grow during the forecast period from 2020 to 2025? Following are the segments: Which are the leading players with significant offerings to the global single-cell multi-omics market? What is the expected market dominance for each of these leading players? Which emerging companies are anticipated to be highly disruptive in the future, and what are their key strategies for sustainable growth in the global single-cell multi-omics market? Related Reports: Global Molecular Diagnostics Point of Care Market: 2019-2029 Global Molecular Diagnostics Market: 2018-2028 Global Single-Cell-Sequencing Market: 2018-2029 About BIS Research: BIS Research, a premium market intelligence company offers in-depth insights and consulting to Fortune 500 companies. We are established and known for tracking the growth of deep technologies across key industry verticals and the subsequent challenges and opportunities associated with deep tech across markets, applications and products. With more than 500 clients, over 7000 plus primary interviews and approximately 200 reports published in a year BIS Research has set an interesting growth trajectory for itself. We provide market estimations, emerging high-growth applications, technology analysis, highly segmented granular country-level market data, and other important market parameters that come in handy for our clients during strategic decision-making. We publish a wide gamut of syndicated market studies across industry verticals. In addition, bespoke market studies is another area where BIS Research excels at along with consulting services. BIS Healthcare vertical offers intelligence in the healthcare technology market for Medical Devices, Digital Health, Life Sciences, Robotics and Imaging, Information Technology, MRD testing, and other emerging healthcare technologies, covering the entire industry spectrum. In the past 5 years, BIS Healthcare has published more than 50 reports under the precision medicine banner. Additionally, BIS Research has been nominating Top 25 Voices in precision medicine on its Insight Monk platform for the past two years successfully. Contact: Bhavya Banga Email: media@bisresearch.com BIS Research Inc. 39111 PASEO PADRE PKWY STE 313, FREMONT CA 94538-1686 Visit our Blog @ https://blog.bisresearch.com/ Connect with us on LinkedIn @ https://www.linkedin.com/company/bis-research Connect with us on Twitter@ https://twitter.com/BISResearch Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-single-cell-multi-omics-market-to-reach-3-18-billion-by-2025--301233134.html SOURCE BIS Research Signs Term Sheet with Thomson Resources to Progress Mt Carrington Project Ballarat, Feb 23, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Thomson Resources Ltd ( ASX:TMZ ) and White Rock Minerals Ltd ( ASX:WRM ) ( OTCMKTS:WRMCF ) are pleased to advise that they have entered into a binding and exclusive Term Sheet for a 3 stage earn-in and option to joint venture agreement ("Joint Venture Agreement") whereby Thomson can earn in for up to 70% of White Rock's Mt Carrington gold - silver project ("Project") and at Thomson's election to form a 70:30 (TMZ:WRM) Joint Venture.The parties would then fund, on a pro-rata basis, mine development and further exploration of the very prospective Mt Carrington leases for epithermal gold - silver (base metal) mineralisation and conceptual large copper - gold targets. Under the terms of the Term Sheet, Thomson has 60 days to complete its Due Diligence process of the Mt Carrington project and the parties to finalise and execute a definitive agreement to replace the Term Sheet (see end of this Release for transaction details).The Mt Carrington and Webbs, Conrad and Hortons projects host significant silver-gold resources and compelling precious metal exploration potential and are clustered in the New England region of north eastern NSW. Despite their proximity to one another and attractive commodity mix, these projects have never before been consolidated under one company and so have to date remained undeveloped.Thomson is aggressively pursuing a consolidation strategy in this region to bring these and other key resources together into an overarching project with a large precious metal (silver - gold), base and technology metal (zinc, lead, copper, tin) resource base that could be potentially developed and centrally processed under Thomson's new "Hub and Spoke Strategy".David Williams, Executive Chairman of Thomson said:"Thomson is building momentum with its ongoing consolidation efforts focused on its new 'Hub and Spoke' silver - gold strategy. Mt Carrington is a high quality precious metals project that complements the company's existing quality silver assets at Webbs, Conrad and adds value to Thomson's near by highly prospective Horton gold project.Mt Carrington is well advanced down the Feasibility Study path, and with due diligence completed at both Webbs and Conrad, there is an ability to bring together the different resources in these silver - gold deposits to significantly strengthen the economic viability of all the projects.The negotiations with White Rock have been very positive and constructive which point to a productive JV going forward. We look forward to working with the White Rock team and progressing the Mt Carrington Project."Matt Gill, Managing Director & CEO of White Rock said:"White Rock is extremely pleased to partner with a visionary group like Thomson Resources. They have a clear strategy to unlock the potential from the consolidation of various gold and silver assets in and around our advanced Mt Carrington project in NSW.Securing a quality partner to advance Mt Carrington is a key and timely step in White Rock's strategy to unlock the value in all of our projects. The lure of free-carry at Mt Carrington through stages 1, 2 and 3 as well as project management allocation at Mt Carrington to Thomson will allow White Rock to focus funds and management time on our two exciting Alaskan projects (the high-grade silver and zinc Red Mountain VMS project and the neighbouring Last Chance intrusion-related Gold System (IRGS) project) and on the equally exciting production and exploration opportunities within the high-grade Victorian Walhalla-Woods Point gold belt.With the proposed merger contemplated between White Rock and AuStar Gold (a significant landholder and with a high-grade gold production and exploration tenement profile in the prolific Victorian Goldfields) joint venturing our Mt Carrington asset allows White Rock to focus on this significant Victorian gold production and exploration opportunity as well as our exciting projects in Alaska.""Hub and Spoke" StrategyThomson intends to continue the consolidation process by adding to the current portfolio other key resources and exploration opportunities in the northern New England and Southern Granite belt region that could support fast track development via the Company's "Hub and Spoke" strategy (Figure 1*).Thomson is evaluating whether the consolidated portfolio could provide the optionality to centrally process and blend ores for beneficiation purposes and the critical resource scale to justify the use of processing technologies to maximise recoveries of silver-gold, base and technology metals, that are not being considered under currently proposed processing pathways for the individual projects.Thomson has engaged Brisbane based metallurgical and process engineering consultants CORE Resources to evaluate the numerous metallurgical studies on these projects and other projects targeted for consolidation, and to confirm potential compatibility of ores and processing options, including the potential for CORE's world leading process technologies to optimise processing and recovery of precious, base and technology metals.*To view tables and figures, please visit:About Thomson Resources Ltd Thomson Resources Ltd (ASX:TMZ) is an NSW active mineral explorer. Thomson has several tin projects (including an advanced project near Ardlethan), as well as gold, copper and zinc targets in a range of settings. Thomson has a good record of discovery, with multiple new Intrusion-Related Gold (gold with copper, lead, zinc, molybdenum, tungsten) systems discovered in the Thomson Fold Belt in the NW of the state. About White Rock Minerals Ltd White Rock Minerals Ltd (ASX:WRM) is a diversified explorer and near-stage producer, headquartered in Ballarat, Victoria. The Company's flagship exploration project is Red Mountain in central Alaska. At Red Mountain, there are already two high grade zinc - silver - gold - lead VMS deposits, with an Inferred Mineral Resource of 9.1 million tonnes @ 12.9% ZnEq for 1.1 million tonnes of contained zinc equivalent. The Company is also exploring its recently discovered large intrusion related gold anomaly at Last Chance, also located in the Tintina gold belt of Alaska, home to multi-million gold ounce deposits like Pogo, Fort Knox and the Donlin Project. The Company also has the Mt Carrington project, located near Drake, in Northern NSW, which is a near-production precious metals asset with a resource of 341,000 ounces of gold and 23.2 million ounces of silver on an approved mining lease, and with a Gold First PFS and JORC Reserve. White Rock Minerals is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Infarm introduces its new high-capacity, cloud-connected Growing Centers - a major step in the company's efforts to accelerate the benefits to people and planet by building a scalable, sustainable and resilient global farming network BERLIN, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Infarm, the world's fastest-growing urban farming company already available in 10 countries and 30 cities in thousands of stores, continued the rollout of its vision for a global interconnected, sustainable and highly efficient farming ecosystem. As part of its goal to drive innovation within the USD 3 trillion global fruit and vegetable market[1], Infarm today introduced its new high-capacity, automated, modular Growing Center - a local farm and distribution center in one, that can generate the crop-equivalent of up to 10,000 m2 of farmland, with up to 400 times higher efficient food production than soil-based agriculture. The cloud-connected, high-yield growing centers join Infarm's expanding global network of self-learning farms that improve plant yield, taste, and nutritional value constantly, while further reducing the use of natural resources. With 50,000 m2 of farming facilities and hundreds of farms in stores locations, Infarm is already providing fresh produce to 50% of the world's largest food retailers. The rapid deployment capability of the new high-yield Growing Centers will drive additional global growth and scalability to match the needs of retailers of any size in any location, with the goal of growing the network to 500,000 m2 by 2025. A Growing Center is comprised of dozens of modular farming units, each standing between 10 and 18 meters high, occupying a 25 m2 ground footprint and requiring just six weeks to build, yielding the crop-equivalent of 10,000 m2 of farmland. This modular, data-driven, and distributed approach -- a combination of big data, IoT, and cloud analytics, in addition to rapid growth at a global scale -- sets Infarm apart from any other farming solution. "Access to fresh, local and sustainable food is a growing challenge, as people shift towards cities and climate change accelerates," explains Erez Galonska, co-founder and CEO of Infarm. "Today we're adding speed to scale with new technology that allows us to deploy a Growing Center to any city in the world in a fraction of the time, space and capital investment of most large-scale farming solutions today. Both the farms and the software that powers them were designed to make fresh food more accessible for everyone, everywhere." Many of the world's leading food retailers are already taking part in Infarm's farming network, including Empire Company Ltd (Safeway, Sobeys, ThriftyFoods), Whole Foods Markets, Marks & Spencer, Kroger, Kinokuniya, Aldi, Amazon, Auchan, Casino, E.Leclerc, Edeka, Intermarche, Irma, Kaufland, Metro, Migros, Selgros, Summit and in Germany, Canada, Denmark, France, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States and Switzerland. Growing a new food system for people and planet "The entire Infarm network is connected to a central farming brain that gathers more than 50,000 growth, color and spectral data points through a plant's lifetime," explains Guy Galonska, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Infarm. "We've collected more than 300 billion data points throughout our farming network to date. These data enable us to perfect our growing recipes and improve yield, quality and nutritional value, while reducing the production price constantly." The large-scale Infarm Growing Centers integrate farming units that can each save up to 10,000,000 liters of water per year, compared to soil-based agriculture for similar crops, while contributing up to 40% energy savings over previous Infarm technologies. By 2025 Infarm plans to establish 100 Growing Centers - equivalent to 1.5 million m2 of farmland and producing 450,000,000 plants across its network, including expanding to new markets. This year, 15 Infarm Growing Centers are already planned/or under construction in major urban centers, including London, Paris, Copenhagen, Toronto, Vancouver, Seattle and Tokyo. Additional features of the new Infarm technology: An automated mechanical farming system that is cloud controlled; Environmental settings like CO2, temperature, light, pH and growth cycles can be set, monitored, analyzed online across all farms; Recirculates 20 liters of water condensation per hour and, saving more than up to 10,000,000 liters of water per year compared to soil-based agriculture for similar crops; Smart LED management supports energy efficiency offering contributes up to 40% energy savings & up to 25% savings on initial investment. Infarm uses 95% less water, 90% less transport and zero chemical pesticide than soil-based agriculture with the majority of electricity use throughout the Infarm network coming from renewable energy. To date, the Infarm network has saved more than 40,000,000 liters of water and 50,000 square meters of land. [1] Wyman, O. (2021). Disruption in fruit and vegetable distribution - Fruit Logistica Trend Report 2018 [Ebook] (p. 12). Berlin, Germany: Fruit Logistica, Messe Berlin GmbH. Retrieved from https://www.oliverwyman.com/content/dam/oliver-wyman/v2-de/publications/2018/Feb/Fruit_Logistica_Trend_Report_2018.pdf About Infarm Infarm was founded in Berlin in 2013 by Osnat Michaeli and the brothers Erez and Guy Galonska. Passionate to become self-sufficient and eat better, they were growing their own food, enjoying all the flavor and nutrients, without the chemical pesticides and transport kilometers. With the aim to share the goodness of own-grown produce with everyone, they developed a smart modular farming system, that allows distribution of farms throughout the urban environment, growing fresh produce in any available space and fulfilling any market demand. Today, with cutting edge R&D, patented technologies, and a leading multi-disciplinary team, Infarm is growing a worldwide farming network helping cities become self-sufficient in their food production, while significantly improving the safety, quality, and environmental footprint of our food. With a multinational team of more than 800 people globally, Infarm has partnered with more than 30 major food retailers including Aldi Sud, Amazon Fresh, Auchan, Casino, E.Leclerc, Edeka, Empire Company Ltd (Safeway, Sobeys, ThriftyFoods), Farmdrop, Intermarche, Irma, Kaufland, Kinokuniya, Kroger, Marks & Spencer, Metro, Migros, Selfridges, Selgros, Summit and Whole Foods Market in Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States and Switzerland, deployed more than 1200 farms in stores and distribution centres, saved more than 40,000,000 liters of water and 50,000 square meters of land. https://www.infarm.com/ Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1442283/Infarm.jpg Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded over 100 points higher at 8.30 am, indicating a gap-up start for benchmark indices on Tuesday. Here are the top stocks that are likely to be in focus today: Reliance Industries: The company, in a late night filing, said that it has begun the process of carving out the O2C business into an independent subsidiary. The process for seeking approvals is likely to be completed by Q2FY22. The reorganisation of the O2C business will result in no change in the company's shareholding. READ MORE Jindal Power: The firm announced the appointment of former bureaucrat Anil Kumar Jha as its Chairman. A veteran of the mining industry, Jha is former chairman of Coal India Limited, JPL said in a statement. Bharat Forge: It has inked a pact with global aerospace and technology firm Paramount Group to manufacture armoured vehicles in the country. HDFC Bank: The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has stayed a Sebi order which imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore on for invoking securities pledged by stock broker BRH Wealth Kreators, till further orders. Bharti Airtel: The company will meet global fixed income investors on or after Feb 23, 2021, to take the decision on the issuance of foreign currency bonds or notes. Info Edge: The company said its investee company Zomato has raised $250 million (over Rs 1,800 crore) in funding from Tiger Global, Kora and others, valuing the online food ordering platform at $5.4 billion. Vedanta: GR Arun Kumar has resigned as chief financial officer (CFO) of the company. Page Industries: The company has approved the appointment of VS Ganesh as Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company for a period of 5 years effective June 1, 2021. Indiabulls Housing: The company sets floor price at Rs 227.09 per bond for its convertible bond issue. Hindalco: expects to generate $1-1.2 billion cash flow per annum post its normal working capital and maintenance Capex and has come out with a capital allocation framework for growth Capex, debt reduction and for shareholders returns. Satin Creditcare Network: Dev Verma and Sanjeev Vij resigned from the position of Chief Operation officers of the company. Mphasis: Private equity firm Carlyle Group has emerged as a probable frontrunner to acquire Mphasis from Blackstone Group, in what could be the largest buyout in the Indian IT space, according to a media report. IndiGo, SpiceJet: The Competition Commission of India (CCI), on Monday, dismissed a complaint pertaining to alleged cartelization among various domestic airlines. IndiaMart InterMesh: The company announced closure of its QIP issue on February 22. The firm will issue 12.42 lakh shares at Rs 8,615 per share, which is a 4.97 per cent discount to the QIP floor price of Rs 9,065.6 per share. The company has raised Rs 1,070 crore via the QIP issue. Alkem Labs, Ajanta Pharma and Sun Pharma: These three firms received USFDA nod for generic of Northera. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-22 21:16:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close DHAKA, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh's Education Minister Dipu Moni on Monday announced that universities in the Southeast Asian country will reopen on May 24. The university halls will reopen on May 17, the minister added. Prior to the reopening, Moni said all the residential students, teachers and employees in universities will be vaccinated against COVID-19 as part of health safety measures. Some 3 million people in Bangladesh have so far taken the first doses of COVID-19 vaccine paving the way for reopening universities. The Bangladeshi government is planning to administer COVID-19 vaccines to 16.9 million people from varied high-risk groups including teaching professionals on a priority basis. The government-ordered closure of educational institutions nationwide started from March 17 last year as part of the country's efforts to halt the spread of the coronavirus epidemic. The closure has been extended repeatedly and the latest extension from Feb. 14 to Feb. 28 was in a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the current cold weather. Since March 8, 2020, the coronavirus has spread to nearly every Bangladeshi district and the official data showed the national tally for COVID-19 infections has increased to 543,717 with 8,356 deaths so far. Bangladesh recorded 366 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 cases and seven new deaths on Monday, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said. The official data showed that 11,103 samples were tested in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh. The total number of recovered patients from the coronavirus epidemic in the country rose to 492,059 including 692 new recoveries on Monday, said the DGHS. According to the official data, the COVID-19 fatality rate in Bangladesh is now 1.54 percent and recovery rate is 90.50 percent. Enditem Prince Charles has shared a video showing his 'profound appreciation' for the Royal Mail adding it's an 'incredibly important lifeline' in his first public appearance since visiting his father Prince Philip in hospital. Appearing via video on the Royal Mail's Twitter account this morning, the Prince of Wales, 72, shared a sweet message expressing his 'heartfelt but inadequate thanks to the tireless efforts' to the postal service adding staff are working 'incredibly hard on every corner of this land.' The royal, who believed to currently staying in Highgrove, Gloucestershire, with his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, 73, retweeted the video via his Clarence House Twitter account. It comes two days after the royal was said to be teary-eyed as he arrived at King Edward VII's hospital in London to visit his father the Duke of Edinburgh. Philip, 99, has been in hospital since Tuesday. He is expected to remain there until next week. His son, who made a 200-mile round trip to visit, was pictured wearing a face mask as he walked from his car into the hospital. 'Ladies and Gentleman. In May last year, my wife and I were delighted to have a socially distance conversation with our postman Neil Martin outside our home and Scotland,' Charles explained in the video, referring to Birkhall, his home in Aberdeenshire. Prince Charles has shared a video showing his 'profound appreciation' for the Royal Mail adding it's an 'incredibly important lifeline'. 'Afterwards, Neil delivered a letter from us addressed to everyone at Royal Mail expressing our heartfelt but inadequate thanks to the tireless efforts, you would all be making to keep our country connected. It's right the most difficult of times.' 'Now, while we are still in the grip of this dreadful pandemic. I want to express once again, my profound appreciation to you all for continuing to work so incredibly hard in every corner of this land. 'The truth is that the Royal Mail remains an incredibly important lifeline to us all, especially to the vulnerable, the lonely, and those who have to self-isolate,' the heir added. Postman Neil Martin talking at a distance to the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall after receiving a letter addressed to postal workers from them at Birkhall, Aberdeenshire 'And if I may say so I've been immensely impressed by the determination you've shown, even when faced with the additional challenges of extreme weather, colleague absences, and of course, greatly increased volumes of parcels. 'I know that on a daily basis, The Royal Mail is playing a really crucial role in delivering hope through letterboxes across the land, not least by carrying those those critical illnesses, for the NHS inviting people to their vaccination, which offers our best route back to normality. 'I realised too that you have helped deliver more than one billion items of personal protective equipment to the NHS and to those in adult social care settings and deliberative central medication to those who are unable to leave their homes,' he continued. He went on: 'There are so many unsung heroes and heroines working for the role of delivering COVID tests to home addresses and safely collecting the completed kids from a network of 35,000 priority postboxes, seven days a week. 'In addition to performing such a continuous public service. I have been enormous impressed to see how many of you have leapt into unstoppable action in an astonishing variety of unexpected outfits, in order to raise our spirits. 'And in the process, raise thousands of pounds for good causes. I caught a glimpse of all the extra selfless efforts, you could be making when I visited Cirencester delivery office. Postman Daniel Edwards holding a letter from the Prince of Wales,who has hailed the 'dedication, resilience and hard work' of Britain's postal workers 'I saw that you were delivering to Father Christmas, an absolutely essential service with children, and the vast numbers of parcels you sought. 'And it was here that I was introduced to what could only be described as an incredibly inventive fancily address those men and women. 'Ladies and gentleman, Royal Mail is a service that has delivered for more than 500 years. 'But in the last 12 months you prove that your work remains utter vital. 'For what it is worth, I can only offer you my greatest possible thanks once again for what every single one of you continues to do day in and day out, during these long days of lockdown, what you do, and the service you provide makes such a difference to so many people, and we would truly be lost without you. Tweeting the video, the Royal Mail added: 'We'd like to say a huge thank you to HRH The Prince of Wales for taking the time to record such an incredibly heartfelt video; recognising the hard work and dedication of everyone here at Royal Mail. Prince Charles, who has spent most of the year in lockdown in Gloucester, is currently expecting his fifth grandchild as his daughter-in-law Meghan Markle, and son Prince Harry, are currently expecting their second child. Last year, the Royal Mail has launched a Thumbs Up For Your Postie campaign to encourage customers to show their appreciation for their postie. The public is being urged to give them a 'thumbs up' - from a safe two-metre distance, which is just over the height of a Royal Mail postbox - as a way to stay connected with their local postie while respecting the social distancing rules. Giving a thumbs up is also a handy reminder for people not to reach out to try and take parcels direct from postmen and women to ensure the delivery is contact-free, the Royal Mail said. The event, moderated by Associate Professor of History Page Herrlinger and viewed by around 450 participants, was the first in a series of discussions on the state of American democracy organized in the wake of the January 6 attack on the Capitol. The series is called "After the Insurrection: Conversations on Democracy." Snyder is the Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale University and a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. He specializes in the history of fascism in twentieth-century Europe. He is the author of On Tyranny, described by The Washington Post as a slim book that fits alongside your pocket Constitution and feels only slightly less vital. Snyder also recently published an essay in The New York Times titled "The American Abyss" about the sources and meanings of the January 6 insurrection. Before taking questions from the online audience, Snyder shared his views on the Capitol attack, the reasons for it, and what it means for American society. He divided his presentation into five segments. Here is a summary of his comments, featuring some edited quotes: The COVID-19 Pandemic Snyder said it was important not to overlook the pandemic when assessing the factors behind January 6. I do think we have to keep in mind the fact that the United States had been in a terrible state of health for the previous year and that this itself, and the falsehoods told around it, along with the controversies that it caused, had something to do with the mood by early 2021. Race In connection with the events of January 6, and what it means for democracy, Snyder said one crucial question to consider is: Who is represented in a democracy? Since the 1870s, he explained, theres been basically one US political party that has served as the voter suppression party. It was initially the Democrats, he continued, but for the past fifty or sixty years it has been the Republican Party, for whom politics has been reduced to a game in which youre less and less interested in policy, and more interested in the kind of ideology or rhetoric that keeps you in power. This attitude toward gaming the system, he added, represents an attempt to decrease the voices of nonwhite voters. The Big Lie This feeds into the idea of what Snyder calls The Big Lie. Donald Trumps big lie, he said, is that he won the election, and this is identical to the American Big Lie which propagates the falsehood that Black people are not really people, they dont count. Trumps big lie is based on the notion that many of the votes that went against him, which were nonwhite votes in urban areas, are not valid. Snyder admits that all politicians lie (controlled mendacity is part of the reality of politics), but most lies dont have the quality that if they were true, they would change the whole world. Big lies do this. Accepting Trumps big lie, said Snyder, means swallowing an entire conspiracy-based world view that unjustly views Americas democratic institutions with mistrust. If enough major politicians continue to believe that big lie, Snyder said, he would have grave concerns for the future of American democracy. Mob Rule The idea of mob rule, where disgruntled citizens take the law into their hands and act violently to achieve their aims, is concerning to Snyder for two reasons. First, he said, for the obvious reason that it goes against the principles of democracy, where we trust in our institutions and abide by the rule of law. This trust clearly broke down on January 6. Snyder is also worried by what he called the rule of mob rule, which asserts that our representatives are only our representatives because theyre afraid of us. Snyder said this principle was on display in the way many GOP lawmakers voted after the Capitol attack, upholding the views of Trump and opposing his impeachment. We know that a number of Republican representatives and senators voted how they did because they're afraid of the violence of their own electorate. That's the wrong reaction, because that's giving into mob rule. It is, he explained, inviting violence in as the final determinant of our politics. The Future Snyder warned against the complacency of believing that, because the January 6 coup attempt failed, American democratic institutions can be trusted to hold up against future attempts. That's not the right reaction. If you get this close, if you really have armed people and bombs in your parliament, if you really have a president who's trying to overturn the election, you can't say the institutions work. What you have to say is how can we improve those institutions? To be successful, Snyder concluded, a democracy needs structural support. One of those structures it needs is health care; another is support of factuality. Also, from time to time, a democracy needs to show a little bit of courage to succeed. Watch the event: The number of people whove died from coronavirus in the United States has surpassed 500,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. As of Monday, the Johns Hopkins COVID resource center, which has become a leading source to track viral data worldwide, has the U.S. at 500,071 confirmed deaths. To put that figure in context, more Americans have now died from COVID-19, which emerged roughly one year ago in the U.S., than American soldiers died in World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War combined. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious disease expert, spoke about the sheer scale of the loss of life on NBC News over the weekend. Its horrible, Fauci said. I mean if you look at what has gone on now and were still not out of it at half a million deaths, its just terrible. Fauci also said in an interview with CNN that mask-wearing may continue to be a part of daily life into 2022 if active case counts remain elevated, even as more and more Americans get vaccinated. While the national vaccine rollout continues to ramp up, optimism about the prospect of achieving herd immunity is being met with increased concern over whether the vaccines will remain effective against the ever-evolving COVID-19 virus. In Massachusetts, there are at least 46 confirmed cases of COVID-19 variants, 44 confirmed as the U.K. variant, and two as the South African variant. State health officials confirmed another 1,150 COVID cases and 26 virus-related deaths on Monday. There are roughly 35,660 active infections statewide. Since the pandemic began, officials have confirmed 540,794 total COVID-19 cases across Massachusetts. Related Content: Rohingya stranded in Indian Ocean must be immediately rescued and disembarked to place of safety: Amnesty International February 23,2021 | Source: Amnesty Responding to reports that a group of Rohingya refugees and at least three Bangladeshi nationals are stranded on a boat in the Andaman Sea and are in urgent need of rescue and disembarkation, Saad Hammadi, Amnesty Internationals South Asia Campaigner, said: Instead of passing on responsibility to other states, governments in the region must immediately deploy search and rescue measures to assist those stranded in the vessel, who are in desperate need of food, water and a safe place to disembark free of discrimination. Too many lives have already been lost at sea as the result of countries refusing to assist Rohingya people on boats. Another repeat of those shameful incidents must be avoided here. After years of limbo in Bangladesh and following the recent coup in Myanmar, Rohingya people feel they have no option but to undertake these perilous journeys. With a new sailing season already underway, thousands more could yet take to boats. Regional governments must adhere to their international obligations to rescue and disembark people in distress at sea. Up to 100 people are believed to be stranded on the boat, after it departed from Coxs Bazar and Teknaf in Bangladesh around 10 days ago. The vessel was last reported to be in or near Indias territorial waters. A distress call was issued on the night of 20 February, with unconfirmed reports of several deaths and many others in a dire situation due to lack of food and water on board the vessel. Some 2,400 Rohingya people took dangerous recourse to boat journeys last year and 200 of them died or went missing during the period, according to the UN Refugee Agency. Survivors were severely malnourished and dehydrated. Amnesty International has continuously reminded regional governments of their specific obligations under the law of the sea, which are applicable to all people, regardless of their nationality or immigration status found or intercepted at sea. Governments have made commitments under regional declarations, including the 2010 ASEAN Declaration on search and rescue operations at sea, the 2016 Bali Declaration, and the outcome of the February 2020 meeting of the Taskforce on the Bali Process, which emphasized the primacy of saving lives at sea and not endangering the life and safety of persons in responding to irregular maritime migration. 2021 Amnesty International Theme(s): Communities and Organisations. As many as 164 cases of the new SARS-Cov-2 infection UK variant B.1.1.7 lineage have so far been confirmed in Romania, according to a statement from the Ministry of Health (MS) released on Tuesday. "The Ministry of Health was informed, today, by the National Institute of Public Health (INSP) - National Centre for Surveillance and Control of Communicable Diseases (CNSCBT) that, in Romania, 164 cases of with SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 lineage UK variant infection have been so far confirmed," according to MS. The confirmed cases were recorded in Bucharest City (92), and the counties of Timis (11), Cluj (9), Ilfov (6), Suceava (8), Botosani (5), Valcea (4), Galati (4), Caras-Severin (2 ), Arges (2), Gorj (2), Covasna (9) and one case each in the counties of Giurgiu, Constanta, Mures, Hunedoara, Vrancea, Vaslui, Prahova, Braila, Bihor, and Dolj.The confirmed cases come from a total of 499 sequencings that have been reported so far to the National Centre for Surveillance and Control of Communicable Diseases. 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 New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 23, 2021) - Nutritional High International Inc. (CSE: EAT) ("Nutritional High" or the "Company") is pleased to announce its financial results for the first quarter ended October 31, 2020. Business Highlights: Q1 and Subsequent Events During the first quarter of fiscal 2021 and to the date hereof, the Company has completed the final steps of its strategic review and reorganization and has made significant advancements in growing the business through acquisitions as follows: Strategic Review and Reorganization On August 5, 2020, the Company entered into settlement agreements with trade creditors and related parties representing $1,106,340 to convert such amounts owed into 44,253,581 units at a deemed price of $0.025 per unit. On October 8, 2020, the holders of the March 2018 convertible debentures agreed to amend the terms of such debentures to allow for a forced conversion and on October 28, 2020, the Company exercised its forced conversion right. The total conversions (both voluntary and forced conversions) resulted in a reduction of liabilities in the amount of $6,279,820. On November 5, 2020, the Company completed the sale of 100% of its interest in NH Distribution California Inc. and Calyx Brands Inc. (the "Calyx Sale"). With the completion of the Calyx Sale, the Company has eliminated over $12 million in liabilities from its balance sheet. On November 18, 2020, the holders of the August 2018 10% secured convertible debentures ("August 2018 Debentures") adopted a waiver and consent which included an extension of the maturity by one year to August 3, 2022. On January 6, 2021 the Company announced that it has terminated its agreement to acquire Green Therapeutics ("GT" or "Green Therapeutics") and has an agreement for the repayment of its US$1,050,000 debt in the form of shares of Australis Capital Inc. ("Australis") priced at a deemed price of $0.20 per share, as part of the sale of GT to Australis. Growth and Acquisitions On August 17, 2020, the Company completed the acquisition of Psychedelic Science Corp.("PSC") (formally Kruzo LLC) a company developing products and conducting research in the emerging area of psychoactive and non-psychoactive therapy and wellness. Further, on February 9, 2021, PSC entered into a research services agreement with KGK Science Inc. ("KGK") pursuant to which KGK will provide PSC with research and development services in relation to mescaline and various types of psychedelic cacti. On January 28, 2021, the Company announced that the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division ("MED") has provided its conditional approval for the Company to complete the acquisition of Palo Verde LLC. Palo Verde is a Colorado based processor and manufacturer of cannabis vape and edible products with approximately US$2 million in annual revenues. Upon completion of the Palo Verde acquisition the Company is anticipated to have the ability to fund working capital requirements thereby allowing for growth in this business. On January 29, 2021, the Company announced that it has signed a binding letter of intent to acquire 100% of California-based OutCo Labs Inc. which specializes in manufacturing and retailing premium quality cannabis flower and high margin extract products with annual run rate revenues of approximately USD $8.0 million. First Quarter Financial Highlights Summary Income Statement 3 Months ended October 31, 2020 3 Months ended October 31, 2019 $ $ Total sales 1,382,594 6,693,842 Cost of goods sold ("COGS") (1,180,193) (5,121,846) Gross Profit 202,401 1,571,996 Interest income 49,904 47,342 Operating Expenses 2,125,700 4,841,932 Other Items (8,028) 103,996 Pre-Tax Income (1,865,367) (3,326,590) Net comprehensive Income (1,877,154) (3,280,813) Loss per share (basic) (0.002) (0.009) Loss per share (diluted) (0.00) (0.009) During the three months ended October 31, 2020 the Company revenues were $1.3 million compared with $6.7 million in the corresponding quarter of the prior year. This reduction was due to the reduced level of activity at Calyx Brands Inc. ("Calyx"). The reduced level of sales as well as reduced margins at Calyx resulted in a decline in gross profit to $202,401 during the first quarter ended October 31, 2020 compared with $1.6 million in the first quarter of the previous year. Operating expenses declined to $2.1 million during the quarter ended October 31, 2020 compared with $4.8 million during the corresponding period of the prior year. Summary Balance Sheet October 31, 2020 July 31, 2020 $ $ Current Assets 5,394,932 3,101,291 Total Assets 11,764,653 6,681,656 Total Liabilities 23,408,992 28,581,059 Shareholder's Equity (11,644,339) (21,899,403) The most significant changes to the balance sheet during the first quarter were as follows: The elimination of over $7 million in liabilities through settlement of payables for common shares and conversion of $6.3 million of convertible debentures; and The addition of approximately $700,000 in cash, $1.4 million in investments and $3 million in goodwill associated with the acquisition of PSC. Significant strengthening of the balance sheet took place after the end of the first quarter including the following: The Calyx Sale which eliminated over $12 million in liabilities including $5.3 million in various taxes payable; and Completion of an agreement with the owners of GT for the repayment of loans due to the Company upon closing of the sale of GT to Australis Capital Inc. ("Australis"). If the sale of GT is completed, the repayment of the loans currently outstanding, after recent note sales, will be in the form of Australis common shares at a valuation of $0.20 per share. At the current market price for Australis shares, the value of the shares to be received by the Company represents almost $5 million. "After considerable work in the assessment and reorganization of the Company and its business units, we are very pleased to have succeeded in these initiatives. While there are some remaining renegotiations and settlements, our balance sheet has materially improved relative to a year earlier," stated Robert Wilson, CFO of Nutritional High. "We would like to thank all of our debenture holders and other creditors for their cooperation, patience and assistance in this process." Update on Management Cease Trade Order As a result of the change of management, strategic review and a corporate reorganization the Company experienced a delay in the completion of its audit of the annual financial statements for the year ended July 31, 2020 and, by extension, completion of the first quarter statement for the period ending October 31, 2020. With the completion and filing of both the annual audited, and first quarter financial statements, the Company has met the deadline under the Management Cease Trade Order by the Ontario Securities Commission ("MCTO"). As such, the Company expects that the MCTO will be revoked on February 25, 2021. About Nutritional High International Inc. Nutritional High is focused on developing and manufacturing branded products in the cannabis industry, with a specific focus on edibles and oil extracts for medical and adult recreational use. The Company works exclusively in jurisdictions where such activity is permitted and regulated by state law. Nutritional High has brought its flagship FLI edibles and vape product lines from production to market in various markets including Colorado where its award winning FLI products are manufactured by Palo Verde, LLC, an independent licensed producer. The Company signed a purchase agreement for Palo Verde and on January 28, 2021, received conditional regulatory approval to close the acquisition. The Company also owns Psychedelic Science which is working with Rangsit University in Thailand to consider the medical benefits of various psychedelic cacti. For updates on the Company's activities and highlights of the Company's press releases and other media coverage, please follow Nutritional High on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or visit www.nutritionalhigh.com. For further information, please contact: Robert Wilson Chief Financial Officer Nutritional High International Inc. 416-666-4005 Email: rwilson@nutritionalhigh.com Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information: NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR OTC MARKETS GROUP INC., NOR THEIR REGULATIONS SERVICES PROVIDERS HAVE REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. This news release may contain forward-looking statements and information based on current expectations. These statements include statements regarding: the acquisition of PSC enabling the Company to broaden its focus; the completion of the acquisition of Palo Verde LLC; the completion of the acquisition of OutCo; the lifting of the management cease trade order; and the potential for additional synergistic acquisitions. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements. This forward-looking information reflects the Company's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to the Company and on assumptions the Company believes are reasonable. These assumptions include, but are not limited to: the ability of the Company to successfully satisfy the conditions to closing the acquisitions of Palo Verde and OutCo" the ability of the Company to successfully execute its business plans; legal changes relating to the cannabis industry proceeding as anticipated; and the Company's continued response and ability to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic being consistent with, or better than, its ability and response to date. The Company's securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or applicable state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or "U.S. Persons", as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act, absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in the United States or any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; general capital market conditions and market prices for securities; the actual results of the Company's future operations; competition; changes in legislation affecting the Company; obtaining and maintaining regulatory approvals including acquiring and renewing U.S. state, local or other licenses, the uncertainty of existing protection from U.S. federal or other prosecution, regulatory or political change such as changes in applicable laws and regulations, including U.S. state-law legalization, market and general economic conditions of the cannabis sector or otherwise; the timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; lack of qualified, skilled labour or loss of key individuals; risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic including various recommendations, orders and measures of governmental authorities to try to limit the pandemic, including travel restrictions, border closures, non-essential business closures, service disruptions, quarantines, self-isolations, shelters-in-place and social distancing, disruptions to markets, economic activity, financing, supply chains and sales channels, and a deterioration of general economic conditions including a possible national or global recession; and a deterioration of financial markets that could limit the Company's ability to obtain external financing. A description of additional risk factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking information can be found in the Company's disclosure documents on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking information contained in this press release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking information contained in this press release represents the expectations of the Company as of the date of this press release and, accordingly, are subject to change after such date. However, the Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75196 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 employee at an assisted living facility in Decatur is charged for using debit cards belonging to several residents. The owner of the facility filed a report on Jan. 7. An employee, 24-year-old Jaquaris J'Quan Carter, was developed as the suspect. Fifteen warrants were issued for Carters arrest on Jan. 25 for fraudulent use of a credit/debit card. He was arrested on Feb. 20 and booked in the Morgan County Jail. Bond is set at $15,000. WASHINGTON President Joe Biden plans visit Texas on Friday in the wake of extensive winter storm damage in the state. The president and first lady Jill Biden will travel to Houston, according to a White House announcement. Biden has engaged from afar with state and local officials but stated a reluctance to come to Texas too soon because he didn't want his traveling entourage to pull resources from the crisis at hand. When the president lands in a city in America, it has a long tail, he told reporters Friday. At a briefing soon after the announcement, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that Biden would meet with local leaders to discuss the winter storm, relief efforts, progress toward recovery and the incredible resilience shown by the people of Houston and Texas. While in Texas, the president will also visit a COVID health center where vaccines are being distributed, she said. Psaki said more details of the trip are coming together and that the White House will have further information soon. Over the weekend, Biden approved a major disaster declaration for more than 100 Texas counties. A declaration, requested by Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday, allows for a wide range of federal assistance to support repairs for individuals and infrastructure. (Read how Texans can apply for federal assistance here.) Last week's winter storm caused billions of dollars in damage across the state. Millions of Texans experienced prolonged periods without power or clean water amid freezing temperatures. Dozens of deaths have been reported, though state officials say it could be weeks or months before an official death toll is known. Patrick Svitek contributed reporting. Congress leader on Tuesday lashed out at the Centre over the three contentiousfarm laws and said the aim of the BJP government is to destroy farmers' market and not getting them the right price for their produce. While the first two laws destroy the country's agriculture sector, the third one denies justice to the farmers, he said after inaugurating a mass rally here,marking the culmination of the 22-day-long Aishwarya Yatra, led by leader of opposition in the state assembly Ramesh Chennithala. "The first one destroys the farmers market.The secondone is to allow the richest to procure as much as grain and unlimited hoarding.These two laws allow them to control the price of grains and vegetables," he alleged. "They (government) have only one aim: the farmer does not get the right price for their produce.That everybody, the middle class, farmers labourershave to pay more," he said. "And that's why lakhs of lakhs of farmers are protesting.What did the PM say? That they are terrorists," Gandhi alleged. The Congress leader also attacked the central and state governments over the rising fuel prices despite a low oil price in the international market and claimed both the governments are giving the money to therichest in the country. "The price of oil in the international market is down.But in India, the price of petrol and diesel are going up.Thousands of crores of rupees are being taken from your pocket every day.Where is this money going? To whom is this money being given." "This is being given to the richest people in this country,"Gandhi said. "Everyday, when you travel in your vehicle, remember this, both the centre and the state are taking money fromyour pocket to the richest of this country.This is the politics we are trying to change.We want to work for the poor. Not for our organisation or the richest.That's the differencebetween us and others," the Congress MP from Wayanad told the gathering. He said the yatra was an opportunity to listen to what farmers, students, fishermen, elders and women of the state say. The state-wide yatra, led by Chennithala, began on January 31 from Manjeswaram in the northernmost Kasaragod district and ended at Parassala near here on Sunday. They may have signed up for Married At First Sight in the hope of falling in love, but it seems several brides left Nine's social experiment without finding Mr Right. Three wives - Rebecca 'Beck' Zemek, Booka Nile and Alana Lister - looked very single indeed as they enjoyed a boozy night out in Perth on December 19. Photos of their partying antics resurfaced on Tuesday, a day after viewers saw Beck's disastrous wedding to Jake Edwards play out on screens. Scroll down for video All the single ladies! Married At First Sight's 'bride from hell' Beck Zemek (centre) enjoyed a wild night out with co-stars Booka Nile (right) and Alana Lister (left) in Perth on December 19 Just weeks after the show wrapped filming in Sydney, Beck let her hair down with two of her friends from the experiment. Beck looked carefree as she ditched her bridal white dress for an all-black ensemble. The business manager and former WAG, 27, appeared to be in high spirits as she cuddled up to her glamorous pals. Spoiler alert! Photos of their partying antics resurfaced on Tuesday, a day after viewers saw Beck's disastrous wedding to Jake Edwards play out on screens Unlucky in love: Just weeks after the show wrapped filming in Sydney, Beck let her hair down with two of her friends from the experiment Beck was joined by Alana and Booka at the Lucy's Love Shack nightclub. She wore a thigh-skimming wrap dress with a material belt that cinched in at her slender waist. The Rebecca Judd lookalike slicked her long hair back into a ponytail and accessorised with several necklaces. Lean on me: At one point, Beck looked unsteady on her feet as she teetered down the footpath in a pair of high heels, and leaned on her friends for support Wow! Teacher Alana displayed her toned abs in a midriff-baring number Interstate trip: While Beck and Booka both live in Perth, it's believed Alana was just visiting Western Australia from Queensland At one point, Beck looked unsteady on her feet as she teetered down the footpath in a pair of high heels, and leaned on her friends for support. While Beck and Booka both live in Perth, it's believed Alana was just visiting Western Australia from Queensland. Alana sported a white crop top and a beige skirt with a thigh-high split. Metal chick: Booka, who plays keyboards for deathcore band Make Them Suffer, oozed sex appeal in a metallic silver mini-dress and knee-high leather boots The teacher, 30, also displayed her toned abs in the midriff-baring number. Booka, who plays keyboards for deathcore band Make Them Suffer, opted for a grungy look. The 31-year-old oozed sex appeal in a metallic silver mini-dress and knee-high leather boots. Doesn't look good! Beck's 'husband' Jake lives in Melbourne, so her solo trip to Perth strongly hints they went their separate ways after filming the social experiment Beck's 'husband' Jake lives in Melbourne, so her solo trip to Perth strongly hints they went their separate ways after filming the social experiment. In another telling clue they've split, Beck hasn't tagged the charity CEO or mentioned him by name in any of her MAFS-related Instagram posts. Jake has also failed to namecheck his 'wife' in any of his approved social media posts. Va-va-voom! Booka and Alana's weddings will air on the show later this week Beck whinged about Jake's nails, teeth and tattoos after they exchanged vows on Monday's episode of Married At First Sight. Fans watching at home were unimpressed by her nitpicking, with many describing her on Twitter as 'high maintenance'. Booka and Alana's weddings will air on the show later this week. Married At First Sight continues Tuesday at 7:30pm on Channel Nine No Action Taken On Beshear, AG Impeachments By The Associated Press FRANKFORT - A legislative panel took no action Monday on impeachment petitions pending against Kentuckys governor and attorney general.The committee chairman, Rep. Jason Nemes, said the petitions were discussed during an executive session but the panel reached no final resolution. Nemes didnt immediately schedule another meeting.Two citizens petitions against Gov. Andy Beshear have been dismissed but another is pending stemming from his coronavirus-related orders.Another petition calls for Attorney General Daniel Camerons impeachment. That petition includes grand jurors who criticized his handling of the investigation into Breonna Taylors shooting death.Beshear and Cameron say the petitions against them are meritless. While the United States has dithered about regulating big tech companies, other countries are moving ahead. The latest example is Australias News Media Bargaining Code, which would require Google and Facebook to pay publishers for news. If platforms and publishers cannot agree on a price, then they would be forced into binding arbitration. Facebook reacted dramatically last week, blocking Australian news content from its site, anywhere in the world, and preventing Facebook users in that country from seeing any news content. In one day, there was a reported 93% drop in page views sent from Facebook to Australian publishers. Google struck deals to pay for content from several major companies, including Rupert Murdochs News Corp. The rise of the tech platforms has contributed to the implosion of many newsgathering publications. Advertisers can bypass newspapers and magazines and reach more people by buying online ads. Publishers get a cut of the revenue from the ads that appear alongside news articles that circulate online, but the tech companies set the terms. Google and Facebook are sensitive to the charge that they are killing off mainstream news entities while helping users spread conspiracy theories and misinformation, so they have been striving to buy goodwill through giving grants to journalism organizations, underwriting conferences and subsidizing journalism centers at universities. But the Australian government wants to rein in the tech giants hold over the news industry. Google and Facebook lobbied against the proposal. They downplayed the role that distributing news plays in their businesses. They stressed that they do an immense service by sending them millions of readers. They found supporters, including former prime minister Kevin Rudd, who argued that the new law would not help independent journalism so much as benefit Murdoch. (Murdoch-owned titles have more than 50% market share of the newspaper business in Australia.) The computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee also came out against the regulation: Letting publications charge for the right to link to them could render the internet unworkable, he wrote. On the other side is Microsofts president, Brad Smith, who came out in support of the law. Not long after that statement, Google, possibly thinking of competition from Bing, came to the bargaining table. Australias regulatory model is promising, but as Facebook has shown, companies can always walk away. But that decision may not play well over the long term, as the company fights off a reputation that too much of its content already harms democratic decision-making. It wants to be known as a purveyor of sound information. It also seems unlikely that these fees, alone, can save local journalism. But Australia knows this. In 2020, the government gave 107 regional broadcasters and publishers $50 million in support. Australian philanthropists saved Newswire Australian Associated Press from going under. Where you come down depends on whom you hate more: Facebook or Murdoch. But the American news landscape is more diverse. It seems more likely that the right, rather than the left, would oppose an analogous regulation to support newspapers here. Other measures could supplement quality journalism more generally. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Arizona, has introduced the Local Journalism Sustainability Act, which would give tax credits for local newspaper subscriptions. Free Press, a nonprofit that focuses on media policy, has proposed a tax on microtargeted advertisements with the proviso that funds raised would support local news. There is much creative work to be done on this front. But the sooner Facebook and Google contribute their fair share to support the quality journalism that they simultaneously disrupt and profit from, the better. Last March, amid the myriad upheavals and uncertainties that marked early pandemic life, various scientists and public health officials started to model out how many cases and deaths we might be looking at in the long run, and the press, unsurprisingly, took great interest in their work. A team at Imperial College, in London, concluded that the coronavirus could kill upwards of two million people in the US alone should it be allowed to spread unchecked. That number spread like wildfire in headlines (usually alongside the worst-case caveat). On March 29, CNNs Jake Tapper asked Dr. Anthony Fauci, a new household name, to lay down some predictions; Fauci replied that, with mitigation, the US was likely looking at between one- and two hundred thousand deaths, though he also stressed that such projections arent especially helpful. Later the same day, then-president Trump said that if deaths were to end up in the range that Fauci cited, it would mean that we altogether have done a very good job. The next morning, Dr. Deborah Birx went on Today and said that that range would apply even if we do things almost perfectly; the day after that, she raised the upper bound to two hundred and forty thousand deaths. The projection continued to drive coverage across the media, as did a debate about its reliability. Outside experts said they had no idea how the White House had arrived at its numbers, since it hadnt published any underlying data. The White House said it wasnt publishing its models out of respect for the confidentiality of the modelers. In the months that followed, the Trump administration did not do a very good job, and the hypotheticals hardened into grim reality. The US surpassed one hundred thousand confirmed deaths, in May, then two hundred thousand confirmed deaths, in September. News organizations responded to each milestone with visualizations that attempted to drive home the scale of the lossa tapestry of one-line obituaries; a cover bordered with black trim. Yesterday, the five hundred thousandth death was confirmed, and we saw similar tributes. On its front page on Sunday, the New York Times represented each death with a dot and graphed them over time; the density of the resulting image thickened from months that resembled flocks of starlings to, more recently, weeks of almost-solid black smudge. The Washington Post simply led with the number 500,000, calling it almost too large to grasp. Last night, Tapper hosted a prime-time memorial service on CNN, reprising a special that the network aired at the one-hundred-thousand mark. Around that time, I wrote that pegging memorialization to big round numbers felt inadequate and arbitrary. It still does, but at this point, so many deaths have gone unremarked that if big round numbers offer a peg for some reflection, so be it. Not that the milestones weve marked have actually been roundundercounting means that each has already long passed by the time official statistics catch up. That, too, is still the case. New from CJR: They won the Alaska newspaper giveaway. Then the pandemic arrived. When we say that deaths have gone unremarked, thats a collective statement; each death, of course, has been felt by innumerable loved ones, colleagues, and medical caregivers. In between the yardsticks and splashy covers, news organizations at every level have tried to humanize the mounting toll by dwelling, however briefly, on the lives of individual victims, be it in obituaries, end-of-the-hour cable news segments, or the occasional deeply reported package. Still, it goes without saying that the press has not been able to give each lost life its due. Nor has the urgency of our coverage risen and fallen in proportion to the rise and fall of the death rate. The blackest bar on the Times front-page graph spans the two weeks or so before Trump left officecoinciding almost exactly with an insurrection from which the nation could not look away. Even yesterdays milestone felt, in some respects, like just another news story. While waiting for Joe Biden to host a vigil, CNN ran a segment investigating low occupancy rates at Trumps DC hotel; some of the prime-time shows on MSNBC led with other stories, including the ongoing fallout from the coup. There are plenty of possible reasons for this, some better than others. The media, specifically, privileges novelty and graphic shock value over relentless, slow-moving catastrophe that we cant easily see firsthand. As the psychologist Paul Slovic told NPR recently, all of us, as humans, are susceptible to psychic numbing; our emotions, he said, arent good at quantitative assessment. Our feelings are energized by a single individual at risk, what we call a singularity effect, but the more who die, the less we care. Singularity is easy enough to demonstrate statistically, using dots on a chart, but statistics dont reliably move us; individual stories can, but again, the telling of individual stories during a mass-casualty event is, in some ways, a discriminatory practicealbeit a necessary onewhen each life lost carries equal weight. Nor can the story of the pandemic be reduced to deaths alone. As I wrote last March, its an everything story; it has since so thoroughly restructured every aspect of our lives that it is impossible to grant it the flat somberness of tone that proportion would seem to demand. Low occupancy at Trumps DC hotel is a pandemic story, too. Coverage of the five-hundred-thousand mark has often sought to balance the pain with a positive that has brightened many a pandemic story in recent weeksthe fact that cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are all in decline in the US. The covid Tracking Project wrote last week that we are starting to see solid declines in deaths correlated with covid-19 vaccinations among the most vulnerable population; as far as case counts go, we are still reckoning with impediments to adequate testing, not least last weeks massive winter storm, but, as The Atlantics Derek Thompson wrote a week ago, the share of regional daily tests that are coming back positive has declined even more than the number of cases. The trend, he wrote, is crystal clear. Sign up for CJR 's daily email Even this clarity, however, can feel hard to process. On the principle that each life lost is a unique tragedy, each life saved should also carry great weighteven if news stories will logically center tragedies that happened ahead of those that were averted. It is also important to note that we are still talking, here, about shockingly high baseline numbersthe Tracking Project wrote last week, for instance, that while hospitalizations had fallen very sharply, they had yet to fall far enough to reach even the peaks of the two previous surges. Pandemics are clearly dynamic events, and covering trend lines is crucial. But we must strike an appropriate balance, here, with absolute figures. A death is a death, whether it happens on the way up or down a statistical curve. On June 30, Fauci addressed a Senate committee and shared another projection: new daily covid cases, he warned, could soon top one hundred thousand if Americans didnt take measures to stop the spread. His warning made the front page of the Times, and was the top story on NBCs and CBSs evening newscasts; NBC called it stark, as did CNN, which also called it dire. Since then, of course, weve consistently seen daily case counts well beyond Faucis warning, and yet these actual cases have not always been covered with stark or dire urgency. The day Fauci spoke to senators in June, the US recorded more than forty-eight thousand new cases and five hundred seventy-nine new deaths. Yesterday, there were fifty-three thousand new cases and one thousand two hundred thirty-five new deaths. These numbers all add up to our milestones, regardless of the direction were headed. Below, more on the pandemic: A year in review: Yesterday, the Pew Research Center published a report based on a years worth of research into Americans news-consumption habits and attitudes toward the media. Among other conclusions, Pew researchers found a partisan split in views of covid coverage. Over time, Republicans responses shifted on a number of covid-19 -related issues. Generally speaking, they paid less attention to the coverage, became more critical of the media and grew more likely to say the pandemic was being exaggerated, they write. Conversely, Democrats responses on those issueswhich in most cases differed from the Republicansremained largely unchanged over time. Yesterday, the Pew Research Center published a report based on a years worth of research into Americans news-consumption habits and attitudes toward the media. Among other conclusions, Pew researchers found a partisan split in views of coverage. Over time, Republicans responses shifted on a number of -related issues. Generally speaking, they paid less attention to the coverage, became more critical of the media and grew more likely to say the pandemic was being exaggerated, they write. Conversely, Democrats responses on those issueswhich in most cases differed from the Republicansremained largely unchanged over time. Filling in the picture, I: Vaccine equity remains a pressing concernavailable data, Politico reports, continues to show that people in hard-hit minority communities are getting vaccinated at a much slower pace than people in wealthier white ones. Since the rollout began, large swaths of vaccination data have omitted race and ethnicity information, making it hard to assess the scale of the problem. The data remains limited, though in one hopeful sign, thirty-four states are now reporting race and ethnicity data, double the seventeen from a month ago, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Vaccine equity remains a pressing concernavailable data, Politico reports, continues to show that people in hard-hit minority communities are getting vaccinated at a much slower pace than people in wealthier white ones. Since the rollout began, large swaths of vaccination data have omitted race and ethnicity information, making it hard to assess the scale of the problem. The data remains limited, though in one hopeful sign, thirty-four states are now reporting race and ethnicity data, double the seventeen from a month ago, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Filling in the picture, II: Yesterday, the LA Times launched a Spanish-language version of its coronavirus data tracker, nearly a year after launching the English-language version. The paper said in a press release that the new initiative reflects its commitment to increasing its Spanish-language news coverage, as well as the disproportionate toll the pandemic has been taking on the Latino community. Yesterday, the LA Times launched a Spanish-language version of its coronavirus data tracker, nearly a year after launching the English-language version. The paper said in a press release that the new initiative reflects its commitment to increasing its Spanish-language news coverage, as well as the disproportionate toll the pandemic has been taking on the Latino community. Light relief: Spare a thought for editors at the Daily Campus, the student paper at the University of Connecticut, where students are presumably not one hundred percent keen to catch covid again. Other notable stories: ICYMI: President Bidens first month with the press Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop. CLEAR LAKE, Iowa, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Kingland Systems ("Kingland"), a leading provider of enterprise data software, announced today the completion of a strategic partnership and minority investment with Abry Partners. The investment and partnership will support continued growth and expansion of Kingland's software solutions. Houlihan Lokey was the exclusive advisor to Kingland on the investment. Founded by David Kingland in 1992, Kingland has grown to become one of the premier providers of software used to manage data and comply with regulations around the globe. The Kingland Platform's powerful data management, data automation, and data discovery software can be deployed anywhere in the world through its highly secure, advanced cloud infrastructure. With more than 600,000 business users operating in 160 countries and billions of data records managed, integral companies around the world trust Kingland to deliver. David Kingland, Chairman and Chief Innovation Officer of the company, states that the partnership with Abry will provide strategic support for the next phase of growth. "We've innovated and built this business over nearly 30 years and have doubled the size of our business the last five years. I'm proud of the company we've built, the clients we serve, and our Kingland team. We solve some of the hardest problems in data and technology, and Abry will be a tremendous partner for our next phase of growth." Through this partnership, Kingland expects to significantly increase its investment in new products and workforce. Tony Brownlee, President of Kingland, leads the company's expansion. "Our clients are some of the largest, most regulated and data-intensive companies in the world. We are investing significantly in software that helps them unlock the value of data and comply with complex global regulations. From our work in financial services and public accounting to retail and healthcare, there is significant demand to use software and data for large-scale business transformation. Partnering with Abry will enhance our ability to innovate, develop new products, and deliver industry-specific capabilities for our clients." Kingland CEO Todd Rognes emphasizes there will be no changes to the management team of Kingland. "We have a strong leadership team who has built this business, is invested in the company, and is committed to continuing to build great software and delivering for our clients the Kingland way. If you ask our leaders, they'll say we're only getting started." Azra Kanji and Chris Ritchie from Abry will join the Kingland board of directors. Azra Kanji remarks, "We have been blown away by the depth and breadth of Kingland's product offerings, which are tackling some of the most complex data management and governance issues we have come across. We are thrilled to be partnering with the Kingland team and are excited to support the business during the next phase of growth and innovation." About Kingland Kingland is a leading provider of enterprise-class software solutions using its Kingland Platform and teams of data and technology experts. The world's largest stock exchanges, financial institutions, public accounting firms, and other Fortune 500 companies use the Kingland Platform for data management, risk management, and regulatory compliance. Since 1992, Kingland has helped data-intensive, highly-regulated clients discover new ways to securely grow their business and protect their reputation. For more information about Kingland, please visit www.kingland.com . About Abry Partners Abry is one of the most experienced and successful sector-focused private equity investment firms in North America. Since its founding in 1989, the firm has completed over $82 billion of leveraged transactions and other private equity or preferred equity placements. Currently, the firm manages over $5.0 billion of capital across its active funds. For more information about Abry, please visit www.abry.com . SOURCE Kingland Related Links http://www.kingland.com Historically, we can see when Black and brown people are killed across this nation, most times there is no indictment. However, it isnt any less offensive, any less hurtful, any less painful, said Ashley Gantt of Rochester, as she headed to protest the decision. Im disgusted. MUNCIE, IN -- An 18-year-old woman who reported the shooting deaths of three Detroit men found in an Indiana apartment Friday has been charged with obstructing police, according to the Associated Press. Juniyah Yvette Simmons was arrested Saturday by police after she failed to cooperate with the investigation and allegedly lied to police multiple times. In an affidavit filed by Muncie police investigator, Jami Brown, the investigator wrote that Simmons lied multiple times with repeated inconsistencies in the information she provided to authorities. Brown did not specify what Simmons allegedly lied about, but did say the teen eventually came around and told police what she knew. Simmons apologized for not being truthful and admitted she delayed the homicide investigation significantly, Brown wrote. Along with the inconsistencies with her statements, police say Simmons removed several items of evidence and took them to a home in Anderson, Ind. which is listed as her address on court documents. However, the affidavit lists her address as the same as the apartment where the men were found. Police eventually recovered the missing items in Anderson, but the affidavit did not indicate what items were recovered. Anderson and Muncie are approximately 18 miles away from each other. Simmons reported the shootings via a phone call made while in Anderson. That call was made around 11:35 a.m. Friday, telling police about the shootings at the Elgin Manor Apartments complex. Simmons was released on $5,000 bond according to The Star Press. The three men from Detroit have been identified as Adrian Demarlo George Jr., 30; Devonte Earl Hollis, 25, and Terence Thomas, 27. A suspect in the shooting has not yet been identified. READ MORE: Dog rescued from Detroit River after being stuck on ice for 4 days Armed man dies after barricading in West Michigan barn, police say It is full steam ahead for us says Great Lakes fishing company after Michigan DNR lifts 2021 restrictions Former standout high school athlete dies in Ottawa County snowmobile crash NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Citrin Cooperman is pleased to announce the expansion of our advisory service line to include two new principals, and an internal promotion to partner. In order to support this rapidly growing service line, the firm has grown their Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Practice with the promotion of Jennifer Katrulya to partner (effective January 1, 2021), and the joining of new principal Constance Wright (effective December 14, 2020). Additionally, Joe Cashel joined the firm as a principal on January 11, 2021 and will lead the firm's newly formed Bankruptcy and Restructuring Services Practice. Katrulya, who joined Citrin Cooperman in July 2020 is a partner within the Citrin Cooperman's BPO service line, developing strategic and channel relationships for the firm. With over 25 years of experience, Katrulya, a trusted advisor to her clients, helps them establish best practices across nearly every aspect of their day-to-day operations. She has been recognized as one of the "Top 100 Most Influential People" by Accounting Today, and one of the "Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Accounting" by CPA Practice Advisor. "I am very proud to become a partner in the firm and work with a group of highly talented and caring professionals," stated Katrulya when she was promoted. "Being a partner at Citrin Cooperman is a great responsibility and an opportunity to utilize my strengths and work with the team for the benefit of the firm." Also joining the firm's BPO practice is Constance Wright, as a principal. Wright is responsible for overseeing the strategic outsourced accounting and finance teams for her clients, as well as specialty accounting projects that come up. Wright comes to Citrin Cooperman from CharlesRiverCFO, a technical accounting and consulting firm, where she served as president and co-founder. Previously she was the Boston office managing director of Resources Global, a Deloitte spin out. "I am very excited to continue my join Citrin Cooperman," said Wright. "Working with a team of talented professionals continues as a top priority of mine, and this firm has it. I am energized by the spirit and comradery of the team and the firm's culture, and I believe it is a perfect fit for me, and look forward to building out the New England Practice." To continue the growth and innovation of Citrin Cooperman's overall advisory service line, Joe Cashel has joined effective January 11, 2021 as a principal and practice leader of the Bankruptcy and Restructuring Services Group, a new service offering for the firm. Cashel brings over 20 years of experience in bankruptcy litigation, business restructuring, turnaround consulting, and bankruptcy administration services. Cashel joins Citrin Cooperman, led by CEO and Founder Joel Cooperman, from a top ten public accounting firm where he was responsible for sourcing and leading business restructuring and bankruptcy and insolvency-related engagements. "The Citrin Cooperman team is made up of extremely qualified and innovative leaders. I'm looking forward to hitting the ground running and quickly growing the practice," said Cashel. "The new suite of bankruptcy and restructuring services, coupled with the existing service solutions in forensics, litigation resolution, valuation, and outsourced back office services deepens the depth and breadth of resources and skills that will add value to key stakeholders involved in financial restructurings and bankruptcy proceedings." "Our advisory services line has rapidly expanded over the past several years through a focus on delivering practical, tailored, and innovative solutions to our clients' needs. Adding Jennifer, Connie, and Joe to our advisory service leadership will expand our ability to provide timely and needed solutions to our clients in key financial service areas," said Partner and Advisory Services Leader, Richard DeRienzo. "Our advisory service offerings are constantly adapting to the economic environment and the changing business needs of our clients. Our goal is to maximize the value we bring through our collaborative service models as the business person's go-to financial advisor." About Citrin Cooperman About Citrin Cooperman: Citrin Cooperman is among the largest, full-service assurance, tax, and business advisory firms in the United States, having steadily built its business serving a diverse and loyal clientele since 1979. Our daily mission is to help our clients "focus on what counts." Rooted in our core values, we provide a comprehensive, integrated business approach to traditional services, which includes proactive insights throughout the lifecycle of our clients wherever they do business, across the globe. Citrin Cooperman is an independent firm associated with Moore Global Network Limited. citrincooperman.com Press Contact: Laura F. Kucera 212-697-1000 https://www.citrincooperman.com/ SOURCE Citrin Cooperman Half a million Americans have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began, a once-unfathomable toll of a virus that is still far from contained, with new variants threatening to upend fragile progress toward vaccinating the country and preventing another surge in cases. The United States on Monday crossed 500,000 deaths, a figure that exceeds the entire population of the city of Sacramento or the whole county of Sonoma. But it came with signs that the worst days might be over in the Bay Area: The winter surge is abating and inoculations already are helping. Yet the path to 500,000 deaths has been a jagged line, and the virus that has killed roughly one in every 660 people in the country remains opportunistic and unpredictable. Monday also brought troubling findings from two teams of San Francisco scientists, who reported that a California-bred variant is now dominant in many parts of the state, and that it is more infectious than earlier versions of the virus. One study also found signs that the variant causes more serious illness and may be resistant to the bodys immune response. I dont think at the beginning of this, a year ago, that we could have predicted this is where wed be today, said Dr. Susan Philip, the acting health officer for San Francisco, reflecting on the national death toll in an interview. This is a moment to renew our commitments to each other, to renew our purpose of taking care of each other. Its a tricky time. The promise of vaccine, the promise of being able to move forward is really there its within our reach, she said. These (variants) are the wild card. California has seen nearly 50,000 COVID-19 deaths, and the Bay Area close to 5,200 since the pandemic began. The U.S. milestone prompted President Biden on Monday to lead a national moment of silence for those lost. Let this not be a story of how far we fell but how far we climbed back up, he said in a speech from the White House, urging Americans to find purpose and unity in honoring the dead while remaining vigilant. The next four to six weeks may be among the most critical in the pandemic, or at least in the final push toward ending it, public health experts say. The country is in a race to vaccinate as many people as possible before one or more variants leads to a new surge in cases and another grim climb in deaths or the virus mutates and makes vaccines less effective. Cases have been dropping rapidly over the past month, and public health experts say they see no signs yet of a new wave. The Bay Area averaged about 900 new cases a day last week the first time that number has fallen below 1,000 since before Thanksgiving. Statewide numbers also are at their lowest since November. But variants that are more infectious and have other worrisome traits should be a stern reminder to keep up behaviors that prevent the spread of disease, including wearing face coverings and avoiding gatherings. And public health officials say they are closely monitoring variants, including the California-grown version, that could cause new outbreaks and potentially slow down plans to reopen the economy. Will we be seeing local outbreaks and super-spreader events? Will that be more likely as we open up? We dont know that yet, said Dr. Charles Chiu, whose team at UCSF released preliminary study results Monday suggesting the California variant is more infectious. A variant identified in the United Kingdom really slowed down the opening there. Something similar may have to happen in the U.S. if it turns out this one is just as infectious. The U.K. variant, known as B.1.1.7, is roughly 50% more infectious than versions of the coronavirus that dominated for most of the pandemic. That variant has been identified in 44 states including California, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC has estimated it could become the dominant variant in parts of the country by March. But the California variant appears to be offering some competition. Its now been documented in 45 states, though 90% of cases are in California, Chiu said. By the end of January, the variant made up more than half the cases that were analyzed by Chius team at UCSF, which looked at data from 44 of 58 California counties, including all nine Bay Area counties. As recently as last September the variant was rare, accounting for fewer than 1% of cases. This variant probably should be treated with the same level of concern as these other variants, Chiu said. He believes the California variant should be added to the list of global variants of concern monitored by several health organizations. The CDC closely monitors three variants: the one from the United Kingdom, one from South Africa and one from Brazil. Infectious disease experts became concerned about the California variant in January, when two teams of scientists Chius at UCSF and another group in Los Angeles identified it independently as spreading fast in a few communities, including some in the Bay Area. The variant was found to be the source of a large outbreak at Kaiser Permanente in San Jose in which more than 90 people were infected. That the variant increased dramatically over a short period and that it was associated with several outbreaks raised early red flags that it could spread more easily. But the two studies released Monday offered the first firm evidence that the variant is more infectious. Neither study has been published. Chius team found that the variant appeared to spread faster in outbreak situations, based on analysis of several nursing home clusters. Plus, the virus was more highly concentrated in samples taken from individuals infected with the variant. Both are signs of increased infectiousness. Scientists also found that the variant was more infectious in lab studies. Meanwhile, scientists at the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub and UCSF found that the variant spread more easily in households in a study of more than 630 cases in the Mission District. The team found that about 35% of household members became infected when one case of the California variant was brought into the home; the attack rate for other variants was about 26%. We dont want to be alarmist, said Joe DeRisi, co-president of the Biohub, of the results of the Mission District study. But it highlights the need to examine this strain more carefully and do more studies on it. We need to be aware that its in the community and spreading fast. The Mission District research was coordinated by Unidos en Salud, a collaboration between Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, UCSF, the San Francisco Department of Public Health and the Latino Task Force for COVID-19. Chius team also showed that the variant was associated with worse outcomes of COVID-19, suggesting it may be more virulent. Patients infected with the variant were more likely to be put on a ventilator, treated in intensive care or die. But Chiu said the number of hospitalized cases his team looked at was relatively low and further study is needed to know for sure that the variant causes more serious illness. The team also looked at the immune response mounted against the variant by people who had been vaccinated or who had previously been infected with the coronavirus. The variant was resistant to some antibodies from both groups a sign that the vaccines could be somewhat weakened and that people may be prone to reinfection with the variant. Chiu said he believes the vaccines will remain effective. Overall the vaccine responses are quite robust, he said. Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: eallday@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @erinallday Opinion Policies Editorials are longer opinion pieces that are written by a group of community members recruited across campus who address relevant issues on a local, national and international level. Editorials are research-based. The purpose of the Editorial Board is to promote discussion concerning relevant issues in the community while advising on possible solutions. Topics are chosen via relevancy and interests of the members, which are then discussed by the Editorial Board in order to reach a general consensus concerning the topic or issue. Feedback policy If you have a grievance concerning the content or argument of the Editorial Board, please contact either Opinion Editor Peyton Hamel (peyton.hamel@iowastatedaily.com) or the Editorial Board as a whole (editorialboard@iowastatedaily.com). Those wanting to respond to editorials can also submit a letter to the editor through the Iowa State Daily website or by emailing the letter to Opinion Editor Peyton Hamel (peyton.hamel@iowastatedaily.com) or Editor-in-Chief Sage Smith (sage.smith@iowastatedaily.com). Column Policy Columns are hyper-specific to opinion and are written by only columnists employed by the Iowa State Daily. Columnists are unique because they have a specific writing day and only publish on those writing days. Each column undergoes a thorough editing process ensuring the integrity of the writer, and their claim is maintained while remaining research-based and respectful. Columns may be submitted from community members. These are labelled as Guest Columns. These contain similar research-based content and need to be at least 400 words in length. The following requirements should be met: first and last name, email and relation or position to Iowa State. Emails must be tied to the submitted guest column or it will not be accepted or published. Pseudonyms are prohibited and the writer will be banned from submissions. Read our full Opinion Policies here. Updated on 10/7/2020 By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 02/23/2021 ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. star Paige Banks says a part of her died inside once she discovered her new husband Chris Williams ' ex-fiancee was pregnant.When Chris and Paige began their honeymoon in Las Vegas, Chris was informed his ex-fiancee, Mercedes, was about six weeks pregnant.Chris reluctantly shared the news with Paige -- who had already been intimate with her husband multiple times -- and claimed it had been six weeks since he last interacted with his ex, whom he had been engaged to just three months before marrying a stranger in Summer 2020 on the show.On the February 17 episode of : Unfiltered, Paige watched back a Season 12 clip of her reaction to the news Chris' ex-fiancee Mercedes was pregnant."It's like everything that I want is just being taken away from me," Paige lamented in the clip."I honestly don't know if I can move forward from this, so I need some time to think about all this. I don't know where to go from here."On Unfiltered, host Jamie Otis -- who starred on Season 1 of -- asked Paige what was going through her mind when Chris first told her about his ex-fiancee's pregnancy."I literally had a moment. Part of me was just dying inside," Paige admitted."[I was thinking], 'Oh my gosh, we already have an attraction issue and now we have another big hurdle.' I'm just like, 'Lord, everything that I want is legitimately being taken away from me."Paige was joined by her co-stars Briana Myles and Virginia Coombs on Unfiltered, and the girls offered their perspective on the situation."That's rough," Briana confessed."I mean, that's a lot to take in. Paige is so strong, you know? So just for her to react that way, like, I'm unsure of how I would've reacted, but I know it wouldn't have been like that."The girls laughed and Jamie agreed, "Same, same!"And Virginia explained, "That was hard to watch because obviously we weren't there. We hadn't seen your immediate reaction to it, and we all put our heart and soul into the process."And I would not have handled it as well," Virginia said with a laugh, "and I definitely would've had some choice words and some angry thoughts!"Briana added, "[Paige] is so cool and mild-mannered, like, I am not, apparently."Paige, however, had hope at the time she and Chris could resolve their issues and move forward with "open and honest communication.""[We have to] be very transparent about, 'What are your expectations in this marriage and then with a new baby on the way? Now you have two duties -- one as a husband and another as a father.'""So I'm just making sure that's in alignment and you're firm on those things, and that's really essential for us to actually get through this process," Paige elaborated.During a conversation with fellow groom Vincent Morales in a recent Season 12 episode, Chris clarified of his ex-fiancee, "We've been broken up since May 2020, but that wasn't the last time we had sex, for sure."Chris said Mercedes had known about her pregnancy "for a few weeks" but didn't tell him right away.During a nice dinner out in Las Vegas with Paige, Chris revealed that he had been intimate with his ex-fiancee when they reunited for her father's passing -- even though they were broken up and not on good terms at the time.Paige admitted if that day was "Decision Day," she would walk away from her marriage, but Chris promised his wife that he was "in it for the long haul" and his attraction to her had grown since their wedding.Paige asked Chris if he still had strong feelings for his ex and if he thought there was a possibility of them getting back together."Right now, it doesn't matter if she's pregnant or not. You are my wife and nobody comes before you, so it doesn't matter what is going on with that. All that matters is the woman I made a vow to," Chris insisted.Chris suggested to Paige they get to know each other on a deeper level, and Paige said she liked that idea because "God doesn't give you anything that you can't handle."It appeared the couple had turned over a new leaf and were ready to take things on as a team, but Chris later had an emotional breakdown because neither Paige or himself seemed happy like the other four couples appeared to be."I feel like I'm stuck in this and I'm crying because I've got a baby on the way. There's a lot going through my mind," Chris vented to the cameras.Chris later had heated confrontations with Virginia and her husband Erik Lake over how he should treat Paige, and Chris ended up admitting to Paige that he and his ex had briefly discussed reconciling so they could co-parent their child in the same home.Chris confessed to Paige that he still loved his ex-fiancee but preferred to work things out with her since they were legally and spiritually married.Chris told Paige that he could envision them lasting beyond seven weeks, and Paige subsequently shared with the cameras how she believed in fighting for love."I believe in the possibility of love... and I pray that Chris is my person for the rest of my life. I believe in us," Paige said. "This could potentially be a beautiful story for the both of us."Interested in more news? Join our Married at First Sight Facebook Group or click here to view our newspage!And click here for more updates on former cast members and info on where they are now! Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media WEST HARTFORD Police say a Hartford man was killed in an accidental car fire that was discovered earlier this month on Kane Street. Stephen Pelletier, 66, was identified as the person who died, West Hartford police wrote in a Tuesday update to the initial news release. San Francisco is no stranger to political scandals and controversial policies, and yet not a single elected official has faced a serious recall attempt in nearly 40 years. A formal initiative is afoot to change that, with three school board members facing the possibility voters could remove them from office by the end of the year. It will be a steep climb, especially in the midst of a pandemic. Recalls typically require lot of money, an army of signature collectors and several months of effort. The obvious alternative is waiting until the next election, in this case November 2022, and voting them out then. Thats not good enough, organizers said. For months, murmurs of a recall have floated across the city, but on Friday, SFUSD parents Autumn Looijen and Siva Raj filed the official state and local paperwork to kick off the effort to remove President Gabriela Lopez, Vice President Alison Collins and Commissioner Faauuga Moliga from their seats on the school board. We are parents, not politicians, and intend to stay that way, Raj said in the announcement. We are determined to ensure San Franciscos public schools provide a quality education for every kid in the city. The effort reflects a broader discontent and anger among families as public schools remain closed in the city with no timeline for reopening, even while the board has spent significant time and political capital on controversial votes to rename 44 schools and end the merit-based admission to academically elite Lowell High School. National publications have jumped on the controversies. Collins and Lopez declined to comment on the recall. Moliga did not respond to requests for comment. Lopez has repeatedly said the board is focused on reopening schools and that it is a top priority for the district even as other issues are addressed. She and other board members have said that focusing on equity through the Lowell decision and renaming schools is an important part of fostering success among students of color. The four other board members, who were first elected or re-elected in November and took office in January, cannot be recalled until they have served six months in office. It could take a few weeks for officials to process the recall petitions prior to signature collection, but already, the couple said they have more than 1,200 voters who say they will sign. The organizers will need to collect about 70,000 signatures for each of the three board members in the middle of a pandemic. They will have 160 days to do it once the petitions are finalized. If enough signatures are verified, San Francisco elections officials would then schedule a special election within 100 days. At the earliest, a recall vote would occur in late November. Looijen and Raj, who have five kids between them and a tech startup background, are undeterred, said Joel Engardio, a community advocate and former supervisorial candidate who is helping facilitate the recall. Engardio said he told them how hard it would be. He tried to dissuade them. They said, Because its so hard, were going to find ways to work around it and make it happen, Engardio said. If they have the energy, and wherewithal to try to pull off the impossible, why say no to that? The couple plan to limit donations to the cause at $99 to prevent a big donor from having too much influence. The frustration and outrage is so fever-pitched, there needs to be a place to channel the energy, Engardio said. In addition to the recall, San Francisco families and community leaders have created a political action committee to look at recalling or appointing rather than electing board members. A separate group launched a public poll to gauge support for similar efforts. The board has drawn national attention and ridicule in recent months for the decisions as local voices have grown louder demanding action on in-person learning. The mayor as well as local and state officials have lambasted the board over reopening, with the city attorney filing a lawsuit claiming the districts foot-dragging is violating state law and the California Constitution. Yet its unclear whether theres enough support in the city for a recall, said Nicole Derse, co-founder of 50+1 Strategies, a political consulting firm. Obviously, the attention the school board has gotten over the last couple of months probably is more than they ever had, she said. I still think the vast majority of San Franciscans dont have strong opinions about the school board. Mayor London Breed declined to say whether she would support a recall. The mayors focus is on getting our kids back in the classroom as soon as possible, said Jeff Cretan, Breeds communications director. That needs to be all of our top priority in this moment, and we cant lose focus on that. In the meantime, the recall math shows how hard it will be to collect enough signatures, given the districts enrollment of 52,000 students meaning it will presumably take more than just public school parents to make the math work. Mike Smith is ready to sign. The lawyer has no children, but was stunned by the plan to rename 44 schools. What really shocked me about his was just how lazy the process was, he said, noting that the renaming committee and school board relied on Wikipedia as historic sourcing. Rarely is laziness so fascinating. Smith said hes definitely never voted Republican, but feels theres a loss of healthy competition in San Francisco politics. The recall is necessary, he said. If successful, it will be the first time city residents have faced such a vote in decades. The last time was in 1983 when the White Panthers tried to oust then-Mayor Dianne Feinstein over her handgun ban. They failed spectacularly, with 82% of voters keeping her in office. Past efforts to recall former Mayor Ed Lee and other city politicians failed to make it onto the ballot. How the three school board members would fare in a November vote is less clear. People are frustrated by the pandemic and parents are tired of their kids not being in school, Derse said. In other words, the board has been tone deaf to what those parents are feeling, she added. That can add to recall fervor. If the school board members want to prevent (a recall), theyre going to have to get better at articulating their vision for San Francisco kids, Derse said. They need to show theyre more in sync with voters if they want to avoid this. Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker The Trump policies have generally not been effective; indeed they have been counter-productive and, while costly for China, have been even more costly for America in terms of lost economic output and jobs. His centrepiece tariffs have failed to deliver on his promise to reduce the US trade deficit with China and his much-vaunted Phase One trade deal, under which China committed to buying $US200 billion more US goods than it did in 2017, has been a failure. China has so far fallen about 40 per cent short on its commitments. The tariffs may have made Chinas exports less competitive but were paid for by US companies and consumers they were effectively a $US70 billion or so tax on US companies and consumers and the administration then had to distribute tens of billions of dollars to its farmers to compensate them for their lost export income. It would seem Biden recognises that the tariffs do more harm to the US economy than to China but the politics of removing them - particularly as China hasnt delivered on the Phase One agreement -- and the reality that they do represent leverage in the wider relationship makes it unlikely that he will move unless Chinas proffers something very material and structural in exchange. It isnt at all clear what China has to offer. It isnt going to change its treatment of the Uighurs, or loosen its still-tightening control of Hong Kong, or remove subsidies for its state-owned enterprises, or suppress its technological and regional ambitions or cease trying to undermine Americas traditional alliances (although Trump was probably more effective than China on that front). If it is waiting for Biden to make the first move it could be a long wait. Hes more focused on building American economic and military capacity to counter China and on re-establishing Americas traditional alliances and leading role in the multilateral institutions Trump despised than in any early efforts to undo Trumps tangled legacies on trade and human rights. The new administration has said it will conduct a comprehensive review of the Trump policies before it settles on its strategies and tactics for dealing with China. Earlier this week, Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the US to reopen a dialogue and distance itself from the Trumps administrations policies. Credit:UNTV The new US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has at least shown the administration has a slightly more sophisticated understanding of the issues than its predecessor. Loading There are adversarial aspects to the relationship, theres certainly competitive ones and theres still some co-operative ones, too. But whether were dealing with any of those aspects of the relationship we have to be able to approach China from a position of strength, not weakness, he said recently. For the moment the administration is more focused on filling in the gaps in its cabinet, dealing with the pandemic and other domestic issues, trying to repair the relations with its former allies that Trump scorned and damaged an outcome China has tried to exploit with some, but mixed, success and with reviving the World Trade Organisation and other multi-lateral institutions than any material re-setting of the bi-lateral relationship. At some point it will have to engage with China further decoupling of the economies and increased tensions would be very costly to both and add to global instability and threats. Unless and until it can bring a much wider front of alliances to the negotiating table, however, theres little prospect that China will agree to change its trade practices, make concessions on its treatment of the Uighurs and Hong Kong or defuse tensions in the South China Sea and therefore little prospect that the Biden administration will be any less suspicious of China or less combative than its predecessor. (Newser) Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants flags in the state flown half-staff when famous resident Rush Limbaugh is laid to rest, but some Florida officials aren't having it. "Lowering to half-staff the flag of the United States of America is a sacred honor that pays respect to fallen heroes and patriots. It is not a partisan political tool," says Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried in a statement cited by NBC Miami. "Therefore, I will notify all state offices under my direction to disregard the Governor's forthcoming order to lower flags for Mr. Limbaughbecause we will not celebrate hate speech, bigotry, and division." Fried, whose office oversees a number of state offices and facilities including nine regional licensing offices, 38 state forests, and 23 agricultural law enforcement inspection stations, continued, "Lowering the flag should always reflect unity, not division, and raising our standards, not lowering them." story continues below WFLA reports that St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman will also decline: "Not lowering flags for Rush," he tweeted. "In St. Pete we dont honor hatred, racism, bigotry, homophobia, or anything else he has spewed over the years." And WPTV reports West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James also won't comply, and another mayor, Oakland Park's Jane F. Bolin, is not only refusing to lower flags but is calling on all state leaders to do the same. The station notes that Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay is investigating whether it's even legal for DeSantis to order that flags be lowered. "My concern is that the governor is bending over backwards to honor a radio host who has consistently made racist, polarizing and conspiracy comments, Fried told ABC News Monday. "It is really inappropriate, and the governor is playing politics with this American treasure, which is our flag." (Read more Rush Limbaugh stories.) In January, a local political enforcer, Sunday Igboho Adeyemo, issued a seven-day ultimatum to Fulani residents to move out of Igangan in the Ibarapa area of Oyo State over alleged kidnappings and violent clashes with farmers by cattle herders in the area. Mr Adeyemo gave the order during a confrontation at the home of Saliu Abdulkadir, the Seriki Fulani of Igangan. He was not the first to issue such an illegal order in Nigeria. But unlike the others, Mr Adeyemo returned to Igangan at the expiration of his ultimatum and, alongside residents of the area, sacked the Fulani community there. This was despite warnings by Governor Seyi Makinde that he had no right to evict any group from the state and that the state government would not tolerate his action. After the violent eviction in Igangan, the police declared Mr Igboho wanted. But he has continued to walk about freely and in fact, shortly after, led another expedition to Ogun State to attack another Fulani community. Legal experts and other commentators said the Nigerian authorities face a dilemma in checking the activities of people like Mr Adeyemo because of the bad precedent the authorities set by treating with kid gloves others before him who threatened to expel Nigerians from other parts of the country. They said the failure of the authorities to firmly sanction groups and individuals for such clearly illegal action has encouraged others and is now threatening the unity of Nigeria. Section 41 of the 1999 Constitution stipulates that every citizen is entitled to move freely throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part thereof, and no citizen shall be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry thereby or exit therefrom. Limitations to this freedom of movement include imposition of restrictions on the residence or movement of any person who has committed or is reasonably suspected to have committed a criminal offence in order to prevent him from leaving Nigeria, or such person been tried outside Nigeria for any criminal offence, or undergo imprisonment outside Nigeria in execution of the sentence of a court of law in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty. Furthermore, Sections 43 and 44 of the 1999 constitution make provisions for the right of citizens to own property in any part of Nigeria. Section 43 states that: Subject to the provisions of this constitution, every citizen of Nigeria shall have the right to acquire and own immovable property anywhere in Nigeria. But these rights of the citizens have been violated on numerous occasions with the authorities turning a blind eye. PREMIUM TIMES review showed more than four such incidents since 2017 under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. Bad precedent In 2017, 16 northern groups gave Igbo residents three months to move out of the region or face physical attacks, over the clamour by secessionists in the South East region for a Republic of Biafra. Some of the groups which issued the ultimatum at a meeting in Kaduna identified themselves as the Arewa Citizens Action for Change, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Arewa Youth Development Foundation, Arewa Students Forum and Northern Emancipation Network. Abdulazeez Suleiman read a statement containing the ultimatum on behalf of the groups at the Arewa House in Kaduna. The group said it was in response to the failure of the authorities in the South-east to check the activities of the secessionists. This latest action and similar confrontational conducts which amount to a brutal encroachment on the rights of those termed as non-indigenous people residing and doing lawful businesses in those areas illegally demarcated and defined as Biafra by the Igbo, are downright unacceptable and shall no longer be tolerated, the groups said in the statement. In a swift reaction to the statement, Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai ordered the arrest and prosecution of Mr Suleiman and members of the groups. ADVERTISEMENT Mr El-Rufai, in a statement signed by his spokesperson, Samuel Aruwan, condemned the statement as inciting and for seeking to violate the rights of Igbo to live as citizens of Nigeria in the North. The Kaduna State Government takes exception to the fact that the northern youths did their irresponsible press conference in Kaduna. This government has been consistent in taking action to punish hate speech and incitement. People who may feel unhappy about irresponsible comments or actions that have taken place in other states must know that two wrongs cannot make a right, and they cannot use our state to do or say things that threaten the peace. KDSG has therefore ordered the arrest, investigation and prosecution of the signatories to the statement. However, that was as far as it went in terms of official reaction as no effort was made to arrest and prosecute Mr Suleiman and the others. Daily Trust newspapers later reported that the leaders of the group fled Kaduna following the governors order. Unofficial sources said Mr El-Rufais order was not enforced because the groups did not take any steps to carry out their illegal quit notice. Muyiwa Adekeye, the spokesperson of Mr El-Rufai, did not respond to requests for clarifications on why the state governments arrest order was not eventually enforced. Presidencys tame reaction Like Mr El-Rufai, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who was acting president at the time, also condemned the quit notice by the Northern groups. At a meeting of Northern traditional leaders a few days after the eviction notice, Mr Osinbajo said the government would deal with anyone who threatened the peaceful coexistence of Nigerians. Violence and war are not going to do anyone any good. Wars today hardly ends. No one who has seen the face of wars even on television would wish it for anyone. We should not tolerate hate speeches or divisive comments, the acting president said. There is no doubting the resolve of government not to allow anyone get away with hate speeches and divisive words. We will do everything within our power to protect the lives of every citizen anywhere and in any part of the country. However, the federal government took no action to sanction the members of the groups that had threatened to violate the rights of citizens to live in the north if they choose to. PREMIUM TIMES asked Mr Osinbajos spokesperson, Laolu Akande, what steps the then acting president took to back his bark with bite. You will need to talk to the security agencies for the details of that, Mr Akande said. The spokesperson of the police, Frank Mba, did not respond to enquiries on the subject. Many Nigerians, however, believe that the groups got away with mere warnings because they are from the same section of the country as President Muhammadu Buhari. Northern Governors Forum protection PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the former Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, Kashim Shettima, was among northern elites who discouraged the authorities from sanctioning members of the northern groups. According to government sources, some fellow northern governors were even furious that Mr El-Rufai ordered their arrest. Mr Shettima, for instance, called for dialogue with the groups. Ahmed Ningi, the spokesperson of Mr Shettima, said although the former governor met with the leaders of the groups, he did not have the full details of what he discussed with them. All I know is that Oga (Mr Shettima) called them for a peaceful resolution. He promoted the one Nigeria idea. I dont know anything about arrest, he told this newspaper. Disturbing pattern Since the 2017 incident, at least four non-state actors have made similar attempts to expel some Nigerians from their parts of the country. However, in only one of the four cases was attempt made to enforce the eviction notice upon the expiration of the ultimatum. That sole case involved Mr Adeyemo. Upon the expiration of his ultimatum, Mr Adeyemo stormed the community to evict some Fulani residents. The ensuing clash between his group and the Fulani residents resulted in the destruction of properties, including the home of Mr Abdulkadir, the head of the Fulani community in Igangan. Mr Abdulkadir and his kinsmen have since relocated to Ilorin, the Kwara State capital. Following the mayhem, Governor Makinde and the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, ordered the arrest of Mr Adeyemo. But the order was not carried out. The self-acclaimed Yoruba activist in multiple video footage later mocked the government, boasting of his powers and influence. Shortly after the crisis in Oyo, Mr Adeyemo again led his group to Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State to evict herders. Even though the Ogun State government immediately said it did not need his help to tackle insecurity in the state, no action was taken against Mr Adeyemo over the violence. Need for caution Demola Williams, a public affairs analyst, said Mr Adeyemos impunity indicated that the situation had gotten out of hand. If you noticed, before now, they only issue quit notices and move on. But now the Sunday Igboho saga has set a new precedent and people can go ahead with destruction of properties. Mr Williams warned that the development is capable of instigating a major ethnic crisis in Nigeria. Before you know it, another group may rise up tomorrow and tell Yorubas to vacate the North. The federal government does not know that it is sitting on a keg of gunpowder, he said. Other commentators who spoke with Premium Times agreed with Mr Williams and blamed the authorities for bringing the situation upon the country. A legal expert, Festus Ogun, said the reason someone like Mr Adeyemo was still walking freely is because the state and federal governments lack the political will to check people like him. Looking at the case of Sunday, the arrest was not effective because there is no political will from the actors of the state. If the authorities had the will to prosecute, we would not have the Sunday Igboho of this world. They made the order for arrest but at the end of the day, nothing gets done. That emboldens others to go ahead to eject or evict people, Mr Ogun said. A senior lawyer and human rights activist, Femi Falana, accused the federal government itself of also violating the rights of Nigerians in the past. Unfortunately, quit notices have been issued against some ethnic groups by some individuals who were never arrested or called to order. Beggars and other poor people are forcefully arrested and deported to their state of origin. Other poor people have their houses demolished by the federal government and many state governments. In all these cases, where the poor have been dislocated, the federal government has never protested. The federal government stands to be accused of selective defence of some herders in the country. However, Mr Falana said his position does not support the government or individuals issuing quit notice. He urged Nigerians to stop ethnic profiling of criminal elements. Another legal practitioner and a co-founder of the New Nigerian Bar Association (NNBA), Abdulbasit Suleiman, urged people whose rights are so violated to seek redress in court. Nobody has the power to issue any quit notice. A Hausa man can go to the South East to stay there and a Yoruba man can go to the North to build a house. What Sunday Igboho did infringed on the constitutional rights of the Fulanis. If the government is not ready to protect them, they have the rights to challenge the action of Igboho in any high court in Oyo State, Mr Suleiman said. Way forward Mr Ogun noted that the circumstances leading to the quit notices were mostly matters of insecurity. It must follow its words with responsible actions. Paying lip service to issues of security is inimical to Nigerias corporate existence, he said. The failure of the federal government is in not putting their words into action. Threatening them is not enough. Mr Ogun added, calling for the arrest of Mr Adeyemo and others issuing quit notices. Presidential spokespersons, Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu, did not respond to requests for comments for this report. Below are some of the other groups that had issued quit notices to Nigerians. Eastern group A group known as Voice from the East (VEAST) issued an ultimatum to Fulani herders to leave the South East in July 2018. According to Vanguard newspaper, the group during a peaceful protest, ordered the herders to leave the region by August 31 that year. VEAST convener, Kindness Jonah, said We carried out the demonstration for the sole purpose of issuing quit notices to Fulani herdsmen in Igboland. The aberrant killings by Fulani herdsmen purposely unchecked by the Federal Government and military instigated this quit notice. The state and federal governments did not speak on the threat, although the group is little known and its statement was not widely circulated or enforced. Niger Delta militants In 2018, another little-known group, the Coalition of Niger Delta Militants, warned Fulani herders to steer clear of the region and vowing to deal with any Niger Delta governor who allowed cattle grazing in the region. The group gave the warning in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. It also listed oil fields and installations as targets for resumed attacks if the federal government failed to address the grievances of the region. The group gave Fulani herders one month to vacate the region or face dire consequences. Signatories of the resolutions of the group included John Duku, Niger Delta Watchdogs and Convener, Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators; Ekpo Ekpo of Niger Delta Volunteers, Osarolor Nedam of Niger Delta Warriors; and Simply Benjamin of Bakassi Strike Force. Like those of the previous groups, the eviction order was not enforced. Ogun youth While the controversies surrounding the action of Mr Adeyemo were still raging, a group of youth in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State gave Fulani herders a seven-day ultimatum to leave the area. The youth, under the umbrella of Yewa North Patriotic Forum (YNPF), also blamed herders for the killing of five residents in Owode-Ketu and Egua communities. The youth issued the ultimatum in a statement signed by their president, Sanni Omobolaji. We also use this medium to give a seven-day ultimatum within which all killer herdsmen must vacate our local government or face the full anger of grieving people, part of the statement read. If this ultimatum is taken with levity, we shall stop at nothing in ensuring that all unknown Fulanis are flushed out of our local government at the expiration of the seven-day ultimatum. But the youth took no action upon the expiration of the ultimatum. Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 has fully approved the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Inc and BioNTech SE , its health regulator said on Tuesday, though a dispute over a supply deal means it has none to start an immunization program with. It is the first coronavirus shot to receive full approval in Brazil, regulator Anvisa said. Vaccines developed by and China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd, have only been approved for emergency use. The approval is good news for a country whose immunization campaign has been plagued by delays and political squabbling. However, it is unclear whether this will pave the way for a supply deal of a highly effective shot that is being rolled out globally. "We hope to be able to move forward in our negotiations with the Brazilian government to support the immunization of the country's population," Pfizer's boss Marta Diez said in a statement, without giving further details. Brazil's Health Ministry did not respond to a request for comment. President Jair Bolsonaro has criticized the terms of a deal proposed by Pfizer, saying it is overly onerous as it exempts the U.S. firm from potential liability for unforeseen problems. has said other countries, including Brazil's neighbors in Latin America, have agreed to those terms. 25 local community groups and organisations for a variety of peatlands related projects across Ireland are to benefit. Deputy Michael Lowry has welcomed funding of 7,260 for Tipperary under the Peatlands Community Engagement Scheme, which has been operating for the last number of years. This funding will be used to undertake a habitat survey at Cloughjordans Scohaboy Bog Natural Heritage Area on habitats not covered to date and to carry out an Appropriate Assessment for a proposed route way for a new visitor and amenity boardwalk. The total approved grant funding of just under 230,000 to 25 local community groups and organisations for a variety of peatlands related projects across Ireland was announced by Malcolm Noonan T.D., Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral A diverse range of initiatives were put forward by community and volunteer groups and environmental organisations. Michael Lowry TD The Minister stated that the amount of high quality applications received for 2021 was impressive and he was delighted there was such a geographic spread with projects in 15 counties set to benefit. "The high volume and quality of applications to the Scheme shows just how much communities care about and value their local peatlands, and how much enthusiasm there is across the country for local people to work together to protect, explore and enjoy these precious habitats. "This funding allocation - a two-fold increase on last years allocation to the scheme - will support various projects in local peatland areas from boardwalks, maintenance of bog trails, peatland restoration plans, information signage and way finder markers, the surveying of bog habitats and birds, promotional material and publications, oral history projects, invasive species control and peatland education programmes to nature awareness, wellness and sensory experiences," he said. Francesca Paris covers North Adams for The Berkshire Eagle. A California native and Williams College alumna, she has worked at NPR in Washington, D.C. and WBUR in Boston, as a news reporter, producer and editor. Find her on Twitter at @fparises. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Award-winning chef Heinz Beck, who helms three Michelin-starred La Pergola in Rome, will be in Dubai from March 1 to 4 to host a series of limited edition dinners at Social by Heinz Beck, Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah. Social by Heinz Beck has been a stalwart in Dubais fine dining scene since it opened in 2014. Beck will prepare an artfully curated selection of dishes from his world-renowned repertoire. Beck will be in the kitchen cooking alongside his culinary team led by head chef Francesco Acquaviva. Using the finest ingredients and their unrivalled artistry, the highly celebrated chef and his team will create seminal culinary moments for a select number of diners over the course of four nights. Fine dining aficionados will have the option of a five- or seven-course epicurean journey and the opportunity to meet the master who created it. The five-course set menu priced at AED600 and the 7-course menu is AED800. - TradeArabia News Service Posted Tuesday, February 23, 2021 11:16 am With news that the U.S. and Canada plan to extend the closure of their border another month in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, a Washington state Congressional delegation led by Rep. Suzan DelBene sent a letter Monday to President Joe Biden urging his administration to work with Canadian officials to safely reopen the border. The latest extension of the border closure, which was announced Friday, Feb. 19, bans non-essential travel between the two countries until at least March 21 one year since the border officially closed on March 21, 2020, as the COVID-19 crisis began. The closure, which was initially scheduled to last a month, has since been extended 11 times on a month-by-month basis many times only days before it was set to expire. "Minimizing the risk presented by COVID-19 and prioritizing the safety of our communities remains of utmost importance while the U.S. and Canada work to overcome this public health crisis.," the lawmakers wrote in the letter, which was provided to The Bellingham Herald by DelBene's office. "However, as we approach one year of restricted travel, individuals, families, businesses, and communities on both sides of the border have been significantly impacted by these restrictions." The lawmakers cited the economic hardships the border closing has created, particularly in Whatcom County, where nearly 7 million trips were made into Whatcom County by Canadian visitors in 2018, and approximately one-quarter of those visitors spent an estimated $138 million in area businesses and stores. Last year, the letter stated, crossings were down 98%, "severely restricting the economic activity and tax revenue of this border community." "During the pandemic daily life has been uprooted in many ways for all of us, but for communities dependent upon cross-border interactions, life has completely halted," the lawmakers wrote. The lawmakers asked the President's administration to utilize public health data and science and cooperation with Canadian officials to make decisions that would allow border traffic to begin to resume. In particular, the lawmakers' letter asked the Biden administration to prioritize: Establishing a bilateral plan to ease restrictions and restore travel between the two countries. Providing vaccination and testing of all essential U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees to allow for a safe border reopening. Matching Canadian travel exemptions to allow families and loved ones to cross the border and reunite. Creating policy to allow property owners to cross the border to maintain their property. Working with Canada to allow transportation through boundary waters. Allowing isolated Whatcom County residents in Point Roberts, cut off by the border closure, to cross through Canada to reach the U.S. mainland. Permitting American schoolchildren in border communities and enrolled in Canadian schools to cross into Canada to receive their education. Ensuring that U.S. cruise ships are able to make technical and service stops in Canada, once cruise ships are allowed to resume service, if the CDC and Canadian health authorities agree that all protocols have been established and met by the ships and ports. Additionally, the delegation asked that Canada be asked to apply border restrictions uniformly, rather than allowing Canadian Border Services Agency agents to determine what is an isn't an essential border crossing at their own discretion. "The United States and Canada have a special partnership and a long history of close cooperation," the lawmakers wrote. "We hope this close relationship can lead to swift action between our two countries to safely restore cross border travel while continuing to protect the health and safety of our communities." Swab tests at border Beginning Monday, Feb. 22, Canada began providing mandatory COVID-19 swab test kits at its land ports of entry from the United States, according to a story by The International News. Unless exempt, all travelers entering Canada are required to take a test utilizing the self-swab kit, either at the traveler's quarantine location or at a border testing site, The International News reported. All travelers to Canada are required to take two COVID tests one on the day of their arrival and one after their 14-day quarantine period, according to the story. Additionally, travelers flying into a Canadian airport must undergo a three-day stay at a quarantine hotel at their own expense while they await the results of their test. The kits will be handed out at all 117 land points of entry, according to a Yahoo Finance story on the measure. On-site testing will be available at five high-volume ports of entry, according to the story, with 11 additional crossings being added by March 4. The kits will include instructions on how to collect specimens and when travelers must get their second test, Yahoo Finance reported. The Canadian Armed Forces helped establish a testing site at the Peace Arch crossing from Blaine, according to the the Surrey Now-Leader. The Canadian Armed Forces will not be involved in testing, quarantine or enforcement of the new rules, the story reported, only with support planning, logistics and set up of the testing sites. ___ (c)2021 The Bellingham Herald (Bellingham, Wash.) Visit The Bellingham Herald (Bellingham, Wash.) at www.bellinghamherald.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. PARIS, FRANCE / ACCESSWIRE / February 23, 2021 / Eric-Theodore Yepao, the CEO of Nordland Holding Europe GmbH, is proud to announce that his company will invest an additional 5 Billion Euros in addition to the 15 Billion Euros already invested in the development of Renaissance, the private city in Ivory Coast. The Private city of Renaissance will be the first private city built on the African continent and will offer safety, privacy and an excellent quality of life to its residents. The private city will have state-of-the -art infrastructure including its own airport, hospitals, universities, elementary schools, an international financial center with a stocks exchange, a business park, and a park dedicated to science and technology. "Renaissance will be a hub for 21st century innovation and technology. We are also encouraging its residents to use green technology and renewable energy," states Eric-Theodore Yepao In the private city, Nordland Holding Europe GmbH will create subsidiary companies in media, artificial intelligence, fintech, pharmacology, biotechnology, nanotechnology, space technology, green technology and renewable energy. Eric-Theodore Yepao states that the city will attract the best talents from all over the world by offering them safety, privacy, freedom, and an excellent quality of life. As of right now, the population of the private city will be mainly composed of expatriates and citizens from the Ivory Coast. However, there are also interests move to the private city from various countries in the EU and North America. Eric-Theodore Yepao states that the private city will have its own administration, legal system, taxation, and economic entity making the city entirely autonomous. The residents will be shareholders of the private city and will not be subject to various taxes. Eric-Theodore Yepao finally states that the private city will be a win-win situation as it will pay an annual fee to the Ivory Coast and will create thousands of jobs for its citizens. About Eric-Theodore Yepao Eric-Theodore Yepao is the CEO and Founder of Nordland Holding Europe GmbH and is proud to be an ethical investor. From a young age, Yepao developed values related to transparency and integrity. After attending Harvard University, he moved to New York where he worked with several banks before launching his own company. Yepao has always wanted to invest in the economic well-being of the Ivory Coast and is excited to be a part of this new development. Contact: Name: Eric-Theodore Yepao Email: eric.yepao@nordland-europe.com SOURCE: Eric-Theodore Yepao View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/631320/Nordland-Holding-Europe-GmbH-and-its-CEO-Eric-Theodore-Yepao-Are-Investing-An-Additional-5-Billion-Euro-On-Top-Of-The-15-Billion-Euros-Already-Invested-For-The-Development-Of-A-Private-City-In-Ivory-Coast China did 'little' to investigate the origins of Covid during the first eight months of the outbreak, a leaked WHO report has claimed. Scientists from the UN body warned in August last year that Beijing was dragging its feet over the probe, which they said had barely advanced since January. They also warned Beijing was not sharing data, despite WHO chief Dr Tedros insisting that groundwork to identify the virus's origins was being laid. The report leaked amid backlash at the WHO for its most-recent Wuhan probe, which backed theories being pushed by Beijing that the virus started outside China. China 'did little' to investigate the origins of Covid during the first eight months of the pandemic and was not sharing data with the WHO, leaked report reveals (file image) WHO investigators, led by Peter Embarek, visited Wuhan between July 10 and August 3 last year as part of an 'advance team' to set up the much-wider probe which took place in January. The leaked document, seen by The Guardian, is a two-page report put together as they left the country to summarize the team's findings. It says: 'Following extensive discussions with and presentation from Chinese counterparts, it appears that little had been done in terms of epidemiological investigations around Wuhan since January 2020. 'The data presented orally gave a few more details than what was presented at the emergency committee meetings in January 2020. 'No PowerPoint presentations were made and no documents were shared.' But WHO chief Dr Tedros gave no indication that China was withholding information when he addressed the world at a press conference the same day, August 3. Speaking about the China probe, he said only: 'One of the areas that we have been continuing to study is the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19. 'The WHO advance team that travelled to China has now concluded their mission to lay the groundwork for further joint efforts to identify the virus origins. Peter Embarek, whose team visited Wuhan between July and August last year, warned Beijing had given only 'a few more details' than it did in January 'As a result of these efforts, WHO and Chinese experts have drafted the Terms of Reference for the studies and programme of work for an international team.' The international team - also led by Dr Embarek - arrived in Wuhan in January this year and returned home two weeks ago after offering an almost-full endorsement of Beijing's explanations for the origins of the virus. Dr Embarek used a press conference as the trip finished to push theories backed by Beijing that the virus could have been imported on frozen meat, while dismissing suggestions it leaked from a Chinese lab. He also insisted there was no evidence the virus was spreading in Wuhan before December - a position which he has since walked back after his assessment was met with scorn. Dr Embarek now says discovered there were at least 13 Covid variants in Wuhan in December last year, suggesting the virus had been in the human population for some time to allow these different strains to develop. He also revealed that up to 1,000 people in Wuhan could have been infected in early December - an estimate based on Chinese data that showed 174 severe cases of the disease - also suggesting it was spreading widely at the time. While he stopped short of saying the virus was circulating before December, he did call for further investigation into the theory. WHO chief Dr Tedros gave no indication that China was moving slowly or withholding data when he spoke about the mission, saying it had laid the groundwork to find the origins of Covid Dr Tedros has also walked back suggestions the virus did not leak from a lab, saying that all theories remain on the table. The WHO's final Wuhan report is excepted to recommend 'extensive' contact tracing of 'patient zero' - a man infected with Covid on December 8 who had no links to a seafood market once touted as the source of the virus - leading scientists to slam the 'implausibly' slow pace of Beijing's investigations. Independent scientists say they can't understand why Chinese scientists had not done this investigative work months ago. Professor Maureen Miller, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Columbia University, said: 'It's implausible that this research has not been done. It's not realistic, given they have world-class scientists there, and the technology invested in over the last 20 years. Miller, who was shown a copy of the to-be-published report by CNN, said the first patient's infection on December 8 without direct contact with the wet market or travel shows there was already community transmission. 'In the short and long term, it is detrimental to China to try to hide the fact that this virus started in China and was exported around the world,' she told the website. Professor Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, said it was surprising China 'hasn't invested in investigating two important clues like that.' He added the country had recently mobilised the entire city of Beijing to find the source of a Covid-19 outbreak. 'They have top-notch scientists, who are much more knowledgeable than most in terms of recognising the importance of this information,' he said. Huang added that the WHO recommendations showed they were 'uncovering some interesting information tracing of the origins of the virus.' A few snowballs hurled at police Sunday led to the discovery of a stolen AK-47 and the arrest of a 30-year-old man from East Boston. Just after 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, police responded to the area of 186 Havre St. in East Boston for the report of shots fired, authorities said. As officers searched the area for ballistic evidence, their attention was drawn to a 30-year-old man standing on the fourth floor balcony, police said. Moments later, authorities said, snowballs were thrown from the balcony at police. The action prompted officers to go to the fourth floor and knock on the door where the man, who police said was on the balcony, shut the door on them. Police claim officers then peacefully entered the apartment and observed an unsecured AK-47 and a 12-gauge shotgun and later located a 9mm Taurus handgun. Police said the AK-47 was not registered to the man, who had a valid firearm license, and was reported stolen in Holbrook in 2016. After investigating, police also the man had discharged the handgun once without causing injury and had thrown snowballs at officers while they searched for shell casings. The man, who was not publicly identified by police, was arraigned in East Boston District Court on charges of unlawful possession of a firearm, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, assault and improper storage of a firearm. Among literature fans, Thursdays Nobel Prize announcement came as a surprise. The author of The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, though a critically acclaimed and respected novelist, had been on no ones shortlist. But then Kazuo Ishiguro, the 2017 Nobel Laureate in Literature, has always been surprising. He is, after all, that rarest of creatures a literary craftsman who also sells books. Ever since the 1989 publication of The Remains of the Day, winner of Englands prestigious Booker Prize and adapted into an Oscar-nominated film starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson Ishiguro has regularly landed on U.S. bestseller lists. Thats not always true of Nobel laureates, popularity with American readers not being one of the Swedish Academys criteria. Advertisement Kazuo Ishiguro is a terrific choice for the Nobel Prize. He is both a popular and accessible writer, and yet also one who is smart, sophisticated, inventive, and experimental, said Viet Thanh Nguyen, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and a professor at USC. Ishiguro had no advance warning of the award and was at home in London answering email when he got the news, which at first he thought was a hoax. Its a ridiculously prestigious honor, he said in a phone interview with the Swedish Academy that was uploaded to YouTube. I come in the line of lots of my greatest heroes. Absolutely great authors. The greatest authors in history have received this prize. Kazuo Ishiguro attends a screening of the adaptation of Never Let Me Go. The 2010 film starred Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield. (Evan Agostini / Associated Press ) The author of seven novels, a short-story collection and screenplays, Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1954; his mother had survived the atomic bomb attack as a teenager. He moved at age 5 with his parents to England, where his father worked as an oceanographer. His parents intended to return to Japan but never did. Still, the idea of the birthplace he didnt know left such a lasting impression that it was a setting for Ishiguros first two books, A Pale View of the Hills, published in England in 1982, and An Artist of the Floating World, published in 1986. But it was when he turned to England that Ishiguros work found its driving force: the tension between what is unexpressed and the thread of memory. The Remains of the Day looks back on the period between the world wars and, through Stevens, a loyal butler, observes British leaders that the reader can see are making dangerous choices even if Stevens cannot until it is too late. The authors subtlety and coolness are fascinating, wrote Patricia Highsmith in the L.A. Times review. The Remains of the Day is a book to make the reader feel happy and at ease on being introduced to the world of the civilized Stevens and his social superiors. The humor is sly, unwitting, and charged with social comment. Emotional restraint, moral complexity, self-delusion and the fragility of memory run through Ishiguros works, which have quietly pushed the boundaries of literary fiction. His most recent novel, The Buried Giant, is set in Arthurian England and its inclusion of ogres sent at least one prominent critic to dismiss it as ungainly and worse. I didnt anticipate this bigger debate, Ishiguro told Neil Gaiman in a 2015 interview with the New Statesman. What is genre in the first place? Who invented it? Why am I perceived to have crossed a kind of boundary? Hed already dabbled in science fiction Never Let Me Go, set in a seemingly idyllic British boarding school, was a well-received dystopia (and was also turned into a movie). Ishiguro attended British boarding schools and before college took time off, in 1974, to hitchhike around the U.S. with his guitar. He desperately wanted to be a musician, but when he felt that was not going to happen, he turned his talents to fiction. Kazuo Ishiguro in 1974. (Harry Ransom Center ) Advertisement He studied philosophy and literature at the University of Kent, where he sang and played in a band, and got a masters degree in creative writing at the University of East Anglia. Steeped in the idealistic social movements of the 1960s and 70s, he worked for several years helping the homeless and on housing rights; his wife, Lorna, is a social worker. Yet he also worked flushing grouse for hunters at the British royal familys castle Balmoral, in Scotland. An underlying tension informs Ishiguros works, Nguyen points out. The fact that he is a writer who embodies some of the issues around migration, displacement, and otherness by virtue of being a Japanese-born but British-bred author writing in the most beautiful English is also personally resonant with me. He came to England at five; I came to the United States at four. I can understand why he was able to write a novel like The Remains of the Day, about an aging British butler in a dying system of class and empire. Ishiguro could see from within that system and yet look at it from the outside as well. In 1990, Ishiguro sat down with The Times to talk about The Remains of the Day. In British and Japanese society, the ability to control emotions is considered dignified and elegant, Ishiguro told The Times. In Stevens, there is the tendency to mistake having any emotions at all with weakness. Advertisement Ultimately, Ishiguro said, the book is about the tragedy of a man who takes that thing too far, who somehow denies himself the right to love and be human. This is something the middle-class and upper-middle-class English do a lot. In its citation, the Nobel committee praised Ishiguro who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world. Sara Danius of the Swedish Academy said, If you mix Jane Austen and Franz Kafka you have Ishiguro in a nutshell and you have to add a bit of Proust into the mix. The literary references were clear. Last year, the academy awarded the Nobel in literature to American musician Bob Dylan, citing his work as poetry. The decision made headlines, not all of them good. Danius declined to comment, in a streaming interview, on how the selection of Ishiguro might be received. Advertisement For his part, Ishiguro didnt think last years prize was a problem at all. Its great to come one year after Bob Dylan, who was my hero since the age of 13. Hes probably my biggest hero, he told the Swedish Academy. I do a very good Bob Dylan impersonation, but I wont do it for you right now. Kazuo Ishiguro speaks to the news media after winning the Nobel Prize in Literature. (Alastair Grant / Associated Press ) carolyn.kellogg@latimes.com @paperhaus Poet, publisher and bookseller Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who helped launch and perpetuate the Beat movement, has died. He was 101. Ferlinghetti died at his San Francisco home on Monday, his son Lorenzo Ferlinghetti told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The cause was lung disease. His father died in his own room, holding the hands of his son and his son's girlfriend, "as he took his last breath, his son said. Lorenzo Ferlinghetti said his father loved Italian food and the restaurants in the North Beach neighborhood where he made his home and founded his famous bookstore. He had received the first dose of the COVID vaccine last week and was a month shy of turning 102. Ferlinghetti was known for his City Lights bookstore in San Francisco, an essential meeting place for the Beats and other bohemians in the 1950s and beyond. Its publishing arm released books by Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S Burroughs and many others. The most famous release was Ginsberg's anthemic poem, Howl." It led to a 1957 obscenity trial that broke new ground for freedom of expression. Few poets of the past 60 years were so well known or so influential. His books sold more than 1 million copies worldwide, a fantasy for virtually any of his peers, and he ran one of the world's most famous and distinctive bookstores, City Lights. Although he never considered himself one of the Beats, he was a patron and soul mate and, for many, a lasting symbol preaching a nobler and more ecstatic American dream. Am I the consciousness of a generation or just some old fool sounding off and trying to escape the dominant materialist avaricious consciousness of America? he asked in Little Boy, a stream of consciousness novel published around his 100th birthday. Ferlinghetti defied history. The internet, superstore chains and high rents shut down numerous booksellers in the Bay Area and beyond, but City Lights remained a thriving political and cultural outlet, where one section was devoted to books enabling revolutionary competence, where employees could get the day off to attend an anti-war protest. Generally, people seem to get more conservative as they age, but in my case, I seem to have gotten more radical, Ferlinghetti told Interview magazine in 2013. must be capable of answering the challenge of apocalyptic times, even if this means sounding apocalyptic. The store even endured during the coronavirus outbreak, when it was forced to close and required $300,000 to stay in business. A GoFundMe campaign quickly raised $400,000. Ferlinghetti, tall and bearded, with sharp blue eyes, could be soft-spoken, even introverted and reticent in unfamiliar situations. But he was the most public of poets and his work wasn't intended for solitary contemplation. It was meant to be recited or chanted out loud, whether in coffee houses, bookstores or at campus gatherings. His 1958 compilation, A Coney Island of the Mind, sold hundreds of thousands of copies in the US alone. Long an outsider from the community, Ferlinghetti once joked that he had committed the sin of too much clarity. He called his style wide open and his work, influenced in part by e.e. cummings, was often lyrical and childlike: Peacocks walked/under the night trees/in the lost moon/light/when I went out/looking for love, he wrote in Coney Island. Ferlinghetti also was a playwright, novelist, translator and painter and had many admirers among musicians. In 1976, he recited The Lord's Prayer at the Band's farewell concert, immortalised in Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz. The folk-rock band Aztec Two-Step lifted its name from a line in the title poem of Ferlinghetti's Coney Island book: A couple of Papish cats/is doing an Aztec two-step. (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.) When Li Yaqin was 16, she ate what her family could scavenge: dandelion leaves, alfalfa, rice sprouts, corn husks ground and pressed into cakes. As her college-age granddaughter quietly captured her on digital camera, the 73-year-old told of watching her father starve to death. He was sleeping on the bed and couldnt move because he was too hungry, said Li, her jet-black bangs framing an expression taut with lingering despair. He called me to pull him up, but when I tried to pull him up, he just rolled around in bed and couldnt get up. And then he stopped moving. The Chinese government would prefer that such stories be forgotten. Wu Wenguang wont let that happen. Advertisement Wu, 59, is often considered the godfather of Chinese independent cinema, and he plays the role with gusto: Gruff and gregarious, he wears John Lennon glasses, blue jeans and a T-shirt that reads 100% life, 0% art above a crude sketch of a video camera. Wu calls it the Memory Project: a grass-roots effort to build a historical archive of firsthand stories from the darkest and, because of pervasive censorship, least-understood periods of the Chinese Communist Partys rule. Since 2010, the projects 200 or so volunteers have filmed more than 1,300 interviews with elderly villagers across the country, seeking to record their voices before they die. Wu Wenguang works on his Memory Project documenting villagers firsthand accounts of Chinas Great Famine, which lasted from 1958 to 1961. (Wu Wenguang) The projects interviews are raw and personal, captured on front porches and in living rooms and kitchens, full of lengthy digressions and background noise. 59, 58 59, 60.... Not a single good day in those three years. Many starved to death, Lei Xianzhen, a 70-year-old in Hubei province, says before she notices a cat off-camera. Goddamn animal! she shouts and jumps out of the frame. Wu spent the early part of his career ensconced in cinema verite, finding subjects, telling stories and showing his films at festivals around the world. Then, about a decade ago, weary of the form and exhausted by the constant travel, he tried something unexpected: He let his subjects do the filming themselves. The Memory Project has greatly influenced me its even changed me, Wu says, sipping oolong tea in his spacious, glass-walled courtyard home on Beijings rural fringes. Now when I talk about the famine period, I no longer talk about figures, like how many people died. Ive been really touched by the lives of these individuals, how theyd survive on very little food, how theyd try their best to stave off death. Advertisement SIGN UP for the free Great Reads newsletter >> :: In China, history can be a dangerous subject. During Mao Tse-tungs Great Leap Forward (1958-1961) and Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), chaos reigned; millions died of starvation or political violence. To this day, the party strictly censors accounts of the two periods the former is called the Three Years of Natural Disasters in official histories, for instance wary that a public discussion of the causes and consequences could erode the legitimacy of its iron-fisted rule. The Memory Projects focal point is the catastrophic Great Leap Forward, during which a combination of natural disasters and misguided policies caused millions to starve; official accounts claim that 15 million died, but independent historians have put the toll at more than 40 million. Advertisement Not a single good day in those three years. Many starved to death. Lei Xianzhen In the last two years, President Xi Jinping has overseen what experts have called Chinas most intense crackdown on freedom of speech and civil society in decades: Authorities have closed scores of nongovernmental organizations and detained hundreds of critics and activists, further tightening the already limited space for free expression. The countrys independent film scene has been particularly hard-hit. Last year, authorities shut down Chinas most prominent film festival, the Beijing Independent Film Festival, for the first time in its 11-year history. Yet when asked whether hes afraid of official harassment, Wu shrugs. In a country where the red line always exists, you just need to seek out what you can do, he says. This is a very personal way of working. Advertisement J.P. Sniadecki, a film professor at Northwestern University who has worked closely with Chinese independent filmmakers, says that the Memory Projects small scale and diffuse nature may protect it from official retaliation. Id ask him about this all the time, and he would never complain about censorship or problems. Hes been storing independent documentaries for years and trying to distribute them, he says. Maybe [the Memory Project] is just too small, and its already sort of ghettoized within small art and academic circles, so it doesnt raise eyebrows in the same way. Wu moved to Beijing in 1988, abandoning his hometown in southwestern Chinas Yunnan province for a job at CCTV, Chinas state broadcaster, but quickly became disillusioned by the stations propagandistic bent and gravitated toward the fringes of society. He read Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He fell in with a few young artists, writers and photographers trying to eke out a living in the nations capital; using a Betacam borrowed from the CCTV studio, he began to film their lives. Two years later, in 1990, the footage became his first film, a searing, stripped-down documentary called Bumming in Beijing. Advertisement Although Chinese television stations and cinemas ignored the film, the international festival circuit swooned. Festival organizers flew Wu to London, Bali and Los Angeles. As the years went by, he continued to make films and show them around the world, but once again, he found himself disillusioned. Ive been to all these places, he said, but after I went, I discovered I wasnt satisfied with just going, with making movies just so that other people would like them. :: In 2005, a European Union fund recruited Wu to record a film about villagers as part of a Beijing-backed initiative to bolster local election processes in Chinas vast, largely impoverished countryside. Advertisement Wu decided he would try something new: He would put the cameras in the hands of villagers. He placed a recruitment ad in a Guangzhou newspaper and selected 10 volunteers from the applicant pool of farmers and migrant workers in villages across the country. With EU backing, he gave them inexpensive digital camcorders, a brief primer on filming techniques and instructions to return to their villages and shoot whatever they found worthwhile. The villagers shot some very interesting stuff; their technique, their dialogues, their choices about what to film, were completely different from what we so-called professional filmmakers would do, he says. Also, they were very familiar with the local villagers. They could shoot people going to meetings, or arguing so a lot of their material, youd think it was all kind of weird, but very fresh. The Memory Project grew out of this idea. The Great Famine happened so long ago, at such a remove from major cities, that it has fallen victim to the near-total historical amnesia within China, reduced to a few lines about droughts and flooding in history textbooks. Wu wanted to better understand the individual stories behind the numbers. Advertisement He has lots of connections, hes been doing this for a very long time, says Sniadecki, the film professor. Hes a very provocative, visionary figure. Theres a reason that people are drawn towards him. Hes very strong and charismatic. In 2010, Wu was teaching at a university in Beijing and running an experimental event space with some fellow artists and intellectuals. He instructed 12 of his students and six acolytes at the performance space to return to their home villages, scattered across the country, and interview elders about their experiences growing up. Zhang Mengqi, who interviewed villagers about their experiences during Chinas Great Famine, says she was overwhelmed by the intricate details of their stories. (Wu Wenguang) Zhang Mengqi, a 28-year-old dancer at the event space, began interviewing elderly residents in her fathers hometown in 2010. Advertisement She recalled being overwhelmed by the intricate details of their stories. One elderly villager told her that shed passed a starving man on the street and noticed that he was wearing brand new shoes; when she passed the man soon afterward, his shoes were gone. Zhang returned to the village six times and recorded more than 40 interviews. The stories really changed me, they changed my recognition of history, she said. These are the details that strike me the most. History isnt about big numbers and statistics. Its about these details. That made me think. Since 2010, the project has continued to grow. Wu has formed a partnership with Duke University, which secured a $40,000 grant from the Assn. for Asian Studies to organize, reformat and eventually digitize his archives. Advertisement As for the recent crackdowns on activists and film festival organizers, Wu remains undeterred. You cant simply say things are worse now, and they were better before, he says. When were things better? I cant think of the time. jonathan.kaiman@latimes.com Tommy Yang and Nicole Liu in The Times Beijing bureau contributed to this report. Advertisement MORE GREAT READS: Jesse is a typical boy in probation-run foster care: unwanted A failed bronco gets a shot at rodeo redemption In India, a legend keeps a town nearly door-free She just spent weeks upon weeks in the idyllic surroundings of her home country. And Alessandra Ambrosio was seen getting back into the swing of things on Monday, while on an errand run in Brentwood, California. The former Victorias Secret model, 39, rocked a casual look in Alo sweat clothes, consisting of a black turtleneck top and gray sweatpants. She's back: Alessandra Ambrosio was seen getting back into the swing of things on Monday, while on an errand run in Brentwood She wore white, gray and black New Balance sneakers. Ambrosio sported simple earrings, and had her long brown hair back in a partial ponytail. She stayed protected from the still-prevalent coronavirus pandemic with a white face mask decorated in a star pattern. Casual cool: The former Victorias Secret model, 39, rocked a casual look in Alo sweat clothes, consisting of a black turtleneck top and gray sweatpants The mother of two rocked a red manicure, which matched her leather iPhone strap and case. The leggy beauty stopped off for some shopping at the Brentwood Beauty Center as well as upscale supermarket Bristol Farms. Late last week, the runway star was seen flaunting her gorgeous figure in a tiny yellow bikini while enjoying a yacht trip with her friends toward the end of her Brazil trip. She wrapped up her trip recently: Alessandra just spent weeks upon weeks in the idyllic surroundings of her home country Brazil with family and friends; seen on Instagram The model was seen frequently along the coast in Florianopolis, modeling various sexy swimsuits since the beginning of the year. She has also flooded her Instagram feed with gorgeous vacation visuals from the beach, as well as on nights out with friends. Over the course of the months-long holiday, AA was seen celebrating Christmas and New Year's with friends, in addition to the one year anniversary of her bikini line Gal Floripa. The model was seen frequently along the coast in Florianopolis: She has also flooded her Instagram feed with gorgeous vacation visuals, as well as on nights out with friends While in Brazil, Alessandra kept up with her usual fitness routine, doing a little yoga and in general taking advantage of exercising in nature. Though her Italian-born beau of two years Nicolo Oddi was present on vacation for a few weeks, he later seemed to jet back to Los Angeles to work on his clothing line, Alanui. And although a citizen of the United States, in recent months Alessandra has seemed in no rush to get back home, despite a newly reopened LA County amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Gayle Robinson, PhD, RN, was among 22 individuals and several organizations recently honored by the NW Asian Weekly Foundation for their contributions to the health of the community. Dr. Robinson is an inspiring educator, esteemed colleague, and revered community leader with a commitment to empowering others. We are so grateful for her clear vision, community focus and deep dedication to the formation of our students as the next generation of health care leaders, said Dean Kristen Swanson. Dr. Robinson is an assistant professor who joined the Seattle U College of Nursing faculty in 2015. She took some time out to share with us about her beginnings, how she came to become a nurse educator, and a glimpse at her lifetime of service to the community. What drew you to your current position at SU? What drew me to be an assistant professor at SU, is the focus on teaching and being a part of a university program that had social justice threaded across departmental curriculums. Why did you decide to pursue a career as a nurse and as a nurse educator? The short story is that my beginning journey in nursing evolved out of a need to care for a young family. However, I knew I wanted to be in health care and thought that I would have the chance to care for the adults who took care of me when I was growing up (my grandmother, uncles, aunts, and my parents). What is your favorite part of teaching and mentoring SU nursing students? My favorite part of teaching and mentoring SU nursing students is to watch students be excited about what they are learning. I love seeing the expressions on their faces when they have those a ha moments. I hope with the mentoring that I convey that we both have ideas, aspirations, and experiences to share. I hope that I am conveying that in the relationship, we are learning from each other. You recently received a Community Health Excellence Award from the NW Asian Weekly Foundation. Would you share a little about your work in the community? I was nominated for this award, and I am grateful to the NW Asian Weekly Foundation and the work of Assunta Ng, that I was selected to be among the honorees for the community health excellence award. The recognition was related to community service work that many of us are doing, because of the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in our communities and our history of community service. When you get a chance to listen to the honorees you will hear about service they are doing now, and about the community health work some were doing prior to the pandemic. In my volunteer work with Mary Mahoney Professional Nursing Organization (MMPNO), I had the opportunity to work with The Center for Multicultural Health and do a workshop about PPE for community health workers. In a nurse consulting role, I had the opportunity to work with Sisters in Common, a behavioral health agency and do some wellness checks with individuals who had been exposed to COVID-19 to offer support during times of home isolation or quarantine. In my role as a nurse educator in the College of Nursing I get to teach and demonstrate use PPE in the different settings they will be working in to break the cycle of infection transmission. I have had the opportunity to help distribute surgical mask and cloth mask to families in MMPNO that were multigenerational as a result of the work that occurs with Sister in Common. I have been involved in community work here in Seattle before my children were in preschool and they are adults now in their early 30s. So, I think my story would take more time than I can summarize for this session, and I have still more work to do and more learning to do. Who influenced you most in life, or is someone you consider a role model? I have many role models, yet I would answer the question of who has influenced me most in life is my grandmother, (my fathers mother), and my oldest sister. Both of whom are deceased, yet I learned so much from watching them work, and they seem to be in the right place at the right time when I needed them. I am one of eight children that were in our family, raised in a small town in Mississippi. I am blessed that I felt I was well loved, protected, and cared for. Is there any advice you would like to share with your students as they prepare for their careers in nursing? I would continue to share with my students that they are entering a health care field where they are needed. I would ask that they hold on to the trust that some will build with the individuals and families that they work with in a variety of settings. Be the best at what they choose to study, provide the best care they can give in the specialty of their training. Show people that you care about them. Set their standards of care on the high bar, and their tolerance for poor health outcomes for marginalized communities low. I would repeat and wrap it up with they are needed. Read more about Dr. Robinson and her work in the community in the Seattle Medium. Watch the full online Community Health Excellence Awards event presented by the NW Asian Weekly Foundation. Rev. Fr. Dr. Raymond Osei-Tutu, Catholic Archdiocese Chancellor, has vehemently condemned the act of homosexuality and its promotion in Ghana. According to him, the Catholic church frowns on the act and therefore doesn't support the setting up of an office for homosexuals in the nation nor its advocacy. His comments come on the heels of recent establishment of an office for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Transgender and Queer Intersex Rights (LGBTQI+) in the Greater Accra Region. Speaking to sit-in host Nana Yaw Kesseh on Peace FM's 'kokrokoo' programme, he read a statement by the Catholic church saying, "this is the most authoritative statement of the Catholic church. It says that homosexuality refers to the relationship between a man and a woman who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction towards persons of the same sex...Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained basing itself on sacred scripture which presents homosexuals as acts of grave depravity. That the word, 'grave depravity'. Tradition has always declared that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered". He, however, clarified that the Catholic church doesn't hate homosexuals but their acts as ''evil''. He called on the government and the entire citizenry to condemn the opening of the LGBTQI office and the practice of homosexuality. "We must speak the truth to the extent should those who are for it dominate us, at least we will know we never went down without a fight of a truth which is that the act or the promotion of homosexual act is intrinsically fundamentally depraved and evil...It is about time the government makes the laws very clear," he said. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video News Myanmar Coup Leader Resorts to Threats With Medics Still On Strike Medics at a government hospital stage a protest against the coup on Feb.5. / The Irrawaddy YANGONMyanmars military coup leader said his regime will take action against government healthcare workers who have refused to work for the military junta. In his latest warning, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing decried the fact that nearly one-third of Myanmars public hospitals have been no longer in function for nearly three weeks. Following the coup on Feb. 1, many doctors, nurses and others in the countrys health sector have been on strike, taking part in what is popularly known as the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). The healthcare workers condemned the takeover, demanded that the regime release the countrys detained leaders the President U Win Myint and the State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and denounced military rule. Inspired by their counterparts in the countrys health sector, government staff from other ministries left their desks to join the CDM. Even major private banks have found it hard to operate as their staff joined the movement. The CDM by medical staff has dealt a serious blow to the junta, especially because it mostly came from doctors at government-run hospitals that played a major role in public health care. Since the ousted National League for Democracy government came to power in 2016, those hospitals have provided a lifeline for ill people especially at the grassroots level. Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing first called for the medics on strike to go back to work nearly two weeks ago. However, his latest warning demonstrates that his previous request was unanimously ignored by the striking medics. On Monday, during his meeting with his regimes governing body, the coup leader accused the doctors and nurses on strike of being unethical. He said 357 hospitals out of 1,262 total in Myanmar have been shut down and only 778 were operational while 27 cant provide treatments even though they were open. (He didnt elaborate as to why the 27 hospitals cant provide treatments.) Those undisciplined doctors and nurses will be punished according to the Civil Service Personnel Law, he said. Under the law, the maximum action against a civil servant is dismissal. No prison sentences could be applied. Dr Win Ko Ko Thein, a deputy director from Ministry of Health who has been a part of the CDM since early this month, told The Irrawaddy that the coup leaders warning was the best example of how desperate the military regime now is. In the early days of the CDM, the regime announced they opened the doors of military hospitals to anyone who needed medical assistance. However, the senior generals previous request and the latest warning suggest the medics in uniform may not be able to cope with the overwhelming need for public healthcare, probably due to their limited facilities and human resources. The deputy director, who has been under police surveillance and is now in hiding, said the CDM is the final nail to the coffin of the countrys public healthcare system. Now the CDM makes it comes to a halt. As long as doctors and nurses are not back to work, they (the regime) cant restore the public healthcare system here, he said. On Tuesday evening, the entrance of the Emergency Department of Yangon General Hospital, the citys best-equipped medical facility, was unusually deserted. The normally busy gate at the western wing of the hospital was nearly closed. A few meters away from the hospital, at the entrance of Yangons University of Medicine (1), there stands a big signpost that says, The CDM University. The same goes for the nearby University of Nursing. On the other hand, doctors have not turned a blind eye toward patients in need amid the closure of public hospitals. To back up the CDM, free clinics manned by some volunteer doctors have mushroomed especially for those who need regular follow-ups at government hospitals. Dr Win Ko Ko Thein said theres no sign that the medics would go back to work despite the threat of punishment and the junta has to find another solution. They cant arrest all medics. If they do, there will surely be a complete system breakdown. The root cause of the whole problem is the coup, he said. CNN's Brianna Keilar broke down in tears while reporting on America's COVID-19 death toll. The 40-year-old broadcaster - who hosts the network's Newsroom program - couldn't contain her emotions during a broadcast Monday afternoon as the country inched towards a staggering 500,000 deaths from the disease. 'We need to remember the people we have lost,' Keilar mournfully stated before playing a four-minute montage featuring families whose loved ones have died during the pandemic. The TV host struggled to hold her composure after the package was played, and her voice started to quiver. 'Even as a nation where many have become numb to this astronomical loss, I know that these stories of our fellow Americans puncture the armor that is natural to have accumulated over the past year,' she sobbed. CNN's Brianna Keilar broke down in tears while reporting on America's COVID-19 death toll on Monday afternoon Keilar was seen dabbing her eyes with a tissue before she directly addressed her viewers, saying she was aware that everyone has been suffering since the virus reached US shores last February. 'I know it is hard. I hear it from so many of you. I know you're tired. I know you're tapped out,' she stated. 'The quarantining, the hoping that this would subside only to realize that it wouldn't any time soon, the struggling to make ends meet, the worrying that if this is the day you might spike a fever or start to cough, the juggling your job while you're homeschooling your kids, being afraid to see your grandparents, being afraid to see your grandkids, knowing that there is a vaccine that you and your loved ones can't yet get, struggling with mental health,' Keilar continued. 'And for almost 500,000 Americans this past 'year, losing their lives.' The anchor completed her emotional segment by telling viewers that they are not alone in their grief. 'This is a collective loss. Were taking this moment to acknowledge that. You are not alone,' she implored. 'And if you are lucky enough to still have a little fuel in your tank today, it is a good day to remind someone in your life that you are there for them.' Keilar, who hosts CNN's Newsroom program, has worked with the network since 2007 Just hours after Keilar's emotional broadcast, America indeed surpassed 500,000 COVID-19 deaths. President Biden hosted a memorial ceremony at the White House to honor the dead. 'Today we mark a truly grim heart breaking milestone,' he said. 'We often hear people described as ordinary Americans. There's no such thing. The people we lost were extraordinary,' he stated as 500 candles were lit on the South Portico of the White House. 'You're going to be okay,' he said, speaking directly to those who have lost someone to COVID. The US surpassed 500,000 coronavirus deaths on Monday On Monday, the daily number of deaths dropped to its lowest level since before the holidays Biden reminded Americans that the virus can affect anyone. 'It's not Democrats and Republicans who are dying from the virus,' he said. 'It's our fellow Americans. It's our neighbors, our friends, our mothers our fathers our sons our daughters, husbands, wives, we have to fight this together as one people as the United States of America,' he stated. No other county has had so many deaths from the virus: the U.S. accounts for 20 percent of the nearly 2.5 million coronavirus deaths globally. But the daily number of deaths and hospitalizations from the coronavirus are dropping fast, and on Monday fell to their lowest levels since before the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. There were 1,235 daily deaths recorded in the last 24 hours with figures now at their lowest since the middle of October. Lit in memory: The South Portico was illuminated by candles for the ceremony of remembrance, and federal flags were lowered to half staff for five days of mourning Former Novosco boss Patrick McAliskey has been appointed as chairman of tech firm Decision Time. Mr McAliskey is to advise Decision Time on how to achieve its ambitions for further growth. He was co-founder and managing director of Belfast-based Novosco, which grew to become one of the top IT service providers in the UK. It was sold to German firm CANCOM in October 2019. Decision Time, based in Antrim, provides software which helps organisations maintain good governance by running effective meetings, managing risk and monitoring their strategic performance. Customers include NHS trusts, universities, housing associations, non-departmental public bodies and public sector bodies in the Republic and in Northern Ireland. Here, its software is used by Tourism NI, Translink and Invest NI. In the last two years, the company has more than doubled its customer base. It has said it hopes to more than double annual revenues from 2.4m in 2020 to beyond 5m in 2023. Mr McAliskey said: Decision Time has a pedigree of nearly 20 years, and it is now at the point where it is growing rapidly and has an incredibly impressive market share in key sectors across the UK and Ireland. I fully expect the company to move to the next level over the next few years in terms of its customer-base, employee numbers and revenues. Decision Time is run by directors Geoff and Sinead Higgins and David Braziel. Mr Higgins said: Patricks track record speaks for itself and were really pleased to welcome Patrick as chairman of Decision Time. He is one of Northern Irelands most skilled entrepreneurs and business leaders, and as we seek to continue to make Decision Time one of the best places to work in Northern Ireland and one of the leading software companies in Europe, I have no doubt Patricks input and guidance will be absolutely invaluable to us. Shiv Sena says BJP's focus is UP polls instead of tackling COVID-19 Akin to treason says Shiv Sena on BJPs criticism of CM on COVID-19 awareness India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Mumbai, Feb 23: The Shiv Sena today said the recent surge in coronavirus cases is a matter of concern and the opposition in Maharashtra should talk carefully about the COVID-19 crisis. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday asked people to follow "Covid-appropriate" behaviour and safety norms, and said he would observe the situation for a week to 15 days and then decide whether to impose another lockdown. An editorial in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' today said after Thackeray's comments, BJP leader Pravin Darekar remarked that the government should not create an atmosphere of terror and not act like a tyrant regime. Coronavirus cases: India records over 14,000 new COVID-19 cases, 83 deaths in last 24 hours The Sena hit out at the opposition while citing Delhi-based AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria's comment that herd immunity is very difficult to achieve and one should not think of it in practical terms in India, especially in times of variant strains of COVID-19 and waning immunity. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has talked about the COVID-19 threat, the Marathi daily said, adding the opposition in Maharashtra should now understand that the apex institute is not part of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi in the state. "The recent surge in COVID-19 cases is a matter of concern," it said. People should behave responsibly if re-imposition of lockdown is to be avoided and the opposition parties should also keep in mind their responsibility, it said. "Opponents, talk carefully at least about the COVID-19 crisis. We have the rest of life left to play politics, but only if the coronavirus gives that opportunity! Hence, take care!!" the Shiv Sena said. Taking a dig at Darekar, the editorial said BJP leaders from Maharashtra should protest outside the AIIMS in Delhi if they thin its director is "misleading" the country. It said criticising the Chief Minister when he is making people aware of the threat is akin to "committing treason with the state's public". "The Chief Minister has taken strict measures. Why should the opposition not welcome those? The public belongs to the opposition as much to the ruling parties," it said. The Sena also said lockdown can lead to a collapse of the economy and hence, the Centre should help in such a case. "A state like Maharashtra should get a special economic package in such a case. We won't object if the opposition in Maharashtra insists on the financial package to (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi," it said. The opposition in the state is "not of Pakistani or Afghan lineage". It is also from this soil (of Maharashtra), the Shiv Sena said. Coronavirus cases: Assam school sealed for 7 days, premise declared containment zone Without naming anyone, it said "some people with wisdom" held a grand wedding ceremony recently and discipline was allegedly not followed there. Key people from all parties were among those who allegedly did not follow discipline, it said without specifying any detail of the function or its venue. Gujarat civic polls: BJP makes big gains | Celebrations begin | Oneindia News "What orders can be given to the people then? The novel coronavirus does not spare anyone," it added. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, February 23, 2021, 13:43 [IST] AstraZeneca expects to get US emergency authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine in April, the firm's president told lawmakers on Tuesday. As soon as it gets the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) greenlight, AstraZeneca will have 30 million doses of the 62 percent effective shot ready to ship to the US, said president of the biopharmaceuticals arm of the company, Dr Ruud Dobber on Tuesday. He told members of the House of Representatives' Committee on Energy and Commerce that the company could deliver 'up to 50 million' doses by the end of April. The Trump Administration inked a deal with AstraZeneca for 300 million doses of its Oxford University-designed vaccine. It has already been authorized by more than 50 countries and the World Health Organization, but mistrust brewed between the pharma giant and US regulators, who placed its large late-stage US trial on a nearly seven-week hold. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca's easily stored, $4 shot has helped countries like the UK speed ahead of the US in the vaccination race, and data from Scotland this week suggested the shot reduces hospital admissions by 94 percent. AstraZeneca's 62% effective shot has been approved in more than 50 countries, and could be authorized by the US by April, firm president Dr Ruud Dobber told lawmakers Tuesday AstraZeneca could ship the US 30 million doses 'immediately' once it gets FDA authorization, which is expected in April, the firm's president said. It would be a major boost to the rollout which has seen 64 million doses administered so far PIERS MORGAN: why has America STILL not approved the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine Britain is using to kick the world's butt? The big question for Biden is not how well it's doing but why a manufacturing technological superpower like America is lagging so far behind these other nations, especially given that the two vaccines it has so far approved are made entirely (Moderna) or partially (Pfizer) inside the US? The answer lies with a British vaccine. On February 15, the World Health Organisation gave an Emergency Use Listing to the AstraZeneca vaccine developed in Oxford, England and declared it safe to use. It had already been approved in the UK on December 30 last year, and in the European Union last month. But there is still no approval for it to be used in the US, and no sign of being approved any time soon, which defies any rational logic. It's true there was a botched early clinical trial which raised some initial concerns but those were soon allayed by further results. And it's also true it may be slightly less effective against some of the new variants of COVID currently circulating including the one from South Africa. But one crucial thing is in no doubt: like the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, it is incredibly effective against preventing severe disease or death. Nobody who's had the AstraZeneca vaccine has so far died from COVID. And it is far easier to store than the other two because it doesn't need to be kept in the very cold conditions they need. So, the US should be chomping at the bit to add the AstraZeneca jab to its vaccine armoury, but it's still working its way through totally unnecessary further FDA-led trials. Advertisement On the other hand, reports have emerged of people in Germany and other parts of the EU turning down the shot, saying they'd one of the vaccines that showed greater efficacy in trials. And the company is coming up short in Europe as well. An EU revealed to Reuters that AstraZeneca will fail to deliver the 180 million doses it promised the bloc for the second quarter, instead delivering about half that amount. Still, the immediate availability of 30 million doses of the vaccine would be a major boon to the US vaccine rollout. In the two months since Pfizer's and Moderna's vaccines were given emergency use authorization by the FDA, they have distributed 40 million and 45 million doses of their vaccines, respectively. AstraZeneca could offer nearly as many doses on the day its vaccine is approved a either of the US firms have in over 60 days. It is designed to be a two-dose inoculation, but AstraZeneca's shot has the added advantage of offering more protection after a single dose compared to Pfizer's vaccine. Within the first week, one dose cuts the risk of being hospitalized for COVID-19 by about 70 percent. Within a month, it is about 90 percent effective at reducing hospitalization risks. By comparison, Pfizer has only shown its vaccine to reduce hospitalization risks by about 40 percent in the first week or two, rising to a just over 80 percent reduction in hospitalization risks a month later. Based in part on these findings, the UK allows Britons to wait up to 12 weeks between doses and focused on getting as many people as possible a first dose rather than ensuring that the most at-risk people got two doses - the approach taken by the US. The FDA and experts like Dr Anthony Fauci have stated that American regulators consider it acceptable to get a second Pfizer or Moderna dose up to six weeks after the first, but only if necessary. It is not recommended in the US. AstraZeneca's ongoing US trial is testing a four-week gap between doses, and the firm will likely have data from those tests 'in the coming weeks' said Dr Dobber. He noted that a further delayed second dose might actually be more effective, and that the company is studying this both in trials and through 'real world data' in the UK. AstraZeneca has its North American headquarters in Maryland, and Dr Dobber said the US supply is being made entirely in America. He said the facilities are already 'operating at or near full capacity' but 'are not encountering material or equipment constraints. ' Upon authorization from the FDA, 'we will release instantly 30 million doses and by the end of the month 50 million. Thereafter, production of 15 to 20 million doses a month will put us on track to deliver 300 million doses' said Dr Dobber. 'It will take some time...as we are working on scaling up our production, that will take some time, but we feel very confidant we will meet it.' He added that the AstraZeneca shot 'shows promise against the UK variant' and that the firm is 'actively studying the vaccine and multiple variants, including the South African variant.' In a small trial in South Africa where the variant, known as B1351 is now dominant, no participants who got the shot developed severe disease or had to be hospitalized, but it only reduced mild or moderate cases by less than 25 percent. South Africa decided to halt the use of AstraZeneca's vaccine, offering its doses to Australia. Conservative MP Michael Chong rises during question period in the House of Commons on Oct. 5, 2018. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press) MPs Pass Motion Declaring Chinas Uyghur Persecution a Genocide Most MPs have voted in favour of declaring Beijings oppression of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in China a genocide. In the House of Commons on Monday, a majority of MPs voted in favour of the motion, which was tabled last week by the Conservatives to officially recognize that the Chinese Communist Partys campaign against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities constitutes a genocide. In a 266-0 vote, the Tories garnered the support of the Bloc Quebecois, the NDP, the Green Party, and non-cabinet Liberal MPs to press the federal government to label the CCPs treatment of the Uyghurs a genocide. Most MPs (229-29) also voted in favour of an amendment to the motion introduced by the Bloc Quebecois calling on the International Olympic Committee to move the 2022 Olympics out of China if the genocide continues when the motion is passed. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet did not show up except for Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau, who voted on behalf of the cabinet to abstain from voting on the motion. Conservative Foreign Affairs Critic Michael Chong, who submitted the non-binding motion to the House on Feb. 18, said the passing of the motion will send an unequivocal message to the CCP that Canada will not stay silent on the atrocities the regime has committed. We can no longer ignore this, Chong said earlier Monday when calling on Liberal MPs to support the motion. We must call it for what it is: a genocide. In an interview on CTVs Question Period on Feb. 21, Chong said the Conservative Party is ready to support economic sanctions against China. Everything needs to be on the tabletrade, Magnitsky sanctions, economic sanctions, he said. Chong added that the calls for the federal government to relocate the 2022 Winter Olympics should be all part of a reset of the Canada-China relationship. A new framework is needed to bring forward that new reset. Liberal MP Robert Oliphant rises during Question Period in the House of Commons in Ottawa on May 7, 2019. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press) Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Robert Oliphant, who appeared on CTVs Question Period with Chong, said the Liberals will continue to find a way to make sure that we are doing this courageously, but also carefully. We are watching it closely. Were also doing it with our partners around the world. We believe that genocide is an extremely strong statement, Oliphant said. We dont need to be the only leader in this. We need to work in concert with countries around the world, with like-minded countries, to be effective, he said, adding that sanctions like that have hurt the wrong people at the wrong times. He maintained that the position the federal government takes is about helping Uyghur people. Thats simply not true, Chong rebutted. In order to trigger the protection of some 12 million Uyghurs in China, we need to recognize this as a genocide. The 1948 Genocide Convention is clear that states have an obligation to prevent genocide and to punish perpetrators of genocide. But if youre not willing to call it for what it isa genocidethen youre not obligated to do either one of those things. Oliphants position echoed that of Trudeau and Garneau, who have repeatedly stressed a multilateral approach and been hesitant to label Beijings crimes against the Uyghur muslims a genocide. NDP Foreign Affairs Critic Jack Harris, who voted in favour of the motion, urged Parliament last week not to turn a blind eye to the genocide. We must call it for what it is there must be no impunity for this type of behaviour. By not acting, we endanger the future of mankind, Harris tweeted on Feb. 18. AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Oracle today announced that Northwell Health, one of the largest health systems in New York, turned to Oracle Analytics Cloud, built on the highly secure, scalable Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, and Oracle Autonomous Data Warehouse to optimize patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic. With Oracle, Northwell Health is able to monitor available nursing resources, predict upcoming staffing needs and accommodate a continually shifting patient load. Northwell Health operates 23 hospitals with a combined 74,000 employees across New York and treats millions of patients annually. In the fight against COVID-19, every minute counts and having quick access to astronomical amounts of data combined with powerful analytics to enable visibility into rapidly changing patient loads and staffing requirements has given Northwell Health the necessary speed to optimize patient care. In order to not be overburdened with an influx of infected patients, Northwell Health quickly consolidates disparate data sources from Oracle and non-Oracle applications to automate fundamental administrative processes and prepare the organization for a possible future resurgence of COVID-19 cases. "We realized we needed a better way to calculate staffing needs and manage our search for staff so we could maximize patient safety," said Elina Petrillo, Assistant Vice President, HR Technology, Northwell Health. "We were able to quickly in less than a month create an analytics dashboard with Oracle Analytics Cloud. Our dashboard for staffing is an actionable dashboard providing automated insight into our staffing picture during times of crisis and beyond. With a real-time-staffing dashboard we were able to more efficiently deploy over 700 agency nurses to sites where they are most needed." "We're proud to be supporting Northwell Health in the fight against COVID-19," said T.K. Anand, Senior Vice President, Oracle Analytics. "Being able to quickly extract critical insights from your data, especially for organizations on the frontlines, is paramount you can't be worried about stitching together spreadsheets when lives are at stake. Having a single platform with accessible and dependable augmented analytics means Northwell doesn't have to do manual data integration or jump between applications, increasing productivity across the board, especially for clinical staff delivering patient care." Northwell Health also had the foresight to jump straight to Oracle Cloud HCM, rolling out payroll, core HR, benefits, recruitment, compensation, talent management, learning and helpdesk modules to enable one system of truth for Northwell's HR leaders. Now more than ever, the automation and ability to collaborate across hospitals has helped Northwell better connect and serve its workforce. Centralizing data into a unified platform has not only created immense value for HR, nursing leadership, and front-line managers but also helped Northwell's internal agency manage agency nurses and control spending. Before implementing Oracle Analytics Cloud, Northwell Health's data was decentralized and managed by individual hospitals. Analysts used spreadsheets to crunch data and help administrators understand staffing shortages at each hospital and unit. Using Oracle Analytics Cloud and Oracle Autonomous Data Warehouse, Northwell is able to automate the process of pulling data from their scheduling platform and marry staffing scheduling data with data about the number of patients at their hospitals. Through an HR dashboard, chief nursing officers and HR leaders can stay up to date on patient inflows, recruitment and resource requirements, and clinical leaders can use the data to deploy additional staff for optimized patient care. To further increase their productivity levels, Northwell Health also uses Oracle's mobile capabilities to extend secure access to employees via their smart phones and tablets. This is especially important to help ensure that additional critical care nurses and respiratory therapists are available and on the floor for each shift as planned. Northwell Health selected Oracle in FY18Q3. About Oracle Oracle offers suites of integrated applications plus secure, autonomous infrastructure in the Oracle Cloud. For more information about Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), please visit us at oracle.com. About Northwell Health Northwell Health is New York State's largest healthcare provider and private employer, with 23 hospitals, about 750 outpatient facilities and more than 13,600 affiliated physicians. We care for over two million people annually in the New York metro area and beyond, thanks to philanthropic support from our communities. Our 70,000 employees 16,000-plus nurses and 4,000 employed doctors, including members of Northwell Health Physician Partners are working to change healthcare for the better. We're making breakthroughs in medicine at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. training the next generation of medical professionals at the visionary Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Hofstra Northwell School of Graduate Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. For information on our more than 100 medical specialties, visit Northwell.edu and follow us @NorthwellHealth on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Additional Resources Trademarks Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation. SOURCE Oracle Related Links www.oracle.com Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 (Natural News) By the end of the month, China Joe is planning to send over $200 million in American taxpayer money to the corrupt World Health Organization (WHO), undoing President Trumps decision to axe all funding to the globalist entity. Despite the WHOs total failure in how it handled the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19), the Biden regime is pleased to give gobs of tax dollars stolen from struggling Americans to the United Nations (UN) public health arm. Today, Im pleased to confirm that by the end of the month, the United States intends to pay over $200 million in assessed and current obligations to the WHO, stated U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a recent UN Security Council meeting. This is a key step forward in fulfilling our financial obligations as a WHO member, and it reflects our renewed commitment to ensuring the WHO has the support it needs to lead the global response to the pandemic, even as we work to reform it in the future. The move comes after Beijing Biden decided to rejoin the WHO on his first day in office, claiming that the organization plays a crucial role in the worlds fight against the deadly Covid-19 pandemic as well as countless other threats to global health and health security. WHO rewards Xiden for reinstating payments by changing coronavirus test criteria to show far fewer positives Last April, President Trump announced that the more than $400 million in taxpayer money that is normally funneled from the U.S. to the WHO would be temporarily suspended pending a review of the groups role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus. One month later, Trump notified WHO general-director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that his administration confirmed many of the serious concerns I raised last month about its repeated missteps and China-centric nature. Unless the WHO committed to making major substantive improvements, including demonstrat[ing] independence from China, Trump threatened to permanently eliminate all funding from the body. Later that month, the Trump administration announced that America would be permanently divorcing from the WHO, issuing a formal withdrawal notice in July. Now with Dementia Joe at the helm, however, everything is switching back to what it was prior with the pro-abortion WHO being on the dole of the U.S. gravy train. Steve Mosher, head of the Population Research Institute, says that Ghebreyesus and his senior adviser Bruce Aylward spent the past year carrying water for the communist Chinese regime, failing to do what was necessary to protect the rest of the world from Chinas deadly bioweapon. Even the Biden regime now admits that deep concerns about the way in which the early findings of the [WHOs] Covid-19 investigation were communicated and questions about the process used to reach them are not unfounded. It is imperative that this report be independent, with expert findings free from intervention or alteration by the Chinese government, the regime added in a statement. As a thank you to Xiden for reinstating its position as a welfare recipient of American tax money, the WHO changed its criteria for Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) testing. Now, there are far fewer positive cases of the Chinese virus worldwide, the goal being to make it look like China Joe is responsible for this newfound success in defeating the plandemic. Why is no one reporting that they changed the criteria for counting Covid numbers? asked one LifeSiteNews commenter. You never hear this on any news channel whatsoever. This needs to be published worldwide immediately. Guess its just another truth the powers that be dont want the world to know. Just keeping you under their evil power. The latest news about Joe Xidens destruction of America can be found at Collapse.news. Sources for this article include: LifeSiteNews.com NaturalNews.com The driving force of the 1973 oil embargo, Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani, has died at age 90. Yamani served as Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister from 1962 until 1986, when he was dismissed by Saudi King Fahd over differing opinions on the Kingdom's oil policies. He is Saudi Arabia's longest-serving oil minister. The simple explanation of the disagreement between the King and Yamani was that when it came to oil policy and delicate OPEC negotiations, Fahd wanted oil prices to be 25% higher and expected Yamani's OPEC negotiations to deliver that result. But Fahd was also disappointed with Yamani's inability to maintain Saudi Arabia's oil market share. Yamani, on the other hand, was adamant that you couldn't have both higher prices and more market share. The result of the spat, other than Yamani being removed from his post, was similar to what happened in March 2020. Saudi Arabia flooded the world with oil in an attempt to regain its market share. Oil prices sank to just $8 per barrel. When Yamani began his role as oil minister in 1962, the United States was the leading oil producer, with Saudi Arabia producing less than 2 million barrels per day. And Exxon and Chevron had control of most of the oil in Saudi Arabia. But that quickly changed as Saudi Arabia moved to nationalize its oil industry. Saudi Arabia's oil production quickly reached 10 million bpd during Yamani's tenure. Chart courtesy of Dr. Anas Alhajji Within oil circles, Yamani is known for increasing Saudi Arabia's spare production capacity and shaping oil policysomething that has no doubt changed the face of the oil industry, giving OPEC much of the clout is has today. Outside the oil sphere, he is most widely known for his visible role in the 1973 oil embargo that saw crude oil and gasoline prices skyrocket. "He will remain an integral part of the history of the oil industry that he played a significant role in shaping it, "Dr. Anas Alhajji said of Yamani on Twitter. Ahmed Zaki Yamani, a former Saudi oil minister, has died. He was 90 years old. He will remain an integral part of the history of the oil industry because he played a significant role in shaping it. ???? ????? ???? ??? ?????? ???? ????? ??????? ?????? ???? ???? ????? ????? pic.twitter.com/xU9LtOMO9A Anas Alhajji (@anasalhajji) February 23, 2021 By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: MCLA To Open Registration for Summer Sessions NORTH ADAMS, Mass. Registration for MCLA's three summer sessions will open March 1, 2021, and the majority of summer classes will be taught online this year. Summer classes at MCLA offers summer classes for MCLA undergraduate and graduate students; students from other colleges; high school students; college graduates interested in Master of Business Administration (MBA) or Master of Education (MEd) courses; or community members and others seeking courses. Summer sessions schedule Session A: May 24-July 2 Session B: June 21-July 30 Session C: July 6-August 13 MCLA's Division of Graduate and Continuing Education (DGCE) is offering more than 50 classes to choose from over each session, including introductory and upper-level undergraduate courses as well as graduate-level courses. Most classes will be taught online, with some in-person classes at MCLA-Pittsfield and labs for science classes taking place at the Feigenbaum Center for Science and Innovation on the MCLA campus. In addition to managing the summer semester, MCLA DGCE offers a bachelor's degree completion program one evening per week in Pittsfield, a Master's in Business Administration, a Master of Education, and certificate programs including Accounting, Network Security, and a graduate certificate in business administration. MCLA's Master of Education offers a wide array of educational opportunities including Initial Teacher Licensure in Early Childhood, Elementary, middle and high school fields, Moderate Disabilities and Reading Specialist; Professional Teacher Licensure; and Individualized Plan of Study (non-licensure). Outspoken federal MP Craig Kelly warns he could block any new policy the Morrison government did not take to the last election, potentially throwing the Coalitions ability to pass new laws into disarray following his shock defection from the Liberal Party to the crossbench on Tuesday. Mr Kelly also promised to continue with his fierce criticism of medical experts and authorities for blocking disproven medical coronavirus treatments after he stunned his colleagues and blindsided Prime Minister Scott Morrison with his decision to quit the party. Craig Kelly says he will vote for policies the Coalition took to the election but he will make up his own mind on other policies. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen While offering his continued support to the government on motions of confidence and appropriation or budget votes, Mr Kelly warned he would vote against any attempt to legislate a net zero emissions target by 2050 and consider any energy issues on merit. Everything that we took to the election campaign as a policy, I believe we have a contract to vote for that, Mr Kelly told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. With new policies that come along, Ill be voting on my conscience. For an incredible 10-day period in mid-February, Texas was battered by a brutal winter storm bringing snow, ice, and record-low temperatures. Millions of Texans were without power and water for days. These conditions forced thousands of Texas businesses to close during the storm. Many of these businesses also sustained property damage from pipe bursts and resulting water discharge. The property insurance claims have already started to come in. Some believe the storm will be the largest insurance event in Texas history. Unlike most states, where power grids are interconnected, Texas has its own intrastate power grid that supplies power to 90% of the state, according to a report in the Texas Tribune. That grid is operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). On Feb. 15, ERCOT initiated rolling outages of the power grid According to ERCOT, it instructed transmission companies to reduce demand on the grid by implementing rolling outages, asserting that the Texas power grid was seconds and minutes from a catastrophic failure without such intervention. A combination of numerous factors the effects of the winter storm, the rolling outages by ERCOT, and actions taken by individual businesses have caused significant financial losses to all types of Texas businesses. Some businesses chose to close simply because of the bad weather. Others closed due to damage resulting from pipe bursts. And others were forced to close due to the rolling blackouts. For example, in Austin, an energy provider ordered all industrial and semiconductor manufacturers to idle or shut down, according to a report in the Austin American-Statesman. This caused Samsung to cease its operations, causing millions of dollars in losses, BizChina.com reported. In 2018, a 30-minute power outage at a Samsung factory cut the global NAND flash memory chip supply by 3%, BizChina said. Texas businesses will undoubtedly look for ways to recoup or at least minimize their business income losses. Many will first seek to determine if these losses are covered by their property insurance policies. This article discusses some of the issues expected to arise in considering whether commercial property insurance policies provide coverage for Texas freeze claims. As always, it should be noted that policy language is critical. While this article identifies some general issues that are likely to arise in connection with the claims that Texas businesses will present, the specific policy language at issue, along with the facts of the individual loss, will determine whether coverage exists. Furthermore, this article assumes that Texas law applies. Texas law may not apply to all losses within the state (i.e., policy contains a choice-of-law provision, if the insured has property in multiple states, or the policy was procured in another state). Coverage Issues Associated With the Texas Winter Freeze A. Property Damage and Business Income Coverage Commercial property insurance policies generally require direct physical loss or damage to covered property for coverage to exist. Similarly, most property policies providing business income coverage require a causal connection between insured physical loss or damage and the loss of income. The ISO commercial property business income form, for example, generally states: We will pay for the actual loss of Business Income you sustain due to the necessary suspension of your operations during the period of restoration. The suspension must be caused by direct physical loss of or damage to property at premises which are described in the Declarations and for which a Business Income Limit Of Insurance is shown in the Declarations A critical issue that insurers and insureds will face in connection with Texas winter freeze claims is whether and to what extent are claimed business income losses the result of property damage. A Northern District of Texas court applying Texas law recently noted in connection with an insured restaurants attempt to obtain coverage for its business losses associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, a distinct, demonstrable physical alteration of property is required to implicate coverage. Vandelay Hospitality v. Cincinnati Ins. Co., No. 3:20-CV-12348-D, 2020 WL 5946863 (N.D.Tex. Oct. 7, 2020) (citing Hartford Ins. Co. of Midwest v. Miss. Valley Gas Co., 181 Fed. Appx. 465, 470 (5th Cir. 2006) (per curiam) (holding that a physical loss to property requires a distinct, demonstrable, physical alteration of the property); de Laurentis v. United Servs. Auto. Assn, 162 S.W.3d 714, 722-23 (Tex. App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2005, pet. denied) (holding that physical loss requires tangible damage or tangible loss). Accordingly, if a particular property actually sustained property damage as a result of the freezing temperatures, or perhaps resulting from the rolling outages, the repair cost and business income losses associated with that damage may be covered. However, if a business did not experience any physical damage, but was only subject to power outages there may not be business income coverage under standard policy provisions. B. Service Interruption Coverage Many commercial insurance policies contain an exclusion that precludes coverage for utility service outages that originate away from an insureds premises. The ISO Causes of Loss Special Form contains the following exclusion: We will not pay for loss or damage caused directly or indirectly by any of the following. Such loss or damage is excluded regardless of any other cause or event that contributes concurrently or in any sequence to the loss. e. Utility Services The failure of power, communication, water or other utility service supplied to the described premises, however caused, if the failure: (1) Originates away from the described premises; or (2) Originates at the described premises, but only if such failure involves equipment used to supply the utility service to the described premises from a source away from the described premises. Based on this exclusion, losses experienced by a business as a result of an electrical outage would not be covered, unless the electrical outage caused another Cause of Loss. For example, if an electrical outage causes a pipe break, the exclusion may not apply to the resulting water damage. Businesses can purchase coverage for service interruption losses. Depending on the provision at issue (and what is purchased by the insured), this coverage can apply to property damage losses, time element losses, or both. However, such provisions generally only provide coverage for service interruptions that are caused by damage to the service providers property. In connection with Texas winter freeze claims, such endorsements may provide coverage to the extent an outage was the result of physical loss or damage to the service providers property. However, if an outage was solely the result of a deliberate decision by the service provider to interrupt service in order to avoid future damage to the grid, those coverage endorsements may not apply. Determining the actual cause of the outage at a particular business location may be a fact-intensive inquiry that could require expert analysis. To the extent time element service interruption coverage is available to an insured, such coverages are also typically subject to waiting periods ranging between 12 and 72 hours. These waiting periods apply on a per occurrence basis. Thus, each instance of an outage could constitute a separate occurrence under the policy implicating a new waiting period. This issue will need to be determined on a case-by-case basis as there are many differing policy definitions of occurrence. C. Contingent Business Interruption Coverage Many commercial property insurance policies include contingent business interruption (CBI) coverage. CBI claims arise when either a supplier or a customer of an insured experiences damage to their property that causes them to be unable to either supply goods or services to the insured or receive the insureds goods or services. Insureds may contend that ERCOT and/or electricity providers are suppliers that implicate this coverage. Insureds may also present CBI claims arising from Texas based suppliers and customers who suffered physical damage. These claims could originate wherever an insured has a Texas based supplier or customer. Supply chains can be enormous, as measured by geography covered or the volume of suppliers and customers included in the chain. Policies typically distinguish between losses caused by direct and indirect suppliers and customers. CBI coverage still requires that one of the insureds suppliers or customers suffered property damage. For the same reasons noted above in connection with service interruption coverage, determining if such damage existed may be a difficult task. D. Civil Authority Coverage Insureds may assert that ERCOTs order implicates civil authority coverage for business income losses. However, civil authority coverage generally also requires physical damage to the insureds property or to property within a defined nearby geographic area. The coverage is for the interruption of the insureds business when an order of civil authority impairs access to the insureds property as a result of insured physical damage. There are three primary reasons why civil authority coverage likely would not apply to losses associated with rolling outages. First, such provisions typically require that access to the insureds property be prohibited or impaired. In connection with the winter freeze, the rolling outages did not prohibit businesses from accessing their property. Second, civil authority provisions generally require that the order from the civil authority be the result of property damage near the insured property. Here, it is unlikely property damage near an insureds property resulted in the outage order. Third, most civil authority provisions are reactive and do not provide coverage to prevent damage. Following 9/11, courts rejected claims arising from the Federal Aviation Administrations closure of airspace. United Air Lines, Inc. v. Ins. Co. of the State of Pa., 439 F.3d 128 (2d Cir. 2006). One court noted the governments order to shut down all air traffic was not the direct result of property damage, but rather was based on the fear of future attacks. Id. at 134. The airport was reopened when it was able to comply with more rigorous safety standards; the timetable had nothing to do with repairing, mitigating, or responding to the damage caused by the attack on the Pentagon. Id at 135. Based on this, the court determined the insureds loss was not the direct result of damage to adjacent premises. See also S. Tex. Med. Clinics, P.A. v. CNA Fin. Corp., No. H-06-4041, 2008 WL 450012 (S.D.Tex. Feb. 15, 2008) (citing United Air Lines and holding that there is no civil authority coverage when an order is caused by fears of future attacks, not by the need to repair, mitigate, or respond to physical damage). Similarly, Texas courts presently considering civil authority orders in the context of COVID-19 business interruption claims are generally confirming that such orders must be issued because of direct physical damage and not merely to prevent community spread of the virus. Terry Blacks Barbecue, LLC. v. State Automobile Ins. Co., No. 1:20-CV-665-RP, 2002 WL 7351246 (N.D. Tex., December 14, 2020) (The civil authority orders did not cause any tangible physical alteration to Plaintiffs property. Rather, Plaintiffs were precluded only from fully operating their restaurants temporarily, while the orders were in effect. Plaintiffs do not allege that the restaurants underwent any physical change as a result of the civil authority orders.). E. Concurrent Causation Texas courts have set forth the following standard regarding losses caused by multiple causes: The doctrine of concurrent causes limits an insureds recovery to the amount of damage caused solely by the covered peril. Because an insured can recover only for covered events, the burden of segregating the damage attributable solely to the covered event is a coverage issue for which the insured carries the burden of proof. Wallis v. United Servs. Auto. Assn, 2 S.W.3d 300, 303 (Tex. App.San Antonio 1999, pet. denied); see also, Seahawk Liquidating Tr. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyds London, 810 F.3d 986, 990, 995 & n.14 (5th Cir. 2016). Stated otherwise, when covered and non-covered perils combine to cause a loss, recovery under the policy is limited to only those losses caused by the covered peril. Further, under Texas law, it is the insureds burden to allocate the amount of loss that is attributable to a covered cause of loss versus a non-covered loss. Natl Union Fire Ins. of Pittsburgh, Pa. v. Puget Plastics Corp., 735 F. Supp. 2d 650, 669 n.23 (S.D. Tex. 2010) (The burden of allocation remains with the insured party and under Wallis, once testimony of concurrent causes has been offered into the record, the insured has the burden of allocating the damages among the various causes. (emphasis added)); see also Certain Underwriters at Lloyds of London v. Lowen Valley View, L.L.C., 892 F.3d 167, 170 (5th Cir. 2018) (The summary judgment evidence reveals that several hail storms struck the vicinity of the hotel in the several years preceding [the insureds] claim.). In other words, to the extent a covered peril and a non-covered peril contribute to a claim, the insured has the burden of allocating its losses between the two perils and is only entitled to recover losses caused by the covered peril. The doctrine of concurrent causes could prove to be very important in evaluating coverage for Texas winter freeze claims. Some businesses shut down and incurred losses simply because of the bad weather and later suffered property damage from a pipe break. Other businesses shut down and incurred losses because of rolling outages and later suffered a pipe break. These scenarios, and many others, potentially implicate both covered and non-covered causes of loss. In these multiple cause scenarios, the insured has the burden segregate its losses between those distinct causes. The failure of the insured to segregate its losses can be fatal to its claim. Conversely, the insurance companies have a duty to conduct a reasonable investigation into an insureds claim and determine the applicable cause, or causes, of the loss. Insurance companies can be penalized for failing to do so (e.g., bad faith, Texas Insurance Code violations, late payment penalties). Accordingly, insurers have a strong interest in investigating these issues for each individual claim before making a coverage determination. Conclusion Thousands of Texas businesses were severely impacted by the Texas winter freeze. A combination of extreme weather conditions, rolling outages, and damage from burst water pipes resulted in financial losses to many of these businesses. Claims for actual physical loss or damage resulting from burst water pipes will likely be covered. Coverage for financial losses resulting from service interruptions will require a more detailed analysis, including an evaluation of all contributing causes and applicable policy language. To the extent a business did not sustain property damage and was only affected by an energy providers decision to curtail service, commercial property insurance policies are unlikely to respond. Policyholders and their attorneys will likely advance creative arguments to obtain coverage for such losses. Like any insurance dispute, a determination of coverage for Texas freeze claims should be based on a reasonable investigation of the facts relevant to the specific claim and a careful analysis of the applicable insurance policy. Violinist Paik Jin-hee has applied for legal guardianship of her mother, actress Yun Jung-hee (77), who lives in Paris with dementia. A French court last year appointed Paik her mother's legal guardian, sparking an unsightly battle with Yun's siblings. Paik, who is Yun's daughter with famous pianist Paik Kun-woo, made the application at the Seoul Family Court in October of last year, music industry sources say. Recently, the actress' siblings posted an anonymous petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website seeking help for the revered actress, who they claim is being treated "like a prisoner." Paik Kun-woo's agent refuted the claim, saying Yun is well cared-for and lives in the same building as her daughter. Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, today announced the 135 honorees representing 22 countries and 47 industries that have earned the coveted designation of Worlds Most Ethical Companies in 2021. This is the 15th annual recognition of companies that have demonstrated a commitment to ethical business practices through programs that positively impact employees, communities, and broader stakeholders, and contribute to sustainable and profitable long-term business performance. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005189/en/ Ethispheres 2021 Ethics Index, the collection of publicly-traded companies recognized as recipients of this years Worlds Most Ethical Companies designation, outperformed a comparable index of large cap companies by 7.1 percentage points over the past five calendar years. (Graphic: Business Wire) In 2021, nine companies are first-time honorees, while six have been recognized 15 times, every year since the awards inception in 2007. We continue to be inspired by the actions and initiatives of the Worlds Most Ethical Companies honorees. Leadership by this group of companies is a reason that business above all other institutions was most trusted during the challenging times of 2020, stated Ethisphere CEO, Timothy Erblich. Honorees integrate ethics and values with corporate strategy. They speak up, are transparent, take action, and look for innovative ways to make a difference. We congratulate their efforts. Integrity has been embedded into our DNA and is the foundation for our ethics since we were founded 100 years ago, said Suphachai Chearavanont, CEO of Charoen Pokphand Group. Being recognized as one of the Worlds Most Ethical Companies is a true honour. Were still on a journey and I am greatly appreciative of the collective efforts of all our employees. Its a privilege to have once again been named one of the worlds most ethical companies, expressed Craig Arnold, Chairman and CEO of Eaton. This recognition reflects the commitment of our 92,000 employees who serve all our stakeholders with uncompromising integrity and dedication to our mission to improve the quality of life and the environment. Its an honor to be named as one of the Worlds Most Ethical Companies for the 15th consecutive year, a recognition that reflects Ecolabs values to act with integrity no matter the circumstances, said Christophe Beck, President and CEO of Ecolab. Im proud to lead a company where associates are committed to doing whats right, every single day, and know that ethical operations are foundational to our long-term success. Ethispheres 2021 Ethics Index, the collection of publicly-traded companies recognized as recipients of this years Worlds Most Ethical Companies designation, outperformed a comparable index of large cap companies by 7.1 percentage points over the past five calendar years. The outperformance, which we refer to as the Ethics Premium, has remained consistent since we began tracking the equity performance of honoree companies. We believe this outperformance is the result of the kinds of practices that lead a company to be on our list practices that demonstrate investment in their people, in their culture, and in their communities. We see in this data that those practices, over time, lead to stronger financial performance. As evidenced by this continued outperformance, ethics is good for business, Erblich added. Ethisphere will host a Virtual Honoree Gala on March 30, 2021 where Make-A-Wish CEO, Richard K. Davis, will deliver the keynote address. This will be the 15th year we celebrate the standard bearers of integrity at this Gala. Methodology & Outcomes Grounded in Ethispheres proprietary Ethics Quotient, the Worlds Most Ethical Companies assessment process includes more than 200 data points on culture, environmental and social practices, ethics and compliance activities, governance, diversity and initiatives to support a strong value chain. The process serves as an operating framework to capture and codify the leading practices of organizations across industries and around the globe. This year, the process was streamlined and the question set expanded to gauge how applicants are adapting and responding to the global health pandemic, environmental, social, and governance factors, safety, equity, and inclusion and social justice. All companies that participate in the assessment process receive an Analytical Scorecard providing them insights into where their programs stand against the demanding standards of leading companies. Honorees The full list of the 2021 Worlds Most Ethical Companies can be found at https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/honorees/ Follow the conversation on Twitter: 2021 #WorldsMostEthicalCompanies. About the Ethisphere Institute The Ethisphere Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust, and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character and measure and improve culture. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its Worlds Most Ethical Companies recognition program and provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA). More information about Ethisphere can be found at https://ethisphere.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005189/en/ The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Paris, TX (75460) Today A steady rain this morning. Showers continuing this afternoon. High 78F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. Locally heavier rainfall possible.. Tonight Showers and thundershowers this evening, then cloudy with rain likely overnight. Low around 65F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. Locally heavier rainfall possible. You are here: China Chinese authorities on Monday reaffirmed the country's focus on ensuring grain security and protecting germplasm resources after unveiling an annual rural policy plan to facilitate agricultural modernization and advance rural vitalization. "China's grain security is fully guaranteed," Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Tang Renjian told a press conference, citing sufficient grain inventories and sound production and sales. Acknowledging the country's agricultural achievements in withstanding a significant test last year amid the COVID-19 epidemic, Tang called for continuing to enhance grain output and ensure grain security. The minister's remarks came after the release of China's "No. 1 central document" on Sunday. It lists the targets and tasks concerning agriculture and rural areas for 2021 and a broader vision until 2025. As a rural blueprint unveiled annually, this year's document urged retaining a "red line" of 1.8 billion mu (120 million hectares) of arable land and preventing the use of arable land for non-farming purposes. The country also planned to add 100 million mu of high-standard farmland with high and stable yields this year. It would be despite droughts and floods, according to the document. China has made massive achievements in the agricultural sector in recent years. Official data showed China had 17 consecutive years of bumper harvests in grain production, with grain output exceeding 650 billion kg for six years in a row. The mechanization rate of farming and harvesting reached 71 percent while the amount of chemical fertilizers and pesticides applied to crops dropped for four consecutive years, Tang said. Yet, China's grain supply and demand remained in a "tight balance," Tang noted, calling for more efforts to enhance grain production to cope with external uncertainties and rising crop demand in the long run. The country in the next stage should not only ensure quantity but also improve the diversity and quality of agricultural products, Tang said. He urged promoting supply-side structural reform in the agricultural sector by improving breeding, branding, and standardized agricultural production to offer a broader range of high-quality products to Chinese consumers. Admittedly, China still faces many weak links in germplasm resource protection, and breeding theories and technologies, according to Zhang Taolin, vice agricultural minister. Zhang urged investigations and germplasm resource collection of crops, poultry, and aquatic products. Efforts should also support leading enterprises specializing in germplasm and breeding, facilitate core-breeding technology breakthroughs, and promote agricultural biological breeding projects, Zhang said. Ahead of the assembly elections likely in April, the government in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday presented an interim budget for 2021-22 with the COVID-19 pandemic contributing to a higher fiscal deficit of over Rs 84,000 crore. The budget, presented amid a boycott by DMK and its allies, projected a positive growth rate of 2.02 per cent in 2020-21 as it expressed hopes of the economy rebounding due to various sustainable policy decisions of the government. While the main opposition DMK and its allies, including the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League, boycotted the budget presentation by staging a walkout, leader of the opposition M K Stalin, in a statement, condemned the government for Rs '5.70' lakh crore debt. As Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who holds the Finance portfolio, started his budget speech, DMK deputy leader Duraimurugan urged Speaker P Dhanapal to allow him to express a 'view,' which was disallowed. While there was a din for a while, the opposition members eventually staged a walkout, boycotting the presentation of the interim budget, the last by the present government before the polls. Stalin, who did not participate in the House proceedings, assured 'growth' for the state after assuming power by winning the coming polls. With the pandemic casting a shadow, the budget estimated the revenue deficit to be Rs 41,417.30 crore and fiscal deficit at Rs 84,202.39 crore, 3.94 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). The revenue expenditure has been projected at an aggregate level of Rs 2,60,409.26 crore. Noting that the budget carried the 'imprint' of the unprecedented challenges posed by the pandemic, the Deputy CM said Tamil Nadu was being hailed as a model state in tackling COVID-19. On the whole, the government incurred an expenditure of Rs 13,352.85 crore on the pandemic response, he said. In sync with the recommendation of a high-level panel, additional sanctions were granted -towards more capital expenditure including irrigation, housing and highways- to the tune of Rs 20,013 crore. In view of such measures, the state is expected to register a positive growth rate of 2.02 per cent against an all-India negative growth rate of 7.7 per cent in 2020-21, he said. As against Rs 37,734.42 crore in the revised estimates for 2020-21 towards capital expenditure, Rs 43,170.61 crore has been provided in the budget estimates for 2021-22 for furthering economic development, Panneerselvam said. Due to the pandemic, the State's Own Tax Revenue (STOR) collapsed in the first four months of the current financial year and the collection of state GST and Value Added Tax started to pick up from August last year. The collection of stamp duty and registration fee has also revived but motor vehicle tax collection is yet to fully recover. Due to the pandemic, there was a sharp drop in revenue, "but the expenditure levels had to be enhanced to protect people's welfare," he said. Hence, "it is completely unavoidable that the government had to resort to borrowings resulting in a higher fiscal deficit," he noted. In his two-and-a-half hour plus address, he said the government intended borrowing Rs 84,686.75 crore and the outstanding debt as a percentage of GSDP is expected to be 27.44 per cent in 2022-23 and 27.50 per cent in 2023-24 well within the norms outlined by the 15th Finance Commission. The overall debt outstanding as on March 31, 2021 is estimated to be Rs 4,85,502.54 crore and as on March 31, 2022, Rs 5,70,189.29 crore. The budget, the last in the AIADMK's 2016-21 term pegged State GST revenue to be Rs 45,395.50 crore, receipts from excise duty at Rs 9,613.91 crore and VAT at Rs 56,413.19 crore and overall commercial taxes over Rs 1.02 lakh crore. A provision of Rs 11,982.71 crore has been made for agriculture and in the revised estimates (2020-21) the provision for food subsidy has been stepped up from Rs 6,500 crore to Rs 9,604.27 crore. Rs 5,000 crore was allocated towards the Rs 12,110.74 crore crop loan waiver scheme announced recently by Chief Minister K Palaniswami. The government made allocations to other departments, including a hefty subsidy of Rs 8,834.68 crore, for the state-run electricity generation and distribution entity, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation. In aggregate, the SOTR is expected to be Rs 1.09,968.97 crore in the revised estimates (2020-21) which represents a drop of 17.64 per cent against Rs 1,33,530.30 crore anticipated as revenue in the budget estimates for 2020-21. Panneerselvam urged the Centre not to utilise the 15th Finance Commission recommended grants to substitute their share of funding for central sector and centrally sponsored schemes. "I reiterate my call to the Government of India to merge cesses and surcharges with the basic rate of tax so that the states receive their legitimate share of the revenue." Also, the share of central taxes for the state indicated in the union budget at Rs 32,849.34 crore (2020-21) has been cut to Rs.23,039.46 crore in the revised estimates, the Deputy CM said. WINNIPEG, MB, Feb. 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Medicure Inc. ("Medicure" or the "Company") (TSXV: MPH) (OTC: MCUJF), announced today that it will be participating in Renmark Financial Communications Inc.'s live Virtual Non-Deal Roadshow Series to discuss its latest investor presentation on Tuesday, February 23, 2021 at 12:00 PM EST (11:00 PM CST, 10:00 PM MST). Medicure welcomes stakeholders, investors, and other individual followers to register and attend this live event. The presentation will feature Albert Friesen, Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of the Board. Topics to be covered will include the latest investor presentation followed by a live Q&A. Investors interested in participating in this event will need to register using the link below. As a reminder, registration for the live event may be limited but access to the replay after the event will be on the Company's website (www.medicure.com). REGISTER HERE: https://www.renmarkfinancial.com/events/renmark-virtual-non-deal-roadshow-tsx-v-mph/2021-02-23-170000-0 To ensure smooth connectivity, please access this link using the latest version of Google Chrome. About Medicure Inc. Medicure is a pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapies for the U.S. cardiovascular market. The present focus of the Company is the marketing and distribution of AGGRASTAT (tirofiban hydrochloride) injection and ZYPITAMAG (pitavastatin) tablets in the United States, where they are sold through the Company's U.S. subsidiary, Medicure Pharma Inc. Medicure also operates Marley Drug, Inc. ("Marley"), a pharmacy located in North Carolina that offers an Extended Supply mail order drug program serving all 50 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. Marley is committed to improving the health status of its patients and the communities they serve while reducing overall health care costs for employers and other health care consumers. For more information visit http://www.marleydrug.com. To learn more about The Extended Supply Generic Drug Program call 800.286.6781 or email [email protected]. For more information on Medicure please visit www.medicure.com. For additional information about AGGRASTAT, refer to the full Prescribing Information. For additional information about ZYPITAMAG, refer to the full Prescribing Information. About Renmark Financial Communications Inc. Founded in 1999, Renmark Financial Communications Inc. is North America's leading retail investor relations firm. Employing a strategic and comprehensive mix of exposure tactics; Renmark hosts Virtual Non-Deal Roadshows as well as in-person corporate presentations and maintains daily communications with thousands of brokers and money managers across Canada and the United States. Renmark empowers its publicly-traded clientele to maximize their visibility within the financial community and strengthen their investor audience. SOURCE Medicure Inc. Related Links www.medicure.com The residents of Tut, a village of cattle breeders and farmers in Uzbekistans highlands, have long depended on the Shovvozsoy River for their drinking water, irrigation, and livestock. But in the summer of 2018, the Shovvozsoy -- which begins in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan and flows down into the Angren River in Uzbekistans Tashkent region -- slowed to a trickle, according to several villagers. Our crops and orchards dried up, one local in Tut, which is located at the lower end of the Shovvozsoy, told RFE/RLs Uzbek Service. We had to survive by buying water from neighboring villages. The cause of the water stoppage wasnt a mystery to locals. Some 18 kilometers upriver, a new dam and reservoir had been built in the mountains. Next to the reservoir, one Tut resident said, a small city was being built with hundreds of permanent employees where locals cant even get close. The small city in question is a secretive mountain resort that a new multipart investigation by RFE/RLs Uzbek Service has found was built on protected land for the use of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev. The resort -- which features helicopter pads, a no-fly zone, and what sources described as a luxurious mansion for Mirziyoev -- is shrouded in secrecy. Construction workers said they were forced to hand over their phones, and roadblocks and security guards prevent the public from approaching. Comparably mysterious is the reservoir, directly adjacent to the compound, that villagers in Tut say halted their water supply beginning in the summer of 2018. Reporters were able to locate just one official document -- a state-owned contractors business plan -- explicitly mentioning the reservoir. That document suggests the reservoir was built in line with a Mirziyoev decree on expanding hydropower. That decree includes several projects mentioned in the business plan, but not the Shovvozsoy reservoir. But the investigation by RFE/RLs Uzbek Service found evidence linking its construction to the same players behind the Sardoba Dam, which burst in May 2020, leaving six dead and forcing at least 70,000 from their homes in Uzbekistans eastern Sirdaryo region. Its unclear from publicly available records what risk analysis was undertaken prior to construction of the Shovvozsoy reservoir. Two sources said that the dam built at the site suffered a leak in 2019. Its also unclear exactly how construction of the reservoir, which displaced longtime residents living on the banks of the Shovvozsoy River, was legally reconciled with the protected status of the land on which it was built. Such a project would disrupt the local habitat significantly, one international water-use expert who has worked in Central Asia told RFE/RLs Uzbek Service. Therefore, before construction of such an object in a river system, a proper social and environmental impact study as well as hazard and risk analysis are supposed to be carried out, the expert said on condition of anonymity. All of the sources interviewed for this report did so on condition of anonymity, citing lack of authorization from their employers to speak to the media or fears of retribution from authorities. Neither Mirziyoevs office nor Uzbekistan Railways, the state-owned company that controls the land on which the resort and reservoir are located, responded to requests for comment. A Reservoir Runs Through It Multiple sources, including construction workers and officials, told RFE/RLs Uzbek Service that construction of the Shovvozsoy resort and adjacent reservoir began in 2017 and took about three years to complete. While the site is protected by roadblocks and security personnel, satellite imagery corroborates that account. Satellite imagery also shows that construction of the dam that would create the reservoir was already under way by July 2017, and that the reservoir was being filled by early April 2018. The following month Mirziyoevs prime minister, Abdulla Aripov, formally created the Ugam-Chatkal State Biosphere Reserve -- a 43,000-hectare territory on which the reservoir and compound sit -- and placed it under control of Uzbekistan Railways, the state-owned company headed at the time by Achilboy Ramatov, now the first deputy prime minister. It was in the ensuing months, as the surface area and volume of the reservoir grew, that downstream residents in the village of Tut say the river on which they depended dried up. Since 2018, only once or twice in the spring have they let the water trickle down to the village, one Tut resident said. Even then, the big farmers at the top took it and didn't give water to the people below." Several villagers said locals appealed to the local hokimiyat (regional administration). Even though people went to all levels of the hokimiyat to complain and demand water, they still could not bring water, the Tut resident said. One source familiar with the construction in Shovvozsoy claimed to RFE/RLs Uzbek Service that the reservoir was the brainchild of Abdugani Sanginov, a wealthy senator and loyal ally of Mirziyoev who heads the state-owned UzbekHydroEnergo. The source claimed that the main purpose of the reservoir was to beautify the Shovvozsoy resort for Mirziyoevs use, though reporters were unable to corroborate this account. A separate dock was built to walk and enjoy the close view, the source said. As early as July 2019, satellite imagery shows a house with what appears to be a dock on the southern bank of the reservoir, 300 meters from what sources described as a hunting lodge. The water-use expert with experience in Central Asia said such reservoirs could be used for irrigation, water supply, hydropower, and groundwater recharge. He said he doesnt believe that such a reservoir can be justified by its usability only for recreational purposes. The reservoir must serve a social purpose as well. That is even more important, he said. A Lake With No Name More than two years have passed since construction of the reservoir next to the secretive mountain compound began. But reporters located just a single official record identifying the body of water by name or location. In its business plan for 2019, Gidromaxsusqurilish -- a subsidiary of state-owned UzbekHydroEnergy -- listed among its main events for 2017 and 2018 the construction of the Shovvozsoy reservoir. An excerpt of the 2019 Gidromaxsusqurilish business plan listing "construction of the Shovvozsoy reservoir." The document suggests the reservoir was one of several the company built in line with a May 2017 decree by Mirziyoev on the expansion of hydropower in Uzbekistan. But while several of the projects in the Gidromaxsusqurilish business plan are listed in that decree, the Shovvozsoy reservoir is not. (The reservoir is also not listed on the section of the companys website featuring projects it has completed or participated in.) Gidromaxsusqurilishs business plan states that it acquired equipment in 2018 using 11.9 billion Uzbek soms ($1.1 million at the time) in loans thanks to a decree by Mirziyoev in February of that year. That same decree allocated $60 million from the state Fund For Reconstruction And Development Of Uzbekistan to state-owned Turonbank to be used as credit lines for UzbekHydroEnergo entities, which include Gidromaxsusqurilish. The 2019 Gidromaxsusqurilish business plan suggests the Shovvozsoy reservoir was built in line with a Mirziyoev decree. The trio tasked with overseeing the 2018 decree includes the chairman of UzbekHydroEnergo, Abdugani Sanginov -- the wealthy senator who, as one source claimed to RFE/RLs Uzbek Service, allegedly conceived of the plan to build the reservoir next to the Shovvozsoy resort. Sanginov did not respond to a request for comment. But UzbekHydroEnergo, whose subsidiaries public financial disclosures indicated their work on the Shovvozsoy site, denied any connection to the reservoir. Our company has nothing to do with the construction of the Shovvozsoy reservoir, UzbekHydroEnergo said in a February 22 e-mailed statement to RFE/RL, adding that the company also does not know the purpose of the reservoir. Our company was not responsible for, nor did it participate in, the construction of this facility, the statement said. Also, we would like to inform you that we are not involved in the operation and control of this reservoir. Publicly available corporate disclosures show, however, that around the time the Shovvozsoy reservoir was being filled in the summer of 2018, a flurry of contracts were signed involving UzbekHydroEnergo, its subsidiary Gidromaxsusqurilish, Turonbank, and a private firm owned by Sanginovs son. Sanginov is a key figure in the planning and construction of hydro projects in Uzbekistan. His youngest son, Islom Abdurahmonov, is the main shareholder of Topalang HPD Holding, a privately held Uzbek company. Multiple sources, including one individual with direct knowledge of the matter, told RFE/RLs Uzbek Service that the reservoir was built by Topalang Water Construction, which built the Sardoba Dam that collapsed in May 2020. Topalang Water Construction is a 100 percent subsidiary of Abdurahmonovs Topalang HPD Holding. The 2018 annual report of the Sanginov-chaired UzbekHydroEnergo does not include an overt reference to the dam and reservoir built at Mirziyoevs retreat. But it does mention five loan contracts signed with Topalang HPD Holding in May 2018 -- a month after satellite images show the reservoir being filled. Turonbank, which Mirziyoevs decree granted $60 million for credit lines to UzbekHydroEnergo entities, is listed as a counterparty in these loans. Neither UzbekHydroEnergo nor Topalang HPD Holding responded to requests for comment on the purpose of these loans, whose total was listed at 269.4 billion Uzbek soms ($33.6 million at the time). But that sum is consistent with an estimate given by a source familiar with the reservoirs construction who claimed the project cost the state budget more than 200 billion Uzbek soms. UzbekHydroEnergo's 2018 annual report shows several loans with Topalang HPD Holding around the time of the Shovvozsoy reservoir's construction. The purpose of the loans is not indicated. Corroborating evidence of Topalangs involvement came from an UzbekHydroEnergo manager, who told an independent Tashkent-based activist in November that the reservoir was built by Topalang Water Construction. The same day as UzbekHydroEnergo signed the first of its five contracts with Topalang HPD Holding for an unspecified purpose, it also signed a contract with its subsidiary Gidromaxsusqurilish -- the company whose business plan featured the only official mention of the Shovvozsoy reservoir that reporters could find. Under that contract, UzbekHydroEnergo signed a loan agreement with Gidromaxsusqurilish worth 40 billion Uzbek soms ($5 million at the time) for unspecified services. Turonbank was listed as a counterparty in that loan as well, UzbekHydroEnergos 2018 annual report shows. The contracts with Gidromaxsusqurilish and Topalang HPD Holding that UzbekHydroEnergo listed in its 2018 annual report -- and which were signed around the time of the Shovvozsoy reservoirs construction -- total 309.4 billion Uzbek soms ($38.7 million at the time). But because the annual report does not identify the nature of the services related to these contracts, it could not be confirmed with absolute certainty that the contracts were related to the Shovvozsoy reservoir. A spokesman for the Uzbek Water Resources Ministry, which oversees all canals and reservoirs in the country, told a reporter that the Shovvozsoy reservoir does not fall under the auspices of the ministry. We have two reservoirs in the Tashkent region. One is the Tashkent [reservoir], and the other is the Ohangaron reservoir, the spokesman said in a written response. If you like, we can provide information about these two reservoirs. A search for the Shovvozsoy reservoir on the ministrys website, as well as that of the National Center for Geodesy and Cartography, yielded no results. There is also no mention of the reservoir in a 2020 UN European Economic Commission report on environmental activities in Uzbekistan. The report, which is based on data provided by the Uzbek government, states that the Water Resources Ministry did not issue any permits for special use of water in 2017-18 -- a period covering the construction of the Shovvozsoy reservoir. A man who identified himself as Topalang Water Constructions chief accountant told a reporter that the company served as the general contractor of the Shovvozsoy reservoir but that any questions about the project should be referred to Uzbekistan Railways capital-construction department. They are the owners of the facility. Whether they will give you any information about it, I am not sure, because it is a very strategic object, the man, who gave his name as Hayitmurod Hasanov, told the reporter in a phone conversation. Asked to clarify what he meant by strategic object, Hasanov replied: I cant tell you these things. Echoes Of Sardoba One individual who has inspected the Shovvozsoy site said he had seen official documents showing that the dam is 70 meters high and that the reservoirs volume is around 50-60 million cubic meters, though reporters could not corroborate this. Two sources told RFE/RLs Uzbek Service independently of one another that the dam suffered a leak in 2019. The leakage in Shovvozsoy was before Sardoba and actually was a signal of upcoming disaster in a way, one of the sources said, referring to the May 2020 dam collapse that left six people dead and forced thousands to flee their homes. Residents of the village of Tut, 18 kilometers downstream from the Shovvozsoy resort, say its not only the reservoir that disrupted their lives. Dozens of houses were demolished to widen the road leading to the compound, and pasture lands were confiscated for the project, they said. The only source of income for villagers is cattle breeding, one Tut resident said. And this was taken away from us, since no pasture land is left for us. Police have released this photo of Matthew Donaldson. Credit:Police Media A man wanted by police after a woman was attacked at a luxury hotel in Sydneys CBD allegedly wrote on Facebook hours earlier: Game Over. A warrant for attempted murder has been issued for the arrest of Matthew Donaldson, 41, who police believe may be in the Blue Mountains area and may be armed with a firearm. He is described as being of Caucasian appearance, approximately 182 centimetres tall and of a solid build with light brown hair. Mr Donaldson allegedly posted two photos from inside a hotel room on Facebook on Tuesday night with the caption Game Over. Anthea Turner's 'secret pamper party' guests have been caught on camera as they arrived at the TV personality's west London apartment without wearing masks on February 12. In damning photos, at least five different women arrived at the building, headed to the door and waited to be buzzed in by Anthea, 60. The group - including former BAFTA CEO Chantal Rickards OBE, boutique owner Julia Jaconelli, and a pair of massage experts - turned up at around 4PM, and left after 10PM later in the evening, according to eyewitnesses. While one of the masseuses arrived wearing a mask, she seemed to have ditched the PPE by the end of event and was seen leaving without it on in the dead of night. Ready to party? Anthea Turner's 'secret pamper party' guests have been caught on camera as they arrived at the TV personality's west London apartment without wearing masks Anthea's guests did the opposite - turning up maskless but seen leaving with face masks covering their mouths, presumably about to get into taxis, where these are required to be worn amid COVID-19 restrictions. Anthea was not pictured, being the hostess, not needing to make an appearance outside. The party took place hours after Anthea sparked a furore when she posted a cartoon of an overweight woman in a wheelchair berating a thinner lady not wearing a mask on Twitter. The pictures were originally obtained by The Sun, taken outside what is thought to be the TV star's 700,000 abode in Kew, south-west London. Covid party: In damning photos, at least five different women arrived at the building, headed to the door and waited to be buzzed in by Anthea, 60 (pictured in 2018) Eyewitness accounts: The ladies - including boutique owner Julia Jaconelli, and a pair of massage experts - turned up at around 4PM, and left after 10PM later in the evening Healing hands? A pair of massage experts were spotted turning up at around 4PM, and leaving after 10PM later in the evening Had fun? Former BAFTA CEO Chantal Rickards was seen leaving the illegal girls' night It is claimed that the women enjoyed treatments such as eyebrow tints, massages and manicures while at the pampering session, dubbed Secret Supper. A source told the publication: 'I can't believe Anthea's done something as irresponsible as this. 'A steady stream of women arrived showing total disregard for precautions being taken by the vast majority of people in the country.' Ms Jaconelli told The Sun: 'It was a business meeting.' MailOnline has contacted Anthea's representative for a comment. Flouting! While one of the masseuses turned up wearing a mask, she seemed to have ditched the PPE by the end of shindig, seen leaving without it on in the dead of night Because they're worth it! Anthea's guests did the opposite - turning up maskless but seen leaving with face masks covering their mouths What a day: The former Blue Peter presenter is thought to have held the gathering hours after she sparked a furore when she posted a cartoon to Twitter showing an overweight woman and a lady not wearing a mask on Twitter (pictured on Feb 12) The government's website states: 'It is against the law to meet socially with family or friends unless they are part of your household or support bubble. 'You cannot leave home for recreational or leisure purposes (such as for a picnic or a social meeting).' However there are some circumstances in which people are allowed to meet others from outside their household, childcare or support bubble- but not be for socialising and only for permitted purposes. This includes: 'For work, or providing voluntary or charitable services, where it is unreasonable to do so from home. Dividing opinions: Anthea shared this picture with the caption, 'Go for it!! X', and many Twitter users certainly did - to slam her view Her thoughts: She appeared to suggest the conditions of lockdown were wrong and needed to be changed 'This can include work in other peoples homes where necessary - for example, for nannies, cleaners, social care workers providing support to children and families, or tradespeople.' Anthea's alleged pampering party is thought to have happened just hours after she had to apologise for causing drama on Twitter on Friday February 12 with her views. The TV host had posted a cartoon of an overweight woman in a wheelchair eating McDonalds berating a thinner lady wearing no PPE in messages about 'coronavirus selfishness'. She shared the image alongside the phrase Go for it x before embarking on a series of messages criticising lockdown and personal responsibility on health. Unimpressed: Labour MP Jess Phillips [pictured] led some of the condemnation of Anthea's remarks Response: Twitter rounded on the entertainer, with one mother of a disabled son [bottom tweet] finding Anthea's post offensive But the decision to speak out appeared to have backfired with some of her fans who turned on her, claiming the image was ignorant and offensive to people disabled through no choice of their own. It also came hours after she had posted link to a report on obesity being a bigger killer than smoking in England and Scotland. On February 12 she said sorry for the cartoon, but insisted it had not meant to target people who were clinically ill. She said: 'Totally apologise that the cartoon is clumsy - Ill take the rollicking on the chin. 'But this was never directed at people clinically ill who need our support. My passion is sincere though Covid has to give us a bloody big health wake-up call and wed be nuts not to try and fix it.' Throwback: Anthea is known for her stint presenting Blue Peter and was famous for her making segments [Pictured L-R: Peter Duncan, Valerie Singleton, Stuart Miles and Anthea in 1998] Anthea who is engaged to businessman Mark Armstrong posted her original message and cartoon picture just after 7PM on Thursday. It showed an overweight woman in a motorised wheelchair wearing a facemask, clutching a McDonalds bag and glaring at a woman without a mask and telling her Put a mask on! Youre putting my health at risk. She followed it up with a series of messages questioning if people who did not look after their own health should be prioritised in the pandemic over those who had. Anthea said: Im incensed by the selfish attitudes of people who cant see we actually are all in this together and willful destruction has an impact on us all especially those with other illnesses pushed down the line and charities who are missing out on funding. We have to take responsibility. If the government put half the amount of money into health as they have in locking us up we wouldnt be in this mess. Keep McDonalds open and close gyms many council run and open air - Great. While there were some people who agreed with the sentiment others seized on the disability element of the message to attack the presenter. Piers Morgan branded her 'despicable' after she posted the picture. He said: 'What the hell is this? Have you lost your mind, Anthea? Just despicable.' Labour MP Jess Phillips said: The Anthea Turner thing this morning has just about done me in. I just wish the idiots would just admit that the wind on their face is more important than my sister in laws life while she has chemo. Stop with the god damn hierarchy of whose life matters!!! * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company MYRTLE BEACH A student at Myrtle Beach Elementary School was recently held in a storage closet with the door cracked open after they went to the school nurses office with COVID-19-like symptoms, according to a pair of emails obtained by the Post and Courier Myrtle Beach. The students teacher sent a note to Principal Kristie Hamilton that expressed concern over what they saw. My one student had COVID symptoms today, so (the student) went to the nurse. When I came to check on (the student) during my break I noticed (the student) was in the storage closet with the door cracked. (The student) may have been in there for about an hour. Im not trying to make waves, but for some reason this doesnt sit right with me. Its been bothering me all night. What is our protocol if a student has COVID symptoms at school? the email said. Hamilton offered up an explanation, pointing to a lack of other areas to have students isolate. That area is for students with symptoms. It is the isolation area. It is sanitized after each student leaves. Unfortunately, we do not have another location where the nurse can keep an eye on a student as well as assist other students who come to the nurses office, wrote Hamilton. The Horry County Schools District Office pointed to the Health Room & Isolation Area part of the HCS Re-Opening Plan to explain why areas such as closets are used. Due to space limitations, some storage areas/locations in the nurse's office have been temporarily repurposed into an isolation area. This isolation area is where symptomatic students are temporarily placed while they wait for their parents to arrive. Most of these areas also have air purifiers, to include Myrtle Beach Elementary School, an HCS spokesperson said. Sign up for our Myrtle Beach weekly update newsletter. Sign up for weekly roundups of our top stories, news and culture from the Myrtle Beach area. This newsletter is hand-curated by a member of our Myrtle Beach news staff. Email Sign Up! HCS also indicated that if a parent cannot immediately pick up a symptomatic child until later in the day, they may be moved to an unoccupied conference room with an adult monitor until the parent can arrive. It is unclear if the student in question was in the closet longer than an hour, if they were moved to a conference room or if air purifiers are utilized in this particular storage closet. HCS has the following protocols in place for students who become ill at school, something that is becoming of higher interest now that HCS will be back to full-time, in-person learning for all by March 15: Whenever symptoms of COVID-19 are present at school, teachers will send students to the health room to be examined by the school nurse. If the school nurse believes the symptoms indicate the probability of COVID-19, parents will be notified immediately and asked to pick up the student from school. Each school will establish a dedicated space for symptomatic individuals. Until the arrival of the parent, the student will be isolated from other students in the dedicated space. The student will be required to wear a mask while in the isolation room and until they exit the school building. Parents should update health records and provide the school nurse with the latest health information on students. It is important that all students have updated immunization records. Parents should update contact and emergency phone numbers. Parents will be given guidelines for the student returning to school after an exclusion. Currently, HCS is reporting on its COVID-19 dashboard that it has 94 active cases within the district, including 72 students and 24 staff members. Good morning, its Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021. The grim COVID milestone weve been awaiting with trepidation arrived Monday, as predicted: 500,000 American lives lost. President Biden gave an evocative speech about the toll this has taken on our country. The flags are flying at half-staff. Even so, a tepid sense of hope seems to be emerging as this cruel winter wanes: Immunization rates are rising, while the infection rate appears to be in decline. Will we see a fourth surge in infections or have we finally flattened the curve, as the scientists say? At some point, the daily heroism of health care professionals all over the world will truly sink in. I include in that group everyone from the nerdy geniuses in their government and private sector labs who produced a vaccine in record time to the brave palliative care nurses who have borne the brunt of seeing half-a-million of our loved ones over to the other side. And every medical industry worker in between. It was on this date in 1943 that young Jonas Salk began his first field trials against the scourge of polio, a word that frightened parents as much as the war the United States was fighting on two fronts. It was the disease that crippled Americas wartime president himself. But a wire story published six years ago today showed how humans beings fears as well as our physical frailty figure into the dynamics of a pandemic. Ill have more on that in a moment. First, Id direct you to RCPs front page, which presents our poll averages, videos, breaking news stories, and aggregated opinion columns spanning the political spectrum. We also offer original material from our own reporters, columnists, and contributors, including the following: * * * Trump Alum, Social Conservatives Launch Effort to Kill HR 1. RCP staff correspondent Phil Wegmann has this exclusive on the initiative aimed at defeating the Democratic-sponsored bill to expand voter access. The Big Lie Is Trumps Litmus Test for 2022. Columnist A.B. Stoddard writes that Republicans hoping not to run afoul of the former president must parrot his insistence that the 2020 election was stolen by Democrats. We Cannot Allow China to Engage in a COVID Coverup. In a guest op-ed, former diplomat Dave Seminara urges President Biden to press Beijing for raw data on the origins of the coronavirus, which was denied to WHO investigators. American Belt and Road Would Lessen Global Influence. RealClearMarkets editor John Tamny argues that following the Chinese model for aiding developing countries would be counterproductive. More Americans Need to Work at the U.N. At RealClearWorld, Morgan Lorraine Vina and Brett Schaeffer warn that China has increasingly used the United Nations as a vehicle to advance its interests while the U.S. role has waned. Beware the Digital-Intelligence Complex. Echoing Dwight Eisenhowers 1961 warning, Eric Felten reports for RealClearInvestigations on the new "revolving door" in Washington, one that features a government-to-Silicon Valley job pipeline. With Parler Back, Are Monopoly Claims Overblown? At RealClearPolicy, Eric Peterson explains why the social media companys antitrust lawsuit against AWS was flawed. GOP Must Play Offense on Climate. At RealClearEnergy, George Gemelas urges Republicans to push the carbon dividends plan, which is designed to address both domestic and international dimensions of the climate challenge. * * * On this date in 2015, Congress returned from recess to tackle, among other issues, the worrying rise of anti-vaxers -- Americans who had lost faith in the medical establishment and were putting their own children (and the rest of us) in added peril from viruses and bacteria. A measles outbreak at Disneyland sparked by parents who hadnt immunized their children led to widespread scorn toward the anti-vaccination crowd. So the Associated Press decided to interview some of them. The ensuing AP story wasnt simpatico with their viewpoint -- anti-vaxers are on the wrong side of science and statistics -- but it was written with empathy. (Journalism like that was still being practiced in this country only six years ago.) The three mothers interviewed came across as reasonable and intellectually curious. One had read a study in The Lancet that furthered her doubts. Another had experienced complications from an anti-malaria medication. Contrary to the common sentiment, we are not anti-science, said an Oregon mother of 2-year-old twin girls. Im not opposed to medicine, and I think vaccines have a place. We think it's a medical choice, and it should be researched carefully. Unfortunately, during a pandemic thats killing millions of people worldwide, we dont have the luxury for such deliberative thinking. Yet something else is at play, too, and that is the default parameters of human thinking. In 2015, Dartmouth College researchers did a study that produced a sobering result: When presented with scientific evidence that vaccines do not cause autism and that exposure to measles carries great risks, vaccine skeptics didnt change their minds. If anything, they became less trusting of the science. As Dartmouth professor Brendan Nyhan told the AP, We tend to be skeptical toward information that contradicts our existing views. This revelation explains a great deal more than head-scratchers like the nursing home workers who wont take the COVID vaccine, doesnt it? It also helps explain our Manichean and polarized politics, as well. It doesnt provide answers to our screwed-up politics, however. For those, well, it helps to keep sampling RealClears array of news and opinion, which this daily newsletter attempts to frame and spotlight. Carl M. Cannon Washington Bureau chief, RealClearPolitics @CarlCannon (Twitter) ccannon@realclearpolitics.com QINGDAO, China, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Goertek, a global leader of AR/VR manufacturing, unveils the lightweight augmented reality (AR) reference design powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1 Platform, equipped to deliver high-performance productivity, immersive experiences, and low-power consumption for both consumers and the enterprise. Goertek and Qualcomm Technologies have been closely collaborating since 2016 and Goertek has developed several XR reference designs based on Snapdragon 820, 821, 835 and 845 Mobile Platforms and Snapdragon XR1 and XR2 Platforms. Goertek also joined the Qualcomm HMD accelerator program in 2017, to help OEMs commercialize new XR product innovation quickly. The reference design is an AR smart viewer with versatility to tether to a compatible smartphone, PCs, Tablets, or processing puck and is optimized for devices powered by Snapdragon Platforms. It uses free-form lens solution and 1920*1080P Micro OLED display module. It features two 6Dof cameras for hand tracking, simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). The Smart Viewer adopts Goertek's latest near-ear acoustic module to achieve superior sound quality and privacy. This reference design also features unique highly efficient heat dissipation design, innovative flexible hinge design and ultra-light alloy material for premium comfort. This reference design will help OEMs bring premium experiences to affordable devices and is expected to be available for select partners in coming months. Goertek offers a one-stop solution for XR products, by combining vertical integration and precision production technology. Goertek has leveraged its cutting-edge optical and acoustic capabilities, as well as an in-depth understanding of critical AR manufacturing processes to quickly scale and develop smart AR devices for commercial use and to accelerate the AR industry. ### Qualcomm and Snapdragon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Qualcomm Incorporated. Qualcomm Snapdragon is a product of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. Qualcomm HMD Accelerator Program is a program of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. SOURCE Goertek Russia's adversaries in central and Eastern Europe are worried President Biden isn't willing to fight hard to stop the Russia-Germany gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 one of Vladimir Putin's core priorities. Why it matters: The fight is the first significant test of whether Biden's tough rhetoric against the Russian leader will be matched by action. Russian opponents fear Biden doesn't want to antagonize Angela Merkel and won't inflict serious costs on the Germans. The big picture: The completion of Nord Stream 2 would be a huge geopolitical win for Putin and give him substantial new leverage in Europe. Russia has cut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine as retribution in disputes. Bypassing Ukraine with a direct pipeline to Germany helps Russia advance its goal of isolating its former client state, now a struggling democracy, from Western Europe. Russian gas currently has to pass through Ukraine on its way to Europe. The pipeline is more than 90% complete and could be finished by the summer without a major intervention to stop it. Driving the news: Until now, messages of concern have been conveyed to the Americans privately. But on Monday, a source close to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Axios: "The Ukrainians are a bit disappointed that President Biden did not commit during the Munich [Security] Conference to use every tool in his power to stop Nord Stream 2." "But it is not too late," the source close to Zelensky added, "for the U.S. to take decisive action, and the Ukrainians are hopeful the Biden administration will do so." The comments follow an unusual joint public statement Monday from the Polish and Ukrainian governments. The Polish and Ukrainian foreign ministers co-authored an op-ed in Politico Europe urging Biden to follow the lead of the U.S. Congress and do everything in his power to block the pipeline. "We call on U.S. President Joe Biden to use all means at his disposal to prevent the project from completion," the ministers wrote. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement: "The Biden administration is committed to using all available tools to counter Russian malign influence and to support transatlantic energy security goals." Price added: "We have been clear that companies risk sanctions if they are involved in the Nord Stream 2 project. We continue to examine entities involved in potentially sanctionable activity." Behind the scenes: On Friday, the State Department submitted a mandatory report to Congress that was supposed to list all the vessels involved in Nord Stream 2 construction, as well as any insurance firms or other companies involved in the pipeline. The report didn't name any new companies that would be a target for U.S. sanctions, according to the Wall Street Journal and confirmed to Axios by a source who's read the report, which has not been publicly released. Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, condemned the report as weak and incomplete. "Maritime tracking information makes it clear that ships not covered in today's report are currently active in supporting Nord Stream 2 construction," Risch said in a statement. He demanded an "immediate explanation" from the Biden administration. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) also said the Biden administration must do more to stop the pipeline and that she looked forward to being briefed on "additional measures." Between the lines: America's partners in Eastern and central Europe want Biden to make clear he's willing to do whatever it takes to stop the pipeline from being completed. This would include sanctioning the entire construction fleet and signaling a willingness to sanction the German utility companies that would be receiving the Russian energy. President Trump even leveled trade threats at Merkel as part of his hardline tactics to stop Nord Stream 2. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also cleared the path for a wider range of sanctions, saying last summer he was sounding "a clear warning to companies aiding and abetting Russia's malign-influence projects it will not be tolerated. ...Get out now, or risk the consequences." Construction on Nord Stream 2 halted during the Trump presidency. While Team Biden has said the pipeline is a "bad deal" and that they want to stop it, the administration done little so far to suggest it's willing to lean into the fight. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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. Vanessa Springoras Consent offers a devastating literary takedown of another powerful man. In her eloquent memoir, which has already triggered a cultural reckoning in France, the prominent French publisher describes an affair she had as a 14-year-old with a 50-year-old celebrated writer, Gabriel Matzneff. (In the book he is G., but Springora has identified him in other accounts.) The story begins with a smart, bookish, overlooked child: At the grand old age of 5, I am waiting for love. Springoras prose, smoothlytranslated from the French by Natasha Lehrer, is spare and novelistic. She is a graceful stylist, though her story also burns with a sense of purpose, a clarifying force. Her ravishing descriptions of the restlessness and boredom of teenage life rival those of Francoise Sagan. In one scene, her father stands her up in a restaurant as she waits for hours, with waiters taking pity on her. This is just one manifestation of the paternal absence that leaves her vulnerable to a charismatic older man who writes her love letters. Soon she is cutting school, smoking in cafes, rudderless, essentially parentless. She writes, I persisted in believing that this abnormal situation made me interesting. Springora simultaneously shows how Matzneffs sexual attention feels like love to a child and how far it is from that. We see how the idea of love is dangerous, how it offers cover for violence and domination. Even years later, she struggles with how to look at the situation: How is it possible to acknowledge having been abused, when it is impossible to deny having consented, having felt desire, for the very adult who was so eager to take advantage of you? Matzneff incorporated photographs and letters of the young girls he abused into his own books, which glorified these encounters as adventures. In Springoras account one sees his effort to define and write over their interactions, his refusal of her experience. One day he even insists on writing her homework for her, an essay on a triumph, despite her protests. In the middle of an early sexual act, she writes, something of my presence in the world dissolved. Her cool, precise account reveals his grand seductions as the brutal, petty, narcissistic fumblings that they were. Springora has said, My goal actually was to lock him up in a book, to catch him in his own trap. And in Consent the object becomes subject, the described becomes the describer. At one point, Springora calls him an ogre, reaching deep into the mythologies of childhood because that is the language she had at 14, in spite of his efforts to get her to read Proust, and her patina of louche teenage sophistication. She writes of the years after the abuse: I felt like a doll lacking all desire who had no idea how her own body worked, who had learned only one thing: how to be an instrument for other peoples games. This tended to complicate her subsequent relationships; as she puts it in one of the saddest lines of the book, No one wants a broken toy. The French publishing world was slow to distance itself from Matzneff, who had even written a book defending sex with children, but it seems that Consent brought some late-breaking moral clarity. (Emphasis on some: Reading an article on his exile to the south of Italy, one cant help noticing that he seems to be shunned by society in a luxury hotel room overlooking the Mediterranean. Still, one imagines him sulking over his puttanesca because of Springoras success.) Egypt's Journalists Syndicate is still studying whether to hold the midterm elections, initially scheduled for 5 March, or not following objections from the ministries of health and interior over coronavirus concerns, Khaled Miri, the Undersecretary of the Syndicate and the Head of the Elections Committee, said on Tuesday. According to Miri, the syndicate held a meeting with the health and interior ministries of health about the midterm elections on Tuesday, where the officials of the health ministry objected to holding the elections over fears of the spread of the coronavirus during the general assembly. He also revealed that the interior ministry rejected a proposal to hold the elections in tents outside the syndicate HQ in Downtown Cairo. The Ministry of Interior stated that it was committed to securing the midterm elections process at the syndicate's HQ building only if there is an insistence to hold the elections. He also added that the syndicates board is waiting for a legal opinion from the State Council before making a final decision on whether to hold the elections or not at the current time. Earlier this week, the elections committee supervising the midterm elections announced that there were six journalists running for the head of the syndicates position and 55 others running for the syndicates board. Egypt has registered 178,774 cases of coronavirus since the outbreak began in February including 10,404 fatalities and 138,183 recoveries Short link: WILLIAMSPORT A former Lycoming College student who was in this country illegally has received a time-served sentence in a child pornography case because he is expected to be deported. I hope you never come back, Lycoming County Judge Marc F. Lovecchio told Ahmed Mehran Shah Sumit, 28, as he sentenced him Tuesday. I hope you never expose our community to this type of behavior again. Sumit, who before his arrest in August 2019 lived in the Washington Twp. in the southern part of the county with his wife, pleaded guilty in October to a consolidated charge of sexual abuse of children by possessing child pornography. He admitted downloading 24 video files depicting very young children engaged in sexual acts. Each file had been a separate count. Sumit, who apologized for his conduct, told the preparer of the presentence report that it was a joke that went too far, Lovecchio noted. The priority in reaching the plea agreement was to remove Sumit from the United States so he cannot be involved with children in this country, first assistant District Attorney Martin Wade explained. Sumit, a citizen of Bangladesh, has spent nearly 18 months in the county prison unable to post $250,000 bail. His sentence requires him to register under Megans Law for 15 years. With the conviction, Sumit might never be allowed in the United States again, Lovecchio said. Immigration and Custom Enforcement, which had filed a detainer against Sumit, is prepared to take him into custody immediately, Wade said. Lovecchio called the child pornography situation in this country disturbing and horrible. Youre part of the abuse by creating a market for it, he told Sumit. Had Sumit been a U.S. citizen it is unlikely he would have accepted the plea agreement with such a lenient sentence, the judge said. Sumit told authorities he downloaded the videos via Facebook using another name and obtained them from an individual with whom he played video games. The downloads occurred between Feb. 1, 2018, and Aug. 5, 2019, the charges state. He came to this country in 2013 to attend Lycoming College but did not complete his education because he was unable to pay the tuition. The college lists him as a student between 2013 and 2017. Lovecchio denied a defense motion to have the case dismissed because Sumit had not been sentenced within the required time frame. The judge explained he could not have imposed sentence earlier because he had not received the required assessment of whether the defendant is a sexually violent predator. Interviews of sexual offenders that are part of the assessment process have been delayed due to the COVID-19, Lovecchio said. Wade paved the way for sentencing by waiving the assessment instead of seeking another continuance. Dismissal of the criminal case might make it easier for Sumit to gain re-entry into the United States, Lovecchio pointed out. ALSO READ: Trucker accused of killing model along I-80 to be returned to Pennsylvania on Tuesday Former Commonwealth Bank boss Ian Narev has been promoted to the chief executive role at Seek but he wont have control of the entire business, as it looks to split its traditional job ads unit and its investments unit. In what promises to be a major transformation of the group, Seek co-founder Andrew Bassat will give up the CEO title but will become executive chairman of the $10 billion company and continue to head the investments business, which controls lucrative assets like Seeks 61 per cent stake in Zhaopin. Seek chief executive Andrew Bassat will be succeeded by former Commonwealth Bank chief executive Ian Narev on July 1. Seeks share in Zhaopin, a China-based job ads platform, is worth around $1.4 billion. The company said on Tuesday that it and other Zhaopin shareholders, are in advanced discussions with a consortium looking to acquire an ownership interest in Zhaopin. What weve released is pretty much all we can talk about at this stage. But we wouldnt have put something out there if you werent hopeful that the transaction will be concluded, Mr Bassat said. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. At least 7,000 people who fled escalating ethnic violence in western Ethiopia have sought asylum in neighboring Sudan, the UN refugee agency said Tuesday, amid heightened tensions between the two Eastern African nations. Violence in the Metekel Zone of the Benishangul-Gumuz region is separate from the deadly conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region. That's where Ethiopian and allied regional forces began fighting Tigray regional forces in early November. The Tigray war sent more than 61,000 Ethiopians into Sudan's provinces of al-Qadarif and Kassala. The UNHCR said most of the 7,000 asylum seekers who fled Metekel have been living among Sudanese host communities. It said it was working with local authorities in the Blue Nile province to respond to the humanitarian needs of the newly arrived, many of whom have arrived in hard-to-reach places along the border. Tensions escalated in the past three months in Metekel Zone, prompting Ethiopia's government to declare a state of emergency in the area on Jan. 21, the UN agency said. The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said more than 180 people were killed in separate massacres in Metekel in December and January. Amnesty International reported in December that members of the ethnic Gumuz community the ethnic majority in the region attacked the homes of ethnic Amhara, Oromo and Shinasha. The rights group said the Gumuz set the homes on fire and stabbed and shot residents. The Gumuz see minorities as settlers, the rights group said. Ethnic violence poses a major challenge to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as he tries to promote national unity in a country with more than 80 ethnic groups. Amharas are the second most populous ethnic group in Ethiopia and they have been targeted repeatedly over the last year. Fighters from Amhara, however, have been accused by witnesses of carrying out atrocities along with Ethiopian and Eritrean forces in the Tigray conflict. The new influx of refugees into Sudan comes amid tensions between Addis Ababa and Khartoum over a border dispute and the deadlocked talks over a massive dam Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile, the main tributary of the Nile River. KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. The Oregon Institute of Technology said on Tuesday that it will plan to welcome students back to campus at the end of September for both the Klamath Falls and Portland-Metro sites. "The University understands the importance of communicating its plans as early as possible, as it stays flexible and nimble, to ensure students and their families have the latest information for decisions on enrollment, housing, and other aspects of university life," OIT said in a statement. Oregon Tech has been on some combination of remote and in-person learning since early April of 2020. Hybrid schedules and on-campus labs will continue through the spring and summer terms, with "appropriate physical distancing and other safety measures in place." The school's current spring term plans differ by campus while the Portland-Metro location is largely remote, Klamath Falls offers in-person lectures for most lower-division courses. The return of majority in-person learning in September will still hinge upon Governor Kate Brown's plan for reopening higher education institutions in Oregon, OIT said, in addition to vaccine access and safety guidance from state health and education officials. School administrators will continue to monitor local trends in positive cases of COVID-19, and take safety measures for students, faculty and staff accordingly. Oregon Tech Online will also continue to offer courses and degree options virtually. As we have in the past, we will maintain our focus on the health and safety of our campus community and adapt as necessary based on public health guidance, said Dr. Nagi Naganathan, president of Oregon Tech. The vibrancy and activity that our students, faculty, and staff bring to campus is something we all look forward to, and we are pleased that student enrollment is trending in a positive direction for us for the upcoming fall term. When specific plans for the fall term are ready, OIT said that they will be communicated to the campus community as soon as possible and posted on the school's COVID-19 Plans and Precautions Page online. New Delhi, Feb 23 : The genetic diagnostic laboratories in India have detected over 24,000 mutations in the strains of SARS-CoV-2 in the last one year, top officials told IANS on Tuesday. The officials added that the mutations have been detected in around 7,000 variants of the novel coronavirus which are under circulation in the country. "We have detected around 24,300 mutations in 7,000 variants of the virus currently under circulation," an official who is a key member of National Task Force for Covid-19 informed. The information was also corroborated by contacts working at laboratories which are part of Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia (INSACOG) set-up by the Union Health Ministry in December last year in the backdrop of the emergence of a newly identified variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the UK, South Africa and some other parts of the world. INSACOG is a consortium of 10 labs namely DBT-NIBMG Kalyani, DBT-ILS Bhubaneswar, ICMR-NIV Pune, DBT-NCCS Pune, CSIR-CCMB Hyderabad, DBT-CDFD Hyderabad, DBT-InSTEM/ NCBS Bengaluru, NIMHANS Bengaluru, CSIR-IGIB Delhi, and NCDC Delhi, formed with an overall aim to monitor the genomic variations in the SARS-CoV-2 on a regular basis through a multi-laboratory network. The Centre-run National Centre for Disease Control is the agency of the consortium. Sujeet Kumar Singh, Director, NCDC also confirmed with IANS that over 24,000 mutations in the virus have been recorded in India. "We have found these mutations in over 6,000 variants and submitted it to an international consortium which collects the data to predict and analyse trends of virus spread in geographical locations," he said. One probability being mostly explored since the rise in daily infections of the Covid-19 is the presence of an undetected or multiple strains of novel coronavirus which could be attributing to the gradual spike the country is witnessing for the last one week. While Kerala and Maharashtra continue to report a surge in cases there, a trend of rise in infections in Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh is being watched. However, Singh added that no evidence so far suggests that the mutations have driven the effective transmission in the country. "Till now, no correlation has been established between the variants and the rise in the number of cases reported in a few states. It is still under investigation," he said. "More than 2 lakh mutations in the virus have been recorded globally. But did all the mutations incite a rise in cases? The mutations are a natural process of evolution in a pathogen. It is relevant only if it induces a change in the trend of disease spread," Singh explained. Recently, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research -- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, which is also one of the INSACOG labs, had released a study stating that N440K, a new Covid-19 variant is spreading a lot more in the southern states. The scientists presented their findings of analysis of over 5,000 coronavirus variants and how they have evolved over the course of the pandemic. The paper documents the spike mutation landscape of SARS-CoV-2, showcasing the ones that have emerged with high prevalence in the country and abroad, the release said. "The take home of this comprehensive work is that due to the natural process of mutation, variants will keep emerging," the study concluded. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Remembering those we've lost and helping those who are grieving Grab a cuppa and read the horoscope for May 31, 2021 right here. Aries Horoscope: You may be a wee bit choosey in finalising a suitable match for yourself or for someone eligible in the family. You may take the initiative of organising a family gathering, just to meet your near and dear ones. A vacation promises a wonderful time. You will be able to cover much ground on the academic front. Lucky Number: 17 Lucky Colour: Parrot Green Taurus Horoscope: A business trip will prove fruitful. Some of you are set to receive a substantial portion in an inheritance. You may regret not saving enough to cater to your own needs. Academicians will be able to proceed satisfactorily in their field of work. Driving solo or getting a drivers licence is on the cards for those new to driving. Lucky Number: 4 Lucky Colour: Purple Gemini Horoscope: Mood swings that had been troubling you will disappear as you enjoy good health. Organising a family outing is on the cards and promises lots of fun. You can waste a lot of time in commuting today. There is a strong possibility of acquiring property. A project that is nearing a deadline will be submitted in time on the academic front. Lucky Number: 2 Lucky Colour: Light Red Cancer Horoscope: A family youngster is likely to do you proud by his or her achievements. Accompanying a family member overseas or out of town cannot be ruled out for some. Property owners can expect good returns from a property deal. There is a good chance of getting someones help in completing an important assignment on the academic front. Lucky Number: 6 Lucky Colour: Crimson Leo Horoscope: Those worried will get positive indications on the health front. A family outing is on the cards for some and promises to be fun. Avoid busy roads and dont drive a vehicle you are not confident of. It is best not to rake old issues involving property. Good showing on the academic front will help you in choosing your line. Lucky Number: 9 Lucky Colour: Dark Pink Virgo Horoscope: A spot of bad health that had been troubling you lately is likely to become a thing of the past. Your support to someone in the family will help him or her to get ahead in life and this may prove immensely fulfilling for you. You may be forced to plan a trip with someone you dont particularly like. A property matter will get resolved to your satisfaction. Lucky Number: 7 Lucky Colour: Dark Yellow Libra Horoscope: Getting impatient with your near and dear ones may not serve any purpose, except to spoil the domestic atmosphere, remember that. Expect to be in good company in a journey. A property deal is likely to favour you. A steady progress is foreseen on the academic front. Your presence in a social gathering will be much appreciated. Lucky Number: 6 Lucky Colour: Fuchsia Scorpio Horoscope: A shopping spree with family or friends is indicated and will be lots of fun. Travelling with family will be fun. Property and other assets can come to some by way of inheritance. You are likely to enjoy the spotlight focused on you on the academic front. Lucky Number: 5 Lucky Colour: Bluish Green Sagittarius Horoscope: Family commitments can upset your personal plans today. Those on a journey will make good time. A family dispute can have property at its core. You are likely to participate in some extracurricular activities on the academic front. Positive feelings will keep you in an upbeat mood all throughout the day. Lucky Number: 8 Lucky Colour: Green Capricorn Horoscope: Perfect health will enable you to enjoy an evening out to the hilt! Spending quality time with family is indicated for some. Plans for a vacation to someplace exotic may be afoot. Plans to acquire or rent out a property start shaping up. Those feeling stressed on the academic front will be able to heave a sigh of relief. Lucky Number: 1 Lucky Colour: Dark Turquoise Aquarius Horoscope: Health wise you are likely to remain perfectly fit and energetic. Organizing a family gathering is possible and promises lots of fun. A vacation with family is likely for some. This is the time to take the first step in acquiring property. Academic performance is likely to place you amongst the leaders. Lucky Number: 8 Lucky Colour: White Pisces Horoscope: Family will approve of your actions and is likely to give you a free rein. A leisure trip may not be as exciting as anticipated. Buying new property cannot be ruled out for some. Some of you are likely to perform even beyond your expectations on the academic front! Your contribution to a social event will be acknowledged and add to your prestige. Lucky Number: 2 Lucky Colour: Light Red About Author: Astrologer Manisha Koushik is a renowned Tarot Card Reader, Numerologist, Name Therapist and Vastu-Fengshui Consultant. Know more Did we pique your curiosity about your future? Read your detailed Horoscope and Rashifal to know more. US President Joe Bidens nominee for ambassador to the United Nations was approved by the US Senate on Tuesday. Linda Thomas-Greenfield will be Bidens first ambassador to the UN. Richard Mills has served as acting permanent representative while Thomas-Greenfield was awaiting confirmation. She was confirmed by a 78-20 vote. Thomas-Greenfield outlined her vision for Middle East policy during her confirmation hearings. She said she would work to return Iran to compliance with the nuclear agreement and strengthen the Abraham Accords agreements between Israel and Arab states. The lopsided vote tally indicates several Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, voted in her favor in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Some Republicans who voted to confirm, including ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Jim Risch of Idaho, said they supported Thomas-Greenfield in spite of differences on Iran. Much of the Republican opposition to Thomas-Greenfield focused on China. Some Republican senators perceived her to be too deferential toward Beijing, mostly based on a speech she gave at the Chinese state-owned Confucius Institute in 2019. Thomas-Greenfield praised Chinas development policies in Africa in the speech without mentioning human rights concerns associated with the Peoples Republic on the continent. She later apologized for her remarks. Death to me! is the title of the best column I have read on the sordid ritual of public confessions following the woke party line. By David Mikics, the column draws on the history of false confessions by Communists caught up in the purges of the Soviet Unions Stalin era. It is a history with which every literate American should be familiar, but it appears to be as obscure in the mind of Americans as the Peloponnesian War. The column provides a good account of recent events at the New York Times to illustrate the phenomenon. As Mikics observes, the Times is part of the story today, in support of the woke party line, and yesterday as well, in support of the Communist Party line. Some things dont change. As Mikics notes, however, Stalin had incredibly powerful tools of conformity at his disposal. Whats going on in the land of the free? Mikics addresses this point: Of course, America is not Soviet Russia, or, for that matter, Xis China. Our new political commissars dont use torture, prison cells, and executions. Todays woke ideology can be publicly attacked, unlike communism in the Soviet Union. Its critics are in fact legion: According to polls, most Americans of all genders and ethnicities think political correctness is a problem. But people are afraid for their careers, and so they remain silentno matter how much power or privilege they ostensibly have. Fear explains a lot. However, Im not sure that ignorance, repetition, and a false sense of guilt dont contribute as well. Among other things, Mikics is a scholar of Saul Bellow. Bellows great adage comes to mind: A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep. In any event, the Mikics column makes a valiant effort to understand this mystifying and destructive phenomenon. First responder testimony reveals that even public safety officials endure challenges following pandemic safety protocols. Read more . . . The Kansas City, Kansas firefighters' union says Fire Chief Michael Callahan met with them recently while he was waiting for a COVID-19 test result. The test came back positive, but the department didn't tell the union.There is more labor tension in the fire department. Callahan and the union are not getting along. Turn a train into a travelling museum? Put a museum in a box? Chew on seal skin? Engaging young people in science in these ways was unimaginable until a 24-year-old science educator Patricia McDonald started working at the Australian Museum in 1953. After her death in 2018 at the age of 89, the late Ms McDonald left the museum a $7 million surprise a bequest to nurture future generations of scientists. From a family of modest means, Ms McDonald had saved and invested her public service salary of 35 years in shares. It is the biggest single gift ever received by the Australian Museum. Pat McDonald, a former education officer at the Australian Museum, has left $7 million to the Australian Museum that will fund a new education centre. Credit:Edwina Pickles On Wednesday, the museum will open the Patricia McDonald Education Rooms to fulfil her wish the money be used to nurture lifelong learning. In a shocking development in the ongoing censorship debate, two influential Democrat members of the House of Representatives have taken the first steps to challenge the continued availability of conservative channels Newsmax, OANN, and Fox News on mainstream cable, satellite, and streaming television platforms. Multichannel News reported on the story yesterday in an article titled "House Dems Pressure Distributors to Justify Carrying Fox News, Others." California Democrats Reps. Anna Eshoo and Jerry McNerney have written to a dozen cable, satellite and streaming companies calling on them to better combat disinformation which they principally identify as Fox, Newsmax and One America News Network (OANN) and grilling them on what they plan to do about it. Among other things, the letter to the companies by Eshoo and McNerney attacked the three conservative news channels as "misinformation rumor mills and conspiracy theory hotbeds that produce content that leads to real harm." The Democrats' February 22 letter to Comcast, AT&T, Dish, Verizon, Roku, and the seven other companies demanded that they respond to a laundry list of seven intrusive and intimidating questions: 1. What moral or ethical principles (including those related to journalistic integrity, violence, medical information, and public health) do you apply in deciding which channels to carry or when to take adverse actions against a channel? 2. Do you require, through contracts or otherwise, that the channels you carry abide by any content guidelines? If so, please provide a copy of the guidelines. 3. How many of your subscribers tuned in to Fox News, Newsmax, and OANN on [Fill in the company's distribution platforms] for each of the four weeks preceding the Nov. 3, 2020 elections and the Jan. 6, 2021 attacks on the Capitol? Please specify the number of subscribers that tuned in to each channel. 4. What steps did you take prior to, on, and following the Nov. 3, 2020 elections and the Jan. 6, 2021 attacks to monitor, respond to, and reduce the spread of disinformation, including encouragement or incitement of violence by channels your company disseminates to millions of Americans? Please describe each step that you took and when it was taken. 5. Have you taken any adverse actions against a channel, including Fox News, Newsmax, and OANN, for using your platform to disseminate disinformation related directly or indirectly to the Nov. 3, 2020 elections, the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection, or COVID-19 misinformation? If yes, please describe each action, when it was taken, and the parties involved. 6. Have you ever taken any actions against a channel for using your platform to disseminate any disinformation? If yes, please describe each action and when it was taken. 7. Are you planning to continue carrying Fox News, Newsmax, and OANN [fill in the platform] on TV both now and beyond any contract renewal date? If so, why? The questions came two days before a hearing on Wednesday before the powerful House Committee on Energy & Commerce, chaired by Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), titled "Fanning the Flames: Disinformation and Extremism in the Media." Pallone has represented his New Jersey district in the House since 1993. Reps. Eshoo (who, like Pallone, was also first elected to Congress in 1992) and McNerney (who was re-elected to his eighth term in the House in 2020) are both members of the House committee and will be participating in the hearing. The hearing, scheduled to start at 12:30 P.M. E.T., will be virtual, using Cisco WebEx video technology, and it will be live-streamed at the committee's site. Previous congressional inquiries have targeted social media, but this is the first time that major television outlets, including Fox News (which is considered mainstream media and is available to 100% of television viewers around the country), have found themselves directly in the cross hairs of politicians on Capitol Hill. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) at an event in Perth Amboy, N.J., January 28, 2021. Source: Public Domain: Rep. Pallone's official House website. The witnesses who are scheduled to participate in the House hearing tomorrow are: Soledad O'Brien Anchor, Matter of Fact CEO, Soledad O'Brien Productions Emily Bell Director The Tow Center for Digital Media, Columbia University Kristin Danielle Urquiza Co-Founder Marked by COVID Jonathan Turley Professor The George Washington University Law School O'Brien is a veteran progressive television host and reporter who has worked at NBC, MSNBC, CNN, and Al Jazeera America; Bell, from the U.K., "spent much of her career at [uber-left-wing] Guardian News and Media in London"; Urquiza's Twitter identifies her as "Latinx. Queer"; and Turley is a Democrat legal scholar who was recently hired as a Fox News contributor. This effort to essentially shred the First Amendment to the Constitution and shut down major news media that Democrats don't like began with radical activists, including ones ensconced at the well funded leftist 501(c)(3) non-profit organization Media Matters for America. From there, the talking points were quickly echoed repeatedly on CNN. Before long, the anticonservative media meme was picked up by influential swamp columnists at the New York Times and the Washington Post. Now it has been embraced by radical members of Congress who have the power to propose legislation that, if enacted, can be enforced under the color of law. A corresponding step one already taken on the eve of Wednesday's congressional hearing is to intimidate the nation's cable, satellite, and streaming television companies by challenging them to justify their decisions to continue carrying the conservative channels. In its analysis, Multichannel News noted, "The legislators [Democrat reps. Eshoo and McNerney] came just short of calling on the distributors to drop those [conservatives] channels, but not by much." Earlier this month, New York Times op-ed contributor Nicholas Kristof, in an article titled "Can we put Fox News on trial with Donald Trump?," wrote: We can't impeach Fox or put Carlson or Sean Hannity on trial in the Senate, but there are steps we can take imperfect, inadequate ones, resting on slippery slopes to create accountability not only for Trump but also for fellow travelers at Fox, OANN, Newsmax and so on. Kristof advocated pressuring advertisers to stop placing ads on Fox News. "A second step," he added, "is to call on cable companies to drop Fox News from basic cable TV packages." On Monday afternoon, in response to the Eshoo-McNerney letter, Fox News issued a statement that was emailed to this reporter: As the most watched cable news channel throughout 2020, FOX News Media provided millions of Americans with in-depth reporting, breaking news coverage and clear opinion. For individual members of Congress to highlight political speech they do not like and demand cable distributors engage in viewpoint discrimination sets a terrible precedent. In response to these developments, Brendan Carr, a Republican commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, weighed in on the matter in a statement on Monday: To the House Democrats that used their official letterhead to launch this inquiry, I would say this: Your demand to know the 'moral principles' that guide a private entity's decision about what news to carry cannot be reconciled with bedrock principles of free speech and journalistic freedom. The FCC does not currently have regulatory authority of cable and satellite television providers only channels that broadcast on publicly owned and federally-licensed over-the-air frequencies. Democrats have said they would like that to change. Many would also like to see the return of the Fairness Doctrine, which from 1949 until it was repealed in 1987 required broadcasters to present equal time to both (sic) sides of controversial issues. That latter issue was touched on this past week in the wake of conservative icon Rush Limbaugh's death. Limbaugh's national talk radio success was made possible, among other things, by the freer, less regulated climate of public discourse that accompanied the end of the Fairness Doctrine a year before The Rush Limbaugh Show went into syndication. Alarming developments in this critical area of media freedom, for the first time touching the highest levels of cable television news, are now moving ahead with great rapidity. In a blog at American Thinker on February 14, about YouTube banning links to AT, I concluded with these words, which now seem more relevant than ever: Am I the only one (I don't think so) who is concerned that the First Amendment is now hanging by a thread? Peter Barry Chowka is a veteran journalist who writes about politics, media, popular culture, and health care for American Thinker and other publications. He also appears in the media, including recently as a contributor to OANN, BBC World News, The Glazov Gang, and Fox News. Peter's website is http://peter.media. His YouTube channel is here. For updates on his work, follow Peter on Twitter at @pchowka. India and Mauritius on Monday signed the long-pending Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) after a similar free trade agreement between China and Mauritius came into effect on 1 January. After signing the agreement on Monday, the minister of external affairs Jaishankar on Twitter said the dealWill help focus on post-pandemic economic recovery. Enable business expansion and greater investments." The Indian commerce ministry on Tuesday said the CECPA--the first trade agreement by India with an African nation--provides for an institutional mechanism to encourage and improve trade between the two countries. The CECPA covers 310 export items for India, including food stuff and beverages (80 items), agricultural products (25 items), textile and textile articles (27 items), base metals and articles thereof (32 items), electricals and electronic item (13 items), plastics and chemicals (20 items), wood and articles thereof (15 items), and others. Mauritius will benefit from preferential market access into India for its 615 products, including frozen fish, speciality sugar, biscuits, fresh fruits, juices, mineral water, beer, alcoholic drinks, soaps, bags, medical and surgical equipment, and apparel," Indian commerce ministry said. Mauritius foreign ministry in a statement said the deal will allow it to export 40,000 tons of special sugar at 10% duty compared to 100% duty at present, 2 million litres of beer at 50% duty compared to 150% duty, 1.5 million litres on rum at 50% duty compared to an existing duty of 150%, 5000 litres at 50% duty compared to current duty of 150% on fruit wine, 7.5 million pieces duty free on garments and 7000 tons duty free access on canned tuna. On services front, Indian service providers will have access to around 115 sub-sectors from the 11 broad service sectors in Mauritius including professional services, computer-related services, construction, education, tourism & travel related, yoga, audio-visual services, and transport services. Both sides have also agreed to negotiate an Automatic Trigger Safeguard Mechanism (ATSM) for a limited number of highly sensitive products within two years of the Signing of the Agreement," Indian commerce ministry added. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. MONTCALM COUNTY, MI A man who barricaded himself in a barn after exchanging gunfire with police Sunday was shot and killed by officers, police have said. Andrew Allen Courser, 38, of Edmore, was killed Sunday night after refusing to put down his weapon when ordered and instead pointing it at police, the Michigan State Police stated in a news release Monday. Related: Armed man dies after barricading in West Michigan barn, police say At around 4:30 p.m., Sunday, Feb., 21, police responded to a call of an armed suspect exhibiting irrational behavior, in the 9700 block of North Wyman Road in Blanchard, southwest of Mount Pleasant. Courser was firing his weapon near residences and yelling at passing motorists, police said Monday. When troopers and an assisting officer from the Home Township Police Department arrived on scene, the suspect is said to have then fired his weapon at officers. Troopers returned fire and Courser fled north on Wyman Road for about a quarter mile, where he barricaded himself in a nearby barn, police said. After a four-hour standoff, police said Courser emerged from the barn with his firearm and was ordered to drop his weapon. Instead of dropping the weapon, he leveled it at troopers, at which point police said they shot him. Courser was pronounced dead at the scene. Police reported the standoff and death Sunday night, but did not comment on the manner of death or identify Courser as the victim in the shooting. This incident remains under investigation by the Michigan State Police Read more from MLive: Dog missing for 43 days rescued from bottom of old grain silo Southwest Michigan First apologizes after Lee Chatfield resigns, promises inclusive search for next CEO Tree falls on top of, kills Ionia County man Insiders said one company pushed unnecessary pain medication to the U.S. military; another promoted an unproven treatment for children with cancer; and a third used unlicensed counselors to treat poor people with mental illness. In all three cases, taxpayers footed the bill and, before long, government authorities came looking for the companies owners: private equity. Long insulated from legal liabilities at the companies they buy, these investment firms increasingly are being dragged into the mess when their charges get in trouble. A key reason: private equity has pushed into businesses that rely on taxpayer money, in particular, health care. That has exposed them to so-called false-claims actions, where corporate whistle-blowers bring allegations of civil fraud to the attention of the federal government. So far, only a handful of cases have emerged. But experts expect more, given the vast potential for fraud in the expansive federal relief programs put in place to help the economy through the pandemic. They also expect the Biden administration to go after deep pockets on Wall Street. The ultimate safeguard you have is the threat of enforcement, said William McSwain, who left his post as Philadelphias top federal prosecutor in January to join law firm Duane Morris. That wont change under President Biden; it will intensify. PPP Funds The government is now going after bad actors after rushing billions of dollars out the door to keep companies and the health-care system afloat during the pandemic. Among other things, it is investigating whether businesses lied about needing loans under the Paycheck Protection Program, a relief effort that largely attempted to exclude private equity-backed companies. In June, Ethan Davis, who was then the second-ranking official at the U.S. Department of Justices civil division, warned in a speech that private equity firms would be taken to task if they knowingly participated in relief fraud. The government has the option to join whistle-blowers under the False Claims Act to hold companies it does business with accountable for fraudulent billing. In 2018, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey filed a civil fraud complaint against private equity firm HIG Capital, alleging it had a role in allegations related to its behavioral-health company, Community Intervention Services Inc. Christine Martino-Fleming, who worked as a training coordinator, said in her complaint that an HIG staffer ignored her concerns about unsupervised, unlicensed therapists that treated mental-health patients. The pressure to grow was astronomical compared to what it had been before HIG purchased the company, another staffer testified, according to the lawsuit. Community Intervention Services settled for $4 million, and HIG is in mediation. In court papers, the companies denied undue pressure to increase revenue. They said no false claims were filed, Martino-Fleming never alerted them and care didnt suffer. Lawyers and former regulators have cautioned the private equity industry that the more active they are with investments, the greater the legal risks. The industrys playbook is to overhaul management, create efficiencies and keep close tabs on finances so investments can be sold for a hefty profit in several years. Following losses in the 2008 financial crisis, private equity became even more engaged with their companies to prevent similar mishaps. Still, in most cases, private equity owners manage to avoid scrutiny. Since 2013, at least 25 private equity-backed health care companies have paid a combined $573 million in government fraud settlements, according to a report to be released Monday by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, a nonprofit advocacy group that scrutinizes the industry. In only three did private equity firms agree to pay any money. The industry remains worried. Businesses caught defrauding the government must pay triple the damages and as much as $23,000 per claim. In 2019, private equity firm RLH Equity Partners and pharmaceutical company Patient Care America reached a $21 million settlement with the federal government. They resolved claims that the drug firm paid marketers for promoting expensive pain creams to military members that didnt need the treatment. Representatives of RLH and Patient Care America said they both cooperated fully with the government and that the employees involved are no longer with the company. Prosecutors said the private equity firm was involved because it approved of using marketers, reviewed financial statements with payments to them and funded some of their commissions. RLH said the government never proved it knew about alleged fraud. RLH learned an important lesson, Murray Rudin, an RLH managing director, said in an email. We are more careful in our ongoing monitoring of legal compliance within our portfolio companies, especially those that provide health-care services. In November, federal prosecutors announced another settlement. When Gores Group, a private equity firm run by billionaire Alec Gores, bought Therakos Inc., in 2013, the medical device company was improperly promoting a lymphoma treatment for use on children with bone marrow transplants, the government said. Gores, which denied any fraud, agreed to pay $1.5 million. These settlements set a precedent for private equity as a defendant, said Murad Hussain, a partner at law firm Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer. The courts, case law and the private individuals who file most of these cases are taking notice, he said. With assistance from Peter Eichenbaum. Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. Topics USA Fraud Though the death of one of Alabama rapper Honeykomb Brazys grandparents is still under investigation, Mobile police have determined the cause of death for another: multiple gunshot wounds. Tony Lewis is believed to have died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to Mobile Police Chief Lawrence Battiste. Tony and Lelia Lewis both died following a Feb. 17 house fire on Dr. Thomas Avenue North in Mobile. The Mobile Police Department recently announced that they were treating both of the Lewis deaths as a homicide investigation. The official cause of death for Lelia still has not been released. Tony and Lelia were the grandparents of Brazy, a Mobile rapper. He posted a message the next day after the fire on his Instagram page, mourning the deaths of his grandparents. In the post, he wrote that he begged them to move out of their home so they wouldnt be caught up in my s---. A GoFundMe was set up days ago by Lewis son to help out the family out with expenses. MPD and Mobile Fire-Rescue are still investigating the incident. ATLANTA, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- John C. Lipman, MD, FSIR, founder and medical director of Atlanta Fibroid Center welcomes his new colleague, Shayla Weaver, DNP, FNP-C. Doctor of Nursing Practice Weaver will work with Dr. Lipman at the company headquarters in Smyrna, GA. Dr. Weaver is a Nurse Practitioner who completed her doctorate (DNP) program at Georgia Baptist College of Nursing of Mercer University. Doctor of Nursing Practice Shayla Weaver Joins Atlanta Fibroid Center "We are extremely pleased to welcome Dr. Shayla Weaver to our practice as an important member of our medical team," said Dr. Lipman, an interventional radiologist and internationally-recognized expert in the nonsurgical treatment of uterine fibroids. "Dr. Weaver will enhance and oversee our highly-praised staff to provide our patients with the highest levels of care." DNP Weaver Brings a Wealth of Experience to Atlanta Fibroid Center Dr. Weaver brings a wide set of medical experiences with her to Atlanta Fibroid Center. She has worked in several Atlanta-area hospitals, providing Primary, Cardiovascular, and OB/GYN care to her patients. She will provide specialized care to women at Atlanta Fibroid Center. She looks forward to the challenges and opportunities as she assumes her new leadership role. Dr. Weaver is a volunteer for the Dedicated to Diversity (D2D) program which focuses on the retention of diverse and disadvantaged BSN nursing students through a multilayered program of academic, social, physical and mental health, financial, and professional interventions. This involvement aligns with Dr. Lipman's mission to support diversity in his community efforts and philanthropy. UFE Provides a Non-Invasive Option for the Treatment of Uterine Fibroids Uterine Fibroid Embolization is an outpatient non-surgical option for treating symptomatic uterine fibroids. Fibroids are the most common pelvic tumor encountered by women, and are found in up to 80% of African-American women. Following the UFE procedure, patients recuperate within the comfort of their own homes on the same day of the procedure. Typically, a woman requires less than a week to fully recover from UFE. More invasive surgical procedures, such as hysterectomy and myomectomy, often require two months or more for complete recovery. Dr. Lipman has been performing the UFE procedure for the past 25 years, with over 9,000 UFE procedures performed. He is available for appointments by calling 770-953-2600, or requesting an appointment on the company website, https://ATLii.com. For more information on Dr. Weaver, please visit https://ATLii.com/Shayla-Weaver/ For more information on UFE and Dr. Lipman: https://ATLii.com http://DrJohnLipman.com SOURCE Atlanta Fibroid Center A Serbian court has sentenced a former mayor to more than four years in prison for being behind an arson attack on the home of an investigative reporter. Dragoljub Simonovic, the former mayor of Grocka, a Belgrade suburb, and a member of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), was found guilty of ordering the attack on the house of corruption journalist Milan Jovanovic in December 2018. He was sentenced to four years and three months in jail by the court in Belgrade on February 23. Aleksandar Marinkovic, the man who threw the Molotov cocktail into the garage at Jovanovic's house, received the same sentence in absentia. Marinkovic has fled since the incident and his whereabouts are not known. The verdict is a rare instance of justice delivered for Serbian journalists who have faced violence and threats for years. Jovanovic who believes he was targeted for investigating corruption cases linked to Simonovic while reporting for the local media portal Info Zig, was at home with his wife at the time of the attack. Both managed to escape through a window. Shortly after his house was set on fire, unidentified assailants burgled the rented apartment where Jovanovic had moved. "I hope that this verdict will be a harbinger of more media freedom in Serbia," Jovanovic said, adding that he was "satisfied" with the ruling. In a statement issued before the sentencing, the Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) said that the verdict should send an unequivocal message that crimes against journalists will not go unpunished. The UNS voiced hope that state institutions will go to greater lengths to protect reporters who investigate corruption among public officials. Serbia, which is formally seeking European Union membership, is under growing pressure from the bloc to improve press freedoms and safety for reporters, especially for those investigating crime and corruption. In its latest report, the EU said that "cases of threats, intimidation, and violence against journalists are still a source of serious concern." President Aleksandar Vucic, who has been Serbia's president since 2017, has faced accusations of curbing media freedoms and democracy. With reporting by AFP The German government has allocated EUR 10 million for the development of social services and support for those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in communities in eastern Ukraine. This was said in a press release published on the UNICEF website. "The United Nation Childrens Fund (UNICEF) will extend development services for families with children in communities in eastern Ukraine, financed through a EUR 10 million grant made available by the German Government through KfW," the statement reads. In 2019-2020, UNICEF launched the KFW-funded SPILNO. Social Services for Families in Communities project in 12 pilot communities in eastern Ukraine. The new contribution will allow to expand to new programmatic areas and communities in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The project is targeted at creating best practices for the provision of social services in the recently amalgamated communities, and at supporting those new administrative structures to effectively tackle the responsibility transferred to them as a part of the decentralization process. The project will develop social services in communities, promote the value of inclusive education, secure access to safe and clean water, and youth civic engagement, and will improve the accessibility of education facilities. Together, these will contribute to social cohesion and welfare of families in conflict-affected communities. Over 500,000 people in eastern Ukraine will benefit from the project. A major focus is on families with children, including vulnerable ones, such as families raising children with disabilities, internally displaced families and others. "COVID-19 has deepened the crisis in regions that have been suffering from armed conflict for six years. Over the last year, the demand for social services in communities in eastern Ukraine has grown significantly," said Lotta Sylwander, UNICEF Representative in Ukraine. UNICEF is inviting new communities to participate in the project in eastern Ukraine. ish The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) on Tuesday approved its 12,969.35 crore budget for 2021-22. The budget, presented in the 150th meeting of the planning and executing authority for Mumbai Metropolitan Region, has made sizable provisions for metro projects, flyovers, Mumbai Tran-Harbour Link Project (MTHL), MUTP and MUIP, as well as metro staff housing. The budget has provided an amount of 4,571.25 crore for Metro railway projects, including 250 crore for Colaba- Bandra-SEEPZ Metro-3 corridor, 700.65 crore for Dahisar to DN Nagar Metro-2A corridor and 999.45 crore for Dahisar (East) to Andheri (East) Metro-7 corridor, the release said. It said commercial operations of Metro-2A and Metro-7 are likely to begin this year and, hence, the two lines have been provided an outlay of 700.65 crore and 999.45 crore respectively. The MMRDA release said 329.30 crore has been earmarked for Metro Bhawan and Metro employees' housing, 120.20 crore for the Mono railway project, 2900.35 crore for Mumbai Trans Harbour Link project, 60 crore for Bandra Kurla Complex, 405 crore for Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) and 776.85 crore for the extended Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project (MUIP). "The authority also allocated 100 crore for late Balasaheb Thackeray's memorial and 260 crore for Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar's memorial," the MMRDA release said. In the meeting, the authority also approved extension of DN Nagar to Mankhurd 2-B metro corridor till Mandala, as well as an interchange for line 2B and Metro-7 corridor. In the budget for 2021-22, expenditure of 12,969.35 crore is expected and an amount of 9,833.75 crore is expected to be received, according to the release. The budget outlay for 2021-22 is 3270.20 crore as compared to the 15819.45 crore for 2020-21, it added. 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. Sorry! This content is not available in your region The Delhi Police Crime Branch has arrested two more accused in the Red Fort violence case from Jammu. The two accused have been identified as Mohinder Singh and Mandeep Singh and were arrested in a joint operation with the Jammu and Kashmir Police, police said on Tuesday. Mohinder Singh, 45 is a resident of Chatta Mill area in Jammu's Satwari. He is the president of Kashmir United Front organisation and said to be a key conspirator in the riot case. Another accused Mandeep Singh, 23, is a resident of Gole Gujral, Jammu. "As per the information received, both the above accused persons are active participants and key conspirators in the riot case of Red Fort," Additional PRO Delhi Police Anil Mittal said. Earlier, the Delhi Police arrested Jaspreet Singh, a resident of Swaroop nagar in Delhi. The police said Jaspreet's name came up during interrogation of the arrested accused Maninder Singh, who was seen swinging swords with both hands at the Red Fort ramparts. Police said that Jaspreet Singh was also present at the Red Fort and later climbed up on one of the arcades at the Red Fort. He is the person who can be seen standing behind accused Maninder Singh and climbing up on one of the domes. The accused Jaspreet was arrested on January 20 by the Delhi Police. The Delhi Police have arrested 151 people in connection with the violent kisan tractor rally till now. Punjabi actor cum activist Deep Sidhu, already arrested from Karnal bypass in Haryana on February 9, has been touted by the Delhi Police as the 'main instigator' of the violence which took place on the Republic Day at the Red Fort in which many protesters and policemen were injured. The Delhi Police have also announced a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh for information leading to the arrest of another key accused Lakhbir Singh alias Lakha Sidhana who is still absconding. By Moses Ndhaye Telecom operators in Uganda have blamed the low uptake of 4G Mobile services on the Covid-19 pandemic. The Chief Marketing Officer MTN-Uganda Somdev Sen says although some of their urban clients have embraced the new technology, the rural population is yet to adapt to it because their income streams have been adversely affected by the effects of the pandemic. He says currently, just about 35% of people buying new smart phones acquire 4G devices. Somdev made the remarks at the companys launch of a new data bundle package with no expiry date. He says currently, the total number of internet users in Uganda is estimated at just over 6.8 million, of which about 3.4million are mobile data subscribers. Compared to the voice penetration which stands at 53%, data penetration is still very low at just 25%. 4G is a loose term for the fourth generation of cellular communications, offering speeds that are about 10 times faster than they are on current third-generation, or 3G, networks. Its higher data speeds could make smartphones much more comparable to PCs, giving them better multimedia and gaming capabilities. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 19:11:04|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close -- When Xi Jinping became China's top leader in 2012, he inherited a mission China had striven to achieve for generations, which is eradicating absolute poverty. -- The entire system was mobilized to help the rural indigent population, with more than 250,000 teams dispatched to offer on-the-ground support and over 3 million people sent to countryside as special commissioners for poverty relief. -- "Through eight years, under the current standard, China has eradicated extreme poverty for the nearly 100 million rural people affected," Xi said in the New Year speech that rang in 2021. by Xinhua writer Xu Zeyu BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Poverty plagued China for thousands of years. Through generations of struggle after the founding of New China in 1949, the country had lifted 700 million out of penury by the end of 2012. By then, China still had nearly 100 million people living under the poverty line, one ninth of the world's total. About 100,000 villages were yet to be connected by paved roads; some 4,000 villages had no access to electricity; and 8.3 percent of the country's rural households eked out a living in ramshackle, grass-thatched mud huts. In November 2012, Xi Jinping became China's top leader, and he inherited a mission China had striven to achieve for generations, which is eradicating absolute poverty. The Communist Party of China (CPC) aimed to reach the goal by the end of 2020. "To achieve this goal, China has to lift 10 million people out of poverty every year," said Eduardo Regalado, senior researcher at Cuba's International Policy Research Center. "That is, 20 people every minute." Xi Jinping (R), general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission, visits the family of Tang Rongbin, an impoverished villager in the Luotuowan Village of Longquanguan Township, Fuping County, north China's Hebei Province. Xi made a tour to impoverished villages in Fuping County from Dec. 29 to 30, 2012. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang) TARGETED POVERTY ALLEVIATION At the end of 2012, Xi braved the ghastly winter temperatures to visit the villages of Luotuowan and Gujiatai, impoverished places set deep in the Taihang Mountains of Hebei Province. It was the first of a myriad of inspection tours dipping into the country's underdeveloped regions for Xi as the top Chinese leader. Chatting with villagers, Xi was particularly concerned with difficulties they faced in their daily lives, such as problems concerning their income, food, education and medical care. The austere living conditions were astounding. With similar hardship still haunting tens of millions of impoverished people in rural areas, Xi knew there was no time to spare. While the entire nation held its breath waiting for his answer, Xi's commitment to this seemingly insurmountable task was never in question. He knew what it was like to be hungry. "Meat would not grace our tables for months at a time," Xi once said, referring to the days when he was sent to Liangjiahe Village in northwest China's Shaanxi Province as a farmer some five decades ago. "How I wished to treat my fellow villagers to meat at least once." From a junior local official to China's top leader, Xi always held dear the wish he had made. Ensuring the rural poor improve their lot has been his motivation all along. Reviewing the whole situation, Xi determined that China had entered the most difficult stage of relieving poverty, and the root cause of every household's destitution needed to be identified before any targeted approaches could be formulated. It was during a visit to Shibadong Village in Hunan Province that he proposed a targeted approach to address poverty. "We should seek facts from truth; guidance and development must reflect the local conditions," Xi said. "This is what I mean by targeted poverty alleviation." Chinese President Xi Jinping (C), also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of Central Military Commission, talks with local villagers and cadres at Shibadong Village in Paibi Township of Huayuan County in the Tujia-Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Xiangxi, central China's Hunan Province, Nov. 3, 2013. (Xinhua/Wang Ye) In an effort to meticulously tackle impoverishment in various locations, the authorities need to have a full grasp of the conditions on the ground. Therefore, China launched an unprecedented project to compile a database of every single underprivileged citizen. In 18 months, the country had a complete nationwide register of its poor population. It was the first time in history that an all-encompassing poverty database had been compiled. "Precision poverty targeting is supporting the government in targeting the remaining poor in the last mile," said Jim Yong Kim, former president of the World Bank. "A SOLDIER'S PLEDGE" In November 2015, Xi led a conference on poverty alleviation and development, the largest of its kind ever held. The heads of 22 provincial-level regions in the central and western parts of China signed liability pledges to eradicate poverty in their purview on time, said Liu Yongfu, former director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development. "Xi Jinping took a liability pledge at the meeting, and said it is just like a 'soldier's pledge' and we must keep our word," Liu recalled in an interview. "Should tasks not be finished on time, the signatory would be held accountable," Xi was quoted as saying. Xi, too, had nothing to fall back on. The entire system was mobilized to help the rural indigent population, with more than 250,000 teams dispatched to offer on-the-ground support and over 3 million people sent to countryside as special commissioners for poverty relief. While they have brought about transcendental changes for those in dire need of help, 1,800 of them lost their lives in the line of duty. To uncover the root causes of underdevelopment and advise on solutions, Xi pushed on unabated with inspection tours, visiting some of the poorest places in China. Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, listens to the poverty-alleviation work about relocation of residents from poor areas as he visits Huopu Village of Jiefang Township in Zhaojue County of Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Feb. 11, 2018. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi) Ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year in 2018, Xi traveled 2,200 km from Beijing to Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province to review plans for the relocation of communities. Eleven out of the 17 counties in the prefecture were flagged as key locations in the state's poverty alleviation work. "Not a single ethnic group, family or person should be left behind," Xi said. Locked in rough, unforgiving mountain terrain, Atulie'er Village in Liangshan, known as the "cliff village," was emblematic of how difficult it would be for the country to fulfill its poverty-free pledge. Due to the village's isolated location, precariously perched with near-vertical cliffs both above and below, villagers had to use a series of handmade ladders to scale the 800-meter-high cliff. "I saw that children had to climb the unsteady vine ladders on the cliff with no safety measures whatsoever. It made me feel heavyhearted and concerned," Xi said. Two years later, all 344 of the cliff village's former residents left the village in the clouds and moved down to safer ground. Bidding farewell to their former houses, the villagers moved to brand-new apartments. Children resumed their study in bright classrooms, without the need to scale daunting cliffs on the way to class. The village has since seen over 100,000 visitors every year, generating substantial income for the locals. As tourism becomes a pillar industry of the local economy, penury is resigned to history. At the end of 2019, China's rural underprivileged population had fallen to 5.51 million. An end to poverty was within reach. "It is difficult to recall or identify any parallel achievement," said Guy Ryder, director-general of the International Labour Organization. SPRINTING THE LAST MILE In early 2020, the sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic dealt a heavy blow to the economy of China and the world. "For the first time in thirty years, poverty is rising," said Antonio Guterres, UN secretary-general. While most people assumed China's goal to lift all its people out of poverty by 2020 would take a back seat, Xi took a tougher path. Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivers an important speech at a symposium on securing a decisive victory in poverty alleviation in Beijing, capital of China, March 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Ju Peng) In March 2020, Xi presided over an unusual symposium attended by officials ranging from country leaders to local officials. Xi stressed that lifting all rural residents living below the current poverty line out of poverty by 2020 was a solemn promise made by the CPC Central Committee, and it must be fulfilled on time. "There were only 300 days left, and Xi said this meeting had to be held as soon as possible for another round of deployment and mobilization," said Chen Songbai, deputy Party chief of Zhaojue County, Sichuan Province. "He had a very grave look on his face when he said it." Although fiscal revenue was at a low ebb in 2020, Xi pointed out that funding was key to achieving poverty alleviation. Instead of reducing investment, the central government's special fund for poverty reduction reached 146.1 billion yuan (about 22.4 billion U.S. dollars). There was also a one-off supplementary injection of 30 billion yuan. Xi's decision recharged the campaign and the whole society played its part. Once again, the have-nots knew that they would not be left behind under any circumstance. Over the past eight years, the rural landscape has been completely reshaped. More than 9.6 million people suffering from intractable destitution have been relocated from uninhabitable areas. All villages in the country are connected to the network of paved roads. Every rural household is connected to the power grid. More than 100,000 countryside schools have been renovated or rebuilt, providing tens of thousands of rural children with a chance to carve an alternative future. Aerial photo taken on Nov. 11, 2020 shows photovoltaic power generators in Hongni Village in Pingshun County, north China's Shanxi Province. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) Along the path to zero poverty, Xi made plans and decisions that have changed the fate of millions of Chinese families for the better. The path has been littered with bumps and holes, yet he held on to his original motivation. "Through eight years, under the current standard, China has eradicated extreme poverty for the nearly 100 million rural people affected," Xi said in the New Year speech that rang in 2021. China has ended the poverty that plagued the country for thousands of years, but it merely marks another beginning -- the beginning of more miracles yet to be worked, and a path toward an even brighter future. (Video reporters: Rao Liwen, Wu Di, Hou Xuejing, Shen Cheng, Xue Chen, Mu Yu, Gao Bo, Han Fangfang, Tao Liang, Kong Zhangyan, Ming Dajun, Guo Xinhui, Bai Xu, Yue Dongxing, Mao Pengfei, Gao Bingnan, Du Yang, Ling Xin, Zhu Wanjun, Zhu Xiaoguang, Yang Yi) Alex Albon has kept his place at Red Bull because he has "potential". That is the view of team boss Christian Horner, who defended going outside the Red Bull driver program to sign up Sergio Perez as Albon's replacement for 2021. "We all wanted Alex to keep his seat," Horner told Auto Motor und Sport. "He has potential, but he lacked consistency. That is why he will keep his place in the team as a reserve and simulator driver and doing the tyre tests for us. He has accepted that role and will try to make the most of it. "It was an unusual gift to have a driver like Sergio Perez on the market," he explained. Albon, 24, this week broke his near silence on his ousting to reveal that he does indeed intend to make the most of his new role to launch a bid to return to a race seat in 2022. "To be fair, things were getting better and better, but in the end it was too late," said the British-born Thai, referring to his struggle to keep up with Max Verstappen. He thinks that in other circumstances, he may have simply been relegated to Alpha Tauri - just like Pierre Gasly before him. "It all has to do with the timing," said Albon. "Yuki (Tsunoda) just had a strong season in Formula 2 so I don't blame the team. And I am still a Red Bull driver." When asked if he is keeping an eye on the situation with Verstappen, who is being linked with Mercedes amid talk of an exit clause, Albon admits: "Yes. "The goal should be to drive for Red Bull in Formula 1 again. There are four, not two seats to be divided up so if everything goes well, it's possible. "I think that during the summer we will get a rough idea of how everything will play out. Until then at least I will focus fully on Red Bull. After that, we'll see how things go." (GMM) Almost a third of the board members who lead the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, manager of the states power grid, will resign Wednesday, a week after a historic winter storm caused statewide blackouts, disrupted water supplies and left dozens of people dead. Chair Sally Talberg, vice chair Peter Cramton, and board members Raymond Hepper, Terry Bulger and Vanessa Anesetti-Parra will step down at an emergency meeting, according to an ERCOT filing Tuesday with the Public Utility Commission, which oversees the grid operator. Craig S. Ivey, who was set to fill the open 16th seat on the board is withdrawing his candidacy, according to a letter he sent Tuesday to the PUC. We look forward to working with the Texas Legislature, and we thank the outgoing Board Members for their service, ERCOT said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon. Officials with ERCOT did not return phone calls and emails seeking comment. The PUC directed questions to ERCOT. Soon after the resignations were announced, Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statement critical of the nonprofit organization, which assured Texans before the storm that it could keep the power on despite concerns of massive demand for electricity. When Texans were in desperate need of electricity, ERCOT failed to do its job and Texans were left shivering in their homes without power, Abbott said. ERCOT leadership made assurances that Texas power infrastructure was prepared for the winter storm, but those assurances proved to be devastatingly false. The lack of preparedness and transparency at ERCOT is unacceptable, and I welcome these resignations. The five departing board members all live out of state. Talberg lives in Michigan and joined ERCOTs board in January 2020, becoming chair in early February. The former Michigan utility regulator also was a senior consultant at Public Sector Consultants and an advisor to the PUC. She has a masters degree in public affairs from the University of Texas, according to ERCOTs website. Cramton, of Del Mar, Calif., joined ERCOTs board in October 2015. He is an economics professor at the University of Maryland and the University of Cologne. He studied electricity market design and serves as an economist and advisor to startups in finance, insurance and communications. Bulger, who lives in the Chicago suburb of Wheaton, according to ERCOT, has more than 35 years of experience in banking. He chairs ERCOTs finance and audit committee. Hepper, who lives in Lewiston, Maine, according to his LinkedIn profile, was the former general counsel for ISO New England, which operates the electric grid and wholesale markets across six states in the Northeast. He chairs ERCOTs human resources and governance committee. Anesetti-Parra, who lives in Ontario, Canada, is vice president of regulatory and compliance for Canada-based Just Energy. She has more than 19 years of experience in retail energy, according to her LinkedIn profile. In a joint resignation letter, Talberg, Cramton, Bulger and Hepper said they will begin the process of reviewing the events leading up to the power crisis. We want what is best for ERCOT and Texas, they wrote. Crampton refused to comment when reached on Tuesday. Efforts to reach the other board members were unsuccessful. At its current size, the board requires fifty percent of seated directors for a quorum. With the departure of the five seated members, the board will have 10 members. The board can continue to conduct business as long as there are three members, ERCOT said. ERCOTs independent board members those unaffiliated with various energy-related stakeholders are nominated by a committee using an executive search firm and must have experience in one or more of the following: corporate leadership, regulations of utilities, risk management, information technology and in professional disciplines of finance, accounting, engineering or law. Residence in Texas is preferred, but not required, according to ERCOTs bylaws. Board members serve three-year terms and must be approved by the PUC, whose commissioners are appointed by the governor. Texas created ERCOT in 1970 to ensure that the states power utilities followed standards established by the North American Electric Reliability Council. One of three power grids across the U.S. and Canada, ERCOT serves about 26 million customers over 75 percent of the state. Far Western Texas, parts of the Panhandle and a narrow swath along the border with Louisiana are on other grids. About 700 generation units, including wind turbines, natural gas- and coal-fired power plants, nuclear plants and solar installations provide the states power. ERCOT also acts as a financial middle-man for wholesale buyers and sellers in the system, collecting payments from power buyers and paying those that generate it. On 22nd of February 2021, Mr kawaguchi Shuichiro, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Dr the Hon. Renganaden Padayachy, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning and Development signed and exchanged the notes in Port Louis, concerning Japanese Loan of 30 billion yen, approximately 11.3 billion rupees. The loan is extended as the COVID-19 Crisis Response Emergency Support Loan in cooperation with the African Development Bank for the purpose of supporting the Government of the Republic of Mauritius. The fund will be used to promoting the economic stabilization and development efforts of the Republic of Mauritius. Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn Police nab two for black-marketing of oxygen in Delhi No proof of fraud against Srinivas, Gambhir: They were helping, Delhi Police tells HC Delhi crime branch to further probe case related to Chhatrasal Stadium brawl Delhi Police arrests Jaspreet Singh, accused in Red fort violence India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Feb 22: As per the latest development in the Red Fort Violence, Delhi Police arrested Jaspreet Singh on Monday. The Delhi Police have arrested Jaspreet Singh, a resident of Delhi, who climbed up one of the tombs located on both sides of ramparts of Red Fort during Jan 26 violence. He is seen in offensive gesture holding steel tensile installed at Red Fort. On January 26, thousands of protesting farmers who reached ITO from the Ghazipur border clashed with police. Many of them driving tractors reached the Red Fort and entered the monument. A religious flag was also hoisted. Beyond barbecues and ceremonies: Recognizing Memorial Day For many, Memorial Day weekend is about gathering with family and grilling or attending a parade. Some find a more personal way to honor the holiday. Singapore's Chinatown during the Chinese New Year festive period. (PHOTO: LightRocket via Getty Images) SINGAPORE The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed four new cases of COVID-19 in Singapore on Tuesday (23 February), taking the country's total case count to 59,883. There is one new case of locally-transmitted infection living in a dormitory, while the three remaining cases are imported. "Amongst the new cases today, three are asymptomatic, and were detected from our proactive screening and surveillance, while one was symptomatic," said the MOH. The sole local and symptomatic infection, currently unlinked, is a 35-year-old Bangladeshi man who works as a delivery assistant at Chng Woodworking. His job entails loading and unloading goods, and he does not interact with clients. The man, who resides in a dorm located at Kranji Way, was detected when his pooled COVID-19 test taken on 21 February as part of the rostered routine testing (RRT) regime came back positive, said the MOH. An individual swab was done on 22 February, and he started to develop a sore throat and cough on the same day. The man was confirmed to have COVID-19 on the same day and was conveyed in an ambulance to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases. "His earlier tests from RRT the last being on 7 February were negative for COVID- 19 infection. His serological test result has come back negative, indicating that this is likely a current infection," added the ministry. The MOH also said that epidemiological investigations are in progress and all identified close contacts of the man including his dorm and workplace contacts have been isolated and placed on quarantine. They will be tested at the start and end of their quarantine period and go through serological tests to determine if the man could have been infected by them. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Amongst the three imported cases, one is a work pass holder who arrived from the United Arab Emirates and the UK. Another case is a work permit holder a foreign domestic worker who arrived from the Philippines. Story continues The remaining case is an eight-year-old short-term visit pass holder who arrived from India to visit his family members who are permanent residents. All three imported cases were placed on the stay-home notice upon their arrival here and were tested while serving their notice. The MOH noted that the number of new cases in the community has decreased from five in the week before to two in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also decreased from two in the week before to one in the past week. 99% of total cases have recovered, 1 in ICU With seven more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Tuesday, 59,753 cases or 99.8 per cent of the total have fully recovered from the infection. Most of the 19 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, and one is in the intensive care unit. A total of 82 patients with mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive are isolated and cared for at community facilities. Apart from 29 patients who have died from COVID-19 complications, 15 others who tested positive for the virus were determined to have died from unrelated causes, including three whose deaths were attributed to a heart attack and another four, whose deaths were attributed to coronary heart disease. Amongst the 73 confirmed cases reported from 17 to 23 February, 48 cases have tested positive for their serology tests, 13 have tested negative, and 12 serology test results are pending. Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore More Singapore stories: Tanjong Pagar crash: Woman who burnt herself in bid to save boyfriend is out of ICU Prosecutors seek life term for cop's wife who starved and abused maid who died COVID-19: 88 people under probe for safe distancing breaches Man stabbed girlfriend-hostess, bit off part of her ear COVID-19: Singapore begins vaccination drive for 50,000 taxi, private hire car drivers 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. Naomi Wolf became well known over the years as a third-wave feminist, a member of the Clinton camp, an adviser to Al Gore during his 2000 presidential campaign, and a reliable leftist on most issues. On Monday, though, she surprised the heck out of Tucker Carlson and, probably, most of his audience, when she turned out to be a fierce defender of individual liberty. A mesmerized Tucker listened as Wolf fluently expounded on principles of liberty and tagged the Biden government as creating "a totalitarian state before our eyes." For most people, their first exposure to Naomi Wolf came in 1991 with her groundbreaking third-wave feminist tract The Beauty Myth. In it, she argued that society's beauty standards exist to keep women constantly chasing chimerical perfection and, through constant and inevitable failure, never achieving their full potential. With degrees comparable to Bill Clinton's (Yale and a Rhodes Scholarship), in the 1990s, Wolf became part of the Clinton crowd. Famously, she advised Al Gore during his ill fated presidential campaign, telling him to wear earth-toned clothes to present himself as reassuring and fatherly. After Gore lost, Naomi became a bit of an intellectual gadfly, coming out with eccentric opinions, some of which make no sense and some of which are honest, although not always sensible. Over the years, she admitted that abortion is a form of homicide but still believes it's acceptable, argued that pornography deadens men's libidos, claimed that burqas can be empowering, celebrated the vagina, worried about chemtrails, defended Julian Assange against rape charges, supported Occupy Wall Street, suggested that Edward Snowden was a Deep State plant, and questioned Islamic state executions. In 2019, she faced ridicule for major errors in a book about executions for homosexuality. Wolf is a woman of many contradictions. There is one thing, though, about which Wolf has been consistent: she worries about attacks against America's democratic principles. In 2007, she wrote The End of America: Letters of Warning to a Young Patriot, in which she outlined the ten steps that invariably lead to a totalitarian movement to destroy a free state. Back then, she worried about the Bush response to the 9/11 attacks. In 2020, she expressed the same concerns in response to the various state governments using the Wuhan virus to deprive Americans of their constitutional rights. Immediately after Biden's election, she tweeted, "If I'd known Biden was open to 'lockdowns' as he now states, which is something historically unprecedented in any pandemic, and a terrifying practice, one that won't ever end because elites love it, I would never have voted for him." Tucker Carlson is also one of those worrying about the Biden administration using the excuse of the Wuhan virus to turn America into a totalitarian state with the Bill of Rights a forgotten dead letter. Therefore, he invited Naomi to be his guest to discuss the issue. Tucker was stunned as were those of us who know Naomi to hear her give a fluent, impassioned disquisition on American liberties and the threats they're facing as states and Biden use them to grab permanent power. (For technical reasons, we can't embed the video but you can see it here.) Wolf asserts that what we are witnessing in America "is not a partisan thing." Instead, "it transcends everything that you and I might disagree or agree on. That should bring together left and right to protect our Constitution." Gathering steam, she told Tucker: The state has now crushed businesses, kept us from gathering in free assembly to worship as the First Amendment provides, is invading our bodies ... which is a violation of the Fourth Amendment, restricting movement, fining us in New York state ... the violations go on and on. She's right, too. According to Wolf, totalitarian dictatorships always start the same way. Whether they are on the left or the right, they do these same ten things and now we're at something I never thought I would see in my lifetime ... it is step 10 and that is the suspension of the rule of law and that is when you start to be a police state, and we're here. There is no way around it. Wolf then sounded an ominous warning: "I really hope we wake up quickly because history also shows that it's a small window in which people can fight back before it is too dangerous to fight back." She's right about that, too. Naomi's an odd bird, but she is extremely smart, and she does understand the principles of individual liberty (helped, perhaps, by the fact that, in 2018, she married a U.S. Army veteran). People on both the left and the right would be wise to heed her warning and to act upon it to preserve their liberties. The Bill of Rights has meaning only if our government does not use its police power to destroy those rights, but, instead, honors its obligations under the Constitution. (You can read more here regarding Naomi's ten steps to fascism and COVID.) Update from Thomas Lifson: Here is video of Naomi Wolf's interview with Tucker Carlson: Image: Naomi Wolf on Tucker Carlsons show. Fox News screen grab. Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The members of the National Transition Council (CNT), which plays the role of Parliament in Mali, on Monday approved by 100 votes, with four against and three abstentions, the Government Action Plan (GAP) that Prime Minister Moctar Ouane presented on Friday to advisers, official sources told PANA A recent ruling by the apex judicial body in the United Kingdom against Uber is likely to change job-market rules in the fast-growing gig economy and the attendant business models on which the gig economy is based. The ruling itself was based on a long-drawn case dating back to 2016, when 35 Uber drivers had gone to court against the company arguing that with Uber allocating their customers and dictating fares, they were not self-employed, but Uber-controlled. The UK Supreme court considered whether the drivers who worked for Uber through its app ought to be treated as workers or as independent contractors performing services under contracts made with passengers through Uber as a booking agent. This would determine whether or not Uber was bound to pay such drivers UKs minimum wages, apart from other worker rights like paid annual leave, and would thus affect its business model. The court also considered the duration for which these part-time drivers would be treated as working for Uberwhether for the entire period for which the drivers were logged onto the Uber app and were ready and willing to accept trips, or only the period during which they were driving passengers to their destinations. With no written agreement between Uber London and the drivers, the court chose to infer the nature of the relationship from the parties conduct, considered in its relevant factual and legal context", rather than on the basis of ordinary principles of contract law and agency. Ruling in favour of the drivers, the court noted their position of subordination and dependency in relation to Uber, such that they have little or no ability to improve their economic position through professional or entrepreneurial skill." This ruling is likely to impact the future of work in the gig economy everywhere. The gig economy refers to economic activity that involves the use of temporary or freelance workers to perform jobs typically in the service sector." It comprises not just temporary blue-collar workers in delivery and taxi-aggregator services, but also white-collar independent contractors and consultants in different sectorssuch as information technology, content creation, social media marketing and communications and creative fieldswho are hired through digital platforms. The phenomenon of out-of-job workers looking for employment between jobs is captured through a concept called frictional unemployment in macroeconomics. During a slowdown, temporary employment becomes particularly important and can aid an economic recovery. The pandemic-led recession may, paradoxically, have bucked the trend towards a structured system of temporary employment through the working of a gig economy. A crucial difference between recessions in the past and the current one is in the nature of such temporary employment, with both job-seekers and job-providers actively seeking and accepting a gig framework-led business model. Employing firms may prefer such a gig economy for multiple reasons, which are likely to have been sharply accentuated in the context of pandemic- induced uncertainty. These include the complexity and difficulty involved in hiring, training, engaging and retaining full-time human resources, the fluidity associated with gig models, the huge cost reductions possible with such a temporary work-force in terms of real estate, training and skilling, etc., as also the lower direct monetary burden associated with employing full-time labour. More importantly, a gig economy holds the promise of converting the human resources engaged by the contracting firmboth skilled and unskilledinto the latters assets, as distinct from costs. From workers point of view, a gig economy offers the flexibility to decide what one wants to do (and more importantly not do), when, for whom, and from where. Along with this flexibility comes the added opportunities of taking up multiple jobs to boost income, avoiding the dreariness associated with full-time jobs, upskilling, and/or pursuing hobbies alongside. Various recent surveys have captured trends in Indias gig economy. An Aon-Nasscom Survey in December 2020 found that the proportion of the gig workforce in various major sectorsincluding pharmaceuticals, fast moving consumer goods, banking, financial services and insurance, manufacturing, services, technology and business process outsourcing, and ed techis likely to go up from about 50% to 76%. Two-thirds of the companies surveyed planned to increase the number of gig workers they engaged over the next two to five years. Industry body Assocham projected this January that Indias gig economy would grow at a compound annual growth rate of 17% to reach $455 billion by 2023. While attractive, organizations have found it challenging even in the past to engage and manage a gig workforce that they have under-invested in. Aligning a group of geographically-dispersed temporary workers with company culture has been another challenge. For firms seeking to explore these new business models and transition to them, the UK ruling and its ramifications will throw a spanner in the works. Even as the future of work in India gets reimagined, companies desirous of moving onto gig platforms involving a variety of blue-collar and white-collar functions will need to carefully work out the legal aspects of such a transition. Policymakers will need to look at the regulatory aspects of such a transition, and ensure that the interests of both parties are balanced. They must also take into consideration the macroeconomic implications of an economy that is always temporarily at full employment. Tulsi Jayakumar is professor of economics at SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai. These are the authors personal views. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 20:31:03|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Video: Candles were lit at the White House South Portico at sunset Monday, a day on which the number of Americans who died from COVID-19 broke the staggering record of 500,000. (Xinhua) "As a nation, we can't accept such a cruel fate," says Joe Biden. WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Candles were lit at the White House South Portico at sunset Monday, a day on which the number of Americans who died from COVID-19 broke the staggering record of 500,000. "That's more lives lost to this virus than any other nation on Earth," U.S. President Joe Biden said as he led a moment of silence accompanied by his wife, Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and the second gentleman, Douglas Emhoff. Photo taken on Feb. 22, 2021 shows the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) "But as we acknowledge the scale of this mass death in America, we remember each person and the life they lived," said the president, per whose order earlier in the day flags on top of the presidential residence and on other federal properties were lowered to half-mast. Johns Hopkins University's statistics showed that 500,176 American lives had been lost to COVID-19 as of 7:23 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday (0023 GMT, Tuesday), a toll far outnumbering any nation in the world. To put the number into perspective, about one in 670 Americans have died from the virus, of which a deadly consequence is that life expectancy in the country dropped one year to 77.8 years in the first six months of 2020, according to a recent report by the National Center for Health Statistics. Photo taken on Feb. 22, 2021 shows the Smithsonian Institution on National Mall in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) "As a nation, we can't accept such a cruel fate," Biden said. Although the nation is not out of the woods yet, there are some silver linings: New cases, hospitalizations and deaths have all slowed in recent days, and vaccine distribution has gradually picked up pace. However, uncertainty about the emergence of new variants is still worrisome, and some of the new strains could be more contagious and potentially more lethal. "We will remember each person we've lost, the lives they lived, the loved ones they left behind. We will get through this, I promise you," Biden said before observing the moment of silence. China regained its position as Indias top partner in 2020, as New Delhis reliance on imported machines outweighed its efforts to curb commerce with Beijing after a bloody border conflict. Two-way between the longstanding economic and strategic rivals stood at $77.7 billion last year, according to provisional data from Indias commerce ministry. Although that was lower than the previous years $85.5 billion total, it was enough to make China the largest commercial partner displacing the U.S. -- bilateral with whom came in at $75.9 billion amid muted demand for goods in the middle of a pandemic. While Prime Minister banned hundreds of Chinese apps, slowed approvals for investments from the neighbor and called for self-reliance after a deadly clash along their disputed Himalayan border, India continues to rely heavily on Chinese-made heavy machinery, telecom equipment and home appliances. As a result, the bilateral trade gap with China was at almost $40 billion in 2020, making it Indias largest. Total imports from China at $58.7 billion were more than Indias combined purchases from the U.S. and the U.A.E, which are its second- and third-largest trade partners, respectively. That said, India did manage to lower imports from its Asian neighbor amid demand disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The South Asian nation also managed to increase its exports to China by about 11 per cent from a year ago to $19 billion last year, which makes any further worsening of ties with Beijing a threat to New Delhis export revenue. The tense relations are already weighing on Indias ambitions to bolster its manufacturing capabilities. New Delhi has been slow to issue visas to Chinese engineers needed to help Taiwanese companies set up factories under a so-called production-linked incentive program, or PLI, to promote local manufacturing. Still a very long way to go is how Amitendu Palit, an economist specializing in international trade and investment at the National University of Singapore, described New Delhis efforts to wean itself away from Beijing. The PLI schemes will take at least four-five years to create fresh capacities in specific sectors. Till then reliance on China would continue. Fugitive gangster Ravi Pujari has been brought to Mumbai on Tuesday morning and was produced before a special MCOCA court where he was remanded to police custody till March 9. After a year-long battle, a Bengaluru court on Saturday granted the custody of extradited gangster Pujari to Mumbai Police. The 59-year-old gangster was on the run since 1994 before he was arrested from Senegal last year. READ | Rahul Gandhi Supports Rihanna's Tweet On Farmers, Blames Govt For Sustained Protests Mumbai Police sought the custody of gangster Pujari, who was lodged in a Karanataka Jail, in connection with the 2016 Ghazali Hotel firing case. He will now be lodged at the Mumbai CP's premises. Mumbai: Police has brought gangster Ravi Pujari to the city from Bengaluru, says Joint CP Crime, Milind Bharambe Pujari is accused of committing serious offences including murder and extortion. He was extradited from Senegal on February 22. (file photo) pic.twitter.com/FuWeDZBlaT ANI (@ANI) February 23, 2021 "There are around 49 serious offences registered in Mumbai against him apart from Navi Mumbai and Thane. We had been trying to get his custody for a year, and finally got success in the 2016 Ghazali Hotel firing case," said the Mumbai Police. READ | NASA's Dr Swati Mohan Shares Her Journey, From Cassini & Saturn To Perseverance & Mars Pujari was extradited to Bengaluru in February 2020 from Senegal. He is wanted in several cases, 49 cases alone in Mumbai including ones related to heinous crimes like murder and extortion. This was Mumbai Polices second attempt to get custody of the gangster. According to sources in the Indian intelligence, Ravi Pujari was hiding under the false identity of Anthony Fernandes, a Burkina Faso passport holder, in a remote village in South Africa. Pujari first came into the limelight in the early 2000s, when he started extorting Bollywood celebrities and builders. He was also involved in the attempt to murder a prominent lawyer from Mumbai. The gangster parted ways with underworld don Chhota Rajan, had jumped bail after he was arrested in Senegal in 2019 and had escaped to South Africa, where he was involved in drug trafficking and extortion. READ | Gujarat, MP And Karnataka Begin Screening Travellers From Maharashtra Amid COVID Spike READ | COVID-19: 75% Healthcare & Frontline Workers Vaccinated In 4 States, Says Health Ministry (With ANI Inputs) Cayuga County Legislature Chairperson Aileen McNabb-Coleman will appear on "Inside Government with Guy Cosentino" this week. In an episode being recorded on Tuesday, Feb. 23, McNabb-Coleman will be asked about the countys response to COVID-19, the recently passed budget and plans for the spring, as well as her new responsibilities. The show first airs at 7 p.m. Tuesday on Spectrum channel 12 and then at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25. It will replay on Spectrum channels 12 and 98 and Verizon FiOS channel 31 at 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27, and Sunday, Feb. 28, via the Auburn Regional Media Access feed. Tuesday's new show will be followed by rebroadcasts of "Inside Government with Guy Cosentino" with state Sen. John Mannion giving a state budget update at 7:30 p.m. and Cayuga County Public Health Director Kathleen Cuddy discussing the countys response to COVID-19 at 8 p.m. All three shows will rebroadcast in the same order on Thursday. On March 2, Auburn Mayor Michael D. Quill will give a city update. On March 4, Auburn Police Chief Shawn Butler, who is retiring this year, will be the show's guest. The shows are all rebroadcast starting at 10 a.m. each Saturday morning on CCCs radio station, WDWN89.1 FM. American Staffordshire Terrier. Credit: Yvonne LuNeburger/Pixabay A recent genetic study at the University of Helsinki provides new information on the occurrence of a DVL2 gene defect associated with a screw tail and its relevance to canine constitution and health. The variant was found in several Bulldog and Pit Bull type breeds, and it was shown to result in caudal vertebral anomalies and shortening of the muzzle. The DLV2 variant may also affect the development of the heart. Dog breeding is often focused on appearance. In some breeds, the ideal body shape is bulky, with a broad head and short muzzle, short legs and a very short and kinked tail, also known as a 'screw tail.' In a previous study in the United States, screw tail was linked to a variant in the DVL2 gene. The variant has become enriched in English Bulldogs, French Bulldogs and Boston Terriers due to inbreeding. In addition to the shape of the tail, the DVL2 variant was suggested to contribute to other features typical of the above breeds, as well as what is known as the Robinow-like syndrome. However, its specific effects on body shape and health remained unclear at the time. "In this study, we wanted to further investigate the frequency of the DVL2 variant in different dog breeds and determine its effects on skeletal development. The variant was identified in several Bulldog and Pit Bull type breeds, some of which had both the normal form and the genetic variant. This made it possible to investigate the consequences of the variant," says doctoral researcher Julia Niskanen from the University of Helsinki and the Folkhalsan Research Center. The prevalence of the DVL2 variant varied greatly between breeds. All of the English Bulldogs, French Bulldogs and Boston Terriers in the study were homozygous for the variant, that is, they had inherited the variant from both parents. In other words, the normal form of the gene was not found in these breeds. Both the variant and the normal form were found in the American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Dogues de Bordeaux, Olde English Bulldogges and American Bulldogs. To determine the effect of the variant on body shape, the researchers analyzed the skeletal anatomy of American Staffordshire Bull Terriers of different genotypes through computed tomography scans carried out at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital. The results clearly showed that the DVL2 gene defect results in caudal vertebrae anomalies in homozygous state. "However, tail abnormalities in the American Staffordshire Terriers were less severe than the screw tails typically seen in English Bulldogs, French Bulldogs and Boston Terriers. In contrast to the previous study, we did not find an association between the DVL2 variant and thoracic vertebral anomalies," says veterinarian and Clinical Instructor Vilma Reunanen from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki. Another main finding in the study was that the gene defect affects muzzle length in varying degrees. In homozygous dogs, the muzzle is significantly shorter than in heterozygous dogs, who only carry one copy of the gene defect. Similarly, heterozygous dogs have shorter muzzles than dogs that don't have any copies of the gene defect. "In addition to the effects on the skeletal system, we discovered that several dogs homozygous for the DVL2 variant had a congenital heart defect. However, this is a preliminary finding that requires further study. If confirmed, it could partially explain the prevalence of congenital heart defects in certain breeds," doctoral researcher Niskanen adds. "Besides the DVL2 gene defect, many breeds also have other genetic variants that affect body shape. Their combined effects may result in serious health problems. For example, a short muzzle predisposes dogs to brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS), whose symptoms include breathing difficulties and low exercise tolerance. The prevalence of the gene defect demonstrates that in certain breeds, DVL2-related health problems can be prevented with gene tests. In some breeds, there is no longer any variation, which makes it impossible to improve the situation with current breeding programs," explains Docent Marjo Hytonen from the University of Helsinki and the Folkhalsan Research Center. Explore further Bulldogs' screw tails linked to human genetic disease More information: Julia E. Niskanen et al, Canine DVL2 variant contributes to brachycephalic phenotype and caudal vertebral anomalies, Human Genetics (2021). Journal information: Human Genetics Julia E. Niskanen et al, Canine DVL2 variant contributes to brachycephalic phenotype and caudal vertebral anomalies,(2021). DOI: 10.1007/s00439-021-02261-8 As identical twins who look alike, sound alike and even have the same mannerisms, Patricia Wood and Pamela Smith are used to people mistaking them for one another. Even before birth, their heartbeats were so perfectly synchronized that doctors didn't realize there were two until the day they were born 62 years ago. "Pat was so competitive, she had to go first," Pam said. "Pam pushed me out to see if it was dangerous," Pat chimed in, chuckling. Heart disease runs in their familytheir father died of a heart attack when they were 3. So, aware they might be at higher risk, the sisters made a choice in their 20s to stay fit and eat healthy, selecting, for example, organic chicken and steamed vegetables over fried foods and red meat. Because of that vigilance, when Pat woke up early one morning in 2019 with a debilitating pressure high in her chest, she considered many things that might be causing itand a heart attack wasn't among them. At their local hospital, a blood test detected a protein called troponin in Pat's blooda sign of a heart attack. So, they sent her by critical care ambulance to a nearby hospital that had a cardiac catheterization lab. There, doctors discovered a 100% blockage in a major coronary artery. "It can't be my heart," Pat shouted in denial. The pressure in her chest continued as the doctor performed the catheterization procedure, threading a wire through an artery in her wrist and weaving it into the heart. At the site of the blockage, the doctor placed a stent to prop open the artery and restore blood flow. Pat felt immediate relief. "The gates opened up again, and I could breathe," she said. Considering how much else they had in common, Pam soon scheduled a checkup with her cardiologist. A stress test showed her heart was healthy. "I felt like I was going to beat it," she said. But this past September, just over a year later, Pam felt a strange flutter high in her chest and a sensation on the left side of her neck. Soon, she began to sweat profusely. Just like Pat, she felt it couldn't be her heart. She had been given the "all clear" less than a year before by her cardiologist. But the next morning, she still felt something was wrong. At her local hospital, staff found an elevated troponin level and was transferred to the catheterization lab. The procedure showed she had a 90% blockage in the same artery as Pat's blockage. Also like her sister, Pam's other arteries were pristine. Upon release, Pam started attending cardiac rehab. Because her sister had been treated at the same facility near their homes in North Carolina, the staff felt they already knew her. She has made good progress physically, but still struggles to adjust to her new status as a heart attack survivor. Even something as simple as filling out a medical form makes her feel emotional. Gone are the days of quickly checking "no" on most boxes. "All of a sudden I've had a heart attack, I have a stent, and I'm taking all these drugs to make sure the body doesn't reject it," Pam said. "You're in a different category." The sisters are determined to raise awareness about the role genetics plays in heart disease. Last year, Pat was named a Go Red Woman for the American Heart Association's Forsyth County chapter. This year, Pam has the same title. "I don't look like the model of somebody who's had a heart attack," Pat said. "With COVID, I feel robbed of my ability to get out there and be seen. I'd hoped to have more opportunities to get the word out." Even so, the twins are grateful to have each other for support. Constantly together before the pandemic, they now enjoy virtual chats over coffee every morning, and they call each other throughout the day. "It's been wonderful being close to Pam again," said Pat, who lived in California for many years before returning to her native North Carolina. "It's an absolute blessing to have your best friend with you." Copyright 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved. 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. Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - February 23, 2021) - Generic Gold Corp. (CSE: GGC) (FSE: 1WD) (OCTQB: GGCPF) ("Generic Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to share the results from its recently conducted B-Horizon soil sampling program on its 100% owned Belvais Project ("Belvais" or the "Project") in Quebec. Soil samples returned multiple gold, silver, copper and zinc anomalies as displayed in Figure 1. Belvais lies directly south-east of Amex Exploration's Perron Project, which recently announced a new high-grade gold discovery along the Normetal Fault (refer to Amex Exploration Press Release dated 17th February, 2021) on their Perron Project. This is of particular significance for Generic Gold, as the Company holds over 20 km of the Normetal Fault on its Belvais claims and is one of the largest land holders in the area with 12,563 hectares. Aaron Stone, Vice President Exploration of Generic Gold, said, "The B-Horizon level of soil is an important layer that can often contain trace metals and pathfinder elements, providing an indication of what lies below in bedrock. As illustrated in Figure 1, this was a comprehensive program that has produced many anomalies spread out across the property. Of note, we have observed several anomalous gold values adjacent to the important Normetal thrust fault which appears to be associated with a significant high grade gold discovery for our neighbour. We hold a significant portion of this thrust fault within our Belvais claims, so it will of course be a focal point for upcoming target generation. In addition, there is a strong correlation between anomalous copper and zinc values which is indicative of possible VMS-type mineralization. We will combine these soil results with data from our recently completed VTEM survey, which we are currently interpreting and will release in the coming weeks, in order to generate drill targets." Aaron Stone speaks to Core Finance out of London on the exploration plans for Generic Gold: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyaFbVPTHVk. The B-horizon soil sampling program was completed to assist with drill target generation. During the 16-day soil sampling campaign completed in December 2020, 369 samples were taken, spread out across the four blocks of Belvais (see Figure 1), with line spacings between 900-1000 metres apart and sample stations every 150 metres. Generic Gold engaged a consulting geologist specialising in glacial till geology and movements to plan the program and analyse results. With the obtained gold results and knowledge of local glacial dispersion, the consultant has generated up-ice targets from which anomalous gold values may be derived. The Company also recently completed an airborne VTEM geophysical survey across all its Belvais blocks to identify structures and conductive bodies which may aid in discovering important smaller splay faults off the larger Normetal thrust. Results from this survey are expected over the coming weeks. This is the final data input prior to selecting key targets for the drilling campaign expected to be launched in the coming months. Figure 1: Geological Map, underlain by greyscale total field magnetics, of the Normetal area showing all B-horizon soil samples taken across the Company's four blocks of claims on the Belvais Project with results for Au, Ag, Cu and Zn. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3923/75192_83f428c5b41b7a2c_001full.jpg QA/QC Protocol Soil samples were collected from the B-horizon level derived from till substrate. For each sample, approximately 1 kg of material was collected. Each sample was shipped to ALS Minerals in Val d'Or. Sample preparation was executed in Sudbury, Ontario, using the DRY-22 and SCR-41 methods. Finally, samples were sent to Galway, Ireland for analysis by the AuME-ST44 method whereas 50 grams of materials was digested in Aqua Regia with an ICP-MS and ICP-AES finish. Qualified Person Hugues Guerin-Tremblay P.Geo, (OGQ - 1584), an Independent Qualified Person ("QP") as such term is defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed and approved the geological information reported in this news release. The Qualified Person has not completed sufficient work to verify the historic information on the Property and in the vicinity, particularly in regards to historical drill results and historical mine production. However, the Qualified Person believes that these results were completed to industry standard practices. The information provides an indication of the exploration potential of the Property but may not be representative of expected results. Also, mineralization hosted on adjacent and/or nearby properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization hosted on the Company's property. About Generic Gold Generic Gold is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on gold projects in the Tintina Gold Belt in the Yukon Territory of Canada and the Abitibi Greenstone Belt in Quebec, Canada. The Company's Quebec exploration portfolio consists of four properties covering 12,563 hectares proximal to the town of Normetal, and east of Amex Exploration's Perron project and the past-producing Normetal mine. The Company's Yukon exploration portfolio consists of several projects with a total land position of greater than 35,000 hectares, all of which are 100% owned by Generic Gold. Several of these projects are in close proximity to significant gold deposits, including Goldcorp's Coffee project, Victoria Gold's Eagle Gold project, White Gold's Golden Saddle project, and Western Copper & Gold's Casino project. Generic Gold's board of directors and management team is led by experienced mining industry professionals, with expertise in exploration, finance, capital markets, and mine development. For information on the Company's property portfolio, visit the Company's website at genericgold.ca. For further information contact: Generic Gold Corp. Aaron Stone, VP Exploration Tel: (514) 235-6012 astone@genericgold.ca NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR THEIR REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDERS ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon the current belief, opinions and expectations of management that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and other contingencies. Many factors could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein. We seek safe harbour. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75192 Syracuse, N.Y. -- Spectrum is adding 70 sales and customer service jobs to its call center in East Syracuse. The cable television company said the jobs include inbound sales representatives who will support its growing Community Solutions unit, which delivers highly specialized service to residents, managers and owners of multiple-dwelling residential properties. Inbound sales representatives who reach their targets can earn more than $52,000 annually, with top performers having even higher earning potential, the company said. The unit is also hiring customer service representatives at the center. They handle account and billing inquiries from customers. The company said the roles offer competitive hourly wages and growth potential. Spectrum is holding a virtual job fair today (Tuesday, Feb. 23) until 5 p.m. Candidates can apply online at Spectrums careers site, and recruiters will send them a link to register for the job fair. To comply with social distancing, candidates moving forward in the hiring process undergo interviews via phone or live video, and the employee onboarding process is completed virtually. Spectrum Community Solutions offers wired and wireless broadband, video and mobile phone services to residents of apartments, off-campus student housing, senior residences, RV parks and marinas. Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact him anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148 Last week, thousands of COVID-19 vaccine appointments in Chicago had to be rescheduled because of slowed shipments stemming from the winter storm that particularly disrupted the South, where much of the citys shipments originate. Some of those doses didnt come by the end of the week as Arwady had said she hoped, but as of this week there should be no more delays, she said. An otherwise uneventful Student Government Association election season heated up on Thursday with two of the three executive tickets garnering social media backlash for messages and posts on day four of campaigning. United Nations, Feb 24 : United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday listed four priority areas for the international community to address the risks that climate crisis poses to peace and security, including putting a greater focus on prevention through strong, ambitious climate action. "First, we need a greater focus on prevention through strong, ambitious climate action," the UN chief told the Security Council high-level videoconference open debate on climate and security, the Xinhua news agency reported. "We must get the world on track to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and avoid climate catastrophe," said Guterres, adding that "we must create a truly global coalition to commit to net-zero emissions by the middle of the century." On the second priority, the top UN official said that "we need immediate actions to protect countries, communities and people from increasingly frequent and severe climate impacts." "We need a breakthrough on adaptation and resilience, which means dramatically raising the level of investments," he added. "Third, we need to embrace a concept of security that puts people at its center," Guterres said. "The Covid-19 pandemic has shown the devastation that so-called non-traditional security threats can cause, on a global scale," he added. Talking about the last priority area, Guterres said that "we need to deepen partnerships across and beyond the United Nations system." "We must leverage and build on the strengths of different stakeholders, including this Council, the Peacebuilding Commission, international financial institutions, regional organisations, civil society, the private sector, academia and others," said the secretary-general. "The Climate Security Mechanism, which brings together the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme, is a blueprint for such collaboration within the United Nations System," the UN chief added. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson presided over the meeting, representing the first time a British prime minister has chaired a Security Council meeting since John Major in January 1992. A youth climate activist briefed the virtual gathering. Several heads of state and of government attended. China's special representative on climate change affairs Xie Zhenhua delivered a speech. Former judge Howard Riddle (left) is demanding a criminal inquiry into detectives who asked him to sign search warrants in the disastrous VIP child sex abuse inquiry Earlier this month the Daily Mail published an open letter to the Home Secretary from the former High Court judge, Sir Richard Henriques. In the course of his investigation into Operation Midland, Sir Richard had detailed a series of damaging errors made by the Metropolitan Police. Some of those involved the applications for search warrants for premises connected to distinguished and entirely innocent men: Lord Bramall, Lord Brittan and Mr Harvey Proctor. Sir Richard said: 'A district judge was knowingly misled into issuing search warrants.' The search warrants were issued by me. Now that the applications have been published and are in the public domain, it is no longer inappropriate for me to comment on them. The police were investigating allegations of murder and serious sexual assault on boys. They asked for my authority to search a number of properties for evidence in connection with those offences. Authorising a search of a person's property is a serious invasion of privacy, and can be justified only if there are reasonable grounds to believe that an indictable offence has been committed and that relevant evidence will be found during the search. In the course of his investigation into Operation Midland, Sir Richard Henriques (left) had detailed a series of damaging errors made by the Metropolitan Police. The false allegations from Nick real name Carl Beech (right) led to the paedophile being jailed for 18 years for perverting the course of justice and other offences The judge or magistrate issuing the warrant is wholly dependent on the police to provide accurate information. As is nearly always the case, I had no knowledge of the facts gathered in the investigation apart from those contained in the application form. The information is sworn by the officer on oath, a solemn process designed to emphasise the importance of telling the truth (including setting out any undermining factors) and the consequences of perjury. In this case the allegations were made by a man identified as Nick but whose real identity was known to police. I was provided with a summary of the claims he had made. Nick alleged, falsely as it later became clear, that he had witnessed murders and been a victim of assault himself. He named a number of people, including those mentioned above, as being involved, along with others whose identity he did not know. Nick had said that some of the offences had been filmed, so police were looking for films as well as diaries and indecent material relating to children. Presumably to allay any fears I might have that the informant was malicious, the application stated the following: 1: The victim has been interviewed at length by experienced officers from the child abuse team. 2: His account has remained consistent. 3: He is felt to be a credible witness who is telling the truth. 4: There is nothing to suggest any links to those he accuses suggesting the allegations are malicious. 5: An independent counsellor instructed by Nick supports his account as credible. 6: A [named] qualified consultant instructed by police was of the opinion that the counsellor was able to make an accurate assessment of his credibility. 7: Nick is in a managerial position. 8: He is of good character. 9: I was also told, and endorsed this on the application, that the application had been considered at Deputy Assistant Commissioner level. During Operation Midland, applications were made for search warrants for premises connected to distinguished and entirely innocent men, including Lord Bramall (left) and Lord Brittan (right, with Lady Brittan) On the information provided on oath, the statutory test was made out. I was also persuaded that the police understood the need for sensitive handling of the search, including not alerting the press, which would inevitably have increased the distress of people presumed innocent. However, the Henriques Report established and set out a number of ways in which that information provided by the police was false and misleading. Sir Richard concluded that had the correct information been provided then the warrants would not have been issued. In his recent letter to the Home Secretary, he says that I was knowingly misled and that there are reasonable grounds to believe a criminal offence was committed. I have never met Sir Richard Henriques, but I know his reputation. He is one of the foremost criminal lawyers of his generation, as a barrister and then as a judge. The Metropolitan Police asked him to report on the failings of Operation Midland, the police operation that pursued untrue allegations made by Nick, now identified as Carl Beech, who is currently serving a lengthy prison sentence for perverting the course of justice, as well as other offences. The Henriques Report is thorough and detailed. There is no reason to doubt Sir Richard's conclusions. I am not aware of any dispute as to the facts he found. It is a matter of astonishment and grave concern that the 2016 report and its recommendations have not been acted upon. If those responsible for the application knew facts that undermined the credibility of the witness, and did not disclose them, then the applications for search warrants would appear to amount to perverting the course of justice. Perverting the course of justice is a serious criminal offence that almost always carries a prison sentence. It is the offence, along with some others, for which Carl Beech is serving 18 years' imprisonment. Steve Rodhouse was 'gold commander' of Operation Midland. He is now deputy head of the National Crime Agency, Britain's version of the FBI, on a salary package of around 300,000 Current Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service Dame Cressida Dick, pictured in 2019 It is also not clear to me why the investigation by the police watchdog, now known as the Independent Office for Police Conduct, did not take as its starting point the detailed factual findings of Sir Richard in his report. Of course, the officers responsible for providing the information in the search warrant applications are presumed innocent of any crime. All that is being said is that there are reasonable grounds to suspect a criminal offence. Those grounds seem to me to be stronger than the grounds police had for suspecting Lord Brittan and others of murder. Of course, the officers should have the opportunity to explain their position, under caution where appropriate. Of course, the investigation needed to be fair, but it also needed to be rigorous. This didn't happen. The failure to act appropriately in the light of the findings of the Henriques Report has caused obvious and understandable grief to those wrongly accused by Carl Beech, and their families. That is bad enough. It is made far worse by the damage caused to the administration of justice. Judges and magistrates issuing search warrants must be able to rely on the accuracy and the integrity of the information sworn on oath before them. They must know that in the rare and exceptional case of being deliberately misled, then action will be taken for perverting the course of justice. Sir Richard Henriques' letter to the Home Secretary makes a clear and compelling case that an independent police force investigate the conduct of Operation Midland by both the Metropolitan Police and the IOPC. Each of the questions he asks must be answered. I wholeheartedly support his call for action. Australia's supermarket giants have recalled a popular herbal tea amid fears it contains a dangerous chemical. Food Standards Australia has urged Woolworths, Coles and IGA's to recall Nerada Organics Lemon and Ginger Organic Herbal Infusion Tea after ethylene oxide contamination was found inside its tea bags. Consumers are warned not to drink the tea with Best Before dates from 08/01/23 to 22/01/23 due to the product potentially causing illness or injury. The Nerada tea bags (pictured) were sold in Woolworths, Coles and IGA stories nationwide Ethylene oxide exposure can cause local irritation of the skin, eyes, and upper respiratory tract, affect the nervous system and in extreme long-term cases with continued exposure to the chemical has also been associated with increases in cancer rates, according to NSW Health. The man-made chemical is primarily used to create anti-freeze and polyester and to sterilise medical equipment and supplies. 'Consumers should not consume this product and should return the product to the place of purchase for a full refund,' Food Standards Australia said on Monday. The product was sold in Woolworths in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Queensland. Coles customers in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Queensland are also warned not to consume the product. IGA stores in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia have also been warned. Aldi has also recalled its version of the popular tea after finding the same harmful chemical. The product is sold at all ALDI stores in Queensland, NSW, Victoria, South Australia and WA. The Aldi recall relates to products with Best Before dates from 08/02/2023 up to and including 11/02/2023. Consumers can return the product to any ALDI store for a full refund. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Nerada Tea and Aldi for comment. [February 23, 2021] Over Half of Companies Lack Clear Picture of Their own Supply Chain, According to New Report from ASCM and the Economist Intelligence Unit CHICAGO, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Over half of companies lack end-to-end visibility into their supply chains because they rely on a picture of supply and demand that is based only on internal data from the company itself. This leaves many vulnerable to unexpected risks according to a new Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) research report commissioned by The Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM). The report "The Resilient Supply Chain Benchmark: Ready for Anything? Turbulence and the Resilience Imperative" presents findings on how 308 publicly-listed retail, pharmaceutical and consumer electronics companies have adopted resilience-building capabilities to manage real-time and longer-term risks, and how they've performed over the past year. The end-to-end supply chain refers to the entire process starting at the procurement of materials from suppliers and ending when the product reaches the customer. According to the EIU research, just over half of the companies benchmarked rely on their own internal data. In addition, 37% of companies in the benchmark reported that their visibility was hampered by either internal siloes or was not data-driven at all. This limits their ability to detect emerging threats or calculate how a disruption will unfold across supply chains and business units. In addition to improving visibility, data from across the supply chain can unlock higher-level capabilities that lead to greater supply chain resilience and supply chain innovation. The benchmark shows that high performers build an 'outside-in' picture through the integration of supply chain partners into demand forecasting and planning as well. "While each industry faces unique supply chain dynamics, in a time of increased turbulence it has become critical to reconsider the balance between efficiency and resilience, said ASCM CEO Abe Eshkenazi, CSCP, CPA, CAE. "The Resilient Supply Chain Benchmark provides both data and analysis to better understand the critical capabilities driving resilience, where the most common vulnerabilities lie, and how to strengthen operations for the future." The results of the Resilient Supply Chain Benchmark are based on a combination of primary survey data collected in October 2020, data from corporate disclosures, and a wide-ranging intervie program that included corporate executives and industry experts from IBM Sterling, Intel, Novartis, AbbVie, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), and the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), among others. To develop the framework, the EIU consulted leading experts on supply chain resilience from The Ohio State University, Michigan State University, MERC & CO LLP, and many others. Additional key findings from the report include: Benchmarked companies ranked supply chain sustainability as a top way to build resilience over the next three to five years, but there is a gap between rhetoric and reality. Less than half (42%) of companies have set targets to reduce supply chain-related (or Scope 3) carbon emissions, even though climate change is among the biggest risk factors of the 21st century. After setting targets, comes the more difficult challenge of reducing emissions across complex networks with numerous suppliers. Less than half (42%) of companies have set targets to reduce supply chain-related (or Scope 3) carbon emissions, even though climate change is among the biggest risk factors of the 21st century. After setting targets, comes the more difficult challenge of reducing emissions across complex networks with numerous suppliers. Business continuity plans and playbooks should include triggers outlining actions to be taken across a range of disruptions. Overall, only 57% of companies benchmarked claimed that they had business continuity plans that met this criterion, a number that is shockingly high with today's complex and dynamic threat matrix. Moreover, the pandemic has revealed that business continuity planning needs to include practical guidance on all processes including those that seem less critical. During such a prolonged crisis, processes that may not seem essential have blindsided critical processes when they fail. Overall, only 57% of companies benchmarked claimed that they had business continuity plans that met this criterion, a number that is shockingly high with today's complex and dynamic threat matrix. Moreover, the pandemic has revealed that business continuity planning needs to include practical guidance on all processes including those that seem less critical. During such a prolonged crisis, processes that may not seem essential have blindsided critical processes when they fail. Companies are building strategic supply chain resilience by forging strong long-term relationships with key suppliers and customers. High performers work together with their supply chain partners by sharing best practices, joint long-term planning and providing financial assistance to preserve supply chain networks. Over half (55%) of companies benchmarked stated that they directly helped suppliers remain solvent during times of crisis. "By providing evidence based, sector-specific analysis into best practices and areas for improvement, we hope that the benchmark will give companies a first step in assessing their own resilience-building capabilities against their industry-peers," said Sabu Mathai, the Project Lead and a Senior Manager at the Economist Intelligence Unit. Please join Claire Casey, EIU Global head, Policy and Thought Leadership and Abe Eshkenazi, ASCM CEO for a discussion on the Resilient Supply Chain Benchmark at 1:00pm EST on February 24, 2021. To register, please visit https://bit.ly/2M68W97 The Resilient Supply Chain Benchmark Report and full report can be accessed here. About ASCM The Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM) is the global leader in supply chain organizational transformation, innovation and leadership. As the largest nonprofit association for supply chain, ASCM is an unbiased partner, connecting companies around the world to the newest thought leadership on all aspects of supply chain. ASCM is built on a foundation of APICS certification and training spanning 60 years. Now, ASCM is driving innovation in the industry with new products, services and partnerships that enable companies to further optimize their supply chains, secure their competitive advantage and positively influence their bottom lines. For more information, visit ascm.org. About The Economist Intelligence Unit The Economist Intelligence Unit is part of the Economist Group, the leading source of analysis on international business and world affairs. Founded in 1946 as an in-house research unit for The Economist newspaper, The EIU delivers business intelligence, forecasting and advice to over 1.5m decision-makers from the world's leading companies, financial institutions, governments and universities. This Index was created by the public policy practice of the Economist Intelligence Unit. To learn more about The EIU's services, please visit https://www.eiu.com/n/ or contact a member of the team. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/over-half-of-companies-lack-clear-picture-of-their-own-supply-chain-according-to-new-report-from-ascm-and-the-economist-intelligence-unit-301233340.html SOURCE Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM) [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] SAN DIEGO, Feb. 22, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Shareholder rights law firm Johnson Fistel, LLP has launched an investigation into whether the board members of Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc. ("Waddell & Reed" or the "Company") (NYSE: WDR) breached their fiduciary duties in connection with the proposed sale of the Company to Macquarie Group ("Macquarie"). On December 2, 2020, Waddell & Reed announced that it had entered into a definitive merger agreement with Macquarie. Under the terms of the deal, Waddell & Reed stockholders will receive only $25.00 for each share of Waddell & Reed common stock they own. The investigation concerns whether the Waddell & Reed board failed to satisfy its duties to the Company shareholders, including whether the board adequately pursued alternatives to the acquisition and whether the board obtained the best price possible for Waddell & Reed shares of common stock. Nationally recognized, Johnson Fistel is investigating whether the proposed deal represents adequate consideration, especially given analysts' projections for future earnings and revenue growth. If you are a shareholder of Waddell & Reed and believe the proposed buyout price is too low or you're interested in learning more about the investigation, please contact lead analyst Jim Baker ( jimb@johnsonfistel.com ) at 619-814-4471 . If emailing, please include a phone number. Additionally, you can [ Click here to join this action ]. There is no cost or obligation to you. About Johnson Fistel, LLP: Johnson Fistel, LLP is a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm with offices in California, New York, and Georgia. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in shareholder derivative and securities class action lawsuits. For more information about the firm and its attorneys, please visit https://www.johnsonfistel.com . Attorney advertising. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Contact: Johnson Fistel, LLP Jim Baker, 619-814-4471 jimb@johnsonfistel.com The COVAX Facility said on January 28 that more than 4.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine produced by AstraZenecca will be delivered to Vietnam in the first two quarters of this year. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi Health care workers, those who join the COVID-19 combat, diplomats, customs and immigration officers are among the priority groups in the countrys vaccination plan. The Ministry of Health has set forth a plan on the reception, preservation, distribution and use of COVID-19 vaccines during the 2021-2022 period, with the support of the COVAX Facility - the global procurement mechanism of COVAX. COVAX is co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi and the World Health Organization (WHO), alongside key delivery partner UNICEF. Its aim is to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines, and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world. Other groups included in the vaccination plan are army and police forces, teachers, people above 65, those providing essential goods, people with chronic diseases, those who have to work and study abroad, and residents in pandemic-hit areas. The ministry said it will only buy safe, effective vaccines that are assessed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and approved by the Stringent Regulatory Authorities (SRA), and have suitable prices. The vaccination aims to ensure community immunity. Vietnam expects to have 80 percent of its population vaccinated against COVID-19. However, the current supply allows the country to inject only 20 percent of the population in 2021-2022, targeting 95 percent of those vulnerable to virus infection. The COVAX Facility programme will provide free vaccines and injection devices to inoculate 15-16 percent of 92 countries, including Vietnam. The COVAX Facility said on January 28 that more than 4.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine produced by AstraZenecca will be delivered to Vietnam in the first two quarters of this year. With the doses, around 600,000 Vietnamese people, comprising health care and COVID-19 combat workers, will be given shots in the first quarter. Meanwhile, 1.8 million customs officers, diplomats, army and police forces and teachers will be injected in the second quarter. During the two last quarters, 16 million teachers and people above 65 will access 33 million doses of vaccines to be provided by the COVAX Facility later. According to Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long, Vietnam will also be supplied with 30 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine within this year. Vietnam is one of the 40 countries that have conducted human trials of a COVID-19 vaccine. The country also has several other COVID-19 candidate vaccines being developed, by the Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals (IVAC), the Company for Vaccine and Biological Production No.1 (VABIOTECH), and the Centre for Research and Production of Vaccines and Biologicals (POLYVAC). The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Amid an intense electoral battle in West Bengal, CBI is likely to question TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee's wife Rujira Narula in coal scam case today. Abhishek Banerjee is the nephew of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. A CBI team had come home to investigate TMC chief Abhishek Banerjee (the nephew of Mamata Banerjee) and his wife Rujira Narula regarding the coal scam case. On Sunday, Rujira and her sister Maneka were summoned by the CBI. The intervention by the CBI against the coal scam has rattled both the government & the family of Mamta Banerjee. In the coal scam, the actions of both the CBI and politics are gathering popularity. On Monday, the sister-in-law of Abhishek Banerjee, Maneka, was questioned for the coal scam for almost three hours and today the number belongs to the wife of Abhishek Banerjee, Rujira Banerjee. Abhishek Banerjees wife, Rujira, on Monday that the CBI could come and question her on Tuesday between 11 and 3 in the morning at her home on Harish Mukherjee Lane. She said, though, I do not understand why I am being investigated, nor do I have any idea of the subject matter of the inquiry. Also Read: Protests in Myanmar: Thousands march on the streets to resist coup Also Read: Congress demands probe in MP Delkars death; alleges BJPs role According to CBI reports, Coal smuggling money has been deposited in international banks by fake companies and these international bank accounts belongs to Abhishek Banerjees wife, Rujira, and sister-in-law, Maneka. Ever after the revelations of the illicit smuggling of coal along the border between Indo-Bangladesh last November, attempts have been made to meet the major fish in it. These funds were deposited in Bangkok and London accounts by fake firms, of which Abhishek Banerjees wife and Maneka are on alert. Also, Rujira and her sister both have Thai citizenship and have bank accounts there. According to CBI reports. By stating the connection to the BJP, TMC is targeting the CBIs action. During the election season, the TMC and the BJP thunder and thrash each other over this action. Also Read: IAEA, Iran concur temporary nuclear deal with lesser access and inspections Ukraine recently accused Russia of the targeted assassination of perceived opponents in a case filed at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). According to the case, published on the courts website, Ukraine accuses Moscow of carrying out assassinations in Russia and on the territory of other states, in what Kyiv says is a violation of the right to life as stipulated in Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Ukraine also alleged that Russias failure to investigate such alleged assassinations amounts to an administrative practice that is also sustained through deliberately mounting cover-up operations aimed at frustrating efforts to find the persons responsible. It is worth noting that this is the ninth case taken by Ukraine against Russia at the ECHR, which hears complaints about alleged breaches of the convention on human rights. READ: EU On Tension With Russia, Relations With US READ: Russia's COVID-19 Vaccination Drive Slowly Picking Up Speed Four cases are still pending and refer to the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in July 2014, human rights violations in the Crimea peninsula and Russias seizure of three Ukrainian Navy vessels in the Kerch Strait in 2018. According to local European media outlets, the case on the human rights violations in Crimea was declared partly admissible by the Grand Chamber of the Court on January 14. A judgement on the case will be delivered at a later date and the other three cases will be reviewed by the branches of the court sometime later. Ukraine-Russia conflict Meanwhile, Russia has been supporting separatists who are fighting Ukrainian government forces in eastern Ukraine in a conflict that has claimed more than 13,000 people since April 2014. The Ukrainian military had reported intensive movement of troops and equipment from Russia into the separatist-controlled parts of eastern Ukraine. The Associated Press reported 80 unmarked military vehicles on the move in rebel-controlled areas. The majority of members of the international community and organizations such as Amnesty International have condemned Russia for its actions in post-revolutionary Ukraine, accusing it of breaking international law and violating Ukrainian sovereignty. Many countries even implemented economic sanctions against Russia, Russian individuals or companies, to which Russia responded in kind. READ: Russia Registers First Case Of Bird Flu In Humans READ: H5N8 Avian Flu In Humans: Russia Hails 'important Discovery' As It Prepares Adequate Tests Schools have taken a halt in face-to-face education in response to coronavirus and prevent the COVID-19 transmission among students and teachers. But another factor that will keep you away from school was when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that teachers can play a significant role in COVID-19 infection. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the data they have so far suggests that children under 18 years represent about 8.5 percent of reported cases with relatively few deaths than other age groups. It added that school closures might impact the child's health, education, and development. But will you let your child go to school knowing that teachers have a role in infection transmission? Read also: WHO Clears AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine for Emergency Use Teachers and COVID-19 Transmission Seattle Times reported that the CDC released a paper regarding the nine COVID-19 transmission clusters in elementary schools in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta, which happened in December and January. The group involved were 16 teachers, students, relatives of students at home who were infected. Daily Independent noted that only one among the nine clusters was a student, clearly the first documented case, while in four groups, the teachers were the first documented case. The four other cases were unclear, and among the nine clusters, the eight involved probable teacher-student transmission. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, during an online briefing with the reporters, said that the teachers played an essential role in the spread, ABC13 News reported. Walensky added that the COVID-19 transmission happens during in-person meetings or lunches and then later spread to classrooms. The CDC's findings were reportedly inlined with the United Kingdom's research that discovered that teacher-to-teacher is the most common type of transmission. Another study with a similar result is from Germany that suggests three times higher transmission rate when the first documented case was an educator. CDC: Factors in the Spread of COVID-19 in Schools According to the Seattle Times report, the Marietta Clusters involved less than ideal physical distancing with students often less than three feet apart, even though plastic dividers were placed on the desks. Walensky noted that the two main reasons for the spread of COVID-19 infection are physical distancing and mask adherence. Reports said that the transmission might have happened during small-group instruction sessions where teachers were close to the students in seven cases. However, the authors of the study mentioned that they observed that many children wore masks, but students' "inadequate" mask use could still have contributed to the spread of infection in five clusters. Because of this, the CDC advised that schools need to pursue multifaceted strategies to stop the spread of the virus, like cutting down on teacher-to-teacher meetings, increasing physical distancing, and reinforcing the proper wearing of masks. ABC13 News further noted that the CDC study suggests the educators and teachers need to be vaccinated to protect them against the virus and mitigate further COVID-19 transmission. It will heighten the safety of both teachers and students who attend school. Related article: Fact Check: Do Face Masks Really Prevent COVID-19 Transmission and Reduce Oxygen Levels? WATCH: COVID-19: What's Working in Schools and What's Not? from CBC News: The National Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 20:57:56|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN Migration Agency, on Tuesday said more than 3.6 million people in Ethiopia were reached by it on COVID-19 prevention and mitigation support initiatives during the course of 2020. The IOM said in a statement that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has brought on "immense challenges for Ethiopia, a country whose already strained healthcare system faces enormous challenges." It also noted that with a population of 110 million people, there is only an estimated one doctor to 10,000 people in the East African country. In the first year of the global pandemic, the IOM attended to a variety of beneficiaries including Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), returnees and victims of human trafficking, as well as people living in host communities, it was noted. The 3.6 million people reached by the IOM, among others, included vulnerable communities and more than 239,000 IDPs living in camp-like settings, according to the agency. Assistance were also provided to over 43,000 Ethiopian migrants who returned home during the pandemic. The IOM also stressed that in excess of 80 IOM staff deployed to various parts of the country and some 2,000 medical and healthcare practitioners were trained by the IOM to support the Ethiopian government's national response to the pandemic. Many in the beneficiary groups, including children and other vulnerable persons, received personal protective equipment such as masks and gloves, access to hand-washing facilities and other types of hygiene and sanitation, and information about COVID-19. The IOM's COVID-19 response also included mental health and psychosocial support for vulnerable populations. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented challenges for mobile populations in the region, including vulnerable Ethiopian migrants stranded in the Horn of Africa and the Gulf, and the IDPs in Ethiopia living in congested displacement sites with limited access to water and sanitation facilities. Ethiopia registered 153,541 COVID-19 cases, with 2,293 deaths as of Tuesday morning, making it the highest-COVID-19 affected country in the East and Horn of Africa region in terms of the number of confirmed cases. According to the latest figures from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Ethiopia's COVID-19 cases accounted for about 4 percent of the African continent's total confirmed COVID-19 cases. The Ethiopian government has been urging the public to implement COVID-19 precautionary measures to contain the spread of the virus in Ethiopia -- Africa's second-most populous nation. Enditem WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden has tapped Kiran Arjandas Ahuja, a civil rights lawyer, activist and Obama-era veteran, to lead the Office of Personnel Management, a department the Trump administration tried to kill but is now expected to take on a high-profile role. Ahuja, 49, served as the personnel agency's chief of staff from 2015 to 2017 as it faced fallout from a massive data breach that compromised the personal information of millions of federal workers and contractors. Before that, she led the Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the Obama White House. Ahuja returned to federal personnel matters during the Biden transition as head of the team reviewing OPM and other agencies that deal with the federal workforce, taking a leave from her role as chief executive of Philanthropy Northwest, a regional philanthropic network of six northwestern states. Her nomination was announced Tuesday. Ahuja would have a mandate to reverse course on former president Donald Trump's policies on the civil service, which he and his top aides often derided as a "deep state" of Democratic bureaucrats. Many agencies lost experts in a range of fields during the Trump era, and Biden has pledged to revitalize the workforce. The agency became deeply politicized under the Trump administration, which installed a record number of political appointees there as personnel policy was increasingly dictated by the White House. Trump's last confirmed personnel chief, Dale Cabaniss, quit with no notice last year after five months on the job, following months of tension with political appointees installed by the White House to monitor how she ran the office. Trump's first chief, Jeff Tien Han Pon, was fired after seven months because he resisted the administration's plan to dismantle the office and farm out its functions to other departments, including the White House. OPM sets central policies ranging from hiring to firing for the 2.1 million executive branch workers and administers their retirement, insurance and other benefits. The Trump administration had proposed gutting the agency by shifting most of its roughly 2,500 employees to the General Services Administration while moving its policymaking functions into the Office of Management and Budget, putting them under more direct White House control. A bipartisan move in Congress blocked those changes, although lawmakers agreed to move to the Defense Department thousands of employees who conduct background checks for prospective and current employees. Even as it was left mostly intact, the personnel agency found itself emasculated by the Trump White House, which set a tone with numerous far-reaching policies to curb the power of the federal workforce and its unions. Biden revoked them within days of taking office, stressing that rebuilding the civil service would be a priority for his government. The Trump actions included presidential orders to restrict the role of unions in the federal workplace, limit employee protections in disciplinary cases to the minimum required by law, suspend diversity training pending a review of the content, and remove civil service protections from a large class of employees. The office had only acting directors for all but about a quarter of Trump's term, with two directors who were confirmed by the Senate each resigning after about six months. Trump's last confirmed director resigned just as the coronavirus pandemic put new demands on federal agencies and turned unprecedented numbers of federal workers into teleworkers. The Senate did not act on a later nominee because of concerns about comments he had made while a political commentator. "Kiran Ahuja brings a wealth of experience in federal personnel matters, and her record of advocacy on behalf of women of color is reason for us to be optimistic that she will make it a priority to reverse the previous administration's active undermining of diversity and inclusion efforts across the government," Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union representing the workforce, said in a statement. "We look forward to working together with Ms. Ahuja to uphold merit systems and principles and rebuild the apolitical civil service." Max Stier, president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service, called the personnel office "critically important to building a high-functioning federal workforce" in a statement and commended Biden for his commitment to "recruiting, retaining and honoring" the civil service. Ahuja arrived at the agency during the Obama administration as it was hit by one of the federal government's most far-reaching data breaches. The background investigation records of 4.2 million current, former and prospective federal employees and contractors were hacked, including personal information. It look the agency years to recover, and the incident, blamed on China, cost the agency's director at the time her job. Born to immigrants from India, Ahuja grew up in Savannah, Ga., and went to work as an attorney for the Justice Department after law school. She left the government to become founding director of a nonprofit, the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum. Ahuja is a graduate of Spelman College and got her law degree from the University of Georgia. JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Blue, the state's Blue Cross Blue Shield plan, is pleased to announce it has been recognized by Forbes as one of America's 2021 Best Large Employers. Forbes' list of the top 500 large employers is broken down by industry and location. Florida Blue (ranked 45th overall) was the highest ranked large employer in the Insurance industry category. The second highest insurance company in the category was ranked no. 275. Within Florida, more than a dozen large organizations made this year's list, with Florida Blue ranking third of those companies that have headquarters in the state behind two of Florida's travel and leisure leaders. Forbes partnered with market research firm Statista to anonymously survey 50,000 Americans working for U.S. businesses with at least 1,000 employees. The respondents were asked to rate how likely they'd be to recommend their employer to others and to nominate organizations other than their own. According to Forbes, in addition to individual employee recommendations and nominations, each participant evaluated their employer on 24 criteria. These drivers provided a unique perspective of the employer and enabled Forbes to evaluate the companies on more generalized criterial, such as work atmosphere, development opportunities and compensation. As one of the largest employers in the state, Florida Blue has long been dedicated to creating a work environment that is inclusive, rewarding and engaging. Amy Ruth, senior vice president and chief human resources officer for Florida Blue, credits the company's leadership for being innovative and flexible with its employees to meet the ever-changing demands of the health insurance industry. "We've learned a lot during the pandemic about creating a culture that allows our employees to contribute to our success as an organization, while provided the flexibility and resources needed for both managers and their teams to balance the demands of work and personal lives," Ruth said. "To be among the nation's leading companies and to be the top-ranked health insurance company in the country is a great honor and speaks volumes about the culture of our organization." About Florida Blue Florida Blue, Florida's Blue Cross and Blue Shield company, has been providing health insurance to residents of Florida for more than 75 years. Driven by its mission of helping people and communities achieve better health, the company serves more than 5 million health care members across the state. In total, Florida Blue and its affiliated companies serve 28 million people in 45 states. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., it is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. SOURCE Florida Blue Charleston has hired a planning director who will play a key role in the city's ongoing efforts to manage its rapid development, its booming population, its affordable housing crunch, its transportation needs and the incessant flooding that now threatens parts of the region. City Council announced the hiring this week of Robert Summerfield, who most recently served as the planning director for the city of Las Vegas, where he worked for more than 15 years. Summerfield is expected to make the jump from Sin City to the Holy City in the next couple of weeks, and he will quickly be tasked with confronting some of the most complicated and urgent issues facing Charleston and its residents. A planning director can have their hands in nearly every major policy debate within a city. That's something Summerfield said he is well prepared for after more than a decade working in Las Vegas, a city with a population more than four times larger than Charleston. "My job is all about helping to facilitate all of these different connection points," Summerfield said. There are some obvious differences between Charleston and Las Vegas, such as the environment. Nevada's Mojave Desert is a world away from the Lowcountry's marshes and estuaries. "One of the things that I hope to bring from here to Charleston is an open mindset," Summerfield said. "There are so many differences between southern Nevada and Charleston and the Lowcountry." But there are some similarities between the two cities that could help as Summerfield starts his new job, he said. Las Vegas is no stranger to tourists, and that means Summerfield already has significant experience in balancing the needs of city residents and millions of visitors who feed local businesses and the city's tax base. Summerfield also worked to reinforce the preservation of historic buildings and historic sections of Las Vegas, he said. The historic properties in Las Vegas aren't on the same level as some of the centuries-old structures in Charleston, Summerfield said, but that experience will likely be valuable in a city that continues to prioritize the maintenance and protection of its historic districts. One of the more monumental jobs Summerfield will be tasked with in the next couple of years is implementing Charleston's new comprehensive plan. Charleston officials are in the process of rolling out the comprehensive plan, which serves as a 10-year roadmap that outlines how the city should grow and what changes may need to be undertaken to keep the city livable for its more than 137,000 residents. Ross Appel, a city councilman who previously served on the zoning board, said Summerfield is filling a "very important position at a critical time in the city's history." For the first time in Charleston's history, the comprehensive plan will include information and data surrounding Charleston's water woes and discussions of how to best adapt to tidal flooding, heavy rain events and storm surges that threaten the region. Charleston officials are planning to use the new comprehensive plan to incorporate lessons from the Dutch Dialogues, which educated city leaders on how to better live alongside and with the water that surrounds communities. Las Vegas also planned a lot around water, Summerfield said, but it was not always in the same way as Charleston. There are no concerns about tidal flooding in Las Vegas or a hurricane running headlong into the city. But Summerfield said he became very familiar with planning around storm drains and flash flooding in the desert. That experience included collaborating with the stormwater experts and incorporating artificial retention systems into Las Vegas' planning. That could serve as a great primer for his work in Charleston, where the city is undertaking several multimillion-dollar engineering projects to try to keep the city dry. Shots Fired Call Leads to Two Arrests By West Kentucky Star Staff , the shooter fled the scene in a blue pickup truck. The truck was located on Mayfair Drive but the driver ran off the road into a yard, and then fled on foot. Two passengers in the truck, 38-year-old Christopher Worley of Todd County and 29-year-old Kelsey Delk of Wingo, remained at the scene. During the investigation, officers found stolen property in the bed of the truck. Worley and Delk were both arrested and charged with receiving stolen property under $10,000. Delk was additionally charged with tampering with physical evidence and possession of a controlled substance. Both were lodged in the Graves County Jail. Police said the driver of the vehicle has not yet been found and the investigation is ongoing. MAYFIELD - A shots fired call in Mayfield Monday resulted in two arrests.Mayfield police officers responded to a call of shots being fired in the city, but before they arrived Sanford Limited wishes to advise that it has received today the judgement of Judge S J ODriscoll in the Christchurch District Court in the case of Ministry for Primary Industries v Walker, Lash and Sanford Limited. Sanford accepts the decision of the court and has expressed its deep regret for the incident, which was entirely unintentional. The judge has handed down a $36,000 fine for Sanford and has confirmed the forfeiture of the San Waitaki. Sanford will be making an application for relief from forfeiture and, based on legal advice, it is optimistic it will be granted without reaching materiality thresholds. We will work constructively to expeditiously address the matter of forfeiture. In the meantime, Sanford will work with MPI to ensure the vessel remains operational until the matter is resolved. Benthic protection areas (BPA) are areas of seabed in New Zealand where some fishing activity is illegal. Sanford supported the introduction of these areas in New Zealand and, despite the mistakes which led to this case, we respect these areas and are advocates for marine protection. Please see the link below for details: San Waitaki ruling, judgement Source: Sanford Limited Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: Me Today Limited (NZX: MEE) Full Year Results to 31 March 2021 31st May 2021 Morning Report The a2 Milk Company Limited (NZX: ATM) Media Reporting Regarding Potential Class Action Synlait Milk Limited (NZX: SML) Forecast Milk Price Update General Capital Limited (NZX: GEN) Continues on Its Strong Growth Path Third Age Health Services Limited (NZX: TAH) Announces Preliminary Full Year Result EROAD Limited (NZX: ERD) Better Positioned for Future Growth Green Cross Health Limited (NZX: GXH) Full Year Results to 31 March 2021 28th May 2021 Morning Report Radius Residential Care Limited (NZX: RAD) Announces First FY Results as a Listed Company More than 50 inmates have been confirmed dead following a series of riots at three prisons in Ecuador, authorities announced. The uprisings were reported Tuesday morning after several criminal groups battling for control inside the penitentiary systems clashed, the Ecuador National Police said via a statement. Images from the bloody carnage that were posted on social media showed several prisoners posing with the severed heads of their rivals while several bodies of dead inmates were lying on top of each other. A video recorded by a detainee also captured the gruesome moment a prisoner repeatedly stabbed another inmate with a butcher's knife. At least 38 prisoners died during a rebellion in the B wing of the Turi Social Rehabilitation Center in the southern city of Cuenca, according to Ecuador's Attorney General's Office. WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT The body of an inmate lies inside a cell at one of the three prisons in Ecuador where more that 50 detainees were killed The body of one of more than 50 inmates, who were killed during rebellions at three prisons Tuesday morning, lies in the middle of a penitentiary courtyard in Guayaquil, Ecuador Officials gather mobile phones, guns and dozens of knives that were seized from one of the three jails in Ecuador 'Criminal organizations carry out acts of simultaneous violence in several prisons in the country,' President Lenin Moreno said via a tweet. 'The [National Police] in coordination with the Interior Minister [Patricio Pazmino] are acting to regain control of prisons in Guayaquil, Cuenca and Latacunga.' Ecuadorean newspaper El Universo reported the military and police officers were sent into the prison to regain control, and that local fire departments were dispatched to assist security forces outside the prison. A woman visiting an inmate at the Turi Social Rehabilitation Center said the riot started around 10am local time and that she saw an image of a dead prisoner on a mobile phone. The woman said visitors were prohibited from leaving the visiting area, and that some of the prisoners were removed from the room over fears that they were going to be killed. The visitors eventually were allowed to exit after emergency alarms sounded off. The body of one of the 11 inmates killed Tuesday during riots involving rival gangs at the Guayas Male Deprivation of Liberty Center No. 4 in Guayaquil, Ecuador Relatives of the prisoners at the Guayas Male Deprivation of Liberty Center No. 4 in Guayaquil, Ecuador, await news on their jailed loved ones after reports of riots at the prison left at least 11 inmates dead on Tuesday A police officer's body camera captures the moment a group of inmates at a jail in Guayaquil, Ecuador, were caught escaping in the midst of a riot that left at many as 11 prisoners dead The prosecutor's office reported some of the inmates were injured at the Turi Social Rehabilitation Center, but it did not provide an official toll. An Ecuadorean National Police source told El Universo that fights between four different gangs left at least 11 inmates dead and five others injured at the Guayas Male Deprivation of Liberty Center No. 8 in Guayaquil. Police body camera video captured the moment about two dozen inmates were intercepted after they had walked out of the prison. The rebellion also left two police officers with injuries, although the extent of their wounds were unknown. Additionally, riots at Cotopaxi Rehabilitation Center in the north central city of Latacunga left eight inmates dead. An injury tally was not reported. She called for sweeping reforms in how the police interact with and are trained to deal with people in emotional distress and released a report that offered a minute-by-minute narrative of Mr. Prudes last hours but did not draw any conclusions about possible crimes that the police might have committed. Mr. Prude, 41, lived in Chicago but had been visiting his brother in Rochester. Friends said that before his death, Mr. Prude had begun to rely more heavily on the drug PCP, also known as angel dust, which can cause erratic behavior. He began to use drugs, they said, to cope with the 2018 death by suicide of his nephew, with whom he had lived. The day before the episode, his brother, Joe Prude, had him hospitalized at Strong Memorial Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, but he was sent home hours later. The system failed Daniel Prude. It failed him when he was released from the hospital, it failed him when the police responded and used deadly force against him and it failed him again today, Elliot Shields, a lawyer for Joe Prude, said on Tuesday. Just hours after returning from the hospital, on March 23, Mr. Prude suddenly burst from his brothers home and ran into the night. Fearful for his safety, his brother called 911, worried Mr. Prude might inadvertently harm himself or run across nearby train tracks. Police who answered the call found Mr. Prude naked and reported that he had told at least one passer-by that he had the coronavirus. When they apprehended him, he began spitting, and the officers responded by pulling the mesh hood over his head. When he tried to rise, the officers forced Mr. Prude facedown on the ground, one of them pushing his head to the pavement, police body-camera footage showed. The police held Mr. Prude down for two minutes, and he had to be resuscitated. He died in the hospital a week later, on March 30. Saipem, a leading engineering, drilling and construction company, said it has been awarded a $1.7-billion contract by Qatargas for the development of the North Field Production project, located offshore Qatar peninsula. The scope of work encompasses the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of various offshore facilities for the extraction and transportation of natural gas, including platforms, supporting and connecting structures, subsea cables and anticorrosion internally cladded pipelines, said the statement from Saipem. Furthermore, the project encompasses the decommissioning of a pipeline and other significant modifications to existing offshore facilities. According to Saipem, the pipe-laying and lifting operations will be executed by the DE HE vessel in water depths of approximately 65 m, leveraging on Saipems high-end welding technology for corrosion resistant cladded pipelines to meet the clients stringent quality requirements, said the statement. The project aims at increasing the early gas field production capacity to 110 million tonnes per annum. This new contract, which consolidates the groups position in Qatar, is the latest of a string of projects awarded to Saipem since its return in the country in 2018 with the Barzan project, nearing completion. Saipem is already executing the WHP12N Jacket project, awarded in July 2020, which is part of the North Field Production Sustainability Offshore Project development. This new contract award is included in December 31 backlog. Saipem has recently expanded its offices in the country and strengthened its fabrication capability by cooperating with a local fabrication yard, offering a sustainable Qatar-based execution scheme. On the contract win, E&C Offshore Division COO Stefano Porcari said: "Saipem is well positioned and actively executing various contracts in Qatar, a key market for us with several offshore investments expected to progress in the near future." "This acquisition by Qatargas consolidates our position in the gas sector, confirms our strategic role in the energy transition and represents a token of confidence in Saipem's experience and proven ability to successfully execute and deliver challenging projects," he stated. "Furthermore, it also confirms the relevance and effectiveness of the early engagement model adopted through our division XSIGHT, which recently concluded, ahead of time, the front-end engineering design contract for the whole NFPS development programme," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Welcome Guest! You Are Here: 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 More Michigan school districts have moved away from remote-only learning since Gov. Gretchen Whitmers January call for more in-person school, a new report shows. The report from Michigan State Universitys Education Policy Innovation Collaborative shows that less than half as many school districts are offering remote-only instruction in February, compared to January. The report also shows the largest increase - from 64% to 83% - in districts planning to offer some form of in-person instruction since the start of the school year. Whitmer strongly encouraged schools to offer an option for in-person instruction no later than March 1. She said the goal is for every student to have the option of face-to-face learning, especially younger children, as cases of COVID-19 decline. These findings from our incredible partners at EPIC are encouraging, Whitmer said in a news release. In-person learning is critical to the growth and development of our children and their findings show that the vast majority of schools in Michigan are providing students with face-to-face opportunities. With proper mitigation strategies, we can send kids back to class without compromising the health of our communities. The latest report from EPIC, the strategic research partner of the Michigan Department of Education, shows an overall increase in the proportion of districts planning to provide some form of in-person instruction in 2021. By February, 65% of districts said they were planning to offer fully in-person instruction to students, while 18% of districts were planning to offer hybrid instruction and 15% were planning to offer remote-only instruction, which is a 57% decrease from the previous month. Since January, some of the states largest districts have made plans to begin offering some in-person learning after being remote for the entire year, including Grand Rapids Public Schools, Lansing School District, East Lansing Public Schools and Dearborn Public Schools. Other large districts like Kalamazoo Public Schools, have opted to remain in virtual learning through the end of the the semester, while Ann Arbor Public Schools continues to mull when and which students it will consider bringing back to the classroom. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has provided new guidelines for reopening schools saying schools can open safely if they put layered mitigation measures in place, calling for - but not mandating - hybrid learning models in the majority of counties across Michigan. More smaller districts are offering in-person instruction full time, the report found, while larger districts tend to offer a hybrid learning model. The 65% of districts planning to offer full-time in-person learning account for 55% of the states K-12 students. The 18% of districts offering hybrid learning, on the other hand, represent 29% of Michigan students, while remote-only learning districts accounted for 15% of the states students. With strong mitigation efforts, more educators and other citizens vaccinated daily, and the presence of antigen tests, our COVID numbers have flattened. More and more districts are rightly re-opening as a result, State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice said. While we need to remain vigilant, we also need to offer families in all districts at a minimum an in-person option for their children. In-person instruction is better for so many of our kids, socioemotionally and academically. Families deserve choices for their childrens education. 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: Certain Michigan schools have found a winning formula for vaccinating teachers Michigan governor calls for in-person learning to resume by March 1 New CDC guidelines set a high bar for Michigan schools to resume in person A disturbing new study by researchers at the Australian National University details an increase in vaccine hesitancy among many Australians over the period of August 2020 to January 2021. This may have serious implications for the countrys ability to achieve universal immunization. Study: Change in vaccine willingness in Australia: August 2020 to January 2021 . Image Credit: LookerStudio / Shutterstock The research team has released its findings on the medRxiv* preprint server. COVID-19 in Australia The rate of COVID-19 in Australia is extremely low compared to most other countries. This has been attributed to tight travel restrictions, including for Australian nationals returning home, who are having to wait for a limited number of slots on international flights to avoid importing infection. This was coupled with a mandatory quarantine on all travelers to Australia, except for those coming from New Zealand. Lockdowns were also implemented at various points of time following reports of local outbreaks. A relaxation of these restrictions will require the vaccination of enough Australians, as well as vaccination certification of travelers arriving from other parts of the world, in most cases. Several vaccines have now been rolled out that claim to be both safe and effective. Certainly, few serious adverse effects have been reported so far, after millions of vaccinations in many countries. For instance, for every hundred individuals, Israel has administered 72 vaccine doses, Dubai about 50, and the UK about 21. In Australia, the Pfizer vaccine was approved for use in people aged 16 years or more by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). Vaccination is now underway, but the question is, are enough people willing to be vaccinated? Study aims The current study aimed at answering the question as to what proportion of the population is willing to be vaccinated and how this proportion varies between population subgroups, as well as contributing factors. The researchers aimed to follow-up with the same respondents involved in their earlier survey in August 2020. The study comes from the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods ANU COVID-19 Impact Monitoring Survey Program. By January 2021, vaccine roll-out had already begun in many countries, and therefore the respondents were also asked about their confidence in the vaccine development process. Vaccine hesitance at the international level Early evidence indicated that vaccine hesitancy fell during the early months of the pandemic but then rose throughout the world. This is despite the experienced effects of lockdowns and other restrictions on social and economic activity. While France and the US showed a large rise in vaccine hesitancy, the tide may be turning in the latter. A recent report shows that 10% more of Americans were willing to get a vaccine in November 2020, compared to 50% in September. The public perception that the vaccine development process was being hurried through, perhaps at the expense of safety checks, may have fueled the lack of willingness. Other factors may be the feeling that governments did a poor job of pandemic control and social relief, or are not practicing transparency, or that the vaccine may not be effective. The lack of trust in the intentions of Big Pharma in promoting vaccines may also be a factor. Australian attitudes to the vaccine In August 2020, just over 5% of respondents (adult Australians) said they were unwilling to get the vaccine, while 7% were hesitant. 29% and 59% were probably and definitely going to be vaccinated. When the same respondents were contacted in January 2020, over 8% were now unwilling and 13% hesitant. About 35% said they would probably get it. Only 44% said they would definitely get it. Only a quarter of Australians said they were very confident in the vaccine development process, with half the survey population saying they had a fair amount of confidence. About 19% and 7% had little to no confidence. Individual trends towards and away from willingness While 32% of Australians moved from more to less willing, at an individual level, 10% became more willing. About 19% became marginally less willing, from definitely to probably getting a vaccine. One of the biggest concerns from a herd immunity perspective between mid-2020 and early 2021 is the very large increase in vaccine uncertainty. Overall trends in vaccine hesitancy The analysis shows that vaccine hesitancy is closely related to non-confidence in the vaccine development process. Females are less willing to get a vaccine, with about 77% of females indicating willingness or probability of getting it, compared to 80% of males. Younger Australians were also less willing, in the 18-24-year age group, compared to those aged 55 or more, at 86% and 91% saying they were definitely or probably going to get the vaccine, respectively. Among those aged 25 to 34 years, only 70% were willing. Those who speak non-English languages at home were less willing, which indicates a gap in public health education. And finally, those who completed year 12, and especially those with a degree or higher education, were more willing. Of those without a degree, 76% were willing, compared to 85% and 87% of those with a bachelors degree and post-graduate degree, respectively. Those living in and outside a capital city also showed a higher and lower willingness, at 79% and 76%, respectively. While this may also be traceable to lower infection trends outside cities, the risk of infection remains real and is likely to increase as travel restrictions are eased. Reasons for vaccine unwillingness overall The researchers found that having been tested for COVID-19, as well as those who were significantly anxious or worried about the infection, were much more likely to be willing, indicating the role of subjective experience in this decision-making process. The association between confidence in the healthcare system, other public health authorities, and the Federal government, and vaccine willingness is strong. Financial stress is also a driver of vaccine willingness, as are those who believe the government has a right to mandate policies for the good of citizens, and those who have a positive view of the future. Changes from August 2020 individually Reasons for individual changes in vaccine intentions included thinking COVID-19 risk is being magnified, financial stress, confidence in the government and healthcare systems, and an optimistic viewpoint regarding the future. Age and education were also positively associated with willingness. The strength of these associations declined from those observed in the larger sample. A decrease in willingness on an individual basis is mainly observed to occur in those who thought the pandemic was being exaggerated. The opposite change in willingness was seen in those who believe in the healthcare system and in the government, and believe the future will get better. Those who speak non-English languages at home, indigenous Australians, and those educated to below year 12, became less willing over time. Those who newly became unwilling or hesitant over this period were those experiencing significant financial stress, between 45-54 years, and with Year 12 to Associate Degree levels of education. They had less confidence in government and healthcare systems and were more pessimistic about the next 12 months. What are the implications? Despite being ranked 8th globally for COVID-19 policies, Australia continues to require immunization to achieve herd immunity and return to some semblance of pre-pandemic life in the near future. The public health response has been fast and effective, though costly in terms of social and economic disruptions. However, Australians generally feel satisfied with their lives now, compared to the pre-pandemic period, and economic improvement is also visible. However, challenges to universal immunization continue to present themselves, with increasing rates of vaccine hesitancy and unwillingness. The time required to extend vaccine reach to all Australians is also time that can be used to spread false information, fueling distrust of the vaccines now available. Since the current survey was carried out in English, the chances are high that it does not represent those families and groups who do not speak English at all. Non-urbanized areas also need to be targeted to increase vaccine compliance. Public health messages need to be conveyed in a way that people without advanced education can understand them, with relevant and reassuring information. Languages other than English need to be covered to get the information to such groups. The risk of making light of COVID-19 should be countered by presenting detailed and complete information to specific target groups, to remind them of the potential severity of the infection and its long-term effects, even if currently Australia is at a low level of infections. The potential for a better future as early as next year should also be conveyed with realistic and reassuring data. *Important Notice medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. ALGIERS, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government has decided to donate 200,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinopharm to Algeria, Chinese Ambassador to Algeria Li Lianhe said Thursday. In a message posted on the Chinese embassy's official page on Facebook, Li added that since the outbreak of the pandemic, Algeria and China have helped each other against the prevailing difficulties, which "illustrates a model of solidarity and unity to fight against the pandemic for the international community." "China, as a close friend and dear brother of Algeria, is ready to continue providing support and assistance to Algeria," he noted, adding that "China is due to provide Algeria with all facilities to acquire the Chinese vaccine, which will help Algeria overcome the pandemic and restore its economic and social life to normal as soon as possible." Since the coronavirus outbreak in Algeria, China has sent medical and nursing staff, and donated a large number of medical supplies needed for countering COVID-19. Also, Algeria was among the first countries to send medical help to China. The North African nation also made several purchase orders to acquire medical equipment including face masks and screening kits from China as part of its efforts to combat the pandemic. Forget the actual people of Texas; Ted Cruz certainly did. His trip to Cancun after a record snowfall overwhelmed the local energy grid last week illustrated in stark detail how the state's junior Senator really feels about his constituents: He simply doesn't care. Aside from the fact that abandoning his constituents to literally freeze to death is morally wrong, it's also just a bad behavior for someone who someday will want those people to vote for him. Texas-area businesses should demand more. Frankly, businesses across the U.S. should demand more of their elected officials, too. The infrastructure issues that the Texas experience highlights is most likely happening in your area--albeit in different ways. In Texas, it's the energy grid; In New York City, it's the subway system; in California, it's the failure of Pacific Gas & Electric to update its electric infrastructure, resulting in wildfires that have killed more than 100 people in the past three years. Business owners of any size across the U.S. should want their elected officials to spend their time mitigating the potential for actual disasters that will cost U.S. companies millions--and certainly not abscond when the going gets rough. In Texas, you're getting excuses. Two conservative political commentators, Dinesh D'Souza and Erick Erickson, recently made this argument: "The guy is a U.S. Senator. What can he possibly do about the Texas power grid? If he leaves the state, that's one less person taking up precious power and resources." Meanwhile Texas Governor Greg Abbott wrongly says the real problem is wind turbines, and the mayor of Colorado City, Texas, said the city, power company, and any other service provider owes you exactly nothing, so quit your whining and start building your own personal oil refinery before your family freezes to death. (That mayor subsequently resigned.) Because, yes, what can a U.S. Senator--one of only 100, with access to the resources of the federal government of the richest nation on earth--possibly be expected to do in a moment of crisis besides simply getting out of the way? In this moment Cruz, and his supporters, revealed just what they think the job of a U.S. Senator is: to cut taxes and regulations and eliminate workplace rules, as well as go on cable news shows to chastise others. Cruz and his defenders believe this in part because, well, this is all too often all that the business community has typically asked for. For years the standard for considering a politician "pro-business" has basically boiled down to support for lower taxes and less regulation. And it's that less regulation part that's coming back to bite Texas businesses now. In this case, failure has many fathers. The Texas electric grid separated from the rest of the United States because state lawmakers didn't want to submit to federal regulations enacted by Roosevelt administration in 1935. By operating solely within the state of Texas, the grid was able to evade federal oversight. (Some parts of West Texas, the Panhandle, and East Texas are affiliated with the two main national grids, and had fewer problems with power during the recent storm.) Also at fault: The weak regulatory regime from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the nonprofit corporation charged with overseeing the Texas grid. And the deregulated Texas electric market, which provided cheap electricity but no incentive to beef up capacity or winterize for emergencies, left Texans who still had power with bills of as much as $5,000 for a few days of electricity. It's not like this was unexpected. After a bitter cold snap in 2011, a federal analysis showed that many natural gas providers were unprepared for severe weather, and recommended winterizing wells to prevent freezing. The cost was not cheap--at the time, a projected $1.75 billion to winterize around one third of the active natural gas wells in the state. It's understandable that businesses don't want to do these things. They cost money. It's even understandable that those businesses would donate to politicians who promise to keep them from being forced to do these things. (Abbott has raised $26 million over the past six years from the oil and natural gas industry.) What's more, Texas businesses have no doubt benefited from years of unfettered growth--Austin was ranked Inc.'s No. 1 Surge City for two years straight. However, as is now obvious, that growth comes at a cost, and comes with a responsibility to ensure basic services can meet increased demand. That your business has had years of cheap power means it now doesn't have any electricity at all in a crucial time. The lack of any vision for utilities providing essential services beyond an unregulated marketplace means that your business faces uncertainty around some of the very basic things you'll need to grow. And many of the solutions now on offer--including to buy a generator or provide on-site battery storage--just put the burden back on the business owner. There is a lot of money sloshing around the United States. Money is easy to get. You know what's not easy to get? Actual competent service from public officials who have a higher vision for their job than Senator Cruz has. It's that kind of service that we need so desperately now, as our national infrastructure frays under the weight of years of delayed maintenance and climate change stresses. Businesses need to demand more from their government than just lower taxes and less regulation. Or, to put it another way: If you're backing a candidate for office who promises lower taxes and less regulation, that candidate isn't promising you enough, and you're selling your support for too cheap a price. It's easy for a politician to argue that the government should have no role in, well, just about anything, and then proceed to do exactly that. The harder thing--yet the necessary thing for businesses--is to back people who want to actually govern. A grand jury has indicted a Cumberland County man in a shooting on Route 55 that left the victim partially paralyzed and unable to speak due to permanent brain damage. Marese Washington Jr., 28, of Vineland, is accused of taking part in the July 24, 2020, shooting of Kesean Bey and investigators say the incident followed a long-running feud between the men. Bey, 27, was driving northbound on Route 55 in Millville shortly after midnight when shots were fired from another car into Beys vehicle, according to court documents. A bullet struck Beys forehead and his car left the roadway and plowed into several trees before coming to a stop, police said. Bey suffered permanent brain damage, is paralyzed on the left side of his body and unable to talk, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in January. A portion of his skull was removed as a result of his injuries, the report notes. Video surveillance revealed that Washingtons car followed Beys vehicle out of a Wawa parking lot in Millville minutes before the shooting, police said. More video shows Washingtons car following Beys vehicle onto Route 55, police said. Cellphone data also placed Washington at the crime scene, police said. The motive in the shooting was an ongoing feud between Washington and Bey that went back years, according to investigators. Washingtons criminal complaint accuses him of taking part in the planning and shooting of the victim, but does not specify that he was the gunman. Hes accused of conspiring with others, but no one else has been charged in the case. A Cumberland County grand jury indicted Washington earlier this month on first-degree charges of attempted murder and conspiracy and second-degree aggravated assault. Washington remains in Cumberland County Jail, where he has been since his arrest last August. A fundraiser posted on GoFundMe in December indicated that Bey is being cared for by his family and is fighting to get back to his regular self. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-24 01:28:32|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CHICAGO, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- A study of the University of Michigan suggests that groups of neurons activated during prior learning keep humming, tattooing memories into brain when one slips into sleep. Focusing on a specific set of neurons in the primary visual cortex, the researchers created a visual memory test. They showed a group of mice a neutral image, and expressed genes in the visual cortex neurons activated by the image. To verify that these neurons registered the neutral image, the researchers tested whether they could instigate the memory of the image stimulus by selectively activating the neurons without showing them the image. When they activated the neurons and paired that activation with a mild foot shock, they found that their subjects would subsequently be afraid of visual stimuli that looked similar to the image those cells encode. They found the reverse also to be true: after pairing the visual stimulus with a foot shock, their subjects would subsequently respond with fear to reactivating the neurons. "Basically, the precept of the visual stimulus and the precept of this completely artificial activation of the neurons generated the same response," said Sara Aton, senior author of the study and a professor in the UM Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. The researchers found that when they disrupted sleep after they showed the subjects an image and had given them a mild foot shock, there was no fear associated with the visual stimulus. Those with un-manipulated sleep learned to fear the specific visual stimulus that had been paired with the foot shock. "We found that these mice actually became afraid of every visual stimulus we showed them," Aton said. "From the time they go to the chamber where the visual stimuli are presented, they seem to know there's a reason to feel fear, but they don't know what specifically they're afraid of." This likely shows that, in order for them to make an accurate fear association with a visual stimulus, they have to have sleep-associated reactivation of the neurons encoding that stimulus in the sensory cortex. This allows a memory specific to that visual cue to be generated. The researchers think that at the same time, that sensory cortical area must communicate with other brain structures, to marry the sensory aspect of the memory to the emotional aspect. Aton said the findings could have implications for how anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder are understood. "To me this is kind of a clue that says, if you're linking fear to some very specific event during sleep, sleep disruption may affect this process. In the absence of sleep, the brain seems to manage processing the fact that you are afraid, but you may be unable to link that to what specifically you should be afraid of," Aton said. "That specification process may be one that goes awry with PTSD or generalized anxiety." The study, posted on UM's website on Monday, has been published in Nature Communications. Enditem The Syrian Observer sat down for an interview with the former US ambassador in Damascus Robert Ford to discuss his opinion on the new US administrations role in Syria. Robert Ford, the former US ambassador in Damascus when the uprising started in 2011, talks to our editor-in-chief Wael Sawah. In a recent article in Foreign Affairs, Robert Ford, former US ambassador in Damascus, calls the new US Administration to engage more with both Russia and Turkey to have them take on the anti-Islamic State (ISIS) burden. In relatively controversial comments, he says that while Russia is a far from perfect partner, its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad makes it the right force to take over the counter-ISIS fight. He adds that the US has invested more than needed in supporting the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and that this has created widespread frustration over Kurdish political dominance among Arabs. In this interview, Robert Ford talks with our editor-in-chief Wael Sawah about his views on where the Syrian conflict is heading and what future US policy could be. The recommendation you made in your recent article, featured in Foreign Affairs, has instigated serious concerns among the anti-Assad Syrian elite. In particular, you recommend that it would be better to let Russia and Turkey secure their national interests by taking on the anti-ISIS burden. This is a blatant call for the Biden Administration to withdraw from Syria, not only militarily, but also politically. Will such a step not undermine the United States role as a leader of the free world? My strong recommendation that the US withdraw from Syria is about American national security interests, not Russian interests. Let us be frank: (1) Russia, along with Iran, have long been the Assad governments key partners; (2) Nothing the US has done in the past ten years has changed that; (3) geo-strategically eastern Syria is not, and never was, a vital area for American national security interests. As you well know, no one from the American embassy even visited eastern Syria for years prior to 2011, and yet we never considered that to be a danger for American interests. By contrast, some make the argument that US assistance to the opposition, and to the YPG [Peoples Protection Units] and SDF [Syrian Democratic Forces], and especially material assistance to them, has increased Assads dependency on Russia and Iran. I am not sure I would go that far after all, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and others also provided material assistance to the opposition too, not just the Americans. Realistically, however, the presence of some hundreds of US soldiers patrolling in Hassakeh and Deir-ez-Zor province will not diminish Russian and Iranian influence. Syria has symbolized Russias recent return as a major global player, but in your article, you call for working more, rather than less with Moscow in Syria. What do you think are Russias core interests in Syria? Couldnt the US seek to weaken Russia on the Syrian front as a means to have more leverage in its relations with Moscow? Well, if the US withdrew from Syria, Russia would be obliged to increase its military presence to manage the additional territories in eastern Syria where it would operate. That would cost the Russians more in terms of men, material, and money. By contrast, the existing presence of US forces has not done much to cost the Russians extra resources. And the Russians can continue paying the costs of its operations in Syria. We should be honest about that. And let me add one last very honest point. China is now Americas biggest foreign challenger, not Russia. The world is different from how it was 15 years ago or 10 years ago. America does not now, and never did, have huge interests in Syria. Our interests in Syria were not as great as they were in Saudi Arabia or even Egypt, for example. It would be better for the Americans to see Russia as relatively neutral in the competition between the US and China. I do not understand why we would aggravate relations with Russia about Syria, where we have few interests, and we have a new, and serious geostrategic competition with China where Russian neutrality would be better for us. The US has worldwide interests and Syria is not at the center of them. I would like Syrians to understand this so that they can make their own calculations about what they should do in their conflict. The worst accusation against me is that I gave Syrians the impression the Americans would fight Assad for them in 2011 or 2012. You were there and you will recall that I cautioned every Syrian I met that the US air force would not come; I reminded them about our bitter Iraq war experience. But I accept that many did not believe my words, especially after the visit to Hama even though I told the Hamwis that they had to maintain only peaceful protests and the Americans would not intervene militarily. And sooner or later, the US forces will leave eastern Syria because American resources are not unlimited. So let us be extremely honest with Syrians now. Yes, but is the best way to achieve a political solution to leave the country to Russia? In the end, we cannot fix Syria. I do not know if Russia can, but Russia has some advantages that the US does not. It has open diplomatic channels with all the actors in the conflict, while the Americans have no communications with Damascus and Tehran. But that does not mean that the Russians have the ability to fix Syria. Actually, I doubt they will. Still, even if they cannot fix Syria that will not be a reason for us to stay. In the end, we have to be realistic a low level of fighting could continue for many years, and the Syrians will have to learn to live with that until they are ready to make compromises. So you are talking here about the military withdrawal, not the political role? Yes. I object to sending soldiers with an indefinite mission or timeline. What victory is there in northeastern Syria for us? The Russians have a different set of calculations in Syria: they have a historic presence and relationship with the Syrians. You are tackling Syria from other countries perspectives: Iran, Russia, and China. Isnt Syria a problem in itself that needs to be tackled independently? Of course, every country matters. The question is where is the line? I think the line lies in our security interests. We do not have security interests in Syria. There is a moral issue, but we cannot address that without considering our interests. From a geostrategic perspective, the United States now is weaker than it was 10 or 15 years ago. We are compelled to reduce our commitment and need to be selective in where we send our troops, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria? We need to be selective. So what about the US role as the leader of the democratic world, does this not have consequences and responsibility? It cannot be the policy of intervening militarily to spread democracy. Take Myanmar for example. There is no way that the US will intervene there to defend democracy. Again, we need to be more selective. And I have said that many times since 2011. I never stopped to repeat that there would be no intervention in Syria. If we did we would be there forever. Your analysis barely mentions the Iran dimension of the US presence in Syria. Isnt the US presence in the Northeast and in the Tanf area an important part of the wider US regional strategy to counter Iran? You are right that I didnt mention Iran in my article. Iranian forces are not physically present where the Americans operate. Should anyone be surprised that because of the US presence in Tanf the Iranians have established a strong position in Albukamal? Most analysts think that Iranian influence has grown, not diminished, in the past four years despite the American presence in Tanf. And who is trying to limit the Iranian influence in eastern Syria? American soldiers patrolling around Qamishli and Hassakeh or the Israeli air force? Again, lets be honest. Some might argue that in your analysis you make cynical proposals focused on narrow US interests with little regard to the massive destruction and human rights violations perpetrated by the Assad regime. Isnt the Biden Administration supposed to offer something different from Trumps in terms of its outlook on the world and on defending human rights? In the end, the Obama Administration was a public witness to the Syrian governments atrocities. And American diplomats and colleagues, like you were, witnessed that the demonstrations in 2011 were almost all peaceful. But we didnt fix the problem of government atrocities. We havent even fixed the problem of the regime using chemical weapons. And Biden, like Trump, wont start a new big war in Syria against Assad. You live in the US and you know most Americans will not support that, especially because Russia and Iran will escalate to match American escalation. As I have said many times America cant fix Syria. If you dont believe me, please just look at the last ten years. Democrat presidents like Carter and Clinton raised the banner of human rights. Republican George W Bush fought heavily for democracy. Do I have the right to understand that you want Biden to recoil from these two areas? Do you want Biden to be a mixture of the worst part of Obama and Trump? I absolutely do not want military forces to promote democracy. See what happened in Iraq. I have always been against the war in Iraq before it happened, and after that when I was deputy ambassador there after the war. See Afghanistan. We have been there for 20 years. What have we accomplished? Intervention does not change bad governance. It is a fact. You co-authored an op-ed in Newsweek with Wael Zayat, another diplomat who worked in Syria and is of Syrian descent. In your article, you focused on Idleb. Is your advice to Biden to use micropolitics rather than macropolitics? My advice is not to mix humanitarian assistance with politics. Avoid politics as much as possible. We need to find new mechanisms to send our assistance to the people in need. 1. Roads. The citys roads are a mess. Significant resources are needed to fix them. 2. Public safety. The crime rate is too high. Police pay and resources come first. 3. More city programs. The city must invest more in city programs and services. 4. Comprehensive plan. The city needs to focus on rebuilding and rebranding. 5. Cut city spending. City officials must get serious about trimming the budget. Vote View Results Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 23, 2021) - Alternative IQ announces a 1 hour virtual conference at which investors, investment advisors, family offices, institutional investors, and hedge fund industry experts hear some of Canada's brightest and best hedge fund managers address the key issues on the minds of investors considering using hedge funds as replacements for, and/or complements to, more traditional investments in their portfolios. A very timely conference, in the midst of market volatility and uncertainty. WHAT: An Exclusive Investor Conference featuring 5 of the 2020 Canadian Hedge Fund Award Winners WHEN: Tuesday, March 2, 2021 2:00pm - 3:15pm WHERE: Streaming Online WHO: Noah Blackstein, Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager, Dynamic Funds (1st Place Winner in 2020 for Best 3-year return and for Best 5-year return in the Equity Focused category) James Cole, Senior VP & Portfolio Manager, Portland Investment Counsel Inc. (3rd Place Winner in 2020 for Best 5-year Return in the Equity Focused category) Sandy Liang, Portfolio Manager, Purpose Investments (1st Place Winner in 2020 for Best 3-year Return and 2nd Place Winner for Best 3-year Sharpe ratio in the Credit Focused category) Jim McGovern, Managing Director and CEO, Arrow Capital Management (3rd Place Winner in 2020 for Best 5- year Return in the Global Macro category) Paul Sandhu, President & CEO, Marret Asset Management (1st Place Winner in 2020 for Best 1-year Return in the Credit Focused category) Each manager will make a brief, formal presentation and then face a panel of industry experts for a discussion about how and why their hedge fund will improve investment portfolio performance. Serious investors, investment advisors, family offices, institutional investors, and hedge fund industry experts who are interested in attending this online event should register here: CHFA Winners Showcase Investor Conference - 2021 :: Alternative IQ CONTACTS: Julie Makepeace Managing Director, Alternative IQ jmakepeace@alliancesalesandmarketing.com 416-906-3782 PHOTOS: Will be available following the event at: http://alternativeiq.com/winners-showcase-conferences/ To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75148 Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Since the skin is the largest organ in our bodies and there is a lot of misinformation about skincare, we felt launching an educational campaign would have the greatest impact for consumers to be proactive with their skincare regimen. - Dr. Coronado Avenoir Cosmetics, a leader in developing science-based, top performing skincare products, is excited to announce the launch of its #loveyourskin campaign through educational digital content. As a champion for inclusion and diversity in the skincare industry, Avenoir Cosmetics has been encouraging women and men to love their skin the way it is. The brand also advocates for repairing and rejuvenating their skin for a seamless, youthful look. Avenoir currently produces two types of facial products Cell Repair Serum Clinical Strength and Cell Repair Moisturizer which are inclusive for all skin types and tones. All Avenoir products include a proprietary ingredient Cell Repair Nutrient - to reduce signs of premature aging. Since the skin is the largest organ in our bodies and there is a lot of misinformation about skincare, we felt launching an educational campaign would have the greatest impact for consumers to be proactive with their skincare regimen, said Ramon Coronado, M.S., Ph.D., Co-Founder and Creator of Avenoir Cosmetics. The brands new campaign has been inspiring consumers to be confident in their own skin. On Avenoirs social media channels, the company has been consistent with showcasing educational beauty and skincare content. Additionally, Avenoir has deployed a micro-influencer campaign focused on the beauty and lifestyle industries. Influencers have been and continue to create various pieces of content that showcase the benefits of taking care of your skin health by using Avenoirs products. For more information about Avenoir Cosmetics, please visit https://avenoircosmetics.com. About Avenoir Cosmetics Avenoir Cosmetics was founded in 2020 to develop science-based, top performing skincare products. The companys mission is to formulate products that work on all skin types and skin tones which is achieved by using only scientifically proven ingredients. After years of stem cell research, Avenoir is the only company in the world using its proprietary ingredient in its products - Cell Repair Nutrient. This formula is developed with over 2,500+ proteins, cytokines and growth factors to help achieve a smoother, seamless texture for your skin. A settlement agreement has been reached in a lawsuit that alleged James Franco intimidated students at an acting and film school he founded into gratuitous and exploitative sexual situations. A status report jointly filed by the two sides in Los Angeles Superior Court said a settlement had been reached in the class-action suit brought by former students at the now-defunct school, Studio 4, though elements of the lawsuit may live on. The document was filed on Feb. 11, but the settlement has not previously been reported. Actresses and ex-students Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, who first filed the lawsuit in 2019, have agreed to drop their individual claims under the agreement, according to the court filing. Their lawsuit said Franco pushed his students into performing in increasingly explicit sex scenes on camera in an orgy type setting that went far beyond those acceptable on Hollywood film sets. It alleged that Franco sought to create a pipeline of young women who were subjected to his personal and professional sexual exploitation in the name of education, and that students were led to believe roles in Francos films would be available to those who went along. The lawsuits said the incidents occurred in a master class on sex scenes that Franco taught at Studio 4, which opened in 2014 and closed in 2017. The two sides had been in discussions on a settlement for several months, and the lawsuits progress had been paused while they talked. Emails to several attorneys for both sides seeking comment on the agreement and more details on the terms were not immediately returned. In a previous court filing, Francos attorneys, while praising the #MeToo movement that helped inspire the lawsuit, called its claims false and inflammatory, legally baseless and brought as a class action with the obvious goal of grabbing as much publicity as possible for attention-hungry Plaintiffs. They pointed out that Tither-Kaplan had previously expressed gratitude for the opportunity to work with Franco. The lawsuit also names Francos production company Rabbit Bandini and his partners including Vince Jolivette and Jay Davis as defendants. The sexual exploitation allegations of other plaintiffs in the class action will be dismissed without prejudice, meaning they may be re-filed, the joint status report said. Fraud allegations brought by those plaintiffs will be subjected to limited release, the document says, without further details or explanation. The document does not reveal how much money may be involved in the deal, which the parties say they will submit for preliminary court approval by March 15. Before filing the lawsuit, Tither-Kaplan aired her allegations of sexual misconduct against Franco along with other women in the Los Angeles Times after Franco won a Golden Globe Award for The Disaster Artist in early 2018, when the wave of the (hash)MeToo movement was sweeping across Hollywood. In a subsequent interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Franco called the sexual misconduct stories about him inaccurate, but said, If Ive done something wrong, I will fix it. I have to. Franco, 42, best known for starring in comedies with Seth Rogen, has generally kept a low-profile since the allegations arose in what had been a highly productive period that culminated in the acclaimed Disaster Artist. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits California That brings us to the end of the blog for today, and for the foreseeable future! With case numbers remaining steady - or falling - and the vaccine continuing to be rolled out, were going to stop running the live blog from this evening. We hope we dont have a reason to start up again - because thats never good news - but were at the ready if we need to. You can follow the vaccination progress being made in Australia and around the world here. You can also get our Coronavirus Update newsletter to stay across the news you need to know related to the pandemic. Sign up to The Sydney Morning Heralds newsletter here and The Ages here. Thanks for joining us, its always been a pleasure reading your comments, questions and feedback. Heres a wrap of everything thats happened today: Two elderly people in a Queensland nursing home have accidentally received overdoses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine. An 88-year-old man and a 94-year-old woman were given an excessive amount of the vaccine at the Holy Spirit Nursing Home at Carseldine in Brisbanes north. The doctor involved has been temporarily stood down, and Health Minister Greg Hunt confirmed they had not done the required training. Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly says both residents are doing well and not showing any adverse side effects from the overdose. But Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has called for a national cabinet meeting to be held as soon as possible to address the issue. Victoria has recorded no new COVID-19 cases for the fifth day in a row. Queensland has achieved 48 days straight without a case of community transmission, while New South Wales has reached its 38th day without a local case (a record for the state). NSW residents will be allowed to dance at weddings (albeit in rotating groups) and hold gatherings of 50 people at their homes, under new coronavirus restrictions announced by Premier Gladys Berejiklian this morning. But it appears dancing will not be allowed at this years Mardi Gras. Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has defended the governments decision to increase JobSeeker payments by $25 a week, saying that 600,000 fewer people are on JobKeeper, which shows the economy is recovering and that people dont need those broader supports. Thousands of front-line workers are being vaccinated across the country, but NSW appears to be leading the charge. More than 3200 quarantine hotel staff and healthcare workers have received the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine, compared with 1200 in Victoria and about 530 in Queensland. The Victorian government will trial the use of robots in hotel quarantine to monitor breaches and provide an additional layer of security in the wake of multiple coronavirus leakages. South Australia will welcome Melburnians back to the state from Friday morning, and South Australians stranded in the Victorian capital will be allowed to return home without having a coronavirus test. Overseas, US authorities are scrambling to catch up on COVID-19 vaccinations a week after winter storms battered a large swath of the country and led to clinic closures, cancelled appointments and shipment backlogs nationwide. So with that, goodbye, and thanks again for reading! Shares of edged higher by 8 per cent to Rs 329 on the BSE in intra-day trade on Tuesday on the back of heavy volumes after the company outlined ambition to reach double-digit commercial vehicle (CV) margins and high single-digit passenger vehicle (PV) margins in coming years. It maintained plans to attain zero debt (excluding leases) by FY24 through strong operating cash flows and divestments. At 03:08 pm, the stock was trading 6 per cent higher at Rs 322 on the BSE, as compared to a marginal 0.01 per cent risen in the S&P BSE Sensex. A combined around 130 million equity shares changed hands on the NSE and BSE. Shares of DVR were up 5 per cent at Rs 124, after surging 7 per cent to Rs 126 on the BSE in intra-day trade. A combined total 7.7 million equity shares of the company changed hands on both exchanges. In its virtual 2021 investor event for Indian operations, guided for sustainable free cash flow (FCF) generation in CVs and PVs (from FY24E onwards for the latter). The company said CV demand tailwinds are converging but peak industry volumes are two to three years away and the company would continue to lead 4-W electrification in India. We came away enthused by the exciting progress that the company has been making in its domestic CV, PV turnaround efforts. Tata Motors reiterated its commitment towards near-zero automotive net debt level by FY24E and is open to partnership in domestic PV business given segments capex needs, said in a note. For Tata Motors, India business contributed around 18 per cent of FY20 sales (CV 14 per cent, PV 4 per cent). With impending investor day for scheduled on February 26, 2021, our present estimates factor in our positivity on the changing India landscape, and hence we do not alter them, the brokerage said. However, it added that given the management intent on FCF generation and the profitable growth journey that lies ahead we upgrade our valuation multiples across business segments. It retained a BUY rating on the stock with a revised target price of Rs 350 (earlier Rs 301) on SOTP basis. Motilal Oswal Financial Services maintained a BUY rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 390 per share. The outlook for FY22 is positive as tailwinds are likely to be stronger than headwinds, the brokerage said. "Tata Motors expects the overall domestic CV industry to grow by 36-38 per cent in FY22, with M&HCV growing at 60-65 per cent. Replacement demand is yet to return due to apprehension on the viability of BS-VI technology, and an increase in the CV population. Demand is driven by freight growth. The latter should be good as economies recover. Also, recovery in infra and real estate will be supportive," the brokerage added. A Colorado Springs man strangled his ex-girlfriend before concealing her body in a plastic tote and kicking it off a cliff on a remote mountain road, investigators alleged in court Monday. Daveon Artez Rogers, 31, will face a first-degree murder trial in the killing of 28-year-old Elizabeth Michelle Lizzy Kremer, 4th Judicial District Chief Judge William Bain ruled at the conclusion of a day-long preliminary hearing. The judge also ordered Rogers held without bond, finding there is a fair likelihood he is in danger of being convicted based on the evidence against him, which prosecutors said disproved Rogers claims that he choked her in self-defense. Among the evidence of preplanning were threatening messages Rogers sent the victim by phone and over social media accounts, and weeks of suspicious Internet activity, including Google searches in which he asked how to commit the perfect murder, witnesses testified. Days before Rogers claimed he placed his ex-girlfriend in a rear naked chokehold that caused her death, he searched on YouTube for videos demonstrating how to execute the maneuver. That is not a quick death. That is not an impulsive death. That is not something that happens in a short time frame, prosecutor Kelson Castain said. Fort Carson soldier arrested in wife's shooting death in Colorado Springs A Fort Carson soldier turned himself in after saying he shot his wife in a home in southeast Colorado Springs last weekend, police said Monday. An autopsy concluded Kremer died of homicidal asphyxiation, according to testimony by Dr. Emily Russell of the El Paso County Coroners Office. Attorneys for Rogers called the case against him circumstantial, and said the autopsy that concluded Kremer died in a homicide was "speculative." They suggested police had fed Rogers information that led him to make incriminating statements. Kremer, of Colorado Springs, was the mother of Rogers two children and had moved out of their shared apartment a month earlier, telling relatives she had fled an abusive relationship, authorities said. She had been seeking split custody at the time of her disappearance. Kremers boyfriend said he last saw her on March 8, before she left to pick up her children from Rogers apartment at the Aviator Apartment Homes, 1670 N. Murray Blvd. She didnt come home, and her boyfriend reported her missing March 11. Kremers body was found March 22 in a plastic bin that had been dumped over a cliffside on Gold Camp Road, between the first and second tunnels. Four teenagers were climbing on rocks when they saw the bin beneath them, lying on its side on a gravelly slope, an investigator testified. After hiking down to the bin, one of the teens used a key to cut through duct tape securing its lid, authorities said. CO Appeals Court overturns 3-year sentence for former nurse who helped Patrick Frazee after Kelsey Berreth murder Krystal Jean Kenney, the former nurse who helped Teller County rancher Patrick Frazee clean up blood after the murder of his fiance Kelsey Ber During his first interview with police on April 22, Rogers said Kremer stopped by his apartment for a few minutes to pick up their kids and left. He said she returned the children several hours later, and that the two quarreled over custody issues before she again left. During a follow-up interrogation in June, police confronted him with surveillance footage showing Kremer never returned to her sport-utility vehicle after her first visit. Rogers then said Kremer came at him with a knife, forcing him to place her in a mixed-martial arts hold in which he used his arms to squeeze her neck until she went limp. He told police that he had placed their two children in a room and blocked the door earlier in their quarrel. Rogers said he panicked after Kremer's death and called his mother and brother for help. Rogers told police that his brother, Denerio Rogers, obtained the plastic bin from a store and helped carry her body outside and stow it in the back of her Nissan Rogue, a detective testified. He said he drove out to Gold Camp Road, backed up to the edge, engaged the parking brake, climbed into backseat and kicked the crate out, Colorado Springs police detective Brent Jacobsen said. Denerio Rogers hasnt been charged in the case, court records show. +3 Pandemic-fueled domestic violence leads to homicide spike in Colorado's largest cities Peter Walker was cooking in his downtown Colorado Springs home midafternoon on New Years Day 2020, when his housemate stuck a 2-inch blade o The SUV was left 2400 block of Split Rock Drive in the Rockrimmon area. It was found weeks later, after a resident called to report it had been abandoned. Inside the vehicle was plastic tote handle like one missing from the bin that contained Kremers body, along with court paperwork concerning the childrens custody. Kremers death was among a string of domestic-violence attacks in 2020 that pushed the city into a record year for homicides, with 39. More than a quarter of the deaths involved domestic violence, The Gazette reported in January. TESSA, a nonprofit that assists domestic violence victims, typically helps about 15,000 people per year. In 2020, the organization said it helps up to 23,000 people. Infosys on Tuesday said that it has been recognised as the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, as one of the world's most ethical companies for 2021 by Ethisphere Institute. Infosys was distinguished for its undiluted commitment towards integrity and making value-based decisions. With this, Infosys has become one of only four honorees in the Software and Services Industry globally, and one of the only three honorees in India. In 2021, as many as 135 honorees were recognized spanning 22 countries and 47 industries. This year, the process was streamlined, and the question set expanded to gauge how companies are adapting and responding to the global health pandemic, environmental, social and governance factors, safety, equity, inclusion, and social justice. Infosys showcased a strong connection between ethical practices and solid performance in the global market. The recognition additionally spotlighted Infosys in the areas of ethics and compliance, diversity, governance, and social initiatives. "2020 ushered many hardships for the world putting us through one of the most difficult tests of all times. While addressing various tough challenges, we saw companies not just working towards earning the trust of stakeholders through resilience and a commitment to ethics, transparency, and integrity but advancing their corporate cultures for the greater good," Timothy Erblich, Chief Executive Officer of Ethisphere, said He added: We are delighted to acknowledge Infosys for its firm commitment to creating the highest value for the communities they serve while prioritizing social imperatives. We would like to congratulate everyone at Infosys for earning this designation." Salil Parekh, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Infosys, said, "We are extremely honored to receive this prestigious recognition from the Ethisphere Institute." "Flawless execution with integrity and compliance is the cornerstone of our continued success, and we firmly believe that an integrity-based approach greatly influences business success." "Infosys' core values are the foundation on which we have built our success over the years. This acknowledgment further encourages us to stay committed to operating with high ethical standards and transparency, especially in these unprecedented times," he added. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The global roll-your-own tobacco product market size is expected to reach USD 10.42 billion by 2028, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. It is expected to expand at a CAGR of 4.2% from 2021 to 2028. The rising consumption of products among females and students is fueling market growth over the world. The adoption rate of the product is increasing among the youth in major economies, including the U.S. Moreover, the financial stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged numerous smokers to shift from factory-made cigarettes to hand-rolled cigarettes due to the cost advantage of roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco products. Key suggestions from the report: North America is expected to register the fastest CAGR of 4.7% from 2021 to 2028 owing to the increasing adoption of the product among the young consumers By product, the filter and paper tip segment is expected to register the fastest CAGR of 4.7% from 2021 to 2028 Europe dominated the market by accounting for over 55.0% in 2020. The rate of smoking in the European countries has contributed to the growth of the market in the region Offline distribution channel held the largest share of more than 85.0% in 2020 Read 80 page research report with ToC on "Roll-Your-Own Tobacco Product Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Products (RYO Tobacco, Filter & Paper Tip), By Distribution Channel (Offline, Online), And Segment Forecasts, 2021 - 2028" at: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/roll-your-own-tobacco-products-market The filter and paper tip segment is expected to register the fastest CAGR of 4.7% from 2021 to 2028. Rapid research and product development of new kinds of filters focusing on removing maximum tar, nicotine, and certain gases are estimated to fuel the segment growth. Furthermore, the introduction of biodegradable or environment-friendly filters is expected to boost the demand for filter and paper tips in the upcoming years. Europe dominated the market with a revenue share of more than 55.0% in 2020. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Europe reported the highest prevalence of smoking among adults (28%), with a percentage of the consumption trend observed among adolescents. Cigarettes witnessed the highest consumption among Europeans. The popularity of RYO cigarettes is on the rise among consumers due to the cost-effectiveness of the products and the availability of varied flavors. The consumption of RYO cigarettes in the region is mainly concentrated among men who smoke regularly. Companies are looking to maintain their brand image and gain customer loyalty by upgrading their offerings according to customer specifications and studying consumer behavior patterns. Key players in the market are offering tobacco products in different sizes, flavors, and attractive packaging. These initiatives by manufacturers are propelling the global demand for premium roll-your-own tobacco products. Grand View Research has segmented the global roll-your-own tobacco product market on the basis of product, distribution channel, and region: RYO Tobacco Products Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028) RYO Tobacco Rolling Paper & Cigarette Tubes Injector Filter & Paper Tip RYO Tobacco Product Distribution Channel Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028) Offline Online RYO Tobacco Product Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028) North America U.S. Europe Germany U.K. France Asia Pacific China Australia Central & South America Brazil Middle East & Africa List of Key Players of Roll-Your-Own Tobacco Product Market Imperial Brands British American Tobacco Japan Tobacco International Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S Altria Group, Inc. Philip Morris International HBI International Curved Papers, Inc. Karma Filter Tips Shine Brands Find more research reports on Alcohol & Tobacco industry, by Grand View Research: Tobacco Market The global tobacco market size was valued at USD 932.11 billion in 2020 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.8% from 2021 to 2028. The global tobacco market size was valued at in 2020 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.8% from 2021 to 2028. U.S. Tobacco Market The U.S. tobacco market size was USD 100.3 billion in 2016 and is expected to grow further over the forecast period. The U.S. tobacco market size was in 2016 and is expected to grow further over the forecast period. Clove Cigarettes Market The global clove cigarettes market size was valued at USD 99.45 billion in 2018 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 4.5% from 2019 to 2025. Gain access to Grand View Compass, our BI enabled intuitive market research database of 10,000+ reports About Grand View Research Grand View Research, U.S.-based market research and consulting company, provides syndicated as well as customized research reports and consulting services. Registered in California and headquartered in San Francisco, the company comprises over 425 analysts and consultants, adding more than 1200 market research reports to its vast database each year. These reports offer in-depth analysis on 46 industries across 25 major countries worldwide. With the help of an interactive market intelligence platform, Grand View Research helps Fortune 500 companies and renowned academic institutes understand the global and regional business environment and gauge the opportunities that lie ahead. Contact: Sherry James Corporate Sales Specialist, USA Grand View Research, Inc. Phone: 1-415-349-0058 Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.grandviewresearch.com Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. SAT preparation at PSU Schuylkill SCHUYLKILL HAVEN Penn State Schuylkills SAT preparation course, a four-day event, will begin March 8 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The course, according to a campus press release, helps to increase SAT scores, helping participating students with grammar, math and reading skills in preparation for the SAT exam set for March 13. For more information, visit the event website at schuylkill.psu.edu/community-engagement/pre-college-programs/satprep. People may also call 570-385-6112, according to a release from the campus Samantha Bower. Barbera joins Eye Consultants POTTSVILLE Dr. Angela Au Barbera has joined Eye Consultants of Pennsylvania as a fellowship-trained retina/vitreous specialist in the practices Wyomissing, Pottsville and Lebanon offices, according to a press release. A board-certified specialist in medical and surgical diseases of the retina and vitreous, Barbera previously worked in both private practice and in academic hospital settings and served as assistant professor of clinical ophthalmology at Albany Medical Center and at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University. She also held the leadership positions of assistant program director and program director of the ophthalmology residency program at Temple University Hospital, according to the release. Barbera completed her undergraduate and medical degrees through the six-year accelerated BS/MD program between Penn State University and Jefferson Medical College. She completed her internship at Crozer-Chester Medical Center and her ophthalmology residency at Temple University Hospital, where she was chief resident. She also completed a fellowship in vitreo-retinal surgery at Albany Medical Center/Retina Consultants. She is a published research author in peer-reviewed medical journals, regarding work in diabetic retinopathy, retinal tumors and telemedicine. For more on Eye Consultants of Pennsylvania, go online to EyeConsultantsOfPA.com. Providence Place receptionist feted POTTSVILLE A local Providence Place Senior Living team member is one of three people saluted statewide via the Ceca Foundation for excellence in caregiving. Annually, the foundation honors three extraordinary health caregivers with its annual Ceca awards. Melissa Amburn, a receptionist at the Providence Place Pottsville community, was one of three recipients of the 2020 annual $2,500 award, according to a Providence Place release. She was recognized for her kindness, positivity and her bright, engaging demeanor. One of her standout acts of care, according to the release, was a surprise going-away breakfast she organized for a resident. On her own time, Amburn created invitations, organized the meal and bought a memory book for all the residents friends to write in. She also offered to help the resident shovel snow or run errands after returning home. A daughter of the resident spoke about how Amburn would return to help her mother with a variety of tasks and referred to Amburn as Happy Feet, acknowledging her good deeds. The foundation annually recognizes the best of the best with its highest award. As one of the annual honorees, Amburn also received a trophy was celebrated by fellow staff members, patients, families, and the Ceca team. For more on Providence Place, go online to www.Providence-Place.com. The Ceca Foundation is a 501c(3) nonprofit that partners with healthcare communities to recognize outstanding caregivers and improve quality of care. Supervision series slated at campus SCHUYLKILL HAVEN Penn State Schuylkills Supervision Essentials Series, session one, will begin from 9 a.m. to noon Thursdays beginning March 18 and going to May 6, according to a release from the campus Samantha Bower. Participants will be able to improve their business teams performance, according to the release. This will be the first of two eight-week sessions presented by Jamie Barton, vice president of Jack Rich Inc. It will explore supervisory roles and responsibilities and managing-employee performance. The second eight-week sessions will go on Thursdays from May 13 to July 1. More information is available at the event website at schuylkill.psu.edu/community-engagement/certificate-programs/supervision-essentials-series. People may also call 570-385-6112 or go online to schuylkill.psu.edu. MAB treatment at Miners Campus COALDALE The St. Lukes University Health Network has announced that a monoclonal antibody COVID treatment clinic has been opened at St. Lukes Miners Campus, 360 W. Ruddle St., describing it in a press release as a powerful weapon for treating people with the COVID-19 virus and a proven therapy. Such therapy has helped hospitals in the greater Lehigh Valley avoid being overwhelmed during the current surge, allowing certain high-risk patients to recover quickly in the comfort of their own homes, according to the release. Granted emergency authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, monoclonal antibodies block the virus attachment and entry into human cells. Infusion has been found to be particularly effective in preventing the need for hospitalization in select, higher-risk patients including those 65 and older and whose infection, identified early, does not yet require supplemental oxygen. Infusions are provided from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. two days a week. Since last fall, the network has operated two other such clinics, at St. Lukes Easton and St. Lukes Warren. Patients will need a referral for the infusion from their primary care physician. Patients arriving MAB treatment should call the infusion nurse at 570-645-1801 to be escorted into the clinic. Parking is available in front of the ambulance entrance of the emergency department. MAB recipients should plan to spend approximately four hours at the clinic and no visitors are permitted to accompany a patient into the clinic. For more information, call 866-785-8537, option 4. Marketing basics in CEBA series SHENANDOAH The next in a series of virtual presentations featuring community professionals and presented by the revitalization group Downtown Shenandoah Inc. in its CEBA Connects 2021 effort is set for noon to 1 p.m. March 24, titled, Market Basics: Effective Budget-Friendly Tips, presented by Lisa Robinson, business instructor, Penn State World Campus/Penn State Schuylkill. CEBA is the Center for Education, Business and Arts innovation center DSI plans to begin constructing this year in the 100 block of North Main Street. Participants, according to a release, will learn to make a big impact with a small marketing budget as Robinson will share a variety of inexpensive strategies to help small businesses and nonprofits. They will also learn how to make the most of social media platforms, strengthen community partnerships, benefit from volunteering and other marketing basics to get the word out their enterprise. To register, go online to discoverceba.com/events. Donations to the CEBA project can be made online at discoverceba.com or mailed or dropped off at the DSI office, 116 S. Main Street, Shenandoah, PA 17976. St. Lukes develops faster phone setup BETHLEHEM People 75 or older and registered at St. Lukes University Health Network can expect an automated call to schedule an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine. St. Lukes has launched a new technology called Shot-Line, an automated scheduling system that will allow people to self-schedule their appointments over the phone, according to a SLUHN release. Existing St. Lukes patients who have yet to be vaccinated and are eligible according to Pennsylvania Department of Health guidelines will receive a call on the phone number they listed on their St. Lukes patient records. During the call from 1-866-785-8537 an automated voice recording will ask if they would like to receive the vaccine. If they answer yes, they will undergo a COVID-19 eligibility check, and, if successful, will be given three appointment dates and times at the vaccine site nearest to the location on their record. They can then select the appointment time that is best for them by pushing that option number and be scheduled within three to four minutes. We are starting with those over 75 because a good number of people 75 and over have not yet been vaccinated, Shishir Singh, director of development, said in the release. Singh and the members of the St. Lukes Department of Information Technology developed the automated scheduling system internally. SLUHN piloted the program on a small number of patients in early February and is scaling it up based on the feedback received. For more on the St. Lukes network, go online to https://www.slhn.org. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 23, 2021) - SoLVBL Solutions Inc. (CSE: SOLV) (the "Company" or "SoLVBL") is pleased to announce that it will commence trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol SOLV at the open of business today. SoLVBL's vision is a world where every digital record's authenticity can be established quickly and irrefutably. SoLVBL will operate in the Cyber Security and Data authentication sectors. The world is living in an increasingly digital age with digital forgery a growing problem. SoLVBL is focused on creating trust, expeditiously, by allowing data to be authenticated before use. Ray Pomroy, CEO of SoLVBL commented, "I am excited to share this announcement as it represents a significant milestone for SoLVBL, our team and our shareholders." Q by SoLVBL is an innovative, proprietary data authentication SaaS that uniquely features advanced cryptography for data authenticity. It offers integrity protection against data substitution or corruption (for data at rest), as well as Man-in-the-middle attacks (for data in motion). "Having led the supply chain initiatives at Unilever Canada, I know, firsthand what it takes to ensure security and data integrity. I am very proud of our team's accomplishments and look forward to delivering long-term value for all stakeholders across a variety of sectors," added Mr. Pomroy. The cyber security market size was valued at $149.67 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach $304.91 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 9.4% from 2020 to 2027. North America accounts for 45% of the global market for Cyber Security. The Data security & privacy segment is expected to outpace the total market growth for cyber security. SoLVBL's main product offering is Q by SoLVBL, targeting the Data security and privacy segment. Q by SoLVBL operates at unprecedented speed and scalability, having a capability of processing over 150,000 transactions per second with low levels of latency. A key feature is confidentiality, as Q by SoLVBL never keep records of any data. SoLVBL is currently pursuing the following verticals, Information attribution and authenticity (legal, digital evidence, medical, financial etc.), Pharmaceutical verification, Advertising audits and Supply chain tracing. By using Q by SoLVB: you Create trust fast by stamping before storing and verifying before using. For further information, please contact: Raymond Pomroy, Chief Executive Officer 15 Toronto Street, Suite 602, Toronto, Ontario, M5C2E3, www.SoLVBL.com Email: Ray.Pomroy@SoLVBL.com Tel: 905.510.7982 The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. NEITHER THE CSE NOR ITS MARKET REGULATOR (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE CSE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. Except as required by law, SoLVBL Solutions Inc. assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein in the United States. The securities described herein have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities law and may not be offered or sold in the "United States", as such term is defined in Regulation S promulgated under the U.S. Securities Act, unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration requirements is available. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75188 Envision Peripherals, Inc. (EPI), an affiliate of TPV Technology Limited (TPV), today debuts the Philips Brilliance 279P1 LCD monitor with USB-C connectivity. The Brilliance 279P1 offers users UltraClear 4K UHD on an IPS panel, with convenient USB-C connection. Users connecting their laptop to the monitor via its USB-C port can charge their laptop while working without the need for a separate HDMI connection, reducing clutter. Features like SmartErgo base, Flicker-free and LowBlue mode make work easy and less stressful on eyes. The Philips 279P1 is available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KFLY9DQ for $349.99 USD, starting February 23, 2021 at 12:01 AM PST. Single Cable USB-C Connection This Philips display features a built-in USB type-C docking station with power delivery. With intelligent and flexible power management, users can power charge their compatible laptop directly. Its slim, reversible USB-C connector allows for easy, one-cable docking. Simplify your setup by connecting all peripherals like your keyboard, mouse and an RJ-45 Ethernet cable to the monitor's docking station. Users can watch high-resolution video and transfer data at super-speed, while powering up their notebooks at the same time. Designed for the Way You Work This Philips display utilizes high-performance panels to deliver UltraClear, 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) resolution images. Whether the user demands extremely detailed images for CAD solutions, 3D graphics applications or monster spreadsheets, the Philips 279P1 will make the content and graphics come alive in up to 1.07 billion colors. This monitor meets TUV Rheinland Eye Comfort standard to prevent eye strain caused by prolonged computer use. With TUV Eye Comfort certification, the Philips 279P1 ensures flicker-free, low-blue ray usage, protecting the eyes while reducing reflections, making it ideal for people who work long hours at their computer. With the ergonomic stand to have a wide viewing angle and less reduction of image quality from different angles, the Philips 279P1 is designed to keep users eyes healthy and boost work productivity. Finally, the SmartErgoBase's people-friendly height, swivel, tilt and rotation angle adjustments position the monitor for maximum comfort. Sustainable Eco-design PowerSensor is a built-in 'people sensor' that transmits and receives harmless infrared signals to determine if the user is present and then automatically reduces monitor brightness when the user steps away from the desk, cutting energy costs by up to 80 percent and prolonging monitor life. LightSensor uses a smart sensor to adjust the picture brightness depending on the light conditions in the room for the perfect picture with minimal power usage. Equipped with PowerSensor and LightSensor, the Philips 279P1 saves up to 80% energy cost while deliver the ideal brightness. In larger corporate installations, power savings can be quite significant. Availability The Philips 279P1 will be available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KFLY9DQ for $349.99 USD and will be available at BestBuy.com for $379.99 USD, shortly after. To request review samples or for more information on Philips Displays, contact Jamy Reyes at jamy.reyes@epius.com or Huishan Liu at huishan.liu@epius.com. About EPI Envision Peripherals, Inc. (EPI) is a California corporation, headquartered in Milpitas, California. It is an affiliate of TPV Technology Limited (TPV), which is one of the worlds leading monitor and LCD TV manufacturers. EPI exclusively markets and sells Philips-branded monitors, computer peripherals, and digital signage in North America under trademark license by Koninklijke Philips N.V. By combining the Philips brand promise with TPVs manufacturing expertise in displays, EPI uses a fast and focused approach to bringing innovative products to market. EPIs main office is in Milpitas, California. For more information on the complete range of Philips and AOC products, visit usa.philips.com/monitors, usa.philips.com/headphones, us.aoc.com, or call (510) 770-9988. The provinces of Deir ez-Zor, Hasakah and Raqqa, and the Manbij area in the countryside of Aleppo, which are under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), have been subject to a series of attacks by the Islamic State (IS) over the past few weeks. These attacks, carried out by IS-affiliated cells and locals who previously fought with IS, are targeting civilians and SDF members in those areas IS has stepped up its operations in early 2020 after having faded away since losing its last strongholds in eastern Deir ez-Zor on March 23, 2019. These operations included directly attacking checkpoints and patrols, assassinating SDF members or collaborators, and planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on the roads. IS activity in the areas in the east of the Euphrates is not limited to specific geographical points, but rather stretches across the provinces of Raqqa, Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor, and mostly focus on SDF-controlled areas in the countryside of Deir ez-Zor, specifically the area extending between the cities of al-Suwar and al-Busayrah, as well as the towns of al-Zer, al-Hawaij, al-Shehail and Darnaj. Orabi Orabi, a researcher on Islamic groups, told Al-Monitor, IS follows a strategy of striking and draining during the stage of weakening [its opponents]. It adopts two methods of attacks: The first relies on lone wolves, i.e., one person who plans and executes the attack without referring to the leadership, but this rarely happens in Syria. IS in Syria usually resorts to the second method, which is relying on organized cells, especially in SDF-controlled areas. He said, IS operations are divided into security and military attacks. Military operations are carried out by targeting moving objects using IEDs that are planted in the cars of leading figures in the SDF. As for the security operations such as killings and assassinations, these are carried out by cells. Over 100 attacks of this type were carried out in 2020, in addition to over 40 kidnappings, during which the kidnapped are killed after extracting information from them. This is proof of IS escalating security operations in SDF-controlled areas east of the Euphrates. Orabi added, IS is known for its ability to penetrate its opponents ranks through the many cells it employs. Most of IS attacks in SDF-controlled areas were carried out against fixed targets, such as military barracks and headquarters. IS is able to perfect such operations due to the large number of cells spread across a wide geographical area. IS operations were not limited to SDF military members but eventually evolved to include civilian bodies working with the SDF, such as the local councils responsible for civil services, and employees of the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northeast Syria, in addition to civilians who are not related to any party. This represents a dangerous development in how these cells operate for the sole purpose of violence and revenge. IS has also carried out numerous killings against civilians in al-Hol camp and other areas. IS also captured a man who had fought against the group in the past and beheaded him. His body was found in February dumped in front of the municipal council of the SDF-controlled al-Shaheil town in the countryside of Deir ez-Zor. Saad al-Shareh, a researcher and political analyst, told Al-Monitor, The security and military operations carried out by IS cells east of the Euphrates increased in 2020 compared to the operations that were carried out in the desert area west of the Euphrates, which is controlled by the regime forces. It seems that IS positioning in the southeastern area of Hasakah province extending to the northeastern border of the city of al-Bukamal, which connects with the Iraqi borders, allows IS to carry out security operations targeting people who previously fought against it and those working in the ranks of the autonomous administration and those loyal to it. He noted, Not a week goes by without IS cells carrying out one or a couple of security operations at least, which indicates that it does not find it difficult to implement such attacks because these are not military operations and thus do not require planning and equipping a large number of people with weapons. In 2020, IS no longer targeted the US forces, which were its top enemy in 2019. IS is carrying out such operations to show the world that it did not die out but is rather seeking to regain control of the areas it has lost, by recruiting new fighters. IS aims to prove that all military and security campaigns and the arrests of IS affiliates have failed to curb its activity. The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) documented the killing of 61 civilians at the hands of IS cells, between March 1, 2019, and Feb. 18, 2021, including 10 children and four women, distributed over three provinces 24 victims in Deir ez-Zor, 34 in Raqqa and three in Hasakah. SNHR head Fadel Abdul Ghani told Al-Monitor, IS relies on the grievances of the residents of the SDF-controlled areas, taking advantage of the SDF's violations against civilians and the SDF stealing the resources of those cities such as oil and selling it to the Syrian regime in order to recruit cells and carry out operations against the SDF forces and headquarters, often causing the death of many civilians in those areas. Slate has suspended a popular podcast host 'indefinitely' after he defended the use of the N-word in certain contexts during a discussion with colleagues over the resignation of a New York Times reporter who used the slur. Mike Pesca, the host of The Gist, told the New York Times, that he was suspended indefinitely on Monday pending an investigation. He was initially told on Friday that he would be suspended for a week without pay. The suspension stemmed from his defense of the use of the slur in certain contexts by a 'non-African American' during a discussion over Slack last week. During the conversation, Slate staff members talked about Donald G. McNeil Jr, a Times reporter who said he was resigning after using the slur during a discussion about racism while leading a student trip in 2019. Slate has reportedly suspended popular podcast host, Mike Pesca (pictured in 2019), 'indefinitely' after he defended the use of the N-word in certain contexts during a discussion with colleagues over the resignation of a New York Times reporter who used the slur According to Defector, during the conversation Pesca suggested that McNeil should not have resigned, writing: 'McNeil's journalism made the Times more valuable to more Americans than having ousted him in 2019 would have.' 'My points are his internal conduct was in a grey area, you guys don't think it was, Pesca reportedly told his coworkers. 'Here's my position. Expressing the views, not the word, the views he did on that trip are not fire-able. Worthy of a talking to or a 'What are you doing as a representative of the Times, Don?' But nothing requirement [sic] much angst among management or staff? Or no? should the Times discipline staffers who question the idea of white supremacy or who express retrograde ideas on mass incarceration?' Pesca wrote. In response, Slate staff writer, Rachelle Hampton, who is black, hit back at Pesca's comments, saying: 'Feel like it's weird that everyone's dancing around the point that working in an environment where white people feel empowered to say the n-word in service of whatever argument they want to make is incredibly hostile for black people.' According to Defector, the conversation continued for a few more hours with Pesca making his final point: 'I don't think it's proper to use it in casual conversation and I'm in no position to tell Black NY Times workers that they shouldn't be worried it's going to pop out of a colleague's mouth at some point. 'If you want my opinion it's that there are some limited reasons why a non African American journalist or professor to use the word when conveying a quote in the name of clarity or factualness [] But it's not a comfortable point to even pursue right now. If I had the opposite opinion I know a hundred ways I could make the opinion I actually have seem horrible and racist, and you know what, maybe it is.' During the debate, Pesca suggested that Donald McNeil (pictured) should not have resigned, writing: 'McNeil's journalism made the Times more valuable to more Americans than having ousted him in 2019 would have' Eventually, Slate's chief executive, Dan Check, stepped in to shut down the discussion. Joel Anderson, a black staff member at Slate, told the Times: 'For black employees, it's an extremely small ask to not hear that particular slur and not have debate about whether it's OK for white employees to use that particular slur.' One Slate staffer told Defector that they were 'outraged'. 'I cannot believe I had to watch him enthusiastically provoke people on whether or not it is appropriate to use a racist slur,' the anonymous staffer said. Another told the news site: 'I don't want to be in a workplace where people feel emboldened to have this argument. People's humanity is not an intellectual debate.' The following day, Slate editor-in-chief Jared Hohlt wrote in Slack: 'While we are a workplace where people argue about things all the time, it's also a workplace where we must think very hard about the lived experience of colleagues whose experience is different than ours.' A spokeswoman for Slate said Pesca and The Gist have been suspended indefinitely, pending an investigation. Pesca told the Times that he was 'heartsick' over hurting his colleagues but added: 'I hate the idea of things that are beyond debate and things that cannot be said.' SAGINAW, MI In the wake of a smash-and-grab robbery of a Saginaw gas station, police arrested a suspect they now believed may have committed similar crimes in adjoining counties. About 4:30 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 22, police responded to the BP gas station at 408 S. Michigan Ave. for a burglar alarm. They arrived to find a glass door had been shattered with a large landscape brick. The perpetrator had fled before officers arrived. Police contacted the stores manager and acquired surveillance camera footage of a man entering the business and stealing 47 cartons of cigarettes. The value of the stolen cigarettes is more than $4,200, police said. The footage also showed the burglar fleeing in a white four-door Volkswagen, police said. Officers checked the area and found the suspect parked at a residence in the 1500 block of Stanley Street. As officers began the process of getting a search warrant, a man ran from the house and was arrested after a brief foot chase. Through their investigation, officers came to believe the 27-year-old man was involved in numerous smash-and-grab burglaries of party stores and gas stations in the region. The value of the burglaries stolen items is more than $150,000, police said. Saginaw Township Police Detective James MacDonald said between June 9 and the suspects arrest on Feb. 22, there have been 16 similar smash-and-grab style burglaries in Bay, Midland, and Saginaw counties. The suspect had been arrested July 7 driving a vehicle reported stolen out of Wyoming, Michigan, but he was released on bond with a GPS tether, which he later severed, MacDonald said. Saginaw Police Department detectives are working with investigators from several area departments on the matter. Chief Bob Ruth lauded the officers involved in the case, calling it excellent police work. He also credited the effectiveness of a city ordinance passed in 2019 requiring certain businesses to have working surveillance cameras. These cameras help solve crime and make Saginaw a safer place, Ruth said. The arrested mans name is being withheld pending arraignment on criminal charges in Saginaw County District Court. Read more: Saginaw police getting new surveillance cameras, special phone Crystal meth surging in Great Lakes Bay Region as its so easy to get and cheap, police say Police investigate smash-and-grab of cigarettes from Hampton Township gas station Trial begins for Bay City man accused of shooting man in head Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri has briefed a top Russian general about the situation in Suweida, according to Etihad Press. A high-ranking Russian general visited the village of Qanawat in Suweida and met with Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri. The purpose of the visit was to get acquainted with the situation in the governorate and hear Hijris viewpoint about it. Local media reported that Gen. Andrei Kolotovken, a high-ranking official in the Russian forces, visited the house of Hijri, the head of the Druze sect in Syria. He was accompanied by the head of the State Security Branch in Suweida, Brig. Gen. Salem al-Hosh. The aim of the visit was to discuss the situation in the southern region and the Suweida Governorate, especially after the settlement process launched by the Syrian authorities this month, to find a solution to the problems in the governorate. A source close to Hijri said that he talked about the deteriorating economic situation in the governorate and the country in general, as well as the security situation, indicating that these problems require a set of solutions and seriousness in adopting and implementing them. He also said that the recent settlement requires other measures from the concerned authorities measures that would improve the living conditions of conscripts in the military service and would avoid the reasons that force young men to derelict their duty and not join the military. The Russian general spoke about what he described as the persistent efforts exerted by Russia, in coordination with the Syrian government, to accomplish reconciliations in the southern region of Syria and the rest of the regions. A general from the command of the Russian Armed Forces had previously conducted a series of visits to the governorates elders and religious entities late last year and revealed the existence of Russian efforts to bring about a settlement in the governorate in coordination with the Syrian authorities, which were kicked-off this month. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! 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. Tim Balk, New York Daily News (TNS) Amanda Kloots said Friday that she had received a COVID vaccination, celebrating the shot more than seven months after her husband, Broadway actor Nick Cordero, died following a battle with the virus. But Kloots, a 38-year-old talk show host, received criticism for receiving the jab while Los Angeles County officially limits shots to people over 65, health care workers and residents of nursing and care facilities. Vaccine shaming should not happen, Kloots said in an Instagram story shortly after she shared a post announcing her shot. Everyone should be getting this vaccine. And anyone that gets it, we should be celebrating that one more person has got the vaccine. The co-host of The Talk said she visited a vaccination site hoping to scoop up an extra shot at the end of the day. The plan worked, she said, and she received a dose that would have otherwise been tossed out. Please, please do not vaccine shame me, she said. Cordero spent three months at a Los Angeles hospital before he died at age 41 in July. Kloots said the tragedy left and her scared that she would become infected too. I have been terrified since Nick has passed, as a single mother, of getting this virus and now I am one step closer to safety, she wrote on Instagram. LIFT Youth Center Inc. has been selected to become a designated State of Hope site and to receive funding to aid with project implementation. Tina Pinkston, LIFTs executive director, said, This is perfect timing for such a wonderful vote of support from a state-wide professional entity. We will be opening our facility in Ringgold this spring for its initial stages and to know DFCS is behind us says a lot. The Claudia Nance Rollins Youth Center will be the first of its kind and the beginning of a legacy of hope building which we intend to ripple throughout our community in many beautiful ways. During the third round of solicitations for big ideas from communities, LIFT Youth Center Inc. submitted a proposal to serve the Catoosa County area by opening a drop-in after school youth center in Ringgold for 5th-12th grade students where LIFT will foster an environment of inclusion, positive self-worth, and self-discovery within youth while facilitating inner growth to prepare them for future success, said officials. LIFTs mission is to create opportunities for youth to beLoved as they are, Inspired to be more, Found in community, and Trusted to make a difference. More than 200 applications were submitted across the state of Georgia with approximately 10 percent of the applicants being selected to receive funding. LIFT Youth Center Inc was honored to be one of only a handful who received the highest level of funding. We were very impressed with the applicants this year, said DFCS Director Tom Rawlings. Some are large and comprehensive, and others are smaller grassroots organizations who are just getting started, but all are changing lives for the better in their communities. The State of Hope initiative aims to transform Georgia into a collection of communities where children and families have all they need to thrive and succeed. Innovative local strategies and partnerships are key to achieving that goal and are asked to submit big ideas that focus on improving the lives of children and families in one or more of four categories: education, trauma-informed practice, quality caregiving, and economic self-sufficiency. Andy Johnson, Catoosa County DFCS director, said, We are excited for the opportunity to partner with such a wonderful organization! LIFT is dedicated to meeting the needs of the students in Catoosa County. By offering after-school programming, intentional mentoring and youth development activities, LIFT is on the front lines of child protection and student success, and providing a secure place for students to grow and belong. The State of Hope initiative was started in 2018 through a partnership between the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, Georgia State Universitys Center for Professional Excellence, and Georgia Family Connection Partnership. Currently, 253 organizations have been designated as State of Hope sites and belong to the larger community the Hope Ecosystem. Prevention programming, resiliency building, Positive Youth Development practicesthese are all key ideas in the work we will do at our Center to support, encourage and empower our students to become their healthiest selves, said Ms. Pinkston. We will be creating a unique, diverse, and inclusive environment of safety, self-worth, and personal growth for all participants. Its going to just ooze HOPE in every way, so its a natural fit to be included in the Hope Ecosystem. What we have seen so far is a huge amount of encouragement from the professionals and agencies who serve children and families - our community believes in its young people - at our Center, those young people will have a new opportunity to feel and believe that is true. Once open, LIFT will invite the public to a ribbon cutting event as well as hosting a ticketed kick-off gathering. Staff will spend the spring working with a group of student leaders who will help identify needs, shape programming plans, and promote the center. Adult volunteers, tutors, and mentors will be vetted and bridges to partnering organizations will be built as they gather resources and referral sources. They are actively inviting the community to reach out with information on student leaders, resources, or funding which may benefit their mission. Kelly Bomar, a Ringgold city councilmen and president of LIFTs Board of Directors, said this about the State of Hope designation and LIFTs effort to build community bridges, Part of the mission of the State of Hope program is to cultivate family-centered support systems by connecting, equipping and nurturing diverse community collaborators. LIFT's vision is a powerful complement to that goal. As an elected official, it strikes me as the perfect example of a public/private collaboration for the benefit of the whole community. For more information about LIFT Youth Center Inc, how to get involved, how to support, and how to connect, please visit www.LIFT-ringgold.org. GENEVA, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mission to the United Nations (UN) at Geneva on Monday refuted the erroneous remarks related to China by British Foreign Secretary at the 46th regular session of the Human Rights Council, which kicked off Monday and is expected to last until March 23. Chinese Mission Spokesperson Liu Yuyin said in a press release that human rights should not be used to serve political ends, still less a tool to smear other countries and contain their development. "The Human Rights Council has no place for lies and deception," Liu said. The Chinese diplomat said that officials from Britain, Germany, Demark, Finland and a handful of other countries abused the platform of the UN rights body to spread false information, smear China and interfere in China's internal affairs. "China firmly opposes and categorically rejects their remarks," he said. Xinjiang and Tibet, inhabited largely by ethnic minorities, are actually fine examples of human rights progress in China, Liu said, adding that China pursues an ethnic policy featuring equality, unity, ethnic regional autonomy and common prosperity. Today, Xinjiang enjoys social stability, economic growth, ethnic unity, religious harmony, cultural advancement as well as improvement of people's livelihood, and people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang enjoy extensive rights and freedoms in accordance with the law, he said. The Chinese diplomat added that the so-called "forced labor" and "forced sterilization" accusations against Xinjiang are outright slanders and "lies of the century" fabricated by Western politicians. China welcomes people from around the world to visit Xinjiang, and see with their own eyes prosperity and happy life of the people in Xinjiang, but at the same time, China firmly opposes any so-called "investigation" based on the presumption of guilt, he said. Since the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region came into force, Hong Kong has embarked on a transition from chaos to peace, the diplomat said. He explained that Hong Kong citizens no longer feel threatened by turmoil and violence, and can better exercise their legitimate rights and freedoms in a safer environment. "Hong Kong is a society under the rule of law and no one stands above the law. We firmly support the law enforcement agency in Hong Kong in strictly executing the law," he said, noting that the Sino-British Joint Declaration "has never given any external force the right to interfere in Hong Kong affairs." China urges Britain and other countries to "look into their own human rights problems, stop politicizing human rights, halt using misinformation and lies to stigmatize other countries, and make a real effort for the sound development of global human rights cause, instead of manipulating human rights issues to advance their own political agenda," stressed Liu. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. 20 members of the Tarn family have been arrested by the SDF in Raqqa for unknown reasons, reports Al-Souria Net. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) arrested 20 people from the same family in the city of Raqqa, which is under its control, in a raid operation carried out at dawn on Monday. Local networks from eastern Syria reported that the arrests affected members of the Tarn family, which is part of the Walda clan, including women. The networks documented the names of the detainees including Red Crescent relief activist Majid Ismail al-Tarn, and medical doctor Fawaz al-Tarn. Media sources from Raqqa confirmed in statements to Alsouria Net that people have been arrested from the city of Raqqa and its surroundings. The sources said that SDF members raided the homes of the family members, at dawn today, and arrested them immediately. Their fate remains unknown. SDF has already carried out arrest operations in the city of Raqqa during the past months, which led to an exchange of accusations. According to the sources, the charges against the members of the Tarn family are not clear yet. There was no comment from SDF explaining the reasons for the arrests. The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) announced last January that the SDF had detained 107 people, including women and children, over the span of a month. In a report, SNHR indicated that SDF has carried out more arrests than the other parties to the Syrian conflict, and has targeted civilians who have close ties with individuals in the armed opposition. SDF launched mass raids and arrests of many civilians under the pretext of fighting the cells of the Islamic State (ISIS). The report indicated that some of these campaigns were carried out with the support of helicopters of the international coalition forces. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA will highlight the second crew rotation flight of a U.S. commercial spacecraft with astronauts to the International Space Station with a pair of news conferences beginning 12:30 p.m. EST Monday, March 1. The briefings, which will take place at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston, will air live on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency's website. The full astronaut crew flying on the mission also will be available for interviews. NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 mission will carry astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur of NASA, Akihiko Hoshide of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket to the space station. The mission is scheduled to launch no earlier than April 20 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. All media participation in these news conferences and interviews will be remote; no media will be accommodated at any NASA site. To participate in the briefings by phone or to request an interview with the crew members, reporters must contact Johnson's newsroom at 281-483-5111 or [email protected] no later than 12 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 25. Briefings and participants include (all times Eastern): 12:30 p.m. Crew-2 Mission Overview News Conference with the following participants: Kathy Lueders , NASA associate administrator for human exploration and operations, NASA Headquarters , NASA associate administrator for human exploration and operations, NASA Headquarters Steve Stich , manager, Commercial Crew Program, NASA's Kennedy Space Center , manager, Commercial Crew Program, NASA's Joel Montalbano , manager, International Space Station, Johnson , manager, International Space Station, Johnson Benji Reed , senior director, Human Spaceflight Programs, SpaceX , senior director, Human Spaceflight Programs, SpaceX Junichi Sakai , manager, International Space Station, JAXA , manager, International Space Station, JAXA David Parker , director, Human and Robotic Exploration, ESA 2 p.m. Crew News Conference with the following participants: Astronaut Shane Kimbrough , spacecraft commander, NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 mission , spacecraft commander, NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 mission Astronaut Megan McArthur , pilot, NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 mission , pilot, NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 mission Astronaut Akihiko Hoshide , mission specialist, NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 mission , mission specialist, NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 mission Astronaut Thomas Pesquet, mission specialist, NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 mission 3:30 p.m. Round Robin Crew Interviews Crew-2 astronauts will be available for a limited number of remote interviews following the news conference. Shane Kimbrough is commander of the Crew Dragon spacecraft and the Crew-2 mission. Kimbrough is responsible for all phases of flight, from launch to re-entry. He also will serve as an Expedition 65 flight engineer aboard the station. Selected as a NASA astronaut in 2004, Kimbrough first launched aboard space shuttle Endeavour for a visit to the station on the STS-126 mission in 2008, then aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for Expedition 49/50 in 2016. He has spent a total of 189 days in space, and performed six spacewalks. Kimbrough also is a retired U.S. Army colonel and earned a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and a master's degree in operations research from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Megan McArthur is the pilot of the Crew Dragon spacecraft and second-in-command for the mission. McArthur is responsible for spacecraft systems and performance. She also will be a long-duration space station crew member, making her first trip to the space station. Selected as an astronaut in 2000, McArthur launched on space shuttle Atlantis as a mission specialist on STS-125, the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, in 2009. McArthur operated the shuttle's robotic arm over the course of the 12 days, 21 hours she spent in space, capturing the telescope and moving crew members during the five spacewalks needed to repair and upgrade it. She holds a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a doctorate in oceanography from the University of California, San Diego. Akihiko Hoshide is a mission specialist for Crew-2. As a mission specialist, he will work closely with the commander and pilot to monitor the vehicle during the dynamic launch and re-entry phases of flight. Once aboard the station, Hoshide will become a flight engineer for Expedition 65. Hoshide joined the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA, currently JAXA) in 1992 and was selected as an astronaut candidate in February 1999. Hoshide is a veteran of two spaceflights. In June 2008, he flew to the International Space Station on the STS-124 mission to deliver the Japanese Experiment Module "Kibo" to the International Space Station. From July to November 2012, he stayed on the space station for 124 days as a flight engineer for the Expedition 32/33 mission. The Crew Dragon will be the third spacecraft that Noguchi has flown to the orbiting laboratory. Thomas Pesquet will also be a mission specialist for Crew-2, working with the commander and pilot to monitor the vehicle during the dynamic launch and re-entry phases of flight. Pesquet also will become a long-duration crew member aboard the space station. He was selected as an astronaut candidate by ESA in May 2009 and worked as a Eurocom, communicating with astronauts during spaceflights from the mission control center. He previously flew as part of Expeditions 50 and 51, launching aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and spending 196 days in space. His mission also included two spacewalks to maintain the station: one to replace batteries on an electrical channel, and one to fix a cooling leak and service the robotic arm. Follow Kimbrough on social media at: https://twitter.com/astro_kimbrough Follow McArthur on social media at: https://twitter.com/Astro_Megan Follow Hoshide on social media at: https://twitter.com/Aki_Hoshide Follow Pesquet on social media at: https://twitter.com/Thom_astro Learn more about the Commercial Crew Program at: https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew SOURCE NASA Related Links http://www.nasa.gov EXCLUSIVE: TV Tonight understands Schapelle Corby has signed on to appear in Sevens Dancing with the Stars: All Stars. Corby, who was convicted on drug smuggling in Indonesia, appeared on SAS: Australia for Seven last year. After lasting just two episodes, she will now frock up for Sevens dancing revival, with a mix of former stars and new wildcards. TV Tonight also hears whispers the following personalities are set to appear: Luke Jacobz: actor / presenter, Winner Season 8 Lincoln Lewis: actor 5th Place Season 9 Bec Hewitt: actor, Winner Season 1. Renee Bargh: presenter (DWTS backstage host USA) Erin McNaught, already leaked by the Daily Telegraph, is also taking to the dance floor. So far Seven has only confirmed the return of: Ada Nicodemou: actor, Winner Season 3 Tom Williams: presenter, Winner Season 2 Fifi Box: presenter, Runner-Up Season 6 The series will shoot at the ICC in Sydney in March, to screen as a 2 week event in coming months. Daryl Somers and Sonia Kruger are tipped to reunite as hosts. Seven declined to comment. Update: Schapelle Corby is now confirmed. Related Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. U.S. Rep. John Katko, the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, thinks the United States should boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing as a response to China's treatment of Uyghurs. Katko outlined his stance in a letter to President Joe Biden. In his letter, he cites China's human rights record and the threats posed to the United States as reasons for the proposed boycott. It would be the first U.S. boycott of an Olympic Games since 1980. That year, U.S. athletes did not participate in the Summer Olympics hosted by the former Soviet Union. "Recent actions taken by the Chinese Communist Party are antithetical to the values of both the United States and its allies around the world," Katko wrote to Biden. "Participation in an Olympics held in a country that is actively committing genocide not only undermines those shared values but casts a shadow on the promise for all those who seek free and just societies." Katko's letter was also sent to top Biden administration officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and the International Olympic Committee. Mumbai, Feb 23 : Screenwriter-producer Adele Lim shot to global fame writing Crazy Rich Asians in 2018 and is back penning the story of Disneys new CGI fantasy adventure, Raya And The Last Dragon. She says the makers wanted her to anchor the story in love, given the fantastical tone of her latest effort. "The tone we wanted to lead with was one of love for our world, our family and joy. With a project like this that is so fantastical, we wanted to find emotional anchors for our character and her journey, grounded in something true and relatable," said Lim. She added that they wanted to explore emotions. "So, when you look at (the primary character) Raya and her journey, she loses her relationship with her father, she loses this world she grew up in, and there's this need to fight for the chance to restore her world, and perhaps see her father again, one day. And so we wanted to explore all those emotions, but at the same time, have the film be joyful, fun and an adventure," Lim said. The animated film tells the tale of the fantasy world of Kumandra, where humans and dragons once lived in harmony. When an evil force threatens the land, the dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Now, 500 years later, the same evil returns and it is up to lone warrior Raya to find the legendary last dragon and restore the fractured land and its divided people. The film releases in theatres across India on March 5. Its voice cast comprises Kelly Marie Tran as Raya and Awkwafina as the mythical dragon Sisu. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text MTV made the roommates of Floribama Shore a household name. Now, many of the reality shows stars have created their fortune thanks to their brands. Find out which Floribama Shore roommate has the highest estimated net worth. The Floribama Shore Roommates | MTV Candace Rice and Kirk Medas have the same net worth Before becoming an MTV reality star, Candace Rice studied journalism in college. She went on to do some commercial fashion modeling and even had a career as a television host and an interviewer. Now, Rice is best known as one of the roommates on Floribama Shore. Not much is known about Rices net worth, but it is estimated to be $30,000. Like Rice, not much is known about Kirk Medas assets and net worth. The Atlanta native is the social media manager for a company called Shouty LLC. Thanks to his reality star status and social media career, Medas estimated value is $30,000. Floribama Shore Princess Goddess Mermaid Aimee Hall is worth $50,000 Like so many MTV reality stars, Aimee Hall is now an influencer. She models clothing on her social media platforms for brands like Pretty Rebellious Boutique, Tropic House Swim, and BooHoo Clothing. Hall also sells her gently used clothing to fans through PoshMark. Thanks to her career as a reality star and her various side hustles, Hall is worth $50,000. Jeremiah Buoni, Gus Smyrnios, and Codi Butts are each worth $100,000 Both Gus Smyrnios and Jeremiah Buoni are fitness enthusiasts. Smyrnios is a personal trainer and brand ambassador for Fit Strong Supplements. Buoni is also a brand ambassador for the same company. Before becoming a reality star and Instagram influencer, Buoni was working as a bartender at The Lobby Bar in the Ritz-Carlton on Amelia Island in Florida. But once Buoni joined the Floribama Shore cast, his opportunities to increase his net worth expanded. Now, Buonis estimated net worth is $100,000. Meanwhile, Smyrnios has a substantial modeling career outside of the show. He models for the covers of romance novels like Strip Me Bare and Destroying the Biker. Thanks to his modeling career and personal training endeavor, Smyrnios net worth is estimated at $100,000. HOME IS WHERE THE PARTY IS! Buckle up yall, because the fam-bam is hitting the road when #MTVFloribamaShore returns! SEASON 4 premieres Thursday, February 25th! pic.twitter.com/zC1uxQM52e MTV Floribama Shore (@FloribamaShore) January 26, 2021 RELATED: Is There Beef Between the Casts of Floribama Shore and Jersey Shore? Similar to Buoni, Codi Butts was a bartender before joining the cast of Floribama Shore. He still bartends at a spot close to his home The Spot on the Alley in Seneca, South Carolina. Thanks to his role on Floribama Shore, Butts has amassed a net worth of $100,000. Floribama Shore star Kortni Gilson is worth $200,000 Kortni Gilson was once the explosive roommate on Floribama Shore. Now, Gilson has become an advocate. Since starring on the MTV series, Gilson has gained a following on social media. Gilson uses her platform to speak out about her experiences with depression and anxiety. She partners with brands to raise awareness around those issues, as well as suicide prevention. Today, Gilsons net worth is estimated at $200,000. Nilsa Prowant is the wealthiest Floribama Shore roommate Outside of being a reality star, Nilsa Prowant owns an online boutique called Shop Nilsa Prowant. Fans can purchase clothing, jewelry, and accessories styled by the Floribama Shore star. Prowant is also active on YouTube. Currently, she has been sharing a lot of videos detailing her pregnancy. And like many of her co-stars, Prowant is active on Instagram and promotes brands like Fashion Nova. In addition to her online boutique and brand partnerships, Prowant is also a model and makeup artist. Because of her ventures outside of the MTV series, Prowant has a substantial net worth. The Floribama Shore star is estimated to be worth $300,000. Every other day, Rey Jazmin finds his mind trapped underneath an avalanche. Its a torrent of worries he believes few people can relate to. But as the owner of a new business, rapidly forced to become a one-man show after cost-cutting layoffs, Jazmin has had to learn how to deal with his anxieties at the same length of time hes been stuck beneath pandemic protocols. "At least a landslide you can somewhat be prepared for," he told the Free Press Monday. "The pandemic, on the other hand, no one saw coming especially not me, who put my entire sweat and tears to get all of this running just a month before COVID-19 happened." Jazmins still not sure RH Variety, the new convenience store and Filipino takeout restaurant he opened last year, is completely out of trouble. Its getting easier though, he said, to find himself smiling again when he opens his shop everyday. JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Rey Jazmin, owner of RH Variety, outside his business in Winnipegs West End where businesses have been hit hard during the pandemic. "Its hard, but this is the only way to financially support my family right now," said Jazmin. "And now, Ive started to look at it in sort of a positive way. Maybe, this will be eventually be an opportunity for growth. Just maybe, very soon." Statistic after statistic makes one thing abundantly clear: its not easy running a business during COVID-19. Sixty storefronts in Winnipegs West End, however, have not only stood tall against the pandemic, but theyve done so as a brand-new business in the city. Jazmins is one of them. THE STATE OF COMMERCE IN WINNIPEGS WEST END BY THE NUMBERS Click to Expand According to West End Biz, there are now around 885 businesses in the neighbourhood. In 2020: At least 60 storefronts opened 12 per cent under the previous four-year average; Nearly 90 storefronts closed 51 per cent higher than the previous four-year average. Restaurants are one of the West Ends key industries, according to the association. But the neighbourhood experienced its highest turnover in 2020 since they began tracking statistics 11 restaurants closed last year. There was a 24 per cent closure rate for retail businesses in 2020 12 retailers closed (including specialty, apparel and thrift-store outlets). Thats why the association representing commerce in the neighbourhood is holding a week-long event to celebrate those that have opened up since January 2020, with prizes and gift certificates up for grabs for anyone who visits them and all other stores in the area. "Truly, all the odds were anything but in these businesses favour and yet, theyve survived against all of that," said Joe Kornelsen, executive director for West End BIZ, in an interview. "While older stores have also been hurting, they do have somewhat of a customer base that kept them afloat in some way. The new businesses barely had the time to establish themselves before this crisis," he said. "I think thats more than worth celebrating, especially after they poured their heart and soul into their openings." Kornelsen said hes never seen more outlets close in the West End than during the pandemic. The association has kept track of statistics for at least five years, and 90 businesses closed in the area in 2020 51 per cent higher than ever before. "Its certainly affected the culture of the neighbourhood," he said. "The West End has long been a home for newcomers to Canada, and so many of them start their first earnings by setting up a small family business with their fresh new ideas... the loss of that is very, very clear to anyone who comes here." Still, the opening of new shops like Jazmins is a sign of hope, said Kornelsen. The figure for new openings from last year 60 new grocery stores, restaurants, retailers and other startups is only slightly below previous numbers. "Its been much better than a lot of other neighbourhoods," he said. "In so many ways, I think thats because the West Ends a great way to get your start as a business owner. The lease rate is second-lowest in the city, costs are more affordable and its a neighbourhood that actively likes participating in the economy." JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS TJ Gross, left, and Vitaliy Lebezun are owners of Warkentin Business Solutions in the West End. For Warkentin Business Solutions co-owners Vitaliy Lebezun and Tj Gross, thats something their new tax and bookkeeping service firm can relate to. "It really goes without saying, I think we wouldnt have survived anything if it werent for the support of people that live here," said Gross. "Weve had a major shift, we moved online quicker than we planned to and the lockdowns certainly didnt make things easy," he said. "But I love working here in the area and I love what were doing with our company. That makes things so much better, even with all this uncertainty." West End visitors and residents are invited to watch for decals popping up around the neighbourhood. The associations website will be in full swing throughout the week, featuring all the new businesses in the area. Participating customers will be entered in a draw and prizes include gift certificates to any West End outlet. Twitter: @temurdur Temur.Durrani@freepress.mb.ca The board of Page Industries on 22 February 2021, approved the appointment of V S Ganesh as the Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer of the company for a period of five years effective from 1 June 2021. Following the elevation of Mr Ganesh to Executive Director & CEO, the board has shortened his present term of Executive Director - Manufacturing and Operation to the closing hours on 31 May 2021. V S Ganesh has 30 years of experience and has worked in top leadership capacities in the company and other reputed organizations. Shares of Page Industries rose 0.79% to Rs 27,777.80 on BSE. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 22 February 2021. Page Industries is the exclusive licensee of JOCKEY International Inc. (USA) for manufacture, distribution and marketing of the JOCKEY brand in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and the UAE. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Emma Coronel outside the United States district court in New York. JUSTIN LANE / EFE To pass the security checkpoint at New Yorks federal court, you have to take off your stilettos. Emma Coronel, the wife of Joaquin El Chapo Guzman Loera, the most powerful drug trafficker in the world, drew the attention of the worlds tabloid press over the course of the 11-week trial that ended with a life sentence for her husband in 2019. Her stylish appearance during the court hearings saw her dubbed the Kardashian of Sinaloa, in reference to the reality TV stars the Kardashians and the name of her husbands narcotics cartel. She was the wife of the worlds most-wanted man, the most-dangerous capo in the drug trade. And she did actually end up taking part in a reality show in the United States, where other heirs to the drug empire spoke about Coronel as if she were an inspiration for them. Some of them were children or nephews of figures from the Colombian and Mexican drug trades. But she was the wife Mrs El Chapo. When Coronel met Guzman Loera, she was 17 and had just won the Sinaloa beauty contest. He was 51 and the master of the biggest criminal organization in the world On Monday, the morbid interest in her private life that some US television networks had managed to exploit ended up crashing down to Earth as reality caught up with her. Coronel was arrested in Washington Dulles International Airport on Monday, accused of participating in international drug trafficking. Coronel, who is aged 31 and has joint US and Mexican nationality, is charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana for importation into the US, according to a statement from the US Justice Department. On Tuesday, she is due to appear via video conference in a federal court in Washington D.C.. Whats more, she is accused of having helped El Chapo to carry out one of the highest-profile escapes in history. In the summer of 2015, he managed to break out of his high-security prison in El Altiplano, Mexico, via a tunnel that connected the shower in his cell with a safe house via rails and a motorcycle. According to the US authorities, Coronel and other trusted members of Guzmans circle were planning another escape in 2017, just before the drug kingpin was extradited to the United States. Emma Coronel, in a scene from the reality TV program Cartel Crew. VH1 Coronel met Guzman Loera at a ranch party. She was aged 17 and had just won the Sinaloa beauty contest. He was 51 and was already the master of the biggest criminal organization in the world. While she danced at the party with her then-boyfriend, a man approached her and told her that the senor wanted to dance with her. Of course, I told him. Because at ranches even if you have a boyfriend you have to dance with anyone who asks, she explained during an interview with the Telemundo television network. That and the fact that in the context of the Mexican criminal empire, saying no to the bosses can be a very costly mistake. Coronel is the third wife of Guzman, and she has always defended him. He is a good man, she said in the same interview. He is not violent, nor rude, and I have never seen him say a bad word. His daughters adore him and constantly ask after him. I have no knowledge that he trafficks drugs. Im in love with him, she would always insist when in front of the cameras. She is also the alleged niece of Ignacio Coronel, one of her husbands lieutenants, something that she has denied. We are not family, she categorically stated in the aforementioned interview. The surname Coronel carries a lot of weight with it in the criminal history of Mexico. Ignacio Coronel was known as the crystal king, thanks to his history as the main trafficker of methamphetamine to the US for at least 12 years, until he was gunned down in Zapopan, Jalisco in July 2010 during a shootout with the Mexican army. He was the number three in the Sinaloa cartel, under El Chapo and Ismael El Mayo Zambada, the only member of the group from that era who has still not been arrested. One of Ignacio Coronels children, Alejandro Coronel Mardueno, who may be Emmas cousin, was kidnapped and murdered in 2010 when he was just 16 by his fathers rivals, the Beltran Leyva cartel, sparking off a wave of violence in the country. Coronel sought to capitalize on the fame that had been created by her image, creating a brand of clothing and merchandise of all kinds Emma Coronels claims that she knew nothing about her husbands business crumbled during the trial. In messages presented as evidence, Joaquin Guzman gave her precise instructions about the way in which she should communicate. He advised her, for example, to use Blackberry cellphones, given that they used encryption, and that she should get in contact with a technician from the cartel to help her out. In another of the exchanges, Coronel told El Chapo that she thought the police were going to turn up at her house. Do you have a weapon? El Chapo asked her. She replied: Yes, one of yours, the one you gave me. Guzman told her to hide it in a safe place. He also advised her to live life as normal, because he knew that the authorities would use her to locate him. The messages were sent between the end of 2011 and the start of 2012. The wiretaps also confirmed the rumors that the drug kingpin was unfaithful to his wife. The FBI mentioned one of his collaborators, Agustina Cabanillas Acosta, who was arrested in a raid in February 2012, and who El Chapo referred to as my love. According to the messages, El Chapo also argued with Cabanillas Acosto about shipments of cocaine and marijuana and its sale in the United States. 'El Chapo' arrives in the United States after his extradition. AP Coronel sought to capitalize on the fame that had been created by her image, creating a brand of clothing and merchandise of all kinds from hats and jerseys, to cellphone cases and t-shirts. The name El Chapo Guzman was filed at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, with a logo that featured a lions head and those three words. She was not the only member of the family to create a business of this kind, and she sought to compete with another of the narcos daughters (there are at least 10 children that he has recognized), Alejandrina Guzman Salazar, who did the same thing with the brand name El Chapo 701, a reference to his prison number. A TV advert on the VH1 channel touted an upcoming reality show featuring Mrs. Chapo. Appearing on the bow of a luxury white yacht, Coronel appeared smiling, dressed in white and wearing sunglasses that hid half of her face. When the boss of all bosses calls you, you cant say no, said one of the protagonists, Michael Corleone Blanco, the youngest son of the Colombian drug trafficker Griselda Blanco de Trujillo. Welcome to the Cartel Crew, they said in the commercial. Shes a true latina, loyal to her man, Blanco added. In the coming days, the US justice system will be weighing up just how loyal she was to one of the most powerful drug traffickers in the world, who smuggled hundreds of tons of narcotics into the United States. English version by Simon Hunter. 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. Rashtriya Lok Dal president on Tuesday alleged that BJP supporters want to suppress the farmers' opposition to the new contentious agriculture laws by the use of force. The RLD chief said this during his visit to Soram village here a day after a clash between supporters of his party and the BJP in the presence of Union minister Sanjeev Balyan, which resulted in injuries to three to four people. Citing the ongoing farmers' protest against the new farm laws in Delhi, Singh, a former Union minister, alleged that the BJP-led government has made it a habit to use force to suppress any farmer's voice. First they lobbed tear gas shells at protesters in Delhi, then opened water cannons on them during winter, baton charged them. The government then barricaded the protest sites to stop the farmers and even called the protesters Khalistani and terrorist, only to insult the farming community,Singh said at Soram, the headquarters of the 'sarv khap', which wields influence on farmers and locals in the region. Now, the BJP supporters want to suppress the farmers' opposition by the use of force, he claimed, according to an RLD statement. Talking about the farmers' movement, Singh wondered if it was wrong to oppose the contentious laws and support the farmers who are protesting against it. Or is it wrong to ask why the rates of sugarcane have not been increased or why the rate of diesel and petrol and power bills are continuing to rise every day or why there is no law on MSP (minimum support price) for crops, he asked. Singh, the son of former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, alleged that over 200 people have died during the ongoing farmers' protest in Delhi but the government is not ready to listen to them and is only busy insulting the community. He claimed that the BJP wants to end the protest by dividing it on the lines of caste and religion and called on people not to let the division happen. Thousands of farmers are camping at Delhi's border points of Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur since November 2020 with a demand that the Centre repeal the three farm laws enacted in September and make a new one guaranteeing MSP, saying the legislations would destroy their livelihoods. The government, which has held 11 rounds of formal talks with the protesting farmers unions, has maintained that the laws are pro-farmer. (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.) Mumbai: After a year-long battle, the Mumbai police got custody of gangster Ravi Pujari. On February 23, the police took over custody of the criminal and will produce him in the Bombay Sessions Court. The gangster has been remanded to police custody till March 9, he is wanted in more than 49 cases in the city. He will be produced in court for the 2016 Gajali restaurant firing. Ravi Pujari has been accused of committing serious offences including murder and extortion. ANI quoted Joint CP Crime, Milind Bharambe saying that the police had brought Pujari to the city from Bengaluru. He was extradited from Senegal on February 22, 2020, pursuant to an extradition request made by India in early 2019. Pujari, who parted ways with underworld don Chhota Rajan had jumped bail after he was arrested in Senegal in 2019 and had escaped to South Africa, where he was involved in drug trafficking and extortion. 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. New Delhi: Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday (February 23, 2021) attended the United Nations Security Council Open Debate and said that India is the only country on track among the G20 nations to meet its climate change mitigation commitments. During the open debate on "Addressing climate-related risks to international peace and security", Javadekar commented on India's climate actions and said, "We are not only meeting our Paris Agreement targets but will also exceed them." He highlighted that the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the Coalition for Disaster Resilience Infrastructure (CDRI), the two initiatives by India that have been launched to address challenges of climate change and adaptation. Representing India, Prakash Javadekar stressed that the idea of climate action should not be to move the climate ambition goal post to 2050 and it is important for countries to fulfil their pre-2020 commitments. Climate Action needs to go hand-in-hand with the framework for financial, technical and capacity-building support to countries that need it. Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) February 23, 2021 The Union Environment Minister said that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement negotiated under the Framework are the central mechanisms for climate action in a nationally determined manner based on certain fundamental agreed principles. "The foremost amongst which is 'Common but Differentiated Responsibility and Respective Capabilities'," he added. The Union Environment Minister cited the 2019 IPCC Special Report 'Climate Change and Land' and put forward the point that even the best science available claims that climate change only exacerbates conflict and is not a reason for conflict and does not threaten peace and security. Therefore, it is important, said the Minister, to ensure that no parallel tracks for climate negotiations are created brushing aside the fundamentally agreed principles. He said, "While climate change does not directly or inherently cause violent conflict, its interaction with other social, political and economic factors can, nonetheless, exacerbate drivers of conflict and fragility and have negative impacts on peace, stability and security; and therefore it is for precisely this reason that developing country's Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement included information on adaptation activities, and the need for finance, technology development and transfer, capacity building, and transparency." He commented on post-COVID-19 recovery and said that India believes that there is a significant opportunity for countries to integrate low-carbon development in their COVID-19 rescue and recovery measures and long-term mitigation strategies that are scheduled to be announced for the reconvened 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 26) in 2021. India believes that there is a significant opportunity for countries to integrate low-carbon development in their #COVID19 rescue and recovery measures and long-term mitigation strategies.#IndiainUNSC pic.twitter.com/37F5AlF0hf Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) February 23, 2021 Javadekar also reiterated that the commitment by developed countries to jointly mobilize $100 billion per year by 2020 in support of climate action in developing countries has not been realized and also stated that there is an urgent need to promote and support the meaningful participation of women and marginalized groups in national-level climate change policy and planning processes. Live TV SCIPIO CENTER, N.Y. -- Josh Saville said he shot his first coyote in 2007 by chance. I got it with a bow while deer hunting, he said. It just became an addiction after that. I also hunt deer and waterfowl, but mainly I hunt coyotes because its outside my business hours and I can do it uninterrupted. Saville, 39, is a taxidermist whose shop, Taxidermy by Josh Saville, is run out of his home. When you deer hunt, you usually hunt in the morning and afternoon. I like to head out for coyotes after I shut down my business for the day, usually after 6:30 - 7 p.m. and stay out to about 2 a.m. he said. In Savilles opinion, January and February are the best times to hunt for coyotes. He hunts on property around his house and a variety of other locations in southern Cayuga County. He uses a semi-automatic, AR rifle that holds five rounds and has a super-sensitive, thermal imaging, night scope mounted on it. Josh Saville usually goes out hunting for coyotes between 7:30 p.m. and 2 a.m. The coyote hunting season in New York stretches from Oct. 1 to March 28. Coyotes can be taken day or night, over bait or with dogs to roust and chase them. There is no daily take limit, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Saville, who usually hunts alone, uses mouth and electronic calls to bring the coyotes in close enough to shoot. The most coyotes hes taken in any season is 25, he said. He said coyotes are extremely smart and have tremendous eyesight and smell. They can pick up a hunters scent more than 100 yards away. They learn quickly and if you miss one after calling it in, you might not get another chance at it. The following are excerpts from a recent interview with Saville: Where do you hunt and how do you know where to set up? When word first got around that I was hunting coyotes, it was like Hey, I have lots of coyotes on my property. After the deer season do you want to come out and try to get some? Right now, I have a gigantic area I can hunt for coyotes and there are spots I dont get to because I have so many. During the fall, they often show up on pictures on trail cameras I and others set up for deer hunting. And this time of year, you can locate them by tracks in the snow. When Im hunting, I wear regular camo and tuck myself into a wooded area or in a hedge row. Josh Saville sells the coyotes he shoots to other taxidermists who make mounts to sell, or to fur traders who want the fur from the pelts to sell to clothing manufacturers overseas. What do you do with the coyotes once you shoot them? I sell the hides to either the taxidermy or the fur markets. If I sell one to another taxidermist, I can get anywhere from $75 to $100 because these guys are buying them to make a full body mount and will then turn around and sell it for a lot more. As for the fur market, it all depends on how the hide is graded. Mostly, the fur buyers are looking for ones with the standard colors (brown-black). I get anywhere from $25 to $40 for those. Whats the biggest coyote youve shot? It was a male, was nearly 55 pounds. Ive shot red, brindle (brown-black). I once missed a black one. Ive seen them with black, brown and tan on the same hide. Also, pale white. There are lots of different color variations. Howd you learn to do this? Im self-taught for the most part. Theres a guy from New York, Andrew Lewand, who has written some good books about coyote hunting. And Youtube has a lot of videos about such things as how to call them, what to do while youre calling, calling early season and calling late season, etc. You mentioned that this is the best time to hunt them. Why? Its the mating season. You can get them to come in with coyote language a little easier this time of year in my opinion. During the fall, theyre in their family units and respond better to distress calls (a cottontail or hurting fawn) particularly the young pups. Coyote language? How do you make those sounds? I mostly use a diaphragm in my mouth, similar to what turkey hunters use. I supplement those calls with an electronic caller, which makes distress calls of a hurting rabbit or fawn. Josh Saville holds up his electronic caller, which emits sounds like a hurting rabbit ot fawn to attract coyotes. You mentioned coyote language? Be more specific: I usually start off with a lone howl, a female serenade or a combination of both. If Im not getting anything, Ill do some male barks or some male interrogation barks. I try not to do the same sequence. Sometimes Ill mix in some electronic calls, too. The main thing is be patient and not to overcall. A lot of guys will call and call, only give it five minutes and pick up and leave. If I dont hear anything from the last call I make, Ill sit there for at least 25-30 minutes. You must know that coyote hunters arent popular in some circles. Hunters are divided on this. There is a line there. Youd be foolish not to agree. They do look like (domestic) dogs. Theyre of canine descent. I can handle the criticism. Truth is, I love all animals. I love dogs. I love cats. And to be honest, I even love seeing coyotes and foxes running around. The reason I hunt coyotes, first and foremost is the challenge. Its extremely challenging. Even if I call one in and miss him, I still beat him in a sense because he fell for my call. The other thing is you get into conservation. Around here in southern Cayuga County, weve seen a huge decline in the deer population. Im not going to say coyotes are going around killing all the deer, because thats not whats happening. You have winter kill, deer/motor vehicle accidents, mother nature, farmers with deer management permits and coyotes. Bottom line is, yes, coyotes do kill deer. You can take some out, but youll never get them all. Do you ever participate in coyote hunting competitions? No. I dont do any competitions. Im just in it for myself. The challenge of my abilities and satisfaction. Josh Saville holds his semi-automatic AR rifle with the night vision scope that he uses to hunt coyotes. Talk about the firearm and special scope you use to hunt these critters. When I started off, I had a bolt action, .22-250 rifle. It had a scope with a red light on top of it. It worked out well. Its possible to get them with it. I found out, though, that coyotes do not like red light and I was having trouble with my follow-up shots. So I came home and talked my wife into letting my order the expensive option. I currently have an AR-15 22 Nosler caliber and an AR-15.223 caliber. Ill use either one. The most expensive one cost me just under $1,500. You can pick up a good AR, though, for around $700- $800. The biggest advantage with a semi-automatic is that you can stay focused and have that follow-up shot without having to fidget around with the bolt action. I only put five rounds in my magazine, which is what the law allows. I dont use these firearms for deer hunting, but theyre pretty popular for predator hunting. A lot of people are using them now to hunt coyotes, foxes and bobcats. As for a scope, I have a Pulsar xp50, which cost me roughly $4,000. I can put on their gun. Its a thermal imaging, night scope. You can detect an animal from its body heat up to more than 1,000 yards. You can either see the animal in white with all the surroundings being black, or you can switch it so the animal appears in black and all the surroundings in white. The scope also has video capabilities. What coyote hunter Josh Saville sees when he looks through this special, heat sensitive, night vision scope. The scope has video capabilities. Seeing that youre so passionate about this, did you ever consider guiding others to hunt coyotes like you do? I dont guide hunts mainly because most people say they want to go, but then they find out the hours and decide theyd rather go home and go to bed. Whats the coldest night youve been out hunting coyotes? It was about minus-15 degrees out. I ended up getting a coyote that night. I brought him in and I was taking my time when I got back. I went to slip my boots off. My hands were so cold I couldnt feel much. I felt something funny and looked at my left hand and said, Oh, no. I dislocated the middle finger. I took it completely out of socket and bent it sideways. It was 2 a.m. and I thought, " Im not going to any hospital. So, I pulled it back into the socket and ended up ripping a ligament. I had to a wear a splint for almost 6 months. It eventually healed. Anything else youd like to add? Yes. Make sure theyre dead. Ive been bitten twice. More Upstate NY Outdoors Get outdoors: Bear Swamp State Forest in Cayuga County is a magical place DEC announces Holiday Deer Hunt for bow, muzzleloaders during Christmas break in Southern Zone Need to take a NYS boating safety course? What you need to know. Ice fishing 101 in Upstate NY: The basics for having a safe, fun outing and catching fish Ice fishermen to the rescue: Tow downed plane on froze Lake Champlain with their ATVs (video) What you need to know to go camping at a public or private campground in Upstate NY this year Upstate NY ice fishing bonanza: Anglers share photos of their catches UPGRADE YOUR OUTDOOR GEAR Fishing Gear | Camo Face Masks | Hunting Gear | Camping Supplies India has allowed Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's aircraft to use Indian Air Space, according to informed sources. Imran Khan will be travelling to Sri Lanka on his maiden visit on February 23. In 2019, Pakistan had denied opening its airspace for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flights to the US and Saudi Arabia citing alleged human rights violations in Kashmir. India took up the denial of permission to VVIP flight with an International Civil Aviation Organisation. Under normal circumstances, the VVIP aircraft are granted permission by countries. However, Pakistan's denial of permission to VVIP aircraft was an aberration. (ANI) Also Read: PM Modi to inaugurate super specialty hospital at IIT Kharagpur today New York AG Says Supreme Court Ruling on Trump Tax Returns Has No Impact on Probe New York Attorney General Letitia James said Monday that the Supreme Court ruling on former President Donald Trumps tax returns will have no effect on her civil probe into Trumps taxes. James made the remarks to Andrew Sorkin, host of The New York Times DealBook D.C. Policy Project, in response to a question about whether Mondays Supreme Court decision not to stop a Manhattan prosecutor from obtaining Trumps tax returns and other financial records as part of a separate criminal probe had changed the dynamic of her investigation. That ruling doesnt change the tenor of our lawsuit, James said, adding, We will continue our investigation and upon completion we will announce our findings. James, a Democrat, is conducting a civil probe into whether the Trump Organization improperly manipulated the value of Trumps assets on annual financial statements in order to secure loans and obtain tax benefits. The Trump Organization has described the probe as politically-motivated and earlier accused James of continued harassment. While we have tried to cooperate in good faith with the investigation at every turn, the NYAGs continued harassment of the company as we approach the election (and filing of this motion on the first day of the Republican National Convention) once again confirms that this investigation is all about politics, a Trump Organization lawyer told news outlets last year. James said in August 2020 that she had been probing the allegations since 2019 after Trumps former lawyer Michael Cohen testified before Congress. The investigation remained confidential for months. She told Sorkin in Mondays interview that the Supreme Court ruling obligating the release of Trumps tax returns to a grand jury convened by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, a Democrat, would not mean that her office would gain access to those documents. Theres a wall of separation between the two offices, she said, adding that her office has obtained some information on its own. We are reviewing tax information from the Trump Organization, James said. Following the Supreme Courts decision, the New York grand jury will be able to obtain the records and look at them in secret, meaning that the records will not become public any time soon, although the possibility of leaks to news media outlets cant be ruled out. Last year, Trumps lawyers said the attempt to review his taxes was done in bad faith and was excessive. His attorneys had also told the Supreme Court that Trump would suffer irreparable harm if the materials were turned over to the grand jury. Trump on Monday said New York officials investigating him are involved in the greatest political Witch Hunt in the history of our Country. For more than two years, New York City has been looking at almost every transaction Ive ever done, including seeking tax returns which were done by among the biggest and most prestigious law and accounting firms in the U.S. The Tea Party was treated far better by the IRS than Donald Trump, Trump said in a statement. The Supreme Court never should have let this fishing expedition happen, but they did, he added. Citing grand jury secrecy rules, Vances office hasnt publicly said what it is investigating, but some details have emerged in court filings that suggest prosecutors are seeking evidence of possible falsification of records as well as insurance and tax fraud. Vances office sent subpoenas to local governments in the New York City suburbs last month, seeking information about a Westchester estate Trump owns there, and 158 acres of land he donated to a conservation land trust in order to qualify for an income tax deduction. With Trump now out of office, he no longer enjoys its protective cloak of immunity. A criminal conviction would be an unprecedented event in American history, with no ex-president ever even charged with a crime, much less convicted for one. As the editor of the Culture department at The New York Times, Gilbert Cruz relies on critics, reporters and editors in every field of the arts for their expertise. Now were bringing his personal questions and our writers answers to you. Currently on his mind: his constant struggle with how to learn more about everything that Anthony Tommasini, the chief classical music critic, writes about. Gilbert asks: Im very open when it comes to my lack of knowledge about classical music and opera. And through conversations over the years, youve been gracious enough to try to explain to me that I shouldnt feel overwhelmed by this. Im also a fan of working through groups of works all of a pop artists albums, all the movies from a particular director, et cetera. Walk me through how I (or someone else) might want to start doing this when it comes to classical music. Anthony answers: If someone has a natural inclination to go through a body of works, classical music certainly invites that approach. Take Beethovens nine symphonies: There they are, nine numbered scores spanning nearly 25 years of his adult life. Of course it can be fascinating to go through them in order. Or Brahmss four; or Sibeliuss seven. Yet, too often, Ive found, newcomers to classical music feel they have to take a music survey class before they can get certain pieces or composers. My only caution would be to avoid that mind-set and just go on an immersive exploration. My general preference is for programs where, say, Beethovens amazing Seventh Symphony is performed alongside contemporary scores, including, ideally, a new piece by a young composer who is indebted to Beethoven but unintimidated by the big guy and eager to share the stage with him. Asiatic lions were once found widely across southwest Asia Three years after a deadly virus struck India's endangered Asiatic lions in their last remaining natural habitat, conservationists are hunting for new homes to help booming prides roam free. The majestic big cats, slightly smaller than their African cousins and with a fold of skin along their bellies, were once found widely across southwest Asia. Hunting and human encroachment saw the population plunge to just 20 by 1913, and the lions are now found only in a wildlife sanctuary in India's western Gujarat state. Following years of concerted government efforts, the lion population in Gir National Park has swelled to nearly 700, according to an official census last year. But just three years ago, the conservation success looked to be in danger when several lions started to die in one part of the 1,400 square kilometre (545 square mile) forest. The canine distemper virusa highly infectious diseasewas detected among dozens of the royal beasts, killing at least 11 of them. "We picked all the lions from the area and isolated them," Dushyant Vasavada, the park's chief conservator of forests, told AFP. Authorities imported special vaccines from overseas and each animal was given three doses each, followed by a booster shot. Hunting and human encroachment saw the Asiatic lion population plunge to just 20 by 1913 Cattle and dogs living near the park were also inoculated as suspected carriers of the virus. "We vaccinated the lions in captivity and successfully controlled the disease and no new outbreak has been observed," Vasavada said, adding that park rangers were still closely monitoring their health. 'Very thrilling experience' Lions are a source of pride for India, particularly in Gujarat's Saurashtra region, where man and beast coexist. A cattle-rearing tribe lives among the animals in the sanctuary, and it is not uncommon to see a pride of lions crossing a highway in the region as motorists wait and watch. The king of the jungle is also a major tourist attraction, along with leopards, panthers and other big cats found in the sanctuary. Around 550,000 people visit the park each year, riding in open-top jeeps as they try to spot the predators prowling among pale yellow deciduous trees. Three years ago, several lions started to die of canine distemper virus "It is a very thrilling experience to see the lions from close in the wild," said forest guide Dinesh Sadiya. But the 2018 virus outbreak was a reminder that the steady growth in the animal's population cannot be taken for granted. New habitats The lions have low genetic diversity due to their small population size, making them more vulnerable to epidemics. A 1993 outbreak of canine distemper virus in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park killed a third of its 3,000 lions. Wildlife biologist Ravi Chellam said that outbreak underscored the need to move a few prides to other sites nearby. "Translocation is a risk mitigation strategy akin to us getting health or life insurance," he told AFP. "If something happens to the population in Gir, there is always going to be an additional free-ranging population of wild lions available." Lions are a source of pride in Gujarat Around 550,000 people visit Gir National Park each year The lions have low genetic diversity due to their small population size The sanctuary is now too small for its steadily growing lion population Chellam said the sanctuary was also now too small for its steadily growing lion population. "There are far more lions than what Gir can hold... these animals are not static, they are constantly moving outside and interacting with domestic animals and people," he added. Efforts to move some lions to other states have been mired in legal wrangles with the state government, which wants to keep the animals in Gujarat. Authorities have instead proposed finding new homes for some lions in other parts of the state. In the meantime, rangers keep a close watch on the wandering lionswhich sometimes stray into villages and kill livestockwith the help of dozens of imported radio collars. "If a lion has not moved for 48 hours we can alert our staff," said Mohan Ram, the park's deputy conservator of forests. The tracking collars are fitted around a lion's neck, helping rangers monitor their health and movements, reduce road and rail accidents, and lessen human-wildlife conflict. Explore further India's endangered lion population increases to 600 2021 AFP Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz met yesterday with Egyptian Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Tarek el-Mulla, on a first public visit to Israel. The last time an Egyptian senior official visited Israel was in 2016 when Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry arrived in Jerusalem. In all, only Egypts foreign and intelligence ministers had visited Israel in the past 15 years. Present at the Feb. 21 meeting were also national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, Israels Ambassador to Egypt Amira Oron, Egyptian Ambassador to Israel Khaled Azmi, and Magdy Galal, chair of the state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company that manages Egyptian state shares in natural gas projects. The visit of Mulla focused on promoting the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), launched last year, for the construction of an undersea pipeline transferring liquified natural gas from Mediterranean-basin countries to Europe. Steinitz, together with Mulla, was behind the creation of this Cairo forum and the joint pipeline project. Other members of the EMGF are Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Jordan, with France and the United States interested in joining as observers. Netanyahu warmly welcomed Mulla, stating it was an important day, "marking our continued cooperation on energy and so many other things. There is a new era of peace and prosperity for the region with the Abraham Accords. This began of course with the historic peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, but now it is becoming something that can better the lives of all the people in economic terms, and we think that this is a great opportunity for regional cooperation Egypt, Israel and the other countries. We are an energy hub. Together we can supply not only our own needs but the needs of many other countries." Mulla responded that "together with Minister Steinitz, we started a few years back the expansion of the cooperation in energy, which was enhanced by the foundation of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum. I am looking forward to our discussions." Steinitz noted that the visit was of historic importance. He said that the establishment of the regional gas forum and Israeli export of natural gas to Egypt symbolizes the most significant economic cooperation between the two countries since the signing of the bilateral peace accord in 1979. Israel's central natural gas marine field Leviathan already supplies the Israeli domestic market and exports gas to Jordan and Egypt. Its main shareholders and operators are US-based Chevron (which purchased Noble Energy last year) and Israeli Delek Drilling. Leviathan's partners have been exploring options to expand export capacities. They're considering the construction of a floating liquidation plant or subsea pipeline to link up with existing liquidation terminals in Egypt that are currently running at low capacity. After his meeting with Netanyahu, Mulla met with Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi. "I emphasized our desire to deepen civilian ties and congratulated him on his work to promote cooperation in the field of energy between our countries. Energy is an anchor for regional stability and an example of the economic prosperity that our countries gain from peace, tweeted Ashkenazi after the meeting. Syria's rebel-held northwest will receive its first shipment of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine by the end of next month, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. The doses were procured through the UN body's Covax programme, which aims to provide equitable worldwide access to vaccines against Covid-19. Thirty-five to 40 percent of the vaccines would be made available in the first quarter of 2021, and 60 to 65 percent in the second quarter, a WHO spokesperson told AFP. The health directorate for the opposition-held territory said it expected to receive 120,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine by next month. "They will cover 60,000 people," starting with front-line health workers, the elderly and chronically ill people, said its spokesman Imad Zahran. Syria's northwest, much of which is controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, is home to some four million people, including 2.8 million in need of urgent assistance. HTS is an alliance dominated by ex-members of Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate. Rights groups fear crowded displacement camps in the area could be especially conducive to a critical coronavirus outbreak. The rebel stronghold has reported 21,136 infections and 408 fatalities since its outbreak began last year. In government-held areas of Syria, authorities have recorded 15,230 coronavirus infections and 1,001 fatalities. Territories under Kurdish control in the country's northeast have recorded nearly 8,600 cases and 313 deaths. But doctors and rights organisations believe the numbers are probably much higher, especially in northeast Syria where rights groups say the government has refused to allow the UN to set up Covid testing labs. An official with the Kurdish administration in northeast Syria said they were "in talks with the WHO for the procurement of the coronavirus vaccine but have yet to clinch a deal". In December, the government in Damascus signed on to WHO's Covax initiative to procure vaccines. The WHO, together with the UN children's agency UNICEF and Gavi, said they would support Syria in acquiring jabs to initially cover at least three percent of the population and aim for 20 percent by the end of the year. Syria has also authorised the use of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, its embassy in Moscow said Monday. Human Rights Watch this month urged support for aid groups to ensure "equitable" distribution of coronavirus vaccines across all of war-torn Syria, warning against any discriminatory approach by Damascus. Short link: - Adoption of advanced bot protection mechanisms in passenger services system (PSS) to allay fears of end-consumers in the aviation industry - Aviation software companies find attractive markets by leaning on competitive pricing of their products and focusing on evolving consumer expectations ALBANY, N.Y., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Passenger service systems have become an integral part of the aviation IT fabric for catering to the wide range of operational demands of the aviation industry. Airline companies have harnessed the various software suites, both on premise and cloud, typically to meet the various customers' ticketing requirements. Consumer expectations have evolved strikingly over the years, so have the functionality that passenger service systems can deliver. Solution providers and aviation IT companies offer wide range of customer service functions in passenger service system (PSS) market. Some of the key airline operations PSS automates are online booking, inventory control, reservation service, cabin crew management, and aircraft maintenance. Thus, the aviation sector utilizes the functions of the system to meet a wide array of customer service objectives to enable them maximize their revenue streams and gain business flexibility. In the backdrop of several uncertainties that have arisen due to COVID-19 outbreaks in the past year, the passenger service system market will help the aviation industry to glide to new heights, assert aviation IT stakeholders. Solution providers aim at improving the safety features and reiterate on advantages of cloud-based offering. The global revenues are expected to climb to US$ 20 Bn by 2030, exhibiting a robust CAGR of ~12% during the forecast period of 2020 - 2030. Download PDF Brochure - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=22676 Key Findings of Passenger Service System Market Study Cloud-based Platforms for Steady Revenue Streams Changing business models of the aviation industry, especially in the last few months after the outbreaks of COVID-19, has nudged aviation companies to shift toward cloud-based passenger service systems. The hosting on cloud ensures that constant software updates by the cloud provider keeps the system safe, scalable, and reliable for meeting the operational needs of aviation industry. Advent of a few airline passenger services platforms with customer-centric designs are a case in point. For instance, aviation companies are utilizing these platforms for dynamically aircraft maintenance tracking and inventory management. In the unprecedented times of COVID-19 pandemic, the offering in the passenger service systems market also helped to manage a stable revenue streams, and will continue to do so. Analyze global passenger service systems market growth in 30+ countries including US, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Russia, Poland, Benelux, Nordic, China, Japan, India, and South Korea. Request a sample of the study Advances in Bot Protection Mechanisms Make Air Travel Safer Advances in PSS has also exposed them to automated bot attacks. Thus, software providers and IT companies offering cloud-hosted PSS are keenly cautious of the end-customer concerns. Thus, they are adopting advanced bot protection mechanisms to allay the fears and remove vulnerabilities in reservation systems. Going forward this will solidify customer trust in online reservation systems in aviation. Aviation IT Innovation Help Meet Customer Expectations Strategic collaborations are expected to expand the canvas for disruptors in the passenger service system market. Aviation IT companies are leveraging the synergies of collaboration to bring innovation in their cloud PBX offering. A case in point is the spiralling buzz around the demand for cloud platforms that can typically reduce vendor dependency. Evolving customer expectations will set the tone for continual innovation in the PSS market. Request the Covid19 Impact Analysis at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=covid19&rep_id=22676 Passenger Service System Market: Key Driving Factors and Avenues Need for improving passenger safety and the demand for IT framework to support smart airport and airline operations are key factors likely to boost industry investments in passenger service systems market. Need for spurring strides in IT transport industry after a long slump due to COVID-led restrictions will likely boost the market. Per the recent findings by International Air Transport Association (IATA), 2020 was a turbulent year for the aviation industry. Growing focus on streamlining the processes from check-in to check-out is driving constant need for advancements in cloud PBX. Explore 288 pages of superlative research, current market scenario, and extensive geographical projections. Gain insights into the Passenger Service System Market (Component: Software and Services; and Deployment: Cloud and On-premise) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 2020-2030 at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/passenger-service-system-market.html Market: Key Industry Participants IBM Corporation KIU System Solutions Sabre Corporation Radixx International, Inc. Intelisys Aviation Systems Inc. IBS Software Services Pvt. Ltd. Explore Transparency Market Research's award-winning coverage of the Global IT & Telecom Industry: Endpoint Detection and Response [EDR] Market - The endpoint detection and response (EDR) market is estimated to expand at a CAGR of ~21% during the forecast period, owing to numerous factors regarding which TMR offers thorough insights and forecasts in its report on the global EDR market Engineering Information Management [EIM] Solutions Market - The engineering information management (EIM) solutions market is estimated to expand at a CAGR of ~10% during the forecast period 2020-2030, owing to numerous factors, regarding which TMR offers thorough insights and forecasts in its report on the global EIM solutions market About Us Transparency Market Research is a next-generation market intelligence provider, offering fact-based solutions to business leaders, consultants, and strategy professionals. Our reports are single-point solutions for businesses to grow, evolve, and mature. Our real-time data collection methods along with ability to track more than one million high growth niche products are aligned with your aims. The detailed and proprietary statistical models used by our analysts offer insights for making right decision in the shortest span of time. For organizations that require specific but comprehensive information we offer customized solutions through adhoc reports. These requests are delivered with the perfect combination of right sense of fact-oriented problem solving methodologies and leveraging existing data repositories. TMR believes that unison of solutions for clients-specific problems with right methodology of research is the key to help enterprises reach right decision. Contact Mr Rohit Bhisey Transparency Market Research State Tower, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany NY - 12207 United States USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Website: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Press Release Source: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/passenger-service-system-market.htm Blog: https://tmrblog.com/ Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1085206/Transparency_Market_Research_Logo.jpg PHILIPSBURG(DCOMM):--- On Monday morning February 22, the first COVID-19 vaccine inoculations took place, a very important step in heading into a post-COVID-19 era. The White and Yellow Cross Care Foundation (WYCCF) at St. Johns Estate, was the place where the first COVID-19 vaccine in the country took place. The event which was live-streamed via the Government of Sint Maarten Facebook page started out with Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs officially launching the vaccination campaign. In her opening remarks, the Prime Minister mentioned the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the community which started almost a year ago. The loss of loved ones as well as the harsh financial impact on the national economy were some of the key areas that the Prime Minister pointed out. Jacobs added how the country has been looking forward to the day that the vaccine would become available and that day is finally here, the day that the Government commences with phase 1 of the COVID-19 vaccination rollout plan. Acting Minister of Public Health, Social Development, and Labor (Ministry VSA), Ludmila de Weever, addressed in her opening remarks on behalf of Minister of VSA Richard Panneflek, that Monday marked a special milestone for the country. Minister De Weever added that Sint Maarten is now one of the countries in the world, privileged to have COVID-19 vaccines, which is a step in the right direction for public health. The organization of this operation wasnt easy, Minister De Weever pointed out, and thanked, Minister Panneflek, the Collective Prevention Service (CPS), the Department of Public Health, Pharmacies, stakeholders, General Practitioners, the vaccine management team, workstream officers, and their support staff who contributed their expertise, time, and energy to this operation. Minister De Weever also last but not least, thanked the Netherlands for providing the vaccines to Sint Maarten. The manager of operations, of the White & Yellow Cross Care Foundation (WYCCF), Bregje Boetekees welcomed everyone to the WYCCF and mentioned that it was an honor to have the first vaccine on the island given to one of their dedicated nurses. WYCCF Quality Nurse, Claudette Rijff, was the first one to receive the vaccine. The vaccine was administered live, while Bregje Boetekees explained the vaccination procedure. Nurse Claudette mentioned that she felt fine and was honored to be the first on the island to receive the vaccine. She said she was proud to be part of the solution to be able to pave the way for others: I take it to protect you, now you take it to protect someone else. Working in the COVID-19-unit, allowed her to see and experience the effect of the COVID-19 virus on vulnerable clients. I take the vaccine because I want to protect my clients, co-workers, and community, Claudette said. She also mentioned that initially, she was a bit doubtful of taking the vaccine too. Though after she did her research and got convinced that its safe and decided that she wants to make a difference. We want things to go back to normal, and the economy to recover, so I would advise everyone to come together and do the right thing, because we are stronger together, Claudette pointed out. Bregje Boetekees continued by saying that after the live feed, the vaccination at the WYCCF will commence for clients and healthcare workers with direct client contact. In the elderly care unit, where they felt the impact of COVID-19, like no one else, a whopping 86% signed up to receive the vaccine. Boetekees mentioned that for some it has almost been a year, since they last hugged or kissed their children or grandchildren or attended a church service or family gathering. These clients know, like no other, that this vaccine is a lifesaver. She then referred to the incredibly positive results in Israel, where there is a tremendous decline in infections and hospitalizations under the vaccinated population. This shows that the vaccine is effective, though enough people need to take the vaccine to accomplish this. So, I urge you, to sign up today. Because if we all sign up and take the vaccine, it will not be a small step towards normalcy, it will be a giant leap. CPS Head, Eva Lista-de Weever then remarked that she felt honored to be part of this national accomplishment and hoped that everyone will join her in registering for the vaccine. Either via the online link (which will soon be made available in different languages) or via the paperback form which can be picked up at several locations, including CPS, Doctors offices, the Government Administration Building, and select pharmacies. Completed forms can be dropped off at the CPS. In her closing remarks, she said that she will be taking the vaccine this week and motivates others to do the same. Sint Maarten let us do our part to reduce COVID-19. Together, we are protected. Acting Minister of Public Health, Social Development & Labor De Weever, concluded by congratulating everyone involved in this process, and encouraged everyone that this is the safest way for the country. The vaccine is safe, free of charge, and cannot change your DNA. It will be available to everyone who currently resides on the Dutch side, and no immigration checks will be done, and your information will be handled confidentially, so please register, and protect our island, the minister said on Monday. Lastly, Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs closed off by saying that we are very fortunate to have received the vaccine, as many countries much bigger than Sint Maarten have not. This is the largest rollout drive of vaccines that Sint Maarten has ever seen before and we will all get the opportunity to receive the vaccine. ''I for one will definitely get vaccinated when it is my turn, and I encourage each and every one of you to do the same and register for the vaccine,'' the prime minister reiterated. She expressed gratitude to the Kingdom partners, CPS, Ministers, ministries, and stakeholders for all their hard work in the planning and realization of this project. Nurse Claudette received her Vaccination Passport, and the Facebook live stream was concluded by the Department of Communication (DCOMM) host Roylyka Roache. The live stream can be re-viewed on the Government of Sint Maarten Facebook page, YouTube channel and also via Cable TV. Persons interested in receiving the vaccine can sign up via https://bit.ly3tOsJLa or using a form that can be collected at the Collective Prevention Services (CPS) Vineyard Office Park Building, the Division of Labor Affairs at the Simpson Bay Public Service Center in Simpson Bay, or at the Government Administration Building. People who have questions about underlying conditions regarding the vaccine are advised to consult their family physician. Other questions about vaccination can be emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call CPS at 914. Burma Myanmar Police Fails to Probe Headquarters Raid: NLD National League for Democracy member U Soe Lay addresses reporters on Tuesday. / The Irrawaddy The National League for Democracy (NLD) says Yangons police are not investigating its allegations over the raid by the security forces on its headquarters two weeks ago. The office was raided on the night of Feb. 9, while no one was in the building. It took place on the same day as the regime announced an 8pm-4am curfew and banned gatherings of five or more people across Yangon. Military personnel broke down the doors of the headquarters in Shwe Gone Daing, Bahan Township, and its central executive committee office in Tamwe Township. The NLD central committee said the military confiscated property, including cash and computer drives. Numerous personnel in police and military uniforms and plainclothes were recorded by CCTV entering the building, said U Soe Lay, who was elected for the NLD in the November general election. He told a press conference in Yangon on Tuesday that important documents, cash, bank books and cheques from a safe are missing along with office supplies, a printer, scanner and projector. An exact list of seized property cannot be produced because the NLDs finance committee member, U Thein Oo, is still detained. The NLD opened a case on Feb. 10, which was accepted but no investigation has been carried out, U Soe Lay said. Advocate U Kyi Win said the police should carry out their legal duties. It is not right. The police are not following their procedures, he said. U Soe Lay added that the party will take further legal action although the police were trying to ignore the incident. He added that as the NLD leadership, cabinet ministers and Union Election Commission members have been detained, it appears the regime is trying to find incriminating evidence against the NLD. The military has prosecuted State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint and other senior NLD figures since the coup. The junta has appointed new election commissioners and invited political parties to meet them on Feb. 26. U Soe Lay said the NLD will not attend the meeting to signal its opposition to the regime. Millions of citizens have been protesting against the military regime, demanding the release of the detained leaders and the restoration of the democratically elected government. You may also like these stories: After Embassy Protest, Indonesia Denies Backing Myanmar Regimes Election Plan Myanmar Junta Leader Warns Media Against Using Junta or Regime Committee of Ousted Myanmar Lawmakers Appoints International Envoys Denise is one of the nations most experienced community organizers. Shes been in the fight for most of her life. Im sure her ideas will ignite and inspire many emerging leaders in the movement for change! Edgar Villanueva, author of Decolonizing Wealth; founder and Chief Strategist, Decolonizi Berrett-Koehler Publishers is proud to announce this new book. New Book by Denise Collazo - Thriving in the Fight: A Survival Manual for Latinas on the Front Lines of Change - Publishes February 23, 2021 Denise Padin Collazo, longtime activist, nonprofit thought leader, and senior adviser for Faith in Action, will release her first book, "Thriving in the Fight: A Survival Manual for Latinas on the Front Lines of Change. At a time when so many in this country are struggling to contend with a new era of racial and gender oppression, we need the power, the wisdom, and the experience of women of color now more than ever, said Rev. Alvin Herring, Faith in Action executive director. Denise's book is a clarion call to Latinas in the movementand to the rest of usthat they are ready and poised to lead with hope, love, and light. Drawing on her own experiences of triumph and failure, along with stories from fellow leading Latina activists, Collazo discusses three keys to thriving in the movement for social change: leading into your vision, living into the fullest version of yourself, and loving past negatives that hold you back. She also lays out three signs that you may be surrendering: wishing for a future reality to emerge, wondering where your limits are, and waiting for permission and answers to come from others. As well, she explains how you can integrate family and work, step out of the background and claim your leadership potential, confront anti-Blackness in your own culture, keep focused on your ultimate purpose, and raise the necessary resources to keep fighting for justice. Collazo is the first Latina, the first woman of color, and the first woman period to raise a family and stay in the work of community organizing at Faith in Action, an international progressive network of 3,000 congregations and 2 million members. A social justice leader and gifted speaker, Collazos work has been featured in the Miami Herald, Nonprofit Quarterly and Forbes.com, and she serves on the Forbes Nonprofit Council. She is a graduate of Harvard University, and resides in Puerto Rico. http://www.DeniseCollazo.com To set up an interview, access an advanced copy of the book, or for more information, contact Katie Sheehan, Sr. Communications Manager - ksheehan@bkpub.com GALVESTON In an idle research vessel about 20 miles from the Texas coastline, Rob Perkins, a Ph.D. student at Texas A&M University at Galveston, gently picked up a rehabilitated green sea turtle from inside a plastic tub. The turtle eagerly flapped its limbs as Perkins gently tossed it into the welcoming waters of the Gulf of Mexico. A week ago, this turtle was one of 60 that were cold-stunned and rescued by an army of volunteers from frigid waters, victims of the four-day freeze that briefly crippled the region. On Monday, a team of naturalists, volunteers and marine scientists packed 25 of those newly healed turtles onto the Trident, a 70-foot research vessel docked at Texas A&Ms Galveston campus, and motored off shore to release them back into the wild. We saw them when they came in, they just looked lethargic, said Maureen Nolan-Wilde, a master naturalist with A&Ms Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research. We had people from Texas Parks and Wildlife out. It was cold, their houses were damaged, but they were still going out to try to get these turtles. A&M students out there looking. It was this amazing partnership to get these turtles back into the water. Now Playing: Video: Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle The freeze represented the largest turtle cold-stunning event since researchers in 1980 began recording them nationwide, said Donna Shaver, the Texas coordinator for the Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network. Preliminary estimates Friday showed that more than 8,000 stunnings had been recorded in Texas this winter, the bulk of which were during the freeze. It was far above the record 4,613 cold-stunned turtles in Florida in 2010. The early estimates also showed only roughly half were found alive. This event has been unprecedented for us in terms of the severity, Shaver said, adding, Its really taken its toll. Weve had some big cold-stunning events, but nothing of this magnitude. Part of the reason the numbers were so big is that the population of green sea turtles a threatened species named for the green fat deposits on their sides has grown. But the freeze also proved the perfect storm, Shaver said, for causing cold stunnings. Turtles are reptiles, so their body temperatures fluctuate with the temperature of the air. If it gets too cold, they stop moving, floating to the surface of the water and sometimes to shore. Volunteers up and down Texas shorelines rushed to rescue any they could find, so they wouldnt be hit by boats or attacked by predators. The bulk of the population is south around the Laguna Madre. Thousands of rescued turtles in that area were taken to the South Padre Island Convention Center. Texas A&M Galveston took in still more. Anna DeMotte and Rhiannon Nechero, marine biology students at Texas A&M, were two of the volunteers who waded out into frigid waters to rescue the green sea turtles. They were thrilled their labor wasnt for naught two of the turtles they found were successfully rehabilitated and were released Monday back into the Gulf. One of them was out in the water, one of them was up in the reeds, DeMotte said. The two we found are on the boat today. Its really special to see the whole process. Each of the cold-stunned sea turtles had to pass a battery of tests before being released back into the wild. The Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research, started in 2019, also includes a hospital for nursing injured and cold-stunned turtles back to health. The 60 turtles that volunteers were able to rescue were given antibiotics and monitored for days by sea turtle biologists as well as veterinarians from the Houston Zoo. The last hurdle the turtles clear before being released into the wild is a swim test to determine that their metabolism has rebounded enough to survive and that they have full function of their flippers. For 15 minutes they are placed in a saltwater tank and observed to ensure they can dive and resurface without issue. We want to check their buoyancy because that can be an indication of things like pneumonia, said Katie St. Clair, the manager of A&Ms Sea Life facility. The rescued turtles also give A&M scientists a chance to tag them with devices that will track their movements in the wild. Green sea turtles historically inhabit Gulf waters farther south in the Corpus Christi area. Sea turtle biologists theorize that more green sea turtles have traveled north in recent years to follow the migration of seagrass beds. Its good to see what environmental drivers there are on the turtles, said Perkins, the Ph.D. student at the Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research Already, theres been multiple studies that have shown decreased populations of plants and seaweed or seagrasses (which the turtles feed on) that have been moving up the coast. But the primary aim of turtle researchers is to save as many threatened and endangered sea turtles as possible a mission accomplished with each of the 25 sea turtles aboard the Trident on Monday returning to their natural home. Trying to recover a threatened or endangered species is the long game. Youre not going to recover them overnight, Shaver said. So one turtle at a time you continue your efforts. You find one and then you find another and you find another. And you save them. And then collectively, the efforts of everyone with all those turtles, you hope that you will recover the species. It really literally takes a village nick.powell@chron.com emily.foxhall@chron.com Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. OMAHA, Neb. (AP) Police in Omaha say a man has died after the motorcycle he was driving crashed as he tried to exit Interstate 80 at 60th Street.Police say the crash happened around 3:30 p.m. Sunday on an interstate offramp, killing 37-year-old Travis McQueen, of Omaha.Investigators say Mc Ahmedabad: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday (February 23, 2021) swept elections to six municipal corporations in Gujarat by winning 483 out of 576 seats. The ruling party retained power in all the six municipal corporations in the state -- Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar. The polls were held on February 21. The main opposition Congress got a drubbing, as it won only 55 seats and failed even to open an account in Surat. On the other hand, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) put up an impressive show by winning 27 seats, all in Surat, and emerged as the main opposition in the Surat Municipal Corporation. The AAP had for the first time fielded 470 candidates across all six corporations. The BJP won 159 out of 192 seats in Ahmedabad, 68 out of 72 seats in Rajkot, 50 out of 64 seats in Jamnagar, 44 out of 52 seats in Bhavnagar, 69 out of 76 seats in Vadodara and 93 out of 120 seats in Surat. Congress, on the other hand, won seats in single digit in three corporations and drew a blank in Surat. The party won 25 seats in Ahmedabad, four in Rajkot, 11 in Jamnagar, eight in Bhavnagar and seven in Vadodara. Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM, which also contested local body polls in Gujarat for the first time, won seven seats in Ahmedabad's Muslim-dominated Jamalpur and Maktampura wards. Three candidates of the Bahujan Samaj Party won in Jamnagar, while an independent candidate won only in Ahmedabad. The BJP had won 389 seats and Congress 176 across these six municipal corporations in the 2016 elections. The saffron party gained 94 seats while Congress lost 121 seats this time. In a series of tweets, Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked the people of Gujarat and BJP workers for the victory. "Thank you Gujarat! Results of municipal elections across the state clearly show the unwavering faith people have towards politics of development and good governance. "Grateful to the people of the state for trusting BJP yet again. Always an honour to serve Gujarat," he said. Thank you Gujarat! Results of municipal elections across the state clearly show the unwavering faith people have towards politics of development and good governance. Grateful to the people of the state for trusting BJP yet again. Always an honour to serve Gujarat. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 23, 2021 He also appreciated the efforts of party workers and said the state government's pro-people policies have had a positive impact on the entire state. "Today's win across Gujarat is very special. For a party that is serving in a state for over two decades to record such a phenomenal win is noteworthy. It is heartening to see widespread support from all sections of society, particularly the youth of Gujarat towards BJP," Modi said in another tweet. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on a visit to Ahmedabad, congratulated Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and state BJP chief C R Patil on BJP's victory. In a tweet, Shah, who himself voted in Ahmedabad on February 21, congratulated the people of Gujarat "for once more believing in the BJP's symbol of development and progress in the metropolitan local body elections." Chief Minister Rupani took the opportunity to attack Congress. In his address to newly elected corporators and party workers in Ahmedabad, he said the voters "mercilessly thrashed" Congress, with many of its candidates losing their deposits and several leaders facing defeat. "Its performance is so bad that even we feel bad about it," he said and added that the real picture will be seen in 2022 when the state Assembly elections will be held. "(The term) Anti-incumbency is being used by our opponents, but the election has proved there is no such word in Gujarat. BJP follows the process of development, and is not affected by anti incumbency. People are with the BJP because of its work, and their trust in BJP increases day by day. "We have established Gujarat as a BJP stronghold. It is just a fight, the real picture will be seen in 2022," he said. Elated by his party's good showing in Surat, AAP leader and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has decided to hold a roadshow on February 26 to thank the people of the city, party leaders said. Live TV Sorry! This content is not available in your region A year and a half after Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was sentenced to death, El Chapo's wife was arrested by authorities in the United States on Monday. The 31-year-old former American teenage beauty queen, Emma Coronel Aispuro, was accused of aiding her husband in running the multi-billion dollar Sinaloa Drug Cartel. She also allegedly helped him plot his prison break from a Mexican prison back in 2015. El Chapo's wife was apprehended at Virginia's Dulles International Airport. The "first lady" of the most dominant drug cartel in Mexico is expected to appear before the federal court in Washington come Tuesday. Coronel is a dual citizen of Mexico and the U.S., NY Post reported. The apprehension of Sinaloa's King and Queen El Chapo's wife's arrest is just the latest turn in the saga which involves the notorious drug lord. Known as the king of the infamous Sinaloa Drug Cartel, Guzman was able to pull off two prison escapes in Mexico, which made an impression that he and his family were untouchables. However, in 2017, Guzman was extradited to the U.S. and is currently serving life in prison. He was sentenced to death in July 2019. At the moment, El Chapo's wife, the mother of his two young daughters, has been captured and is currently facing charges of helping him run the notorious drug empire. The criminal complaint filed against Coronel is a single-count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana in the U.S. Read also: Landmine Explodes on Election Commission Vehicle on Day of Niger Vote The Justice Department is also accusing her of playing a role in her husband's escape from prison in 2015. Also, she was suspected to be part of the planning for El Chapo's escape from prison before he was extradited to the United States. Jeffrey Lichtman, the attorney for El Chapo's wife, refused to comment on Monday night, according to CBS News. El Chapo's Drug Empire Hailed as the most powerful drug lord, El Chapo ran the largest drug ring in Mexico for 25 years, responsible for smuggling tons of cocaine and other illegal drugs to the U.S. Prosecutors also stated in the court papers that El Chapo's "hitmen" were given orders to torture and "eliminate" anyone who got in the cartel's way. The prison escapes of El Chapo became legends in Mexico and started the conversation of whether Mexico's justice system can hold him accountable for his crimes. In one of his escapes, the drug lord broke out of prison through an entrance under his cell shower. It then led to a tunnel which was about a mile long, and had a motorcycle on rails. According to prosecutors, El Chapo's wife played a huge role in planning the extensive prison escape, Reuters reported. According to court papers, El Chapo's wife worked with his sons, along with a witness who is now working with the U.S. government. The witness stated that Coronel helped organize the construction of a tunnel that El Chapo used to escape prison to prevent his extradition to the U.S. Related article: Women Aid Workers Fatally Shot in Suspected Ambush in Pakistan @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A further three community cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) were confirmed on February 23 morning in Hai Duong, Vietnams biggest coronavirus hotbed, raising the national count of local transmissions to 1,496. Measurement of body temperature is necessary to prevent the pandemic All of the new infections are F1 contacts related to previously confirmed patients in the outbreak of Kim Lien commune, Kim Thanh district, Hai Duong province where one of the first two cases in the nation's ongoing COVID-19 outbreak was found late last month, when the virus recurred in the nation after almost two months. Since then, the virus have spread to 13 cities and provinces, with 803 local infections confirmed, including Hai Duong reporting the highest number of locally-transmitted cases at 620, trailed by its neighbor Quang Ninh at 60. One day earlier, the northern port city of Hai Phong also recorded three new domestic infections. In the face of the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city, the Chairman of Hai Phong City People's Committee, Head of the provincial Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control has decided to carry out a score of urgent measures to swiftly contain the disease. The Hai Phong City People's Committee has agreed to put three locations related to positive COVID-19 cases in lockdown and in medical quarantine to slow the spread of the virus among the community. Meanwhile the northern province of Hai Duong is poised to increase the testing capacity to 80,000 samples per day by mobilizing the maximum force to become involved in taking samples in order to meet this capacity and work out a plan to conduct the sampling based on three groups: high-risk, risked and low-risk. Regarding the fresh outbreak in Hai Duong province's Kim Thanh district, the local health sector will step up contact tracing, zone off affected areas, and conduct COVID-19 testing as quickly as possible with test results announced within the same day. Kim Thanh district will also take samples of all employees working in enterprises in the area, while strictly complying with safe regulations regarding pandemic control set out by the Ministry of Health. The national infection tally has gone up to 2,395 so far, including 1,496 local infections, 899 imported cases, and 1,717 recoveries. VOV A Colorado Springs man strangled his ex-girlfriend before concealing her body in a plastic tote and kicking it off a cliff on a remote mountain road, investigators alleged in court Monday. Daveon Artez Rogers, 31, will face a first-degree murder trial in the killing of 28-year-old Elizabeth Michelle Lizzy Kremer, 4th Judicial District Chief Judge William Bain ruled at the conclusion of a day-long preliminary hearing. The judge also ordered Rogers held without bond, finding there is a fair likelihood he is in danger of being convicted based on the evidence against him, which prosecutors said disproved Rogers claims that he choked her in self-defense. Among the evidence of preplanning were threatening messages Rogers sent the victim by phone and over social media accounts, and weeks of suspicious Internet activity, including Google searches in which he asked how to commit the perfect murder, witnesses testified. Days before Rogers claimed he placed his ex-girlfriend in a rear naked chokehold that caused her death, he searched on YouTube for videos demonstrating how to execute the maneuver. That is not a quick death. That is not an impulsive death. That is not something that happens in a short time frame, prosecutor Kelson Castain said. Fort Carson soldier arrested in wife's shooting death in Colorado Springs A Fort Carson soldier turned himself in after saying he shot his wife in a home in southeast Colorado Springs last weekend, police said Monday. An autopsy concluded Kremer died of homicidal asphyxiation, according to testimony by Dr. Emily Russell of the El Paso County Coroners Office. Attorneys for Rogers called the case against him circumstantial, and said the autopsy that concluded Kremer died in a homicide was "speculative." They suggested police had fed Rogers information that led him to make incriminating statements. Kremer, of Colorado Springs, was the mother of Rogers two children and had moved out of their shared apartment a month earlier, telling relatives she had fled an abusive relationship, authorities said. She had been seeking split custody at the time of her disappearance. Kremers boyfriend said he last saw her on March 8, before she left to pick up her children from Rogers apartment at the Aviator Apartment Homes, 1670 N. Murray Blvd. She didnt come home, and her boyfriend reported her missing March 11. Kremers body was found March 22 in a plastic bin that had been dumped over a cliffside on Gold Camp Road, between the first and second tunnels. Four teenagers were climbing on rocks when they saw the bin beneath them, lying on its side on a gravelly slope, an investigator testified. After hiking down to the bin, one of the teens used a key to cut through duct tape securing its lid, authorities said. CO Appeals Court overturns 3-year sentence for former nurse who helped Patrick Frazee after Kelsey Berreth murder Krystal Jean Kenney, the former nurse who helped Teller County rancher Patrick Frazee clean up blood after the murder of his fiance Kelsey Ber During his first interview with police on April 22, Rogers said Kremer stopped by his apartment for a few minutes to pick up their kids and left. He said she returned the children several hours later, and that the two quarreled over custody issues before she again left. During a follow-up interrogation in June, police confronted him with surveillance footage showing Kremer never returned to her sport-utility vehicle after her first visit. Rogers then said Kremer came at him with a knife, forcing him to place her in a mixed-martial arts hold in which he used his arms to squeeze her neck until she went limp. He told police that he had placed their two children in a room and blocked the door earlier in their quarrel. Rogers said he panicked after Kremer's death and called his mother and brother for help. Rogers told police that his brother, Denerio Rogers, obtained the plastic bin from a store and helped carry her body outside and stow it in the back of her Nissan Rogue, a detective testified. He said he drove out to Gold Camp Road, backed up to the edge, engaged the parking brake, climbed into backseat and kicked the crate out, Colorado Springs police detective Brent Jacobsen said. Denerio Rogers hasnt been charged in the case, court records show. +3 Pandemic-fueled domestic violence leads to homicide spike in Colorado's largest cities Peter Walker was cooking in his downtown Colorado Springs home midafternoon on New Years Day 2020, when his housemate stuck a 2-inch blade o The SUV was left 2400 block of Split Rock Drive in the Rockrimmon area. It was found weeks later, after a resident called to report it had been abandoned. Inside the vehicle was plastic tote handle like one missing from the bin that contained Kremers body, along with court paperwork concerning the childrens custody. Kremers death was among a string of domestic-violence attacks in 2020 that pushed the city into a record year for homicides, with 39. More than a quarter of the deaths involved domestic violence, The Gazette reported in January. TESSA, a nonprofit that assists domestic violence victims, typically helps about 15,000 people per year. In 2020, the organization said it helps up to 23,000 people. A woman whose violent boyfriend threw a whisky glass in her face has shared the troubling love letters he wrote to her as a warning to other women stuck in abusive relationships. Delia Fernandez, 24, was left with permanent scars following the domestic violence attack inside the apartment she shared with her then-boyfriend Julian Sebastiao in Parramatta, Sydney's west, in May last year. Ms Fernandez took to Instagram after Sebastiao, 23, escaped a jail sentence on Tuesday despite pleading guilty to common assault and grievous bodily harm. The popular young food critic shared photos of a handwritten card Sebastiao had written her on their one-year anniversary - just ten days before the shocking attack. 'They gaslight you and treat you like a Queen one day and the next they threaten you with suicide if you try to leave. There's just no winning,' she wrote alongside an image of the card. 'It isn't all name calling and aggression. They use words like these to confuse and manipulate you into staying. Everything he stated was true. I did bring all of the above to the table and I was a good partner.' Pictured: Delia Fernandez is seen with stitches in her face after her ex-boyfriend Julian Sebastiao threw a whiskey glass at her head Ms Fernandez shared a handwritten card to Instagram her former partner had given her for their one-year anniversary - 10 days before the shocking attack Ms Fernandez also posted another card her then partner had given to her, accompanied by a warning to other women She revealed how terrified she was of Sebastiao's words because they were penned so close to the attack. 'Yet it didn't stop him attacking me when he didn't get this way (or) thought he was going to lose me. These words scared me the most because this was given to me just 10 days before the incident,' Ms Fernandez said. Another card given to Ms Fernandez over Christmas was also posted to her Instagram, accompanied by a warning to other women. 'They are consumed by their feelings and then blame you when you are the one hurt. Never allow this. You think it's love girls but it's not. If someone loves you they won't do what these men do,' she wrote. 'It is so hard to leave because it's a bunch of really high highs but then really low lows and they always remind you of the good times because it's like a drug.' Ms Fernandez and Sebastiao, who had been dating for just over a year, were lying in bed together on May 26, 2020 when she made a comment that angered him, Parramatta Advertiser reported. 'He was saying of the whole male population, (not) one wanted to be my friend or family member, and said they saw me as a piece of meat and I laughed and said ''That's how your brain works''?' Ms Fernandez said. The couple then began to discuss whether Ms Fernandez's friends would find Sebastiao attractive. Ms Fernandez is pictured with Sebastiao before the attack. The couple had been dating for just over a year 'He was getting frustrated that I wasn't getting jealous,' Ms Fernandez said, adding that she is not an insecure person. Ms Fernandez then made a joke about one of her boyfriend's friends and Sebastiao became so enraged he grabbed her shirt and pushed himself on to her. Ms Fernandez struggled to breathe as he leaned his weight on her chest. Sebastiao eventually let go and began to pace around the couple's dining area. Ms Fernandez threw a TV remote control in his direction and Sebastiao hurled the 10cm tall glass at her head. Ms Fernandez (right) was left with permanent scars following the domestic violence attack inside the apartment she shared with her then-boyfriend, Julian Sebastiao, in Parramatta, in Sydney's western suburbs Ms Fernandez made a joke about one of her boyfriend's friends and Sebastiao became so enraged he grabbed her shirt and pushed himself on to her. He then threw the glass at her She suffered a 5cm laceration to her left cheek, a 1.5cm cut to her left eyebrow and numerous superficial wounds after the glass shattered on her face. The injury caused Ms Fernandez to bleed profusely. 'I lost everything in one night. He was my only family. Within one night I had no face, no boyfriend, no family, no home. My home was a crime scene,' Ms Fernandez said. In the wake of the attack, Sebastiao refused to call an ambulance for his injured partner. According to police facts, he instead took Ms Fernandez's clothes off and put her in the shower to try and clean off the blood. He later called his mum who advised he should phone for an ambulance. The couple instead stayed at the apartment until Sebastiao's mum arrived and she tried to clean Ms Fernandez's wounds. Sebastiao's mum took Ms Fernandez to Westmead Hospital, while he was picked up by a friend. Magistrate Rodney Brender said the level of domestic violence was 'completely unacceptable'. Sebastiao (left) was convicted and sentenced to a 15-month intensive correction, to be served in the community Ms Fernandez underwent surgery two days after the attack. Sebastiao was sentenced in Parramatta Local Court on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to common assault and grievous bodily harm. Magistrate Rodney Brender said the level of domestic violence was 'completely unacceptable'. Sebastiao was convicted and sentenced to a 15-month intensive correction, to be served in the community. Magistrate Brender also ordered him to pay a $700 fine and complete 200 hours community service. Ms Fernandez has used her Instagram to document her recovery and speak out against domestic violence following the attack. Ms Fernandez (pictured) has used her Instagram to document her recovery and speak out against domestic violence following the attack 'Thank you to everyone for your constant love and support, you are all the reason I rebuilt my life from scratch in such a short amount of time,' she wrote on an Instagram post in December. 'I've accepted these scars and they are a constant reminder everyday of what we all came back from with strength. 'There's hope for all the ladies out there suffering in silence, we have so much life to live.' Ms Fernandez also shared Instagram stories after her ex-partner was convicted. 'This was confronting but I'm glad this nightmare is finally over,' she wrote. For domestic violence support, call 1800 RESPECT For 24/7 confidential support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 Francesca Paris covers North Adams for The Berkshire Eagle. A California native and Williams College alumna, she has worked at NPR in Washington, D.C. and WBUR in Boston, as a news reporter, producer and editor. Find her on Twitter at @fparises. The hearing of the criminal case against Armenias ex-President, one of the instigators of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Robert Kocharyan was postponed until March 2, judge Anna Danibekyan said. She called the absence of ex-Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan's lawyer Eric Aleksanyan at the hearing as the reason to postpone it. "The court cannot continue the case hearing without a lawyer. The next session is scheduled for March 2," TASS cited her as saying. Danibekyan stressed that Aleksanyan showed contempt for the court by not appearing at the hearing, and therefore his behavior will be considered at the meeting on March 2. Delta, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 23, 2021) - AirTest Technologies Inc. (TSXV: AAT) (OTC: AATGF) ("AirTest" or the "Company") President George Graham is pleased to advise that AirTest is adding to its management staff with the appointment of Ted Konyi as CEO and Director. Mr. Graham will remain as the President and Chairman of the Company. Graham commented, "We've known and worked with Ted since 2008, including most recently as a Financial Consultant to the Company since early last year. Ted brings decades of financing expertise to AirTest and has a solid grasp of the opportunities in front of the company. The timing fits perfectly with the growing concern around Climate Change and the role that Energy Efficiency can play to reduce Greenhouse Gases. With our company having developed wireless Indoor Air Quality sensors, heightened awareness around ventilation due to COVID is providing additional momentum for the Company's suite of sensors. Ted's addition will provide some of the public company financing depth needed to take advantage of the growth opportunity presented by the green movement." Ted Konyi said, "I am very excited to be joining the Airtest team as CEO. I've been an evangelist for Energy Efficiency since 2004. Efficiency is the best alternative energy resource. Using less is a great step to take towards reducing your carbon footprint. With AirTest's cutting edge IoT sensors, businesses can better manage their energy use through the data that is provided. AirTest has demonstrated time and time again that their sensor deployments lead to significant reductions in energy use, improving operating expenses while reducing GHGs. Truly a win-win outcome. I look forward to assisting the Company with its growth plans." About Ted Konyi: Ted is a serial entrepreneur in the financial sector. Having co-founded two financial planning companies and broker dealer, he went on to form and operate 17 successful Oil and Gas Income Limited Partnerships. Through his operating company Maxwell Mercantile Inc., Ted has raised in excess of $300 million for both private and public companies. In 2004, Ted founded Smartcool Systems Inc., a software-based energy efficiency company, of which he is currently CEO and Chairman. Ted's focus will be to improve the awareness of the Company in the financial community and develop strategic financing opportunities. This will enable AirTest to aggressively pursue its continuing priority of creating Energy Efficiency in commercial buildings. About AirTest: AirTest Technologies (www.airtest.com) is a Green-Tech IoT company specializing in sensors that improve commercial building operating efficiency and at the same time create energy savings. These sensors are all based on technical innovations developed in the last ten years and comprise a growing second wave of energy saving technologies that will make a significant impact on making the large number of existing buildings green and sustainable. AirTest offers its products to leading-edge building owners, contractors and energy service companies targeting the buildings market. AirTest also provides energy cost reduction solutions to building equipment and controls manufacturers who incorporate AirTest sensor components in their products. "You Can't Manage What You Don't Measure" This news release contains "forward looking statements". Forward-looking statements are projections of financial performance or future events. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "plan", "believe", "estimate" and words of similar meaning. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and they are subject to risks that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include those concerning the Company's belief in the energy savings that can be achieved through installation of the Company's products and that these installations lead to reduced maintenance, downtime expenses, future cost savings, and improvements in the bottom line. These statements are subject to risks that may cause the actual results to be materially different in future periods from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Risks that may prevent or delay the forward-looking statements from coming to fruition as anticipated include the availability of working capital, risks inherent in product development, as well as market factors that may increase costs or time to market. It is our policy not to update forward looking statements except to the extent required under applicable securities laws. Further information on the Company is available at www.sedar.com or at the Company's website, www.airtest.com. For further information, please contact: Mr. George Graham, President Phone: (604) 517 3888 Fax: (604) 517 3900 Email: ggraham@airtest.com Website: www.airtest.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75162 WASHINGTON U.S. attorney general nominee Merrick Garland promised Monday that the Department of Justice would pursue any evidence of fraud in a federal investigation he may soon supervise of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's handling of nursing home deaths during the coronavirus pandemic. "With all of these investigations, the Justice Department is open to evidence of fraud, false statements, violations of the law," Garland said during his Senate confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate. "They normally begin in the relevant U.S. attorneys office. The FBI and the U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of New York are investigating the Cuomo administration and its nursing home policies, sources have confirmed to the Times Union. An investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James recently found that Cuomo's administration undercounted nursing home deaths by as much as 50 percent because many of the fatalities involved residents who were dying and transferred to a hospital. The governor's office has subsequently come under fire after it was revealed Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa may have slow-walked nursing home data requested by the state Legislature because the administration was wary of how that information would be used against Cuomo's team in the federal inquiry. Nearly a year ago, Cuomo's administration issued a directive that pushed COVID-19-positive nursing home residents from hospitals back into their care facilities to free up space in what his task force feared would be overwhelmed hospitals. Cuomo said his order was in line with federal guidance, a claim that was rebutted by the Trump administration's Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Now, facing a torrent of calls for his resignation, an impeachment commission and the revocation of his executive powers, Cuomo has not apologized for his team's handling of nursing homes deaths and has allegedly threatened a Democratic lawmaker who criticized him. U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, said Monday that Congress "will obviously review this incident and others" to learn lessons from the pandemic. One of the most solemn duties of leadership during a crisis is giving people the best available information so they can make informed decisions for themselves and their loved ones," Tonko added. "I support the officials in New York state and at the U.S. Department of Justice who are working to review this incident and to ensure accountability and I am confident that they are up to the task." Last week, Republican U.S. sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John Cornyn of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee wrote to Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., asking him to launch a congressional investigation into the Cuomo administration's actions. The separate inquiries by the U.S. attorney's office and FBI will unfold largely in secret.behind close doors. "The American people deserve to know the extent to which Gov. Cuomo and his senior staff violated the civil rights of New York seniors, lied to the Department of Justice about their actions, and violated federal civil and criminal laws in the process," the senators wrote. "Moreover, hearings will allow this committee to ensure that the Department of Justice has all the tools and funding that it needs to investigate and prosecute to the extent necessary this tragedy and subsequent cover-up." So far, most Democrats in Congress have not shown an interest in investigating Cuomo and nursing home deaths in New York, preferring to leave that work to the Department of Justice. Durbin has not given any indication he will launch an investigation in the Senate Judiciary Committee. In the House, Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee, led by U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, R-Corning, have also pushed for an investigation by that committee. An amendment to the coronavirus relief bill that Reed proposed that would require governors to attest their nursing home data is accurate was rejected by Democrats on a party line vote. U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said Friday she would support hearings in the Senate Aging Committee about conditions in nursing homes across the country. "One of the things I hope we can do is actually have a thorough review because older Americans in nursing homes all across the country suffered disproportionately," she said. "When COVID got into these nursing homes and assisted living facilities, it spread like wildfire and a lot of our older Americans bore the brunt of it. So I hope we can have hearings on the broader issue because this is not something that is isolated to New York alone." Gerard Depardieu is one of the most feted actors in the history of French cinema. He was nominated for a best actor Oscar for Cyrano de Bergerac, won best actor at Cannes, and Frances Cesar for the film, and won a Golden Globe for his performance in Green Card. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for the series Napoleon. Tuesday current affairs shows will return to SBS in mid-March with new Insight host Kumi Taguchi, plus Dateline and then The Feed. NITVs flagship current affairs program, The Point, will also be repeated on Tuesdays airing at 11.00pm after SBS World News Late. This year The Point will be hosted by Shahni Wellington and John-Paul Janke. Shahni Wellington is a proud Jerrinja woman who first joined NITV as a political correspondent in 2019. In 2020, she hosted The Points Black Lives Matter special, and most recently co-hosted Australias first ever Indigenous breakfast television program Big Mob Brekky. It premieres at 7.30pm Tuesdays on NITV ahead of an SBS replay. SBS Director of News and Current Affairs, Mandi Wicks, said: 2021 is shaping up to be another big year for news and SBSs current affairs line up will help Australians understand the issues facing us all. New Insight host Kumi Taguchi brings enormous warmth and experience and we are looking forward to sharing many surprising and untold stories this year. Were also delighted to welcome the world-class reporting of The Point to Tuesday nights. SBS Head of Indigenous News and Current Affairs, Rhanna Collins said: The NITV team are beyond excited to launch The Point as a part of the SBS Tuesday night current affairs line up after its premiere on NITV. We want to thank Rachael Hocking for her passion in driving the program to where it is today and for telling so many stories from our communities with authenticity and grace over the past six years. We welcome Shahni Wellington as co-host alongside John Paul Janke. Shahni is an incredible journalist and storyteller and a credit to NITV and the show! Tuesday March 16 on SBS. Insight, 8.30pm Adult ADHD In Kumi Taguchis first episode as host, Insight asks the question whats it like to get to your fifties and find out youve got ADHD? A range of adults from their twenties to fifties share with Insight what it was like to get that diagnosis, how things about their past fell into place and how they used the diagnosis to change their lives for the better. They are joined by family who share the impact on them. Dateline, 9.30pm Digital Predators This is a story no parent can afford to miss. During global COVID-19 lockdowns police reported a huge increase in the number of people viewing and sharing child sexual abuse images online. In the 1990s there were 10,000 such images[1] today there are more than 47 million[2]. Evan Williams reports from the UK where the Government has pledged to become the safest place in the world for kids to use the internet. He meets the police officers, counsellors and investigators trying to stop the proliferation of abuse material, and he meets victims and perpetrators who bravely share their stories. The Feed, 10.00pm Like, Subscribe, Follow (part 1 of 4) The Feed takes a deep dive into the murky world of social media influencers. In a wild experiment, journalist Calliste Weitenberg and producer Elise Potaka build a fake influencer persona to see if they can cash in on whats now a $15 billion dollar industry. Documenting the process over six months, the series examines the rise of a new frontier in advertising, where influencers are paid or given contra to spruik products. Everyone is out to make a buck, but at what cost? The Unseen Insight Audition Tapes (part 1 of 3). In late 2020, SBS began the search for the new host of Insight. Australias most respected journalists auditioned for the role and so did Alex Lee. In this never-before-seen audition tape, Alex Lee shows what a venerated and respected show like Insight can become in the very wrong hands. The Point, 11.00pm NITVs weekly flagship news and current affairs program The Point covers stories that matter most to communities across Australia. Hosted by key Indigenous commentators, Shahni Wellington and J.P Janke, The Point tackles issues impacting First Nations Australians today across current affairs, the arts, social media, science, technology and entertainment. A network of NITVs journalists including Karla Grant, Natalie Ahmat, Ryan Liddle, Douglas Smith, Keira Jenkins and Sarah Collard join to cover these issues from across the country. Related The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company LOS ALAMOS, N.M., February 23, 2021--A revolutionary machine-learning (ML) approach to simulate the motions of atoms in materials such as aluminum is described in this week's Nature Communications journal. This automated approach to "interatomic potential development" could transform the field of computational materials discovery. "This approach promises to be an important building block for the study of materials damage and aging from first principles," said project lead Justin Smith of Los Alamos National Laboratory. "Simulating the dynamics of interacting atoms is a cornerstone of understanding and developing new materials. Machine learning methods are providing computational scientists new tools to accurately and efficiently conduct these atomistic simulations. Machine learning models like this are designed to emulate the results of highly accurate quantum simulations, at a small fraction of the computational cost." To maximize the general accuracy of these machine learning models, he said, it is essential to design a highly diverse dataset from which to train the model. A challenge is that it is not obvious, a priori, what training data will be most needed by the ML model. The team's recent work presents an automated "active learning" methodology for iteratively building a training dataset. At each iteration, the method uses the current-best machine learning model to perform atomistic simulations; when new physical situations are encountered that are beyond the ML model's knowledge, new reference data is collected via expensive quantum simulations, and the ML model is retrained. Through this process, the active learning procedure collects data regarding many different types of atomic configurations, including a variety of crystal structures, and a variety of defect patterns appearing within crystals. ### The paper: Automated discovery of a robust interatomic potential for aluminum, Nature Communications, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21376-0 The funding: This work was funded in part by the Los Alamos National Laboratory Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) program and computer time was provided by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Sierra Supercomputer during its open access period. Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is managed by Triad, a public service oriented, national security science organization equally owned by its three founding members: Battelle Memorial Institute (Battelle), the Texas A&M University System (TAMUS), and the Regents of the University of California (UC) for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns. LA-UR-21-21717 Britain, France and Germany on Tuesday said they "deeply regret" Iran's decision to restrict site inspections by the UN's nuclear watchdog after a US refusal to lift existing sanctions. The three European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran said they were "united in underlining the dangerous nature of this decision". "It will significantly constrain the (International Atomic Energy Agency's) access to sites and to safeguards-relevant information," they added. Short link: Amid the rollout and inoculation of the COVID-19 vaccines in the United States, Pfizer Inc. expects to hand out 13 million doses of its vaccine every week by the middle of March. Reuters noted that a Pfizer executive said in a congressional hearing through a prepared testimony that the company will double its shipments from early February. Bloomberg reported that many Americans have already been inoculated with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Around 64.2 million doses have already been administered, with an average of 1.37 million doses per day in the past week. Read also: COVID-19 Vaccines Might Not be Effective to Obese People, Studies Claim Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Pfizer's chief business officer, John Young, said Pfizer has already transported 40 million doses to various locations across the United States, U.S. News reported. Young further noted that the company is right on track in delivering 120 million shots of their two-dose procedure by the end of March. According to The Straits Times, the pharmaceutical giant is prepared to provide a total of 300 million shots to the U.S. by the end of July, and it has increased its global production expectations for 2021 to at least two billion doses. Vice President of Medical Affairs for Johnson & Johnson's, Richard Nettles, said the company would be able to transport at least 20 million doses of its single-dose shot by the end of March after gaining U.S. regulatory authorization. The firm targets to ship 100 million doses by the middle of 2021. On the other hand, Moderna President Stephen Hoge noted that their company plans to deliver 100 million doses of their two-dose shot by the end of March and 300 million by the end of July. COVID -19 Cases Are Dropping Citing a CBS News interview, Deseret News reported that former head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Dr. Scott Gottlieb, said the number of new cases of the COVID-19 has suggestively dropped in the last few weeks, and the trend will likely continue. Gottlieb added that the declining rate of coronavirus infection would continue as Americans receive the COVID-19 vaccine. According to The Atlantic, CDC noted that new daily cases have staggered, and the rate of hospitalizations has toned down to almost 50 percent in the previous month. It added that some pandemic statistics are foggy, but the decline in the quality of COVID-19 infection is as clear as crystal. However, Healthline noted that the recent dip does not mean that the virus has been eradicated because cases can be back anytime, especially with the new variants. Gottlieb noted that there are reasons to be optimistic. However, he seconded that the new COVID variants from the United Kingdom, Brazil, and South Africa can create more risks. Related article: WHO Clears AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine for Emergency Use WATCH: Pfizer Expands Production of COVID-19 Vaccine from CBS This Morning UPDATE: Bethlehem Township man accused of fatally shooting his neighbor, police say A male victim is dead after a reported shooting Tuesday afternoon in a Bethlehem Township neighborhood, authorities say. Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek ruled the death a homicide at a home on Clifton Avenue, just west of Santee Road, county District Attorney Terry Houck told reporters at the scene. Township police Chief Dan Pancoast also confirmed that one person was dead and one person was in custody. Houck said investigators have a person or persons of interest were looking at in what he described as an apparent neighbor dispute. He declined to immediately elaborate on the nature of the incident. Asked if it was related to recent bouts of snowfall that have led to neighborhood parking problems across the Lehigh Valley, Houck said: Were looking into that. Theres no harm to the public at this point, Houck said shortly after 4 p.m. Were not looking for anyone at this point. ... We have people were talking to right now but were still looking at it, so we dont have anything concrete at this point. Authorities investigate a homicide Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, on Clifton Avenue in Bethlehem Township.Tim Wynkoop | lehighvalleylive.com contributor The shooting occurred just after 2:30 p.m. in the 3100 block of Clifton Avenue, police said in a news release. Theres no evidence anyone else was injured, according to Houck. Lysek ruled the victims manner of death homicide at 3:55 p.m. but the cause of death remained pending further investigation. Neighbors were asked by township police to shelter in place, but that was lifted just before 4 p.m. Township firefighters were directing traffic around the scene in the neighborhood. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Tony Rhodin can be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Yves here. Notice that a considerable portion of this article about how the Greeks dealt with risk describes their use of omens. We moderns have put that behind us, right? Not really. As a journalist friend who conducted many profiles of top-level Wall Street figures (and therefore others in their circle) said, Wall Street runs on sex and psychics. I only spent a little time in and around the New Age, but even so, met full time psychics, one on the payroll of Morgan Stanley, the other Disney. Both were regularly brought into executive-level meetings (one as a member of the HR department, the other as a marketing consultant). Similarly, quite a few of the professional money managers I know use astrology in deciding when to put on trade, not because they believe in it but enough investment professionals do that it affects market action, and they feel they need to be mindful. By Joshua P. Nudell, Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics, Westminster College. Originally published at The Conversation Most of us take big and small risks in our lives every day. But COVID-19 has made us more aware of how we think about taking risks. Since the start of the pandemic, people have been forced to weigh their options about how much risk is worth taking for ordinary activities should they, for example, go to the grocery store or even turn up for a long-scheduled doctors visit? As a scholar of ancient Greek history, I am interested in what the classics can teach us about risk-taking as a way to make sense of our current situation. Greek mythology features godlike heroes, but Greek history was filled with men and women who were exposed to great risks without the comforts of modern life. The Iron Generation One of the earliest written works in Greek is Works and Days, a poem by a farmer named Hesiod in the eighth century B.C. In it, Hesiod addresses his lazy brother, Perses. The most famous section of Works and Days describes a cycle of generations. First, Hesiod says, Zeus created a golden generation who lived like the gods, having hearts free from sorrow, far from work and misery. Then came a silver generation, arrogant and proud. Third was a bronze generation, violent and self-destructive. Fourth was the age of heroes who went to their graves at Troy. Finally, Hesiod says, Zeus made an iron generation marked by a balance of pain and joy. While the earliest generations lived life free of worries, according to Hesiod, life in the current iron generation is shaped by risk, which leads to pain and sorrow. Throughout the poem, Hesiod develops an idea of risk and its management that was common in ancient Greece: People can and should take steps to prepare for risk, but it is ultimately inescapable. As Hesiod says, summer wont last forever, build granaries, but for people of the current generation, there is neither a stop to toil and sorrow by day, nor to death by night. In other words, people face the consequences of risk including suffering because that is the will of Zeus. Omens and Divination If the outcome of risk was determined by the gods, then one critical part of preparing to face uncertainty was to try to find out the will of Zeus. For this, the Greeks relied on oracles and omens. While the rich might pay to petition the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, most people turned to simpler techniques to seek guidance from the gods, such as throwing dice made of animal knuckle bones. A second technique involved inscribing a question on a lead tablet, to which the god would provide an answer such as yes or no. These tablets record a wide range of concerns from ordinary Greeks. In one, a man named Lysias asks the god whether he should invest in shipping. In another, a man named Epilytos asks whether he should continue in his current career and whether he ought to wed a woman who shows up, or wait. Nothing is known about either man except that they turned to the gods when confronted with uncertainty. Omens were also used to inform almost every decision, whether public or private. Men called chresmologoi, oracle collectors who interpreted the signs from the gods, had enormous influence in Athens. When the Spartans invaded in 431 B.C., the historian Thucydides says, they were everywhere reciting oracular responses. When plague struck Athens, he notes that the Athenians called to mind just such a prophecy. Chresmologoi played so much of a role in bolstering public confidence that the wealthy Athenian politician Alcibiades privately contracted them as spin doctors in order to persuade people to overlook the risks of an expedition to Sicily in 415 B.C. Mitigating Risks For the Greeks, putting faith in the gods alone did not fully protect them from risk. As Hesiod explained, risk mitigation required attending to both the gods and human actions. Generals, for example, made sacrifices to gods like Artemis or Ares in advance of battle, and the best commanders knew how to interpret every omen as a positive sign. At the same time, though, generals also paid attention to strategy and tactics in order to give their armies every advantage. Neither was every omen heeded. Before the Athenian expedition to Sicily in 415 B.C., statues sacred to Hermes, the god of travel, were found with their faces scratched out. The Athenians interpreted this as a bad omen, which may have been what the perpetrators intended. The expedition sailed anyway, but it ended in a crushing defeat. Few of the people who left ever returned to Athens. The evidence was clear to the Athenians: The desecration of the statues had put everyone in the expedition at risk. The only solution was to punish the wrongdoers. Fifteen years later, the orator Andocides had to defend himself in court against accusations that he had been involved. This history explains that individuals might escape divine punishment, but ignoring omens and failing to take precautions were often communal rather than individual problems. Andocides was acquitted, but his trial shows that when someones actions put everyone at risk, it was a communitys responsibility to hold them accountable. Oracles and knuckle bones are not in vogue today, but the ancient Greeks show us the very real dangers of risky behavior, and why it is important that risk not be left to a simple toss of the dice. CBI goes to SC challenging house arrest of two Bengal ministers in Narada case Who will be the next CBI chief? PM Modi-led panel shortlists these three names; Congress protests Narada: On house arrest of TMC leaders, CBI opts out of SC, to go back to HC Who is Subodh Kumar Jaiswal? Former Maharashtra IPS officer apointed as new CBI Director CBI likely to question Abhishek Banerjees wife today India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Feb 23: The Central Bureau of Investigation is likely to question TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee's wife Rujira Banerjee today in connection with the alleged coal pilferage case. The agency had questioned the lawmakers sister-in-law Menaka Gambir for three hours on Monday in connection with the same case. "Though I am unaware of the reason for me being called for questioning or the subject matter of the investigation, you may visit my residence as per your convenience between 11 am and 3 pm tomorrow, i.e. 23 February, 2021. You are requested to kindly inform me your schedule," Rujira had said in a letter to CBI. Coal pilferage scam: Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjees wife responds to CBI notice The CBI had on Sunday asked her to join the probe. A team of CBI officials had visited the residence of Abhishek Banerjee, a nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Sunday to deliver the summons but Rujira was not present. She responded to the summons on Monday and asked the CBI to visit her residence between 11 am and 3 pm on Tuesday. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, February 23, 2021, 8:04 [IST] Powell Pledges to Maintain Economic Support The Federal Reserve chair says recovery is far from complete. Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 1:58 - 0:00 transcript Powell Testifies About Pandemic Economic Recovery Efforts On Tuesday, Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, testified to lawmakers on the economic rebound from the pandemic recession and the threat of future inflation. Weve taken forceful actions to provide support and stability to ensure that the recovery will be as strong as possible, and to limit lasting damage to households, businesses and communities. The path of the economy continues to depend significantly on the course of the virus and the measures undertaken to control its spread. A resurgence in Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths in recent months is causing great hardship for millions of Americans, and is weighing on economic activity and job creation. Following a sharp rebound in economic activity last summer, momentum slowed substantially with the weakness concentrated in the sectors most adversely affected by the resurgence of the virus. In recent weeks, the number of new cases and hospitalizations has been falling, and ongoing vaccinations offer hope for a return to more normal conditions. Household spending on services remains low, especially in sectors that typically require people to gather closely, including leisure and hospitality. In contrast, household spending on goods picked up encouragingly in January after moderating late last year. The housing sector has more than fully recovered from the downturn, while business investment and manufacturing production have also picked up. Weve all been living in a world for a quarter of a century or more where all of the pressures were disinflationary. You know, pushing downward on inflation. Weve averaged less than 2 percent inflation for more than the last 25 years. Inflation dynamics do change over time, but they dont change on a dime. And so we dont really think how see how a burst of fiscal support or spending thats not, that doesnt last for many years would actually change those inflation dynamics. You ask about the U.S. economy and the world economy, I do think, and many forecasters agree, that once we get this pandemic under control, you know, we could be getting through this work much more quickly than we had feared, and that would be terrific. But its not done yet. The job is not done. On Tuesday, Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, testified to lawmakers on the economic rebound from the pandemic recession and the threat of future inflation. Credit Credit... Al Drago for The New York Times Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, told lawmakers that the economic rebound from the pandemic recession had further to go and reiterated that the central bank planned to keep up its growth-stoking policies, which include rock-bottom interest rates and large-scale bond buying. The economic recovery remains uneven and far from complete, and the path ahead is highly uncertain, Mr. Powell said in prepared remarks he delivered to the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday. Although there has been much progress in the labor market since the spring, millions of Americans remain out of work. Unemployment has come down sharply after surging last year, but the official jobless rate remains at nearly double its February 2020 level and probably understates the extent of weakness in the labor market. Likewise, consumer spending has bounced back but the service sector remains subdued. The Fed slashed interest rates to near-zero last March and is buying about $120 billion in government-backed bonds each month, policies aimed at fueling lending and spending. Congress and the White House have also provided support in the form of enormous spending packages, and Democrats are now pushing for another $1.9 trillion in relief for workers and businesses. Some economists have warned that inflation could take off as vaccines allow consumer activity to pick up and as the government pumps money into the economy, but Fed officials have generally played down those concerns. Mr. Powell said on Tuesday that inflation dynamics generally do not change on a dime and that if unwanted price pressures arise, the Fed has the tools to push back on them. For now, the economy is a long way from our employment and inflation goals, and it is likely to take some time for substantial further progress to be achieved, Mr. Powell said, reiterating a pledge to keep up buying bonds at the current pace until substantial further progress has been made. Senator Patrick J. Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, asked whether the Feds policies might be fueling higher asset prices. Mr. Powell acknowledged that there was a link but said many factors were contributing. And Mr. Toomey pressed Mr. Powell on what would happen to the Feds bond-buying plans if inflation moved up before full employment was achieved, prompting Mr. Powell to reiterate that the Fed was looking for more progress before dialing back purchases. Mr. Powell said at one point that he would avoid weighing in on fiscal policy a comment he made not long after Mr. Toomey said the central bank should avoid moving beyond its narrow economic mandate and into areas like racial inequity and climate change. The Fed is politically independent and tends to avoid partisan issues, though it has been providing advice to policymakers in Congress and weighing in on socioeconomic disparities over the past year. I, today, will really stay away from fiscal policy, Mr. Powell said when asked specifically about the gender gap in the labor market. There is still a long way to go to full recovery, and we intend to keep our policy supportive of that recovery. Postal Service taps Oshkosh Defense to build new delivery trucks, shunning electric vehicle start-up. The U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday chose Oshkosh Defense, a manufacturer of military vehicles, to build the next generation of postal delivery trucks, shunning an all-electric vehicle maker that had been in the running for the multibillion-dollar, 10-year contract. Under an initial $482 million deal, Oshkosh will complete the design and then assemble 50,000 to 165,000 vehicles over 10 years, the Postal Service said. Oshkosh was awarded the contract over two other bidders. One, the Workhorse Group, a small producer of electric delivery trucks based in Loveland, Ohio, was counting on the postal contract to provide a surge in revenue. At its height this month, the companys stock was up more than tenfold in a year, in part on hopes it would win all or part of the postal contract. On Tuesday, after the Postal Service announced its decision, Workhorse shares lost nearly half their value. The other final bidder was Karsan, a Turkish maker of trucks and buses that was considered a long shot for the contract. The choice of Oshkosh, which has no track record in producing electric vehicles, over Workhorse raised questions among some environmentalists over President Bidens promised push to electrify the federal fleet. But some critics had also raised concerns that too swift a transition to plug-in trucks made by a fledgling company and the buildup of charging infrastructure that would require could burden a Postal Service already struggling with delivery delays. Oshkosh has promised to shift to battery-powered vehicles if necessary, reflecting a wider push by automakers to bolster their offerings of electric vehicles to cut down on the industrys carbon footprint. The new vehicles will be equipped with either fuel-efficient gasoline engines or electric batteries, and they will be retrofitted to keep pace with advances in electric vehicle technology, the Postal Service said. The Post Office operates almost 230,000 vehicles and has one of the worlds largest civilian vehicle fleets, but its aging fleet which federal data shows gets only about 10 miles a gallon had also long been due for an upgrade. Hiroko Tabuchi and Advertisement Continue reading the main story Why economic officials are talking about a 10 percent unemployment rate. After it rocketed higher last year, the United States official unemployment rate has fallen to 6.3 percent. But top economic officials are increasingly citing a different figure, one that puts the jobless rate at a far higher 10 percent. The higher figure includes people who have stopped looking for work, and the disparity between the official rate and the expanded statistic underlines the unusual nature of the pandemic shock and reinforces the idea that the economy remains far from a full recovery. The reality that labor market weakness lingers, a year into the pandemic, could come up again as Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, testifies before Congress starting on Tuesday. Mr. Powell is speaking before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday and the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday. Whats in an Unemployment Rate? Top economic officials are adding labor force dropouts and workers who are misclassified to the share of people who are actively searching for work. The Bureau of Labor Statistics tallies how many Americans are looking for work or are on temporary layoff midway through each month. That number, taken as a share of the civilian labor force, is reported as the official unemployment rate. But economists have long worried that by relying on the headline rate, they ignore people they shouldnt, including would-be employees who are not actively applying for jobs because they are discouraged or because they are waiting for the right opportunity. Now, key policymakers are all but ditching the headline statistic, rather than just playing down its comprehensiveness. In an alternate unemployment figure, theyre adding back people who have left the job market since last February, along with those who are misclassified in the official report. We have an unemployment rate that, if properly measured in some sense, is really close to 10 percent, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said on CNBC last week. And a week earlier, Mr. Powell cited a similar figure in a speech about lingering labor market damage. Published unemployment rates during Covid have dramatically understated the deterioration in the labor market, Mr. Powell said recently. People dropped out of jobs rapidly when the economy closed, and with many restaurants, bars and hotels shut, there is nowhere for many workers who are trained in service work to apply. President Bidens pick for deputy Treasury secretary signals tough approach to China. If confirmed, Wally Adeyemo will be a pivotal player in Americas economic diplomacy efforts. Credit... Leah Millis/Reuters Wally Adeyemo, President Bidens nominee for deputy Treasury secretary, foreshadowed the tough approach that the Biden administration intends to take with China on Tuesday, underscoring the need to mobilize American allies to curtail Chinas unfair economic practices. At his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, Mr. Adeyemo said the Treasury Department must use its full arsenal of tools to ensure that China is abiding by international laws. He called for a holistic view of the ties between the two superpowers, arguing that the economic and security relationships are intertwined. Where China is not willing to play on a level playing field, its important that we hold them accountable to the rules that theyve agreed to in the international system, Mr. Adeyemo said. I believe this needs to be done, in some cases unilaterally but always best to do multilaterally, working with other countries, especially with our allies, to demonstrate to the Chinese that they are isolated when they violate the rules of the road. If confirmed, Mr. Adeyemo will be Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellens top lieutenant. He will focus heavily on national security matters and international diplomacy, particularly as Ms. Yellen works to address the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. Mr. Adeyemo suggested that he would take a critical look at how Chinese companies were using Americas financial system to potentially threaten national security, as well as Treasurys tools to address that risk. As part of a broad review, Mr. Adeyemo will study the restrictions that the Trump administration erected to block Americans from investing in companies with ties to the Chinese military. Mr. Adeyemo was introduced at the hearing by Senator Elizabeth Warren, the progressive Democrat from Massachusetts. Before she joined the Senate, Ms. Warren established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where Mr. Adeyemo served as her first chief of staff. Despite their close relationship, Ms. Warren asked Mr. Adeyemo tough questions, challenging him to commit to using the Financial Stability Oversight Council, a multiagency task force meant to identify broad risks to the financial system, to scrutinize the private equity industry. After the Obama administration, Mr. Adeyemo went to work for BlackRock, the worlds largest asset manager, as a senior adviser and interim chief of staff to Larry Fink, its chief executive. Although that background might have caused a political issue for some nominees, Republicans and Democrats on the committee declined to question Mr. Adeyemo about his corporate experience. Born in Nigeria, Mr. Adeyemo moved as a child with his parents to the United States, where his family settled outside Los Angeles. At the hearing, he spoke about his working-class upbringing and the need to ensure that low-income communities and communities of color, which have been hit hardest by the pandemic, receive relief. Puerto Ricos oversight board says it will have to pay certain bondholders less. The federal board leading Puerto Rico through its enormous bankruptcy case said Tuesday that the pandemic had forced it to further reduce how much it would pay on certain debts. The board announced a preliminary deal affecting Puerto Ricos general obligation bonds, which had a face value of $18.8 billion in 2015, when the islands governor said it had far more debt than it could repay. At that point, its bond debt totaled $72 billion. Under the deal which requires approval by a vote of the creditors and the judge overseeing the case the oversight board would pay just $7.4 billion of general-obligation debt, plus a $7 billion upfront payment. Even with the upfront payment, the islands total outlay would be less than its previous plan, which would have required it to pay principal and interest on $11.8 billion in bonds. The creditors would also receive a contingent value instrument, entitling them to additional cash payments if the islands economic growth exceeds the oversight boards projections. General obligation bonds are the backbone of government finance, used extensively for public works projects. And the reduction in payments for them is notable, given their rock-solid reputation. Borrowers can be forced to raise taxes to make good on their guarantees, and in Puerto Rico the bonds were sold with an explicit guarantee, enshrined in the territorys Constitution. For a long time, the bond market thought general obligation bonds were the gold standard and they couldnt be restructured, said David Skeel, a University of Pennsylvania law professor who is the chairman of Puerto Ricos federal oversight board. The reality has become clear that they can be restructured. But, Mr. Skeel said, the upfront payment and the contingent value instrument are intended to help make good on the full faith and credit pledge of general obligation bonds, which gives them priority over other types of debt. They dont have an absolute priority, he said. Theyre not getting 100 cents on the dollar. But the priority was not completely ignored. Several other kinds of bonds, with lower priority, are expected to get smaller settlements, but the terms are still being negotiated. The board sought to reduce bondholders value because it believes Puerto Ricos recovery from a deep recession is bound to be slow because of an extraordinary series of setbacks a catastrophic hurricane, an islandwide power failure, a series of earthquakes and finally the coronavirus pandemic. Bondholders complained that the reduction was too steep, but if Puerto Rico recovers more quickly than expected, the contingent value instrument will pay them a reward for taking the risk. As for the $7 billion upfront payment, the boards executive director, Natalie Jaresko, likened it to a home buyers making a bigger down payment: It will mean reduced payments in the future. (Puerto Rico has the cash on hand in part because it hasnt been making debt payments since declaring a moratorium in 2016, on the day that President Barack Obama signed a law allowing the territory to restructure its debt under court protection.) The agreement could still face opposition. In addition to requiring approval by creditors and the court, it must be executed by the government of Puerto Rico. And the territorys governor, Pedro Pierluisi, said he would oppose the deal if it meant cuts to pensions for government workers. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The Washington Post names an acting editor as it searches for Martin Barons successor. Cameron Barr, a managing editor overseeing news and features, will serve as acting executive editor of The Washington Post. Credit... Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post Martin Baron, who led a revival of The Washington Post in his eight years as executive editor, will leave a big hole in the newsroom when he retires on Feb. 28. To take his place until a successor is found, the paper on Tuesday named Cameron Barr, a managing editor overseeing news and features, acting executive editor. Mr. Barr, 57, has effectively worked as Mr. Barons No. 2 since 2015. The search for the next executive editor is actively underway with a broad and diverse group of exceptional journalists, The Posts publisher, Frederick J. Ryan Jr., wrote in a memo to the staff on Tuesday. It will not be complete prior to Martys departure at the end of this month. He also called on the staff to give its full support to Mr. Barr. Mr. Barons decision to call it a career was not a surprise. But when he formally announced his retirement last month, giving five weeks notice, the hunt for his replacement had not begun in earnest. That made the appointment of an interim newsroom leader all but inevitable, and Mr. Barr, described by Mr. Ryan in the memo as the papers longest-tenured managing editor, was a natural candidate. Mr. Barr started at The Post in 2004. Before he was named to a managing editor post in 2015, he worked as a reporter, the national security editor, the Middle East editor and the national editor. Before joining The Post, Mr. Barr worked at The Christian Science Monitor for nearly 15 years, with stints as a correspondent in Tokyo and Jerusalem. Mr. Baron, 66, was the top editor at The Miami Herald and The Boston Globe before taking the top newsroom job at The Post. At all three stops, his newspapers collected at least one Pulitzer Prize. At The Globe, he oversaw a landmark investigation into sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church, a series that was adapted into the Academy Award-winning film Spotlight, with the actor Liev Schreiber playing Mr. Baron. At The Post, he presided over an ownership change from the Graham family, which had run the paper for four generations, to the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who bought The Post in 2013 for $250 million. Under Mr. Baron, The Posts newsroom has grown, as have its digital subscriptions. The competition to succeed him will be fierce. Mr. Ryan, the publisher since 2014, will have the biggest say in naming his replacement, and Mr. Bezos is expected to have some input. Whats happening on Day 2 of the DealBook event. On the second day of the DealBook DC Policy Project, we will hear from more policymakers and business leaders about the challenges for the coronavirus vaccine rollout, the future of financial regulation and the outlook for bipartisanship in polarized times. Here is the lineup (all times Eastern): 12:30 P.M. - 1 P.M. Karen Lynch of CVS Health on the vaccine rollout Karen Lynch took over CVS Health this month as the pharmacy chain takes center stage in efforts to fight the pandemic. It is working with the government to distribute the coronavirus vaccine in its stores, as well as in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. To aid in those efforts, the company hired 15,000 employees at the end of last year, staffing up to deal with what President Biden has called gigantic logistical hurdles to the vaccine rollout. 2:30 P.M. - 3 P.M. Vlad Tenev of Robinhood and Jay Clayton, former S.E.C. chairman, on the markets At the center of the recent meme-stock frenzy was the online brokerage firm Robinhood, which has attracted millions of users with commission-free trades but drew outrage among its users when it halted trading in GameStop and other stocks at the height of the mania. Vlad Tenev, Robinhoods chief executive, is fresh from facing hours of hostile questioning at a congressional hearing last week about his companys business practices. Joining him to discuss what regulators should now do if anything is Jay Clayton, the veteran Wall Street lawyer who led the Securities and Exchange Commission during the Trump administration. From the beginning of his tenure, Mr. Clayton said that his mission was protecting the long-term interests of the Main Street investor. 5:30 P.M. - 6 P.M. Senator Mitt Romney on finding common ground Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, crossed party lines to vote to convict President Donald J. Trump on articles of impeachment, twice. He is also drafting a bill with Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, that would raise the minimum wage while forbidding businesses to hire undocumented immigrants. This is typical of Mr. Romneys approach, speaking to concerns on both sides of the aisle in an era of stark partisan divisions. Advertisement Continue reading the main story HSBC is turning closer to Asia as it plans to sell U.S. and French units. HSBCs headquarters in Hong Kong. The bank, which is based in London, derives more than half of its revenue from China. Credit... Jerome Favre/EPA, via Shutterstock HSBC is deepening its focus on Asia as it looks to unload some of its troubled Western operations, the bank said on Tuesday. Noel Quinn, the chief executive, said the bank would invest $6 billion to expand its wealth management and wholesale banking business in Hong Kong, China and Singapore over the next five years. He also said he was considering relocating some of the banks top executives to Hong Kong because it would be important to be closer to growth opportunities. Underscoring the turn toward Asia, the bank, which is based in London, also said it was considering the sale of its U.S. retail banking network and was in talks with potential buyers for its French consumer banking unit. HSBC, which derives more than half of its revenue from China, has come under increasing political pressure from China and Britain over its business operations in Hong Kong, the former British colony. Pro-Beijing lawmakers in the city have publicly pressured it to embrace the Communist Partys firmer grip on Hong Kong. When some executives have pledged support to Beijing, British members of Parliament have hammered the bank. The political focus on HSBC is unlikely to ease and any future public statement about plans to move top executives to Hong Kong could prompt further criticism from British lawmakers. We havent firmed up our plans yet, Mr. Quinn said on a call with reporters. But the majority of executives will remain in London. HSBC, which reported its profit before tax in 2020 fell by 34 percent to $8.8 billion compared with a year earlier, blamed the pandemic for its financial performance. The maker of cans for White Claw strikes an $8.5 billion spinoff deal. Ardaghs can-making business has grown by working with several seltzer-based beverage companies, like White Claw and Truly Hard Seltzer. Credit... Richa Naidu/Reuters The company that makes the aluminum cans used by LaCroix, White Claw and other beverage giants is spinning off that business in a deal that values the new company at $8.5 billion, the company announced Tuesday. The deal by the Ardagh Group, which is based in Luxembourg, would be in the form of a merger with a special-purpose acquisition vehicle, or SPAC, backed by an affiliate of the Gores Group, a private equity firm based in California. It is a bet on the continued growth of the can business, as companies increasingly weigh the environmental consequences of their products. Nestle announced the sale of its water business for $4.3 billion this month, in part a move to shift away from water packaged in plastic. Aluminum cans are far easier to recycle than plastic bottles. Ardagh will retain a roughly 80 percent stake in the company after the deal. Investors are contributing a $600 million private placement, while Gores is putting in $525 million in cash. The new company, Ardagh Metal Packaging, will issue $2.65 billion of new debt. Those proceeds will go to Ardagh. The deal, involving an already-public company carving off a unit with the backing of a SPAC, is the latest twist on a SPAC transaction. The Gores Groups experience in SPACs was part of its appeal to Ardagh as a buyer, said Ardaghs chair, Paul Coulson. The Gores SPAC, named Gores Holdings V, is the seventh such deal the group has done. You dont really want to be going to a surgeon and have him perform his first surgery, Mr. Coulson said. Ardagh generates more half its roughly $7 billion in annual sales from making cans for beverage companies. This past year, sales by the unit grew 2 percent, fueled by beverage sales and environmental awareness, while earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortization grew 8 percent. Ardagh will keep its glass packaging business. For beverage companies, cans have become an increasingly important tool for branding, providing colorful and sleek packaging. When Ardagh acquired its canning operation in 2016 for $3 billion, it did most of its business with legacy brands like large soda and beer companies. It has since worked with younger and faster-growing seltzer-based brands like White Claw, LaCroix and Truly Hard Seltzer to help charge its growth. To prepare for further expected expansion in the United States, it bought a factory in Huron, Ohio. Globally, the company is considering growth in Europe and Brazil, where beer sales remain strong as consumers are increasingly shifting from tap to cans. Many applicants have had to wait weeks for lenders to fix problems with second-round P.P.P. loans. Shelly Ross found herself in a bureaucratic nightmare after requesting a second loan via PayPal for Tales of the Kitty, her San Francisco cat-sitting business. Credit... Anastasiia Sapon for The New York Times Nearly a month into the second run of the Paycheck Protection Program, $126 billion in emergency aid has been distributed by banks, which make the government-backed loans, to nearly 1.7 million small businesses. But a thicket of errors and technology glitches has slowed the relief effort and vexed borrowers and lenders alike, Stacy Cowley reports for The New York Times. Some are run-of-the-mill challenges magnified by the immense demand for loans, which has overwhelmed customer service representatives. But many stem from new data checks added by the Small Business Administration to combat fraud and eliminate unqualified applicants. Instead of approving applications from banks immediately, the S.B.A. has held them for a day or two to verify some of the information. That has caused or exposed a cascade of problems. Formatting applications in ways that will pass the agencys automated vetting has been a challenge for some lenders, and many have had to revise their technology systems almost daily to keep up with adjustments to the agencys system. False red flags, which can require time-consuming human intervention to fix, remain a persistent problem. Numerated, a technology company that processes loans for more than 100 lenders, still has around 10 percent of its applications snarled in error codes, down from a peak of more than 25 percent, said Dan OMalley, the companys chief executive. Nearly 5 percent of the 5.2 million loans made last year had anomalies, the agency revealed last month, ranging from minor mistakes like typos to major ones like ineligibility. Even tiny mistakes can spiral into bureaucratic disasters. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Bay of Plenty We are looking for a storeman with an OSH forklift license. You will need to be physically for as the job is about 70% forklift... View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nz He achieved notoriety by going public with details of his affair with Princess Diana, conducted in secret as her marriage to the Prince of Wales disintegrated. But even now, some 35 years after first becoming Dianas riding instructor and then worming his way into her affections, James Hewitt betrays no sign of declining into a respectable dotage. I can disclose that the former Household Cavalry officer, now 62, is on the prowl once more, this time using the dating app Tinder, on which you swipe left to reject someone, or right to match with them. Household Cavalry officer James Hewitt, now 62, is on the prowl once more, this time using the dating app Tinder, on which you swipe left to reject someone, or right to match with them Naming himself simply James, Hewitt has posted a vintage photograph of himself, sporting sunglasses and well-groomed copper hair, as he pauses while enjoying a day on the slopes. Hes not in France, hes in Devon, one of his contemporaries assures me, adding that Hewitt is eager to make the acquaintance of West Country divorcees aged about 50, perhaps especially those living close to Dartmoor. After parting from Diana, the boulevardier enjoyed a number of entanglements, notably with Big Brother star Lisa Jeynes and effervescent glamour model Cassie Sumner, who subsequently caught Prince Harrys eye during his carefree bachelor days. He seemed fascinated with my breasts, Cassie reflected after her encounter with the young Prince. He spent more time looking at them than my face. After parting from Diana (pictured together), the boulevardier enjoyed a number of entanglements, notably with Big Brother star Lisa Jeynes Hewitt suffered a stroke and a heart attack in 2017, then demonstrated admirable powers of recovery by accompanying a mystery blonde, many years his junior, to Devons Chagstock music festival in 2018. Hes disinclined to elaborate on his reasons for trying his luck on Tinder. I spoke to James about this and there is no comment, his agent, Teresa Quinlan, tells me. Prospective dates should perhaps bear just two things in mind. Hewitt can be an expensive taste, as Diana found. Entirely dressed him, from head to foot, that man, she reflected. And he lives in a two-bedroom flat with his mother. Why potter Perry has to ditch heels Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry, who regularly dresses in colourful attire as his female alter-ego, Claire, reveals he might have to cut back on cross-dressing after suffering an injury during lockdown. Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry reveals he might have to cut back on cross-dressing after suffering an injury during lockdown I think my days of really high heels might be numbered, admits Perry, 60, who lives in London with his wife, psychologist Philippa. Because I burst a disc or something last year I could hardly walk for three months. He explains: If everybody else is dressing up, I dress as Claire because I havent got many smart male clothes. I wear 6 in heels with a 3 in platform. Royal school forced to close The Queen will be saddened to learn that a boarding school of which shes patron has been forced to close its doors for good because of the pandemic. Princess Helena College, in Hertfordshire, wrote to parents this week, informing them that their children would have to find new schools for September. It was founded 200 years ago and is said to be the first girls school in England where lacrosse was played. The Queens cousin, the Duchess of Gloucester, is president. The school has faced financial difficulties for many years, a spokesman tells me. These have been significantly exacerbated by the impact of Covid-19 on the local and international demand for places at the school. Despite everyones best efforts, all options for keeping it open have been exhausted and, regrettably, the school will close later this year. The late Baroness Trumpington, who memorably flicked the V-sign at a fellow peer when he referred to her age in an ungallant lapse, was among its former pupils. Edie models the latest look for MEN! Gender fluidity was a hot topic at the Burberry fashion show in London this week, when top model Edie Campbell walked in the British brands menswear show. Top model Edie Campbell, daughter of businessman Roddy Campbell, walked in the British brands menswear show The 30-year-old daughter of Old Etonian businessman Roddy Campbell wore a graphic shirt and cut-out, knee-length black shorts. I slithered out of jodhpurs and bleached my hair this week to do a menswear show, said the horse- loving mannequin. Its the first time in London Fashion Week history that Burberry has not shown a womenswear collection in February, and Edie was one of two women in the show, held at its Regent Street flagship store. Women buy womenswear, but they also buy mens, says Burberry creative boss Riccardo Tisci. I found that very interesting and I am a veteran of that idea, of championing that fluidity. New father Jack Brooksbank has an additional reason to wet the head of baby August. I hear the tequila salesman, whos married to Princess Eugenie, made a 33,099 profit at his wine merchants, Jack Brooksbank Ltd, last year. Newly filed accounts reveal that shareholder funds in the business, which he set up in 2016, increased from 69,753 to 102,852 in the 12 months to last March. As soon as people can meet up again, the drinks are on Jack! Bowies girl reveals art of darkness David Bowies 20-year-old daughter, Lexi Jones, suffers for her art. David Bowies 20-year-old daughter, Lexi Jones, (pictured) says creating art has been a coping mechanism for her Creating art has always been a coping mechanism of mine, says Lexi, whose mother is supermodel Iman. Ive struggled with mental health issues for the majority of my life and have been in really dark places . . . My meditation is painting, illustrating and sketching. During these times I feel freed from my mind and am able to convert the pent-up negative energy into something positive, something I end up feeling proud of. New York, Feb 23 : While President Joe Biden doubled down on the nomination of Neera Tanden to a top cabinet post as it began unravelling, activists are mobilising for and against her. South Asians for Biden, a group that campaigned for him, asked members of the community on Monday to contact key senators who could ensure her confirmation by the Senate as the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The organisation's National Director Neha Dewan said the community stood by Tanden. If she were to get confirmed by the Senate, Tanden would be the second Indian American to be in the US cabinet, the first to make the breakthrough being Nikki Haley, who had the cabinet rank when former President Donald Trump appointed her the US permanent representative to the United Nations. Director of the OMB arguably holds the most powerful cabinet post as the official framing of the $5 trillion US budget that determines the allocations for the various departments and vetting policy and appointments. Her confirmation became uncertain when Democrat Senator Joe Manchin said that he would not vote for Tanden, who had alienated politicians in her party and the Republican party through her intemperate tweets. Though a Democrat, Manchin was elected by West Virginia, an overwhelmingly Republican state, and he clashed with Vice President Kamala Harris over an interview she gave a TV station in his state. The Senate is split 50-50, with Harris having a casting vote, and the Democrats cannot afford to lose even one vote from their ranks. The Democratic leadership was hoping to counter that with votes from the seven Republican dissidents who had voted to convict former President Trump in the impeachment trial. Four of them considered most likely to vote with Democrats, Rob Portman, John Cornyn, Susan Collins and Mitt Romney, indicated on Monday that they would not vote to confirm Tanden. South Asians for Biden appealed to the members of the community living in the states of Manchin and the seven Republicans to urge them to vote for Tanden. Biden's Spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Monday that they still saw a way to get 50 or more votes for Tanden. "We'll continue to work in supporting her nomination," she said, adding, "President nominated her because he believes she'd be a stellar OMB Director." A group from the Democratic Party's Left wing, Roots Action, unleashed a campaign on Monday against Tanden calling her "one of the most prominent anti-progressive voices of the neo-liberal establishment." The reference to the "neo-liberal establishment" alludes to her close ties to Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate in 2016. A "Twitter storm" organised by Roots Action brought forth hundreds of tweets savaging her, including many by those she had attacked like the actress Susan Sarandon. As Clinton's campaign adviser, Tanden made a personal attack on Senator Bernie Sanders, the candidate on the Left to challenge her for the party nomination in 2016. Sanders, who now heads the Senate Budget Committee which must give a preliminary approval for her confirmation, said at a panel hearing last week, "There were vicious attacks made against progressives, people who I have worked with, me personally." She had claimed that Russia was trying to help him. Sanders also said he was concerned about the funding her think tank, Centre for American Progress, received from big businesses. Her torrent of vicious tweets mirroring Trumps from the opposite side has come to haunt her. "The tone, the content, and the aggressive partisanship of some of Ms Tanden's public statements will make it more difficult for her to work effectively with both parties," Portman said. Romney's Spokeswoman Arielle Mueller said that he has been critical of "extreme rhetoric" and "believes it's hard to return to comity and respect with a nominee who has issued a thousand mean tweets." Before Biden announced her nomination, Tanden scrubbed about 1,000 tweets by her own admission. Collins said, "Her past actions have demonstrated exactly the kind of animosity that President Biden has pledged to transcend." Emboldened by the weakening of support for Tanden, a subtle campaign has also been started in some circles against Vivek Murthy, the nominee for surgeon-general with news stories about him receiving about $2 million as consultancy fees last year mainly from tourism-related businesses, even though there was no conflict of interest or anything unethical as he was not in government. Dewan asked South Asians to also contact their senators in support of Murthy. "His impeccable credentials, experience, and ethics are precisely all of the qualities we need in our next Surgeon-General, and merit his swift confirmation," Dewan said. "In making their decisions on the nominations of Ms. Tanden and Dr. Murthy, we urge both Republicans and Democrats in the US Senate to not only appreciate their qualifications, but to also acknowledge the significance of their nominations for the broader South Asian community," she added. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter at @arulouis) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 many as six people were killed while trying to dispose of gelatin sticks at a stone quarry site in Hirenagavalli village of Karnataka's Chikkaballapur early on Tuesday. The incident comes close on the heels of a similar blast at a quarry site in Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa's hometown of Shivamogga on 22 January, which left six dead. Also Read | India Inc gears up to go back to office Quarrying was stopped in Hirenagavalli by the police on 7 February following complaints from the locals against the rampant use of gelatin sticks. However, the workers clandestinely continued following which another raid was carried out a few days ago and the contractor was warned not to use gelatin anymore. Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar, who represents the Chikkaballapur constituency visited the spot and said the bodies of the victims were badly mutilated. He said stringent action would be taken against the owners of the mines, who had stored the explosives illegally. Meanwhile, CM Yediyurappa called the incident "shocking" and has ordered a strict investigation. "The death of six people near Hirenagavalli village, Chikkaballapur, due to a gelatin blast is shocking. District in-charge minister and senior officials have been instructed to conduct a thorough probe and take stern action against the culprits," he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also offered his condolences after the incident. "Pained by the loss of lives due to a mishap at Chikkaballapur in Karnataka. Condolences to the bereaved families. Praying that the injured recover quickly," the PM wrote on Twitter. Probe into Shivamogga blast After the explosion at a stone quarry near Shivamogga, Yediyurappa had said illegal quarrying or mining will not be permitted in the state and necessary action will be taken against such activities. "I'm going for a spot inspection. Our Deputy Commissioner (of the district), Member of Parliament and Mines Minister have already visited the spot. I will get to know things from them and take necessary action to stop illegal quarrying or mining," said the CM. Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he said the reason for the blast, who permitted the transportation of explosive substance in a lorry and what led to the incident will be investigated comprehensively, and necessary action will be taken against those responsible. "I will not allow illegal quarrying or mining for any reason. Those who want to do quarrying or mining should get a licence for it. Doing it illegally will lead to such incidents. I will direct Deputy Commissioners to take strict measures in this direction," he added. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. An aerospace company worker was sacked for calling a colleague a 'w*gger', a tribunal heard. Brian Dumbrill was accused of using the slur against his colleague, who is white and has a black wife and mixed raced children. The offensive term is typically used as an insult to white youths who adopt black youth culture, according to Collins Dictionary. Colleague Kevin Angus immediately reported Mr Dumbrill to bosses, saying he was 'extremely offended' by the comment. It was allegedly used in a row between the pair as they worked a night shift at the Duxford, Cambs site of Hexcel Composite - a company which produces materials used in aerospace engineering. Following an investigation, in which Mr Dumbrill claimed he instead said 'winger' - someone who never does his work, he was dismissed for gross misconduct. Mr Dumbrill, a process operator who had worked for Hexcel Composite for three years, appealed his dismissal. But a tribunal has now ruled his dismissal was 'fair', while an employment judge said it was 'hardly surprising'. Brian Dumbrill was accused of using the slur against his colleague, who is white and has a black wife and mixed raced children The slur was allegedly used in a row between the pair as they worked a night shift at the Duxford, Cambs site of Hexcel Composite (pictured) The tribunal, held in Bury St Edmunds via video link, heard that the slur was used during a night shift on 14 November 2018. Mr Dumbrill was working on the same piece of machinery as Mr Angus when, at some point during the shift, an argument occurred. '(Mr Dumbrill) was working with a number of colleagues including another process operator, Kevin Angus,' the tribunal heard. 'There was a verbal altercation following a work break and Mr Angus subsequently reported that (Mr Dumbrill) had called him 'not a n****r but a w****r.' 'The (company) considered that the term 'w****r' was a hybrid term incorporating 'white' and 'n****r'.' In any event it was considered to be extremely offensive.' The tribunal heard Mr Angus was 'extremely offended by the comment' but when an investigation was launched Mr Dumbrill tried to claim he had used the word 'winger' instead. The offensive term is typically used as an insult to white youths who adopt black youth culture, according to Collins Dictionary He said that a 'winger' was someone who 'never does his work and we all have to do it for him'. The investigation decided that the incident was so serious it should go to a disciplinary hearing. At the hearing Mr Dumbrill was dismissed for gross misconduct. The company decided Mr Dumbrill had 'failed to respect the privacy and dignity' of his colleagues. It said he had also breached their code of conduct by using 'abusive language and behaviour' which could be seen as harassment or discrimination. Employment Judge Richard Cassel concluded that Hexcel had carried out a 'fair' disciplinary process and decided the conclusion to dismiss him was 'hardly surprising'. For that reason he determined Mr Dumbrill's claim of unfair dismissal failed. He continued: '[The company] did consider a lesser penalty but rejected it as [it] concluded that [Mr Dumbrill] showed no remorse and only conceded using the form of words that had been rejected.' Red Lake North Extension is underexplored and host to seismic structural characteristics similar to the Red Lake Gold Camp and the LP Fault of Great Bear's Dixie Gold Project Victoria, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 23, 2021) - GoldON Resources Ltd. (TSXV: GLD) ("GoldON" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has entered into an option agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the Red Lake North property (the "Property") located in the Red Lake Mining District of Northwestern Ontario. The Property is comprised of nine contiguous mining claims covering 3,347 hectares (ha) and is located approximately 65 kilometres (km) north of the town of Red Lake. (see Figure 1). Access is excellent via Nungesser Road, an all-weather road that runs within 1.5 km of the northwestern corner of the Property and connects to Red Lake. Figure 1: Property location with total field magnetic signatures To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/7436/75073_871f061384b7da36_001full.jpg The Property is hosted within the newly termed "Red Lake Extension" that is a volcanic-sediment band of rocks that stretches over 100 km and connects with the McInnes Lake Greenstone Belt. Age determinations (by Sanborn et al., 2004 at 2.94 Ga) suggest the belt is related to the Balmer Assemblage which is host to the majority of gold mines in the Red Lake Camp. A recent study by the Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines - Ontario Geological Survey (OGS) (see Recommendations for Exploration 2020-2021) suggests that a seismic pronounced structure along this belt termed the "E1" is similar in nature and significance to the Red Lake gold mines and the LP Fault of Great Bear's Dixie Gold Project (see Figure 2). Figure 2: Red Lake Lithoprobe cross section showing third deep-tapping seismic structure To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/7436/75073_871f061384b7da36_002full.jpg Preliminary mapping of the upper Red Lake Extension completed by Buse (2007) identified felsic and volcanic rocks, felsic to mafic intrusive rocks, and metasedimentary rocks. Buse (2007) also identified a shear zone which corresponds to the hypothetical location of the deep-tapping E1 seismic structure. An overburden sampling program by Agnico Eagle Canada Ltd. (see Figure 3), provides the only assessment report filed within this region (Villeneuve and Girard 2010). This overburden sampling program identified several anomalous overburden gold values stretching from the Berens Lake southward for 35 km. Numerous overburden samples from the 95th percentile to over the 99th percentile in gold are dotted throughout this belt (AFRI 20008369). Figure 3: Historical gold-in-till anomalies located on the Property To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/7436/75073_871f061384b7da36_003full.jpg Under the terms of the option agreement, GoldON can acquire a 100% interest in the Property for cash payments totaling $109,000 over two years ($27,000 upon regulatory acceptance, $36,000 on the first anniversary, and a final payment of $46,000 on the second anniversary); and the issuance of 90,000 common shares over two years (30,000 upon regulatory acceptance, 30,000 shares on the first anniversary and 30,000 shares on the second anniversary). The vendor will retain a 1.5% net smelter returns royalty, of which the Company may repurchase 0.5% for $600,000. "While our focus remains on the drilling program in progress at West Madsen, this seismic pronounced structure along the Red Lake Extension with similarities to the LP Fault and the Red Lake gold mines provides a new and exciting area to investigate," said Mike Romanik president of GoldON. "This type of structural and geological intuitiveness could lead to new discoveries in an underexplored volcanic-sedimentary belt." Mike Kilbourne, P.Geo., an independent Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release on behalf of the Company. About GoldON Resources Ltd. GoldON is an exploration company focused on discovery-stage properties located in the prolific gold mining belts of northwestern Ontario, Canada. Our current project portfolio includes four properties in the Red Lake Mining Division (West Madsen, Pipestone Bay, McDonough and Bruce Lake) and a fifth property in the Patricia Mining Division (Slate Falls). GoldON is fully funded to complete the Phase II drilling program in progress at West Madsen. For additional information: please visit our website at goldonresources.com, you can download our latest investor presentation by clicking here and you can follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GoldONResources. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Signed "Michael Romanik" Michael Romanik, President GoldON Resources Ltd. Direct line: (204) 724-0613 Email: info@goldonresources.com Suite 108 - 800 Kelly Road, Suite 416 Victoria, BC, V9B 6J9 Forward-Looking Statements: This news release may contain "forward-looking statements" that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this news release and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75073 Drones are being used to carry Covid-19 test samples and other medical materials up to 40 miles (64km) across four locations in western Scotland. London drone firm Skyports has become the first operator to receive permission from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to carry diagnostic specimens by drone. Cargo including test samples, medicine, personal protective equipment (PPE) and Covid-19 testing kits is being transported by the drones in the Argyll & Bute region. A whole fleet of the drones are carrying up to 3kg of the supplies each, improving services for patients and healthcare staff in one of the UK's most remote areas. Drones can complete a journey that takes a whopping 36 hours by road and ferry to just 15 minutes, while increasing the frequency of pick-ups. The initiative was trialled last summer, with drones travelling between the town of Oban and the nearby Isle of Mull, but it's now been expanded. It will now operate between Lorn & Islands Hospital in Oban, Mid-Argyll Community Hospital in Lochgilphead, Easdale Medical Practice in Clachan Seil and the Mull & Iona Community Hospital in Craignure for the next three months. It's being funded as part of a 1.1 million scheme from the UK Space Agency to fund healthcare initiatives that use space tech. Scroll down for video Cargo including test samples, medicine, personal protective equipment (PPE) and Covid-19 testing kits is being transported by the drones in the Argyll & Bute region The drone delivery service has been scaled up to operate between Lorn & Islands Hospital in Oban, Mid-Argyll Community Hospital in Lochgilphead, Easdale Medical Practice in Clachan Seil and the Mull & Iona Community Hospital in Craignure. The drones are operated by Skyports, backed by Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) the integrated partnership of NHS Highland and Argyll and Bute Council. 'Using drone deliveries within supply chains can create significant time and cost savings,' said Duncan Walker, Skyports CEO. 'This initiative is a natural progression from our recent trials with the NHS in Scotland as we scale our operations, supporting a wider network of hospitals and medical practices as they continue to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. 'The experience from this important initiative will put us another step closer to permanent operations from which we hope more NHS facilities could soon benefit. 'This project underscores the viability of drone technology as a practical way to move goods.' Within the chosen region there are some particularly remote health service locations, and many of these only have van delivery pick-ups once per day, according to Skyports. Skyports said the current service will run until the end of April. 'Our aim is that it is scaled up after this period, however, this is a decision for the NHS, which is looking at drone delivery as a part of its logistics mix,' a company spokesperson told MailOnline. Both a scheduled service and an on-demand service will be run, with orders able to be placed by NHS staff through an online system developed by digital consultants Deloitte The fleet of drones will be carrying up to 3kg of critical medical samples and supplies up to 40 miles, reducing journey times from up to 36 hours for a road and ferry journey to 15 mins Both a scheduled service and an on-demand service will be run, with orders able to be placed by NHS staff through an online system developed by Deloitte. The vehicles will be controlled from the Skyports Operations Centre in Oban and fly automatically along predefined routes. Communication between the drone and the ground control station will be provided by Vodafone's 4G network and satellite communications. This project follows the successful proof-of-concept conducted by Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership last summer. For the trial, drones travelled between Lorn & Islands Hospital, on the outskirts of Oban, and Mull & Iona Community Hospital, on the Isle of Mull. Skyports found their drones cut the time it takes to get the kits between the two locations from about 45 minutes by ferry to just 15 minutes by drone. But the firm now says combined road and ferry journeys that take up to 36 hours can be reduced to 15 minutes with drones as well. Map shows the route during last year's trials. Skyports found that their technology cut the time it takes to get the kits between Oban and the Isle of Mull from about 45 minutes by ferry to just 15 minutes by drone Skyports started a two-week trial of their autonomous delivery scheme in May with support from NHS Highland to serve islands off the west coast of Scotland The project has been realised thanks to a 1.1 million funding agreement from the UK Space Agency last year. This is part of a wider 2.6 million funding scheme from the UK and European Space Agencies to find ways to help firms support the NHS in its fight against coronavirus. It isn't just drones delivering medical supplies. A number of other projects shared in the 2.6 million of UK Space Agency and ESA funding. Stevenson Astrosat, based in Musselburgh, Scotland, is developing Isolation +, which uses advanced space data analytics combined with relevant ground information, to identify 'hidden' vulnerable communities. This will allow voluntary organisations and local authorities to target support to those who are exposed to the impacts of Covid-19 through poverty and age. Skyports found that their technology cut the time it takes to get the kits between Oban and the Isle of Mull from about 45 minutes by ferry to just 15 minutes by drone. Pictured, drone camera footage Stay, another of the projects to be given funding, is an app being developed to help charities supporting young people's mental health and wellbeing. It uses satellite communications and Earth observation satellites to reward young people with 'badges'. These badges will be linked to rewards, discounts or other incentives for acting positively, according to the space agency. Science Minister Amanda Solloway said last year that the UK now has a world leading space sector and it is stepping up to provide innovative solutions to support the NHS. 'The projects we are backing today show UK ingenuity at its finest, and will make a real difference to how we use this latest innovative technology to deliver critical healthcare now and long into the future,' she said. Dallas: A giant vaccination centre is opening in Houston to administer 126,000 coronavirus doses in the next three weeks. Nevada health officials are working overtime to distribute delayed shots. And Rhode Island is rescheduling appointments after a vaccine shipment failed to arrive as scheduled earlier in the week. A medical staff member prepares the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in California. Credit:AP From coast to coast, American states were scrambling on Tuesday to catch up on vaccinations a week after winter storms battered a large swath of the US and led to clinic closures, cancelled appointments and shipment backlogs nationwide. But limited supply of the two approved COVID-19 vaccines hampered the pace of vaccinations even before the extreme weather last week delayed the delivery of about 6 million doses. The White House promised on Tuesday that help is on the way. President Joe Biden speaks from the Cross Hall of the White House in Washington on Feb. 22, 2021. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) Biden, First Lady to Travel to Texas This Week President Joe Biden this week will fly to Texas in the wake of crippling winter storms that left millions without power. Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will travel to the southern state on Friday, the White House said. The Bidens will go to Houston. While there, they will meet with local leaders to discuss the relief efforts, progress toward recovery, and the incredible resilience shown by the people of Houston and Texas, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters in Washington on Tuesday. While in Texas, the president will also visit a COVID health center where vaccines are being distributed. Clearly, there are still more details of the trip coming together, and as we have those, we will make those available, she added. Biden had held off going to the state because he didnt want to draw resources away while so many people were struggling in the aftermath of the storms, the White House said last week. He is eager to go down to Texas and show his support. But he is also very mindful of the fact that its not a light footprint for a president to travel to a disaster area. He does not want to take away resources or attention, Psaki added on Sunday during a television appearance. Texas was slammed with storms on Feb. 15, leading to widespread power outages and problems obtaining clean water. A man walks to his friends home in a neighborhood without electricity as snow covers the BlackHawk neighborhood in Pflugerville, Texas, on Feb. 15, 2021. (Bronte Wittpenn/Austin American-Statesman/USA Today Network via Reuters) Temperatures plunged below freezing, and portions of the power grid went offline as demand skyrocketed. The states energy council implemented rolling blackouts in order to avoid a statewide blackout. Bill Magness, CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, said the system was just moments away from such a blackout, prompting operators to take action. If we hadnt taken action, it wouldnt have been we would have waited a few days and see what happens. It was seconds and minutes, given the amount of generation that was coming off the system at the same time demand was still going up, he told reporters in an online briefing last week. The systems output has since caught up to the demand, but authorities are probing the councils actions before and during the storms. It wasnt clear whether Biden will meet with Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican with whom hes spoken several times about the storm and what the federal government can provide to the state to assist in relief efforts. Biden partially approved Abbotts request for a major disaster declaration over the weekend. The administration approved assistance to an additional 33 counties on Monday. An editing fail in a trailer for Wednesday's episode of Married At First Sight all but confirmed he was going to be unfaithful to his wife. And it seems Cameron Dunne is doing his best to avoid the drama by keeping his head down and returning to work as a tradesman on the Gold Coast. The 32-year-old was spotted this week doing some rigging work on a local school. Scroll down for video Back to reality! Married At First Sight groom Cameron Dunne ditched his wedding ring as he returned to work as a tradesman on the Gold Coast this week Cameron wore high-vis construction gear, after filming on Married At First Sight concluded in January. He kept a low profile in a cap and sunglasses, and performed his job in jeans, work boots and a long-sleeve top that covered his tattoos. The crane operator was notably not wearing his wedding ring from the series, hinting things don't end well for him. That's not a good sign: The crane operator, 32, was notably not wearing his wedding ring from the series, hinting things don't end well for him Going incognito? He kept a low profile in a cap and sunglasses while doing rigging work Cameron recently told New Idea magazine he was now living with former Married At First Sight star Jessika Power. 'Jess is actually my housemate - we currently live together on the Gold Coast... I'm quite close to her brother, Rhyce, so it kind of just happened from there,' he said. Previously based in Victoria, his move to Queensland suggests he's no longer with 'wife' Samantha Jayne Harvey, who lives in Canberra. Major editing fail! On Tuesday night, a trailer for Married At First Sight accidentally revealed there is potential affair on the horizon between Cameron and a mystery bride On Tuesday night, a trailer for Married At First Sight accidentally revealed there is potential affair on the horizon between Cameron and a mystery bride. In the teaser, a man's bulging arm with a tribal tattoo matching Cameron's was shown stroking a brunette's leg as they sat on a couch. The only two brunettes on this year's season so far are Coco Stedman and Belinda Vickers. Neither Coco nor Belinda live in Queensland. Married At First Sight continues Wednesday at 7.30pm on Channel Nine Posted Monday, February 22, 2021 4:32 pm Michael Wagar's column Feb. 6 defines a problem but not a solution. The problem is how do we pay for construction and maintenance of our roads and highways when the funding from the gas tax disappears in the future due to the coming era of all electric vehicles? Wagar's column never really addresses the question. He goes on about how harmful and unfair the proposal to tax vehicle miles traveled will be to rural Washingtonians. How does he propose to fund the maintenance and construction of roads and highways? Maybe we could get some volunteer groups to do the work. That good old Lewis County "Git 'er done" spirit. Surely the Boy Scouts and some church groups would step up to the plate. Facetiousness aside, conservatives seem to believe if you don't fund a solution, change won't happen and the problem will go away. Conservatives believe local control and private enterprise solves all problems. Their prototype for governance is Texas. When they have not been shivering or dying in their freezing, pipe bursting homes, homeowners in Texas' privately owned utility companies are currently being charged $3,000 to $4,000 for power. And no, it has nothing to do with "green" energy. I agree with Wagar that the plan to tax vehicle miles traveled does impact rural Washingtonians more greatly than urban drivers, although he failed to note that many modern gas vehicles temporarily shut off when stopped in traffic. I also agree with Rep. Peter Abbarno that the Big Brotherish nature of the program is offensive. But the question stubbornly remains. How do we pay for our highway and roads in the coming post-gas vehicle era? It is interesting that conservatives always claim to be, as Wagar said of Rep. Abbarno, the guardians and protectors of your wallet. The Vehicle-Miles-Traveled proposal is a very regressive tax. So is the gas tax and the sales tax. Not only are low-income rural people more negatively impacted by these taxes, so are low-income urban dwellers. Everyone pays the same tax or the same rate, from Joe Blow to the wealthiest Seattle resident. Though unintentionally, Wagar and Rep. Abbarno make a very solid case for a far less regressive state tax system. What would really protect the wallets of low income citizens, both rural and urban, would be to fund most of the needs of state government with a graduated state income tax. What better way to make his mark as a freshman legislator than for Rep. Abbarno to propose a Lewis County-friendly state income tax? Someday, low and middle income Washingtonians will realize that by displacing other taxes, a state income tax is in their best interests. After all, Lewis County demonstrates annually how much we enjoy spending the tax dollars King County sends to Olympia. Marty Ansley Cinebar Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. WASHINGTON President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are heading to Houston on Friday as Texas recovers from winter storms that left millions without power and water. The White House announced the trip on Tuesday. It is the presidents first trip to the state since he took office last month. The president will meet with local leaders to discuss the winter storm, relief efforts, progress toward recovery and the incredible resilience shown by the people of Houston and Texas, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. She said Biden will also visit a COVID health center where vaccines are being distributed, but did not specify which. TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox The trip comes as the president has declared a major disaster for 108 of the states 254 counties, with Gov. Greg Abbott and members of the Texas delegation urging him to expand it to cover the entire state. Although the initial effects of this unprecedented winter storm are beginning to dissipate, the entire state continues to reel from the aftermath that has left millions without power, potable water, and dwindling food supplies, more than two dozen members of Congress from Texas wrote in a letter to Biden on Monday. Psaki did not say Tuesday whether the president planned to expand the declaration further. In Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, sheltering operations continue to decrease, power and transportation are back to normal and water restoration continues, Psaki said. However, 9.8 million people are affected by water system outages and remain under boil water notices. She said 9 million liters of water have been delivered or are on the way to more than 200 locally managed water distribution sites. Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox Biden said last week he planned to visit Texas, but wanted to wait until his trip wouldnt be a disruption. I had planned on visiting Texas in the middle of next week, but I dont want to be a burden, Biden said at the time. When the president lands in a city in America, it has a long tail. The trip was already getting some criticism from conservatives on Tuesday. Rob Henneke, general counsel at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, tweeted: Biden will find it 62 degrees & everything back to normal. Dont see the point of the trip. ben.wermund@chron.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. Michigan set aside $55 million in state funding to help struggling small businesses hurt by COVID-19 restrictions, but only 17% of the businesses that applied are getting money. Nearly 35,000 Michigan applicants asked for a Michigan Small Business Survival Grant, and 5,960 were awarded funds. The program is helping retain more than 54,000 jobs in Michigan, state officials say. Only 146 businesses received the full grant amount of $20,000. The smallest award was $500. These grants, combined with additional business relief efforts offered by the (Michigan Economic Development Corporation), will create a strong foundation for Michigans long-term economic recovery, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a news release. As we distribute the safe and effective vaccine and work to end the pandemic once and for all, I will continue partnering with leaders across the state and urging passage of the MI COVID Recovery plan to provide relief for our small businesses, protect public health and jumpstart our economy. The money was split up among 15 local economic development organizations to distribute the funds. The EDOs can keep 5% of the funding for administrative costs, so only about $52.5 million is expected to be dispersed. Businesses had to have one to 100 employees and had to have been affected by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services pandemic orders from the fall and winter, to be eligible. Heres a look at which businesses received money from Michigans latest small business grant. You can search by business name, county or economic development organization. (Cant see the database? Click here. Upper Peninsula businesses cant be searched by county, due to state records) So far, $49.5 million has been sent dispersed, according to data provided by the state. The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation has only distributed about half of the $8.5 million it has to give out. The DEGC has until Feb. 28 to disperse the funding to Wayne County businesses. Otherwise, the leftovers would be split up among the other EDOs, state officials said. The EDOs for the Upper Peninsula, Macomb County and the Ann Arbor area still have small amounts of funding left to distribute. Oakland County businesses have received the most money so far of Michigans 83 counties, with about $6 million split between 1,346 businesses to retain 9,725 jobs. Michigan has launched 23 COVID-19 grant programs to help businesses struggling with the pandemic. The programs have sent money to more than 24,000 businesses. RELATED: See which businesses in your Michigan community received $150K or more in PPP loans The federal Paycheck Protection Program has had a much larger reach, sending $16 billion to 127,000 Michigan businesses in 2020. Those forgivable loans averaged $127,000 per business, with some getting as much as $10 million. A second round of PPP funding is ongoing. RELATED STORIES: See which businesses in your Michigan community received $150K or more in PPP loans Should businesses that violated health orders be eligible for Michigans COVID-19 aid grants? Michigan quietly extended 25% restaurant capacity limit, 10 p.m. curfew through March 29 See average income in your ZIP Code reported on federal tax returns The bridge in New York state on the Greenwich border that has been hit more times than any other bridge in the state added another strike to its tally Tuesday morning, according to police. The truck hit the King Street bridge where the Hutchinson River Parkway becomes the Merritt Parkway at the Greenwich border around 11 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Westchester County Police Department. Moscow, Feb 23 : The Russian Foreign Ministry said it is disappointing that the European Union (EU) foreign ministers had decided to prepare new sanctions against Russian citizens "under a far-fetched pretext". Josep Borrell, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said on Monday that the foreign ministers of the bloc had agreed to impose restrictive measures against those responsible for the "arrest, sentencing and persecution" of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Xinhua news agency reported. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it is "unacceptable" to make "unlawful and absurd" calls for the release of a Russian citizen convicted of economic crimes by a Russian court in accordance with Russian law. "In international practice, this is called interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state," it read. "It is only regrettable that such illegitimate instruments -- ultimatums, pressure and sanctions -- are rooted in the EU's foreign policy arsenal," the ministry added. "The myth of EU's own infallibility in the field of human rights was refuted on a daily basis" by police brutality, the attack on freedom of the media, and the curb on using the Russian language, it noted. Ukrainian will start vaccination against coronavirus tomorrow, on February 24, according to Deputy Minister of Health, Chief Sanitary Doctor Viktor Liashko. "We are planning to start vaccination tomorrow, after the delivery of the first batches [to the regions]," he said at a press conference at Ukrinform on Tuesday, February 23. He added that vaccination would begin with doctors who provide care to patients with COVID-19. "The first seven regions that will receive the vaccine include Kyiv city and Kyiv region, Chernihiv, Cherkasy region, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia. Vaccination begins after the vaccine is delivered," Liashko said. According to him, the vaccine will be sent to 11 regions tomorrow, and some regions will receive the vaccine on February 25 due to logistics. Syringes and boxes for safe disposal will also be delivered along with the vaccines, he said. At the first stage, only mobile teams will be administering the vaccine, he said. Liashko added that the vaccine produced under the Oxford/AstraZeneca license at the sites of the Serum Institute of India is completely safe and its immunogenicity exceeds 97%. op A female Smith College employee that resigned last week -- and who claims the college offered her money to not detail reasons for her departure -- alleges she left because the school essentially objectified her Caucasian appearance, and thus created a hostile work environment. In response, the college said it was the employee that demanded payment of an exceptionally large sum in exchange for dropping a threatened legal claim, and that our equity and inclusion training is never to shame or ostracize. I was offered a settlement in exchange for my silence, but I turned it down. My need to tell the truth and to be the kind of woman Smith taught me to be makes it impossible for me to accept financial security at the expense of remaining silent about something I know is wrong, the former employee said in a resignation letter. The ex-employee, Jodi Shaw, who earned a degree at Smith in 1993, said over the weekend that she plans to file a civil rights lawsuit against Smith. She was a Student Support Coordinator with a $45,000 annual salary at the school. In her resignation letter to Smith College President Kathleen McCartney, Shaw stated: As a divorced mother of two, the economic uncertainty brought about by this resignation will impact my children as well. But I have no choice. The racially hostile environment that the college has subjected me to for the past two and a half years has left me physically and mentally debilitated. I can no longer work in this environment, nor can I remain silent about a matter so central to basic human dignity and freedom. The Republican requested comment from Smith, including information about any settlement and/or money exchanging hands. The employee suggests that Smith tried to buy her silence. But it was the employee herself who demanded payment of an exceptionally large sum in exchange for dropping a threatened legal claim and agreeing to standard confidentiality provisions, McCartney wrote in a Feb. 22 letter. The college presidents response, posted online Monday, includes the following: Ordinarily, a personnel matter of this nature would not warrant a letter from the president to the college community; however, in this instance, the former employee, in her letter, accuses the college of creating a racially hostile environment for white people, a baseless claim that the college flatly denies. In addition, her letter contains a number of misstatements about the colleges equity and inclusion initiatives, misstatements that are offensive to the members of our community who are working every day to create a campus where everyone, regardless of racial identity, can learn, work and thrive, McCartney wrote. In her letter to McCartney, Shaw claims: I was told on multiple occasions that discussing my personal thoughts and feelings about my skin color is a requirement of my job. I endured racially hostile comments, and was expected to participate in racially prejudicial behavior as a continued condition of my employment, Every day, I watch my colleagues manage student conflict through the lens of race, projecting rigid assumptions and stereotypes on students, thereby reducing them to the color of their skin. I am asked to do the same, as well as to support a curriculum for students that teaches them to project those same stereotypes and assumptions onto themselves and others. I believe such a curriculum is dehumanizing, prevents authentic connection, and undermines the moral agency of young people who are just beginning to find their way in the world, Shaw wrote. She also alleged that: In this environment, peoples worth as human beings, and the degree to which they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, is determined by the color of their skin. It is an environment in which dissenting from the new critical race orthodoxy or even failing to swear fealty to it like some kind of McCarthy-era loyalty oath is grounds for public humiliation and professional retaliation. LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) --For the last four decades, Lafayette Jeff Radio and TV students have had the opportunity to learn what it takes to be in the industry, but state funding for the program could soon be a thing of the past. "Picking winners and losers, as far as programs go, I think that's a big mistake," said Lafayette Jeff's Radio and TV Director Jamie Long. House Bill 1001 would take the funding from courses like culinary, TV/radio and cosmetology. The money would then be redistributed to other courses. Right now, the classes' costs are reimbursed by the state. "We're hoping then students look at some of the high demand, high wage occupations and show an interest in them, and they grow overall," said Republican State Rep. Tim Brown. Brown is the bill's author. He said the money would go to skilled trade courses like welding and construction. That move frustrates Long. "To say that 'this' program is more important than this' program is kind of short-sighted I think," said Long. LSC Superintendent Les Huddle said it takes away students' ability to explore different career paths. "Once we start eliminating options, we think that will only be a detriment to kids," Huddle said. If the bill is passed, school corporations would have to decide whether to fund the programs. Huddle said he'll do all he can to make sure that happens. "If it comes down to the time to make some budget decisions we'll have to do that, but we want to continue to provide a great opportunity for kids to explore numerous paths," he added. Long said having these class options may be more important than you think. "Giving students less variety to follow what they're passionate about, then it's really stifling someone's future," Long explained. Some other vocational programs that would lose funding are nutrition science and fashion and textiles. House Bill 1001 passed its third reading in the House Monday and now goes to Senate for consideration. Click here to view the legislation. [February 23, 2021] Nightingale College Granted Candidacy for NWCCU Accreditation Nightingale College, a leader in blended learning programs for prelicensure nursing education, today announced it has been accepted as a candidate for regional accreditation by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). The non-profit membership organization granted the pre-accreditation status after considering evidence provided by the College during 2020 and a virtual site visit last October. "A lot of hard work across the organization went into making this official pre-accreditation status a reality and this is an important step forward in our regional accreditation journey," said Mikhail Shneyder, President and CEO of Nightingale College. "We look forward to working with NWCCU on our mission quest to bring nursing education to underserved populations and locations." NWCCU's action letter specifically commended Nightingale College in thefollowing areas: Its mission to reach rural and underserved learners where they are. Creating a shared institutional culture of collaboration, focused on learner success. Its holistic and extensive wrap-around student services, delivered through the Learner Advising and Life Resources During the candidacy review, NWCCU found Nightingale College to be meeting all accreditation eligibility criteria and recommended the institution to continue developing its system for evaluating the quality of learning, improving student learning outcomes and benchmarking student achievements against peer institutions. NWCCU will conduct a follow-up virtual accreditation candidacy visit in Spring 2022 as well as an in-person site visit to the College's operations support center when public health conditions allow. NWCCU is recognized by the United States Department of Education (USDE) and the Council on Higher Education (CHEA) to accredit postsecondary institutions in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and British Columbia, along with other domestic and international geographic areas. Its decision-making body consists of up to twenty-six commissioners who represent the public and the diversity of its accredited higher education institutions. Candidate is an affiliate pre-accreditation status indicating that an institution meets the NWCCU's eligibility requirements and is progressing toward accreditation. Recognition as a Candidate neither implies nor ensures an institution will attain accredited status with NWCCU. The accreditation process is normally a multi-year endeavor. About Nightingale College Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, Nightingale College is a pioneer in distance education for prelicensure nursing; it offers nursing programs at associate's, bachelor's, and master's degree levels. The College is dedicated to improving demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic access to nursing education and is enrolling learners across the United States, with supervised on-ground field experiences (SOFE) regions in Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Wyoming. To learn more about Nightingale College, its mission and programs, visit www.nightingale.edu. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223006098/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A meeting on Sunday, involving Coles staff and members of the Australia Post rank-and-file committee, unanimously agreed to issue a call for the working class to come to the aid of 350 Coles workers who have been locked out of the companys Smeaton Grange warehouse in southwestern Sydney for more than three months. The meeting discussed the United Workers Unions attempts to force through a sell-out, and the need for the isolation imposed by the union to be broken through coordinated action by other sections of workers. This meeting sends its solidarity to the Coles Smeaton Grange workers in Sydney, who have been locked out by the massive supermarket company for more than three months. By refusing to bow to managements demands in all that time, they have taken a heroic stand, not only on behalf of their own jobs and conditions, but those of the working class as a whole. SEP supporters discuss Smeaton Grange lockout with Coles warehouse workers in Goulburn (WSWS Media) This struggle has now reached a turning point. The role of the United Workers Union (UWU) is crystal clear. It is to isolate the dispute, prevent action at any other Coles or Woolworths warehouse and starve the Smeaton Grange workers by refusing to provide strike pay, so they are forced to accept a sell-out deal. Once again, the UWU is trying to force through a rotten enterprise agreement that will result in the closure of the warehouse, the destruction of all the jobs, and the contemptuous pay and redundancy provisions put forward by Coles early in the dispute. Workers cannot allow the union to force this through and keep the Smeaton Grange workers isolated! The working class everywhere must come to the defence of the locked-out workers and begin preparing concrete actions to strengthen their fight and break the isolation being imposed by the UWU. This is an elementary act of solidarity. But it is more than that, because what happens at Smeaton Grange will have huge consequences for workers everywhere, especially in the logistics and warehousing sectors. Coles and the UWU want an orderly closure, to set a blueprint for the shutdown of four other warehouses, including the Eastern Creek facility in Sydney, the plant in Goulburn and two warehouses in Brisbane. Woolworths is doing the same thing, with plans to shutter three facilities and slash thousands of jobs. At Australia Post, workers are being hit with a restructure that has already made workloads intolerable and is aimed at preparing the way for privatisation. At Telstra, another 1,400 sackings have just been announced, on top of over 6,000 job cuts since 2018. This program is driven by the dictates of the largest banks, the corporations and the governments that represent them. The aim is to make the working class pay for the crisis of capitalism and to use the pandemic to carry out an even greater pro-business restructuring of the economy. If Smeaton Grange falls, this agenda will only be stepped-up further. But there is growing opposition from workers everywhere and a desire to fight back. The unions are the chief obstacle. They function as an industrial police force of management, which represents the privileged bureaucrats that run the unions, not the workers they falsely claim to represent. The past three months have demonstrated, yet again, that workers cannot mount a struggle in defence of their jobs and conditions within the straitjacket of the unions. The unions suppress any struggle by invoking the draconian and anti-strike provisions contained in Fair Work legislation. But these laws were put in place by the last Labor government, with the full backing of the unions. The UWU and the other unions support the entire repressive framework of Fair Work, again demonstrating that the struggle to defend the Smeaton Grange workers must be taken out of the hands of the union and organised by workers independently. As a first step, in coming to the assistance of our class brothers and sisters at Smeaton Grange, we call for a meeting of Coles, Woolworths, Australia Post and other warehousing and logistics workers, independent of the unions. Such a meeting can discuss the vital issues of strategy and perspective posed by the Smeaton Grange dispute, and concrete measures that can aid the workers, including financial assistance for them and a broader struggle throughout Coles operations. We appeal to all workers who want to take part in this fight to register your interest in such a meeting with the Australia Post rank-and-file committees, publicise this call with your colleagues and families, and contact us today. A variant first discovered in California in December is more contagious than earlier forms of the coronavirus, two new studies have shown, fueling concerns that emerging mutants like this one could hamper the sharp decline in cases over all in the state and perhaps elsewhere. In one of the new studies, researchers found that the variant has spread rapidly in a San Francisco neighborhood in the past couple of months. The other report confirmed that the variant has surged across the state, and revealed that it produces twice as many viral particles inside a persons body as other variants do. That study also hinted that the variant may be better than others at evading the immune system and vaccines. I wish I had better news to give you that this variant is not significant at all, said Dr. Charles Chiu, a virologist at the University of California, San Francisco. But unfortunately, we just follow the science. Neither study has yet been published in a scientific journal. And experts dont know how much of a public health threat this variant poses compared with others that are also spreading in California. DUBLIN, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Opiod Induced Constipation Drugs Market Size, Market Share, Application Analysis, Regional Outlook, Growth Trends, Key Players, Competitive Strategies and Forecasts, 2020 to 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global opioid induced constipation drugs market is rising at a significant pace, projected to rise at a CAGR of 4.7% during the estimated period from 2020 to 2028, starting from US$ 2,656.4 Mn in 2019. The mechanism of action of opioid analgesics through binding to the mu, delta, and kappa receptors present in the brain by crossing the blood-brain barrier and giving the desired analgesic effect to treat non-cancer pain. In addition, the opioids bind to the mu receptors present in the gastrointestinal tract, which result in a contraction of the smooth muscles and alter the peristaltic movement causing constipation. Usually, the patients opt for over the counter osmotic laxatives and stimulant cathartics, which have been beneficial in providing relief from constipation in patients taking opioid analgesics for 3-4 weeks. In patients seeking palliative care, doctors prescribe mu-receptor antagonists and prostaglandin derivatives to cure opioid induced constipation. In the present scenario, prescribed drugs are dominating the market on account of an increasing number of patients showing resistance to over-the-counter laxatives and cathartics. Moreover, opioid analgesics binds to the mu receptors of the gastrointestinal tract causing severe contraction of smooth muscles, altering the peristaltic activity of the gut motility, thus leading to chronic constipation. Physicians usually prescribe branded drugs such as methylnaltrexone bromide and naloxegol (mu-receptor antagonists) and prostaglandin derivatives such as lubiprostone to gain immediate relief from constipation by increasing fluid retention and stool softening. Over the counter (OTC) osmotic laxatives and stimulant cathartics are the drugs of the first choice by the patients to treat constipation. OTC products have shown good results in patients taking opioid analgesics for less than 4 weeks. In addition, lockdown restrictions and the need to maintain social distancing due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in more number of people staying at home. Hence, a sedentary lifestyle has resulted in the development of opioid induced constipation. In addition, irrational intake of OTC drugs and lack of physical activity will further aggravate the occurrence of opioid induced constipation in the elderly population Historical & Forecast Period: This study report represents analysis for each segment from 2018 to 2028 considering 2019 to be the base year. Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) for each of the respective segments estimated for the forecast period from 2020 to 2028. The current report also comprehends qualitative and qualitative market valuation factors such as key market drivers, market trends, restraints, and opportunities that give a better market understanding of the overall opioid induced constipation drugs market. Additionally, the global report also comprises a graphical representation of the competitive landscape based on their market initiatives and strategies, product portfolio, and business strengths. Key questions answered in this report: What are the current market trends and dynamics in the opioid induced constipation drugs market and valuable opportunities for emerging players? Which segment accounts for the fastest CAGR during the forecast period? What are the drivers of the opioid induced constipation drugs market? Notable developments going on in the opioid induced constipation drugs market. What is the market trend and dynamics in emerging markets such as Asia Pacific , Latin America , and Middle East & Africa ? , , and & ? A comparative scenario for all the segments for years 2019 (actual) and 2028 (forecast) Key Topics Covered: Chapter 1. Preface 1.1. Report Scope and Description 1.1.1. Purpose of the Report 1.1.2. Target Audience 1.1.3. USP and Key Offerings 1.2. Research Scope 1.3. Research Methodology 1.3.1. Phase I-Secondary Research 1.3.2. Phase II-Primary Research 1.3.3. Phase III-Expert Panel Review 1.3.4. Assumptions Chapter 2. Executive Summary 2.1. Global Opioid Induced Constipation Drugs Market Portraiture 2.2. Global Opioid Induced Constipation Drugs Market, by Drug Type, 2019 (US$ Mn) 2.3. Global Opioid Induced Constipation Drugs Market, by Prescription Type, 2019 (US$ Mn) 2.4. Global Opioid Induced Constipation Drugs Market, by Geography, 2019 (US$ Mn) Chapter 3. Opioid Induced Constipation Drugs Market: Dynamics and Future Outlook 3.1. Market Overview 3.2. Drivers 3.3. Challenges 3.4. Opportunities 3.5. Attractive Investment Proposition, by Geography, 20 3.6. Top 3 Countries: Global Opioid Induced Constipation Drugs Market, 2020-2028 (US$ Mn) 3.7. Competitive Landscape: Global Opioid Induced Constipation Drugs Market, by Key Players, 2020-2028 (US$ Mn) Chapter 4. Global Opioid Induced Constipation Drugs Market, by Drug Type, 2018 - 2028 (US$ Mn) 4.1. Overview 4.1.1. Competitive Analysis: Global Opioid Induced Constipation Drugs Market, by Drug Type, 2019 Vs. 2028 (Value %) 4.2. Methylnaltrexone Bromide 4.3. Lubiprostone 4.4. Naloxegol 4.5. Naldemedine 4.6. Docusate Sodium 4.7. Others 4.8. Pipeline Analysis Chapter 5. Global Opioid Induced Constipation Drugs Market, by Prescription Type, 2018 - 2028 (US$ Mn) 5.1. Overview 5.1.1. Competitive Analysis: Global Opioid Induced Constipation Drugs Market, by Prescription Type, 2019 Vs. 2028 (Value %) 5.2. Prescribed 5.2.1. Branded 5.2.2. Generic 5.3. Over the Counter (OTC) Chapter 6. Global Opioid Induced Constipation Drugs Market, by Geography, 2018 - 2028 (US$ Mn) 6.1. Overview 6.2. North America Opioid Induced Constipation Drugs Market Analysis, 2018 - 2028 (US$ Mn) 6.3. Europe Opioid Induced Constipation Drugs Market Analysis, 2018 - 2028 (US$ Mn) 6.4. Asia Pacific Opioid Induced Constipation Drugs Market Analysis, 2018 - 2028 (US$ Mn) 6.5. Latin America Opioid Induced Constipation Drugs Market Analysis, 2018 - 2028 (US$ Mn) 6.6. Middle East & Africa (MEA) Opioid Induced Constipation Drugs Market Analysis, 2018 - 2028 (US$ Mn) Chapter 7. Company Profiles 7.1. AstraZeneca plc 7.1.1. Business Description 7.1.2. Financial Information (Subject to data availability) 7.1.3. Product Portfolio 7.1.4. Key Developments 7.2. Cubist Pharmaceuticals (Adolor Corporation) 7.3. Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. 7.4. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 7.5. Pfizer, Inc. 7.6. Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 7.7. Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. 7.8. Shionogo & Co., Ltd. 7.9. Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 7.10. Synergy Pharmaceuticals, Inc. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/rtottf Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Family of 11-y-o boy who died trying to stay warm during Texas freeze sues power company for $100M Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin The family of a Texas boy who died while trying to stay warm inside their home after they lost power during a snowstorm a week ago is now suing the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and Entergy Corporation for $100 million, accusing them of gross negligence. Maria Elisa Pineda, 34, a Honduran immigrant and mother of the deceased 11-year-old, Cristian Pavon Pineda, told the Houston Chronicle that her son died on Feb. 16, less than 24 hours after seeing snow for the first time. Everything was well. He was happy that day. He was not at all sick, she told the Chronicle. Pineda said she recorded video and took pictures of her son in a red hoodie playing outside their Conroe mobile home that lost power when the snowstorm hit on Feb. 15. The frolicking only lasted for about 30 minutes as his gloves had gotten wet. By 11 p.m., Pineda said Cristian, who shared a bed with his 3-year-old stepbrother, went to bed under a pile of blankets in an attempt to stay warm, according to the lawsuit cited by ABC News. He never woke up the following day, even though his stepbrother did. This is a young man who died for no reason other than corporate decisions," the Pineda family's attorney, Tony Buzbee, told ABC News. "There are a lot of decisions that were made a long time ago that led to the death of this young man. That is unacceptable." Buzbee represents seven families of more than 30 people who died as of Sunday, reportedly due to the impact of the snowstorm in Texas. "Cristians lawsuit is the first and his lawsuit should be the first," Buzbee said. "This kid is going to change Texas and God bless him for that. While an official cause of death is pending for the 11-year-old, his family insists that he froze to death, the Conroe Police Department said. In a statement to ABC13, Entergy said in reaction to the lawsuit that: "We are deeply saddened by the loss of life in our community. We are unable to comment due to pending litigation." ERCOT, which manages the flow of electric power to more than 26 million Texas customers, representing about 90% of the states electric load, also responded in a statement defending their grid operators' decision to cut power during the storm. "We haven't yet reviewed the lawsuits and will respond accordingly once we do. Our thoughts are with all Texans who have and are suffering due to this past week. However, because approximately 46% of privately-owned generation tripped offline this past Monday morning, we are confident that our grid operators made the right choice to avoid a statewide blackout, their statement said. More than $88,400 has been raised in a GoFundMe campaign to help transfer Cristians body back to Honduras to allow his extended family to see him before he is buried. We are trying to raise funds to be able to transfer the body to Honduras. His wish was to see his grandparents again and that is what the mother wants to fulfill, the campaigns organizer, Jaliza Year, wrote. A memorial service is also expected to be held for Cristian at The Woodlands First Baptist Church. The pastor handling the arrangements was not immediately available for an interview when contacted by The Christian Post on Tuesday. [February 23, 2021] Building the New 5G Messaging Ecosystem and Empowering the Digital New Economy SHENZHEN, China, Feb. 23, 2021 /CNW/ -- At MWC Shanghai, ZTE and the GSMA hosted the 5G Messaging Forum: Building the New 5G Messaging Ecosystem and Empowering the Digital New Economy. The forum attracted industry leaders from the GSMA, CCSA (China Communications Standards Association), AFCA (Asia Financial Cooperation Association), China UnionPay, Zhejiang Meteorological Service Centre, China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom, Japan's KDDI and other leading operators around the world, as well as leading 5G Messaging vendors such as ZTE, Guodu Interconnection, Shanghai Dahantricom Corporation and Whale Cloud Technology. More than 300 executives and experts from governments, operators and enterprises around the world attended, both online and offline, to share their experience in 5G Messaging and explore their application prospects. In April last year, the three major operators in China jointly released a white paper, aiming to make the 5G Messaging service a universal 5G information and communication service with multi-terminal support, wide coverage, and multi-industry empowerment. In the same year, the GSMA released its specification which indicated that 5G Messaging should be included in the mandatory functions of 5G terminals. At present, the related industry standards have been formulated in China. Wang Xiang, Senior Vice President (SVP) of ZTE, said: "5G Messaging has the potential to have a bright future. To help drive the digital economy, ZTE hopes to provide full support for operators in building 5G Messaging networks and developing services, leveraging its 5G Messaging technologies and commercial experience. ZTE will also work with upstream and downstream partners in the industry chain, including operators, terminal manufacturers, service providers, and enterprise users, to build a 5G Messaging application ecosystem." Today, through the joint efforts of the three major Chinese operators and industry chain partners, the 5G Messaging industry ecosystem has taken shape. In terms of its commercial application, the three major operators, together with ZTE and other network equipment partners, have actively promoted the construction of 5G Messaging platforms, and the network have all met the large-scale commercial application conditions. In terms of terminal application, more than 60 terminals from mainstream mobile phone manufacturers have been released to support 5G Messaging to date. In terms of application ecosystem construction, 5G Messaging fully demonstrates the innovative application scenarios that can be integrated with thousands of industries. ZTE supports the three major operators in carrying out industrial research, holding developer competitions and commercial trials, and has incubated over 300 applications in nine major industries such as government and finance. "Learning from cases in Japan, South Korea, and the United States, the three operators will seek to actively explore ecological cooperation and develop together. They will strive to concentrate resources and give full play to the network value specified in Metcalfe's Law, laying the foundation for better interconnection and unified access for CSPs in future," said Zhang Yunyong, CPPCC member and Product Centre General Manager at China Unicom. At present, the trend is towards the digital economy. "5G Messaging empowers thousands of industries and will connect the last mile for services to reach users of the digital economy," said Wang Quan, Vice President of ZTE, in a keynote speech. "ZTE is committed to becoming a driver of the digital economy and building the 'widest and fastest' last-mile message channel for customers. The ZTE AnyMessaging 5G Messaging platform solution supports AnyNetwork (any network access), AnyService (any industrial application access), AnyWhere (any cloud environment deployment) and AnyScale (any capacity deployment)," he explained. "ZTE will continue to build a technology-leading and commercial leading 5G Messaging platform for operators. All ZTE 5G mobile phone series launched this year will support 5G Messaging, and the ZTE 5G Messaging platform leads in trials and is now commercial-ready. We will make all efforts to support operators in promoting full coverage of terminals. To accelerate industrial upgrades, we have launched Openlab 2.0, and released the first certification system in the industry, providing CSPs with suggestions on 5G Messaging technology, operation and training. The first four CSPs have obtained the certification. We will also cooperate with China Telecommunication Technology Labs (CTTL) in the field of 5G Messaging certification," he continued. Furthermore, as the 5G-era upgrade to traditional short message services, 5G Messaging has been widely recognised by global operators. Wang Quan confirmed that "5G Messaging should develop alongside the global scope to build a global 5G Messaging ecosystem." At the forum, ZTE announced the global 5G Messaging cooperation plan, and launched the '0 CAPEX Trial' initiative, which will provide global operators with 0 CAPEX 5G Messaging trials based on public clouds. ZTE will invite global industry chain partners to build a global 5G Messaging ecosystem and promote the benefits of global 5G Messaging services. In future, as the first 5G application in large-scale commercial use serving public and industry users, 5G Messaging will bring the benefits of 5G technologies and digital services to billions of users around the world. 5G Messaging demonstrates the concept of "Science for Good", enabling all users to enjoy the convenience of intelligent services, bringing new models to the digital transformation of industries, injecting momentum into the development of the digital economy, and empowering it with safe and universal-benefit features. Media Contacts: Margaret Ma ZTE Corporation Tel: +86 755 26775189 Email: ma.gaili@zte.com.cn View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/building-the-new-5g-messaging-ecosystem-and-empowering-the-digital-new-economy-301233297.html SOURCE ZTE Corporation [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A Bill seeking to establish a parole board for those convicted of murders and serving life sentences scaled through the second reading in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. The bill sponsored by Hassan Nalaraba from Nasarawa State seeks to repeal Section 40 of the Correctional Service Act of 2019, and replace it with a new provision on the composition of the parole board, and an emphasis on prisoners serving life sentences for murder. No debate No debate was taken on the bill, as the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, described it as a straight forward bill. However, Linda Ikpeazu (Anambra), raised concern on the bill that did not cover other crimes aside from murder. I support the issue of parole, but why is the sponsor of the bill singling out murderers, what of other offences? she said. The Speaker in his response said it will be corrected at the committee level. The bill was referred to the Committee on Interior. Meanwhile, the House also passed a bill to alter the constitution to put correctional facilities on the concurrent legislative list. The bill, if passed, will move prisons from the exclusive list to the concurrent legislative list. In 2019, President Muhamadu Buhari signed into law the Nigerian Correctional Service bill, which changed the name from Nigerian Prisons Service to Nigerian Correctional Service. Leading the debate on the bill, the sponsor of the bill, Benjamin Kalu, argued that states sharing the responsibility of prison funding/management would help check indiscriminate imprisonment of people for minor offences created by state laws. He argued further that the current state of prisons in Nigeria makes it hard to reform an offender. Also, Mr Kalu argued that prisons are congested due to obsolete laws and inadequate funding. It is clearly known that obsolete legislation, slow justice system and inadequate funding are prominent on the list of challenges bedevilling the Nigerian prisons to reform locked-up inmates. The problem of prison congestion in the country is huge. For instance, the March 2019 edition of the Lagos State Criminal Information System revealed that though the five prisons in Lagos State have a combined holding capacity of 4,087, they were holding 9,044 inmates. A former Comptroller of Prisons in Lagos State, Tunde Ladipo, said the Badagry Prison, which was built to house only a little over 100 inmates, was at a time holding over 700 inmates. But most importantly, it will greatly reduce the instances of violation of prisoners dignity and fundamental rights As we all know Nigeria prisons lack the capacity to reform errant members of the society sent there for correction. Instead, many offenders sent to the prisons turn out to become more hardened. ADVERTISEMENT Speaking in support of the bill, Ahmed Jaha from Borno State, stated that the bill will not take away correctional facilities from the federal government, rather allow states to also fund prisons. The Bill was referred to the Special Committee on Constitution amendment headed by the Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Wase. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment I enjoy talking politics about as much as I enjoy licking an ashtray, which is to say I avoid it at all costs. Occasionally, however, something is said to you as a Christian that mixes politics with theology and you have no choice but to engage. Such was the case when I was conversing with someone a while back who suddenly said to me that Jesus was a leftist. They went on to try and defend their position by saying Jesus was a rebel, a fighter for the common person, and someone who bucked the system. While theres no doubt Christ embraced those who were outcasts in His ancient near eastern culture and spoke strongly against the hypocritical religious framework constructed by the Jewish elite, equating those things with historical and current leftism is, how shall I put this, nuts. It reminds me of the famous statement made by physicist Wolfgang Pauli who said, when handed a bad paper from a student, This is not right. It is so not right, it is not even wrong. Lets look at just a few of the bare-boned differences between Jesus and the left, and why Scripture said prophetically (and just a little bit amusingly) thousands of years ago, The foolish persons heart directs him toward the left (Ecc. 10:2). Jesus honored God; the left hates God I doubt that I have to provide evidence for the truth claim that Jesus taught everyone to revere, honor, fear, and put God first in their life. If evidence is required, a quick read of what is normally called the Lords prayer (Matt. 6:9-13) should do the trick. The position on God taken by atheist leaders of the historic left are diametrically opposed to Christs. Perusing Karl Marxs feelings on Christianity or reading Denis Diderots statement, Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest are just tip-of-the-iceberg examples of a movement that despises God and His authority. Jesus esteemed Scripture; the left mocks the Bible Jesus embraced and elevated Scripture. All Scripture. Jesus said Scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35), that it is divinely authoritative (Matt. 4:1-10), imperishable (Matt. 24:35), historically accurate (Matt. 24:37-39), truth (John 17:17), and that it has ultimate supremacy (Matt. 15:6). The lefts opinion of the Bible is much different. One of the lefts godfathers, Voltaire, and his lover (Emilie du Chatelet), concluded their formal examination of the Bible by saying it was nonsense. They called Jesus Sermon on the Mount trite, ridiculous, absurd and His resurrection comedy. You wont get much better from todays leftists; the only verse they have committed to memory (and fail to fully understand) is: Do not judge (Matt. 7:1). Jesus embraced truth; the left embraces post-truth Being full of grace and truth (John 1:14), Jesus is truth in His essence (John 14:6) and came to testify to the truth (John 18:37) asking His Father to Sanctify [us] in the truth; Your word is truth (John 17:17). In stark contrast, the left practices the philosophy of post-truth. Post-truth adherents view facts as irrelevant or less important than individual beliefs, opinions, political agendas, social causes, and emotional appeals when it comes to considering a truth claim. For them, this becomes easy once God and the idea of any transcendent / absolute truth is kicked to the curb. Jesus prescribed peace; the left prescribes violence Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God (Matt. 5:9), said Jesus. The Prince of peace (Is. 9:6) never directed His disciples to act violently towards those who disagreed with His teachings.[1] But the left is a movement born out of violence; it is stamped into their DNA and historically verifiable with stark examples like the French revolution, which Ann Coulter describes with dark humor as come for the beheadings, stay for the rapes. A more current illustration is last years violent riots that occurred in the U.S., carried out by the left, which resulted, according to the Insurance Information Institute, in catastrophic levels of damage and became the costliest in American history. Jesus practiced loving enemies and forgiveness; the left hates and never forgives Then Peter came up and said to Him, Lord, how many times shall my brother sin against me and I still forgive him? Up to seven times? Jesus said to him, I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy-seven times (Matt. 18:21-22). Because God forgives us in the extreme, Christ commanded the same for us when it comes to others, even saying love your enemies (Matt. 5:44) and telling us not to cast stones at others unless were without sin ourselves (John 8:7). Not so with the left. The left hates their enemies (see their recent rejoicing over the death of Rush Limbaugh) and will search furiously, going back multiple decades in the past if they have to, for any perceived infraction of their code. If one is found, they reach for their cancel culture pile of stones and demand permanent, public blood in the form of loss of reputation, job, business, etc. No one is safe from their universal solvent of hate and unforgiveness, which they will quickly pour on even their own should some poor leftist soul say or do the wrong thing. Jesus is virtuous; the left virtue signals Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, I find no guilt in this man (Luke 23:4). No matter how hard His enemies tried to smear Him, Jesus remained the epitome of virtue and was blameless, having fully practiced what He preached. But the left? While the leftist social justice warriors work themselves into a frenzy trying to out virtue signal each other, they prove themselves to be hypocritical and mirror the type of person Jesus referred to as a whitewashed tomb (Matt. 23:27). Psychiatrist M. Scott Peck describes their behavior this way: The words image, appearance, and outwardly are crucial to understanding [their] morality. While they seem to lack any motivation to be good, they intensely desire to appear good. Their goodness is on a level of pretense. It is, in effect, a lie. This is why they are the people of the lie.[2] Jesus taught servanthood; the left aspires to power Jesus said, The greatest of you shall be your servant (Matt. 23:11). Not only did Jesus teach servanthood, but He modeled it constantly throughout His life on earth, saying I am among you as the one who serves. (Luke 22:27). The left has no interest in serving, but rather in being served as those who are in power. This, again, comes naturally from their origins. The French Revolution of 1789, for example, pursued absolute power and a secularism that included a mob-driven and forceful de-Christianization campaign. Noting this and many sad other examples throughout the past, historian R. J. Rummel, in his book Death by Government, says: It is though our species has been devastated by a modern Black Plague. And indeed it has, but a plague of Power, not germs. So, is Jesus a conservative? Although plenty of other contrasts can be made, we can clearly see that Jesus is no leftist. But is He instead a conservative; a person on the right? No, Hes not, and heres why. We need to remember that Jesus is God, and as such is transcendent over His creation. He warns us not to make the mistake of confusing us with Him when He says, You thought that I was just like you (Ps. 50:21). Jesus is neither left nor right wing because He resides in a holy class by Himself. Given that truth, it appears that the best thing to do, where Christ is concerned, is to stop trying to make Him part of us and instead be much more focused on having Jesus make us one of His. [1] When Jesus said, Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword (Matt. 10:34), it was not a message of condoning violence, but rather an admission of the reality that the gospel message sometimes brings to families in the form of division. [2] M. Scott Peck, People of the Lie (Touchstone, 1998), pg. 75. MOSCOW - Georgian authorities arrested the opposition leader on Tuesday, deepening the South Caucasus country's political rift and plunging yet another ex-Soviet state into crisis. Nika Melia, the leader of the United National Movement, Georgia's main opposition party, was dragged from his party headquarters early Tuesday in a scene broadcast on live television. His party posted photos on Twitter of a large riot police presence entering the building and said the security forces used tear gas to arrest dozens of Melia's supporters inside. The unrest is the latest upheaval along Russia's vast borders: protests continue in Belarus over an August presidential election result the opposition has denounced as false and Kyrgyzstan recently had its third revolution in the past 15 years. Georgia, a country of about 3.7 million people located on the Black Sea, was considered more democratic than the other two, with ambitions to join NATO, but in recent years, U.S. lawmakers have expressed concerns in letters to Georgia's leadership that some actions by the ruling Georgian Dream indicated a "backsliding." The situation came to a head in October, when the Georgian Dream coalition again swept to victory, but opposition groups claim that the voting was rigged and refused to take their seats in Parliament. Critics have accused Georgian Dream of consolidating near-total control over all branches and levels of government. The United National Movement party, founded by Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia's former president now living in exile in Ukraine, won just 27 percent of the vote. Melia was named the party's new leader in late December. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe concluded that the October vote in Georgia was "competitive and, overall, fundamental freedoms were respected," but it also cited "pervasive allegations of pressure on voters and blurring of the line between the ruling party and the state." Then last week, Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia suddenly resigned from his post, citing the plans to arrest Melia as his reason for stepping down. The 41-year-old Melia has said the charges against him of "organizing mass violence" during anti-government protests in 2019 are politically motivated. He faces nine years in prison if convicted. "I'd like to believe that this step will help de-escalate the polarization on the political stage of our nation," Gakharia said of his resignation in a news conference Thursday, adding that the decision to place Melia in pretrial detention posed "a risk to the health and lives of our citizens." In the wake of Gakharia's surprise resignation, the Interior Ministry said Melia's arrest was "temporarily postponed." But less than 24 hours after Irakli Garibashvili was approved as the new prime minister by the parliament on Monday, Melia was seen being led out of his party offices and into a black unmarked SUV by Georgian police. In a statement, the U.S. Embassy in Georgia said it is "dismayed by the polarizing rhetoric from Georgia's leadership at a time of crisis," adding that "today, Georgia has moved backward on its path toward becoming a stronger democracy in the Euro-Atlantic family of nations." "Shocked by the scenes at UNM headquarters this morning," British ambassador to Georgia Mark Clayton wrote on Twitter. "Violence and chaos in Tbilisi are the last thing Georgia needs right now. I urge all sides to act with restraint, now and in the coming days." When I first saw Hyundai's 45 at the Frankfurt Motor Show back in 2019, I described it as a "pure one-off concept vehicle." I'm now prepared to eat those words, as Hyundai has unveiled the striking Ioniq 5 production EV crossover that's closely based on the 45, right down to the diagonal crease across the doors. It has a lot going for it under the sheet metal too, with an 800 volt electric drive system that should deliver excellent range and decent performance. The Ioniq 5 is built on Hyundai's new Electric-Global Modular Platform, with drive- and steer-by-wire tech and a flat battery floor. Much like other recent EV platforms, that allowed it to maximize interior space while keeping the external dimensions reasonably compact. It will also come with an optional solar roof that can directly charge the main battery. Hyundai There are a number of configurations determined by battery size, two- or four-wheel drive and power. The Standard Range 2WD model starts with a 58-kilowatt-hour battery pack and 160-kilowatt (218 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque) motor, delivering a 0-60 MPH time of around 8.5 seconds. The Standard Range AWD adds a second electric motor, boosting output to 235 horsepower and 446 pound-feet of torque. For the long-range options, a 77.4-kWh battery will be offered in the US, with a smaller 72.6-kWh pack elsewhere around the world. Those will be available with the aforementioned 160-kilowatt rear motor, delivering about 300 miles per charge in Europe's WLTP cycle with the smaller battery (likely less in the US based on EPA standards, even with the larger battery). At the top end is the Ioniq 5 Long Range AWD with 306 horsepower and 446 pound-feet of torque, powering it from 0 to 60 MPH in 5.2 seconds at the price of a bit less range. Hyundai You'll be able to charge the Ioniq 5 using DC fast-charging at up to 350 kW, which will theoretically boost the charge from 10 to 80 percent in 18 minutes, while adding 62 miles of range in just 5 minutes. It also supports bi-directional and "Vehicle-to-Load" charging, letting you charge phones, computers and even e-bikes via the car's battery at up to 3.6 kW. That of course will drain the car's battery, though it can regain some charge via the solar roof. Being around the size of a Toyota RAV 4, the Ioniq 5 is bigger than it might look at first. On top of the unusual bodywork, Hyundai brought the squared off headlight and taillight treatments over from the concept, albeit in a more practical form. It has the same 20-inch wheels as the 45, though they don't fit quite as tightly in the wheel wells. It has some additional body cladding pieces around the edges something that Hyundai got rid of on the Kona Electric. Some markets (not the US) will get OLED screens and rear-view cameras in the place of mirrors. Hyundai The 45 concept was based on the idea that you'll be able to lounge and relax while the car drives you around. The Ioniq 5 can't do the latter, but it does come with Hyundai's Highway Driving Assist 2, with features like lane-centering assist, lane-change assist and nav-based adaptive cruise control. It also comes with the Remote Smart Parking Assist, letting you jump out of the car and have it park itself via smartphone. The interior is of course completely changed from the concept, as the 45's modernist style wouldn't cut it in a real world with safety rules. Still, there are some interesting touches. The front seats actually recline and even have a foot rest, while the center console can slide back by 5.5 inches. That can open up more floor space while giving the rear seat occupants access to it as a sort of table. Hyundai Up front, the dashboard features a flat, 12-inch digital instrument cluster, along with a 12-inch touchscreen infotaintment display powered by Hyundai's BlueLink connected surfaces. It's also the first model with Hyundai's augmented reality head-up display, which can transform your front windshield into a screen. Hyundai's Ioniq 5 will come to some regions in the first half of 2021, but it won't hit North America until the fall. Pricing has yet to be announced, but we should get that information as launch time approaches. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Pilot Killed in Plane Crash Near Mayfield By West Kentucky Star Staff GRAVES COUNTY - One person died in a plane crash near the Mayfield-Graves County Airport on Monday afternoon.At 4:55 pm, deputies with the Graves County Sheriff's Office responded and confirmed that the plane crashed in a field near the intersection of Twin Hill Road and Spence Chapel Road, just north of I-69. That intersection is less than a mile from the north end of the airport runway, and about three miles northeast of Mayfield.Deputies said the pilot died as a result of the crash. The pilot's identity is being withheld until authorities can make contact with family.Sheriff's office personnel will meet with representatives from the National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday. The NTSB investigates all aviation accidents. Vehicles were lined up to receive food in the Lone Star College-Houston North parking lot hours before the drive-thru distribution was scheduled to begin. When I arrived at campus around 8:30, we already had cars lined up and snaking around the parking lot. By the time the distribution started, the cars were lined up completely around the block in order to access the food, said Ashley Turner, executive director of community relations for LSC-Houston North. To help many Houstonians facing food insecurity, Lone Star College-Houston North hosted the first in a series of distribution events to be held throughout the spring with the help of the Houston Food Bank and Aldine-Greenspoint YMCA. The first food distribution event took place Thursday at LSC-Houston North Greenspoint, 250 N. Sam Houston Parkway East, with future events scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. on March 11, March 25, April 8, April 22, May 13, May 22, July 10 and July 24. On HoustonChronicle.com: Spring resident in the running for first all-civilian mission to space Lone Star College-Houston North is committed to assisting this underserved area of Houston, Quentin Wright, LSC-Houston North president said in a press release. This effort is part of our mission to provide hope and support to our community. More than 1 million people in southeast Texas are food insecure, the Houston Food Bank reported, meaning they cant afford enough nutrient-filled food to support a healthy lifestyle. On HoustonChronicle.com: Department recognizes Spring Firefighters of the Year for 2020 Lone Star College-Houston North has already helped more than 500 families earlier this month to support them through these difficult times, Wright said in the release. We feel blessed to be in a position to assist our neighbors. Wright said the effort was really about their students. Prior to the pandemic, the college had opened up CARE Centers where they would get about 400 visitors a month seeking essentials such as food and toiletries, and when the pandemic began, the school had to transition to more of a grocery delivery type of service. Whenever youre a commuter campus, youve got to address the family on a larger scale as opposed to the students, Wright said. Wright sits on the Aldine-Greenspoint YMCA Board, he said, and thought one way to help students would be to have a drive-thru location to provide meals. Our students have a large food insecurity issue, and by default, that means their families have large food insecurity issues, Wright said. The students served by the north Houston campus have the lowest median income of any of their campuses at around $29,000 annually, he said. Alongside food, Wright said they also provide laptops, internet service and counselors and mentors to their students. Food distribution is just one part of how we try to address the outside class needs we have, he said. Turner said they didnt yet have the number of meals served during their distribution event, but they began giving out meals at 11:30 a.m. and kept going until the truck was empty. The truck was provided by the Houston Food Bank, she said, and the YMCA provides volunteers to hand out the meals. paul.wedding@hcnonline.com Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Jeffrey Riley speaks about at Tuesday's COVID-19 briefing. He and Secretary of Education James Peyser, far right, said data supports returning students to classrooms this spring. State Wants Students Back in the Classroom in April BOSTON Public school students are expected to be back in the classroom by April. Gov. Charlie Baker and Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Jeffrey Riley on Tuesday outlined a phased-in process that will begin with elementary students. "There's no substitute for in-person learning, especially for kids in elementary school," the governor said at his daily briefing. "Our administration's been clear for months that the best place for kids is in the classroom and today Commissioner Riley started a process, working with the board of Elementary and Secondary Education, to get more kids back into the classroom full time by phasing out remote-only learning in April." Schools went into remote-learning only last spring as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the country. In the fall, many switched to a hybrid model with partial time in schools buildings but others remained remote. Statewide, about 20 percent of districts are still in full remote, Baker said, affecting about 400,000 children. "Most of them haven't been in a classroom, since last March," he said. "With COVID cases and hospitalizations continuing to decline, and vaccines well underway, it's time to set our sights on eliminating remote learning by April." Riley said starting with elementary students made sense as there was widespread agreement in the medical community that young students are less likely to contract or transmit the novel coronavirus. "My focus would be on bringing back elementary students first with the plan likely extending to middle school grades later in the school year, and possibly high schools as well," he said. The state Department of Education has provided detailed guidance on safety in the classroom, Riley said, and hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for personal protective gear, safety materials, and ventilation and air purification systems. "Parents will still have the option for the children to learn remotely through the end of the school year, if they so choose," he continued. "And there will be a waiver process for districts who may need to take a more incremental approach." Some 900 schools are now participating in the pool testing regimen including North Adams Public Schools which allow for rapid testing of groups such as classrooms. This is impacting about 280,000 children and thousands of staff and faculty members. "Working with the medical community, Massachusetts schools have done an incredible job of keeping our students and staff safe during this pandemic," riley said. "The superintendents and their school staff have done amazing work, implementing the mitigation strategies, and the full testing, and I cannot shout them out enough. "We are now asking them to go one step further." Riley will be asking the Board of Education in March to approve this plan. In the Berkshires, most schools are now back in a hybrid learning model after nearly two months in remote because of a surge in cases around the holidays. Smaller schools, such as Clarksburg and Hancock, have been mostly in classroom since the start of school last fall. Obstacles to being fully in class have been space issues, for instance Clarksburg's middle school is hybrid only because the number of children makes it difficult to keep the recommended 6-foot distance. Commission of Education James Peyser said there has been little or no evidence of transmission in schools even in communities with higher rates positive tests as long as schools are following the health and safety protocols. Studies are showing there is actually a lower infection rate among students within schools than outside. In terms of clusters of cases, schools have generally ranked low in rates of transmission with households being the main vector for spread. "We've seen the repercussions of prolonged remote learning for our kids," said the governor. "Their social mental and emotional well-being, has been significantly impacted. "Kids want to be in school learning alongside their friends or classmates and their peers. They want to have a chance to engage their teachers in person. Time and time again and especially when they have challenges associated with understanding the material science is pretty clear on this one," the governor said. "There are now dozens of reports from all over the world, that it's safe to be in school and doctors and public health experts including Dr. Fauci all agree that getting kids back in school needs to be a top priority, we've committed funding resources and support to schools and districts to return to classrooms." Educators will be among the next group eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine although the ability to get one will depend largely on shipments from the federal government. The state has opened more vaccination sites but as of Tuesday afternoon, there was limited access to first dose shots. In response to a question if this was a way to distract from problems with the vaccination rollout a crashing website, questionable decision to allow companion/caregivers of eligible residents to get shots, and low numbers of doses the governor defended the vaccination program. "We're No. 1 in the country in first doses per capita among our peer states that have more than 5 million people, that's 24 states that are basically our size are bigger, and we've been a top 10 player for the past two or three weeks," he said. "I want to distract from that information, because that's a really good story." Baker said the state has built out capacity for vaccinations and prioritized mass and regional vaccination sites but their ability to operate is dependent on the number of doses being provided through the federal government. "When you get 450,000 requests for vaccines, new first dose vaccines, each week and you have 130,000 first dose vaccines that are available, that creates anxiety, and when you have a million people who are eligible to get a vaccine, and you only get 130,000 first doses a week, that creates an anxiety," he said. "And what we've tried to say to people about some of this is to be patient. Everybody's going to get vaccinated, but everybody can't get vaccinated at once because we don't have enough supply." A traveller returning from Thailand has been forced to spend 1,750 on hotel quarantine after being given the wrong advice from his airline. Simon Kenway, from Blackpool, flew into Heathrow on Sunday evening after spending two weeks, plus a quarantine period, in Thailand. Thailand is not on the 'red list' of banned countries, so all returning passengers should quarantine at home. However, when Mr Kenway arrived in the UK he was pulled from the 'green list' queue and told he had to pay for quarantine in a hotel, because he had taken a connecting flight in Dubai - contrary to what he said Emirates had told him. Simon Kenway, from Blackpool, flew into Heathrow on Sunday evening after spending two weeks, plus a quarantine period, in Thailand Passengers who do not arrange a quarantine package prior to arrival in England face a penalty of up to 4,000, on top of the quarantine costs, meaning the airline's advice could have left Mr Kenway with a bill of thousands of pounds. Mr Kenway was first due to fly to Manchester but told he could not because the airport was not designated for quarantine. When rebooking his flight using the Emirates customer service online chat, Mr Kenway asked the representative to confirm he could quarantine at home. He said: 'After (I) arrive (in) Glasgow I go straight home for quarantine, yes?' - to which Emirates replied: 'Yes'. In a second chat, rebooking his flight, he asked again: '(I) arrive in London and go straight home for quarantine, same (as) before, correct?' - to which the online representative replied: 'Yes, same rules.' He was not told on either occasion that transiting through Dubai would require him to pay for hotel quarantine. The 34-year-old said: 'If they clearly stated I would be refused entry after transiting through Dubai, I would have paid another airline to take me home on a different route. 'It would have been a lot cheaper, less stressful and I would now be at home in quarantine.' However, when Mr Kenway arrived in the UK he was pulled from the 'green list' queue and told he had to pay for quarantine in a hotel Passengers who do not arrange a quarantine package prior to arrival in England face a penalty of up to 4,000, on top of the quarantine costs. Pictured is Mr Kenway's hotel Passengers who pass through banned countries must quarantine unless they stay on a plane and no additional passengers are taken on. When Mr Kenway left the UK, Thailand was on the air corridor list, with travel permitted, although he did have to pay for a 16-day quarantine in a Thai hotel upon arrival. Details on the official Government website were 'not clear' about connecting flights, he said, which is why he checked directly with the airline. On the first day of his quarantine, he was called by a Government official. He said: 'She said the Government website states 'pass through a red zone'. 'I told her this is not clear and it needs to say 'transit'. She said she will report this and they will change the wording.' The bleak view from Mr Kenway's quarantine hotel room at Heathrow airport, where he was made to stay unnecessarily Emirates said: 'We are currently conducting an internal investigation into his case' Mr Kenway has been told he must complete the full quarantine period. An Emirates spokesperson said: 'We're working closely with all relevant authorities to help get passengers home while ensuring they meet the entry requirements of their destination. 'In the case of Mr Kenway, we are currently conducting an internal investigation into his case.' Mr Kenway said he went into shock after arriving at his hotel room and has been told he cannot even leave the room for fresh air or to smoke. He has been forced to take 11 days off from his job working for a company that fixes hot tubs across the UK. He added: 'I feel like I should have at least spoken to a nurse or doctor before being put in the room, to be given a mental health assessment.' Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 23) The Philippines has been doing everything asked and required of it regarding COVID-19 vaccine delivery, so it is ultimately the job of vaccine manufacturers to ship the doses on the schedule agreed upon, a Palace official said Tuesday. [A]the end of the day, its really the vaccine manufacturers obligation, responsibility to ship it to us at a time that was promised, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said in a virtual briefing. As far as were concerned, lahat naman ng kailangan gawin at ma-comply ay nac-comply naman po natin. [Translation: As far as were concerned, we're able to comply with everything we need to do.] That was Nograles' response when asked whether President Rodrigo Duterte is holding anyone accountable for delays in the arrival of vaccines. He also noted that the chief executive understands the country is only at the receiving end of these shipments. RELATED: PH sends indemnity deal to COVAX for Pfizer, AstraZeneca doses Delays have hounded the delivery of vaccine doses by Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Sinovac to the Philippines. A week ago, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. cited Pfizers concerns on indenmnification and complications regarding AstraZenecas global manufacturing. Meanwhile, the Palace warned also last week that Sinovacs shipments might be delayed in the absence of emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration at the time. The FDA eventually issued the EUA on Monday, with the Chinese vaccine maker asking for three to five days from the authorization's issuance to prepare for delivery. Given the recent development, the doses from Sinovac are expected to arrive within February if not the first week of March, Nograles said. Of course were also waiting for the Pfizer and AstraZeneca shipments to arrive, so may chance na magkasabay-sabay yung tatlong brand, he added. However, if a brand arrives ahead of the others, it will be rolled out first. The same shall apply for brands that will arrive next, added Nograles. President Rodrigo Duterte has decided against placing the entire country under modified general community quarantine pending the start of the governments vaccine rollout. The National Economic and Development Authority earlier proposed the lowest community quarantine status for the whole Philippines by March, citing the need to recuperate from huge economic losses. Nograles said the chief executive might reconsider declaring a nationwide MGCQ once he sees vaccination efforts begin. RELATED: Economic team must work to safely reopen economy further within GCQ framework Nograles -Exclusive research by Alphagreen reveals that the pandemic triggered a spike in the consumer interest of CBD products in the UK. -Latest market trend analysis reveals a surge for searches in branded CBD products. LONDON, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Alphagreen, Europe's leading marketplace for alternative healthcare products, conducted a worldwide Product Trend Analysis into user searches surrounding the topic of CBD oil and other CBD products. Alphagreen previously commissioned the largest UK survey on CBD and published data that indicated a market value of 450 million, and is projected to be more than 100bn by 2026. The objective of this recent research study was to identify how consumer CBD search trends are changing over time, and how they have been impacted by the pandemic. Alphagreen's analysis used internet search data to better understand how users are searching for CBD products and how this differs according to location. With the UK as the focal point, Alphagreen also conducted research into worldwide search data in order to recognise significant trends and/or differences for comparison across the international CBD market. Research Highlights: During the pandemic, CBD product searches changed and the demand has been increasing in the UK day by day, as seen in the graph attached CBD products are growing in popularity based on search volumes and the data showed that there is no high or low season for these products, except during the pandemic period where there was a surge in demand When searching for CBD products, users are more likely to search with brand names such as Green Leaves CBD, Kanavance CBD, and Mary Berry CBD The most commonly searched for questions in the UK regarding CBD is "What is CBD" followed by "is CBD legal" and "can CBD oil get you high", reflecting a need for consumer education around the industry In terms of reasons for usage, the three most searched for terms are "CBD oil for pain", "CBD oil for anxiety", and "CBD for dogs" CBD vape and CBD gummies are highly popular products compared to CBD tea, CBD coffee and CBD chocolates (refer to the chart attached for reference.) "The Cannabis and CBD Industry is moving fast, and new trends are constantly emerging. We keep our ear to the ground, attend and speak at conferences, and consult with our Think Tank experts on the ongoing changes and movements all around the world," says Alphagreen co-founder and CEO, Alexej Pikovsky. "We believe it is important to stay on top of what consumers are interested in and what they want to see more of, in order to make our own contribution to the development of this rapidly growing market." The research has been summarised and published on the Alphagreen website as part of the Alphagreen Cannapedia. Visit https://alphagreen.io/cbd-faq to learn more. For additional information please contact: Kevin Maxwell, Kevin@shift6.org, +44 7985 351 797 (UK and Europe) Rhian Humphries, Rhian@shift6.org, +1 408 412 2957 (USA) About Alphagreen Group: Alphagreen Group is an ecommerce platform and technology provider. The group is focused on emerging e-commerce verticals such as CBD, Medical Cannabis, Nootropics, and Sexual Wellbeing, alongside new exciting brands within the health, wellness and beauty space. Founded in 2019, Alphagreen was born from a passion for health and wellbeing, combined with technology and innovation. Alphagreen is the brainchild of entrepreneurs Alexej Pikovsky and Viktor Khliupko, who encourage you to "Alpha Up Your Life." Alphagreen was created to simplify the entire experience with alternative healthcare products along every step of the consumer journey. Notes to Editors: It is important to note that search volumes were estimated and only show the average over a 12 month period. In 2020, it is more important to track popularity, seasonality, and trends since we are living through a pandemic and user behaviours are changing and needs are evolving. Within this scope, Alphagreen analysed the trends of the most important keywords by using Google Trends in order to spot the demand before and after Covid-19 and high/low seasons. Related Files CBD - Google Trends Data.png Roman Buegler named VP of Research and Development Arturo, an AI-powered platform that derives property insights and predictive analytics from aerial and satellite imagery, announced the addition of machine learning expert Roman Buegler to the team as vice president of research and development. Based in Munich, Buegler will be focused on building out the team to develop new machine learning products and further expand Arturo's property analytics capabilities on satellite and aerial imagery for the global insurance industry. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005832/en/ Roman Buegler, Arturo's vice president of research and development (Photo: Business Wire) "As we continue to expand our suite of insurance solutions, we are very fortunate to add Roman to our deep bench of talent, bolstering our research and development team with one of the most accomplished professionals in insurtech," said Benjamin Tuttle, Arturo's chief technology officer. "Roman's knowledge of Property Casualty and Reinsurance is second to none, and he has years of experience leveraging machine learning to help analyze properties and process claims more efficiently. Coupled with our industry-leading access to aerial imagery from multiple sources, this new hire positions us to build on our existing product, providing clients with constantly improving insights that help them monitor their book of business and mitigate risk." Prior to Arturo, Buegler held senior roles in innovation and client relations for some of the biggest reinsurers in the world. Buegler joined Arturo from Munich Re, where he previously led the development of a fully cloud-based AI claims triage solution for hurricane-prone insurers in the U.S. and the Caribbean, and also launched innovation labs within the company. Before that, he worked in project management, customer success and consultative capacities for a wide range of insurance companies internationally. "The ability to extract data from aerial images has had a transformative impact on the insurance industry, and Arturo is wholly focused on continuing to unlock the value of this imagery," said Buegler. "Artificial intelligence is proving critical for insurance companies to stay relevant and compete in our fast-changing industry. Having processed over 25 million transactions and counting, Arturo's platform continues to deliver major value for insurers looking to improve accuracy and speed of assessments and claims." Buegler will report to Tuttle and he will also work closely with Chief Strategy Officer Neil Pearson and CEO John-Isaac Clark. ABOUT ARTURO Arturo is a deep learning spin-out from American Family Insurance relentlessly committed to delivering highly accurate physical property characteristic data and predictive analysis for residential and commercial properties for use in the Property Casualty (P&C) Insurance, Reinsurance, Lending, and Securities markets. Leveraging the latest satellite, aerial, and ground-level imagery, as well as unique proprietary data sources, Arturo's deep learning models provide differentiated property data unparalleled by any other provider often in as little as 5 seconds. To learn more about Arturo, Inc., visit: www.arturo.ai or follow on Twitter @arturo_ai. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005832/en/ Contacts: Media Shlomo Morgulis Antenna Spaces arturo@antennagroup.com 646-957-3365 Ahmedabad: The BJP has so far won 300 out of the total 576 seats across six municipal corporations in Gujarat, the State Election Commission (SEC) said on Tuesday afternoon as counting of votes is underway. Congress, the main opposition party, had won only 36 seats, the SEC said about 4 pm. The Congress has not won a single seat in Surat where the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), a new entrant, made impressive inroads by winning eight seats. Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 23, 2021 The Bahujan Samaj Party has won three seats in Jamnagar. A total of 192 seats in Ahmedabad, 72 in Rajkot, 64 in Jamnagar, 52 in Bhavnagar, 76 in Vadodara and 120 in Surat were up for grabs in the elections held on February 21. The BJP has won 62 seats in Ahmedabad corporation, 51 in Rajkot, 50 in Jamnagar, 31 in Bhavnagar, 61 in Vadodara and 45 in Surat. The Congress has won 10 seats in Ahmedabad, four in Rajkot, 11 in Jamnagar, five in Bhavnagar, seven in Vadodara and zero seats in Surat. The AAP, which had fielded 470 candidates across six corporations, won eight seats in Surat. Its workers celebrated by cutting cakes after the party won two panels (each having four candidates) in the city. In a major setback to Congress, it has not won a single seat in Surat, nor was it leading on any seat. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel expressed gratitude to the voters and BJP workers for the results. "The grand victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the elections of six municipal corporations is the victory of the people of Gujarat. "This is a grand victory of the politics of development started by Hon'ble Prime Minister @narendramodi," tweeted Rupani in Gujarati. The people of Gujarat have provided "a subject" to political analysts who can study how the concept of anti-incumbency does not apply in the state, he said. "Many thanks and congratulations to all the winning candidates, BJP office-bearers, workers and the voters of Gujarat for the glorious victory of Bharatiya Janata Party in the elections," tweeted Nitin Patel. In California, Pradeep Budhiraja has been admitted as an assurance quality control partner in Citrin Cooperman's Encino office. Joining Budhiraja will be Amit Jain, a new audit director. The addition of these professionals will further amplify the depth and strength of the firm's West Coast assurance team. Together they will bring their expertise, providing assurance and business advisory services to businesses of various structures and sizes. Continuing this expansion, Fred Martin and Jamie Montanio have also joined our Encino office as partners. Martin and Montanio both specialize in tax planning for entertainers, real estate, corporate clients and high-net-worth individuals. Their expertise will be integral to Citrin Cooperman's West Coast operations. They previously were at Winningham Becker & Company along with Andrea Jackson who has joined Citrin Cooperman as regional operations manager. John Diao also joined as a business management account manager. "Citrin Cooperman continues their amazing journey of growth and attracting top talent in Southern California with the additions of Fred, Jamie, John, and Andrea. They have done an incredible job of integrating the firms and laterals they have brought in to this region I wouldn't be surprised to see additional expansion through continued deals before the end of 2020," said Allan D. Koltin, CEO of Koltin Consulting Group. "Each individual brings a depth of unique knowledge and dedication to the West Coast business community," said Daniel Howard, Managing Partner of Citrin Cooperman's Encino, California office. "We are thrilled to welcome them to the team and help further our strength and expertise in the market." The additions to the Firm's West Coast locations provides a solid platform for Citrin Cooperman's continued vision to grow the Southern California region. The Firm is projecting over $35 million in revenue in the region in 2021 with 125 people across three offices. "This group of new partners, directors, and staff is well-positioned to service all of our clients' needs, and help to expand the growth goals of our West Coast operations," said Michael DeVito, Regional Managing Partner for Citrin Cooperman's West Coast and NY Metro offices. Citrin Cooperman is also expanding the DC Metro geography with the addition of two tax partners, Matthew Rothstein and Fred Fanucci. Rothstein and Fanucci will bring energy and years of expertise to the DC Metro tax department. Rothstein's background of providing business advisory and strategic tax planning for businesses and high-net-worth families fits in perfectly with the significant number of high-net-worth clientele in the DC Metro region. Fanucci specializes in partnership and corporate taxation for large multinational companies and will work with the region's corporate clients as well as on the family-owned business side, bringing his versatile experience to the Firm. "We are elated to welcome Matt and Fred to our DC Metro team," said Bo Fitzpatrick, Managing Partner of Citrin Cooperman's DC Metro offices. "It was clear from our first meeting that both Matt and Fred share our values and client service first mentality, fitting nicely within our office and firm culture." In addition to these partners, Citrin Cooperman expects to make another deal to bring in a Northern Virginia CPA firm before year-end as they continue to build their presence in the DC Metro market. "The addition of these new partners, directors, and staff is reflective of our commitment to both marketplaces," said Joel Cooperman, Chief Executive Officer of Citrin Cooperman. "We are excited to have them join us." About Citrin Cooperman About Citrin Cooperman: Citrin Cooperman is among the largest, full-service assurance, tax, and business advisory firms in the United States, having steadily built its business serving a diverse and loyal clientele since 1979. Our daily mission is to help our clients "focus on what counts." Rooted in our core values, we provide a comprehensive, integrated business approach to traditional services, which includes proactive insights throughout the lifecycle of our clients wherever they do business, across the globe. Citrin Cooperman is an independent firm associated with Moore Global Network Limited. citrincooperman.com Press Contact: Laura F. Kucera 212-697-1000 https://www.citrincooperman.com/ SOURCE Citrin Cooperman DUBLIN, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Partner Relationship Management Market by Component (Solutions (Engage, Collaborate, and Manage) and Services (managed and training, consulting, and integration)), Deployment Type, Organization Size, Vertical, and Region - Global Forecast to 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The publisher estimates the global PRM market size would grow from USD 920 million in 2020 to USD 1,997 million by 2026, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13.8% during the forecast period. The PRM market revenue is primarily classified into revenues from solutions and services. Solutions revenue is associated with a variety of solutions such as engage, collaborate, and manage and services revenue is associated with services including managed services and training, consulting, and implementation services. The market is also segmented based on component, deployment type, organization size, vertical, and region. The key factors that are expected to drive the growth of the market need to control the functional relationship between organizations and external partner channels and focus on the enhancement of partner communication and reduction in channel management costs. The services segment is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period The services segment of the PRM market includes managed services and training, consulting, and integration services. Services are an important part of any solution's deployment life cycle. Therefore, various vendors offer services associated with PRM solutions to help companies effectively implement their PRM strategies. With these services, PRM solution providers advice end users and help them integrate and deploy PRM software configured to their requirements. These services help identify the type of integration required by organizations to meet their PRM demands. IT and telecommunications industry vertical to hold the highest market share in 2020 The IT and Telecommunication industry vertical includes a complex partner network to handle a huge customer base. Digital transformation is necessary to survive in a globally connected and competitive environment. IT and Telecommunication companies are investing in new technologies, such as smart computing products, IoT, cloud computing, mobility, and analytics, for gaining efficiency and innovation, and attracting consumers. The introduction of 5G technology in the near future is expected to further pressurize players in handling their partner networks. APAC to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period APAC has witnessed the advanced and dynamic adoption of new technologies and is projected to record the highest CAGR during the forecast period. In addition, the IT spending across organizations in the region is gradually increasing, which is projected to lead to a surge in the adoption of PRM solutions. China, India, Japan, and ANZ are the leading countries in terms of the adoption of PRM solutions & services in the region. PRM solutions automate building, tracking, and analyzing marketing campaigns and provide assignment and management of quotas that enables the markets to focus on strategy building tasks, due to which many organizations in APAC are implementing PRM platforms. Market Dynamics Drivers Need to Control the Functional Relationship Between Organizations and External Partner Channels Focus on the Enhancement of Partner Communication and Reduction in Channel Management Costs Restraints Data Security and Privacy Aspects Opportunities Business Intelligence for Better Channel Performance Incorporation of Ai into PRM to Enable Quick Decision-Making and Optimize Partner Engagement Challenges Industry Trends Case Study Analysis Implementation of Partner Program to Increase Demand Generation Fullstory Implemented PRM Solution to Quickly Onboard and Evaluate New Partner Opportunities Managing Multiple Partners Through Single PRM Solution Patent Analysis Porter's Five Forces Analysis Technology Analysis Artificial Intelligence Cloud Computing Analytics Regulatory Landscape Federal Rules of Civil Procedure General Data Protection Regulation Electronic Communications Privacy Act Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act California Consumer Privacy Act Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 The International Organization for Standardization 27001 Personal Data Protection Act Companies Mentioned Affise Agentcis Allbound Appdirect Channeltivity Channelxperts Cosell Creatio Crossbeam Everflow Impartner Kiflo Leadmethod Logicbay Magentrix Mindmatrix Inc. Oracle Partnerportal.Io Partnerstack Salesforce Sharework Webinfinity Workspan Zift Solutions Zinfi Technologies For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/saod4o Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 13:21:47|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HARARE, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwean journalist and public relations executive, Michael Chideme, is a proud recipient of a COVID-19 vaccination certificate after getting the Sinopharm vaccine on Thursday last week. "I decided to take the vaccine to show leadership so that others can follow suit. I have family members who are reluctant to take the vaccine but now they have seen that I am still alive and well after taking it," Chideme told Xinhua, saying that he was confident that the vaccine is safe and would protect him in the future. The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists president was among the first Zimbabweans to be inoculated locally, taking his jab soon after Vice President and Health Minister Constantino Chiwenga received his shot. Zimbabwe received a batch of COVID-19 vaccines from China on Feb. 15, with Chiwenga being the first to be inoculated locally. The father of six and grandfather of one said if there were still some people who were skeptical about the safety of the vaccine, they should observe those who had been inoculated to see if they developed side effects. "I'm still doing exercises. I run every morning, I think about 13 km, and I share with them my exercising experiences," he said. "I took the vaccine for my family. I took it for my (extended) family members. I took it for the people that I work with. I took it for my friends so that they can also have confidence in the vaccine." Tests conducted by the Zimbabwean government have shown that the vaccine's efficacy is 79 percent. Chideme said the decision to take the vaccine was also based on the need to stay safe during the pandemic, saying that the data shows as of Feb. 21, the number of COVID-19 infections in his country has risen to 35,796, including 1,436 deaths. To him, said Chideme, the COVID-19 vaccine was just like any other he had taken since childhood. "I have taken vaccines such as BCG and polio as a child and these haven't killed me. I'm confident that the COVID-19 vaccine that I took will not kill me either. I feel it's the protection that I need." The vaccination is voluntary and free of charge, but President Emmerson Mnangagwa has urged all Zimbabweans to be inoculated in order to defeat the pandemic. "I feel inoculations are the first step towards normalcy in the country because once you have immunity, we open up and do what other countries are doing," he said. "It also boosts confidence knowing that everybody has been vaccinated. So we should all urge everybody to get vaccinated so that we have herd immunity," he said. Chideme said that he missed attending church service but was confident that places of worship -- currently closed under a national lockdown to curb the spread of the virus -- would be opened in due course as more people were vaccinated and the rate of infections declined. The first phase of the vaccination program targets frontline workers, such as health personnel, immigration and customs officers, police, military and journalists. Enditem Romney, Cotton Propose $10 Minimum Wage in Counter to Democrat Push for $15 an Hour In a counterpoint to the Democrat push for an hourly minimum wage hike to $15, Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on Tuesday announced their own bill that would raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour by 2025. Called the Higher Wages for American Workers Act (pdf), Cotton and Romneys bill would gradually raise the federal minimum wage over four years while tightening enforcement on hiring illegal immigrants to ensure the wage boost only goes to legal workers. We must create opportunities for American workers and protect their jobs, while also eliminating one of the key drivers of illegal immigration, Romney said in a statement. Besides holding off with the wage hike until the COVID-19 emergency is over, the bill also features protections for small businesses with fewer than 20 employees by giving them a longer phase-in period for the increased minimum wage. For millions of Americans, the rising cost of living has made it harder to make ends meet, but the federal minimum wage has not been increased in more than ten years, Romney said, noting that the bill would raise the floor for workers without costing jobs. A February study (pdf) by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 would cost 1.4 million jobs over four years. At the same time, it would raise wages for around 27 million people. An earlier, 2019 study by the CBO (pdf), examined the impact of a $10 an hour minimum wage, and found that it would have little impact on employment, while boosting the wages of some 3.5 million workers. American workers today compete against millions of illegal immigrants for too few jobs with wages that are too lowthats unfair, Cotton said in a statement. Ending the black market for illegal labor will open up jobs for Americans. Raising the minimum wage will allow Americans filling those jobs to better support their families. Our bill does both. The bill mandates E-Verify for all employers, with implementation spread out over 18 months to give small businesses additional time to comply. It also imposes stricter penalties on employers that hire unauthorized aliens. Cotton and Romneys bill, which is similar in its target level to an $11 an hour minimum wage proposal put forward by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), is a counterproposal to Democrats who are seeking to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025 under President Joe Bidens $1.9 trillion relief package. Bidens bill needs Manchins vote to pass via budget reconciliation, a process that would allow it to clear the Senate without the need for any Republican votes. But Manchin has indicated he would not approve a minimum wage hike to $15. It also remains unclear if a federal minimum wage hike could be approved as part of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus stimulus package via the budget reconciliation process. The Senate parliamentarian is expected to rule on the matter before the bill is put to a vote. Manchin said he would propose the $11 amendment if the parliamentarian rules that the hike could be legislated via reconciliation. Economists have for years hotly debated the issue of raising the minimum wage, with advocates arguing that raising salaries will boost purchasing power and the added spending will lift the economy, while opponents argue it will hurt businesses and lead to higher unemployment. Mirae Asset Daewoo headquarters in Seoul / Courtesy of Mirae Asset Daewoo By Lee Min-hyung Match Up 1 - Winner: Jan Cadosch Jan Cadosch: 57.6% X Jacob Gibbins: 42.4% Match Up 2 - Winner: Ross Bell Ross Bell: 58.8% X Tom Bowell: 41.2% Match Up 3 - Winner: Trevor Lyden Trevor Lyden: 52.7% X Christoph Breiner: 47.3% Match Up 4 - Winner: Mason Mashon Mason Mashon: 56.9% X Skye Schillhammer: 43.1% What's at stake? $10,000 CASH! Winner will receive a check for $5000 How can I enter for a chance to win one of five $200 Jenson USA gift cards? Here we go, the semi-finals of the 10th annual Pinkbike Photo of the Year Contest presented by Jenson USA are kicking into gear. With more than 310,000 votes cast, we are down to the top 4, in the running for their piece of $10,000 in CASH.Below are the Round 3 matchups and who won each after the votes were cast. Once you see whether your favorites made it through, head on over to the voting page and cast your votes for the next round!The winner will join John Wellburn, Toby Cowley, Sterling Lorence, Christoph Laue, Sean Lee, Steve Shannon, Robb Thompson, Richard Baybutt, and JB Liautard in the Pinkbike Photo of the Year Hall of Fame. Runner-up will receive a check for $3000 Other semi-finalists will each receive $1000In addition, this year we also have user prizing for voters courtesy of Jenson USA. Five lucky Pinkbike readers that vote for the Photo of the Year will win $200 Jenson USA gift cards.Thank you Jenson USA By simply voting as we progress to the eventual Photo of the Year winner, you will be entered for a chance to win. One entry per user per round goes into a random draw for the prize. CLEVELAND, Ohio A few weeks ago, Stacey Bene, a 47-year-old mother of three from Medina, heard a heartrending story that brought sharply into focus what role she must play in helping fellow Ohioans survive the pandemic. Her stepfather was shopping at a pharmacy when a man, who appeared to be in his 80s, approached the counter and asked if he could schedule an appointment for a vaccine. The pharmacist said he was sorry, but all appointments have to be made online. The elderly man replied that he didnt have internet access or anyone to help him. He left the store in tears. I dont know who he was, Bene told me. But I think about him every day, and I wish I could find that man and make an appointment for him. That was the start of something remarkable. Since then, Bene a medical social worker, who had been sidelined by the chronic lung disease cystic fibrosis -- has devoted her days to helping seniors and others eligible under state guidelines to locate and schedule appointments to get the coveted COVID-19 vaccine. And by astonishing coincidence, Marla Zwinggi found herself answering the same call to service 40 miles away, in Chagrin Falls. Zwinggi, a 40-year-old mother of three, who runs a web-design business with her husband, had managed to book appointments for her parents earlier this month after they attempted to do it on their own and were waitlisted. Like Bene, Zwinggi quickly realized that her organizational and computer skills made her uniquely qualified to help seniors navigate the states confounding, decentralized vaccine scheduling system. So, Zwinggi approached her neighbors and offered to help them schedule a shot, too. That led to referrals which led to Facebook posts ... which led to media attention which led to Zwinggi and Bene connecting on social media in recent days and discovering that, between the two of them, they have tracked down vaccines for nearly 450 people in just a couple weeks. All without compensation, other than the knowledge that they are doing their part to protect our most vulnerable against this deadly disease and that each vaccination draws us closer to the pandemics end. After a weekend of Zoom calls and an in-person (outdoor and masked) meeting, Zwinggi and Bene have now decided to join forces. Calling themselves the Vaccine Queens, the women are divvying up a growing list of Northeast Ohioans desperate to be vaccinated and lacking the resources or technical ability to comb websites of individual pharmacies for that elusive available appointment. I connected with Zwinggi and Bene on Friday, eager to write a good news story about the best of Samaritans in these dark times -- and also to find out how in the world theyre doing it. They told me their secret is a combination of luck, tenacity and a close observation of how each pharmacys scheduling system works. For eight to 10 hours a day, both women keep several browsers open on multiple devices. They have slightly different methods of keeping track of their clients information and how far theyre willing to travel for a vaccine. Bene uses notecards, which she shreds once the shots have been administered. Zwinggi keeps handwritten lists. (Now that theyre working as a team, they will operate from a shared spreadsheet to remain coordinated.) They systematically search ZIP codes and refresh browsers constantly, knowing that cancellations or no-shows mean the sudden availability of appointments. And through practice, they have figured out what time of day each provider is likely to add a batch of new appointments to their site. There are other, more technical tricks, too. For example, Zwinggi noticed that some sites boot you off if you search for appointments in too many ZIP codes. Other times, a sites cookies note that youve already visited the site and received the message that no vaccines are available. That means you might keep seeing what Zwinggi calls that screen of death every time you refresh the page, even if new appointments have become available in the meantime. Clearing your computers browser history by holding shift and hitting the refresh button can sometimes solve these problems, Zwinggi said. Whoa, right? Many citizens, not just seniors, lack the know-how and time to navigate all of that. Unfortunately, the state has left them no choice. Since the vaccine was released to seniors in January, cleveland.com has heard from hundreds, who have registered for waiting lists at boards of health, hospitals and pharmacies and have been rejected time and again. One woman told me shes afraid to leave her house because she might miss a call back on her landline. A state-run, centralized scheduling and distribution system would have preempted the stress and anxiety so many are feeling. Gov. Mike DeWine last week announced that the state is too little, too late -- working on a website that will help people find appointments within 20 miles of their location. At this point, it might as well be a link to the Vaccine Queens. Zwinggi and Bene say the work is exhausting, but theyre far from burning out. Both describe the high they get when they strike upon an appointment, especially one conveniently located for a senior. (Its almost like winning big at a casino, Bene said.) And then there are lows, like the past few days, when appointments suddenly became rare after storms in the South delayed vaccine shipments. More than any of that, though, the women are motivated by the knowledge that their volunteerism is contributing to our collective sense of hope. Im not a nurse or a health-care worker, Zwinggi said. I cant be on the frontline. Those are the real heroes. But if I can apply my skills in this way, it makes me feel like Im doing my part to will us out of this. And every shot is that much closer. If youre eligible for a vaccine and need help scheduling one, you can reach Zwinggi and Bene at VaccineQueens@gmail.com. The province is refining its approach in dealing with the pandemic, as the threat of variants increases. Advertisement Advertise With Us The province is refining its approach in dealing with the pandemic, as the threat of variants increases. That means self-isolation guidelines related to close contacts will be stricter, even as the province attempts to slowly loosen restrictions. Thats because transmission can occur easily, even with little to no symptoms in a person. "As we are doing our cautious reopening, reopening very slowly which means were decreasing public health measures on one side of things and we need to increase our public health measures in other aspects," chief public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said Monday. Case and contact management will become more and more important, he added. "Some of these increased or more aggressive case and contact management include lowering the threshold of prolonged contact from 15 minutes to 10 minutes," he said while emphasizing thats only a guide. "If theres high-risk contact somebody was absolutely exposed to droplets, then that could be as little as just a few seconds or minutes," he said. This will mean more people will be required to self-isolate. "For all positive cases, everyone within the household of a positive case is going to be deemed a close contact. If somebody is a close contact of a case and lives in a different household, all members of that close-contact household must also isolate until the close contact has been tested and they have a negative result," said Roussin. Further, all close contacts will be required to self-isolate for a minimum of 14 days, regardless of testing results. While the number of B117 or U.K. variant cases remains at four, the same as announced last week, Dr. Brent Roussin said vigilance must remain high. Premier Brian Pallister, responding to questions at a separate news conference, stated: "nothing is off the table" as relates to helping Manitobans and Manitoba employers with loss of income or other possible help as they self-isolate. Pallister spoke of the generosity of the government in terms of total value, as compared to other Canadian jurisdictions. "Nevertheless, no amount of programs is going to make up for the sacrifice of Canadians during this pandemic, and we all know that," said Pallister. "I wont rule out any additional compensatory programs." When asked about his thoughts on the reopening of the province so far, Pallister immediately spoke of the weather. Then, he added, he has seen Manitobans respecting the sad necessities of these times. "I hope and expect that to continue as we move forward," he said. Closer to home, an outbreak was declared at Reveras Valleyview Long Term Care Home in Brandon, but the number of cases has remained at one. Asked if this reflects vaccination success, Roussin said its too soon to say. "Certainly, looking at our numbers, were seeing a diminishing amount of outbreaks, diminishing number of cases in that regard. Thats what wed expect. We would expect to see the low amount of cases, lower transmission," said Roussin. "Right now, were still focused on protecting the most vulnerable Manitobans, so were very aggressive whenever we see even a single case within a facility like that. Over time, as we have a second dose administered, our thresholds for declaring an outbreak may change." He said there was a good uptake of vaccines in personal care homes, among staff and residents. "The vaccine is just yet another tool. Its not going to replace the screening, the fundamentals. But overall, just like what were seeing overall with our numbers, were seeing a trend." mletourneau@brandonsun.com Michele LeTourneau covers Indigenous matters for The Brandon Sun under the Local Journalism Initiative, a federally funded program that supports the creation of original civic journalism. Mondays covid-19 update: The province announced two deaths in Mondays COVID-19 update, both from the Winnipeg health region. A total of 97 new cases were reported. The new cases are as follows: four cases in the InterlakeEastern health region; 36 cases in the Northern health region; one case in the Prairie Mountain Health region; two cases in the Southern HealthSante Sud health region; and 54 cases in the Winnipeg health region. The five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate was 5.4 per cent in the province, and 4.4 per cent in Winnipeg. Lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba since the beginning of the pandemic total 31,483. The province reports 1,219 active cases and individuals who have recovered total a reported 29,378. The province also reported 78 people are in hospital with active COVID-19, as well as 128 people in hospital with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious but continue to require care, for a total of 206 hospitalizations. Fourteen people are in intensive care units with active COVID-19, as well as 18 people with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care, for a total of 32 ICU patients. In the PMH region, there are a reported 26 active cases, with 1,976 recovered. There are two active cases hospitalized, and five people hospitalized who are no longer infectious. There is one patient in ICU. The region has seen 53 deaths. Brandons active case count is 11, with 967 recovered and 22 deaths. On Sunday, 1,790 tests were completed, for a total of 514,357 since February 2020. Source: Province of Manitoba She stars with Rosamund Pike in the Netflix movie I Care A Lot which dropped on the subscription streaming service on Friday. And on Monday, Eiza Gonzalez was no doubt feeling upbeat after the dark comedy topped the Netflix top 10 streams. The actress, 31, was seen leaving her morning gym session in LA in a cropped tee paired with white tights, socks and sneakers. Fit and fabulous: Eiza Gonzalez was seen leaving her morning gym session in LA Monday wearing a cropped tee paired with white tights, socks and sneakers Gonzalez carried a cold beverage to go and her phone as she headed to a waiting vehicle. Her hair was styled into a messy bun at the nape of her neck. She sported sunglasses and a black face mask. Workout done: The actress, 31, wore her hair in a messy bun at the nape of her neck. She sported sunglasses and a black face mask Headed home: Gonzalez carried a cold beverage to go and her phone as she headed to a waiting vehicle In I Care A Lot, Gonazalez stars with Rosamund Pike, Dianne Weist, Chris Messina and Peter Dinklage. The film, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, centers on Pike's character Marla Grayson who makes her living serving as a court-appointed legal guardian for the vulnerable elderly. Whilst maintaining that she simply 'cares a lot' for her clients, she, in fact, milks them for all they're worth while outwardly appearing to serve their interests. Her scheming, however, begins to fall apart when she takes on Weist's character Jennifer as a client. Success: Gonzalez stars with Dianne Wiest and Rosamund Pike in the dark comedy I Care a Lot that was released on Friday on Netflix and topped the streamer's top 10 streams Star vehicle: In I Care A Lot, British actress Pike is at her icy blonde best as a professional grifter who makes a living as a legal guardian for the vulnerable elderly Juicy role: Gonzalez plays the girlfriend pf Pike's character and her partner in crime It;s a busy time for the in-demand Gonzalez as next up she's going to be doing publicity for the action monster flick Godzilla vs. Kong. Gonzalez stars alongside Millie Bobby Brown and Alexander Skarsgard in the special effects-laden movie set to be released on March 31. It had originally been slated as a summer blockbuster but it's opening was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Big role: Next up, Gonzalez will be seen alongside Millie Bobby Brown and Alexander Skarsgard in the special effects-laden Godzilla vs. Kong Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. NEW YORK, NY, February 23, 2021--JDRF, the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research, announces, in collaboration with the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, the launch of the JDRF Center of Excellence in New England. Led by Harvard Stem Cell Institute co-director Douglas Melton, Ph.D. and JDRF scientific staff leader Esther Latres, Ph.D., Assistant Vice President of Research, the new center is a cross-institutional collaboration between leading Massachusetts-based experts, including Michael Brehm, Ph.D., and Dale Greiner, Ph.D., of the UMass Diabetes Center of Excellence at UMass Medical School, and Stephan Kissler, Ph.D., at Joslin Diabetes Center. The team will closely collaborate with Lenny Shultz, Ph.D., at The Jackson Laboratory in Maine. "By taking advantage of the advances in stem cell science and genome editing, our team is excited to work collaboratively to solve the problem of immune rejection of beta cells," said Dr. Melton, who is the Xander University Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University. "We aspire to find cell and gene manipulations that will enable cell transplantation to treat and maybe cure T1D." The Center of Excellence in New England will focus on four main areas of beta-cell replacement research which include: Developing reliable systems to examine what happens in autoimmune attack at cellular and molecular levels to reduce or eliminate these reactions. Engineer a cell system that reproduces and amplifies the beta cell-to-immune cell interactions in human T1D so that we can better assess the effectiveness of therapies. Identify the different subsets of immune cells that target beta cells to apply this knowledge in the development of strategies that prevent beta cell destruction by the immune system. Explore new technologies, such as gene editing, to create stem cell-derived beta cells that can withstand immune attacks to use them in the development of cell replacement therapies. "The time is now. In this unprecedented era in medical advancement, it is more important than ever that we leverage new innovation to accelerate the most promising areas of research towards cures for type 1 diabetes," said Aaron Kowalski, Ph.D., JDRF CEO. "We believe wholeheartedly in the leadership of both Dr. Melton and Dr. Latres, and we are confident in the groundbreaking work that is sure to come from the Center of Excellence in New England." Together with strategic partners around the globe, JDRF accelerates T1D cures through initiatives that encourage collaboration, inspire innovation, leverage resources, and engage emerging talent. The JDRF Centers of Excellence elevate these efforts, serving as central pillars of JDRF's broader strategy to pursue cures for T1D. "I am truly blown away by the research planned at the JDRF Center of Excellence in New England. My own desire to find a cure is inspired by my mom living T1D for almost 60 years. We have supported several of the researchers at this JDRF Center of Excellence individually before. But the JDRF Center of Excellence in New England excites me and gives me tremendous optimism because it brings together the brightest minds, along with the entire JDRF ecosystem, with a laser-sharp focus on developing cures," said John Cammett, Seed Funder, JDRF Center of Excellence in New England. ### The JDRF Center of Excellence in New England joins two nationally, and internationally recognized research partners at the JDRF Centers of Excellence in Northern California and the University of Michigan focused on advancing therapies and curing T1D. For more information about the JDRF Center of Excellence program, visit https:/ / www. jdrf. org/ impact/ research/ centers-of-excellence/ For more information about The JDRF Center of Excellence in New England please visit, http://jdrf. org/ impact/ research/ centers-of-excellence/ new-england/ About JDRF JDRF's mission is to accelerate life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent and treat T1D and its complications. To accomplish this, JDRF has invested more than $2.5 billion in research funding since our inception. We are an organization built on a grassroots model of people connecting in their local communities, collaborating regionally for efficiency and broader fundraising impact, and uniting on a national stage to pool resources, passion, and energy. We collaborate with academic institutions, policymakers, and corporate and industry partners to develop and deliver a pipeline of innovative therapies to people living with T1D. Our staff and volunteers throughout the United States and our five international affiliates are dedicated to advocacy, community engagement and our vision of a world without T1D. For more information, please visit jdrf.org or follow us on Twitter (@JDRF), Facebook (@myjdrf), and Instagram (@jdrfhq). About the Harvard Stem Cell Institute The Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI), formed in 2004, brings together more than 1,000 scientists in the schools and affiliated hospitals of Harvard University. Its mission is to advance the understanding of human development and disease, support the discovery of stem cell-based therapies and cures for diseases, create collaborations across traditional institutional and disciplinary boundaries, and train the next generation of stem cell scientists. The HSCI funds novel research and fosters cross-discipline, cross-sector collaboration to accelerate discoveries that benefit humankind. Visit hsci.harvard.edu to learn more. About UMass Medical School and the UMass Diabetes Center of Excellence The University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS), the commonwealth's first and only public academic health sciences center, with a mission to advance the health and wellness of our diverse communities throughout Massachusetts and across the world by leading and innovating in education, research, health care delivery and public service. Learn more at umassmed.edu. Under the co-direction of David M. Harlan, M.D., and Dale L. Greiner, Ph.D., the UMass Diabetes Center of Excellence combines cutting-edge diabetes research with the latest in comprehensive patient care. Visit umassmed.edu/dcoe to learn more. About Joslin Diabetes Center Joslin Diabetes Center is world-renowned for its deep expertise in diabetes treatment and research. Joslin is dedicated to finding a cure for diabetes and ensuring that people with diabetes live long, healthy lives. We develop and disseminate innovative patient therapies and scientific discoveries throughout the world. Joslin is an independent, non-profit institution affiliated with Harvard Medical School, and one of only 16 NIH-designated Diabetes Research Centers in the U.S. For more information, visit http://www. joslin. org . About The Jackson Laboratory The Jackson Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institution with more than 2,300 employees. Headquartered in Bar Harbor, Maine, it has a National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center, a genomic medicine institute in Farmington, Conn., and facilities in Ellsworth and Augusta, Maine, in Sacramento, Calif., and in Beijing and Shanghai, China. Its mission is to discover precise genomic solutions for disease and empower the global biomedical community in the shared quest to improve human health. For more information, please visit http://www. jax. org . Media Contact: Ayana Young, JDRF International ayoung@jdrf.org | 347-496-2494 Instead of a continuously variable setup designed and produced by JATCO, the Kadjar for the European market can be specified with a dual-clutch transmission in the case of the 1.3-liter TCe 140 and TCe 160 four-cylinder petrol engine options. Unfortunately for the turbo diesel-loving public, Renault has removed all compression-ignition mills back in October 2020.The second-generation Kadjar, which has been spied playing in the snow recently, is going to rely a lot on the Franco-Japanese alliances parts bin. Underpinned by the CMF-C vehicle architecture for compact vehicles, the newcomer has visibly grown in length, width, as well as height.Similar to the all-new Qashqai, also known as Rogue Sport in the United States of America, the Kadjar is expected with fuel-efficient powerplants throughout the lineup. Nissan offers a mild-hybrid turbo as the entry-level engine, which isnt exactly a slouch thanks to 138 horsepower. A more potent version with 156 horsepower should be in the pipeline for the Renault-badged counterpart, along with the Captur E-Techs hybrid system.A plug-in hybrid would be interesting as well, more so if you remember the 95-gram fleet average target for carbon-dioxide emissions imposed by the European Commission. For the time being, its not known if the Kadjar will get the range-extender hybrid option from the Qashqai. As a brief refresher, the most fuel-efficient Qashqai of them all features a 1.5-liter mill, 187 horsepower, and exactly 330 Nm (243 pound-feet) of torque.Scheduled to premiere in the second half of the year for the 2022 model year, the Kadjar prototype hides a bold-looking front fascia with LED headlamps. Light-emitting diodes appear to be the norm for the taillights as well. Painted in white and equipped with double-spoke alloys, the test vehicle in the photo gallery is gifted with a generous rear overhang and a spoiler at the top of the liftgate. Five water distribution sites at pump stations in San Antonio will remain open for a few more days to help people dealing with broken water pipes, a spokeswoman for San Antonio Water System said Monday. Bulk water pickup have now switched to self-service. The limit is 5 gallons per person, and people must bring their own clean containers. The announcement Monday came a week after intense cold and snow disrupted water service countywide. Some people, particularly those who live at higher elevations, had no water while others saw pressure fall. Last week, SAWS issued a voluntary boil-water notice to all customers when the pressure dropped to potentially hazardous levels. The boil water notice was lifted for most parts of the county on Sunday. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio mayor, philanthropist putting together winter storm recovery funds to help residents As of Monday afternoon, residents of only a few areas are still advised to boil their water before drinking or cooking with it. That includes a large area south of U.S. 90 on the Southwest Side, and another area north of Interstate 35 on the Northeast Side. Robert Puente, president and CEO of SAWS, said the water utility issued the notice for the whole region even though it wasnt required by state standards, out of an abundance of caution. Bottled water is also available at separate sites operated by the San Antonio Food Bank and Bexar County. Distribution is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day through March 6. Each household is limited to one case of bottled water per day. For the latest on water distribution sites, visit saws.org/freeze. eeaton@express-news.net Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - The Tunisian Foreign Ministry on Monday strongly condemned the armed attack on a United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) convoy in DR Congo, killing the Italian ambassador to the country and three other people Climate lessons from Texas' frozen power outages Posted on 23 February 2021 by dana1981 This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections An off-course polar vortex meandered toward the Mexican border, bringing with it frigid Arctic air rarely seen as far south as Texas. Frozen equipment rendered power generation systems in the state inoperable, forcing grid operators to begin rolling blackouts to customers then left to fend for themselves in the glacial weather. The year was 2021. And 2011. And 1989. These same scenes have played out before across the Lone Star State, and experts previously had warned that they would happen again if Texas power generators, grid operators, and lawmakers failed to make the necessary investments to address the problem. Fail they did, and Texans suffered the consequences in mid-February 2021, with more than 50 deaths, over 4 million homes and businesses losing power, 7 million forced to boil tap water before drinking it, and a price tag already in the billions of dollars. Minority and low-income communities, as so often is the case when a disaster strikes, were hit hardest. Experts similarly warn that unless investments are made to rapidly curb greenhouse gas emissions, climate change will also usher in extreme weather with impacts societies are unprepared for, and to which low-income and communities of color are the most vulnerable. Texas provides an example of the consequences of ignoring these types of expert warnings. The Polar Vortex keeps messing with Texas On December 2125, 1989, Arctic air descended on Texas, delivering some of the states coldest temperatures ever recorded, below zero degrees Fahrenheit. More than 15 gigawatts (GW) of power (about 40% of the states power generation capacity) went offline, felled by frozen instrumentation and other cold weather-related impacts and resulting in extensive power outages. The electricity generation failures were widespread: 42% were gas, 34% coal, 16% oil, and 8% nuclear power. The Public Utilities Commission of Texas (PUCT) investigated what went wrong in 1989 and identified inadequate heat tracing systems and insulation on instrumentation sensing lines as the most common equipment problems during the freeze. Those findings went largely ignored in Texas, and a similar polar vortex extreme cold air event struck the state on February 1-5, 2011. Accounting for windchill, temperatures once again plummeted below zero. Nearly 23 GW of power went offline, again mostly because frozen equipment that lacked sufficient insulation and heating. More than 3 million Texans experienced power outages. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (FERC/NERC) investigated the event, and their report in August 2011 detailed its causes and made recommendations about how to prevent a recurrence, concluding: Despite the recommendations issued by the PUCT in its report on the 1989 event, the majority of the problems generators experienced in 2011 resulted from failures of the very same type of equipment that failed in the earlier event. And in many cases, these failures were experienced by the same generators Generators were not required to institute cold-weather preparedness, and efforts in that regard lapsed with the passage of time Statutes should ideally direct utility commissions to develop best winterization practices for its state, and make winterization plans mandatory. Once again, Texas leadership did not heed those recommendations. As Dan Woodfin, a senior director at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) told the Texas Tribune, winterizing power infrastructure in Texas is not mandatory, its a voluntary guideline to decide to do those things, and many power generators did not. As a result, when the polar vortex returned to Texas this past February 15, it was deja vu all over again. [Hat tip to Yogi Berra.] Windchill temperatures across the state were sub-zero. About 45 GW of power went offline, victims of frozen equipment, and over 4 million Texans lost power. Their power was out in many cases for much longer than in the 1989 and 2011 events, and the grid this year reportedly came seconds to minutes away from a catastrophic failure that could have left Texans without power for months. Partisan talking heads on cable TV were quick to blame the disaster on wind turbines, some of which were incapacitated by blade icing. According to the liberal nonprofit watchdog Media Matters, the Fox News and Fox Business networks alone blamed renewable energy for the Texas blackouts a staggering 128 times over three days. In reality, offline gas and coal power generation were the main culprits, producing just 50-60% of expected capacity between February 15 and 17, coming up about 35 GW short. According to Woodfin, frozen wind turbines were the least significant factor contributing to the power blackouts, producing at most 4 to 5 GW less than ERCOTs modest expectations. The Texas power grid was relying on fossil fuels, and they proved unreliable in the icy conditions as a result of a lack of winterization measures. Texas power outage climate connections Questions arise on whether climate change is making these polar vortex excursions into the U.S. more frequent, and the answer is a resounding maybe. Some climate scientists have hypothesized that rapid Arctic warming caused by shrinking sea ice and snow cover is weakening the jet stream that holds the polar vortex up north. When the jet stream air circulation slows, it develops a more meandering path similar to the behavior of a slow water current. In that case, cold air spills out of the Arctic, as the NOAA diagram below illustrates, and as happened this February. Some studies, like this 2016 paper from scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and this 2018 publication in Nature Communications, suggest that winter jet stream wobbles are happening more frequently, but a 2020 study in Nature Climate Change found no evidence corroborating the hypothesis. In short, wobbly jet stream events do occur naturally. And on the question of whether climate change is making them more frequent in winter: its possible, but the jury is still out. The scientific evidence is much stronger that climate change is worsening extreme heat, fires, droughts, floods, and hurricanes, all of which can also stress power generation systems. Mitigating climate change will require a rapid deployment of carbon-free power, and adapting to climate change will require a power grid thats more resilient to weather extremes. Expanding long-range electricity transmission to interconnect different regions in the U.S. can help address the latter problem, but Texas has resisted such measures. To avoid federal regulation, Texas has mostly isolated its power grid from other areas of the country. According to former governor Rick Perry, Texans would be without electricity for longer than three days to keep the federal government out of their business an accurate description of the tradeoffs involved with this choice. As University of Houston energy economics lecturer Ed Hirs explained, the lack of regulation over the states energy market (similar to Californias 20 years ago when Enron triggered an energy crisis in that state) creates competition between power generators, incentivizing them to sell electricity as cheaply as possible. While that may be a sensible goal, the deregulation backfired during the cold snap, with electricity prices spiking by a factor of 100 and customers hit with utility bills as high as $17,000. The CFO of natural gas company Comstock Resources, owned by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, said, This week is like hitting the jackpot with some of these incredible prices. Crucially, the unregulated system also creates a disincentive for utilities to make extra investments, such as winterizing equipment to prepare for the relatively rare once-per-decade extreme cold snap. Finding power generation winterization measures to not be cost-prohibitive, many other states have adopted them. The 2011 FERC/NERC report estimated that the capital cost of upgrading basic equipment such as insulation and heat tracing could range from $50,000 to $500,000 per gas power generating unit. Wind turbines can also be outfitted with de-icing equipment, and hence are able to operate reliably in climates as cold as in Antarctica. But implementing such measures requires investment and/or regulation. Its a situation akin to that caused by climate change itself, where experts warn that immediate low-carbon infrastructure investments are needed to slow global warming and reduce risks of potentially catastrophic outcomes. Those investments appear costly in the short-term, but more than pay for themselves over time in both increased efficiency and avoided climate damages. Texas leaderships decisions over the past three decades have provided a glimpse at the consequences of ignoring expert warnings about the need to invest in measures to mitigate against extreme weather impacts, and its not a pretty picture. Also see: How Texas froze: Neglect of power-grid and climate warnings set the icy stage BETHESDA (dpa-AFX) - Marriott International (MAR) announced Tuesday that its Board of Directors appointed Anthony Capuano as the new Chief Executive Officer and has joined the company's Board of Directors, effective immediately. Most recently, Capuano was Group President, Global Development, Design and Operations Services. The Board of Directors also announced that Stephanie Linnartz, previously Group President, Consumer Operations, Technology and Emerging Businesses, has been appointed President, effective immediately. Capuano's and Linnartz's appointments follow the unexpected passing of Marriott President and CEO Arne Sorenson on February 15, 2021. Capuano began his Marriott career in 1995 as part of the Market Planning and Feasibility team. Between 1997 and 2005, he led Marriott's full-service development efforts in the Western U.S. & Canada. From 2005 to 2008, Capuano served as Senior Vice President of full-service development for North America In 2008, his responsibilities expanded to include all of U.S. & Canada and the Caribbean and Latin America, and he became Executive Vice President and Global Chief Development Officer in 2009. Capuano began his professional career in Laventhol and Horwath's Boston-based Leisure Time Advisory Group. He then joined Kenneth Leventhal and Company's hospitality consulting group in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Linnartz, who began her Marriott career in 1997, served as Global Chief Commercial Officer from 2013 to 2019, Global Officer, Sales and Revenue Management from 2009 to 2013, Senior Vice President, Global Sales from 2008 to 2009; Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing Planning and Support from 2005 to 2008, and prior to that, various roles in Marriott's Finance and Business Development Department. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. On Thursday, when Jim Hendren, a long-time Arkansas state senator, declared he was leaving the GOP, it marked the latest in a series of recent party defections. Republicans who left the party are "kind of in the wilderness" Weeks after the riot at the Capitol, tens of thousands of Republicans around the nation have changed their registrations. Many of them being independents, including Hendren. Other former party members are discussing the formation of a new party. But if the reasons for the Republicans to leave the GOP are clear, mostly distrust for former President Donald Trump and his tight grip on the party, the sobering fact facing them, on the other hand, is that there is nowhere to go. According to Politico on MSN, it is not an excellent ideological match for the Democratic Party, which tends to step leftward. Many who wish to struggle to recapture the GOP are vastly outnumbered from within. It takes enormous amounts of money to create a third party from scratch and navigate a thicket of challenging state laws created primarily by the two political parties. "Right now, everyone's just trying to figure out how to unify what a small fraction of the Republican Party is, what do we do with it," said former Rep. Joe Walsh of Illinois, who unsuccessfully challenged Trump for the Republican presidential nomination. "And it's tough to start a third party." Walsh added that he and others who have left the GOP are 'somewhat in the wilderness.' This is the affliction of the post-Trump GOP for a small but powerful segment of the Republican Party: Republicans who break from the former president are not just on their own. They are under attack from a base that remains steadfastly loyal to him. Republicans are holding similar conversations nationwide. Earlier this month, a widely publicized meeting was held by Evan McMullin, who ran against Trump as an outsider in 2016, and over 100 other Republicans and former Republican officials and strategists, at which they addressed the possibility of a third party or working inside the GOP as a faction. Miles Taylor, a former Trump Department of Homeland Security chief of staff who started a group of public officials and other Republicans working against Trump's reelection last year, said he and McMullin, with whom he coordinates, are not "dead on a third party." Read also: YouTube Removes Former President Trump's Interview After Repeating Election Fraud Claims What's next to Anti-Trump Republicans after the impeachment? The loose coalition of Republicans' NeverTrump' that campaigned to defeat former President Donald Trump is now moving to a new and much more challenging goal: trying to purge the GOP of his political style. But on the right way to do so, even if it's possible, there's no agreement, as per News Observer. Since the 2020 vote, existing and former Republican strategists and politicians who criticize Trump and are now without a natural political home have largely dropped into three camps: changing the GOP from inside, starting a new party, or aligning with moderate Democrats. The relatively small band of anti-Trump Republicans acknowledge that, regardless of where they fall, combating the man's dominance who is easily now the most influential figure in the GOP. It is much more difficult than merely beating him in an election. But in the wake of the Capitol riot and the subsequent acquittal of an impeachment charge by the former president in the Senate, they claim that a renewed sense of urgency has been taken up by confronting the Trump alliance. However, they approach the mission in different ways. Read also: Donald Trump's Letter to Joe Biden Before Leaving Office Goes Viral; But It's Not Genuine Anti-Trump Republicans urge new party According to Al Jazeera English on MSN, dissatisfied Republicans and a group of former 'Never Trumpers' consider forming a new party as the Republican Party is divided over loyalty to former President Donald Trump. After the January 6 Capitol riot, the division among Republicans over Trump intensified, which is evident during the 2020 campaign. Today, the former president has targeted leading Republicans who criticized him during the House impeachment and corresponding Senate trial. Read also: Trump, McCarthy Conversation Allegedly Shows Former President Unwilling to Call Off US Capitol Riot @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. 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 [February 23, 2021] Peak Power Inc. Closes Latest Funding Round with Investment from The Atmospheric Fund Toronto-based Peak Power (Peak) today announced that it has closed funding from The Atmospheric Fund (TAF), representing the fifth investor in Peak's capital funding round. TAF will join Sensata Technologies, Export Development Canada (EDC), BDC Capital (News - Alert) , and Hatch/Canadian Shield as a strategic investor in Peak. TAF brings to the round their focus on carbon emissions reduction, as they have a mandate to advance local solutions to climate change through high impact investments. Their contribution aligns with Peak's commitment to decarbonize energy, the built environment, and mobility through enabling intelligent energy in smart cities. Peak's smart buildings platform, Peak Insight, which helps clients reduce their emissions and generate revenue through electricity markets, is already deployed in over 15 million square feet of commercial and industrial real-estate in Ontario, New York, and California. "Our objectives as an impact investor are to make risk-adjusted returns, create carbon reduction, and mobilize capital into climate solutions," said Tim Stoate, Vice President, Impact Investing at TAF. "Peak Power touches on all of our priorities, particularly because their system enables carbon reduction in both the building and transportation sectors, the highest emitting sources of carbon in our urban region. We're confident this solution has potential to scale across Canada ad beyond, creating an ideal opportunity for investors looking to make a positive impact." "TAF backing Peak is a major point of validation for us, proving that we are on the right track to helping our clients achieve their net zero goals. Their support completes an incredible roster of strategic partners and investors that will help us scale Canadian Cleantech across North America and globally," said Derek Lim Soo, CEO and Co-Founder of Peak Power. Imran Noorani, VP of Strategy and Corporate Development further remarked, "We have an agenda to 'put the environment on the balance sheet', and the investment from TAF will help us strengthen our position in the market to accomplish this." About Peak Power Founded in 2015, Peak Power (www.peakpowerenergy.com) develops AI-powered software to create intelligent energy systems in smart cities. It optimizes the use of synthetic, stationary, and electric vehicle batteries through its offerings: Peak Insight, Peak Synergy (News - Alert) , and Peak Drive. Peak Power's solutions reduce the environmental footprint of their clients while creating revenue streams through the power grid. About The Atmospheric Fund The Atmospheric Fund (www.TAF.ca) is a regional climate agency that invests in low-carbon solutions for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area and helps scale them up for broad implementation. Supported by endowment funds, TAF advances the most promising concepts by investing, providing grants, influencing policies and running demonstration programs. TAF is particularly focused on ideas that offer benefits in addition to carbon reduction such as improving people's health, creating local jobs, boosting urban resiliency, and contributing to a fair society. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005911/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Israeli government on Monday approved a plan to offer $50 million in compensation to the families of hundreds of Yemenite children who disappeared in the early years of the countrys establishment. But the announcement received a cool reception from advocacy groups that said the government had failed to apologize or accept responsibility for the affair. Stories about the missing children have circulated in Israel for years. Hundreds of newborn babies and young children of Jewish immigrants from Arab and Balkan countries, most of them from Yemen, mysteriously disappeared shortly after arriving in the country. Many families believe their children were taken away and given to childless couples of European backgrounds, both in Israel and abroad. Although previous inquiries have dismissed claims of mass abductions, the suspicions have lingered and contributed to a long-simmering fault line between Jews of European origin and those of Middle Eastern backgrounds. This is among the most painful affairs in the history of the state of Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. The time has come for the families whose infants were taken from them to receive recognition by the state and government of Israel, and financial compensation as well. Arriving from Arabic-speaking countries in the Middle East and North Africa after Israels establishment in 1948, many Mizrahi, or Middle Eastern, immigrants were sent to shantytown transit camps and largely sidelined by the European, or Ashkenazi, leaders of the founding Labor party. This painful experience contributed to widespread Mizrahi support for the Likud party, now led by Netanyahu. Among the immigrants were more than 50,000 Yemenite Jews, often poor and with large families. In the chaos that accompanied their influx, some children died while others were separated from their parents. But many say the reality was far more sinister, that the establishment kidnapped these children to turn them over for adoption by Ashkenazi families in the belief that they could give them a better life. In later years, families reported being mailed military induction notices and other documents for their supposedly dead children, raising more suspicions. Three high-profile commissions dismissed the claims and found that most children died of disease in immigration camps. The final one, in 2001, said it was possible that some children were handed over for adoption by individual social workers, but not as part of a national conspiracy. However, citing privacy laws, it ordered the testimonies it collected be sealed for 70 years. Under Monday's decision, the government will pay 150,000 shekels, or about $45,000, to families in cases where it was determined a child had died but the family had not been properly notified or where the burial site was not found. Families, where the fate of the child is unknown, will receive 200,000 shekels, or about $60,000. In a statement, the government said it expresses regret and recognizes the suffering of the families. But activist groups said the decision did not go far enough. Amram, an advocacy group that has collected testimonies from some 800 affected families, said the decision failed to include an apology and was reached without proper dialogue with the families. Without this component, a process of correction and healing isnt possible, it said. Amram repeatedly demands that the state of Israel take responsibility for the severe injustice." Rafi Shubeli of Forum Achai, an advocacy group that represented dozens of families, accused the government of imposing a solution on the families and failing to accept responsibility or say who caused their suffering. He also said families who have not already filed claims would be unable to seek compensation and accused the government of refusing to disclose documents related to the affair. Our struggle will continue, he said. This affair isnt going away. (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) 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. The United Nations has called upon governments to urgently deploy search and rescue operations to locate a boat with up to 100 Rohingya refugees adrift in the Indian Ocean, some of whom have already died while others are in critical condition due to lack of food and water. The precise number and location of the refugees is unknown, and there are reports that many may have already lost their lives, said Indrika Ratwatte, Asia-Pacific director for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Mr Ratwatte said the distress information was received on Saturday evening. An Indian coast guard official told Reuters that the boat has been tracked to an area off the Andaman and Nicobar islands. The news agency reported that Indian navy vessels that were nearby had provided food and water to those on the boat, though their fate thereafter was not immediately known. Arakan Project, a humanitarian aid group, told The News Minute that they were able to get in touch with the boat, which has a satellite phone. The crew told them that the boat was carrying 65 Rohingya women and girls, five children below the age of two and some 20 men. The Rohingyas boarded the boat south of the Bangladesh seaside town of Coxs Bazar on 11 February and [it] was headed towards Southeast Asia when its engines broke down, said Chris Lewa, director of Arakan Project. Ms Lewa said the boats engines had stopped working around 10 days ago, which led it to drift into Indias territorial waters on Monday. Ms Lewa said there is no food or drinking water on the boat, which has led to the death of eight refugees. They are drinking sea water in desperation. That is why some of them are collapsing, she said. Many are in a highly vulnerable condition and are apparently suffering from extreme dehydration. We understand that a number of refugees have already lost their lives, and that fatalities have risen over the past 24 hours, Mr Ratwatte said. In line with international obligations under the law of the sea and longstanding maritime traditions, the duty to rescue persons in distress at sea should be upheld, irrespective of nationality or legal status, he said. The UN estimates that after sweeping counter-insurgency operations by Myanmars military in 2017, more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh and live in refugee camps. The international body has termed the atrocities committed on the community a form of ethnic cleansing. Instead of passing on responsibility to other states, governments in the region must immediately deploy search and rescue measures to assist those stranded in the vessel, who are in desperate need of food, water and a safe place to disembark free of discrimination, said Saad Hammadi, Amnesty Internationals South Asia campaigner. Too many lives have already been lost at sea as the result of countries refusing to assist Rohingya people on boats. Another repeat of those shameful incidents must be avoided here. UNHCR estimates that some 2,400 Rohingya people took similar perilous boat journeys in 2020, during which at least 200 of them died or went missing. There are about 600,000 Rohingya Muslims who still remain in Rakhine State in Myanmar, including 120,000 people in state-run camps. Japan's government will provide Mauritius with 600 million yen ($5.7 million) to help the island nation to improve maritime safety in the wake of the major oil spill involving a Japanese bulk carrier, media reported on Tuesday TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd February, 2021) Japan's government will provide Mauritius with 600 million Yen ($5.7 million) to help the island nation to improve maritime safety in the wake of the major oil spill involving a Japanese bulk carrier, media reported on Tuesday. On July 25, Japan's bulk carrier Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef near Mauritius while carrying 4,000 tonnes of fuel oil from China via Singapore to Brazil. On August 6, the wrecked ship started leaking oil and broke apart in the middle of the month. In total, the vessel leaked some 1,000 tonnes of heavy oil into the ocean off Mauritius, endangering a land and sea conservation area with rare species. According to the NHK broadcaster, the Japanese funds will be partially spent on a radar system to monitor ships navigating waters off Mauritius. In addition, Tokyo will give the island nation 30 billion yen loan to help tourism and other pandemic-hit sectors. Ship operator Mitsui O.S.K. earlier pledged to provide 1 billion yen in assistance to Mauritius. The funds will sponsor a natural environment recovery project on the island and help restore coral reefs. 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. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Compassion International and Baylor University announced today the "Christian Collective for Social Innovation" (CCSI), another exciting initiative in their partnership to bring about global human flourishing for children and families in poverty. The CCSI will create a trusted Christian platform where innovators will receive the capital, know-how, relationships, and publicity they'll need to solve the world's most significant challenges. The first phase of the CCSI is the "Social Innovation Challenge," which invites innovators and entrepreneurs across the world including Baylor students and Compassion youth and alumni to focus specifically on problems introduced into the educational systems in Central and South America during the COVID-19 pandemic. Applicants will be invited to compete in a multi-phased review process; and finalists will be organized in a cohort, where they will receive funding, mentorship, and implementation support for viable solutions to these problems. "Compassion registered children and youth, as well as our alumni, are great resources to help release this generation from poverty," shared Sidney Muisyo, senior vice president of global program at Compassion. "Our goal is to bring together funding, organizations, mentors, cohorts, and youth to creatively solve social problems. We can partner with existing organizations who are early-stage entrepreneurs and innovators who can help Compassion youth become equipped and encouraged to join in as part of the solution." The second phase of the CCSI will be completed with Compassion and local church staff in Central and South America, where solutions from the "Social Innovation Challenge" will be implemented in a local context. "Our aim is to change the world and to empower people who know the problems, who know the issues, who've lived them and had that experience," said Dr. Jeremy Vickers, associate vice president of external affairs at Baylor. "The Christian Collective for Social Innovation embodies the vision of connecting God's people across the globe by leveraging our collective resources, sourcing innovations, and mentoring and empowering change-makers. When Christians engage in the work of solving the most pressing and complex issues around the globe, we believe the good news of God's hope will spread throughout the world." To learn more or apply for the CCSI's "Social Innovation Challenge," innovators and entrepreneurs can visit baylor.edu/externalaffairs/compassion. For more information on the Compassion-Baylor partnership, check out our partnership announcement. About Compassion International Founded in 1952, Compassion International is a Christian child development organization that works to release children from poverty in Jesus' name. Compassion revolutionized the fight against global poverty by working exclusively with the Church to lift children out of spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty. Compassion partners with more than 8,000 churches in 25 countries to deliver its holistic child development program to over 2.2 million babies, children and young adults. Its child sponsorship program has been validated through independent, empirical research. About Baylor University Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 19,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. MEDIA CONTACT: Allison Wilburn (Meggers) 219-384-8177 [email protected] SOURCE Compassion International Related Links www.compassion.com London: Britain has ratcheted up its criticisms of China, as Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab denounced it at the United Nations for abusing Uighur Muslims human rights on an industrial scale. It comes as concern about the treatment of Uighur Muslims in Chinas Xinjiang province grows into a mainstream issue in Western democracies. Protesters decry Chinas treatment of Muslims Uighurs outside Parliament in Ottawa, Canada. Credit:Canadian Press/AP Raabs criticism was followed in short order by the Canadian Parliament passing a non-binding resolution saying Chinas treatment of the Uighur Muslim minority in Xinjiang constitutes genocide. Canadas House of Commons voted 266-0 for the motion brought by the opposition Conservative Party. Trudeau and his cabinet abstained from the vote, although Liberal backbenchers backed it. A Canadian Pastor is reportedly the latest victim of "lockdownism" for being imprisoned in maximum security for violating coronavirus lockdown restrictions. The Blaze, in its report, asked why are criminals being let out of prison while pastors are being put in and at maximum security at that. James Coates, the said pastor, is the leader of Canada's GraceLife Church. He was fined, arrested, and then put in maximum security, as per The Blaze. The Blaze cited a discussion on the topic held at Glenn TV by Glenn Beck and Rebel News Founder Ezra Levant who noticed a trend wherein government officials seem to be "picking on" Christians during the lockdown. He said this trend, whom he called "lockdownism," is becoming a new kind of religion that might lead to more persecution in the future. According to Christianity Today, Coates resumed worship over the summer and has met with his congregation every Sunday "without incident." This was after holding livestreamed worship services for several months due to the pandemic. The worship services continued on site despite being constantly warned by authorities that attendance should not exceed 15% of their venue's capacity, wearing of masks, and implementation of social distancing requirements set by the authorities in Alberta. In December GraceLife was fined $1,200 before it was found in violation again last February 14 for holding the worship services again on site. Coates turned himself in in compliance to the authorities' order, and was arrested, according to the CBC report, on charges of contravening the Public Health Act and refusing the undertaking. He twice refused to agree to the conditions of his release -- to stop holding church services as ordered. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commander explained that they have no intention to suppress religious freedom but to only implement health restrictions in line with the pandemic. "(Our objective) is not to interrupt church services, prohibit services, nor deny peoples' right to practise their religion-merely to ensure that public health restrictions are adhered to while doing so," the commander said in a statement. Meanwhile, Christianity Today pointed out what the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms said that it defends the freedom of conscience and religion, being fundamental freedom but it also acknowledges "reasonable limits" to these freedom as defined in the law "as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society." Alberta Premier Jason Kenney clarified that no one should be fined or sanctioned for preaching or gathering in worship. He said there are many religious communities who "gather in congregational worship within the safe guidelines laid out by Alberta Health" just like the one recently held by Catholics during Ash Wednesday. "The suggestion that Alberta has any restriction on preaching is completely false. Under Alberta law, no one has been or will be fined or sanctioned for preaching. Anybody in Alberta can preach their faith and, and religious communities are encouraged to gather in congregational worship within the safe guidelines laid out by Alberta Health," Kenney said in his Facebook account. Coates, for his part, entrusts himself to the Lord and said that what he did - refusing to stop holding worship services - is done in obedience to Jesus. "I'm doing what I'm doing in obedience to Christ. I am quite content to let the Lord Jesus Christ himself decide whether or not this is persecution," Coates said in his February 14 sermon, the Edmonton Journal reported. Christians are urged to pray for Pastor James Coates' freedom. Thousands of protesters had clashed with the police during the tractor parade called by farmer unions on January 26 demanding repeal of the Centre's contentious farm laws. (PTIfile photo/Arun Sharma) Jammu/New Delhi: The Delhi Police has arrested two people, including a prominent farmer leader, from Jammu for their alleged involvement in the violence at the Red Fort during the farmers' tractor parade on January 26, officials said on Tuesday. Jammu and Kashmir United Kisan Front Chairman Mohinder Singh (45), a resident of Chatha area of Jammu city, and Mandeep Singh (23), a resident of Gole Gujral, Jammu, were "active participants" and "key conspirators" in the violence at the historic fort, the Delhi Police said. The duo was taken into custody by the Crime Branch of Delhi Police on Monday night and immediately shifted to the national capital for questioning, they said. They were apprehended with the support of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the Delhi Police said. "As per the information received, both the accused are active participants and key conspirators in the riot at Red Fort," Delhi Police Additional PRO Anil Mittal said. Thousands of protesters had clashed with the police during the tractor parade called by farmer unions on January 26 demanding repeal of the Centre's contentious farm laws. Many of the protesters reached the Red Fort driving tractors and entered the monument, and some of them even hoisted religious flags on its domes and a flagstaff at the ramparts. Mohinder Singh's family, however, claimed that he was innocent and demanded his immediate release. He (Mohinder Singh) informed me that he was called by the Senior Superintendent of Police (Jammu) and was visiting Gandhi Nagar Police Station before his mobile got switched off. Upon enquiring, I came to know that he was arrested by police and shifted to Delhi, the farmer leader's wife told reporters. She claimed that her husband was at the Delhi border and not Red Fort when the violence broke out. He went alone to see the SSP because he was not afraid as he had done nothing wrong, she said. Trauma Informed Churches: A Vision Forward Adrienne Gibson, MA LPC We cannot judge a person based solely on how they look or act. Granted, it would be much easier if we could. We want to know who we can trust, who is wise, or who may actually be living like a monster embracing predatory behavior. We want to know but it is not always that simple. The church is once again having to address this reality. What do we do with a person who built a ministry, provided biblical thoughts and ideas, and wrote books who turned out to be embracing years of unrepentant abusive living? What does the church do with someone who cultivated a ministry and pronounced from a platform thoughts and ideas surrounding the Word of God but in rooms and spaces no one else could see was abusing the very people who thought they could trust him? We have to let that unrepentant person go and put the victims first. The church should understand its position and put the victims first. Years ago I had the amazing opportunity as a mental health provider to be at an agency that decided to use Sandra Blooms teachings and to become Sanctuary-trained. It was taking a trauma-informed approach as an agency. I knew that as a clinician I wanted to be trauma-informed with my clients. Counselors have to learn how to work and live a life that is trauma-informed. That means we have to be aware of our words, tone, presence and our verbal and non-verbal cues for our clients and co-workers. Because we are going to assume that we are all dealing with some level of baggage or trauma. I do not want to do more harm as I am trying to help someone heal. If I harm more by my words or actions (unintentionally) then I am working on healing the wounds I have caused and not the wounds they showed up with. What I realized during this process as my secular agency grew to be trauma-informed with its employees and clients was, the church my husband worked at and our family attended was anything but trauma-informed. It was not a sanctuary or a safe place. It was abusive towards its employees. Being overly demanding and critical of staff instead of honoring and valuing one another. Its mind-altering to realize a community mental health agency feels more like a family and a sanctuary than my church community. The church is in the business of new creation, new life and healing. That means the church needs to be trauma-informed. Is the church at times causing more wounds to the people who walk through its doors instead of healing the wounds they walked in the door with? Continuing to use books or resources by an individual that has preyed on women in the church throughout their ministry is going to keep harming individuals. Referencing an abuser or citing his work is not trauma-informed. There are so many wounded people in the church. I would argue we are all wounded. So it is imperative that we are aware of the harm that could be caused. If our churches are filled with broken and hurting people, there needs to be more education and training that takes place for pastors and support staff to be aware of the potential trauma they are actually causing within their walls. We should want to protect these victims more than we want to protect the work or ministry that the perpetrator has done. They screwed up their work, they screwed up their reputation. In many of these situations in the past few years there has been no visible repentance. I think the church is at a cross roads and needs to grow in her awareness of being trauma-informed so it does not keep walking over the hurt and abused, especially when it doesnt mean to but is not aware that it is. There is beauty in the ashes. There are many in the church who have read the works of these individuals, who participated in their ministries or have studies apologetics. The beauty and truth in their work and research will not die, it just needs to live on in the men and women who are ready to pick up the work and carry it on. For the individuals who tarnished their own ministry and reputation, we need to call them to genuine confession and repentance, focus on the healing that needs to be done, and listen to the victims. We need to stop re-traumatizing the wounded by quickly defending these unrepentant leaders. Instead, we need to create a true place of listening, healing and sanctuaries in our churches. May the Spirit lead us as we long for the restoration of all things! New Delhi, Feb 23 (UNI) A Delhi Court on Tuesday granted bail to Bengaluru-based climate activist Disha Ravi in the toolkit case. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana passed the order and asked her to furnish a bail bond of Rs one lakh and two additional sureties. Meanwhile, the Delhi Police on Tuesday filed a petition in a local court, seeking an extension of Disha Ravi's police custody by another four days. A local court had extended Ravi's custody by 24 hours on Monday. On February 20, Delhi Police had said that Ravi was preparing the toolkit with those advocating for a Khalistan state and was part of a 'global conspiracy' to defame India and create unrest in the country, 'in the garb of farmers' protest'. The police alleged that Ravi deleted WhatsApp chats, emails and other evidence and was aware of legal actions she could face. Earlier, on February 14, a local court sent Ravi to five-day police custody, after the agency said her custodial interrogation was required to probe an alleged larger conspiracy against the Union Government and to ascertain her alleged role relating to the Khalistan movement. Ravi was arrested by a Cyber Cell team of the Delhi Police from Bengaluru on February 13 and was produced before a court in New Delhi, seeking her police custody for seven days. UNI SV RJ 1702 David Perdue said Tuesday that he will not launch a bid to take back his Georgia Senate seat in 2022 just a week after filing paperwork opening the potential for a congressional run. The former Republican senator was ousted from his post by Democrat Jon Ossoff in a special runoff election last month one of the contests that led to the GOP losing control of the Senate. Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock, who also just won his seat from GOP Senator Kelly Loeffler last month, is up for reelection next year Ossoff is not up for reelection until 2026. Perdue has never directly conceded to Ossoff. On Tuesday repeated the assertion and suggestion that voter fraud contributed to his narrow loss. 'As we saw in my race in November, Georgia is not a blue state,' Perdue said in regards to the general election where he held a slim lead over Ossoff. 'The more Georgians that vote, the better Republicans do. These two current liberal U.S. senators do not represent the values of a majority of Georgians.' Perdue considering a bid meant he would have taken on Warnock this time. Warnock has every intention of running to keep his seat, telling reporters at Capitol Hill Tuesday: 'I am prepared to defeat whatever Republican they come up with.' Former Georgia Senator David Perdue said Tuesday he will not run for his Senate seat against Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock in 2022 He blamed in his statement, in part, alleged voter fraud to his narrow loss to Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff in the special runoff election last month Warnock has every intention of running to keep his seat, telling reporters at Capitol Hill Tuesday: 'I am prepared to defeat whatever Republican they come up with' On February 15, Perdue filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission. The document is necessary in paving the way for a bid against Warnock. He also released a statement at the time claiming he and his wife, Bonnie, were considering whether he would run for office again next year after the slim defeat last month. He released another statement on Tuesday claiming he made the 'personal decision, not a political one' to not run. 'I am confident that whoever wins the Republican primary next year will defeat the Democrat candidate in the general election for this seat, and I will do everything I can to make that happen,' the 71-year-old said in a statement posted to his Twitter Tuesday. Perdue lost his reelection bid during a closely watched runoff last month against Ossoff. Ossoff and Warnock's victories resulted in Democrats taking a majority in the Senate for the first time since 2011. Unlike Ossoff, who will not be up for reelection until 2026, Warnock's term expires in two years. That's because Warnock is filling the remainder of retired Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson's term. Initially, Perdue was appointed to Isakson's seat until the 2020 special election could be held. Warnock, who served as pastor for the same Atlanta church where civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. preached, is Georgia's first African American senator. Perdue's decision not to run could ease the path for a number of other Republican candidates. Former Georgia Representative Doug Collins, who did not advance to the runoff against Warnock after finishing behind Loeffler in November, has said he could run for Senate in 2022, or might try to knock off incumbent Republican Governor Brian Kemp. Loeffler has been raising her profile in recent days by announcing Greater Georgia, a group that's supposed to register voters, promote conservative policies, and advocate for restrictive voting changes Republicans say are necessary. Perude released a statement last week on filing the necessary paperwork to pave the way toward launching a bid to run for Congress Perdue is a former business executive who was elected in 2014. He was one of former President Donald Trump's chief defenders in the Senate and fell just short of the 50 per cent threshold he needed to defeat Ossoff outright November 3. Perdue, like Loeffler, is lending his support to a range of changes Republicans say are needed to build trust in the electoral system after Perdue, Loeffler and Trump spent months questioning the legitimacy of President Joe Biden's November victory in Georgia. 'I am hopeful that the Georgia General Assembly, along with our statewide elected officials, will correct the inequities in our state laws and election rules so that, in the future, every legal voter will be treated equally and illegal votes will not be included,' Perdue said. 'I will do everything I can to be helpful in this effort.' Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., speaks Sept. 17, 2020, during a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Thompson has sued former President Donald Trump, alleging Trump incited the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. [February 23, 2021] Artprice's archive is the global alternative after the closure to art professionals of Christie's London archives PARIS, Feb. 23, 2021 /CNW/ -- According to Le Figaro this afternoon: https://www.lefigaro.fr/culture/encheres/a -londres-christie-s-closes-its-archives-to-professionals-of-the-art-world-20210222 "In London, Christie's closes its archives to art-professionals" "The sales catalogues, the first of which date back to 1766, are an invaluable resource for specialists. Faced with this decision to close, they expressed their anger and their incomprehension. The prestigious auction house has decided to end access to its archives due to staff lay-offs. "As a courtesy, Christie's has given free access to its archives for research purposes," said a spokesperson for the auction house, as reported by the Art Newspaper. "However, the archives team has been reduced and can now only meet the needs of our own specialist teams". Inestimable resource... "The auction house has responded to the criticism and didn't sound very certain about a possible reopening. Dirk Bool, President of Christie's in Europe, Middle East, Russia and India, said: "Unfortunately, the entire King Street building has been closed to the public due to the health crisis. Rest assured that we will continue to maintain our records in an appropriate and accessible manner. We will also explore ways to expand access to these archives in the future". thierry Ehrmann, President and Founder of Artmarket.com and its Artprice department: "The answer for Art Professionals, Auction Houses, Experts, Galleries, Museums and Collectors is the archives department of Artprice by Artmarket, a global player in the Art Market and world leader in art price databases and Art Market indices." Artprices' archive "Artprice Images" is absolutely unique... It allows unlimited access to the largest Art Market archive in the world... a library consisting of 180 million images and engravings of artworks from 1700 to today, commented by our historians, econometricians and writers, and covering more than 770,000 artists. This archive, which according to the specialized press worldwide, is unique in the world, consists of more than 750,000 manuscripts and art catalogues from more than 6,300 auction houses, carefully preserved in standardized archive blocks and, according to a former French Minister of Culture, it constitutes "a State mission, accomplished by a private company which managed, by raising capital, to do what the State should have done..." The Artprice archive covering the art market from 1700 to the present day has been built up since 1987 by the selective acquisition on all continents of a multitude of archives and/or companies (Sound View Press, Frank Van Wilder, Mayer, Bayer USA, Hippolyte Mireur etc. ..). It is the fundamental core of the services offered by Artprice by Artmarket databases with more than 30 million art market indices and sales results. It is accessible online at www.artprice.com or www.artmarket.com via our unlimited subscriptions. Images: [https://imgpublic.artprice.com/img/wp/sites/11/2021/02/Artmarket-Artprice-room-9-Archives-1.jpg] [https://imgpublic.artprice.com/img/wp/sites/11/2021/02/Artmarket-Artprice-room-9-Archives-2.jpg] Copyright 1987-2021 thierry Ehrmann www.artprice.com - www.artmarket.com Don't hesitate to contact our Econometrics Department for your requirements regarding statistics and personalized studies: econometrics@artprice.com for your requirements regarding statistics and personalized studies: econometrics@artprice.com Try our services (free demo): https://www.artprice.com/demo Subscribe to our services: https://www.artprice.com/subscription About Artmarket: Artmarket.com is listed on Eurolist by Euronext Paris, SRD long only and Euroclear: 7478 - Bloomberg: PRC - Reuters: ARTF. Discover Artmarket and its Artprice department on video: www.artprice.com/video Artmarket and its Artprice department was founded in 1997 by its CEO, thierry Ehrmann. Artmarket and its Artprice department is controlled by Groupe Serveur, created in 1987. See certified biography in Who's who : imgpublic.artprice.com/img/wp/sites/11/2019/10/biographie_oct2019_WhosWho_thierryEhrmann.pdf Artmarket is a global player in the Art Market with, among other structures, its Artprice department, world leader in the accumulation, management and exploitation of historical and current art market information in databanks containing over 30 million indices and auction results, covering more than 770,000 artists. Artprice Images allows unlimited access to the largest Art Market image bank in the world: no less than 180 million digital images of photographs or engraved reproductions of artworks from 1700 to the present day, commented by our art historians. Artmarket with its Artprice department accumulates data on a permanent basis from 6300 Auction Houses and produces key Art Market information for the main press and media agencies (7,200 publications). Its 4.5 million 'members log in' users have access to ads posted by other members, a network that today represents the leading Global Standardized Marketplace to buy and sell artworks at a fixed or bid price (auctions regulated by paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article L 321.3 of France's Commercial Code). Artmarket with its Artprice department, has been awarded the State label "Innovative Company" by the Public Investment Bank (BPI) (for the second time in November 2018 for a new period of 3 years) which is supporting the company in its project to consolidate its position as a global player in the market art. Artprice by Artmarket's 2019 Global Art Market Report published in February 2020 : www.artprice.com/artprice-reports/the-art-market-in-2019 Index of press releases posted by Artmarket with its Artprice department: serveur.serveur.com/press_release/pressreleaseen.htm Follow all the Art Market news in real time with Artmarket and its Artprice department on Facebook and Twitter: www.facebook.com/artpricedotcom/ (5 million followers) twitter.com/artmarketdotcom twitter.com/artpricedotcom Discover the alchemy and universe of Artmarket and its artprice department http://web.artprice.com/video headquartered at the famous Organe Contemporary Art Museum "The Abode of Chaos" (dixit The New York Times): https://issuu.com/demeureduchaos/docs/demeureduchaos-abodeofchaos-opus-ix-1999-2013 L'Obs - The Museum of the Future: https://youtu.be/29LXBPJrs-o www.facebook.com/la.demeure.du.chaos.theabodeofchaos999 (4.5 million followers) https://vimeo.com/124643720 Contact Artmarket.com and its Artprice department - Contact: thierry Ehrmann, ir@artmarket.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1442351/Artprice_Archives_1.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1442352/Artprice_Archives_2.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1009603/Art_Market_logo.jpg View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/artprices-archive-is-the-global-alternative-after-the-closure-to-art-professionals-of-christies-london-archives-301233176.html SOURCE Artmarket.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Seoul, February 23: Those who violate social distancing restrictions will not be eligible for an upcoming batch of emergency cash handouts, South Korea's Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on Tuesday. He was warning of stern measures, including the so-called "one-strike, you're out" punishment, amid continued reports of some shops, restaurants and other businesses nationwide breaching a set of rules aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19, Yonhap reported. "At invisible places, there are frequent cases of social commitments being ignored," he said during a daily interagency meeting on the coronavirus response, held at the government office complex in Sejong, 120 kilometers south of Seoul. He cited as an instance night clubs in Seoul that were found to have ignored antivirus rules such as wearing masks, keeping entry logs and limiting the number of entrants during a recent inspection by police and Seoul city officials. South Korea Cautions Elderly Population Against AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine Citing Lack of Sufficient Data. Businesses violating social distancing rules will face the "one strike, you're out" system with no exception and be excluded from the list of beneficiaries of the fourth round of relief money to be paid soon, Chung added. The government and the ruling Democratic Party have agreed to allocate this year's first supplementary budget to help the vulnerable, especially the self-employed and owners of mom-and-pop shops troubled by the pandemic. The payment is expected to begin as early as in March. Chung, meanwhile, expressed expectations over the coronavirus vaccinations to start in the country later this week, saying they are like a ray of hope seen at the end of a dark tunnel. S.Korea Secures Additional COVID-19 Vaccines for 23 Million People, Says Prime Minister Chung Sye-Kyun. He said chances are high that elderly people here will be given Pfizer-made products that are likely to be shipped additionally between early April and late May. South Korea's health authorities plan to provide them with AstraZeneca's vaccine after additional checks on its efficacy on the age group, he said during a television interview later Tuesday. The nation's phase-in vaccination program is scheduled to get under way Friday with the supply by AstraZeneca for the employees of nursing hospitals and facilities and inmates, who are under the age of 65. Starting the following day, the first batch of Pfizer's vaccines will be offered to tens of thousands of health care workers under the timetable set by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The prime minister said he may need to get the first vaccine shot, as a "responsible" government figure, if the public hesitates to do so. "For now, however, I don't think it's necessary. It appears that I would rather have to wait for my turn," Chung said. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 23, 2021 06:50 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). An early-morning fire Monday erupted at Union Squares Pacific Cocktail Haven, effectively shutting down the acclaimed cocktail bar shortly after it had reopened for outdoor dining. Co-owner Andy Chun said he hopes to find a way to reopen the bar. Itll be tough, though. The blaze likely took all of the bars inventory, destroyed important equipment like refrigerators and caused general smoke damage, according to Chun. Were still trying to figure it all out but right now its looking like a total loss, he said. The bummer is we just brought back our staff and were looking forward to indoor dining reopening. ... With all that momentum, something like this is a setback thats an understatement. All thats left untouched are Pacific Cocktail Havens parklet and other outdoor dining areas, as first reported by Eater SF. Fortunately for the bar owners, they had insurance. Ideally, Chun said, he and his business partner Kevin Diedrich will reopen the Union Square space and, in the meantime, pop up somewhere else to keep the staff employed. It could mean partnering with a restaurant or temporarily taking over a currently unused space. A GoFundMe has been set up seeking to raise $25,000 to help the bar rebuild and pay staff who are newly out of work. In a matter of hours, people donated about $10,000. John Storey / Special to The Chronicle 2016 After opening in 2016, Pacific Cocktail Haven was named one of San Franciscos best new bars by The Chronicle, applauded for Diedrichs distinctive Asian flavors and powerful use of fruit. More recently, Pacific Cocktail Haven was named Tales of the Cocktail Foundations 2020 Best American Cocktail Bar, with Diedrich taking home the 2020 American Bartender of the Year award. During the pandemic, the bar has stayed open by teaming up with Filipino pop-up Pinoy Heritage. While Pinoy Heritage isnt facing any fire damage because it uses an off-site commercial kitchen, the pop-up is losing out on a regular location to serve food. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. Chun said he was looking forward to reopening Pacific Cocktail Haven indoors this spring in part to counter the narrative that San Francisco is dying because of the pandemic. Now, hes determined to make a pop-up work instead. Were not dead and were still the home for food and wine, he said. We feel like were doing this for our staff and the San Francisco story that were not going anywhere and San Francisco isnt going anywhere. Pacific Cocktail Haven. Temporarily closed. 580 Sutter St., San Francisco. pacificcocktailsf.com Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @janellebitker The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa says he will publicly take his COVID-19 vaccine jab when it gets to his turn. As MP for North Tongu, I am absolutely ready for the COVID-19 vaccine when it gets to my turn. I look forward to publicly receiving the jab, he said. The MP who took to his Facebook wall to rally behind the administration of the vaccine to fight against COVID 19 in Ghana urged all Ghanaians to do the same when it arrives. I urge all my constituents and other compatriots to do same. Let us all do our best to boldly confront vaccine hesitancy. It is time to develop more confidence in our scientists and ignore the conspiracy theorists., he stated. 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 Jeff Ackert joins as Project Management Consultant Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 23, 2021) - Satori Resources Inc. (TSXV: BUD) ("Satori" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Jeff Ackert, BSc., a seasoned geologist who has held senior positions with numerous publicly listed exploration and development companies, has joined Satori's technical team. Mr. Ackert's main objectives will be to work closely with Director Wes Hanson in advancing the Tartan Lake Gold Mine project in Flin Flon, Manitoba, and will begin to plan programs for the Company's New Delhi advanced polymetallic project located in Ontario's Sudbury Mining Division. During the 1980s, Mr. Ackert was involved in the discovery, exploration and development of LAC Minerals' Golden Patricia Mine (Barrick Gold Corporation after 1994), a high grade narrow vein gold mine in northwest Ontario. In 1990 Jeff became mine geologist there and specialized in underground production and exploration. In 1996 as co-founder of Orezone Resources Inc. (now Orezone Gold Corporation), he was appointed VP Exploration focusing on West African gold and was subsequently named VP Technical Services in 2005. During his time at Orezone, its market cap increased from $2M to over $300M due to resource development of various projects in West Africa including Essakane (now owned by IAMGOLD) and Bombore in Burkina Faso. Mr. Ackert, as co-founder of Carube Copper Corp. (now C3 Metals Inc.), currently holds the role of VP of Business Development. Jeff is an independent director of Advance Gold Corp. and Altai Resources Inc. Mr. Ackert holds a BSc. in Geology from the University of Toronto. Satori's President and CEO Jennifer Boyle commented, "I believe that the addition of Jeff as a senior member of the Satori technical team will provide the Company with an excellent opportunity to develop our key project at Tartan Lake Manitoba, and to advance exploration at our recently acquired New Delhi project in Ontario. Jeff's experience of bringing projects through exploration to development and production will be a great benefit to Satori." Jeff Ackert added, "I am pleased to be part of the Satori team and look forward to getting the first phase of drilling started at the former Tartan Lake high grade gold mine. Given my experience with the exploration cycle, public markets, and the necessity for timely program completion, I am confident that we can increase the value of this asset for Satori's shareholders." ABOUT SATORI RESOURCES INC. Satori is a Toronto-based mineral exploration and development company whose primary property is the past producing Tartan Lake Gold Mine Project, located in the prolific Flin Flon Greenstone Belt, Manitoba, and the recently acquired New Delhi Project, a mineralized advanced project in the Sudbury Mining District, Ontario. The Tartan Lake Project (2,670 Ha.) is located approximately 12 kilometres northeast of Flin Flon, Manitoba, and includes the Tartan Lake Mine (1986-1989); which produced 36,000 ounces of gold from 250,000 tonnes of ore feed. Remaining infrastructure includes: all season access road, grid connected power supply, mill, mechanical, warehouse and office buildings, tailing impoundment and a 2,100 meter decline and developed underground mining galleries to a depth of 300 meters from surface. Gold mineralization is associated with anastomosing quartz-carbonate veins hosted in east-west striking, steeply dipping shear zones up to 30 meters in width. The veins vary from several centimeters to several meters in width and gold grades vary from 1.0 to +100 g/t. Mineralization at the mine is currently drill limited and open at depth. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Jennifer Boyle, B.A., LL.B. President and Chief Executive Officer Satori Resources Inc. (416) 904-2714 jennifer@capexgroupinc.com Mr. Peter Shippen Chair, Satori Resources Inc. pjs@extramedium.ca 416-930-7711 Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This news release of Satori contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements." Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Satori's actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in the industry to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. THIS PRESS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75199 At a time when everything seems out of our control, it's the little things like home comforts and our favourite foods that keep us going. Austrian patisserie Kipferl, based in Islington, London, has been a favourite spot for locals and visitors for more than a decade. It's known for its authentic food and wine, directly sourced from Vienna, and owner Hubert Zanier said he was a regular customer before he bought the cafe in 2019, 'just like many of the Austrians living in London and missing home'. People from all backgrounds and from all over city visit the cafe for its pastries and bakes, including its signature sachertorte, a traditional Viennese chocolate cake. But after completely overhauling its business model and physical structures when he took ownership two years ago, Hubert then found himself in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and fighting to keep Kipferl alive. Austrian patisserie Kipferl is known for its authentic food including its famous sachertorte As with the rest of the hospitality sector, it was forced to close its doors when the UK went into lockdown in March 2020, and has then opened intermittently but remains shut today, as the third lockdown continues. Despite these challenges, and a fresh one he now faces due to Brexit, Zanier has boosted Kipferl's reputation by expanding its reach - and creating a new source of income - through the launch of a web shop, giving people good food in a time of crisis. Hubert Zanier took over Kipferl in 2019 Now 47, Hubert grew up and studied in Austria and went on to work in financial services for 20 years, but he always had a passion for cooking. He left his life as a banker in 2016 and entered the hospitality industry, first as an investor in south east Asian restaurant Nusa Kitchen, before eventually becoming its chief executive in 2017. A regular visitor of Kipferl, which reminded him of home, he wanted to do the same for the cafe, which first opened in 2009, but didn't get his break until ten years later. 'After joining the hospitality industry I tried to convince the owner and founder of Kipferl to let me invest, but he refused,' he said. 'Unfortunately the business went into administration in early 2019, but we were able to save it and take it over. My business partners and I spent the next 12 months completely overhauling it. 'We were ready to grow and give it the success it deserved but little did we know about the challenges the world would throw at us.' From 1m annual sales to the chaos of coronavirus Covid-19 in the UK and its accompanying lockdowns were a massive setback and a real threat for the cafe. It previously enjoyed a turnover of around 1million a year but 95 per cent of that came from customers eating in the cafe. Fortunately, Kipferl was successful in its application to the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and used the furlough scheme for staff that were unable to work. But the team had to think fast about other ways to keep the business alive. Hubert said: 'We always wanted to expand the cake business in some way as they are so unique and we know the British people love the pastries they try when they visit Austria. 'An online business was in our minds but it wasn't until we were forced to close last year that we had the time to really start working on it.' Kipferl launched its web shop last summer, offering freshly made cakes and traditional food and wine direct from Austria. An immediate hit with customers, it has grown by more than 100 per cent every month since launch. Most days throughout December and January saw more than 50 orders, and it now delivers to Scotland, Wales, Northern Island and even the Channel Islands. Hubert added: 'By far most popular product is the sachertorte. It is not only the most famous Austrian cake, but it also travels well and arrives in a perfect state with customers all over the UK.' Most days throughout December and January saw Kipferl receive more than 50 orders, and it now delivers to Scotland, Wales, Northern Island and even the Channel Islands Brexit: We have food stuck from Vienna to London Fortunately, the majority of Kipferl's cakes, including the sachertorte, can be created from locally sourced ingredients and Hubert is proud to be supporting small British businesses. However, the last two months have caused fresh pain as he has been unable to get several items usually ordered direct from Vienna. This is a result of what he thinks has been poor management of Brexit, which involved the UK Government finally making a deal on 24 December 2020. He said: 'Usually our contacts in Vienna would package our goods and send them to our restaurant within days. Alcohol would take a little longer as there would be some paperwork to do but it was, on the whole, a smooth process. 'But our last successful import from Austria was in early December, as since then we have not been able to find a transport company to ship our products, or they have been shipped but are now stuck, and have been since January. 'We have pallets of wine, cheese, poppy seeds, wafers and so much more stuck somewhere between Vienna and London.' As the deadline loomed, Hubert found that as a Brexit deal was due but still hadn't arrived, transport companies were reluctant to fulfil orders as nobody knew was going to happen. But even after the deal was made on Christmas Eve, most were still clueless and there was no time to prepare for January's orders. 'Even big, regulated companies werent aware of how things worked,' he said. 'We were sent literature telling us to "inform ourselves" but there was no information to inform ourselves with! 'We've since learned there are different forms needed for different ingredients and I've spent countless hours filling these in on my end for the goods that are stuck. But there are still many transport companies that won't ship to begin with because everything is so confusing. Hubert said suppliers are just as desperate as he is yet there has been no word from the government other than 'unhelpful standardised emails'. If I knew there was some good coming out of leaving the EU, I would say all this stress is for a good cause, but there isn't. Hubert Zanier, Owner of Kipferl He added: 'The amount of time, paperwork, and difficulties we have faced has been mind-blowing. If I knew there was some good coming out of leaving the EU, I would say all this stress is for a good cause, but there isn't. 'This is just an additional burden on top of the pandemic for businesses like ours. Fighting for survival is tough as it is but Brexit is just kicking small firms when they are already down.' Kipferl's Viennese coffee delivery finally arrived last week, as the producer is used to selling outside the EU so was aware of and knew how to handle the appropriate forms. But a delivery for wine, for example, is particularly labour intensive with different codes for different colours and alcoholic percentages. Hubert said he doesn't yet know how this latest challenge will impact the cafe's finances but expects additional costs going forward to be 5 per cent to 15 per cent more expensive. We've lost access to our big market! Brexit has also been an 'unnecessary additional headache' to vitamin drinks producer Tonic Health, which imports ingredients from all over the world. Recently, the firm experienced a lot of red tape around one of its key ingredients, aged garlic, which it imports from Spain. It was held up at customs, tested in the UK, sent back to manufacturers in Hungary, and then held up again, which had a knock-on effect on production. Tonic Health's Sunna van Kampen said Brexit could seriously stifle growth for the firm Founder, Sunna van Kampen, said: 'This meant we missed timings of our launch with Sainsburys, damaged our relationship with them and delayed our new product landing on shelves which will mean thousands in lost sales. 'While trade is still tariff-free for us as a small business of five people, we are facing extra work dealing with the extra red tape, paperwork and chasing delayed deliveries. 'So far there has only been added admin with absolutely no upside. This has the potential to really stifle our growth if things don't improve.' In the mean time, Tonic Health has had to employ a customs agent at extra cost to deal with the difficulties, and is exploring ways to minimise trading internationally as it cant handle the administration at the moment. Sunna added: 'We've just lost access to our largest market which means we will have to look elsewhere for growth. 'Its simply not feasible to have a VAT registration in every EU country. While the impact of this isnt clear yet due to Covid, once it has all blown over, I believe well be looking at a smaller UK, with stagnant growth.' '2021 will be a bumpy road' Despite still drowning in paperwork, desperate to get his deliveries safely in his cafe, Hubert said he now has an idea of what needs to be done though it will take some time getting used to. 'I think more or less we have an idea of what we have to do,' he said. 'We know all the codes and we are working on opening our own deferral account. 'But I wouldnt be surprised if we see several more hiccups for the next three to six months at least. 2021 will definitely be a bumpy road for small businesses.' Commenting on news this week that the hospitality sector will be the last to emerge out of lockdown, Hubert said he is very disappointed. Kipferl still has several items stuck in transit He disagrees that restaurants, many of which had spent money to put strict Covid measures in place, are hubs for spreading the virus as the Government has previously claimed. But unfortunately he feels the UK's hospitality industry is not regarded as highly as it should be, despite the value it adds to the economy. He added: 'If I look at how other countries, such as Austria or Germany, have treated restaurants, I feel very frustrated. Initiatives like replacing a percentage of turnover have made it much easier for businesses there to survive and prepare to reopen. 'We definitely need more support to survive, a clearer and better framework on how to deal with landlords and rent arrears and clearer communication on when and how we are able to reopen. 'When we are finally allowed to, we look forward to welcoming back our regular customers as well as the new ones we have gained online. We hope they will celebrate with a nice piece of Austrian cake and toast with a glass of one of our fine Austrian wines!' The process to develop a series of new Regional Enterprise Plans will commence today (Tuesday, February 23) when Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Robert Troy TD meets virtually with the Regional Steering Committee for the Midlands region (Laois, Longford, Offaly, Westmeath). Over the coming weeks, Minister Troy and his Departmental colleague Minister Damien English will engage with the other eight Regional Committees around the country with a view to developing a new series of Regional Enterprise Plans which it is hoped will create the conditions for entrepreneurs to start and scale their businesses, encourage new investment and business growth, and lead to increased employment in every region. Minister for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Robert Troy, T.D. said: I am delighted to begin this engagement today with the Midlands region. The Midlands Regional Enterprise Plan Steering Committee, chaired by Dr Anne Cusack, MD Critical Healthcare, has overseen a very successful Plan over the past two years. With the challenges facing us, it is timely to reassess and repurpose the regional plans so that we can ensure sustainable economic recovery and continue to build on each regions strengths and opportunities for the benefit of local businesses and communities. Minister for Business, Employment and Retail, Damien English, T.D said: Achieving balanced regional development is a key objective of Government and these Plans, with the emphasis on local collaboration, enable regional stakeholders to work together on initiatives that address known vulnerabilities and deliver on unique opportunities. The coming months will allow local stakeholders to engage fully in developing a jobs-led economic recovery post pandemic that will ensure the best outcomes for their own Region. The process commencing today will see new Regional Enterprise Plans developed for each region which will cover the period through to 2024. The Plans are based on a bottom-up collaborative approach, involving development agencies, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, Local Enterprise Offices, Local Authorities, higher and further education bodies and businesses. Each Regional Committee is chaired by a senior figure from industry within the region. Because of their regional nature, the Plans bring a focus and collaborative effort to address specific regional ecosystem gaps and act on the strengths and opportunities unique to each region, adding value to and complementing the ongoing work of the individual enterprise agencies and development bodies in the region. The Committees will consider emerging opportunities and challenges facing their regions including Brexit, recovery from Covid-19, remote working, climate action and just transition. A new National Oversight Group, chaired by Ministers Troy and English, will be established to oversee firstly the development of the new Plans and then to monitor their implementation at National level through until 2024. The new Regional Enterprise Plans are expected to be launched in Q3 2021. Opinion Article 23 February 2021 I once made sixty to eighty visits per year to the Crowne Plaza at the airport. Then they dropped to about five. Advertisements During a recent visit I noticed a printed handout on a bedside table, a long list of clinics and doctors which the reader was invited to peruse. Given a list, guests tend to call the first number first and then work down. My name was sixth. When consulted, hotel lawyers always forbid staff from recommending a doctor. Should a guest ask, they insist that an employee silently hand over a list, the longer the better. In this way, when the guest sues the doctor, he or she won't sue the hotel. Lawyers admit that this doesn't work, but they can't help themselves. Told to make up a list, employees take the easy route by consulting the internet where they find clinics, local practices, and entrepreneurial physicians who charge spectacular fees. They won't find me except on my blog, so it's a crapshoot where on the list I'll end up. Having produced the list, management forgets about it. Lists always contains doctors and clinics that don't make housecalls. As time passes, some numbers no longer work; for the rest, guests who want to speak to a doctor end up speaking to an answering service or receptionist. It might take years for calls to return to normal, but I am patient. Over the past days, Texans went trending over what they call as 'fake snow' during the massive snow storm, happened last week. Videos on different social media platforms, especially on TikTok, were posted related to this conspiracy theory. The theory suggests that the government or even Microsoft founder Bill Gates, formulated 'fake snow' to rain in Texas. Here's how experts explain it. 'Texas fake snow'? If you have been active on TikTok, you might probably bump in one of the Texans videos, showing them holding a snowball on their palms, while heating it with lighter. The heat coming from the lighter is put below the ice, to show whether it will melt or not. Most videos show that the snowball isn't melting-- like any ordinary ice, instead, the snowball is turning into a burnt metal piece with black color. RELATED ARTICLE: Snowmen in Salt Lake City Make a Case About Climate Change Texans are reporting that the SNOW WONT MELT. pic.twitter.com/AclPqZOyNo SixBrownChicks (@SixBrownChicks) February 20, 2021 --- I am obsessed with idiots in Texas thinking the snow is fake and a government plot pic.twitter.com/7F0hsLB3hB B.W. Carlin (@BaileyCarlin) February 22, 2021 --- The two videos, above, mentioned that billionaire and Microsoft founder Bill Gates is the one behind this conspiracy plot. Even US President Joe Biden was mentioned in some videos, saying that he planned Texans to experience the horrible snow storm. The real truth behind 'fake snow' theory First off, Gates has no connections in the said theory. Some even called him as the 'scapegoat' whenever people have weird theories in their mind. Second, the explanation behind the 'not melting' snowball under heat, is a simple science. This is happening due to a process called 'sublimation.' Science writer Phil Plait explained this theory, way back in 2014. "As the snow melts, the remaining snow absorbs the water. That's why it doesn't appear to drip; the snowball becomes a slushball," he said. "Lots of people made videos showing the snowball not dripping so it looks like it's not actually melting, but this is a classic case of confirmation bias. They only tested this part way; they didn't finish the test by letting the snowball actually melt!" As explanation for the black marks on the snowball, Plait said that the color is a reaction from the lighter itself. The material has called butane, which is a hydrocarbon, a molecule made up of carbon and hydrogen. Now, that's the explanation of it. ALSO READ: Prehistoric Animal Viruses From the Permafrost Caught Interest of Russian Scientists Authorities announced Monday that a teenager and man have been indicted in connection with the killing of 17-year-old Christian Vines in his car in Stoughton last year, marking four total arrests made so far in the case. Vines, a Randolph teen, was killed inside his parked car outside 31 Jones Terrace the afternoon of July 21. Police were sent to the scene around 3 p.m. after fielding 911 calls about gunshots in the area. There, they found the 17-year-old boy mortally wounded in the drivers seat of a silver Honda sedan, according to Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrisseys office. Following months of investigation, Stoughton and Massachusetts State Police detectives Monday night arrested a 17-year-old Brockton teen and 22-year-old Stoughton man in connection with the fatal shooting last summer, Morrisseys office said in a statement. The 17-year-old teen was arrested at his home after being indicted Monday on a murder charge by a Norfolk County Grand Jury. He may be arraigned as early as Tuesday in Norfolk Superior Court, according to the statement from the district attorneys office. His name, and possibly details relative to his involvement, will become public at that arraignment, the statement said. The 22-year-old man, Tyleke Curry, had previously been arrested and arraigned on a charge of accessory after the fact of the murder and had pleaded not guilty in Norfolk Superior Court. He was indicted Monday on a charge of accessory before the fact of the murder, according to Morrisseys-office. Jaylen Wallace, who was 17 and a juvenile at the time of the shooting, was also arrested and arraigned on a murder charge last year. Wallace, who will turn 18 in a few months, pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail, the prosecutors office said. State Police detectives assigned to the Norfolk District Attorneys office and Stoughton Police have poured a great deal of effort and dedication into this investigation, Morrissey said in his offices statement. Working with Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Blair as she conducted the grand jury investigation, the Stoughton Police were excellent partners in this. Tonights arrests do not blunt the senseless loss of Christian Vines, but they are an important step forward. In his obituary, Vines was remembered as a kind-hearted and respectful person to everyone he came across. His mother constantly heard people say how they would have such positive interactions with him whenever they saw him and how polite he was. He was very popular with his friends and cousins and enjoyed spending time with them, the obituary read. Editors note: This article has been updated to reflect the correct age of Jaylen Wallace. Related Content: Aspen, CO (81611) Today Clouds and some sun this morning with more clouds for this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 64F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Clear to partly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 39F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. CHICAGO, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Uptake announced that it has signed a partnership agreement with Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT), (BSE: 507685), (NSE: WIPRO), a leading global information technology, consulting and business process company, to deliver industrial intelligence for the utilities, chemical processing, and oil and gas industries. The partnership merges Uptake's advanced analytics software with Wipro's consulting and implementation services to equip asset-intensive operators with the digital tools for optimized maintenance and predictive analytics. "Integrating multiple data sources and generating actionable insights are essential for businesses to grow and become intelligent enterprises. By combining Wipro's experience in reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) and asset performance management (APM) with Uptake's proprietary Asset Strategy Library (ASL), we will help heavy processing and energy customers optimize their inspection and maintenance processes. We look forward to working with our joint customers to realize improvements in safety, asset reliability, risk mitigation and reduce overall cost," said Arnab Sarkar, Global Head, Energy Manufacturing Practice, Wipro Limited. The Asset Strategy Library (ASL), the world's largest source of asset failure modes and maintenance strategies, covers 800+ of the most common critical assets with 58,000+ universal failure modes and 178,000+ as-found reportable conditions. The ASL delivers insights into how and why critical assets and their components fail, and the preventative maintenance (PM) strategies to prevent failures. The ASL, and its associated equipment strategies generated through Uptake PM Strategy Explorer, give operators access to expert-curated recommendations and best practices. Both components, in turn, power the maintenance strategy engine, Uptake Compass, which automatically cleans work order data to optimize maintenance programs. "Asset-heavy companies are facing complex challenges in legacy OT & IT systems, sustainability issues, and skill shortages that can be managed with predictive maintenance," said Andrew Soignier, Vice President of Product Development at Uptake. "Uptake's partnership with Wipro will facilitate the easeful adoption and use of our advanced analytics products by corporations around the world." Uptake's partnership with Wipro comes as the Industrial AI company recently announced its acquisition of ShookIOT, a leader in cloud-native data integration and integrity, as well as its partnership with Reliability Center, Inc. (RCI), a provider of root cause analysis investigation software. ABOUT UPTAKE Uptake is the intelligence system for industrial assets. Providing an AI-driven asset performance management solution, Uptake gives all departments maintenance, reliability, and operations teams a single, shared view of every asset in an operation. With the power of data acquisition and artificial intelligence (AI), Uptake helps customers predict and prevent asset failures and unplanned downtime. Driven by powerful data science models, our products deliver insights that mitigate risk, optimize maintenance strategy and asset performance, reduce costs, and enhance safety. With 30+ patents and recognized for leadership in industrial IoT (IIoT) by the World Economic Forum, CNBC and Forbes, Uptake is headquartered in Chicago with presence in Canada, South America, Europe, India, and Australia. To stay up-to-date on what we're doing, visit us at www.uptake.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. ABOUT WIPRO Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT), (BSE: 507685), (NSE: WIPRO) is a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company. We harness the power of cognitive computing, hyper-automation, robotics, cloud, analytics, and emerging technologies to help our clients adapt to the digital world and make them successful. A company recognized globally for its comprehensive portfolio of services, strong commitment to sustainability and good corporate citizenship, we have over 180,000 dedicated employees serving clients across six continents. Together, we discover ideas and connect the dots to build a better and a bold new future. For more information, visit www.wipro.com. CONTACT Bob Francis, VP of Marketing & Analyst Relations [email protected]; 312-242-2200 SOURCE Uptake Related Links http://uptake.com/ New Delhi: Delhi Police Crime Branch has arrested two key accused from Jammu in connection with the Republic Day violence at the historic Red Fort. One of the two accused arrested by the Delhi Police is Mohinder Singh, 45, from Satbari, Jammu. He is the president of the Kashmir United Front organisation and a key conspirator in the riot case at the Red Fort. The second accused is Mandeep Singh from Gole Gujral, Jammu, police said. Delhi Police Crime Branch has arrested two key wanted accused from Jammu, in connection with 26th January violence at Red Fort pic.twitter.com/1xfrJtrY0u ANI (@ANI) February 23, 2021 They have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including 308, 395, 120B and 25/27 Arms Act. The Delhi Police informed that they were apprehended with the active support of the Jammu and Kashmir Police. On Monday, Delhi Police had arrested Jaspreet Singh, who was seen climbing one of the tombs located at the Red Fort during the violence on Republic Day. On Republic Day, protestors did not follow the prearranged route and broke barricades to enter Delhi, clashed with police, and vandalised property in several parts of the national capital during the farmers` tractor rally. They also entered the Red Fort and unfurled their flags from its ramparts. Live TV New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/22/2021 -- Increasing research activities and funding in the field of epigenetics, rising prevalence of target diseases/disorders, reduced sequencing time, and increasing geriatric population are key factors contributing to high CAGR of epigenetics market during the forecast period. The global Epigenetics market was valued at USD 8.03 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 21.62 billion by the year 2027, delivering a CAGR of 13.1%. Epigenetics refers to changes in gene activity without altering the DNA sequence, the changes being transmittable to daughter cells. Epigenetic processes are natural and essential for the functioning of many organisms, but odd occurrences can prove to be a source of various disorders, including different kinds of cancers, reproductive illnesses, cardiovascular illnesses, etc. In addition to this, behavioral changes and changes in mental state are also observed on account of epigenetic changes. The Epigenetics Market Report 2027 published by Reports and Data to its ever expanding database covers critical data about the technological evolution, market share, market size, current and emerging trends, growth opportunities, current market situation, government regulations, limitations, threats, and challenges of the market. The report is an all-inclusive document covering the impacts of COVID-19 on the economy as well as demand of the market. The report provides a study of the present as well as future impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the overall market. The study also benefits the players by providing a concise and effective strategy to strengthen their footing in the market. Get a sample of the report @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/sample-enquiry-form/2079 The competitive landscape of the market offers significant insight into the key market players operating in the Epigenetics market. The segment covers market share, product portfolio, pricing analysis, and strategic business decisions taken by each market player. The report also includes the strategic steps and initiatives undertaken by the companies to combat the impact of the pandemic. The major companies explored in the report are Illumina (U.S.), Thermo Fisher Scientific (U.S.), Merck Millipore (U.S.), Abcam (U.K.), Active Motif (U.S.), Bio-Rad Laboratories (U.S.), New England Biolabs (U.S.), Agilent (U.S.), QIAGEN (Netherlands), Zymo Research (U.S.), PerkinElmer (U.S.), and Diagenode (Belgium). The report offers a comprehensive study of the regional bifurcation of the market and provides insightful data about the regulatory framework, current and emerging market trends, opportunities, supply-demand ratio, production and consumption volume, and the import/export ratio in each region. It also evaluates the presence of each market player in the region and strategic initiatives taken by the companies to gain a robust presence in the region. The regional segmentation covers country-wise analysis of the market and includes: North America (U.S., Canada, Mexico) Europe (U.K., Italy, Germany, France, Rest of EU) Asia Pacific (India, Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, Rest of APAC) Latin America (Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Rest of Latin America) Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabi a, U.A.E., South Africa, Rest of MEA) Request customization of the report @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/request-customization-form/2079 The research report on the global Epigenetics market offers extensive analysis of the product spectrum and application scope of the business landscape. Based on the product type, the Epigenetics market is split into: Product Outlook (Revenue in USD Million; 20172027) Reagents Kits Chip sequencing kit Whole Genomic Amplification kit Bisulfite Conversion kit RNA sequencing kit Others Instruments Enzymes Services Technology Outlook (Revenue in USD Million; 20172027) DNA Methylation Histone Methylation Histone Acetylation Large non - coding RNA MicroRNA modification Chromatin structures Application Outlook (Revenue in USD Million; 20172027) Oncology Solid tumors Liquid tumors Non - oncology Inflammatory diseases Metabolic diseases Infectious diseases Cardiovascular diseases Others End Use Outlook (Revenue in Million USD; 20172027) Academic and Research Institutes Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Companies Contract Research Organizations (CROs) Key findings of the report: - Historical and current trends of the market - Factors likely to influence the dynamics of the market - Growth assessment of various market segments throughout the forecast period - Regional and global analysis of the market players including their market share, revenue contribution, and global position - Growth strategies adopted by key market players to combat the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the market - Impact of the technological developments and R&D advancements on the Epigenetics market - Strategic recommendations to the established market players and emerging companies To know more about the report, visit @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/report-detail/epigenetics-market Table of Content: Chapter 1. Market Synopsis 1.1. Market Definition 1.2. Research Scope & Premise 1.3. Methodology 1.4. Market Estimation Technique Chapter 2. Executive Summary 2.1. Summary Snapshot, 2019 2027 Chapter 3. Indicative Metrics 3.1. Increasing geriatric population 3.2. Rising prevalence of cancer 3.3. Reducing sequencing time Chapter 4. Epigenetics Segmentation & Impact Analysis 4.1. Epigenetics Segmentation Analysis 4.2. Epigenetics Market Value Chain Analysis, 2017-2027 4.3. Regulatory framework 4.4. Epigenetics Market Impact Analysis 4.5. Key opportunities prioritized 4.6. Epigenetics Pricing Analysis 4.7. Industry analysis - Porter's 4.8. Epigenetics PESTEL Analysis Continue. To summarize, the report provides insightful data regarding every aspect of the market to enable the players to gain a competitive edge. The report comprises of data and information gathered from extensive primary and secondary research and is validated and verified by industry experts and professionals. The data provides reliable statistics for the period of 2020-2027 organized in the form of tables, charts, graphs, diagrams, and other graphical representations. Thank you for reading our report. The report can be customized as per requirement. Please get in touch with us for further inquiry and we will ensure you get the report best suited for your needs. Have a Look at Related Reports: Urinalysis Market Manufacturers Medical Waste Management Market Demand Structural Biology and Molecular Modeling Market Overview Sepsis Diagnostics Industry Revenue About Reports and Data Reports and Data is a market research and consulting company that provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. Our solutions purely focus on your purpose to locate, target and analyze consumer behavior shifts across demographics, across industries and help client's make a smarter business decision. We offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a multiple industries including Healthcare, Technology, Chemicals, Types, and Energy. We consistently update our research offerings to ensure our clients are aware about the latest trends existent in the market. Contact Us: John W Head of Business Development Reports And Data | Web: www.reportsanddata.com Direct Line: +1-212-710-1370 E-mail: sales@reportsanddata.com UNICEF unveils 'Pandemic Classroom' at United Nations Headquarters in New York to call attention to the need for governments to prioritize the reopening of schools NEW YORK and TORONTO, March 2, 2021 /CNW/ - Schools for more than 168 million children globally have been completely closed for almost an entire year due to COVID-19 lockdowns, according to new data released today. Furthermore, around 214 million children globally or 1 in 7 have missed more than three-quarters of their in-person learning. The longer schools close and the more in-person learning is disrupted, the more severe the impacts will be, said UNICEF Canada. UNICEF unveils Pandemic Classroom at United Nations Headquarters in New York to call attention to the need for governments to prioritize the reopening of schools. (CNW Group/Canadian Unicef Committee) "Children and youth cannot afford another year of disruptions to their education," said David Morley, President and CEO of UNICEF Canada. "Getting young people back to school and keeping them in school safely must be a national and global priority. Children's right to education and their futures are at risk. The longer some children stay out of the school, the greater the risk that they will never return even if schools are re-opened." School closures have devastating consequences for children's learning and well-being. The most vulnerable children and those unable to access remote learning, such as refugee and displaced children and girls, are at an increased risk of never returning to the classroom, and even being forced into child marriage or child labour. According to latest data by UNESCO, more than 888 million children worldwide continue to face disruptions to their education due to full and partial school closures. In addition to learning, the majority of schoolchildren worldwide also rely on their schools as a place where they can interact with their peers, seek support, access health and immunization services and a nutritious meal, and be protected from exploitation and violence. The longer schools remain closed, the longer children are cut off from these critical elements of childhood. Story continues UNICEF Canada is calling on the Government of Canada to adopt an agenda for global COVID-19 recovery that includes children's education, nutrition, health and protection, recognizing the critical role schools play in ensuring all of these aspects of children's right to childhood. To call attention to the education emergency and raise awareness about the need for governments to keep schools open, UNICEF today unveiled 'Pandemic Classroom,' a model classroom made up of 168 empty desks, each desk representing the million children living in countries where schools have been almost entirely closed a solemn reminder of the classrooms in every corner of the world that remain empty. "This classroom represents the millions of centers of learning that have sat emptymany for almost the entire year. Behind each empty chair hangs an empty backpacka placeholder for a child's deferred potential," said Henrietta Fore UNICEF Executive Director. "We do not want shuttered doors and closed buildings to obscure the fact that our children's futures are being put on indefinite pause. This installation is a message to governments: we must prioritize reopening schools, and we must prioritize reopening them better than they were before." To help protect the right to an education for every child, UNICEF is also calling for all governments to prioritize teachers and education workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine after frontline health workers and other high-risk populations to help protect teachers from community transmission and keep schools open. "Thousands of Canadians including young people are sending a clear message that providing safe, in-person schooling to children and young people in Canada and around the world must be a priority in the COVID-19 pandemic response," said Morley. UNICEF Canada is encouraging Canadians to protect teachers and the right to education by visiting unicef.ca/protect-teachers and signing their action. Notes to editors UNICEF's Framework for Reopening Schools, issued jointly with UNESCO, UNHCR, WFP and the World Bank, offers practical advice for national and local authorities. Download multimedia content here. Access the report and database here. About UNICEF UNICEF is the world's leading humanitarian organization focused on children. We work in the most challenging areas to provide protection, healthcare and immunizations, education, safe water and sanitation and nutrition. As part of the United Nations, our unrivaled reach spans more than 190 countries and territories, ensuring we are on the ground to help the most disadvantaged children. While part of the UN system, UNICEF relies entirely on voluntary donations to finance our life-saving work. Please visit unicef.ca and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. SOURCE Canadian Unicef Committee Cision View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2021/02/c7537.html That release could not be found. Attorney General nominee Judge Merrick Garland faced repeated questions Monday about the John Durham probe into alleged FBI misconduct but avoided being pinned down by Republicans who wanted him to pledge he would continue it. A series of Republicans sought assurances from President Joe Biden's nominee about whether he would allow continuation of the probe that began under Attorney General Bill Barr, who outlined his own sweeping views of executive power and proceeded to infuriate Democrats with his handling of the Mueller probe. Garland at his confirmation hearing conveyed to senators that he backed the Biden team's decision to keep Durham and his probe in place, even as a host of other U.S. Attorneys were dismissed at the start of the administration. Attorney General nominee Merrick Garland expressed agreement with the decision to continue the Durham probe into alleged FBI misconduct, but fell short of commitments Republicans sought Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) was among those who sought to get Garland to commit to supporting Durham's probe of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. 'Sitting here today I have no reason to think that that was not the correct decision' to keep Durham's probe in place, Garland responded. Pressed on whether he meant Durham would only be removed for cause, Garland refused to commit: 'I really do have to have an opportunity to talk with him.' 'I dont have any reason from what I know now to make any determination on that ground,' he explained. 'But I dont have any reason to think that he should not remain in place.' He made similar efforts to avoid getting down when questioned by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who pressed him on whether Durham would get the time, staff and resources he needs. There were a series of published reports that President Trump wanted Durham to release information from his investigation before the November election in the kind of 'political interference' Garland was asked to forswear at the hearing. 'It's because I'm sitting here and I don't have any information about what he needs, in his resources and the allocation of resources. Everything I know sitting here suggests he should of course have those resources,' he said. Bill Barr named John Durham a special counsel. His probe of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation continues Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) was among several Republicans who sought assurances that Garland would preserve the Durham probe and provide resources to it Sen. Ted Cruz (D-TX) claimed Garland was preserving the option to terminate the probe President Donald Trump, pictured Thursday, continues to rail against the Russia probe 'I have to know the facts before I can make those kinds of decisions,' he said. 'I don't know what went into his consideration.' 'But as I said, I have no reason to doubt that the decision to keep him in place and the continuing in his investigation was in any way wrong.' Barr created the probe following an inspector general's report on the origins of the Russia probe, which President Trump railed about as a 'witch hunt.' Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who has taken political heat for his backing of challenging certified votes during the electoral count, called the Durham probe 'highly political' and said it 'potentially implicates Joe Biden and Barack Obama,' and pressed him on his refusal to commit to continue it. 'You want to keep the options open to terminate the investigation.' 'I'm not refusing to give that commitment because I am a judge. I'm telling you what I think an attorney general ought to do, which is to look at the facts before making a decision,' he told him. He said he would 'never' make a decision based on politics or partisanship. At the conclusion of the hearing, Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois addressed the matter, 'since it appeared , reappeared, and then appeared again.' He noted that when the administration reported its policy on U.S. attorneys, it made exceptions for Durham and the U.S. attorney in Delaware who began an investigation into Hunter Biden, another sensitive matter. Then he took a dig at Barr that Garland was unwilling to make. 'We do remember that he wrote an unsolicited memo questioning the legitimacy of the Mueller investigation, before he was under active consideration for the office of attorney general,' he said. Former Attorney General Bill Barr designated Durham as a special counsel before leaving office. Durham is remaining in that post even as he relinquishes his U.S. Attorney post along with other Trump appointees. Denton, TX (76205) Today Thunderstorms - a few could contain very heavy rain, especially this afternoon. High 79F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 2 to 3 inches of rain expected. Locally heavier rainfall possible.. Tonight Thunderstorms this evening will give way to steady rain overnight. Low 64F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. Locally heavier rainfall possible. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. (CNN) Consider the odds of your having been born: from the earliest stirrings of protohominid life the ones writer Arthur C. Clarke and director Stanley Kubrick imagined in "2001: A Space Odyssey" to the present, across untold generations. The odds against your being you are massive, while the odds for your being you are infinitesimal. It is one of the great wonders of the universe that here you are, alive on Earth, breathing the air. So it is with the stars, the planets with everything in the universe: The odds are always with nothingness and annihilation, and always against existence. It is remarkable and supremely unlikely that our planet survived the intense violence of the early solar system, though not without its dings: After all, one prominent theory holds, it was a collision with a body about the size of Mars that knocked the chunk of real estate called the Moon into our sky. Miraculously, Earth did survive, allowing life and eventually, our kind to evolve. And for as long as humans have been around, we have been fascinated by Mars, and more than a little fearful of it, too. Much of our popular literature and films about Mars, such as "War of the Worlds," "Invaders from Mars," and "Mars Attacks!," has supposed that there is life on the red planet but life that is markedly hostile to ours and out to get us. Martian fantasies The widespread presupposition that there is life on Mars is fairly recent. It can be traced to the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli, who mapped the planet in 1877 and bestowed on its regions aspirational names such as Elysium, Eden and Utopia. Schiaparelli believed that he could detect oceans on the planet's surface, as well as canals that, he supposed, were made by beings with knowledge of engineering. Percival Lowell, an Arizona-based astronomer, did Schiaparelli better around 1895, believing that he could make out an elaborate irrigation system that required an advanced civilization to build. Popular culture soon caught up to that science, especially through the pen of Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose John Carter novels imagined that a time portal connected Earth and "Barsoom," or Mars, allowing easy movement between the two. When Carter traveled there in the second volume, "The Gods of Mars" (1914), he encountered this watery scene: "To my left the sea extended as far as the eye could reach, before me only a vague, dim line indicated its further shore, while at my right a mighty river, broad, placid and majestic, flowed between the scarlet banks to empty into the quiet sea before me." Burroughs's Mars was very much like our Earth, with all its struggles for power and wealth, and Burroughs had a good explanation for why the planet had no evident water on the surface: Its inhabitants had diverted it to underground waterways, to protect it from evaporation and hide it from one another. Most of Barsoom, he wrote, was instead covered by moss that grew in the dead sea bottoms that stretched across the planet. A few hidden valleys harbored forests and marshes, as well as warring kingdoms once rich in agricultural and mineral treasures that are foolish enough to do each other in -- and kill their planet in the bargain. A home away from home As recently as the 1960s, it was assumed that Mars had life. Only with the arrival of NASA's Mariner 4 mission in 1965 did we finally come to think of Mars as a definitively dead planet, the flybys showing a surface battered by meteoritic cratering and without the slightest hint of living things. Far from Eden, Mars was a kind of cold hell, gasping its last even as Earth was taking its first gulps of oxygenated breath. That's the Mars that Mark Watney finds in Andy Weir's brilliant 2011 "The Martian." Apart from the plants he grows he's an accomplished botanist he's the sole life form on the red planet, having been lost in a howling sandstorm and abandoned by his fellow explorers. Eminently resourceful, he manages to keep himself alive, but not without plenty of close scrapes. The odds are emphatically against him, he knows: "If the oxygenator breaks down, I'll suffocate," he says. "If the water reclaimer breaks down, I'll die of thirst. If the Hab (the Mars Lander Habitat) breaches, I'll just kind of explode. If none of those things happen, I'll eventually run out of food and starve to death." Even with such risks, talk is increasingly turning to the colonization of Mars, now a very real prospect that was once the province of fiction. Kim Stanley Robinson's 1990s "Mars Trilogy," made up of the novels "Red Mars," "Green Mars" and "Blue Mars," posits that soon in 2026, to be exact we'll begin that colonization, bringing Mars back to life through terraforming and creating an oxygenated atmosphere. The trilogy is also refreshingly utopian, unlike the usual gloomy stance of much Mars-set fiction, in that Robinson imagines how by remaking the planet, we'll become better, more equitable people, welcoming strangers into our midst and founding a true Eden on high. For his part, Elon Musk, the inventor and entrepreneur, has announced preliminary plans to fund a colony of at least 80,000 settlers, which puts us squarely into the territory of Ray Bradbury, the science fiction writer whose 1950 novel "The Martian Chronicles" envisions a sort of suburban Earth transposed to Mars. The only problem is that Martians are already there, and when humans land on the red planet in the then-distant year of 1999, it doesn't take long for the Martians to hunt them down. The Earthlings have their revenge as Bradbury imagines a pandemic that wipes out the Martians, leaving the planet to a new breed of colonists who just may, Bradbury hints, have been a distant cousin to the vanished Martians. Musk's colonists will be flying on one-way tickets, unlike Weir's Mark Watney. And even if they were to have round-trip fare, whether they would have a planet worth coming home to is another matter. Bradbury's book ends with the folks back home nuking themselves into oblivion as surely as Burroughs' Barsoomians did. His is far from the only novel to imagine a ruined home planet, a trope that's becoming ever more common as, indeed, we befoul the one nest we now have. As science fiction vehicles such as "Elysium" and "Blade Runner" have instructed us, Earth is a place we'll be lucky to leave. This story was first published on CNN.com Why the red planet captures our imagination in movies and books Former President Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen have joined forces for a new podcast on Spotify titled Renegades: Born in the USA. ADVERTISEMENT Spotify announced the eight-episode series on Monday during its Stream On event and released the first two installments. Obama and Springsteen will sit down to discuss race, fatherhood, marriage and the future of the United States. "How did we get here? How could we find our way back to a more unifying American story?" Obama asks in the introduction of the first episode. "That topic came to dominate so many of my conversations last year - with Michelle, with my daughters and with friends. And one of the friends just happened to be Mr. Bruce Springsteen. On the surface, Bruce and I don't have a lot in common. But over the years, what we've found is that we've got a shared sensibility. About work, about family and about America. In our own ways, Bruce and I have been on parallel journeys trying to understand this country that's given us both so much. Trying to chronicle the stories of its people. Looking for a way to connect our own individual searches for meaning in truth and community within the larger story of America," Obama continues. Obama and his wife Michelle Obama announced in 2019 that their production company Higher Ground, would partner with Spotify to produce exclusive podcasts. Renegades marks the second podcast launched through Spotify as part of the deal following The Michelle Obama Podcast. Higher Ground is also partnering with Netflix on the release of Micheal Keaton's new 9/11-themed film, Worth. The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Syracuse, N.Y. A firefighter was hurt battling an apartment building fire early today on Syracuses West Side. The large fire at 1624 West Genesee St. was reported shortly after 1 a.m., according to a news release from the Syracuse Fire Department. On arriving, firefighters found the building heavily involved with fire, officials said. Firefighters searched each apartment for trapped occupants. Crews encountered severe fire conditions on the second floor, and one firefighter was burned, officials said. The firefighter was treated at a hospital and later released, they said. It took more than 90 minutes to put out the fire. All residents of the building were able to escape without injury, although a family dog died, officials said. The fire caused significant damage to the building. The American Red Cross is assisting the displaced tenants with shelter and other needs. Fire investigators are working to determine the origin and cause of the fire. The building was equipped with working smoke detectors, officials said. The apartment building, built in 1950, had 10 apartments, according to Onondaga County real estate records. It is owned by Always In Motion, LLC, 313 Arch Stone Way, Camillus. AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas Realtors recognized outstanding members and local Realtor associations during its annual Texas Realtors Winter Meeting, which took place virtually Feb. 16-18. "Last year was an unprecedented year in Texas real estate," said Marvin Jolly, chairman of Texas Realtors. "This past year, Realtors in the Lone Star State went above and beyond to support their communities, elevate our industry and impact the lives of their clients. These awards are a testament to the resiliency of Realtors, particularly during these challenging times." The 2020 Texas Realtor of the Year, the most prestigious honor awarded annually to a member who has made outstanding contributions to the industry throughout their career, was presented to Shad Bogany of Houston. Bogany has volunteered for decades and served in many leadership roles to benefit Realtors, the real estate industry, and Texas real estate consumers. He previously served as chairman of Texas Realtors in 2013 and chairman of the Houston Association of Realtors in 2002. The Tom D. Morton Association Executive of the Year awardgiven to Realtor association executives with a long track record of service to their local associationwas presented to Connie Coots, CEO of the Odessa Board of Realtors. Coots worked with local leaders during the pandemic to ensure that real estate transactions could still proceed safely and led an initiative to make over 200 masks for the city's fire and rescue workers. Coots was also honored with the Tom D. Morton Association Executive of the Year award in 2005. Sydney Ealy of Houston received the Texas Realtor Good Neighbor Award, which honors a Realtor who has demonstrated outstanding community involvement and volunteerism. Ealy was specifically recognized for her charity, Twist for Girls, a nonprofit established for youths age 11 to 17, to discover and achieve their goals through one-to-one mentorship, life skills development, career exposure and cultural experiences at no cost to the children who participate. Candace (Candy) Cooke of Round Rock was named the 2020 Educator of the Year. Cooke is a senior instructor for Real Property Counselors and teaches Texas Realtors and National Association of Realtors certification and designation courses. She has paved the way for how education now operates in Texas in the COVID-19 pandemic, having taught over 300 classes virtually with more than 6,800 students in 2020. Alison Blalock of WestMark Commercial/TNC Worldwide received the 2020 William C. Jennings Award for the outstanding commercial real estate transaction of the year. The award is based on the transaction's contribution to the community, merit and creativity, and application of commercial principles. The winning transaction transformed unusable office space into 89 affordable housing units in one of Lubbock's most historic buildings, Metro Tower. The tower had been mostly uninhabited since a devasting tornado damaged the building in 1970. The Austin Board of Realtors received the 2020 Mark Lehman Governmental Affairs Achievement Award. The honor recognizes a local Realtor association that has demonstrated excellence in fundraising, grassroots involvement and other local initiatives for the year. The Texas Realtors Grassroots Advocate of the Year award was presented to Lee Overstreet of the Granbury Association of Realtors for his support on two successful campaigns for Realtor-supported candidates including state Rep. Glenn Rogers in Texas House District 60 and U.S. Rep. August Pfluger. The Texas Realtors Grassroots Advocate of the Year award honors one individual from the year's full list of Texas Realtors Strike Force Award winners. Finally, Texas Realtors honored two local associations that launched innovative programs and educational courses that kept Realtors up to date with legal, marketing and industry trends. The Education Program of the Year awards were given to: MetroTex Association of Realtors in the legal category MetroTex Association of Realtors in the series or short program category Houston Association of Realtors in the marketing category Houston Association of Realtors in the innovation category About Texas REALTORS With more than 140,000 members, Texas REALTORS is a professional membership organization that represents all aspects of real estate in Texas. We are the advocates for REALTORS and private property rights in Texas. Visit texasrealestate.com to learn more. CONTACT: Morgan Moritz, [email protected] SOURCE Texas Realtors DUBLIN, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Special Mission Aircraft Market by Platform (Military Aviation, Commercial Aviation, UAV), by Application (ISR, Command and Control, Combat Support, Air-Launch/Rocket Launch) by Payload, by End-User, by Point of Sale, and by Region - Forecast to 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global special mission aircraft market size is projected to grow from USD 13.5 billion in 2020 to USD 18.3 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 6.2% from 2020 to 2025. The market is driven by various factors, such as increasing usage of UAVs in military operations, growing need for air-to-air refueling to support overseas deployment, and rise in demand for emergency medical service helicopters. The special mission aircraft market includes major players Boeing (US), Lockheed Martin (US), Dassault Aviation (France), Textron Aviation (US) and Northrop Grumman (US). These players have spread their business across various countries includes North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa, and South America. COVID-19 has impacted their businesses as well. Industry experts believe that COVID-19 could affect special mission aircraft production and services by 7-10% globally in 2020. The military aviation segment is expected to be the largest market by value. The growth of the military aviation segment of the special mission aircraft market can be attributed to the growing demand for special mission aircraft for usage in various special missions carried out by the military forces such as reconnaissance and surveillance operations. Based on application, the air-launch/rocket launch segment is projected to be the highest CAGR rate for the special mission aircraft market during the forecast period. These special mission aircraft are provided with capabilities to carry out missions related to releasing a rocket, missile, or other aircraft payloads. The payload is often tucked under the wing of the launch aircraft. Based on the payload type, the sensors segment is projected to be the highest CAGR rate for the special mission aircraft market during the forecast period. The optical sensors are used for military or law enforcement applications that include both visible and infrared sensors. EO/IR systems provide total situational awareness during day and night and in low light conditions. Many types of radar are used in aviation, such as area radars, surveillance radars, and approach radars. ELINT sensors support multiple operational applications such as ESM for situational awareness and real-time creation of EOB (Electronic Order of Battle), Early Warning, Passive Air Situation Picture, and in-depth analysis of the intercepted signals. Based on the end-user, the defense segment is projected to be the highest CAGR rate for the special mission aircraft market during the forecast period. Military special mission aircraft are used for ground attack missions, air-to-air combat, and maritime/naval attack by defense forces worldwide. Various federal law enforcement agencies around the world such as the National Security Agency (NSA) (US), Federal Security Service (FSB) (Russia), National Security Council (NSC) (India), and Ministry of State Security (MSS) (China), among others, are using special mission aircraft for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and border protection activities. North America is projected to be the largest regional share for the special mission aircraft market during the forecast period. The US is one of the largest developers, operators, and exporters of special mission aircraft and systems, globally, and thus accounts for a large share of the North American region in the global special mission aircraft market. North American countries it is home to prominent players manufacturing a wide range of technologically improved avionics systems and aircraft components. Leading aircraft manufacturers, such as the Boeing Company and Textron Inc., and major aircraft system and component manufacturers, such as Honeywell Aerospace, Inc., Collins Aerospace, UTC Aerospace Systems, Woodward, Inc., and Moog Inc., are headquartered in the US. As per the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the US was the leading military spender in 2019, at USD 732 billion, which was as much as the next eight top military spender countries in 2019. Military contracts acquired by US companies such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin have generated substantial revenue for this region in the market. Key Topics Covered: 1 Introduction 2 Research Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Premium Insights 5 Market Overview 6 Industry Trends 7 Special Mission Aircraft Market, by Platform 8 Special Mission Aircraft Market, by Application 9 Special Mission Aircraft Payload Market, by Type 10 Special Mission Aircraft Market, by End-User 11 Special Mission Aircraft Market, by Point of Sale 12 Regional Analysis 13 Competitive Landscape 14 Company Profiles Aerovironment, Inc. Airbus Se BAE Systems Bombardier Inc. Butler National Corporation Dassault Aviation Sa Elbit Systems Ltd. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation GVH Aerospace Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. L3 Harris Technologies, Inc. Leonardo Spa Lockheed Martin Corporation Lufthansa Technik Ag Northrop Grumman Corporation Pilatus Aircraft Ltd. Raytheon Technologies Corporation Ruag International Holding Ag Saab Ab Textron Aviation Inc. Thales Sa The Boeing Company Vox Space For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/nfgbgv About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com By Joe Guzzardi Presidential honeymoons have remarkably different lengths. President Barack Obama's honeymoon, at least with the press, began the day he announced his candidacy, Feb. 10, 2007, and the blissful union continues today. On the complete opposite end of the honeymoon spectrum is President Donald Trump, an impeachment target from before his inauguration in 2017 until February 2021, a month after he left office. Surprisingly, the polls show that President Joe Biden is, after only five weeks in the White House, having a rough go of it with the very Democrats that helped elect him. The Morning Consult poll, a partnership with the left-leaning journalism company Politico, found that several of Biden's Executive Orders especially those immigration-related are among the most unpopular with voters. Of the voters polled, only 45 percent support including illegal immigrants in the census, and only 46 percent approve halting the Trump administration's Remain in Mexico policy which the Biden administration has undone. Effective Feb. 19, the first of an eventual 25,000 migrants will begin entry into the United States. Others entered earlier and illegally were, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, caught and released with orders to appear in immigration court at a later date. Biden's lenient immigration policies have encouraged large migrant caravans to come north. As one of thousands of border-bound Hondurans told CNN, Biden is "going to help all of us" to become legal residents. When asked how the administration could refute the widely held perception that the 100 percent surge increases meant that migrants interpreted that the borders were open, an opinion Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador shares, White House press secretary Jen Psaki avoided giving a straightforward answer. The least popular among Biden's executive Oorders is his goal to expand refugee admission to 125,000 from President Trump's 15,000, a greater than 800 percent increase. Among those polled, 48 percent of voters somewhat or strongly oppose the president's plan to increase refugee resettlement in the upcoming fiscal year, while 39 percent support it. Summing up the Feb. 5-7 survey among 1,986 registered voters, and accounting for a 2 percent error margin, Morning Consult's Senior Editor Cameron Easley wrote that "Orders pertaining to immigration and immigrant rights constitute five of his seven least popular actions among voters, and are particularly animating for Republicans." As a result, Easley concluded, "immigration will be tricky political territory for the president." The nationwide apprehension about Biden's expansive immigration executive orders is easily understandable. At the border, COVID-untested migrants, their total as yet unknown, have been released into Texas, a development that Democratic state Sen. Juan Hinojosa called "very alarming." From Texas, many migrants enter other states' general populations, and could put those residents at risk. An anonymous Customs and Border Protection official told local reporters that as per a longstanding practice, when long-term holding solutions become impossible, "some migrants will be processed for removal, provided a Notice to Appear, and released into the U.S. to await a future immigration hearing." Without identifying catch and release, the anonymous CBP officer identified the process to a tee. Biden's proposed refugee intake increase has generated similar concerns about Americans' health and safety. Weaker screening and less vetting of international refugees could unnecessarily add to the domestic COVID crisis. Americans are puzzled at what the thought process may be behind Biden's urgency to liberalize immigration laws when there's no link to how his actions help the millions of economically distressed, employment-anxious citizens and lawfully present residents. Biden's immigration actions will expand the labor pool the Bureau of Labor Statistics employment-population ratio that measures the number of people employed against the total working-age population is a dismal 57.5 percent. Biden is urging Congress to pass amnesty that would legalize and provide lifelong valid work permission to millions of aliens, a big gamble for the new president. With only a five-seat margin in the House of Representatives, the Senate tied at 50-50, and with history showing that the mid-term elections cost the majority party about 25 seats, Biden could be, as the Morning Consult poll editor warned, plunging into cold and murky water. Joe Guzzardi ( .) is a Progressives for Immigration Reform analyst who has written about immigration for more than 30 years. This article was distributed by Cagle Cartoons Inc. On February 18, Julieta de Lima, long-time leading member of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and head of the partys peace negotiating team, delivered a speech to a summit of major church leaders in which she articulated the CPPs open embrace of the Catholic Church and its legacy of medieval barbarism in the country. Communist Party of the Philippines leader Jose Maria Sison (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File) She addressed a gathering of archbishops, bishops, religious superiors and prominent ministers assembled for the 9th Ecumenical Church Leaders Summit on Peace to commemorate 500 Years of Christianity in the Philippines. The event was sponsored by the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP) which is comprised of the powerful Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), the National Council of Churches and the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines. De Lima unreservedly adopted the language and dogma of Christianity. She approvingly quoted Pope Francis, telling the assembled bishops, The Lord has redeemed us all, all of us, with the blood of Christ, all of us, not just Catholics. She depicted the CPP as struggling for a just and enduring peace, and then dressed this up in the religious fatalism of medieval canon, Thomas a Kempis, declaring To me this means Man proposes and God disposes with the masses not only voicing the will of God but realizing it on earth. The Catholic Church, with its dogma of redemptive suffering and its apparatus of obscurantism, is one of the most exploitative institutions on the planet. The wealth of the church and the power of the pope are the product of nearly two millennia of theft, murder, conquest and counter-revolution. Few countries have suffered as greatly as a result of this history as the Philippines. The Communist Party of the Philippines, however, joined the assembled religious superiors in a celebration of this legacy. De Lima declared, As we celebrate 500 years of Christianity in the country, let us strive ever harder to uphold human dignity. She claimed that the Filipino people have adopted it [Christianity] as a redemptive and liberating moral force in the same manner as one type of society after another has adopted science and technology as a progressive factor in advancing civilization. Ferdinand Magellan arrived in what would become the Spanish colony of the Philippines in 1521. The CPP is joining the Catholic Church in celebrating the onset of colonial rule. Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines was exercised directly through the institutions of the church and the religious orders. Five hundred years of Christianity have been five hundred years of barbarism. The church systematically destroyed the existing native script, burning every instance they could find as satanic. Within two generations they had eradicated it and reduced the literate population to illiteracy. The priests deliberately maintained the population in a condition of ignorance to propagate their brand of salvation and inculcate submission in the colonized. The church relocated large sections of the population, forcing them to reside near the new church buildings, which were built with forced native labor. They also renamed the population, compelling them to adopt Christian surnames. They instructed them to fear hellfire in the afterlife and the whip of the priest in this one. They compelled the male population to carry out years of forced labor. The religious ordersDominicans, Franciscans, Jesuitsconfiscated land and consolidated it into vast plantations, becoming the largest landowners in the country, forcing their parishioners to pay rent for the use of the land that was stolen from them. During periods of social upheaval, the church directed the explosive class tensions in the colony against the Chinese population, scapegoating them as heathens. The church directly instigated repeated pogroms in which tens of thousands of long-time Chinese residents were murdered. The Catholic Church oversaw the suppression and exclusion of the Muslim population. For all of its rhetoric of the blood of Christ, it is with the blood of the colonized that the church is covered. When, in the 1890s, an anti-colonial revolution shook Spains hold on the Philippines, the great thinkers and leaders of this upheaval necessarily saw their energy directed above all against the Catholic Church. Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Apolinario Mabini, whatever their very real political limitations, were courageous and far-sighted. They sought to institute a secular government, separate church and state, and demanded the expulsion of the religious orders from the country and the seizure of church land. The church responded by overseeing the torture, imprisonment, and execution of revolutionaries. The revolution was betrayed by the Philippine elite and brutally suppressed by American imperialism. During the ensuing war of conquest waged by the United States, some of the Filipino forces formed an independent national church, whose founding documents repudiated the Virgin birth, the existence of angels and hell, and insisted that the earth was millions of years old and that life was the product of evolution. Three million Filipino peasants and workers joined the new church. It was US imperialism that restored the hold of the Catholic Church in the country and not any deep-seated Filipino belief. Recognizing its usefulness in maintaining order, the US restored the churchs lands and the power of the religious orders over the country. The Catholic Church continues its legacy of barbarism to this day. It holds profound sway over the supposedly secular state. Not only is abortion banned in the country, divorce is illegal. Birth control is not available from government health clinics; sex education is not a mandatory subject in schools. The church has perpetuated a medieval brutality in everyday life. It is because of the Catholic Church that sections of the population, particularly the peasantry, believe in magical amulets, dancing Sto Nino dolls, and anti-communist devotion to the Virgin Mary. Flagellants beat themselves bloody during Holy Week every year. Scores of people literally crucify themselves on Good Friday, and the local priest prays over the nails before they are driven into the wrists of the desperately poor, who hope their suffering will secure aid from the silent heavens. The rule of the Catholic Church in the Philippines is a marked demonstration of the fact that basic democratic measures have not yet been carried out. The country has not yet achieved secular governance, the separation of church and state, or the solution to the agrarian problem. The failure of the Philippine revolution of 1896 foreshadowed the fundamental problems of the twentieth century. Leon Trotsky, in his perspective of Permanent Revolution, demonstrated that the global development of capitalism meant that the national and democratic tasks of the revolution would be completed not by the capitalist class, but by the working class. In carrying out these measures, the working class would be compelled to infringe upon capitalist property relations and would thus implement socialist measures as well. The revolution could not remain within the confines of the nation-state; its survival required the spread of socialist revolution internationally. It was this perspective of Permanent Revolution that was adopted by Lenin in April 1917 and that served as the organizing program of the October revolution. Stalinism was the betrayal of the October Revolution and not its continuation. In the defense of their growing set of privileged interests, sections of the bureaucracy led by Stalin put forward the nationalist perspective of building Socialism in One Country. In furtherance of this perspective, they rehabilitated the old Menshevik perspective, rejected by Lenin and Trotsky, that in countries of belated capitalist development the tasks of the revolution were exclusively national and democratic in character, and not yet socialist. A section of the capitalist class, therefore, would play a progressive role and should be sought out as allies. In this way, the Stalinist bureaucracy used Communist Parties around the globe to conclude deals with sections of the ruling elite. The predecessor of the CPP, the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas (PKP), was founded on the program of Stalinism in 1930; the CPP continued its legacy. Both the PKP and the CPP subordinated the struggles of the Filipino masses to the interests of the capitalist elite. Since the revolution of 1896, however, the Filipino bourgeoisie entirely abandoned its democratic tasks. The property interests of capitalist class in the Philippines lay in the defense of the large landed estates and the rule of the Catholic Church. The PKP and CPP tail-ended this orientation. Thus, while the CPP claims to be carrying forward the unfinished revolution of Andres Bonifacio, they have in fact abandoned the militant anti-clericalism of the revolution of 1896 and have embraced the Catholic Church. When workers and peasants first come around the revolutionary party in any country, they bring with them their illusions, prejudices, and misconceptionsincluding superstitions, racism, and religious beliefs. The task of the party is not to adapt to these backward conceptions, but to patiently explain to the masses a scientific, materialist understanding of the world. The Stalinists, however, do not fight for the interests of the working class, but rather of the bourgeoisie. The party has thus gone out of its way to reinforce the religious beliefs of the working class and peasantry and to paint the church as a liberating force in society. It has subordinated the interests of workers to the needs of the Catholic Church. This has impacted every aspect of the partys work. For decades, in an effort to retain support within the church, the party disciplined young female cadre who were accused of premarital sex, which the party leadership termed a bourgeois deviation. The CPP refused to distribute birth control at its revolutionary health clinics. The front organizations of the party routinely stage political dramas based on the passion of Christ. They regularly direct workers to join masses held in Catholic churches as acts of protests. They stage candle-lit religious processions. A core member organization of the National Democratic Front of the CPP is the Christians for National Liberation (CNL). There are CNL units in the partys New Peoples Army (NPA) which issue regular statements. In December 2018, an NPA unit of the CNL issued a statement, on the anniversary of the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the founding the CPP. This religious opportunism saturates the party to its highest levels. The youngest child of founder and ideological leader of the CPP, Jose Maria Sison, was baptized into the Catholic Church by Cardinal Sin himself, long time head of the church in the country. Leading members of the elite stood as godparents, including a senator and a future vice president. The CPPs utter abandonment of materialism and groveling embrace of the Catholic Church is an integral component of its alliances with a section of the ruling elite. It reveals that there is no depth to which the party will not descend. This was made clear in the final paragraph of De Limas speech. She told the assembled religious leaders that we do not foreclose the possibility that Duterte is struck by lightning like Saul on his way to Damascus and agrees to resume peace negotiations because of the miraculous combination of prayers for and advocacy of peace by the people and the irresistible demands of the rapidly worsening crisis of the ruling system. The CPP enthusiastically supported Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte during his rise to power. They sought to integrate themselves into his administration, while he oversaw a war on drugs that killed thousands of poor Filipinos. When the talks finally broke down, the party denounced him as a fascist. De Lima publicly admitted at the religious gathering that the party was now resuming backchannel discussions with the Duterte administration, and was relying on the miraculous power of prayer that Duterte might have a conversion. De Lima is the wife of Jose Maria Sison. Sison repeatedly shared her speech on Facebook, including her quote about praying for Dutertes conversion. Stalinism is the betrayal of everything that Marx stood for and the entire history of Marxism. Reading the partys open embrace of Christianity and colonialism is nauseating. It is worth remembering what Marx himself wrote. In 1847, in response to the Christian socialists of the Rheinischer Beobachter, who claimed that Communism was the realization of the social principles of Christianity, Marx wrote, The social principles of Christianity have now had eighteen hundred years to be developed The social principles of Christianity justified the slavery of antiquity, glorified the serfdom of the Middle Ages, and are capable, in case of need, of defending the oppression of the proletariat, even if with somewhat doleful grimaces. The social principles of Christianity preach the necessity of a ruling and oppressed class, and for the latter all they have to offer is the pious wish that the former may be charitable. ... The social principles of Christianity preach cowardice, self-contempt, abasement, submissiveness and humbleness, in short, all the qualities of the rabble, and the proletariat, which will not permit itself to be treated as rabble, needs its courage, its self-confidence, its pride and its sense of independence even more than its bread. The social principles of Christianity are sneaking and hypocritical, and the proletariat is revolutionary. So much for the social principles of Christianity. So much as well for the Communist Party of the Philippines and its embrace of the barbaric heritage of the Catholic Church. The New York Times For months, Rosanne Boyland had been worrying her family with bizarre notions she had picked up on the internet: Actor Tom Hanks might be dead, she said. A national furniture chain was trafficking children. Many prominent Democrats were pedophiles. Then, early in January, she texted her older sister that she was heading to Washington, D.C., with a friend to support President Donald Trump and protest what was happening in the country. Im going to dc, she wrote. I dont know all the deets yet. Boyland, 34, was one of five people who never made it home from the Jan. 6 protest, which erupted in violence when hundreds of people stormed into the Capitol. Her death has left her family grappling to understand how Boyland, who they say had never voted before 2020, wound up waving a Dont Tread on Me flag amid a crowd of fanatic supporters of the former president before walking up the steps of the Capitol to her death. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Their frustration deepened further last week when Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to establish an independent commission to look into the origins and the handling of the attack on the Capitol. Why anyone would NOT want to find out what happened, even just to prevent it from happening again, is beyond me, Boylands older sister, Lonna Cave, said in a text message after the vote. For months before the rally, Boyland had bombarded her friends and relatives with messages and links to long videos about the fantastical theories she had come to accept as fact. Many of the false claims spilled from QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy-theory movement that rose in popularity over the course of his presidency and promoted the idea that many Democrats and celebrities are part of a global pedophile ring a theory that 15% of Americans believe, according to a poll last week. Many of its supporters falsely believed that President Joe Biden had stolen the election, and some attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally. Boylands sudden fixation so alarmed her family members and friends that some of them asked her to stop talking to them about politics or just to stop talking altogether. Some of her closest friends believe that Boyland was a vulnerable target for the conspiracy theorists. After a stint in drug rehabilitation, she had returned to her parents home and largely avoided drugs for several years, her family said. But the isolation brought about by the pandemic was making it harder. QAnon filled a void in her life, they said, helping distract her from thoughts of returning to drugs even as it acted as a different kind of hallucinogen. I was worried that she was trading one addiction for another, said Blaire Boyland, her younger sister. It just seemed like, yes, shes not doing drugs, but shes very obsessively online, watching all these YouTube videos and going down the rabbit hole. The family is also still struggling to understand how she died. From the video of the chaotic siege, it appeared that she had died after being caught in a crush of rioters. But the autopsy by the Washington medical examiners office did not find evidence of trampling and concluded that she had overdosed on amphetamines. Family members said it was likely that the only amphetamine in her body was the Adderall she took every day by prescription, although it appeared that she might have taken at least twice her prescribed dose. We just want to find out what happened, to be able to rest, Cave said. This has been so messed up. We just want to grieve the normal way. A Descent Into Conspiracy Theories For years, Boyland had been barred from voting because she had been convicted of felony drug possession, but she had also shown little interest in politics until 2020. In the fall, though, free from probation, she made it clear early on that she planned to cast a ballot for Trump. She registered to vote Oct. 3, a month before the election, records show. She was so happy that she was able to vote, recalled Stephen Marsh, 36, a friend of Boylands who said that she had been so thrilled that she had called his mother. She was so excited about it because her past made it difficult for her to participate. But her increasing absorption in the QAnon community was by that time pushing some of her closest friends away. I care about you, but I think it would be best if we didnt talk for a while, Sydney Vinson, a friend since childhood, texted her on Oct. 3 after Boyland had sent her a long text message and screenshots about purported government manipulation of the news media. Please dont send me any more political stuff. Boyland was the middle of three sisters, growing up in Kennesaw, Georgia, a city of 34,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. She and her sisters were close as children, and her younger sister said she had been inspired by Boylands assertiveness and confidence. Even then, she had a penchant for conspiracy theories, her sisters said, but harmless ones, such as the existence of extraterrestrials or of Bigfoot. But when she was about 16, her life took a turn when she began dating an abusive boyfriend, her sisters said. She would blame black eyes on soccer practice and once came home with an unexplained shoulder injury. Around that time, she also got hooked on opioids. She eventually dropped out of high school, and her relationship with her family became strained. In 2009, when she was 23, she was charged with felony drug possession. Several other cases would follow, the most recent in April 2013, after which she was given five years of probation. It was only in July 2014, when she learned about the pregnancy of her older sister, Cave, that she pledged to be a better role model for her niece, her sisters said and from that moment on, with a few brief relapses, she was largely sober. She was always talking about how she couldnt wait to be the aunt that was the cool aunt, said Cave, who gave birth to her first daughter in March 2015. She now has two daughters, ages 5 and 6. Boyland grew close to both of them, often picking them up from school and documenting milestones in their lives. She spent much of her time going to group meetings and counseling other people who were struggling with drugs. At one point, she hoped to become a counselor herself. When the pandemic arrived, though, she had to spend much of her time alone at her parents house, and her in-person group meetings were canceled. She told her sisters that she frequently felt an urge to begin using drugs again. She was really struggling, Blaire Boyland said. She tried doing the Zoom meetings, but she wasnt getting anything out of it. She felt out of control. Her friends began noticing that she was posting about conspiracy theories and about Trump. Before long, she was texting them about PizzaGate, a conspiracy theory that included false claims about Democrats trafficking of children in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. Ive mostly been watching it all on youtube, Boyland said in a text message to Vinson, her childhood friend. What most captured her attention, Vinson said, was the Save the Children slogan that QAnon members used to spread false claims about Democrats trafficking of children. She cared about kids a lot, Vinson said. She thought she was fighting for children, in her own way, and just trying to spread the word about underground pedophile rings and just all of these things. I think QAnon had this way of making these things seem really believable. At about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, Boyland began the roughly 10-hour drive to Washington with a friend, Justin Winchell. They parked in Virginia and took a bus into the city to see Trump at the rally, where he riled up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims that his election loss had been rigged. If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, Trump told the crowd. Boyland headed with many of the other protesters down the street to the Capitol. The Chaotic Siege Boyland could barely be made out at first in the footage of the crowds surge up the Capitol steps a short figure, outfitted in a black hoodie and American-flag sunglasses. She disappeared into the mob inside the tunnel that presidents use when they emerge for their inaugurations. It was the scene of some of the days most brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and videos showed rioters crushing police officers between doors and warning that the crowd could become dangerously packed. Just minutes later, after a push by the police that sent the crowd tumbling back out of the tunnel, she could be seen lying on her side, after which two men dragged her away from the door and began trying to resuscitate her. It appeared to be a case of trampling. But then the medical examiner concluded that she had died of acute amphetamine intoxication, a ruling that left her family convinced that she had not relapsed into drug abuse flummoxed. She had been taking Adderall regularly under a doctors prescription and had not been seen to have any adverse effects, they said. Several forensic pathologists and toxicologists who reviewed the autopsy report said in interviews that the level of amphetamine in her blood most likely from the Adderall had been enough to be potentially fatal. Iain McIntyre, a former chief toxicologist at the San Diego County medical examiners office, said the level could be consistent with her having taken both of her 30-milligram daily doses at the same time, something Cave said her sister sometimes did. McIntyre said the high dosage of amphetamine, along with the raucous scene, her heart disease and obesity, could have been enough to make her heart stop. The day after Boyland's death, Caves husband, Justin, told reporters that Trump had incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans. Then came a spate of cruel messages to the family from all sides people who said they were glad Boyland had died, and others who had been infuriated by Justin Caves comments. The Caves were left wondering what they had missed and how they could have helped Boyland before she fell too deeply into the conspiracy theories. Thats part of the reason I feel guilty, because none of us thought too much about it when she started looking into it, Lonna Cave said. I understand that she was somewhere she shouldnt have been. But she would not have been here if it werent for all the misinformation. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 On Demand We have a new story every day on the front page of thephuketnews.com. Also like us on our Facebook page (facebook.com/thephuketnews) and be the first to watch all the new stories. Finally you can watch any segment, any time by going to thephuketnews.com/tv where all the stories are listed for you to enjoy. All our programs can be enjoyed in High Definition when watching on the internet. In-Room VDO A disabled aircraft recovery kit has been installed at the city airport to clear the runway early in the event of an emergency, said its operator on Tuesday. Image Source: IANS News A disabled aircraft recovery kit has been installed at the city airport to clear the runway early in the event of an emergency, said its operator on Tuesday. Image Source: IANS News Bengaluru, Feb 23 : A disabled aircraft recovery kit has been installed at the city airport to clear the runway early in the event of an emergency, said its operator on Tuesday. "The disabled aircraft recovery kit will enable faster resumption of operations in the event of an incident on the runway of our Kempegowda international airport," said operator Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) in a statement here. Touted to be the first of its kind in India and South Asia, the hi-tech equipment was manufactured by Kunz GmbH of Germany. "The transportable kit will ensure the runway closure is minimal in the event an incident, as a disabled aircraft on the runway can disrupt airport operations, delay or divert flights," said BIAL chief executive Hari Marar on the occasion. As part of the deal, signed in 2020, Kunz will maintain the kit and set up a centre for disabled aircraft recovery training at the Devanahalli airport, about 40km north of this tech city. "The equipment is also capable of recovering even the largest passenger aircraft Airbus A380 during an emergency on the runway," said the statement. The operator will form a quick response recovery team for handling emergency situation on the airport's runway. "The recovery kit has ground preparation tools, aircraft lifting, de-bogging, tethering and towing narrow and wide-body jets when disabled," the operator added. Kunz managing director Andreas Fuge and Millennium Aero Dynamics Ltd chairman Milan R Zatakia were present at the commissioning of the kit at the airport. Domestic flight operations resumed partially on May 25, 2020 at the country's third largest airport after the extended Covid-induced lockdown was lifted and frequency was increased gradually, as per the standard operating procedures of the Union Home Ministry and guidelines of the Union Health Ministry to contain the virus spread. "With average 270 flights daily, about 30,000 passengers were flown to non-metro cities from the city airport in January," said the consortium's operator. Private airlines and state-run Air India were operating to 58 cities across the country before the pandemic forced the government to suspend all domestic flights from March 23 to May 25. In calendar year 2019, a record 33.65 million passengers transited from the airport, registering 4 per cent annual growth from 32.33 million in 2018. Burma Nearly 200 Anti-Military Regime Protesters Detained in Myanmar Capital Military personnel during the crackdown on anti-military regime protesters in Pyinmana Township, Naypyitaw, on Monday. / The Irrawaddy YANGON Nearly 200 civilians in Naypyitaw have reportedly been detained by Myanmars military regime after tens of thousands of protesters joined the 22222 general strike. Videos showed the security forces violently cracking down on anti-coup protesters in several townships, including Zabuthiri and Pyinmana, while activists attempted to march on the central government. A total of 193 mostly young people were arrested, according to the lawyers and their relatives. They arrested anyone on the streets. My family were forced out of their car and dragged to a police vehicle, a relative of a detainee, who asked not to be named, told The Irrawaddy. His brother, uncle and aunt were also detained while they were preparing to join protests in Naypyitaw. My brother made a video call just before they were surrounded by the police So I saw what happened. We dont know their whereabouts, he said. Some young people live-streamed on Facebook as police surrounded them. According to lawyers who are trying to deal with the cases, those detained are split between a police station and a military compound in Naypyitaw. They fired three times while they were trying to break us up. My two friends were beaten and taken away. I managed to run away, an engineering student who joined the protest told The Irrawaddy. They targeted young people. I saw some of my female classmates also being taken away by the police, he said. Lawyers are negotiating with the citys police chief to release the detainees, according to the lawyers network in Naypyitaw. Mobile phones were seized by the security forces so we cant contact the detainees. As far as I know, they will have to sign a statement saying they will not join any further anti-coup protests, a lawyer representing students told The Irrawaddy. By Monday, more than four people, including three anti-coup protesters and a member of a civilian neighborhood protection group, had been killed by the security forces and more than 100 wounded in crackdowns by the regime on demonstrations across the country. The military staged the coup and detained State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint on Feb. 1. Demonstrations across the country began on Feb. 7. You may also like these stories: Indias Muted Response to Myanmar Military Coup Seen as a Strategic Move Millions in Myanmar Join Nationwide General Strike Against Military Regime Asean Must Tighten Screw on Myanmar Military: Thai Observer There remains a growing disparity between teacher supply and demand here in Tennessee. This is only likely to grow in the immediate future. With the pending retirement of experienced teachers, and a shift in teacher longevity, many educators opting for briefer careers. Additionally, with many young adults not opting to enter education as a career, it poses an unquestionable threat to public education. The demand will only worsen during the next decade. Why the decline? Over the past two decades, the perfect storm of lowered respect, toxic teacher evaluation systems, adverse working conditions, inconsistent leadership, lack of efficacy, professional isolation, and inadequate pay have combined to create the ideal conditions for shortages, writes Douglas Reeves author of From Leading to Succeeding: The Seven Elements of Effective Leadership. Reeves is spot on in his assessment. Todd Garlington wrote: Once people said: Give me liberty or give me death. Now they say: Make me a slave, just pay me enough. Despite all of the negative perceptions, and projections, we should be astonished by the high-quality, energized young people, and those seeking a second career, who still want to enter the education profession. The Learning Policy Institute discovered that students perform better and log fewer absences when instructed by an experienced teacher. To fill vacancies, school districts are increasingly turning to a backdoor path like alternate certification for their teachers. You cant kill idealism. Schools must be places where people want to go to work. We must also work to remove any barriers that keep quality people out of the teaching profession here in Tennessee. There is no debate that educators, especially those graduating college and joining the profession, feel more stressed and less valued than at any previous time in our history. Since 2010, enrollment in teacher prep programs has plummeted 42 percent nationwide. Everyone understands that having a strong pool of potential educators is a critical issue in creating a quality education system. When teachers leave the profession, it means a loss of knowledge for a school district and a cost to recruit new educators as a replacement. Roughly half a million U.S. teachers either move or leave the profession each yearattrition that costs the United States up to $2.2 billion annually, according to a 2014 report from the Alliance for Excellent Education. Unfortunately, too often when bureaucrats get together for thoughtful, productive conversations they may exclude the very people that could help them address many of these challenges. We need all stakeholders at the table, including Colleges of Education. If meeting the teacher demand for such a critical profession as education is not working, (as is currently happening) the ripple effect on recruitment will be felt across the state. We have to acknowledge that as a state we have not responded to this critical need of teacher recruitment effectively. We are already seeing and feeling the decline of quality educators entering the profession. We must not just address a teacher shortage, but a shortage of great teachers in the schools and communities where they are most needed. We must welcome teachers from other states to come to our state by making their transition seamless and easier. Tennessee is a destination state for many Americans. We must welcome educators to come and be part of our state and continue in their profession. Teacher demand is urgent for the future of public education. The model we have used in the past likely will not work in the present or the future. It has taken us too long to see the importance of the need to shift and change directions. One of the primary roles of leaders is to change the culture when needed. The time for addressing teacher supply in Tennessee is now. A one size fits all solution to this issue will not solve the issue short-term or long-term. We need a diversified strategy. The state's education system directly relates to our future economic performance. Countries such as Finland understood early the relationship between student performance, teacher quality, and professional development. Without an adequate supply of teachers, no amount of professional development will lead to an increase in student performance. Quality teachers are not just critical for the success of our students. They are also the key to the success of our future economy. It is time to address the disparity between teacher supply and demand. Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver JC Bowman, Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee Police nabbed Eric Spencer on Saturday, contending that he was part of a four-man gang that fleeced the Chanel Store in SoHo on Februar 2 A Brooklyn man has been arrested over an armed robbery at a Chanel store in New York City earlier this month after he allegedly bragged about the crime on social media. Police nabbed Eric Spencer, 29, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Saturday, contending that he was part of a four-man gang that fleeced the designer store on February 2. Shocking video from the daylight robbery, which occurred in the swanky SoHo neighborhood, shows the men enter the store before brazenly snatching bags and wallets off the shelves. A female security guard claimed that one of the men allegedly lifted his shirt and flashed the butt of a pistol tucked into his waistband. 'Grab everything!' the same man reportedly yelled, before the gang fled the premises with $189,500 worth of goods. The next day, Spencer purportedly posted to social media bragging about his designer loot, claiming that he had fleeced so much merchandise that he could 'open a small boutique'. He flew to Florida sometime after the robbery. Shocking video from the daylight robbery, which occurred in the swanky SoHo neighborhood, shows the men enter the store before brazenly snatching bags and wallets off the shelves A female security guard claimed that one of the men allegedly lifted his shirt and flashed the butt of a pistol tucked into his waistband Spencer's arrest was announced by the US Attorney's Office on Monday. US Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a statement: 'Spencer allegedly threatened a store security guard by displaying the handle of his gun as he barked orders to his co-conspirators to grab everything. Now the FBI and NYPD have grabbed Spencer, who is in federal custody and awaiting his day in court.' Spencer has now been charged with one count of robbery, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He remains in custody in Florida, and will appear before a judge on Tuesday afternoon. It is unclear when he will be extradited back to New York City. The New York Post reports that Spencer has 32 prior arrests, including 15 felonies The New York Post reports that Spencer has 32 prior arrests, including 15 felonies. The NYPD believes the group who fleeced the Chanel store on February 2 is also involved at least 20 other robberies at high-end outlets in Manhattan that have occurred since September last year. Spencer has not been charged with any of those robberies. 'These criminals are capitalizing off of wearing these face masks, so it's extremely difficult to identify who these individuals are,' NYPD Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison said about the spate of robberies earlier this month. The suspects have shown a pattern of rushing the store then fleeing in rental cars, sometimes with the license plates switched or removed, that are not easily tracked. 'They go into the store, snatch things off the shelves and speed off with a blatant disregard for everyone around them,' Harrison said. When a ferociously cold winter storm barreled into the Deep South last week, it left millions of Texans without power, in sub-freezing temperatures, for dangerously long stretches of time. An unknown but large number of residentsincluding children, the elderly, the medically vulnerable, and those experiencing homelessnessdied from carbon monoxide poisoning and hypothermia. Countless others had to scramble to deal with burst pipes, spoiled food, and misery from days without power, thanks in part to the states uniquely Texan approach to distributing power, and in part to the failure of public officials to head off a disaster. But even when the storm passed through and the temperatures rose above freezing, some Texans were in for another unpleasant surprise. Advertisement While most individual Texans were shielded financially from the wild swings the states energy market took, some got their power from companies that offered rates that fluctuate with the supply and demand. Some of these customers found themselves with eye-poppingly high power bills of $3,000, $5,000, $10,000 and higher, for just a few days of electricity. Many of these cases came from a small company in Houston called Griddy, which offers wholesale prices to customers (with a $10 monthly fee). That high-risk model generally allows customers to save money in low-use months, often including the winter. But as the New York Times noted, Griddy advised all of its 30,000 customers to switch to another provider before the winter storm arrived. Many couldnt do so in time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is hope for some of these customers. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Sunday that the state is looking into solutions, and the states Public Utility Commission temporarily put a hold on disconnecting customers for a failure to pay their bills. The commission also ordered companies to hold off on sending invoices or bill estimates to customers until we work through issues of how we are going to financially manage the situation we are in, according to the Texas Tribune. To get a sense of what it was like to be caught up in this mess, Slate spoke with David Astrein, a Griddy customer and a 36-year-old human resources director for a manufacturing company in Houston. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Advertisement Slate: When did you first realize that something was wrong? Astrein: Griddy was kind enough to send us a notice at 2:47 p.m. on the 13th, which was Saturday, to say, Hey, call another provider by 3 p.m. today because were expecting high prices. Well, it was after the window when I finally saw the email. On Monday, when we tried calling to change providers, we found out that there were wait periods. We had several friends that tried to switch and werent able to. They were telling them you wont be able to switch for 48 hours, 72 hours, five days. So we said, How bad could it actually be? Its winter in Texas: it cant be worse than our worst summer bill, which was $525 in 2019. It wasnt until we were in the middle of the storm, when we couldnt switch, that we had any sort of inkling as to how bad it could be. Advertisement Advertisement What was it like for you during the storm? We were lucky enough to keep power during most of that period. We lost power once for maybe three hours. Then midway through, we started seeing the charges come through. It was like, Oh, my God, what do we do? We werent using washers, dryers, dishwasherswe didnt have water to use them. It was basically just the heat to stay warm and [electricity to] run our computers to try to keep working from home. We were just trying to stay warm to prevent pipes from bursting and to keep our house warm for our five-month-old son. Theres really nothing else we could do energy-wise to save. And its crazy to think that $3,000 is actually on the lower end of what some people owe. Advertisement What did your bill end up being? At one point, the bill was $1,700. And I said, OK, well it cant get worse than that. And then I looked later and it was $2,000, and then $2,700. And I was like, Where does this end? Where did it end? Right now its sitting at $2,796.85. Its projected to go to $3,002.08. Advertisement What does that mean, financially, for you? Its not going to be fun. I would much rather put that $3,000 in a college savings plan for my kid, and get one of those started. I think as long as the bill doesnt climb above that, Im fortunate enough to have the ability to pay that. There are many people that arent. And that should be a concern to anyone. Advertisement You elected to go with Griddy, a company tied to market rates. Did you know this was something that could happen? Yes, theres risk that you assume in something like that, and you know that. [But] I dont think anyone could have foreseen what that risk actually entailed. Nobody knew that Griddy could go to $9 a kilowatt hour. I chose Griddy at the recommendation of friends that had it. You did see higher summer bills, but that typically was offset by bills in the non-summer months. I just dont think that anyone could have fathomed how astronomically high those prices could be. There was no consumer protection here. What do you think is going to happen? Advertisement The coverage at that time in the news was about the failure of the Texas energy market as a whole. And then when I went to Twitter, I saw that there are other people posting their bills. This started getting more attention after the initial shock of the winter storm in Texas wore off. I think a lot of us are waiting, and I dont know how optimistic we are now knowing that were in a system that was totally deregulated, without these consumer protections. We hear Gov. Abbott talking about how Texans shouldnt be on the hook for it. And I think Ted Cruz has tweeted similar statements. But what does that mean? Does that mean that its all going to be covered? Its partially going to be covered? If there is assistance, how long is it going to take for people to have any portion of that forgiven? Or are they just going to say, well, we can set you up on a payment plan to pay this back over the course of however long? We dont know. Advertisement A lot of people on social media are saying that its customers fault for going with a high-risk provider and that you should face the repercussions of that. What would you say to them? There are several thousands of people, Im sure, who didnt quite understand what they were getting into. I understood that it was variable, but I didnt understand that rates in Texas could jump to the levels that they were. So how could somebody allow a company to drive consumers to financial ruin? Its a little frustrating, all around. The states inability to plan and the power companys inability to plan should not constitute the financial emergency of tens of thousands of Texans. Thats just unacceptable, and to be standing against people like me, and to be standing up for utilities that were inadequately run, just kind of blows my mind. An Ibiza Weekender star has been missing for five days after reportedly meeting a 'secret man with a van' to travel back to Lithuania. Vidmante Bukelyte, 21, is at the centre of a search today as friends appealed for help days after she was last seen with a suitcase on Thursday night. She was last known to be in the Kensington area of Liverpool but could be in the Anfield area, reported the Liverpool Echo. Ms Bukelyte, who appeared on an episode of ITV 2's Ibiza Weekender in 2018, had stayed with a mystery man before leaving his house at 2am on Friday. Vidmante Bukelyte (pictured), 21, is at the centre of a search today as friends appealed for help days after she was last seen with a suitcase on Thursday night Ms Bukelyte, who appeared on an episode of ITV 2's Ibiza Weekender in 2018, had stayed with a mystery man before leaving his house at 2am on Friday Her best friend Paul McCabe said friends were getting increasingly concerned because it was out of character for Ms Bukelyte to turn her phone off. She was wearing a grey coloured jacket and blue jeans but may have changed into different clothes because she had a suitcase with her. Mr McCabe said: 'It is very unusual behaviour and very out of character as she would never be off her phone as it's her life. The phone hasn't been on since Thursday which is very concerning for the people who know her. Her best friend Paul McCabe said friends were getting increasingly concerned because it was out of character for Ms Bukelyte (pictured) to turn her phone off 'We are at a loss and we do not know what else to do.' The last contact anyone had with her was a phone message to a friend asking them to call her on an unknown person's number. Mr McCabe said his friend was planning on meeting an unknown man who had a van and had promised to help her travel to Lithuania. A possible sighting was reported in Birkenhead, Merseyside, and Merseyside Police have opened an investigation. Anyone who has any information is being urged to call police on 101, with reference 457 of February 19 2021 and to give her name 'Vidmante Bukelyte'. Richard W. Moore, the US. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama since 2017, announced Monday that he was retiring from federal service effective Friday. U.S. Attorneys occupy appointed positions that tend to turn over when a Republican president succeeds a Democratic one, or vice versa. Moores decision to step down may anticipate such as shift under President Joe Biden, but when his retirement becomes effective on Feb. 26 it will close a career spanning more than 35 years. Moore thanked the attorneys, legal assistants and administrative staff of his office and also the federal judges before whom its presents cases. He also singled out a fellow prosecutor who has loomed large in his career. Most of what I have learned in terms of being a public servant and a prosecutor came from Jeff Sessions, he said, calling Sessions a statesman and a gentleman. Sessions was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama in 1985, when Moore joined his office as assistant U.S. Attorney. Sessions took a U.S. Senate seat in 1993 and Moore left in 2003 to become the inspector general for the Tennessee Valley Authority. When Moore became U.S. Attorney in 2017, it was with the support of Sessions, who had become attorney general under President Donald Trump. Moore said the focus of his leadership had been working with local law enforcement agencies to get trigger pullers off the street. That meant pursuing federal firearms charges against repeat offenders that local agencies accused of carrying firearms during new offenses. Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, Mobile County D.A. Ashley Rich and Baldwin County D.A. Robert Wilters were on hand at Mondays announcement to affirm that the level of cooperation had been high under Moore. We looked at certain cases and we identified certain cases where we were not getting sufficient sentences in state court, Rich said. In state court, if we were able to even prosecute them for being a felon convicted and possessing a firearm again, their punishments would often be minimal, and they would get often very little jail time. But we realized that same offense, if prosecuted in the federal system, would get them significant jail time and we could take them off the streets. Over the last three years, the majority of court victories reported by Moores office have been plea deals in the type of case described by Rich. Moores office continually led the country in firearms prosecutions per capita, Rich said. Wilters said hed first met Moore back when Wilters himself was a brand-new baby FBI agent. He felt Moore had treated Baldwin County particularly well, with his office reaching out to Baldwin officials rather than expecting them to make a trip across the bay anytime they had concerns to express. It used to be, back in the old days, where if you were from Baldwin County you had to come over to Mobile County to see the U.S. Attorney or one of his assistants, said Wilters. it wasnt that anymore, four years ago. Moore said he and his wife have a small horse farm in Baldwin County and he plans to remain in the area. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. HOUSTON, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A Chambers County woman has filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Griddy, alleging that the Texas power supplier engaged in unlawful price gouging during last week's statewide winter storm and power outages. Lisa Khoury, a Mont Belvieu resident, claims her electricity bill from February 13 to February 19 totaled $9,340, as Griddy began making withdrawals from her bank account daily. Ms. Khoury says her normal monthly bill averages between $200 and $250, and repeatedly tried to reach the company with concerns about the withdrawals but got no response, eventually placing a stop-payment order on her bank account. According to the filing in state district court in Harris County, Ms. Khoury and her husband mostly were without power in their home from February 17 to February 18. Ms. Khoury hosted her parents and in-laws, who are in their 80s, during the storm. Even then, she continued to minimize her household's power usage because of her fear of high electricity prices. Ms. Khoury says she began attempting to switch providers as early as February 15 but was only able to change providers on February 19 after persistent contact with other electricity providers. The proposed class includes all Texas residents who used electricity services from Griddy and were hit with excessive charges resulting from the storm. "At this point we don't know how many people might be affected, but there are likely thousands of customers who've received these outrageous bills," says Derek Potts of the Potts Law Firm in Houston, who represents Ms. Khoury. "A class action will be the most efficient and effective way for Griddy's customers to come together and fight this predatory pricing." The lawsuit alleges violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act among other claims. It seeks an injunction to prevent Griddy from billing and collecting payment for excessive prices and demands the forgiving of any late or unpaid bills from customers. Ms. Khoury and all other members of the class are seeking monetary relief of more than $1 billion. Griddy's business model offers customers a wholesale rate plan designed to save money during fair-weather months when residents are unlikely to be turning on heating or cooling systems. The wholesale rate before the winter storm was around $50 per megawatt/hour, but the state's Public Utility Commission raised that cap during the winter storm, with resulting rates soaring to more than $9,000 per megawatt/hour. The lawsuit is Lisa Khoury v. Griddy Energy LLC, No. 2021-10004 filed in the 133rd District Court of Harris County, Texas. Media Contact: Barry Pound 800-559-4534 [email protected] SOURCE Potts Law Firm Campus News Freedom on the Move project takes more realistic look at U.S. history By MELVIN BANKHEAD III I think that when it comes to a nations history, of course its going to be contentious and uncomfortable. (It) can be difficult if youre someone whos been taught a history that was really designed to make you comfortable, to make you proud of the place where you lived, to give you ready excuses for ancestors whod done less than amazing things in the past. Its Black History Month again, and youre watching a presentation on slavery. This one, however, starts off with a newspaper advertisement from the pre-Civil War era: A slave owner is seeking the return of a runaway slave. The ad describes the slave, in the hope that the slave owners property can quickly be returned. The slave owner? Thomas Jefferson. Right about then is when you realize that this isnt the kind of lesson you learned in high school. Instead, this is a more accurate, more expansive view of the business side of enslavement in what we like to call the land of the free and the home of the brave. And thats just the way Vanessa M. Holden wants it. Holden, a UB Center for Diversity Innovation Distinguished Visiting Scholar for 2020-21, presented recently on Freedom on the Move, which is described as an open-access, crowdsourced database project aimed at transcribing and coding thousands of advertisements placed by enslavers and jailors for fugitives from American slavery. These ads, such as the one placed by Jefferson, are typically known as runaway ads, which the project treats as important primary sources for a rich record of enslaved peoples resistance and American slaverys cruelty. I think this project serves as an incredible example of how the digitization of information enables more people than ever before to learn about histories that would otherwise be unknown, or certainly less accessible, said Maura Belliveau, director of the UB Center for Diversity Innovation. Freedom on the Move is based out of the Cornell University Institute for Social and Economic Research. The projects lead researchers include Holden, who is an assistant professor of history and African American and Africana studies at the University of Kentucky, as well as colleagues from Cornell, Ohio State University, University of New Orleans and the University of Alabama. The ads that Holden presented represent what she called digital footprints that recorded the history, process and reality of enslavement from the viewpoint of those who profited from it. (Such) advertisements enlisted the publics help in race-based policing (to enforce) the legal reality that Blacks were always subject to enslavement, while whites were not, Holden noted. Those placing the ads were the ones who were poised to profit: among them, slave owners seeking the return of their property; jailers who had captured an escapee and sought to inform the owner; and, of course, the banks that benefitted from the insurance policies on enslavers property. The ads were for people who (were) hoping to encourage the broader community to participate in policing Black movement, to inspect any Black person they see on the street, said Holden. Do they fit that description? Might I be able to make some (money) by turning them in? So, really, even people who would never, ever have enough money to purchase an enslaved person could participate in slavery by collecting rewards, by reinforcing that any Black person they saw who they werent familiar with could possibly be (a) criminal, could possibly be a fugitive, that it was their right to stop them and question them. On the former point, professional slave hunters tracked runaway slaves for a fee or reward, thus expanding the economy of slavery beyond the mere buying and selling of people. Its also really important for us to make sure that were denoting the many active choices that white enslavers made daily to enslave Black people, that its not this kind of static state, Holden said. That every single day, white people who held human property made decision after decision to continue to enslave Black people, and those decisions include physical abuse, include constraining Black mobility, (and) extracting labor. So much kind of gets glossed over or euphemized when you talk about a planter or a plantation owner. Its like sure, theres the inanimate cotton, but the real wealth you have is in people, and you have to make active choices to support that system. So, (the project is) a way of holding white enslavers accountable. Indeed, from the 1600s through the early 1800s, enslavers and legislators worked to limit the mobility of enslaved people, Holden noted. They erected laws that made it illegal for Blacks to escape, or even protest, their legal status as property. This was a time, remember, when the only people who could legally vote were white men who owned property restrictions that took the better part of three centuries to fix, although legal fights remain today over who should be restricted from voting. The members of the Freedom on the Move project have updated the language they use when discussing the enslavement of people in America, following the current trend by historians, researchers and academics. The effort is intended to make history less white-centric and more inclusive of other cultures contributions. Weve adopted the language enslaver instead of slave owner or slave holder because its really important to us, as scholars of slavery, to denote the humanity of enslaved people, Holden said. Other changes include enslaved people instead of slaves, as that status was something done to those forced into subservience, rather than a willing choice they made, and self-emancipated people vs. runaway slaves to denote that those escaping enslavement were freeing themselves from an immoral, inhumane situation even though, at the time, it was completely legal. Holden noted that part of the reason for the changed language is to combat the long disinformation campaign that currently is perceived as accurate American history. Prior to the Civil War, and continuing through to today, many in the Southern states that had comprised the Confederate States of America reframed the reality of enslavement, shifting the narrative to one of states rights, kind and gentle masters and happy slaves a fiction that whitewashed the reality of brutal violence in the form of whippings, beatings, maimings, rapes, murders and the dehumanization of those enslaved. Theres that kind of common myth, Holden said, that enslaved people either just sort of acquiesced, and kind of felt, Oh, theres nothing we can do, or the really popular caricatures and lies that slavery was sort of benevolent or that African American people didnt really mind being slaves. As Holden noted during the presentation, if the masters were kind and gentle, and the slaves were happy, then why were laws needed to prohibit the happy slaves from protesting their status? Why were slave patrols needed to prevent escapes? The runaway slave ads show the carefully crafted disinformation campaign for the lie that it is. Clearly, by (the escapees) actions, they werent trying to stick around and be slaves, she said. Thats not the story here. In fact, its evidence of mass resistance, its evidence of perpetual resistance, and its evidence that enslavers knew, absolutely knew, that enslaved people did not want to be slaves. The purpose of the project, Holden said, is to expand slavery-related educational and historical resources for, among others, K-12 teachers, college and university professors, museum researchers, genealogists, community groups, librarians and journalists. Recently, however, there has been a backlash against attempts to change the commonly accepted white version of history. For example, the 1619 Project, a New York Times historical analysis of how slavery shaped American political, social and economic institutions, has drawn sharp opposition from some lawmakers. Asked her opinion on the backlash to the 1619 Project and how such a response might impact the Freedom on the Move project, Holden said, I think that when it comes to a nations history, of course its going to be contentious and uncomfortable. (It) can be difficult if youre someone whos been taught a history that was really designed to make you comfortable, to make you proud of the place where you lived, to give you ready excuses for ancestors whod done less than amazing things in the past. Despite the backlash, Holden and the other Freedom on the Move project members continue to build the database. We dont want this to be a resource thats kind of hoarded by academics and researchers but is really impenetrable to anybody else, Holden said. We want to be really clear that depending on who you are, reading racist language used to describe Black people in the past that that hits different depending on who you are, and acknowledging that and accounting for that (is important). At the same time, its important to make sure people know that (some words and phrases) are not appropriate terms to use. She added that the project has partnered with the Southern Poverty Law Center program Teaching Hard History to find ways to reach educators who know they should be covering slavery and give them the tools to do it in an age-appropriate way. TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / February 23, 2021 / Tree of Knowledge International Inc. (CSE:TOKI) ("TOKI" or the "Company") announces that, at a meeting of the board of directors of the Company, Mr. Michael Caridi has resigned as the President and director of the Corporation's US subsidiary, Tree of Knowledge, Inc. ("TOK US"). The board agreed to appoint the current Chief Executive Officer of the Company, Mr. Ommid Faghani, as the incoming President and director of TOK US. In addition, the board agreed to hold its annual general meeting at the earliest opportunity, expected in April 2021, with the exact date of the Meeting to be determined following coordination with the Company's transfer agent. At the Meeting, the Company will be electing a new slate of directors and discussing its 2021 business direction. For further information please visit: www.tokicorp.com Or contact: Tree of Knowledge International Corp. Ashley Villarruel, (647) 607-9044, ashley@tokicorp.com About Tree of Knowledge TOK is a public company that delivers pathways to innovative, science-based health and wellness solutions. The Company is a leader in pain management, spanning from seed to patient. Built upon an extensive network of scientific and medical research, TOK is an advanced leader in the development, processing, and distribution of focused products and treatments for pain relief. Tree of Knowledge spans the globe with its multidisciplinary pain clinics, research partners, consumer CBD products, and education and advocacy programs - all working in harmony to bring health and wellness to the world, while creating value for shareholders and partners. Forward Looking Statements Except for statements of historical fact relating to the Company, certain information contained herein relating to the timing of the filing of financial statements constitutes forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, performance or achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER HAS REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. SOURCE: Tree of Knowledge International Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/631306/Tree-of-Knowledge-Announces-Management-Changes Just six weeks after a deadly insurrection against the U.S. government, incited by a president who sent a mob after his own vice president, Republicans are past their horror and hopping eagerly back on the Trump Train. The new 2021 ticket price? They must buy into his Big Lie. The 2020 presidential contest -- lets say it again -- saw Joe Biden defeat Donald Trump in a free and fair election verified not only by his own government officials at the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI but by election officials in swing states where audits and recounts bore out what 60 court cases had decided. The consensus was that no fraud or irregularities could have amounted to numbers large enough to yield a different outcome and keep Trump in office. Yet his lie, that he won in a massive landslide and the election was stolen, is now accepted by tens of millions of Americans who support him. The danger in this mass delusion is clear to Republican leaders and officeholders who know this will taint every election going further and do immeasurable damage to our fragile democracy. But, with few exceptions, they would rather lean on my constituents believe it, and Trumps perpetuation of it, in order to keep their jobs. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House GOP conference chair Liz Cheney, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Sen. Mitt Romney and a few others in the House and Senate have told the truth about this lie and the pernicious consequences it will have. There are fewer than 20 of these voices in the entire GOP ranks of the Congress, however. Earlier this month, a Quinnipiac poll showed 76% of self-identified Republicans said they believe there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election and that Trump won. Telling the truth -- telling the voters they have been lied to -- is simply out of the question for most elected Republicans. House GOP Whip Steve Scalise made that clear on ABC News Sunday. Not only did he explain why he thought Trump was not in fact responsible for inciting the insurrection, he squirmed around the question of the election outcome by saying that there were a few states that did not follow their states laws. When pressed to admit the election was not stolen, Scalise then said Biden was the legitimate president because once the electors are counted, yes, hes the legitimate president. But if youre going to ignore the fact that there were states that did not follow their own legislatively set laws, thats the issue at heart that millions of people are not happy with and dont want to see happen again. While Scalise does not spread The Big Lie, he wont disavow it. He must raise doubt and contribute to a permanent cloud over President Biden in order to stay in Trumps favor. Scalise knows this, having just visited with him at Mar-a-Lago, to -- ya know -- talk about each others families. As some Republicans declare its time to move on from Trump, as Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and former Rep. Will Hurd did this weekend, Scalise is well aware the 45th president is keeping a list and will be checking it twice a day, at least. Axios reported Monday that Trump is using the midterm elections of 2022 to tighten his grip over the party and launch a years-long punishment campaign. With Senate Republicans just one seat away from the majority and House Republicans needing to win back just five, he knows how to use his threats for maximum advantage. And he doesnt need to run again in 2024 to hold all the cards, he just needs to act like it. Trump confidants think hell pretend to run but ultimately pass. He knows the possibility -- or threat -- gives him leverage and attention, Mike Allen wrote. The lie is laughable -- that a deep state of all Democrats, every member of the media, every judge that weighed against his election challenges in court (including the ones he appointed), former AG Bill Barr, makers of voting machines and Republicans throughout the country who certified the results in their states for Biden collaborated on the biggest conspiracy ever. Romney described The Big Lie as a massive conspiracy, more secret and widespread than any in human history, so brilliant in execution that no evidence can be found of it and no observer among the tens of thousands in our intelligence agencies will speak of it. And Fox News host Tucker Carlson asked, in November, why Trump team lawyer Sidney Powell had not presented any evidence of machines switching votes with helpful planning from dead Venezuelans for a plot that -- if proven -- "would amount to the single greatest crime in American history. (Powell never presented the evidence, by the way.) Trump couldn't get his lawyers to touch The Big Lie in the impeachment trial; there were limits to how much they wanted to soil their reputations. The final team representing him at the trial, indeed, took the case after several other lawyers told Trump they refused to claim widespread voter fraud that stole an election One of Trumps top Big Lie proliferators, the CEO of the MyPillow company, is now the target of a $1.3 billion defamation suit from Dominion Voting Systems for lying about their voting machines. The complaint against Mike Lindell states: He is well aware of the independent audits and paper ballot recounts conclusively disproving the Big Lie. But Lindell sells the lie to this day because the lie sells pillows. In addition to pillow sales, The Big Lie soothes Trumps ego, and has helped him raise hundreds of millions of dollars. Trump even used the occasion of Rush Limbaughs death last week to sell the lie once again. The election was stolen, he said on OANN. We were robbed. It was a rigged election. On Newsmax he said: We did win the election, as far as Im concerned. It was disgraceful what happened. And on Fox News Channel he said, You would have had riots going all over the place if that happened to a Democrat. The Trump-friendly anchors at all three networks refused to push back; they just let him lie. This will be a central theme later this week when Trump takes center stage at the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) where 2020 election truthers will be peddling doubt at no fewer than seven panel discussions. So what will become painfully clear by weeks end is that Trump plans to control the GOP, dominate the 2022 midterm campaign, and keep telling millions of Americans he won reelection in 2020. He will work hard to defeat anyone who defies him and counters his claims. Romney said the Big Lie took the country to a dark and dangerous place. Invented and disseminated by the President, it poisoned our politics and our public discourse. In his statement submitted to the Senate record after the impeachment trial, he said, It is apparent that calling for unity while appeasing the big lie of a stolen election is a fraud, and that it falls to each of us to affirm what we all know: President Biden won the election through the legitimate vote of the American people. The division in America will only begin to heal in the light of this truth. Republicans appeasing The Big Lie are perpetrating a fraud that will accelerate our newer, deeper divide. Romney, Cheney and their few allies for truth wont find new converts. They will instead be drowned out by their complicit colleagues who have started their campaign to win next year with the help of President Trump and his lies. Orwigsburg The Orwigsburg Public Library is open six days a week as follows: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Fridays; and 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturdays. Claudia Gross is the library director. For more information, email Gross at orwigsburglibrary@comcast.net. Pottsville The Pottsville Open Writers group meets from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. the second Saturday of the month at the Pottsville Free Public Library, 215 W. Market St. All are welcome. Bring pen, paper and your imagination, organizers said in a release. People should check at the front desk for the meeting location; COVID-19 safety protocols are followed. The next meeting of the group is March 13. Subsequent meetings are April 10, May 8 and June 12, which is the last meeting before the summer break. Meetings will resume in September. For more information, call 570-622-8880. Ringtown St. Mary Roman Catholic Church is taking orders for homemade wet-bottom shoo-fly pies and homemade crusts. Orders must be received by March 12. Pickup is set for March 16, at the church rectory. To order, or for more information including pricing, call 570-889-3850 or 570-889-3825. Saint Clair The Girl Scouts Heart Group of Pennsylvania 31273 accepts applications for fourth and fifth grade girls to join and has meetings from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursdays at the Saint Clair Lions Club building, 259 McCord Ave. For more information, call Kim, Scout leader, at 570-640-5674. Five journalists and activists were sentenced last week to six years in prison on charges of threatening the security, stability and sovereignty of Iraqs Kurdistan Region. Combing through online messages from group chats, photos from cell phones and voice recordings, and listening to two witness testimonies, the trial by Kurdistan Regions Judicial Council lasted only two days; in reality, the cases had been ongoing for months. Some of the defendants were jailed in August of last year after anti-government demonstrations broke out across the region. In total, seven defendants were tried. Five defendants Hariwan Essa, Sherwan Sherwani, Shivan Saeed, Guhdar Zebari and Ayaz Karam were sentenced to prison with charges amounting to spying and organizing armed groups, said the Erbil-based court. The cases of the two remaining defendants were sent back to court for further hearings due to lack of evidence, their relatives told Rudaw English on Tuesday. International rights groups condemned the decision. The sentencing proves that the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has finally dropped the pretense of caring about press freedom, read a statement by the Committee to Protect Journalists Middle East and North African Representative Ignacio Miguel Delgado. The KRG dismissed this and other statements as intervening in the judicial process. No one can interfere in the decisions that are being taken by the judiciary system, KRG spokesperson Jotiar Adil told Al-Monitor. KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani last week accused those arrested of being spies and saboteurs, describing them as destructive and armed. Last August, protests across Kurdistan Region erupted over unpaid salaries, persistent electricity outages and a lack of business bailouts during the coronavirus pandemic. Demonstrations took place in Sulaimaniyah, Ranya and Qaladze. Attempts at gatherings elsewhere including Erbil and Dahuk were shut down by security forces, a source told Al-Monitor. Over two dozen people, largely made up of the activists who convened the protests and journalists covering them, were rounded up and arrested. On Feb. 7, some family members of those arrested were themselves detained as they called for the release of relatives in front of the United Nations office in Erbil. Some of them have tried to blow up buildings and kill and abduct foreigners in the region, Prime Minister Barzani said at a press conference. At the trial this week, however, no evidence supporting those charges was provided. On Thursday, KRG President Nechirvan Barzani said he is observing the case of the five journalists and activists convicted in Erbil. It is the appeal courts duty to review the case, relying on and respecting law, human rights, he tweeted on Thursday. The KRG has faced previous criticism over obstructing press freedoms. Last September, NRT presenter Shwan Adil was arrested and released on bail in Sulaimaniyah. Adil was sued by a senior member of the PUK for defamation. NRTs offices in Erbil and Dahuk were shuttered in August. Three days after Erbils court verdict, the US Consulate General in Erbil confirmed they have closely followed the case and will continue to monitor its outcome. The US has consistently engaged on the issue of freedom of expression, including for members of the press, with KRG officials and will continue to do so, the statement read. Democratic societies respect freedom of expression and support the ability of press members to report without fear of retaliation. The Government has today decided to facilitate the safe return of in-school education and childcare services on a cautious and phased basis during March and April. This will be alongside the scaling up of the vaccination programme in line with supply, ensuring that all vaccine doses are administered to target groups as soon as possible. The current public health restrictions will remain in place until 5th April 2021, when a further review will be conducted. Measures to support business and those unable to work due to the pandemic will be extended further with the EWSS, PUP and Covid enhanced illness benefit applicable to June 30th. The impact of these restrictions on the economic, physical and mental well-being of our communities is considerable. An additional 10 million in funding will be made available to meet the increase for mental health services, and a further top-up of 10 million will be made available to enable critical services to continue being delivered to vulnerable groups. The revised plan for managing the virus COVID-19 Resilience & Recovery 2021: The Path Ahead sets out how in-school education and childcare services will be reinstated in a phased manner from 1st March, with staggered return throughout March to be concluded after the Easter break on 12th April. (Detail in notes to editors). The decision to extend Level 5 restrictions is difficult and will have considerable impact on all parts of our economy and society. However, we continue to have an unacceptably high level of disease in the community, so we must continue to suppress the disease. The higher transmissibility of new variants requires all other restrictions to remain in place while these initial services reopen. This cautious, measured approach is being taken in order to: - Make steady progress, starting with childcare and schools, while avoiding a further wave of disease and re-imposition of restrictions - Protect the most vulnerable by an efficient rollout of the vaccination programme - Remain vigilant and agile regarding the uncertainties in the face of new variants and to capitalise on emerging evidence on available vaccines - Lay the foundations for the full recovery of social life, public services and the economy If the transmission of the virus reaches acceptable levels, the vaccination programme progresses as planned and public health advice allows, further options that will be considered from April 5th are: - Some easing of restrictions on outdoor activities and meetings beyond 1 other household; - Consideration of extending the current 5km limit; - Staggered start of easing of other areas of restriction with a focus on outdoor activities including sport and some areas of construction. Any further easing of restrictions after 5th April will need a further three to four week period to allow for assessment of the impact of changes. The requirement to work from home will continue throughout this period, unless work is an essential health, social care or other essential service or activity that cannot be done from home. Governments community support and well-being programmes will continue and employment and business supports will be extended, many of them to June. The Government is committed to developing a clear roadmap for a return of activities in the hardest hit sectors including tourism, culture and sport. The phased return of in-school education and childcare services will be implemented as follows: 1st March 2021: Special schools to resume at 100% capacity. The first four classes at primary level i.e. Junior and Senior infants, First and Second class to return to in-school education. Final year Leaving Certificate classes to return to in-school education subject to final agreement. 8th March 2021 Resumption of the ECCE Programme and return of ECCE-age children15th March 2021 Targeted return of 3rd; 4th; 5th and 6th class at primary level. 5th years at post-primary level. 29th March 2021 Resumption of all other early learning and childcare services 12th April onwards (post Easter Holidays) Reopening for 1st to 4th years at post-primary. Early Years and School Aged Childcare The staggered resumption of early learning and childcare services will take place over the following phases: Resumption of the ECCE Programme and return of ECCE-age children from 8 March Resumption of all other early learning and childcare services from 29 March. The resumption of the ECCE Programme from 8 March broadly aligns with the resumption of onsite primary schooling. It is also in line with expectation among providers and offers sufficient time for providers to prepare to reopen. Economic measures: Over the coming period, Government will continue to support workers by: Extending the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme, currently scheduled to close on 31 March 2021, to 30 June 2021. Extending the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, currently scheduled to close on 31 March 2021, to 30 June 2021 for current recipients, and continue to allow new entrants to join the Payment. Extending the COVID-19 enhanced illness benefit, currently scheduled to end on 31 March 2021, to 30 June 2021. In addition, Government will continue to support business by: Extending the COVID Restrictions Support Scheme, scheduled to close on 31 March 2021, to 30 June 2021 and will conduct an economic assessment of the scheme in line with the statutory requirements on the impact, design and sustainability of this important support. Continuing to provide significant supports, through loans, grants, vouchers and support schemes to business affected by the pandemic, and to keep such supports under review as the situation develops Extending the suspension of redundancy provisions, currently in place to 31 March 2021, to 30 June 2021, in order to help avoid further permanent job losses at a time when approximately 480,000 people are in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment. Extending the current commercial rates waiver for a further three months for those businesses most seriously affected by the restrictions. Local Communities and Local Delivery A further Stability Fund for Community and Voluntary Organisations top-up of 10 million will be made available to enable continuity of critical service delivery to vulnerable groups. Wellbeing and Mental Health Auxiliary mental health supports will continue to be offered remotely to ensure those in isolation can access assistance when needed. An additional 10 million in funding will be made available to meet the increase in demand being experienced The smell of smoke lingers in the air of a quiet gated community that's still in shock by the death of their kindly neighbour - believed to be at the hands of the estranged ex she came here to escape. Investigations are underway to determine exactly how 49-year-old Doreen Langham's violent ex Gary Hely, also 49, managed to get inside the high security estate called the The Promenade, in Browns Plains, south of Brisbane, and allegedly set the townhouse on fire, killing them both. Their bodies were pulled from the wreckage of the townhouse inferno 12 hours after it started early on Tuesday morning. Detectives will now try to determine exactly how Hely was able to enter the private property. Neighbours told Daily Mail Australia security is strict and visitors must be buzzed in via one of the two front gates leading into the community. 'There's one way in, and one way out', a female staff member said. On February 9, just two weeks before the fire, Ms Langham was granted a temporary protection order against Hely. And just days before the home was torched, Ms Langham had the locks changed in a desperate attempt to keep her ex out. Forensic police are seen sifting through remains of a townhouse that was destroyed by fire at Browns Plains Investigations are underway to determine exactly how a 49-year-old man managed to get inside the estate, where two bodies were found in the rubble Doreen Langham (pictured) is understood to have lived in fear of her partner before the terrifying fire on Monday The entire home was razed to the ground, while a car was destroyed and the neighbouring home damaged They combed through dirt and rubble, all that remained of Ms Langham's home, searching for clues and closely examined a yellow canister with a flute sticking out of it (pictured) that they found in the ground Investigators combed through dirt and rubble for any clues as to how the fire started - and paid close attention to a yellow canister with a flute sticking out of it that they found in the ground. Officers appeared to test if another item, which was also pulled from the wreckage, fit inside the canister, which had a lengthy serial number on the side. A young neighbour said she and her best friend were horrified to learn of their neighbour's death. 'I couldn't even get my car out to get to work, I had to get a friend to pick me up and drop me home because there were so many cops and other cars blocking me in.' The young woman said she'd come across several 'interesting people with colourful backgrounds' living in the complex, but always felt safe given the strict security measures. Her former partner Gary Hely, both 49, was also recovered from the blaze on Monday night, 12 hours after emergency services scrambled to the scene Police have spent hours combing through the rubble searching for clues in the investigation The neighbouring property was also impacted during the blaze Officers were particularly interested in a yellow canister that was pulled from the wreckage Police believe it may take up to a week for fire investigators to prepare a report about the cause of the fatal fire. Pictured are police scouring through the gutted remains on Tuesday The house was reduced to rubble, while the neighbouring property was significantly damaged as well (pictured) A staff member in the complex agreed that the community was 'extremely secure'. 'This is a super secure estate. One way in, and one way out,' the woman, who did not want to be named, insisted. Hely's car was found across the road shortly after officers arrived on the scene. Detectives honed in on a metal fence which backs onto the property from a side street, indicating it could be a potential entry point for the offender. The stench of smoke continues to set off smoke alarms in neighbouring houses more than 24 hours after firefighters were able to put out the blaze. A neighbour said the sound of a smoke alarm woke her in the middle of the night on Monday and gave her 'quite a fright'. A burnt out car was parked across the street from the wreckage on Tuesday afternoon Two bodies were found in the rubble early on Tuesday morning Detectives were on the scene on Tuesday morning and had cordoned off much of the quiet street Officers appeared to test if another item, which was also pulled from the wreckage, fit inside the canister, which had a lengthy serial number on the side (pictured) 'It was definitely nerve-wracking,' she said of hearing the alarm. 'I really didn't know what to think.' At least two more houses had scares on Tuesday morning. Detectives were on the scene on Tuesday morning and had cordoned off much of the quiet street. The house next door has also been significantly damaged in the blaze. The side of the light-brick home was painted black from soot. Emergency services were called to the townhouse engulfed in flames in Browns Plains south of Brisbane about 4am Monday after neighbours heard a woman's terrified screams. She was reportedly shouting a man's name as her home burned to the ground. Authorities would not comment on the open investigation Detectives were joined by fire inspectors on Tuesday, who assessed the rubble Detectives spent hours sifting through the rubble on Tuesday morning. The investigation is expected to take days Police were pictured at the scene sifting through the rubble to attempt to piece together the events Preliminary investigations indicate the blaze was deliberately lit, with neighbours telling police the huge fire spread within minutes. Fire inspectors are assisting police at the scene. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk addressed the incident during her Tuesday morning press conference. 'It's an absolute tragedy, I understand the police are doing a thorough investigation there and look I just have to wait to see what the police say,' Ms Palaszczuk said. 'It's just unbelievable this is happening in this day and age.' An autopsy will be conducted to verify the identity of the remains, though it is understood Ms Langham and Hely remain missing. The gutted home remains a crime scene on Tuesday, more than 24 hours after a woman and her former partner perished in the house fire. Pictured are forensic police examining the scene Tawazun Economic Council and Saudi Arabia's General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the sidelines of the International Defense Exhibition and Conference (IDEX 2021), currently underway in Abu Dhabi. The MOU was signed by H.E. Jassem Mohammed Bu Ataba AlZaabi, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Finance and Secretary General of Tawazun's Board of Directors, and H.E. Ahmed bin Abdulazis Al-Ohali, Governor of GAMI (Picture source: Tawazun) The MOU aims to build strategic relations of cooperation, partnership and integration between the two sides to enhance the capabilities of the defense industries sector, explore potentials for joint projects and identify areas of cooperation in defense industry-related Research & Development (R&D). The MOU was signed by H.E. Jassem Mohammed Bu Ataba AlZaabi, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Finance and Secretary General of Tawazun's Board of Directors, and H.E. Ahmed bin Abdulazis Al-Ohali, Governor of GAMI. The signing ceremony, which took place at Tawazun's Pavilion at IDEX, was attended by H.E. Tareq Abdulraheem Al Hosani, Chief Executive Officer of Tawazun, and officials from the two sides. Following the signing, Al Zaabi said the MOU stems from the deep-rooted relations between the two fraternal countries, the foundation of which was laid by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. "This agreement for joint cooperation sets the course for a new era of joint cooperation between the two brotherly countries in all domains, particularly in R&D, technology transfer, FDIs and joint defense industries," he added. Al Zaabi pointed out that drawing from its vast experience and strong relations with ecosystem players, as well as its qualified and highly skilled Emirati talents, Tawazun is positioned to play a pivotal role in enabling the defense industry and boosting its contribution to the UAE's sustainable development drive. He referred to the UAE's Tawazun Economic Program as one of the region's most successful systems and expressed willingness to exchange expertise and best practices with the Saudi counterpart. Al-Ohali said the MOU comes in line with the strong ties and continuous cooperation between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, emanating from the two countries' shared vision, goals and aspirations for economic integration and for a brighter future. "Under the MOU, we will work to accelerate joint action for implementation of the Tawazun Economic Programs. The GCC region has huge potentials to build sustainable capabilities in defense and military industries, building on the long-standing and mutually beneficial relations with the world's leading industry and technology players. Our objective is to transfer technology and know-how and to build an integrated base for defense industries in the Gulf," he stated. The MOU signed by Tawazun and GAMI complements the ongoing cooperation between the UAE and Saudi Arabia in military and defense fields. It comes on the heels of similar agreements and MOUs signed between the two countries to deepen cooperation in military and defense industries. They reflect the depth of the current historical relations between the UAE and Saudi Arabia. David Spillers, chief executive officer of the Huntsville Hospital Health System, will retire in July. Spillers has overseen dramatic growth in the health system since becoming CEO in 2006 and has become a prominent voice in north Alabama during the coronavirus pandemic. The hospital announced Spillers retirement Tuesday as well as naming Jeff Samz, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the health system, as his successor. It has been a great ride but its time to do some things that I have not taken the time to do while working, Spillers said in the announcement. I have been privileged over the past 33 years to work in healthcare during a period of incredible changes and challenges. None have been bigger than the pandemic that we face today. Our team has performed incredibly well and I am confident that we will ultimately win this battle. Weve served our community for 125 years but there is more work to be done. I am also blessed to work with what I consider to be the best leadership team and the best board that any health system could have. I can step away knowing that what we have built here will continue to thrive and grow. Spillers also endorsed Samz as his replacement. Samz came to Huntsville Hospital in 2009 and the two previously worked together in Asheville, N.C. You cant find a more qualified person to be the next CEO of this system, Spillers said in the announcement. I am happy for the organization and for Jeff that he will succeed me. While Spillers has long been a community leader in the Rocket City, his profile rose dramatically as he regularly participated in coronavirus briefings televised across north Alabama as well as streamed online. He began calling for a statewide mask ordinance three months before it was implemented by Gov. Kay Ivey and has talked openly on a range of topics from employee cutbacks because of a reduction of services at the hospital to promoting the need for personal responsibility to combat COVID-19. While Spillers has a long list of achievements at Huntsville Hospital, his most impactful work has occurred during the pandemic. Davids leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic may be his greatest accomplishment. Few leaders could do what he has done as our hospitals have responded to the crisis, Philip Bentley, chairman of the Health Care Authority governing board, said in the announcement. David has always kept our team focused on quality, safety and service. Our patients are getting outstanding care in all of our facilities. We will be forever grateful for his contributions. Beyond the pandemic, highlights of Spillers tenure at Huntsville Hospital has included the opening of Madison Hospital in 2012 and the expansion of the health system. That system now includes hospitals in Athens, Boaz, Decatur, Guntersville, Red Bay and Sheffield, along with affiliate relationships with other hospitals in the Tennessee Valley. Huntsville Hospital is also expected to open a $175 million Orthopedic & Spine Tower this summer. The hospitals new leader has been working closely with Spillers for the past 12 years. Jeff Samz has worked in healthcare for 28 years with stops at Vanderbilt Health, Duke Health and at Mission Health in Asheville, North Carolina. His responsibilities in Huntsville include operations at all system hospitals, physician practices, and outpatient locations. In the community, Samz serves as the Secretary-Treasurer of Huntsville Madison County Chamber of Commerce Board, and the Secretary-Treasurer of U.S. Space and Rocket Center Foundation Board. He is a former member of the United Way board of directors. Samz is a Morehead Scholar and 1992 graduate of the University of North Carolina. He earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Wake Forest University in 1999. We have the utmost confidence in Jeff, Bentley said in the announcement. He is well prepared to lead our organization. We know him and trust that under his leadership we will continue to excel. Spillers will work with the hospital as a consultant in retirement, the announcement said. Spillers said he and his wife, Cindy, will remain in Huntsville. Cindy and I love Huntsville, Spillers said. Its our home now. Running a system like ours consumes most of your time. I look forward to having more time to do the things I have put off for many years. Updated today, Feb. 23, 2021, at 10:53 a.m. with new information throughout. As the Biden administration shapes its foreign and security policy, a panel of experts and former diplomats have said that India is critical to the US' strategy in the Indo-Pacific as the two countries share a common strategic vision for it to be free and open, amidst China flexing its muscles in the region. The experts, including former Indian foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon and President of Center for China Analysis and Strategy Jayadeva Ranade, made the comments during a virtual panel discussion organised by The Hudson Institute think-tank here. Commenting on India's ties with the US, Menon and Ranade emphasised that it is a critical relationship. Menon said that the relationship between the two countries "will continue to grow because strategic congruence is growing, whether on climate change, China, Indo-Pacific, or maritime security. India regards the US as an essential partner not only in its own transformation but as the only global superpower and the two countries have a common strategic vision for free and open Indo-Pacific, he said. US is our largest trading partner and while we have differences we know how to manage them," Menon said. "Since 2012, China's active presence in South Asia, much stronger strategic commitment to Pakistan, playing a role in the internal politics of countries like Nepal and Sri Lanka and military buildup in the Indian Ocean region are problematic to India, Menon, a former Indian ambassador to China, said. Further, China's open opposition to India's rise, from the NSG issue to the seat on UNSC. All of these show China is openly opposing India and is willing to be such," said Menon, who also served as the former security advisor under the then Manmohan Singh government. India, the US and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China's rising military manoeuvring in the region. The Chinese military is also actively eying the strategic Indian Ocean region to step up Beijing influence. China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it. Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea. In 2017, India, Australia, Japan and the US gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the "Quad" or the Quadrilateral coalition to counter China's aggressive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific region. Speaking on the occasion, Ranade said that under Chinese President Xi Jinping, China's aim is to first establish itself as the premier power in Asia or Indo-Pacific, and second to take on and rival if not surpass the US. India stands in the way of this Chinese goal," he said. Menon, according to a Hudson press release, pointed out that China's actions since 2012, under President Xi, were behind the change in how India's strategic community viewed China. Looking to the future, Menon said, "not only has deterrence broken down on the border last year but that there is a much more assertive Chinese behaviour not just in the subcontinent and the Indian ocean region but in Asia. To reset the relationship will be a long hard process," he said, adding that resorting to the status quo would be one step and we need a regime to keep peace on the border. His comment came as the armies of China and India have completed the disengagement of troops locked in over an eight-month-long standoff in North and South Pangong Lake in eastern Ladakh. A joint statement issued on Sunday at the end of a lengthy round of military-level talks said the two sides positively appraised the smooth completion of disengagement of frontline troops in the Pangong Lake area, noting that it was a significant step forward that provided a good basis for resolution of other remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control in the Western Sector. "However, there are bigger issues and for that one needs a series of difficult conversations where we talk about our core interests, about how we adjust or manage or even settle our differences and how we handle the issues that divide us," Menon, who is also one of the independent directors of the PTI's Board of Directors, said. Ranade said, "it is not a question of trust being hurt, but a question of absent trust. Frankly trust doesn't exist, we are trying to put it in place and Chinese need to realise that but they have blown it apart. We will need to build a new relationship and this makes things harder," Ranade 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.) Prymorsky District Court of Odesa sentenced activist Serhiy Sternenko to seven years in prison after convicting him of abducting Lyman village council deputy Serhiy Scherbych. The court passed the verdict on Tuesday, the meeting was broadcast on social networks. "Sternenko was found guilty [...] of illegal imprisonment [...] with the use of weapons for a long time [...] with the aim of taking possession of other people's property," the court said. In addition, according to a court ruling, half of all property of activist was seized. "To impose a sentence on Sternenko in the form of imprisonment for a period of seven years and seven months with confiscation of half of his property," the court said in the ruling. The term of serving the sentence is from February 23, 2021. As Sternenko wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday, the court decided to take him into custody right in the courtroom and put him in a pretrial detention center. "We are given a pretrial detention center with custody in the courtroom," he said. Meanwhile, a group of people who came to the courthouse to support Sternenko stood in a "human chain" near the courtroom so as not to release the paddy wagon in which the activist is. His supporters throw smoke bombs. Representatives of the association "Resistance to Surrender" due to the sentencing of Sternenko announced their intentions on Tuesday evening to hold a protest in Kyiv on Bankova Street, where the President's Office of Ukraine is located. The start of the action was announced at 20:00. Remembering those we've lost and helping those who are grieving TORONTO - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was the first world leader to congratulate President Joe Biden by phone after he was declared winner of the election and was Biden's first call with a world leader after his inauguration. On Tuesday, Trudeau will meet with Biden - albeit via videoconference - in what Ottawa hopes will produce a reset in relations with Canada's largest trading partner and one of its closest allies after four tumultuous years with President Donald Trump. Canadian officials are optimistic that Biden will usher in a period of greater personal amity and cooperation. But they were dealt a reminder during Biden's first month in office, when he canceled the Keystone XL pipeline project that Trump and Trudeau both favored, that cross-border friction won't evaporate just because there's a new tenant in the White House. - Why Canada is ready to turn the page on Trump Trudeau's first face-to-face meeting with Trump was a 2017 White House visit that sparked in-depth analysis in Canadian and international media of . . . their handshake. Trudeau, who cast himself as a liberal foil to Trump, was so concerned about the gesture that he reportedly practiced it on the plane. It would be the least of his worries. During bruising trade talks, Trump slapped tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, prompting Canadian retaliation. He stormed out of a Group of Seven meeting in Quebec, then fired off tweets disparaging Trudeau as "very dishonest" and "weak." He mused about sending troops to the U.S.-Canada border and ordered manufacturing giant 3M to stop sending N95 masks to Canada. His trade adviser Peter Navarro appeared to call into question the motives for Canada's contribution to the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan, in which 158 Canadian soldiers were killed. The comments were "such an affront to Canadian contribution and Canadian loss," a deputy defense minister wrote to Canada's envoy to the United States in an email obtained by The Washington Post through a public records request. - The Trudeau-Biden relationship Biden is now trying to make up. Even as the government equivalent of a Zoom meeting, Tuesday's first one-on-one with a foreign leader is meant to demonstrate that the relationship is resetting to the pre-Trump status quo. The White House arranged the day with as many bells and whistles as could be managed virtually. Delegations from the State Department, Transportation Department and elsewhere will meet virtually alongside the two leaders, who will have an approximation of an Oval Office meeting before the cameras. Trudeau's team will seek to build on existing relationships with Biden administration officials who also worked in the Obama administration. They have other close ties: Jen O'Malley Dillon, Biden's deputy chief of staff, was a consultant on Trudeau's 2015 election campaign. Ata 2016 state dinner in Ottawa in Biden's honor, the then-vice president gave a toast in which he noted that his late first wife's family was from Toronto, said his sons grew up wanting to be Mounties and recalled fond memories of attending the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Speaking a month after Trump's election, Biden told Trudeau that the world would be looking to him for leadership amid "more and more challenges to the liberal international order." He shared warm words about Trudeau's late father, the former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, who Biden said had reached out after the deaths of his first wife and daughter in a car crash. - Sources of friction Canada's relationship with the new administration got off to a bit of a bumpy start. On Biden's first day in office, he signed an executive order revoking the permit for Calgary-based TC Energy's Keystone XL pipeline expansion, which would carry Canadian crude oil from Alberta to Nebraska. Biden indicated during his campaign that he would rescind the permit, but Canadian officials hoped to have a chance to make their case. Trudeau said he was "disappointed." The next day, he said he would "acknowledge" Biden's decision. A senior U.S. official told reporters Monday that the United States considers the matter settled. "The decision will not be reconsidered. It has already been made," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the meeting. There are other potential sources of friction in the energy relationship. Michigan has ordered that Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline be shut down by May. The pipeline helps supply oil and natural gas to Ontario and Quebec. Michigan officials are concerned about the risk of a spill - and are ghosting Ontario Premier Doug Ford on the subject. Kirsten Hillman, Canada's ambassador to the United States, has said that some of Biden's economic policies are "more protectionist" than Canada would like. These include his "Buy American" policies on procurement, an issue Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said last month would be "very, very high" on the bilateral agenda. Ottawa has sought help from the United States in obtaining vaccines. Canada's rollout has lagged compared with its peers, in part because it has limited domestic capacity to manufacture vaccines and has been sourcing its Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines from plants in Europe. Expected deliveries of doses have faced delays, in part because of a Pfizer decision to retool its Belgium plant. The firm has a plant in Michigan, but it's only manufacturing vaccines for domestic use. Canadian officials have asked their U.S. counterparts about potentially getting vaccines from U.S. plants; White House press secretary Jen Psaki has told reporters that Biden's "first priority is ensuring vaccines are in the arms of Americans." - Areas of cooperation Trudeau has identified fighting climate change as an area of shared interest with the United States and spoke to secretary of state John F. Kerry, Biden's envoy for climate, last month. They discussed zero-emissions vehicles and attaining net zero emissions, among other topics, according to a Canadian readout of the call. The Canadian leader has indicated he hopes to work with Biden on fighting the coronavirus and on the post-pandemic economic recovery. Trudeau last week praised the president's contributions to Covax, a multilateral effort to distribute vaccines around the world, which Trump rejected. Trudeau will be looking for U.S. help securing the release of the two Canadians detained in China. Former diplomat Michael Kovrig and consultant Michael Spavor were arrested in December 2018 in apparent retaliation for Canada's arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at the behest of U.S. officials seeking her extradition on fraud charges. Trudeau has raised their cases with Biden and Vice President Harris. Christopher Sands, director of the Center for Canadian Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, said relations between the Trudeau government and the Biden administration appear to be off to a good start. He noted phone calls between Trudeau and Biden and members of their teams. "Until proven that we should be more pessimistic, a couple of things that we've seen from the Biden administration have been really encouraging from a Canada-U.S. relations point of view," he said. But he said Biden's first moves in office also have signaled that domestic considerations could take primacy over those of international allies, given that he does not have a strong majority in Congress. That holds lessons for Canada. "I don't think it's that he doesn't want to help," Sands said. "I think he's in a situation where it's hard for him to do everything that Canada wants and he's under a lot of pressure, so I would say just keep finding traction where you can." - - - The Washington Post's Anne Gearan in Washington contributed to this report. Former British Prime Minister Theresa May urged the government this morning to rethink their travel roadmap with no foreign travel until at least May 17 leaving the travel industry with a mountain to climb. May said that the government should speed-up the easing of the lockdown and allow foreign holidays sooner rather than later. Aviation consultant John Strickland said the timeline was negative for airlines, given certainty on travel was months away at a time when bookings would usually be flooding in. "We're already two months into the year so we've lost two months already. On this news we're going to lose another two months," he said. "A number of airlines are already projecting that at least the first half of summer is pretty well written off and projecting at best there might be some resurgence of traffic in the late summer." The trade body for Britain's airports also said the May 17 date was a blow. "As the worst-hit economic sector in 2020, this will ensure we will also be the worst-hit sector of 2021," Airport Operators Association Chief Executive Karen Dee said. A Cairns dentist and his company have been hit with fines of $150,000 for failing to have adequate infection control practices which put patients at risk of serious diseases including hepatitis C and HIV. Kenneth Hossen pleaded guilty on Monday in the Cairns Magistrates Court to the charge of breaching infection control practices and was fined $50,000 personally. A cairns dentist and his practice have been fined $150,000 for poor sterilising of instruments. Credit:File Image/ Quentin Jones His company, Monacove Pty Ltd, which operates Essential Dental for Life in Smithfield, was also fined $100,000 for breaching requirements of the Public Health Act 2005. Convictions were also recorded for all charges. Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Its nearly two months since turbulence erupted around China Huarong Asset Management Co.At the end of March, its 4% perpetual dollar bond was trading at 102 cents on the dollar as investors figured the January execution of former chairman Lai Xiaomin for bribery put a line under past wayward behavior. But the failure of the company to release 2020 results by a March 31 deadline, and a subsequent report by mainland media Caixin that the firm will restructure, sparked weeks of turmoil. The same bond is now at 57 cents.The heart of the matter is whether the central government will rescue a state-owned company thats integral to the smooth running of the financial system. While there are signs Beijing wants to ensure China Huarong can repay its debts on time, uncertainty prevails.Heres a look at the key events for China Huarong:May 28The company has wired funds to repay $978 million of notes maturing within the following week, according to Bloomberg News, the biggest bond payment since the 2020 results delay.May 27Liang Qiang, who currently heads another bad-debt manager, is on track to become president of China Huarong, reports Bloomberg News.May 24China Huarong dollar bonds climb after the managing editor of Caixin Media wrote in an opinion piece that the asset manager is nowhere near defaulting on its more than $20 billion of offshore notes.May 21Some of China Huarongs thinly traded onshore bonds slump after having held up better than the companys dollar-denominated notes, signaling broadening concern about the firms financial health.May 18China Huarong has transferred funds to repay a $300 million note maturing May 20, Bloomberg News reports, the first dollar bond to come due since the delayed 2020 results. Prices for the firms dollar bonds slump earlier in the day after the New York Times reports China is planning an overhaul that would inflict significant losses on both domestic and foreign China Huarong bondholders.May 17The company has reached funding agreements with state-owned banks to ensure it can repay debt through at least the end of August, by which time China Huarong aims to have completed its 2020 financial statements, according to a Bloomberg News report. That as at least two of its onshore bonds see big price declines in recent days, worrying some investors.May 13The firm says its prepared to make future bond payments and has seen no change in the level of government support, seeking to ease investor concerns after a local media report that regulators balked at China Hurarongs restructuring plan.May 6The company says it transferred funds to pay five offshore bond coupons due the following day, its latest move to meet debt obligations amid persistent doubts about its financial health.April 30China Huarong breaks its silence, with an executive telling media it is prepared to make its bond payments and state backing remains intact. The official also says the weeks rating downgrades have no factual basis and are too pessimistic.April 29Moodys Investor Service downgrades China Huarong by one notch to Baa1, adding the firm remains on watch for further downgrade. The cut reflects the companys weakened funding ability due to market volatility and increased uncertainty over its future, according to the statement.April 27China Huarong units repay bonds maturing that day. The S$600 million ($450 million) bond was repaid with funds provided by Chinas biggest state-owned bank, according to a Bloomberg News report.April 26Fitch Ratings downgrades China Huarong by three notches to BBB while dropping the companys perpetual bonds into junk territory. The lack of transparency over government support for the firm may hamper its ability to refinance debt in offshore markets, Fitch said.April 25China Huarong says it wont meet an April 30 deadline to file its 2020 report with Hong Kongs stock exchange because auditors needed more time to finalize a transaction the company first flagged on April 1. Securities and asset-management units said in the days before that they wouldnt release 2020 results by months end.April 22The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission asks lenders to extend China Huarongs upcoming loans by at least six months, according to REDD, citing two bankers from large Chinese commercial lenders.April 21China is considering a plan that would see its central bank assume more than 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) of China Huarong assets to help clean up the firms balance sheet, according to a Bloomberg News report. Peer China Cinda Asset Management Co. was said to be planning the sale of perpetual bonds in the second quarter.April 20China Huarongs key offshore financing unit says it returned to profitability in the first quarter and laid a solid foundation for transformation. Reorg Research reports that regulators are considering options including a debt restructuring of the unit, China Huarong International Holdings Ltd.April 19Huarong Securities Co. says it wired funds to repay a 2.5 billion yuan local note.April 16The CBIRC says China Huarongs operations are normal and that the firm has ample liquidity. These are the first official comments about the companys troubles. Reuters reports Chinese banks have been asked not to withhold loans to Huarong.April 13Fitch and Moodys both put the company on watch for downgrade. The finance ministry, which owns a majority of Huarong, is considering the transfer of its stake to a unit of the countrys sovereign wealth fund, Bloomberg News reports. Chinese officials signal they want failing local government financing vehicles to restructure or go bust if debts cant be repaid.April 9China Huarong says it has been making debt payments on time and its operations are normal. Bloomberg News reports the company intends to keep Huarong International as part of a potential overhaul that would avoid the need of a debt restructuring or government recapitalization. S&P Global Ratings puts China Huarongs credit ratings on watch for possible downgrade.April 8China Huarong is preparing to offload non-core and loss-making units as part of a broad plan to revive profitability that would avoid the need for a debt restructuring or government recapitalization, Bloomberg News reports.April 6Selling gains steam in China Huarongs dollar bonds, following a holiday in China. Huarong Securities says there has been no major change to its operations, in response to a price plunge for its 3 billion yuan local bond.April 1China Huarong announces a delay in releasing 2020 results, saying its auditor is unable to finalize a transaction. Stock trading is suspended and spreads jump on the firms dollar bonds while China Huarong tells investors its business is running as usual. Caixin reports the company submitted restructuring and other major reform plans to government officials and shareholders.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. Hyderabad, Feb 24 : Telangana government on Tuesday decided to allow re-opening of schools for classes 6th to 8th from Wednesday. The decision was taken a teleconference Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar conducted with all the district collectors, district educational officers, district welfare officers of backward classes, minority and tribal welfare and scheduled caste development departments. Chief Secretary directed that classes should start from February 24 as far as possible and not later than March 1. About 17.24 lakh students in addition to the existing number are likely to be attending school from classes 6th to 8th. Chief Secretary also directed that District Level Education Monitoring Committee (DLEMC) chaired by the District Collector should meet and ensure reopening of schools. Somesh Kumar stated that all precautions should be taken for the safety of students and teachers. Special measures should be taken for schools opening for the first time. Schools for class 9th and above were reopened from February 1 after a gap of nearly 11 months. The educational institutions were shut in mid-March, a few days before imposition of nation-wide lockdown. Exams could not be conducted for class 1 to 11 and all students were promoted to the next class. For academic year 2020-21, online classes began on September 1. Following requests from parents of many students, the authorities decided to reopen schools for physical classes for class 9 and above. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Kampala (Uganda), Feb 22, 2021 (SPS)- The Ugandan Solidarity Movement with Western Sahara condemned the increased repression of the Moroccan security forces against the Saharawi people in the occupied territories. The Solidarity Movement with Western Sahara in Uganda expressed, today in a communique, its deepest concern at the repression of the Saharawis, notably the Western Sahara activists and Journalists. It also strongly condemned the physical surveillance of prominent Saharawi activist Sultan Khaya and the use of excessive force to disperse peaceful protests, ill treatment of political prisoners and arbitral disciplinary measures. The Solidarity Movement with Western Sahara in Uganda called on the United Nations and African Union to implement the relevant resolutions to enable the people of Western Sahara exercise their inalienable rights to Self-determination, urging the United States of America to stay committed to the United Nations resolutions where its a permanent member and to rescind the proclamation made by the former president Donald Trump, since it contravenes the UN resolutions 1514, ICJ ruling of 1975, EU ruling of 2006 and 2008 and the 1991 cease fire agreement. Solidarity Movement with Western Sahara in Uganda is a Youth led Organization based in Uganda with the aim of creating awareness and mobilizing peace loving people across Africa to Unite and advocate for the decolonization of Western Sahara Africas last colony. SPS 090/110 To Don from Orland Park who would like to see Bernie Sanders or AOC go down to Texas. AOC raised $2 million for relief in Texas. Anyone who believes that green energy is the problem with the power outages in Texas really needs to educate themselves. Texas is cut off from the federal energy grid because they dont want outside interference. They are owned by petroleum and oil interests. It was not windmills that failed, it was lack of investment in infrastructure to their propane and natural gas pipelines. 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. NOT FOR RELEASE, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD BE UNLAWFUL Basel, Switzerland, February 23, 2021 Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd ("Basilea" or the "Company") announced today the launch of an offering of up to 1 million new registered shares with a par value of CHF 1.00 per share. The net proceeds from this private placement will be used for i) the clinical development of Basilea's clinical oncology drug candidates derazantinib and lisavanbulin, ii) pre-clinical research and development activities, and iii) working capital and other general corporate purposes, including investments in or in-licensing of complementary businesses, products or assets. The new shares correspond to approximately 8% of Basilea's currently issued share capital and will be issued from the Company's authorized share capital, excluding subscription rights of existing shareholders. The offer price of the new shares will be determined in an accelerated bookbuilding process, which will start immediately. The offer price as well as the number of new shares will be announced following the completion of the bookbuilding process, which is expected prior to market open on SIX Swiss Exchange on February 24, 2021. The transaction will be executed by way of a placement of shares offered exclusively to professional investors in Switzerland and qualified investors outside Switzerland and the United States of America pursuant to Regulation S of the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and in the United States to qualified institutional buyers as defined in Rule 144A under the Securities Act pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act. The new shares are expected to be listed and admitted to trading on SIX Swiss Exchange on February 26, 2021. Payment and settlement are expected to take place on or around February 26, 2021. The new shares will rank pari passu with the existing shares. In connection with the offering, Basilea has agreed to a 150-day lock-up period following the settlement, subject to customary exceptions. Members of the Board of Directors and Management of Basilea have agreed to a 150-day lock-up period following the settlement, subject to customary exceptions. Cantor Fitzgerald, Credit Suisse and Bryan Garnier are acting as Joint Bookrunners in connection with the offering. About Basilea Basilea is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company founded in 2000 and headquartered in Switzerland. We are committed to discovering, developing and commercializing innovative drugs to meet the medical needs of patients with cancer and infectious diseases. We have successfully launched two hospital brands, Cresemba for the treatment of invasive fungal infections and Zevtera for the treatment of severe bacterial infections. We are conducting clinical studies with two targeted drug candidates for the treatment of a range of cancers and have a number of preclinical assets in both cancer and infectious diseases in our portfolio. Basilea is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Disclaimer This communication constitutes neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation to buy securities referred to in it ("Securities") and it does not constitute a prospectus or a similar notice within the meaning of articles 35 et seqq. or 69 of the Swiss Financial Services Act. The offer and listing of the Securities will be made without the publication of a prospectus in reliance on the exemptions provided in article 36 paragraph 1 letter a and article 38 paragraph 1 letter a of the Financial Services Act. These materials shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the Securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. In particular, these materials are not an offer of securities for sale in the United States. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the US Securities Act of 1933. The Securities have not been and will not be registered. There will be no public offering of these Securities in the United States. This communication does not constitute an "offer of securities to the public" within the meaning of Regulation 2017/1129 of the European Union (the "EU ProspectusRegulation") or the EU Prospectus Regulation as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the UK European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (the "UK ProspectusRegulation") of the Securities in any member state of the European Economic Area (the "EEA") or in the UK. Any offers of the Securities to persons in the EEA or in the UK will be made pursuant to exemptions under the EU Prospectus Regulation and the UK Prospectus Regulation from the requirement to produce a prospectus for offers of the Securities. In member states of the EEA, this communication is being distributed only to, and is directed only at "qualified investors" within the meaning of Article 2(e) of the EU Prospectus Regulation ("Qualified Investors"). In the United Kingdom, this communication is being distributed only to, and is directed only at "qualified investors" within the meaning of Article 2(e) of the UK Prospectus Regulation who are also (a) persons who have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the "Order"), or (b) high net worth entities, or (c) other persons to whom it may otherwise lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as "relevantpersons"). Any investment or investment activity to which this communication relates is available only to Qualified Investors in the EEA and to relevant persons in the United Kingdom and will be engaged in only with Qualified Investors in the EEA and with relevant persons in the United Kingdom. Any person who is not a Qualified Investor or a relevant person, as appropriate, should not act or rely on this communication or any of its contents. This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements, such as "believe", "assume", "expect", "forecast", "project", "may", "could", "might", "will" or similar expressions concerning Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. and its business, including with respect to the progress, timing and completion of research, development and clinical studies for product candidates. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For further information, please contact: Peer Nils Schroder, PhD Head of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations Phone +41 61 606 1102 E-mail media_relations@basilea.com (mailto:media_relations@basilea.com) investor_relations@basilea.com (mailto:investor_relations@basilea.com) This press release can be downloaded from www.basilea.com. Attachment New data shows that the first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine "provides high levels of protection against infection and symptomatic disease," Public Health England (PHE) said in a press release on Monday. PHE's Siren Study, which was carried out on healthcare workers aged under the age of 65, found that one dose of the vaccine reduced the risk of infection by 72% after three weeks, while two vaccine doses reduced the risk of infection by 85%. This high level of protection extended to the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant first identified in the UK in December. Health workers were tested for Covid-19 infection every two weeks using PCR tests and twice a week with lateral flow tests, Dr. Susan Hopkins, strategic response director at PHE, explained, meaning "there was a lot of asymptomatic testing," she said. "Overall we are seeing a really strong effect to reducing any infection: asymptomatic and symptomatic," Hopkins said during a press conference held by the UK's Science Media Centre on Monday. PHE also analyzed routine testing data based on symptomatic disease in over 12,000 people, which showed that one dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was 57% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 disease in those aged over 80 four weeks after the first dose. This increased to 88% one week after the second dose. Early data has also shown that vaccinated people who are subsequently infected are far less likely to die of, or be hospitalized with, the virus. People over the age of 80 who were infected post vaccination were 41% less likely to be hospitalized with the virus and 57% less likely to die of it. PHE predicted that protection against severe disease was likely to be over 75% in those who have received one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. "The good sign is overall we are beginning to see a decline in hospitalizations and deaths in those vaccinated age groups [and] at least some is attributable to the vaccination program," Dr. Mary Ramsay, head of immunization at PHE, said during the press conference. She said that while the UK's current lockdown had played a part in the decline in hospitalizations, "the faster speed in decline can be attributed in some aspects to the vaccination program." In the PHE release, Ramsay cautioned that despite the encouraging signs "we don't yet know how much these vaccines will reduce the risk of you passing Covid-19 on to others," adding that vaccinated people should continue to follow stay-at-home orders. The UK has placed its focus on vaccinating as many high-risk people as possible with the first dose. Ramsay said the findings "reinforce the policy of giving that single dose to more people to prevent more deaths and more admissions now and then go back later and get the second dose which will give them longer lasting protection." UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it was "extremely encouraging" that data supported the UK government's "decision to maximize the number of people vaccinated with a single dose." "Protection against severe disease is at least 75% or higher and that corresponds with what you see from Scotland," Ramsay said at the press conference in reference to early data from a Scottish study on the effect of the Pfizer and Oxford-AstraZeneca shots in the community. Substantial fall in hospital admissions In that study, also released on Monday, the Covid-19 vaccination rollout was linked to a substantial fall in the risk of admission to hospital because ot the disease in Scotland. Researchers compared hospital admissions among those who had had their first dose and those who had not. By the fourth week after receiving the initial dose, the Pfizer vaccine reduced the risk of hospital admission from Covid-19 by up to 85%. The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine reduced the risk of hospitalization by up to 94%. The preliminary study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, is the first to look at the two vaccines' effect on preventing severe illness resulting in hospitalization across an entire country, with previous efficacy results coming from clinical trials. The EAVE II project, carried out by researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh, Strathclyde, Aberdeen, Glasgow and St Andrew's and Public Health Scotland (PHS), analyzed a dataset covering almost the entire Scottish population of 5.4 million people. Researchers analyzed data for every week between December 8 and February 15. During this period 1.14 million vaccines were administered (some 650,000 people got the Pfizer shot and about 490,000 had the Oxford-AstraZeneca one) with 21 per cent of the Scottish population receiving a first dose, according to a University of Edinburgh press release. Among those aged 80 years and over -- one of the highest risk groups -- vaccination was associated with an 81 per cent reduction in hospitalization risk from Covid-19 in the fourth week, when the results for both vaccines were combined, according to the press release. "These results are very encouraging and have given us great reasons to be optimistic for the future. We now have national evidence -- across an entire country -- that vaccination provides protection against Covid-19 hospitalizations," lead researcher Aziz Sheikh, Director of the University of Edinburgh's Usher Institute, said in the release. "Roll-out of the first vaccine dose now needs to be accelerated globally to help overcome this terrible disease." Arne Akbar, president of the British Society for Immunology, added: "We now need to understand how long lasting this protection is for one dose of the vaccine." "Although further research is needed, overall these new findings should provide reassurance around the UK's decision to offer the two doses of the vaccine 12 weeks apart." Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that Israel will not rely on efforts to return to a nuclear deal with Iran, stating Israel isnt pinning its hopes on an agreement with an extremist regime like [Iran]. We already saw what these agreements are worth with North Korea. Still, as Netanyahu was busy formulating the Israeli strategy on the expected resumption of Iran-US negotiations, hundreds of the countrys former generals, spies and defense experts were urging him to back the approach adopted by US President Joe Biden. The group, known as Commanders for Israels Security, called on Netanyahu to support Bidens approach for returning to the nuclear deal with Iran but on condition that Iran resumes all its commitments under its 2015 agreement with world powers. The letters loaded message was undoubtedly troubling for Netanyahu, based as it was on the conclusions of a team of experts with impeccable credentials led by former Mossad Director Tamir Pardo. Among its other members were Eli Levite, the former deputy director general of the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission; Maj. Gen. (Res.) Nitzan Alon, who served as the governments point person on the Iran nuclear threat; and professor Uzi Arad, former Mossad official and Netanyahu national security adviser. The groups letter dumped a bucket of ice water on Netanyahu's recent attempts to ignite a fire along the Washington-Jerusalem-Tehran axis. Netanyahu has made clear his adamant opposition to any return to the 2015 agreement. He demands a new deal that would plug the loopholes in the original deal, including the Sunset clause the countdown for the expiration of the agreement by extending its expiration date, curbing Irans ballistic missile program and state sponsorship of terrorism, and tightening international nuclear inspections. Netanyahu knows the Americans are certain to reject his uncompromising conditions. His government partners Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi believe Israel must engage in an immediate, positive dialogue with the Americans in order to find common ground with the new Democratic administration rather than challenging it with confrontational declarations. Netanyahu does not seem to be on the same page. While Gantz is in touch with his Pentagon counterpart Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and Ashkenazi with his counterpart Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Netanyahu is in touch mostly with himself and a few close aides. The tense four-week wait for Bidens first phone call did not ease his state of mind and now, to top it all off, he must deal with the generals letter. The letter by Commanders for Israels Security, a group with distinct center-left leanings, was signed by a past member of the Netanyahu government, its one-time envoy to China and former Deputy Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Matan Vilnai. I think the government understands our letter and I think no one doubts that President Biden is committed to the prevention of Irans nuclear capacity and does not intend to deviate from this principle, which he has espoused for many years, Vilnai told Al-Monitor. Id like to remind you that when the agreement between world powers and Iran was signed in 2015, worldwide intelligence assessments put Iran only three months away from a nuclear bomb. That was the basic figure. He explained the point that the letter sought to make. The 2015 agreement which had many flaws pushed and rolled Iran back to a position of being within one year away from a bomb. When the United States pulled out [in 2018], the Iranians started violating the agreement and were again just three months away. That is why we support a return to the original agreement, implementation of all the lessons learned since it was signed and a focus only on the nuclear issue, he said. Vilnai added, We must not play across the entire field. We must do everything possible to prevent a nuclear-capable Iran, period. That should be the focus. We must make sure the Iranians are not violating the agreement and improve what needs improvement. Only an improved agreement of this kind can accomplish the task of depriving Iran of nuclear capacity." In other words, a team of particularly senior experts has concluded that contrary to the position of most top members of the Netanyahu-Gantz government, the agreement with Iran should not include Tehrans missile program or its regional activities, which Vilnai dubs playing across the entire field. That approach places paramount importance on the existential threat to Israel posed by the ayatollahs nuclear ambitions. Diverging to additional issues is a waste of energy. Israel will be able to deal with Iran on conventional issues. It is already under missile and rocket threat today by Hezbollah and others. The only game changer is the nuclear threat and that is where all the attention should be directed, a member of the team of experts told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said this week that his country could enrich uranium to 60% purity if needed and would never yield to US pressure. Irans uranium enrichment level will not be limited to 20%. We will increase it to whatever level the country needs. No one can stop Iran, he said. Our main problem, a former senior military official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, is that the Iranians are far more adept at these types of negotiations than the Americans are. We are dealing with a nation of traders used to convoluted and devious negotiations, while the United States is a world power accustomed to everyone bending to its will. This is nowhere near a level playing field. An Israeli diplomatic source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, Every week that goes by without the start of the Israeli-American dialogue is a horrible waste of time. Time is running out. Instead of getting down to work with the Americans, we are wasting time on policy discussions and tiffs between Netanyahu and Gantz. The source added that Israel must make a concerted effort to engage with the administration, to hand over all our quality intelligence and try to clarify our reasoned position. Although the sides are in touch, the contacts are on a back burner. However, that low flame could erupt into a major fire if and when it turns out that the administration is already well on its way back into the agreement with Iran, while Israel continues to debate with itself how best to proceed. 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. West Australian police are hunting for a man who had a swastika painted on his head when he allegedly attacked a woman with a flamethrower. Police say the 40-year-old woman and her teenage daughter were approached by the man in the southeast Perth suburb of Gosnells on Saturday night. They say he yelled racial obscenities at the woman before attempting to burn her with a makeshift flamethrower made using a can of deodorant and a lighter. The woman sustained minor injuries. West Australian police are hunting for a man who had a swastika painted on his head when he allegedly attacked a woman with a flamethrower WA Police want to speak with the man, who is described as fair-skinned, about 40 years old and 175cm tall. He had a white swastika painted on his forehead at the time of the attack. 'We are treating this cowardly and random attack on a woman and her child, doing nothing more than walking to the shops in the early evening, very seriously,' Detective Senior Sergeant Sean Bell said on Tuesday. 'This type of behaviour is not acceptable and is not tolerated within our community. 'We have allocated all of our available resources to locate this man. Someone in the community knows who this person is and we are asking that member of the community to contact us and assist in identifying this person.' Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers. National wholesale broker CRC Group announced that Alex Bonds has joined the company as chief officer for Property Programs to lead CRCs exclusive Insurisk brands property facility development. Bonds joins the CRC Group team from Aspen Insurance where he was responsible for managing the property underwriting team in the Atlanta office. Prior to Aspen, Bonds spent nearly 10 years with AIG in a variety of roles in London and the U.S., most notably as leader for the North American oil and petrochemical segment. He spent 10 years in the London market before transferring to the U.S. Neil Kessler, president and chief operating officer, said the addition of Bonds is an increased investment by CRC Group into the companys Insurisk exclusive products strategy. Insurisk was launched in 2019 and now offers 13 branded products spanning for property, casualty and executive/professional lines of business. Topics Property (HealthDay)While more than 57 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been given in the United States and many Americans eagerly await their turn to get a shot, not everyone wants one. Vaccine skepticism isn't new, but you may be able to persuade skeptical loved ones to change their minds. "Some people are probably thinking still that COVID-19 is like flu where you're sick for three or four days, and then you think you're fine after that," said Glen Nowak, director of the Center for Health and Risk Communication at the University of Georgia. "But research shows that many people's symptoms persist for weeks or even months, with loss of taste and smell frequently one of the symptoms experienced by those with 'mild' illness." Key reasons for vaccine hesitancy are concerns about side effects, worry about the shot's rapid development and wanting to see what happens as more shots are administered. To counter concerns about side effects, Nowak suggested emphasizing that the risk of a bad reaction to the shot is low compared to the impact of getting COVID-19. The most common reactions to the shot are sore arm, fever and feeling lousy a few days after vaccination. This pales in comparison to effects COVID-19 can have, which vary from mild to illness so severe it could land a person in the hospital, Nowak pointed out. When talking about the speed of vaccine development, it's important to know that although the vaccines were developed and approved faster than any in modern history, the science isn't new. Researchers had been developing vaccine platforms similar to the ones used by Pfizer and Moderna for well over a decade. What was new was the amount of money invested by the government, which allowed vaccine development to happen all at once, rather than sequentially. Drawbacks are not yet having data regarding how well the available vaccines prevent the spread of infection and a lack of long-term data about how long immunity to the virus lasts. "No corners were cut. So really what happened was this process became a lot more efficient in terms of doing the clinical trials," Nowak said in a university news release. "Wait and see" is a common reaction to new vaccines, Nowak said, and that's understandable. Find out what your loved one wants to know about and try to answer those questions, he said. Clinical trials for the COVID-19 vaccine enrolled tens of thousands of volunteers to test safety and effectiveness. Side effects tended to be mild and antibody levels and other immune responses against the virus were high. Early on, there were some concerns about a serious allergic reaction known as anaphylactic shock. But Nowak said as more people have taken the shots, the rates have fallen significantly. "We all want to get back to what life was like before the pandemic, and the only way for everyone's lives to get back there is to be protected against COVID-19 illness," Nowak said. "And the best way to be protected in this COVID-19 illness is to get vaccinated." Explore further Common questions about COVID-19 vaccinations answered More information: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more information on The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more information on COVID-19 vaccines Copyright 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Americans have for generations lauded our Ivy League universities and granted their graduates top leadership positions in our government, almost by default. Eight of the nine current Supreme Court justices are Ivy League graduates. As Manhattan Institute President Reihan Salam (a graduate of Cornell and Harvard Law) recently wrote, To defenders of Americas elite universities, the notion that they are anything other than the crown jewels of our stratified educational system amounts to sacrilege. And indeed, these elite institutions have brought much acclaim and prosperity to our nation. Harvard alone leads the world in Nobel laureates. As Stan Lees Peter Parker puts it, With great power comes great responsibility. But the underlying principle is much earlier found in Luke 12:48: From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. Ivy Leaguers, and the institutions themselves, have been given much; many Americans turn to them for leadership, for direction. And yet, like all of us, they have often failed catastrophically. It is as if poison has been injected into their brains, and indeed it has. Six of the seven original Ivy League colleges founded prior to the American Revolution were founded or initially dominated by Christian ministers. All gradually dropped their faith-based foundations and all too often followed the political aberrations of the day. An early sign of poisoning the Ivies came via the progressive movement of the early 20th century, whose leaders included President Woodrow Wilson. As president at Princeton from 1902 till 1910, Wilson raised huge sums and transformed the quiet institution into a major university, doubling the faculty almost overnight. But Wilson was a racist, a fact that Princeton finally dealt with in 2020. In stripping his name from Princetons school of public policy, current Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber explained: Wilson's racism was significant and consequential even by the standards of his own time. He [re]segregated the federal civil service after it had been racially integrated for decades. He added to the persistent practice of racism in this country. Wilsons racism also led him to strongly support the eugenics movement. Historian Allen Cornwell states that, Wilson, like Adolph [sic] Hitler and others, whole-heartedly believed in the science of eugenics. Eugenics was a field of science created for one and only one purpose, and that was to legitimize racist beliefs. And Wilson used his political clout to turn his beliefs about race and eugenics into legislation. Wilson was by no means the only Ivy League supporter of these horrendous views. Knowledge economy strategist David Vickrey reminds us that, The seminal work of the American eugenics movements was Yale graduate Madison Grants 1916 book, The Passing of a Great Race, which extolled the superiority of Nordic stock and warned against its corruption by Jews, Blacks, Slavs, and others. In 1930 Adolf Hitler sent Grant a letter of thanks and appreciation. According to Vickrey, Harvard was the center of eugenics research. Harvard-trained biologist Charles Davenport was the leading figure in the American eugenics movement, and a key advisor to the American Eugenics Society. Early Hitler advisor Ernst Putzi Hanfstaengl was also a Harvard man through and through, says Vickrey. As racism led to eugenics, and thus to Nazi Germany, many American academics were early champions of Adolf Hitler (while others were enamored by Josef Stalins Communist regime). In his 2009 book The Third Reich in the Ivory Tower: Complicity and Conflict on American Campuses, historian Stephen H. Norwood singled out Harvard for its failure to understand the dangers posed by Hitler and the Third Reich. Genocide expert Hilary Earl, in her review, points out that Harvard President James Bryant Conant openly sympathized with Nazi Germany. According to Dr. Earl, Norwoods work reminds us that not only do universities not always inoculate us against poor judgment and immorality, but the best and most prestigious institutions may in fact be the most dangerous for society. Norwoods book, she admonishes, is a cautionary tale about the role of universities in American culture and the power and influence they wield. Over and again [Norwood] demonstrates that resources and intelligence do not necessarily translate into political insight or moral fortitude. Sociologist Jerome A. Chanes notes that Norwood;s book provides an indictment of Hitler symphathizers in power at the heart of American education. He found a chilling pattern in the Ivy League and the Seven Sisters, as well as in some state universities and Catholic colleges that ran from callous indifference to concrete instances of complicity with the Nazi regime. The aftermath of World War II led to a lot of soul searching. Fast forward to the 21st century, and it is the oppressive, opportunistic government of China that todays academics refuse to criticize and indeed with which they have colluded. China has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into American universities -- much of it hidden. Its Confucius Institutes have been labeled as propaganda conduits. At the same time pseudo-scholars are promoted at Ivy League and other cherished institutions who espouse socially disruptive identity politics, critical race theory (and the hate-inspiring 1619 Project), and a cancel culture whose most recent idea, put forth by University of Iowa history professor Sarah Bond, is that entire academic fields -- notably the classics -- be dismantled and burned in order to smother white supremacy. Shades of the torching of the library in Alexandria! Penn alumnus and journalist Cornelius Range, curious that his alma mater censored his article on reeducation camps in Xinjiang Province, cited reports that Penn, Harvard, Yale, and many other U.S. academic institutions had reportedly failed to disclose hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign donations that impacted their own research and support for human rights. Freedom of speech has been under attack at U.S. colleges for quite a while. In 2009 the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) called out 270 of 364 universities for having policies that significantly restricted free expression by students and faculty. A follow-up survey in 2015 gave red lights to Harvard, Princeton, Brown, Columbia, and Cornell. Heritage Foundation scholar Mike Gonzalez unmasks identity politics in his new book, The Plot to Change America: How Identity Politics Is Dividing the Land of the Free. Identity politics undermines the entirety of E pluribus unum, the idea that the United States is founded on the principles of equality of humanity and that by sharing that common humanity we can create a unity that celebrates and honors our diverse histories. National Association of Scholars President Peter Wood links the 2020 violent protests in Americas cities to the shutting down of free expression of ideas on American college campuses. Wood says that street protest and campus protest have three important connections. First, the activists who show up in both places; second, the ideology crafted on campuses and exported to the streets; and third, the fiery anger ignited on campuses and intensified by the street mobs. Wood notes that many of these riots appear to be planned, organized, staffed, and scheduled -- not spontaneous uprisings, but run according to well-rehearsed scripts. And who writes those scripts? The campus activists who have been taught that gaining power by any means necessary is a legitimate path to social justice. Wood warns that, Those of us who cherish Western civilization need to hold higher education accountable for the systemic change it has actually accomplished, in the form of the misguided people in the streets, some of whom have an Ivy League diploma in one hand and a Molotov cocktail in the other. In his inaugural address, President Joe Biden stated that, We can see each other not as adversaries but as neighbors. We can treat each other with dignity and respect. At the same time, the entirety of academia, media, and others who have long preached tolerance of unpopular views continues to excoriate half the U.S. electorate while ignoring the fact that Antifa on Inauguration Day marched in Seattle in opposition to the President their violence helped elect. The late historian (and Harvard graduate) Dr. J. Rufus Fears often stated that while politicians rule by instilling fear and division, statesmen must exercise four critical qualities: a bedrock of principles, a moral compass, a vision, and the ability to build a consensus to achieve that vision. Or, as Isaiah [29:18] put it, Without a vision, the people perish. The Vietnam war was perhaps the beginning of Americas questioning of its often sordid, often noble past and the principles upon which this nation was founded. In conversations with Dr. Vickrey, he cited the Vergangenheitsbewaltigung movement in which postwar Germans examined their nations Holocaust and suggested that the U.S. face up to slavery, genocide of Native Americans, and other sad moments in our own history. But we cannot do that while people are pointing fingers, playing gotcha, shouting obscenities, even inflicting violence on each other. Instead, we need statesmanship of the kind Ivy Leaguers have been taught to exhibit. Up till now, though, far too many have tacitly (or openly) celebrated the poisoning of our national discourse via the censoring of political or even ordinary speech, which further empowers the divisive forces of the cancel culture that seeks to end our 400-year experiment in championing human freedom (that admittedly began when only the few were truly free). The crown jewels of our educational system ought to be adhering to their mostly Biblical roots and demonstrating the kind of leadership they are surely capable of. But if they refuse to lead, then we must all pray that someone else will rise to that immensely important challenge. It is time for the doctors to get the poison out of all our institutions. Duggan Flanakin, a contributing writer for the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, is a veteran journalist and policy analyst with a Master's in Public Policy from Regent University. He has served as editor of Progressive Vision, the newspaper of Judeo-Christian Restoration Ministries, and as Director of Policy Research at the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow. A brief history of his multifaceted career appears in his book Infinite Galaxies: Poems from the Dugout. Image: Kennetth C. Zirkel Lets dispense with the false assumptions first. President Joe Biden isnt pushing some subversive welfare scheme to pay low-income parents not to work. And the Republicans who oppose Bidens child tax credit expansion dont enjoy seeing millions of American children mired in poverty. People on both sides understand that our children are the future of this nation and if they lack enough to eat, if they have to miss school to help their families make ends meet, if they fall far short of their potential because of poverty, we all pay. We will see the consequences in everything from our jobless numbers to our crime rates. No compassionate, thinking American is happy that our country, one of the richest in the world, also has one of the highest child poverty rates. One in six children in this country lives in poverty. More than 12 million live in households without enough food. Many are on the edge of homelessness. Theres no disagreement that children are needlessly suffering and struggling in a country that can more than afford to help. The question is how to help. Thats where Democrats and Republicans in Washington disagree. But its only an insurmountable barrier if elected leaders let partisan politics obscure their obvious common ground. Bidens sweeping, historic, potentially transformative proposal to increase the child tax credit and extend it to the poorest American families could cut child poverty in the United States by half, according to a Columbia University study. Under the proposal, low- and moderate-income families would receive $3,600 for each child under 6, and $3,000 for children ages 6 to 17, compared to the current limit of $2,000 per family. Instead of claiming the credit on tax returns, families would receive monthly payouts. Currently, a family making under $2,500 doesnt benefit from the tax credit and the full amount does not kick in until a familys income reaches nearly $12,000. That means no or reduced credits for more than one-third of American children including half of Black and Latino children, according to the Columbia University study. The proposal has drawn predictable objections from Republicans just by nature of being part of Bidens $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan to help with pandemic recovery. Some Republicans have begun branding it a giveaway welfare expansion and claiming the targeted payments for children could discourage parents from working. Theres no evidence of that. Unlike the much-maligned pre-reform welfare system that phased out benefits as even meager pay rose, Bidens plan has a much higher income threshold before phase-outs begin. And yes, while families that report no income will receive credits, the vast majority have one or both parents working. Theyre cashiers, child care workers, cooks, home health aides. This is something that is so essential, says Bob Sanborn, president and CEO of Children at Risk in Houston. This should be a time where we all say hey, this is great for kids, great for working families. Its exactly whats going to work in America. The tax credit should appeal to conservatives because youre working within the system, working within Republican parameters, Sanborn said. Theres no doubt theres going to be a parent whos going to abuse this in some way. There are parents who abuse money no matter what the income level. But we know by in large this is going to be fantastic. The plan does come with a hefty price tag estimated at about $120 billion this year. But the price of leaving children and their families to linger in poverty is much greater. Its time for this country to take bold action that would also lift up struggling middle income families and the economy as a whole. The National Academy of Sciences found that childhood poverty costs the United States between $800 billion and $1.1 trillion annually by limiting lifetime earnings and increasing illnesses, homelessness, child abuse and neglect, and crime. Cash payments have clearly worked to fight poverty in other countries: In Canada, expanding the child credit programs helped reduce the poverty rate by 20 percent between 2015 and 2017. Countries with the lowest poverty rates, including Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, also give families cash payments to offset the costs of raising children. This shouldnt be a partisan issue. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, has also proposed an overhaul of the tax credit program that would increase the credit to $4,200 a year for children under 6 and $3,000 for those ages 6 to 17. We are wary of Romneys plan, though, because its not clear whether it would actually lead to a net benefit for families since Romney proposes cutting safety net programs, such as food assistance and other tax credits for children and working families. But Biden and other Democrats should adopt Romneys idea to make the child tax credit expansion permanent. The needs of children will not end when the pandemic does. There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children, Nelson Mandela once noted. Our country has failed its children for too long. Congress must not let this moment and the call to lift children and their families out of poverty go unanswered. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Community College of Vermonts office in downtown Bennington. CCV is not part of a reorganization plan approved by the Vermont State Colleges System Board of Trustees on Monday. The National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) on Monday signed a contract agreement for procurement and fabrication of 28 steel bridges with the L&T-IHI consortium for the 508 km Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) corridor, popularly known as the Bullet train project. An NHSRCL spokesperson said that a contract agreeemnt has been signed with the L&T-IHI, which is a consortium between Indian and Japanese companies. Speaking on the ocassion, NHSRCL Managing Director Achal Khare said, "The actual construction work has begun for the MAHSR corridor and things are taking shape. This is the third significant contract awarded by NHSRCL for the project." He said the P4(X) and P4(Y) packages for 28 steel truss superstructures will not only boost the Indian steel industry, but also enhance the steel fabrication workmanship. The NHSRCL has awarded a contract for procurement and fabrication of 28 steel bridges to L&T-IHI Infrastructure Systems consortium worth Rs 1,390 crore for crossing over railway lines, rivers, highways, roads and other structures for the ambitious 508 km Bullet train project on January 25 this year. The NHSRCL official said that it is estimated that about 70,000 MT of steel will be used for the fabrication of these steel bridges, giving a big boost to the Indian steel industries and their allied supply chains. Indian steel manufactures will be providing quality steel for the fabrication of the super structures for these steel bridges. NHSRCL has already sensitised the steel industry to cater to such a huge demand for India's first high speed rail corridor. In December last year, a total of eight bidders had participated in the bid of which four qualified after technical evaluation -- Tata Projects Ltd, Afcons Infrastructure Ltd, NCC Ltd and L&T-IHI Infrastructure Systems Consortium. The NHSRCL has already awarded civil contracts for the construction of 64 per cent of MAHSR alignment which includes five HSR stations at Vapi, Billimora, Surat, Bharuch, Anand/Nadiad, train depot at Surat and one mountain tunnel of 350 metres. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe had on September 14, 2017 laid the foundation stone for the ambitious Rs 1.08 lakh crore ($17 billion) project. Bullet trains are expected to run at 320 km per hour covering the 508-km stretch in about two hours. In comparison, trains currently plying on the route take over seven hours to travel the distance, whereas flights take about an hour. Connecting online shoppers and manufacturers nationwide through a Goods-to-Person driven online supermarket DUSSELDORF,Germany, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Geek+, a global AMR-leader, is pleased to announce that Geek+ has been selected by myEnso, a German-based pioneer in online grocery, to upgrade the company's DC for FMCG with a state-of-the-art goods-to-person robotics solution. Having received governmental support and financing, the robotics-driven e-commerce platform will enable regional producers, startups, as well as well-known brands to connect and serve online shoppers all over Germany. Jackson Zhang, Vice President of Geek+ Europe, says: "We are excited to see myEnso join our growing European customer base and view the project as the beginning of an extensive cooperation that will enable them to streamline logistics operations and better serve their online customers. Additionally, we can't wait to see them use our Goods-to-Person solution to boost producers regardless of size with the logistics capabilities needed to compete and shape the future of online grocery shopping in Germany." In the first half of 2021, Geek+ will implement a Goods-to-Person solution including 30 autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) to myEnso's DC of 15,000 SKUs. By letting autonomous mobile robots carry racks of ordered goods independently between the storage area and workstation, it enables more efficient and accurate picking and putaway processes. Similarly, AI and intelligent software will enable myEnso to streamline operations by organizing its inventory according to real-time demand. With automatic self-charging capabilities, and 24/7 automated operations, Geek+ will support myEnso to better manage peak periods fluctuating demand. Norbert Hegmann, CEO of Enso e-Commerce GmbH, says: "When analyzing different solutions, we were impressed with Geek+ long track record of bringing significant improvements to e-commerce players. We look forward to leveraging Geek+ smart robotics systems to improve the efficiency of our online supermarket and better serve our customers with a wider selection of products as well as faster deliveries. By allowing us to flexibly meet fluctuating demand, better handle a wider product mix, and mitigate against widespread labor shortages, it will enable us to, not only adapt and grow, but through better services, drive actual change." General trends indicate that online grocery shopping will continue to grow due to the pandemic having led to stay-at-home living, an increased interest in healthy foods, and cooking-from-scratch; combined with a general interest in brand authenticity and local producers, there is a growing need for online platforms that can connect a wider range of customers and a better selection of products. By implementing Geek+'s smart robotics solutions, myEnso will have an intelligent and scalable solution to meet customer expectations for faster order fulfillment and a more diverse product offering, shaping the future of Germany's grocery market. About Geek+ Geek+ is a global technology company leading the intelligent logistics revolution. We apply advanced robotics and AI technologies to realize flexible, reliable, and highly efficient solutions for warehouses and supply chain management. Geek+ counts 300 global customers and has deployed more than 10,000 robots worldwide. Founded in 2015, Geek+ has over 800 employees and is headquartered in Beijing, with offices in Germany, the UK, the US, Japan, China Hong Kong, and Singapore. For more information, please visit: https://www.geekplus.com/ About myEnso myEnso is a pure FMCG platform founded in 2016 which, among other things, operates its own online marketplace for food with 20,000 products. The online marketplace is a one-stop-shop that aims to fulfill customer needs by offering a wide variety of consumer products, including well-known brands, local producers, and exclusive brands alike. Today, the company provides a direct link between 1,000 food pioneers and shoppers all over Germany. For further information please visit: www.myenso.de Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1442225/Geek_Photo1.jpg Portland police on Monday arrested a woman suspected of hitting a Hillsboro police officer with a stolen car earlier this month, the Washington County Sheriffs Office reported. Police found 37-year-old Linsey Gail Perry in Portland, authorities said. She was booked into the Washington County Jail on allegations including second-degree assault, assault of a peace officer, unlawful use of a motor vehicle and driving under the influence of intoxicants. Hillsboro police were initially called Feb. 6 to check on a woman in a car parked at an Old Navy store on Northeast Evergreen Parkway. They confirmed the car was stolen from Portland in January and tried to take the driver out of the car in order to arrest her, the Sheriffs Office said. Perry backed up the car with her drivers door open and hit an officer, who was smashed against a parked car, the Sheriffs Office said. She then fled the scene, and the car was found abandoned in Beaverton later that day. The police officer was treated at a hospital and released the same day, the Sheriffs Office said. -- Jaimie Ding jding@oregonian.com; 503-221-4395; @j_dingdingding [February 23, 2021] FB Submarine Partners, LLC Announces New Subsea Cable Between Florida and Cancun, Mexico FB Submarine Partners, LLC, a privately owned developer of international telecommunications projects announced today a 1,200 kilometers advanced subsea fiber optic cable system from Florida to Cancun, Mexico. The GigNet-1 subsea cable system has been in development for the past two years and is expected to be completed in 2022. The Company believes this will be the first new subsea cable from Florida to the Yucatan Peninsula in over 20 years specifically designed to meet the rapidly growing demand for secure, high speed bandwidth for Internet, video streaming, social media, and cloud services. Development to date has included completion of the desktop route survey, regulatory and permitting feasibility studies for each of Florida and Mexico, market demand and analysis studies, and selection and contracting of key suppliers for the system design, equipment, and installation. A marine route survey will begin in March. Michael J. Mahoney, CTO, announced that after thorough service provider evaluations, the Company has selected Xtera, an industry leader in subsea network deployments, to serve as the primary EPC contractor for the project. Xtera will provide the subsea plant "wetplant" consisting of the fiber and amplifiers (repeaters), the submarine line terminals in Florida and Mexico, and manage the installation. IT International Telecom, leading experts in subsea cable systems, has already provided the desktop route survey and provide the marine route survey. In cooperation with Xtera, IT International Telecom will install the GigNet-1 cable system. "I truly believe we have assembled an incredible team of experts and partners that will result in the deployment of this cable system on time and on budget. The economic impact of this new subsea cable to the economic development of Quintana Roo and Yucatan will be extraordinary," said Mr. Mahoney. In Mexico, the Company will partner with GigNet, Inc. and its wholly-owned operting subsidiary GigNet S.A. de C.V. for access to the beach in Cancun and colocation in GigNet's Cancun cable landing station. GigNet operates an advanced fiber optic network in the Riviera Maya region serving the hospitality, enterprise and planned development segments, will serve as a major tenant on the subsea cable system, and will provide IP transit and private line connectivity with GigNet-1 throughout the region. The Mexican Caribbean, encompassing Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum is one of the largest and most popular international tourism destinations in the world, with over 20 million annual visitors (www.GigNetInc.com and www.GigNet.mx). About Xtera Xtera is an innovative provider of subsea and telecoms technology. The company supplies both repeatered and unrepeatered systems, using its high-performance optical amplifiers to deliver traffic directly inland to cities and offering flexibility in working with industry partners to provide the optimum solution. Xtera has considerable expertise in the Caribbean region (www.xtera.com). About IT International Telecom International Telecom is a marine network installer offering desktop study, marine route survey, engineering design, installation and maintenance services for submarine cable systems worldwide. For over 20 years IT has been recognized as one of the worlds' finest marine system providers in a unique position to collaborate with customers and their technology partners. IT has extensive experience in the Caribbean region (www. https://www.ittelecom.com/en/company/profile). About GigNet GigNet is the Mexican Caribbean brand of GigNet, Inc., a U.S. based international Digital Infrastructure company. Through its Mexico operating subsidiaries, GigNet, S.A. de C.V., and Sanalto Redes Peninsular, S.A.P.I. de C.V., the Company is a fully licensed telecommunications provider in Mexico. GigNet is actively adding customers to its extensive regional fiber-optic network in the Mexican Caribbean, one of the largest and fastest growing tourism destinations in the world, with over 20 million annual visitors. GigNet is a leader in the digital transformation of the region. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223006053/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Hong Kong: Alfred Sit holds I&T briefings Secretary for Innovation & Technology Alfred Sit held engagement sessions with Hong Kong deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) and Hong Kong members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) on February 22 and 23. The sessions were conducted in a virtual format to brief them on Hong Kong's latest innovation and technology developments before they attend the NPC and CPPCC meetings in Beijing next month. Mr Sit expressed gratitude to the Hong Kong NPC deputies and the Hong Kong CPPCC members for their attention to the city's innovation and technology development and he hoped they can render support for the Government's work in this aspect. Hong Kong will continue to leverage its strengths to serve the country's needs and actively participate in the nation's development, particularly in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, he said. "With the plentiful development potential in the Greater Bay Area, grasping the development opportunities in the Area is the top priority of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. The Government has been heavily investing and driving innovation and technology development along eight major areas with the staunch support of the country since the establishment of the Innovation & Technology Bureau. The efforts are gradually delivering results and the overall innovation and technology ecosystem in Hong Kong has been significantly improved, with the number of local startups increasing from around 1,100 in 2014 to over 3,300 in 2020. This story has been published on: 2021-02-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. It is well known that Drew Barrymore did not have an easy childhood. But on Tuesday the 46-year-old actress opened up even more to Howard Stern about her past, telling him just how hard it really was after becoming a model at age two and a movie star with 1982's blockbuster E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial at age seven. The mother-of-two told the shock jock that her very own mother, Jaid Barrymore, admitted her to a psychiatric ward when she was only 13 years old. Hard start in life: Drew Barrymore told Howard Stern that she was in a psychiatric ward when she was 13; seen here in 1987 at age 12 Rough time: The visit was not short either. Drew had to stay for 18 months. 'I used to laugh at those like Malibu 30 day places,' she told the radio personality. 'Malibu was sort of the opposite of the experience I had. I was in a place for a year and a half called Van Eyes Psychiatric.' Seen on her show this week The visit was not short either. Drew had to stay for 18 months. 'I used to laugh at those like Malibu 30 day places,' she told the radio personality. 'Malibu was sort of the opposite of the experience I had. I was in a place for a year and a half called Van Eyes Psychiatric. 'And you couldn't mess around in there and if you did, you would get thrown either in a padded room or get put in stretcher restraints, and tied up.' This comes months after Paris Hilton talked about being held at Provo Canyon School in Utah during her documentary This Is Paris. Just a kid: The 46-year-old actress opened up even more to Howard Stern about her past, telling him just how hard it really was after becoming a model at age two and at age seven a movie star with 1982's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial; seen in 1982 Drew did admit that she had too many 'resources' at her disposal. 'I was going to clubs and not going to school and stealing my mom's car and, you know, I was out of control. So, you know, sometimes it was as humorous as that and sometimes I was just so angry that I would go off and then I'd get thrown in the thing,' she shared. She was sometimes placed in a padded room with her hands tied behind her back so she could cool down, it was explained. Party time. Seen in the 90s with Eric Erlandson. Drew did admit that she had too many 'resources' at her disposal. 'I was going to clubs and not going to school and stealing my mom's car and, you know, I was out of control. So, you know, sometimes it was as humorous as that and sometimes I was just so angry that I would go off and then I'd get thrown in the thing,' she shared A hot career: Barrymore, Whoopi Goldberg, Matthew McConaughey in Boys On The Side in 1995; directed by Herbert Ross 'I asked myself like why is this happening. And I thought, maybe you need the craziest form of structure because everything was so accessible available and screwed up in your world that maybe it's going to take something like this for you to kickstart the rest of your life,' she said. 'And that didn't come for probably about six to eight months. The first six to eight months I was just so angry. I couldn't see straight.' Now she knows why her mother made the decision she did. 'I think after, you know, 30, years of therapy, and a lot of soul searching and having kids myself, you know, I think she created a monster,' she said. Jaid had made Drew work at a young age. That meant late nights on set and also parties. Happy lady: Barrymore arriving at her apartment in NYC on her 47th birthday on Monday Drew only got better when she forgave her mother for what she had done. 'She probably felt like she had nowhere to turn. And I'm sure she lived with a lot of guilt for years, about creating the monster but then I think she lived in a lot of pain that I also wouldn't talk to her for a long time,' she said. It also showed her what kind of mom she wanted to be. She has two daughters with ex Will Kopelman. Winter chic: The mother of two and talk show host was dressed in a big wool coat and carried a large purse 'I said to my own daughter... something came up and I said I'm not your friend. I'll never be your friend; I'm your mother. And I had a mother who was a friend, and we're not going to do that,' she shared. But she does not want to blame her mom anymore. 'I can't have her feel bad anymore. I'm sure she's already made the crap out of herself for having a daughter who wouldn't speak to her. I mean, the pain that I went through from thatI felt so guilty. Denying my mom access to me, it felt like I was cutting off the source of life. It was as hard of a feeling as I've ever experienced. Definitely the worst pain I've ever known.' And she also touched on her split from Will and how she resorted to eating and drinking to much during their divorce, but her friends urged her to take care of herself. This comes after she talked about being a single mom to daughters Frankie and Olive. And on Monday, Drew was moved to tears when her little girls wished her a happy birthday during a very special episode of her daytime chat show. As guest host Savannah Guthrie announced Olive, eight, and Frankie, six, had taped a message for their mom, Drew gasped, put her hands up to her face and teared up. Emotional: She's a single mom to daughters Frankie and Olive. And on Monday, Drew was moved to tears when her little girls wished her a happy birthday during a very special episode of her daytime chat show The girls narrated a short animated clip in which they appeared as cats. 'Hi, Mom! Olive and I wanted to send you a special message on your birthday, so here it goes,' Frankie began. They then recited their tribute to the former child star and actress who turned 46 on Monday. 'We love you more than squirrels and pearls, or eating cheese in the breeze,' the girls said. Surprise: As guest host Savannah Guthrie announced Olive, eight, and Frankie, six, had taped a message for their mom, Drew gasped, put her hands up to her face and teared up Sweet: The girls narrated a short animated clip in which they appeared as cats. 'Hi, Mom! Olive and I wanted to send you a special message on your birthday, so here it goes,' Frankie began Cute poem: 'We love you more than squirrels and pearls, or eating cheese in the breeze,' the girls said. 'We love you more than holding hands, or swinging on the trapeze 'We love you more than holding hands, or swinging on the trapeze,' they said. 'We love you so much it makes us nuts, we love you so much with all our guts.' Frankie then concluded: 'There's only one thing left to say. You're the best mom in the world. Happy birthday!' Drew shares her daughters with ex-husband Will Kopelman from whom she split in 2016 after four years of marriage. The two have been amicably co-parenting Olive and Frankie ever since. So much love: Frankie concluded: 'There's only one thing left to say. You're the best mom in the world. Happy birthday!' Family: Drew shares her daughters with ex-husband Will Kopelman from whom she split in 2016 after four years of marriage. The two have been amicably co-parenting Olive and Frankie ever since It wasn't the only time Drew got emotional during the special episode of The Drew Barrymore Show. Several of her very famous friends from her four-decade Hollywood career also sent birthday greetings or stopped by the taping. Cameron Diaz, Steven Spielberg and David Letterman all surprised Drew on the show, dropping in to reminds her of some of her most unforgettable moments. 'Let's get the party started,' shouted Diaz as she kicked off the celebrations. Letterman appeared in the studio in-person, shocking the 40 First Dates actress and, a little overwhelmed, she hid her hand behind her face. Others taking part in the show airing Monday included Jimmy Fallon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chelsea Handler, Henry Winkler, Tyra Banks, Molly Shannon, Tom Green, Nicole Richie, Keith Morrison, DJ D-Nice, Gordon Ramsay and Chloe Fineman. Sex And The City star Chris Noth has finally broken his silence on claims his character Mr Big will not appear in the show's reboot series. Following ever growing rumours about the show, the actor, 66, responded to a number of devastated fans, who flocked to his social media to plea for him to return for the revival series called And Just Like That. After noticing comments asking him to break his silence on whether he would be reprising his role, he implied rumors that he would not be involved are false. Speaking about Page Six, the publication that broke the news, he wrote: 'Well, if Page Six says it it must be true,' alongside a telling winking face emoji. Mr. Big is back? Sex And The City star Chris Noth has finally broken his silence on claims his character Mr Big will not appear in the show's reboot series (pictured with Sarah Jessica Parker on the show in 1997) Adding further speculation, the Golden Globe nominee quipped: 'Everything changes including announcements in the rags.' Last week, it was reported that the reboot currently in development on HBO Max would not feature his iconic character, the husband of leading lady Carrie. Insiders told Page Six that Chris won't be in And Just Like That, which will be broadcast on HBO Max in a ten-episode series revisiting the hit franchise. He appeared in the role, who was the boyfriend and later husband of Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker on the show and in subsequent films. Coming back? Following ever growing rumours about the show, the actor, 66, responded to a number of devastated fans, who flocked to his social media to plea for him to return for the revival series called, And Just Like That (pictured last year) Speaking about Page Six, the publication that broke the news, he wrote: 'Well, if Page Six says it it must be true,' alongside a telling winking face emoji In the storyline of the series, Carrie and Mr. Big dated throughout the course of the show, trading vows in the the 2008 film, while dealing with marital woes in the 2010 sequel. Chris remains busy with other endeavors, appearing on shows such as The Equalizer, with two films in pre-production: Brooklyn All American and Someday Sometime. Also not coming back, according to the outlet, is David Eigenberg, who plays Steve Brady, the romantic interest of Cynthia Nixon's character Miranda Hobbes; and series regular Kim Cattrall, amid bad blood with Parker. Cheeky: Additionally, the Golden Globe nominee quipped: 'Everything changes including announcements in the rags' The latest: The Sex and the City reboot currently in development for on HBO Max will not feature Chris Noth's character, Mr. Big. Noth was snapped in New Jersey earlier this month Sarah earlier this month opened up about the genesis of the new project in a pre-recorded clip broadcast at a virtual benefit for the Central Park Conservancy's Playground Partners program, according to The Hollywood Reporter. She said the idea initially came up 'during shelter in place' orders last spring amid the outbreak of COVID-19. 'I want to say around April or May ... I was listening to a podcast and it occurred to me that [showrunner] Michael Patrick King and I had never talked about our experience working and producing the show,' Parker said. Regular: Chris appeared on 40 episodes of the HBO hit between 1998 and 2004 She added that the idea went from a procedural podcast to an extension on the popular series, this time dealing with contemporary issues brought about by the pandemic. Sarah went on: 'New York shut down in a way that also affects lots of other people because it's the center of finance, it's the center of culture, one could argue, and its silence was deafening... 'All these conversations were becoming a huge part of our experience inside of our homes, Michael and I just became really interested. And thus was born - And Just Like That.' Production on the project is expected to kick up this spring. Proposed Outdoor Shopping Hub Could Help Westminster Reboot its Economy Westminsters Little Saigon neighborhood could soon be home to a new initiative officials hope will lead the city to an economic rebound. The city wants to turn part of the area into an outdoor shopping and dining hub that could help struggling local businesses grow sales. Stores and eateries would be allowed to use the space on a rotating basis. Such an initiative could help the businesses survive the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic by reaching new markets, boosting sales, and providing a safe outdoor space, the report says. While everyone is hopeful continuing safety practices such as social distancing and masks, combined with vaccination distribution will help the community return to normal, recovery is likely to be slow and available funding remains insufficient to directly support all businesses and residents, the Feb. 24 agenda item says. With this information and the direction received from the city council, staff has been working towards conceptual development of an outdoor plaza with pergolas and/or canopies for retail vending booth spaces, modular kitchen units parked on the site, and a series of tables and chairs for dining or relaxing. The idea was originally presented by councilmember Kimberly Ho during a Jan. 24 council meeting. Council approved city staff to look into the item and seek a financial agreement from the County of Orange, which would provide approximately $500,000 for the project. If council decides to move forward, officials will continue working to draft a financial agreement with the county, the report says. Council aims to have the space feel semi-permanent and last about six months, depending on funding. Spaces may be filled through a lottery depending on popularity from local businesses, although there will always be a variety of offerings at the booths to ensure an interesting consumer experience. While safety measures must be implemented, the goal of the program is to promote local businesses, therefore the project should capitalize on the existing business community, while having a level of distinction to make it special, something people will seek out with regularity, the agenda noted. While the idea of having a modular kitchen is new, other cities in the county have had similar ideas. The city of Laguna Beach shut down a public street in order to help outdoor dining and other small businesses, and Huntington Beach has shut down part of Main Street for similar reasons. Westminster city council will vote on where to hold the location during its upcoming Feb. 24 meeting, though the agenda notes that Little Saigon may be the best opportunity due to its high level of business density in the city. City staff currently recommends a part of Little Saigon where a building experienced a fire and is expected to be demolished by its property owner. According to the agenda, the area would provide 14,000 square feet and has easy access to water and sewer hookups. On the morning of Tuesday, February 23, Russian-occupation forces fired at the positions of the Joint Force Operation (JFO) in Svitodarsk, as a result of which one Ukrainian soldier was killed and another was wounded, the press service of the Ukrainian delegation at the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) said on Tuesday. "Today, February 23, at about 07:00 in the direction of Svitlodarsk, as a result of enemy shelling of our positions, one was killed and another serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was wounded. The Ukrainian side of the JCCC sent a relevant note to the OSCE SMM," the delegation in the TCG said. The JFO headquarters confirmed the information about the death of a Ukrainian soldier, specifying that Russian-occupation forces fired at the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from mortars and grenade launchers. "The Russian-occupation forces fired at the Ukrainian positions with 82-caliber mortars and heavy anti-tank grenade launchers. As a result of the shelling, one soldier was killed, another soldier was wounded by shrapnel," the JFO headquarters said. As reported, on Monday, February 22, in the JFO area in Donbas, a Ukrainian serviceman was also killed and another was wounded as a result of shelling from Russian-occupation forces. Posted Monday, February 22, 2021 4:55 pm Editor's Note: Chronicle Reporter Claudia Yaw reported in Saturday's edition of The Chronicle that Lewis County was last in the state in COVID-19 vaccine distribution. You can read that story here. Below is a letter from 20th District lawmakers to Gov. Jay Inslee on the issue. Dear Governor Inslee: We write to express our significant concerns for the process by which your administration is distributing vaccines to counties and communities in the state of Washington. In particular, the Daily Chronicle in Centralia reported only 6.76% of Lewis County residents have initiated vaccination, compared to 11.73% statewide. Only 1.70% of residents have received both doses, compared to 4.10% statewide. At first, it was surmised this might be the result of personal choice by the residents of Lewis County. However, after consulting the Lewis County Department of Health, the county received only .5% of allocated dosages, despite representing 1% of Washingtons population. Additionally, over the past three weeks, Lewis County received only .1% of the allocated vaccine doses. The fact is Lewis County is receiving less doses than other counties. This is despite Lewis County having a senior population 5% higher than the statewide average. To better help us and the public understand your administrations process for vaccine distribution, we write to ask that you provide the following information: A full accounting of the vaccine doses received to date by your administration for distribution; A full accounting of the vaccine doses being held by your administration for future distribution; A full accounting of the vaccine doses your administration anticipates receiving over the next six months for distribution; The pro-rata methodology your administration uses to determine where vaccine doses are distributed; The methodology your administration uses to determine who receives the vaccine doses distributed; and The person, people, or organizations your administration consulted with or relied upon for selecting the methodology used to determine where and who receives the vaccine doses distributed. Distribution of vaccine doses should be open and transparent; and equally important, the process must be fair. The health and safety for residents in rural counties, such as Lewis County, must be treated equally by this administration. Unfortunately, that fair distribution of the vaccine is not evidenced by the data available. We, and residents of the State of Washington, look forward to receiving your response. Rep. Peter Abbarno Rep. Ed Orcutt Sen. John Braun The Nagol is Back! VTOs guide to this years Nagol, plus where to stay and play in south, central and north Pentecost. The government of Saudi Arabia is being sued by relatives of those killed and injured in the 2019 terror attack on the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, with the families accusing the Saudi authorities of being complicit in the shooting. Three U.S. service members died in the shooting on the Florida base, and 13 others were wounded. Ahmed Mohammed al-Shamrani, a second lieutenant in the Royal Saudi Air Force, carried out the attack with the support of 'accomplices,' court documents allege. The suit was filed on Monday in Pensacola. Foreign governments and leaders are usually immune from civil suits in U.S. courts while in office. However, the lawsuit cited exceptions for terrorism and for victims of Saudi Arabia. The families say Shamrani was assisted by fellow Saudi air force trainees, whom he told of his plans at a dinner the night before. He also informed his colleagues during a November visit to the 9/11 memorial in New York City, which was arranged to pay tribute to the hijackers - many of whom were Saudi. Joshua Watson, 23 (left), and Mohammed Haitham were killed in the December 2019 attack Cameron Scott Walters, 21, also died in the shooting. Walters followed his father into the forces In May U.S. authorities announced that they had decrypted Shamrani's phone, and that he had worked with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) for five years to plan the December 6, 2019, attack. Shamrani was shot dead by sheriffs deputies. Three trainees died in the attack: Airman Apprentice Mohammed Haitham, 19; Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson, 23: and Airman Apprentice Cameron Scott Walters, 21. Thirteen others were injured: four Navy service members, a Navy civil servant, seven sheriff's deputies and a Defense Department police officer. Two are partially disabled for life. Airman George Johnson, 26, a single parent who now must use a cane, was hit seven times, including with one bullet that was blocked by a metal 'I love you' card from his mother in his wallet. Jessica Pickett, a 20-year-old Navy veteran and civilian employee, was struck nine times and has a metal rod in her left leg and a gap in her femur and requires a walker or wheelchair. Mohammed bin Salman is pictured meeting Donald Trump and Jared Kushner in May 2017 Trump, pictured with MBS, as the crown prince is known, at the G20 in Japan in June 2019 The families also accused the Trump administration and the Saudi government of failing to support the families. 'In the eyes of the American people, there is no greater betrayal than the realization that a purported ally is, in fact, an enemy, ' the lawsuit asserts. The 152-page suit seeks damages for an attack the families say was caused by Saudi Arabia and its willful or grossly negligent acts in sending a 'Trojan Horse' terrorist to the U.S. Shamrani was dispatched to learn to fly warplanes that were part of U.S. arms sales worth billions of dollars. 'I think they knew he was out to destroy the American people and he was a terrorist,' said Evelyn Brady, a 20-year Navy veteran whose son, Airman Apprentice Mohammed Haitham, 19, was killed while running unarmed toward the shooter with his hands up, pleading with him to stop. 'Innocent lives were lost. It should have never happened,' she told The Washington Post. Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly, center, and Navy Adm. Michael Gilday, Chief of Naval Operations, right, look on as an Air Force carry team moves the transfer case containing the remains of Navy Seaman Apprentice Cameron Scott Walters Bill Barr, the then-attorney general, in January 2020 described it as a terror attack, but found that Shamrani acted alone. The families, however, disagree. In their suit they claim that Saudi authorities knew of the radicalization of Shamrani, and of anti-American and anti-Jewish statements he shared via Twitter. Shamrani died in the December 2019 attack Despite Shamrani's views, he was one of two students chosen from his Royal Saudi Air Force Academy class for a scholarship to enter a joint military training program in the United States. The suit further claims that the Saudi commanding officer on base and 11 other unnamed trainees knew that Shamrani had broken rules by purchasing a 9-millimeter handgun and ammunition, and storing them on the base. 'None of the Royal Saudi Air Force trainees at the scene of the attack reported Al-Shamrani's behavior nor did they try to stop the NAS Terrorist Attack. Because they supported it,' the suit asserts. Three months before the attack, on the September 11 anniversary, Shamrani posted a message on social media saying: 'The countdown has begun.' Later that month he sent a copy of his will to AQAP explaining his plans for the Pensacola shooting, the suit alleges. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, the suit said, Shamrani and other trainees visited the memorial in New York City to those killed in the September 11 attacks, in which 15 of 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals. The trainees 'discussed the plans for the NAS Pensacola Terrorist Attack,' the suit claims. It also asserts Shamrani hosted a dinner party for fellow trainees on the eve of the attack, at which he screened videos of mass shootings and discussed his plans for the next day. At least three trainees who attended the dinner called in sick the next morning, one of whom stood outside the building and recorded the shooting on his cellphone while two others watched from a nearby car, the suit claims. That so many trainees were at least sympathetic to al-Qaeda and that several were 'actually accomplices' demonstrates their belief that their extremist views 'were in furtherance of [the kingdom's] political and religious goals,' the suit claims. The suit goes further than the U.S. government, which in January 2020 declared it a terror attack, but claimed that it was carried out by a lone wolf. Donald Trump is pictured with King Salman of Saudi Arabia in May 2017 in Riyadh Barr said 21 cadets from Saudi Arabia, including 12 from the Pensacola base, were unenrolled from their training and would be returning to the kingdom. U.S. officials, he announced, said they found evidence that 17 Saudis had shared Islamist or anti-American material through social media. Fifteen including some of those who had shared anti-American material were found to have had contact with or to have possessed child pornography. Shane Walters, 47, the father of Cameron Scott Walters, said he was convinced the Saudis knew of Shamrani's plot. Walters, a former Navy mechanic and currently the sales team manager at Gulfstream Aerospace, pointed out that Shamrani had openly supported terrorism for two years before being accepted to the program. 'Why? How did he get here? They had to have known,' he told The Washington Post. 'It's shameful.' Walters accused the Trump administration of failing to prioritize 'dealing face-to-face' with the Saudis over the attacks. He also noted that neither Donald Trump nor anyone within the Saudi royal family spoke with the families of the killed or wounded. Walters said he felt the Trump administration was more interested in arms deals, and cozied up to Saudi Arabia 'in a way no president ever has,' Walters said. 'I don't think my son's murder, or Mo's murder, or Joshua's murder, was a top priority.' The suit cited Trump saying to reporters after a phone call with Saudi Arabia's King Salman: 'The king will be involved in taking care of the families and loved ones . . . likewise the crown prince. 'They are devastated by what took place in Pensacola. And I think they are going to help out the families very greatly.' President Joe Biden's administration has already taken a markedly different tack with the Saudis. Biden has canceled arms sales, criticized human rights abuses and the harassment of dissidents, and vowed to 'recalibrate' ties with the kingdom and its de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. It is also expected to make public as early as this week a long-sought U.S. intelligence report concluding that the crown prince ordered the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough has ordered a top-down review of department policies to ensure they comply with a presidential executive order designed to combat discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. In his first news conference since taking office, McDonough said Tuesday that he has directed a department-wide policy review to ensure the VA is a "welcoming and inclusive environment for LGBT vets and employees." On Inauguration Day, President Joe Biden signed an order directing every federal agency to review all regulations, guidance documents, policies and programs to ensure that they prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity and sexual orientation. Read Next: SecDef Austin to Troops: If You See Extremism in the Ranks, Tell Your Commander McDonough said the review, expected to be completed by March 30, follows the order and seeks to "increase alignment between VA and the Department of Defense," particularly in the areas of medical services and treatment for veterans. "While I obviously can't get ahead of the review -- that's why we are doing the review -- and what it will find, my goal as secretary is to ensure VA is welcoming to all our vets, including transgender vets," he said. In October, the Government Accountability Office released a report saying VA physicians risked missing medical diagnoses among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender veterans because information on sexual orientation is not recorded consistently in medical records. The VA maintains an Office of Health Equity and launched the LGBT Health Program in 2012 to establish policies and procedures to identify and resolve gaps in medical services. The GAO report noted, however, that the VA fails to have a full understanding of its LGBT veteran population because it does not track sexual orientation and gender identity data in medical records. Following the report's release, VA officials said they understood the importance of collecting such data, pledging to develop a working group to study the issue and make recommendations to senior leadership to ensure that such data would be captured in existing VA medical records, as well as the new electronic health records system expected to be adopted across the Veterans Health Administration by 2028. According to the GAO, more than 6 million veterans used VA health care in fiscal 2018, but the number of patients identifying themselves as members of the LGBT community was unknown. Data dating back a decade indicate there may be roughly 1 million LGBT veterans, with an estimated quarter of those utilizing VA health care. McDonough said the policy review will focus mainly on medical services and care for these veterans. But he also promised that the department will focus on diversity in its employee population, including leadership and in efforts to fill more than 80,000 vacancies. "This will be a very important piece of demonstrating seriousness about diversity and inclusion," he said. One question raised in the past few years has been over the inclusivity of the VA's motto, a quote from Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address: "To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan." Some Democratic lawmakers, advocates and veterans say that it excludes female veterans and makes them feel unwelcome at the VA. They have called for the motto to be changed to a more gender-neutral version: "To care for those who have borne the battle and for their families and survivors," or similar wording. Former VA Secretary Robert Wilkie told Military.com last fall that the "only time I hear anything about this motto is from activists in this town." "If we don't have a place in our collective memory for Abraham Lincoln, we're in a hell of a fix," he said. McDonough said the motto is one of the many items being looked at by his team. "Obviously, this is something that came up in the context of confirmation hearings and my conversations with the veterans service organizations. I'm not in a position to announce anything on that," he said. In addition to discussions on diversity and inclusion, McDonough said the VA is highly focused on vaccinating its veteran population, particularly hard-to-reach vets who live in rural and remote areas, and minority veterans who may be at risk for severe cases of COVID-19. According to McDonough, 1.4 million veterans have received the COVID-19 vaccine, including 400,000 who have had their second dose. More than 259,000 VA employees have received a vaccine, and 220,000 have been fully vaccinated, he added. The department has inoculated 29% of all White veterans over age 75 with access to VA health care, as well as 31% of all Hispanic vets and 34% of Black veterans in that group. McDonough said the department "has work to do." "But I'm happy to report those numbers because there is a lot of demand for the vaccine," he said. -- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Monster.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime. Related: GAO Calls for Stop to VA's Electronic Medical Record Rollout Until Early Problems Get Fixed Imagine two chaat vendors fighting over you? Yes, you heard it right. A clash broke out between two groups of shopkeepers in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat district over the issue of attracting customers to their shop. The video of their fight has been circulating online and people are shocked to see how the two vendors get involved in a full blown brawl. The men, armed with rods and sticks, thrashed each other for good 20 minutes which resulted in a big ruckus in the busy market of Baraut town in Baghpat. "Eight people have been arrested in connection with the clash that broke out between two groups of shopkeepers in Baraut area of Baghpat. Necessary action is being taken," Baghpat Police told ANI. #UPDATE | Eight people have been arrested in connection with the clash that broke out between two groups of shopkeepers in Baraut area of Baghpat earlier today: Baghpat Police pic.twitter.com/xwoGVBEGav ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 22, 2021 Heres the viral video: Clash between two chat vendors over customers in Bhagpat UP. Fists,Lathis, and kicks used in fight pic.twitter.com/Z1S3BVIYtu Waris Pathan (@warispathan) February 22, 2021 Netizens found one person particularly interesting because he reminded some of Virus from 3 Idiots while others found an uncanny resemblance with Albert Einstein. He was identified as one of the chaat vendors, Harendra, who is now in custody. In an interview with ANI before he was arrested, he told that this wasnt the first time that these two chaat vendors have got into a fight. He alleged that the other chaat vendor had opened shop about two months back and was trying to steal customers from him by telling them that his chaat was stale. They do not have sales. They did it before also," Harendra told ANI, claiming that his shop has been there for the last 40-50 years. #WATCH | The man seen in the viral Baghpat brawl clip explains reason for the fight. The man is now in jail, this interview is from last night pic.twitter.com/PII1Rb5OvX ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 23, 2021 When his interview started to go viral, people couldnt help but make him a meme star. In the viral video on social media, a man called Chacha attacked others in complete WWE style. Here are some popular memes on social media: #chacha after winning Lala Chaat hai to sab first class hai pic.twitter.com/hvdmEBVNoa Chicha 420 (@Chicha420_) February 23, 2021 We wonder how Chacha would react to this "fame" he got after the viral fight. His hairstyle is also a hit among the masses. Talking to India Today, he revealed that he rarely gets a haircut, and when he does, it is usually between a span of two years. Well, Chacha Ji is the new star in town now. Are you a fan of his hairstyle too? Hartford HealthCare / Contributed BRIDGEPORT St. Vincents Medical Center, its parent company Hartford HealthCare, the Greater Bridgeport branch of the NAACP and more are sponsoring a virtual town hall at 6 p.m. Wednesday to discuss facts and myths about the COVID-19 vaccine. The discussion will include who is eligible to receive the vaccine and when and offers a live question-and-answer session with the experts. Those speaking will include the Rev. D. Stanley Lord, president of the Greater Bridgeport branch of the NAACP; Sarah Lewis, vice president for health equity at Hartford HealthCare; and Dr. Charles Bruce-Tagoe, regional medical director at St. Vincents, among others. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 23, 2021) - Peekaboo Beans Inc. (CSE: BEAN) (OTC Pink: PBBSF) ("PK Beans" or the "Company") a responsible and innovative children's apparel brand is pleased to announce strong initiatives to start 2021. This includes a first-time sales event with high margin opportunities and the launch of a 12-month online marketing campaign through AGORACOM. With January traditionally being one of the slowest months for retail globally, the Company seized an opportunity to launch a unique first-time sales initiative, the "Design Vault Event". This provided the customer with the opportunity to purchase one-of-a-kind styles, and samples that never made it to full production. The Company sold 1396 pieces, resulting in close to $35,000 in sales for high margin product. This had resounding success with customers. It provided a fun shopping event playing on nostalgia for many of the Company's long-standing customers, as well as sharing the story of PK Beans and the variety of designs PK Beans has explored in the last 15 years. On the heels of this successful Design Vault Event, the Company is showcasing their PK RePlay program for February before their much-anticipated Spring 2021 Collection launch. To assist the reach of these exciting initiatives and opportunities, the Company will receive significant exposure through millions of content brand insertions on the AGORACOM network and extensive search engine marketing during the term of the agreement. The Company HUB containing multiple landing pages, videos, photos and other helpful information updated in real-time over the next 12 months will be live today and can be found at: https://agoracom.com/ir/PKBeans The Company HUB will receive significant exposure through continuous brand impression, content marketing, search engine marketing and social media engagement throughout the entire AGORACOM network. AGORACOM is the only small cap marketing firm to hold a Twitter Verified badge, averaging 4.2 million Twitter impressions per month in 2019. The Company has also launched a "CEO Verified" Discussion Forum on AGORACOM to serve as the Company's primary social media platform to interact with both current and prospective shareholders in a fully moderated environment. The Company discussion forum can be found at: https://agoracom.com/ir/PKBeans/forums/discussion Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, and subject to receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including but not limited to, conditional approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange, the Company has agreed to pay AGORACOM the following as consideration for the online advertising, marketing and branding services provided by AGORACOM: $15,000 + HST in shares for services upon commencement for previously completed work on initial set up of HUB, marketing materials and search engine programs; $15,000 + HST in shares for services at end of the Third Month, being November 24, 2020; $15,000 + HST in shares for services at end of the Sixth Month, being February 24, 2021; $15,000 + HST in shares for services at end of the Ninth Month, being May 24, 2021 and $15,000 + HST in shares for services at end of Twelfth Month, being August 30, 2021. The number of common shares to be issued in respect of each period will be determined by using the undiscounted closing price of the common shares of the Company on the Canadian Securities Exchange on the last trading day before the issuance of the news release announcing each issuance of shares once the services have been performed. About AGORACOM AGORACOM is the pioneer of online marketing, broadcasting, conferences and investor relations services to North American small and mid-cap public companies, with more than 300 companies served. AGORACOM is the home of more than 7.7 million investors that visited 55.2 million times and read over 600 million pages of information over the last 10 years. The average visit of 8min 43sec is more than double that of global financial sites, which can be attributed to the implementation and enforcement of the strongest moderation rules in the industry. About Peekaboo Beans Inc. PK Beans is an innovative children's apparel brand with a focus on environmentally responsible clothes that are intentionally designed to inspire play. Through an omni-channel approach, Peekaboo Beans engages sellers through social platforms, including Instagram and Facebook, as well as online retailers, to maximize revenue and build brand loyalty. The Company works to promote a playful lifestyle for children by designing comfortable clothes that are built to last. To learn more about PK Beans, visit: www.pkbeans.com. On behalf of the Board of Directors, Peekaboo Beans Inc. Ms. Traci Costa, President and CEO (604) 279-2326 For more information, please contact the Company at: IR@pkbeans.com 1-604-279-2326 Reader Advisory This news release may include forward-looking information that is subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward-looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking information are based on reasonable assumptions, such information is not a guarantee of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, fluctuations in market prices, successes of the operations of the Company, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such information will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking information except as required under the applicable securities laws. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75138 The city of Havana introduced street closures in some areas of the city on Monday in an effort to slow down the spread of COVID-19. Barricades to limit access and control movement could be seen in the highly populated municipality of Centro Habana, among others. Cuba is experiencing its highest number of people infected by COVID-19 to date with 5,046 positive cases in a week and a continuous incremental trend since the beginning of the pandemic, according to official reports. Authorities have been tightening restrictions in an effort to stop the spread of the virus on the island, but the number of infected has not slowed. Despite an intense public awareness campaign through local media, queues form outside stores in the Centro Habana commercial district without respecting social distancing rules. Toughened economic sanctions imposed by the Trump administration against Cuba, along with the worldwide pandemic, have affected supplies of goods and services in Cuba leading to long lines outside food stores. The Cuban government continues prioritizing the advancement of its vaccine production in an effort to have residents across the country inoculated. Soberana 02 is one of the four vaccine candidates being developed by Cuba. There are hundreds of thousands of doses of the Soberana 02 being prepared to start vaccinating the island's population in March. Official media showed images of the laboratories, certified by the World Health Organization, where the Soberana 02 vaccine is being produced. Havana and Santiago de Cuba are the provinces with the highest number of coronavirus cases in the country. To date, Cuba has registered 45,361 cases and 300 deaths since March. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment As the social media giants continue to crack down on those who violate their trans-activist talking points (see here and here), another perspective has been raised from an unexpected source. Im talking about a powerful, deeply moving article posted in Newsweek and titled, We Need Balance When It Comes To Gender Dysphoric Kids. I Would Know. The author of the op-ed is Scott Newgent, self-described as a 48-year-old transgender man. What Newgent has written is courageous, deeply revealing, poignant, and accurate. Perhaps others will now heed these urgent warnings, since those of us on the conservative Christian side who have been presenting similar cases have been largely ignored to this day. Six years ago, Newgent was told by the medical community that she could turn from a woman into a man. But, Newgent adds, all the negatives were glossed over. As a result, I have suffered tremendously, including seven surgeries, a pulmonary embolism, an induced stress heart attack, sepsis, a 17-month recurring infection, 16 rounds of antibiotics, three weeks of daily IV antibiotics, arm reconstructive surgery, lung, heart and bladder damage, insomnia, hallucinations, PTSD, $1 million in medical expenses, and loss of home, car, career and marriage. All this, and yet I cannot sue the surgeon responsible in part because there is no structured, tested or widely accepted baseline for transgender health care. Most of us cannot imagine this kind of trauma, let alone imagine telling a story like this to the whole world. Yet, because it comes from the mouth of a biological female who now identifies as a male, the author can hardly be called transphobic. Plus, this op-ed was published in Newsweek rather than in a Focus on the Family magazine. Unfortunately, when Christian conservatives have stated these same facts, we have been branded hateful and bigoted and transphobic. Not only so, but when former transgenders like Walt Heyer or Laura Perry tell their own, agonizing (yet redemptive) stories, they too are branded hateful and bigoted. (To see their stories for yourself, watch this free documentary. You wont regret taking the time. You can also visit the SexChangeRegret website for more.) But it is love and truth that caused Newgent to write, not hate. As Newgent states, It is not transphobic or discriminatory to discuss this we as a society need to fully understand what we are encouraging our children to do to their bodies. Thats why Abigail Shrier wrote her important book Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters, named a book of the year by The Economist and one of the best books of 2021 by The Times and The Sunday Times. The alarm must be sounded. The warning must be issued. Not only are adults destroying their bodies and their lives, but our children are doing so as well. Doesnt love compel us to speak? Consequently, when Amazon refused to allow Shriers publisher to advertise the book on their site (sell it, yes, but advertise it, no), wasnt it Amazon, not the publisher, that displayed dangerous bias? Newgent, who previously identified as a lesbian, experienced many doubts about the transitioning process. But rather than the professionals slowing down the transition process, they all encouraged her to keep going. This is just what you need! To the contrary, the surgeries and drugs took a terrible toll on Newgent, who found no real help in the medical world that was so quick to recommend her transition. During my post-operation 17 months of sheer survival, Newgent writes, I discovered that transgender health care is experimental and that large swaths of the medical industry encourage minors to transition due, at least in part, to fat profit margins. Yet those of us who seek to raise a cautionary flag, those of us who say, Slow down! Lets see if you can be helped from the inside out, are branded the haters and the transphobes. How can this be? I urge everyone reading this article to take the time to read every word of Newgents op-ed. A summary cannot begin to do justice to her journey, from the physical pain to the emotional agony to the devastating losses to the list of negative consequences. In fact, everyone considering transitioning should memorize this list of 13 potential consequences. It begins with decreased life expectancy and includes no improved mental health outcomes. To call it sobering would be a gross understatement. Remarkably, after citing examples from other countries which are rethinking their approach to sex-change surgery and treatments, Newgent writes, We now have the obligation to work together to slow trans medicalization of minors until they are adults and have the capacity to truly understand the lifelong consequences of transitioning. As a former lesbian and current trans man, I maintain this is not transphobic. It is actually sensitive and caring to recognize that not just one treatment or pathway is right for all kids. But of course. It is love that has motivated many of us to call for this very slow down in particular, love for the children. (You can see for yourself how my call for this on Tyra Banks was received over 10 years ago.) Newgent closes with this: So, endocrinologists and pediatricians, moderate Democrats and moderate Republicans, radical feminists and evangelicals, lawyers and psychologists, parents and teachers: My hand is out. I will grab yours and turn down no one. Together, we can build a circle around our most precious resource: our children. Help me fulfill the promise I made on the night I almost gave up, to be here for my children and now yours. Who's with me? As a conservative evangelical, I say to Scott Newgent: for this cause, I am with you. Lets do something to stop the madness. Lets put the children first. And if I can be of help to you on any personal level as you work through your own journey, count me in. That investigation was long stymied by legal objections from Mr. Trump that twice reached the Supreme Court. Now the trove of records that will be obtained from Mr. Trumps accountants, Mazars USA, will give prosecutors a more comprehensive look at the inner financial workings of Mr. Trumps business and allow them to determine whether to charge the former president with any crimes. The context During his 2016 presidential run, Mr. Trump said that he would release his tax returns, as every presidential candidate has done for at least 40 years, but instead he has battled to keep them under wraps. He was not entirely successful. A New York Times investigation, which reviewed more than two decades of the former presidents tax returns, revealed that Mr. Trump had paid little income tax for years and pointed out potential financial improprieties, some of which may figure in Mr. Vances investigation. What comes next Prosecutors, investigators, forensic accountants and an outside consulting firm will begin to dig through reams of financial records to develop a clear picture of Mr. Trumps business dealings. After the Supreme Court released its order, Mr. Vance issued a terse statement: The work continues. But Mr. Vance might not see the end of that work while in office. He has given no indication that he intends to run for re-election this year, and the investigation could fall to his successor. 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. Amid a rise in Covid-19 cases over the past few days, night curfew was imposed in Aurangabad city between 11 pm and 6 am till March 8, a senior police official said on Tuesday. Police Commissioner Nikhil Gupta told reporters that the decision was taken after district, civic and police officials held a meeting during the day. "A rise in COVID-19 cases is being observed in the city, and the administration has noticed that a lot of people are not complying with outbreak protocols like wearings masks, maintaining social distancing etc. So the decision was taken to impose night curfew from tonight," Gupta said. He said the industrial sector, medical and emergency services, public transport etc are exempt from the night curfew. The caseload in Aurangabad district is inching towards the 50,000 mark with 132 cases recorded on Monday and 201 on Sunday. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) [February 23, 2021] Commonwealth of Virginia awards long-term contract to CGI for transformation of eVA procurement system Stock Market Symbols GIB (NYSE) GIB.A (TSX) www.cgi.com/newsroom Nation's leading e-procurement system enlists CGI for vital enhancements under eVA program FAIRFAX, Va., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - CGI (NYSE: GIB) (TSX: GIB.A) announced it has been awarded a contract by the Virginia Department of General Services (DGS) to support transformational enhancements to the Commonwealth's eVA program. eVA is an award-winning procurement system that provides a centralized, online purchasing hub for state and local agencies and more than 112,000 approved vendors who provide essential goods and services. CGI was selected by DGS to modernize the eVA platform with next-generation technologies, tools and capabilities that will keep step with the Commonwealth's evolving business goals. The new contract includes the transition to more user-friendly and cutting-edge procuement and reporting tools for state and local government users, businesses that supply goods and services, and public users who want to understand what public bodies are purchasing. As part of the new contract, CGI will deliver: An enhanced shopping experience, including better catalog maintenance and buyer tools Improved supplier services, such as electronic order delivery, contracts, catalogs and improvement plans Enhanced collaboration between users and suppliers Increased standardization across functions to make it easier to use New smart routing and workflow functions to increase process efficiency. This year the eVA program celebrates 20 years of leadership and innovation in government procurement. Since launching in 2001, eVA has processed 12.6 million purchase orders worth US$127 billion, and has saved the Commonwealth US$25 million per year. The system currently serves 245 state agencies and more than 1,000 local jurisdictions. eVA has also provided emergency procurement information related to the COVID-19 pandemic response, connecting vendors and suppliers with state purchasing contracts. "CGI is excited to extend our partnership with the Department of General Services, where together we will implement a new, market-leading, unified platform with a modern user experience for procurement functions based on a highly flexible and configurable model," said Lynne Bushey, CGI Senior Vice-President and U.S. Mid-Atlantic Business Unit Leader. "The Commonwealth will realize increased savings and operational efficiencies by further driving the innovation that has positioned eVA as the national leader in government eProcurement for nearly two decades." About CGI Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world. With 76,000 consultants and other professionals across the globe, CGI delivers an end-to-end portfolio of capabilities, from strategic IT and business consulting to systems integration, managed IT and business process services and intellectual property solutions. CGI works with clients through a local relationship model complemented by a global delivery network that helps clients digitally transform their organizations and accelerate results. CGI Fiscal 2020 reported revenue is C$12.16 billion and CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB). Learn more at cgi.com. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/commonwealth-of-virginia-awards-long-term-contract-to-cgi-for-transformation-of-eva-procurement-system-301233343.html SOURCE CGI Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] NEWTON, Mass., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Alcresta Therapeutics, Inc., a leading commercial-stage company focused on developing and commercializing novel enzyme-based products, today announced publication of a position paper by the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) Pancreas Committee recommending the use of RELiZORB (immobilized lipase cartridge), a first-of-its-kind digestive enzyme cartridge designed to mimic the function of pancreatic lipase. Their recommendation further reinforces the clinical benefits of RELiZORB (immobilized lipase cartridge) in patients with fat malabsorption conditions beyond cystic fibrosis. The position paper, authored by the NASPGHAN Pancreas Committee, was published in the February issue of the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition. This Committee provides guidance on the medical management of chronic pancreatitis (CP) in children based on existing medical literature. The Committee recommended use of RELiZORB in patients who are on enteral feeding due to chronic pancreatitis who demonstrate poor weight gain or malabsorption as a result of their inability to produce enough of the enzyme lipase to break down fats. "We are pleased to see a leading nutritional organization of medical professionals recommend use of RELiZORB in patients with chronic pancreatitis. They join the cystic fibrosis KOL community, which published its support of RELiZORB in the July 2019 issue of the Journal of Cystic Fibrosis," said Eric First, M.D., chief medical officer, Alcresta Therapeutics, Inc. Dr. First added, "this recognition reflects the growing clinical evidence of RELiZORB in fat malabsorption in enteral feeding across multiple rare diseases and critical conditions." "The commitment of these healthcare providers and the NASPHGAN organization to best reflect current standard of care supports the effort to make effective treatments available to patients. This publication reinforces our ongoing efforts to increase access to RELiZORB by ensuring that medical coverage policies reflect its clinical value," said Dan Orlando, chief executive officer at Alcresta Therapeutics. For access to the position paper, visit: Freeman, JA, et al., Medical Management of Chronic Pancreatitis in Children: A Position Paper by the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition Pancreas Committee. JPGN 2021;72: 324340 For more information on RELiZORB, please visit www.relizorb.com About Alcresta Therapeutics, Inc. Alcresta Therapeutics, Inc. is dedicated to developing and commercializing novel, enzyme-based products designed to address challenges faced by patients living with gastrointestinal disorders and rare diseases. Alcresta currently markets RELiZORB for enterally fed patients with pancreatic insufficiency, which occurs in cystic fibrosis, pancreatic cancer and pancreatitis, and is developing platform applications for patients with short bowel syndrome (SBS) and prematurely born infants treated in the NICU. Alcresta Therapeutics, Inc. is backed by top-tier investors: Athyrium Capital Management, Bessemer Venture Partners, HealthQuest Capital, Frazier Healthcare Partners, and Third Rock Ventures. More information can be found at www.alcresta.com. About NASPHGAN The North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, founded in 1972, is the only society in North America and the largest in the world dedicated to serving the pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition communities. NASPGHAN was established to advance the understanding of the normal development and physiology of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and liver in infants, children, and adolescents, and to foster the dissemination of this knowledge through scientific meetings, professional education, public education, and interaction with other organizations concerned with pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition. Internal Media Contact: Dan Orlando Chief Executive Officer Alcresta Therapeutics, Inc. 877-255-8425 SOURCE Alcresta Therapeutics, Inc. Related Links http://www.alcresta.com New Delhi: As Khalistani elements are trying to exploit the ongoing farmers' protests in India to create anarchy, Khalistan-sympathising parliamentarians in the Western countries, especially those in the UK and Canada, have also come out in support of them by attacking India at the diplomatic front. Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi alias Tan Dhesi is one such British MP who on 11th February tweeted, Over 100,000, incredibly from all 650 #UK constituencies (inc 3K+ from Slough), signed online petition; adding to 100+ MPs who wrote to PM. Given arrests of journalists and activists like #NodeepKaur, need Parliament debate ASAP on #FarmersProtest largest protest on the planet. Earlier, Sikh Federation UK launched a signature campaign to urge the UK government to pressurise the Indian government on farmers protests. In fact, this was one single sub-set of his multi-pronged attack on India. The leader who talks about ideas of civil liberties and libertarian principles is himself facing allegations of promoting hatred towards certain communities in the UK. A couple of sources have claimed that Dhesi has not only been promoting anti-India rhetoric, rather his actions suggest that he has also been a promoter of anti-Semitism in the UK. In September 2019, he pressurised the British PM to apologise for his age-old comment on Muslim women wearing a burqa. In return, what Johnson did was an eye-opener as he replied to Dhesi What we have yet to hear from anywhere in the Labour Party is any hint of apology for the virus of anti-semitism that is now rampant in their ranks. I would like to hear that. I would like to hear that from the hon. Gentleman (Tan Dhesi). In the very next week, Dhesi refused to support Jew MPs Ivan Lewis and Ian Austin a parliamentarian hailing from a Holocaust survivor family, who were criticising the poor handling of anti-semitism by the Labour Party leaders. Comparing the indifference towards the two MPs raising the issue of anti-semitism with Dhesis attack on the British PM, The Times of Israel commented They were loudly rudely mocked and dismissed by the same Labour MPs Moreover, Dhesi shares a strong bond with Pakistani origin Labour MP Afzal Khan, who is believed to be having deep hatred towards Jews. Both of them have been allegedly promoting anti-semitic sentiments within the Labour Party. A closer look at his parliamentary record and analysis of statements made by him reflect that possibly, he has been pushing an anti-Semitic narrative for a long time. Dhesi also moved an Early Day Motion in the British parliament on 22nd March 2019 against Israeli Occupation of Golan Heights which demanded the House of Commons to urge the UK Government and European partners to oppose the new position of the US government recognising the Golan as Israeli territory besides asking the House to make several other anti-Israel commitments. One might argue that these statements and actions might be simple policy decisions taken by a parliamentarian on the basis of his political preferences and judgment. However, an analysis of The Register of Members Interests, which provides information about any financial interest which a Member has, or any benefit which he or she receives, which others might reasonably consider to influence his or her actions or words as a Member of Parliament, presents an eye-opening fact. It is mentioned in the Register that Dhesi received funding from the organisation Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) in August 2018 as part of a sponsored trip to the West Bank and Israel. Though it might appear as a part of a common lobbying or advocacy campaign engaging parliamentarians. In 2017, the parliamentarian representing Slough also attacked the current Home Secretary Priti Patel for her support to Israel and sharing an article, he tweeted Priti Patel wanted to send aid money to the Israeli army, No 10 confirms. This tweet is very similar to the baseless rhetoric propagated by Dhesi in the House of Commons on 3 rd February 2021 that UK made weapons may be used in repressing the ongoing farmers' protests in India. A geopolitical expert working on the Arab region argued that this could very well be seen as Dhesis tacit support to the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Disinvestments, and Sanctions) movement. The world is well aware of Pakistans hatred towards the Jew community and it has also emerged as an epicentre of the BDS campaign in the recent past. One should realise that eminent scholars like Clifford Smith, Director of the Middle East Forums Washington Project, have pointed out that there are attempts by Pakistan to expand the scope of the BDS campaign and target India over Kashmir as well. Hence, it might not be entirely illogical to argue that Dhesis anti-Israel stand as well as his redundant attacks on India over Kashmir and Khalistan could be triggered by the Pakistani ISI, added the expert. On the lines of statements and parliamentary interventions made on Israel, Tan Dhesi has been attacking India in an identical pattern. Through a spoken intervention made in the House of Commons on 3rd March, titled recent violence in India, he selectively tried to portray that only minorities have been targeted in the CAA related unrest and alleged the Indian government of persecuting the minorities. Similarly, through another spoken contribution made on 27th November 2018, he demanded the British government to pressurise the Indian government for the release of Khalistani terrorist Jagtar Singh Johal. An analysis of questions asked by Dhesi highlights that his prime objective has been to bash India. Very recently, reiterating his commitment to saving terrorist Johal, he asked a question from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to enquire, what assessment he has made of whether Jagtar Singh Johal has been subjected to torture during his detention in India? Dhesi has reiterated this question multiple times in the House of Commons, since the very initial days of his tenure. However, critics began directly questioning Dhesis intentions after an anti-India question asked from the Secretary of State for International Trade on 3rd February 2021. In the question titled Arms Trade: India, he asked the UK government whether the Government is taking steps to ensure that no UK made weapons or arms are exported to India where such weapons may be used in repressing the ongoing farmers' protests in that country. A legislative researcher we spoke to argued that on rare occasions only parliamentarians ask such bizarre questions. In case they do, there is certainly something fishy going on and one could sense that strong lobbying has been done behind such interventions. In countries like India and the UK, where Parliamentary Standing Committees, as well as Shadow Ministers, play a major role of watchdogs of ministries, the possibility of Pakistan pushing Dhesi in its campaign to jeopardise Indias military interests through bulwarking the trade deals between Indian and the UK cannot be ruled out. Similar attempts are being made through Khalistanis based in the US and Canada, he added. Dhesi has also asked at least half a dozen questions on ongoing farmers protests in India and has been trying to pressurise the Secretary of State to attack the Indian government. In addition, he has also asked over two dozen questions attacking India, precisely focussing on Punjab. His actions and words reflect that he has not only been supporting Pakistan on the Khalistani agenda, rather in an attempt to please his Pakistani friends, he went to the extent of attacking India over a sensitive issue like Kashmir. He also brazenly praised an article published on 5th August 2020 in The Guardian. Local leaders argue that Dhesi is inflicting equally severe damages to the British democratic setup by politicising the places of worship and promoting extremism in the community. According to media reports, the administration of Gurdwara Sri Singh Sabha in Slough, a powerful Khalistani centre has promoted the candidature of Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi. Earlier, he had also addressed the community members in the hall of places of worship that display huge Khalistan banners. Local peace activists as well as community members have been raising concerns over the failure of the UK Charity Commission to take action on these developments. Dhesi is not a new Khalistani sympathiser and has been calculatedly trying to cultivate a negative image of India in the UK. He has been very close to the Sikh Federation UK the new avatar of the proscribed terrorist outfit International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF). Similarly, he has been a strong proponent of ISI funded campaign Referendum-2020 and in 2018, he made scathing attacks against India at a Referendum-2020 rally organised by extremist outfit Sikhs For Justice (SJF) and its leader and ISI proxy Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. However, there is much more to be dug out behind hate-mongering propagated by Dhesi. An analysis of the population figures depicts an interesting picture. According to the data 2011 census data of the UK government, the share of the Muslim population in Slough, represented by Dhesi, was 23.3% and Sikhs constituted 10.6% of the total population as compared to a meager 1.1%, Hindu, 0.5% Buddhists, and 0.1% Jews. Besides, the break-up of data suggests that the Muslim population is dominated by the Muslims of Pakistani origin, who constitute 17.74% of the total population, amongst whom the ISI enjoys a stronghold. The region represented by Dhesi has a strong concentration of Muslim and Sikh population as the average population of Muslims in England and Wales is 4.8% and the Sikhs constitute around 0.8% of the total population. Pollsters believe that it is easy for a candidate to bag the support of a vote bank valuing one-fourth of total vote share just by peddling anti-India rhetoric and promoting anti-Semitism. In addition, few Sikhs with pro-Khalistani sentiments are always ready to support the candidature of a Khalistani element, making victory a super easy affair for Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi. Unfortunately, without noticing Dhesis brazen appeasement and indulging in vote bank politics, few Indians have been falling prey to the Khalistani trap and trusting the propaganda peddled by him. The consequences have started to emerge now as the above-mentioned meeting organised on 9th February was also attended by an Indian, who made severe anti-India comments at the platform. During our research, we were unable to find interventions made in similar intensity on the atrocities of minorities in Pakistan or Pakistani Punjab. Dhesi, in order to please his Pakistani constituents, has maintained an abominable silence over Sikh and Hindu massacres in Pakistan and the plight of minorities including Shias, Hazaras, Baloch, Ahmadiyya, etc. in the country. Live TV The selective outrage of Dhesi by attacking specific countries and groups while keeping a mum over other graver developments reflects that Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesis politics is not of principles, but of pandering to his Pakistani origin vote bank. A couple of nationalist activists from Punjab have also demanded the Indian government to impose sanctions against him. Earlier, similar demands were made by Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on imposing sanctions on Khalistani elements based out of Canada. Additionally, the Government of India shall raise the issue with the UK government and ensure that the Indian citizens involved in aiding these elements are identified and prosecuted. It should also come up with a plan to comprehensively counter the Khalistani propaganda. 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. Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama in Montgomery is now producing four vehicles. The Montgomery plant celebrated the launch of the all-new 2022 Tucson SUV on Monday. The company said its the first time the Tucson has been assembled in the United States. Hyundai Motor Company brought Tucson production to the U.S. because we have proven our ability to build world class automobiles, Ernie Kim, President and CEO Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, said. Today, the Hyundai brand has positive momentum in the marketplace, thanks to the expanding lineup of sport utility vehicles. The new Tucson will continue that momentum in 2021. The Tucson is Hyundais best-selling model globally. HMMA will supply internal combustion versions of the Tucson to the North American market, including Canada and Mexico, the company said. Montgomery also produces the Sonata and Elantra sedans and the Santa Fe SUV. The 2022 Hyundai Tucson will begin arriving in U.S. dealerships this spring. In 2019 Hyundai announced a $410 million expansion at the plant that employs more than 3,000 people. Adding this fourth Hyundai vehicle to HMMAs production lineup will help the Hyundai brand meet the growing demand for SUVs in the North American market, Jose Munoz, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor North America, said. 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. Holidaymakers could be offered a phone app within weeks that would enable them to prove they have tested negative for Covid or been vaccinated. The International Air Transport Association, which is in talks with the UK Government, yesterday revealed plans to go live with its digital Travel Pass next month. The development is a boost to the millions of Britons hoping for a foreign holiday this summer after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a roadmap for reopening foreign travel on Monday. Mr Johnson has asked a new taskforce to look into how holidays can safely be resumed, with vaccine passports seen as one potential long-term measure. Popular holiday destinations such as Greece, Cyprus, Spain and the Canary Islands have already expressed interest in the idea. IATAs app will be capable of verifying if a passenger has had the Covid-19 tests or vaccines required to enter a country. Holidaymakers could be offered a phone app within weeks that would enable them to prove they have tested negative for Covid or been vaccinated (example of a travel passport phone app) The development is a boost to the millions of Britons hoping for a foreign holiday this summer after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a roadmap for reopening foreign travel on Monday (stock photo) It would also prove they were administered by an approved authority and store the information on individual phones rather than in a centralised database to better protect privacy. Vinoop Goel, IATAs regional director of airports and external relations, said: The key issue is one of confidence. Passengers need to be confident that the testing theyve taken is accurate and will allow them to enter the country. And then governments need to have the confidence that the tests passengers claim to have is one which is accurate and meets their own conditions. He added: The plan is to go live in March, so basically we expect to have a fully functional working system over the next few weeks. IATA stressed the app would not be live for use next month as a vaccine passport, partly because Britain does not currently issue proof of vaccination in digital format. But it is understood this is one of the issues being worked through by the new Department for Transport-led travel taskforce raising the prospect of British holidaymakers using such an app this summer. Mr Johnson has asked a new taskforce to look into how holidays can safely be resumed, with vaccine passports seen as one potential long-term measure. Popular holiday destinations such as Greece, Cyprus, Spain and the Canary Islands have already expressed interest in the idea (stock photo of Taverna Nikos, in Mykonos, Greece) The UKs vaccine credentials, which are currently given in paper format, would need to be digitalised, IATA said. One way this could be done is if health authorities began issuing QR codes which could be scanned and uploaded into apps as proof that both doses of the vaccine had been given, along with information about where it was given, which jab was received and who it was administered by. The industry sees digital passes as an essential part of reopening air travel, as many countries still have strict restrictions or quarantines, which could be lifted for those who can prove they have been inoculated. Singapore Airlines was the first airline to start trials of the IATA Travel Pass in December. Etihad, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Air New Zealand are among the others conducting trials. Other airlines are also trialling different apps which could end up being used for vaccine passports. British Airways is trialling one called VeriFLY and expanded the trial last week to cover all inbound flights to the UK, in addition to all outbound flights to the US. It is currently only used to verify a negative Covid test result. Meanwhile, travel firms reported a booking bonanza yesterday after Mr Johnson said there was every chance breaks abroad could go ahead this summer. Tui, the UKs largest tour operator, recorded a six-fold increase in bookings. Greece, Spain and Turkey were the most popular destinations, with bookings for those countries up 500 per cent. It was the firms busiest day for more than a month. Rival package holiday giant Jet2.com said bookings were up 600 per cent, with Spain, Greece and Cyprus also among the most-booked destinations. Steve Heapy, chief executive of Jet2.com, said: We have seen enormous pent-up demand from British holidaymakers for some time, with people wanting nothing more than to get away to the sunshine and enjoy their well-deserved holidays. The Governments announcement is the news they have been longing for. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... KINSHASA, Congo The Italian ambassador to Congo, an Italian Carabinieri police officer and their Congolese driver were killed Monday when gunmen attacked a U.N. convoy traveling to a school in eastern Congo, the Italian Foreign Ministry and residents said. Luca Attanasio, serving at the Italian embassy in the country since 2017, Carabinieri officer Vittorio Iacovacci and their driver Moustapha Milambo were killed, officials said. Other members of the convoy were wounded and taken to a hospital, the World Food Program said. Congos interior ministry said four others in the convoy were kidnapped, but one person has since been found by Congos army. The ambush occurred as the convoy was traveling from Goma, Congos eastern regional capital, to visit a WFP school project in Rutshuru, the U.N. agency said. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The WFP said the attack occurred on a road that had been cleared previously for travel without security escorts, and it was seeking more information from local officials on the attack. Eastern Congo is home to myriad rebel groups all vying for control of the mineral-rich Central African nation that is the size of Western Europe. The attack, about 25 kilometers north of Goma, was right next to Virunga National Park. North Kivu Gov. Carly Nzanzu Kasivita said the U.N. vehicles were hijacked by the attackers and taken into the bush. The Congolese army and park guards for Virunga National Park came to help those who had been attacked, he said. There was an exchange of fire. The attackers fired at the bodyguard and the ambassador, the governor said. Attanasio was shot in the abdomen, according to a statement by Congos Interior Ministry. He was then transported to the U.N. Mission in Congo hospital where he died from his wounds, the ministry said. Without citing sources, Italian state TV on Monday night said the convoy apparently was the target of a kidnapping attempt with the aim of securing ransom money. Attanasio, a 43-year-old career diplomat, left behind a wife and three young children. The attack occurred in the same area where two Britons were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in 2018, said Mambo Kaway, head of a local civil society group. The situation is very tense, he added. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Congos Interior Ministry has blamed the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, the Rwandan Hutu rebel group known as FDLR, for the attack. The interior ministry said the provincial authorities of North Kivu were not aware of the presence of the Italian ambassador, which did not allow them to provide him with security measures. Congos President Felix Tshisekedi gave his sincere condolences to the families of the victims and has called for an investigation so that the perpetrators can be brought to justice, according to the presidents office. More than 2,000 civilians were killed last year in eastern Congo in violence by armed groups whose brutal attacks have also displaced over 5.2 million people in what the U.N. calls one of the worlds worst humanitarian crises. Marie Tumba Nzenza, Congos minister of foreign affairs, sent her condolences and promised the Italian government that the Congolese government would do all it could to find those behind the killings. Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Premier Mario Draghi also expressed their condolences to the victims families. Flags at Italian government buildings were ordered to fly at half-staff Monday and Tuesday. The circumstances of this brutal attack are still unclear and no effort will be spared to shed light on what happened, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said. Di Maio hurried back from a European Union ministerial meeting in Brussels to Rome to discuss the attack with Draghi. The Rome prosecutors office investigates crimes abroad against Italians. A specialized Carabinieri unit was expected to arrive on Tuesday in Kinshasha to help in the Italian investigation. After diplomatic posts in Switzerland, Morocco and Nigeria, Attanasio was assigned to the Embassy in Kinshasa in September 2017. Last October, he was awarded the Nassiriya International Prize for Peace in a ceremony held in a church in southern Italy. Attanasio was cited for having contributed to the realization of important humanitarian projects, distinguishing himself for altruism, dedication and the spirit of service for people in difficulty, the La Repubblica newspaper reported. It quoted Attanasio as saying that all that which we take for granted in Italy isnt in Congo, where, unfortunately, there are so many problems to resolve. Attanasio described the role of the ambassador is above all to be close to the Italians, but also to contribute to achieving peace. Around 1,000 Italians live in Congo. Congo suffered through one of the worlds most brutal colonial reigns before undergoing decades of corrupt dictatorship. Back-to-back civil wars later drew in a number of neighboring countries. In January 2019, Congo experienced its first peaceful democratic transfer of power since independence in 1960 following the election of President Felix Tshisekedi. The U.N. peacekeeping mission has been working toward drawing down its more than 17,000-troop presence in the country and transfer its security work to Congolese authorities. These tragic killings highlight the insecurity in eastern Congo, in an area that has seen a rise in kidnappings, organized criminality and militias, said Ben Shepherd, consulting fellow with the Chatham House Africa Program. It took place on one of the main roads from Goma, a well-traveled road that is generally viewed as secure, he said, adding that it would be difficult to know at this point if it was a random, opportunistic attack on a convoy or a planned attack. U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix told a previously planned news conference Monday that the determination of whether roads are safe is normally made by U.N. security officials in the country. He said he had no details on the exact unfolding of the incident. The investigation will bring, hopefully, clarity to that, Lacroix added. ___ Nicole Winfield reported from Rome. Carley Petesch in Dakar, Senegal, Lorne Cook in Brussels, Frances DEmilio in Rome, Edith M. Lederer in New York, and Andrew Meldrum in Johannesburg, contributed to this report. Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Of course we want to do an investigation. We want to make sure that, as any resident who has been a victim of any kind of battery or assault, we have an obligation to investigate it, the mayor said at an unrelated news conference. Obviously, because of his position, I want to make sure also that he wasnt targeted. So an investigation is appropriate, and thats whats being done. The number of people on hospital waiting lists could soon hit a record one million amid mounting concern about the impact of Covid-19 on delayed treatment and care for routine illness, it emerged yesterday. The forecast was made by the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) as HSE figures reveal the extent of the hidden crisis in non-Covid care as wards and intensive care units are given over to patients seriously ill with the virus. The most recent figures for January showed 862,720 people are now on some form of waiting list a jump of 86,221 in a year. Read More IHCA President Dr Alan Irvine said: Regrettably, in the short-term due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis these waiting lists will deteriorate further. The impact of the current surge and the unavoidable delays in providing hospital care will be particularly felt in the second half of the year, but also for years to come unless plans are put in place now to clear the backlogs. Figures released by the HSE in the past week show that 624,532 people are waiting to see a specialist up from 56.693 when the pandemic began. There are 82,051 people in the queue for an operation compared to 77,748 last March. The queue for a routine colonoscopy a test which can reveal conditions like bowel cancer is particularly worrying. Last March 28,204 people were on the waiting list. Now there are 37,354. The third wave surge derailed progress which was being made since the autumn in catching up on the backlog caused by the first months of the pandemic. The current crisis is due to so many non-Covid services being put on hold along with the reluctance of many people to seek medical treatment due to fears they will catch the virus if they attend hospital for treatment. It comes as the number of Covid-19 patients in hospital yesterday had fallen to 726. Of these, 156 patients are in intensive care. There were a further 33 people admitted to hospital in the previous 24 hours yesterday. There were hopes last week that hospital admissions had plateaued after dropping significantly. One more Covid-19 related death was reported yesterday with another 686 newly diagnosed cases. This week will be important in showing if progress in reducing the spread of the virus continues to be slow, prolonging the need for most lockdown restrictions to remain in place. Deputy chief medical officer Ronan Glynn said: We continue to see really high levels of compliance amongst the population and this is having a positive impact on the levels of disease in our communities. It is also having a positive impact on our hospitals while last week there were 269 cases in healthcare workers and four outbreaks in our hospitals these represent a very significant reduction compared with the 839 cases and 15 outbreaks in the week to February 7. In time, vaccination will be our most powerful tool against Covid-19 and over the coming weeks those who are highest risk in our families and communities will get vaccinated, said Dr Glynn. For now, each of us has a range of tried and trusted tools at our disposal by keeping our distance, washing our hands, wearing face masks and staying at home we will continue to drive down transmission of this disease. "Our collective efforts move us closer to the continued re-opening of our schools and the resumption of non-Covid healthcare services. Yesterdays new cases included 278 in Dublin, 49 in Limerick, 37 in Kildare, 32 in Louth and 31 in Donegal. The remaining 259 cases were spread across all remaining counties. The consortium of Kalrock Capital and UAE-based entrepreneur Murari Lal Jain will pay Rs 1,183 crore over five years to employees, workmen and financial creditors of Jet Airways. Jet Airways was admitted to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in June 2019 for insolvency proceedings. The defunct airlines' Committee of Creditors had approved Kalrock-Jalan consortium's resolution plan last year. Also read: Mumbai Court accepts closure report against Jet Airways' promoter The consortium will pay the money from internal accruals, sale of assets of Jet Airways and cashflow after the resumption of operation, the Economic Times reported citing the resolution plan presented in NCLT. While the airline's workmen and employees will get Rs 113 crore against the claim of over Rs 1,200 crore in first 180 days, its financial creditors will get Rs 1,010 crore over five years against a claim of Rs 1,200 crore. While employees will get Rs 11,000, workmen will get Rs 10,200, some phones and stationary and free tickets of Rs 10,000 for travel. The consortium has also offered to buy Etihad Airways' 51 per cent stake in the airline's loyalty programme, Intermiles. Also read: Jet Airways to resume operations next summer, will fly domestic, international routes South Korean tech giant, Samsung, has launched the new ISOCELL GN2. The new 50MP imaging sensor offers large 1.4-micrometer (m)-sized pixels. Developed by its System LSI Business, this new sensor promises more true-to-life autofocus function for performance that is similar to how the human eye operates. Further, with enhancements over its predecessor, the ISOCELL GN1, the GN2 offers up to 100MP imaging, improved auto-focusing through Dual Pixel Pro technology, staggered HDR, and overall better results in multiple lighting conditions through Smart ISO Pro. ISOCELL image sensors and its technologies have made vast improvements to deliver the quality and performance one would expect from top-tier prograde cameras, said Duckhyun Chang, executive vice president of sensor business at Samsung Electronics. Our new ISOCELL GN2 features Dual Pixel Pro, an innovative all-direction auto-focusing solution that elevates the agility to capture moments as they unfold. Adding on Smart ISO Pro and a variety of advanced pixel technologies, pictures from GN2 are more true-to-life than ever. Samsung GN2: What makes it special? As Samsung explains, the ISOCELL GN2 is Samsungs first image sensor to offer Dual Pixel Pro technology. It is touted to be the companys most advanced phase-detection auto-focus solution yet. Among the many benefits of using this new technology are the improved low-light focusing and tracking of moving objects. The new sensor also promises improved performance in mixed-light environments, such as sunsets or indoors with daylight coming through a window. For these, the new ISOCELL GN2 increases its dynamic range with a staggered-HDR feature that "uses rolling shutters over the same pixel arrays to capture multiple frames in short, middle, and long exposures." Further, staggered-HDR also promises to reduce energy consumption by up to 24-percent when compared to the predecessors real-time HDR mode. As mentioned above, the ISOCELL GN2 promises detailed photographs in regular settings. However, Samsung claims that in low-lit environments such as indoors, the sensor can "simulate a larger 2.8m-pixel with four-pixel-binning technology to absorb more light, delivering brighter and sharper images." The new GN2 also offers an option to take pictures higher than the available 50MP resolutions through a special mode to produce a single ultra-high 100Mp resolution photograph. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-24 00:21:03|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Namibia becomes the fifth African Union (AU) member to ratify the treaty for the establishment of the African Medicines Agency (AMA), the AU Commission disclosed on Tuesday. The Southern Africa country deposited the instrument of accession to the AU Commission, making the country the first AU member from the Southern Africa region to ratify the continental treaty. Speaking during the official deposit of the instrument, Emilia Ndinealo Mkusa, Permanent Representative of Namibia to the AU and Ambassador to Ethiopia, affirmed the critical role that the continental treaty will play in making essential medicines and medical products accessible in Africa. The envoy also underscored the need for all AU members to ratify the treaty, while emphasizing that Namibia will advocate and support in mobilizing the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) member states to ratify AMA. According to the AU, the AMA will be the second continental health agency, next to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), which will enhance the capacity of African countries as well as regional economic communities to regulate medical products in order to improve access to quality, safe and efficacious medical products on the continent. The treaty is also expected to promote the adoption and harmonization of medical products regulatory policies and standards, as well as scientific guidelines and coordinate existing regulatory harmonization efforts in the AU recognized and regional organizations. The treaty is also said to complement the work of the Africa CDC, mainly through the provision of technical support in the quality control of drugs, at the request of members, which do not have the structures to carry out these examinations, controls and checks. The AU Commission further called on all African countries to ratify and deposit the instrument of ratification to the commission, at the earliest, in the interest of continental public health, safety and security. The African Medicines Agency, will enter into force once ratified by the minimum expected threshold of 15 African countries. Enditem Recent titles of interest: THE SPYMASTER OF BAGHDAD: A True Story of Bravery, Family, and Patriotism in the Battle Against ISIS, by Margaret Coker. (Dey Street, $28.99.) Coker, a former Baghdad bureau chief for The Times, details how an elite Iraqi intelligence unit worked together to combat ISIS there. THE REMOVED, by Brandon Hobson. (Ecco, $26.99.) This mythic, sweeping novel by a 2018 finalist for the National Book Award in fiction (for Where the Dead Sit Talking) tells the story of a fractured Cherokee family still haunted by their sons death in a police shooting 15 years earlier. THE SOUL OF A WOMAN, by Isabel Allende. (Ballantine, $22.99.) Raised by a single mother after her father abandoned the family, Allende grew up a proud and determined feminist. In this nonfiction meditation, the novelist reflects on what it means to be a woman: spiritually, sexually, socially. GUILTY ADMISSIONS: The Bribes, Favors, and Phonies Behind the College Cheating Scandal, by Nicole LaPorte. (Twelve, $28.) LaPortes account of the Varsity Blues college admissions case sheds lurid light on the measures some families will take to protect their privilege, and the ways one unscrupulous counselor bent the system. Beyond barbecues and ceremonies: Recognizing Memorial Day For many, Memorial Day weekend is about gathering with family and grilling or attending a parade. Some find a more personal way to honor the holiday. More than 110,000 people in Sydney are on high alert after coronavirus was found in their sewage. NSW Health issued an alert on Tuesday after fragments of Covid-19 were found in the Auburn Sewage Network. The catchment includes 24 suburbs across western Sydney. Pictured: Scott Morrison (left) watches as Sarah Fletcher is taken through the procedure of getting the Pfizer vaccine at the Sydney local health district vaccination hub on February 19 Pictured: Women dining at a restaurant in Sydney on February 12 after rules about mask wearing were relaxed Health bosses said the wastewater fragments could be a result of non-infectious people shedding the virus, but added there was still a risk of it leeching back into the community. 'While there are a number of recently recovered cases in the Auburn area, NSW Health is urging everyone to be vigilant for symptoms - and to get tested immediately and isolate if they appear,' it said. Suburbs in the catchment area include Condell Park, Bankstown, Potts Hill, Birrong, Sefton, Bass Hill, Chester Hill, Regents Park, Chullora, Homebush West, Strathfield, Rookwood, and Sydney Olympic Park. Newington, Granville, Clyde, Lidcombe, Auburn, South Granville, Guildford, Silverwater, Rosehill, Berala and Yagoona are also part of the Auburn Sewage Network. Pictured: A drive through Covid testing facility is seen at Auburn in Sydney on January 2 People who live in the areas have been told to be on alert for symptoms. NSW is on its 37th consecutive day with no local cases. There are 20 active Covid-19 cases in the state, which includes returned travellers. About 10,177 tests reported to 8pm on Monday night, compared with the previous days total of 12,175. It comes as hubs were set up in every state and territory to administer the Pfizer vaccine, with 60,000 people in Australia are scheduled to get their first injection this week. Health and border force workers and aged care residents were among the first to get the jab on Monday. Unions are looking to U.S. military veterans to fill their ranks with the skilled tradespeople needed for the future. The Utility Workers Union of America is leading the way with an extensive program that covers the cost of training and puts vets in jobs when their service ends. Not only can veterans looking for a new skilled trades career outside the military find one after transitioning, there's no risk in getting started. And thanks to the Pentagon's Skillbridge program, which helps troops as they get ready to head back to civilian life, they can get started before they even separate. The Utility Workers Military Assistance Program (UMAP) is a six-month, pipeline training-to-placement program that teaches veterans to work in the utilities sector. This includes the natural gas, electric, water and nuclear industries, as well as the burgeoning renewable energy industry. The Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO, or UWUA, represents around 50,000 members employed in the energy, electric, gas, steam, water and related professional, technical and service industries. "We don't talk about it as jobs because our folks in the utility industry are able to retire with dignity, with pensions and tremendous 401(k) packages," says Rick Passarelli, a Navy veteran and director of veterans affairs for UWUA. "There's tons of growth in these jobs because they're collectively bargained and they can move into a lot of different skill sets." An electrical worker labors on a utility pole, perched high on a bluff, to restore power to 51 clients in Orocovis, Puerto Rico. (Army Corps of Engineers) Applicants don't need to have a military specialty related to utility work. The union will take care of training and experience. All are welcome, said Passarelli -- from Air Force admin troops to Marine Corps infantry and everyone in between. "Sometimes even people with advanced degrees don't find good career paths," Passarelli says. "So they come to the program and find a solid career because utility jobs are extremely stable, and that's something we're very proud of." Students are given hands-on training onsite at the City Colleges of Chicago in all areas covered by UWUA. The course is intense, condensing five years of on-the-job training with an employer into just six months. Graduates come out of the program with 52 college credit hours (eight hours shy of an associate's degree) and all of the necessary certifications to start working in the field. Best of all, transitioning service members attend free of charge via permissive TDY, without touching tuition assistance or GI Bill benefits, all while they're serving their last six months in the military. UWUA is able to do all of this through the Department of Defense Skillbridge program, which creates public and private partnerships to help separating service members find meaningful post-military careers. "We are able to recruit folks directly from military installations through the Skillbridge program," Passarelli says. "So we can pull in people during the last six months of their service, as they get paid by the government while they learn and then directly exit the military and become an employee at the company." Applicants to the UMAP program will attend classes in Chicago, but don't need to be local to Illinois. Students come from all over the country to attend. After applying, the union will help guide applicants through the process of attending and will even offer extended services to make life easier while in class. "The union offers an extensive support service network," says Passarelli. "We can help provide child care, food vouchers, books, computers, mentorship -- anything to help them focus on their studies for the six-month program." With these services, the union program boasts a 93% retention rate and a 96% graduation rate. After graduation from the program and separation from the military, UMAP graduates will be placed in jobs with UMAP corporate partners, the largest of which is the Chicago-based Peoples Gas. But just because they're placed in a job there, doesn't mean they have to stay. Aside from the Union's recruiting efforts in Illinois and Michigan, grads can find their own work wherever they can thrive. The certificate earned at UMAP is valid anywhere in the United States. "The military and, I think in general, people's families, tend to push people toward colleges and universities for a 'good paying job,'" says Passarelli. "But, you know, the good jobs are in skilled trades. Becoming a union brother or sister means good pay, a secure pension or 401(k) and the camaraderie of being a part of it." Passarelli has been in charge of the UMAP program since its 2012 inception. He served in the U.S. Navy, active and reserve, from 1982 to 1987. He also experienced the rocky nature of separating from the military, so he knows the unique challenges faced by veterans and structures the UMAP program to address them. "The most rewarding part is when we get testimonials from our graduates who are now employed in the company who say the program saved their life," he says. "They say their life was spiraling out of control due to them not being able to feel whole, have a place that they felt secure or provide for their spouse and family. It's rewarding to hear how the program turns lives around." To learn more about the Utility Workers Military Assistance Program, visit the UMAP website. To apply for the program, fill out the Power4America websites online application. -- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook. Want to Know More About Veteran Jobs? Be sure to get the latest news about post-military careers, as well as critical info about veteran jobs and all the benefits of service. Subscribe to Military.com and receive customized updates delivered straight to your inbox. Fiona Johnston, CEO of UM Australia has been promoted to a new international role at Mediabrands that'll relocate her to London. Johnston has been in the role since 2017 and she'll be taking on the role of Chief Growth Officer, Mediabrands, Global/EMEA.. In her new role, Johnston will be looking to support growth in both Global and EMEA markets, with a goal to deliver market advantage to clients. Shell also take a lead in working with Mediabrands parent IPG, on group coordination. News Around the Republic of Mexico First Shipment of Sinovac Vaccines Arrive in Mexico According to Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, the 200,00 doses of Sinovac that arrived at the Mexico City International Airport on February 20 were the first shipment of 10 million doses under contract. Mexico City - The 200,000 anti-Covid vaccines from the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac, which arrived in Mexico on Saturday, will be applied in their entirety to people over 60 years old who live in Ecatepec, State of Mexico, reported JosA Luis AlomAa Zegarra, the Ministry of Health's general director of Epidemiology. During the Daily Coronavirus Report, he detailed that the criteria that were taken into account to make that decision were population density, which represents a risk to continue with the transmission of the virus; as well as the number of deaths, as he recalled that Ecatepec is a municipality with a significant mortality and fatality rate. He said that social conditions and marginalization were also considered, which imply difficulties in accessing health care. AlomAa Zegarra explained that Ecatepec is the second most populated municipality in Mexico and the municipality with the largest number of people living in poverty and extreme poverty, and that its population of older adults is greater than 200,000 people based on data from the Council National Evaluation of Social Development Policy (Coneval). According to Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, the 200,00 doses of Sinovac that arrived at the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) on Saturday were the first shipment of 10 million doses under the country's contractual arrangement with the Chinese company. The Ssa official said that so far 1,689,185 biological agents have been applied against Covid-19, but only 453,055 people have received the two necessary doses of the Pfizer vaccine to achieve immunity. Last Monday Mexico began the second phase of the vaccination plan with the immunization of adults over 60 years of age with AstraZeneca vaccines. The country has commitments for 34.4 million doses of the American Pfizer vaccine, 79.4 million of the British AstraZeneca, 35 million of the Chinese CanSino, 24 million of the Russian Sputnik V, 10 million of the Chinese Sinovac and 51.4 from the World Health Organization's COVAX platform. Source: aristeguinoticias.com article translated and edited by Ricardo Acerco for BanderasNews.com. - The 200,000 anti-Covid vaccines from the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac, which arrived in Mexico on Saturday, will be applied in their entirety to people over 60 years old who live in Ecatepec, State of Mexico, reported JosA Luis AlomAa Zegarra, the Ministry of Health's general director of Epidemiology.During the Daily Coronavirus Report, he detailed that the criteria that were taken into account to make that decision were population density, which represents a risk to continue with the transmission of the virus; as well as the number of deaths, as he recalled that Ecatepec is a municipality with a significant mortality and fatality rate.He said that social conditions and marginalization were also considered, which imply difficulties in accessing health care.AlomAa Zegarra explained that Ecatepec is the second most populated municipality in Mexico and the municipality with the largest number of people living in poverty and extreme poverty, and that its population of older adults is greater than 200,000 people based on data from the Council National Evaluation of Social Development Policy (Coneval).According to Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, the 200,00 doses of Sinovac that arrived at the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) on Saturday were the first shipment of 10 million doses under the country's contractual arrangement with the Chinese company.The Ssa official said that so far 1,689,185 biological agents have been applied against Covid-19, but only 453,055 people have received the two necessary doses of the Pfizer vaccine to achieve immunity.Last Monday Mexico began the second phase of the vaccination plan with the immunization of adults over 60 years of age with AstraZeneca vaccines.The country has commitments for 34.4 million doses of the American Pfizer vaccine, 79.4 million of the British AstraZeneca, 35 million of the Chinese CanSino, 24 million of the Russian Sputnik V, 10 million of the Chinese Sinovac and 51.4 from the World Health Organization's COVAX platform. Site Map Print this Page Email Us Top Senate panel to hear from Biden's attorney general nominee Garland Joe Biden's nominee for US attorney general, Merrick Garland, is expected to face questions on Monday during his Senate confirmation hearing on a range of issues including the threat posed by right-wing extremists, police and sentencing reforms and an investigation involving Biden's son. Garland, a federal appellate judge and former prosecutor widely expected to win Senate confirmation as the top US law enforcement official, goes before the Judiciary Committee at a hearing due to start at 9:30 a.m. EST (1430 GMT). Garland has said he plans to prioritize civil rights and combating domestic terrorism if confirmed. He was nominated to lead a Justice Department now in the midst of intensive investigations into the 6 January attack on the US Capitol by a mob of Republican former President Donald Trump's supporters - an incident Garland called "heinous" in his prepared testimony released on Saturday. Some of the more than 200 people arrested in the siege were associated with groups such as the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, underscoring rising concern about future violence from right-wing extremists. Garland has experience in tackling such threats, having managed the sprawling investigation into the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing by anti-government extremists and supervising the prosecution of the so-called Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski after a deadly bombing spree. Committee Republicans are expected to press Garland about other matters as well including seeking assurances that he will not remove a special counsel probing actions taken by federal law enforcement officials who investigated contacts between Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia. Trump claimed the Russia investigation was intended to harm him politically. Bill Barr, Trump's second attorney general, appointed a federal prosecutor named John Durham to look into the matter and last October elevated him to special counsel, making it more difficult to remove him. Republican senators also may question Garland on a federal investigation into the Democratic president's son Hunter Biden, who has disclosed that the probe involves his taxes. A lawyer who previously worked for the law firm hired to handle Hunter Biden's defense has been chosen to run the Justice Department's criminal division until Biden picks a nominee for the job. A gang of minors terrorising Sydney have been charged with a raft of serious criminal offences - with the youngest aged just nine. Two of the youths were charged after allegedly carrying out numerous assaults and robberies in Sydney's north west the past few weeks. On Sunday February 7, a woman, 37, parked her Mitsubishi Lancer on Rowe Street in Eastwood. She was then allegedly approached by three youths - aged nine, 11, and 12 - who threatened her with a knife before stealing her car keys and fleeing the scene. In one of the attacks, members of the gang approached a victim armed with a knife (stock image) Macquarie Centre in North Ryde (pictured above) was the venue for one of the alleged assaults on February 21 (stock image) On the same day at roughly 7.45pm, a woman, 20, working at a fast food outlet - also on Rowe Street in Eastwood - was allegedly assaulted by the same three youths. The spate of incidents were reported to Ryde detectives, who then launched an investigation into the crimes. On February 20, the youthful gang allegedly struck again in north west Sydney. At approximately 11.50am, a youth, 11, entered a retail outlet on West Parade in Eastwood before allegedly shoplifting an item. The next day at around 3.30pm, a boy, 11, and two boys, both aged nine, were seen entering Macquarie Shopping Centre in North Ryde. The eldest of the trio allegedly was then involved in an altercation, where a man was assaulted. On Monday, February 22, the gang shifted their focus to intimidating the local community in Carlingford. A boy, 12, allegedly grabbed a woman's backpack and took a purse containing a mobile phone and small amount of cash. A few hours later, a woman, 66, was sitting in her car in Carlingford when she was approached by the same three youths. One of the boys, 12, allegedly took the key from the ignition before the trio left the area. Rowe Street in Eastwood (pictured above) was another venue for the gang's alleged crime spree (stock image) Police from Ryde Police Area Command later located the three youngsters, who were all arrested and taken to Ryde Police Station. The nine-year-old was eventually released into the care of a relative, with another boy, 11, charged with robbery in company, common assault, shoplifting, affray, and stealing. He was granted strict conditional bail to appear at a childrens court on March 1. The third boy, 12, was charged with two counts of stealing and was refused bail. He was expected to appear in a children's court on February 23. Angry residents of north Queensland want the Parliament to abandon its usual scrutiny processes and fast-track proposed youth justice laws, crossbench MP Robbie Katter says. Draft laws that would keep teenagers accused of serious crimes behind bars while they await their day in court will be introduced to Queensland Parliament on Wednesday. Robbie Katter wants youth justice laws fast-tracked. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Under the proposed laws, courts would have the power to clamp GPS trackers on repeat teenage offenders as a bail condition and there would be a presumption against bail for youth offenders arrested for serious crimes such as armed robbery and rape. The state Labor government caved to weeks of community pressure and pledged to toughen up laws to crack down on repeat offenders after the tragic deaths of a Queensland couple and their unborn child last month. Sorry! This content is not available in your region Unpredictable, abrupt changes to Earth's system of ocean currents could commence from rate-induced tipping, model study shows; 'The findings point to fundamental limitations in climate predictability,' authors warn Imagine abrupt shifts of the tropical monsoons, reductions in Northern Hemisphere rainfall, and strengthening of North Atlantic storm tracks within decades. These are some of the impacts that climate scientists expect if the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which redistributes heat from equatorial regions to the Northern Hemisphere, suddenly tips into a dormant state as a result of global warming. The consequences would drastically alter conditions for agriculture, biodiversity, and the economy in large parts of the World. A model study by Johannes Lohmann and Peter D. Ditlevsen from Physics of Ice, Climate, and Earth, The Niels Bohr Institute, the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, now suggests the AMOC, and potentially other climate sub-systems approaching tipping points might tip long before anticipated because of rate-induced tipping. The work, published today in PNAS is part of the TiPES project funded by the EU Horizon 2020. Time matters There is a growing concern among climate scientists that several climatic sub-systems might tip irreversibly and abruptly to a new state if atmospheric CO2-levels are pushed beyond still yet unknown thresholds. These sub-systems include the ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland, the Amazon rainforest, the Asia-Australian monsoon, the sea ice of the Arctic Ocean, and the AMOC. In addition, it is still uncertain whether rate-induced tipping effects might also occur. These effects manifest themselves as a tipping of the system to a new state even before a theoretical threshold in the external conditions (such as the atmospheric CO2 levels) is reached. In rate-induced tipping, the rate of change - not the amount of change - is the important factor. This is because tipping occurs more readily when the system's conditions change rather quickly. To study rate-induced tipping in the climate system Dr. Johannes Lohmann investigated the phenomenon in a complex ocean model, Veros. Inherently unpredictable First, the model's tipping threshold at very slow increases of North Atlantic freshwater input was identified. Then, a series of experiments were carried out, where the freshwater input was increased at varying rates, but only to levels below the tipping threshold. The results clearly showed the characteristics of rate-induced tipping. Specifically, when the ocean model was subjected to increases in freshwater input to the North Atlantic, which simulated accelerating melt from the Greenland Ice sheet over time scales of 10 to 150 years, the AMOC had a strong tendency to tip to a dormant state before its threshold was reached. It also appeared that due to the chaotic dynamics of the ocean model, the rate-induced tipping was highly sensitive to minute changes in the initial conditions and the rate of change of meltwater increase. This makes the tipping threshold fuzzy. Therefore the qualitative fate of the ocean circulation, i.e. whether it will collapse or remain like the modern state, remains inherently unpredictable. Worrying, if real The occurrence of rate-induced tipping in a global ocean model gives important evidence that one or more climate sub-systems may tip from being pushed too quickly as a result of global warming. Whether this is indeed a reality remains to be shown across more models in the climate model hierarchy. However, the findings point to fundamental limitations in climate predictability and corroborate the need to limit CO2 emissions in order to stay away from dangerous and unpredictable tipping. "It is worrying news. Because if this is true, it reduces our safe operating space," says Johannes Lohmann. ### The TiPES project is a European science collaboration, investigating tipping points in the Earth System. The TiPES project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. [February 23, 2021] Picwell Announces Addition To Board Of Directors PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Picwell, Inc. has today announced that Jon Kaplan has been appointed to the company's Board of Directors. Kaplan joins Picwell's Board of Directors with over 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry. Since 2007, he has served as Managing Director and Senior Partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the second largest strategy consulting firm in the country. Throughout his career Jon has been advising healthcare organizations about evolving markets, strategies and operating models. He has also been an adjunct professor and the BCG recruiting lead for the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and he served on the boards of Quorum Health, Lincoln Park Zoo, the Workplace Wellness Alliance of the World Economic Forum, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Arthritis Foundation, and Junior Achievement. Jon recently testified before the US Congress on the Accountable Care Act and the Medicare program. "We are pleased to welcome Jon to our Board of Directors at Picwell," said Matthew Sydney, CEO of Picwell. "His extensive experience in building and scaling health care startups will be an asset to our team andwill only help to further accelerate our growth." "With Picwell's strong position in the health care technology market, this is an exciting time to become part of the team," said Jon Kaplan. "I look forward to bringing my experience to the board and working closely with the team to solidify Picwell's stance as an industry leader." Before joining BCG, Jon was a senior partner focusing on the healthcare industry for Accenture, Diamond Management and Technology Consultants (PwC), and Ernst & Young. About Picwell Picwell is a healthcare technology company providing enterprise solutions to enhance health insurance and employee benefits and improve consumer experiences. Its flagship offering, Picwell DX, is a SaaS-based decision support product that uses artificial intelligence to match individuals to the right health benefits during enrollment by predicting future care considerations, estimating out-of-pocket expenses, and accounting for individual preferences. Visit picwell.com to learn more. Contact: Ben Pitts SVP, Sales & Marketing bpitts@picwell.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/picwell-announces-addition-to-board-of-directors-301233610.html SOURCE Picwell, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Owns one of Mexicos largest undeveloped silver assets Billionaire investor Eric Sprott has a 19% equity stake in the company New management team and board of directors What Golden Tag Resources does: Golden Tag Resources Ltd ( ) ( ) is a mineral resource exploration company that holds a 100% interest in the San Diego Project, consisting of four mining concessions encompassing 91.65 hectares, in Mexicos Velardena Mining District. The Velardena District hosts several mines that have been producing silver, zinc, lead and gold for the past 100 years. The Toronto-based company considers San Diego to be one of Mexicos largest undeveloped silver assets, with an estimated Indicated resource of 31.6 million silver ounces at an average grade of 60 grams per tonne (g/t) and 438 million pounds of zinc, along with an Inferred silver resource of 83.8 million ounces at 62 g/t and 1.2 billion pounds of zinc. The resource estimate, completed in 2013, is based on 59 holes totalling 33,000 metres drilled since 2005. Golden Tag is focused on four key exploration zones at the San Diego Project: 1849 Target Areas; Fernandez Zone Above 1200 Level; the Arroyo Zone; and the Trovador Zone. The company has noted that it has several exploration targets ready to be tested that could potentially expand the deposit materially in several key areas, adding that it is fully permitted to resume exploration drilling. Golden Tag believes the San Diego Project has an additional exploration potential of 70 million to 265 million silver equivalent ounces, based on 20 million to 50 million tonnes grading between 100 and 150 g/t silver equivalent. The San Diego project is easily accessible via highway and gravel roads, with power and mining infrastructure nearby. Golden Tag Resources is led by CEO Greg McKenzie, a former senior investment banker with more than 20 years of experience with firms such as and CIBC World Markets. McKenzie previously practised corporate law with a leading Canadian securities and M&A law firm. As a measure of the company's potential, nearly 19% of Golden Tags shares are owned by billionaire resource investor Eric Sprott. How is it doing: In November 2020, Golden Tag Resources initiated an exploration program on the San Diego Project, consisting of approximately 4,500m of diamond drilling in 10 to 12 holes with a focus on expanding mineral resources in the Fernandez, 1849, Arroyo and Trovador Zones. Initial results released in February 2021 from infill sampling on historical diamond drill holes included 175.30 metres of 88.54 g/t silver equivalent in hole SD-11-42 along with 298.02 metres of 101.96 g/t silver equivalent in hole SD-11-40, which resulted in a 10% increase in the reported grade. The company noted that four new mineralized zones were identified proximal to the Fernandez Zone, including two shallower zones, and said that three new shallower zones of mineralization were identified above the Fernandez Zone. Golden Tag said a comprehensive infill sampling program will be implemented on 2,500 to 3,000m of historical diamond drill holes, with the goal of realizing further improvements in geological, mineralization, and grade continuity within the broad mineralized envelope. It noted that collectively this sampling program has the potential to significantly increase the mineralization envelopes and provide further grade improvements. On the financial side, Golden Tag closed an oversubscribed non-brokered private placement financing in August 2020, in which the company issued 25 million units at a price of $0.28 per unit for total gross proceeds of C$7.0 million. Of note, Eric Sprott subscribed for 42.8% of the offering. The company currently has approximately C$8.0 million in cash and no debt. In early November 2020, the company received approval to have its shares trade on the OTCQB Market in the US. Inflection points: Additional drill results from the San Diego Project An updated resource estimate Improved project economics from a rising silver price What the boss says: Commenting on the companys recently-released infill sampling results on the San Diego Project, Golden Tag Resources CEO Greg McKenzie said in a statement: We are pleased to see the current drill program is advancing with strong productivity, despite challenges associated with COVID. Infill sampling and assays of previously unsampled areas have generated insight, and allow us to significantly expand mineralized areas, improve continuity and has demonstrated higher grades. He added: As our exploration program continues over the coming months, we look forward to unlocking further value on the San Diego Project. Contact Sean at sean@proactiveinvestors.com .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... RICHMOND, Va. State lawmakers gave final approval Monday to legislation that will end capital punishment in Virginia, a dramatic turnaround for a state that has executed more people in its long history than any other. The legislation repealing the death penalty now heads to Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, who has said he will sign it into law, making Virginia the 23rd state to stop executions. Theres a realization that it is time to end this outdated practice that tends to bring more harm to victims family members than providing us any comfort or solace, said Rachel Sutphin, whose father, Cpl. Eric Sutphin, was fatally shot in 2006 while working for the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ William Morva, the man convicted of killing Eric Sutphin, was executed in 2017. Two years later, Rachel Sutphin was one of 13 family members of murder victims who sent a letter to the General Assembly asking lawmakers to abolish the death penalty. By voting for abolition, we are showing the way, that if Virginia the state with the longest history and the most people executed if we can do it, so can other states, Rachel Sutphin said. Virginias new Democratic majority, in full control of the General Assembly for a second year, pushed the repeal effort, arguing that the death penalty has been applied disproportionately to people of color, the mentally ill and the indigent. It is vital that our criminal justice system operates fairly and punishes people equitably. We all know the death penalty doesnt do that. It is inequitable, ineffective, and inhumane, Northam, House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn and Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw said in a joint statement after the votes. Republicans raised concerns about justice for victims and their family members, and said there are some crimes that are so heinous that the perpetrators deserve to be executed. Only two men remain on Virginias death row. Anthony Juniper was sentenced to death in the 2004 slayings of his ex-girlfriend, two of her children, and her brother. Thomas Porter was sentenced to die for the 2005 killing of a Norfolk police officer. The repeal legislation would convert their sentences to life in prison without parole. During a virtual House debate Monday, Republican Del. Rob Bell described those killings in gruesome detail, and said Porter and Juniper would be watching the vote from prison with special interest. We have five dead Virginians that this bill will make sure that their killers will not receive justice, Bell said. Porter, Juniper and their families have declined to comment through their attorney, Rob Lee, executive director of the Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center. By eliminating the death penalty, governmental, political, and moral leaders have taken a long overdue action needed to make Virginia a fairer and more just Commonwealth, Lee said in a statement. The passage of the legislation was just the latest in a long list of sweeping policy changes enacted by Democrats, who have increasingly reshaped the Old Dominion into an outlier in the South on racial, social and economic issues. Last year, lawmakers passed some of the regions strictest gun laws, broadest LGBTQ protections, its highest minimum wage and some of its loosest abortion restrictions. This year too, lawmakers have been passing one progressive measure after another. But the death penalty bill marks a particularly stark reversal in a state where executions proceeded in the past decade under both Republican and Democratic governors. The state legislature and state officials have also acted in recent years to preserve Virginias ability to carry out executions and limit transparency around the process. Even last year, death penalty abolition bills in the General Assembly went nowhere. On Monday, both chambers approved separate but identical repeal bills. The Senate approved a House bill, advancing it to Northam on a 22-16 vote. Republican Sen. Jill Vogel joined with Democrats in the chamber in voting for passage. Later Monday, House Democrats and two GOP members, Del. Jeff Campbell and Del. Carrie Coyner, voted to approve the Senate version, 57-43. No date has been set yet for when the governor will sign it, according to his spokeswoman. Historically, Virginia has used the death penalty more than any other state, executing nearly 1,400 people since its days as a colony, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, Virginia, with 113 executions, is second only to Texas. Michael Stone, executive director of Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, called the vote to abolish capital punishment a landmark moment in the states history. We hope that Virginia will set an example for other states from the old Confederacy to take this bold step toward the humane reform of our legal justice system, Stone said. 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. San Francisco is no stranger to political scandals and controversial policies, and yet not a single elected official has faced a serious recall attempt in nearly 40 years. A formal initiative is afoot to change that, with three school board members facing the possibility voters could remove them from office by the end of the year. It will be a steep climb, especially in the midst of a pandemic. Recalls typically require lot of money, an army of signature collectors and several months of effort. The obvious alternative is waiting until the next election, in this case November 2022, and voting them out then. Thats not good enough, organizers said. For months, murmurs of a recall have floated across the city, but on Friday, SFUSD parents Autumn Looijen and Siva Raj filed the official state and local paperwork to kick off the effort to remove President Gabriela Lopez, Vice President Alison Collins and Commissioner Faauuga Moliga from their seats on the school board. We are parents, not politicians, and intend to stay that way, Raj said in the announcement. We are determined to ensure San Franciscos public schools provide a quality education for every kid in the city. The effort reflects a broader discontent and anger among families as public schools remain closed in the city with no timeline for reopening, even while the board has spent significant time and political capital on controversial votes to rename 44 schools and end the merit-based admission to academically elite Lowell High School. National publications have jumped on the controversies. Collins and Lopez declined to comment on the recall. Moliga did not respond to requests for comment. Lopez has repeatedly said the board is focused on reopening schools and that it is a top priority for the district even as other issues are addressed. She and other board members have said that focusing on equity through the Lowell decision and renaming schools is an important part of fostering success among students of color. The four other board members, who were first elected or re-elected in November and took office in January, cannot be recalled until they have served six months in office. It could take a few weeks for officials to process the recall petitions prior to signature collection, but already, the couple said they have more than 1,200 voters who say they will sign. The organizers will need to collect about 70,000 signatures for each of the three board members in the middle of a pandemic. They will have 160 days to do it once the petitions are finalized. If enough signatures are verified, San Francisco elections officials would then schedule a special election within 100 days. At the earliest, a recall vote would occur in late November. Looijen and Raj, who have five kids between them and a tech startup background, are undeterred, said Joel Engardio, a community advocate and former supervisorial candidate who is helping facilitate the recall. Engardio said he told them how hard it would be. He tried to dissuade them. They said, Because its so hard, were going to find ways to work around it and make it happen, Engardio said. If they have the energy, and wherewithal to try to pull off the impossible, why say no to that? The couple plan to limit donations to the cause at $99 to prevent a big donor from having too much influence. The frustration and outrage is so fever-pitched, there needs to be a place to channel the energy, Engardio said. In addition to the recall, San Francisco families and community leaders have created a political action committee to look at recalling or appointing rather than electing board members. A separate group launched a public poll to gauge support for similar efforts. The board has drawn national attention and ridicule in recent months for the decisions as local voices have grown louder demanding action on in-person learning. The mayor as well as local and state officials have lambasted the board over reopening, with the city attorney filing a lawsuit claiming the districts foot-dragging is violating state law and the California Constitution. Yet its unclear whether theres enough support in the city for a recall, said Nicole Derse, co-founder of 50+1 Strategies, a political consulting firm. Obviously, the attention the school board has gotten over the last couple of months probably is more than they ever had, she said. I still think the vast majority of San Franciscans dont have strong opinions about the school board. Mayor London Breed declined to say whether she would support a recall. The mayors focus is on getting our kids back in the classroom as soon as possible, said Jeff Cretan, Breeds communications director. That needs to be all of our top priority in this moment, and we cant lose focus on that. COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California. In the meantime, the recall math shows how hard it will be to collect enough signatures, given the districts enrollment of 52,000 students meaning it will presumably take more than just public school parents to make the math work. Mike Smith is ready to sign. The lawyer has no children, but was stunned by the plan to rename 44 schools. What really shocked me about his was just how lazy the process was, he said, noting that the renaming committee and school board relied on Wikipedia as historic sourcing. Rarely is laziness so fascinating. Smith said hes definitely never voted Republican, but feels theres a loss of healthy competition in San Francisco politics. The recall is necessary, he said. If successful, it will be the first time city residents have faced such a vote in decades. The last time was in 1983 when the White Panthers tried to oust then-Mayor Dianne Feinstein over her handgun ban. They failed spectacularly, with 82% of voters keeping her in office. Past efforts to recall former Mayor Ed Lee and other city politicians failed to make it onto the ballot. How the three school board members would fare in a November vote is less clear. People are frustrated by the pandemic and parents are tired of their kids not being in school, Derse said. In other words, the board has been tone deaf to what those parents are feeling, she added. That can add to recall fervor. If the school board members want to prevent (a recall), theyre going to have to get better at articulating their vision for San Francisco kids, Derse said. They need to show theyre more in sync with voters if they want to avoid this. Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker New Delhi: In an apparent cyber attack, Pakistan Government website took a hit on Thursday. The hackers reportedly posted Indian national anthem and Independence Day greeting,s on the message board. The attack comes almost three months after several Indian universities' websites were hacked by Pakistani hackers. Pakistan Haxors CREW PHC, the group which claimed responsibility for hacking into the two websites, posted a screenshot on their Facebook page, claiming they had hacked several websites, including those of Aligarh Muslim University and IIT-BHU in Varanasi, Hindustan Times reported at the time. Read | India registers 27,000 cybercrimes till June, one crime every 10 minutes: CERT-In The hackers smeared the websites with posters of the alleged the brutalities by the Indian forces in Kashmir. The official website of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was also hacked a couple of days ago by a hacker group who call themselves as Voice of Pakistan and claimed to operate as Death Aadders Crew. PTI Official Website Hacked by Voice of Pakistan. Interestingly, the website was hacked few hours after the press conference of Aisha Gulalai, in which she announced to resign from PTI party with serious allegation against the President of PTI Imran Khan. Read | Cyber insecurity emerge as biggest threat to business operations in India: Survey For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Strong result across all key metrics - On track to deliver FY21 EBITDA of $40m - $43m H1 Strong Result Across All Key Metrics Sydney, Feb 23, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - MNF Group Limited ( ASX:MNF ) ( FRA:M2S ), a leading voice communications software provider, today announced its financial results for the half year ending 31 December 2020.Highlights:- Recurring revenue rose 15% to $55.7 million (H1 FY20: $48.3 million) as a result of growing wholesale revenue- EBITDA increased 16% to $19.6 million (H1 FY20: $16.9 million)- Phone numbers up 24% to 5.1 million (H1 FY20 4.1 million) due to strong organic growth- Net Revenue Retention (NRR) rate across top 10 customers was 115%- Underlying NPAT-A increased 30% to $8.4 million (H1 FY20: $6.5 million)- Trials have commenced with customers in Singapore marking a major milestone in MNF's offshore expansion strategy- Strong financial position with net cash of $22 million and cash conversion of 107%- Earnings per share up 62% to 7.83 cents per share (H1 FY20: 4.83 cents) supporting a 32% increase in dividends to 3.30 cents per share fully franked (H1 FY20: 2.50 cents)In commenting on the results, MNF Group CEO, Mr Rene Sugo said:"I am delighted to report a strong result across all key metrics, including record profitability, a 24% increase in phone numbers and 15% growth in recurring revenue."Underpinning our growth strategy is a laser focus on growing recurring revenue. We were particularly pleased with the performance of our global wholesale business, where recurring revenue increased 55%. Our top 10 clients are spending more with us as seen in our net revenue retention rate of 115%."Importantly, our expansion into Singapore is progressing well. We have commenced technical trials with three major global customers. These trials are the final step before going live in the Singaporean market which we expect to occur later this financial year. We have taken a measured approach to ensure we are meeting the highest standard of customer service, consistent with our service levels in the Australian and New Zealand markets."While we have seen sustained positive effects on the business as a result of changing nature of communications, the significant reduction in international travel continues to impact MNF's global roaming business and domestic small business expenditure remains subdued.This offsets the strong gains in our recurring revenue and saw overall group revenue flat.Importantly, we see these as being temporary headwinds and expect revenue growth to recover as international travel resumes and there is improved confidence in the small business sector."We are well placed, with MNF's strong balance sheet, to continue to execute on our longterm strategy to grow market share across the Asia-Pacific region."Operational HighlightsPhone numbers on network reached 5.1 million numbers as at 31 December 2020, increasing by 1 million additional numbers (or 24% on H1 FY2020). The strong growth in phone numbers was due to new orders from existing wholesale customers and provides confidence in future growth as each new number provides a future revenue stream.The growth in phone numbers supported a 15% increase in recurring revenue to $55.6 million and an increase of 20% in recurring gross margin to $33.4 million. EBITDA was up 16% to $19.6 million in the period, growing to 18% of total revenue, as we managed costs whilst driving technology development and sales.During the period, the company delivered a cash conversion of 107%, supported by a greater focus on cash collection. The company had net cash of $22 million as at 31 December 2020, which comprised debt of $30 million and cash of $52 million. The cash position, alongside a further $30 million undrawn debt facility, provides adequate resources to fund future growth initiatives.Strategy UpdateExpansion into new marketsA key pillar in MNF's growth strategy is to expand its service offering into the Asia-Pacific region. MNF has now commenced technology trials with three large global customers in Singapore. The technology trials are expected to complete within several months and will flow into production traffic later this financial year.In addition to opening in the Singapore market, MNF has been completing due diligence to assess the next Asia-Pacific market to expand into. A number of milestones in this process have been completed with six possible target countries shortlisted.Sales and marketing bench-strength supports excellent client relationships A key part of MNF's success in finding and retaining global clients is its well-established Global Business Development and Account Management teams. This proven framework, centred on customer needs, ensures we support both our emerging customers who require specialized in-country skills; through to our large global customers which demand support in their local time zone.The MNF Group's Business Development and Account Management teams span US, EMEA and APAC regions. The addition of our Singapore Domestic Solution will see our local presence expanded ensuring we are in the best position to serve the APAC region and maximise our opportunities and future revenue.Strategic review of direct businessIn the Australian and New Zealand market, MNF has been assessing its operations in light of future growth opportunities and as part of this has embarked on a review of its direct business.The strategic review of MNF's direct business included the decision to divest the Pennytel brand and business, an Australian owned SIM-only mobile provider. MNF has signed a binding agreement for the sale of Pennytel to an existing wholesale customer, Macarthur Telecom. The agreement enables MNF to continue to realise benefits of the Pennytel business through an ongoing agreement with Macarthur Telecom to continue to grow the customer base on MNF's wholesale enablement service.OutlookCommenting on the outlook, Rene Sugo said:"In an environment that has been unpredictable, the strength of our business continues to shine through. Our balance sheet is in excellent shape, with net cash, and clients are continuing to grow spending on our services."We are on track to deliver EBITDA for the 2021 financial year of $40.0 million to $43.0 million."Our strategic priorities are to grow market share, expand into the Asia Pacific region, be a trusted partner and provide a high standard of customer experience. We are very pleased with the progress we have made in Singapore which further cements our relationships with our global customers and give us confidence to expand further into the Asia Pacific region.This milestone highlights the need for MNF's services across the region and supports the steps we are taking to assess new markets in the region to grow and expand our footprint.We are well positioned to execute on these strategic initiatives and drive operational excellence at home, in Australia and New Zealand."Results briefingThere will be a webinar and results presentation held on Tuesday 23 February at 9:00am AEDT. For registration and details, please visit:A recorded version of this webinar will be made available for later viewing at the same web address.To view the FY21 H1 Results Presentation, please visit:About MNF Group Ltd MNF Group Limited (ASX:MNF) is one of Asia-Pacific's fastest growing technology companies. Listed on the ASX since 2006, it is now capitalised at around $380m, and twice winner of the Forbes Asia-Pacific "Best under a Billion" award. Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, the company has over 500 people located across Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America. MNF develops and operates a global communications network and software suite enabling some of the world's leading innovators to deliver new-generation communications solutions. As the world moves to IP, MNF Group is building the brands, services, network and technology to lead the way. For further information about MNF Group Limited please visit: http://mnfgroup.limited/ Chikkaballapur, Feb 23 : At least five persons were killed and one received severe injuries in a suspected gelatine explosion at a quarry site in Hirenagavalli hamlet bordering Chikkaballapur and Bengaluru in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, police said. Hirenagavalli is a small hamlet in Chikballapur taluk in Chikballapur district of Karnataka. It is located 86 kms from tech hub Bengaluru. According to the police the deceased were identified as engineer Umakant, security guard Mahesh, billing clerk Murali, computer operator Gangadhar and one Abhi, all working in Sri Bhramaravasini stone crusher plant in Chikkaballapur. Inspector General of Police (Central Range) M. Chandrashekhar told reporters that the Chikkaballapur police had conducted a search operations of this unit twice, first on February 7 and second search led by SP K. Mithun just 10 or 12 hours prior to this incident. "Our prima facie investigations reveal the mine owners seem to have hired inexperienced people in handling explosive material to dispose off 'excess' materials in their possession. In a hurry they have tried to dispose it off and led to the accident," he said. He added that the police had already picked up a person after search operations on February 7, who sells explosive materials in this region. "We were still on the investigation and now this incident has taken place," he said. While Karnataka Health Minister K. Sudhakar said that the quarry was storing gelatin sticks illegally. "There is no question of protecting anyone, as these are illegally held explosives. This will be dealt with by law, strict action will be taken," he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa offered condolences to the families of the victims and assured strict action. "The death of six people near the village of Hirenagavalli in Chikkaballapur, which killed six people, is a shock. Information has been obtained from the District Ministers and senior officials, who have been instructed to conduct a thorough investigation and take stern action against the guilty," Yediyurappa said on Twitter. He added, "A high-level investigation into the disaster is underway and strict action will be taken against the guilty." "Pained by the loss of lives due to a mishap at Chikkaballapur in Karnataka. Condolences to the bereaved families. Praying that the injured recover quickly," the Prime Minister tweeted. This tragedy comes just a month after a similar mishap was reported from Shivamogga district where six labourers died in a quarry due to an accidental explosion of a similar nature. In the Shivamogga disaster, a lorry carrying explosives exploded killing all five persons in the vehicle. Following the incident, Yediyurappa had ordered a drive to check illegal quarrying and mining in the state. He had also ordered that usage of illegal explosive be stopped immediately. One January day in 1993, 14-year-old Abdul Wahid Shaikh was out shopping when the police opened fire in Vikhroli, a suburb in north-east Bombay (now Mumbai). A bullet grazed the teenager, who dropped his bags and raced towards the mosque nearby for cover. He sheltered there for a few hours, then crept back home when he felt it was safe. Shaikh had seen little violence in his short life until then; he had Hindu friends and a happy childhood. Then, following the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, on December 6, 1992, violence erupted in Vikhroli Parksite and elsewhere in the city, lasting into January 1993. Night after night, Shaikh's family barricaded themselves inside their home, alert for sounds of yelling and gunfire. He was even deputed to stand guard at his sister's house during the tense times. "I had to grow up suddenly," he told IndiaSpend. "I was no longer a child." Shaikh never received psychological help or counselling--uncommon at the time, say studies and experts. None of Shaikh's relatives died, nor was his home torched like others nearby. But the violence marked his adolescence in insidious ways, he said, as he grew up conscious of external markers of his Muslim identity, like prayer caps. For those like Shaikh who survive or witness riots as children, the impacts can be multifold, ranging from feelings of revenge, hatred and despair to long-term psychological distress, according to studies of this especially vulnerable demographic conducted in the aftermath of riots in Delhi, Mumbai, Gujarat and Hyderabad, which IndiaSpend reviewed. These studies, among the few that examine the impacts of riots on children, say resultant mental health issues, if left untreated, can cause lasting damage. In the wake of the Delhi riots in February 2020, experts have similarly warned that impacts on child survivors' mental health must be addressed. A year on from the Delhi riots, our story attempts to understand how riot-affected children rebuild their lives as adults, speaking to numerous survivors, social workers, psychiatrists and researchers. Impacts need not be permanent, we found, as both studies and survivors pointed to coping mechanisms and healing processes. As part of an ongoing project, Databaaz, the video arm of IndiaSpend, is speaking to the families of victims in the Delhi riots to understand the impact that the violence had on children. We present a few in the photo essay below: Trauma, physical symptoms and psychological distress Children affected by riots might experience a cluster of physical and mental symptoms, including unexplained pain, sleeplessness, nightmares, listlessness, loss of appetite, and fear of sounds in the aftermath, according to several studies and experts. "Death is visible, a broken building is visible, but mental health issues are not always visible," Harish Shetty, a Mumbai-based psychiatrist who worked with survivors of the Bombay and Gujarat riots, told IndiaSpend. We spoke to children who lost friends, homes and family members, who recalled that their initial visceral reaction was of confusion and physical insecurity. "We could only understand that they wanted to kill and wound Muslims," said Javed Hussain Sayyed, who was 10 at the time of the rioting in Ahmedabad in 2002. His family had to flee their home one night, tripping over dead bodies in the darkened street. He also saw a friend die and a rampaging mob torturing people. "We just had to save ourselves," Sayyed told IndiaSpend. In Mumbai, Shanul Sayed witnessed police firing and a mob pelting stones in 1992-93. His family also sheltered relatives whose homes had been damaged during rioting. "At the age of 11 you wonder, what will happen? Will my friends be fine?" recalled Sayed, now an engineer and member of the political party All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen. "Fairly soon I was able to get over the fears, but maybe it was harder for others who experienced violence more directly," Sayed told IndiaSpend. In February 1993, a month after the violence, 62.6% of 495 Class 3 and 4 municipal school students surveyed in a riot-affected area in Mumbai reported sleep disturbances including nightmares and flashbacks, 40.2% reported somatic symptoms (emotional distress felt as physical distress), and 33.5% reported anxiety symptoms, according to a study by the BYL Nair Hospital, Mumbai. Among children who reported somatic symptoms, three in four mentioned headaches and nearly half mentioned stomach aches. Researchers also scored responses on several parameters to gauge levels of anxiety and fear, with a score of more than 10 considered significant; 21% scored more than 10 and only 9.9% scored zero. "Adults can talk and express their feelings, but children cannot," Hemangee Dhavale, a psychiatrist and lead author of the study, told IndiaSpend. "That's why it could reflect in their behaviour." Shortly after the 2002 Gujarat riots that claimed at least 1,000 lives and displaced over 5,000 families, Rasida Shaikh, a social worker with Ahmedabad-based development institute Jan Vikas, also noticed some of these behavioural patterns among the two dozen riot-affected children she worked with. "They had seen terrible things. The younger ones were unable to even speak," said Shaikh, herself a survivor of the riots, in which she lost her home. Her aim was to help the children get over their fear of loud noises, firecrackers and even police. It took months, even years for some children to find some normalcy and work through these feelings, she told IndiaSpend. Javed Hussain Sayyed was one of the children Rasida Shaikh worked with. "These experiences were on my mind for a year to a year-and-a-half," he told IndiaSpend. Now, when he returns to those neighbourhoods or news of fresh riots surfaces, long buried feelings erupt to the fore, even though they have been processed, he says. "It happened to us and has happened again," said Javed. "Why does such violence not stop?" Six years after the Gujarat riots, 67% of 85 Muslim children aged seven to 10 among riot-displaced families at a relief camp in Panchmahal district described general or specific fears and threats, a study published in 2012 found. This qualitative study found that words like "danger", "agony" and "afraid" frequently came up in word association tests conducted with the surveyed children. Evidence suggests that while natural disasters impact children deeply, the impact of man-made disasters could be worse. A comparison of children aged 8-15 affected in the 2002 Gujarat riots (171) and by the 2001 Bhuj earthquake (128) against a control group of 351 children that had experienced neither, found that "children exposed to violence were psychologically more affected", according to a 2013 study. Results showed that 7.6% of the earthquake-affected children displayed "clinically significant mental health problems"; the figure was 38.7% for riots-affected children. In the earthquake sample, 24.8% of children met the criteria for probable post-traumatic stress disorder, compared to 27.3% of children from the riots sample. "It was the nature of witnessing--[riots-affected children] had seen family members killed, mutilated--purposive, harmful actions which emotionally disturbed them," said Manasi Kumar, a faculty member at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Nairobi, who authored the study. "In riots, you know who did what. Neighbours turned on each other and trust was violated in a very different form," Kumar told IndiaSpend. When asked if the difference was that the earthquake group could rationalise their experience as an act of God, Kumar said, "Definitely. [The riots group] had no rationale they could offer themselves or their families." Trauma persists when left unaddressed In the days following the Bombay riots, one development stood out for psychiatrist Harish Shetty: Children had begun to fashion games around the violence. "They were imitating behaviours of rioting, playing as victims, enacting burnings," said Shetty. "It was just something they had casually picked up." Divisive behaviours by adults may get picked up by children, the Nair Hospital study found. Among children surveyed, 64.2% were wary of playing with children from other communities, a finding echoed in some interviews with Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) teams, who spoke with riot-displaced children in relief camps in Gujarat. Social worker Shivaji Khairnar, 36, who witnessed firing and mob attacks during the 1992-93 riots at age nine in Mumbai's north-western suburb of Jogeshwari, remembered being told to avoid playing with Muslim children. Regardless, the children continued to discreetly meet at a park. "It wasn't an age when we really understood religion, but considered it a kind of foolishness," he told IndiaSpend. This might not hold for everyone, according to Dhavale, psychiatrist and the lead author of the study. "Some children may become violent and identify with what they see," said Dhavale. "Talking to them and removing misconceptions about other communities is essential." This was one of the foci of Jan Vikas' work with riot-affected children, according to Rasida Shaikh, adding that their approach was motivated by "peace and justice". "Today they have no feelings of hatred or revenge," she said. Sometimes, however, feelings of animosity and revenge may grow and persist, one study has shown. Gangs of "child vigilantes" formed to "protect and patrol the borders of riot-affected Muslim localities" were found in an ethnographic study of a riot-affected Hyderabad slum conducted in 2005-06, and published in 2012. "Over the next five years, the young vigilantes emerged as self-styled retribution armies, and attempted to control both the internal and external dynamics of slum areas," writes Atreyee Sen, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Copenhagen. Fifteen child squads, each having about 10 to 12 members (aged pre-teen to early teens), were described by Sen. They carried weapons, policed public spaces, upbraided "'deviant' Muslim slum women for flirting with Hindu men, or attacked traders for establishing business links with 'enemy' communities". "There can be no general rules that say children affected by violence will grow up to be violent themselves," Sen told IndiaSpend over email. "However, we cannot rely on children's capacities to cope with their past and turn into responsible and integrated adults it's our social and state responsibility to ensure that children have the most stable, safe and nurturing environment to help them cope with having faced crises in their childhood." Disruptive and destructive effects of riots on children's learning Javed Hussain Sayyed spent several weeks in a relief camp for persons displaced by the Gujarat violence in 2002. Later, he was among several children transferred to a residential school in Raigad, Maharashtra for rehabilitation. Although the staff were kind and the school was good, he wanted to return home. "We were disturbed and I felt no desire to study," said Sayyed, now a 29-year-old truck driver. Children traumatised by riots might be unable to focus on learning whilst also facing significant socio-economic distress; lessons in relief camps might be impossible, or they may be relocated away from their schools, according to experts and studies. "After 1984, there were hardly any children who were able to continue studying," H.S. Phoolka, an advocate who has represented and supported hundreds of 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims, told IndiaSpend. "Many [children] were deeply troubled, but had to start earning right away." Seven young survivors' of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots were unable to attend school for five to six months following the violence, an ethnographic study conducted in 2014 and published in 2017 found. Four of the five who resumed school had to repeat classes, one dropped out to work, and one was married off. Eventually, none of the seven finished school. New problems of drug addiction also emerged after the riots. "The next generation was completely traumatised and many were destroyed by drug abuse," said Phoolka. Processes of healing and recovery Survivors spoke of little or no support after the riots, in conversations with IndiaSpend. School teachers of child survivors of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots actively avoided raising the topic, according to the 2017 study. "The focus was to make [the children] forget, make them laugh or play'," rather than process their grief as experts now advise, one relief camp volunteer was quoted as saying in the study. "No counselling was [available] then, whether for adults or children," said Phoolka. "Most of them still live with a sense of having been ruined." After the riots in Bombay and Gujarat, there were at least some voluntary attempts at support and counselling by doctors and non-profits, according to experts. "There was no mental health package from the government," said Shetty, who worked for a few months with survivors of both riots. "Efforts were voluntary, ad-hoc and piecemeal." However, those who did receive community support were able to heal and recover more quickly than those who remained isolated, Shetty pointed out. Childhood emotional trauma need not be permanent, studies have shown. When students of the municipal schools in Bombay were first assessed for levels of anxiety and fear by the Nair Hospital study in February 1993, just a month after the riots, 21% of the 104 children scored above the concerning score of 10. In the follow-up process six months later, however, this had fallen to 11.9% of the 59 students who were still traceable. The literature reviewed at the time also hinted at a decrease in symptoms with time, the study noted. "The earlier the intervention, the better," said Kumar. "But mental health in general and child and adolescent mental health in particular remain neglected in India." Both these studies and experts found that teachers, community leaders, parents and counsellors all could play a role in aiding healing for children. "We have to empower communities in understanding how trauma operates. We need training for religious leaders, school teachers and community gatekeepers," added Kumar. After the Gujarat riots, professor Shubhada Maitra led interventions by TISS teams among riot-displaced children in relief camps in Panchmahal district, to design post-trauma interventions, among other aims. Symptoms such as clinginess, difficulty in articulation, extreme aggression and anger in some of the younger children were described by the TISS teams in their findings. Through 12-sessions of group 'play therapy', including art, puppetry, music, dance and counselling, a "process of healing was initiated", they wrote. "Therapy aided the acquisition of social skills like adjusting to a group, increased tolerance and acceptance of differences, conflict resolution and teamwork," the researchers wrote. However, they continued, "for more long-term therapeutic changes to take place there needs to be sustained efforts". How well children recover also depends on how adults around them cope and behave, both in their own families and on wider social and institutional levels, according to some of these studies. Kumar said one potential source of despair for survivors could be failures of the justice system; perpetrators who roam free, trials that drag on. "Then there is very little to hope for and trust in," she said. For Abdul Wahid Shaikh, the Bombay riots were only the beginning of a tragic trajectory, he told us. Though he tried to get his life on track, he was charged and jailed for nine years in the 2006 Mumbai train attacks case. He was acquitted in 2015, but emerged a cynical man, concerned about the state of Indian pluralism and increasingly distanced from his Hindu friends. Three survivors we spoke to described themselves as well-adjusted adults, albeit while underscoring that their experiences were less severe than others. Shivaji Khairnar says he did not suffer any long-term psychological damage, but the riots left in him a conviction to ensure they do not happen again. Some years ago, Khairnar, other residents and community leaders formed a group to ensure peace in his neighbourhood. "One thing is on our minds," said Khairnar. "What happened in 1992-93 should not recur." AC Power and Citrine Power applied for the New Jersey's Community Solar Pilot Program's second year solicitation. Both AC Power and Citrine Power were successful in the first year of the Community Solar Pilot Program with three AC Power projects and one Citrine Power projects selected by NJ BPU out of more than 250 applications. If the solar project on Green Township's former Trinca Airport property is successfully selected into the second year of the Community Solar Program, it is estimated that approximately 1,000 homes will have access to the benefits of the renewable energy produced by the system. More than half of these households will be low-to-moderate income households in Jersey Power & Light (d/b/ First Energy) electric utility territory. Annika Colston, President of AC Power, said, "Our team is excited to work with the leadership of Green Township to produce clean, renewably generated solar energy at the municipally-owned site of the former Trinca Airport. We look forward to building on our successful partnership with Citrine Power to develop this project." In the event the project is not awarded a Community Solar Program allocation this year, the development team will pursue other alternatives to bring the project to life such as participating in the to be announced successor program that NJ BPU is in the process of crafting or application to the third year of the Community Solar Program. Cela Sinay-Bernie, Managing Partner of Citrine Power, commented, "We are looking forward to bringing another solar project to successful fruition in NJ in partnership with AC Power. We applaud the Green Township's leadership in allowing a renewable power system to be their tenant on their property that will help reach the State of New Jersey its renewable portfolio standard goals." About AC Power, LLC www.acpowerllc.com About Citrine Power, LLC https://www.citrinepower.com SOURCE AC Power Related Links www.acpowered.com Credit: CC0 Public Domain Numerous psychiatric studies have documented increased rates of depression and anxiety among those forced to relocate, with sudden moves often affecting individuals' social support and sense of identity and control. As the COVID-19 pandemic spread through the U.S. in March of 2020, universities evacuated students from their campuses, and thousands quickly relocated. Few studies have examined the mental health impact of the sudden disruption. In a new study of 791 undergraduate and graduate students, surveyed between April 9 and August 4, 2020, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston University's School of Social Work, and McLean Hospital revealed that students forced to relocate during the spring were more likely to report COVID-19-related grief, loneliness and generalized anxiety symptoms than students who did not relocate. The findings are published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research. "Students have high rates of mental health concerns, and moving is a major life stressor for anyone, so we wondered what the consequences of relocating from campus would be," said corresponding author Cindy Liu, Ph.D., of the Departments of Pediatric Newborn Medicine and Psychiatry at the Brigham. "We saw that moving, itself, predicted mental health concerns, even when accounting for other factors that might be involved in mental health." These other factors included sociodemographic determinants like age and race, pre-existing mental health diagnoses, measurements of psychological resilience and distress tolerance, the COVID-19 transmission rate in the state where the school was located, and when students took the survey between April and August. "Even before the pandemic, college students suffered from mental health crises, but COVID-19 has amplified depression, anxiety, and virus-related worry. One of the important findings of the study shows that those who have higher levels of psychological resilience and distress tolerance are much less likely to have symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD. In other words, those with a higher ability to bounce back from adversity and/or to manage and cope with emotional distress were less likely to have mental health problems during the pandemic," said Hyeouk "Chris" Hahm, chair and associate professor of the Social Research Department at BU's School of Social Work, one of the paper's authors. Approximately one-third of the respondents were required to leave campus, and roughly 80 percent needed to complete the move within one week. Of the 264 students who relocated, roughly 40 percent stated that they left valuable personal belongings behind. These students were more likely to report COVID-19-related worries, grief, and symptoms of depression, generalized anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, even when accounting for the same predictors of mental health described above. The association between mental health concerns and leaving behind personal belongingswhich could include medication or other essential itemswas particularly striking to the researchers. "The logistics surrounding the move, the sense of loss associated with it, how colleges communicate the relocation, and whether or not they provide resources to help studentsthose are all very critical considerations that need to take place," Liu said. "When we make the decision to move students off campus, it's important to acknowledge that there may be downstream effects from that action." Hahm added, "Many students became frustrated with the unclear guidelines coming from their colleges regarding their return dates. Some were led to believe that they could return to campus within a month; thus, some students left their belongings in their dorms. Not all students were able to return to pick up their belongings because of the long distance or limited time." Certain vulnerable subpopulations were more likely to relocate, including those who indicated nonbinary gender identities and those who received financial aid. Compared to men, those with nonbinary gender identities were more likely to report depressive, generalized anxiety and PTSD symptoms. The findings come from a larger survey of young adults between the ages of 18 and 30 called the CARES 2020 Project (COVID-19 Adult Resilience Experiences Study), spearheaded by Liu and Hyeouk Chris Hahm, MSSW, Ph.D., of the School of Social Work at Boston University. The study assesses symptoms of loneliness, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as two new metricsCOVID-19-related grief and worrythat the researchers developed to examine losses and insecurities specifically associated with the pandemic. These range from difficulties in accessing resources to fears about contracting the virus or transmitting it to loved ones. The researchers recruited participants through email lists, social media pages, and by word-of-mouth. Achieving accurate demographic representation was difficult, which the researchers note can limit the ability to generalize their findings. For example, 80 percent of respondents were women, and Black and Latinx individuals accounted for 4.8 and 5.8 of respondents, respectively. Engaging marginalized groups in the study was both important and challenging amidst the broader upheaval of the pandemic. To this end, the authors speculate that their respondents were, on average, supported by families with more stable socioeconomic statuses: 44 percent received no financial aid and, of those who relocated, 86 percent were able to return to a parent or guardian and 91 percent were not obligated to pay for their living arrangement. The researchers are currently examining the experiences of self-identified sexual and gender minorities in more depth. They have also obtained data from a second wave of the study to track young people's experiences during the pandemic beyond the timeframe covered by the initial responses. "Hopefully there won't be a need for students to relocate again," Liu said. "But going forward, I think we need to continue following the psychological consequences of that move." More information: Rachel C. Conrad et al, College student mental health risks during the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications of campus relocation, Journal of Psychiatric Research (2021). Journal information: Journal of Psychiatric Research Rachel C. Conrad et al, College student mental health risks during the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications of campus relocation,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.01.054 Log Truck Crash Blocks KY-121 in Calloway County By West Kentucky Star Staff CALLOWAY COUNTY - Calloway County Emergency Management reports KY-121 is blocked south of Murray due to a log truck rollover crash.The road is blocked at mile point 4.7, near the KY 444/Dunbar Road intersection in the New Concord community.The estimated duration of the closure is three hours.Useful detours for this section of KY-121 are minimal. Crew members work on the final setup during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 26, 2020. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) CPAC Organizer Says America Uncanceled Conference Will Highlight Attacks on Constitutional Freedoms Dan Schneider, who heads the organization that is putting together the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Florida, said this years eventthemed America Uncanceledwill focus on exposing cancel culture attacks on American freedoms. Schneider, who serves as executive director of the American Conservative Union (ACU), which organizes CPAC, told The Epoch Times American Thought Leaders that the theme of the conference reflects what he says is the growing threat to constitutionally-enshrined liberties. All 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution that comprise the Bill of Rights will be addressed in 10 separate speeches, panels, and interviews at the conference, Schneider said. Its so important for Americans to understand why these rights are critical to freedom, why the left is now attacking each one of these amendments, and why we must preserve the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution, he said. Schneider warned about the push to restrict basic freedoms. The radical left has made it clear that they do not like these inherent rights being protected by our government, they made it clear that speech should not be free, they made it clear that assembly should not be a right, Schneider said. They made it clear that the right to bear arms, the right to own property, and the right to actual due process are not to be available to the American public in a free and fair way. Many conservatives have taken up the mantle against cancel culture. In a recent op-ed in The Epoch Times, chairman of the Discovery Institutes Center on Human Exceptionalism, Wesley J. Smith, compared the phenomenon to McCarthyism in the 1950s. Once again, we find ourselves in a time of moral panic, now known as cancel culture. Today, the hunted prey arent communists, but those accused of current or past white supremacy, anti-LGBT thought, supporting President Donald Trump, and/or engaging in that almost limitless category, hate, Smith wrote. The center is failing to hold. Cancel culture is destabilizing society at a deep and profound level. But even as protests mount, contemporary moral panic mongers are redoubling their bullying to cleanse the culture of what they consider unacceptable opinion, which often, simply means conservative,' he argued. Schneider echoed this perspective, saying, The radical left will not tolerate any dissenting point of view. That is the most un-American thing I can imagine, he added. Our nation was founded on the idea that people who disagree can still be part of a civil society. So people of goodwill throughout America need to come together to fight back against this whole cancel culture effort. Former President Donald Trump will deliver a speech at the event on Sunday afternoon, Schneider confirmed. He said Trump would focus his remarks on the future of the Republican Party. Commenting on the substance of Trumps CPAC speech, former senior adviser Stephen Miller said that Trump will lay out an optimistic vision for America and focus on standing up to China, reviving U.S. manufacturing, dismantling the monopoly of Big Tech, reopening schools, and securing the border. Hes going to present an optimistic vision for a country where communities are safe, where criminals are behind bars, and where everybody can earn a decent high-paying wage and produce products here in the United States, where they should be made, not in China, not overseas, Miller told Maria Bartiromo on Fox News. Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Trump, said Sunday that the former president is fully committed to the Republican Party and will work to have it retake the House and Senate in 2022. Miller also dispelled rumors that Trump would launch his own MAGA party, and insisted that Trump embodies both the present and future of the GOP. What a lot of folks are starting to realize here in the States is that President Trump really is the Republican Party, Miller said, adding, He not only is the current aspect of the party, hes the future of the party. This years CPAC is scheduled for Feb. 25-28 in Orlando, Florida. LONDON and NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Marex Spectron today announced the addition of a new energy futures trading and clearing group to its Marex North America franchise, operating out of New York. The team, composed of seven seasoned exchange-traded energy market professionals led by Martin Timmins, joined from ED&F Man Capital Markets, Inc to service a broad range of commercial hedgers and institutional investors. The establishment of this group is the latest in a series of moves by Marex in recent years to extend its footprint and product specialties in North America. Timmins, a 35-year veteran in energy futures markets, is widely recognised as one of the most experienced in the industry, most recently serving as Managing Director and Global Head of Energy at ED&F Man. Timmins reports to Ram Vittal, CEO, Marex North America. The team also includes Lauren Kane, Matthew Ventura, Christopher Timmins, Joseph Mancino, Joseph Posillico and Robert Hadley. Vittal commented: "We're delighted to welcome this talented execution and clearing team with decades of experience in exchange-traded energy markets. We have been steadily growing our presence and expertise in North America to enhance our offering to clients globally. We fully expect that the Energy Futures group will further strengthen our comprehensive capabilities in this dynamic sector." Timmins said: "We were impressed with Marex's growth story and view the firm's strong foothold globally in the over-the-counter energy markets as a great complement to our exchange-traded offering for the commercial hedging community and institutional investors alike. Joining Marex gives us an opportunity to collaborate with very experienced OTC colleagues and to introduce clients to a wider array of energy products particularly with anticipated changes in the energy space and growing interest in environmental, social and governance (ESG) instruments, At the same time, Marex clients globally can now benefit from a dedicated energy futures and clearing team." Over the last two years, Marex has taken steps to build its execution and clearing capabilities across product sectors in North America, including the 2019 acquisition of the customer business of Rosenthal Collins Group, the addition of several execution and brokerage teams and the November 2020 acquisition of X-Change Financial Access, an exchange-traded derivatives execution broker. About Marex Spectron Group Limited Marex Spectron is a technology-enabled provider of essential liquidity and associated market infrastructure to participants in global energy, metals, agricultural and financial markets. The firm provides comprehensive breadth and depth of coverage across four core services: Market Making, Commercial Hedging (both on exchange execution and clearing, and OTC derivatives), Price Discovery and Data/Advisory. It has a leading franchise in many major metals, energy and agricultural products, executing around 35 million trades and clearing over 175 million contracts in 2020. The firm provides access to every major commodity market in the world, covering a broad range of clients that include the largest commodity producers, consumers and traders, banks, hedge funds and asset managers. The Group was formed in 2011 but traces its roots in the commodity markets back almost 100 years. Headquartered in London with 18 offices worldwide, the Group has 1,000 employees across Europe, Asia and America. For more information visit www.marexspectron.com SOURCE Marex Spectron Related Links http://www.marexspectron.com Criminal proceedings have been launched into the incident. Seventeen protesters have been detained amid clashes with police on Bankova Street in Kyiv during a rally against activist Serhiy Sternenko's imprisonment. Criminal proceedings have been launched into the incident, the Kyiv police's media liaison office said on Facebook on February 23. Read alsoHundreds take to the streets in Kyiv to protest against Sternenko's imprisonment (Photos) "The police instantly react to all attempts attempted provocations and clashes. During the clashes, protesters used pepper spray and threw flares at law enforcement officers. As a result, 17 active participants who violated law and order were taken to the police department," it said. Kyiv investigators launched criminal proceedings under Article 342 (Resistance to a member of a law enforcement agency) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The Kyiv police said in an update that all the detainees had been interrogated and released. According to the police, 27 officers received injuries, including eye burns, during the riots. They estimate over 2,000 people took part in the rally. Verdict Odesa's Prymorsky District Court on February 23, 2021, passed a guilty verdict in the case of activist Serhiy Sternenko, who has been convicted of abduction. The ruling provides for seven years and three months in prison and confiscation of half of the convict's property. Sternenko was found guilty of committing criminal offenses under Part 2 of Article 146 (Unlawful imprisonment or kidnapping), Part 2 of Article 187 (Robbery) and Part 1 of Article 263 (Illegal handling of weapons, ammunition or explosives) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The punishment was imposed under Article 187 and Article 263, as the term for criminal prosecution under Article 146 has already expired. Hundreds of people took to the streets in Kyiv in protest against Sternenko's imprisonment on February 23. Sternenko case In 2015, Sternenko's house in the city of Odesa was searched. The activist voluntarily handed to law enforcers his air gun, a collectible knife, and a noise pistol. Investigative actions were carried out on citizen Serhiy Shcherbych's report of his alleged abduction. Shcherbych alleged Sternenko wanted to steal UAH 300 (about US$11 at the current forex rate). After the raid, Sternenko was served with charge papers and put in custody before being bailed out. Later, the activist was also accused of illegal possession of weapons. Several criminal cases have been brought up against Sternenko, including homicide charges over the death of Ivan Kuznetsov, a person identified as one of the attackers who assaulted Sternenko in 2018 in what Sternenko believes were attempts on his life. Reporting by UNIAN By David Shepardson and Jamie Freed WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Damage to a fan blade on an engine that failed on a flight is consistent with metal fatigue, based on a preliminary assessment, the chairman of the U.S. air accident investigator said on Monday. The Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engine failed on Saturday with a "loud bang" four minutes after takeoff from Denver, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Robert Sumwalt told reporters following an initial analysis of the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. He said it remained unclear whether the incident is consistent with an engine failure on a different Hawaii-bound United flight in February 2018 that was attributed to a fatigue fracture in a fan blade. "What is important that we really truly understand the facts, circumstances and conditions around this particular event before we can compare it to any other event," Sumwalt said. The engine that failed on the 26-year-old Boeing Co 777 and shed parts over a Denver suburb was a PW4000 used on 128 planes, or less than 10% of the global fleet of more than 1,600 delivered 777 widebody jets. In another incident on Japan Airlines (JAL) 777 with a PW4000 engine in December 2020, Japan's Transport Safety Board reported it found two damaged fan blades, one with a metal fatigue crack. An investigation is ongoing. The focus is more on engine maker Pratt & Whitney and analysts expect little financial impact on Boeing, but the PW4000 issues are a fresh headache for the planemaker as it recovers from the far more serious 737 MAX crisis. Boeing's flagship narrowbody jet was grounded for nearly two years after two deadly crashes. The United engine's fan blade will be examined on Tuesday after being flown to a Pratt & Whitney laboratory where it will examined under supervision of NTSB investigators. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Monday it had already been evaluating whether to adjust fan blade inspections in the wake of the December incident in Japan after reviewing maintenance records and conducting a metallurgical examination of the fan blade fragment. Boeing recommended that airlines suspend the use of the planes while the FAA identified an appropriate inspection protocol, and Japan imposed a temporary suspension on flights. The FAA plans to issue an emergency airthworthiness directive soon that will require stepped-up inspections of the fan blades for fatigue. The FAA in March 2019 after the February 2018 United engine failure attributed to fan blade fatigue ordered inspections every 6,500 cycles. A cycle is one take-off and landing. Sumwalt said the United incident was not considered an uncontained engine failure because the containment ring contained the parts as they were flying out. There was minor damage to the aircraft body but no structural damage, he said. NTSB will look into why the engine cowling separated from the plane and also why there was a fire despite indications fuel to the engine had been turned off, Sumwalt added. Pratt & Whitney, which is owned by Raytheon Technologies Corp, said on Sunday it was coordinating with regulators to review inspection protocols. Nearly half of the global fleet of PW4000-equipped jets operated by airlines including United, JAL, ANA Holdings, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines had already been grounded amid a plunge in travel demand due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Jamie Freed in Sydney; additional reporting by Tracy Rucinski in Chicago; Editing by Kim Coghill and Gerry Doyle) (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.) Beirut, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Feb, 2021 ) :Syria's rebel-held northwest will receive its first shipment of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine by the end of next month, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. The doses were procured through the UN body's Covax programme, which aims to provide equitable worldwide access to vaccines against Covid-19. Thirty-five to 40 percent of the vaccines would be made available in the first quarter of 2021, and 60 to 65 percent in the second quarter, a WHO spokesperson told AFP. The health directorate for the opposition-held territory said it expected to receive 120,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine by next month. "They will cover 60,000 people," starting with front-line health workers, the elderly and chronically ill people, said its spokesman Imad Zahran. Syria's northwest, much of which is controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, is home to some four million people, including 2.8 million in need of urgent assistance. HTS is an alliance dominated by ex-members of Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate. Rights groups fear crowded displacement camps in the area could be especially conducive to a critical coronavirus outbreak. The rebel stronghold has reported 21,136 infections and 408 fatalities since its outbreak began last year. In government-held areas of Syria, authorities have recorded 15,230 coronavirus infections and 1,001 fatalities. Territories under Kurdish control in the country's northeast have recorded nearly 8,600 cases and 313 deaths. But doctors and rights organisations believe the numbers are probably much higher, especially in northeast Syria where rights groups say the government has refused to allow the UN to set up Covid testing labs. An official with the Kurdish administration in northeast Syria said they were "in talks with the WHO for the procurement of the coronavirus vaccine but have yet to clinch a deal". In December, the government in Damascus signed on to WHO's Covax initiative to procure vaccines. The WHO, together with the UN children's agency UNICEF and Gavi, said they would support Syria in acquiring jabs to initially cover at least three percent of the population and aim for 20 percent by the end of the year. Syria has also authorised the use of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, its embassy in Moscow said Monday. Human Rights Watch this month urged support for aid groups to ensure "equitable" distribution of coronavirus vaccines across all of war-torn Syria, warning against any discriminatory approach by Damascus. To be responsible as fundraisers, we thought the best thing would be 1: to think about how are we using our resources; 2: how do we make it fun, because fun is definitely a big part of the culture of our club weve become known in the community as a group that does fun things and obviously safety, she said. Sort of before the holidays it became apparent that our choices were try and put it together both ways, which seemed folly, or just bite the bullet and say, look, were going to get as creative as we can about making this virtual and making it a great experience for people. The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV. Social activist on Tuesday said if 'mandis' are closed due to the Centre's new agri laws the farmers of and will be ruined as the government would no longer procure their crops. Addressing a 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' organised by United Kisan Morcha in Rajasthan's Sikar district in support of the ongoing farmers' agitation against the agri laws, Yadav exuded confidence that these legislations will be repealed. Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait and former MLA Amra Ram also attended the 'mahapanchayat'. Yadav said the government will not procure farmers' crops if 'mandis' are closed due to the three agri laws enacted by the Centre. If that happens, the farmers of and will be devastated. He said 450 farmer organisations have come together against the farm laws. "Despite all efforts of Modi, his courtiers and leaders in the last three months, not one of these 450 organisations has broken away," he said. Yadav expressed confidence that the agri laws will be repealed and farmers will be able to get a legal guarantee from the government on minimum support price (MSP) -- two of the main demands of farmer unions who have been protesting these legislations for nearly three months now. Tikait also addressed a 'mahapanchayat' in Churu district's Sardarshahar. He said the agitation against the farm laws will continue until the government repeals them and enacts a legislation guaranteeing MSP. Congress legislator Krishna Poonia attended the event. Thousands of farmers are camping at Delhi's border points of Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur to press their demands. Farmers say the new farm laws will remove the safety net of MSP and leave them at the mercy of big corporates. However, the government, which has held 11 rounds of talks with the protesting farmer unions, has said these laws will benefit farmers by freeing them from the clutches of the middlemen and ushering in new technology in the sector. (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.) Hadley Light, 8, poses with Mayor Linda Tyer on Monday at City Hall. Tyer presented her with the book 'She Persisted' after Hadley raised $1,900 for the Christian Center's warming shelter. Hadley shows Tyer one of the T-shirts she sells with the circle of waves on it. PreviousNext 8-Year-Old Entrepreneur Starts Apparel Line to Combat Homelessness Tyer inscribed the book to Hadley. PITTSFIELD, Mass. A local girl who is wise beyond her years turned her compassion for the community into action. Following a $1,900 donation last week to the Christian Center, 8-year-old entrepreneur Hadley Light received a gift from Mayor Linda Tyer to commemorate her clothing business that benefits the homeless. "So when I called your dad, I said, 'Do you think it would be OK if I could meet Hadley?' Because you are really special," Tyer said on Monday. "You are really special. So thank you for doing what you did. Raising all that money for the Christian Center was really, really hard. Some of us grown-ups work to raise that much money. And you did it. You did it." Hadley recently began selling T-shirts, bags, fanny packs, and drink koozies through her apparel company Waves, which donates all profits to two organizations working to fight homelessness in Pittsfield: The Christian Center and ServiceNet. The young advocate was inspired to help unsheltered folks after seeing people without homes forced to sleep on the street. Light couldn't imagine the struggles those people were going through. "I feel really bad for them," she said. Her father, Leonard Light, said this donation is only the beginning, as his daughter will be continuing the business as long as possible. "We're not done. It's only in that it's picked up a bit even since that first wave, no pun intended, of course, but again, the momentum has continued," he said. "What's been great is the way the community has reacted, I think we have a lot to be proud of as members of the community because everybody embraced the concept. It was a cute 8-year-old girl who embraced the concept of helping those that need help." Astonished by Hadley's drive to help, Tyer said she called Leonard Light and requested that she have a brief, COVID-19 compliant meeting at City Hall to commend Light and give her a gift. Tyer presented Hadley with Chelsea Clinton's book "She Persisted," which profiles 13 American women who helped shape the country, and noted that they were girls just like Hadley and herself. In one example, a 39-year-old Black woman who sought a job at an agency was given three options: one involved heavy lifting, the other a graveyard shift and the third was as a second-shift warehouse picker that paid $12.40 an hour. She was required to pass a drug test. The 42-year-old Latina woman who inquired about a job at the same agency 8 minutes later was given totally different options: second shift at a flower company at $13 an hour, with productivity bonuses, and no drug test. Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 12, 2018. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) Big Coalition of Anti-Earmark Advocacy Groups Warn Congress Against Return to Business-as-Usual A coalition of 18 conservative non-profit advocacy groups that oppose the return of earmarks to congressional spending issued a letter Feb. 22 to all 535 senators and representatives warning them that taxpayers want an end to business-as-usual. The coalitions warning refers to plans of Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) to restore the practice under a new title of Member-directed spending. Earmarks are obscure provisions in appropriations bills that allow individual congressmen to direct tax dollars, often anonymously, to family members, friends, and campaign donors. The earmarks, which are often described in general terms that make it difficult to identify specific beneficiaries, are not specifically voted on but become law when the larger bills in which they are included are approved. Congress declared a moratorium on earmarks in 2011, but it expired in January 2019. The Republican-controlled Senate opted to ban earmarks permanently, but congressional Democrats began discussing ways to bring them back to the legislative process. That process culminated with a DeLauro spokesman confirming Feb. 15 that the two appropriations panel leaders agreed to restore earmarks beginning in 2022, but with promises of greater transparency and public accountability. The coalition announced Tuesday that such guarantees arent enough to justify bringing back earmarks because they are one of the most corrupt, inequitable, and wasteful practices in the history of Congress. Dressing them up as member-directed spending will not change anything. The history of earmarks demonstrates that corruption is inevitable, according to the coalition. Since 1991, according to Citizens Against Government Wastes Congressional Pig Book, there have been 111,417 earmarks costing taxpayers $375.7 billion, including $67.9 billion since the earmark moratorium was adopted in 2011, the letter said. In 2006, one year after the 2005 highway bill had $24 billion in earmarks, including the infamous Bridge to Nowhere, appropriations earmarks totaled a record $29 billion. That was also the year Republicans lost the majority in the House of Representatives, followed soon thereafter by the incarceration of members of Congress, staff, and lobbyists as a result of the corruption associated with earmarks. Claims by supporters of earmarks that the practice is needed as a means of gaining bipartisan support at a time when both chambers of Congress are almost evenly divided between the two major political parties were rejected by the coalition. Proponents of earmarks argue that they would promote the passage of appropriations bills in a timely manner, but this is proven false by the fact that appropriations bills have been enacted on time in only four years since the passage of the 1974 Budget Act, the coalition letter said. In fact, they waste the taxpayers money as a form of legalized bribery, under which a few million dollars in earmarks are traded for votes in favor of hundreds of billions of dollars in spending. It makes no sense to believe that earmarks, which never constituted more than 1 percent of discretionary spending, would drive or control agreement on the remaining 99 percent of such spending, the letter said. Earmarks are not without Republican supporters. George Callas, former chief of staff for then-Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) praised the practice during a Twitter exchange that for reasons that arent clear is no longer available. Earmarks also benefit a functional legislative and governing process. Id be more than willing to accept a little old-fashioned, run-of-the-mill corruption if it meant reducing the macro-level dysfunction from which we now suffer, Callas tweeted. His comment was in response to one by Courtney Shaddegg, a former aide to Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who was the main congressional opponent of earmarks and was a key supporter of the 2011 congressional ban. Shaddegg responded to Callas, saying, the thing I think youre saying here is we can do a little more legislation if we accept a little corruption and thats just not good enough for me, and the American people shouldnt accept it either. Coburn famously described earmarks as the gateway drug to federal spending addiction among senators and representatives. The Shaddegg exchange with Callas was first reported by The Federalist. The House version of the $1.9 trillion CCP Virus stimulus proposal endorsed by President Joe Biden and expected to be voted on later this week in Congress contains a provision that earmarks $112 million for the underground Phase Two of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) subway. The BART project is not specifically identified in the text of the earmark and members of Congress would not have an opportunity to vote on the propriety of including the spending in CCP Virus bill unless congressional Democrats allow it. Signers of the coalitions letter included Tom Schatz, President of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform, Tim Phillips, President of Americans for Prosperity, Pete Sepp, President of the National Taxpayers Union, David McIntosh, President of the Club for Growth, Adam Brandon, President of FreedomWorks, Phil Kerpen, President of American Commitment, David Williams, President of Taxpayers Protection Alliance, and Steve Ellis, Vice President of Taxpayers for Common Sense. Also signing were Michael A. Needham, Chief Executive Officer of Heritage Action for America, George Landrith, President of Frontiers of Freedom, Saul Anuzis, President of the 60 Plus Association, James L. Martin, Founder and Chairman of the 60 Plus Association, Bethany Marcum, President of the Alaska Policy Forum, Jeffrey Mazzella, President of the Center for Individual Freedom, James Taylor, President of the Heartland Institute, Kevin Waterman, President of the Annapolis Center-Right Coalition Meeting, and Matthew Gagnon, President of the Maine Heritage Policy Center. Contact Mark Tapscott at Mark.Tapscott@epochtimes.nyc Laura Dern projects vitality and familiarity we feel as if we know her and like her but also a wild unpredictability, the Vulture critic Bilge Ebiri has written. Anything seems possible when shes onscreen. This was 2019, as newly minted meme queen Dern campaigned for an Oscar so foreordained that her promotional obligations could double as a victory lap, an opportunity for commentators to show appreciation for an actor everyone, paradoxically, agreed was criminally underrated. Its true enough that Derns star persona is less fixed than that of other actors of her stature shes not an acteur like Meryl Streep, a plucky upstart like Reese Witherspoon, a jaguar like Michelle Pfeiffer or an MMA girlboss like Charlize Theron. In reckoning with a career that has often zigged where Hollywood GPS would indicate a zag, many stans fix on her first starring role: 1985s sensitive and daring Smooth Talk, as 15-year-old Connie, who discovers the ecstasies and terrors of adult sexuality. Now, following a restoration that was the revelation of last falls New York Film Festival (and a virtual-cinema run that continues up to this writing), Smooth Talk enters the Criterion Collection on February 23. Its a fitting, overdue canonization for a film directed by Joyce Chopra with remarkable perceptiveness, and featuring a fully formed star turn from Dern, a multilayered performance that offers some clues as to the kind of performer she would become and remains, to this day. Smooth Talk opens with Connie on the beach with her friends, waking up from a nap. Everything that follows is a teenage dream. Hitching a ride back to town, Connie throws out a thumb and juts out a hip, playing at being a sex kitten and almost immediately catches a lift from a sleaze in a pickup truck. Its the movie in miniature: Connie is exhilarated to discover that she can attract male attention for real, then frozen by its consequences. At home, at a farmhouse beyond the suburbs which her mother (Mary Kay Place) is constantly repainting, Connie is out of place: vain and careless, in puppy love with her own beauty, swanning around in a short pink robe or painting her toenails with an almost religious concentration. Coming home one night, she looks through the window at her parents and older sister playing cards, like a prowler intruding on their contentment. Connie and her mom fight constantly; Dern struggles guiltily to make eye contact with Place during a ropes-end harangue, one of many, about her trashy daydreams. Connie and her friends go shopping, accessorizing and applying makeup only once the parent who dropped them off is gone. Shot in Sonoma County, California, Smooth Talks mall-madness scenes are more naturalistic, the styles a little dustier, than in the 80s teen films made in the southern half of the state. Chopra draws out hilariously tender behavioral details from the fragile teen egos posing in the food-court panopticon, most of all from Dern, with her big-joke ogling of guys with nice buns, performative brazen gagging at gross guys, and nervous lip-biting that cute guys mistake for flirting. Across the highway from the mall is the roadhouse, where older kids hang out, kids old enough to have their own wheels, and at which Connie debuts in a terrifyingly aspirational backless halter top. Compared to the mall, the roadhouse is out of time, with its chrome and neon and parking lot full of hotrods. Its a little like Twin Peaks Bang Bang Bar: as in so much of David Lynchs work, theres a sense here of teenage life fuzzily arrested in the roadside-Americana 60s. Images in Smooth Talk have a luminous potency: a blue J.C. Penney sign glowing retrofuturistically above an empty parking lot, or the city spread out below the Lovers Lane where a boy takes Connie to park. Derns face registers Connies excitement at the world widening out before her, and her barely articulated disappointment when it narrows back down to a sloppy smooch. At the roadhouse, Chopra shifts her point of view away from Connie for one of the only times in the film. As a nervous Connie heads to the jukebox for something to do, a little musical courage, Chopra cutting to a shot from the parking lot. Behind the windows of the roadhouse, Connie dances across the frame, shaking the fear out of her long limbs, tossing her hair, before, jarringly, an older guy a real older guy, played by Treat Williams comes into the frame, watching her. Its possible to see Connie as he sees her, as a girl putting on a show for an unknown male audience. Smooth Talk is based on Joyce Carol Oatess 1966 short story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Dedicated to Bob Dylan, and originally titled Death and the Maiden, Oatess story is a parable about heedless teenage hedonism and the hard edges of sex and violence at the end of the open road. Oates was inspired by a Life magazine story about the Pied Piper of Tucson, a 23-year-old dropout who hung out with the kids on Speedway Boulevard, dying his hair and wearing makeup in a kind of teenage drag, throwing beer parties and eventually committing multiple murders with willing adolescent accomplices. Oates who in later years would misremember some details about the Life story focuses on a normal shallow teenager living a normal shallow teenage life, until one day when her family is out and an older stranger drives up to her house and asks her to take a ride with him. (When we read Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? in ninth-grade English, my teacher assigned it alongside Emily Dickinson: Because I could not stop for Death/He kindly stopped for me/The Carriage held but just Ourselves/And Immortality. Around this time, I also discovered Halloween, by the Dream Syndicate: He says, Lets go for a ride, and he/says it all the time/You know youve got a lot to live for/and youre gonna be mine. Deftly scripted by Chopras husband Tom Cole, Smooth Talk elaborates on the bones of Oatess story for its first hour before its final sequence, a remarkable 30-minute dialogue the entire third act of the film between Dern and Williams, as the man with the convertible, Arnold Friend. (And thats what I want to be to you: A. Friend.) Williams plays it corny at first, drawing out Connies mean-girl brashness and making her feel complicit when things turn sinister. Like a vampire, he wont come inside unless hes asked, but theres a only a screen door between them. Oatess story is a feverish transcription of the Life story, with details lifted in a half-remembered hormonal rush. Connie observes that beneath his greasers jeans, Arnold Friend stumbles in his boots: One of them sticks out at a crazy angle, they must have been stuffed with something so that he would seem taller. In fact the Pied Piper of Tucson did do this, with rags and crushed cans, but theres no reason this needs to be in the story, and so Arnolds wobble hangs there inexplicably, like a glitch in the simulation. The teenage uncanny, a nostalgia so familiar it seems false, a facsimile, is pure David Lynch, who must surely! have seen Smooth Talk before casting Dern the following year in his own sunny-sinister coming-of-age story, Blue Velvet. The way Chopra adjusts her camera angles during the final scene, so that the staircase in Connies front hall begins to loom over her, is frightening its a gradual vertigo of realization, of a secret second layer in the domestic space. Again, one detects a forebear for Lynch, this time presaging the recurrent low-angle shots of the staircase in the Palmer house in Twin Peaks, another story of dark menace behind a familiar facade, and of a teenage girls double life of innocence and experience. Duality is everything to Lynch, whose narratives are frequently split in half by a traumatic event as in Lost Highway, or Mulholland Dr. And so too, sometimes, are the characters Dern plays for him: the poor, brittle, emptied-out Diane in Twin Peaks: The Return, the woman in trouble splintered across the ominous Hollywood labyrinth of Inland Empire. Interviewing Dern in 1990, Gary Indiana commented on the paradox of her healthy-looking, sunny beauty and the almost supernatural energy channeled through it her supreme gift for edgy, multi-textured roles. She has charted the territory where innocence and dark reality meet and mutate into unpredictable forms of life, he wrote. Derns characters are never simple. They contain lurking contradictions, mixed feelings, the jumble of motives and impulses present in every person. One way to square this circle is to simply say that Laura Dern the person is kinda New Age-y. (As an emancipated teenager starting out in Hollywood, she was roommates with Marianne Williamson.) But Dern has been an ideal actress for Lynch, one perfectly at home in his flickering-light borderlands. Dern throughout her career, beginning in Smooth Talk, has a distinctive way of crying. She looks up when she cries, and makes this very particular gaping-mouth grimace; you can feel the heaviness of the sob in her throat, and her chin thrusts forward and her eyes turn skyward, imploringly. The upturned gaze makes her look beatific, as if experiencing a moment of spiritual anguish. Its the cry-face she makes in Blue Velvet; in Lynchs Wild at Heart, when she plays another lusty kid in an open car. And Arnold Friend, for his part, is the precursor to Wild at Hearts Bobby Peru, who likewise threatens a tremor of consent out of Derns Lula without laying a hand on her. And the scared, secret way Dern whispers to Williams through the screen door Youre not saying this made me think of Bettys second audition in Mulholland Dr., that sultry, murmured I hate us both. Smooth Talks structural asymmetry within an ostensibly solid genre foundation foretells Lynchs own double-jointed narratives, just as the vibrations of its happy ending recall Blue Velvets. Once you start looking for Lynch in Smooth Talk, you see him everywhere or, really, in everything Dern does. The post Laura Derns Rise to Lynchian Musedom Began With 1985s Smooth Talk appeared first on InsideHook. Next month, more than 200 dogs, many of which have been saved from slaughterhouses and the meat trade in China, will arrive in the US. According to a press release from China Rescue Dogs, from March 3 to 5, 145 newly rescued dogs will arrive at John F. Kennedy International Airport on three cargo planes. Based on donations, a further 60 are set to arrive at the end of March. The release reports stated that the dogs were rescued Just before Chinese New Year. Many have been saved from meat trucks, slaughterhouses and rescued from abuse, cruelty, and negligence. According to the release, they have been stuck in China until the New Year festivities come to an end. Jill Stewart, President and Founder of China Rescue Dogs said in the announcement that what was once the end of their lives is now a new beginning for these adorable puppies. They have all been quarantined, micro-chipped, and all required vaccines have been issued. Now, it is time for them to be safe and content with their new families for the remainder of their lives. The global mission of China Rescue Dogs is to rescue and rehabilitate dogs from China and have caring homes in North America. To offset the cost of rescuing the remaining 60 dogs, China Rescue Dogs seeks to collect $30,000. The company depends on volunteers and grants. 'Funding is critical,' Stewart said. "We never say no to any dog-mixed species, illegal breeds, dogs, and seniors with disabilities. We're going to save both of them. Sadly, we will not do that without the continued support of the public. What makes the initiative tough, she said, is the number of states that dogs are shipped to by the organization. "From the east coast to the west coast, we have families forever waiting for the arrival of their new babies," she said. "It is worth the effort to deliver these babies to their new homes, but it is still costly." Related Article: Study: Dog Attitude Reflects Owner's Personality, But Here's the Catch China Rescue Dogs China Rescue Dogs' mission is to rescue and rehabilitate dogs from China's meat trade and provide them with caring homes in the United States and Canada. Working in China with trusted rescues and shelters, they first evacuate the dogs from immediate injury, treat badly abused and abandoned physical and psychological disabilities, and socialize the dogs so that they can be adopted into caring family settings. Then, in conjunction with other rescues in the United States and Canada. Acting with trusted rescues and shelters in China, they first evacuate the dogs from immediate harm, manage physical and psychological problems that are severely neglected and abandoned, and socialize the dogs so they can be accepted into loving family environments. In tandem with other rescues in the United States, then. Animal Adoption Adopting animals from your local animal shelters is also important. These shelters work hard to save animals from unsafe conditions, offer veterinary services for vaccination and spaying/neutering, and many go beyond and beyond to also support wild animals around us. Plus, you free up more room for them by saving animals from shelters to help save more animals in need. ALSO READ: Treating Pets with Separation Anxiety: What to do to Keep Your Pets Feel Emotionally Safe For the most recent updates from the animal kingdom, don't forget to follow Nature World News! NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 22, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors of pending deadlines in the following securities class action lawsuits: SolarWinds Corporation (SWI) Class Period: 10/18/2018 - 12/17/2020 Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: March 5, 2021 SECURITIES FRAUD To learn more, visit https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/view-solarwinds-corporation-securities-litigation QuantumScape Corporation (QS) Class Period: 11/27/2020 - 12/31/2020 Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: March 8, 2021 SECURITIES FRAUD To learn more, visit https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/view-quantumscape-corporation-securities-litigation Penumbra, Inc. (PEN) Class Period: 8/3/2020 - 12/15/2020 Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: March 16, 2021 SECURITIES FRAUD To learn more, visit https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/view-penumbra-inc-securities-litigation If you purchased shares of the above companies and would like to discuss your legal rights and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact us toll-free (844) 367-9658 or visit the case links above. If you wish to serve as a Lead Plaintiff in the class action, you must petition the Court on or before the Lead Plaintiff Motion deadline. About ClaimsFiler ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. At ClaimsFiler.com, investors can: (1) register for free to gain access to information and settlement websites for various securities class action cases so they can timely submit their own claims; (2) upload their portfolio transactional data to be notified about relevant securities cases in which they may have a financial interest; and (3) submit inquiries to the Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC law firm for free case evaluations. To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the most influential leader in Turkey since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Michael Rubin wrote in his National Interest article. "While Ataturk sought to tie Turkey to the West, Erdogan has worked to reorient Turkey instead to the Islamic world. He built a palace, fifty-eight-times the size of the White House, where he lives like a Sultan. Indeed, that may his goal as he increasingly promotes his own family over party. Erdogan demands respect. He surrounds himself with courtiers who praise him constantly and imprisons those whose criticize him. While Erdogan sees himself as larger than life, the true measure of how Turks view him will become apparently only after his death. Erdogans demise is a topic about which Turks increasingly speculate. On February 24, Erdogan will turn sixty-seven. He has had multiple health scares. In 2006, he passed out in a locked, armored car causing panic among his desperate bodyguards. A decade ago, Erdogan underwent surgery for colon cancer. In 2017, he fainted while praying at a mosque. He is also allegedly an epileptic. Nor can Erdogan be certain about a peaceful death. Every democrat awakes knowing when his term in office expires; dictators awake recognizing on some level that any day could be their last. Erdogan may get his state funeral, but he also may live out his final days in exile. How might Turks honor Erdogan after his death? Turkey often treats its leader with more respect after they die than when they were alive. Turkey has long been politically polarized. Over the decades, party gangs have done battle on the streets as their leaders sometimes came to blows in the parliament, but partisan animosity toward leaders fade with time. The most respected figure in Turkey remains Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who founded the modern republic almost a century ago. His mausoleum, the Antkabir, towers above a leafy neighborhood in central Ankara. Prior to Ankaras explosive growth, residents across the hilly city could, like a modern acropolis, see it. Tourists, school groups, diplomats, and visiting military delegations continue to visit it and the same-complex tomb of Ataturk successor Ismet Inonu on an almost daily basis. Ataturks shrine might be the largest, but he is not the only Turkish leader honored with a mausoleum. In 1960, the military ousted Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, who led Turkey through the 1950s, and executed him the following year. While they initially buried him in a small plot within the shadow of Imral, Turkeys highest-security prison, Turkish authorities ultimately rehabilitated him and constructed a mausoleum in Istanbul where he now rests. Menderes colleague Celal Bayar, president at the time of the 1960 coup and sentenced to life imprisonment by the same court that condemned Menderes, served only three years, and died in 1986 at age 103. The Turkish government honored him with a museum and mausoleum in Bursa. One of modern Turkeys most famous statesmen was Suleyman Demirel, who rose to power in 1965, ruled Turkey for the next six years, and returning to power three subsequent times against the backdrop of political instability over the next decade, and then once more in the early 1990s as head of the True Path Party. Widely respected, he became president of Turkey in 1993 and led in that capacity into the new millennium. When Demirel died at ninety years old, he was buried in Atabey, the town of his birth where the Turkish government subsequently constructed a mausoleum. Nor was he alone. Turgut Ozal, whose center-right Motherland Party dominated Turkish politics for a decade after the return to civilian rule in 1983, was laid to rest (twice) with honors at a mausoleum near Topkap Palace in central Istanbul. Erdogan revels in the image of a pious Muslim but, behind closed doors, eschews the ascetic life. Whereas Erbakan requested a simple funeral, if Erdogans 1,000-room residence is any indication, he will expect far more. Vengeance might also sully Erdogans desire for post-mortem honor. Erdogan is Turkeys most hated man. The hundreds of thousands who he has fired, imprisoned, or revoked pensions from will not soon forgive him. Erdogans tenure as prime minister and president have shown Turks and the world that he is a fragile, thin-skinned, venal man, more content to crush dissent than win a policy debate on its merits. Over the course of his career, he has not only antagonized many Turks, but he has also made himself persona non grata among regional states and Turkeys traditional allies. He may believe his legacy will be as a second Ataturk, but visitors may be sparse. After all, it is difficult for Turkish students to easily visit shrines in Azerbaijan, Qatar, or Somalia," Rubin wrote. A nightclub bouncer has been jailed for repeatedly assaulting a drunken customer during a fracas in which another doorman was glassed. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Galin Genov (54) continued to be employed as security up to last March despite another conviction in 2018 for an assault in September 2015. Two months after that assault Genov punched Sean McEvoy when he thought the victim had pushed another member of the nightclub security after a third doorman had been glassed. The doormen were escorting Mr McEvoy and others from the premises at the end of the night when another man, not Mr McEvoy, smashed a glass to the back of one man's head. During the chaos that followed doormen were focused on the assailant and Mr McEvoy stood back out of the way, the court heard. As the second doorman came to help out his colleagues he lost his footing and fell into the back of the defendant. Cathal O'Braonain BL, defending, told the court that his client then turned around and saw Mr McEvoy with his hands outstretched and concluded that he had pushed his colleague to the ground, He reacted by punching Mr McEvoy and made a significant error of judgement, counsel said. The victim sustained a chipped tooth, soft tissue damage to the face and cuts over his eye. He received 30,000 in a civil claim against the nightclub, the court heard. Genov with an address at the Russell Court Hotel, Harcourt Street, Dublin 2 pleaded guilty to assault causing harm at Dicey Reillys bar, Harcourt Street, on November 29, 2015. The court heard that he has not come to any garda attention since this incident. In 2018 he was convicted in Dublin District Court for an assault committed in September 2015 and also in the course of his duties, the court heard. Judge Elma Sheahan said she acknowledged the difficult job doormen had in dealing with inebriated people late at night. She said she accepted that defence submissions that the injured party was mouthing off at Genov a little before the assault are consistent with the CCTV played in court. However it is the role of the defendant and his training to deal with such situations in a non-aggressive manner and to de-escalate situations such as these, she said. She noted Genov had succeeding in getting Mr McEvoy to the exit of the premises without reacting to the verbal aggro. She said when a third party attacked another bouncer, Genov believed the victim had contributed to this and punched the victim three times to the head and face. She noted Genov is a tall strong individual and the assault had some ferocity. She said that at the time of this assault the defendant had been involved in a separate assault during the course of his work and this was an aggravating factor. While he had not being convicted of that assault he was on notice of his behaviour and a need to deal with it in advance of the latter assault. Mr O'Braonain told the court that Genov continued to work in security with the same employer up until the Covid-19 lockdown began last March. Judge Sheahan said his plea of guilty, his record of contributing to society with a good work history and testimonials from his employer were mitigating factors to be taken into consideration. She suspended the final eight months of a prison term of 20 months on condition he be of good behaviour for the full term. Additional Evidence Counsel submitted to the court that his client was placed in a very difficult position on the night and had just witnessed his colleague get glassed from behind from a member of the group Mr McEvoy was in. Garda Niall Cunningham agreed with counsel that his client's job is a difficult one which can involve having to make decisions in heated situations. Mr O'Braonain said that over the course of a decade in the job his client had experienced a similar incident every two months and more minor incidents on a weekly basis. Judge Sheahan said that it was an aggravating factor that the assault was carried out in the course of Genov's work, which was to ensure safety of people attending. She noted that this was a repeated assault and wasnt just one punch in response to what Genov perceived to be circumstances at the time He is trained to show restraint, she said, noting the gross disparity between his sober position and the position of the victim who was under the influence of alcohol at the time. Borsa Italiana non ha responsabilita per il contenuto del sito a cui sta per accedere e non ha responsabilita per le informazioni contenute. Accedendo a questo link, Borsa Italiana non intende sollecitare acquisti o offerte in alcun paese da parte di nessuno. Sarai automaticamente diretto al link in cinque secondi. The on Tuesday signed an agreement with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for borrowing $304 million (over Rs 2,200 crore) to improve power transmission network in According to an official release here, the fund will be utilised for the ' Intra-State Transmission System Enhancement Project', aiming to improve reliability, capacity and security of the power transmission network in the state. The total estimated cost of the project is $365 million, of which $304 million will be financed by the and rest by the state government, it said. "The loan from the has a five-year grace period and a maturity of 24 years," the release said. The project aims to strengthen Assam's electricity transmission system by constructing 10 transmission substations, laying transmission lines, upgrading 15 existing substations, transmission lines and the existing ground wire to optical power ground wire. "The programme will strengthen the existing intrastate transmission network of by augmenting it with newer networks to achieve affordable, secure, efficient and reliable 247 power. This will, in turn, bring the state closer to ensuring long-term sustainability of its electricity supply," it added. The northeastern state is currently witnessing energy deficit, specially in peak hours, and one of the main reasons for this is congestion of electricity distribution and transmission networks. The Assam Electricity Grid Corporation Ltd (AEGCL), the sole transmission utility in Assam, is responsible for operation, maintenance and development of the transmission system in the state. AEGCL currently operates 66 substations with 6,882 megavolt-ampere capacity and its transmission network comprises 5,701 circuit kilometers of transmission lines. The is a multilateral development bank with a mission to improve social and economic outcomes in Asia. It began operations in January 2016. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) [February 23, 2021] Charles Schwab Establishes Endowed Scholarships to Support Students From Underrepresented Communities The Charles Schwab Corporation announced a slate of universities it will partner with to help increase the pipeline of diverse talent into the financial services industry, as part of a $3.5 million endowed scholarship program that will provide financial assistance and career opportunities to students from underrepresented communities. The firm made the commitment to the endowment - funded through Charles Schwab Foundation - last summer. "We believe programs like our scholarship endowment can have a meaningful impact in people's lives by creating educational opportunities, which can help break down barriers and open new possibilities," said Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, president of Charles Schwab Foundation and senior vice president of Charles Schwab & Co. "Schwab was founded on the belief that our industry should be more inclusive. By providing encouragement and support to underrepresented students to consider careers in financial services, we can strengthen both our company and industry." A Pathway to Careers in Finance Underrepresented students at seven partner universities across the United States are eligible to apply for approximately $10,000 a year in scholarship funds. In addition to the two-year scholarship, recipients will be invited to apply for and participate in an internship at Schwab, which could help inspire a future career in finance. Participating schools include: Arizona State University Purdue University (News - Alert) Temple University Texas Tech University The University of Akron University of Arizona Virginia Tech In addition to the direct benefits to the scholarship recipients, the program will also assist these universities in enhancing their student diversity for the benefit of the entire student body. Mentorship and Lasting Impact In addition to financial support, the program will make voluntary mentorship and professional development opportunities available to help prepare the scholarship recipients for a successful career in financial services. "In working closely with universities near our employment centers, we believe we can help open new possibilities through financial assistance, mentorship, professional development, and industry experience," said Schwab-Pomerantz. This endowment complements other scholarship programs for underrepresented communities, funded through Charles Schwab Foundation, including: A $500,000 contribution to fund scholarships at three Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs): Bethune-Cookman University, North Carolina Agriculture and Technical State University, and Prairie View A&M University. The RIA Talent Advantage Scholarship Program through Schwab Advisor Services, which aims to raise awareness of the independent investment advisory profession and provides $10,000 scholarships to twelve students, reserving half for students from underrepresented groups. Schwab's scholarship programs are part of the firm's ongoing efforts to develop and attract diverse talent by recruiting from underrepresented communities, including women, people of color, people with disabilities, and people with military backgrounds. More information about Schwab's commitment to diversity is available on the firm's Diversity & Inclusion website. About the Participating Universities: Arizona State University Purdue University Temple University Texas Tech University The University of Akron University of Arizona Virginia Tech About Charles Schwab At Charles Schwab we believe in the power of investing to help individuals create a better tomorrow. We have a history of challenging the status quo in our industry, innovating in ways that benefit investors and the advisors and employers who serve them, and championing our clients' goals with passion and integrity. More information is available at www.aboutschwab.com. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. About Charles Schwab Foundation Charles Schwab Foundation is an independent nonprofit public benefit corporation, funded by The Charles Schwab Corporation and classified by the IRS as a charity under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Foundation is neither a part of Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC) nor its parent company, The Charles Schwab Corporation. Its mission is to educate, volunteer and advocate on behalf of those in need so that everyone has the opportunity to achieve financial well-being. More information is available at https://www.aboutschwab.com/citizenship. About The Charles Schwab Corporation The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW) is a leading provider of financial services, with 29.6 million active brokerage accounts, 2.1 million corporate retirement plan participants, 1.5 million banking accounts, and approximately $6.69 trillion in client assets. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides a full range of wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services to individual investors and independent investment advisors. Its broker-dealer subsidiaries, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., TD Ameritrade, Inc., and TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc., (members SIPC, https://www.sipc.org), and their affiliates offer a complete range of investment services and products including an extensive selection of mutual funds; financial planning and investment advice; retirement plan and equity compensation plan services; referrals to independent, fee-based investment advisors; and custodial, operational and trading support for independent, fee-based investment advisors through Schwab Advisor Services. Its primary banking subsidiary, Charles Schwab Bank, SSB (member FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender), provides banking and lending services and products. More information is available at https://www.aboutschwab.com. TD Ameritrade, Inc. and TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc. are separate but affiliated companies and subsidiaries of TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation. TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Charles Schwab Corporation. TD Ameritrade is a trademark jointly owned by TD Ameritrade IP Company, Inc. and The Toronto-Dominion Bank. 0221-1KNM View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005325/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Mumbai: Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Tuesday (February 23, 2021) said that the sale of Patanjali's Coronil tablets won't be allowed in the state without proper certification. Anil Deshmukh took to his official Twitter account to announce the news. He said, "The IMA has questioned the said 'clinical trials' of Coronil & WHO refuted the false claims made by Patanjali Ayurveda for giving any certificate regarding its effectiveness for COVID-19 treatment." He added, "Launching such a drug hurriedly and being endorsed by two senior Central Union Ministers is highly deplorable. Selling of Coronil without proper certification from competent health organizations like WHO, IMA and others will not be allowed in Maharashtra." Launching such a drug hurriedly and being endorsed by two senior Central Union Ministers is highly deplorable. Selling of #Coronil without proper certification from competent health organizations like #WHO, #IMA and others will not be allowed in Maharashtra. (2/2) ANIL DESHMUKH (@AnilDeshmukhNCP) February 23, 2021 Earlier on Monday, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) had expressed shock over the 'blatant lie of WHO certification' for Patanjali's Coronil tablet. The IMA also demanded an explanation from Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan in whose presence the medicine was launched. The IMA said, "Being Health Minister of the country, how justified is it to release such falsely fabricated unscientific product to people of the whole country. Can you clarify the time frame, time line for the so-called clinical trial of this said anti-corona product?" "The country needs an explanation from the minister. The Indian Medical Association will also write to National Medical Commission for seeking suo moto explanation for his blatant disrespect to the code of conduct of Medical Council of India," the IMA added. "Indian Medical Association is shocked to note the blatant lie of WHO certification," the IMA's official statement read. This came after the World Health Organization clarified that it has not reviewed or certified the effectiveness of any traditional medicine for the treatment of COVID-19. On February 19, Yoga guru Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved had said that the Coronil tablet had received certification from the Ayush Ministry as a medicine supporting COVID-19 treatment as per the WHO's certification scheme. However, hours later, Patanjali's managing director Acharya Balkrishna made a clarification about the certification and said, "We want to clarify to avoid confusion that our WHO GMP compliant COPP certificate to Coronil is issued by DCGI, Government of India." He added, "It is clear that WHO do not approve or disapprove any drugs. WHO works for building a better, healthier future for people all over the world (sic)." We want to clarify to avoid confusion that our WHO GMP compliant COPP certificate to Coronil is issued by DCGI, Government of India. It is clear that WHO do not approve or disapprove any drugs. WHO works for building a better, healthier future for people all over the world. pic.twitter.com/ZEDPdWy0tg Acharya Balkrishna (@Ach_Balkrishna) February 19, 2021 On the same day, the WHO South-East Asia also commented on the same and said, "WHO has not reviewed or certified the effectiveness of any traditional medicine for the treatment COVID-19." .@WHO has not reviewed or certified the effectiveness of any traditional medicine for the treatment #COVID19. WHO South-East Asia (@WHOSEARO) February 19, 2021 This is to be noted that Patanjali had introduced Ayurveda-based Coronil in June 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic was at its peak. Live TV Page Content Good afternoon everyone, Protocol having been established. As Minister of Education, Culture, Youth & Sport, I would hereby like to thank The Foundation Community Aid Sentry Hill, Mag Tech BV, TelEM Group, and First Response for your initiative to restore the statues on the 3 roundabouts as a contribution in support of Sint Maartens Culture and Heritage. In particular, as Minister I thank you for the restoration of the Lokay, Peridot Foundation/Domestic Violence and the Salt Pickers statues. Our statues, portraying a significant role in displaying not only our countrys heritage, but also the strength, defiance, and courage of our women especially during the enslavement period. With the understanding that the foundation, which strives on providing financial aid to various organizations on the island, I have to acknowledge their contribution to not only this project, but also their contribution to education and youth related projects. I hope that by restoring these statues, which display our heritage and oral history, and by continuing to display them to the public, this can further solidify the importance of Culture and the Creative Industry to our brand that is Sint Maarten. I hope that this would also increase the awareness and understanding of the importance of public-private partnerships and that more can be done in the future to help restore and maintain not only our statues but also our existing tangible and intangible heritage. Thank you once again to The Foundation Community Aid Sentry Hill, I applaud you and encourage you to continue with your efforts to preserve the Culture and Heritage of Sint Maarten. Thank you! A solid group of trotters squared off in the Monday evening feature at Woodbine Mohawk Park, and OBrien Award winner Perfetto started off his 2021 campaign with a winning effort. Voted the nations Older Trotting Horse of the Year after manufacturing a 7-3-3 record from 25 starts and banking over $150,000, Perfetto secured a 1:55.4 victory in his first start off the bench for trainer/driver Dagfin Henriksen. P L Jill shot to the early lead and had the field chasing her through first half-fractions of :27.4 and :57.2. Race favourite Its Academic popped out of the pocket to go after the leader at the mid-way point of the final turn, and they were stride for stride past the three-quarter pole in 1:26.3. Perfetto, who got away sixth and swung to the outside on the way to the half, was spotted second over as the field turned for home. Its Academic appeared to be on his way to the win, but he switched to the pace in the late stages of the mile. Despite crossing the line first, he was later set back to seventh for a violation of the breaking rule. Perfetto, who fell short by a neck, was placed first as a result of the disqualification. P L Jill was third-placed-second and Memo was fourth-placed-third. Time for the mile in the $28,000 conditioned event was 1:55.4. Sent off as the third choice in the wagering, Perfetto won for the 17th time in his career for owner Gerald Haggerty of Camden East, Ont. The lions share of the purse bumped his career bankroll over $400,000. Driver Louis Philippe Roy bumped his career bankroll over $25 million thanks to a second-place finish in Race 3 with trotter Tymal Riggs. The native of Quebec, who now resides in Guelph, ON, has celebrated five consecutive seasons of banking over $1 million in earnings. The multiple OBrien Award winner, who has registered more than 1,600 wins in his career, has quickly become one of Canadas most sought after reinsmen. To view results for Monday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Monday Results Woodbine Mohawk Park. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Government agencies are urged to adopt best practices to promote investment and stimulate Bahrains economic growth even during this time of pandemic. The Cabinet made the call during yesterdays weekly meeting held remotely and chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister. The Cabinet said that agencies will need to adopt effective investment strategies to cushion the impact of the global health crisis and cement the Kingdoms position as the launchpad for the regions interconnected market. It congratulated Kuwait and its people on the occasion of its 60th National Day and 30th Liberation Day. During the session, the Cabinet discussed a number of memorandums. It approved the following memorandums: 1. A memorandum from the Ministerial Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs and Fiscal Balance on initiatives to enhance the efficiency and quality of government service delivery. 2. A memorandum from the Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications on raising the minimum threshold to rent vehicles to 6 years from the date of manufacture instead of the current five years, a onetime measure in order to support car rental companies. 3. A memorandum of the Ministerial Committee for Legal and Legislative Affairs regarding the governments responses to four proposals submitted by the Council of Representatives. The Cabinet also reviewed a memorandum by the Minister of Cabinet Affairs regarding the percentage of completion of projects as part of the Government Action plan (2019-2022), which showed that the overall completion rate for project implementation reached 74% on average. Paris, TX (75460) Today A steady rain this morning. Showers continuing this afternoon. High 78F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. Locally heavier rainfall possible.. Tonight Showers and thundershowers this evening, then cloudy with rain likely overnight. Low around 65F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. Locally heavier rainfall possible. 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. Amazon removes scholar's trans-critical book as Equality Act to be voted on in US House Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Online retailer Amazon has removed scholar Ryan Anderson's book critiquing the transgender movement in its latest move suppressing conservative thought on LGBT issues. Anderson, formerly a scholar at the Heritage Foundation, is the new president of the Ethics & Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. His 2018 book, When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment, explores the meaning of human embodiment and public policy considerations related to transgender issues. He only found out about the removal of his book from the worlds largest retailer after he was told that people were trying to purchase it and that it disappeared. It is not out of stock. Even the pages to purchase used copies have been taken down. It is also not possible to purchase the Kindle or Audible versions of the book on the website. The Christian Post confirmed that the pages are gone. In an email to CP Monday, Anderson said that when his book was released three years ago, it was criticized twice on the New York Times editorial page. He said The Washington Post also ran a hit piece on the book and subsequently rewrote the article to fix all the errors. "It's obvious the critics hadnt read the book," Anderson said. "People who have actually read my book discovered that it was a thoughtful and accessible presentation of the state of the scientific, medical, philosophical and legal debates, Anderson argues. Yes, it advances an argument from a certain viewpoint. No, it didnt get any facts wrong, and it didnt engage in any name-calling. He noted that the book earned praise from prominent medical experts and legal scholars. Yet none of that matters anymore, he continued, nor does it matter how arguments are framed and presented. All that seems to matter, Anderson suggests, is whether one dissents from the new sexual orthodoxy. "Three years after publication, in the very same week that the House of Representatives is going to ram through a radical transgender bill amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Amazon erases my book opposing gender ideology from their cyber shelves, he explained. Make no mistake, both Big Government and Big Tech can undermine human dignity and liberty, human flourishing and the common good." The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote this week on the Equality Act, legislation backed by President Joe Biden that would codify sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes under civil rights law. Anderson told CP that his publisher reached out for an explanation and has not received a response. An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment when asked by CP about Anderson's book but pointed in the direction of Amazon's content guidelines that govern the books the company sells on its website. "We carefully consider the types of content we make available in our stores and review our approach regularly, listening to feedback and investigating concerns from our customers. We reserve the right to remove content from sale if we determine it creates a poor customer experience," the Amazon guidelines state. "Well remove content that does not adhere to these guidelines and promptly investigate any book when notified of potential noncompliance. If we remove a title, we let the author, publisher, or selling partner know and they can appeal our decision." Part of the Amazon.com guidelines includes a section on "offensive content." "We dont sell certain content including content that we determine is hate speech, promotes the abuse or sexual exploitation of children, contains pornography, glorifies rape or pedophilia, advocates terrorism, or other material we deem inappropriate or offensive," the section reads. A 2018 book written in response to Anderson's book is titled Let Harry Become Sally: Responding to the Anti-Transgender Moment is still available for purchase on the site. On Twitter, Anderson stated that the attention that Amazons removal of his book created led to the book selling out at book retailer Barnes & Noble. Anderson also questioned the timing of the removal as he had an op-ed published in The New York Post Monday in which he called the Equality Act "a sword" that will be used "to persecute those who dont embrace newfangled gender ideologies." The book removal is the latest move the retail giant has made regarding LBGT issues, specifically content that scrutinizes transgender ideology. Last summer, Amazon disallowed Regnery Publishing from purchasing ads to promote journalist Abigail Shrier's book, Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters. Shrier's investigative work examines why, for the first time in approximately 100 years of diagnostic history, teen girls have become the predominant demographic of gender dysphoria diagnoses. Until recently, gender dysphoria was an infrequent condition seen mostly in young boys. The book criticizes the lack of medical oversight and documents the myriad medical risks inherent in medicalized gender-transitioning that have yielded irreparable harm to girls as well as young women's bodies and psyches. The retail giant has also removed books where men and women who once lived and identified among the LGBT recounted their stories of transformation in Jesus Christ at the apparent behest of activists. According to Amazon, the books constituted a "violation of our content guidelines." In August of 2019, Anne Paulk, author of Restoring Sexual Identity: Hope for Women Who Struggle with Same-Sex Attraction, told CP she was not surprised that Amazon had banned books like hers. "But it is literally criminal what the site still offers for sale, she said at the time, noting that books are still available for purchase that normalize adult-child sex. Among the books that remain available on the platform is an academic work titled Pedophilia and Adult-Child Sex: A Philosophical Analysis by Stephen Kershnar, which amounts to a defense of the sexual exploitation of children and calls into question its moral status. How do patients with cystic fibrosis respond to COVID-19? So far, based on clinical data, patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) don't appear to be especially susceptible to COVID-19, and when they do get infected, they don't seem to get sicker. But Ruobing (Ruby) Wang, MD, a physician-scientist in the Division of Pulmonary Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital, cares for patients with CF and thinks there is more to the story. "We know that when patients with CF got H1N1, some got very sick," she says. "The CF community as a whole has been so effective at social distancing that there is a lack of information on how they respond to SARS-CoV-2." Based on the experience with H1N1 and other infections, Wang suspects that patients with CF may have different susceptibility, a dysregulated immune response to COVID-19, or both. Under a grant from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, she is putting the question directly to the test. Using patients' blood cells, stem cell technology, and gene-editing technology, Wang and her colleagues at Boston University have engineered an airway lining that reproduces CF in a dish, and are testing what happens when they expose it to SARS-CoV-2. For comparison, they are also testing the virus in a companion model, in which the CF defect has been genetically corrected through CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing. "We did this to create a clean experiment," explains Wang. "We corrected the CF mutation, but otherwise, the cells come from the same patient with the same genetic background, to ensure that any observed difference in response to the virus is due to the CF defect." Building a CF airway Wang's team built on an airway model developed last year by her collaborators, including Darrell Kotton, MD, and Finn Hawkins, MB, BCh, in BU's Center for Regenerative Medicine. Created from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) made from blood cells, the model contains all the major airway cell types, including stem-like airway basal cells, ciliated cells, and secretory cells. For the new model, Wang generated the airways using stem cells derived from some of her own patients with CF. In experiments, the model reproduced the defect in ion transport that is the hallmark of CF. But when her team corrected the CFTR gene in the stem cells -- with the help of Thorsten Schlaeger, PhD, and George Daley, MD, PhD, in Boston Children's Stem Cell Program -- the airway cells made from the corrected cells were free of the defect. "This provided us with a perfectly matched set of control samples to investigate the role of CFTR in health and disease, including in response to COVID-19 infection," says Wang. A coronavirus challenge As the next step, Wang's team, together with Hawkins and Kotton, has begun exposing its CF airway model to live SARS-CoV-2. For safety purposes, this work is being conducted at the National Emerging Infectious Disease Laboratories (NEIDL) at the BU School of Medicine, with Elke Mulberger, PhD, Mohsan Saeed, PhD, and other researchers at NEIDL's Biosafety Level 3 facility. "To our knowledge, this is the first time an airway derived from iPS cells is being used to model the effects of SARS-CoV-2," notes Wang. Thus far, the researchers have shown that the cells in the model CF airway can be infected by SARS-CoV-2 and can be potentially used to assess antiviral drug responses. They believe this airway-in-a-dish could be a stand-in for modeling the effects of SARS-CoV-2 in patients with CF and testing a patient's personalized response to antiviral treatments. In future research, Wang hopes to compare responses to the virus -- and drugs used to treat it -- in model CF airways versus genetically corrected, "non-CF" airways. "Information from these studies may generate useful insights to guide therapy for CF patients during the COVID-19 pandemic," Wang says. Down the road, the platform could also be used to test the airway effects of other viruses, toxins, or diseases. "I'd love to see how an asthmatic airway responds to the coronavirus too," she says. ### About Boston Children's Hospital Boston Children's Hospital is ranked the #1 children's hospital in the nation by U.S. News & World Report and is the primary pediatric teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Home to the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, its discoveries have benefited both children and adults since 1869. Today, 3,000 researchers and scientific staff, including 8 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 21 members of the National Academy of Medicine and 12 Howard Hughes Medical Investigators comprise Boston Children's research community. Founded as a 20-bed hospital for children, Boston Children's is now a 415-bed comprehensive center for pediatric and adolescent health care. For more, visit our Discoveries blog and follow us on social media @BostonChildrens, @BCH_Innovation, Facebook and YouTube. This story has been published on: 2021-02-22. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic forced a wave of cancellations for some of Santa Fes most iconic events. Spanish Market, Indian Market, International Folk Art Market and Santa Fe Opera all had to cancel events in 2020 and hope conditions would improve this year. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ And while coronavirus remains a prevalent danger, theres optimism the events could return in 2021. Organizers told the Journal they have been working with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams office and the Economic Recovery Council to find a way for outdoor events to safely operate, which could include possible amendments to the existing public health order. Some say an easing of restrictions could arrive next month. Economic Recovery Council Chairwoman Christina Campos said the group is in the process of creating recommendations for the governors office that would allow outdoor events to take place in some capacity. Recommendations would cover such events as festivals, concerts and live sporting events, among others. What we want to do is be able to provide hope to a lot of these businesses that have been closed for a long time, Campos said. Like several parts of New Mexico, Santa Fe County is currently in the yellow designation of the states county-by-county reopening system, which means less harsh restrictions. That includes some indoor dining, increased hotel occupancy and gatherings of up to 10 people. However, many agree gathering limits would need to be amended for outdoor events to happen an advancement to the green level would still allow gatherings of only 20 people. Stuart Ashman, CEO for the International Folk Art Market, said his organization has been discussing possibilities with the council because he thinks the current order does not address outdoor events. There is no real category for outdoor events, Ashman said. There is a category for retail, and retail is allowed 25% of capacity. If you put us in that category, we would have to be able to have more people. The Folk Art Market, currently scheduled for July, is planning an alternative version to make it safer for attendees. Ashman said the market would be held from Wednesday to Sunday for two consecutive weeks, with attendees buying tickets for 90 minutes so organizers could control the number of people entering. The number of artists would also be limited. He said the organization would need an answer by the end of March to decide what format the market could take. If in-person attendance is not an option, an online festival is possible. Were still hopeful that well be able to carry out some kind of an in-person market, Ashman said. Kimberly Peone, executive director for the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts, said her organization saw an 85% decline in revenues last year due in large part to the Indian Markets cancellation. The groups board has made no decision thus far regarding the event. Campos and Allan Affeldt, a hotelier who also serves on the Recovery Council, said theyre hoping for some sort of announcement on outdoor events within the next month. Were actually quite optimistic that there will be some loosening in the next public health order, Affeldt said. It all depends on the gating criteria. Any amendments to the public health order will have to come from Lujan Grishams office. In a written statement, spokesperson Nora Meyers Sackett gave no hint of any specific changes and encouraged New Mexicans to remain vigilant as the pandemic continues. Certainly, we are working to plan for the future, but were not there yet, she wrote of changes to the health order. We are still in a pandemic acting too quickly risks ruining the hard work New Mexicans have done to slow the spread of the virus. Tourism in Santa Fe has seen a recent uptick after Lujan Grisham lifted the 14-day quarantine requirement for those coming into New Mexico from other states. Rik Blyth, general manager of La Fonda Hotel, said reservations spiked in the days following the announcement. We had picked up 25 new reservations just for Valentines weekend, Blyth said. The quarantine was more of a mental roadblock because it really wasnt enforced effectively. City Tourism Director Randy Randall had been concerned early 2021 would still be slow for the industry, but he said the lifting of the quarantine has left him more optimistic. He expects the industry to regain 60% of pre-COVID levels in 2021. The big question for us is the summer season, he said. If we lose another summer, its gonna be pretty drastic. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 20:06:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HONG KONG, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The COVID-19 pandemic continued to spread in Asia-Pacific countries as India's tally reached 11,016,434 on Tuesday while Indonesia reported 9,775 new cases. India's COVID-19 tally rose to 11,016,434 as 10,584 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, said the latest data from the federal health ministry. According to the official data, the death toll mounted to 156,463 with 78 new deaths. There are 147,306 active cases in the country, while 10,712,665 people have been discharged from hospitals after medical treatment. The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 9,775 within one day to 1,298,608, with the death toll adding by 323 to 35,014, the health ministry said. According to the ministry, 7,996 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 1,104,990. Malaysia's health ministry reported 2,468 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Southeast Asian country, bringing its total tally to 288,229. Another 14 deaths were recorded, bringing the country's COVID-19 death toll to 1,076. An additional 4,055 patients were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recoveries from the coronavirus epidemic in Malaysia to 256,678, or 89.1 percent of all cases. Of the existing 30,475 active cases, 196 are being held in intensive care units and 92 of those in need of assisted breathing. The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines reported 1,414 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 564,865. The death toll climbed to 12,107 after 16 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said, adding that 72 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 522,941. South Korea reported 357 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Monday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 87,681. The daily caseload was up from 332 in the previous day, but it stayed below 400 for two straight days. Eleven more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 1,573. The total fatality rate stood at 1.79 percent. Thailand recorded 95 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, marking the fourth consecutive day with the number of daily cases below 100, according to its Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA). Thailand has so far reported 25,599 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 22,885 of which were domestic cases. So far, 24,446 patients have fully recovered from the coronavirus epidemic in the Southeast Asian country. Currently, 1,070 patients are being treated in hospitals, and the COVID-19 death toll stands at 83 in Thailand. Cambodia reported 25 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections in the kingdom to 593, said a Ministry of Health (MoH) statement. Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on Monday ordered the closure of all schools in capital Phnom Penh and southern Kandal province for two weeks in a bid to curb the spread of the virus into schools. The Southeast Asian nation has registered a total of 593 confirmed COVID-19 cases to date, with zero deaths and 475 recoveries, the MoH said. Enditem Kolkata, Feb 23 : Indian Coast Guards vessels have reached a boat carrying 90 Rohingya refugees and three Bangladesh crewmen which drifted into India's territorial waters a day back. Humanitarian groups monitoring the plight of the stranded Rohingya group on high sea said the Indian Coast Guards have given them some food and water, but a full rescue operation has not yet happened. "The last we heard from the Rohingyas was on Monday evening when the one sat-phone in the boat was still working. They reported that the Indian vessels had reached their boat and some food and water has been provided," said Chris Lewa of the Bangkok-based 'Arakan Project'. Lewa, who has long association with the Rohingyas through her humanitarian project to provide relief to the hapless refugees often stranded in hostile host countries or at sea, welcomed the Indian supplies but added: "What the Rohingyas on that boat need most now was medical attention. Many of them are awfully sick, down with dehydration and acute diarohhea, and at least eight of them have died so far." She said they had not yet received any information of a full-fledged rescue mission by the Indian vessels, but said that should happen sooner rather than later. "Or else many Rohingyas will die." The 'Arakan Project' has confirmed the presence of 65 Rohingya women and girls, five children below the age of 2 and 20 men in the boat. "Since the boat's engines stopped functioning six days ago, it has been drifting towards India's Andaman islands from its course. The Rohingyas boarded the boat south of the Bangladesh seaside town of Cox's Bazar on 11th February and was headed towards south-east Asi when its engines broke down," Chris Lewa told this writer. But Indian navy sources said they were 'trying to ascertain the identity of a boat that seems to have drifted into Indian waters off the Andaman coast'. They promised details later. So Lewa said she was directly appealing to the Indian government, specially the Indian navy and coast guards deployed in Andamans to intervene. "Indian Coast Guard patrols have traced the Rohingya boat 40 km east of Rangat in the Andamans. They should save the inmates by taking them to safe shelter with food, water and medical treatment," Chris Lewa said. "They told me that 3 inmates of the boat died on Saturday and 5 on Monday -- all victims of acute diarohhea after consuming sea water," said Chris Lewa. UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has also appealed for immediate rescue of the Rohingya refugees on this boat. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees or UNHCR says it received reports of an "unconfirmed number of Rohingya refugees aboard a vessel in distress as of the evening of Saturday 20th February". "Saving lives must be the priority," said Indrika Ratwatte, the director of the UNHCR Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific said in a statement. "In line with international obligations under the law of the sea and longstanding maritime traditions, the duty to rescue persons in distress at sea should be upheld, irrespective of nationality or legal status. We appeal to all governments to deploy their search and rescue capacities and promptly disembark those in distress." "Many are in a highly vulnerable condition and are apparently suffering from extreme dehydration," Ratwatte added. "We understand that a number (of) refugees have already lost their lives and that fatalities have risen over the past 24 hours." Hundreds of thousands of mostly Muslim Rohingya have been living in refugee camps in Bangladesh since they were forced out of Myanmar in a brutal military crackdown in 2017. Muslim-majority Malaysia has long been a favoured destination for the group who are among the world's most persecuted peoples. And although boat journeys have declined in recent years, governments around Southeast Asia have tightened borders during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are currently some 1,02,250 Rohingya registered with the UNHCR in Malaysia but rights groups say there are many more who are undocumented. Neither Malaysia nor Indonesia are signatories to the UN convention on refugees. UNHCR said it would provide humanitarian assistance and quarantine measures for those who were rescued, in line with public health protocols. "The fact that refugees and migrants continue to undertake fatal journeys accentuates the need for immediate and collective regional response to search, rescue and disembarkation," the agency said. Machine learning method identifies precancerous colon polyps OAK BROOK, Ill. - A machine learning algorithm helps accurately differentiate benign and premalignant colorectal polyps on CT colonography scans, according to a study published in the journal Radiology. Colorectal cancer is among the three most common causes of cancer-related death among men and women in industrialized countries. Most types of colorectal cancer originate from adenomatous polyps--gland-like growths on the mucous membrane lining the large intestine--that develop over several years. Early detection and removal of these precancerous polyps can reduce the incidence and mortality of colorectal cancer. During the last two decades, CT colonography emerged as a noninvasive alternative to colonoscopy in screening for colorectal cancer. It is comparable to colonoscopy in detecting most polyps and is effective at visualizing portions of the colon that in cases of complex anatomical conditions cannot always be evaluated by colonoscopy. However, CT colonography does not enable a definite differentiation between benign and premalignant polyps, which is crucial for individual risk stratification and therapy guidance. For the new study, researchers leveraged the power of radiomics, a process of extracting quantitative features from medical images, to characterize polyps beyond what was apparent to the naked eye. The researchers developed a machine learning algorithm to predict the character of the individual polyps based on quantitative image features extracted through radiomics. They applied the noninvasive, radiomics-based machine learning method on CT colonography images from a group of asymptomatic patients at average risk of colorectal cancer. The machine learning algorithm was trained on a set of more than 100 colorectal polyps in 63 patients and then tested on a set of 77 polyps in 59 patients. In the test set, the machine learning approach enabled noninvasive differentiation of benign and premalignant CT colonography-detected colorectal polyps, with a sensitivity of 82%, and specificity of 85%. The area under the curve (AUC), a graphical measurement that reflects how much the model is capable of distinguishing between benign and precancerous polyps, was excellent. "These results serve as proof-of-concept that machine learning-based image analysis allows the noninvasive differentiation of benign and premalignant colorectal polyps in CT colonography data sets," said study lead author Sergio Grosu, M.D., radiologist from University Hospital, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, in Munich, Germany. "The AUC of 0.91 indicates that this method works well." The findings point to a role for machine learning-derived algorithms in boosting the effectiveness of CT colonography as a screening tool for colorectal cancer. "Adding machine learning-assisted image analysis to conventional, radiological image reading could further improve the clinical significance of CT colonography-based colorectal cancer screening by allowing for a more precise selection of patients eligible for subsequent polypectomy," Dr. Grosu said. "This method could be used routinely as a second reader in all CT colonography examinations in the distant future." Dr. Grosu said that additional studies with larger numbers of patients are needed to validate the findings. He added that these studies should also help drive improvements in the machine learning algorithm. "Further refinement of the machine learning-based image analysis is necessary to achieve higher precision in polyp differentiation as well as workflow optimization for better applicability in clinical routine," Dr. Grosu said. ### "Machine Learning-based Differentiation of Benign and Premalignant Colorectal Polyps Detected with CT Colonography in an Asymptomatic Screening Population - A Proof-of-Concept Study." Collaborating with Dr. Grosu were Philipp Wesp, M.Sc., Anno Graser, M.D., Stefan Maurus, M.D., Christian Schulz, M.D., Thomas Knosel, M.D., Clemens C. Cyran, M.D., Jens Ricke, M.D., Michael Ingrisch, Ph.D., and Philipp M. Kazmierczak, M.D. Radiology is edited by David A. Bluemke, M.D., Ph.D., University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, and owned and published by the Radiological Society of North America, Inc. (https:/ / pubs. rsna. org/ journal/ radiology ) RSNA is an association of radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists promoting excellence in patient care and health care delivery through education, research and technologic innovation. The Society is based in Oak Brook, Illinois. (RSNA.org) For patient-friendly information on CT colonography, visit RadiologyInfo.org. This story has been published on: 2021-02-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Jerry Lara/Staff photographer After days of below freezing temperatures in San Antonio, news of a cold front may not be what you want to hear. However this front is not bringing the frigid cold air felt on Valentine's Day. The next cold front is scheduled to move into San Antonio late Wednesday night with good chances of rain for the area. Tuesday (High 73 and Low 48): Plenty of clear and sunny skies to enjoy. You might want to get out and enjoy it, because partly to mostly cloudy skies will follow for the rest of the week. Afternoon highs will be enjoyable with breezy conditions. ATLANTA, Feb. 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HAVERTYS (NYSE: HVT and HVT.A) announced today, that its board of directors made important promotions in further developing and strengthening Havertys leadership team. Steven Burdette was elected president effective March 1, 2021. He will succeed Clarence Smith who will remain chairman and chief executive officer. Burdette, 59, currently serves as executive vice president, operations. He has over 37 years of experience with the company and has held responsibilities for all aspects of the stores, distribution operations, merchandising, supply chain, and marketing. Burdette started his career with Havertys as a manager trainee in Tampa, Florida, and held progressively more challenging roles in four additional Havertys markets. He joined the corporate management team in 1993 and was appointed vice president, merchandising in 1994 and vice president, operations in 2002. He was elected senior vice president, operations in 2003, executive vice president, stores in 2008, and his current position in 2017. Steve has deep knowledge of the industry and embodies Havertys culture and values, and I am pleased to welcome him to this new role, said Clarence Smith, chairman and chief executive officer. Steve has touched virtually every aspect of our business over his career and is a passionate and driven leader. His knowledge and skills were never more evident than during this past year of incredible challenges. Steve successfully managed the restarting of our operations and helped lead Havertys to its strongest quarter in history. Burdette will continue to report to Smith, as will the companys chief financial officer, chief information officer, general counsel, executive vice president of merchandising, and chief human relations officer. The board also made the following concurrent promotions effective March 1, 2021: Rhonda Wolf is named senior vice president, merchandising. Wolf, a 35-year Havertys veteran, is responsible for upholstery and other categories which drive over half of the companys sales. In her role, she manages the product offerings, vendor selection, and profitability of the categories. The higher quality custom upholstery products developed by Wolf are an important part of Havertys increased average ticket and in-home designer business. Wolf will continue to report to John Gill, executive vice president, merchandising. Scott Miles is named senior vice president, stores. Miles joined Havertys in 2002 and has served in several roles and differing responsibilities including market area manager, vice president, stores and development, and oversight of our supply chain team. He currently leads several key initiatives and functions including online chat, in-home design teams, and training for store team members. Miles will continue to report to Burdette and retain his responsibilities as western region manager. Helen Bautista is named senior vice president, marketing. Bautista joined Havertys in 2019 with over 20 years of experience leading and implementing comprehensive marketing and advertising strategies and plans. Her focus is on marketing integration, brand management, digital marketing, and analytics. Bautista will report to Burdette. "We are fortunate to have such knowledgeable individuals in these diverse and critical functions of our business. The experience, stability, and depth of our team are competitive advantages. The appointment of these key leaders is an important step in Havertys future growth, Smith concluded. The Company also announced today, that its board of directors declared a cash dividend to be paid on the outstanding shares of the two classes of $1 par value common stock of the company at a rate of $0.22 per share on the common stock and $0.20 per share on the Class A common stock. The dividend is payable on March 25, 2021, to stockholders of record at the close of business on March 12, 2021. Havertys has paid a cash dividend in each year since 1935. About Havertys Havertys (NYSE: HVT and HVT.A), established in 1885, is a full-service home furnishings retailer with 120 showrooms in 16 states in the Southern and Midwestern regions providing its customers with a wide selection of quality merchandise in middle to upper-middle price ranges. Additional information is available on the companys website, havertys.com. Contact: Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc., 404-443-2900 Jenny Hill Parker SVP, Finance, and Corporate Secretary SOURCE: Havertys A photo accompanying this release is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/eba1f450-82e0-403c-a5d2-3c551f12821a Moody's Analytics today announced that general insurance company RSA has signed up to the Moody's Analytics Discount Curve Service for IFRS 17 to assist with building the discount curves required to value its liabilities under the new accounting standard. Under IFRS 17, insurance companies will need to construct and apply discount curves, which include an estimation of the illiquidity of their liabilities, when valuing their insurance contracts. Built on our modeling and calibration expertise, the Moody's Analytics Discount Curve Service for IFRS 17 delivers flexible yield curves and granular illiquidity premium term structures for a range of economies and credit classes, driven by the Moody's Analytics CreditEdge solution. Firms using the service are able to tailor the illiquidity premium estimates to the characteristics (duration, liquidity, currency) of their liabilities. "The Discount Curve Service for IFRS 17 is a valuable source of risk premia content, which, together with support from the Moody's Analytics dedicated modeling and calibration teams, will help us navigate some of the key challenges associated with producing discount rates under the new standard," said Elaine Sweeney, Finance Chief Operating Officer at RSA. "With the effective date for IFRS 17 nearing, companies need to define and implement an appropriate and robust IFRS 17 discount curve methodology that enables them to value liabilities under the new accounting standard. The coming months will be crucial for insurers looking to implement a chosen methodology," said Jack Cheyne, Senior Director at Moody's Analytics. "We look forward to supporting RSA as it embarks on this journey." The Moody's Analytics IFRS 17 offering includes the Discount Curve Service for IFRS 17, the RiskIntegrity for IFRS 17 solution, and the AXIS actuarial system. About Moody's Analytics Moody's Analytics provides financial intelligence and analytical tools to help business leaders make better, faster decisions. Our deep risk expertise, expansive information resources, and innovative application of technology help our clients confidently navigate an evolving marketplace. We are known for our industry-leading and award-winning solutions, made up of research, data, software, and professional services, assembled to deliver a seamless customer experience. We create confidence in thousands of organizations worldwide, with our commitment to excellence, open mindset approach, and focus on meeting customer needs. For more information about Moody's Analytics, visit our website or connect with us on Twitter or LinkedIn. Moody's Analytics, Inc. is a subsidiary of Moody's Corporation (NYSE: MCO). Moody's Corporation reported revenue of $5.4 billion in 2020, employs approximately 11,400 people worldwide and maintains a presence in more than 40 countries. About RSA Insurance Group With a 300-year heritage, RSA is a multinational insurance group. RSA operates three core business segments: Canada, Scandinavia and UK International; and has the capability to write business in over 100 countries. RSA has around 12,300 employees with net written premiums of 6.4 billion in 2019. For more information about RSA Insurance Group, please visit https://www.rsagroup.com/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223005578/en/ Contacts: TRACEY SCOTT Moody's Analytics Communications +44.207.772.5207 Moody's Analytics Media Relations moodysanalytics.com twitter.com/moodysanalytics linkedin.com/company/moodysanalytics CLEVELAND, Ohio Cleveland Councilman Kenneth Johnson was arrested Tuesday and accused of fleecing the city out of more than $127,000 by submitting false monthly expense reports over the course of several years. A federal grand jury in Cleveland indicted Johnson on 15 charges, including two counts of conspiracy to commit theft from a federal program, aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, tampering with a witness and falsifying records during a federal investigation. Johnsons longtime aide, Garnell Jamison, was indicted on 11 corruption-related charges. Also, John Hopkins, who served as the executive director of the Buckeye-Shaker Square Development Corp. in Johnsons ward, was accused of conspiracy to commit theft from a federal program and theft from a federal program. Hours after their arrests, the three men pleaded not guilty to the allegations before U.S. District Judge John Adams. They were released on personal bonds. I would hope that people withhold judgment until the facts come out, said Myron Watson, Johnsons attorney. And for all he has done for the community, it should not be hard to do. The indictment stems from an FBI investigation into Johnson, 74, one of the longest serving members of Cleveland City Council. He was first elected in 1980. Members of Council were stunned to learn the extent of the charges. Johnson remains on the panel, as he only has been accused of the charges. If he is convicted, he would forfeit the seat. The most important thing right now is that the residents of Ward 4 receive proper representation and all of the proper services from their city, said Kevin Kelley, Councils president, who had been in budget hearings much of the day. The indictment alleges that many of the charges stem from Johnson requesting the maximum amount of monthly reimbursement, $1,200, from Council for services that were never performed. Earlier this month, Johnsons longtime friend, Robert Fitzpatrick, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit theft from a federal program involving Johnsons expense reports. Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer began reporting about Johnsons reimbursement issues in 2018. The reports said Johnson submitted monthly forms to Councils office for several years. He sought the maximum amount each time and attached information that Fitzpatrick, a longtime city recreation worker, performed unspecified services for the ward. The charges against Johnson and Fitzpatrick mirror those reports. Documents show that from January 2010 to October 2018, Johnson attached Fitzpatricks false timesheets to each of the expense forms he submitted to Council for reimbursement. Fitzpatrick signed timesheets, attesting that he had performed ward services, when, as he well knew, he had not actually completed any ward services, the allegations against Fitzpatrick say. Prosecutors said in documents that Johnson and Jamison, 61, of Cleveland, approached Fitzpatrick more than 10 years ago and asked whether he would be willing to help in Johnsons ward. The work entailed cutting grass, checking on abandoned properties, helping with snow removal and looking for homes that could be renovated and sold for a profit. Fitzpatrick did the work for about six weeks, but he never received payment for it, according to court documents. Jamison, however, continued delivering timesheets to Fitzpatrick to sign, even though Fitzpatrick didnt do any work, the indictment says. Jamison collected the timesheets and delivered them to Johnson, according to documents. Records show Johnson also attached receipts that showed that he had paid Fitzpatrick in cash. The indictment says Johnson obtained $127,200 in reimbursement checks from City Council and deposited them in his bank account. The filing said the object of the conspiracy was to enrich Johnson and others, but it is unclear whether Fitzpatrick or anyone else received any money from the scheme. Catherine Turcer, the executive director of Common Cause Ohio, said the allegations are painful for the city. Theres a real cost to corruption, Turcer said. Theres a real cost to the taxpayers. When money is misspent, theres a need for greater transparency and greater accountability so that it doesnt happen again. None of what Im saying is rocket science. It has been said many times before. We all know what to do. We just need the political will to do it. The allegations also accuse Johnson and Hopkins, 57, of Cleveland Heights, of steering thousands of dollars in federal block grant money, issued through the Buckeye-Shaker Square Development Corp., to three people, one of whom is Johnsons child. Johnson is the court-appointed guardian for the others, according to the charges. The indictment says Johnson and Hopkins created fraudulent documents, including timesheets, that allowed the three to obtain funds that they were not entitled to receive. The three were paid, ostensibly, for landscaping and maintenance work from December 2013 to March 2018, according to the charges. The funds were later transferred or deposited into accounts that Johnson held, the indictment says. Federal law and the citys conflict-of-interest standards prevent employees or their family members from benefitting from block grant funds. Jamisons attorney, Regis McGann, declined to comment, as did Edward Bryan, who is representing Hopkins. Natural and man-made disasters have always been an attractive subject for filmmakers. For almost half a century, films based on earthquakes, volcanos, cyclones, tornadoes and pandemics, apart from a host of other disasters, have kept audiences on the edge of their seats. Bollywood reflected this global fascination for disaster movies, and made Kedarnath, Bhopal: A prayer for rain and other such films. The recent Uttarakhand tragedy, which claimed over 200 lives, is the latest to inspire a film. Indian-American producer Rashaana Shah, a regular visitor to Uttarakhand, is all set to make a movie based on the massive disaster in the Tapovan area in the hill state. Rashaana is the Managing Director of Mulberry Films, a New York film production company with offices in Los Angeles. Speaking exclusively to DC, the 35-year-old says she wants to delve into the true stories of real-life heroes, as they resonate with global audiences. Rashaana says, In 1965, the United States and India collaborated in an attempt to install a listening device at 25,000 feet on the mountain Nanda Devi, to monitor a nearby Chinese nuclear test site. The listening device was powered by highly radioactive plutonium, and was lost during the expedition. It is speculated that it may have caused a glacier burst in Uttarakhand, leading to the tragedy. Giving details of the film which will be titled Nanda Devi, she said We will be producing the movie with Scott Rosenfelt (Home Alone, Critical Thinking). Talking about her association with Hollywood, she says, Three friends Gopi Sait, Sunaman Sood and I came together in my backyard and started Mulberry Films out of complete boredom. We wanted to make global films based on bestselling novels. We registered the company in NY and optioned three books The Piano Tuner, The Collaborator and Purple America. It was Asad Sultan, CEO of Deutsche Malayan Ventures, who introduced her to Scott Rosenfelt (producer of Home Alone) in 2014. We researched and learned about the 1965 tragedy from climbers Captain Kohli and Rob Schaller. The unfortunate glacier burst was a disaster waiting to happen. That was an inspiration for us, she says, adding, At Mulberry Films we wanted to explore human stories based on real events and heroes. The lost plutonium on Nanda Devi triggered a 20-year search and a tragic man vs the mountain saga. As a woman from India, Rashaana hopes that her success inspires not only other women but also all those who are judged on anything other than the merit of their work. I am very inspired by Priyanka Chopra and Guneet Monga who have redefined Indian cinema for the international audience, she says. While the COVID-19 pandemic has stopped production, Shah and Mulberry Films have used this time to develop projects. One of the movies Mulberry is looking forward to producing this year is The Collaborator, an adaptation of the prize-winning, international bestselling book by Mirza Waheed, a war story about a 17-year-old boy caught between India and Pakistan in the long-standing border war. 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. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment An American missionary was sentenced to prison for sexually abusing children at his orphanage in Kenya. This tragic case has garnered significant media attention when the story broke earlier this month, including articles in the Washington Post and the New York Times. As Christians, we read stories like this with horror. It is terrible to imagine vulnerable children being abused by an adult they are supposed to trust and the monster who would exploit children under the guise of a Christian charity. Perhaps for our own comfort and desire to hang on to any sense of hope, we want to believe that this type of situation is an extremely rare and isolated incident. However, as homage to these precious children who suffered at the hands of this orphanage director, we must not turn a blind eye. We must consider the prevalence of abuse in orphanages around the world and how it affects the way we support orphans and vulnerable children. First, abuse in orphanages is not rare. While most Americans believe orphanages exist to protect children, studies show that children in residential care facilities such as orphanages and childrens homes experience more abuse than children in the community. A global study on violence against children found that children living in orphanages were some of the most vulnerable to violence, abuse, and exploitation. A study in Tanzania found that 89% of children reported abuse while in institutional care. The abuse can come from caregivers, peers, and even volunteers. It can happen because orphans are often isolated from the outside community without oversight from parents or relatives. Children are more vulnerable when they live in an institution separated from protective environments in the community such as churches, schools, and neighborhoods. Second, orphanages can leave children vulnerable to those with bad intentions. Sex offenders are drawn to orphanages as a place where they have easy access to children who lack the protection found in a safe community and loving family. Popularity in volunteering at orphanages has made children more vulnerable to sexual abuse, as volunteers with little to no screening often have unsupervised contact with children. Orphanages commonly do not perform background checks on volunteers and many lack safety policies and procedures. While most volunteers in orphanages have the best intentions, volunteer programs leave children exposed to those who do not. Imagine if unvetted and unsupervised adults were allowed to interact with your child at a daycare center or school. Its unacceptable behavior here in America, but we somehow dont uphold these standards in more vulnerable communities around the world. We must consider the role we might play in perpetuating a system of caring for children that makes them more vulnerable to abuse. The U.S. no longer relies on the orphanage model to care for children because best practice research shows children thrive in families. Yet, American Christians are a major force in sustaining orphanages around the world. Whether youre sending a one-time donation, sponsoring a child, or donating to a short-term missionary, your well-intentioned contribution to an orphanage is sustaining a way of caring for vulnerable children that leaves them vulnerable to abuse. Tragically, the Kenyan orphanage at the center of this travesty received money from unsuspecting faith-based organizations and churches within the U.S. What then, are the alternatives to orphanages? The surprising truth is that the vast majority of children in orphanages are not orphans at all. On average, 80% of children in orphanages have a living parent and almost all have other family members who could care for them if they had the right support. Most children are placed in orphanages because their families are poor and unable to provide for them. In many countries, parents are often left with the impossible and heartbreaking decision to abandon their child in order for them to receive food, shelter, education, and health services. Supporting families in crisis allows children and families to stay together, preventing the need for separation in the first place. Of course, abuse happens in families as well. In situations where the birth parents are not safe for children, with quality monitoring and case management, alternatives such as kinship care (relatives or close family friends taking the child in) and foster care can provide a safer environment for a child. This is called family-based care. Family-based care provides a better solution for children and families in crisis. It is supported in Scripture, as Psalm 68 describes, God sets the lonely in families, and upheld through research. A family provides the love, protection, and care that are integral to the healthy development of a child. International bodies, such as the United Nations, recognize family-based care as the priority and orphanages as a last resort. Governments around the world, including the U.S., are working to reform the care for vulnerable children around the world. Still, the question remains, what will be the response of the American Church? The vast majority of Christians who support orphanages have the best intentions and, in general, Christians who run orphanages truly care for the well-being of the children. Could this horrific incident of abuse in a Kenyan orphanage cause us to rethink the way we care for orphans and vulnerable children around the world? If more American Christians started to invest in programs that strengthen families and support them in times in crisis, like employment skills and job training, daycare and after-school programs, special education services, counseling and caregiver support groups, we would see less need for orphanages in the first place. If more American Christians put their support behind quality family-based alternative care, like local kinship care, foster care, and adoption, children would be much more likely to find safe, loving homes. These are all safer, more sustainable, and effective ways to care for the same vulnerable children than orphanages. Since the early church, Christians have generously and selflessly served children who were abandoned and abused. Even today, some of the most innovative leaders in family-based care globally are Christian organizations. Yet, there is still work to be done. If the Church can shift the way it cares for children, we will see generations changed for the better. Lets not ignore the abuses in orphanages, but lets respond to them by supporting family-based care so every child has the opportunity to thrive in safe, loving families. She is known for sharing sizzling snaps on social media. And Demi Rose was up to her old tricks once more on Tuesday as she posed up a storm in a tiny bikini during her extended stay in Ibiza. The Wolverhampton-born beauty, 25, preened and posed on her Instagram stories as she showcased her heaving cleavage in a plunging bikini. Wow! Demi Rose was up to her old tricks once more on Tuesday as she posed up a storm in a tiny bikini during her extended stay in Ibiza Demi sizzled in the sexy bikini top, which made the most of her famous curves. She wore her brunette locks in cascading lengths over her shoulders while focusing the camera largely on her eye-popping assets. Demi has been sharing a slew of snaps from her sunny travels with her 16 million Instagram followers in recent months including trips to the Maldives and Tanzania. The brunette recently opened up to MailOnline about how she shot to stardom at the age of 14 after being bullied in school. Oh my: The Wolverhampton-born beauty, 25, preened and posed on her Instagram stories as she showcased her heaving cleavage in a plunging bikini Happy days: She beamed into the camera Demi recalled: 'I was bullied in school, I wanted to make friends outside of it so I ended up spending a lot of time online. 'I was even interested in virtual reality as a kid, I was always on the computer and then MySpace came around and I found my calling.' The social media star experienced her first taste of fame when pictures of her on the beach as a young teenager went viral on Instagram. Model behaviour: Demi has been sharing a slew of snaps from her sunny travels with her 16 million Instagram followers in recent months including trips to the Maldives and Tanzania Birmingham native Demi shared: 'I only ever got Instagram because someone made a fake profile of me on there with 3,000 followers and I was really envious. 'I was like, "wow, how can someone using my pictures get that much?" And then I started an account and it went from there.' From the age of 18, the bombshell who currently boasts 16 million followers signed with a modelling agency and her career went from strength to strength. She is known for showing off her figure and edgy sense of style on social media. And Maya Jama was up to her old tricks once more on Monday as she wowed in a chic blue dress ahead of her appearance on Would I Lie To You. The star, 26, added a caption reading: 'When you have 3 mins to get a pic before the show starts ..(F**k knows why the claw hand came out) SO much fun on Would I lie to you tonight @bbcone at 8;30pm to see how good a liar I am'. Not feeling blue! Maya Jama was posing up a storm on Monday as she wowed in a chic blue dress ahead of her appearance on Would I Lie To You Maya looked sensational in her chic blue dress as she leaned forward on steps outside the studio, while showing her cleavage and legs. She then got snap happy in the studio while sitting on the panel and beaming. Her latest slew of snaps comes after Maya used her profile for good by urging fans to book their smear tests after suffering complications through delaying her own. Addressing her Instagram followers earlier this month, the presenter and radio host revealed that she has suspected cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) as a result of putting off her test for a year. Wow! The star, 26, added a caption reading: 'When you have 3 mins to get a pic before the show starts ..(F**k knows why the claw hand came out) SO much fun on Would I lie to you tonight @bbcone at 8;30pm to see how good a liar I am' CIN is an abnormal changes of the cells that line the cervix and does not cause any symptoms, so is unlikely to be discovered without a smear test. Discussing the news with her followers, Maya announced: 'It's very rare I get serious but I don't see it talked about enough. Girls, if you haven't done already, go and get your smear test. 'I know it seems butters and uncomfortable and awkward but it's not that bad and it's so important. I've just had to get my second one because I left it a year for my second check-up. You've just got to check on these things.' After being inundated with messages from fans, the Don't Hate the Playaz star elaborated on her experience. Spoke out: Her latest slew of snaps comes after Maya used her profile for good by urging fans to book their smear tests after suffering complications through delaying her own She continued: 'As some of you know I find it hard to be serious about anything but I might as well tell you what's going on because I'm getting so many messages from loads of people saying, "I've been putting it off"... 'There's these things I'm not a doctor, probably not the right terminology but I think they're called "CINs", and he thinks I have CINtwo. 'So the first one is fine, [with] CIN two you have cells that you need to monitor and then the third is cancerous stuff or will become cancerous. 'So when I went today, he took a biopsy, so like a little bit inside of me, and that'll get sent off and I'll find out.' Candid: Addressing her Instagram followers earlier this month, she revealed that she has suspected cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) as a result of putting off her test What is a smear test and why have there been delays in lockdown? A smear test detects abnormal cells on the cervix, which is the entrance to the uterus from the vagina. Removing these cells can prevent cervical cancer. Most test results come back clear, however, one in 20 women show abnormal changes to the cells of their cervix. In some cases, these need to be removed or can become cancerous. Cervical cancer most commonly affects sexually-active women aged between 30 and 45. In the UK, the NHS Cervical Screening Programme invites women aged 25-to-49 for a smear every three years, those aged 50 to 64 every five years, and women over 65 if they have not been screened since 50 or have previously had abnormal results. Women must be registered with a GP to be invited for a test. Smear-test delays during lockdown have prompted calls for home-screening kits for HPV. During the first national lockdown, smear test services were paused in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as in some practices in England. While services have resumed in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - it was revealed last week that women in England are having difficulty accessing smear tests, with patients experiencing cancellations and long wait times. Last week Tory MP Caroline Nokes, who chairs the Women and Equalities Select Committee, said that check-up cancellations and women's fears of attending GP clinics during the pandemic could mean up to 600,000 women miss out on getting a smear test. Advertisement She added: 'You basically have to monitor these things and it's better you catch it sooner rather than later so it doesn't go into something else. 'Just get checked, don't put it off, it's minor. They're professional doctors, they've seen a million fannies, they're not going to be shocked by any. I know that's a weird thought because I always thought like, "Oh my God, they're gonna see my noon", but it's just minor.' Later in the day, Maya revealed she was overwhelmed with the impact her message had on her followers. Maya - who recently replaced Stacey Dooley as host of BBC Threes Glow Up: Britains Next Make Up Star - spoke out about the response while getting to work on her new show. She wrote: 'Thank you for your messages, can't reply to all but seeing how many of you have now booked to get the smear because of my stories is so good!' Getting serious: Maya announced, 'It's very rare I get serious but I don't see it talked about enough. Girls, if you haven't done already, go and get your smear test' Earlier this month, a senior MP and charity warned that cancellation of cervical cancer checks because of Covid pressures is putting women's lives at risk, Tory MP Caroline Nokes, who chairs the Women and Equalities Select Committee, said that check-up cancellations and women's fears of attending GP clinics during the pandemic could mean up to 600,000 women miss out on getting a smear test. She warned against women's medical issues being 'pushed to the back of the proverbial queue'. During the first national lockdown, smear test services were paused in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as in some practices in England. The Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust charity estimated 600,000 fewer tests than normal were carried out last April and May. Women are invited to have smear tests every three years between the ages of 25 and 49, and then every five years until they reach 65. Wow: Later in the day, Maya revealed she was overwhelmed with the impact her message had on her followers Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust said: 'While it is not ideal if you can't get a test, and you may be feeling worried, cervical cancer takes many years, not months, to develop and remains rare. 'It's unlikely that it would develop in the time that your appointment is delayed. If you think you're experiencing symptoms of cervical cancer, whether you are waiting for a test, up to date, or have never been, contact your GP.' A spokesman for the NHS said: 'The NHS guidance that cervical screening should continue has not changed and this has been communicated to GP practices.' Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) to be held, March 1-3, 2021. AGBT to hold its General Meeting virtually on March 1-3, 2021. Now in its 21st year, the world-renowned not-for-profit provider of three prestigious conference and networking events brings together top leaders, researchers and innovators in the life sciences and global biotech community. AGBTs General Meeting will feature: Invited speaker talks regarding the latest advances of DNA sequencing and novel applications A sponsor showcase debuting new technology Opportunities for collaboration to drive experimental and analytical approaches for genomic studies in the public and private sectors. To register for this General Meeting, and view the speakers, click here. About AGBT Advances in Genome Biology and Technology is considered the preeminent genome science and technology conference where top global researchers, leaders and innovators meet to announce new discoveries, cutting edge breakthroughs and to collaborate. The meeting format includes daytime plenary sessions that feature invited speakers and abstract-selected talks that highlight cutting-edge research across the broad landscape of genomics. Among our attendees are heads of internationally regarded labs and institutions, C-suite executive of life science companies, analysts, and media representatives. About LabRoots LabRoots is the leading scientific social networking website, as well as a primary source for scientific trending news, premier educational virtual events/webinars and more. Contributing to the advancement of science through content-sharing capabilities, LabRoots is a powerful advocate in amplifying global networks and communities. Founded in 2008, LabRoots emphasizes digital innovation in scientific collaboration and learning. Offering articles and webcasts that go beyond the mundane and explore the latest discoveries in the world of science, LabRoots users can stay atop their field by gaining Continuing Education Credits from a wide range of topics through their participation in the webinars and virtual events. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Press Release February 23, 2021 PUBLIC HEARING OF THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ORDER AND DANGEROUS DRUGS ON THE NATIONWIDE FIRECRACKER REGULATION BILLS (February 23, 2021, 10 am) SENATOR RONALD 'BATO' DELA ROSA OPENING STATEMENT Magandang araw sa ating lahat! Ang ating pagdinig sa araw na ito ay naglalayon na gawing mas epektibo ang regulasyon ng paputok sa ating bansa. Sa kabila ng pagkakaroon ng ilang mga panukalang batas na may title na "total ban", ay wala pong panukala na nakasalang ngayon na naghihimok na tuluyang ipagbawal ang paggawa, pagbebenta o paggamit ng paputok. {Show pictures of doctors and nurses in hospitals attending to victims of firecracker incidents and firemen suppressing fire caused by firecrackers} Ilan lamang ito sa mga karaniwang napapanood natin sa balita sa tuwing nalalapit na ang Bagong Taon - mga abalang doctor at nurse sa ospital at mga pasyente na biktima ng paputok; kaliwa't kanang sunog sa mga kabahayan na sanhi ng mga bawal na paputok. Ito ang dahilan kung bakit naisabatas ang Republic Act 7183. It was enacted to regulate the sale, manufacture, distribution and use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices to ensure public safety, as well as for the 'enhancement of cultural traditions'. While this may be a good piece of legislation, there have been several appeals to Congress to revisit the twenty-eight (28) year old law, that it should effectively serve its purpose. Public health, public safety and environmental issues surround the proposed amendments to the law. During President Duterte's first year in office, he issued Executive Order No. 28. This allows the use of firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices only in areas designated in the local government units, and only conducted under the supervision of trained and licensed professionals. It is noticeable that with the initial implementation of EO 28, there was a significant 68% decrease of firecracker incidents in the country, compared to the same period of the preceding year. The latest report of the DOH states that with the 85% decrease in fireworks-related injuries for 2021, the age range of those injured as a result of firecracker incidents was between four to fifty three (4-53) years old. What is disturbing is that the most affected age group is between 10 to 14 years old. Gusto ba natin pahawakin ng paputok ang mga bata? Aantayin pa ba natin na isa sa ating mga anak o kapamilya ang maging biktima ng mga paputok? Today's hearing pushes us to imagine Filipino homes and communities, especially our children, free from the threat of fireworks-related injuries and hazardous chemicals. Zero injuries, zero casualties! On the other hand, we are not discounting the role of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices in our Filipino tradition of celebration and festivities. Kaya naman po, ang mga panukala natin sa araw na ito ay nagmumungkahi na magkaroon ng designated place at trained individuals na magpapaputok nang ligtas. Katulad po ito ng taunang ginaganap na Philippine International Pyromusical Competition na sinasalihan ng major fireworks makers galing sa iba't ibang bansa. While we push for an effective regulation on the use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices, we should not forget Filipinos who depend on the sale of these goods. Napapanahon na ba para mas pagyabungin ang ating fireworks industry upang tayo ay maging exporter kasama ng China at Brazil? Alternatively, ang DOLE, TESDA, DTI at iba pang ahensya ng gobyerno ay dapat makapaglaan ng programa para sa ating mga kababayang maaaring maapektuhan ng pinaigting na regulasyon. Given that we are still battling the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no piece of legislation too small, if it means safeguarding the health and well-being of our people. After all, it is our mandate to ensure that all Filipinos are safe and healthy. Our government allows and respects customs and traditions as long as they are within the bounds of safety and are not contrary to public policy. However, if there comes a time that some aspects of these traditions and customs become harmful, it would be fitting for our government to step in. All human beings want to find their place under the sun. In the same way, the government would want all of its people to be accommodated and be given a safe place to exist and co-exist. Today, we would like to settle issues and differences and hopefully find an equitable space for all, be it a person doing business or a person just wanting to be safe. We look forward to the insights of our resource persons in this hearing. Thank you. Innopreneurs, a platform for start-up founders, entrepreneurs, and aspirants to showcase their ideas in action and reap the benefits of validation, networking, mentoring, and funding opportunities today announced the 10 winners of its 6th edition in presence of Chief Guest, His Excellency Lyonpo Loknath Sharma, Minister of Economic Affairs, Bhutan. LIST OF WINNERS Solnce Green Energy Surat, Gujarat: A stand-alone and decentralized Solar Thermal Desalination Technology, which can convert seawater into mineralized drinkable. Hesa Rural/Last mile connect Hyderabad, Telengana: Bridging the gap for worlds largest customer base that resides in rural India by connecting Bharat Phygitally through Hesas digital Technology platform and physical army of Village Level Entrepreneurs, the Hesaathis. They are brand agnostic and help businesses with end to end access to rural markets. Gowash Nagpur: E-Scooter Based Smart Washer which washes cars. Agri Yug Kharagpur, West Bengal: They are making farmers lives easier by proving services from soil testing to market linkage affordable and accessible. Rest of top 10 Supply.mv Male Maldives: Connecting virtual transparent relationships between buyers and sellers from different sectors and categories. Chezuba Hyderabad, Telangana: A global online volunteering platform facilitating corporate employees and skilled professionals to assist NGOs through skill-based online volunteering. iAudit Rajkot, Gujarat: a web-based application which automates Internal Audit processes and help organisations manage their risk in an accurate, comprehensive, and time-bound manner. BMH Transmotion Nagpur, Maharashtra: A foldable & portable grain storage system without any fumigation, which aims to reduce grain losses. Innopreneurs was organised over a period of one year, and it our 6th edition of Innopreneurs, we have been able to give a stage to over 350 start-ups and entrepreneurs and conducted over 35+ digital rounds. In this 6th edition, we were able to take Innopreneurs to India and 5 other countries around the world and in the process sign over 150 partners. We had over 1000 start-ups registered and over 5000+ entrepreneurs as audience, said Deepak Menaria, Founder & CEO Lemon Ideas.His Excellency, Lyonpo Loknath Sharma, Minister of Economic Affairs, Bhutan, I want to convey the greetings of his excellency the king of Bhutan. We would like to have more interaction and partnerships with the Lemon family. You have created a really good ecosystem; we want a similar ecosystem in Bhutan through you. We need mentors and people to aspire to our young entrepreneurs and I see Lemon playing a pivotal role in doing this. Entrepreneurs have to not only look for money but should focus on inner peace. Skilling is important for us we want your support in that.With over thirty regional rounds in the country itself in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Delhi-NCR, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Assam, and Telangana etc., Innopreneurs was organised in 5+ in Maldives, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.Aurum Ventures, 100x.vc, and NextGen Ventures, Ah!Ventures, Venture Catalysts, Indian Angel Network, FundVice, Faad Network, Chandigarh Angel Network, VDOSH Capital were among the investment panels supporting the entrepreneurs. The Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), an international organisation created for sustainable development with worldwide operations in various parts of their world supported the programme.Good to see one more year of Innopreneurs, now spreading across South East Asia. Good work filtering the top 10, I found it worth my time listening to all of them. I am very impressed with the kind of innovations here. I want to see this forum grow into a community that is engaged continuously and has continued learning, said Nagaraja Prakasam, Angel Impact Investor & Partner - Acumen Fund.I was on the Finale Jury, the ideas I witnessed were amazing they have great potential! What impressed me the most is the variety of ideas; it throws light on the effort that has gone into bringing all these ideas here. Lemon has been a very valuable partner for GIZ. We are coming out with programs to include some of the start-ups in the Indo-German connect program., Mr. Shankar Kumar (Special Guest), Technical Expert & Advisor at GIZ.Vatsal Kanakiya, 100x venture capital, said This was a wonderful experiences. Very innovative ideas for both local and global contexts. I am blown away by the quality of pitching and teams."Lemon's ecosystem is nurturing. My biggest takeaway was the collaboration spirit. I enjoyed this journey thoroughly and learnt a lot from the start-up community, said Anil Alex, Sales Leader - India & ANZ at Portescap."Exciting to see age is just a number (contestant's age bracket 15 - 58), it doesn't affect the depth of work. There were many varied fields, but one thing I found common, is the passion among all of them and resilience to achieve the ideas," said Dr. Charvi Mehta, Technical Expert at GIZ.As a competition that was launched by Lemon Ideas in 2014, the platform has evolved from a conventional B-plan contest to a platform capable of transforming the definition of entrepreneurship as a whole. With various partners ranging from an Embassies, Incubators, Ecosystem Organizations, Co-working Spaces, Government Departments, Corporates etc., this year Innopreneurs was able to bring many voices to the table.. Paramakudi, Tamil Nadu: They use non-recyclable waste single-use plastics and convert it into a solid fuel of high calorific value that can be used for burning and combustion instead of other traditional solid fuels like wood, bio-briquettes, coal in many industries., Bhutan: Largest online marketplace for authentic Bhutanese products made and grown in Bhutan, where customers from around the world can shop, buy, and get their orders delivered at their doorsteps in their own home country. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. BharatPe, which is set to become the next unicorn, has given exits to 18 of its angel with returns as high as 80x in just two years in the recently concluded funding round where the fintech companys valuation crossed $900 million. Ashneer Grover-led said, till date, there has been no other Indian entrepreneur who has given this kind of exponential return to his individual angels, and that too in just two years of kickstarting the business. The Delhi-based company has already returned Rs 102 crore cash to its secondary as against the initial angel round of Rs 1.9 crore. Around 9 angel including serial entrepreneur Kunal Shah continue to hold stock worth Rs 107 crore as per the latest Series-D valuation. The purest relationship between an operator and investor is of returns. I feel immense gratitude for all the angels who took the risk on us and helped our startup, said Ashneer Grover, co-founder and CEO, Not a lot of people would know that this was a risk-free return, as in a different scenario I would have sold my house to make the investors good. Now heads down back to work a lot more to be built at Grover, a former chief financial officer at e-commerce firm Grofers, said that he is personally very discomforted by fundraise hype and therefore tend to underprice. I did my angel round at $3 million valuation despite all my credentials, said Grover. I, therefore, set up my angels for an exponential outcome in case of success. I just wish a lot of founders spend less time negotiating high vanity valuations and focus on business building instead. As a founder youll start and end with 10,000 initial company formation shares so no point spending time on cap table optimization. BharatPe recently closed the Series D fundraise of $108 million at a $900 million valuation with participation from all 7 existing investors. These included Coatue, Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, Steadview Capital Management, Beenext, Amplo and Insight Partners. In the Series D round which was oversubscribed, institutional investors showed their intent to consolidate the cap table and hence, the company gave the opportunity to ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) holders and angels to liquidate. Grover was backed by angel investors such as Hero Group scion Akshay Munjal, Cred founder Kunal Shah and Park+ founder Amit Lakhotia. The other investors included AngelList partner Utsav Somani and former Pine Labs executive Nipun Mehra. I am happy about the outcome. If Ashneer (Grover) had told me that, I am going to give you 70 times multiplier for investing in his company, probably I would have invested more capital, said Anuj Golecha, co-founder at Venture Catalysts, one of the investors which exited from BharatPe. This gives very strong confidence to the entire ecosystem that it is time when there would be many more such opportunities for investors in the coming decade and they need to put more capital in early-stage companies, said Golecha, whose firm has backed firms such as Dukaan, Rentomojo, Coutloot, Beardo and PeeSafe. Another early investor who got the exit is Anshoo Sharma, chief executive at offline discovery and rewards platform magicpin, who was a classmate of Grover at IIM-Ahmedabad in 2006. It is just inspiring the rate at which BharatPe has executed on its vision, raised capital and built the company, said Sharma, a former investor with Lightspeed Venture Partners. I just met them and they are all charged up to change how payments are being done. BharatPe which competes with players like Pine Labs, Paytm and Mswipe provides payment technology and digital lending for offline businesses, including kiranas. With the balance sheet well capitalized (more than $200 million in the bank) the firm expects to deliver a $30 billion total payment volume (TPV) and build a loan book of $700 million with small merchants by March 2023. The company is seeing rapid growth, as the Covid-19 pandemic has significantly accelerated digital payments. BharatPes payments business has grown 5x and its lending business has grown 10x in the last 12 months. The firm aims to build Indias largest B2B financial services company that can serve as a one-stop destination for small merchants. The firm is facilitating over Rs 200 crore of loans to its merchant partners every month through its non-banking financial company (NBFC) partners. It has also deployed more than 50,000 point-of-sale (POS) machines. Hyderabad: With growing anti-incumbency against the ruling TRS party and a weak opposition party, the BJP is the only party that can fight the K. Chandrashekar Rao-led government and ensure justice for people, said sitting MLC and BJP candidate for the Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Mahabubnagar graduate constituency, N. Ramchander Rao. The MLC spoke to Deccan Chronicle exclusively while filing his nomination on Monday. Q: What is your main agenda in fight the election? How do you rate your chances? A: The government of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has failed to fulfil any of its promises made before the last two elections. Like the promise to waive loans to farmers up to Rs 100,000. Like the promise to create jobs and fill vacancies for unemployed youth. The government has neglected and worked against the interests of teachers and government employees for several years. The TRS neglected and oppressed the Dalits and has not fulfilled the promise to give three acres of land. It has broken the back of the public health and education system. The TRS government failed in staff recruitment in universities, degree and intermediate colleges, pushing students towards a dark future. People are still praying for a double bedroom house, which was the main promise made by KCR in the run-up to the 2014 assembly election. After seven years, people are still waiting for the 2BHK houses. Q: What have been your achievements as an MLC? What have you done for the graduates constituency? A: I was the lone MLC from BJP in the council, where I have constantly raised several issues that revolved around the well-being of farmers, advocates, doctors, teachers, students, the BC, SC and ST community, besides putting pressure on the government to make higher budgetary allocations for weaker sections. I fought the government while advocating better welfare fund utilisation. It is because of my fight that the fund which was allocated but not utilised was utilised completely for the welfare of advocates across the state. I am the only person with 100 per cent attendance and raised a range of issues and questions. Q: How much of the funds did you spend for your constituency's development? A: The government allotted constituency development funds for every MLA and MLC. My constituency is spread across nine new districts and 43 assembly constituencies. With that kind of a spread, I used the allocated funds for safety and security by installing CC cameras and getting CC roads built. I also focussed on drainage, community halls and lawyer associations. Again, you can compare and you will find I am the only MLC who has utilised every single rupee of my CDF funds for people. Q: How do you respond to TRS fielding PV Narasimha Raos daughter in the election? A: It is a great insult to former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao and his family. It is purely Chief Minister Chandrashekar Raos political agenda. Why did he not nominate her from the Governors quota? The CM knows that the TRS will lose the MLC seat, as do most of his party leaders. In my knowledge, the advocate couple who were brutally murdered, the Mathani Vaman Rao couple, are also from the Brahmin community. He is trying to divert peoples attention and remove from of the Brahmins, who are currently seething against him and the TRS party. It is the TRS attempt to divide Brahmin votes in favour of the Communist party. Internally KCR supports Communist ideology. People are observing his cheap tricks and they will give a befitting and strongly reply to KCR in the MLC elections. Q: What is the basis of your confidence of a victory in the election? A: Everyone in Telangana is observing the rise of BJP. The josh is high after the Dubbaka by-poll and the Greater Hyderabad elections, that the BJP will definitely win the MLC elections as well as all the others which will follow in the state. The country is marching ahead in development under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and people have realised and understood the dark truths of the TRS regime. "Patients find providers in different ways and want to interact using different mediums today. We believe in the power of a single, integrated platform to help dental practices harness these changes and deliver amazing patient experiences." RevenueWell, the Chicago-based developer of Dental Patient Relationship Management and Communication software, today announced it has completed its acquisition of PBHS, the ADA Endorsed leader in digital marketing for dental and dental specialty practices. PBHSs services include dental website design, practice branding, SEO, online advertising, video marketing and social media campaigns. The investment furthers RevenueWells mission to deliver a unified, integrated practice-growth solution to simplify patient acquisition and retention for dental practices ranging from solo practices to enterprise-level group practices and Dental Service Organizations (DSOs). Our goal at RevenueWell always has been to simplify business complexity for dentists and staff so they can focus on delivering excellent patient care, said Serge Longin, co-founder and CEO of RevenueWell. The combination of RevenueWells award-winning patient relationship and communications software with PBHSs high-performance digital marketing services means customers of both companies will have access to a truly unified practice growth solution providers need to acquire, retain and delight all patients while maximizing lifetime value for the practice, Longin said. RevenueWell and PBHS share deep dental roots. Since their founding, the companies have focused solely on the unique marketing and patient communication needs of U.S. dental practices. RevenueWells flagship product is its Marketing Platform, which integrates with most Dental Practice Management Software (PMS) systems to automate and simplify time-consuming marketing and communication tasks such as review collection, email campaigns, appointment reminders, welcome information and post-procedure instructions. The platform also provides performance insights into the impact and ROI of marketing and communication activity. Other offerings include automated text messaging, paperless forms, teledentistry tools, and integrated VOIP telephony solutions. PBHSs high impact marketing services for dental and specialty practices include custom website design, SEO, online advertising, social media marketing, video production, website chat reception, practice branding, demographic marketing, waiting room TV, patient education and informed consent services. The company also provides secured technology solutions including SecureMail and truForm e-forms, the leading specialty online forms solution. PBHS is exclusively endorsed by ADA Member Advantage, the American Association of Endodontists, and the American College of Prosthodontists along with 30 state associations. PBHS has long been the industry leader in patient acquisition, said PBHS President Jay Levine. Connecting these offerings to RevenueWells award-winning Patient Relationship Management Suite creates an unbeatable solution for dental practices to deliver seamless new-patient experiences, measure and optimize marketing ROI and maximize the lifetime value of every patient who comes through the door. Running a dental practice is more complex today than it was just 10 years ago," Longin said. "Patients find providers in different ways, want to interact using different mediums, and stay loyal for different reasons than they used to. We believe in the power of a single, integrated platform to help practices harness and benefit from these changes and deliver amazing patient experiences. The successful integration of PBHS and RevenueWell's teams and products will further reduce the need to buy, implement and maintain multiple solutions for different parts of the patient journey. We're thrilled about the growth and cost savings this combination will create for our current and future customers." The integrated PBHS and RevenueWell family serves a customer base of more than 13,000 U.S. dental practices. Longin said customers will see exciting new product offerings and high-value packages rolled out over the next few months as the two companies integrate operations. In the combined organization, Levine will run PBHS as RevenueWell Vice President and General Manager of PBHS. About RevenueWell Founded in 2010, RevenueWell is a leading provider of marketing and communication software specifically designed to meet the needs of dental practices. The RevenueWell Marketing Platform provides tools that help dental practices maximize their clinical schedule, increase case acceptance and keep their patient base engaged and loyal to the practice. RevenueWells solutions are HIPAA compliant and integrate with most Dental PMS solutions. RevenueWell has 170 employees and offices in Bannockburn and Chicago. RevenueWells innovation, ease of use and outstanding customer service have driven tremendous growth over the past two years and made the company the Leader in Patient Relationship Management based on customer feedback on the software review website, G2.com. For more information visit RevenueWell.com and follow the company on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. About PBHS PBHS was founded in the 1970s to provide accounting, payroll and other administrative services to dental practices. In the 1990s, the company became the first company to specialize in dental website design and internet marketing. Since then, PBHS has grown into a team of more than 90 developers, designers, strategists and visionaries who are passionate about providing dental and medical practices with advanced digital marketing solutions. PBHS has offices in Santa Rosa, Calif., and New York. PBHS is exclusively endorsed by ADA Member Advantage, the American Association of Endodontists, and the American College of Prosthodontists along with 30 state associations. Learn more at PBHS.com. Patient Safety is a Priority in Europe and has improved over the years. Nevertheless, every year between 8 and 12% of the people admitted to hospitals and around 6% of those in primary care suffer from an adverse event (AE) while receiving healthcare. Second victims are healthcare providers and caretaker involved in an unexpected adverse event, medical error or injury affecting a patient, who become victims in the sense they are traumatized by it. Numerous studies about second victim have mainly been studied in the USA, while in Europe, the problem of medical errors has not been studied at the EU level in a systematic manner. The advancement of work on this topic has been slow and justifies the need to further understand factors leading to second victim phenomenon. The European Barometer indicates that 53% of EU citizens think that patients could be harmed by hospital care. Last September, during the first Management Committee kick-off meeting, the European Researchers Network Working on Second Victims (ERNST) was born in this context. ERNST pursues enhancing resilience of healthcare workforce in stressful events as a prerequisite for achieve optimal care for patients. Understanding the causes of this phenomenon and opening a discussion to break the taboo around medical mistakes leading to second victims are the challenges this new Action will focus on for the next four years. The ERNST COST Action aims at sharing scientific knowledge, perspectives, legislation, rules, and best practices concerning advert event in healthcare institutions. This cross-national collaboration is gathering research teams from 27 European countries, plus experts from the USA, Japan and, Latin American. A total of 92 professionals from universities, healthcare, and research institutions, across the world will establish a more in-depth understanding of the complexities of these issues requiring a multidisciplinary approach. How did the idea of creating an international network on second victims come about? "The germ of this European project was conceived at a meeting held on 19 and 20 July 2018 in Alicante (Spain). Some of the leaders of the Working Groups of the current ERNST and members of the Spanish team participated in this initial meeting. Prof. Vanhaecht (KULeuven, Belgium) in several previous meetings had already proposed that we should cooperate in Europe. At that time there were only a few research teams on second victims and the studies were just beginning. Now, the situation is absolutely different. There are new teams, new experiences in health centres and it is understood that giving support to professionals means working on quality care, which is working for the benefit of patients. ERNST has integrated almost all the teams that seek to increase the resilience of professionals in stressful situations and we have a network capable of identifying appropriate solutions. In addition, we have the support of researchers from other countries outside Europe who are leading research in this field worldwide and whose orientation further strengthens our capacity to work in this field." says Prof Jose Joaquin MIRA, Chair of the Action. The direct consequences the second victim phenomenon is causing insecurity in the provision of healthcare, loss of quality of the care provided, absenteeism, defensive medicine, burnout at the individual level, and inadequate risk management, an avoidable burden of human cost, detachment, and loss of reputation at the institutional level. Understanding factors causing healthcare provider errors, implementing a blame-free patient safety culture, and developing a legal certainty framework in the health care context can reinforce the care provider commitment to patient safety and reduce SV-related trauma. Prof Jose Joaquin MIRA, Chairing the Action, adds: "Our intention is to generate a space for the exchange of ideas, interchange experiences and open controversy on how safety incidents limit the capacity of teams and healthcare professionals. We want to increase the understanding of this phenomenon and to provide the public and patients with information and data to raise awareness of what safety incidents are. We want to involve in these debates with all stakeholders such as the academic and legislative world, clinicians, managers, policy makers and patient associations. Analysing the phenomenon of second victims, conceptualizing it (which also means looking for alternatives to the term second victims), measuring its impact and developing interventions to reduce its effect is also working for the benefit of the quality of care received by patients". During the first semester of 2021, the Action Network has begun its activities marked by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health systems and society as a whole. ERNST approach to caring for those who care for patients become more meaningful when we consider the healthcare workforce as the second victim of SARS-CoV-2. The Action has also joined the new network COST Actions against COVID-19 an interdisciplinary network gathering useful information and details of all the Actions wishing to connect and collaborate. Branching out Next March, the network is organizing an international forum: 'Caring for Caregivers: Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic'. Google Pixel 5a has surfaced in first CAD-based renders, thanks to @OnLeaks. This shows a similar punch-hole OLED screen as the predecessor, however this is said to feature a slightly bigger 6.2-inch FHD+ OLED screen compared to the 5.8-inch screen. This also increases the height, width and the thickness of the phone to 156.2 x 73.2 x 8.8mm (9.4mm with camera bump). It is said to retain the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, 3.5mm audio jack and stereo speakers. The image shows dual rear cameras, but the second sensor could be a PDAF sensor instead of the ultra-wide sensor that is present in the Pixel 5 and the Pixel 4a 5G. This will likely be a 4G phone for markets like India, but we dont have any details about the processor, battery and other details. The Pixel 4a was supposed to be introduced in May 2020, but it was delayed to August, and it was sold in India only in October. Hope we dont have to wait that long for the Pixel 5a this year. Source Instagram is adding new resources for users affected by negative body image or eating disorders. Starting this Monday, if users search for eating disorder-related content on Instagram, the app will point them to helpful expert-backed resources. Instagram will also offer users contacts for local eating disorders hotlines in the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK. Like most other social media platforms, Instagram also doesnt allow content that promotes or encourages self-harm and eating disorders. The Facebook-owned photo-sharing platform already tries to blur potentially triggering images in search results. It also directs users who search for such content to crisis support resources. Now, following the newly introduced measures, users will see helpful resources specifically designed around eating disorders. Users can tap on the blue Get Resources button to get help from experts or a friend. Instagram also offers ways to support yourself. These are the suggestions that have helped other users in the past. The See Results button, meanwhile, will allow users to continue with their search. Advertisement These resources will also appear if someone tries to share such sensitive content on the platform. Moreover, if a friend is concerned about something they see posted and wants to offer support, they can also direct the user to these resources. Facebook says it is working on making it easier to connect with friends over Instagram in such situations. It plans to add the ability to send a message to a friend directly from the resources. This feature will be available in the coming weeks. Instagram introduces new ways to support users suffering from eating disorders Instagram is also expanding its work with experts to better inform the users of its policies, so they can offer support to users suffering from negative body image or eating disorders. It is also hosting feedback sessions with experts from all around the world to learn more about such issues. The company hopes to be able to introduce new approaches for offering support through these measures. Advertisement Additionally, Instagram is working with NEDA (National Eating Disorders Association) to share programming during National Eating Disorders Awareness Week in the US. It is collaborating with community leaders to help them create and share positive, inspiring body image content. Several community leaders will be sharing Reels to encourage positive body image, the company says. Several other platforms like Pinterest, Tumblr, and TikTok also have similar measures in place to try and help people who make potentially triggering or dangerous searches on their platforms. According to data as of February 17, "the rate of deaths has slowed down in 14 provinces," the government official stated. Cornejo pointed out that epidemiological indicators in six out of 32 provinces classified as extreme risk areas for COVID-19 have improved. These provinces are Utcubamba (Amazonas region), Islay (Arequipa region), Cutervo (Cajamarca region), Canchis (Cusco region), Yauli (Junin region), and Mariscal Ramon Castilla (Loreto region). "Additionally, we must also report that the movement (of people) has dropped considerably in the first days of lockdown, especially in extreme risk regions," she added. However, this indicator recorded a slight rebound in the last two weeks. Vaccination process Regarding the vaccination process, she said the Ministry of Health (Minsa ) platform indicates that around 180,000 people have so far been vaccinated at 9,159 health establishments nationwide. "Out of one million Sinopharm vaccine doses that arrived in Peru, 346,297 have been already distributed," the Cabinet member explained. Remarks were made during the presentation of a report on the measures adopted by the Executive Branch in order to address the second wave of COVID-19. (END) CCH/RMB The death curve in Peru has seen a slight downturn compared to previous weeks, Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Claudia Cornejo said on Monday afternoon at a press conference held at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (PCM) in Lima.Published: 2/22/2021 Welcome to Morningstar.co.uk! You have been redirected here from Hemscott.com as we are merging our websites to provide you with a one-stop shop for all your investment research needs.To search for a security, type the name or ticker in the search box at the top of the page and select from the dropdown results.Registered Hemscott users can log in to Morningstar using the same login details. Similarly, if you are a Hemscott Premium user, you now have a Morningstar Premium account which you can access using the same login details. EV kWh AWD kW WLTP The first vehicle unveiled under Hyundai' s IONIQ sub-brand is part of the company's pledge to redefine the electric mobility lifestyle, which has an extremely broad scope and includes sub-brands such as IONIQ itself or HTWO , as well as major technology advancements like the introduction of the E-GMP electric vehicle architecture.IONIQ 5 is a positive example of the mindset, morphing into series production with a design that strongly resembles the 45 Concept and has midsize CUV traits to make it attractive for a wide range of customers. Better yet, the daring styling hasnt been impacted by the bespoke proportions or the fact that the IONIQ 5 resides on a very long wheelbase of 3,000 mm (118.1 inches), signaling an interesting EV specific typology for upcoming vehicles that will also make use of the new E-GMP platform Certain traits will make the IONIQ 5 pretty unmistakable, such as the pixel-like daytime running lights (DRLs) that will probably become a signature of the brand (along with the clusters in the rear) or the 20-inch aero-optimized wheels. As far as dimensions go, thisis 4,635 millimeters (182.5 inches) long, 1,890 mm (74.4 in) wide and 1,605 mm (63.2 in) tall. The launch is scheduled for the first half of 2021, but Hyundai hasn't revealed which markets may or may not receive it.Inside, the IONIQ 5 claims to harbor what Hyundai calls a Living Space. It consists of a Universal Island (a 140-mm/5.51-in sliding center console), a flat floor (with batteries stored underneath), electronically adjustable and reclining front seats, as well as numerous sustainably sourced materials (PET bottles, plant-based or natural wool yarns, eco-leather, etc.). All in all, there are nine exterior shades (five of them inspired by nature and exclusive to the IONIQ 5) and three interior themes.Hyundai will equip the IONIQ 5 with a range of powertrains that include two battery options (58or 72.6 kWh) and two electric motor choices (single RWD or dual). The flagship option with the largest battery and AWD is capable of delivering up to 225(302 hp) and 605 Nm (446 lb-ft). Its enough for a sprint to 62 mph (100 kph) in 5.2 seconds and a top speed of 115 mph (185 kph). Meanwhile, the RWD with the largest battery will have a-rated range of around 480 km (298 miles).Other highlights include the dual-cockpit arrangement featuring a pair of 12-inch screens for the instrument gauges and infotainment screen, the Augmented Reality Head-Up Display (AR HUD), the first-ever Highway Driving Assist 2 (HDA 2), and the promised high-speed charging feature. The latter comes courtesy of the dual 400V/800V configuration of E-GMP, so the IONIQ 5 can sip electric juice at up to 350 kW for a 10 to 80% recharge in just 18 minutes. The family of Cristian Pineda, an 11-year-old boy who died in his bed from suspected hypothermia amid power outages and record freezing temperatures last week, is suing two major Texas energy companies for $100 million, alleging negligence that led to his death. The Pineda familys mobile home in Conroe, Texas was without power for more than 24 hours last week as temperatures plunged as low as 9 degrees Fahrenheit. On Monday night, Cristian shared a bed with his three-year-old brother while his mother and stepfather tried to comfort their infant son nearby. Cristian was found unresponsive the next morning. His mother Maria Pineda called 911 and attempted CPR, but Cristian was already dead. Cristian Pavon Pineda, 11 (credit: GoFundMe) Houston attorney Tony Buzbee filed the lawsuit on the Pineda familys behalf against the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and Entergy Corporation. In the lawsuit, Buzbee alleges that Cristians death, and dozens of others throughout the state, would have been prevented if ERCOT and Entergy took action to protect the electric grid from extreme weather and properly warned residents of prolonged power outages during frigid temperatures. The lawsuit accuses the energy companies of gross negligence and correctly states they put profits over the welfare of people by failing to follow recommendations to winterize the power grid and misleading residents about how long blackouts would last. Despite having knowledge of the dire weather forecast for at least a week in advance, and the knowledge that the system was not prepared for more than a decade, ERCOT and Entergy failed to take any preemptory action that could have averted the crisis and were wholly unprepared to deal with the crisis at hand, the lawsuit states. The suit asserts that ERCOT caused Texans to believe that the blackouts would only be temporary, which prevented them from preparing or evacuating the area. In fact, residents were initially told that rolling blackouts would last 10 to 45 minutes. Instead, many were out of power for days, forced to manage multiple nights of below-freezing temperatures without power to heat their homes. The lawsuit references a 2011 report by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation. The report, issued the summer after another winter storm caused widespread power outages, found that state officials already in 1989after another winter storm that wreaked havoc on the stateissued a number of recommendations aimed at improving winterization on the part of the generators. The two prior disasters did not provide enough impulse to encourage the state government to protect the lives of its citizens by upgrading and modernizing the power grid. Rather than invest in infrastructure to prepare for the known winter storms that would most certainly come and potentially leave people vulnerable without power, the providers instead chose to put profits over the welfare of people, and ERCOT allowed them to do so, the lawsuit concludes. More than 70 deaths have so far been attributed to the intense weather that devastated a wide swathe of the US. About half of the deaths were in Texas alone. Carrol Anderson, a 75-year-old man who breathed with the help of oxygen tanks, was found dead inside his pickup truck on Tuesday. His stepdaughter told the New York Times that Anderson kept a spare oxygen tank in his truck. She figured Anderson went outside to retrieve it after he lost power because his main tank required electricity. His death was determined to have been the result of hypothermia. Officials in Galveston County confirmed that two residents died from exposure to the cold, and at least one person died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Four other deaths are under investigation to see if they are connected to the weather. In Houston, an immigrant family from Ethiopia was found poisoned inside of its idling car, parked in their garage. Etenesh Mersha was on the phone with a friend, whom Mersha told she was feeling tired, before succumbing to carbon monoxide poisoning. Police found Mersha and her seven-year-old daughter, Rakeb Shalemu, dead. Mershas husband and son were found unconscious and taken to the hospital. A man in a rural community south of San Antonio was found dead inside his home, where he lived alone. He did not have electricity, and his home was 35 degrees when authorities found him. In Abilene, a patient died at a medical facility because he was unable to get dialysis treatment. The facilitys water supply, imperative for proper care of dialysis patients, was shut off. Abilene officials have stated that at least four people had died as a result of exposure to the cold temperatures. This includes a homeless man who died from exposure to the cold, a 60-year-old man who was found dead in his home, and an 86-year-old woman who was fround frozen in her backyard by her daughter. Each of these preventable deaths, and dozens more, are on the hands of the state government and its greedy corporate accomplices. For decades the government and power companies have worked to deregulate Texas power grid in the pursuit of profit, at the expense of the working class. Corporations readily moved to Texas to exploit its lax regulation laws, cheap labor, and low electricity costs. This conspiracy against the working class spawned last weeks catastrophe, rather than natural causes. The fallout from Winter Storm Uri is an ongoing crisis. As of Monday morning, as many as 8.8 million people in Texas were still without access to safe water. Schools and many workplaces remain closed, starving workers of income during the crisis. Renters and homeowners face costly water damage from burst pipes, and exorbitant electricity bills. Power companies reaped an estimated $40 billion in revenue amid last weeks crisis. The fact that companies were allowed to bring in massive sums, at the expense of the safety and well-being of millions, is a scathing indictment of the capitalist system. Every last dollar these criminals took should be taken and utilized for recovery efforts. The companies should be expropriated and placed under public control to ensure the modernization of the power grid. Every politician and businessperson involved in the deregulation of Texas power grid should be held accountable, including arrests and prosecution. The latest social disaster to hit the US demonstrates once again the incompatibility of capitalism with the safeguarding of human life. The disaster in Texas is just an episode in the global class war against the working class. Under the watch of the various national ruling classes, almost 2.5 million people have died unnecessarily from COVID-19. The bourgeoisie has shown itself to be a block on the development of civilization and proven the necessity for the intervention of the international working class to reorganize society on a rational, scientific basis to meet the needs of all of humanity. Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Tuesday that the holy land Mathura is known to break the arrogance of people. "Lord Krishna had broken the arrogance of Lord Indra and had lifted the Govardhan mountain on his finger to save the people here. This government has also become arrogant and will not survive the wrath of the farmers who keep the nation alive," she said. Tuesday's meeting was in continuation of a series of Kisan Panchayats that the Congress is organising in 27 districts in western Uttar Pradesh against the three Central farm laws. Priyanka said that nearly 215 farmers lost their lives during the ongoing agitation but the leaders of the ruling party did not even come to the Delhi borders to meet the agitating farmers though the Prime Minister travels across the globe. "When my brother Rahul Gandhi observed two-minute silence in the Parliament in the memory of the farmers who had died, not a single member of the ruling party stood up in respect," she said, adding that when arrogance keeps leaders away form the people, "you know the end is near". Priyanka said that the BJP had promised to double the income of the farmers and pay their cane dues. "The cane dues amount to about Rs 15,000 crore. But instead of paying this, the government has bought two aircraft worth Rs 16,000 crore for the Prime Minister. This shows where their priority lies," she pointed out. The Congress leader also expressed concern over the condition of gaushalas (cow shelters) in the Braj region, saying even the cows have not been spared by the government. She further said that the new farm laws had been made to benefit the capitalist friends of the government. "You must now save the 'Govardhan parvat' or they will sell it away too," she added. The Congress General Secretary, while addressing a Kisan Mahapanchayat in Muzaffarnagar district on February 20, had lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She had said, "In our old stories, kings and queens became arrogant after they won power. After becoming the Prime Minister twice, Narendra Modi is also showing arrogance." An international collaboration among researchers from Finland, Sweden, UK and the USA has captured ribosomes translating messenger RNA expressed from the maternally inherited mitochondrial genome. Utilizing the latest advances in cryo-electron microscopy, the group discovered a novel mechanism that mitochondrial ribosomes use for the synthesis and delivery of newly made proteins to prevent premature misfolding. Disruptions to protein folding can lead to devastating human diseases. There is a familiar saying, "It's all in the genes". As modern archaeology reveals, the DNA that encodes genes can be found among the remnants of our ancestors and from any organism, small and large, that once roamed the earth. The genetic blueprint alone is not sufficient; life requires the faithful expression and translation of our genomes. Basic research in molecular biology has revealed in beautiful detail the mechanisms by which these fundamental processes operate. One of these pioneering discoveries was that of Nobel Prize winners Francois Jacob and Jacques Monod, who established the paradigm that we now know as cellular gene expression, whereby the information in our genome is transcribed, read and converted into functional proteins. Since then, researchers young and old have been filling in the details of these incredible processes to uncover the complexity of biology. In a recent study published in Science an international collaboration of researchers, involving University of Helsinki researchers Dr. Brendan Battersby and Dr. Uwe Richter, built upon this tradition by revealing the specialized mechanism for translation of the mitochondrial genome into proteins. Within the cells that make up the tissues and organs of our bodies, mitochondria compartmentalise the breakdown of nutrients with oxygen into the conversion of cellular energy. As a result, it is best known as the powerhouse of the cell. This function is dependent upon the faithful expression of the maternally inherited mitochondrial genome. Disruptions to the process underlie a large group of human diseases that can strike at any age, differing in the affected tissue and severity. Despite the importance, the molecular mechanisms of these processes have remained obscure. However, the breakthrough in biological imaging brought about by cryo-electron microscopy now provides researchers with the tools to investigate the functions of individual proteins at unprecedented resolution and detail. By combining forces with Dr. Alexey Amunts at Stockholm University and Karolinska Institutet and Professor Antoni Barrientos at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, the group used their collective know-how to capture the mitochondrial ribosome translating messenger RNA (mRNA) into a protein. The structure revealed a unique gating mechanism to prevent newly made proteins from prematurely misfolding. For proteins to be functional within our cells requires coordinated folding processes to obtain a correct 3D shape. Disruptions to protein folding can have profound biological implications for all organisms and in humans lead to devastating diseases. Getting a direct picture of a biological process that we investigated for several years by biochemical and genetic tools is absolutely electrifying!" Uwe Richter, a Shared First Author and Principal Investigator, University of Helsinki and Newcastle University "This study highlights the power and brilliance of international collaborative basic science driven from the bottom-up," says Research Director Brendan Battersby, who is one of the corresponding authors. "There is a worrying trend among scientific funding agencies to direct research from the top towards goal-oriented tasks pursued by large consortia, and in the process deprive research funds away from individual investigators who are the cornerstone of scientific discovery. The best scientists will always seek each other out to follow the creativity of their ideas, which the track record shows unquestionably leads to real innovation in the end." "Understanding the fine details of these cellular mechanisms has important considerations for human diseases but also for the side-effects of commonly prescribed antibiotics. Mitochondrial gene expression has many overlaps with that of bacteria and as a result many antibiotics used to treat bacterial infections can also disrupt our cellular powerhouses, accounting for side-effects of these medications. Solving these ribosome structures is integral to the development of effective and safe new antibiotics in the future. In the end, this highlights the importance of basic bottom-up research and how it continues to drive innovation and we cannot afford to lose it," highlights Dr. Battersby. School districts will have to give assessment tests to students this year, but they will be allowed to delay or change the tests, the federal government said Monday. There wont be any blanket waivers of exams in 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Last year, standardized tests were waived entirely due to the coronavirus pandemic. Each state can can decide whether to make the tests shorter, give them remotely or not give them until the summer or fall. These exams are given primarily in reading, math and science. The New York State Education Department, which had asked for a federal waiver for the tests, said today it is disappointed by the decision. They did say, however, that the feds were right in saying no child will be forced to come to school to take the tests. The department agreed with the decision to separate these tests from accountability measures so no schools will be penalized by the test results, state education department officials said in a statement. These are the standardized tests given: New York State Grades 3-8 English Language Arts Test. New York State Grades 3-8 Mathematics Test. New York State Grade 4 Elementary-Level Science Test. New York State Grade 8 Intermediate-Level Science Test. New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test (NYSESLAT) in Grades K-12. New York State Alternate Assessment (NYSAA) for students with severe cognitive disabilities in Grades 3-8 and high school. New York state has cancelled the state Regents exams normally held in January. The state education department said today it plans to propose a series of regulatory amendments at the March Board of Regents meeting so Regents exams arent required to meet graduation requirements. Any Regents exam not required by the feds also would be canceled, state education department officials said. Elizabeth Doran covers education, suburban government and development, breaking news and more. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact her anytime at 315-470-3012 or email edoran@syracuse.com Cebu City (CNN Philippines, February 23) A Cebu City official ordered the removal of tarpaulins plastered along several streets, encouraging Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte to run for president. Cebu City Office of the Building chief Florante Catalan said the office has not received any application to put up streamers or tarpaulins from "Friends of Sara" or "Run Sara Run." The Office of the Building is the entity in charge of ensuring that the National Building Code is followed. Permits before putting up of streamers are covered under a City Ordinance. Catalan added that he will ask the Prevention Restoration Order Beautification Enhancement office to remove the "illegal" tarpaulins. The tarpaulins were put up on elevated walkways in at least four different locations and were making rounds on social media. Several of these political posters have also been sprouting in other cities such as Davao, and regions, including Metro Manila. The presidential daughter was the top-of-mind choice for the country's next leader in 2022 according to a recent survey by OCTA Research, but she recently said she may only run for the post after more than a decade has passed. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 10:16:21|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. House Budget Committee on Monday voted to move forward President Joe Biden's 1.9-trillion-U.S.-dollar COVID-19 relief package, setting up a vote in the full House later this week. The House panel approved the relief package, also known as the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, by a vote of 19-16 largely along party lines. "We are in a race against time. Aggressive, bold action is needed before our nation is more deeply and permanently scarred by the human and economic costs of inaction," John Yarmuth, chairman of the House Budget Committee and a Democrat from Kentucky, said Monday before the vote. "We aren't going to wait. We are going to pass this legislation and we are going to turn this pandemic and economic crisis around," Yarmuth said. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Monday that he planned to bring this bill to the House floor later this week to provide the American people with needed relief. "I hope Republicans will join us in this effort and make it a bipartisan step forward. That would be to the benefit of our country, to its public health, and to its economic recovery," Hoyer said in a statement. However, many Republicans have questioned the need for another massive relief package as lawmakers have passed nearly 4 trillion dollars in relief efforts since the pandemic began. "Let's be serious about this, this bill replaces the bipartisan formula used for state and local funding used in the previous 5 COVID bills to reward the worst acting Governors during this pandemic," Jason Smith, the top Republican on the House Budget Committee, tweeted Monday. While COVID-19 cases in the United States have been falling sharply in recent weeks, Biden administration officials believed that a large relief package is still necessary to get the economy back to full strength. "The greater risk is of scarring the people, having this pandemic take a permanent lifelong toll on their lives and livelihoods," U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a recent interview with CNBC. "We think it's very important to have a big package (that) addresses the pain this has caused," Yellen said. In a letter to the Senate Democratic Caucus last week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the upper chamber is on track to send the 1.9-trillion-dollar relief package to the president's desk before the March 14 expiration of unemployment insurance benefits. Enditem Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. ALBANY Its been just about a year since lawmakers banned reusable plastic bags, but the battle continues. State officials have issued warnings to a handful of stores and other businesses that continue to dispense the bags after the ban belatedly took effect. And Gov. Andrew Cuomos budget proposal includes language that would allow some use of plastic materials such as polypropylene in woven heavy duty bags that can be reused. Environmentalists say that would be a backward step. But state officials say the language is needed to clear up the initial confusion surrounding the ban last year. According to records from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, they have issued 42 warnings but no fines since the ban took effect to establishments that have continued to give out the bags. Thats according to a response to a Freedom of Information Law request from Beyond Plastics, an organization working to remove plastic from the waste stream. The response also notes that DEC did not actually begin enforcing the ban until Oct. 19, 2020 due to a lawsuit against the legislation. If further complaints are received regarding parties that have already been issued warnings and these violations are witnessed by agency staff, DEC will take further appropriate enforcement action, including the issuance of Notices of Violation with potential payable penalties, reads the FOIL response. Multiple violators of the ban can be fined up to $500. More warnings may be on the way. Beyond Plastics founder and President Judith Enck, a former EPA administrator, said that volunteers with her group have documented well over 100 stores that arent complying with the ban. Most are in the New York City area and have been reported to the DEC. Still unsettled is the precise definition of what a banned bag is, according to language in the governors proposed budget. The proposal would allow woven bags that include substances like polypropylene and polyethylene-terephthalate. Those bags would have to be re-usable and have re-usable characteristics such as handles. Still banned are the thin film non-cloth bags, which were the main target of the original ban, however. More for you News DEC's plastic bag ban was so confusing that state must... Despite that, the proposed exemption rankled environmentalists like Enck. Weakening the law to allow for thicker plastic bags, even under the guise that some of them may be reused, is a step backwards and should be rejected by state legislators, she said. The change appears to stem from a now-settled lawsuit against the initial ban by PolyPak Industries, a Long Island bag maker. While the state eventually prevailed in upholding the ban, the Acting State Supreme Court in Albany Justice Gerald Connolly criticized DEC for the confusion surrounding the new law, ordering court costs to go to PolyPak. The budget proposal serves to clarify certain exempt bags and what constitutes a reusable bag, including examples of the types of fabric in reusable bags and examples of commonly used reusable bags that contain some plastic content, including polyester, woven polypropylene, and nylon bags, among other examples, according to DEC. The court ruling made it clear that film bags, regardless of their thickness or weight, fell under the ban. A man accused of running a sex slave ring that saw victims drugged and branded like cattle has been hit with 13 new charges. Matthew James Markcrow, 35, faced a Brisbane court earlier this month accused of keeping women for sexual servitude, and tattooing ownership claims on their bodies. He was initially charged with 10 offences. On Tuesday, police said an additional 13 charges had been laid, including six counts of conducting business involving servitude, one count of grievous bodily harm, and four counts of supplying dangerous drugs. Matthew James Markcrow, 35, faced a Brisbane court earlier this month accused of keeping women for sexual servitude Police allege women aged between 17 and 24 were kept in conditions of servitude of unlawful prostitution, given stupefying drugs, and subjected to controlled living, financial and work conditions as well as being tattooed Markcrow remains in custody and is expected to reappear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday. Police allege women aged between 17 and 24 were kept in conditions of servitude of unlawful prostitution, given stupefying drugs, and subjected to controlled living, financial and work conditions as well as being tattooed. Markcrow's girlfriend, Crystal Marie Sawyer, 23, was also arrested and charged with running the illegal prostitution business. Earlier this month Sawyer was granted bail provided she not go within 100 metres of the house, report to police twice weekly, and not contact certain people including Markcrow. A total of nine alleged victims have so far contacted police. It's alleged social media was used to recruit them. Two 23-year-old women have also been charged over the ring that police described as truly shocking. Co-accused Crystal Sawyer is pictured leaving Brisbane watchhouse earlier this month In DNA on Tuesday, Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary analyses the expansionist idea of the 'Tukde Tukde' gang, whose purpose is to destroy the constitutional structure of India, and this gang has also started talking about breaking up West Bengal and Maharashtra with Khalistan. In simple words, the goals of this gang are now taking a new form of expansionism and it has started sprouting ideas of separatism on the soil of West Bengal and Maharashtra as well. READ | Sikhs For Justice asks Mamata, Uddhav to declare independence of their states from India There is a continuous demand for a separate nation--Khalistan for Sikhs under the guise of farmers' movement, but now a Khalistani organization named Sikhs For Justice has started work on its new plan for West Bengal and Maharashtra. This organization operates from the US and the name of the person running it is Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, an accused of fostering the demand for Khalistan in India by taking funding from Pakistan. Several cases of treason have been registered against him in India. But despite all this, he has no fear of anyone and now he is demanding from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that these two states should secede from India. He has released a video and also claimed that he has written a separate letter to CM Banerjee and CM Thackeray for this. We demand that Pannu should be arrested immediately. For this, the Indian government should talk to the US, which considers itself the champion of democracy. Pannu runs a law firm in the US, one office in New York and the other in California. Apart from these, two properties of Pannu are in Amritsar, Punjab, which was seized by the NIA in 2020. Pannu has studied law at Punjab University and that is the reason he is now saying that if both the states of West Bengal and Maharashtra are separated from India, then it will help them in the international court. He studied law in India and now he is provoking people in the name of the law to break India. The Khalistani organization Sikhs For Justice was founded in 2007 in the US. This organization is banned in India and is also on the radar of the country's investigative agency NIA. We will tell you five such things related to Sikhs for Justice and Pannu, which proves that this organization wants to break India. Firstly, this organization started an anti-India campaign called Referendum 2020. The aim was to create a separate country named Khalistan for Sikhs by holding a referendum in Punjab. Secondly, the same organization had written a letter saying that on the occasion of Republic Day on January 26, the person who would hoist the flag of Khalistan at India Gate, a reward of USD 2.5 million i.e. Rs one crore 82 lakh will be given. That day nothing happened at India Gate, but at the Red Fort, some people hoisted the flag of a particular religion and also challenged the Constitution. Thirdly, the government has banned this organization under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act in July 2019. Fourthly, at this time Pannu has control of this organization and has many cases of treason in India. In July 2019, two new cases of sedition were also registered by Punjab Police against Pannu. Lastly, Pannu seeking Khalistan gets funding from Pakistan for this. Our readers should also understand why Pannu, who demanded Khalistan, chose only the states of West Bengal and Maharashtra to break India. There is currently Mamata Banerjee's government in West Bengal and Congress-Shiv Sena-NCP coalition government in Maharashtra. There has been a lot of confrontation between the governments of these two states and the central government. Mamata Banerjee has even refused to obey many orders and laws of the central government. The biggest example is the Citizenship Amendment Act, on which Mamata Banerjee said that she will not allow this law to be implemented in West Bengal. At the same time, the Maharashtra government also tried to reverse many orders of the central government and in many cases, there was a conflict between the state and the central government over the investigation. Perhaps this is the reason why the dismembered gang wants to sow the seeds of separatism in these two states by taking advantage of this political confrontation. If tomorrow, in any state a government of such party or leader is formed, which is in favour of separatism, then what does the Constitution say in such a situation. In these circumstances, the governor of that state can recommend the President to dissolve the Legislative Assembly to avoid the breakdown of the constitutional structure and to maintain the law system. However, another important point is that the constituent assembly of the country has made it clear that no state has, in any case, the right to secede from India and the Constitution does not allow it. Let's cite an example. Pannu has talked about the Kosovo model in his letter to CM Banerjee and CM Thackeray. Kosovo is the second newest country in the world after South Sudan, although many countries including India, China and Russia do not recognize it as a nation. Because these countries believe that doing so will promote separatism and then in these countries too many provinces and states will start demanding independence, which will not be right for the national unity and integrity of any country. However, there are also the US, Canada and many western countries, which consider Kosovo as an independent country. Kosovo declared independence from the European country Serbia on February 17, 2008. Kosovo has a population of less than 2 million, of which Albania has the largest Muslim population. However, there was a time when Christians were the majority in this part of Serbia. But after becoming part of the Osmani empire, the population of Albania Muslims gradually increased and by the 20th century Christianity population shrank considerably. When the population of Albania Muslims increased, these people launched a campaign of separatism against Serbia. It was the result of opportunistic alliances of Western countries and radical Muslim organizations that the spirit of separatism erupted in the Kosovo province of Serbia and later it became a separate country. When Serbia opposed Kosovo independence in the international court of justice, the decision, in this case, came in Kosovo's favour. The international court then said that Kosovo's independence does not violate any rules and constitution. This decision raised the concern of democratic countries that talk about sovereignty and integrity. India was also among them and this is the reason why India still does not recognize Kosovo as a nation. Terrorist organizations seeking Khalistan want the same to be repeated in India as it did in Serbia in 2008, and Pannu also calls for helping states like Maharashtra and West Bengal in the International Court of Justice. The language of separatism is the same all over the world. The 'Tukde Tukde' gang that breaks countries and divides them into different parts speaks the same language and this language is of hate and selfishness. Quebec province of Canada demands freedom, there is also demand for independence in Catalonia in Spain, Scotland in Britain, Chechnya in Russia, Tibet in China and Balochistan in Pakistan and Sindh. However, there are some people in our country, in whose heart and mind a huge tree of separatism has made its place and these people dream of tearing India to pieces. On February 12, an event was held in Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab, on the birthday of Khalistani terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. In this programme, on January 26, the families of the accused who hoisted a flag of a special religion at the Red Fort were called on the stage and honoured and were given a reward of Rs 50,000 each. We want you to decide today whether this country will run according to democracy or from the ideas of separatism. Because the country where democracy is threatened by separatism, democracy starts becoming hollow in that country and we will not allow this to happen at all. Today we give you some more important information related to this program but let us first tell you about Jaskaran Singh. Jaskaran Singh is the president of the Kisan Union Amritsar, which is involved in the ongoing farmers' movement in Delhi. Most importantly, Jaskaran Singh was present in the capital of the country during the violence that broke out in Delhi on January 26. Singh said some things about Bhagat Singh in this program. He said that Sikhs like him do not consider Bhagat Singh as their hero because Bhagat Singh had sacrificed for the Independence of India. He considers Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale as his hero. If Bhagat Singh, who embraced martyrdom for the independence of the country, would have been alive today, he would have been sad to hear these things. We want you to hear these things about Jaskaran Singh today and also identify his real face. Today you should also understand why these people who demand Khalistan consider Bhagat Singh as their enemy? Let us explain in four points. Firstly, Bhagat Singh, at the age of 23, laid down martyrdom for independent India, putting Indian identity at the top of his religious identity. Bhindranwale wanted to break this secular India and create a separate country for Sikhs. Secondly, Bhagat Singh established the Naujawan Bharat Sabha in March 1926. In 1928, he changed the name of the Hindustan Republican Association to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. In the name of these organizations, you can understand that in the thoughts of Bhagat Singh, there was only room for India and not for Khalistan. Thirdly, Bhagat Singh dreamed of an India where we give importance to our Indian identity rather than our religious identity. Fourthly, Bhagat Singh used to talk about the rights of farmers and labourers. He did not talk about the rights of Sikhs or religion. So these are the things, because of which these people who demand Khalistan do not like Bhagat Singh. The event was held in Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab on February 12 and was organized by Shiromani Akali Dal, Amritsar, which was established in 1994 under Amritsar Declaration. The current Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh is one of its founding members. The main objective of the Amritsar Declaration 1994 was to demand a separate area for the Sikhs in the democratic realm. However, when the Legislative Assembly elections were held in Punjab in 1998, the leaders of Shiromani Akali Dal Amritsar were badly defeated. They were completely rejected by the people of Punjab. After this, Captain Amarinder Singh again joined the Congress and is the Chief Minister of Punjab today. There can be no place for separatism in democracy. Filmmaker-writer JP Dutta and yesteryear actress Bindiya Goswami's daughter Nidhi Dutta is all set to get hitched to director-beau Binoy Gandhi on March 7 in Jaipur, stated a report in ETimes. The report further stated that the sangeet ceremony will be held on March 6. Revealing why the couple zeroed in Jaipur as the wedding venue, the tabloid quoted a source close to Nidhi and Binoy as saying, "It is a case of history repeating itself. Nidhi has zeroed in on Jaipur, as JP Dutta, known for films like Border and Refugee, had proposed his love to Bindiya in the pink city. The wedding will take place at the exact location and under the same tree where the senior couple had professed their love for each other, followed by the proposal. Besides, Jaipur is like Nidhi's second home. She would frequent the city with her mother as a child." Nidhi Dutta and Binoy Gandhi had got engaged in August last year, and were to get married in December. However, the couple decided to postpone their wedding when they realized that many guests wouldn't be able to attend their D-day because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, Nidhi and Binoy finalized March 7 for their special day. The ETimes report further stated that bride-to-be has started sending out the wedding invites. A guest spilled the beans about the wedding invite and told the leading daily, "It is a customised invite. We have received a rose quartz tray and a box of mithai with silver Ganesha embossed on it. What makes the invite special is that the card has a shlok from a bhajan written by Nidhi's grandfather (OP Dutta) for a music album, printed on it." Earlier, Nidhi Dutta had opened up about her love story with Binoy and revealed, "We met through a common friend. Binoy was to direct a film for our company, so it was his directorial debut and I was to act in it. The film never saw the light of the day, but turned out to be the beginning of our happily ever after. Nidhi Dutta assisted her dad JP Dutta on his film Umrao Jaan which starred Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in lead role. She also produced the 2018 war film Paltan. ALSO READ: Sara Ali Khan And Amrita Singh Look Radiant At JP Dutta's Daughter Nidhi's Mehendi Ceremony ALSO READ: 17 Years Of Refugee: These BTS Pictures Of Abhishek Bachchan & Kareena Kapoor Khan Are Pure Gold! Thousands of people took to the streets in Myanmar to resist marking the 18th day of what seem to be the largest street scale demonstrations which began on February 6 this year. Hundreds and thousands of anti-coup protesters took to the streets across Myanmar on Monday despite the threats they received from the junta which stated that it was prepared to use force to absolutely crush what it sees as anarchy. The warning came after three protestors were shot dead over the weekend. A massive street demonstration was witnessed across the country when Myanmars military staged a coup on February 1st and detained Aung San Suu Kyi, the civilian leader. Protesters who started the resistance and took to the streets in large numbers were absolutely undeterred by the warning and rallied across Yangnor, Myanmars biggest city, and the countrys commercial hub. The protestors expressed defiance and stated that they are worried about the crackdown but will continue to move forward as they are full of wrath. The protestors rallied also continued in Naypyidaw, the capital of Myanmar, and a military stronghold. cities like Myitkyinaand Dawei were also a site of protestors marching and raging against the military coup and businesses were closed in many cities when calls for a general strike followed. Also Read: The military generals of Myanmar have responded to the protestors by gradually levelling up the use of lethal force and by arresting the political prisoners. the police and the troops have used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons on protestors. as per an independent monitoring group called- Assistance Association for Political prisoners, authorities have detained 640 people since the protests began. On the weekend, two people were shot dead by the security forces in the city of Mandalay. A young woman also died after being shot by the bullet fired by the troops at the protest and who eventually emerged as a potent symbol of the anti-junta protest. Also Read: Pregnant women who catch coronavirus are not more likely to have a miscarriage or stillbirth or to deliver a baby with a low birth weight, a study has found. The research included 4,004 pregnant women in the UK and US and found Covid did not increase the risk of a pregnancy going wrong. Advice for mothers-to-be during the pandemic has been cautious, with the NHS putting them in a 'clinically vulnerable' group. But there has been a lack of quality evidence to prove whether they are or aren't put in extra danger by Covid. Children seem to barely get sick with the virus unless they already have severe health problems. And the new study, by Imperial College London, suggests the same is true of unborn babies and newborns. No babies died of Covid in the study and only around 10 per cent of them tested positive after birth. Although women were more likely to die if they had Covid than if they didn't, this risk was the same as for a non-pregnant woman, suggesting their baby was not a factor. Premature delivery was more likely in the women testing positive for coronavirus, the researchers found, but this appeared to be because doctors were deciding to induce labour because they were over-cautious about Covid. Advice for mothers-to-be during the pandemic has been cautious, with the NHS putting them in a 'clinically vulnerable' group, but there has not been good quality evidence to prove whether their pregnancy changes their or their child's risk from Covid-19 (stock image) 'The finding that Covid infection does not increase the risk of stillbirth or baby death is reassuring,' said Professor Christoph Lees, an obstetrics expert at Imperial. Professor Lees, who ran the study, added: 'However, a suspected or confirmed Covid diagnosis was linked to a higher risk of preterm birth, and it isn't entirely clear why.' The study looked at 4,004 women who gave birth in hospitals in the UK and US between January and August 2020, with the last five months of the study during the height of the pandemic. All of the women had confirmed or suspected coronavirus 2,398 of them in the US, and 1,606 in the UK. In the UK there were 23 miscarriages and eight stillbirths, equal to rates of 1.4 and 0.5 per cent. In the US there were five miscarriages and 10 stillbirths 0.2 and 0.4 per cent. The study said: 'The proportions of pregnancies affected by stillbirth, a small for gestational age infant or early neonatal death were comparable to those in historical and contemporaneous UK and US data.' REVIEW OF STUDIES FOUND PREGNANT WOMEN LESS LIKELY TO GET COVID SYMPTOMS Pregnant women are less likely to show symptoms of Covid-19 but more likely to end up in intensive care than women who aren't expecting, a study found last year. While some research found pregnant women don't seem to be at any extra risk, a study published in September found they are more likely to get severely ill if they do get symptoms. The paper reviewed 77 other studies that have been done around the world and found that pregnant women were 57 per cent less likely to show signs of illness. Among those who did develop symptoms, however, the chance of being admitted to intensive care was 62 per cent higher than it was for other women. This does not mean that 62 per cent of pregnant women with Covid-19 went into intensive care, but was a proportionate increase in risk. For example, if 10 in 1,000 non-pregnant women went to ICU, 16 pregnant women would do so. All the women in the study were already in hospital, so they may have had other health problems. The virus, research showed, may also lead to a premature delivery and increase the chance of the baby needing to go onto a neonatal care unit. Scientists, however, said the results were reassuring and showed pregnant women had 'comparable outcomes' to other women who caught coronavirus. Dr Edward Morris, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: 'While overall risks to pregnant women from coronavirus are low, the findings of this study highlight the particular risks to pregnant women, especially those in the third trimester of pregnancy, should they become unwell with coronavirus.' Advertisement The study included women who tested positive for coronavirus within two weeks of the pregnancy ending either in birth or death. Twelve of the women died in the study eight in the UK and four in the US but the scientists did not believe the deaths were linked to pregnancy. The rate of death, they said, was average for people with Covid. In Britain, pregnant women have been treated with caution during the pandemic because doctors aren't sure whether they face a higher risk from Covid. The NHS put them in a 'clinically vulnerable' group and advised them to stay at home as much as possible and to be strict about following social distancing. Women in the later stages of pregnancy are known to face a higher risk of complications if they catch flu this is why they are offered free vaccinations in the winter and there were concerns that the same could be true of Covid. On its website the health service says: 'There's no evidence that pregnant women are more likely to get seriously ill from coronavirus. 'But pregnant women have been included in the list of people at moderate risk (clinically vulnerable) as a precaution. 'This is because pregnant women can sometimes be more at risk from viruses like flu. 'It's not clear if this happens with coronavirus. But because it's a new virus, it's safer to include pregnant women in the moderate-risk group.' One finding that concerned the researchers was that women diagnosed with coronavirus gave birth prematurely more often than was normal. In 12 per cent of cases the baby was delivered early, the study found. This was defined as early than 37 weeks into the pregnancy. But spontaneous pre-term birth when it happens without the mother being induced was actually lower than usual. The scientists couldn't explain this but suggested doctors were inducing women because they were afraid of the effects Covid might have on the baby or mother. The study did not delve into the reasons behind the premature deliveries. The study said: 'As the proportion of women with spontaneous labour and pre-term vaginal delivery was low, a high proportion of pre-term deliveries may have been due to physician concern about adverse effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the maternal or fetal condition.' The research was published in the medical journal Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Armenia Prosecutor General holds consultation Digest on Armenian local news, EU is ready to help Armenia, Azerbaijan with border issues, 31.05.21 Relatives of missing Armenian servicemen open Heratsi Street in Yerevan Armenia acting PM to pay working visits to Paris and Brussels Armenia bloc representative on FM's resignation and National Security Service Armenia Investigative Committee: Fatal road accident, criminal case opened Armenia deputy FM submits resignation Chinese authorities allow families to have 3 children Dollar devalues in Armenia Stepanakert: Azerbaijan creates bridgeheads for pressure on Karabakh, expansion towards Armenia Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to disconnect SWIFT Armenia MFA spokesperson resigns Republican Party of Armenia Vice-President: Our ratings are growing, but we have greater pretensions Armenia acting PM's spokesperson responds to ex-FM Armenia parliament majority leader: Refusing to debate with acting PM is manifestation of low self-confidence Armenia State Revenue Committee, US Department of Justice sign Memorandum of Cooperation Vardevanyan: Attempts made to create false grounds for obstructing Armenia bloc election offices legal activities Lavrov says Russia is ready to resume dialogue with NATO Armenia opposition MP on FM's resignation India records lowest increase in COVID-19 cases in 50 days Bright Armenia faction in parliament: No response to acting PM's proposal to deploy observers along Azerbaijan border Ruling bloc MP: Acting premiers proposal does not limit Armenia in terms of cooperation with CSTO Acting PM is proud of Armenian servicemens heroism, says parliament majority leader Parliament majority leader: No border delimitation unless Azerbaijan army units leave Armenia territory Outgoing Armenia acting FM opens brackets: My decision of resignation was conditioned by that very reason Harutyunyan, Shoygu discuss tension on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Iranian MFA says US has not imported oil from country since Clinton era Court hearing on appeal against decision to drop March 2008 Yerevan tragedy case is rescheduled Missing soldiers relatives block Yerevan street Parliament majority leader: Armenia acting FM did not object, at Security Council meeting, to new document Armenia Police: 2,581,093 people on voters list Bright Armenia faction of parliament: No corridor through the country should be provided to Azerbaijan Analyst: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan gave self-confessed testimony Armenia national security finds about 1 kg of opium, detains Iran citizen driver and 2 others 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Updated voters list is posted on Armenia central election commission website Armenia authorities provide considerable amount of subsidies ahead of snap parliamentary elections World oil prices on the rise MP explains his not being on Bright Armenia Party electoral list UK new flagship set to be named after the late Prince Philip US man who said he shot neighbor over loud music found guilty of attempted murder Lamborghini company to be sold for $11.5bn? China spacecraft docks with future space station Lawyer: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan grossly abuses administrative resources during Lori Province visit UN urges to investigate escalation of violence in Colombia Malaysia to open mega-centers for vaccination against coronavirus Police find 5 million in cash in London apartment French citizen to face trial in Iran on spaying charges Over 60 children in UK undergo surgery due to TikTok challenge Iranian Central Bank governor dismissed Armenian opposition: The one who liberated Artsakh will not go to debates with the one who sold it Iranian energy ministry: Iraq to allocate $ 125 million of frozen funds for vaccines No new COVID-19 cases reported in Artsakh Iran and Iraq to intensify cooperation and are ready for joint investment projects Armenia ex-PM says at least 2 more secret documents signed but not published yet Indonesia frees Iranian tanker 4 months later Mortar shelling in Afghanistan kills at least 10 civilians Fire breaks out at West Virginia oil refinery in US Second President of Armenia meets with residents of Ararat province Iran ready to help improve the defense capability of Syria Armenian acting PM invites ex-presidents for debates European Parliament head proposes to strengthen sanctions on Russia UK PM gets married in London Armenia reports COVID-19 new 81 cases: 4 people die EU countries invite US to issue joint statement against Russia 2 people die in Armenia road accident Nigeria: Students taken hostage a month ago are released 61 quakes recorded in Congo per day Syrian MFA: EU lost credibility due to blind obedience to US policy 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 Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The chairman of the Libyan High Council of State, Khaled al-Mechri, Tuesday held discussions with the president of the High Council of judicial authorities, Mohamed al-Hafi, and the president of the management council of the High National Electoral Commission (HNEC), Imad al-Sayeh, on preparations for the referendum on the draft constitution and the December elections1) When officials at the Oakley Union Elem. School district thought they were meeting privately, they used profanity to insult & threaten parents upset by the district's prolonged school closures.
Bigad Shaban (@BigadShaban) February 18, 2021
Here's when they realized their mtg was being broadcast to the public.
"Uh, oh." pic.twitter.com/OXbHWq9FMy